Editing Alberta (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of Alberta}}
{{See also|Timeline of Alberta history}}
[[File:Blackfoot warriors, Macleod, Alberta (HS85-10-18724) original.tif|thumb|[[Blackfoot Confederacy]] warriors in [[Fort Macleod|Macleod]] in 1907]]
[[Paleo-Indians]] arrived in what would later be Alberta at least 10,000 years ago, toward the end of the [[Last Glacial Period|last ice age]]. They are thought to have migrated from [[Siberia]] to [[Alaska]] on a [[Beringia|land bridge]] across the [[Bering Strait]] and then possibly moved south along the east side of the Rocky Mountains through Alberta, settling along the way or moving on to [[Settlement of the Americas|settle other parts of the Americas]]. Others may have [[Coastal migration (Americas)|travelled south along the west coast]] and then moved inland.<ref>{{cite web |title=Canada's First Nations |work=Applied History |publisher=University of Calgary |year=2000 |url=https://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/firstnations/theories.html |access-date=February 1, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101221041745/http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/firstnations/theories.html |archive-date=December 21, 2010 }}</ref> Over time they differentiated into various [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] peoples, including the [[Plains Indians]] of southern Alberta such as those of the [[Blackfoot Confederacy]] and the Plains Cree, who generally lived by [[Bison hunting|hunting buffalo]], and the more northerly tribes such as the [[Woodland Cree]] and [[Chipewyan]] who hunted and trapped other types of animals, and fished for a living.<ref name="aboutab"/>

The first Europeans to visit Alberta were French Canadian fur traders in the early 18th century. The first British subject to visit Alberta was Anthony Henday, in 1754. French Canadians integrated with local First Nations creating the Metis nation, with elements across the Prairies. French was the predominant European language in Alberta and was used in some early fur trading forts in the region, such as the first Fort Edmonton (in present-day Fort Saskatchewan), operated by the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] (HBC). After the [[British America|British arrival in Canada]], approximately half of Alberta's current territory, south of the [[Athabasca River]] drainage, became part of [[Rupert's Land]], which consisted of all land drained by rivers flowing into [[Hudson Bay]]. This area was granted by [[King Charles II of England]] to the Hudson's Bay Company in 1670, and rival fur trading companies were not allowed to trade in it.

The Athabasca River and the rivers north of it were not in HBC territory, because they drained into the [[Arctic Ocean]] instead of Hudson Bay. The north part of Alberta was a prime habitat for fur-bearing animals and was targeted by the HBC and other [[North American fur trade|fur trading companies]].

The first European explorer of the Athabasca region was fur trader [[Peter Pond]], who learned of the [[Methye Portage]], a convenient route to travel from rivers in the Hudson Bay watershed to rivers north of Rupert's Land. He and other Canadian fur traders formed the [[North West Company]] (NWC) of [[Montreal]] in 1779, to compete with the HBC. The NWC built posts at many points across the northern part of Alberta territory. Peter Pond built Fort Athabasca on [[Lac la Biche (Alberta)|Lac la Biche]] in 1778. [[Roderick Mackenzie of Terrebonne|Roderick Mackenzie]] built [[Fort Chipewyan]] on [[Lake Athabasca]] ten years later in 1788. His cousin, Sir [[Alexander Mackenzie (explorer)|Alexander Mackenzie]], followed the [[North Saskatchewan River]] to its northernmost point near Edmonton, then trekked on foot to the Athabasca River, which he followed downstream to Lake Athabasca. It was there he discovered the mighty outflow river that bears his name{{snd}} the [[Mackenzie River]]{{snd}} which he followed to its outlet in the Arctic Ocean. Returning to Lake Athabasca, he followed the [[Peace River]] upstream and crossed the Rockies, eventually reaching the Pacific Ocean, and so he became the first European to cross the North American continent north of Mexico.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=2521 |title=Alexander Mackenzie Biography |dictionary=Dictionary of Canadian Biography |access-date=January 5, 2006 |archive-date=December 6, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206201528/http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=2521 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The extreme southernmost portion of Alberta was part of the French (and Spanish) territory of [[Louisiana (New France)|Louisiana]], which was [[Louisiana Purchase|sold to the United States]] in 1803. In the [[Treaty of 1818]], the portion of the Louisiana territory north of the [[49th parallel north|Forty-Ninth Parallel]] was ceded to the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kennedy |first1=D. |last2=Cohen |first2=L. |last3=Bailey |first3=T. |title=The American Pageant: Volume I: To 1877 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gwP8bQsT908C&pg=PA265 |publisher=Cengage Learning |date=2010 |location=Boston, MA |page=265 |isbn=978-0-547-16659-9 |access-date=November 22, 2015 |archive-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725020910/https://books.google.com/books?id=gwP8bQsT908C&pg=PA265 |url-status=live }}</ref> The area was grouped with Rupert's Land to make the [[North-Western Territory]].
[[File:1820 george back fort chipewyan.jpg|thumb|[[Fort Chipewyan]], a trading post and regional headquarters for the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] in 1820]]
Fur trade expanded in the north, but there was intense friction and competition between the rival HBC and NWC. In 1821 the British government forced them to merge to stop the hostilities.<ref>{{cite book |last=Easterbrook |first=W. T. Easterbrook |title=Canadian Economic History |publisher=University of Toronto Press |date=1988 |location=Toronto, ON |page=320 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QjmE2bSRzEUC&pg=PA320 |isbn=0-8020-6696-8 |access-date=November 22, 2015 |archive-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725015805/https://books.google.com/books?id=QjmE2bSRzEUC&pg=PA320 |url-status=live }}</ref> After amalgamation, the Hudson's Bay Company dominated the economy of Alberta until 1870, when HBC control of Rupert's Land was ended and the territory was transferred to the newly federated Canada. Southern Alberta, Northern Alberta, other parts of the Northland and Rupert's land became Canada's [[North-West Territories]].
[[File:East Village Calgary Flood 2013.jpg|thumb|left|[[Downtown Calgary]] was one of several areas afflicted during the [[2013 Alberta floods]].]]
First Nations and representatives of [[the Crown]]  negotiated the [[Numbered Treaties]], in which the Crown gained title to the land that would later become Alberta, and the Crown committed to the ongoing support of the First Nations and guaranteed their hunting and fishing rights. The most significant treaties for Alberta are [[Treaty 6]] (1876), [[Treaty 7]] (1877) and [[Treaty 8]] (1899).

