Fort Smith ( chp, Thebacha "beside the rapids") is a town in the
South Slave Region
The South Slave Region is one of five administrative regions in the Northwest Territories of Canada. According to Municipal and Community Affairs the region consists of seven communities with the regional office situated in Fort Smith and a su ...
of the
Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada. It is located in the southeastern portion of the Northwest Territories, on the
Slave River
The Slave River is a Canadian river that flows from the confluence of the Rivière des Rochers and Peace River in northeastern Alberta and empties into Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories. The river's name is thought to derive from the ...
and adjacent to the
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
border along the
60th parallel north
The 60th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 60 degrees north of Earth's equator. It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean.
Although it lies approximately twice as far away from the Equator as ...
.
History
![Route of the Expedition from Isle a la Crosse to Fort Providence in 1819 & 20 (1823)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Route_of_the_Expedition_from_Isle_a_la_Crosse_to_Fort_Providence_in_1819_%26_20_%281823%29.jpg)
Fort Smith was founded around the Slave River. It served a vital link for water transportation between southern Canada and the western Arctic. Early fur traders found an established
portage route from what is now
Fort Fitzgerald
Fitzgerald, also known as Fort Fitzgerald and originally Smith's Landing, is an unincorporated community in northern Alberta, Canada within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, located south of the Northwest Territories border, and southe ...
on the western bank of the Slave River to Fort Smith. This route allowed its users to navigate the four sets of impassable rapids (Cassette Rapids, Pelican Rapids, Mountain Rapids, and Rapids of the Drowned). The
portage trail had been traditionally used by local
Indigenous people
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
for centuries.
The Indigenous population of the region shifted as the fortunes of the tribes changed. By 1870,
Cree had occupied the Slave River Valley. The
Slavey
The Slavey (also Slave and South Slavey) are a First Nations indigenous peoples of the Dene group, indigenous to the Great Slave Lake region, in Canada's Northwest Territories, and extending into northeastern British Columbia and northwestern ...
had moved north by this time and the
Chipewyan
The Chipewyan ( , also called ''Denésoliné'' or ''Dënesųłı̨né'' or ''Dënë Sųłınë́'', meaning "the original/real people") are a Dene Indigenous Canadian people of the Athabaskan language family, whose ancestors are identified ...
had also begun moving into the area.
Peter Pond
Peter Pond (January 18, 1739 – 1807) was an American explorer, cartographer, merchant and soldier who was a founding member of the North West Company and the Beaver Club. Though he was born and died in Milford, Connecticut, most of his life ...
of the
North West Company was the first white trader to travel on the Slave River and make contact with Indigenous people in this region. He established a post on
Lake Athabasca
Lake Athabasca (; French: ''lac Athabasca''; from Woods Cree: , "herethere are plants one after another") is located in the north-west corner of Saskatchewan and the north-east corner of Alberta between 58° and 60° N in Canada. The lake ...
called
Fort Chipewyan
Fort Chipewyan , commonly referred to as Fort Chip, is a hamlet in northern Alberta, Canada, within the Regional Municipality (RM) of Wood Buffalo. It is located on the western tip of Lake Athabasca, adjacent to Wood Buffalo National Park, app ...
in the 1780s, at the head of the Slave River.
![Boats landing at the Mountain Portage on the Slave River](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Boats_landing_at_the_Mountain_Portage_on_the_Slave_River.jpg)
The
fur trade, dominated by the activities of the
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...
, penetrated deeper into the
Mackenzie River district in the 19th century.
York boat
The York boat was a type of inland boat used by the Hudson's Bay Company to carry furs and trade goods along inland waterways in Rupert's Land, the watershed stretching from Hudson Bay to the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. It was named af ...
s were used to run the Slave River rapids and where needed small portages were established to bypass the most dangerous areas. Nonetheless, serious mishaps were bound to happen, and the section of the Slave River became known as 'The Rapids of the Drowned'. In 1872, the Hudson's Bay Company built an outpost called Smith's Landing (Fort Fitzgerald) at the most southern set of the Slave River rapids. In 1874, another outpost was constructed at the most northern set of rapids. It was called Fort Smith. Both posts were named in honour of
Donald Alexander Smith
Donald Alexander Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal (6 August 182021 January 1914), known as Sir Donald A. Smith between May 1886 and August 1897, was a Scottish-born Canadian businessman who became one of the British Empire's foremo ...
, who was later, in August 1897, elevated to the
Peerage of the United Kingdom as The 1st
Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal.
In 1876, the
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
Mission was moved from
Salt River to Fort Smith while the community was prospering.
