Bounty: An Eerie reminder of how quickly everything can change.
The empty streets of bounty - a surreal walk through time.
With sunlight to spare and the clock ticking for our next adventure, we decided to head north to another ghost town high on my bucket list for the trip. I had seen photographs of Bounty here and there on social media, but nothing ever really seemed to give me a full picture of what was left behind and in what state. That is a driving factor for most explorers; we have a location – but who knows what is left standing. It’s a gamble, but sometimes it pays off. Its story is a fascinating one with unfortunate forces working against the community. So many of these smaller decayed towns share economic downturn woes and hardship, so let’s rewind the clock over 120 years.
With the area first settled in 1904, it wasn’t long and soon there was enough of a population; then in 1910 the beginnings of a town were surveyed. During this process the settlers moved enough by the beautiful tiger lilies, they named the town Botany. When the towns blueprints were finalized, there was an error and the name was put down as “Bounty”. The errors were never corrected, and the town’s name was officially changed in the spring of 1911.
With the CPR expanding quickly across the prairies in those early days, it didn’t take long for Bounty to be connected by rail. The first train service arrived in 1912, along with it - continual prosperity and growth for the community.
Pulling up to town, my dad and I were exhausted. We had already been on the road for over 10 hours, but there was sunlight left and blank memory cards to fill. The light breeze flowing through town was a welcome relief amongst the early fall heat; I always appreciate wandering off on my own. Walking down abandoned sidewalks is an ethereal experience, hard to think at one point the vacant town had over 19 businesses, including a large hotel and three grain elevators.
The population never peaked over 200, but it was said to have a bustling small community. The title of village was removed in 1997 and changed to hamlet status, by 2001 the dying area had only 5 residents left. As of the present – fully abandoned.
Going from building to building we noticed something interesting beyond the lack of residents, some of the homes were boarded up solid with notices from the provincial government about rat extermination taking place so beware of chemicals inside. A very ominous start to the adventure indeed. But those homes were never explored, and we left them in peace, thinking exposure to said toxins without proper safety gear could be disastrous.
Most of the town currently sits in disarray. Heavily vandalized and torn apart in some areas -party dwellings were the first thing that came to mind. But within the chaos you see some of the remnant memories coming through. The original CPR railroad station built in 1913 was relocated to the northeast side of town and refurbished as a home, was a far cry from what it must have looked like over hundred years ago.
The gargantuan Dutch elms that slumber along side walks create a chilling canopy of outstretched twisted limbs and appendages; all reaching out together as if to keep the ghost town hidden from the outside world.
With daylight disappearing and another long drive ahead of us to our motel, we decided It was time to say goodbye to Bounty. It’s an explorers dream of a ghost town in every sense; it has a rich history surrounded by the vastness of the Canadian prairies – but let its somber end be a sober reminder just how quick our lives can change by the smallest circumstances.
