1883 was the year that the transcontinental railway reached the formidable Rocky Mountains. One day while three railway workers were hiking, they came upon some simmering natural hot springs bubbling from the base of Sulphur Mountain.

The area was protected by the government and two years later became Canada's first national park, Rocky Mountain Park. Banff, town and park, are named for Banffshire, Scotland – the birthplace of two of the original Canadian Pacific Railway directors.