In 1886, the Hudson's Bay Company launched the steam-propelled vessel
SS ''Wrigley'' to run from Fort Smith to the Mackenzie River. The steamer ran the Slave River from
Fort McMurray
Fort McMurray ( ) is an urban service area in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, Canada. It is located in northeast Alberta, in the middle of the Athabasca oil sands, surrounded by boreal forest. It has played a significan ...
to the head of the rapids at Smith's Landing beginning in 1882.
In 1898, the
Yukon Gold Rush brought many gold seekers over the portages and through Fort Smith. In 1908, a new HBC steamer paddlewheeler,
SS ''Mackenzie River'', was launched to operate on the Slave and Mackenzie Rivers below Fort Smith (see
boats of the Mackenzie River watershed
The Mackenzie River in Canada's Northwest Territories is a historic waterway, used for centuries by Indigenous peoples, specifically the Dene, as a travel and hunting corridor. Also known as the Deh Cho, it is part of a larger watershed that incl ...
).
In 1911, government was established in Fort Smith when Ottawa sent an
Indian agent
In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the government.
Background
The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the United States first included development of t ...
and a regional medical doctor, and the
Royal Northwest Mounted Police opened a detachment. With these developments, Fort Smith became not only the transportation centre for the western
Arctic
The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...
but the administrative centre as well.
The mission sawmill produced lumber for the first hospital, St. Anne's, built in 1914 for the
Grey Nuns. The sawmill also supplied the lumber for the first school built in 1915. Also maintained by the Roman
Catholic Mission
Missionary work of the Catholic Church has often been undertaken outside the geographically defined parishes and dioceses by religious orders who have people and material resources to spare, and some of which specialized in missions. Eventually, p ...
was St. Bruno's Farm that supplied produce, meat, and dairy products. Until it was closed in the 1920s, the farm supplied all the church's missions in the western Arctic. It maintained a herd of more than 140 cattle.
Horse-drawn freight services were complemented by tractors in 1919, when the Alberta & Arctic Transportation Company, a subsidiary of
Lamson & Hubbard Trading Company Lamson & Hubbard Trading Company (also referred to as Lamson & Hubbard Canadian Co. or Lamson Trading Co.) was an enterprise engaged in the fur trading business in the Canadian North during the early 20th century, with over fourteen outposts in the ...
, commissioned two tractors on the Slave River portage to haul commercial freight from one side of the rapids to the other.
With the discovery of oil at
Norman Wells
Norman Wells (Slavey language: ''Tłegǫ́hłı̨'' "where there is oil") is a town located in the Sahtu Region, Northwest Territories, Canada, settled about 140 km (87 mi) south of the Arctic Circle. The town, which hosts the Sahtu Regional o ...
in 1920, a federal government administration building was constructed to house the new Northwest Territories branch and the first court of justice in the
Mackenzie District
Mackenzie District is a local government district on New Zealand's South Island, administered by the Mackenzie District Council. It is part of the larger Canterbury Region.
Geography
Principal settlements
The Mackenzie District only has three t ...
. The
Union Bank of Canada, making use of a tent, opened the first bank in the Northwest Territories in Fort Smith in June 1921.
''Distributor'' was launched in 1920 by the Lamson & Hubbard Trading Company to service its trading posts along the Mackenzie River. This group was taken over by the HBC in 1924. By the 1930s, a significant part of the Fort Smith economy was centred around ship and barge building with the HBC and
Northern Transportation Company Limited
Marine Transportation Services (MTS) formerly Northern Transportation Company Limited (NTCL) is a marine transportation company operating primarily in the Mackenzie River watershed of the Northwest Territories and northern Alberta, and the Arct ...
(NTCL) establishing shipyards below Fort Smith.
Wood Buffalo National Park
Wood Buffalo National Park is the largest national park of Canada at . It is located in northeastern Alberta and the southern Northwest Territories. Larger in area than Switzerland, it is the second-largest national park in the world. The park w ...
was established in 1922 with its operations and administration headquarters in Fort Smith.
In 1924, Fort Smith received the first of the
Northwest Territories and Yukon Radio System
The Northwest Territories and Yukon Radio System was a radio service spanning the Northwest Territories and the Yukon, in existence from 1923 until 1959. It was created for easy communication between the towns or outposts and the rest of the cou ...
installed by the
Royal Canadian Corps of Signals
The Royal Canadian Corps of Signals (RCCS or RC Sigs; french: links=no, Corps des transmissions royal du Canada, CTRC) is a component within the Canadian Armed Forces' Communications and Electronics Branch, consisting of all members of that perso ...
. In 1928,
Fort Smith Airport was built.
The discovery of gold in
Yellowknife
Yellowknife (; Dogrib: ) is the capital, largest community, and only city in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, about south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the ...
in 1938 also represented an economic boost to Fort Smith as many prospectors came passing through. In the same year, an Anglican Mission house was built and a church was added in 1939.
