ALBERTA HISTORY 1883-1878

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THE GARNEAU HOMESTEAD IS OVERLOOKING  FORT EDMONTON

1875  

St. Alberta (Alberta), birth Lucie Beaudry Metis daughter Narcisse Beaudry, Metis b-1845 and Lucie Breland, born February 22, 1848 Red River

Pierre Belcourt, b-1875, Lac Ste Anne (Alberta) son Eswin Belcourt, b-1843, Lac Ste Anne (Alberta) and Louise Paul b-1857, Lac Ste Anne (Alberta).

Basil Boucher, b-1875 McKenzie River, died after 1881 son Francois Boucher Sr, b-1824 and Elizabeth Native.

Jane Bourk, Metis b-1875 N.W.T. living Fort Edmonton (Alberta), 1891.

Ephrem A. Brisboise (1850-1890) of NWMP and company built Fort Briseboise but his men so disliked him that his boss James Farguarson Macleod (1836-1894) had to come and change the name to Fort Calgary mean clear running water.  Macleod Trail in Calgary was named in his honor.

(III)-John Bunn Metis (1832-1878) HBC (1867-1878) assigned Bow Fort, Edmonton District (Alberta) (1875-1878), 

Emilie Chalifoux, Metis, b-1875,Lac La Nun (Alberta), son Joseph Chalifoux, Metis, b-1838, Lesser Slave Lake (Alberta), and Julie Campion, b-1841 Lake McLeod

Louis Chastellain (Chatelaine) b-1808 from Lachine, Quebec, possibly a Metis, joined HBC (1830-1833) Columbia District, HBC (1833-1878) Saskatchewan District. assigned Fort Edmonton (1875-1878) then retired to Red River.

William Donald Metis b-1875 son George Donald (McDonald?), Metis b-1816 N.W.T. married to Elizabeth Metis b-1834 N.W.T., living Fort Edmonton 1891. 

Collin Frazer (Fraser), Metis b-1849 N.W.T. married about 1875 N.W.T. Floria Metis b-1850 N.W.T, living Fort Edmonton 1891.

Louis Daze perished in a storm near Nose Hill, Calgary (Alberta).

Cecil Denny described Calgary as "an enchanting spot . . . the most beautiful we have seen since our arrival in the west."

Flora Deschamps, b-1875, Calgary (Alberta), daughter Jean Baptiste Rabasca Deschamps, b-1850 and Marguerite Berard, b-1856.

Philomene Dumont, Metis, b-1875, Calgary, (Alberta) daughter Jean Baptiste Dumont Jr. Metis, born June, 1852, Slave Lake (Alberta), and Philomene Vanesse Metis born October 1856.

Eleanor Garneau nee Thomas, Metis, (1852-1912) between 1875-1887 applied for half-breed script.

(I)-John Glenn, born 1833/34, Ireland married 1873 St. Albert (Alberta), Adelaide Belcourt, Metis born August, 1851, Lac Ste Anne, (Alberta) settled in Calgary (Alberta), about 1875.  He homestead a few miles south of Calgary and is the first recorded to attempt to irrigate in the Northwest Territories.  He took water from Fish Creek (Calgary, Alberta), to irrigate his 20 acres.  A son is born this year at Sheep Creek and named (II)-Johnny Glenn.

(I)-Malcolm Groat b-1839 employed HBC (1861-1875) worked the Saskatchewan River and retired from Egg Lake 1875 to establish river lot #1 just west of Edmonton House with his wife (III)-Anne Margaret Christie Metis b-1851 daughter (II)-William Joseph Christie Metis 

(I)-George Gullion b-1833 (HBC 1849-1874) a freeman appears to settle down near Fort Edmonton this year.

(I)-Robert Hamilton b-1826 Ireland, d-1891 Ontario, lived Glenora, Fenelon Falls, Ontario, joined HBC 1844 Tadoussac and other station until 1876.  In charge of Fort Edmonton (1875-1876).  He married (II)-Annie Seaborn Miles Metis (1838-1863) daughter (I)-Robert Seaborn Miles (1795-1879) and (II)-Elizabeth Betsey Sinclair Metis (1805-1878). 
    (II)-Miles Hamilton Metis born March 29, 1864 Brockville, Ontario
    (II)-Max Hamilton Metis 
    (II)-William Hamilton Metis 
    (II)-Unnamed daughter Hamilton Metis March 14, 1875, d-1876

Wesley Huminson b-1875 N.W.T., living Assiniboina (Alberta), 1891.

Mary Larocque Metis b-1875 Metis daughter Louis Larocque Metis b-1850/52 Red River and Angelique Metis b-1851/52 N.W.T., living Edmonton 1891 and 1901.

Cornelious Leblanc Sr., b-1850, Fort Edmonton (Alberta), son Louis Leblanc Sr. and Angelique Vallee, b-1820 Fort Edmonton (Alberta), : married 1875, Fort MacLeod, (Alberta), Mary Favel, b-1858, Fort Edmonton daughter Thomas Favel and Josephte. 

John Logan, Metis b-1875, Alberta married about 1897 Alberta, Emma Metis b-1877 Alberta, living Logan, Alberta 1901.

George Loutit?  b-1873, NWT son Ellen Loutit? b-1853 N.W.T widow married about 1870, 1891 census Edmonton

John F. Majilvery? b-1875 N.W.T. son Isabel Majilvery? b-1835 N.W.T, 1891 census Edmonton

Henry McCorristem Jr., born May 10, 1849, son Henry McCorrister, Jr., b-1817 and Maria Tait, b-1820; married 1875 Smoky River, Athabasca, Margaret Pelletier (or Campbell), Metis b-September 1852 daughter Louis Pelletier (or Campbell) Sr., Metis, born July 15, 1829, up the North Saskatchewan River in Rocky Mountains married 1845 Fort Jasper (Alberta), Marie Karaconti;  married 1875 Smoky River, Athabasca, Henry McCorristem Jr., born May 10, 1849, son Henry McCorrister, b-1817 and Maria Tait, b-1820.

Alex McDonald, Metis b-1875 Athabasca married about 1897 Alberta Caroline Metis b-1875 Alberta, living Lac La Biche, Alberta 1901.

(II)- George McDougall (1822-1875), the Methodist, at age fifty four, froze to death traveling alone from Calgary to the Methodist Mission at Morley, during a snowstorm.  He died two miles from his tent on a hill-top at Nose Creek Valley, north of Fort Calgary, and not far from the R.D. (Dick) Garneau home in Huntington Hills.   

Addison McPherson was operating a trading post on the Sheep River for some time, near the present town of Okotoks, Alberta, when the NWMP arrived. 

Botanist John Macoun of the Geological Survey of Canada explored and gave the first scientific account of the Athabasca region.

Daniel Webster Marsh arrived Calgary to open a store for whiskey trader T.C. Power.  Whiskey trading Marsh would become mayor of Calgary in 1889.

Mary Munro, Metis b-1875 N.W.T. sister Benjamin and Francis living Fort Edmonton 1891.

