Chronology of Events in Western Canadian History

May/06/1670:	King Charles II granted a charter to the 'Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson’s Bay', an organization that eventually morphed into the Hudson's Bay Company.
Mar/15/1684:	In London, England, Henry Kelsey was apprenticed to the Hudson's Bay Company and was soon sent to Hudson Bay.
Aug/21/1691:	Henry Kelsey, having journeyed from York Factory, emerges from the edge of the woods onto the prairies. He is not impressed by the open lands. Kelsey is the first European known to have recorded his sight of the prairies.
Jun/26/1754:	Anthony Henday, with some Plains Cree companions, leaves York Factory on the Hudson Bay coast to travel inland to western Canada.
Oct/14/1754:	Anthony Henday meets with the Archithinue, an Aboriginal group that may have been Blackfoot, and tries to persuade them to travel York Factory to trade. This meeting probably took place somewhere in the vicinity of Pine Lake, central Alberta.
Jun/23/1755:	Anthony Henday and his Cree companions arrive back in York Factory, having been almost exactly a year away.
Jun/22/1757:	Birth of George Vancouver, naval officer and surveyor of the coast of western North America, in King's Lynn, Norfolk, England.
Aug/16/1769:	Peter Fidler, fur trader and surveyor, born in Bolsover, England.
Apr/30/1770:	David Thompson, fur trader and surveyor, born in London, England, although of Welsh descent.
Dec/23/1788:	While wintering at Manchester House, David Thompson slips down a bank and breaks his leg. It takes almost a year to heal and during that time he meets Philip Turnor at Cumberland House and learns surveying.
Jul/12/1789:	Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Arctic Ocean, having travelled down the river that now bears his name, the Mackenzie River.
Jul/22/1793:	Alexander Mackenzie writes an inscription on a rock on the Pacific coast: 'Alexander Mackenzie, from Canada, by land, the twenty-second of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three'.
May/23/1797:	David Thompson, fur trader and surveyor, joins the North West Company after thirteen years working for the Hudson's Bay Company.
Nov/28/1797:	David Thompson and some companions set off from McDonnell's House, near the junction of the Souris and Assiniboine Rivers in southern Manitoba, intending to travel across the plains for about 200 miles to visit the Mandan villages on the upper Missouri.
Dec/05/1797:	David Thompson and his companions encounter a severe winter storm on the plains. Thompson uses his compass to guide them to shelter.
Dec/07/1797:	David Thompson and his companions arrive at an abandonned fur trade post, Ash House, on the Souris River.
Dec/10/1797:	David Thompson and his companions travel through a terrible winter storm. Thompson guides them by his compass. Darkness falls before they encounter some scrub and small oak trees that offer some shelter. Thompson remarks that 'I had weathered many a hard gale, but this was the most distressing day I had yet seen'.
Dec/29/1797:	David Thompson and his companions reach the Missouri River valley, after being delayed for several more days in severe winter snowstorms.
Dec/30/1797:	David Thompson arrives at a large Mandan village on the Missouri River. He notes that the journey had taken thirty-three days, due to bad weather, when normally it would take about ten. He stayed with the Mandan for about a month.
Feb/03/1798:	David Thompson arrives back at McDonnell's House, near the junction of the Assiniboine and Souris rivers, after spending a month with the Mandan on the Missouri River and completing a hazardous winter journey across the plains.
Feb/26/1798:	David Thompson leaves McDonnell's House to travel down the Assiniboine River valley to its junction with the Red River, surveying as he went.
Mar/07/1798:	David Thompson arrives at the junction of the Assiniboine and Red rivers. He turns south and continues surveying the Red River valley to the next trading house, operated by the North West Company under Charles Chaboillez.
Mar/14/1798:	During his survey of the Red River valley, David Thompson arrives at a trading house, operated by the North West Company under Charles Chaboillez. Thompson finds that the house is just south of the 49th parallel.
Mar/25/1798:	Continuing his survey of the Red River valley, David Thompson arrives at Cadotte's House.
Apr/27/1798:	David Thompson arrives at Turtle Lake, which he determines to be the source of the Mississippi River. He notes abundant wild rice in the lakes and marshlands of the area.
May/10/1798:	Death of George Vancouver, naval officer and surveyor of the coast of western North America, in Petersham, Surrey, England, at the age of 40.
May/12/1798:	David Thompson reaches the west end of Lake Superior and begins a survey of 700 miles along the south shore.
May/28/1798:	David Thompson arrives at Sault Ste Marie on Lake Superior, where he meets up with Alexander Mackenzie and the next day William McGillivray. Mackenzie is very impressed by his surveying work and urges him to continue.
Jun/10/1799:	David Thompson marries Charlotte Small, daughter of an Indian woman and Patrick Small, a trader, in Isle à la Crosse, northern Saskatchewan.
Apr/21/1806:	Wedding day of Louis Riel's maternal grandparents, Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière and Marie-Anne Gaboury, in Trois-Rivières, Lower Canada.
Jun/25/1807:	David Thompson and his crew reach Howse Pass, the main pass through the southern Rockies in the vicinity of Rocky Mountain House.
Jun/30/1807:	David Thompson and his crew reach the Columbia River on the west of the Rocky Mountains. He was to spend most of the next five years exploring the Columbia and its tributaries.
Sep/03/1810:	Artist Paul Kane born in County Cork, Ireland.
