Editing Edmonton (section)

== History ==
{{further|History of Edmonton}}
{{For timeline}}

The earliest known inhabitants arrived in the area that is now Edmonton around 3,000&nbsp;BC and perhaps as early as 12,000&nbsp;BC when an ice-free corridor opened as the [[last glacial period]] ended and timber, water, and wildlife became available in the region.<ref name="Edmonton's Timeline">{{cite book|last1=Walls|first1=Martha|last2=Mahaffy|first2=Cheryl|title=Edmonton Book of Everything: Everything You Wanted to Know about Edmonton and Were Going to Ask Anyway|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hK2tAAAACAAJ&pg=PP1|year=2007|publisher=MacIntyre & Purcell |isbn=978-0-9738063-4-2|page=9}}</ref>

The site of present-day Edmonton was home to several [[First Nations in Alberta|First Nations]] peoples, including the [[Cree]], [[Nakota|Nakota Sioux]], [[Blackfoot Confederacy|Blackfoot]], [[Tsuutʼina Nation|Tsuut'ina]], [[Ojibwe]], and [[Chipewyan|Denesuline]]. The valley of the [[North Saskatchewan River]], in particular the area of Edmonton, was settled to varying degrees for thousands of years, and provided many essential resources, including fish, medicine, and materials for tool making, such as [[chert]] or [[quartzite]], which are abundant in the area around the modern city and which can be easily [[Knapping|knapped]] into tools such as [[axe]]s, [[Knife|knives]], and [[arrowhead]]s.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |title=amiskwaciy-wâskahikan (Edmonton) History |url=https://www.ealt.ca/indigenous-connections-blog-list/amiskwaciy-wskahikan-edmonton-history |access-date=April 23, 2023 |website=Edmonton & Area Land Trust |date=February 3, 2020 |language=en-CA}}</ref>

The city was also a historic site for the [[Métis in Alberta|Métis]], who held many narrow lots along the North Saskatchewan which gave access to resources in the area. By 1882, these lots numbered about 44, after which they were displaced and integrated into the expanding city of Edmonton.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Métis in Treaty 6 & Relationship to Fort Edmonton Park |url=https://www.fortedmontonpark.ca/learn/blog/post/metis-in-treaty-6-relationship-to-fort-edmonton-park |access-date=April 23, 2023 |website=www.fortedmontonpark.ca |date=January 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
[[File:Kane Fort Edmonton.jpg|thumb|left|The last of five [[Fort Edmonton]]s was constructed in 1830. It was the third to be built within present-day Edmonton.]]

In 1754, [[Anthony Henday]], an explorer for the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] (HBC), may have been the first European to enter the Edmonton area.<ref>{{cite book|last=James G.|first=MacGregor|title=Edmonton: A History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zj8lAAAAMAAJ&pg=PP1|year=1975|publisher=Hurtig|isbn=978-0-88830-100-0|page=17}}</ref> His expeditions across the Prairies of [[Rupert's Land]] were mainly to seek contact with the [[Aboriginal peoples in Canada|Indigenous population]] for establishing the [[fur trade]], as the competition was fierce between the HBC and the [[North West Company]] (NWC).

By 1795, Fort Edmonton was established on the river's north bank as a major [[trading post]] for the HBC, near the mouth of the Sturgeon River close to present-day [[Fort Saskatchewan]].<ref name="fortedm">{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/fort-edmonton/ |title=Fort Edmonton |last=Switzer |first=Jan |encyclopedia=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]] |publisher=[[Historica Canada]] |edition=online |date=March 4, 2015 |orig-year=February 7, 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140503222236/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/fort-edmonton/ |archive-date=May 3, 2014}}</ref> Fort Edmonton was built within "musket-shot range" of the rival NWC's Fort Augustus.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.albertasource.ca/metis/eng/people_and_communities/historic_fort_edmonton.htm|title=Fort Edmonton and Fort Augustus|last=Alberta Source|date=January 1, 2010|website=Alberta Source|url-status=live|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/2217/20101208175137/http://www.albertasource.ca/metis/eng/people_and_communities/historic_fort_edmonton.htm|archive-date=December 8, 2010|access-date=April 9, 2020}}</ref> Although both forts were initially successful, declines in beaver pelt hauls and firewood stocks forced both HBC and NWC to move their forts upstream.<ref name=":1" />