Canon William Newton, Anglican Missionary, arrived Fort Edmonton.

Joseph Perrault, Metis b-1875, Alberta married about 1894, Alberta, living Lac Ste Anne, 1901.

Gaspard Plante, Metis b-1875 (1865?) Alberta son Isabelle Plante b-1829 Alberta; married about 1892 Justine Metis b-1866 Alberta, living Lac Ste Anne 1901. 

Fredrick Prudin, Metis b-1875 Alberta son Partick Prudin, Metis b-1843 and Elizabeth Metis b-1846 living Alberta 1875 to 1890, living Lakeland eastern Alberta 1891.

Michel Plante b-1875, St. Albert (Alberta) son Michel Plante, b-1851, Fort Pitt, Saskatchewan and Juliet Nault, b-1848, Fort Edmonton.

Brother Alexis Reynard, O.M.I., was killed by his Iroquois guide on the way toe Lac La Biche (Alberta).

Tom Scott, Metis b-1875 N.W.T. married about 1897 N.W.T. Louisa Metis b-1872 N.W.T., living Olsen, Alberta 1901.

Charles Spence, Metis b-1875 Alberta, living Mountain view, Alberta 1901.

Fathers Lestang and Fafard are at Buffalo Lake.(west Stettler, Alberta)

Tail Creek, birth Marguerite Vandal, Metis, daughter Norman Vandal, Metis, b-1857 and Julie Munroe, Metis, b-1859.

Norman Ward, b-1875 Buffalo Lake (west Stettler, Alberta) son James Ward Sr. (1831-1906) and Catherine Bruneau.

Colonel William Jarvis (1834-1914) of the Mounted Police, with 13 men, arrived Tail Creek des Metis after dark and search among the 400 cabins for illicit whiskey: finding nothing.  The Mounted Police are engulfed in a torrent of warmth, food and sociability.  Jigs and reels continued throughout the night, with competitions being held for endurance and agility.   Jarvis and company remained four days and enjoyed the novelty of the situation.  They were well fed on bison (buffalo) tongue, bannok, strong tea and tinned fruit.  Victoria Calihoo, born 1861 of Gunn, Alberta, is twice the winner of a fine bison (buffalo) robe for dancing the Red River jig.  The Police left after four days, convinced that the Metis are people whose good qualities far outweighed any weaknesses charged to them (by McDougall?).  The Mounted police, however, would be pressured to establish a presence in 1876 with a four man detachment.

Some suggest Colonel William Jarvis (1834-1914) and company also visited Buffalo Lake Village on the eastern shores of Buffalo Lake (west Stettler, Alberta): a Metis settlement that only contained one European John Ashon a storekeeper free trader and his young wife.  Some place the size of Buffalo Lake Village as larger than Tail Creek Village.  Boss Hill is another Metis settlement in this region.  The remains of Dutch ovens were still evident in 1926.

Fort Walsh named after James Morrow Walsh of the NWMP is built this year and a Metis settlement soon sprang up.  This is located on the Saskatchewan side of the Cypress Hills.

They would again winter at Fort Edmonton this year while their fort (post) is being built at the mouth of the Sturgeon river that was named the Sturgeon Creek Post later to be known as Fort Saskatchewan.     John MacLean a Methodist minister traveling with (III)-Rev. John Chantler McDougall (1842-1917)  is horrified that McDougall justified the wanton slaying of bison (buffalo) as necessary to settlement.  The common held belief by the English is to destroy the Metis and Indian food supply then they can be settled and controlled.   

(III)-Rev. John Chantler McDougall (1842-1917) would later visit Tail Creek des Metis saying; what a wonderful land of river, soil, rich grass with beautiful landscape.  Buffalo Tail Creek is teeming with fish, so thick that we could scoop some out. 

Sam Steele (1849-1919) of the mounted police visited a radius of 100 miles southeast and west of Tail Creek des Metis.  He noted that whites, mostly from the south, were wanton and destructive with bison (buffalo), whereas the Metis and Indians gave them a chance for their lives.  The most successful hunters were the half-breeds.  It was said of those to the south: One individual could kill 3,000 bison (buffalo) per season for the robes, leaving the meat to rot. 

Some contend (I)-John Walter (1849-1920) first built his house on the North side of the river after he left the Hudson Bay Company in 1875 (his contract expired with the Hudson Bay Company July 1875), and would later relocate to the Old Strathcona side of the river.  The Edmonton Free Press contended in 1907 that (I)-John Walter (1849-1920) built on River lot #9 after leaving the Company in July 1875 on the south side of the river.  There is no mention of a north side building site. Fort Edmonton appeared to have the only thresher machine in the area at this time.  Other sources suggest (I)-John Walter born August 12, 1849 Stenness, Orkney Islands, died 1920.  It was said he joined H.B.C. in 1870 until 1880.  His first 5 years was spent freighting York Factory, Norway House and the Saskatchewan river.  It is further suggested he was posted to Fort Edmonton 1875 to 1880 as York boat builder.

1885-1890 GARNEAU HOMESTEAD WITH FORT EDMONTON IN BACKGROUND
Lawrence Garneau, Metis, (1840-1921) stated, on November 9, 1901, during script application, that he occupied his Old Strathcona property since August 1875, and that he had moved from St. Andrews, Manitoba.  Eleanor Thomas, Metis, who married Lawrence Garneau, Metis, (1840-1921) also testified that they had settled on the Old Strathcona property during the summer of 1875. Why they made this claim remains unknown.  Homesteads could not be made unless you had built a log house.  Tepees were not considered a home by the English.  Canadian citizenship may have also played a role.  They have, however, made erroneous claims on other documents for political or personal reasons, especially to ensure their land claims are not challenged.  Lawrence was actually born on the American side of Lake Superior.

An Englishman surveying for the railway had frozen feet when he arrived at St. Albert, at the Gray Nuns (Sisters of Charity), for treatment.  The Oblate fathers at St. Albert harvested nine hundred and ninety four kegs of potatoes this year.  Many St. Albert free traders made an annual overland trading trip to Winnipeg as part of their annual Edmonton bison (buffalo) Hunt.  This year's hunt is led by Abraham Salois, Metis b-1830 of St. Albert, who claimed a record kill of 600 bison (buffalo) in one season; 37 of them in one run.  The staging is centered out of the Tail Creek Town.  Abraham reported killing thirty-seven bison (buffalo).  Buffalo Lake Town (west Stettler, Alberta), with some four hundred Metis homes, claims to be larger than the Tail Creek town of two thousand people.  Buffalo Lake Town is on the eastern shore; east and south of present day Bashaw.  

(II)-Rev. George Millward McDougall (1821-1875) is stationed at the United Church (Wesleyan mission) near Morley (1873-1875).  This year he and his son (III)-Rev. John Chantler McDougall (1842-1917)  built their first church that stands into the 21 century.  A point of interest is the foundation is still intact in 2003 being built on logs.  In 2003 the logs are being replaced with a concrete foundation.

