Wetaskiwin District Heritage Museum Centre & City of Wetaskiwin Archives

The Heritage Museum would like to share this drawing of Fort Ethier. The artist is a one B Odell. This image was a part of Bob Vickerson’s collection of art. He believes it belongs to a series of drawings from the 1970s. Fort Ethier was constructed in 1885 by Major General Thomas Bland Strange, who was tasked with defending the Alberta District of the North-West Territories from the uprisings caused by the North-West resistance led by Louis Riel. The primary purpose of the fort was to deter local Indigenous people from joining the resistence. It was built on Samuel. B Lucas’s farm, which is about ten kilometers north of Wetaskiwin. Upon hearing of the resistance, Lucas moved his family to Fort Edmonton for their safety. The building of the fort and Lucas moving his family turned out to be unnecessary, as the Maskwacis Cree did not join the resistance. Lucas mentions how peaceful they were in a letter written to the Department of Indian Affairs on April 15, 1885, after he had moved his family to Fort Edmonton. Lucas and his farm helped teach local indigenous people to farm when the federal government was not following through on their food ration promises, and the buffalo were disappearing. A small figure of the fort is found on our second floor, along with many other artifacts that dig deeper into Wetaskiwin’s great heritage.