Carlton Trail

Red River ox cart train on the Carlton Trail

The Carlton Trail was the primary land transportation route connecting the various parts of the Canadian Northwest for most of the 19th Century. It stretched from the Red River Colony through Fort Ellice and today's Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan. From there the trail ran north and crossed the South Saskatchewan River near Batoche, Saskatchewan and reached Fort Carlton on the North Saskatchewan River. From there, it ran west along the northside of the river to Fort Edmonton at what is now Edmonton, Alberta. The distance in total the trail traveled between Fort Garry (Winnipeg) to Upper Fort des Prairies (Edmonton) was approximately 900 miles (1,450 km). Many smaller trails jutted off from the main trail, such as the Fort à la Corne Trail in the Saskatchewan Valley.

National Historic Site of Canada plaque.

Connecting the west, the trail was of great importance during the 19th century as a highway for the inhabitants. Different sections of the trail were known by many different names in different eras, including The Company, Saskatchewan, Fort Ellice Trail, Winnipeg Trail, Edmonton Trail, and Victoria Trail. It is said that if one were to travel the Carlton Trail by Red River Ox Cart it would take about two months.

The main mode of transport along the trail was by horse-drawn Red River Cart. It was an integral route for Métis freighters, and Hudson's Bay Company employees as well as the earliest white settlers. With the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the late 1880s across the southern Prairies, and the numerous branch lines that followed, such as the Calgary and Edmonton Railway, the trail assumed decreased importance. By the early 1900s many portions of its length had been fenced off, although local sections of the trail remain in use to this day.

The use of the trail was designated an Event of National Historic Significance in 1972.^[1]

References

↑ Fort Garry - Fort Edmonton Trail National Historic Event, Directory of Designations of National Historic Significance of Canada

External links

Protected Areas in Saskatchewan

National parks	Grasslands National Park Prince Albert National Park

Provincial parks	Athabasca Sand Dunes Blackstrap Buffalo Pound Candle Lake Cannington Manor Clarence-Steepbank Lakes Clearwater River Crooked Lake Cumberland House Cypress Hills Danielson Douglas Duck Mountain Echo Valley Fort Carlton Fort Pitt Good Spirit Lake Greenwater Lake Katepwa Point Lac La Ronge Last Mountain House Makwa Lake Meadow Lake Moose Mountain Narrow Hills Pike Lake Rowan's Ravine Saskatchewan Landing Saskatchewan River Forks Stanley Mission Steele Narrows St. Victor Petroglyphs The Battlefords Touchwood Hills Post Wildcat Hill Wood Mountain Post

National Historic Sites of Canada in Saskatchewan	Addison Sod House Batoche Battle of Cut Knife Battle of Duck Lake Battle of Fish Creek Battleford Court House Bell Farm Biggar Railway Station Canadian Bank of Commerce Claybank Brick Plant College Building Cumberland House Cypress Hills Massacre Doukhobors at Veregin Esterhazy Flour Mill Forestry Farm Park and Zoo Former Prince Albert City Hall Fort de la Corne Fort Battleford Fort Carlton Fort Espérance Fort Livingstone Fort Pelly Fort Pitt Fort Qu'Appelle Fort Walsh Frenchman Butte Government House Gravelbourg Ecclesiastical Buildings Gray Burial Site Holy Trinity Church Humboldt Post Office Île-à-la-Crosse Keyhole Castle Last Mountain Lake Bird Sanctuary Moose Jaw Court House Motherwell Homestead Next of Kin Memorial Avenue Old Government House / Saint-Charles Scholasticate Prince Albert Arts Centre Saskatchewan Legislative Building and Grounds Saskatoon Railway Station (Canadian Pacific) Seager Wheeler's Maple Grove Farm Steele Narrows Wanuskewin

Urban and regional parks	Big Dig Carlton Trail Regional Park Cenotaph Fishing Lake Regional Park Palliser Regional Park Statue of Queen Elizabeth II riding Burmese Statue of Sir John A. Macdonald Touchwood Hills Provincial Park Victoria Park Wascana Centre Woody River Recreation Site

Museums	The Evolution of Education Museum Historical Society Museum Mendel Art Gallery RCMP Heritage Centre Rotary Museum of Police and Corrections Royal Saskatchewan Museum Saskatchewan Railway Museum Saskatchewan Western Development Museum

Geography of Saskatchewan	Athabasca Basin Carlton Trail Carswell crater Cypress Hills Deep Bay crater Elbow crater Gow crater Mackenzie dike swarm Madge Lake Maple Creek crater Methye Portage Palliser's Triangle Porcupine Hills Pheasant Creek Red Coat Trail Saskatchewan Valley Spruce Falls, Saskatchewan Viewfield crater Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin

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Carlton Trail

See also

References

External links