The following are excerpts taken form a book purchased at the Fort Chipewyan Historical Meseunm in Fort Chipewyan entitled
by Sister Archonge J. Brady, sgm.
Produced by:
Fort Chipewyan
Education North Society
1983
| 1670 - 1799 | |
|---|---|
| Year | Event |
| 1670 | The Company of Adventures of England, trading out of Hudson Bay (known as the Hudson's Bay Company) chartered by Charles II |
| 1697 | Intertribal wars. The Cree drove the Chipewyan Indians north and east of the Athabasca district. The Cree had guns obtained from the fur traders. |
| 1700 | The Chipewyan acted as middlemen between the western tribes and the Hudson's Bay Company fur trading post at York Factory |
| 1715 | William Stewart of the Hudson's Bay Company was the first Eurpoean to travel in the MacKenzie watershed. He tried to make peace amont the Indians and encouraged them to bring their furs to the Hudson Bay forts. |
| 1719 | Swan, The Cree, brought a sample of the Athabasca tar sands to York Factory. It was thought to be worthless. |
| 1730 | Approximate date Alberta Indians acquired horses and guns. |
| 1754 | First white man, Anthony Henday, arrived in Alberta. |
| 1764 | Cree and Chipewyan tribes signed a peace treaty at Peace Point. |
| 1772 | Samuel Hearne went overland from Hudson Bay to the Coppermine River and the Arctic Ocean. |
| 1778 | Peter Pond crossed the Methy Portage and built Pond's Fur Trading Post on the Lower Athabasca River, forty miles form Lake Athabasca near the Embarras Portage. It was the first fort in the Arctic Drainage System and Alberta's first white settlement. |
| 1779 | The North West Fur Trading Company was formed in Montreal. Pond joined in 1784 and Alexander MacKenzie in 1787. |
| 1782 | Cree and Beaver Indians make peace at Peace Point |
| 1784 | Smallpox killed 90% of the Chipewyan Tribe. |
| 1787 | Peter Pond grew vegetables at his post, Albert's first garden. Peter Pond's map depicted the Pacific Ocean 150 miles west of Fort Chipewyan. He had to depend on hearsay. |
| 1788 | Alexander MacKenzie had his cousin, Roderick MacKenzie, relocate Pond's House to Old Fort Point on the south shore of Lake Athabasca. The new fort was called Fort Chipewyan. |
| 1789 | Alexander MacKenzie left Fort Chipewyan to seek a short route to eastern fur markets. He reached the Arctic Ocean by his River of Disappointment, later called the MacKenzie River. He took 102 days and was looking for the Pacific Ocean. |
| 1790 | Roderick MacKenzie built a library at Fort Chipewyan. It eventually had 2000 books. |
| Philip Turnor and Peter Fidler conducted the first survey of the Athabasca and Slave areas. They were Hudson's Bay men hired by the British Government to check Pond's map. | |
| 1792 1793 |
Alexander MacKenzie wintered at the junction of the Peace and Smoke Rivers. On July 22, 1793 he reached the Pacific Ocean. The overland route was not practical for the fur trade. MacKenzie returned to Ft. Chipewyan on September 24, 1793 and spent the winter here. (Ref. 5; See History for references) |
| 1795 | Edmonton House was built on the Upper Saskatchewan River. |
| 1798 | Fort Chipewyan was relocated to its present site on the northwest shore of Lake Atabasca. |
| 1799 | The XY Company was established at Little Island (Mission Point). This new company was sponsored by Alexander MacKenzie, then in Montreal. |
| 1800 - 1899 | |
|---|---|
| Year | Event |
| 1802 | Peter Fidler built Nottingham House on English Island for the Hudson's Bay Company. |
| Alexander MacKenzie was knighted for his Canadian explorations. | |
| 1804 | The XY Company was taken over by the North West Company |
| The first horse was brought by boat from Peace River | |
| Surveyor David Thompson visited Fort Chipewyan to tie in his map of the Great North West. | |
| 1805 | Simon Fraser visited Fort Chipewyan on his way to the Pacific Ocean. |
| 1806 | The North West Company destroyed Nottingham House and Peter Fidler had to abandon the Hudson's Bay Company post. |
