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C & E Trail - Red Deer Crossing

The Calgary and Edmonton Trail (C & E Trail) evolved from the Wolf Trail (also known as Blackfoot Trail and Old North Trail) into an actual crude road around 1873. The mid point between Fort Calgary and Fort Edmonton was located at a ford across the Red Deer River, frequently referred to as "the Crossing".
 
When the Canadian Pacific Railway arrived in Calgary in 1883, the Trail became the primary travel route for freight to Edmonton and for new settlers, many of whom homesteaded around Red Deer Crossing and along the Red Deer River. Eventually a small community developed around the Crossing that included a ferry and a stopping house.
 
Stagecoaches travelled the route from around 1883 to a couple of years after the completion of the Calgary Edmonton Railway in 1891. When troops were sent north to deal with the 1885 Riel Rebellion, a  contingent was established at the Crossing, taking over the stopping house to build Fort Normandeau. It was later taken over by the Northwest Mounted Police.
 
When the Calgary-Edmonton Railway was built further east, the community at the Crossing moved to the new townsite of Red Deer.
 



(The map shows many of the stopping houses along the trail from Fort Calgary through Red Deer Crossing to Fort Edmonton.)

 

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