Period 1882 – 1887

Period 1882 – 1887 for South-western Canada

• 1882
  Year of Hunger for Prairie Natives as bison gone and Ottawa cutting back on supplies in order to hasten the Natives’ adoption of an agricultural lifestyle.
• 1882 Circa
  Isidore succeeds Michel as chief of the upper Ktunaxa.
• 1882
  The DIA “supply farms” at Pincher Creek and Fort Calgary shut down after three years of disappointment.
• 1882
  R.A. Brown discovered copper on what is now the Granby River and sought money to build a workers’ “Utopia” to develop his Volcanic mine. Earns the sobriquet “Crazy.”
• 1882
  George Jennings Ainsworth pre-empts property at the Hot Springs on the west shore of Kootenay Lake.
• 1882
  Sir Charles Tupper, the federal Minister of Railways, awards Andrew Onderdonk the contract to lay track down the Fraser River from Emory City to Port Moody.
• 1882
  Wm. Sam’l Lee established himself at what is now Lees (should be “Lee” or “Lee’s”) Lake near Lundbreck, AB.
• 1882
  Pincher Creek, N-WT.: Chas. Kettles lays out the townsite.
• 1882
  St. Albert, N-WT.: Leonard Van Tighem arrives to serve Roman Catholic church.
• 1882
  N-WT.: Pincher Creek Stock Association formed.
• 1882
  Cecil Edward Denny, former N-WM Policeman, appointed Indian Agent to Treaty 7 nations.
• 1882
  N-WT.: I.G. Baker Co. establishes coach service between Fort Macleod and Fort Benton.
• 1882
  IR 148, N-WT: Anglican “Reverend Rural Dean” George McKay of the “Society for the Propagation of the Gospel” builds a house and a “day school.”
• 1882
  N-WT.: Joseph and Germain Mongeon are among the first of the French families to settle on what is now “Cowley Flats,” AB. Alex “Old” Barbeau, Eduard La Feves, and Max Brouillet, too.
• 1882
  Railroad linking Winnipeg, MB, to Port Arthur, ON, completed by federal government.
• 1882
  Fort Whoop-Up, N-WT: Dave Akers grows his first commercial garden.
• 1882
  Federal political: Lieutenant-Governor Dewdney appoints Hayter Reed to the Territorial Council.
• 1882
  N-WT.: Duncan McEachran established the Walrond Ranche on the Oldman River.
• 1882
  N-WT.: Garnett brothers finish their “Grand House” on their ranch near what is now Lundbreck, AB.
• 1882
  N-WT.: J.R. (John) Craig establishes the Oxley Ranche on Willow Creek near Fort Macleod.
• 1882
  The federal government completes the Port Arthur, ON, to Winnipeg, MB, section of Canada’s first trans-continental railroad.
• 1882 January
  W.H. Lowe dies at Keremeos, BC.
• 1882 Jan. 1
  William Cornelius Van Horne takes up his post in Winnipeg as General Manager of the CPR.
• 1882 Jan. 9
  Northern Pacific arrives in Spokane Falls. Building from the Columbia River eastward to completion in Montana Territory in September of 1883.
• 1882 Jan. 21
  Wm. R. Lees arrives at Peter McLaren’s Mountain Mill on the Castle River to take over duties as foreman.
• 1882 February
  Cecil Edward Denny replaces Norman Thos. Macleod as Treaty 7 agent.
• 1882 March
  Fred Stimson forms the North-West Cattle Company to ranch in the N-WT.
• 1882 April
  CP surveyors identify the Kicking Horse Pass.
• 1882 Apr. 25
  London, England: North-Western Coal and Navigation Company registered.
• 1882 May
  Wm. Cornelius Van Horne, newly appointed general manager of the CPR, decides to route the Mainline through Fort Calgary and the Kicking Horse Pass in the Rocky Mountains, and Eagle Pass through the Monashees.
• 1882 May 8
  Order-in-Council establishes the provisional Districts of Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Athabaska in the N-WT.
• 1882 May 27
  N-WT: Nicholas Sheran drowns fording the Oldman River near Fort Kipp.
• 1882 June 6
  B.C. political: G.A.B. Walkem resigns as premier upon appointment to B.C. Supreme Court.
• 1882 June 13
  B.C. political: Robert Beaven selected as conservative B.C. premier.
• 1882 June 20
  Federal political: J.A. Macdonald and Conservatives re-elected.
• 1882 June 20
  Francis Jones Bernard (Conservative) elected MP for the District of Yale, B.C.
• 1882 Summer
  William Adolph Baillie-Grohman first visits the Kootenays.