Dec/30/1810:	David Thompson and his crew start working their way up the Athabasca River valley, somewhere in the vicinity of Jasper, preparatory to a winter crossing of the Rockies.
Jan/05/1811:	David Thompson and his crew are still working their way up the Athabasca River valley towards the pass. His men are very nervous about this area because they believe it is the haunt of mammoths.
Jan/10/1811:	David Thompson and his crew spend a cold night on the crest of the Athabasca Pass, before starting their descent on the west side of the mountains the next morning.
Jul/15/1811:	David Thompson arrives at Astoria, near the mouth of the Columbia River, a trading post set up by John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company.
Jul/16/1811:	David Thompson reaches the Pacific coast.
May/08/1812:	David Thompson crosses the Athabasca Pass from the Columbia (west) to the Athabasca (east) basins. This is his last crossing of the Rockies.
May/11/1812:	David Thompson and his crew arrive at Henry House, near Jasper, after crossing the Rockies by the Athabasca Pass.
Jul/12/1812:	David Thompson and his family arrive at Fort William, en route for Montreal. After his arrival in Montreal in mid-August, Thompson never returns to the west.
Aug/30/1812:	The first group of workmen (35 people) arrive at the Forks (now part of Winnipeg) from Scotland to start building the Selkirk Settlement.
Sep/04/1812:	Governor Miles Macdonnell officially takes possession of the land granted to Lord Selkirk to form the Selkirk Settlement by the Hudson's Bay Company.
Jun/19/1816:	The Battle of Seven Oaks was a confrontation between a group of Red River Métis, led by Cuthbert Grant, and a group of Selkirk Settlement colonists, led by the governor, Robert Semple. In the ensuing conflict, Semple and twenty colonists were killed.
Jan/29/1817:	Captain John Palliser born in Dublin, Ireland.
Mar/12/1820:	Alexander Mackenzie, fur trader and explorer, died in Scotland, aged about 56.
Oct/20/1818:	London Convention, by which the 49th parallel across the prairies, from Lake of the Woods to the continental divide, was defined as the boundary between Canada and the United States.
Mar/26/1821:	Amalgamation of rival fur trade enterprises, the Hudson's Bay Company and North West Company.
Dec/17/1822:	Peter Fidler, fur trader and surveyor, died in Dauphin Lake House, Manitoba, at the age of 53.
Apr/17/1831:	John Macoun born in County Down, Northern Ireland. Macoun was Dominion botanist with the Geological Survey of Canada and his glowing reports of the agricultural potential of the west were influential with the federal government in Ottawa.
Jun/27/1833:	Peter Erasmus born in the Red River Settlement, now Manitoba.
Mar/16/1834:	Birth of Sir James Hector, geologist with the Palliser Expedition, in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Sep/25/1836:	James Macleod, second Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police, born in Drynoch, Isle of Skye, Scotland.
Dec/07/1837:	Acheson Irvine, third Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police, born in Quebec City.
Oct/31/1838:	Sir William Francis Butler, army officer and traveller best known as the writer of The Great Lone Land, born in Ballyslatteen, County Tipperary, Ireland.
Nov/15/1839:	Samuel Anderson, Chief Astonomer for the Boundary Survey, which defined the Canadian boundary across the prairies, born in London, England.
Apr/25/1840:	Birth of Lawrence Herchmer in Shipton-on-Cherwell, England. Herchmer was the Chief Commissary of the Boundary Commission for the prairies and later the fourth Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police.
May/22/1840:	Birth of James Walsh, North West Mounted Police officer and first Commissioner of the Yukon Territory, in Prescott, Ontario.
Jun/19/1841:	Sir George Arthur French, first Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police, born in Roscommon, Ireland.
Sep/09/1842:	Birth of Elliott Coues in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA. Coues was the naturalist with the American contingent of the Boundary Commission, which defined the Canadian-US border across the Prairies. He wrote extensively about ornithology and natural history of the West.
Nov/27/1842:	Fred Stimson, rancher and manager of Bar U Ranch, born in Compton, Quebec.
Jan/21/1844:	Marriage of Jean-Louis Riel and Julie Lagimodière, Louis Riel's parents, in St Boniface Cathedral, Red River district.
Oct/22/1844:	Louis Riel, charismatic Métis leader, born in the Red River valley, now part of Winnipeg.
May/09/1846:	Paul Kane leaves Toronto, intending to travel to western Canada to paint portraits of Indians.
Jun/06/1846:	En route from Fort Frances to Lake of the Woods, Paul Kane passes through an area, extending for 150 miles, where the trees had been defoliated by an immense infestation of caterpillars.
Jun/13/1846:	Paul Kane arrives at the Red River Settlement, now the vicinity of Winnipeg. While there, he meets Cuthbert Grant, the Métis leader.
Jul/12/1846:	Paul Kane arrives at Norway House, the furthest north point of his travels.
Sep/07/1846:	Paul Kane arrives at Fort Carlton. He meets with Mr Rundell (probably Rev. Robert Rundle), a missionary, who is also travelling back to Edmonton. Mr Rundell has brought his pet cat with him, which causes great interest and amusement to all.
Sep/13/1846:	Paul Kane describes the operation of a bison pound, and attends a hunt at a pound not far from Fort Carlton.
Sep/14/1846:	Only two days out from Fort Carlton, Paul Kane describes an encounter with a herd of antelope or 'cabrees'.