In 1942–1943, Fort Smith played its own small part in the war effort when huge armies raged across the globe in the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. With a population of 250, Fort Smith hosted 2,000
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
soldiers who were en route to the
Canol Oil Pipeline Project at Norman Wells and the
Canol Road
The Canol Road was part of the Canol Project and was built to construct a pipeline from Norman Wells, Northwest Territories, to Whitehorse, Yukon, during World War II. The pipeline no longer exists, but the long Yukon portion of the road ...
. They brought hundreds of barge loads of supplies; and in order to move these, they built a tractor road from Fort Smith to
Hay River and even farther north.
The continued gold fever that fuelled Yellowknife's growth also allowed Fort Smith's population to grow five-fold in the decade following 1945. This was reflected in the increase in government administrative facilities and the growth of its role as a transportation hub for the Mackenzie District.
Fort Smith was incorporated as a village in 1964; two years later, with a population of 2,130, the village became a town on October 1, 1966. The all-weather road to Hay River was officially completed in 1966 as well, permanently linking Fort Smith to the south.
The completion of a southern rail link to Hay River in 1964 meant that Fort Smith's role as the transportation hub was largely negated; and, subsequently, shipping operations on the Slave River ceased in 1968.
When Yellowknife became the territorial capital in 1967, Fort Smith still remained the administrative centre of the government of the Northwest Territories' vast region. See
history of Northwest Territories capital cities
The history of Northwest Territories capital cities begins with the purchase of the Territories by Canada from the Hudson's Bay Company in 1869, and includes a varied and often difficult evolution. Northwest Territories is unique amongst the othe ...
.
On Friday August 9, 1968, disaster struck Fort Smith when a landslide some broke away from the riverbank causing property damage and killing one person. The riverbank area has since been sloped to stabilize it; and now the gentle hillside is known as the Riverbank Park, complete with groomed trails, picnic areas, and a viewing platform where one can see the Rapids of the Drowned.
In 1970, the Adult Vocational Training Centre was opened. Its operations were later expanded and in 1981 it became Thebacha College. A few years later,
Arctic College
Nunavut Arctic College ( iu, ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥᓯᓚᑦᑐᖅᓴᕐᕕᒃ, french: Collège de l’Arctique du Nunavut, Inuinnaqtun: ''Nunavunmi Inirnirit Iliharviat'') is a public community college in the territory of Nunavut, Canada. The colle ...
was created by the government of the Northwest Territories and the Thebacha Campus was also home to the headquarters offices. In 1995, the college changed its name to
Aurora College
Aurora College, formerly Arctic College, is a college located in the Northwest Territories, Canada with campuses in Inuvik, Fort Smith and Yellowknife. They have learning centres in 23 communities in the NWT. The head office for Aurora Colleg ...
to allow
Nunavut the use of the Arctic College name.
Today, Fort Smith's economy is based on the federal, territorial, and aboriginal governments along with education and tourism. In 2008, there was some interest in re-establishing a portage route to supply the
Fort McMurray oilsands operations.
Geography
The town is approximately southeast of
Yellowknife
Yellowknife (; Dogrib: ) is the capital, largest community, and only city in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, about south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the ...
, the territorial capital. The park headquarters for
Wood Buffalo National Park
Wood Buffalo National Park is the largest national park of Canada at . It is located in northeastern Alberta and the southern Northwest Territories. Larger in area than Switzerland, it is the second-largest national park in the world. The park w ...
is located in Fort Smith. The headquarters and Thebacha Campus of Aurora College is located in Fort Smith; it is the largest of the three campus locations in the Northwest Territories. Fort Smith is located in the South Slave Region (administrative) and
Region 5, Northwest Territories (
census division). The town was previously in the
Fort Smith Region census division.
Fort Smith is accessible all year long via the
Fort Smith Highway
Highway 5, known more commonly as the Fort Smith Highway, completed in 1966, is a highway in Canada's Northwest Territories, which travels through Wood Buffalo National Park and connects Fort Smith to Hay River. At the Alberta border it connects ...
. A winter road operates for several months to connect Fort Smith to Fort Chipewyan and from there to Fort McMurray. An all-weather road named Pine Lake Road links
Fitzgerald
The FitzGerald/FitzMaurice Dynasty is a noble and aristocratic dynasty of Cambro-Norman, Anglo-Norman and later Hiberno-Norman origin. They have been peers of Ireland since at least the 13th century, and are described in the Annals of the ...
.
Climate
Fort Smith has a dry continental
subarctic climate (
Koppen Koppen is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Dan Koppen (born 1979), American football offensive lineman
* Erwin Koppen (1929–1990), German literary scholar
* Luise Koppen (1855–1922), German author
* Wladimir Köppen (1846 ...
: Dfc) with very long winters combined with warm but relatively short summers.
The highest temperature ever recorded in Fort Smith was on June 30, 2021.
