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Fort Smith, Northwest Territories

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Fort Smith
Thebacha
Town
CountryCanada
TerritoryNorthwest Territories
RegionSouth Slave Region
ConstituencyThebacha
Census divisionRegion 5
Town1 October 1966[1]
Government
 • MayorLynn Napier-Buckley
 • Senior Administrative OfficerKeith Morrison
 • MLALouis Sebert
Area
 (2011)[2]
 • Total92.79 km2 (35.83 sq mi)
Elevation
205 m (673 ft)
Population
 (2011)[3][4]
 • Total2,496
 • Density26.7/km2 (69/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC-7 (MST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-6 (MDT)
Postal code
X0E 0P0
Area code867
Telephone Exchange872 621 870
- Living cost132.5A
- Food price index108.5B
GNBC CodeLAILN
NTS Map075D04
Websitewww.fortsmith.ca
Sources:
Department of Municipal and Community Affairs,[5]
Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre,[6]
Canada Flight Supplement[7]
^A 2009 figure based on Edmonton = 100[8]
^B 2010 figure based on Yellowknife = 100[8]

Fort Smith (Chipewyan language: Thebacha[pronunciation?] "beside the rapids") is a town in the South Slave Region of the Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada. It is located in the southeastern portion of the Northwest Territories, on the Slave River and adjacent to the NWT/Alberta border.

History

John Franklin's 1819–1820 expedition map showing Salt River and portages

Fort Smith was founded around the Slave River. It served a vital link for water transportation between southern Canada and the Western Arctic. Early fur traders found an established portage route from what is now Fort Fitzgerald, on the western bank of the Slave River to Fort Smith. This route allowed its users to navigate the four sets of impassable rapids (Cassette Rapids, Pelican Rapids, Mountain Rapids, and Rapids of the Drowned). The portage trail had been traditionally used by local aboriginal people for centuries.[9]

The aboriginal population of the region shifted as the fortunes of the tribes changed. By 1870, Cree had occupied the Slave River Valley. The Slavey had moved north by this time and the Chipewyan had also begun moving into the area.

Peter Pond of the North West Company was the first white trader to travel on the Slave River and make contact with aboriginal people in this region. He established a post on Lake Athabasca called Fort Chipewyan in the 1780s, at the head of the Slave River.

Portage on the Slave River NT circa 1900
Boats landing at Mountain Portage on the Slave River circa 1900
HBC transport loaded with fur, Fort Smith circa 1900

The fur trade penetrated deeper into the Mackenzie River district in the 19th century dominated by the activities of the Hudson's Bay Company. York boats were used to run the Slave River rapids and where needed small portages were established to bypass the most dangerous areas. Nonetheless, serious mishaps were bound to happen, and the section of the Slave River became known as 'The Rapids of the Drowned'. In 1872, the Hudson's Bay Company built an outpost called Smith's Landing at the most southern set of the Slave River rapids. In 1874, another outpost was constructed at the most northern set of rapids. It was called Fort Smith. Both posts were named in honour of Donald Alexander Smith.

In 1876, the Roman Catholic Mission was moved from Salt River to Fort Smith while the community was prospering.[9]

In 1886, the Hudson's Bay Company launched the steam-propelled vessel SS Wrigley to run from Fort Smith to the Mackenzie River. The steamer SS Grahame ran the Slave River from Fort McMurray to the head of the rapids at Smith's Landing beginning in 1882.[10] In 1898, the Yukon Gold Rush brought many gold seekers over the portages and through Fort Smith. In 1908, a new HBC steamer paddlewheeler, the SS Mackenzie River, was launched to operate on the Slave and Mackenzie Rivers below Fort Smith. (see Steamboats of the Mackenzie River)

In 1911, government was established in Fort Smith when Ottawa sent an Indian Affairs agent and a regional medical doctor, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police opened a detachment. With these developments, Fort Smith became not only the transportation centre for the Western Arctic but the administrative centre as well.