Sep/26/1846:	Artist Paul Kane, accompanied by the Factor, Mr Rowand, arrives at Fort Edmonton from Fort Carlton. He spends several days at the fort, painting and sketching portraits of Indians visiting the fort.
Oct/09/1846:	En route from Fort Edmonton to Fort Assiniboine, Paul Kane meets up with Colin Fraser, Sir George Simpson's piper. Fraser is also travelling to Jasper House, where he is in charge and lives with his family.
Oct/29/1846:	Travelling up the Athabasca River valley, Paul Kane has his first sight of the Rocky Mountains.
Nov/03/1846:	In the midst of a winter storm, Paul Kane arrives at Jasper House and is cheered and warmed by a meal of 'five or six pounds' mountain sheep, which he found good eating.
Nov/08/1846:	Now well into the Rockies, Paul Kane sees mountain goats for the first time. His interest in them is more gastronomic than artistic, but the goats get away!
Nov/12/1846:	Paul Kane and his companions reach the Height of Land, the Committee's Punch Bowl, at the crest of the Rockies, and camp for the night.
Nov/16/1846:	Having reached Boat Encampment, on the west of the mountains, in an exhausted and cold state the day before, Paul Kane and his group headed down river for Fort Vancouver.
Dec/08/1846:	Paul Kane arrives in Fort Vancouver, on the Pacific coast, having travelled across the Rockies from the east.
Mar/26/1847:	Paul Kane makes a sketch of Mount St Helens and while he is doing so sees a 'stream of white smoke' expelled from the crater, suggesting that the volcano was active at this time.
Apr/09/1847:	After paddling in a canoe for a day and a night from Nisqually, Paul Kane arrives at Fort Victoria on Vancouver Island, where he stays for two months, sketching and painting the Indians of the island.
Oct/10/1847:	Paul Kane arrives back at Boat Encampment, heading east after his year in the Pacific coastal region.
Nov/06/1847:	After a trying passage of the Rockies, Paul Kane arrives back at Jasper House and again thaws out and has a sustaining meal of mountain sheep meat.
Nov/29/1847:	After a difficult journey by dog sled down the frozen Athabasca River, Paul Kane arrives at Fort Assiniboine and eats a huge meal of whitefish.
Dec/02/1847:	Much recovered after several days consuming whitefish and allowing his feet to heal, Paul Kane leaves Fort Assiniboine and heads for Fort Edmonton.
Dec/05/1847:	Artist Paul Kane arrives at Fort Edmonton. He spends the Christmas season at the Fort and is very impressed by the hospitality he receives. He notes the presence of coal outcropping in the North Saskatchewan River valley, near the Fort.
Dec/25/1847:	Christmas Dinner at Fort Edmonton: boiled buffalo hump, boiled buffalo calf, dried moose nose, whitefish browned in buffalo marrow, buffalo tongue, beavers' tails, roast wild goose, accompanied by potatoes, turnips, and bread. This feast was served for seven people and the menu reported by Paul Kane.
Jan/06/1848:	Paul Kane is a guest at a wedding at Fort Edmonton. John Rowand's son was the groom, the bride was the daughter of Mr Harriett, the chief at Fort Edmonton.
Jan/07/1848:	Paul Kane accompanies a wedding party to Fort Pitt, travelling along the North Saskatchewan River by dog sled. One of his most famous paintings, 'Winter-travelling in Dog Sleds', records this journey.
Jan/14/1848:	Paul Kane arrives at Fort Pitt, where he stays for a month, doing sketches of the Cree people who are the inhabitants of the area around the Fort.
Apr/12/1848:	Paul Kane leaves Fort Edmonton to travel to Rocky Mountain House, wanting to meet with and paint portraits of the Blackfoot people. Travel was difficult because the ground was still snow-covered.
Apr/21/1848:	Paul Kane arrives at Rocky Mountain House. He notes coal outcrops along the river bank.
May/25/1848:	Paul Kane leaves Fort Edmonton, travelling downstream with the spring boat brigade, comprising 23 boats and 130 men, heading to Norway House.
May/27/1848:	The boat brigade, with Paul Kane, arrives at Fort Pitt, where two more boats join the entourage.
Jun/01/1848:	The boat brigade meets up with a large war party, consisting of Blackfoot, Blood, Sarcee, Gros Ventre, and Peigan people. Paul Kane gets his wish to paint portraits of Blackfoot chiefs. He witnesses horse racing and a medicine pipe-stem dance.
Jun/03/1848:	The boat brigade, with Paul Kane among them, cannot travel down the North Saskatchewan River because of snow and wind.
Jun/04/1848:	The boat brigade, with Paul Kane among them, arrives at Fort Carlton, where they stay for several days, concerned about impending conflict between the Blackfoot and Cree.
Jun/10/1848:	The boat brigade, with Paul Kane among them, arrives at Cumberland House and are joined by three more boats.
Jun/14/1848:	The boat brigade, with Paul Kane among them, arrives at the Pas. Kane meets Sir John Richardson and Dr Rae, who are heading west and north to the Mackenzie River to search for Sir John Franklin. Kane hears news of political events in Europe.
Jun/18/1848:	The boat brigade, with Paul Kane among them, arrives at Norway House, where the annual meeting of Chief Factors is taking place. Paul Kane paints the portrait of an Inuit man, thought to be 110 years old. Kane spears many sturgeon, and tries gold-eye, which he finds unappetizing.