[
] The coldest temperature ever recorded was on December 26, 1917.
[
] These are both the hottest and coldest temperatures ever recorded in the Northwest Territories.
Demographics
In the
2021 Census of Population
The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...
conducted by
Statistics Canada, Fort Smith had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
According to the 2016 census, the majority of people in Fort Smith (1,645) were
Indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention
*Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band
*Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
of which 920 were
First Nations
First Nations or first peoples may refer to:
* Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area.
Indigenous groups
*First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including:
**First Natio ...
, 585 were
Métis and 135
Inuit
Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...
. The main languages are English,
Chipewyan
The Chipewyan ( , also called ''Denésoliné'' or ''Dënesųłı̨né'' or ''Dënë Sųłınë́'', meaning "the original/real people") are a Dene Indigenous Canadian people of the Athabaskan language family, whose ancestors are identified ...
(
Dene
The Dene people () are an indigenous group of First Nations who inhabit the northern boreal and Arctic regions of Canada. The Dene speak Northern Athabaskan languages. ''Dene'' is the common Athabaskan word for "people". The term "Dene" ha ...
),
Cree,
Dogrib (
Tłı̨chǫ
The Tłı̨chǫ (, ) people, sometimes spelled Tlicho and also known as the Dogrib, are a Dene First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group living in the Northwest Territories of Canada.
Name
The name ''Dogrib'' ...
),
Slavey-Hare,
Inuinnaqtun
Inuinnaqtun (; natively meaning ''like the real human beings/peoples''), is an indigenous Inuit language. It is spoken in the central Canadian Arctic. It is related very closely to Inuktitut, and some scholars, such as Richard Condon, believe ...
(
Inuvialuktun) and
Inuktitut.
[
]
Government
Local government consists of the Town of Fort Smith Council with 9 members (7 councillors, deputy mayor and mayor). The mayor works part-time and council is elected every three years. As of 2021 the current mayor of Fort Smith is Fred Daniels.
Fort Smith is represented by the Salt River First Nation #195 and are part of the Akaitcho Territory Government
The Akaitcho Territory Government is a First Nations organization representing the Dene people of the Northwest Territories, Canada. . As of June 2012, the Salt River First Nation had given the Akaitcho Territory Government the mandatory six months notice that they would be separating from the organization.
The Fort Smith Métis Council is the local representation for members of the Northwest Territory Métis Nation. In 1996, a framework agreement was signed with the government of the Northwest Territories and the government of Canada to commence negotiations on land, resources and self-government.
Attractions
Fort Smith is the home of the Northern Life Museum and home of the museum ship ''Radium King
The ''Radium King'' was built in 1937 to haul ore on the Mackenzie River, and her tributaries.
This included uranium used in the US atom bombs of World War II. Later in her active career she hauled barges on Great Slave Lake.
The ''Radium K ...
''.
Every year the South Slave Friendship Festival, a music and arts festival, occurs in Fort Smith, usually in August. Musicians and artists from across the Northwest Territories and many other faraway places come to interact with other artists and show off their talents to the public.
Many tourists come to see the world-class Slave River and many kayakers try its rapids.
Fort Smith Mission Park is a popular tourist attraction featuring historic buildings and a grotto from the Oblate Catholic Mission.
In the summer months, pelicans can be seen nesting on the various rapids near Fort Smith. Whooping crane
The whooping crane (''Grus americana'') is the tallest North American bird, named for its whooping sound. It is an endangered crane species. Along with the sandhill crane (''Antigone canadensis''), it is one of only two crane species native to ...
s, an endangered species, also nest in the area during the summer and can be viewed via air charters as ground access is prohibited.
Education
There are a number of educational facilities in Fort Smith including Joseph Burr Tyrrell Elementary School, Paul William Kaeser High School and the Thebacha Campus of Aurora College. Additionally, the main office of the South Slave Divisional Education Council
The South Slave Divisional Education Council (SSDEC) is the organizational entity responsible for the administration of public schools within the South Slave Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. Its responsibility includes all schools withi ...
is located in the town.
Notable residents
Fort Smith is the birthplace of Mark Carney
Mark Joseph Carney (born March 16, 1965) is a Canadian economist and banker who served as the governor of the Bank of Canada from 2008 to 2013 and the governor of the Bank of England from 2013 to 2020. Since October 2020, he is vice chairman an ...
, former governor of both the Bank of England and the Bank of Canada.
See also
*List of municipalities in the Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is the most populous of Canada's three territories with 41,070 residents as of 2021 and is the second-largest territory in land area at . The Northwest Territories' 24 municipalities cover only of the territo ...
* Fort Smith (District) Heliport
References
Notes
External links
*
{{Authority control
Towns in the Northwest Territories
Communities in the South Slave Region
Hudson's Bay Company forts