Jasper Alberta Index
Alberta Basic History
1876
Marie Hermina Arnault, Metis, b-1876, Stony Plain the region west of Fort Edmonton, daughter, Irenee Arnault, a whiteman and Isabelle Chalifoux dit Labouteille, Metis, b-1847.
Sylvestre Belcourt, Metis, b-1876 Lac Ste Anne (Alberta) son Benjamin Belcourt, Metis, b-1852, Lac Ste Anne (Alberta) and Mary Betsy Native.
Joseph Bouvier, b-1851 son Joseph Bouvier, b-1830 and Catherine Beaulieu; married 1876 Fort Providence (Alberta) Marguerite Laferte, b-1854 Red River.
Mary Jane Bruneau, b-1858; married 1876 Lac La Biche (Alberta), Exavier Cardinal, b-1855 N.W., son Louison Cardinal, b-1821 and Susan Courteorelle, b-1821.
Adelaide Callihoo, b-1876, St. Albert (Alberta) daughter Adam Callihoo, b-1851 Lac Ste Anne (Alberta) and Christine Gladu; married Male McAuley.
Joseph Cardinal, Metis b-1876 Alberta married to Alexanderian Metis b-1881 Alberta living Lac La Biche, Alberta 1901.
Paul Cardinal, b-1876, Lac La Biche (Alberta), son, Dominique Cardinal, Metis, b-1845, Floating Stone Lake (Alberta) and Marie Anne Desjarlais; married Marie Vitaline Desjarlais, born May 16, 1882, Lac La Biche (Alberta).
December 11: Lac La Biche (Alberta), birth, Anne Cardinal, Metis, daughter John Cardinal, Metis, b-1839, Victoria (Alberta), and Angele Desjarlais b-1846, Lac La Biche (Alberta); married Adam Larocque, b-1871, Saddle Lake, (Saskatchewan).
David Crasmus, Metis b-1876 Alberta son Peter Crasmus, Metis b-1833, living Alberta 1876 to 1888, living Lakeland, Alberta 1891.
Cleophee Gladu. b-1876, St. Albert (Alberta), daughter, Alexis Gladu, b-1845, Lac Ste Anne (Alberta) and Elizabeth Malaterremb, 1852; married 1893, Francois Delorme, b-1872 son Joseph Delorme, b-1838 and Angelique Gingras, b-1844.
Robert Hardwood, Metis b-1876 Alberta married about 1899, Alberta Settann Metis b-1875 Alberta living Trail Creek, Alberta 1901.
John Hyde married, 1876, Fort Calgary, Rosalie Bernard, Metis, b-1862 Red River, daughter Eustache Bernard (1829-1831) Fort Edmonton and Marguerite Primeau, Metis, b-1836, Fort Alexander.
Louis Leblanc, b-1876, Porcupine Hills, son Cornelious Leblanc Sr., b-1850, Fort Edmonton and Mary Favel, b-1858, Fort Edmonton.
Soloman Letendre, Metis b-1876 Alberta married to Caroline Metis b-1880 Alberta, living White Whale Lake, Alberta 1901.
Adelia L'Hirondelle, Metis b-1876 Alberta living Lac Ste Anne (Alberta) 1901.
Louis Laferte-Lanaix, b-1876, Fort Providence (Alberta) son Henri Laferte-Lanaix, Metis, b-1849, Fort Chipewyan (Alberta) and Catherine Bouvier, Fort Simpson, b-1856.
Narcisse L'Hirondelle, Metis b-1876 Lac La Nun (Alberta), daughter Augustin L'Hyrondelle, Metis, b-1849, Fort Edmonton (Alberta) and Nancy Bellerose, b-1857.
Rosalie Longmore, Metis b-1854 Alberta married about 1876 Clover Bar.
G.M. McDougall, Metis b-1876, Alberta living Morley, Alberta 1901.
George McDougall (1822-1876), the Methodist, at age fifty four, froze to death traveling alone from Calgary to the Methodist Mission at Morley, during a snowstorm. He died two miles from his tent on a hill-top at Nose Creek Valley, north of Fort Calgary.
Grand Point, Red Deer River, (Alberta), birth Patrice Primeau, son Francois Primeau and Marie Larocque; married, Elizabeth Alexander, b-1873, Fort Pitt, Saskatchewan.
William Robert (Bird), Metis, b-1876, Strathcona (Edmonton, Alberta), died 1886, son William Robert Bird, Metis, b-1826 and Fanny Shirt, Metis, b-1856.