Aug/23/1848:	Heading back east, Paul Kane reaches Fort Frances, where he rests up for a few days before continuing his homeward journey.
Oct/01/1848:	Paul Kane arrives at Sault Ste Marie, where he considers his western journey to end, because the rest of the trip was made by steamer.
Jan/05/1849:	Colonel Sam Steele born in Purbrook, Ontario. Steele was a North West Mounted Police officer and a soldier and was involved in many of the significant late 19th century events in the West, including the Red River Rebellion, the Northwest Rebellion, and the Klondike Gold Rush.
Aug/01/1849:	Birth of George Mercer Dawson in Pictou, Nova Scotia. Dawson was the geologist with the International Boundary Commission and later Director of the Geological Survey of Canada.
Mar/31/1850:	Charles Doolittle Walcott, invertebrate palaeontologist associated with discovery of the fossils of the Burgess Shale, born in New York Mills, New York, USA.
May/30/1854:	John Rowand, formerly the factor at Fort Edmonton, died at Fort Pitt, Saskatchewan, aged about 57.
Mar/06/1856:	George Lane, rancher and owner of the Bar U Ranch, born near Des Moines, Iowa.
Jul/06/1856:	Pat Burns, rancher and entrepreneur, born in Oshawa, Ontario.
Nov/24/1856:	Captain John Palliser elected a member of the Royal Geographical Society, London.
Feb/10/1857:	David Thompson, fur trader and surveyor, died in Longueuil, Quebec, aged 86.
May/01/1860:	Arthur Oliver Wheeler born in Ireland. Wheeler was the founder of the Alpine Club of Canada and one of the leaders of the Interprovincial Boundary Survey, defining the border between Alberta and British Columbia.
Jun/16/1860:	Captain John Palliser arrives back in Britain, landing in Liverpool.
Aug/21/1860:	Aylesworth Perry, fifth Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police, born in Violet, Ontario.
May/14/1863:	Viscount Milton and Walter Butler Cheadle arrive at Fort Edmonton. They were unimpressed by the Fort and were soon bored and eager to continue their journey.
Jun/03/1863:	Viscount Milton and Walter Butler Cheadle leave Fort Edmonton and continue their journey westwards to the Leather (now Yellowhead) Pass.
Jan/21/1864:	Death of Jean-Louis Riel, Louis Riel's father, at the family home in Red River district, at age 46.
Jun/07/1866:	Sir James Hector, geologist with the Palliser Expedition, is elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, London.
Dec/01/1869:	Formal transfer of the Hudson's Bay Company's lands to the Dominion of Canada. These lands, known as the North West Territory, comprised much of western and northern Canada.
Mar/04/1870:	Execution of Thomas Scott by the Métis in Fort Garry. Scott had been sentenced to death by a court martial. Louis Riel, leader of the Provisional Government, refused to intervene to prevent the execution.
May/12/1870:	Promulgation of the Manitoba Act, which created the province, which was then centred on the Red River settlement area.
Jul/15/1870:	Manitoba officially joins Canada.
Feb/20/1871:	Artist Paul Kane died in Toronto, Ontario, aged 70.
Apr/14/1872:	Promulgation of the Dominion Lands Act, which provided lands for homesteaders in western Canada.
Jul/31/1872:	Sanford Fleming and his small survey party reaches Fort Garry (Winnipeg) after leaving Toronto on July 16.
Aug/02/1872:	Sanford Fleming and his small survey party reaches Jasper House, west of Edmonton, after traveling from Fort Garry (Winnipeg) by cart and pack horse.
Sep/18/1872:	First field meeting for the staff members of the British-Canadian and American Boundary Commission on the banks of the Red River near Pembina.
Sep/30/1872:	American contingent of the Boundary Commission left Fort Pembina to begin their work on the boundary survey.
Oct/01/1872:	British and Canadian contingent of the Boundary Commission left Pembina to begin their work on the boundary survey.
May/23/1873:	The bill to create the North West Mounted Police received royal assent.
Jun/01/1873:	American wolfers attack a group of Assiniboine people camped in the Battle Creek valley, on the south slope of the Cypress Hills, Alberta. At least 23 Assiniboine people were killed in what came to be known as the Cypress Hills Massacre. This was one of the precipitating events for establishment of the authority of the North West Mounted Police in western Canada.
Oct/18/1873:	George Arthur French appointed first Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police by Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald.
Jul/08/1874:	The North West Mounted Police, led by Colonel French, ride out of Dufferin, Manitoba, and begin their march west to Alberta to stamp out the whisky trade.
Oct/09/1874:	Colonel Macleod and a detachment of North West Mounted Police arrived at Fort Whoop-up, a notorious whisky post in southern Alberta.
Oct/11/1874:	Boundary Commission field crew rode back into Dufferin, having completed their survey work along the 49th parallel across the prairies.
Oct/13/1874:	The 49th Rangers, Canadians who worked as scouts for the Boundary Commission, disbanded in Dufferin.
Oct/27/1874:	With field work completed, Chief Astronomer Samuel Anderson of the Boundary Commission leaves Dufferin and heads for Ottawa to complete the mapping and reports.
Nov/03/1874:	Back in Dufferin with the field work completed, Chief Commissioner Donald Cameron writes his report and sends it to the Foreign Office in London.
