Fort Edmonton was the name of a series of trading posts of the
Hudson's Bay CompanyThe Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
from 1795 to 1891, all of which were located in central
AlbertaAlberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
,
CanadaCanada 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...
. It was the end point of the
Carlton TrailThe Carlton Trail was the primary land transportation route connecting the various parts of the Canadian Northwest for most of the 19th Century. It stretched from the Red River Colony up to what is today Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan via Fort Ellice...
, the main overland route for
MetisThe Métis are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct aboriginal group, with...
freighters between the
Red River ColonyThe Red River Colony was a colonization project set up by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk in 1811 on of land granted to him by the Hudson's Bay Company under what is referred to as the Selkirk Concession. The colony along the Red River of the North was never very successful...
and the west and an important stop on the
York Factory ExpressThe York Factory Express, usually called "the Express" and also called the Columbia Express and the Communication, was a brigade operated by Hudson's Bay Company in the early 19th century connecting York Factory and Fort Vancouver. It was named "express" because it was not used only to transport...
route between
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, via
Hudson BayHudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...
, and
Fort VancouverFort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading outpost along the Columbia River that served as the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company in the company's Columbia District...
in the
Columbia DistrictThe Columbia District was a fur trading district in the Pacific Northwest region of British North America in the 19th century. It was explored by the North West Company between 1793 and 1811, and established as an operating fur district around 1810...
.
The fifth and final Fort Edmonton was the one that evolved into present-day
EdmontonEdmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
.
Fort Edmonton was also called named
Fort-des-Prairies, by French-Canadians trappers and coureurs des bois, and
Amiskwaskahegan or "
Beaver HillsThe Beaver Hills, also known as the Cooking Lake Moraine, are a rolling upland region in Central Alberta, just to the east of Edmonton, the provincial capital. It consists of of "knob and knuckle" terrain, containing many glacial moraines and depressions filled with small lakes. The landform lies...
House" by the Cree Indians during the 19th century.
Fort Edmonton, Mark I (1795–1801)
In the late 18th century, the Hudson's Bay Company was in fierce competition with the
North West CompanyThe North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what was to become Western Canada...
for the
trade of animal fursThe fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
in
Rupert's LandRupert's Land, or Prince Rupert's Land, was a territory in British North America, consisting of the Hudson Bay drainage basin that was nominally owned by the Hudson's Bay Company for 200 years from 1670 to 1870, although numerous aboriginal groups lived in the same territory and disputed the...
. As one company established a fur trading post, the other would counter by building another post in close proximity. Expansion down the Saskatchewan River began in the 1790s. In the summer of 1795, the North West Company constructed
Fort Augustus near the present-day city of Fort Saskatchewan by the
North Saskatchewan RiverThe North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows east from the Canadian Rockies to central Saskatchewan. It is one of two major rivers that join to make up the Saskatchewan River....
. In the following autumn, Hudson's Bay constructed
Edmonton House nearby, where the
Sturgeon RiverSturgeon River is a 260 km long river located in central Alberta, Canada. It is a major tributary of the North Saskatchewan River. The stream crosses Sturgeon County, which was named for this river....
meets the North Saskatchewan River. In a possible revelation of the competitive nature of the companies, Fort Augustus and Edmonton House's distance was described as being a "musket-shot" apart, yet the proximity also offered mutual security to the European traders of both companies in a land where they were all intruders.
Fort Edmonton was named by William Tomison, the HBC's Inland Master. It is thought that Tomison chose the name in honour of HBC Deputy Governor Sir James Winter Lake's birthplace of
EdmontonEdmonton is an area in the east of the London Borough of Enfield, England, north-north-east of Charing Cross. It has a long history as a settlement distinct from Enfield.-Location:...
,
MiddlesexMiddlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Tomison used the post as his headquarters until 1799, when he was stabbed in the leg by a native man and had to depart for Europe to recover. The crippling nature of his injury left Tomison unable to serve again.
Fort Edmonton, Mark II (1801–1810)
In 1801, due to several years of declining fur returns and increasingly scarce firewood, it was decided to move Fort Edmonton and Fort Augustus upstream, to what is now the Rossdale area of downtown Edmonton. This area had been a gathering place for aboriginals in the region for thousands of years.
The first woman of European descent to live in this region was the French-Canadian
Marie-Anne GabouryMarie-Anne Lagimodière was a French-Canadian woman noted as both the grandmother of Louis Riel, and as the first woman of European descent to travel to and settle in what is now Western Canada....
, who was also noteworthy as the grandmother of
Louis RielLouis David Riel was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political and spiritual leader of the Métis people of the Canadian prairies. He led two resistance movements against the Canadian government and its first post-Confederation Prime Minister, Sir John A....
