This first in a series of four reference books focuses on Alberta's official geographical place names combining gazetteer and origin information within the mountains, mountain parks, and foothills and is the most current and complete tool regarding this area of the province's toponymy. Place names fascinate everyone, and certainly Alberta has its share of striking and unusual place names. Some evoke an atmosphere, such as "Gloomy Creek" or "Happy Valley"; some are simply descriptive, such as "Castle Mountain" or "Thin Lake." Origins of place names are as diverse as the names themselves and in Place Names of Alberta: Volume I, many of the historical stories will unfold.