Jun/21/1875:	British Royal Engineers officers Anderson, Featherstonhaugh, and Galwey, having completed their work for the Boundary Commission, leave Quebec City by ship, bound for England.
Jul/07/1875:	Extradition hearing for seven men accused in the Cypress Hills Massacre held in Helena, Montana. Evidence given by Abe Farwell was so contradictory that the judge declined to issue an extradition order and the men were freed.
Mar/27/1876:	Captain Samuel Anderson, Chief Astronomer to the Boundary Commission, reads his paper on 'The Noth-American Boundary from the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains' at a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, London.
May/29/1876:	Boundary Commission reports signed in London, England, by Cameron and Anderson for the Canadian and British side and by Campbell and Twining for the American side.
Jul/21/1876:	George Arthur French resigned as first Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police.
Jul/22/1876:	James Macleod appointed second Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police.
May/30/1877:	Queen Victoria bestows the CMG (Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George) on Captain Donald Cameron and Captain Samuel Anderson of the Boundary Commission and also Captain John Palliser.
Aug/13/1880:	John Macoun observed flourishing crops of wheat, barley, oats, and potatoes on a farm near Maple Creek, Saskatchewan. His enthusiastic assessment of the agricultural potential of the region based on the apparent productivity of this farm did much to sway public opinion towards encouraging settlement.
Oct/31/1880:	James Macleod resigned as second Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police.
Nov/01/1880:	Acheson Irvine appointed third Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police.
Apr/27/1881:	Wedding day of Louis Riel and Marguerite Monet. They were married in Flat Willow Creek, a Métis winter camp, in Montana, USA.
Sep/11/1881:	Samuel Anderson, Chief Astonomer for the Boundary Survey, which defined the Canadian boundary across the prairies, died in Bonnyrigg, Scotland, at the age of 41.
Dec/23/1881:	Promulgation of the amended Dominion Lands Act, which made provision for grazing leases in western Canada.
May/24/1884:	Métis and other settlers from the St Laurent area meet at the Lindsay school house and decide to send a delegation to Montana to ask Louis Riel to return to Canada and help them with their grievances against the Canadian government.
Jun/04/1884:	A delegation of four men (Gabriel Dumont, James Isbister, Moise Ouellette, and Michel Dumas) who had travelled from St Laurent, Saskatchewan, met with Louis Riel at the St Peter's Mission, Montana, and persuade him to return to Canada and help the Métis in their grievances against the Canadian government, especially with respect to land rights.
Jun/10/1884:	Louis Riel, with his wife and son, leaves St Peter's Mission, Montana, to travel back to Canada, with the four Métis delegates from St Laurent.
Jul/02/1884:	Louis Riel arrives at Batoche, having travelled from Montana, and immediately begins to familiarize himself with the grievances of the Métis in central Saskatchewan.
Jul/08/1884:	After returning to northwest Canada from Montana, Louis Riel addresses his first public meeting, held at Charles Nolin's house at St Louis de Langevin, about 15 miles north of Batoche.
Jul/19/1884:	Louis Riel addresses a public meeting in Prince Albert, presenting his ideas on the future of the Northwest.
Oct/01/1884:	A petition compiled by the Métis, with Louis Riel's help, outlining their grievances and demands for rectification, was completed and sent to the dominion government in Ottawa. No acknowledgement of its receipt or any substantive response is ever received.
Jan/01/1885:	A huge New Year celebration in honour of Louis Riel is held by the Métis of St Laurent and surrounding communities. The year of the Northwest Rebellion begins with good cheer, and much hope and optimism for better times ahead.
Jan/28/1885:	In response to demands by Métis, the federal government sets up the Halfbreed Land Claims Commission, which severely limited who might be eligible for land grants in the Northwest.
Mar/04/1885:	Details of the federal government's Halfbreed Land Claims Commission become known to the Métis in the St Laurent area and cause much bitterness and sense of betrayal.
Mar/05/1885:	Louis Riel and ten other Métis, including Gabriel Dumont, meet and sign a 'revolutionary oath' devised by Riel. This increased militancy is a sign of increasing frustration with the lack of responsiveness of the federal government.
Mar/07/1885:	Having heard from the Dominion Land Office in Prince Albert about the rules and consequent difficulties of getting title to their lands, the Métis met in St Laurent village. Louis Riel proposed the establishment of a provisional government to settle the land questions.
Mar/11/1885:	Major Crozier with fifty Northwest Mounted Police troopers left Prince Albert for Fort Carlton, as a result of rumours of Métis unrest.
Mar/13/1885:	Major Crozier and his fifty Northwest Mounted Police troopers arrive at Fort Carlton, prepared to deal with Métis unrest.
Mar/17/1885:	Alarmed at the news that the Northwest Mounted Police were going to arrest Riel, the Métis meet at Batoche and decide to take up arms to defend themselves. The Northwest Rebellion had begun.
Mar/18/1885:	Colonel Irvine, commander of the Northwest Mounted Police, sets out from Regina to Prince Albert with a force of one hundred men to deal with Métis unrest.
Mar/23/1885:	Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald calls up the militia and sends a force west under the command of Major-General Frederick Middleton to deal with Métis unrest.
