Moon Cabin
Marjorie and Fred Moon loved to camp near the river on what was originally CPR property, so when Jake Fullerton later bought and developed this property north of Balsam Avenue, the Moons were desperate to purchase some land. However, the price was $25 for a one-acre lot, and Fred didn’t have $25 extra dollars on hand. This was 1939, when the world was still reeling from the Great Depression and although Fred had work as an auto mechanic at McLaughlin Buick and Imperial Motors in Calgary, it was only part-time. Not to be deterred, they borrowed $10 from a friend and the corner lot of River Drive North and Spruce Avenue was secured.
The fishing may have been what attracted the Moons, but it also was just a “wonderful place to get away from the city,” as son Willard remembers. The trip to Bragg Creek was with the help of their 1928 Chev, equipped with thin tires that were good for mud. And mud it was, particularly at the well-documented trouble spots: Twin Bridges on Richmond Road (now Hwy #8) and Chittem Springs (at the present-day Redwood Meadows turnoff. Willard says that the cars of today would have never made it through — they would have been too low and with tires too fat!
The Moon cabin was built in approximately 1940. Fred didn’t want to design a roof, so he put rafters up and bent the boards, making a curved roof structure. It had one big room with no insulation, but a wood stove to cook on and use for heat.
Fishing with Stan Sexton, another local cabin dweller, was both a highlight and a competition for the Moons. “Trout was the main catch, Rainbow mostly, and some Brook. [These species were introduced to the Elbow River; Cutthroat and Bull Trout are indigenous.] We liked dry-fly fishing, catching fish on the top of water with Royal Coachman bait flies. But Stan would catch what he called grayling, the Rocky Mountain whitefish, the bottom feeders.” The Moons claimed that trout were superior for the palate and for another good reason. Willard Moon, who had caught his own nine-inch trout at only seven years old, noticed that unlike their favoured trout, Stan’s fish had to be scaled. The best ever, according to Willard, was to catch three or four fish, soak in salt water overnight (to add a bit more flavour), roll in flour and fry them up with the bacon for breakfast.
In the 50s they built a house and Fred eventually commuted to Calgary for a few years. The property was later passed on to Willard’s son, Thom Moon, who raised his family in the area. Thom is a musician, noted for his work in Rhythm and Blues, and well-known for his years on drums with the legendary Ian Tyson.
Michele McDonald
Source: Willard Moon, interview, June, 2019
