HISTORY . . . First Nations, hunters, traders, explorers and missionaries lay the groundwork for the future

 
Part 1 - Communities in the wilderness
 
First Nations, hunters, traders, explorers and missionaries lay the groundwork for the future
 
It is believed that the first inhabitants in the Red Deer region arrived about 12,000 years ago as sheets of ice receded from the last ice age.
 
Prior to the early 1700's, very little is known about the communities and peoples that lived in Central Alberta.
 
It is believed that the Shoshoni or Snake First Nation peoples lived in the region but were pushed southward by the Blackfoot (Peigan, Blood, Blackfoot/Siksika) as they moved west from Saskatchewan, largely as a result of the western movement of European settlers from eastern Canada which had also gradually forced the movement of the buffalo and other wildlife west.
 
In 1754, Anthony Henday was sent west by the Hudson's Bay Company to entice the prairie First Nation people to bring their furs down the Saskatchewan River system to their fort on Hudson Bay. At the time, the Stoney people were hunting and trapping in Central Alberta and had frequent conflicts with the Blackfoot.
 
It is likely that Henday was the first European to visit the Red Deer region and it is believed that he viewed the area and saw the Rocky Mountains for the first time from Antler Hill near the present town of Innisfail. He also met with the Blackfoot at Ghost Lake (now Pine Lake) and crossed the Red Deer River at least twice south of Tail Creek (near present-day Delburne).
 
In 1799, the North West Company built a trading post at Rocky Mountain House on the North Saskatchewan River. it was followed by a post at Acton House by the Hudson Bay Company.
 
David Thompson, map-maker and surveyor, used the post until 1801 as a base to explore the river system returning in 1807 to explore the mountains. In 1821 the two companies merged; Acton House was maintained and renamed Rocky Mountain House. A fort was built in 1868 and abandoned in 1875.
 
In 1819-20, a measles epidemic wiped out one third of the Blackfoot population. And in 1870, a smallpox epidemic wiped out almost a half of all the First Nations people in Alberta.
 
A few missionaries travelled through the region visiting with several First Nation tribes assisting with epidemics that decimated much of the native population, settling disputes and attempting to make peace with the white man's government.
 
In 1855 Father Albert Lacombe, particularly well known as a peacemaker between rival First Nation tribes as well as with the white man, made his first trip through the region.
 
In the late 1860's large buffalo camps were established west of Stettler, most of whom were Metis. Buffalo Lake had a population of around 1,500 people. Tail Creek (current location of Content Bridge near Delburne on the Red Deer River) had a population of 2,000 making it the largest community west of Winnipeg at the time.
 
However, the huge buffalo herds had started to diminish and by 1879 they were virtually gone. (It is estimated that in 1800, there were 60 million buffalo on the plains of North America -- they were killed at an estimated rate of 200,000 per year between 1830 and 1870 accounting for only 15% of the buffalo's near extinction).
 
In 1869, peacemaker Cree Chief Maskepetoon was killed by a Blackfoot warrior.
 
In 1876, the Crees signed Treaty Number 6 and in the following year, the Blackfoot, Sarcee and Stoneys signed Treaty Number 7. In 1880, Indian Reserves were established for the Crees and Stoneys at Hobbema, north of present-day Ponoka.

Part 1 - Communities in the wilderness - First Nations, hunters, traders,
             explorers and missionaries lay the groundwork for the future
 
Part 2 - The Calgary-Edmonton Trail - Settlements develop around the Crossing
             of the Red Deer River
 

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