• 1882 July
  First Caucasians camp at the site of Nelson, BC: prospectors Jerry O’Donnell, Bill Feeney, and others.
• 1882 July 1
  Fort Macleod, N-WT.: C.E.D. Wood and E.T. Saunders publish the first issue of the Macleod Gazette.
• 1882 July 24
  B.C. political: Robert Beaven re-elected premier. Robert Leslie Thomas Galbraith remains MPP for the Kootenay Electoral District.
• 1882 July 24
  A.B. Rogers discovers Rogers Pass through Selkirk Mountains.
• 1882 July 29
  N-WMP announce decision to move headquarters from Fort Walsh, N-WT, to Pile-o’-Bones (Regina).
• 1882 July 31
  R.E. Sproule registers the Bluebell claim, Gay Reeder the Mogul.
• 1882 Autumn
  IR 148, N-WT: the Reverend H. S. Bourne arrived to run the Anglican “school.”
• 1882 Autumn
  N-WT: CPR rail-laying crews finish the season at what is now Tompkins, SK.
• 1882 Oct. 13
  “the coal banks,” N-WT: Wm. Stafford and his Nova Scotia crew begin drifting the first North-Western Coal & Nav’n adit.
• 1882 Oct. 31
  End of the Mining Season in B.C.
• 1882 Nov. 15
  Having staked it on top of the Bluebell claim about October 28th, Thomas Hammill registers the Silver Queen at the Government Agency at Wild Horse.
• 1882 Dec. 6
  Regina, N-WT: N-WMP Headquarters take up official residence.
• 1882 Dec. 8
  Treaty No. 6 (Part 3) signed in the Cypress Hills between HRH Victoria and Big Bear’s band of Cree.
• 1882 Dec. 11
  “the coal banks,” N-WT: North-Western Coal & Nav’n mine has been established.
• 1882 Dec. 21
  Captains John C. & George J. Ainsworth, and Geo. Hearst, et al, apply to B.C. to incorporate the Columbia and Kootenay Railway and Transportation Company.
• 1883
  John McRae fires first smelter in the Kootenays, forty-three miles up the Columbia from what is now Golden.
• 1883
  B.C.: R.R. Gilpin settles in the Kettle’s valley near today’s Grand Forks.
• 1883
  N-WT.: William Winder is killed on his Ranche on Willow Creek near Fort Macleod.
• 1883
  N-WT.: William Roper Hull delivers a 1200-head horse herd to southern prairies. Herd formed at Kamloops. N-WMP buy most.
• 1883
  N-WT.: Waggon trail established between “the coal banks,” and Medicine Hat.
• 1883
  Butte, Montana Territory: Marcus Daly blows in his Anaconda Copper Mining Company smelter.
• 1883
  B.C.: J.C. Rykert sent as Collector of Customs for the Kootenays to build a post where the Upper Kootenay re-enters B.C. near today’s Creston.
• 1883
  N-WT.: Senator Matthew Henry Cochrane and son, William (Billy) Francis, expand their cattle operation to a lease on the doab between the Belly and Waterton rivers. Form the British-American Ranche Company to run sheep on original lease near Calgary.
• 1883 Jan. 29
  B.C. political: Robert Beaven resigns (non-confidence vote) and replaced by William Smithe as conservative premier. (Dies in office 1887/03/28)
• 1883 Mar. 15
  Federal political: Hayter Reed appointed Assistant Commissioner of Indian Affairs.
• 1883 Spring
  Government of Canada allows the CPR to abandon Yellow Head route in favour of the Kicking Horse Pass route.
• 1883 Spring
  Fort Macleod, N-WT: Flood, and the community begins shifting from Macleod Island to higher ground on the right bank of the Oldman.
• 1883 Spring
  “the coal banks,” N-WT: Stafford and his crew have 22,000 tons of N-WC&N coal stock-piled.
• 1883 Mar. 15
  Regina, N-WT.: Elliott Galt’s resignation from the Department of the Interior becomes effective.
• 1883 Mar. 27
  Territorial Order-in-Council transfers capital of N-WT to Regina in today’s Saskatchewan.
• 1883 April
  N-WT. South West Stock Association formed.
• 1883 Apr. 9
  Fort Macleod, N-WT.: First N-WC&N barge leaves bound for “coal banks.”
• 1883 May 12
  B.C.: The Columbia and Kootenay Railway and Transportation Company Act, 1883, receives royal assent. Directors: Jno. C. Ainsworth, Geo. J. Ainsworth, E.W. Blasdel. HQ in Vicroria, permissable capitalisation $5 million.
