1795
Hudson's Bay Company builds Edmonton House (Fort Edmonton) in
what is now Fort Saskatchewan.
1821
Union of the Northwest Company and Hudson's Bay Company with
George Simpson as the Governor of the Company and John Rowand as the Chief
Factor of the Saskatchewan District.
Corporate Wars in the North: Hudson's Bay Company versus the Northwest
Company
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1830
Fort Edmonton is relocated to its last site on what are now the
grounds of the Alberta Legislature.
1837
Hudson's Bay Company's charter to be sole controllers of fur trade
in the Northwest is renewed on the condition that it promote religious and
moral advancement
1840
A number of Methodist Missionaries are sent to Hbc posts by the
Wesleyan Missionary Society of London, including Robert Terrill Rundle to
Fort Edmonton, George Barnley to Moose Factory and William Mason to Lac la
Pluie. James Evans was made superintendent, stationed at Norway House
(Manitoba) Rundle is the first settled missionary of any church in Upper
Canada.
1841
James Evans travels to Lesser slave Lake and Fort Edmonton where he
teaches Rundle the Cree syllabics. Used for worship booklets and letter
writing, the use of syllabics spreads rapidly.
Fr. Jeanne Baptiste Thibault arrives at Fort Edmonton. Rundle was not
pleased. In his Journals he writes: Returned to the Fort early in the
morning and found a Popish priest there.
1844
First Mission established at Lac Ste. Anne by Rev.
Jean Baptiste
Thibault.
Women
in Place Names: Lac Ste Anne Listen
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1846
Evans returns to England.
1847
First Methodist Mission established at Pigeon Lake by Robert
Rundle. Benjamin Sinclair is called in from Norway House to help him. With
help of local people they plant the first garden outside the Fort.
1848
Rundle returns to England leaving Sinclair as the sole
representative of the Protestant Church west of the Red River
Settlement.
1852
Father Albert Lacombe replaces Thibault at Lac Ste. Anne.
1853
Canadian Methodist Church receives control of the Western Mission
field from the British Wesleayn Missionary Society. The misisons are now
independent from Hbc control
1855
Thomas Woosley is appointed to Edmonton and Henry Bird Steinhauer
to Lac La Biche. They are the first home missionaries for the Canadian
Protestant Church.
1856
Woosley, joined by Peter Erasmus as an interpreter, reopens the
Pigeon Lake Mission.
1857
Woosley visits Rocky Mountain House and holds the first
Protestant sermon in 10 years. Steinhauer opens a new mission site at
Whitefish Lake. Roman Catholic chapel built within the enclosure of Fort
Edmonton.
1858
Woolsey abandons Pigeon Lake Mission for a site on Smoking Lake.
John Palliser conducts the "Palliser Expedition" to map Rupert's
Land and asses its agricultural potential for the British government. They
name a mountain after Rundle - "Mount Rundle."
Place
Names of the Palliser Expedition: Part 1
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1859
George McDougall is appointed Superintendent of the Saskatchewan
District and stationed at the Rossville Mission near Norway House. Three
Catholic Sisters of the order of the Grey Nuns of Montreal arrive at the
Lac Ste. Anne Mission.
1862
George McDougall moves west and establishes Victoria Mission on north
bank of the North Saskatchewan River. Bishop Tache and Father Lacombe
establish a new mission called St. Albert.
1864
Food shortages affect Hbc. The Company advises the missionaries
that henceforth they can no longer purchase their supplies at the forts.
Closest supplies are at Winnipeg.
Increasingly affected by poor health Thomas Woolsey returns to England.
John
McDougall and wife, Abigail Steinhauer, appointed to re-open Pigeon Lake
Mission, renamed Woodville, after Enoch Wood, the Canadian Superintendent
of Missions.
1867
The British North American Act is passed - the Dominion of Canada
is created by the colonies of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Canada East and
Canada West. John A. McDonald becomes Canada's first Prime Minister.
1869
Canadian government purchases Rupert's Land from Hudson's Bay
Company for approximately $ 1.5 million. Outbreak of the Red River
Resistance.
1869-71
Smallpox epidemic sweeps through Western Canada resulting in the death
of three members of McDougall's family and thousands of First Nation
people. Abigail dies at Victoria Mission. George McDougall and family move
to Fort Edmonton to establish Methodist mission.
Smallpox
Epidemics, Part 5 Listen
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1870
The Dominion Land Survey starts operating with the Red River
Settlement.
Dominion
Land Survey, Part 1: Political Context
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1872
First western Missions Conference held in Winnipeg. John McDougall is
ordained as missionary and appointed to open a mission to the Stoneys on
the Bow River. He travels first to Ontario and marries Elizabeth
Boyd.
1873
Cypress Hill Massacre. Dominion Parliament passes Act establishing
the Royal Northwest Mounted Police. Following year the first contingent
arrives in the West. John McDougall is asked by the government to prepare
the Aboriginal people for Treaty making.
Towns:
Fort McLeod Listen
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1874
William Newton arrives in Edmonton, the first missionary of the
Church of England in Alberta territory
1876
Signing of Treaty No. 6. This leds to the creation of Saddle Lake and
Whitefish Lake reserves. George McDougall dies during buffalo hunt.
Treaties,
Part 3: #4 & #6 Listen
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1877
Signing of Treaty No. 7 at Blackfoot Crossing
Treaties
Part 4: #7 at Blackfoot Crossing
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1880
James Maclean establishes the Kainai Mission in Southern Alberta.
1880
In depth land surveying under the direction of the Dominion Land
Survey begins to take place in what is now Alberta. The number of
surveyors peaks in 1883.
Dominion
Land Survey, Part 2: Challenges on the Prairie
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1881
A. Baird arrives in Edmonton as the first Presbyterian missionary.
1884
Benjamin Sinclair and Henry Bird Steinhauer die on the same weekend
and, with consent of both families, are buried in the same grave at
Whitefish Lake.
1885
Riel Rebellion, Massacre at Frog Lake, twelve killed among which are
two Missionary Priests, Father Faford and Father Marchand
1889
John Niddrie moves to Morley and acts as a teacher at the Mission
School. Nine years later he would be made the principal of the McDougall
Institute.
1893
Opening of the Red Deer Industrial School with the Reverend John Nelson
as principal. The school was operated by the Methodist Church of Canada
and funded by the Federal Government
1896
Clifford Sifton becomes Federal Minister of the Interior. He wages
an active overseas publicity campaign aimed to attract Eastern European
immigrants to settle as farmers in western Canada.
1902
Formal discussions regarding union are initiated between
Congregational, Methodist and Presbyterian churches
1905
The Province of Alberta is proclaimed.
1906
John McDougall retires from missionary activity.
1910
John Niddrie leaves Morley to act as a missionary at Oxford House.
He would continue to work in Manitoba and end his career there in 1938
1925
Formation of the United Church of Canada.
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