Following my first discovery of the town of Legal, Alberta, I decided to create a series of blog posts highlighting some of the many murals in the town and the history behind them. This is part two of that series.

The mural that tells the story of George Bugnet draws attention to some of his major accomplishments. It was painted by Marc and Daniel Michaud.

George and his wife Julia arrived in the area in 1905 and raised ten children. George was an accomplished horticulturist and created a new, thornless, rose by combining the Alberta Wild Rose with the Kamchatka rose of Russia. He called the rose Therese Bugnet, and you can see it both painted and planted in the front left of the mural.

He was also the editor of l’Union, the first francophone newspaper in Alberta. His writing and accomplishments earned him an honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Alberta in 1978.

The building on the right of the mural is the francophone school that was named in honor of the Bugnets. The artists who painted that mural are graduates of the Francophone School System.

Nearby this mural is another wall dedicated to the history of Legal. It is on the side of Kilroy’s Saloon and the Legal Hotel which was established in 1908

The images are of a First Nations person, two horses being driven by a man in a hat, and a man on a motorcycle. The artist is Paul Archer, and I will appreciate it if readers can point me in the right direction to be able to supply more information on the subjects of the portraits.

I will post more pictures of the murals in Legal in the coming days.