. She had accompanied her fur trader husband,
Jean-Baptiste LagimodièreJean-Baptiste Lagimodière was a French Canadian trapper employed in the fur trade by the Hudson's Bay Company in Rupert's Land....
, into the west, and was known to take part in hunting expeditions. They lived in Fort Augustus from 1807 to 1811.
John RowandJohn Rowand was a fur trader for the North West Company and later, the Hudson's Bay Company. At the peak of his career, he was Chief Factor at Fort Edmonton, and in charge of the HBC's vast Saskatchewan District.-Montreal:...
, chief factor at Fort Edmonton from 1823 to 1854, first worked at Fort Augustus from 1804 to 1806; he was stationed there again from 1808 onward.
Fort Edmonton, Mark III (1810–1812)
Both Fort Augustus and Fort Edmonton moved to the White Earth Creek, near present-day
Smoky LakeSmoky Lake is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is located northeast of Edmonton at the junction of Highway 28 and Highway 855. It lies between the North Saskatchewan River, Smoky Creek and White Earth Creek. Long Lake Provincial Park is located north of the town.- Demographics :In 2006,...
, Alberta. This location was only active for two years for two main reasons: the Cree had been encouraged to visit other posts to avoid violent confrontations with the Blackfoot, yet the Blackfoot refused to travel so far off of their normal circles and consequently took their trade south to Americans.
The two posts shared a
palisadeA palisade is a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure.- Typical construction :Typical construction consisted of small or mid sized tree trunks aligned vertically, with no spacing in between. The trunks were sharpened or pointed at the top, and were...
from this time forward.
Fort Edmonton, Mark IV (1813–1830)
Fort Edmonton and Fort Augustus moved back to the second site at the Rossdale flats, it having proven to be a site more amenable for the tribes to visit.
The name Fort Augustus was dropped following the merger of the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company in 1821. After the amalgamation of the companies (which thereafter used the Hudson's Bay Company name), Fort Edmonton became the headquarters for the
Saskatchewan DistrictThe District of Saskatchewan was a regional administrative district of Canada's Northwest Territories. Much of the area was incorporated into the province of Saskatchewan. The western part became part of Alberta, and the eastern part is now part of Manitoba. Its capital was Prince Albert...
, which stretched from the
Canadian Rocky MountainsThe Canadian Rockies comprise the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains range. They are the eastern part of the Canadian Cordillera, extending from the Interior Plains of Alberta to the Rocky Mountain Trench of British Columbia. The southern end borders Idaho and Montana of the USA...
in the west to
Fort CarltonFort Carlton was a Hudson's Bay Company fur trade post from 1810 until 1885. It was rebuilt by the Saskatchewan government as a provincial historic park and can be visited today...
in the east; from the 49th parallel in the south to
Lesser Slave LakeLesser Slave Lake is a lake located in central Alberta, Canada, northwest of Edmonton. It is the second largest lake entirely within Alberta boundaries , covering and measuring over long and at its widest point. Lesser Slave Lake averages in depth and is at its deepest...
in the north. The former Nor' Wester John Rowand was placed in charge of Edmonton in 1821 as chief trader. In 1823, Rowand was promoted to chief factor. Rowand managed Saskatchewan District from Fort Edmonton until his death in 1854.
Fort Edmonton, Mark V (1830–1915)
Due to floods in the late 1820s, the Fort on the Rossdale flats had to be moved to higher ground. This fifth and final fort was built on the site that is now inhabited by the Alberta Legislature Building.
Rowand's administration
At this time, a long-serving member of the HBC,
John Edward HarriottJohn Edward Harriott was a fur trader who worked for the Hudson's Bay Company.A Londoner who entered the trade at age 17, Harriott was a dedicated and prosperous worker. He climbed through the ranks of the Hudson's Bay Company to become a chief factor for the Saskatchewan District...
, became the chief trader under Rowand. The two gained family ties when Harriott married one of Rowand's daughters. On a couple of occasions when Rowand joined HBC Inland Governor
George SimpsonSir George Simpson was a Scots-Quebecer and employee of the Hudson's Bay Company . His title was Governor-in-Chief of Rupert's Land and administrator over the Northwest Territories and Columbia Department in British North America from 1821 to 1860.-Early years:George Simpson was born in Dingwall,...
for travel abroad, Harriott acted as chief factor.
Rowand's administration from the 1830s onward coincided with a great change in the Saskatchewan District. For the first time, missionaries, artists, and curious travellers came to Edmonton to visit, sometimes for extended periods, which frustrated Rowand to some degree. Prior to this time, the only Europeans to come that far into the west were men on some sort of company business.
