Fort Calgary, Calgary (must see)

Fort Calgary came into being in 1875, thanks to a federal order with a very specific goal: put an end to the whiskey trade that had taken root at the meeting point of the Bow and Elbow rivers. Law, order, and fewer questionable drinks—that was the plan.

Choosing the exact location fell to the F Troop of the North-West Mounted Police, led by Ephrem A. Brisebois, who arrived from Fort Macleod with determination and limited equipment. To cross the Bow River, they improvised with a tarpaulin stretched over a wagon box. The first man to step onto the riverbank was Corporal George Clift King, a detail that earned him the informal title of Calgary’s first citizen. No plaque at the time, just cold water and good timing...

Construction followed using spruce logs floated down from upstream and locally sourced pine. The fort included the basics: men’s quarters, storage buildings, stables, and a guard room. Early on, it went by practical names like “Bow Fort” or “The Elbow.” An attempt to name it after Brisebois failed—popularity matters, even in the 1870s.

Ultimately, in 1876, the fort officially became Fort Calgary—courtesy of Colonel James Macleod, Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police, who had spent time in Scotland and proposed this name after a small hamlet on the Isle of Mull.

As the settlement grew, so did the fort. Parts were dismantled to make way for new barracks in 1882, and by 1888, a two-storey building stood here, large enough to house 100 men.

Today, Fort Calgary remains one of the clearest places to trace the city’s beginnings—a stop where Calgary’s story starts to sound less like legend and more like real life, boots, logs, rivers, and all...