ReCollections

For seven decades, the Bar U operated as a corporate ranch, with thousands of cattle fattening up on protein-rich fescue grass in Alberta’s Rocky Mountain foothills. But that grass has a history of its own, co-evolving on this landscape with a different grazer - the bison - over thousands of years. Through the history of three animals who’ve left their hoofmarks upon the prairie grasslands - bison, cattle and horses - we look at Canada’s “beef bonanza” that employed a colourful cast of cowboys, cooks and capitalists, turning grass into money at Bar U Ranch National Historic Site.

Special thanks to Jessica Hill.

Learn more:


Bar U Ranch National Historic Site


Plan Your Visit


Google Arts and Culture Exhibition: Bar U Ranch


Ranching Industry National Historic Event designation


John Ware, National Historic Person


(Old) Women’s Buffalo Jump National Historic Site


Heritage value description of each Bar U building


Bison conservation and breeding programs at Elk Island National Park 


Plains Bison reintroduction in Banff National Park

Other Media:


Like Distant Thunder: Canada's bison conservation story by Lauren Markewicz


John Ware Reclaimed - Filmmaker Cheryl Foggo re-examines the story of John Ware, the legendary Black cowboy in this National Film Board documentary film.


First Marriages - a story from the Women’s Buffalo Jump near the Bar U Ranch (video from the Siksika Consultation Office)


Restoring Historic Buildings at the Bar U Ranch National Historic Site (Parks Canada video)

Questions about the ReCollections podcast or any of the episodes? Please contact us at ⁠[email protected]

Do you have a suggestion for a new National Historic Person, Site or Event? We’d love to hear it! Visit https://parks.canada.ca/commemorate for details on how to submit a nomination.

In August 2017, a lightning strike near Waterton Lakes National Park sparked a devastating wildfire that burned nearly 40% of the park. But in the wake of destruction came a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We’ll hear from archaeologists and Blackfoot elders about the collaborative archaeology project that’s deepening our understanding of the lives of Indigenous peoples who have lived and travelled in the Rocky Mountains and foothills for millennia. 

Learn more:

Waterton Lakes National Park

Plan Your Visit

Google Arts and Culture Exhibition: Waterton Lakes

Prince of Wales Hotel National Historic Site designation

First Oil Well in Western Canada National Historic Site designation

Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park - UNESCO World Heritage Site

Other Media:

Post Wildfire Renewal Video and Photo Gallery

Dr. Mike Bruised Head’s PhD thesis on the impact of erasing Blackfoot place names in Paahtomahksikimi

Questions about the ReCollections podcast or any of the episodes? Please contact us at ⁠⁠[email protected]

Do you have a suggestion for a new National Historic Person, Site or Event? We’d love to hear it! Visit https://parks.canada.ca/commemorate for details on how to submit a nomination.

In 1930s Europe, thousands of Jewish men and teenagers escaped the Nazi regime as refugees, only to be labelled as “enemy aliens” and sent to internment camps across eastern Canada. One of those camps was at Fort Lennox, an old military stronghold on Quebec’s Ile aux Noix. We’ll hear from one internee, the late Rabbi Erwin Schild, whose story helps illustrate the experience of hundreds of German and Austrian Jews who were imprisoned at Fort Lennox National Historic Site.

Oral history recordings of Rabbi Erwin Schild used in this episode:


 ©1996 USC Shoah Foundation 


 ©1988 Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre

Learn more:

Fort Lennox National Historic Site

Plan Your Visit

Google Arts and Culture Exhibition: Fort Lennox


Heritage Designation: Fort Lennox National Historic Site designation

Heritage value description of each Fort Lennox building

USC Shoah Foundation

Toronto Holocaust Museum

Montreal Holocaust Museum

Other Media:


Major conservation work at Fort Lennox National Historic Site (Parks Canada YouTube)


None is Too Many: Canada and the Jews of Europe 1933-1948 by Irving Abella and Harold Troper

Special thanks to:

Faye Blum of the Ontario Jewish Archives

Teigan Goldsmith of the Ottawa Jewish Archives

The Montreal Holocaust Museum

The Toronto Holocaust Museum

USC Shoah Foundation

Questions about the ReCollections podcast or any of the episodes? Please contact us at ⁠[email protected]

Do you have a suggestion for a new National Historic Person, Site or Event? We’d love to hear it!

Visit https://parks.canada.ca/commemorate for details on how to submit a nomination.

The southern coast of Labrador in the 1500s was the scene of Canada’s first oil boom. Each summer, Basque crews from Spain and France traversed the Atlantic to hunt whales and render their blubber into a precious commodity: oil that lit the lamps of Europe. It was dangerous, messy… and profitable. The story was all but lost until the 1970s, when researchers and archaeologists flocked to the tiny community of Red Bay, digging in the gardens and diving in the harbour, to uncover the secrets of Red Bay National Historic Site, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Special thanks to Joxe Felipe Auzmendi and Iñaki Beraetxe, to Daniel Payne for use of his song Selma Barkham’s Waltz, and to Javier Vicente for recording assistance.

Our condolences to the family of Robert Grenier, who led Parks Canada’s underwater archaeology work at Red Bay. Robert passed away in January 2026.

Learn more:

Red Bay National Historic Site

Plan your visit

Google Arts and Culture Exhibition: Red Bay


Heritage Designation: Red Bay National Historic Site

UNESCO World Heritage Site designation

Other Media:


The Great Whale Robbery of Labrador by Canadiana


The underwater archaeology of Red Bay: Basque shipbuilding and whaling in the 16th century, edited by Robert Grenier, Marc-André Bernier, and Willis Stevens. 

Email us at [email protected] for any questions or suggestions.

Do you have a suggestion for a new National Historic Person, Site or Event? We’d love to hear it!

Visit parks.canada.ca/commemorate for details on how to submit a nomination.

ReCollections, the award-winning history and archaeology podcast from Parks Canada, is back for Season Two. Four new stories from national parks and national historic sites across Canada:

● Red Bay: Discovering the Basque Whalers of Terra Nova

● Fort Lennox: The Accidental Immigrants

● Bar U Ranch: Grass Into Money

● Waterton Lakes: Archaeology in a Burned Landscape

Join us for a journey of national historic significance.