• 1883 May 29
  Fort Macleod, N-WT.: Second N-WC&N barge leaves bound for “coal banks.”
• 1883 June 1
  London: A.T. Galt resigns as Canadian High Commissioner to London. Replaced by Chas. Tupper.
• 1883 June 10
  CPR Saskatchewan River Crossing, N-WT.: CPR rails laid to the South Saskatchewan River at what is today Medicine Hat, AB.
• 1883 June 14
  Department of Indian Affairs moves its headquarters from Winnipeg to Regina.
• 1883 June 21
  Fort Calgary, N-WT: Langdon, Shepard and Co. graders arrive.
• 1883 Summer
  B.C.: Wild fire savages the Purcell Trench around Kootenay Lake.
• 1883 July 2
  Coalbanks, N-WT.: The hull of the Baroness launched.
• 1883 July 10
  Edward Kelly appointed Gold Commissioner for the Kootenay District of BC.
• 1883 July 12
  W.A. Baillie-Grohman appointed provincial Justice of the Peace for the Kootenay district of B.C.
• 1883 July 27
  CPR Saskatchewan River Crossing, N-WT.: The Baroness declared complete and re-launched. 320 tons.
• 1883 August
  Lake Osoyoos, B.C.: General W.T. Sherman, Commander of the U.S. Army, visits the J.C. Haynes family residence.
• 1883 Aug. 9
  Fort Calgary, N-WT. CPR steel arrives.
• 1883 Aug. 10
  CPR Saskatchewan River Crossing, N-WT.: Baroness makes maiden voyage to “Grand Forks” and back.
• 1883 Aug. 11
  Fort Calgary, N-WT: First train crosses the Elbow River.
• 1883 Aug. 20
  Regina, N-WT: First meeting of the North-West Council.
• 1883 Aug. 23
  A Memorandum of Association declares that the British Columbia Copper Mining Company, Limited, had been formed to exploit ore bodies on Copper Mountain.
• 1883 Aug. 23
  Northern Pacific Railroad completed.
• 1883 Aug. 31
  Kootenay Lake, B.C.: Gold Commissioner Edward Kelly and Queen’s Counsel A.E.B. Davie arrive at Sproule’s camp to adjudicate the contested Bluebell claims.
• 1883 September
  Sir Francis De Winton and Sir F.F. Mackenzie bought Collins’ and Allen’s spread east of Pincher Creek, purchased the Indian Department’s cattle herd and founded the Alberta Ranch Company. Soon spread to 15,000 acres.
• 1883 Sep. 8
  President Henry Villard of the Northern Pacific Railroad drives the road’s official last spike at Cold Creek, Montana Territory.
• 1883 Autumn
  First shipment of grain to the Canadian lakehead: Jas. Richardson & Sons ship for Winnipeg.
• 1883 October
  Ottawa: A.T. Galt petitions Mcdonald cabinet for lineal grant of N-WT land for a railroad to Coalbanks from Dunmore on the CPR Mainline. Petition sent to Parliament for approval.
• 1883 Oct. 16
  Kootenay Lake, B.C.: Gold Commissioner Edward Kelly finds for R.E. Sproule in the Bluebell dispute.
• 1883 Oct. 17
  Federal political: Honourable Sir D.L. Macpherson appointed Minister of the Interior.
• 1883 Oct. 19
  N-WC&N was assigned Coal Lease No. 4.
• 1883 Oct. 23
  Federal political: The Most Honourable Marquis of Lansdowne appointed governor general of Canada.
• 1883 November
  J.J. Hill sells his remaining CPR shares and declares war on Van Horne and the Company.
• 1883 Nov. 18
  The inauguration of Standard Time in North America. Invented by Sanford Fleming.
• 1883 Dec. 2
  Regular passenger service established between Winnipeg and Calgary.
• 1883 Dec. 10
  Baillie-Grohman issued a provincial concession for a one-year lease on 47,500 acres of Kootenay Lake wetlands.
• 1883 Dec. 19
  B.C. political: Railway Belt Act passed.
• 1883
  Begins the “starvation winter” duing which some 600 Piegans on their reserve in Montana die for lack of rations.
• 1884
  The J.J. Jameson family settles in the upper Similkameen River valley in BC.
• 1884
  B.C.: J.C. Haynes sends James McConnel to establish a ranch on Grande Prairie near today’s Grand Forks.
• 1884
  Nakota emissaries persuade the Ktunaxa to support Louis Riel in his demands for Native rights.
