Cold Lake, Alberta
| Cold Lake | |||
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| Location in Alberta | |||
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| State : |
 Canada
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| Province : | Alberta | ||
| Coordinates : | 54 ° 25 ′ N , 110 ° 13 ′ W | ||
| Height : | 544 m | ||
| Area : | 59.3 km² | ||
| Residents : | 13,839 (as of 2011) | ||
| Population density : | 233.4 inhabitants / km² | ||
| Time zone : | Mountain Time ( UTC − 7 ) | ||
| Postal code : | T9M | ||
| Website : | www.coldlake.com | ||
Cold Lake is a small town in northeast Alberta , Canada , about 300 km from Edmonton . It bears this name after the lake on which it is located. This, now known as Cold Lake , was formerly called Coldwater Lake . The name of the lake was transferred to the Indians living there: Cold Lake First Nations .
history
First European, fur trade route
The region around Cold Lake was first recorded on a map in 1790 by Philip Turner of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). However, in 1800 Peter Fidler reports that he saw an abandoned fur trading post on the banks of the Beaver River, which existed around the time of the first smallpox epidemic (1781) and which is now identified as the Beaver Crossing-Cold Lake House . This house was on the fur trade route from Lac La Biche to Lac Île-à-la-Crosse , which the local Indian tribes used. David Thompson of the North West Company listed the Beaver River on his 1798 map and Peter Fidler on the 1799 map. Apparently, it was only competition between the North West Company and HBC that maintained the post. In 1824 George Simpson of the HBC, which had been merged with the NWC in 1821, dissolved the post, thus giving up the lengthy trade route for more than half a century.
Missionaries, reservations
The Dene (Chipewyan) at Cold Lake belonged to the Catholic mission area from 1844, whose headquarters in Edmonton sent Father JR Thibault to Cold Lake. Missionaries traveled north frequently between 1845 and 1882, but it was not until 1882 that a permanent mission station, St Raphael's Mission, was established . A modest chapel and apartment building next to the Hudson's Bay Company post were run by the first white man, Father LeGoff, to live on Cold Lake.
1876 negotiated the Canadian government with the Cold Lake First Nations , the local Indians, a contract from the so-called contract no. 6, of the numbered treaties ( numbered treaties belongs). Chief Uldahi (Matthias Janvier-Jackfish) selected a piece of land at Willow Point, from where their territory stretched 20 miles south and west. This included a large part of Cold Lake itself. While the tribe lived at this and its neighboring lakes in summer, they moved to Primrose Lake in winter , which is now part of a huge air force base.
Only three years later there was the Northwest Rebellion under the leadership of Louis Riel , in which the likewise predominantly Catholic and French-speaking Métis rose up. The groups from Cold Lake narrowly escaped an act of revenge and were briefly detained, but LeGoff managed to convince officers of the North West Mounted Police , the responsible military unit, of the innocence of the Frog Lake massacre .
LeGoff's influence grew considerably as a result. In 1891 he moved the mission station to the south side of the Beaver River and built a new chapel. The place quickly became known as LeGoff . But the Canadian government's plans went much further. The land should be cleared for settlers, and the Indians should be pushed into reservations . In addition, a nun-run school was established in 1895, which was one of many residential schools in Canada. Here the Indian children should become "civilized" Canadians who should forget their traditional culture. At the same time, attempts were made to turn the semi-nomadic parents into farmers. The Canadian government apologized for this radical uprooting program in June 2008, but the region's cultures have been destroyed. In addition, the Indians at Cold Lake continued to be accused of participating in the Métis uprising, which in 1902 was used as an opportunity to significantly reduce the size of their reservation, which was established in 1876. In the end, around half of the strains succumbed to the influenza introduced after the First World War .
Settlers, establishing a place, tourism
Although the Hudson's Bay Company from 1877 again maintained a trading post, and this moved from 1887 to 1908 according to LeGoff, the first settlers did not arrive until 1905. Here, the by French clergymen linguistically and culturally prepared place mainly French-Canadian from pulling Québec at .
Around 1920 these Quebecers were joined by a few families from Norway and Sweden , Switzerland , France and Great Britain . All but one family lived near the lake. They lived from farming, cattle breeding, trapping and fishing, soon from logging and their first trading activities. This led to the establishment of the villages of Beaver Crossing , near the mission station, and Cold Lake, which is now called Cold Lake North . The first shop with a post office was built on Beaver in 1910 (until 1980) and the first ferry in 1911, which was replaced by a bridge in 1919.
Cold Lake dates back to a rest house that JC Soucy opened in 1907; five years later, George Hill opened its first general store and post office in Cold Lake. In 1915 he faced competition from several shops, a larger Catholic church was built, the Bank of Hochelaga was set up and a village school was created with one room. Nevertheless, the small town became the center of administration and economy, which already attracted tourists in the 1920s. As a result, hotels and cafes emerged, and Jim Hoolahan built an entire holiday resort, Hoolahan Town west of Cold Lake. But the global economic crisis and new destinations in the tourism industry put an end to the brief boom.
New settlers from the south, Grand Center
When southern Alberta suffered a severe drought, many settlers moved north to escape the dust and heat. Most of the newcomers came from areas where English was spoken, and so the French character of the place gradually disappeared. The newly built trading center, Grand Center, had a completely different character. It's called Cold Lake South today .
