Partner City Calgary Stampede City

In the shadow of the Rocky Mountains sits the city of Calgary, Alberta's largest city and its financial centre. Before the city, the lands around Calgary were inhabited by First Peoples like the Blackfoot, who followed the gigantic herds of buffalo that ranged far and wide across the prairie foothills. As Europeans settlers and traders began to arrive in the area in the late 19th Century, the North-West Mounted Police established a presence in the area by setting up Fort Calgary at the at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow Rivers, hoping to regulate relations between the First Peoples and the growing number of Europeans. In 1883 the Canadian Pacific Railway was built to Fort Calgary, connecting it with eastern Canada, and this sparked an explosion in population. In the following decades Calgary grew into a major commercial centre, benefiting from the agricultural and then oil booms happening in the surrounding regions. Today Calgary is one of the most liveable cities in the world and home to the world renowned stampede, which is the subject of a walking tour.

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Historic Walking Tours

Then and Now Photos