The mission sawmill produced lumber for the first hospital, St. Anne's, built in 1914 for the Grey Nuns. The sawmill also supplied the lumber for the first school built in 1915. Also maintained by the Roman Catholic Mission was St. Bruno's Farm that supplied produce, meat, and dairy products. Until it was closed in the 1920s, the farm supplied all the Church's Missions in the Western Arctic. It maintained a herd of more than 140 cattle.[9]

Horse-drawn freight services were complemented by tractors in 1919, when the Alberta & Arctic Transportation Company commission two 75-horsepower tractors on the Slave River portage to haul commercial freight from one side of the rapids to the other.

With the discovery of oil at Norman Wells in 1920, a federal government administration building was constructed to house the new Northwest Territories Branch and the first Court of Justice in the Mackenzie District. The first bank opens in Fort Smith in June 1921.

The SS Distributor was launched in 1920 by the Lamson & Hubbard Trading Company to service its trading posts along the Mackenzie River. This group was taken over by the HBC in 1924. By the 1930s, a significant part of the Fort Smith economy was centered around ship and barge building with the HBC and Northern Transportation Company Limited (NTCL) establishing shipyards below Fort Smith.

Wood Buffalo National Park was established in 1922 with its operations and administration headquarters in Fort Smith.

In 1925, Fort Smith received the first Royal Canadian Corps of Signals air radio station in the Northwest Territories. An airport was later built in 1928.

The discovery of gold in Yellowknife in 1938 also represented an economic boost to Fort Smith as many prospectors came passing through. In the same year, an Anglican Mission house was built and a church was added in 1939.

In 1942-1943, Fort Smith played its own small part in the war effort when huge armies raged across the globe in the Second World War. With a population of 250, Fort Smith hosted 2,000 United States Army soldiers who were en route to the Canol Oil Pipeline Project at Norman Wells (see Canol Road). They brought hundreds of barge loads of supplies; and in order to move these, they built a tractor road from Fort Smith to Hay River and even farther north.

The continued gold fever that fuelled Yellowknife's growth also allowed Fort Smith's population to grow fivefold in the decade following 1945. This was reflected in the increase in government administrative facilities and the growth of its role as a transportation hub for the Mackenzie District.

Fort Smith was incorporated as a village in 1964; two years later, with a population of 2,130, the village became a town on October 1, 1966. The all-weather road to Hay River was officially completed in 1966 as well, permanently linking Fort Smith to the south.

The completion of a southern rail link to Hay River in 1964 meant that Fort Smith's role as the transportation hub was largely negated; and, subsequently, shipping operations on the Slave River ceased in 1968.

When Yellowknife became the official Territorial capital in 1967, Fort Smith still remained the administrative centre of the Government of the NWT's vast region. See History of Northwest Territories capital cities.

On Friday August 9, 1968, disaster struck Fort Smith when a landslide some 3,300 by 990 ft (1,010 by 300 m) broke away from the riverbank causing property damage and killing one person. The riverbank area has since been sloped to stabilize it; and now the gentle hillside is known as the Riverbank Park, complete with groomed trails, picnic areas, and a viewing platform where one can see the Rapids of the Drowned.[11]

In 1970, an Adult Vocational Training Centre was opened. Its operations were later expanded and in 1981 it became Thebacha College. A few years later, Arctic College was created by the Government of the NWT and the Thebacha Campus was also home to the headquarters offices. In 1995, the college changed its name to Aurora College to allow Nunavut the use of the Arctic College name.[12]

Today, Fort Smith's economy is based on the federal, territorial, and aboriginal governments along with education and tourism. In 2008, there was some interest in re-establishing a portage route to supply the Fort McMurray oilsands operations.

