Sights & Scenes of Canada

The concept of a preserved river valley park was first presented to the city of Edmonton, Alberta, in 1907 by landscape architect Frederick Gage Todd. Prior to that the river valley had been developed around the North Saskatchewan River in a piecemeal fashion following the city's formation.

A bend in the river next to the E L Smith water treatment plant is known to the Cree as 'Sitting Bear Hill'. This has revealed the oldest native artefacts in the area (up to 2024). Finds here include a bison skull and a hearth which have been dated to at least 7000 BC.

Europeans arrived in the eighteenth century, with the North West Company and Hudson's Bay Company establishing forts here in 1795. Both forts were moved in 1802 onto land which today is referred to as Rossdale, only being dismantled in 1915.

Treaty 6 was signed in 1876, but farms had already started to appear in the valley, created according to a 'river lot' system which had been created in 1882. As Fort Edmonton was established and the city grew around it, much of the river valley came to be used for industrial purposes, such as coal mines, lumber yards, brick factories, and rubbish heaps.

Edmonton in 1907 contracted Canada's first landscape architect, Frederick Todd (who worked with Frederick Law Olmstead's firm, on New York's Central Park, and also on Montreal's Mont Royal). Todd advised that 'every advantage should be taken of the great natural beauty of... the river valley and ravines'. He proposed that the city create a 'necklace of parks' and that land at the top of the steep valley banks be reserved for public viewing of the valley.

Between 1907-1931, under the guidance of its engineering department and the short-lived parks department (between 1911-1913), the city began acquiring river valley and ravine lands. In 1913 the mayor - and president of the University of Alberta - sat on the parks commission.

The river valley was still quite different from today's view of bucolic splendour. There were parks and homes, but there remained a number of large businesses and manufacturing plants. Then came the 'Great Flood' of 1915. The waters rose right up to the base of the old railway bridge which still straddles the river (albeit for cars now, not trains).

With damage estimated at $615 million, the flood destroyed many of those businesses and quite a few properties along the river, filling the water with tons of debris.

This led to much deeper discussions about the future use of the river valley.

Parkland acquisitions were already being made between 1907-1915, but now many more were made - over a hundred - up to 1931. By then the city had acquired most land on both sides of the river, from Highlands golf course to Laurier Park.

During this early period, the city also acquired Mill Creek, Groat, Mackinnon, Kinnaird, and Whitemud Creek ravine lands.

The 1930s and 1940s were a quieter period for land acquisition, but in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, as Edmonton spread out, the city continued purchasing lands which eventually became known as Gold Bar, Rundle, and Hermitage parks in the north-east, and Terwilligar Park and Fort Edmonton Park in the south-west.

At the same time the river valley was also being deindustrialised. The growing realisation was taking hold that it was vital to have the chance to explore natural beauty and gain some freedom from the stresses of everyday life.

The post-war years almost destroyed the recent advances. The city's transportation department began to develop the 'Metropolitan Freeway System', planning to install freeways to downtown Edmonton in the river valley system. Strong public protest halted the Mill Creek freeway in the 1960s. Work began on MacKinnon Ravine to cut down trees, lay a road bed, and install storm sewers before public resistance and a narrow council vote in 1974 also halted that plan.

Then, very soon afterwards, Alberta proposed the creation of 'provincial parks' for Edmonton and Calgary. Calgary got Fish Creek Provincial Park, and Edmonton gained Capital City Recreation Park.

To join together existing parks and the river valley trails, additional small tracts of land were acquired which could be converted into walking and cycling paths. Four footbridges also served to facilitate additional movement between the parks.

The work was a remarkable success. The trail system was soon extended into established parks in western Edmonton, including Victoria, Emily Murphy, Mayfair, Whitemud, and Laurier parks. Recreation options expanded from picnicking, tobogganing, skiing, and skating to include hiking, cycling, and jogging.

The creation of this park system also sparked a major river valley conservation effort by the city. The John Janzen Nature Centre opened in 1976 to increase awareness and understanding of nature. The park gained legal protection in 1985 (although this made it clear that necessary city construction may still take place), and by 2024 the river valley area covered around 7,300 hectares of land.

In 1990 the city published the 'Ribbon of Green', which emphasised conservation. In 1995 it came up with a 'Natural Areas Policy', and a few years later established the 'Master Naturalist' program (since cancelled) and 'Natural Areas Advisory Committee' (since disbanded) to encourage public awareness of river valley ecology and conservation practices. A 'Natural Systems' policy (C531) was created in 2007.

Edmonton's environmental master plan, 'The Way We Green', was published in 2011 with an emphasis on preservation, but Edmonton has since turned aside from many of these initiatives. The Valley Line LRT, while necessary, was authorised for construction work in 2016. The environmental report was highly negative but the line was completed, and other infrastructure projects are taking piecemeal chunks out of the once-complete river valley system.

It was in response to these pressures on the North Saskatchewan River valley and ravine system that the Edmonton River Valley Conservation Coalition was formed. However, Edmonton still has the most extensive park system of any North American city.

Seven photos taken by P L Kessler, and three by Janann Blanchard, on 2 October 2023.