Pincher Creek, a town nestled in southern Alberta, Canada, boasts a rich history that dates back centuries. Before European settlers arrived, Indigenous clans of the Blackfoot, Peigan, and Kootenai frequented the region. The town got its name in 1868 when prospectors lost a pincer, a tool used for trimming horse feet, in a small creek.
The South-East Mounted Police discovered the rusting tools in the creek in 1874, leading to the area being named Pincher Creek. The town was officially recognized in the Geological Survey Report of 1880. The North-West Mounted Police established a horse farm in the area in 1876, which closed in 1881. However, many of the troops stayed to help the town grow.
James Schofield opened the first store in Pincher Creek in 1884, and by 1885, the town had a store known as Schofield & Hyde General Store. Harry Hyde succeeded Schofield as Pincher Creek's first postmaster. The town was incorporated as a village in 1898 and officially became a town named Pincher Creek in 1906. Many residents today are descendants of the pioneer families who settled there over 100 years ago.
Pincher Creek is located immediately east of the Canadian Rockies, 101 km west of Lethbridge, and 210 km south of Calgary.
Pincher Creek is known for its strong Chinook winds that often blow off the mountains, making the area arguably the windiest in Alberta. The Oldman River and Castle River valleys seem to act as a kind of funnel for air masses. Wind speeds can reach 50–90 km/h on any typical day, with the most violent recorded wind being 177 km/h.
The strong winds have led to significant wind farm development in the area, with wind turbines becoming a characteristic of the scenery. The weather is mostly sunny and very dry due to the wind dissipating cloud cover. However, the town was severely affected by a flood in 1995. On January 10, 1962, the area experienced a dramatic weather change when the temperature rose by 41 °C from -19 °C to 22 °C in just a few hours.
According to the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Pincher Creek had a population of 3,622 living in 1,521 of its 1,661 total private dwellings, a slight decrease from its 2016 population of 3,642. The town covers a land area of 9.87 km2, resulting in a population density of 367.0/km2 in 2021.
The Kootenai Brown Pioneer Village is a popular tourist stop in Pincher Creek. Named after Kootenai Brown, who was responsible for preserving the land Waterton Park now inhabits, the six-acre site houses over thirty historical buildings and over 18,000 artifacts. The Village hosts a large Canada Day celebration each July and other community-based events throughout the year.
Pincher Creek is also located 57 km north of Waterton Lakes National Park and 49 km southwest of the Castle Mountain Ski Resort.
The town is served by the Pincher Creek Airport, a general aviation airfield that currently does not have any scheduled passenger airline flights.