January: St. Albert (Alberta) birth, Marshall Robinson, Metis, son Jean Baptiste Robinson and Rosalie Berland, Metis, b-1835, epouse 1852 Andre Cardinal, b-1835..
(I)-Donald Ross (1840-1915) built the Edmonton Hotel near Fort Edmonton.
Donald Ross opened the Edmonton Hotel turning the second floor of his house into a hotel. Donald Ross had arrived in Fort Edmonton in 1872.
(I)-Henry Sanderson, born Orkney, married 1856 Fort Resolution, Great Slave Lake, NWT, Elizabeth Manager de Lard, Metis, b-1844, Buffalo Lake (Alberta), daughter, Manager de Lard Chipewyan and Zosee Chipewyan.
Modeste Tastawitch, b-1876, Dunvegan, Athabaska, married 1899 Grande Prairie, Anne (Squasis) Wanniyande, Metis, b-1877 Smoky River, Athabasca, daughter Jean Baptiste Waniyande, b-1838 Jasper House and Isabelle Laurion, Metis b-1840 Rocky Mountain House.
Harry Taylor Jr., Metis b-1876, Alberta, married about 1896 Alberta, Olympia born 1871 Quebec, living Southern Alberta 1891, living Lethbridge, Alberta 1901.
Edward Thompson married 1876 St. Albert (Alberta) Henriette Arnault, b-1863, Lesser Slave Lake (Alberta) daughter Irenee Arnault a whiteman and Isabelle Chalifoux dit Labouteille, b-1847, Lesser Slave Lake (Alberta).
Mary Whitford, b-1876, Buffalo Lake, daughter Andrew Whitford, b-1839 and Elizabeth Gills, b-1845 York Factory.
RCMP constable Mahoney and his French Half-breed (Metis) freighter crossing the Saskatchewan River and their boat capsized about 40 feet from shore. The moment they touched bottom the Half-breed (Metis) instinctively knew he was in quicksand and instead of wading ashore in two feet of water he threw himself flat and swam to shore. Mahoney being 6' 2" and weighing 200 lbs tried to walk ashore. He was soon consumed in the quicksand and perished.
Fort Elbow is renamed to Fort Calgary.
The first sawmill was erected at Fort MacLeod (Alberta).
George Emerson, a former Hudson Bay man, brought a small herd of cattle, chiefly dairy stock, from Montana. Fred Kanouse, a trader, drove twenty-one cows and a bull, then turned them loose on the range.
The Mounted Police established a four man detachment at the Metis Trail Creek settlement to keep an eye on the 2,000 plus residents. This Metis settlement contained 400 permanent houses with numerous portable residents there during the buffalo hunts. Trail Creek had replaced White Horse Plains as the gathering place for the semi annual buffalo hunts. Trail Creek is west of present day Stettler, (Alberta), on the Red Deer River.
There are about 800 Metis at the Boss Hill Settlement near Buffalo Lake (Alberta).
The Canadian homestead Act was deliberately amended to exclude single woman. The US Act was amended in 1867 to include single woman. Aboriginal People where also excluded.
Reports are circulating that 3,000 lodges of American Indians are at Cypress Hills (Saskatchewan).
Shipment of buffalo hides to Fort Benton (Montana) from Alberta dropped from 70,000 hides a year to 30,000 hides a year.
January 22: St. Albert, birth Nancy Cunningham Jr. son John Cunningham Sr., b-1815 and Rosalie L'Hyrondelle, b-1829, Lesser Slave Lake.
February 30: Victoria, Alberta, located 90 km NE Fort Edmonton, birth, Andrew Jane Spence Jr., son, Andrew Spence Sr., b-1842 and Nancy Whitford, b-1850.
April 13: Fort Edmonton, birth Charles Vandel, Metis son Francois Vandel, Metis, b-1850 and Isabelle Deschamps, Metis, b-1855.
May: Lac La Biche (Alberta), birth, Maria Reed, daughter William Reed and Mary Settler, b-1840 Red River; married a Cardinal who died 1906.
May: Lesser Slave Lake (Alberta), birth St. Paul Gladu, son Jean Baptiste Gladu, d-1881 and Marie Gaucher, born July, 1849, Jasper House (Alberta); marriage, April 23, 1898, Lesser Slave Lake (Alberta), Melanie Savoyard, born August 11, 1883, Big Island, Great Slave Lake, daughter Joseph Savoyard, b-1845 and Francoise Boucher, b-1849.