Mar/26/1885:	Gabriel Dumont and a group of Métis have a confrontation with a small group of Northwest Mounted Police at the village of Duck Lake, between Batoche and Fort Carlton. The NWMP returned to Fort Carlton. Later that day, Major Crozier returned with about 100 men. Their encounter with the Métis rapidly escalated to violence and 12 of Crozier's men and 5 Métis were killed, before the NWMP retreated back to Fort Carlton. This was the first major bloodshed of the Northwest Rebellion and became known as the 'Battle of Duck Lake'. Colonel Irvine and his men arrived at Fort Carlton later that day. Major Crozier was later reprimanded for his impetuous actions.
Mar/27/1885:	Deciding that Fort Carlton is not defendable, Colonel Irvine orders all personnel to travel to Prince Albert.
Mar/30/1885:	A large group of Cree people, led by Poundmaker, arrived at Battleford. Hungry and frustrated, they looted some houses in a search for food and supplies.
Apr/02/1885:	Frog Lake Massacre, one of the defining events of the North West Rebellion. Some young warriors from Big Bear's band kill the Indian Agent, Thomas Quinn, and eight other people.
Apr/06/1885:	General Middleton leaves Qu'Appelle with about 400 men and marches to Humboldt, Saskatchewan, south of Batoche.
Apr/13/1885:	General Middleton and his troops arrive in Humboldt, Saskatchewan, en route to Batoche.
Apr/24/1885:	First fighting between General Middleton's forces and the Métis, under the command of Gabriel Dumont, at Fish Creek, south of Batoche.
May/02/1885:	The Battle of Cut Knife Hill, Saskatchewan, was another skirmish in the North West Rebellion. A clash between troops led by Colonel William Otter and Cree forces led by Poundmaker. Otter was forced to retreat to Battleford.
May/09/1885:	Intense fighting between General Middleton's forces and the Métis, under the command of Gabriel Dumont, at Batoche. The steamer 'Northcote', with a contingent of artillery aboard, was disabled and took no further part in the battle.
May/10/1885:	Battle of Batoche continues, with the Métis starting to run out of ammunition.
May/11/1885:	Battle of Batoche continues, and the Métis positions are over-run by General Middleton's troops. By early evening, most of the Métis are fugitives.
May/12/1885:	Following defeat at the Battle of Batoche, many Métis families turn themselves in to General Middleton's troops. Middleton arrests and imprisons men he considers to be Métis leaders. Both Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont are still at large.
May/15/1885:	In late afternoon, Louis Riel surrenders to General Middleton's troops. After questioning by Middleton, he was handed over into the custody of Captain George Young, who would escort him to Regina to stand trial.
May/20/1885:	The first Canadian Pacific Railway Company through train from Montreal arrives in Winnipeg with 299 men of the Montreal Garrison Artillery to reinforce troops dealing with the second Riel rebellion.
May/23/1885:	Louis Riel and his escort arrive in Regina. Riel is handed over to the custody of Inspector R. Burton Deane and imprisoned in the North West Mounted Police guardhouse.
Jul/06/1885:	Louis Riel taken from prison to the Regina Courthouse to be formally charged with treason for his part in the Northwest Rebellion.
Jul/10/1885:	Following the collapse of the Riel Rebellion at the Battle of Batoche on May 9, a bill to aid the CPR clears the House. (The CPR had moved troops from the east to Qu'appelle, the station nearest the uprising.)
Jul/15/1885:	Louis Riel has his first meeting with members of his defence team, including two lawyers from Quebec, who have just arrived in Regina. The lawyers, Francois-Xavier Lemieux and Charles Fitzpatrick, come away from the meeting convinced that Riel is not of sound mind.
Jul/28/1885:	Louis Riel's trial for treason begins in Regina in the Scarth building, temporarily designated as a courtroom.
Aug/01/1885:	Louis Riel's trial concludes. After a short interval for consideration the six-man jury finds him guilty and the judge, Hugh Richardson, sentences him to death.
Nov/07/1885:	The last spike on the Canadian Pacific Railway Company's transcontinental line is driven at Craigellachie in Eagle Pass (30 miles west of Revelstoke, B.C.) at 9:30 am. Major Rogers held the plain iron spike for Donald Smith to drive. Van Horne spoke the only 'official' words: 'All I can say is that the work has been well done in every way.'
Nov/16/1885:	After several postponements of the execution, Louis Riel, charismatic Métis leader, was hanged in Regina jail, aged 41.
Dec/12/1885:	Funeral for Louis Riel is held in St Boniface Cathedral, Winnipeg. The event was an occasion for public display of grief by the Métis community.
Mar/31/1886:	Acheson Irvine resigned as third Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police.
Apr/01/1886:	Lawrence Herchmer appointed fourth Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police by Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald.
May/24/1886:	Marguerite Riel, Louis Riel's widow, dies of tuberculosis, six months after his execution.
Aug/18/1887:	Captain John Palliser died in Ireland, aged 70.
Jan/12/1888:	A sudden intense blizzard strikes the northern Great Plains. This became known as the 'Schoolchildren's Blizzard' because so many children died when they were sent home from prairie schools. North and South Dakota and Nebraska were badly hit by this storm.
Jul/25/1891:	The first Calgary and Edmonton Railway train reaches the south bank of the North Saskatchewan River at a point called Strathcona, across the river from Edmonton.
Jul/27/1891:	Donald Ross, a pioneer settler in the Strathcona area, drives the last spike on the Calgary and Edmonton Railway.
