Edmonton And Area

Edmonton is Canada's fifth largest city and the provincial capital. It began as a Hudson's Bay Company fur trade post, which is faithfully recreated at Fort Edmonton Park in Edmonton's river valley. As the 19th century drew to a close, so did the fur trade era, but a new source of prosperity was on the horizon - the Yukon gold rush. Edmonton served as the supply point for the thousands of fortune hunters who ventured north. The discovery of oil at Leduc in 1947 "fuelled" a new wave of wealth in central and northern Alberta that continues to this day. Home to the province's fist and largest university, the University of Alberta, Edmonton is a stately city on the banks of the scenic North Saskatchewan River. It boasts the largest natural city-park system in North America, which provides year-round recreational opportunities.