Morley, Alberta

Morley is a First Nations settlement within the Stoney 142/143/144 Indian reserve in southern Alberta, Canada. It is located along the Canadian Pacific Railway between the Trans-Canada Highway and the Bow River, upstream from Ghost Lake. It has an elevation of 1240m. The settlement is located in census division No. 15 and in the federal riding of Wild Rose. The settlement and the Indian reserve are part of the Stoney Nation.The historic McDougall Memorial United Church is located a few miles from Morley. Built in 1875, it is southern Alberta's oldest surviving Protestant church and the oldest remaining structure in the Bow Valley. It was once a part of Morleyville, the oldest pioneer settlement in southern Alberta and home to its first herd of breeding cattle. Founded by the Methodist missionary George McDougall and his sons as a missionary outpost, Morleyville existed until 1921 when a new church was built in the present settlement of Morley, which had developed around the Morley Indian Agency building. The old church is now a provincial historic site. Other milestones in the settlement's history include the construction at Morley in 1920 of the first airport established by the Canada Air Board and the 1969 establishment of Canada's first magistrate's court to be held in a First Nations owned building on First Nations land.