| 1815 | John Clarke led one hundred Hudson's Bay Company men to Potato Island and built Fort Wedderburn. They ran out of food and John McGillvary, chief factor of the North West Company at Fort Chipewyan a mile away, refused help. Clarke and fifty men went to Fort Vermilion. At Loon River, sixteen men turned back; only three reached Fort Wedderburn. |
| 1816 1817 |
In the final stage of open war between the two fur trading companies on Lake Athabasca, Fort Wedderburn fell. The North West Company held John Clarke hostage. |
| 1818 | Colin Robertson became factor at Fort Wedderburn. |
| 1819 | Doctor William Todd of the Hudson's Bay Company arrived at Fort Wedderburn and became the first physican to practice in Alberta. |
| 1820 | Captain John Franklin stopped in Fort Chipewyan for four months on his way to the Arctic. |
| George simpson, 33 and later Governor of the Hudson's Bay company, replaced Colin Robertson at Fort Wedderburn. | |
| Sir Alexander MacKenzie died in Scotland. | |
| 1821 | On March 26, 1821, the bitter rivalry in the fur trade ended when the North West Company was absorbed by the Hudson's Bay Company. The North West Company had 97 posts and the Hudson's Bay Company had 76. Fort Wedderburn was abandoned in favor of Fort Chipewyan. |
| 1822 | The first York boats used on the Athabasca were built in Fort Chipewyan. |
| 1826 | The Hudson's Bay Company withdrew liquor from the fur trade. |
| 1834 | A cow and calf were brought to Fort Chipewyan. |
| 1837 | Thomas Simpson and party travelled from Fort Garry (near Winnipeg) to Fort Chipewyan by dog tream. It took 46 days to travel the 1277 miles or about 28 miles per day. They went to survey the Arctic coastline for the Hudson's Bay Company. |
| 1841 | Reverand James Evans, a Methodist, was the first missionary to vist Fort chipewyan. He came by dog team from Peace River. |
| 1843 | Domestic animals were in use in Fort Chipewyan. |
| J. Lefroy conducted a magnetic survey of Fort Chipewyan. | |
| 1847 1848 |
Father Alexander Tache, o.m.i., was the First Roman Catholic missionary to vist Fort Chipewyan. On his second visit in 1848 he chose the site for the Catholic mission. |
| 1851 | September 8, the Catholic mission was dedicated to Our Lady of the Nativity. |
| 1852 | Father Faraud drained the swamp behind the mission and planted vegetables and grain. |
| 1855 | Father Tache decended the Lac La Biche River to the Athabasca River and on to Fort Chipewyan. The R.C. Missionaries decided to use this route to ease their dependency on the Hudson's Bay Company and avoid Methy Portage. |
| 1858 | Archdeacon J. Hunter was the first Anglican minister to visit Fort Chipewyan |
| An icy crust on the snow made hunting difficult and resulted in a near famine. | |
| Distemper killed many wild animals and destroyed most dog teams. | |
| 1859 | Mrs. Robert Campbell was the first white woman in Fort Chipewyan. She arrived in Alberta with three Grey Nuns at Lac Ste. Anne. |
| 1869 | The Hudson's Bay Company monopoly of the fur trade in Rupert's Land ended. |
| The first scows from the Lac La Biche Mission reached Fort Chipewyan | |
| 1870 | The Hudson's Bay Company surrendered Rupert's Land to Canada. |
| M. J. Moberly established Fort McMuray | |
| Roderick MacFarlane reconstructed Fort Chipewyan. | |
| 1874 | Construction of St. Paul's Anglican Church began and first services were held. |
| The first Anglican school was opened. | |
| Two Grey Nuns from Fort Providence on the MacKenzie River opened an orphanage and school at Fort Chipewyan. | |
| 1875 | Botanist John Macoun of the Geological Survey of Canada explored and gave the first scientific account of the Athabasca region. |
| Brother Alexis Reynard, o.m.i., was killed by his Iroquois guide on the way toe Lac La Biche. | |
| 1876 | Wheat grown at the R.C. Mission awared a Bronze Medal at the Philadelphia International Exhibition. |
| 1879 | St. Paul's Anglican Church and Mission was permanently established. It is still in use today. |
| 1881 | Smallpox ravaged the Chipewyan tribe. |
| 1882 1883 |
Captain J. M. Smith built the S.S. Grahame at Fort Chipewayn. It was the first steamer used in the North. It was 135 ft. long, had a 24 foot beam, and carried 90 tons of cargo. It took 30 hours to go to Fort McMurray and 15 hours to return. |
