Name Origin:  Alberta  was named for one of Queen Victoria's daughters, Princess Louise Caroline Alberta. Her husband, the Marques of Lorne, was Governor General of Canada in 1882.  That was the year Alberta was born a part of  Northwest Territory.  The name was kept when it joined Canada, in 1905.

A little history:

Archaeologically speaking, Alberta dates back approximately 11,000 years.  The area was, and still is, home to many First Nations, such as the Blackfoot, Silesia, Began, Blood, Kaine, True T'ina, Sarsi, Kutenai, Cree, Assiniboin and so many more.  The Europeans arrived in the mid-eighteenth century.  But settlement didn't really happen until the Canadian Pacific Railway reached Alberta in 1883.  The population in 1891 was 26,500; ten years later the population had grown to 374,000!

When Alberta and Saskatchewan joined the Confederation in 1905, it then could truly be said that the provinces were joined "from sea to sea".

PROVINCE MOTTO:    FORTIS ET LIBER  --  Strong and free

PROVINCE SYMBOLS:

Flower:       Wild Rose
Bird:            Great horned owl
Tree:            Lodge pole pine
Stone:          Petrified wood

In 1999, the average life expectancy in Alberta was 79.2 years.

Total area of Alberta is 661,848 square kilometers. Of which 349,000 sq. km is forested and 642,317 sq. km is land area.

The climate in Alberta varies quite a bit between regions and seasons.
Summer highs are generally between 16˚ Celsius and 32˚ Celsius.
Winters have been as low as -45˚ Celsius!

National Parks in Alberta are Banff, Elk Island, Jasper, Waterton Lakes, Wood Buffalo (which is shared with the Northwest Territories).

Still on the Books - can you believe it?

In this Province, it is illegal to hunt wildlife by flashlight.

Between October 31st & April 1st, it is breaking the law when coffee shops and restaurants set out tables and chairs in Edmonton, no matter how good the weather.



Place names and their stories


Seven Persons (T0Z 1Z0)

It was the construction crew of this railway who named this section. Not far from the site, they had come upon seven rough graves, but of white men or Indians was not recalled or established. A decision was made. This would be Seven Persons. It became the name of the hamlet and of the surrounding area.
(Source: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/mtoll/orginname.htm)



Sexsmith (T0H 3C0)

The name "Sexsmith" has intrigued all who heard it since Sexsmith came into being in 1916. Sexsmith was actually the second name chosen for our town site. Originally named, "Bennville" after early 1911 settler J.B. "Benny" Foster, upon whose homestead the town site was established. The name changed when it was discovered that there was already a town bearing that name. Our town became Sexsmith in honour of David Sexsmith, a trapper and trader who first came into the area in 1898 and set up a stopping place just north of the present town in 1912. Sexsmith reestablished his store and post-office at the present town-site in 1916, the same year the railroad reached here.  (Source: http://www.discoverthepeacecountry.com/htmlpages/sexsmith.html)



Pocahontas

The name Pocahontas is derived from a coal mine that flourished between 1910 and 1921 at this location in the very young Jasper National Park. When the mine closed on February 5, 2007, it disappeared, and its 300 residents all moved on. (Source: http://www.jaspercanadianrockies.com/mustsee.html)