Welling is a hamlet

Hamlet (place)

A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...

 in southern Alberta

Southern Alberta

Southern Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of the year 2004, the region's population was approximately 272,017. The primary cities are Lethbridge and Medicine Hat...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 within Cardston County

Cardston County, Alberta

Cardston County is a municipal district in southern Alberta, Canada. It is located in Census Division 3 around the Town of Cardston.The municipal district was established on January 1, 1954, through the amalgamation of the Municipal District of Sugar City No. 5 and part of the Municipal District of...

. It is located north of the junction of Highway 5 and Highway 52, approximately 30 kilometres (18.6 mi) south of the City of Lethbridge.

History

The hamlet was first settled at the turn of the 20th century by Mormon

Mormon

The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...

 pioneers from Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

. Its name came from the Welling Branch, the Mormon congregation that was established there in 1903. The Welling Branch was named after Job Welling of Farmington, Utah

Farmington, Utah

Farmington is a city in Davis County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Ogden–Clearfield, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 18,255 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Davis County...

. Welling is the historic site of the world's first side-delivery rodeo bucking chute. In 1916 Welling rancher, John W. Bascom, with his sons, put on ranch rodeos for which they designed and built rodeo's first side-delivery bronc chute. Each of the Bascom sons - Raymond, Melvin, Earl and Weldon - have been inducted into Halls of Fame for their rodeo achievements. Earl Bascom

Earl W. Bascom

Earl W. Bascom was an American painter, printmaker, rodeo performer and sculptor, raised in Canada, who portrayed his own experiences cowboying and rodeoing across the American and Canadian West.- Childhood :...

 went on to invent other pieces of rodeo equipment, including the hornless rodeo saddle and the one-hand bareback rigging, and later became an internationally-known artist and sculptor as well.

Notable people

• Paul Hinman
  Paul Hinman
  Paul Hinman is a provincial politician and small business entrepreneur from Alberta, Canada. He was formerly the leader of the Wildrose Alliance. He served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 2004 to 2008 representing the electoral district of Cardston-Taber-Warner...
  
  , (born 1959 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), a former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
  Legislative Assembly of Alberta
  The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is one of two components of the Legislature of Alberta, the other being the Queen, represented by the Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta. The Alberta legislature meets in the Alberta Legislature Building in the provincial capital, Edmonton...
  
  , the sole legislative representative and leader of the Wildrose Alliance resides in the Welling area.