Carlton Trail
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Red_Rivers_carts_at_Fort_Smith.jpg/250px-Red_Rivers_carts_at_Fort_Smith.jpg)
The Carlton Trail was the primary land transportation route in the Canadian Northwest for most of the 19th century, connecting Fort Carlton to Edmonton along a line of intermediate places. It was part of a trail network that 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 on the north side of the river to Fort Edmonton at what is now Edmonton, Alberta.
An alternative, the South Victoria Trail, ran on a more direct route to and from Edmonton, on the south side of the River, following the line of the old telegraph line. A length of it still survives, at the old Krebs homestead east of Fort Saskatchewan.[1]
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.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/Carlton_Trail_plaque.jpg/150px-Carlton_Trail_plaque.jpg)
Connecting the west, the trail was of great importance during the 19th century as a highway for travellers. Different sections of the trail were known by different names in different eras, including The Company, Saskatchewan, Fort Ellice Trail, Winnipeg Trail, Edmonton Trail, and Victoria Trail. Historical accounts record that it took about two months to travel by Red River cart from Fort Garry to Edmonton along the Carlton Trail.[2]
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 decreased in importance. Ironically, the railway was initially surveyed by Sandford Fleming to be built along the Carlton Trail, but John Macoun convinced the syndicate that formed the railway to take the more southernly route in 1881. By the early 1900s many portions of its length had been fenced off where it bisected plots of agricultural land, but sections of the trail, such as Victoria Trail in Edmonton and a length near Victoria Settlement, remain in use to this day.
The use of the trail was designated an Event of National Historic Significance in 1972.[3]
See also
- Carlton Trail Regional Park
- Transportation in Saskatchewan
- Red River cart
- Red River Trails
References
External links
- Carlton Trail
- MHS Transactions: The Red River Cart and Trails: The Fur Trade
- Fort Garry-Fort Edmonton Trail Commemorated as National Historic Site
- A Line Through the Wilderness
- v
- t
- e
- Athabasca Sand Dunes
- Battlefords, The
- 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
- Great Blue Heron Provincial Park
- Greenwater Lake
- Katepwa Point
- Lac La Ronge
- Last Mountain House
- Makwa Lake
- Meadow Lake
- Moose Mountain
- Narrow Hills
- Pike Lake
- Porcupine Hills
- Rowan's Ravine
- Saskatchewan Landing
- St. Victor Petroglyphs
- Steele Narrows
- Touchwood Hills Post
- Wildcat Hill
- Wood Mountain Post
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
- Doukhobor Dugout House
- 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 station (Canadian Pacific Railway)
- Seager Wheeler's Maple Grove Farm
- Steele Narrows
- Wanuskewin
- 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
- Victoria Park
- Wascana Centre