John George Kootenais Brown (1839-1916), a wolfer, bison (buffalo) hunter and express rider, squatted at Waterton Lakes, collecting oil seepage from Cameron Creek to grease his wagon.  Later, with William Aldridge- a Mormon, they would gather up to forty barrels a day, which he sold to local farmers and ranchers.  He conducted this business for seven years.  He is likely the first non-Indian to be involved in the oil business.  For years the Indians had traded the oil for canoe caulking, and are therefore the first Alberta Oilmen.

The RCMP solemnly promised not to do anything in the Blackfoot Nation without consulting the People.  (III)-Rev. John Chantler McDougall (1842-1917)  noted that the RCMP build forts without permission of the Blackfoot Nation, right in the path of the bison (buffalo), which diminished the bison (buffalo) herds.

At the mouth of Mill Creek across the river from Fort Edmonton is Bird's Mill which was built by George Gagnon and the Lamoufieux brothers.  (III)-William Bird Metis claims he built it in 1871 but it was likely built in 1874 with a log house for the HBC.  

The first major store in Old Fort MacLeod was I.C. Baker & Co a trading company operating out of Fort Benton.  This was followed by the T.C. Power outlet.

Barbed wire which honey combed the prairies was first invented by Joseph Glidden this year in Illinois.  From 1874 to 1881 some 1,225 U.S. patents were taken out for various forms of wire fences.

The H.B.C. completed the Athabasca Landing Trail from Fort Edmonton to the Peace River this year.

Abraham Salois, Metis b-1830 and Francois Dumont Metis b-1820 relocated this year from Lac St. Anne (Alberta) to the Battle River Valley (Alberta).  The Laboucane clan relocated from White Horse Plains, Red River to the Battle River Valley (Alberta) some time before 1897.

Early known residence of Fort MacLeod during the period of 1874-1883 were:

        Capt. Winder        
        Insp. Shurtliffe
        Insp. Dickens
        Tony Lachappelle who operated a pool hall.
        Joe Smith
        (II)-Jerry Potts Metis b-1844
        Camrose Taylor who ran a restaurant and pool hall.
        John Smith,
        W Gladstone
        William Gladstone, interpretor
        John Smith Store 
        Paddy Hannifin, barber
        T.C Power
        T. Bogy Dwell
        Ellis Miller Dwell
        O. Main, butcher shop
        Mike Welsh
        Jim Sproule
        Dick Kenniflick, a smithy
        Fred Pace, restaurant
        Mre Armstrong
        Houseman, a carpenter
        Anson Sly

February:  Neil Campbell's Fort on the Sheep Creek bottom (Alberta) was discovered by the NWMP where they met Father Scollen as well as a party of 60 Indians who were there to trade for whisky.  He continued to operate into 1876, after being discovered.

February:  Capt. Crozier of the RCMP led a detachment into the Highwood country (Alberta) making arrests for illicit trading.  Edward L. Smith from Berry and Shears Fort at the confluence of the Bow and Highwood Rivers.  "Having heard we were after them, the men had cleared out and the hay and fort had been burned by the Indians" or so says Sgt. Antrobus. 

February 25:  Fort Edmonton, birth Joseph Deschamps son Jean Baptiste Deschamps, Metis, b-1849 and Catherine Vandel, Metis b-1846.

March, Buffalo Lake (west Stettler, Alberta), birth Francois Whitford, son Francois Whitford Sr., b-1835 and Jane Anderson, b-1845. 

March:  Lesser Slave Lake (Alberta), birth St. Pierre Gladu, Metis, son Moise Gladu, b-1841 and Marguerite Kaskahwam; married 1896, Lesser Slave Lake (Alberta), Cecile Giroux, b-1880, Lesser Slave Lake (Alberta); 2nd marriage Marie Gladu, b-1899. 

March:  Big Smoky River, birth Jean Baptiste Nipissing or Shawen son Thomas Shawan Nepissing, b-1818 and Rosaire Gladu; married 1896 Fort Vermillion (Alberta) Sophie King Beaulieu, born October 1852, Fort Smith daughter Joseph King Beaulieu, b-1831 and Marve Anne Cayen?

April:  Three hundred Metis from St. Albert had relocated to Boss Hill (near Buffalo Lake)(west Stettler, Alberta)

April 10:  Brisbois with 50 NWMP arrived the community of Calgary (Alberta) and selected a site at the mouth of the Elbow River where it enters the Bow River.  It was noted a Roman Catholic priest called Father Ducet and an Indian boy occupied the site.  It is assumed they were asked to leave and they relocated up the Elbow River.  The named the place 'The Elbow' or 'Bow River Fort' and 'Brisebois Fort' but Colonel James McLeod named it Calgary after his village home in Scotland and it stuck.

May:   The Manitoba Free Press reports there is a new Metis settlement near Fort MacLeod, Alberta.

May:  Lesser Slave lake (Alberta), birth, St. Paul Gladu son Jean Baptiste Gladu, d-1881 and Mary Gaucher, b-1849 Jasper House; married April 23, 1898, Lesser Slave Lake (Alberta), Malane Savoyard, born August 11, 1883, Big Island, Great Slave Lake,

May 24:  Saddle Lake (Saskatchewan), birth, Narcisse Cardinal, son, Gabriel Cardinal dit Labatoche, b-1835 and Marie Bruneau, b-1837.

June:   It is reported that 20 lodges of Metis are located near Fort McLeod and last year the RCMP reported only 2 Metis in the vicinity. 

July:  Fish Creek (Calgary, Alberta), birth (II)-John Glen, Metis, son (I)-John Glenn, born 1833 and Adelaide Belcourt, Metis born August, 1851. 

July 22:   The Northcote, a steamerboat on its second voyage arrive Fort Edmonton.  Captain Josie Smith, Metis, handled the steam ship or his son Alex Smith, Metis.  The crew included a mate engineer Jack Shannon who eventually settled in Edmonton to found Reliance Welding Works, a clerk, and 15 or so deck hands.  Old Man Gourd was the chief cook and the boat had a cabin boy.  Captain Josie Smith like many Metis was a fine fiddler and provided the music for the nightly dance.  The Northcote stayed in business until 1897 competing with the CPR.  The steamboat Northcote was built in Red River for the Hudson Bay Company, reached Fort Edmonton (Alberta) from Winnipeg (Manitoba).  It is recorded it made the trip from Grand Rapids to Fort Edmonton in 18 days carrying as much freight as 130 to 200 or more Red River carts that would take two months.  The Northcote could also carry 50 passengers.  

August 18:  Inspector E.A. Brisbois of the NWMP, set out from Fort Macleod with 50 men to build Fort Calgary at the junction of the Bow and Elbow Rivers.  Colonel Macleod selected the name Calgary after the name of Macleod estate of Calgarry on the Isle of Mull.  It was a Gaelic word meaning 'clear, running water'.   The RCMP build Fort Elbow aka Fort Calgary.  After this fort was established the Calgary/Edmonton Trail branched at Olds and went directly south along the route on Highway No. 2.

