Fort Victoria (Alberta)

Fort Victoria, near present-day Smoky Lake, Alberta, Alberta, was established by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1864 as a trading post with the local Cree First Nations. Today, it is a historical museum.

The oldest building in Alberta still on its original foundations is the clerk's quarters at Fort Victoria, which dates from 1865.

Later the site of the Fort became a hub for the early settlement of East-Central Alberta. It came to be called the Victoria Settlement and later, Pakan. It also became home for the McDougall Presbyterian missionary family. Still later, the settlement served as a base for Methodist missionaries to the Ukrainian Canadians.

The post was also a vital stop on the trail from Winnipeg to Edmonton. The section of the this trail currently within the eastern part of the city of Edmonton is a now a paved road called Victoria Trail in honour of the fort.

The Fort lies with the Kalyna Country ecomuseum. It has been designated a national historic site of Canada and a provincial historic site of Alberta. The museum that is there today is operated by the provincial government.

ee also

* History of Alberta

References

*cite web |url=http://www.rewedmonton.ca/content_view2?CONTENT_ID=117 |title= "Victoria Settlement at 140"|accessdate=2008-04-15 |author=Herzog, Lawerence |date=June 13, 2002 |work=Real Estate Weekly |publisher=Realtors Association of Edmonton