By 1813, after some changes in location, Fort Edmonton was established in the area of what is now [[Rossdale, Edmonton|Rossdale]], beginning Edmonton's start as a permanent population centre.<ref>Goyette, Edmonton In Our Own Words, xxiii</ref> The fort was located on the border of territory that was disputed by the Blackfoot and Cree nations.<ref name=":1" /> Furthermore, the fort intersected territory patrolled by the Blackfoot Confederacy to the South, and the Cree, [[Dene]], and Nakoda nations to the north.<ref name=":1" /> After the NWC merged with the HBC, Fort Augustus was closed in favour of Fort Edmonton.<ref name=":1" />

In 1876, [[Treaty 6]], which includes what is now Edmonton, was signed between [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] and [[the Crown]], as part of the [[Numbered Treaties]].<ref name=Treaties>{{cite web|title=Numbered Treaty Overview |url=http://www.canadiana.org/citm/specifique/numtreatyoverview_e.html |publisher=Canada in the Making |work=Canadiana.org (Formerly Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions) |access-date=November 16, 2009 |quote=The Numbered Treaties – also called the Land Cession or Post-Confederation Treaties – were signed between 1871 and 1921, and granted the federal government large tracts of land throughout the Prairies, Canadian North and Northwestern Ontario for white settlement and industrial use. In exchange for the land, Canada promised to give the Aboriginal peoples various items: cash, blankets, tools, farming supplies, and so on. The impact of these treaties can be still felt in modern times. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100113201346/http://www.canadiana.org/citm/specifique/numtreatyoverview_e.html |archive-date=January 13, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Numbered Treaties |first=Michelle |last=Filice |date=August 2, 2016 |encyclopedia=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]] |publisher=[[Historica Canada]] |edition=online |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/numbered-treaties |access-date=December 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181203104005/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/numbered-treaties |archive-date=December 3, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> The agreement includes the Plains and Woods Cree, [[Assiniboine people|Assiniboine]], and other [[band government]]s of First Nations at [[Fort Carlton]], [[Fort Pitt (Saskatchewan)|Fort Pitt]], and [[Battle River]]. The area covered by the treaty represents most of the central area of the current provinces of [[Saskatchewan]] and Alberta.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.edmonton.ca/attractions_events/schedule_festivals_events/treaty-six-recognition-day.aspx |title=City of Edmonton, Treaty 6 Recognition Day |publisher=Edmonton.ca |date=March 31, 2017 |access-date=April 14, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822052052/http://www.edmonton.ca/attractions_events/schedule_festivals_events/treaty-six-recognition-day.aspx |archive-date=August 22, 2016}}</ref>

The coming of the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]] (CPR) to southern Alberta in 1885 helped the Edmonton economy, and the 1891 building of the [[Calgary and Edmonton Railway|Calgary and Edmonton (C&E) Railway]] resulted in the emergence of a railway townsite (South Edmonton/Strathcona) on the river's south side, across from Edmonton. The arrival of the CPR and the C&E Railway helped bring settlers and entrepreneurs from eastern Canada, Europe, the U.S. and other parts of the world. The Edmonton area's fertile soil and cheap land attracted settlers, further establishing Edmonton as a major regional commercial and agricultural centre. Some people participating in the [[Klondike Gold Rush]] passed through South Edmonton/Strathcona in 1897. Strathcona was North America's northernmost railway point, but travel to the Klondike was still very difficult for the "Klondikers", and a majority of them took a [[Steamboat|steamship]] north to the [[Yukon]] from [[Vancouver]], British Columbia.<ref>{{cite book|last=Monto|first=Tom|title=Old Strathcona: Edmonton's Southside Roots|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PkFstwAACAAJ&pg=PP1|year=2011|publisher=Crang|isbn=978-1-895097-13-9 }}</ref>

[[File:LegislatureFortEd.jpg|thumb|left|The completed [[Alberta Legislature Building]] in 1914, just above the last Fort Edmonton. The city was selected as Alberta's capital in 1905.]]