This settlement went back to four families called Bailey, Toppenburg, Miller and Brady. They could not buy land - whether the old settlers refused them or whether no one wanted to sell land is unclear - so in 1934 they built their houses between Cold Lake and Beaver Crossing. Not only did they build shops, they hoped - hence the name Grand Center - that two railway lines would meet here. One was to go from Bonnyville to Pierceland in Saskatchewan , the other northwest to Lac Ia Biche and on to Fort McMurray .
An initial industrial activity was the self-sufficiency of fishing. The Cold Lake Fisherman's Unity League was created and fish was exported to the USA. The majority of the catch was loaded onto wagons, later trucks , in Kitscoty , Vegreville and later LeGoff. Commercial fishing flourished until around 1980.
Trapping for beavers , muskrats , foxes , coyotes and even bears in the region north of the lake also played a certain role. Also Mink , who has even grown in mink farms, played a role in the 40s, but the fur industry lost already in the 50s in importance.
From now on, agriculture itself was more important, even if fishing, hunting and trapping slowly lost their importance as an additional source of income. To this end, attempts were made with raspberries and blueberries (1923 to 1934). Railway construction also played a role in that small lumberjack camps were set up to take care of the wood for the railway sleepers. The massive fire of 1919 that devastated the region between Onion Lake and Cold Lake caused numerous sawmill owners to move to the region to process the now inexpensive wood that had to be collected quickly. But this boom also ended in 1926, although smaller sawmills continued to exist. They only disappeared in the 1950s. The massive deforestation changed the landscape, but agriculture benefited from the freed land, which was now being sold cheaply.
In 1921, the Cold Lake Missionary Hospital was built on the town's main street in the district, which is otherwise only occasionally visited by doctors . It was run by nurses and a doctor came once a week to perform operations. The John Neil Hospital was founded in 1925, and by 1933 Cold Lake had its first permanent practicing physician. From 1943 Margaret Strang Savage ran the hospital, and she managed to have a second John Neil Hospital built in 1958 .
From 1911 it became less dangerous to visit the region, as a ferry, which was carried on a wire rope, made the dangerous crossing of the Beaver easier. It was replaced by a bridge in 1919. Small transport companies took over the transport of goods southwards. In 1928 the Canadian National Railway connected Bonnyville with the Canadian railroad network, from 1930 also LeGoff, but the construction of a new bridge over the Beaver was prevented by the beginning of the global economic crisis. However, the Cold War brought the decision to build an air force base to protect North America against a possible attack by the Soviet Union . The infrastructure also benefited from this, as railway lines and paved roads were now being built.
Air Force Base
The huge CFB Cold Lake Air Force Base occupied an area to which the local Indian groups were entitled. Therefore they should forego the area around Primrose Lake , which is in both Alberta and Saskatchewan , in exchange for compensation . So they were dependent on their reservations, and they had to give up their hunting activities (see Cold Lake First Nations ).
While the Indians were being pushed aside, a strong immigration began in the places, an influx of large amounts of capital and technical know-how. The water and power supply, telephone lines etc. were renewed, libraries and theaters were built, new schools and hospitals were modernized. The three main settlement areas Grand Center, Cold Lake and the military settlement Medley were collectively known as Tri-town .
Brief oil boom
In 1962, James Douglas McAlary, geologist at Imperial Oil Limited , discovered oil sands north and west of Cold Lake. Imperial Oil obtained the necessary permits in 1964 and set up an exploratory drilling site on Ethel Lake. The May plan was created in 1972, the Leming plan followed in 1975. As early as 1976, the three test wells brought 800 m³ of bitumen daily . This success attracted other companies such as Union Texas of Canada , Great Northern Oil , Noreen Energy Resources , Gulf Oil , Murphy Oil , Japan Oil Sands Company , World Wide Energy Company and British Petroleum . In November 1977, Imperial Oil announced a $ 12 billion project. The region was expected to grow rapidly from 10 to 20,000 inhabitants. Prices exploded in advance, especially for real estate. But in 1980 a crisis set in that resulted in low prices, so that all companies cut their projects. The dependence of all raw material regions on world market prices and its fluctuations was particularly evident here. As a result, the sudden rise in oil and gas prices from 2007 brought the oil sands back into the public eye.
profile
economy
The economy in Cold Lake is mainly based on the air base of the Canadian Forces . There are also oil and gas deposits .
Every May in Cold Lake, the Exercise Maple Flag takes place, a flight training course during which NATO members' armed forces can use the base for six weeks. This training ensures a short-lived increase in sales, especially in the catering sector.
leisure
Because of its proximity to the lake, Cold Lake is home to many campsites . Kinosoo Beach is a popular destination during the summer months . The Iron Horse Trail , which runs on a disused railway line , has its eastern end in Cold Lake.
schools
Cold Lake has a large number of schools, including four elementary schools, five secondary schools, a campus, and a Francophone school .
Demographics
The town, located at 544 m above sea level, had a population of 13,839 in 2011, which was distributed over 5,150 households. With an area of 59.3 km², the population density is 233.4 inhabitants per km².
Personalities
- David Shand (born 1956), ice hockey player and coach
Web links
Remarks
- ↑ This and the following essentially based on Heidi Roberts: On the Edge of the Wilderness: A Brief History of Cold Lake, 2005 ( Memento of the original from June 26, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked . Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ↑ Statistics Canada: Cold Lake (accessed April 28, 2014)