With Rowand having made Edmonton his home, the fort became an important centre in the west. It was a necessity for any traveller going any further west of Edmonton to go through there for provisions first. Rowand constructed a three-storey house in the heart of the fort for the exclusive use of him and his family, denoting his station to his subordinates, visitors and trade partners alike.
Influx of missionaries
Two
CatholicThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
missionaries, Francois-Norbert Blanchet and Modeste Demers, were the first to visit Fort Edmonton (called
Fort-des-Prairies) in 1838. Starting in 1840, the Fort housed the
WesleyanThe Methodist Church of Great Britain is the largest Wesleyan Methodist body in the United Kingdom, with congregations across Great Britain . It is the United Kingdom's fourth largest Christian denomination, with around 300,000 members and 6,000 churches...
missionaryA missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
Robert Rundle as a company chaplain. Rundle's tenure lasted until 1848, and his ministry and missionary work was met with competition of a sort by
Jean-Baptiste ThibaultJean-Baptiste Thibault was a Roman Catholic priest and missionary noted for his role in negotiating on behalf of the Government of Canada during the Red River Rebellion of 1869–1870. He also established the first Roman Catholic mission in what would become Alberta, at Lac Sainte Anne in...
, a Catholic priest who, like Rundle, was attempting to evangelize natives in the area. A chapel was erected inside the fort in 1843, which the Reverend Rundle boasted could host "(one) hundred Indians"; the structure also had two small rooms for Rundle's private use. Meanwhile, Rowand complained that the presence of ministers in his fort was a distraction for the natives, and was ostensibly impeding the fur trade business. On a personal level, however, Rowand had taken a liking to Rundle, and entrusted the minister with teaching his children.
In 1852, the
OblateAn oblate spheroid is a rotationally symmetric ellipsoid having a polar axis shorter than the diameter of the equatorial circle whose plane bisects it. Oblate spheroids stand in contrast to prolate spheroids....
missionary
Albert LacombeAlbert Lacombe , commonly known in Alberta simply as Father Lacombe, was a French-Canadian Roman Catholic missionary who lived among and evangelized the Cree and Blackfoot First Nations of western Canada...
first visited Fort Edmonton. With Rundle having departed in 1848, Lacombe easily took up residence in the former Methodist chapel. Lacombe took pity on the fur trade labourers, opining that, "during the summer months, [Hudson's Bay labourers' toil] was as hard as that of the African slave.". He found little sympathy for the workers from John Rowand or the HBC clerks. The following year, Lacombe moved to
Lac St. AnneLac Ste. Anne County is a municipal district in central Alberta, Canada.It is located in Census Division 13, north west of Edmonton. Highway 43 stretches across this county. The municipal seat is located in the Hamlet of Sangudo....
, but had a new
CatholicThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
chapel constructed in the fort in 1857 (but did not dwell there); this chapel lasted nearly twenty years before being moved outside of the fort.
A Methodist follow-up to Robert Rundle, Reverend Thomas Woolsey, was dispatched to Edmonton in 1852. His arrival in the fort coincided with Lacombe's residency in the former Methodist chapel, a discovery which distressed Woolsey. Conflicts and private frustrations with Catholic missionaries, and failures to convert Catholics to Protestantism, marked Woolsey's twelve-year residence at the fort.
In 1854, the mission St. Joachim was officially founded in turn at Fort-des-Praires (Fort Edmonton).
Oregon Mission
Though somewhat distant from the territory in question, Fort Edmonton, an important stop on the
York Factory ExpressThe York Factory Express, usually called "the Express" and also called the Columbia Express and the Communication, was a brigade operated by Hudson's Bay Company in the early 19th century connecting York Factory and Fort Vancouver. It was named "express" because it was not used only to transport...
overland trade route, was peripherally involved in the
Oregon Boundary DisputeThe Oregon boundary dispute, or the Oregon Question, arose as a result of competing British and American claims to the Pacific Northwest of North America in the first half of the 19th century. Both the United Kingdom and the United States had territorial and commercial aspirations in the region...
. A pair of British Army Lieutenants,
Mervin VavasourMervin Vavasour was a member of the Royal Engineers, one of the corps of the British Army.- Oregon Mission :In 1845-46, Vavasour, and Henry James Warre, both lieutenants, were dispatched on a mission to evaluate the logistics of a military campaign in the Columbia District...
and Henry James Warre, were sent on a mission in the guise of eccentric gentlemen to reconnoitre the west coast and, among other objectives, to determine which HBC posts could be used in a military conflict. Their mission took them through Fort Edmonton in the fall of 1845, and again on their way back to
MontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
in 1846. As with other posts he visited on his mission, Vavasour drew a plan of Edmonton.
