In 1870 the HBC sold its Rupert’s Land territory to Canada. In 1875 this area was organized into the North-West Territories. By 1882 the whole area was divided into four “provisional districts,” which were named “Assiniboia,” “Saskatchewan,” “Athabasca,” and “Alberta.” The boundaries of the district of Alberta were the 49th parallel in the south, and the 55th parallel to the north, running just south of Lesser Slave Lake and Grande Prairie. Its western boundary was the Rockies, and its eastern boundary was a line running along the 111ºW line of longitude. Today this would draw a line from just east of the town of Milk River, west of Brooks, and north through Lac La Biche. Our current border with Saskatchewan is 110ºW. From 1878 to 1883, the Marquess of Lorne (1845–1914) was Canada’s governor general. During his tenure, he was asked to name one of the new provisional districts. Seven years earlier, he had married Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria. The Marquess of Lorne wrote at the time of the naming of the district: In token of the love which thou has shown For this wide land of freedom, I have named A province vast, and for its beauty famed By thy dear name A controversy arose over the district’s naming, and the Edmonton Bulletin on July 1, 1882, noted: The names of Manitoba, Assiniboia, Saskatchewan and Athabaska sound well and are very appropriate, but the same can hardly be said of the remaining district. Alberta may be a very nice name for a baby girl, although that is a matter of opinion, but there can scarcely be two opinions [for it as] the name of a great province in a great country. It is not usual to name places after persons unless those persons are exceedingly great or are in some way connected with the place named for them…. Surely in a region having such grand and varied features as this, some natural characteristic could be found that could give an appropriate and pleasant sounding name to the whole. The other three districts were named for predominant features in their areas – rivers. A form of the name had earlier been proposed for the entire North-West Territories. From a newspaper in 1860, the Nor’ Wester, came the suggestion: “You might … commemorate the visit of the heir-apparent and name it after him.” The heir-apparent did not take over the throne until his mother’s death in 1901 – that was Edward VII, known to his family as “Bertie.” Both Louise Caroline Alberta and Albert Edward were named for their father, Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria. The name suggested for the territories in 1860 was “Albertia.”