Nov/20/1892:	Two boys, Moran Cochrane and Harold Walton, are caught out and die on the prairies near Medicine Hat in a sudden winter blizzard. The boys had gone out on horseback to round up stray cattle.
Nov/28/1893:	The first Canadian Pacific Railway Company locomotive enters Lethbridge (Alberta) following the rebuilding by CPR to standard gauge of the narrow-gauge Alberta Railway and Coal Company Dunmore-to-Lethbridge line. The CPR had agreed to lease the line with the option of purchasing it outright at the end of the lease in 1897 (which it will do).
Sep/05/1894:	James Macleod, second Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police, died in Calgary, Alberta, at the age of 57.
Dec/25/1899:	Death of Elliott Coues in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, at the age of 57. Coues was the naturalist with the American contingent of the Boundary Commission, which defined the Canadian-US border across the Prairies. He wrote extensively about ornithology and natural history of the West.
Aug/01/1900:	Lawrence Herchmer forcibly resigned as fourth Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police by Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier.
Aug/01/1900:	Aylesford Perry appointed fifth Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police by Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier.
Nov/28/1900:	The St Mary's River Railway Company opens its narrow-gauge Stirling-to-Spring Coulee line (Alberta) in order to better serve the Mormon settlers.
Mar/02/1901:	Death of George Mercer Dawson in Ottawa, Ontario, at the age of 51. Dawson was the geologist with the International Boundary Commission and later Director of the Geological Survey of Canada.
Oct/02/1902:	The first Edmonton, Yukon and Pacific train consists of Canadian Northern Mogul #26, a flatcar, a boxcar and a day-coach. It reaches the small Edmonton station at 4 p.m. making it the first train into the city.
Apr/29/1903:	A large section of Turtle Mountain slid downslope and buried the mining town of Frank, Alberta, killing at least 70 people.
Jul/25/1905:	Death of James Walsh, North West Mounted Police officer and first Commissioner of the Yukon Territory, in Brockville, Ontario, at the age of 65.
Nov/24/1905:	On this cold, wind-swept day, the first Canadian Northern Railway train from the east, the track layer, arrives in downtown Edmonton.
Dec/17/1905:	The Canadian Northern Railway main line reaches Edmonton where the steel is linked to that laid under the auspices of the Edmonton, Yukon and Pacific Railway. Lieutenant-Governor George Bulyea drives the last spike. Consequently, the first locomotive whistle out of the east is heard in Strathcona, the southern suburb of Edmonton, on the opposite bank of the North Saskatchewan River.
May/19/1906:	Death of Gabriel Dumont, one the main Métis leaders in the Northwest Rebellion, in Bellevue, Saskatchewan, at the age 66.
Jun/16/1907:	The Edmonton, Yukon and Pacific, controlled by the Canadian Northern Railway, opens its Edmonton-to-Stony Plains (later changed to Stony Plain) line.
Nov/05/1907:	Death of Sir James Hector, geologist with the Palliser Expedition, in Wellington, New Zealand, at the age of 73.
Jan/20/1908:	The Canadian Pacific Railway Company's Empress Hotel opens in Victoria, British Columbia.
May/07/1909:	The Edmonton, Yukon and Pacific Railway amalgamates with the Canadian Northern Railway in order for the CNoR to secure a subsidy for their extension from Stony Plains south to the coalfields near the Brazeau River.
Jun/22/1909:	The superstructure of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company's 5327 foot long, 314 foot high Lethbridge Viaduct is completed.
Jun/07/1910:	Sir William Francis Butler, army officer and traveller best known as the writer of The Great Lone Land, died in Bansha Castle, County Tipperary, Ireland, at the age of 71.
Aug/10/1910:	Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier drives the first spike for the Alberta Central Railway at Red Deer.
Jan/15/1912:	Fred Stimson, rancher and manager of Bar U Ranch, died in Montreal, Quebec, at the age of 69.
Jun/02/1913:	The first train crosses the High-Level Bridge into Edmonton proper. The bridge is 2478 feet long and about 160 feet above the North Saskatchewan River. It was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company to extend its Calgary and Edmonton line on the south side of the river to its new station on the north side.
Apr/26/1914:	Canadian Pacific Railway Company president Sir Thomas Shaughnessy officially opens the company's new dam, near Bassano, Alberta, and its connecting canal system. The CPR built the irrigation system to encourage settlers to farm the area near its lines.
May/14/1914:	Drilling of Dingman No. 1 well at Turner Valley hit 'wet gas', gas mixed with other hydrocarbons.
Jun/19/1914:	189 miners died in an underground explosion at the Hillcrest Mine, Crowsnest Pass, Alberta. This remains Canada's worst mining disaster.
Jan/23/1915:	The last spike is driven at Basque, British Columbia, by Sir William Mackenzie on the Canadian Northern Railway Edmonton-to-Vancouver main line.
Feb/17/1915:	Death of Lawrence Herchmer in Vancouver, British Columbia, at the age of 74. Herchmer was the Chief Commissary of the Boundary Commission for the prairies and later the fourth Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police.
Jan/08/1916:	Acheson Irvine, third Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police, died at the age of 79.
Jul/09/1918:	Air mail service in western Canada begins with a flight from Calgary to Edmonton when Katherine Stinson flew a Curtiss Special Biplane, with mail aboard, between the cities.