Fort Brisboise a.k.a. Fort Calgary
In September, Fort Brisebois (named Fort Calgary in 1876) is established by Ephrem A. Brisebois (1850-1890) and fifty men near the old Fort La Jonquiere site.  The only reported residents of the fort site are Father Doucet and a Native boy.  There were, however, other settlers in the Calgary area for many years.  Father Doucet had planned to build near the Fort Jonquiere site, but is forced by the North West Mounted Police to move upriver to the Holy Cross Hospital site.  Brisebois was ordered to build the fort at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow rivers, and to name it Fort Calgary.  Brisebois persisted in naming it after himself- Fort Brisebois.  Brisboise was already considered unfit to command his North West Mounted Police, and his continued insubordination led to his forced resignation in August 1876.    D.W. Davis, an United States Whiskey trader, took charge of Fort Calgary.  (III)-Rev. John Chantler McDougall (1842-1917) built a chapel and the Hudson Bay Company started a saw mill two miles east of the Fort.

The Mounted Police are still in the process of building their Fort Sturgeon River, which is renamed Fort Saskatchewan after the old North West Company Fort.  (II)-Richard Hardisty, Metis (1831-1889) of the Hudson Bay Company also planned to build on this site.

The citizens of Fort Edmonton complained that the NWMP had not built their post near their settlement.    Some claim (I)-John Walter (1849-1920) is the first to build outside the Fort Edmonton and in Old Strathcona.  No evidence supports this contention, and much exists to support the contention he probably built late 1875 or more likely 1876.  He was actively employed H.B.C. until 1880, so it is more likely he didn't start building until 1880.  However, at some time (I)-John Walter (1849-1920) claimed the smaller lot to the east of Lawrence Garneau, Metis, (1840-1921), which was one hundred and twenty acres with its river bottom location.  Most Metis are aware that this land is less desirable: being on the river flood plain.  The local Indians had issues warnings that the area was subject to flooding.  At this time most of the immediate land is occupied, but Walker saw a opportunity of providing a ferry service.  It is most likely he built after 1880.

FORT EDMONTON AND AREA by the 1890's

Some contend (I)-John Walters (1849-1920) didn't start development of his property until the 1880's.  We don't know when he started his ferry service but we know it ended in 1917.  The Garneau Saskatchewan River Crossing, below the High Level bridge, was still used by those settlers who couldn't afford or didn't want to pay the ferry fee, after the ferry service began.  The Garneau Metis Crossing has been in use by the Metis since the early 1800's. 

September:  St. Albert (Alberta) arrival of Brother Leonard Van Tigham (1851-1917), brother Henri Grandin and brother Fafard.who arrived by an 80 cart Metis and Indian convoy from Red River.  The Catholic priests were generally the guardian of the peace, the policeman and the judge.  With the arrival of the first contingent of the North-West Mounted Police the Catholics were told to move their chapel out of the fort.  Bishop Grandin tried to obtain a piece of land near Fort Edmonton but was refused as the HNC owned all the land within a three mile radius of the fort.  Finally Mr. (I)-Malcolm Alexander Groat b-1839, a Protestant, on learning of the situation, offered several acres of his homestead, a few miles to the west for a chapel..

September;  The Northcote, a steamer boat out of Winnipeg completed its second voyage up the Saskatchewan River but could only reach Carlton House due to low levels of water on the river.  The H.B.C. had to hire 400 red river carts to move the cargo to the western and northern outfits. 

October 12:  Lac La Biche (Alberta) birth Marie Quintel, daughter St. Pierre Quintal, b-1844, White Fish Lake, Athabasca, Marie Oka-ee-ma-oo-wasis Gladu: married Oliver Gladu. 

November:  Lesser Slave Lake (Alberta), birth, Louizon Gladu, son Edward Gladu, b-1847, Lac La Biche (Alberta) and Betsy Constant, Metis, b-1845, The Pas (The Big Eddie, Saskatchewan); married Marguerite Nooskeyah 

November 20:  Buffalo Lake (west Stettler, Alberta), birth John Baptiste Thomas Descheneaux, Metis son Joseph Descheneaux, b-1846, Red River and Angelique Tanner, b-1850, Fort Carlton, (Saskatchewan).

December:  Marleyville (Alberta), birth John Berard son Eustache Bernard, b-1829/31, Fort Edmonton, (Alberta), and Marguerite Primeau, b-1836; married Louisa Cardinal, Metis, b-1877 Slave Lake daughter Gabriel dit Labatoche Cardinal, b-1835 Lac La Biche (Alberta) and Marie Bruneau, Metis b-1837 Fort Edmonton (Alberta).

1876 

Marie Hermina Arnault, Metis, b-1876, Stony Plain the region west of Fort Edmonton, daughter, Irenee Arnault, a whiteman and Isabelle Chalifoux dit Labouteille, Metis, b-1847.

Sylvestre Belcourt, Metis, b-1876 Lac Ste Anne (Alberta) son Benjamin Belcourt, Metis, b-1852, Lac Ste Anne (Alberta) and Mary Betsy Native.

Joseph Bouvier, Metis b-1851 son Joseph Bouvier, (1817/23-1877) and Catherine Beaulieu Metis; married 1876 Fort Providence (Alberta) Marguerite Laferte, b-1854 Red River.

Mary Jane Bruneau, b-1858; married 1876 Lac La Biche (Alberta), Exavier Cardinal, b-1855 N.W., son Louison Cardinal, b-1821 and Susan Courteorelle, b-1821.

Adelaide Callihoo, b-1876, St. Albert (Alberta) daughter Adam Callihoo, b-1851 Lac Ste Anne (Alberta) and Christine Gladu; married Male McAuley.

Neil Campbell who had a Fort on the Sheep Creek bottom (Alberta) from before 1875, drowned in the Saskatchewan River while on a trading trip to Fort Saskatchewan.

Joseph Cardinal, Metis b-1876 Alberta married to Alexanderian Metis b-1881 Alberta living Lac La Biche, Alberta 1901.

Paul Cardinal, b-1876, Lac La Biche (Alberta), son, Dominique Cardinal, Metis, b-1845, Floating Stone Lake (Alberta) and Marie Anne Desjarlais; married Marie Vitaline Desjarlais, born May 16, 1882, Lac La Biche (Alberta).

Soloman Cook Metis born 1845/51 or later Stanley on the Churchill River, HBC established a post here in 1845 and allowed a mission in 1851.  However he joined HBC (1876-1924) assigned the Saskatchewan District and died 1927, married with 1 child by 1921

David Crasmus, Metis b-1876 Alberta son Peter Crasmus, Metis b-1833,  living Alberta 1876 to 1888, living Lakeland, Alberta 1891.

James Fraser b-1876 N.W.T. son Collin Frazer (Fraser), Metis b-1849 N.W.T. and Floria Metis b-1850 N.W.T, 1891 census  Edmonton.