Geography

The town is approximately 300 km (190 mi) southeast of Yellowknife, the territorial capital. The park headquarters for Wood Buffalo National Park is located in Fort Smith. The headquarters and Thebacha campus of Aurora College is located in Fort Smith; it is the largest of the three campus locations in the NWT. Fort Smith is located in the South Slave Region (administrative) and the Fort Smith Region (census division).

Fort Smith is accessible all year long via the Mackenzie Highway. A winter road operates for several months to connect Fort Smith to Fort Chipewyan and from there to Fort McMurray.

Climate

Fort Smith has a dry continental subarctic climate with very long harsh winters combined with warm but relatively short summers.

The highest temperature ever recorded in Fort Smith was 39.4°C (103°F) on 18 July 1941.[13] The coldest temperature ever recorded was -57.2°C (-71°F) on 26 December 1917.[14]

Climate data for Fort Smith (Fort Smith Airport) 1981−2010 normals, extremes 1913−present
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high humidex 8.4 11.6 13.9 29.6 32.7 38.9 41.7 38.5 31.3 25.9 12.2 8.9 41.7
Record high °C (°F) 8.7
(47.7) 		12.2
(54.0) 		15.0
(59.0) 		30.0
(86.0) 		31.8
(89.2) 		35.0
(95.0) 		39.4
(102.9) 		35.3
(95.5) 		31.7
(89.1) 		26.7
(80.1) 		13.3
(55.9) 		9.4
(48.9) 		39.4
(102.9)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) −17.8
(0.0) 		−13.5
(7.7) 		−5.0
(23.0) 		6.0
(42.8) 		14.2
(57.6) 		20.9
(69.6) 		23.3
(73.9) 		20.8
(69.4) 		13.6
(56.5) 		4.2
(39.6) 		−7.6
(18.3) 		−15.0
(5.0) 		3.7
(38.7)
Daily mean °C (°F) −22.4
(−8.3) 		−19.1
(−2.4) 		−11.8
(10.8) 		−0.3
(31.5) 		7.8
(46.0) 		14.4
(57.9) 		17.0
(62.6) 		14.7
(58.5) 		8.4
(47.1) 		0.2
(32.4) 		−11.4
(11.5) 		−19.3
(−2.7) 		−1.8
(28.8)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −27.0
(−16.6) 		−24.7
(−12.5) 		−18.5
(−1.3) 		−6.6
(20.1) 		1.3
(34.3) 		7.9
(46.2) 		10.7
(51.3) 		8.6
(47.5) 		3.1
(37.6) 		−3.7
(25.3) 		−15.1
(4.8) 		−23.5
(−10.3) 		−7.3
(18.9)
Record low °C (°F) −53.3
(−63.9) 		−55.0
(−67.0) 		−48.3
(−54.9) 		−40.6
(−41.1) 		−23.0
(−9.4) 		−7.2
(19.0) 		−4.4
(24.1) 		−6.1
(21.0) 		−15.0
(5.0) 		−31.1
(−24.0) 		−42.8
(−45.0) 		−57.2
(−71.0) 		−57.2
(−71.0)
Record low wind chill −60.4 −58.4 −55.7 −50.4 −26.2 −8.0 0.0 −4.7 −17.8 −35.3 −48.8 −59.6 −60.4
Average precipitation mm (inches) 16.5
(0.65) 		12.2
(0.48) 		13.2
(0.52) 		12.7
(0.50) 		27.8
(1.09) 		48.8
(1.92) 		54.5
(2.15) 		54.5
(2.15) 		42.4
(1.67) 		32.4
(1.28) 		22.3
(0.88) 		16.6
(0.65) 		353.6
(13.92)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 0.1
(0.00) 		0.1
(0.00) 		0.3
(0.01) 		6.2
(0.24) 		22.6
(0.89) 		48.7
(1.92) 		54.5
(2.15) 		54.3
(2.14) 		41.6
(1.64) 		14.0
(0.55) 		1.5
(0.06) 		0.3
(0.01) 		244.3
(9.62)
Average snowfall cm (inches) 24.0
(9.4) 		18.7
(7.4) 		17.5
(6.9) 		7.8
(3.1) 		5.7
(2.2) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.2
(0.1) 		1.0
(0.4) 		21.5
(8.5) 		30.1
(11.9) 		23.8
(9.4) 		150.2
(59.1)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) 10.8 8.6 7.9 5.8 8.5 10.9 11.8 12.6 12.1 13.7 13.5 11.6 127.7
Average rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm) 0.2 0.2 0.4 2.8 7.4 10.9 11.8 12.6 11.7 7.5 1.2 0.3 66.9
Average snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm) 12.3 10.1 8.6 3.7 1.8 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.8 8.4 14.7 13.3 73.9
Average relative humidity (%) 79.8 77.6 67.1 51.4 42.3 43.8 48.2 52.8 58.0 71.4 83.8 82.0 63.2
Mean monthly sunshine hours 61 117 167 240 282 316 296 268 133 86 45 27 2,038
Source 1: Environment Canada Canadian Climate Normals 1981–2010[15][16][17]
Source 2: Danish Meteorological Institute (sun, 1931–1960)[18]

