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A Look at the Provinces, Part II: Alberta

© David Newman

This is the second article in the series. Alberta is the province east of British Columbia just on the other side of the Rockies. It is the most western of the Prairie Provinces. It has an area of 661,190 square kilometers and has a population of 2,545,553 people (1991 census). The Capital is Edmonton. Along with Saskatchewan, Alberta became part of Canada in 1905.

The Climate in Alberta is Dry Continental to the South and Cold Continental to the rest - which means the summers are hot and the winters are damned cold. Between Alberta and British Columbia there are the Rockies and near them are smaller hills until the relief of the Province becomes flat for the Prairies. To the North, there is the Canadian Shield.

Anthony Henday is thought to be the first European in Alberta. Henday was a fur trader for the Hudson's Bay Company and when he met Amerindians, in 1754, he started a fur trade with them. Later Scottish and French traders followed. In 1821, settlers arrived in Alberta followed by missionaries in 1840. The Hudson's Bay Company sold all its territory (Called the Northwest Territory) to Canada in 1870. The Northwest Territory was everything except for Canada (see article: Confederation) which in 1870 now included Manitoba, the Crown Colony of British Columbia and the Colony of Newfoundland. The Territory was in disorder until the founding of the Northwest Mounted Police (Now Royal Canadian Mounted Police; or Mounties) in 1873. The first mention of the name Alberta was in 1882 when the Territory was divided into districts including the district of Alberta. In 1905, Alberta became a Province of Canada and an Election was held to give a new premier. In 1906 a legislature was built in Edmonton, the city chosen as the capital of the new Alberta. Between then and the '20s, two major railroads were built to add to the Pacific Railroad built in the late 1800s. More and more settlers came into the Province and most became farmers as that was the only thing one really could do as a job in the Prairies at the time. The farmers became richer because of the War and wheat was highly priced. Since the price of wheat declined after the war, and a party was formed called the United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) who were voted into Parliament and who increased the wealth of the whole province until the Great Depression. Then a new party arised called the Social Credit Party who wanted to reform the whole economy but the Federal stopped them from testing their monetary ideas. The Party remained in office until 1971 who were succeeded by Conservatives.

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