(I)-Angus Fraser joined HBC (1861-1885) Saskatchewan District, Rocky Mountain House, Bow River Fort (1876-1885) [Calgary, Alberta]

(II)-William Alexander Gairdner, Metis born July 24, 1876, Fort Chipewyan, son (I)-William Fredrick Gairdner, (1839-1905) and Flora Flett, b-1857;.married a Cree or Beaver Metis or Indian and they had 4 kids.

Cleophee Gladu. b-1876, St. Albert (Alberta), daughter, Alexis Gladu, b-1845, Lac Ste Anne (Alberta) and Elizabeth Malaterremb, 1852; married 1893, Francois Delorme, b-1872 son Joseph Delorme, b-1838 and Angelique Gingras, b-1844. 

Robert Hardwood, Metis b-1876 Alberta married about 1899, Alberta Settann Metis b-1875 Alberta living Tail Creek, Alberta 1901.

John Hyde married, 1876, Fort Calgary, Rosalie Bernard, Metis, b-1862 Red River, daughter Eustache Bernard (1829-1831) Fort Edmonton and Marguerite Primeau, Metis, b-1836, Fort Alexander.

Lac La Biche Mission District (Alberta) birth Joseph Louis Lavallee, (1876-1878) son Louis Martin dit Petit Louis Martin Lavallee b-1840 and Catherine L'Esperance b-1846

Pierre La Violette Metis born Athabasca District joined HBC (1876-1883) Fort Chipewyan.

Louis Leblanc, b-1876, Porcupine Hills, son  Cornelious Leblanc Sr., b-1850, Fort Edmonton and Mary Favel, b-1858, Fort Edmonton. 

Soloman Letendre, Metis b-1876 Alberta married to Caroline Metis b-1880 Alberta, living White Whale Lake, Alberta 1901.  

Adelia L'Hirondelle, Metis b-1876 Alberta living Lac Ste Anne (Alberta) 1901.

Louis Laferte-Lanaix, Metis b-1876, Fort Providence (Alberta) son Henri Laferte-Lanaix, Metis, b-1849, Fort Chipewyan (Alberta) and Catherine Bouvier Metis b-1856, Fort Simpson, daughter Joseph Bouvier (1817/23-1877) and Catherine Beaulieu Metis

Narcisse L'Hirondelle, Metis b-1876 Lac La Nun (Alberta), daughter Augustin L'Hyrondelle, Metis, b-1849, Fort Edmonton (Alberta) and Nancy Bellerose, b-1857.

Rosalie Longmore, Metis b-1854 Alberta married about 1876 Clover Bar.

Kenneth N.L. McDonald joined HBC (1876-1883) MacKenzie River.

G.M. McDougall, Metis b-1876, Alberta living Morley, Alberta 1901.

(I)-James McKinlay (1852-1913) joined HBC (1869-1899) died Athabasca Landing, worked Mackenzie River and Athabasca, married Isabella Dor Rib a native
    (II)-John McKinlay Metis 
    (II)-Sterling McKinlay Metis 
    (II)-Archie McKinlay Metis 
    (II)-Charie McKinlay Metis 
    (II)-Helen McKinlay Metis married McGrath
    (II)-Irene McKinlay Metis married Slye
    (II)-Alice McKinlay Metis married Steberts

 Frank Oliver,(1853-1933) visited Fort Edmonton this year with a freighting outfit but did not stay, he returned in 1880.

Grand Point, Red Deer River, (Alberta), birth Patrice Primeau, son Francois Primeau and Marie Larocque; married, Elizabeth Alexander, b-1873, Fort Pitt, Saskatchewan.

William Robert (Bird), Metis, b-1876, Old Strathcona (Edmonton, Alberta), died 1886, son William Robert Bird, Metis, b-1826 and Fanny Shirt, Metis, b-1856.   This could be (III)-William Bird Metis son (II)-William Bird Metis b-1803 Fort Edmonton who married 1874 Fanny Taber and settled lot #19 north and lot #23 south in Strathcona

(I)-Donald Ross (1840-1915) built the Edmonton Hotel near Fort Edmonton.

Donald Ross opened the Edmonton Hotel turning the second floor of his house into a hotel.  Donald Ross had arrived in Fort Edmonton in 1872.

(I)-Henry Sanderson, born Orkney, married 1856 Fort Resolution, Great Slave Lake, NWT, Elizabeth Manager de Lard, Metis, b-1844, Buffalo Lake (west Stettler, Alberta), daughter, Manager de Lard Chipewyan and Zosee Chipewyan.

Modeste Tastawitch, b-1876, Dunvegan, Athabaska, married 1899 Grande Prairie, Anne (Squasis) Wanniyande, Metis, b-1877 Smoky River, Athabasca, daughter Jean Baptiste Waniyande, b-1838 Jasper House and Isabelle Laurion, Metis b-1840 Rocky Mountain House.

Harry Taylor Jr., Metis b-1876, Alberta, married about 1896 Alberta, Olympia born 1871 Quebec, living Southern Alberta 1891, living Lethbridge, Alberta 1901.

Edward Thompson married 1876 St. Albert (Alberta) Henriette Arnault, b-1863, Lesser Slave Lake (Alberta) daughter Irenee Arnault a whiteman and Isabelle Chalifoux dit Labouteille, b-1847, Lesser Slave Lake (Alberta).

Brother Leonard Van Tigham (1851-1917) was sent to Lac La Nonne, north west of Fort Edmonton to build a new residence for missionaries.

John Ware (1845-1905) a black slave from South Carolina who drove cattle from Texas, to Idaho and on to Calgary is believed to be the first cowboy to bring cattle to Alberta this year.  John McDougall although not a cowboy brought cattle into Calgary area in 1873.  Kenneth McKenzie brought up a big herd of cattle to Alberta in 1874 and in the say year the NWMP brought 235 head of cattle into alberta.  

Mary Whitford, b-1876, Buffalo Lake (west Stettler, Alberta), daughter Andrew Whitford, b-1839 and Elizabeth Gills, b-1845 York Factory. 

RCMP constable Mahoney and his French Half-breed (Metis) freighter crossing the Saskatchewan River and their boat capsized about 40 feet from shore.  The moment they touched bottom the Half-breed (Metis) instinctively knew he was in quicksand and instead of wading ashore in two feet of water he threw himself flat and swam to shore.  Mahoney being 6' 2" and weighing 200 lbs tried to walk ashore.  He was soon consumed in the quicksand and perished.

Fort Elbow is renamed to Fort Calgary.

The Hunt House behind the Deane House (restaurant) is Calgary's oldest in place house and was built by John Bunn of HBC, this year.  It was built by John Bunn for his interpreter Henry Pacquette who was later killed in Northern Alberta.  It was considered part of the Hudson Bay fur trading post at this time.

The first sawmill was erected at Fort MacLeod (Alberta).