• 1884
  B.C.: E.E. Spraggett and S.R. Almond take up land in the Kettle’s valley at the mouth of Fourth of July (now, July) Creek near today’s Grand Forks.
• 1884
  U.S. builds a customs post on the Columbia River near Ft. Shepherd, B.C.
• 1884
  I.R. 148, N-WT: Anglicans commence building a school complex on Big Island—”Omoksene”—in the Belly River, close to Stand Off.
• 1884
  St. Albert, N-WT.: Leonard Van Tighem elevated to the priesthood in the Order of Mary Immaculate.
• 1884
  N-WT.: Captain John Stewart organizes the Rocky Mountain Rangers to patrol the range.
• 1884
  Pincher Creek, N-WT.: Father LaCombe builts the “Hermitage” over the course of a few months.
• 1884
  Pincher Creek, N-WT.: St. John’s Anglican built on Scobie land east of the settlement. Moved in 1886.
• 1884
  Pincher Creek, N-WT.: Timothé Lebel, Tom Hinton and silent partner Chas. Kettles organize the general store which will become “Lebel’s.”
• 1884
  “Indian Advancement Act” of 1884 prohibited Natives from gathering to celebrate ceremonies like sun dances and gifting each other through pot-latches.
• 1884
  N-WT: Cecil Edward Denny quits as Agent for Treaty 7 tribes. Replaced by two agents, William B. Pocklington appointed to the Kainai and the Piikani. Hdqtrs in Fort Macleod.
• 1884
  Hayter Reed appointed Assistant Commissioner of Indian Affairs.
• 1884
  Fred’k. W. Godsal buys the eastern half of the Garratt brothers’ 40,000-acre ranch—including “French Flats”—in the N-WT.
• 1884
  Sheep prohibited from ranging south of the Highwood River in the District of Alberta, N-WT
• 1884
  Dr. George Mercer Dawson of the Geological Survey of Canada again examines the Crowsnest Pass area.
• 1884
  The F.X. Richter family sells its original ranch near today’s Cawston, BC, to R.L. Cawston and Mrs. W.H. Lowe and moves to lands down the Similkameen on the Boundary.
• 1884
  Henry Nicholson settles near what is today Midway, BC.
• 1884
  Indian Agent Pocklington agrees to lease part of I.R. 148A grasslands to the Cochrane Ranche. Kainai disagree.
• 1884
  Port Arthur, ON.: CPR builds a “terminal” grain elevator.
• 1884
  Fr. Albert Lacombe appointed the first principal of the Dunbow (St. Joseph’s) Indian Industrial School east of what is now High River, Alberta.
• 1884
  Fr. Constantin Scollen contracts cholera and retires from ministering to the Kainaa.
• 1884
  Col. Jas. Baker buys 18,000 acres of Joseph’s Prairie in East Kootenay, BC, from the Galbraiths.
• 1884
  The steam launch Alpha is chartered by the North American Construction Company, re-assembled at Colville Landing and sailed up the Columbia River to Farwell to assist Gustav Blin Wright in the construction of the Eagle Pass waggon road.
• 1884
  The Victoria vein located in upper Rock Creek valley, BC.
• 1884 January
  Andrew Onderdonk completes the Yale-Savona part of his CPR contract.
• 1884 Jan. 22
  Onderdonk completes the Yale-Port Moody section of the CPR.
• 1884 Feb. 4
  Valantine Baker Pasha, James Baker’s brother, defeated by Osman Digna and his “Fuzzie-Wuzzies” in the Sudan.
• 1884 Feb. 13
  Port Moody, BC: At 13:30 first train arrives.
• 1884 Mar. 10
  AB: Moise LaGrandeur buys W.S. Lee’s ranching operation at the old HBC post at the mouth of Pincher Creek just west of what is now Brocket, AB.
• 1884 Mar. 25
  B.C.: The Ainsworths’ appeal of the Bluebell decision commences in Victoria before M.B. Begbie, H.P.P. Crease & Geo. Walkem.
• 1884 Mar. 28
  Decision in Ainsworths’ Bluebell appeal handed down.
• 1884 Spring
  Lawrence Vankoughnet, Deputy Superintendent of the DIA, comes West on his first tour of inspection.
• 1884 Spring
  Coal Banks, N-WT: The machinery of the N-WC&N sawmill rafted down from Fort Macleod.
• 1884 Apr. 9
  London: The principals in the N-WC&N and Alexander Stavely Hill incorporate the Alberta Railway and Coal Company.
• 1883 Apr. 15
  Medicine Hat, N-WT: N-WC&N launches Alberta. 150 tons
• 1883 Apr. 19
  Medicine Hat, N-WT: N-WC&N launches Minnow. 20 tons.