Demographics

Population estimates
(1996–2009)
YearPop.±%
19962,560—    
19972,548−0.5%
19982,428−4.7%
19992,452+1.0%
20002,430−0.9%
20012,326−4.3%
20022,374+2.1%
20032,437+2.7%
20042,498+2.5%
20052,445−2.1%
20062,465+0.8%
20072,501+1.5%
20082,457−1.8%
20092,466+0.4%
20102,439−1.1%
20112,490+2.1%
20122,450−1.6%
Sources: NWT Bureau of Statistics (2001-2012)[8]

In the 2011 Census, Statistics Canada originally reported that the Town of Fort Smith had a population of 2,093 living in 776 of its 908 total dwellings, an -11.5% change from its 2006 population of 2,364.[2] Statistics Canada subsequently amended the 2011 census results to a population of 2,496 and 1,065 total dwellings, a 5.6% increase from 2006.[3][4] With a land area of 92.79 km2 (35.83 sq mi), it had a population density of 26.899/km2 (69.669/sq mi) in 2011.[2][3][4]

According to the 2006 Census, it had a population of 2,364, the majority of which are First Nations.[19] The main languages are English, Chipewyan, Cree, Michif. In 2012, the Government of the Northwest Territories estimated that the population was 2,450 compared to 2,326 in 2001, resulting in an average annual growth rate of 0.7% between 2001 and 2012.[8]

Attractions

Fort Smith is the home of the Northern Life Museum and home of the museum ship Radium King.[20]

Every year the South Slave Friendship Festival, a music and arts festival, occurs in Fort Smith, usually in August. Musicians and artists from across the Northwest Territories and many other faraway places come to interact with other artists and show off their talents to the public.[20]

Many tourists come to see the world-class Slave River and many kayakers try its rapids.[20]

Fort Smith Mission Park is a popular tourist attraction featuring historic buildings and a grotto from the Oblate Catholic Mission.[20]

In the summer months, pelicans can be seen nesting on the various rapids near Fort Smith. Whooping cranes, an endangered species, also nest in the area during the summer and can be viewed via air charters as ground access is prohibited.[20]

Government

Local government consists of the Town of Fort Smith Council with 9 members (7 councillors, deputy mayor and mayor). The mayor works part-time and council is elected every three years.[21] The current mayor of Fort Smith is Lynn Napier-Buckley.[5]

Fort Smith is represented by the Salt River First Nation #195[22] and are part of the Akaitcho Territory Government.[23][24] As of June 2012 the Salt River First Nation had given the Akaitcho Territory Government the mandatory six months notice that they would be separating from the organisation.[25]

