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Establishment
When missionaries and fur traders arrived from Europe in the eighteenth century Alberta was inhabited by several Aboriginal nations. Wrangling between the French and British (a continuing theme in Canadian history) kept Alberta from being fully exploited at first, but with the creation of trading posts near Edmonton and up north the squabbling subsided somewhat. Motto: Fortis et Liber (Latin: Strong and free) Official languages English Capital Edmonton Largest city Calgary Lieutenant-Governor Norman Kwong Premier Ralph Klein (PC) Parliamentary representation - House seat - Senate seats 28 6 Area Total • Land • Water (% of total) Ranked 6th 661,848 km² 642,317 km² 19,531 km² (2. ...
Canada is a nation of 31 million inhabitants occupying almost all of the northern half of the North American continent. ...
Template:Hide = Motto: Template:Unhide = Industry Integrity Progress City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canadas Location. ...
With the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway (completed 1885) and the increasing flow of people into the area, a territorial government was created in 1875. The vast herds of bison on which the Indians depended were hunted nearly to extinction and the land was distributed to European homesteaders. Several years later the region overseen by the territorial government was split into four portions, one being named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, daughter of Queen Victoria and Albert. The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR; AAR reporting marks CP, CPAA, CPI), known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a Canadian Class I railway operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited. ...
1875 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...
Binomial name Bison bison Linnaeus, 1758 Subspecies B. b. ...
Her Royal Highness The Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, (Louise Caroline Alberta), (18 March 1848 - 3 December 1939) was a member of the British Royal Family and Canadian Vice Regal Consort, the sixth child and fourth daughter of Queen Victoria. ...
Victoria Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria) (24 May 1819–22 January 1901) was a Queen of the United Kingdom, reigning from 20 June 1837 until her death. ...
Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Francis Charles Augustus Albert Emmanuel, of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha branch of the House of Wettin) (26 August 1819 - 14 December 1861) was the husband and consort of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. ...
When Canada was formed in 1867, Alberta was still very much the uncontrolled frontier. It was not until 1874 that the North West Mounted Police (precursors to the modern Royal Canadian Mounted Police) established their presence in the area. Alberta was established a province of Canada in 1905. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP or Mounties; French, Gendarmerie royale du Canada, GRC) is both the federal police force and the national police of Canada. ...
Royal Canadian Mounted Police heraldic badge. ...
1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...
Most of the credit for Alberta achieving provincial status should be given to Sir Frederick Haultain. Haultain, a lawyer, was also a member of the Council of the Nortwest Territiories and pushed hard for provincial status to be granted to the west. However, his plan for provincial status in the west was not the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan-rather he favored the creation of one very large province called Buffalo.
The Prime Minister of the day, Sir Wilfred Laurier, did not want to put that much power in the canadian west and opted for the two province plan.
If credit was given where credit was due Sir Frederick Haultain should have been appointed as the first Premier of Alberta. However, Haultain was Conservative while Laurier was Liberial. Laurier opeted to appoint the Liberal Alexander Rutherford as the first Premier and Haultain has become a somewhat ignored figure in Canadian history. One of the provincial goverment building in Edmonton carries his name.
Oil was first discovered in Alberta in the 1920's. Although small oil patches grew up around places like Turner Valley and Borradalle, oil did not become a significant sourece of revenue to the province until Imperial Oil's Leduc # 1 "blew in" on February 13, 1947. This really signified the beginning of the Alberta oil boom and brought lasting prosperity to the province. Just as a matter of interest Leduc # 1 continued producing oil until 1974.
The Liberals formed the first government of Alberta and remained in office until 1921. In that year the United Farmers were elected and held power until 1934. In 1934 the UFA was defeated, in part due to a sex scandal involving a former premier, and in part due to the governments inability to combat the great depression.
In 1934 a Social Credit government was elected. Social Credit was based on the rather odd economic theories of an Englishman, Major Douglas. In large part it called for the return of prosperity certificates (or social credit) but more commonly called "funny money" to the people of the province.
After its election many actions of the Social Credit government such as its plan to issue prosperity certificates and its plan to censor the press were declared unconstutional. Despite this the Social Credit Party remained in power until 1971. In large part this was due to the fact that the government was able to competently manage Alberta's increasing oil wealth.
In the election of 1971 the Social Credit government was defeated and the Progressive Conservative Party came to power. They remain in power to this day.
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