Fort Whoop-Up to remain open weekends through September

By Jensen, Randy on September 10, 2020.

The wagon ride for Fort Whoop-Up approaches the High-Level Bridge in the Oldman River Valley. Photo by Graham Ruttan / Fort Whoop-Up and Galt Museum & Archives

LETHBRIDGE HERALD

Based on the popularity over this summer, Fort Whoop-Up’s interpretive season has been extended to include weekends through the month of September.

“With COVID-19, we were unsure how comfortable residents and visitors would feel touring Fort Whoop-Up, but we were very pleasantly surprised,” says CEO Darrin Martens in a news release. “Our focus on health precautions helped people feel relaxed visiting the interpretive centre and experiencing local history. We want to continue to offer access to the stories that are told at the fort through our interpretive staff as we enter the fall season.”

Visitation at the fort in 2020 is limited by the space inside the fort’s rooms where a majority of interpretation takes place. In order to comply with provincial health guidelines, all visitors to the fort are taken on guided tours throughout the facility in groups of no more than 10. Online tickets are available for purchase to ensure groups don’t exceed 10 visitors but open spots are available to walk-in visitors.

Tours begin in the Blackfoot Gallery with visitors discovering the history of the Blackfoot people before contact with European traders. From there the tour goes to the rooms that show how the fort would have been occupied and used by the traders and workers who lived there in the late 1800s. The tour ends with a horse-drawn wagon ride through the river valley and under the High Level Bridge.

“For those who want to enhance their weekend Fort Whoop-Up experience, I would recommend that they order, one day in advance, a special Blackfoot inspired picnic lunch, Ii’ethawaahkaa, prepared by our partners at Mocha Cabana,” said Martens.

Tickets for the tours on Saturdays and Sundays throughout September will be available online at https://fort.galtmuseum.com/visit.

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