Incorporated as a town in 1892 with a population of 700 and then as a city in 1904 with a population of 8,350,<ref name="history-edm">{{cite web|url=http://webdocs.edmonton.ca/InfraPlan/demographic/Edmonton%20Population%20Historical.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081028213622/http://webdocs.edmonton.ca/InfraPlan/demographic/Edmonton%20Population%20Historical.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 28, 2008|author=City of Edmonton|title=Population, Historical|publisher=City of Edmonton|access-date=February 26, 2007}}</ref> Edmonton became the capital of Alberta when the province was formed a year later, on September 1, 1905.<ref name="edmontoncanencyclo">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Edmonton |first1=P.J. |last1=Smith |first2=Mark |last2=Sholdice |orig-year=March 24, 2006 |date=October 24, 2017 |encyclopedia=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]] |publisher=[[Historica Canada]] |edition=online |url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/edmonton/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140503151937/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/edmonton/ |archive-date=May 3, 2014}}</ref> In November 1905, the [[Canadian Northern Railway]] (CNR) arrived in Edmonton, accelerating growth.<ref name="Edmonton, Alberta (2004)">{{cite web |url=http://www.railfame.ca/sec_ind/communities/en_2004_Edmonton_Ab.asp |title=Edmonton, Alberta (2004) |publisher=Canadian Railway Hall of Fame |access-date=May 3, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100726154316/http://www.railfame.ca/sec_ind/communities/en_2004_edmonton_ab.asp |archive-date=July 26, 2010 }}</ref>

During the early 1900s, Edmonton's rapid growth led to speculation in real estate. In 1912, Edmonton [[amalgamation (politics)|amalgamated]] with the City of [[Strathcona, Alberta|Strathcona]] south of the [[North Saskatchewan River]]; as a result, the city held land on both banks of the North Saskatchewan River for the first time.<ref name="Amalgamation (1904–1922)">{{cite web|url=http://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/municipal_elections/ward-system.aspx |author=City of Edmonton |title=Ward System (1970 – Present) |publisher=City of Edmonton |access-date=March 23, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100922064953/http://edmonton.ca/city_government/municipal_elections/ward-system.aspx |archive-date=September 22, 2010 }}</ref>

Just before [[World War I]], the boom ended, and the city's population declined from more than 72,000 in 1914 to less than 54,000 only two years later.<ref name=autogenerated2>{{cite web|url=http://webdocs.edmonton.ca/InfraPlan/demographic/Edmonton%20Population%20Historical.pdf |author=City of Edmonton |title=Population, Historical |publisher=City of Edmonton |access-date=February 26, 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081028213622/http://webdocs.edmonton.ca/InfraPlan/demographic/Edmonton%20Population%20Historical.pdf |archive-date=October 28, 2008 }}</ref> Many impoverished families moved to subsistence farms outside the city, while others fled to greener pastures in other provinces.{{sfnp|Monto|2011|pp=346–349}} Recruitment to the army during the war also contributed to the drop in population.{{sfnp|Monto|2011|p=354}} Afterwards, the city slowly recovered in population and economy during the 1920s and 1930s and took off again during and after [[World War II]].

