Place Names of Alberta [pre 1929]

By Geographic Board of Canada

This resource is especially helpful to those who are researching Alberta families or history for the period of early settlement of the province up to 1928.

Includes  names of all cities, towns, villages and municipal districts, all post offices, all railway stations and the names of many of the rivers, streams, lakes and mountains as they were known in 1928, including original indigenous place names. Many names of places have changed in the years since 1928. Others have ceased to exist, while others have flourished to assimilate their neighboring towns and villages.

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Sources of data in this book include:

• The data in this publication are based mainly on the records of the Geographic Board of Canada (1928)
• Published and unpublished material gathered by James White
• "Place-Names in the Rocky Mountaim between the 49th Parallel and the Athabaska River," published by the Royal Society of Canada in 1916
• Additional information supplied by the railway companies, post­masters, various government officials and by Mr. J. A. Jaffary.
• The sources of information regarding Indian names include
  • A list of Black­foot names in the Report of the Geological Survey for 1882-3-4.
  • A list of Cree and Stoney Indian names gathered by J. B. Tyrrell is contained in the Report of the Geological Survey for 1886.
  • The late Major General Sir Sam Steele, author of "Forty Years in Canada", who saw service in Alberta as an officer in the Royal Northwest Mounted Police, during which time he collected much information about Indian place-names.
  • Peter Erasmus, guide to Dr. Hector, Geologist and Geographer to the Palliser expedition in 1858 and 1859.

Background

The history of Alberta is summarized in its place-names. The name of the province itself recalls the happy auspices under which it came into being. The Marquis of Lorne was Governor General of Canada at the time and the name was given by him as a graceful tribute to his wife, H.R.H. Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, fourth daughter of Queen Victoria.

There are names which recall the rivalry of the fur-trading companies in their quest for beaver skins; names which call up visions of the Mounted Police as they rode the plains and enforced law and order; there are names which shed light on the toils and struggles of the pioneer settlers, their hopes and aspirations, disappointments and successes.

The place-names of Alberta may be divided conveniently into two groups, those which existed before the coming of the full tide of immigration and those which have originated since that date. The rails of the Canadian Pacific Railway reached the western boundary of Alberta in the autumn of 1883, and, as the building of the railway increased the rapidity or settlement - with a consequent multiplicity of new names - this year forms a convenient point of division for the study of the names of the province.

Details:

• 138 Pages
• Content is alphabetically listed by place name
• Originally published by the Department of the Interior - Canada, 1928
• This edition by Global Heritage Press, 2006
• ISBN 1-894571-73-8 (coil bound)
• Softcover - coil-bound