| Fort Assiniboine | |
|---|---|
| — Hamlet — | |
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Fort Assiniboine
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Alberta |
| Municipal district | Woodlands County |
| Census division | No. 13 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Unincorporated |
| • Governing body | Woodlands County Council |
| Time zone | MST (UTC−7) |
| • Summer (DST) | MDT (UTC−6) |
| Fort Assiniboine | |
|---|---|
| National Historic Site of Canada | |
| Province | Alberta |
| Municipality | Woodlands County |
| Elevation | 6,900 m (22,600 ft) |
Fort Assiniboine is a hamlet in northwest Alberta, Canada, within Woodlands County.[1] It is located along the north shore of the Athabasca River at the junction of Highway 33 and Highway 661. It is approximately 39 kilometres (24 mi) northwest of Barrhead, 62 kilometres (39 mi) southeast of Swan Hills and 91 kilometres (57 mi) northeast of Whitecourt.
Fort Assiniboine was founded as a trading post by the Hudson's Bay Company and became a stopping point along the Klondike Trail. It gets its name from the Assiniboine people.
By the mid-1950s, the community named after the former trading post incorporated as a village on June 6, 1958. Over 33 years later, the Village of Fort Assiniboine dissolved and reverted back to hamlet status on December 31, 1991. It is now administrated by Woodlands County, which has offices in the hamlet and in the Town of Whitecourt.
The hamlet's last officially recorded population was 179 people from the 1991 Census of Canada, conducted when it was still a village. Statistics Canada or Woodlands County has not published an official population for Fort Assiniboine from a federal or municipal census respectively since it dissolved to hamlet status at the end of 1991.
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By the early 1820s, Hudson’s Bay Company trade on Lesser Slave Lake was in decline. The council adopted a resolution in 1823 calling for a fort further up the Athabasca River to reduce transport times. This was part of a much larger effort by the Company to reorganize its transportation routes, seeking out advantages and efficiencies in its operations after the merger with the North West Company. Under the new plan, Fort Assiniboine became the northern terminus of an overland route between Edmonton House/Fort Edmonton, linking the North Saskatchewan and Athabasca River systems. This new portage trail replaced the circuitous path and lengthy portage associated with the Beaver River and Portage La Biche route, resulting in significant savings for the Company. The distance between Edmonton House and Fort Assinibone was roughly 80 miles (129 km), and a party on horseback could make the trip in about two days. Though the fort never grew as large as some other Alberta forts, its role as a transportation hub and provision centre ensured its survival between the 1820s and 1880s.[2]
Fort Assiniboine is home to a Hudson Bay style historical museum, known as the Fort Assiniboine Museum and Friendship Club Drop-In Centre, and the World's Largest Wagon Wheel and Pick Axe.[3]
The Fort Assiniboine School, which offers Kindergarten through Grade 12 classes, is located within the hamlet.[4] It is administered by Pembina Hills Regional Division No. 7 (PHRD) and had a preliminary 2009/2010 enrollment of 139 students.[5] Due to low enrollment, the PHRD is currently considering grade reconfiguration to make the school more viable.[6]
Fort Assiniboine is also served by a post office and a public library and has numerous businesses including a general store, a motel, a gas station, a liquor store and a shop that repairs and sells all-terrain and other vehicles.
| Climate data for Fort Assiniboine | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 13 (55) |
17 (63) |
17 (63) |
29.5 (85.1) |
34 (93) |
33.3 (91.9) |
32 (90) |
33 (91) |
33 (91) |
29 (84) |
18.5 (65.3) |
13.3 (55.9) |
34 (93) |
| Average high °C (°F) | −8.2 (17.2) |
−3.3 (26.1) |
2.9 (37.2) |
11.3 (52.3) |
17.5 (63.5) |
20.7 (69.3) |
22.5 (72.5) |
21.4 (70.5) |
16.1 (61.0) |
10.4 (50.7) |
−1.1 (30.0) |
−7.7 (18.1) |
8.5 (47.3) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −14.8 (5.4) |
−10.8 (12.6) |
−4.2 (24.4) |
3.7 (38.7) |
9.7 (49.5) |
13.5 (56.3) |
15.6 (60.1) |
14.4 (57.9) |
9.1 (48.4) |
3.4 (38.1) |
−6.7 (19.9) |
−13.9 (7.0) |
1.6 (34.9) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −21.4 (−6.5) |
−18.2 (−0.8) |
−11.3 (11.7) |
−3.9 (25.0) |
1.9 (35.4) |
6.3 (43.3) |
8.6 (47.5) |
7.4 (45.3) |
2.1 (35.8) |
−3.5 (25.7) |
−12.3 (9.9) |
−20 (−4) |
−5.4 (22.3) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −48 (−54) |
−47 (−53) |
−38.9 (−38.0) |
−30 (−22) |
−8.5 (16.7) |
−2.8 (27.0) |
1.7 (35.1) |
−4 (25) |
−11 (12) |
−30 (−22) |
−38.3 (−36.9) |
−46 (−51) |
−48 (−54) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 18.6 (0.732) |
15.5 (0.61) |
16.1 (0.634) |
24 (0.94) |
48.9 (1.925) |
105.3 (4.146) |
118.7 (4.673) |
83.2 (3.276) |
44 (1.73) |
16.9 (0.665) |
18.6 (0.732) |
23.4 (0.921) |
533.1 (20.988) |
| Source: Environment Canada[7] | |||||||||||||