History - Athabasca Heritage Society

Delegation from Calling Lake at the new bridge opening, 1952. Athabasca Archives AA00349

A Brief History of Athabasca

In the late 1800s, Athabasca Landing was established on the shallow south bank of the "elbow" of the Athabasca River; the southern-most bend where the river sweeps south and comes within 161 kilometres of Edmonton. The traditional territory of Indigenous peoples for thousands of years, Europeans first visited the elbow in 1884. Guided by the Cree, they explored the possibility of the Athabasca River becoming a transportation corridor in the western Canadian fur trade. There is no recorded date, but around this time, Louison Fossenueve, or Captain Shot, first "shot" the rapids in a loaded scow on the Athabasca River at Grand Rapids Island, ushering in the era of scows and steamboats. Treaty 8 was signed in 1898 and this opened the area to homesteaders enabled by the Land Act. Between the years 1884 and 1914, Athabasca Landing became known as the "Gateway to the North," a jumping-off point for travellers to the Peace River Country and traders heading north on the Athabasca River to Waterways, Lake Athabasca, the Mackenzie River, and the Arctic. In 1898, it was one of the routes to the Klondike gold fields, described as the Canadian "all-water" route. The meeting place of Indigenous, Métis, and Europeans, Athabasca Landing became for independent traders and the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) a key transportation centre to Canada’s northwest and the Arctic.

Map by Matthew Gismondi

The Athabasca Landing Trail, built by the HBC, was one of Alberta’s first highways, and it linked Fort Edmonton (later the City of Edmonton) to their seasonal warehouse at Athabasca Landing and the transportation network of the Athabasca River. Thousands of traders, missionaries, explorers, adventurers, and settlers walked or rode wagons along the trail, on their way to build Athabasca's future. British, Métis, French Canadians, Ukrainians, Europeans, and Americans travelled to Athabasca to claim homesteads or take advantage of commercial endeavours. In 1905, the telegraph came in on the Landing Trail and that same year, the Town of Athabasca was incorporated by an Order in Council. In 1910, escaping prejudice and seeking freedom, a group of pioneering Black Oklahomans put down new roots and homesteaded in the Pine Creek area, later known as Amber Valley.

Canadian Northern Railway map. 1912, showing the proposed line north from Edmonton to Athabasca. Map courtesy of the Manitoba Historical Society.

Timeline

1799: David Thompson arrived at town site and as the legend goes, accompanied by two First Nations guides, a prayer book, and a sextant.

1855: First Hudson's Bay Company post was established.

1877: Beginning of trading posts and missions along Athabasca River.

1892: NWMP first stationed at Athabasca Landing, which was known as "that Last Point North." Sternwheelers and scows were built here to trade and travel along the Athabasca River.

1895: Bishop Young, an Anglican clergyman, took up residence in Athabasca Landing.

1898: Gold seekers came up the Athabasca Landing Trail, crossed the river and went west along the Peace River Trail overland to the Yukon, or went up the river by boat from Athabasca Landing and on to the North Country.

1905: The first ferry was put across the Athabasca River.

1910: European immigration began and Athabasca started to grow with its first real estate boom and the arrival of homesteaders.

1911: The Landing was incorporated into a town named Athabasca Landing. The name was changed to the Town of Athabasca in 1913.

1912: Canadian Northern Railway train service from Edmonton was established and the CNoR Train Station was completed by December, 1912.

1914: Many men of the town left for of World War I, and it is believed that the poet Robert W. Service, enlisted from here. He wrote poems about trappers, scow men, and the people of Athabasca.

1920s: After WWI, investment from England dried up and the town experienced years of declining population and stagnant growth.

1984: The Athabasca Health Care Centre (hospital) and Aspen Health Services (health unit) were built.

1985: Athabasca University relocated to Athabasca.

1986: The Town of Athabasca celebrated its 75th anniversary.

1987: The Athabasca County moved into a new building in Cornwall.

1993 : Athabasca Civic Building (Anton J. Schinkinger Municipal Building) was built. Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries (pulp mill) was built and it was officially opened in September.

1998: Athabasca Heritage Society formed to lobby and raise funds for the rehabilitation of the Athabasca riverfront in the Town of Athabasca. Members were able to purchase a plot of land which then anchored future development of parkland and recreational space on the riverfront.

2000: Relay 2000, a leg of the historic Trans Canada Relay which promoted the building of the Trans Canada Trail, visited Athabasca. This is where the northern waters met and headed south. Artist Ted Harrison captured the event in a limited edition lithograph which can be purchased through Athabasca Heritage Society.

2014: The main floor renovation of the CNoR Athabasca Train Station was completed.

2018: The second floor renovation of the CNoR Athabasca Train Station was completed.

2019: The Athabasca Classic Cruisers Car Club, with a donation of materials from Athabasca Home Hardware, painted the exterior of the CNoR train station in time for Canada Day.

2020: Working through COVID-19 restrictions, the Athabasca Heritage Society's contractor was able to demolish the addition on the north side of the CNoR train station that had been installed by the Athabasca Seniors Society during their residence in the building. Eventually, the entire lot will be landscaped and made into a Town of Athabasca green space.

2022: Landscaping of the north side of the CNoR train station began in May 2022 and is now complete.

2024: The Grand Union Hotel burned down on July 23rd.