Drew’s Saloon

Henry “Boston” Drew, a well-educated and gentlemanly ex-U.S. army officer, first came to Canada in 1884 on a cattle drive from Idaho. He decided to settle in Alberta, and built a saloon, called the Drew Reserve, on his property at Spitzee Crossing (now High River) in 1886.

Although the saloon was not licensed originally, that didn’t stop patrons from ducking in for a drink. In 1891, Drew added four second-storey bedrooms to his saloon, turning it into a proper resting place for weary travelers needing a drink and some shut-eye on their way to Calgary or Fort Macleod. Drew later changed the name of his stopping-house to the High River Hotel, which passed through several hands over the next century before the Town of High River gave the building to Heritage Park as a gift in 1977.