The [[Edmonton City Centre (Blatchford Field) Airport|Edmonton City Centre Airport]] opened in 1929,<ref name=ECCAclosure>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/city-centre-airport-shuts-down-1.2446468 |title=History and Milestones |publisher=City of Edmonton |access-date=May 24, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140926060443/http://www.edmonton.ca/blatchfordedmonton/history-milestones.aspx |archive-date=September 26, 2014 }}</ref> becoming Canada's first licensed airfield.<ref name="Edmonton's Historic City Centre Airport">{{cite web|url=http://corporate.flyeia.com/edmonton-area-airports/edmonton-city-centre/history |title=History |author=Edmonton Airports |access-date=May 3, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226030941/http://corporate.flyeia.com/edmonton-area-airports/edmonton-city-centre/history |archive-date=December 26, 2013 }}</ref> Originally named Blatchford Field in honour of former mayor [[Kenny Blatchford]], pioneering aviators such as [[Wilfrid R. "Wop" May]] and [[Max Ward (bush pilot)|Max Ward]] used Blatchford Field as a major base for distributing mail, food, and medicine to [[Northern Canada]]; hence Edmonton's emergence as the "Gateway to the North". World War II saw Edmonton become a major base for the construction of the [[Alaska Highway]] and the [[Northwest Staging Route]].<ref name="Northwest Staging Route">{{cite web |url=http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/eh/12.4/lackenbauer.html |author=Canadian Geographical Journal |title=Historical |access-date=March 1, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100905174004/http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/eh/12.4/lackenbauer.html |archive-date=September 5, 2010}}</ref> The airport was closed in November 2013.<ref name="City Centre Airport shuts down">{{cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/city-centre-airport-shuts-down-1.2446468 |author=CBC News |title=City Centre Airport shuts down |access-date=April 10, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151110221535/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/city-centre-airport-shuts-down-1.2446468 |archive-date=November 10, 2015}}</ref>

On July 31, 1987, an [[Edmonton tornado|F4 tornado hit the city]] and killed 27 people.<ref name="Edmonton Tornado">{{cite news |url=http://archives.cbc.ca/environment/extreme_weather/topics/1713-11760/ |author=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |author-link=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|title= Edmonton Tornado |access-date=February 27, 2009 |work=[[CBC News]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716042049/http://archives.cbc.ca/environment/extreme_weather/topics/1713-11760/ |archive-date=July 16, 2011|url-status= live}}</ref> The storm hit the areas of Beaumont, [[Mill Woods]], [[Bannerman, Edmonton|Bannerman]], [[Fraser, Edmonton|Fraser]], and [[Evergreen, Edmonton|Evergreen]].<ref name="The Edmonton tornado 20 years later">{{cite web|url=http://www.mb.ec.gc.ca/air/summersevere/ae00s23.en.html|author=Environment Canada|title=A map of the city of Edmonton showing the path of the tornado|access-date=March 23, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090319153814/http://www.mb.ec.gc.ca/air/summersevere/ae00s23.en.html|archive-date=March 19, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> The day became known as "Black Friday" and earned the city the moniker "City of Champions".<ref name="20th Anniversary of Black Friday—The Edmonton, AB F4 Tornado">{{cite web|url=http://tornadovideos.decadehost.com/index.cfm/2007/7/31/20th-anniversary-of-black-friday---the-edmonton-ab-f4-tornado|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080204053129/http://tornadovideos.decadehost.com/index.cfm/2007/7/31/20th-anniversary-of-black-friday---the-edmonton-ab-f4-tornado|archive-date=February 4, 2008|author=Reed Timmer|title=20th Anniversary of "Black Friday"—The Edmonton, AB F4 Tornado|publisher=TornadoVideos.net |access-date=March 6, 2009}}</ref>

=== History of municipal governance ===
{{Update|section|date=January 2023|reason=''Does not contain information about how Edmonton's municipal governance has changed or evolved since 1989. This section should be updated with more information regarding this''}}
[[File:City-Hall-Edmonton-Alberta-2A.jpg|thumb|[[Edmonton City Hall]] is the home of the [[Edmonton City Council|municipal government]] for Edmonton.|alt=|left]]