• 1884 Apr. 19
  Indian Act amended to prohibit potlatches.
• 1884 Apr. 19
  47 Victoria Chapter 74, “An Act to empower the North-Western Coal and Navigation Company (Limited), to construct and work a line of railway between Medicine Hat and the Company’s mines on the Belly River, and for other purposes …” receives royal assent.
• 1884 Apr. 19
  47 Victoria Chapter 86, “An Act to incorporate the Alberta Railway and Coal Company” (AR&C) receives royal assent.
• 1884 Apr. 20
  Walrond Cattle Ranche Limited registers its “running WR” brand in the N-WT.
• 1884 Summer
  N-WT.: John Baring of London examines the oil seeps in the Waterton area.
• 1884 July
  B.C. Indian Commissioner Peter O’Reilly lays out reserves for the Ktunaxa in the Purcel and Rocky Mountain trenches.
• 1884 July
  Crowfoot of the Siksikah, Red Crow of the Kainaa, and Sitting on an Eagle Tail of the Piikani confer with Lieutenant-Governor and Commissioner of Indian Affairs for the N-WT, Edgar Dewdney, in Regina, who promised them more aid.
• 1884 Aug. 20
  St. Mary’s Reserve No. 1 registered for the Ktunaxa.
• 1884 September
  Barrington Price sells his original pre-emption near Keremeos to T.A. Daly and moves to lands on the banks of the Similkameen River.
• 1884 Autumn
  Rumour of gold in the upper Similkameen.
• 1884 Autumn
  Fred. Willock plants “White Clawson” wheat as an experimental winter crop near Pincher Creek, N-WT. Success.
• 1884 Autumn
  A.T. Galt and C.S. Stanislaus off to London to raise money for N-WC&N.
• 1884 Autumn
  Connecticuit: The Hendryx brothers incorporate the Kootenay Mining and Smelting Company, Limited.
• 1884 Sep. 27
  Ottawa: Cabinet approves N-WC&N gauge reduction to three feet.
• 1884 Oct. 1
  G.B. Wright completes the Eagle Pass waggon road between Farwell and Shuswap Lake.
• 1884 OCt. 13
  Medicine Hat, N-WT: Staking of the N-WC&N’s railroad begins.
• 1884 Oct. 14
  London: A.T. Galt signs construction contract for the N-WC&N’s railroad.
• 1884 Nov. 7
  N-WT: Calgary incorporated as a Town.
• 1884 Dec. 16
  Louis “David” Riel posts petition to settle Métis, Indian grievances.
• 1885
  Louis Eholt settles at what is today Midway.
• 1885
  Alberta Settlers’ Rights Association formed.
• 1885 Winter and Spring
  N-WT: From tribe to tribe the information is conveyed that resistance to the rude New-comers would co-alesce around Louis Riel.
• 1885
  District of Alberta, N-WT.: “Kootenai” Brown’s wife, Olivia (neé Lyonais) dies.
• 1885
  Ban on immigration from Japan lifted.
• 1885
  Coal Banks, N-WT: N-W Coal & Navigation mine 21,000 tons of coal in 1885.
• 1885
  Coalbanks, N-WT: Henry Bentley establishes a store.
• 1885
  Stand Off, I.R. 148A, N-WT.: N-WMP establish a permanent post.
• 1885
  Ottawa imposes a 20% import duty on American cattle.
• 1885
  R.A. “Volcanic” Brown stakes his Volcanic and Fontentine claims in the Granby River valley.
• 1885
  Col. James Baker appointed Justice of the Peace in the East Kootenays.
• 1885 circa
  Carson, B.C., townsite laid out John and Dan McLaren’s land in the Kettle Valley near Grand Forks.
• 1885 January
  I.R. 148A, N-WT: Cochrane cattle turned loose on Kainai range for a month.
• 1885 Mar. 19
  Louis Riel declares Provisional Government of the Saskatchewan at Batoche.
• 1885 Mar. 23
  Major-General Fred’k. D. Middleton and the Canadian Militia instructed to proceed to the N-WT and crush the Métis rebellion.
• 1885 Mar. 26
  Under Inspector Lief Crosier, N-WMP lose 10 (some say 3 policemen and 9 volunteers) killed and 14 wounded to Gabriel Dumont and his Métis at Battle of Duck Lake, Saskatchewan.
• 1885 Mar. 30
  Poundmaker and Little Pine’s Newiyawak (Cree) warriors molest Battleford, Saskatchewan Territory.