The Northwest Territory Métis Nation is located in Fort Smith. In 1996, a Framework Agreement was signed with the Government of the NWT and the Government of Canada to commence negotiations on land, resources and self-government.[26]

Pelicans on the Rapids of the Drowned

Education

There are a number of educational facilities in Fort Smith including Joseph Burr Tyrrell Elementary School, Paul William Kaeser High School[27] and the Thebacha Campus of Aurora College.[12] Additionally, the main office of the South Slave Divisional Education Council is located in the town.[27]

Notable residents

Fort Smith is the birthplace of Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England and former governor of the Bank of Canada.[28]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Town of Fort Smith News (Volume 22)" (PDF) (PDF). Town of Fort Smith. September 2011. p. 2. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c "Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), 2011 and 2006 censuses (Northwest Territories)". Statistics Canada. 2012-01-31. Retrieved 2012-03-26.
  3. ^ a b c "Corrections and updates". Statistics Canada. 2012-05-29. Retrieved 2012-06-24.
  4. ^ a b c "Favourable Review of Census Data for the Town of Fort Smith" (PDF). Town of Fort Smith. 2012-03-15. Retrieved 2012-03-26.
  5. ^ a b "NWT Communities - Fort Smith". Government of the Northwest Territories: Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  6. ^ "Northwest Territories Official Community Names and Pronunciation Guide". Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. Yellowknife: Education, Culture and Employment, Government of the Northwest Territories. Archived from the original on 2016-01-13. Retrieved 2016-01-13. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 16 July 2020 to 0901Z 10 September 2020.
  8. ^ a b c d Fort Smith - Statistical Profile at the GNWT
  9. ^ a b c Fort Smith (N.W.T.). Tourism Committee (1979). On the Banks of the Slave : a History of the Community of Fort Smith, Northwest Territories. Tourism Committee.
  10. ^ McCormack, Patricia Alice (2010). Fort Chipewyan and the Shaping of Canadian History, 1788-1920s. UBC Press. pp. 75, 80, 128, 141, 199, 286. ISBN 9780774816687. The Hudson's Bay Company launched the Grahame at Fort Chipewyan in 1883 for service on the Athabasca, lower Peace, and upper Slave rivers. This ship could carry 140 tons.... It ran from Fort McMurray to Smith's Landing, up the Clearwater River to the Methye Portage, and up the Peace River to the Vermilion Chutes.
  11. ^ On the Banks of the Slave: A History of the Community of Fort Smith, Northwest Territories. Published by the Tourism Committee of Fort Smith, Department of Education Northwest Territories, 1979.
  12. ^ a b "Aurora College". Retrieved 2014-02-14.
  13. ^ "July 1941". Canadian Climate Data. Environment Canada. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  14. ^ "December 1917". Canadian Climate Data. Environment Canada. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  15. ^ "Fort Smith A" (CSV (3069 KB)). Canadian Climate Normals 1981–2010. Environment Canada. Climate ID: 2202200. Retrieved 2014-01-09.
  16. ^ "Fort Smith". Canadian Climate Data. Environment Canada. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  17. ^ "Fort Smith 2". Canadian Climate Data. Environment Canada. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  18. ^ Cappelen, John; Jensen, Jens. "Canada - Fort Smith, Mackenzie District" (PDF). Climate Data for Selected Stations (1931-1960) (in Danish). Danish Meteorological Institute. p. 51. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 27, 2013. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  19. ^ 2006 Census
  20. ^ a b c d e "Town of Fort Smith (attractions)". Retrieved 2014-02-14.
  21. ^ Mayor and Council
  22. ^ Salt River First Nation
  23. ^ First Nation Profiles Akaitcho Territory Government
  24. ^ Akaitcho Territory Government
  25. ^ Salt River parting from Akaitcho First Nation
  26. ^ Northwest Territory Métis Nation
  27. ^ a b "South Slave Divisional Education Council". Retrieved 2014-02-14.
  28. ^ UK Treasury Press Release
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