June 13: Christine Lacombe, sister of Father Lacombe (1827-1916), marries Leon Harnois. The Oblate fathers of St. Albert harvested five hundred and fifteen kegs of potatoes this year?
June 15: Lac La Biche (Alberta), birth Billy Cardinal, son John Cardinal, b-1839, Victoria (Alberta) and Angele Desjarlais, b-1846, Lac La Biche (Alberta); 1st married Harriet Vardinal, b-1886; 2nd married Marie Cardinal, b-1904.
July 28: Medicine Hat (Alberta), birth Antoine Gladu, son Modeste Gladu, b-1847 and Marie Melanie Azure, born June 27, 1857, North Dakota; married, 1897, Havre, Montana, Florestine LeMire, born April 3, 1874, Swift Current (Saskatchewan) daughter Pierriche Lemire b-1830, Fort Pelly (Saskatchewan) and Therese Pelletier, born October 14, 1833 Red River..
July 30: St. Albert (Albert (Alberta), Father Lestanc wrote that a hail storm ravaged St. Albert and flattened all the fields within in a vicinity of 20 to 25 miles. Wheat, barley, potatoes? and hay were destroyed. Even the wild ducks on the lake (Big Lake?) were killed. After two poor years hunting on the prairies and fishing at Lac Ste Anne (Alberta) was the salvation of the St. Albert (Alberta) Metis.
August: Indian treaty no 6 came into being at Fort Carlton, covering twenty-one thousand square miles. This was the Nation of the Cree, the Assiniboine and a few Ojibwa: some thirty six hundred Natives in all. Not all the Cree is willing to sign, including Big Bear who would rather go to war than submit.
August 25: The Mission of Saint Paul burned down. The chapel, house, barn, stables, and a few small houses are all that remained. Bishop Vital Grandin (1829-1902) believed it was the result of Native malice. The Church, for the past 300 years, has been teaching the Native people contempt for the things they value and to covet the things they do not need, so as to civilize them. The belief of malice is likely correct. Hail destroyed the crop at St. Albert and Richard Hardisty, of the Hudson Bay Company, provided relief with fifty- five sacks of flour for the Natives, but not the Metis. The Metis were competition and frequently free-traded to Montana or St. Paul by way of Red River.
October: Frank Oliver, born September 14, 1853 Peel County, Ontario, died March 31, 1933 Ottawa, Ontario, arrived in Strathcona, having driven a bull team from Winnipeg. He observed Fort Edmonton having shacks scattered about, and was so impressed that he said, at that moment, Edmonton became home. He claims to have bought one of the first lots ever sold there for twenty five dollars, and threw up a log hut. This contradicts his earlier statement of observing shacks scattered all about, unless he means the others squatted rather than bought property. Actually until the government did its land survey, no one owned land in Alberta. Frank Oliver (1853-1933), and Allen Bowsfield, worked for the Winnipeg Free Press before moving to Edmonton. In 1880, he would start the first newspaper in Edmonton.
November: Battle River Settlement (Alberta), birth, Sophie Flamand, daughter Francois Flamand and Marie Bear: married 1890, Victoria (Alberta), Charles Gladu, born December 25, 1869, son, Francois Gladu, born March 20, 1841 and Catherine Hope, b-1843, Lac La Biche (Alberta).
December: Buffalo Lake, Alberta birth David Villeneuve, Metis, son Theophile Villeneuve, b-1843 Fort Edmonton and Elizabeth McGillis, Metis b-1841; married Justin McKay, Metis, born May 2, 1884 Duck Lake, Saskatchewan daughter Guillaume McKay, Metis b-1855 and Marie St. Denis, Metis, b-1855.
December 3: Victory, Alberta, birth, Mary Anne Whitford, Metis, daughter Simon Whiteford, Metis b-1849 Alberta and Elizabeth Anderson, Metis b-1859 Alberta, living Pakan, Alberta 1901, daughter John Anderson Jr. b-1827 and Christie Whitford, b-1833.
1877
Jeremie Belcourt, b-1877, St. Albert (Alberta) son Eswin Belcourt, b-1843, Lac Ste Anne (Alberta) and Louise Paul b-1857, Lac Ste Anne (Alberta); married Pauline Villeneuve, born May 27, 1877, Peace River daughter Severe Villeneuve, born April 19, 1854, Fort Edmonton (Alberta) and Nancy Courteoreille, b-1857, St. Albert (Alberta).