In 1892, Edmonton was incorporated as a town. The first mayor was [[Matthew McCauley (politician)|Matthew McCauley]], who established the first school board in Edmonton and Board of Trade (later Chamber of Commerce) and a municipal police service.<ref name="Edmonton Politics">{{Cite book|last=Walls|first=Martha|title=Edmonton Book of Everything|publisher=Maclntyre Purcell Publishing Inc.|year=2007|page=129|isbn=978-0-9738063-4-2}}</ref> Due to McCauley's good relationship with the federal Liberals, Edmonton maintained economic and political prominence over Strathcona, a rival town on the south side of the North Saskatchewan River.<ref name="Edmonton Politics"/> Edmonton was incorporated as a city in 1904 and became Alberta's capital in 1905.<ref name="edmontoncanencyclo"/>

In 1904, the City of Edmonton purchased the [[Alberta Government Telephones|Edmonton District Telephone Company]] for $17,000 from [[Alex Taylor (businessman)|Alex Taylor]], a Canadian entrepreneur, inventor, and politician. Amalgamated into a city department as City of Edmonton Telephone Department, City Telephone System (CTS), 'Edmonton telephones'. In 1989, City Council voted to create [[Edmonton Telephones Corporation]] (Ed Tel) to operate as an autonomous organization under a board of directors appointed by the city. In 1995, City of Edmonton ownership of its telephone service ended when Ed Tel was sold to the [[Telus Communications]] corporation. City Bylaw 11713 created The Ed Tel Endowment Fund whereas the shares owned by Edmonton Telephones Corporation in Ed Tel Inc. were sold by the City of Edmonton to Telus on March 10, 1995, for $470,221,872 to be invested for the perpetual benefit of Edmontonians.<ref name="edtel">{{cite web |title=Ed Tel Endowment Fund Bylaw |url=https://www.edmonton.ca/public-files/assets/document?path=PDF/C11713.pdf |website=edmonton.ca |publisher=City of Edmonton |access-date=December 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221223024746/https://www.edmonton.ca/public-files/assets/document?path=PDF/C11713.pdf |archive-date=December 23, 2022 |date=June 18, 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Unions such as the [[Industrial Workers of the World]] struggled for progressive social change through the early years, with the first reformer, [[James East]], elected in 1912, followed by the first official Labour alderman, [[James Kinney (politician)|James Kinney]], the following year. Many thousands of workers participated in the Edmonton general strike of 1919 and a strong block of Labour representatives were on council after the next election: East, Kinney, Sam McCoppen, [[Rice Sheppard]] and [[Joseph Clarke (Canadian politician)|Joe Clarke]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Finkel |first=Alvin |date=1985 |title=The Rise and Fall of the Labour Party in Alberta, 1917-42 |url=https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/llt/1985-v16-llt_16/llt16art02/ |journal=Labour/Le Travail |language=en |volume=16 |pages=61–96 |issn=0700-3862}}</ref>

Labour representation on city council became a near-majority in 1929, and a full majority from 1932 to 1934, during the Great Depression.{{sfnp|Monto|2011|pp=433, 164}} [[Jan Reimer]] became the city's first female mayor when she was elected in 1989.{{sfnp|Monto|2011|p=326}}<ref>Monto, Tom, Protest and Progress, Three Labour Radicals in Early Edmonton, Crang Publishing (available at Alhambra Books, Edmonton), 2012, 71–76</ref>

In 2021, [[Amarjeet Sohi]] became the first person of colour to be elected as mayor of Edmonton.<ref>[https://globalnews.ca/news/8266564/edmonton-election-2021-mayor-amarjeet-sohi/ Edmonton election 2021: Amarjeet Sohi elected mayor]. ''Global News'' Retrieved August 9, 2023</ref>