Key Number:	HS 20773
Site Name:	Bugnet Plantation
Other Names:
Site Type:	0510 - Farming and Ranching: Experimental Station

Location

ATS Legal Description:

			Twp	Rge	Mer
			56	3	5

Address:
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Street:
Avenue:
Other:
Town:
Near Town:	Rich Valley

Media

Type	Number	Date	View	Source

Architectural

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Exterior:	N/A
Interior:	N/A
Environment:	Lightly wooded area.
Condition:	N/A
Alterations:	N/A

Historical

Construction:	Construction Date:
Homestead begun	1905/01/01
Usage:	Usage Date:
Plantation	1905/01/01
Owner:	Owner Date:
David Ostrom Province of Alberta	1953/05/29 1965/02/08

Architect:	N/A
Builder:	N/A
Craftsman:	N/A
History:	George Bugnet: early Alberta horticulturalist. Site used by Alberta Forest Service as seed source. Horticulturalist; from Burgundy, France; settled in what was then called Rich Valley with his wife and baby, at legal location NE 28, 56, 3, 5W. Mr. Bugnet and family arrived in Gunn, Alberta on October 25, 1905. In 1912 he studied books on Plants and Geography. Had plants sent from all over the world that might thrive at that location. In 1925 began hybriding with stone fruits and apples, later on Roses. From Mr. Bugnet's hybridizing some valuable fruit and ornamental trees, shrubs and flowers were secured. * * * The Bugnet Plantation is associated with the life of George Bugnet who made major contributions to the development of Western Canada in the fields of horticulture and literature. Bugnet was born of February 23, 1879 at Chalon-sur-Saône, Burgundy, France. After completing his education at the University of Dijon in the Faculty of Letters and after two years as a journaist he emigrated to Canada in December of 1904 with his wife Julia. In the Fall of 1905 he selected a homestead in the Rich Valley area. His intention was to save $25,000 in five to ten years and return to France to become a man of letters. When Bugnet's plans to return to France did not work out, he developed his homestead as an horticultural experimental farm and fashioned a literary career based on his life as a pioneer in western Canada. Between 1905 and his retirement in 1954, he established himself as Alberta's premier horticulturist, introducing such new plants as the Amur Lilac, two varieties of the Sweet-Berry Honeysuckle, the Lodoga Pine and eleven varieties of Roses. Bugnet's literary publications included two novels, numerous short stories and some verse. His best known work, 'La Forêt' ('The Forest'), was published in 1935. It reflects Bugnet's own experience as a settler, portraying a young couple from France who homestead in the wilderness of western Canada. It is regarded as the most important western Canadian novel of the 1930s in English or French. Bugnet also made a significant contribution to the French-Canadian community of Alberta through his role as editor of a French weekly newspaper and membership on the executive of l'Association Catholique Franco-Albertaine. Thus, the Bugnet Plantation had a close association with the contributions made by French settlers to Alberta from the early settlement period until mid-century; but it was also the setting for the outstanding and unique contributions of George Bugnet to horticulture and literature. * * * George Bugnet and the Bugnet Plantation By J. Brian Dawson The Bugnet Plantation is a thirteen-acre plot situated at Rich Valley, 80 km northwest of Edmonton. It was founded in 1905 by George Bugnet, who had arrived in Canada with his wife, Julia, a year before from France. From humble beginnings - where young plants, cuttings and seeds were grown to beautify the Bugnets' homestead - it was transformed into a botanic garden, where Bugnet experimented with, and raised, all maner of exotic and crossbred vegetation. The plantation remained an active enterprise (privately, not commercially) until the Bugnets retired to Legal in 1954. Since that time, it has fallen into sad disrepair. As will be seen, Georges Bugnet was a remarkable man. His many talents and interests were pursued with zest and enthusiasm. His remarkable achievements in horticulture and literature were not matched by the official recognition owed him until his old age. Nor did his labors yield appropriate monetary returns; he and his family lived very humbly. None of this daunted his spirit. The Bugnet Plantation - with its magnificent exotic pines and other items - is the single most tangible representation of Georges Bugnet's career. It is a manifestation of his appreciation of Nature: and this was at the heart of both his horticultural successes and his literary achievements. * * * Draft Press Release Edmonton, Alberta The Honourable Dennis Anderson, Minister of Culture, announced today that the Bugnet Plantation in the River Valley area has been designated a Provincial Historic Resource. The Bugnet Plantation is associated with the life of George Bugnet who made major contributions to the development of Western Canada in the fields of horticulture and literature. Bugnet was born on February 23, 1879 at Chalon-su-Saône, Burgundy, France. After completing his education at the University of Dijon in the Faculty of Letters and after two years as a journalist he emigrated to Canada in December of 1904 with his wife Julia. In the fall of 1905 he selected a homestead in the Rich Valley area. His intention was to save $25,000 in five to ten years and return to France to become a man of letter. When Bugnet's plans to return to France did not work out, he developed his homestead as an horticultural experimental farm and fashioned a literary career based on his life as a pioneer in western Canada. Between 1905 and his retirement in 1954, he established himself as Alberta's premier horticulturalist, introducing such new plants as the Amur Lilac, two varieties of the Sweet-Berry Honeysuckle, the Lodoga Pine and eleven varieties of Roses. Bugnet's literary publications included two novels, numerous short stores and essays, and some verse. His best known work, La Forêt (The Forest), was published in 1935. It reflects Bugnet's own experience as settler, portraing a young couple from France who homestead in the wilderness of western Canada. It is regarded as the most important western Canadian novel of the 1930s in English or French. Bugnet also made a significant contribution to the French-Canadian community of Alberta through his role as editor of a French weekly newspaper and membership on the executive of l'Assocation Catholique Franco-Albertaine. Thus, the Bugnet Plantation had a close association with the contributions made by French settlers to Alberta from the early settlement period until mid-century; but it was also the settling for the outstanding and unique contributions of George Bugnet to horticulture and literature.

Internal

Designation Status:	Designation Date:
Provincial Historic Resource	1987/06/15

Register:

Links

Internet:
Alberta Register of Historic Places:	4665-0392