• 1885 April
  Commissioner of Indian Affairs Dewdney visits Crowfoot at Blackfoot Crossing, bringing extra rations and gifts to keep the Niitsitapi from joining Riel.
• 1885 Apr. 2
  Warriors of Big Bear’s Newiyawak (Cree) people led by Wandering Spirit massacre 2 priests and 7 Caucasians settlers at Frog Lake in the District of Saskatchewan, N-WT. Two women taken captive.
• 1885 Apr. 2
  The sternwheeler Kootenai (558 tons) launched at the Little Dalles on the Columbia by CP’s contractors, Henderson and H.M. McCartney. Dismantled 1895.
• 1885 Apr. 9
  J.F. Allison appointed Gold Commissioner for the Tulameen region.
• 1885 Apr. 10 circa
  Chief Crowfoot and the Niitsitapi peoples decide not to join with the Newiyawak and Riel’s Métis in rebellion against colonial rule.
• 1885 Apr. 12
  Calgary, N-WT: The 65th Carbiniers of Mount Royal, Quebec, arrive, 700 strong.
• 1885 Apr. 13
  An Act to Restrict and Regulate Chinese Immigration introduced in federal Parliament.
• 1885 mid-April
  Maj.-Gen’l. Middleton’s North-West Field Force arrives in the District of Assiniboia, N-WT.
• 1885 Apr. 18
  Fort Macleod(?), N-WT: First muster and drill of Captain John Stewart’s Rocky Mountain Rangers.
• 1885 Apr. 20
  Calgary, N-WT: The first contingent of “The Alberta Field Force,” consisting of Stewart and some of his Rocky Mountain Rangers, and the 65th Carbiniers, leave for Fort Edmonton.
• 1885 Apr. 23
  Calgary, N-WT: The second contingent of “The Alberta Field Force” leaves for Fort Edmonton and points in between.
• 1885 Apr. 24
  Battle of Fish Creek, Saskatchewan.
• 1885 Apr. 28
  Maiden voyage of the Kootenai at Nelson, BC.
• 1885 Apr. 29
  A contingent of the Rocky Mountain Rangers ordered to patrol the Coal Banks-Medicine Hat telegraph line, and the crews building the North Western Coal and Navigation’s railroad.
• 1885 May 2
  Battle of Cut Knife Hill, Saskatchewan.
• 1885 May 7
  Fire consumes much of Farwell, B.C.
• 1885 May 9–12
  Battle of Batoche: Louis Riel, Gabriel Dumont vs. Middleton.
• 1885 May 15
  Riel surrenders.
• 1885 May 16
  Ontario: The last spike in the North Shore Section of the CPR Mainline along Lake Superior was driven at Noslo.
• 1885 May 18
  The Kootenay Lake Syndicate Company incorporated in England to support Baillie-Grohman’s endeavours in the Kootnays.
• 1885 May 25
  Lethbridge, N-WT: Chas. Alex’r Magrath accepts the position of Land Agent for North-Western Coal and Navigation.
• 1885 June 1
  B.C.: Thomas Hammill murdered at the Bluebell claim.
• 1885 June 2
  Big Bear finally surrenders, bringing the hostilities of Riel’s second rebellion to a close.
• 1885 Summer
  In the aftermath of the Riel Rebellion, Hayter Reed, Indian Agent for the Battlefords, promotes his “pass system” for curtailing Natives’ freedom of movement. Illegal, but became informally institutionalized.
• 1885 July 5
  J.M. “Johnnie” Chance claims to have found a nugget of gold at the confluence of Granite Creek and the Tulameen kicking off the Similkameen gold rush.
• 1885 July 18
  Rocky Mountain Rangers disbanded, each veteran receiving either $80 in scrip, or 320 acres.
• 1885 July 20
  48-49 Victoria Chap 7, An Act to restrict and regulate Chinese immigration to Canada, receives royal assent in Ottawa. Head tax of $50 imposed.
• 1885 Aug. 5
  Honourable Thomas White appointed Minister of the Interior.
• 1885 Aug. 25
  Coal Banks, N-WT: North-West Coal & Navigation Company completes the 109 mile “Turkey Trail” : Dunmore to Coal Banks.
• 1885 Aug. 29
  Dunmore, N-WT: First train of N-WC&N coal arrives.
• 1885 Sep. 4
  The Kootenai grounded and damaged. Mothballed while under repairs at the Little Dalles.
• 1885 Sep. 7
  B.C. grants Baillie-Grohman and the Kootenay Lake Syndicate Company 73,100 acres of land in several blocks on Kootenay Lake and a pre-emption on a strip of 2,000 acres linking the Columbia and Kootenay systems across Canal Flats.