Other notable visitors
The artist
Paul KanePaul Kane was an Irish-born Canadian painter, famous for his paintings of First Nations peoples in the Canadian West and other Native Americans in the Oregon Country....
first visited the fort in 1845. He produced several works of art based upon his time there.
Rowand's end
In May 1854, John Rowand died while accompanying the annual
York BoatThe York boat was an inland boat used by the Hudson's Bay Company to carry furs and trade goods along inland waterways in Rupert's Land and the Columbia District. It was named after York Factory, the headquarters of the HBC, and modeled after Orkney Islands fishing boats...
trip eastward. Accounts suggest that he tried to break up (or join) a skirmish between some of the tripmen while at
Fort PittFort Pitt is a fort built in 1830 by the Hudson's Bay Company and was a trading post on the North Saskatchewan River in Canada. It was built by Chief Factor John Rowand, previously of Fort Edmonton, in order to trade for bison hides, meat and pemmican...
, and in his rage he fell suddenly dead. He was initially buried at Fort Pitt, but was later exhumed and buried in Montreal as per his last will and testament.
Remaining administrators
Following a few short-lived administrations in Rowand's wake, William Christie was a long-lasting chief factor at Edmonton from 1858 to 1872. Christie's protegé
Richard Charles HardistyRichard Charles Hardisty was a politician from Northwest Territories, Canada.Richard ran as an Independent Conservative in the 1887 Canadian federal election and finished a close second in the Alberta . He lost to Donald Watson Davis.Richard was appointed to the Canadian Senate on the advice of...
, later a Canadian
SenatorThe Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...
, served as chief factor in Edmonton for an interim period from 1862 through 1864.
The Hudson's Bay Company relinquished Rupert's Land to the
Government of CanadaThe Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...
in 1868, pursuant to the Rupert's Land Act 1868, thus ending the HBC's administration of the vast territory and beginning an era of settlement in the 1870s.
By the 1890s, the fort was in disrepair and largely abandoned. The Hudson's Bay Company transitioned to retail stores, and business in Edmonton ran from one of those instead.
Explorers
In 1841 James Sinclair stopped at Fort Edmonton to receive instructions on where to cross the Rockies; while leading a party of nearly 200 settlers from the
Red River ColonyThe Red River Colony was a colonization project set up by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk in 1811 on of land granted to him by the Hudson's Bay Company under what is referred to as the Selkirk Concession. The colony along the Red River of the North was never very successful...
to
Fort VancouverFort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading outpost along the Columbia River that served as the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company in the company's Columbia District...
in an attempt to hold
Columbia DistrictThe Columbia District was a fur trading district in the Pacific Northwest region of British North America in the 19th century. It was explored by the North West Company between 1793 and 1811, and established as an operating fur district around 1810...
for Britain,
Captain
John PalliserJohn Palliser was an Irish-born geographer and explorer. Born in Dublin, Ireland, he was the son of Colonel Wray Palliser and a brother of Major Sir William Palliser , all descendants of Dr William Palliser, Archbishop of Cashel .From 1839 to 1863, Palliser served in the Waterford Militia,...
stayed in Fort Edmonton for a time in 1858 while on his famous
expeditionThe British North American Exploring Expedition, commonly called the Palliser Expedition, explored and surveyed the open prairies and rugged wilderness of western Canada from 1857 to 1860. The purpose was to explore possible routes for the Canadian Pacific Railway and discover new species of plants...
. With the help of the factor's wife, Palliser held a
ballA ball is a formal dance. The word 'ball' is derived from the Latin word "ballare", meaning 'to dance'; the term also derived into "bailar", which is the Spanish and Portuguese word for dance . In Catalan it is the same word, 'ball', for the dance event.Attendees wear evening attire, which is...
there.
In 1859,
the 9th Earl of SoutheskSir James Carnegie, 9th Earl of Southesk KT , known as Sir James Carnegie of Kinnaird and of Pitcarrow, 6th Baronet and de jure of the other titles, from 1849 to 1855, was a Scottish nobleman....
visited on his way to the
Rocky MountainsThe Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
, hoping that the fresh mountain air would improve his health.
