livinghistory at one time travers was a thriving community, reaching a population upwards of 300 people. 24 LETHBRIDGE LIVING SEP-OCT 2011 havE you EvEr hEard of the Travers Reservoir? If you haven't, you're not alone. However, if you have, then you know it's one of Southern Alberta's largest reservoirs, measuring approximately 21 kilometres long and reaching depths of up to 30 metres. While that is amazing in itself, the reservoir actually takes its name from what was the small community of Travers. Located in Vulcan County, on the open prairie, 15 kilometres east of the Travers Reservoir, is what remains of this once bustling Southern Alberta town-now a couple of houses and a graveyard. Originally, Travers was referred to as the Sweet Valley district, becoming Travers in 1914 as settlers flocked to the area when the C.P.R. began advertising the sale of lots in Enchant, Travers and Lomond. As you make your way down the railway line that Travers is located on, you might also notice something very interesting. Six communities along the line were named with a corresponding letter from the name "Retlaw," or "Walter" spelled backwards. These towns are Retlaw, Enchant, Travers, Lomond, Armada, and Wheat Centre. The C.P.R. thought the clever naming would keep investors interested, and show that the area had everlasting life. At one time, Travers was a thriving community, reaching a population upwards of 300. Rain was abundant, and farming was prosperous. Out of that Travers grew, and became home to everything a small town needed and more: a real estate firm, school, bank, barbershop, butcher shop, harness shop, lumberyard, hotel, pool room, men's clothing store, two hardware stores, two blacksmiths, two livery barns, three restaurants, three garages, and three grocery stores. When the 1920s arrived, everything that could possibly go wrong for the small prairie community did, and the people of Travers had to survive through some awful situations. "The twenties were a bad time. Up until then, Travers and Retlaw were the two largest communities in the area. And then, ironically, the two communities that were doing the best in the early 1900s are the ones that are now gone, whereas Lomond and Enchant are still there," says Belinda Crowson, Museum Educator at the Galt Museum & Archives. "A drought hit in the 1920s, and that area was hit hard." Belinda goes on to explain, "Irrigation came to some areas before the First World War, but not Travers." Irrigation finally reached the area in 1958/59, but by then it was too late. In 1921 what can only be called human catastrophe hit