by Anthony Imbrogno, a volunteer with The Calgary Heritage Initiative Society/Heritage Inspires YYC
Fur trading provided First Nations with manufactured goods and saw more people arriving from the east. John Palliser led a hunting/science expedition in 1857. He described Palliser’s Triangle as an arid area surrounded by agricultural lands.
Calgary soon saw its earliest settlements. The first European to arrive was John Glenn (ca.1873), who established a farm where Fish Creek meets the Bow. Sandford Fleming meanwhile was surveying a route for Canadian Pacific Railway.
The second group were Francophones. In 1861, Father Lacombe founded a chapel in St. Albert, Alberta’s oldest building. Father Doucet later established St. Mary’s, Calgary’s first mission.
Third, starting in 1869, former Métis HBC employees arrived on the Elbow River. One family, Antoine Godin and Susanne Bruneau, were likely Calgary’s first permanent residents.
Illegal whisky from the U.S. was trading in the area, which led Ottawa to create the North-West Mounted Police. They began their March West in July 1874. They made slow progress and struggled to supply themselves. Eventually, they founded Fort Macleod and started arresting whisky traders. There, Lt.-Colonel James Macleod met with Chief Isapo-Muxika (“Crowfoot”), who wanted peace and security for his people.
Macleod then sent a detachment to establish a fort along the Old North Trail halfway between Forts Macleod and Edmonton. For millennia, the Trail was used as a food-rich and sheltered route between the harsher montane and prairie environments.
On August 25, 1875, George C. King became the first NWMP officer to cross the Bow River and arrive at its confluence with the Elbow. Macleod named it Fort Calgary, after his good memories from staying at Calgary House, Scotland.
More Métis arrived from Fort Edmonton. They constructed log cabins along the Elbow and HBC opened a post in 1876 called Hunt House, the oldest building in Calgary remaining on its original site.
Meanwhile, John Glenn and Sam Livingston become the first to cultivate cereal crops and use mechanized farm equipment. Livingston established Glenmore School, named after his Irish home village.
What would the future hold for all the people now calling the Calgary area home? Join us next month.
All copyright images cannot be shared without prior permission.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palliser%27s_Triangle_map.png. Map showing the extent of Palliser’s Triangle in Western Canada, 2005. Created by NormanEinstein, via Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. https://digitalcollections.ucalgary.ca/asset-management/2R3408IVOJW?WS=SearchResults.
“Mission, St. Albert, Alberta.”, 1877, (CU2120436) by Unknown. Courtesy of Glenbow Library and Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary. https://digitalcollections.ucalgary.ca/asset-management/2R3BF1FXWQPR?WS=SearchResults.
“View of Roman Catholic mission in Calgary, Alberta.”, [ca. 1883], (CU1155424) by Unknown. Courtesy of Glenbow Library and Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary. First building on the Mission property. Possibly Father Albert Lacombe at left. https://digitalcollections.ucalgary.ca/asset-management/2R3BF1FR1KU4.
“The John Glenn Ranch, near Calgary, Alberta.”, [ca. 1884-1885], (CU1129267) by Unknown. Courtesy of Glenbow Library and Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary. https://digitalcollections.ucalgary.ca/asset-management/2R3BF1OABABA?WS=SearchResults.
“North-West Mounted Police crossing, Belly River, Alberta.”, 1874-09-14, (CU198691) by Julien, Henri. Courtesy of Glenbow Library and Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary. https://digitalcollections.ucalgary.ca/asset-management/2R3BF1FQ582P?WS=SearchResults.
“North-West Mounted Police scouts at Fort Macleod, Alberta.”, 1890-12-20, (CU1138291) by Steele and Company. Courtesy of Glenbow Library and Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary. L-R back row: Mr. Hunbury; Jerry Potts. L-R middle row: Cecil Denny, Staff Sergeant Chris Hilliard; Sergeant George S. Cotter. L-R front row: Black Eagle; Elk Facing the Wind. See also NA-936-9. https://digitalcollections.ucalgary.ca/asset-management/2R3BF1SU9WIR?WS=SearchResults.
“North-West Mounted Police inspection, Fort Macleod, Alberta”, [ca. 1894], (CU1171653) by Unknown. Courtesy of Glenbow Library and Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary. https://digitalcollections.ucalgary.ca/asset-management/2R3BF1F7DRQI?WS=SearchResults.
“Fort Calgary, Alberta.”, [ca. 1878-1879], (CU1137653) by Hook View Company Incorporated. Courtesy of Glenbow Library and Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Calgary_House_-_geograph.org.uk_-_5946142.jpg.
Calgary House, 2018. Andrew Wood, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hunt_House_1.jpg.
Hunt House (H.B.C. Log Cabin) 806 – 9 Avenue SE, Calgary. This building has been substantially restored by the property owners of Cross House Restaurant. 23 March 2018, Author Benlarhome. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
