The Fisher home, the Red & White storefront and the later Fisher store tell different parts of Del Bonita’s commercial history. Huey Gum’s restaurant, hotel and pool hall brings another story from neighbouring Whiskey Gap. Photographs and family accounts help distinguish these buildings and the businesses that made them gathering places. Heritage of the High Country, pp. 45, 63, 330–331 and 576–577
The Fisher business · John’s Hardware · The home and stores · Visiting today
1924: a store on Weatherley’s farm
Albert and Reatha Fisher returned to the district in 1924 and opened a general store on George Weatherley’s farm. Gladys Farries, Heritage of the High Country, pp. 330–331
1929: a restaurant, hotel and pool hall at Whiskey Gap
Huey Gum’s building began at Fareham, later called Whiskey Gap. The community history dates the restaurant, hotel and pool hall to 1929. It remembers Gum buying milk and cream from Otto Sommerfeldt to make ice cream on Sundays. Contemporary newspaper reports also document his move from Woolford to the new railway settlement that year. Heritage of the High Country, pp. 45 and 359 · Cardston News, 13 June 1929, p. 2
Explore Huey Gum’s restaurant and its history.
1929 or 1930: Fisher’s trucks at the store
Around the 1930s: the Fisher home
The book captions this photograph “Reatha Fisher standing in front of their store.” Another photograph explicitly shows a separate house beside the Red & White storefront. Here the house is identified separately; the original caption remains with the photograph’s provenance. Heritage of the High Country, pp. 63 and 331
The Fisher home and Red & White storefront
Gladys Farries’s family account describes the first store being hauled by horses to Del Bonita, where the Fishers built a house and then another store. The photograph below shows the house beside the earlier Red & White storefront. The account does not date the move or the later construction. Heritage of the High Country, pp. 63 and 330–331
The new and old stores
1939: the pool hall changes hands
Charles Secretan bought Huey Gum’s pool hall in 1939 and continued operating it, according to the Secretan family account. The purchase is part of its business history; the year the building moved to Del Bonita is not established. Heritage of the High Country, p. 503
January 1942: a Fisher’s Store bill
The printed heading places the business in Del Bonita. Alongside the photographs of storefronts and vehicles, this small bill preserves an everyday purchase at the store.
Groceries and news in winter
1943–1944: the Fisher store passes to the Secretans
In 1943–1944, the Fisher business passed to Charles and Mabel Secretan, who moved to Del Bonita. The Fisher and Secretan family accounts place the change in these neighbouring years. Heritage of the High Country, pp. 331 and 503
1962: John’s Hardware
The Secretans sold the store to John Williams in 1962. The Williams family account says he renamed it John’s Hardware. Nedra Williams kept the books, helped with the store and served coffee. Farmers stopped to visit, and travellers waited there for storms to pass. Heritage of the High Country, pp. 504 and 576–577
The later Fisher store and John’s Hardware are also linked in Galt Museum & Archives’ catalogue. Its description distinguishes that building from the neighbouring Red & White store. Galt, accession 19752503022
1968–1971: the last years of the store
After John’s death in February 1968, Nedra continued running the store until its sale that autumn. Tom Helgeson’s family account dates his purchase to November 1968 and records that Sharyn Helgeson operated the store until it closed in 1971. Heritage of the High Country, pp. 372 and 576–577
1979: John’s Hardware
The name remained on the building after the business closed. Galt’s photograph shows the white siding, red window trim and large rusted tank outside. Galt photograph record
2009: the buildings along the road
Several buildings in Del Bonita came from Whiskey Gap, as Galt historian Belinda Crowson records. They retain a connection between the two communities even where individual moving dates remain uncertain. Galt Museum & Archives, “Where are they now?”
Huey Gum Inn · Whiskey Gap · Del Bonita history · Del Bonita today