Main Street

Mural by Jacques Martel

Léon Préfontaine and his wife Marguerite Coulombe were married in 1925. The couple had strong beliefs in three things, which they passed on to their children: faith, work, and fun. Léon Préfontaine began work at five a.m. with a melody on his lips. His daughters helped him by singing as they milked cows before and after school.

Mural by Marc and Daniel Michaud

Télesphore arrived in Legal in 1900 and opened the Magasin Générale de St. Arnaud. In 1904, Télesphore became Legal’s postmaster. When demand rose for a church closer to Legal (top center), Télesphore was the committee secretary overseeing the construction. Télesphore was a member of the United Farmers of Alberta Party and in 1921, he won the provincial election, granting him a seat in the Legislature (top right).

Mural by Nancy Bergeron

Patrice Létourneau and his brother Hubert arrived in the Legal area with their wives, Zénaïde and Elisabeth, in 1898-99. The two Létourneau families united and established a winter supply trail from Edmonton to Athabasca Landing in 1907. They brought pipes and supplies to the landing and, when the river’s ice broke, barges carried essential supplies across to the town Norman Wells in the Northwest Territories where oil had been discovered. When Louis Oscar Caron came to Legal in 1908, he joined the Létourneau business and his descendants now own Caron Transport in Alberta. 

Mural by Flying Colours

Joseph St. Martin married Marthe Calage in 1902. The ship near the middle of this mural represents their dangerous journey across the Atlantic Ocean from Argentina to Canada, then to Legal. The mural depicts the couple’s homestead, which the family owned until 1982. Joseph farmed, bred horses, and cared for other farm animals.  The second photograph depicts the log hauling Jean Calage did with his sons and stepsons throughout winter. The giant tractor shows what the early farmers had to work with.