Fonds 85 - Conibear family fonds

Frank Conibear was born in Plymouth England on August 23, 1896, but moved to Ontario with his family when he was three. His family settled in Fort Resolution in 1912, becoming the first independent white family to settle in the Northwest Territories. In 1916, the Conibear's relocated to Fort Smith. At this time, he set up his own trapline on the Talston River, which gradually became extended 320 km into the barrenlands. He earned extra income by acting as a guide during the summers for mineral and survey crews. While in Minnesota, in 1923, Frank Conibear met and married Cecelia Powell, returning to Fort Smith to live. In their time, Frank and Cecelia also owned and managed a hotel and cafe. While operating his trapline Frank became concerned with the use of leg-hold traps. He considered the leg-hold trap to be inhumane and following his discharge from the Canadian Army in 1919, he began work on a replacement to the leg-hold trap. By the 1950s, he had perfected his trap and in 1958, a company began mass production of the Conibear trap utilized by most trappers. He died in March, 1988 at the age of 91.