| Fort Victoria | |
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Location on Alberta
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| Location | Smoky Lake, Alberta, Canada |
| Type | National Historic Site, Cultural landscape |
| Website | Victoria Settlement |
Fort Victoria, near present-day Smoky Lake, Alberta, was established by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1864 on the North Saskatchewan River as a trading post with the local Cree First Nations. Today, it is a historical museum known as Victoria Settlement.
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In 1864 George Flett was given the job of opening a Hudson's Bay Company trading post in Fort Victoria.[1] Flett and John Norris led the first brigade of Red River ox-carts from Winnipeg to Edmonton, taking three and a half months on the journey.[2] As clerk in charge of the post, Flett was responsible for arranging for construction of the buildings and for opening up trade with the local Indians. Flett was successful in quickly obtaining a supply of good-quality furs, which Flett and his assistants took by horse and dog train to Fort Edmonton.[1] The oldest building in Alberta still on its original foundations is the clerk's quarters at Fort Victoria, which dates from 1865.
Later the site of the Fort became a hub for the early settlement of East-Central Alberta. It came to be called the Victoria Settlement and later, Pakan. It also became home for the McDougall Presbyterian missionary family. Still later, the settlement served as a base for Methodist missionaries to the Ukrainian Canadians.
The post was also a vital stop on the trail from Winnipeg to Edmonton. The section of the trail currently within the eastern part of the city of Edmonton is a now a paved road called Victoria Trail in honour of the fort.
The Fort lies with the Kalyna Country ecomuseum. It has been designated a national historic site of Canada and a provincial historic site of Alberta. The museum that is there today is operated by the provincial government.
The Museum is affiliated with: CMA, CHIN, and Virtual Museum of Canada.