We had a recent question on twitter asking what made Edmonton
such a great spot to build the Hudson's Bay Fort here.
We went to Public
Programs Coordinator Tom Long (and our own personal Fort
Edmonton Wikipedia) to find out more.
"This is a fantastic question. It's one of the reasons our theme
for 1846 is 'Why are we/you here?", because we want to juxtapose
the presence of Company men and trading posts in the area with
modern reasons for living in Edmonton.
The better question is,
why *not* have a post at Edmonton. Edmonton is perfectly located to
take advantage of the prairie to the south (where bison abound),
and the parkland to the north (full of beaver), all while
sitting atop a navigable river that leads, eventually to Hudson
Bay. In addition, the Edmonton region was considered at the time
the borderlands between the Cree nation and the Blackfoot
Confederacy, so Edmonton could trade with both. The Tsuu T'ina
(Sarcee) and Nakoda (Assiniboine) nations were also nearby.
Finally, it was fairly easy to get from Edmonton to Athabaska
Landing overland. From there, you had river access to the Jasper
Region and all of northern Alberta and further into what is now the
Territories. Edmonton was the transportation link for all these
locations to the Hudson Bay, via the North Saskatchewan. So, in a
way, Edmonton was the 'gateway to the North' even during the Fur
Trade period.
Or to put it
very succinctly, the Edmonton region has access to parkland and
prairie, Cree and Blackfoot, and links most of the northwest part
of the continent to the Hudson Bay itself.
It should be
noted, however, that 'Edmonton House' was not always located within
the boundaries of modern Edmonton. The first post called Edmonton
was actually where Fort Saskatchewan is today. The third was
further east of this. There were five locations in
total.
To go on just
a little more, the locations in Edmonton were all near the Rossdale
flats, which is where the easiest ford of the North Saskatchewan
River was, right between Walterdale and Rossdale. Nitsitapii bands
(Blackfoot) would cross the river here or be ferried in boats from
the south.
Oh how I could
go on!"
Have a
question about Fort Edmonton or for Tom?
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