The Rosedeer Hotel is in a little place called Wayne, Alberta. It’s located about 16-km and 11 single-lane bridges southeast of Drumheller, Alberta. Wayne sprung up when the Red Deer Coal Company built the Rose Deer Mine, in 1912. In its heyday, the town had a population of more than 2000 people. There were two schools, a hospital, several stores, a hotel and the saloon that miners affectionately dubbed the “Bucket of Blood” due to the large number of drunken brawls.
Wayne was a typical Wild West town. Life was hard for the miners who lived there and many took liberties with the law, especially the prohibition laws that were in place in Alberta from 1915 -1923. To curtail illegal liquor sales, the Mounted Police eventually stationed an officer in the town, but it was difficult for one man to tame a wild place like Wayne, Alberta.
The Great Depression hit Alberta’s coal mining industry hard and the first mine in the Drumheller area closed down in 1932. By the time the last mine in the area shut its doors; the population of Wayne, Alberta had dwindled to fewer than 300 souls. Today the hamlet has only 28 permanent residents and the only evidence of the glory days is the Rosedeer Hotel and the aptly-named Last Chance Saloon, which are both still open.
