Brokeback Mountain then and now – Signal WY bar
Here’s another in our series of Brokeback Mountain then and now reports, and in this set we see Jack and Ennis heading to a bar – a common theme throughout the movie and as the pair travel about, they visit any and every watering hole they can find. Played out in the fictional town of Signal Wyoming, they visit what is in reality the Carseland Alberta Hotel.
In this scene the characters portrayed by Jake Gyllenhaal (Jask Twist) and Heath Ledger (Ennis Del Mar) have together been hired on as sheep herders. After finding employment they drop by the town’s bar to get better antiquated and what better way to do this then with liquor. Of course as we all know, this first meeting will lead to a forbidden romance between the two.
While this part of the movie was filmed in Carseland, it was the community of Cowley Alberta that filled in for the town of Signal Wyoming in other scenes. The latter does not have a suitable hotel and bar and so for those shots a different location had to found, and when it comes to capturing that small town rough-and-tumble cowboy bar feel, the Carseland Hotel fits the bill perfectly. They even used the inside for filming.
The hotel is painted a bright blue, but for the movie the colours were toned down. Afterwards, the garish exterior was restored.
It’s not clear how old the hotel is – I’ve been told variously that it was built in 1908, 1913 or 1914. We plan on researching this further and at the same time, we’ll find out what we can about the buildings next door, which appear equally as old. Outside of those just mentioned, Carseland does not seem to have many heritage buildings left. In any case, stay tuned for further reports.
Carseland is a small village located just southeast of Calgary.
Images from the movie are copyright Focus Features.
To see some other Brokeback Mountain then and now shots we’ve posted, click the links below…
Brokeback Mountain then and now – “Jack, I swear”.
Brokeback Mountain then and now – Signal Wyoming (Cowley Alberta).
Brokeback Mountain then and now – Riverton WY bar (bars play a big part in this movie).
If you wish more information on this place, by all means contact us!
Date: June, 2013.
Location: Carseland, AB.
We celebrated the Carseland Hotels 100th year July 15, 2015 I’m a waitress there
Darn, and I missed it. We’ll drop by sometime for a cold one and a chat!
Have been on the same trek as you. Carseland was a great place to visit. And the T-intersection is where Ennis was dropped off in the beginning of the movie.
Thanks, we have fun figuring out where the scenes were shot. We are aware of Findingbrokeback.com but don’t use it (that’d be too easy) and instead we put our detective skills to work to find the locations shown in the movie.
I find it funny they needed two small towns to double as Signal Wy.
Cowley, the other Signal WY, does not have a hotel and bar and this is the only reason I can think of why they used Carseland, over 200km away, for this specific scene.