The [[District of Alberta]] was created as part of the North-West Territories on 8 May 1882. As settlement increased, local representatives to the [[North-West Legislative Assembly]] and the House of Commons were elected, and senators appointed, to represent Alberta.  After a long campaign for autonomy, on 1 September 1905, the District of Alberta was enlarged and given provincial status, with [[1905 Alberta general election|the election]] of a [[Alberta Liberal Party|Liberal]] majority with [[Alexander Cameron Rutherford]] as the first premier. At first the economy was very active, then around 1912, Alberta suffered a recession. The [[First World War]] presented special challenges to the new province as an extraordinary number of working-age men volunteered for active service, leaving relatively few workers to maintain services and production. Over 50% of Alberta's doctors volunteered for service overseas.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Calgary, Edmonton and the University of Alberta: the extraordinary medical mobilization by Canada's newest province |journal=Can J Surg |year=2017 |volume=60 |doi=10.1503/cjs.012117 |pmc=5608576 |pmid=28930035 |last1=Da Cambra |first1=MP |last2=McAlister |first2=VC |issue=5 |pages=296–299 }}</ref>

In 1918 Albertans experienced the [[Spanish flu|1918 flu epidemic]].

Alberta voters sought innovation, electing a [[1921 Alberta general election|Farmers government in 1921]], then the world's first [[1935 Alberta general election|Social Credit government in 1935]].

Alberta's economy stayed sluggish, especially during the Depression. But [[Leduc No. 1|discovery of oil at Leduc in 1946]] opened a new era of prosperity and wealth for the province.

On June 21, 2013, during the [[2013 Alberta floods]] Alberta experienced heavy rainfall that triggered catastrophic flooding throughout much of the southern half of the province along the [[Bow River|Bow]], [[Elbow River|Elbow]], [[Highwood River|Highwood]] and [[Oldman River|Oldman]] rivers and tributaries. A dozen municipalities in Southern Alberta declared local states of emergency on June 21 as water levels rose and numerous communities were placed under evacuation orders.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kaufmann |first=Bill |title=Thousands flee rising waters from Red Deer to Crowsnest |work=Calgary Sun |date=June 21, 2013 |page=3 }}</ref>

In 2016, the [[2016 Fort McMurray wildfire|Fort McMurray wildfire]] resulted in the largest fire evacuation of residents in Alberta's history, as more than 80,000 people were ordered to evacuate.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fort McMurray residents flee in the largest fire evacuation in Alberta's history |url=https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/fort-mcmurray-wildfire-pushed-back-even-as-temperatures-climb |access-date=September 26, 2020 |website=Edmonton Journal |language=en-CA |archive-date=May 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160510222635/http://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/fort-mcmurray-wildfire-pushed-back-even-as-temperatures-climb |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |agency=The Canadian Press |date=May 1, 2017 |title=One year later: A look back at how the Fort McMurray wildfires unfolded - BNN Bloomberg |url=https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/a-look-back-at-how-the-fort-mcmurray-wildfires-unfolded-1.739324 |access-date=September 26, 2020 |website=BNN |archive-date=March 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301130253/https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/a-look-back-at-how-the-fort-mcmurray-wildfires-unfolded-1.739324 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Like the rest of the world, Alberta was affected by the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta|COVID-19 pandemic]] starting in 2020. The last restrictions were lifted in 2022.<ref name="CBC_20201019">{{Cite news |date=October 19, 2020 |title=Alberta hits new pandemic peak for active COVID-19 cases |work=CBC |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-covid-19-coronavirus-active-cases-pandemic-1.5768458 |access-date=November 10, 2020 |archive-date=November 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101042029/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-covid-19-coronavirus-active-cases-pandemic-1.5768458 |url-status=live }}</ref>