• 1885 Sep. 24
  Coal Banks, N-WT: Official opening of the “Turkey Trail” between Dunmore and Coal Banks in the District of Alberta.
• 1885 Autumn
  The “Great Round-up” in southern Alberta under the captaincy of James Dunlap of the Cochrane Ranche.
• 1885 Sep. 25
  Federal political: Honourable J.H. Pope appointed Minister of Railways and Canals.
• 1885 Oct. 1
  Coalbanks, N-WT: Post Office opens “Lethbridge” bureau.
• 1885 Oct. 15
  N-WT: “Coal Banks” officially re-named “Lethbridge.”
• 1885 Nov. 5
  Kootenay, B.C.: Baillie-Grohman publicly posts his circular describing his project on Canal Flats.
• 1885 Nov. 7
  Craigellachie, B.C.: At 09:21 hours, the Hon. D.A. Smith, surrounded by navvies and with W.C. Van Horne, Maj. A.B. Rogers, Sanford Fleming looking on, bent the last spike on the CPR Mainline.
• 1885 Nov. 16
  Regina, N-WT: Louis “David” Riel hanged.
• 1885 Nov. 23
  Port Moody, B.C.: First CPR through-freight arrives from the East.
• 1885 Nov. 27
  Lethbridge, N-WT: E.T. Saunders and Geo. Allan Kennedy publish the first issue of the pro-ranching Lethbridge News weekly.
• 1885 Nov. 28
  Battleford, N-WT, District of Saskatchewan: Wandering Spirit, five of his Newiyawak/Cree accomplices and two Stoneys hanged.
• 1885 End
  Red Crow and chief One Spot of the Kainai, North Axe of the Piikani, Crowfoot and Three Bulls of the Siksika, off on the CPR to Ottawa and Toronto for an extended state visit in company with Fr. Albert Lacombe.
• 1886
  Mild winter in Alberta.
• 1886
  B.C.: The peak year of the Granite Creek/Tulameen River gold rush with nearly $200,000′ worth of gold known to have been extracted from the Creek.
• 1886
  B.C.: The Laura Hydraulic Company of Vancouver begins a four-year effort in Rock Creek’s valley.
• 1886
  Golden City, B.C.: F.P. Armstrong launches the first Duchess onto the Columbia River.
• 1886
  B.C.: Fred. Rice and Al. McKinney staked their Cariboo claim: Rock Creek Quartz Camp mushrooms.
• 1886
  Dominion Trades and Labour Council formed.
• 1886
  Lethbridge, N-WT: Exhibition Board formed.
• 1886
  Lethbridge, N-WT: First contingent of “Hungarians” hired by Galt mines.
• 1886
  Stand Off, I.R. 148A, N-WT.: David Lambert builds a post.
• 1886
  Fort Macleod, N-WT: HBC opens a store.
• 1886
  N-WT: N-WMP form “K” Division and staion it at Lethbridge.
• 1886
  Fort Macleod, N-WT: Christ Church Anglican completed.
• 1886
  I.R. 147A, N-WT.: Fr. Emile Légal builds the Church of the Conversion of St. Paul, a rectory, and the Sacred Heart day school on the Piikani reserve.
• 1886
  The Bell brothers send the first shipment of N-WT cattle to the British beef market.
• 1886
  Crowsnest Lake, N-WT: The North-West Mounted Police establish a post.
• 1886
  Lethbridge, N-WT: Volunteer fire brigade organized.
• 1886
  Lethbridge, N-WT: Hospital opened.
• 1886
  Lethbridge, N-WT, “the bottoms”: Elliot Torrance Galt builds grand house, “Coal Dale.”
• 1886
  Lethbridge, N-WT: George Harding begins operating a ferry across the Belly/Oldman.
• 1886
  N-WT: R.T. Urch and W.H. Long build what became “The Stopover House” on the banks of the Oldman River in the District of Alberta near Coal Banks. Installed a reaction ferry on the Oldman to carry a branch of the Old North Trail across the River in times of high water.
• 1886
  Hedley, B.C.: The boundaries of the Chuchuwayha Indian Reserve #2 in the Similkameen valley are re-adjusted to their present alignment.
• 1886 February
  Lethbridge, N-WT: Knox Presbytrian Church consecrated.
• 1886 February
  N-WT: School District formed for Lethbridge.
• 1886 March
  Lethbridge, N-WT: Galt workers laid off and only family men hired back, at a 25% reduction in wage.
• 1886 Mar. 6
  Residents in the Upper Columbia valley dispatch a letter to their Member of Parliament expressing concern over Baillie-Grohman’s Canal Flats diversion project.
