The Calgary and Edmonton Trail was a

land transport Land transport is the transport or movement of people, animals or goods from one location to another location on land. This is in contrast with other main types of transport such as maritime transport and aviation. The two main forms of land tr ...

route between

Fort Edmonton Fort Edmonton (also named Edmonton House) was the name of a series of Trading post, trading posts of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) from 1795 to 1914, all of which were located on the north banks of the North Saskatchewan River in what is now ce ...

and

Fort Calgary Fort Calgary was a North-West Mounted Police outpost at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow rivers in present-day Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Originally named Fort Brisebois, after the outpost's first commander, the outpost was renamed Fort Calga ...

in the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...

. Prior to European contact, there was already a route through the area that local Indigenous peoples used to travel between the Shortgrass Prairies in the south to the

Aspen Parkland Aspen parkland refers to a very large area of ecotone, transitional biome between prairie and boreal forest in two sections, namely the Peace River Country of northwestern Alberta crossing the border into British Columbia, and a much larger area ...

in the north. This was reportedly a link in the Great North Trail (AKA Old North Trail) that stretched from Mexico to the Barren Lands, a western equivalent to the

Great Trail The Great Trail (also called the Great Path) was a network of footpaths created by Algonquian and Iroquoian-speaking indigenous peoples prior to the arrival of European colonists in North America. It connected the areas of New England and easte ...

along the eastern seaboard. After the fur

trade post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory in European and colonial contexts, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically a trading post allows people from one geograph ...

was established near the site of today's

Fort Saskatchewan Fort Saskatchewan is a city along the North Saskatchewan River in Alberta, Canada. It is northeast of Edmonton, the provincial capital. It is part of the Edmonton Capital Region#Edmonton CMA, Edmonton census metropolitan area and one of 24 muni ...

near to today's City of

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, pre-existing Native trails became part of the massive fur-trading transportation network that European and Canadian companies used to export furs from the interior to the coasts and on to Europe. David Thompson traveled the northern portion of trail to Fort Edmonton in 1800. John McDougall

blazed Trail blazing or way marking is the practice of marking paths in outdoor recreational areas with signs or markings that follow each other at certain, though not necessarily exactly defined, distances and mark the direction of the trail. A blaz ...

a more modern trail running south of Edmonton as far as Morley in 1873. It was extended to Calgary two years later. Development of the trail allowed mail service between Calgary and a southside location near to Edmonton in 1891.

Name and namesakes

Alberta Highway 2 Highway 2 (also known as the Queen Elizabeth II Highway) is a major List of Alberta provincial highways, highway in Alberta that stretches from the Canada–United States border through Calgary and Edmonton to Grande Prairie. Running primaril ...

is now the main route between Edmonton and Calgary. Most of it bears the name "

Queen Elizabeth II Highway Highway 2 (also known as the Queen Elizabeth II Highway) is a major highway in Alberta that stretches from the Canada–United States border through Calgary and Edmonton to Grande Prairie. Running primarily north to south for approximately , ...

", but some sections are named in honour of the old trail, as are other roads running along the same axis. Heading south from Edmonton, the trail was called "Calgary Trail".

Calgary Trail Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in Ca ...

now refers to the southbound portion of Highway 2 within the boundaries of the city of Edmonton. Heading north from Calgary, the trail bore the name " Edmonton Trail". That name now refers to a north–south feeder road in Calgary approximately 1 km west of the current Highway 2 and approximately 0.25 km east of Centre Street North. A segment of the old trail through the city of Airdrie is also called Edmonton Trail.

References

History of Alberta Historic trails and roads in Alberta District of Alberta Pre-Columbian trails and roads {{Alberta-stub

Name and namesakes

See also

References