Macleod Trail remains one of Calgary's primary roadways, but it's been used to transport goods through the area since before the arrival of railways.
The Old Macleod Trail started in Fort Macleod and made its way into Calgary, and south from Fort Macleod to Fort Benton, Montana.
That portion of the trail was known as the Whoop-Up Trail.
According to the Director and Curator of the Museum of the Highwood, Irene Kerr, the trail was used to ship goods prior to the train arriving in 1883.
"So, obviously when the railroad came through, everything changed," Kerr explains. "[The trail] started in Fort Macleod, and went to Calgary. Down by the Elbow River by the old I.G. Baker company, which is very close to the Stampede grounds."
Kerr says they would ship goods, such as buffalo robes and hides, along this trail down to Fort Benton, which was a significant shipping location.
Upon arrival at Fort Benton, the goods would be shipped down the Missouri River and then shipped eastward.
Goods would also be shipped up the Missouri River and hauled up into Calgary along this trail.
The Old Macleod Trail, according to Kerr, followed the old North-South trail that was developed and used by Indigenous peoples for thousands of years.
"In some places, it does match the Macleod Trail as it is now, but in other places, it goes cross-country. It doesn't quite follow the trail," Kerr explains.
The Trail goes around hills and was planned out to be the most efficient route, which was figured out during the years that Indigenous people were travelling and forging the path.
Kerr says that both the I.G Baker Company and TC Power were the primary ones using this trail and profiting from it.
"It was all about the money because they made a lot of money from this venture."
The goods would be hauled between Fort Benton and Calgary on Oxen carts.
On top of goods travelling up and down the Old Macleod Trail, there were also stagecoaches that carried mail, passengers, luggage, and more.
"Those were the two main transportation modes on the Trail."
The trail, just like Fort Macleod, is named after the second full Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP), James Macleod.
Kerr says there is a belief that part of the reason why the NWMP arrived in the area was the amount of money and resources heading down to the United States along this trail.
Due to the use of oxen wagons, they were only able to travel roughly 8 to 10 miles each day.
Because of that, stopping houses popped up along the trail to give people a respite from sleeping on the ground.
"The first one was in Willow Creek in Claresholm. The next one was Mosquito Creek in Nanton and then there's one in High River called the Smith and French Stopping House. And then there was two in Okotoks," Kerr explains.
As the story goes, the owner of one of the stopping houses in Okotoks had five unmarried daughters, which made their stopping house the more popular one of the two in town.
There was also a small stopping house just outside of Calgary.
Kerr says that there are still old wagon wheel ruts left over at the location of the Mosquito Creek Stopping House.
The stopping houses offered places to sleep and often sold food and supplies, and one of the stopping houses in High River actually housed the town's first school.
Currently, there are markers along the trail to indicate where the trail once was and can be found from Fort Macleod to Calgary.
In total, there are 21 Old Macleod signs marking the trail, including some in Okotoks, DeWinton, just outside of Nanton.
To learn more about the Old Macleod Trail and learn where the signs are, head over to the Museum of the Highwood website.