Felix Callion, b-1877, Lac Ste Anne (Alberta) son Joseph Callio, b-1848, Lesser Slave Lake (Alberta) and Elizabeth Plante, born May 12, Lac Ste Anne (Alberta); married Angele Belcourt, b-1879, Lac Ste Anne, (Alberta) daughter Magloire Belcourt, born May 19, 1855, Lac Ste Anne (Alberta) and Nancy Ignace, b-1852, Jasper House, (Alberta).
Louisa Cardinal, b-1877, Slave Lake, daughter, Gabriel Cardinal dit Labatoche, b-1835 and Marie Bruneau, b-1837; married John Benard, born December, 1875, Marleyville (Alberta).
Marie Marguerite Cardinal, Metis, b-1877, Lac La Biche (Alberta), daughter Gabriel Cardinal dir Labatoche, b-1835 and Marie Bruneau, Metis b-1837.
Betsy Colder, Metis b-1877 N.W.T. living Battle River, Alberta 1891.
Ed Barnett arrived Fort MacLeod this year. He roamed central Alberta 1878-1890 without meeting a settler of any kind. Others suggest he was ranching 1882-1890 at Lacombe.
(I)-Francis Jeffery Dickens born January 15, 1844 London, died 1886 Moline, Illinois, an R.C.M.P. officer is stationed Fort MacLeod soon to be sent to Fort Walsh, Cypress Hills, Saskatchewan.
Charles Gariepy, born November 3, 1850, Red River, married 1877, St. Albert (Alberta), Virginia dit Blayonne Grandion (Blandion), Metis, daughter Antoine Blandion, b-1833 and Marie Surprenant, Metis, b-1840.
John Gariepy, b-1877, Red Deer River (Alberta), son Francois Gariepy (1835-1877) and Sophia Caroline Grant, b-1840 Red River; married Eleanore Levelle, b-1878, Cypress Hills (Alberta/Saskatchewan).
(II)-Mathilde Glen, Metis, b-1877, Fish Creek (Calgary, Alberta), daughter (I)-John Glenn, born 1833 and Adelaide Belcourt, Metis born August, 1851.
Charles Godin and his wife Catherine Milette (b-1862) are living in Calgary.
Marie Marguerite L'Hirondelle, Metis b-1877 Lac La Nun ( Alberta), daughter Augustin L'Hyrondelle, Metis, b-1849, Fort Edmonton (Alberta) and Nancy Bellerose, b-1857.
Vital Majeau, Metis b-1877 Alberta married about 1898 Alberta Florestine Metis b-1876 Alberta living St. Pierre, Alberta 1901.
Elzear Plante, b-1877, St. Albert (Alberta) son Michel Plante, b-1851, Fort Pitt and Juliet Nault, b-1848, Fort Edmonton.
(I)-Donald Ross (1840-1915) married this year or next to (II)-Olive Blewitt born 1850.
Marguerite Tastawitch, Metis, b-1877, Dunvegan, Athabesca (Alberta) daughter Jean Baptiste Tastawitch, b-1849, Dunvegan, Athabasca (Alberta) and Marie-Batard, b-1853, Sturgeon Lake, Athabasca (Alberta); married February 1, 1898, Spirit River (Alberta), Charles Bremner.
Alexander Wills, Metis b-1877 Cyprus Hills is the son of John Wills Jr. and Rosalie McKay, Metis.
Trail Creek des Metis, marriage? Feleman Dumont, Metis b-1857 B.C. recorded 8 kids but no wife listed, William b-1878, Alberta, Joseph b-1880 Alberta, Margret b-1882 Alberta, Mary Rose b-1886 Alberta, Catherine b-1888 Alberta, Louisa b-1891 Alberta, Floria b-1893 Alberta and Elizabeth b-1895 Alberta most likely all Trail Creek.
Some contend this year was the last major Edmonton Buffalo Hunt, with each hunter having an average of six carts. Some of the past hunt leaders, who are elected each hunt, are: Michael Arnot, Beaudry, Ed Boucher, William Champion, Pierre Des Sault, Gabriel Dumont, Goulette, Ladouceur, Shoutout, Baptiste Veness and many others.
Lower St. Albert at this time had three hundred and forty six people including thirty eight orphans and eleven widows.
It is noteworthy that the Indians in Alberta are still killing buffalo with the bow and arrow.
A sprinkling of European and eastern settlers began to claim land in the Edmonton hamlet.
