Editing Fort Edmonton (section)

==First Fort Edmonton (1795–1802)==
<small>Coordinates: {{Coord|53|46|5|N|113|10|19|W|type:landmark_region:CA-AB}}</small>
In the summer of 1795, the North West Company constructed '''Fort Augustus''' where the [[Sturgeon River (Alberta)|Sturgeon River]] meets the [[North Saskatchewan River]], just north of the present-day city of [[Fort Saskatchewan]], approximately {{convert|35|km|mi}} northeast of the final Fort Edmonton (near the present-day [[Alberta Legislature Building]] in Edmonton). A few months later (on Oct. 5, 1795), Hudson's Bay began to construct '''Edmonton House''' close by, taking advantage of the same two rivers; in a possible revelation of the competitive nature of the companies, Fort Augustus and Edmonton House's distance was described as being a "musket-shot" apart,<ref name="altasrcfted">[http://www.albertasource.ca/metis/eng/people_and_communities/historic_fort_edmonton.htm Fort Edmonton<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> yet the proximity also offered mutual security to the European traders of both companies in a land where they were all intruders.{{sfn|Goyette|Roemmich|2004|p=25}}<ref>MacGregor, Edmonton A History, p. 19</ref>

Edmonton House, and the subsequent forts, was named by [[John Peter Pruden]], clerk to the HBC's George Sutherland. The Fort was named after [[Edmonton, London|Edmonton]], [[Middlesex]], [[England]], birthplace of both Pruden and HBC Deputy Governor Sir James Winter Lake.<ref>Frederick William Howay: Builders of the West (Ryerson, 1929)</ref>

In addition to the NWC-HBC rivalry, two or three competing fur-trading posts were also built nearby. Grants Company, independent fur buyer Francois Beaubien and the new North West Company ([[XY Company]]) reportedly built forts near Fort Edmonton/Fort Augustus located at Fort Saskatchewan and Rossdale.<ref name="Ream p. 17"/><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Coutu |title=Castles to Forts |pages=92}}</ref>