• 1886 Spring
  Federal political: J.A Macrae appointed Inspector of Schools for Manitoba and the N-WT. To fix the educational system, especially the delivery of schooling to Natives.
• 1886 April
  Lethbridge, N-WT: School Board organized.
• 1886 April
  Lethbridge, N-WT: School classes begin under B.L. Latimer.
• 1886 Apr. 1
  Federal political: Lawrence William Herchmer appointed fifth Commissioner of the N-WMP (to July 31, 1900).
• 1886 Apr. 6
  B.C.: City of Vancouver incorporated by provincial charter.
• 1886 Apr. 6
  B.C.: Royal assent given to “An Act to encourage the erection of Smelting Works” promising a $7,000 award to pre-approved projects capable of treating 30 tons/day.
• 1886 Apr. 13
  Fort Macleod, N-WT: Canadian North-West Territories Stock Association organized.
• 1886 Apr. 21
  B.C.: The Mary Victoria Greenhow launched on Lake Okanagan. Screw steamer built by Pringle & Hamill of Lansdowne for Capt. T.D. Shorts and Thos. Greenhow.
• 1886 Apr. 28
  Lethbridge, N-WT: Union Bank of Lower Canada opens a branch.
• 1886 May 8
  Golden City, B.C.: The Duchess launched onto the Columbia River.
• 1886 May 11
  Fort Macleod, District of Alberta: John Herron elected president of the Canadian North-West Territories Stock Association.
• 1886 June
  Kelowna, B.C.: Mary Victoria Greenhow burns.
• 1886 June
  Medicine Hat, N-WT: N-WC&N sends its Baroness and Alberta to Lethbridge with supplies. Baroness fails to make it, returning to Medicine Hat.
• 1886 June
  B.C. political: Fifth General Election. Wm. Smithe premier. Jas. Baker wins Kootenay District.
• 1886 June 2
  Federal political: An Act Respecting Experimental Farm Stations to be run by the Department of Agriculture receives royal assent.
• 1886 June 13
  Vancouver razed by fire. Fifty dead. Only four buildings survive.
• 1886 June 24
  N-WC&N Alberta arrives in Lethbridge and is soon stripped, her boilers and engine used to power the company’s the saw mill.
• 1886 June 28
  At 20:00 hours the first CPR transcontinental passenger train departs from Dalhousie Station in Montréal.
• 1886 July
  Lethbridge, N-WT: Wesley Methodist Church completed.
• 1886 July 4
  Port Moody, B.C.: At noon on Sunday, first CPR transcontinental passenger train, the Pacific Express, arrives.
• 1886 July 4
  J.J. Hill incorporates his New Westminster Southern Railway Company (See 1891).
• 1886 July 6
  CP’s first Atlantic Express departs Port Moody for the East.
• 1886 July 7
  B.C. Election: Wm. Smithe returned as premier. Colonel James Baker elected as MPP for the Kootenay Electoral District (to 1900).
• 1886 July 27
  Initiating the CPR’s trans-Pacific trade, the Co.-chartered barque W.B. Flint sails into Port Moody.
• 1886 August
  Winslow and Osner Hall lead a party of fifteen into B.C.’s Kootenays looking for fortune.
• 1886 Aug. 13
  Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway completed.
• 1886 Aug. 18
  Sir J.A. Macdonald drives last spike in E&N at Cliffside Station.
• 1886 Sep. 13
  Canada: Order-in-Council doubles the lease rent rate to 2¢/acre in the N-WT. All leases cancellable with 2 weeks notice.
• 1886 October
  Bankhead, N-WT: McLeod Stewart opens Canadian Anthracite Company mine on the CPR Mainline.
• 1886 Oct. 4
  Victoria, B.C.: Sicamous and Okanagan Railway Company opens offices in Bastion Square.
• 1886 Oct. 24
  D.C. Corbin and the Northern Pacific Railroad form the Spokane Falls and Idaho Railroad Company.
• 1886 Oct. 29
  Robert Evan Sproule hanged in Victoria for the murder of Thomas Hammill.
• 1886 Oct. 30
  B.C. extends the completion date of Baillie-Grohman and the Kootenay Lake Syndicate Company’s Canal Flats project.
• 1886 Nov. 27
  Lethbridge, N-WT: School building opens.
• 1886 December
  Corbin completes the three-foot gauge Coeur d’Alene Railway and Navigation Company line in Idaho.
• 1886 Winter
  Mass starvation among tribes on the Prairies. Heavy losses of cattle.