The H.B.C. steamer Northcote made a run from Grand Rapids, where the Saskatchewan flows into Lake Winnipeg, to Fort Edmonton (Alberta). The Lily a new steamer is added to service upper portions of the Saskatchewan River , between Carlton and Fort Edmonton. The Northcote was reassigned to travel from Carlton to Grand Rapids.
Mule trains, extending two miles long, are taking furs from Trail Creek des Metis to Fort Benton, Montana.
January: St. Joachim Church is constructed on property bought from Malcolm Groat, near 109 avenue and 121 Street in Edmonton, because the Hudson Bay Company wanted the chapel removed from the Fort.
January 1: St. Albert (Alberta), birth, Jean Chalifoux son Joseph Chalifoux, Metis, b-1838, Lesser Slave Lake (Alberta), and Julie Campion, b-1841 Lake McLeod
January 2: The first official post office is opened in Edmonton with Richard Hardisty being appointed as postmaster. Frank Oliver (1853-1933), son Allen Bowsfield, claimed the Bulletin building as the first business building erected outside the fort, first as a store in December then in 1880 the Bulletin and it is torn down in 1895.
February 17, Buffalo Lake, birth Francois Whitford, son Francois Whitford Sr., b-1835 and Jane Anderson, b-1845.
March: Bow River, (Alberta), birth Alice Mary Bird, died 1879 on the South Branch of the Saskatchewan River, daughter Philip Bird and Mary Kipling.
April: St. Albert (Alberta) was buying importing flour from Winnipeg at Fort Edmonton for 20 piastre ($20.00) for one-hundred livres. The St. Albert Metis made the decision to go to Fort Benton for their flour. Twenty wagons were dispatched as flour at Fort Benton was 2 1/2 piastre or a 17.5 piastre savings. The seasons furs were traded at Fort Benton (Montana), bypassing the Hudson Bay Company.
April 30: Lesser Slave Lake (Alberta), birth, William Gladu son Moise Gladu, b-1841 and Marguerite Kaskahwan; married December 28, 1895, Lesser Slave Lake (Alberta), Verinique Paul, born February, 1876, Battle River Settlement, daughter, Charles Paul, b-1853, St Albert (Alberta) and Marie Gaucher, born February, 1860, Jasper House (Alberta).
July: Dunvegan, Athabasca (Alberta), birth Christie McKay, daughter Isidore Flamand (McKay), b-1842 Red River and Charlotte Bourassa, Metis, b-1850 Dunvegan, Athabasca (Alberta).
August 15: Lac La Biche (Alberta), birth Emilien Boucher, son Narcisse Boucher, b-1827 Quebec and Judith McCarthy, born December 10, 1835, Athabasca Districr; married Marie Kalen Collins, born June 16, 1876 daughter Clement Collins and Isabelle Quintal, b-1847, Lac La Biche (Alberta).
August 21: Indian treaty number 6 is ratified at Fort Edmonton.
September: In Indian treaty No. 7, at Blackfoot Crossing on the Bow River, the Blackfoot Confederacy signed some fifty thousand square miles away. Chief Crowfoot said," I have been the first to sign, I shall be the last to break."
September 20: Lac Ste Anne (Alberta) birth Jean Baptiste L'Hyrondelle, Metis, Lac Ste Anne (Alberta) son Euphrosine Beauregard, Metis, b-1851 and Magloire L'Hyrondelle, b-1850, Lac Ste Anne (Alberta).
November: The Mounted Police had established themselves at Fort Saskatchewan, Fort Macleod, Fort Calgary, Milk River, Trail Creek and Piato Horse Butte.
December: Mary Cleary, who arrived December 7, 1875; an Irish woman who came to Canada as a teacher, is one of the few European women married this year. She married a Patrick Curran, a soldier at Fort Saskatchewan. Jerry Potts was the official interpreter, but was not successful. So the call went out for Jimmy Jock Bird (1785-1892), who was contacted by Jean L'Heureux: a Frenchman who lived for many years with the Blackfoot. Governor David Laird considered Mr. Bird a very intelligent interpreter and that he rendered good service in this respect.
December: Elzear Chartier, born December 1877, St. Albert (Alberta) son Joseph Chartier and Christina Robertson, b-1854, Norwat House' married Agnes Cadotte, born September 10, 1883, Cumberland House (Saskatchewan) daughter Edward Cadotte, b-1852 Red River and Isabella Cinklater, born November 15, 1856.