Image: A film still showing three men in a boat (SPRA 253.01.03, Fonds 253: Jerry Stojan family fonds)
Movie Monday highlights videos from the Archives’ film collection. Every week, an archival film will be featured on our YouTube channel and here on our blog. The Movie Monday project is made possible with the generous funding support of Swan City Rotary Club of Grande Prairie.
It’s Movie Monday! Today we are passengers on a riverboating expedition. Jerry Stojan was an avid outdoorsman and so this film gives us an excellent look at how he spent much of his time. This particular riverboat excursion could have been part of a hunting or fishing trip, but is more likely to have been a leisurely outing, as it was filmed circa 1954, before Jerry became a guide.
The name and location of the river are not recorded, but mountains – presumably the Rocky Mountains – can be seen at various points in the film. The river’s increasing proximity to the base of a mountain, and the fact that several rest stops are depicted, indicates that this may have been a lengthy journey. An Indigenous family is shown offering hospitality to the men along the way.
Wildlife is seen along the shores, as are horses grazing tranquilly in the meadows. The presence of young foals with their mothers proves almost certainly that this film was taken in spring or early summer.