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 No Ordinary Woman
The Story of Mary Schäffer Warren
by Janice Sanford Beck
Artist, photographer, writer, world traveller and, above all, explorer, Mary Schäffer Warren overcame the limited expectations of women at the turn of the nineteenth century in order to follow her dreams.
Mary Sharples, born into a wealthy Quaker family in Pennsylvania, was a precocious child who excelled at school yet "did not know how to make a bed at the tender age of 18." She was much more interested in the arts and in travelling. A trip across Canada in 1889 proved the turning point in Mary's life. Not only did she meet her future husband—doctor and botanist Charles Schäffer—she also fell hopelessly in love with the Canadian mountains.
After Charles' death, Mary embarked on a series of explorations into the Canadian Rockies at a time when it was not thought proper for a woman to do so. Her most famous trips of 1907 and 1908 resulted in the rediscovery of Maligne Lake and the highly regarded book Old Indian Trails of the Canadian Rockies. Mary eventually settled in Banff and there married her handsome young guide Billy Warren.
Since her death in 1937, she continues to inspire young people and women in particular. One of her greatest admirers is the author who examines the difficulties Mary faced in entering what was then a man's domain.
Janice Sanford Beck, recipient of Mount Allison University's prestigious Tweedie Gold Medal for academic achievement, has resided in five of Canada's ten provinces, but always returns to her spiritual home amid the mountains of her native Alberta. An outdoor enthusiast since childhood, her hiking credits include the West Coast Trail, the Chilkoot Trail, Jasper's North Boundary Trail and the Glacier Trail, which approximates Mary Schäffer's route from Brazeau Lake to Maligne Lake. She is presently masquerading as a flatlander, making her home in Saskatoon with her partner, Shawn, and their son Christopher.
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