Wheat grown at the R.C. Mission at Fort Chipewyan is awarded a Bronze Medal at the Philadelphia International Exhibition.

George Emerson, a former Hudson Bay man, brought a small herd of cattle, chiefly dairy stock, from Montana.  Fred Kanouse, a trader, drove twenty-one cows and a bull, then turned them loose on the range.

The Mounted Police established a four man detachment at the Metis Tail Creek settlement to keep an eye on the 2,000 plus residents.  This Metis settlement contained 400 permanent houses with numerous portable residents there during the bison (buffalo) hunts.  Tail Creek had replaced White Horse Plains as the gathering place for the semi annual bison (buffalo) hunts.  Tail Creek is west of present day Stettler, (Alberta), on the Red Deer River.

There are about 800 Metis at the Boss Hill Settlement near Buffalo Lake (west Stettler, Alberta).

The Canadian homestead Act was deliberately amended to exclude single woman.  The US Act was amended in 1867 to include single woman.  Aboriginal People where also excluded.

Reports are circulating that 3,000 lodges of American Indians are at Cypress Hills (Saskatchewan).

Shipment of bison (buffalo) hides to Fort Benton (Montana) from Alberta dropped from 70,000 hides a year to 30,000 hides a year.

Col. James Farquarson MacLeod (1836-1894) of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police named Calgary after his old home, Calgary a small estate on the Isle of Mull, Scotland.  Others suggest he was born September 25, 1836 Isle of Skye.

A wheat sample from Fort Vermillion (Alberta) won a prize in Philadelpha, USA.

This season saw the only mutiny of a Metis ship's crew ever to occur on the Saskatchewan River or more correctly they went on strike at Chemahawin, over the abusive language of the American captain.  The captain was relieved of his command at the end of the season.

January:  St. Albert (Alberta) birth, Marshall Robinson, Metis, son Jean Baptiste Robinson and Rosalie Berland, Metis, b-1835, epouse 1852 Andre Cardinal, b-1835..  

January 22:  St. Albert, birth Nancy Cunningham Jr. son John Cunningham Sr., b-1815 and Rosalie L'Hyrondelle, b-1829, Lesser Slave Lake.

February 30:  Victoria, Alberta, located 90 km NE Fort Edmonton, birth, Andrew Jane Spence Jr., son, Andrew Spence Sr., b-1842 and Nancy Whitford, b-1850. 

April 13:  Fort Edmonton, birth Charles Vandel, Metis son Francois Vandel, Metis, b-1850 and Isabelle Deschamps, Metis, b-1855.

May:  Lac La Biche (Alberta), birth, Maria Reed, daughter William Reed and Mary Settler, b-1840 Red River; married a Cardinal who died 1906.

May:  Lesser Slave Lake (Alberta), birth St. Paul Gladu, son Jean Baptiste Gladu, d-1881 and Marie Gaucher, born July, 1849, Jasper House (Alberta);  marriage, April 23, 1898, Lesser Slave Lake (Alberta), Melanie Savoyard, born August 11, 1883, Big Island, Great Slave Lake, daughter Joseph Savoyard, b-1845 and Francoise Boucher, b-1849.

 June 13:  Christine Lacombe, sister of Father Lacombe (1827-1916), marries Leon Harnois.  The Oblate fathers of St. Albert harvested five hundred and fifteen kegs of potatoes this year?

June 15: Lac La Biche (Alberta), birth Billy Cardinal, son John Cardinal, b-1839, Victoria (Alberta) and Angele Desjarlais, b-1846, Lac La Biche (Alberta);  1st married Harriet Vardinal, b-1886; 2nd married Marie Cardinal, b-1904.

July 28:  Medicine Hat (Alberta), birth Antoine Gladu, son Modeste Gladu, b-1847 and Marie Melanie Azure, born June 27, 1857, North Dakota;  married, 1897, Havre, Montana, Florestine LeMire, born April 3, 1874, Swift Current (Saskatchewan) daughter Pierriche Lemire b-1830, Fort Pelly (Saskatchewan) and Therese Pelletier, born October 14, 1833 Red River.. 

July 30:  St. Albert (Albert (Alberta), Father Lestanc wrote that a hail storm ravaged St. Albert and flattened all the fields within in a vicinity of 20 to 25 miles.  Wheat, barley, potatoes? and hay were destroyed.  Even the wild ducks on the lake (Big Lake?) were killed.  After two poor years hunting on the prairies and fishing at Lac Ste Anne (Alberta) was the salvation of the St. Albert (Alberta) Metis.

August:   Indian treaty no 6 came into being at Fort Carlton, covering twenty-one thousand square miles.  This was the Nation of the Cree, the Assiniboine and a few Ojibwa: some thirty six hundred Natives in all.  Not all the Cree is willing to sign, including Big Bear who would rather go to war than submit.  

August 25:  The Mission of Saint Paul burned down.  The chapel, house, barn, stables, and a few small houses are all that remained.  Bishop Vital Grandin (1829-1902) believed it was the result of Native malice.  The Church, for the past 300 years, has been teaching the Native people contempt for the things they value and to covet the things they do not need, so as to civilize them.  The belief of malice is likely correct.  Hail destroyed the crop at St. Albert and (II)-Richard Hardisty Metis (1831-1889), of the Hudson Bay Company, provided relief with fifty- five sacks of flour for the Natives, but not the Metis.  The Metis were competition and frequently free-traded to Montana or St. Paul by way of Red River. 

September 24:  Philomena Archange Garneau, Metis,  is born September 24, 1876 at Old Strathcona, North West Territories; she is baptized at Fort Edmonton September 24, 1876, daughter Lawrence Garneau, Metis (1840-1921) and Eleanor Thomas (1850/52-1912).  The Garneau family conversion to the Roman Catholic faith must have occurred about this time or earlier.

October:   Frank Oliver, born September 14, 1853 Peel County, Ontario, died March 31, 1933 Ottawa, Ontario, arrived in Old Strathcona, having driven a bull team from Winnipeg.  Standing on Garneau's property, he observed Fort Edmonton having shacks scattered about, and was so impressed that he said, at that moment, Edmonton became home.  He claims to have bought one of the first lots ever sold there for twenty five dollars, and threw up a log hut.  This contradicts his earlier statement of observing shacks scattered all about, unless he means the others squatted rather than bought property.  Actually until the government did its land survey, no one owned land in Alberta.  Frank Oliver (1853-1933), and Allen Bowsfield, worked for the Winnipeg Free Press before moving to Edmonton.  In 1880, he would start the first newspaper in Edmonton.

November:  Battle River Settlement (Alberta), birth, Sophie Flamand, daughter Francois Flamand and Marie Bear: married 1890, Victoria (Alberta), Charles Gladu, born December 25, 1869, son, Francois Gladu, born March 20, 1841 and Catherine Hope, b-1843, Lac La Biche (Alberta).