Under threat of warfare
The spring of 1870 saw Fort Edmonton come under the threat of violence due to a war between the
BlackfootThe Blackfoot Confederacy or Niitsítapi is the collective name of three First Nations in Alberta and one Native American tribe in Montana....
and Cree, resulting from the slaying of Cree Chief Maskipiton. The Blackfoot were unable to ford the North Saskatchwan due to the high spring waters, but they encamped across from Fort Edmonton and harassed it with their muskets nonetheless. Some wagons full of goods had to be abandoned by traders in a hurry to reach safety inside of the fort, and their contents were spoiled by the Blackfoot. Though the fort itself was not invaded, the men within were armed and ready to fight. Chief Factor William Christie chose to withstand the Blackfoot and not attack them, fearing that to do so would only invite further violence against the Hudson's Bay Company.
Fifteen years later, on March 19, 1885, during the
North West RebellionThe North-West Rebellion of 1885 was a brief and unsuccessful uprising by the Métis people of the District of Saskatchewan under Louis Riel against the Dominion of Canada...
, Edmonton's telegraph wire was cut. Fearing imminent attack, some settlers took shelter behind the fort's old wooden palisade. No attack happened.
Dismantling
What remained of the fort was dismantled in 1915. It was seen as a crumbling eyesore next to the Alberta Legislature Building, which had been completed three years earlier. The Government of Alberta indicated at the time that it would use the old fort's timbers to create a heritage site elsewhere in the city, but it never did.
List of chief factors
| Chief Factors at Fort Edmonton |
| Chief Factor |
Years Served |
Notes |
| William Tomison |
1795–1796 |
Started Edmonton House to compete with NWCThe North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what was to become Western Canada...
Fort Augustus. |
| George Sutherland |
1796–1797 |
|
| William Tomison |
1797–1798 |
|
| James Curtis Bird |
1799–1816 |
The fort was relocated twice during Bird's tenure. |
| Hugh Carswell |
1816–1817 |
|
| Francis Heron |
1817–1821 |
HBCThe Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
and NWCThe North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what was to become Western Canada...
merger coincides with the end of Heron's tenure; afterward, Fort Augustus was absorbed into Fort Edmonton. |
| James Sutherland |
1821–1822 |
|
| John Rowand John Rowand was a fur trader for the North West Company and later, the Hudson's Bay Company. At the peak of his career, he was Chief Factor at Fort Edmonton, and in charge of the HBC's vast Saskatchewan District.-Montreal:...
|
1823–1840 |
Longest-serving chief factor at Edmonton. |
| John Edward Harriott John Edward Harriott was a fur trader who worked for the Hudson's Bay Company.A Londoner who entered the trade at age 17, Harriott was a dedicated and prosperous worker. He climbed through the ranks of the Hudson's Bay Company to become a chief factor for the Saskatchewan District...
|
1841–1842 |
Rowand's chief trader and son-in-law by country marriage. |
| John Rowand |
1842–1846 |
|
| John Edward Harriott |
1847–1848 |
|
| John Rowand |
1848–1854 |
Final years of service; died May 30, 1854. |
| William Sinclair |
1854–1857 |
|
| John Swanston |
1857–1858 |
|
| William J. Christie |
1858–1872 |
|
| Richard Charles Hardisty Richard Charles Hardisty was a politician from Northwest Territories, Canada.Richard ran as an Independent Conservative in the 1887 Canadian federal election and finished a close second in the Alberta . He lost to Donald Watson Davis.Richard was appointed to the Canadian Senate on the advice of...
|
1872–1883 |
Later a Canadian Senator. |
| James MacDougall |
1883–1885 |
|
| Richard Charles Hardisty |
1885–1888 |
|
| Harrison S. Young |
1888–1891 |
|
| William T. Livock |
1891–1910 |
Transitioned to the retail store located on Jasper Avenue in what is now Edmonton's downtown core. The outward face of an old HBC department store still exists there, but the building is presently inhabited by Citytv Edmonton and a branch of the U of AThe University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...
. |
Legacy
In 1923 the suspected site of the original Forts Augustus and Edmonton was a National Historic Site of Canada, and a plaque was place in Fort Saskatchewan. In 1959, the site of Fort Edmonton III was also made a National Historic Site and plaque was installed near the Alberta Legislature building. Similarly the Fort Edmonton-Fort Gary Trail was also named a National Historic Site and a plaque for it was installed in Edmonton in 1996.
Reconstruction
In 1969, a reconstruction of the fifth Fort Edmonton began five kilometres upstream from its final site, representing it as it stood in 1846, but this time on the south bank of the North Saskatchewan River. This marked the beginning of
Fort Edmonton ParkFort Edmonton Park is an attraction in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Named for the first enduring European post in the area of modern-day Edmonton, the park is the largest living history museum in Canada by area...
, which has become one of the city's premier tourist attractions. The park represents, through various historical buildings, four distinct time periods, exploring Edmonton's development from a fur trade post in the vast Northwest, to a booming metropolitan centre after the First World War.
External links