CANADIAN PRAIRIE TIMELINE: 1867–1916

1867 – Confederation

1869 – Canada purchases Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company. In response, Louis Riel leads the Métis in occupying Fort Garry at what is now Winnipeg.

1870 – The Province of Manitoba is created. The Red River Rebellion is quelled.

1871 – The first of the Numbered Treaties is negotiated between the Dominion of Canada and the First People of the western territories. The treaties help clear the way for large scale non-Aboriginal settlement.

1873 – A period of economic depression begins in Canada. The North-West Mounted Police are formed. The City of Winnipeg is incorporated.

1875 – The North-West Territories becomes a distinct political entity with its own lieutenant governor and council.

1877 – Treaty No. 7 is signed. It is the last of the numbered treaties covering the prime agricultural land in the southern Prairies. The University of Manitoba — the oldest university in Western Canada — is established.

1878 – Sir John A. Macdonald leads the Conservative Party to victory in a federal election. His government introduces its National Policy supporting protective tariffs, a transcontinental railway and immigration to the West.

1883 – Regina becomes capital of the North-West Territories.

1885 – Riel leads the Northwest Rebellion. The Métis are defeated at Batoche and Riel is hanged in Regina. The last spike of the transcontinental railway is driven in B.C. Banff is established as Canada's first National Park.

1890 – Manitoba Liberals under Thomas Greenway halt public funding of Catholic schools.

1896 – The national economic depression, which began in 1873, finally ends. Clifford Sifton becomes Canada's Minister of the Interior.

1901 – Alberta's population hits 73,000. Within ten years it will top 374,000.

1903 – The City of Regina — formerly known as Pile O' Bones — is incorporated.

1904 – Edmonton is incorporated as a city.

1905 – The Provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan are formed "amidst universal rejoicing," according to Saskatchewan's first Throne Speech.

1907 – Marquis wheat, a fast-maturing variety much-needed by Prairie farmers, is developed by government plant breeders. The University of Saskatchewan is established.

1908 – The University of Alberta opens in Edmonton. The Regina Symphony Orchestra has its inaugural concert.

1911 – The population of Saskatchewan nears the half-million mark, five times its population in 1901.

1912 – The first Calgary Stampede is held.

1913 – 400,870 immigrants come to Canada, setting a one-year record that remains unchallenged.

1914 – Britain declares war on Germany, automatically drawing Canada into the conflict. Parliament passes the War Measures Act. Within a year, the number of new immigrants to Canada drops to 37,000, less than one-tenth the annual volume of 1912 and 1913.

1915 – Area seeded to wheat in Canada surpasses 15-million acres, almost quadruple the area of 1900. Wheat production nears 400-million bushels, more than seven times the amount produced in 1900.

1916 – Improved farm land in Saskatchewan nears 20 million acres, up from 1.1-million in 1901.