| 1883 | The Hudson's Bay Company constructed a trail from Edmonton to Athabasca Landing, a new route north. |
| 1886 | Methy Portage route no longer used. |
| Transporation by York boats ended. | |
| 1887 | The Great Famine |
| 1889 | Bishop Grouard sent a steam engine to Fort Chipewyan to prepare timber to build a steamboat. |
| The Athabasca Landing Trail was improved to a wagon road. All freight and passengers going North used that route. | |
| The Hudson's Bay Company built a tramway at Grand Rapids on the Athabasca River to portage all traffic. | |
| 1891 | The railway reached Edmonton, population less than 2000. |
| 1893 | The S.S. St. Joseph was built in Fort Chipewyan at the R. C. Mission. It had a paddlewheel on each side of the steamer. The engine continued to be used to cut wood. |
| J. B. Tyrell explored from Hudson Bay to Fort Chipewyan. | |
| 1897 | The Klondike Gold Rush; 780 people passed throught Fort Chipewyan. |
| Depredations in the North caused by the Klondikers resulted in native people asking for protection of Indian Rights. | |
| 1899 | Indian Treaty No. 8 was signed by Alexander Laviolette for the Chipewyan and Julian Ratfat for the Cree. |
| Script was paid to the Metis | |
| 160 disillusioned American Klondikers returned south on the S.S. Grahame. | |
| Colin Fraser, Jr., an independent fur trader, re-opened his 1887 fur trading post. | |
| The Royal North West Mounted Police established a post at Fort Chipewyan. It remained open until 1917 and was then reopened in 1923. | |
| 1900 - 1978 | |
|---|---|
| Year | Event |
| 1900 | On March 14, Klondiker John Arnot forze on Lake Athabasca during a blizard. |
| Two mails a year still provided for Fort Chipewyan | |
| The Indians were vaccinated against smallpox at Treaty time. | |
| 1905 | The Province of Albert was created with Edmonton as its capital. |
| Five mails a year provided for Fort Chipewyan. | |
| 1907 | Ernest Thompson Seton stopped in Fort Chipewyan on his way to the Arctic. He hired Billy Loutit as guide. |
| 1908 | Leases for commercial fishing on Lake Athabasca granted to white people. |
| 1912 | The first Post Office opened in Fort Chipewyan. |
| The 60th paralled defined as the boundary between Alberta and the North West Territories. | |
| 1914 | Money replaced the "Made Beaver" as a medium of exchange in trading. The Hudson's Bay Company interested more in retail selling. |
| 1915 | The first car, a Ford, was brought to Fort Chipewyan by Brother Charbonneau to be used to haul fish from Goose Island. |
| 1920 1921 |
Spanish Flu killed many people in Fort Chipewyan. Mass graves were dug where the Hudson's Bay Store now stands. |
| 1922 | The Federal Government established Wood Buffalo National Park. Under the direction of J. K. Cornwall, 6600 buffalo were moved by rail and barge from Wainwright to the present park between 1925 and 1928. |
| 1926 | Large scale commerical fishing began on Lake Athabasca. |
| 1928 | The first seaplane landed at Fraser Bay with a geological photographer for the Federal Goverment. The plane was piloted by C. H. 'Punch" dickens. In 1929, the first airmail was brought to Fort Chipewyan. |
| 1939 | All the old Hudson's Bay Company buildings except the Chief Factor's residence were demolished. |
| 1940 | The Chipewyan Band chose and was awarded a reservation. |
| 1942 | 3000 American troops passed throught Fort Chipewyan to Norman Wells to build the Canol Pipeline to Whitehorse, Yukon. |
| Some soldiers built the station and houses for the Wireless Signal Corps in Fort Chipewyan. They camped at Negro Island on the Rocher River. | |
| 1951 | The last caribou migration passed through Fort Chipewyan. |
| 1958 | The Hudson's Bay Copmpany Fleet ended 135 years of service on the Athabasca - MacKenzie navigation system. |
| 1970 | Commercial fishing closed on Lake Athabasca. |
| 1978 | Peace Point was set aside as a Cree reservation. |
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Last updated: January 28, 2002