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Wetaskiwin, Settlement

Wetaskiwin was one of the longest inhabited areas in Central Alberta and was known as the Peace Hills region. The city of Wetaskiwin derived its name from the aboriginal name "Wetaskiwin Spatinow" which means in the Cree language "the place where peace was made". Like many places in Canada, Wetaskiwin owes its name to Aboriginal folklore. The Red Deer River was the dividing line between the Blackfoot in the south and the Cree in the north. Problems occurred when the Blackfoot crossed the river to hunt buffalo in Cree territory. One version of the legend tells of a meeting in 1860 between the Crees, led by Chief Broken Arm, and a group of Blackfoot tribesmen who were travelling to Fort Edmonton. This event is said to have been used by the Cree chief to forgive a Blackfoot warrior who had earlier killed his son.

Another interpretation tells of a fight between two young chiefs from the Cree and Blackfoot nations. Tired from the fight, they proceeded to sit down and rest. The young Blackfoot chief pulled out his pipe to smoke. When the Cree warrior saw this, he too decided to do the same thing but he found his pipe was broken in three pieces. The Blackfoot chief then offered the Cree chief a smoke from his pipe. The Cree chief accepted this offer and both of them immediately realized that to use another's pipe was the same as smoking the Peace Pipe. When they returned to their camps, they told the old chieftains what had happened and decided that it was a sign from the Great Manitou. The aboriginals regarded it as a sign from the Great Spirit and gathered to smoke the Peace Pipe on the spot where the fight had occurred.

The area was known as Siding 16 because it was the 16th stop north of Calgary on the Calgary - Edmonton line, known as C & E Railway. Most of the first white people in the area were settlers or government agents. Some of the first settlers in the district were Frank Lucas, J. West, J.C. McKay, J. Tomlin, A.S. Rosenroll, C.E. Compton, A.A. Ellis, Lee Kelley, D. MacEachern and C.D. Enman. The Lucas family was the first family to settle in the area where they operated the Peace Hills Agency farm. It was on this farm in 1885 that Fort Ethier was built during the North West Rebellion to protect the Calgary-Edmonton trail and to provide refuge for white settlers. Many of these early settlers were of Scandinavian origin, others came from the United States, Russia, England, Germany and other European countries. They came to the area because of the cheap farmland. Missionaries arrived beginning in May 1881. The name of Wetaskiwin was adopted by the suggestion of Father Albert Lacombe in 1891.

During the 1885 Riel Rebellion, a fort was built at Lucas Grove, just north of Wetaskiwin, to protect the settlers in case of an attack. The post was called Fort Ethier. In 1891, the C & E Railway completed construction between Calgary and Edmonton; with the completion came the settlers. In 1900 Wetaskiwin was established as a village and in 1902 as a town. The area soon developed and in 1904 a branch line of the Canadian Pacific Railway between Wetaskiwin and Winnipeg was constructed to serve the needs of the new settlers east of the city. Wetaskiwin became incorporated as a city in 1906. It was known for many years as the smallest city in the British Empire.

Link:
Cities and Towns of Central Alberta

Main street of Wetaskiwin

Main street of Wetaskiwin

Cree Dance

Cree Dance