Pin Quest Alberta

Bighorn Municipal District shares its name with the nearby Bighorn River, Bighorn Dam, Bighorn Canyon, Bighorn River, and Bighorn Mountain Range. This naming convention comes from the abundance of bighorn sheep in the area.

Bonnyville takes its name from from a French Catholic missionary who arrived with the first wave of European settlers. Reverend Father Francis Bonny was the first priest to become a resident of the community, and built the first Catholic church in 1908. Two years later when the first post office opened, it was given the name Bonnyville in his honour. 

Brazeau County takes its name from Joseph Edward Brazeau, a clerk and postmaster for the Hudson’s Bay Company. When Captain Palliser led a survey expedition through western Canada, Brazeau served as an interpreter with Palliser noting in his log that Brazeau “spoke Stoney, Sioux, Salteau, Cree, Blackfoot and Crow… [and] also spoke English, French and Spanish fluently."