Naming the West : Stories High River Parks

High River Student Story 1:
Sheppard Family

Sheppard Family Park is a historical site found in High River.

This site represents the period from the 1880s to the 1920s. Henry Sheppard was born in England and moved to Alberta in 1887. On a boat to Alberta he met a lady whose name was Bee Godden. She would later become his wife. They would later have three sons.

Miss Bee Godden was a funky lady. She wanted to go to a party so she rode horseback from the Bar U Ranch to Calgary. She road saddleback 60 miles and then danced all night.

Ruth McCoy died in 1995, leaving the park to High River and requesting that it be named after her stepfather, who farmed the land. Her family homesteaded in the area in 1882. The park became named Sheppard Family Park.