December:  Buffalo Lake, (west Stettler, Alberta) birth David Villeneuve, Metis, son Theophile Villeneuve, b-1843 Fort Edmonton and Elizabeth McGillis, Metis b-1841; married Justin McKay, Metis, born May 2, 1884 Duck Lake, Saskatchewan daughter Guillaume McKay, Metis b-1855 and Marie St. Denis, Metis, b-1855.  

December 3:  Victory, Alberta, birth, Mary Anne Whitford, Metis, daughter Simon Whiteford, Metis b-1849 Alberta  and Elizabeth Anderson, Metis b-1859 Alberta, living Pakan, Alberta 1901, daughter John Anderson Jr. b-1827 and Christie Whitford, b-1833.

December 11:  Lac La Biche (Alberta), birth, Anne Cardinal, Metis, daughter John Cardinal, Metis, b-1839, Victoria (Alberta), and Angele Desjarlais b-1846, Lac La Biche (Alberta); married Adam Larocque, b-1871, Saddle Lake, (Saskatchewan). 

1877 

Elizabeth  Barad Metis b-1877 N.W.T. daughter Eustas (Eustace) Barard (Birard), Metis b-1831 Fort Edmonton, N.W.T. son Louis Birard and Catherine Niyhes, married about 1862 N.W.T. Margaret Metis b-1841 N.W.T., living Fort Edmonton 1891.

Jeremie Belcourt, b-1877, St. Albert (Alberta) son Eswin Belcourt, b-1843, Lac Ste Anne (Alberta) and Louise Paul b-1857, Lac Ste Anne (Alberta); married Pauline Villeneuve, born May 27, 1877, Peace River daughter Severe Villeneuve, born April 19, 1854, Fort Edmonton (Alberta) and Nancy Courteoreille, b-1857, St. Albert (Alberta).

(I)-John George (Kootenai) Brown (1839-1916) and his Metis wife whom he married in 1869 settled down and built a perminant home at Waterton Lakes.  It should be noted he built a trading post at the lakes in 1865.

Felix Callion, b-1877, Lac Ste Anne (Alberta) son Joseph Callio, b-1848, Lesser Slave Lake (Alberta) and Elizabeth Plante, born May 12, Lac Ste Anne (Alberta); married Angele Belcourt, b-1879, Lac Ste Anne, (Alberta) daughter Magloire Belcourt, born May 19, 1855, Lac Ste Anne (Alberta) and Nancy Ignace, b-1852, Jasper House, (Alberta).

Louisa Cardinal,  b-1877, Slave Lake,  daughter, Gabriel Cardinal dit Labatoche, b-1835 and Marie Bruneau, b-1837; married John Benard, born December, 1875, Marleyville (Alberta).

Marie Marguerite Cardinal, Metis, b-1877, Lac La Biche (Alberta), daughter Gabriel Cardinal dir Labatoche, b-1835 and Marie Bruneau, Metis b-1837.

Betsy Colder, Metis b-1877 N.W.T. living Battle River, Alberta 1891.

Ed Barnett arrived Fort MacLeod this year.  He roamed central Alberta 1878-1890 without meeting a settler of any kind.  Others suggest he was ranching 1882-1890 at Lacombe.

(I)-Francis Jeffery Dickens born January 15, 1844 London, died 1886 Moline, Illinois, an R.C.M.P. officer is stationed Fort MacLeod soon to be sent to Fort Walsh, Cypress Hills, Saskatchewan. 

Charles Gariepy, born November 3, 1850, Red River, married 1877, St. Albert (Alberta), Virginia dit Blayonne Grandion (Blandion), Metis, daughter Antoine Blandion, b-1833 and Marie Surprenant, Metis, b-1840.

John Gariepy, b-1877, Red Deer River (Alberta), son Francois Gariepy (1835-1877) and Sophia Caroline Grant, b-1840 Red River; married Eleanore Levelle, b-1878, Cypress Hills (Alberta/Saskatchewan).

(II)-Mathilde Glen, Metis, b-1877, Fish Creek (Calgary, Alberta), daughter (I)-John Glenn, born 1833 and Adelaide Belcourt, Metis born August, 1851. 

Charles Godin and his wife Catherine Milette (b-1862) are living in Calgary.  

Joseph Ladouceur Jr. Metis son Josoph Ladoucher Sr. d-1890, who came west from Quebec in 1804, Sr. built a trading post at Lac La Biche as a free trader some time long before this year; Jr.'s wife is believed to have moved to Yellowknife..

Henry Larocque Metis b-1877 Metis son Louis Larocque Metis b-1850/52 Red River and Angelique Metis b-1851/52 N.W.T., living Edmonton 1891 and 1901.

Marie Marguerite L'Hirondelle, Metis b-1877 Lac La Nun ( Alberta), daughter Augustin L'Hyrondelle, Metis, b-1849, Fort Edmonton (Alberta) and Nancy Bellerose, b-1857.

William Cornwallis Louit Metis b-1877 Fort Chipewan d-1947 joined HBC (1897-1947) Athabasca/MacKenzie.

Vital Majeau, Metis b-1877 Alberta married about 1898 Alberta Florestine Metis b-1876 Alberta living St. Pierre, Alberta 1901.

Elzear Plante, b-1877, St. Albert (Alberta) son Michel Plante, b-1851, Fort Pitt and Juliet Nault, b-1848, Fort Edmonton.

(I)-Donald Ross (1840-1915) married this year or next to (II)-Olive Blewitt born 1850.

Marguerite Tastawitch, Metis, b-1877, Dunvegan, Athabesca (Alberta) daughter Jean Baptiste Tastawitch, b-1849, Dunvegan, Athabasca (Alberta) and Marie-Batard, b-1853, Sturgeon Lake, Athabasca (Alberta); married February 1, 1898, Spirit River (Alberta), Charles Bremner.

Alexander Wills, Metis b-1877 Cyprus Hills is the son of John Wills Jr. and Rosalie McKay, Metis. 

Tail Creek des Metis, marriage? Feleman Dumont, Metis b-1857 B.C. recorded 8 kids but no wife listed, William b-1878, Alberta, Joseph b-1880 Alberta, Margret b-1882 Alberta, Mary Rose b-1886 Alberta, Catherine b-1888 Alberta, Louisa b-1891 Alberta, Floria b-1893 Alberta and Elizabeth b-1895 Alberta most likely all Tail Creek.

Some contend this year was the last major Edmonton bison (buffalo) Hunt, with each hunter having an average of six carts.  Some of the past hunt leaders, who are elected each hunt, are:   Michael Arnot, Beaudry, Ed Boucher, William Champion, Pierre Des Sault, Gabriel Dumont, Goulette, Ladouceur, Shoutout, Baptiste Veness and many others.

Lower St. Albert at this time had three hundred and forty six people including thirty eight orphans and eleven widows.

It is noteworthy that the Indians in Alberta are still killing bison (buffalo) with the bow and arrow.

A sprinkling of European and eastern settlers began to claim land in the Edmonton hamlet.  

