Early History

Treaty 6 First Nations, as well as other Aboriginal groups, were the first human habitants to live in Central Alberta. With the development of the Fur Trade in the 18th and 19th centuries, Europeans began to come to the area. Very few women came to Alberta during this time, and many fur traders married Aboriginal women. The children of French fur traders and First Nations women were Métis. The Métis in Alberta and Treaty 6 sites provide more content about these important Central Alberta groups.

Settlement in the area began in 1869 when the Canadian government purchased Rupert’s land, which included Central Alberta, from the Hudson’s Bay Company. However, it was not until 1890 and the completion of the Calgary- Red Deer line of the Calgary and Edmonton Railroad that settlement in Central Alberta began in earnest. The first immigrants to the Aspenland region were people from Ontario, Britain, and the United States. Other early settlers to the area came from countries in Europe such as France, Holland, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Estonia, Sweden, and Ukraine. The stories of these early immigrants are told in Alberta: Home, Home on the Plains.

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