Edmonton

Established as the first permanent settlement in the area of what is now "Edmonton", the Hudson's Bay Company trading post of Fort Edmonton (also known as "Edmonton House") was named after Edmonton, Middlesex, England. The fort's name was chosen by William Tomison, who was in charge of its construction, taking the fort's name from the hometown of the Lake family – at least five of whom were influential members of the Hudson's Bay Company between 1696 and 1807. In turn, the name Edmonton derives from Adelmetone, meaning 'farmstead/estate of Ēadhelm' (from Ēadhelm, an Old English personal name, and tūn); this earlier form of the name appears in the Domesday Book of 1086. Fort Edmonton was also called Fort-des-Prairies by French-Canadians, trappers, and coureurs des bois. Indigenous languages refer to the Edmonton area by multiple names which reference the presence of fur trading posts. …

The earliest known inhabitants arrived in the area that is now Edmonton around 3,000 BC and perhaps as early as 12,000 BC when an ice-free corridor opened as the last glacial period ended and timber, water, and wildlife became available in the region. The site of present-day Edmonton was home to several First Nations peoples, including the Cree, Nakota Sioux, Blackfoot, Tsuut'ina, Ojibwe, and Denesuline. The valley of the North Saskatchewan River, in particular the area of Edmonton, was settled to varying degrees for thousands of years, and provided many essential resources, including fish, medicine, and materials for tool making, such as chert or quartzite, which are abundant in the area around the modern city and which can be easily knapped into tools such as axes, knives, and arrowheads. …

Edmonton is on the North Saskatchewan River, at an elevation of 671 metres (2,201 ft). It is North America's northernmost city with a population over one million. It is south of Alberta's geographic centre, which is near the Hamlet of Fort Assiniboine. The terrain in and around Edmonton is generally flat to gently rolling, with ravines and deep river valleys, such as the North Saskatchewan River valley. The Canadian Rockies are west of Edmonton and are about 220 km (140 mi) to the southwest. The North Saskatchewan River originates at the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park and bisects the city. It sometimes floods Edmonton's river valley, most notably in the North Saskatchewan River flood of 1915. It empties via the Saskatchewan River, Manitoba's Lake Winnipeg, and the Nelson River into Hudson Bay. …