150 years later: What Calgary’s history says about our future

Milestones remind us to examine the past and assess how we have changed.

Monday will mark 150 years since the North West Mounted Police (NWMP) first crossed the confluence of the Bow and Elbow rivers on Aug. 25, 1875. Today, the site where they founded Fort Calgary is called I’táámito’táaattsiiyio’pi — The Confluence Historic Site & Parkland. The stories that unfold from that land will forever shape our city’s identity.

Every 50 years since 1875, Calgarians have commemorated this moment, with each celebration affected by the social, economic and political context of the time.

Commemorations in 1925 and 1975 honoured the NWMP and its role in setting the stage for settlement. At the centennial, the industrial site located where the Bow and Elbow rivers meet was reclaimed as the future hom