The H.B.C. steamer Northcote made a run from Grand Rapids, where the Saskatchewan flows into Lake Winnipeg, to Fort Edmonton (Alberta).   The Lily a new steamer is added to service upper portions of the Saskatchewan River , between Carlton and Fort Edmonton.  The Northcote was reassigned to travel from Carlton to Grand Rapids.

Mule trains, extending two miles long, are taking furs from Tail Creek des Metis to Fort Benton, Montana.

The H.B.C. built a supply depot at Athabasca Landing to supply the north (others suggest it was 1884).  Supplies were freighted from Fort Edmonton in the winter and stored until the opening of navigation in the spring.

The Dominion of Canada by Order-in-Council, divided the vast North-West Territories into four provisional districts, Alberta, Assiniboia, Saskatchewan and Athabasca.  These divisions remained until 1905 when the Province of Alberta and Saskatchewan were created incorporating virtually all the lands of the old four districts. 

The Northcote steamboat had its most profitable year with the Saskatchewan River running high all summer and it made six successful voyages upstream.  

Chief Joseph and his Nez Perce people tried to seek refuge from the U.S. Army in the Cypress Hills, but were captured near the Bear Paw Mountains en route.

January:   St. Joachim Church is constructed on property donated from (I)-Malcolm Alaxander Groat b-1839, near 109 avenue and 121 Street in Edmonton, because the Hudson Bay Company wanted the chapel removed from the Fort.  

January 1: St. Albert (Alberta), birth, Jean Chalifoux son Joseph Chalifoux, Metis, b-1838, Lesser Slave Lake (Alberta), and Julie Campion, b-1841 Lake McLeod

January 2:   Bishop Grandin (1829-1902) made his rounds today including a visit to the Lawrence Garneau Estate as some would later call it.  The first official post office is opened in Edmonton with (II)-Richard Hardisty, Metis (1831-1889) being appointed as postmaster.  Frank Oliver (1853-1933), son Allen Bowsfield, claimed the Bulletin building as the first business building erected outside the fort, first as a store in December then in 1880 the Bulletin and it is torn down in 1895.

February 17, Buffalo Lake (west Stettler, Alberta), birth Francois Whitford, son Francois Whitford Sr., b-1835 and Jane Anderson, b-1845. 

March:  Bow River, (Alberta), birth Alice Mary Bird Metis, died 1879 on the South Branch of the Saskatchewan River, daughter Philip Bird and Mary Kipling Metis .

April:  St. Albert (Alberta) was buying importing flour from Winnipeg at Fort Edmonton for 20 piastre ($20.00) for one-hundred livres.  The St. Albert Metis made the decision to go to Fort Benton for their flour.  Twenty wagons were dispatched as flour at Fort Benton was 2 1/2 piastre or a 17.5 piastre savings.  The seasons furs were traded at Fort Benton (Montana), bypassing the Hudson Bay Company.

April 30:  Lesser Slave Lake (Alberta), birth, William Gladu son Moise Gladu, b-1841 and Marguerite Kaskahwan; married December 28, 1895, Lesser Slave Lake (Alberta), Verinique Paul, born February, 1876, Battle River Settlement, daughter, Charles Paul, b-1853, St Albert (Alberta) and Marie Gaucher, born February, 1860, Jasper House (Alberta). 

July:  Dunvegan, Athabasca (Alberta), birth Christie McKay, daughter Isidore Flamand (McKay), b-1842 Red River and Charlotte Bourassa, Metis, b-1850 Dunvegan, Athabasca (Alberta).

August 15:  Lac La Biche (Alberta), birth Emilien Boucher, son Narcisse Boucher, b-1827 Quebec and Judith McCarthy, born December 10, 1835, Athabasca Districr; married Marie Kalen Collins, born June 16, 1876 daughter Clement Collins and Isabelle Quintal, b-1847, Lac La Biche (Alberta).

August 21:  Indian treaty number 6 is ratified at Fort Edmonton.   The Papaschase band is allotted a reserve south of Old Strathcona (Edmonton).  The Government claims only 10 families are settled on this land.

September:  In Indian treaty No. 7, at Blackfoot Crossing on the Bow River, the Blackfoot Confederacy signed some fifty thousand square miles away.  Chief Crowfoot said," I have been the first to sign, I shall be the last to break."  

September 19:  Petition from John Munroe and other Metis at Blackfoot Crossing concerning Metis land claims goes unanswered by the government;

                   John Munro                                Francis Munro

                   Baptiste Anas sen                        Isaac Dagnon

                   Francois Deschamps                    Baptiste Deschamps

                   Narcisse Cardinal                        Richard Collin

                   Henry Collin                               Jean Baptiste Dumont

                   Paul Fayant                                Francois Larocque

                   Baptiste Deschamps sen              Louison Boucher

                   William Campion                        Jules Boucher

                   James Ward                               Baptiste Anas jun

                   Basile Flavel                              Louis Rouselle

                   Francis Vandal                            Roger Paul Frederick

                   Antoine Godin                            Alexis Bruno

                   Michel Grey                               Thomas Cameron

                   Magloire Grey                            Pierre Nadeau

                   Alexis Bellecourt                        Alexandre Petitcouteau

                   Basile Lawrence                         Joseph Deschamps

                   Joseph L’Hyrondelle                   Johnny Rouselle

                   Francis Lemire                           Louis Allard

                   Pierre Boucher                           Joseph Allard

                   Joseph Bellecourt                       Edward Boucher

                   Daniel Dagneau

41 signatures

September 20:  Lac Ste Anne (Alberta) birth Jean Baptiste L'Hyrondelle, Metis, Lac Ste Anne (Alberta) son Euphrosine Beauregard, Metis, b-1851 and Magloire L'Hyrondelle, b-1850, Lac Ste Anne (Alberta).

November:   The Mounted Police had established themselves at Fort Saskatchewan, Fort Macleod, Fort Calgary, Milk River, Tail Creek and Piato Horse Butte.

November 20: Lac La Biche Mission District (Alberta) birth Martin Lavallee, son Louis Martin dit Petit Louis Martin Lavallee b-1840 and Catherine L'Esperance b-1846

December:   Mary Cleary, who arrived December 7, 1875; an Irish woman who came to Canada as a teacher, is one of the few European women married this year. She married a Patrick Curran, a soldier at Fort Saskatchewan.  (I)-Jerry Potts Metis b-1844 was the official interpreter, but was not successful.  So the call went out for Jimmy Jock Bird (1785-1892), who was contacted by Jean L'Heureux: a Frenchman who lived for many years with the Blackfoot.  Governor David Laird considered Mr. Bird a very intelligent interpreter and that he rendered good service in this respect. 

December:  Elzear Chartier, born December 1877, St. Albert (Alberta) son Joseph Chartier and Christina Robertson, b-1854, Norwat House' married Agnes Cadotte, born September 10, 1883, Cumberland House (Saskatchewan) daughter Edward Cadotte, b-1852 Red River and Isabella Cinklater, born November 15, 1856.

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ALBERTA HISTORY 1883-1886