Wetaskiwin District Heritage Museum Centre & City of Wetaskiwin Archives

In an effort to fend off the bitter winter winds and harsh climate, trappers, ranchers, and traders would have worn a coat made of buffalo fur much like the one found in the Heritage Museum’s trading post exhibit. An earlier version of the buffalo coat, the buffalo robe, would have been used by Early First Nations to wrap around themselves as an unparalleled source of warmth. Traders adorned in these coats would have visited Wetaskiwin’s own Bear Hills Trading Post where several animal hides and skins could be found among a plethora of other items, such as tinned goods, trays of beads, and cans of oil. The Heritage Museum follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, the Montgomery Department store, which also sold buffalo fur coats, by offering a variety of goods at the museum’s very own Star Store Gift Shop! We encourage visitors to throw on their coats—buffalo fur not required—and see what it has to offer this holiday season!