Jan/30/1919:	Death of Sir Samuel Steele, in London, England, at age 70. Steele was a North West Mounted Police officer and a soldier and was involved in many of the significant late 19th century events in the West, including the Red River Rebellion, the Northwest Rebellion, and the Klondike Gold Rush.
May/15/1919:	Beginning of the Winnipeg General Strike.
Jun/26/1919:	End of the Winnipeg General Strike.
Sep/15/1919:	The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) visited the Bar U Ranch, hosted by George Lane.
Jul/18/1920:	John Macoun died in British Columbia, aged 90. Macoun was Dominion botanist with the Geological Survey of Canada and his glowing reports of the agricultural potential of the west were influential with the federal government in Ottawa.
Jul/23/1920:	The Alberta government agrees to sustain the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway Company with the premier, Charles Stewart, becoming its nominal president.
Jul/07/1921:	Sir George Arthur French, first Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police, died in London, England, at the age of 80.
Dec/23/1921:	Donald Roderick Cameron, British Chief Commissioner for the Boundary Survey across the prairies, died in Dingwall, Scotland, at the age of 87.
Mar/31/1923:	Aylesford Perry resigned as fifth Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police after 23 years. He is the longest-serving Commissioner of the NWMP or its successor, the RCMP.
Apr/01/1923:	Aylesford Perry retired after 41 years of service with the North-West Mounted Police, 23 as Commissioner.
Sep/24/1925:	George Lane, rancher and owner of the Bar U Ranch, died at the ranch, near Pekisko, Alberta, at the age of 69.
Feb/09/1927:	Charles Doolittle Walcott, invertebrate palaeontologist associated with discovery of the fossils of the Burgess Shale, died in Washington, DC, USA, at the age of 76.
Jan/12/1931:	The first Northern Alberta Railways Company train reaches the new town of Dawson Creek, British Columbia, following the completion of the extension from Hythe, Alberta.
May/28/1931:	Peter Erasmus died at Whitefish Lake, Alberta, aged 97.
Feb/24/1937:	Pat Burns, rancher and entrepreneur, died in Calgary, Alberta, at the age of 80.
Jun/01/1939:	The Canadian National Railways' 4-8-2 Mountain 6047 departs Jasper station on its way to Edmonton pulling the royal train of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.
May/20/1945:	Arthur Oliver Wheeler died in Banff, Alberta, aged 75. Wheeler was the founder of the Alpine Club of Canada and one of the leaders of the Interprovincial Boundary Survey, defining the border between Alberta and British Columbia.
Feb/13/1947:	Leduc No. 1 oil strike.
Feb/14/1956:	Aylesworth Perry, fifth Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police, died in Ottawa, Ontario, at the age of 95.
Dec/06/1967:	The Provincial Museum and Archives opens in Edmonton, Alberta.
Sep/15/1985:	To widespread public acclaim, the Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology opens in Drumheller, Alberta, with spectacular exhibits of dinosaurs.
Jul/31/1987:	A tornado touched down and tore through east central Edmonton, killing 27 people and causing widespread property damage. It is Edmonton's most significant natural disaster.
Aug/09/1991:	Hottest day for 20 years in Edmonton, up to 34°C.
May/04/1997:	Peak of the Red River Flood in Manitoba, nicknamed 'The Flood of the Century'.
May/20/1997:	Heavy wet snow, up to 50 cm in some areas, fell in central Alberta, causing great damage to trees that were just leafing out, especially in the parks and along the streets of Edmonton.
Jul/03/2000:	More than a year’s worth of rainfall (375 mm) was received in just six hours in Vanguard, Saskatchewan. The torrential downpour caused extensive damage and road wash-outs.
Jul/14/2000:	A tornado touched down in Pine Lake, central Alberta, causing extensive damage, killing 12 people and injuring at least 100 more. The severe storm that generated the tornado continued eastwards and caused widespread damage in a swath across central Alberta and Saskatchewan, including the Kinistino area.
Jul/11/2004:	A torrential rainstorm dumped more than 150 mm of rainfall in less than an hour on some parts of south and west Edmonton. The storm caused flooding and property damage, as drains backed up and basements flooded. Flash floods coursed along roads, especially the Whitemud Freeway, and washed out roadways.
May/24/2005:	The Provincial Museum of Alberta is designated Royal Alberta Museum by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in commemoration of the province’s Centennial.
Oct/24/2007:	New daily temperature record set in Edmonton with a summer-like 25°C.
Jan/29/2008:	Extreme low temperatures across the Prairies. At Edmonton International Airport, a temperature of -44°C was recorded at 6 am, only one degree above the historical low for this day. With a light breeze, this gave a 'feels-like' temperature of -54°C.
Apr/10/2008:	An unexpected spring snowfall dropped about 23 cm wet snow on Calgary, most of it before 10 am, breaking previous records for this day.
Apr/13/2008:	Edmontonians thought that summer had arrived with a brief one-day occurrence of record high temperatures. At Edmonton International Airport, temperatures reached a record 24.2°C at 3 pm. Sadly, more seasonal, cooler, temperatures returned the next day.
Nov/20/2008:	A large meteorite streaked across the sky of central Alberta. Pieces of the meteorite were later found in Buzzard Coulee, Saskatchewan, southeast of Lloydminster.
Jul/18/2009:	Violent thunderstorm swept through Edmonton in late evening. Winds reached 105 km/hour and caused widespread damage including downed trees and powerlines.