Ghost River, renamed Morleyville by settlers, is the site of southern Alberta's oldest pioneer settlement. This portion of land in the Stoney reserve contained the Morleyville church which, prior to the fire in May 2017, was declared a provincial historical site. Surrounded by undisturbed native prairie, the remains of the fire were still standing on this cold windy day in January 2018. The entire site is now completely gone.

The church was constructed in 1875 by the Methodist mission, guided by John McDougall, at the same time that treaties were being planned for the Blackfoot territory in southern Alberta. Two years after the church was completed, Treaty 7 was signed, and under its terms approximately 130,000 km2 of land was surrendered to the government. The treaty negotiations are widely known to have been fraudulent, and due to the lack of land management by the government, many of its signatories wound up witnessing the very last bison hunt in the area. The Stoney-Nakoda, traditionally Ĩyãħé Nakoda, were assigned to the reserve nearby the church. A residential school was located in the nearby town of Morley from 1886 until 1949.

The Stoney Nakoda First Nations are hopeful that reconciliation will mean the land the church once stood on is finally returned.