Father Albert Lacombe, founder of St. Albert Mission in 1861, was a man of great stature in Western Canada. He enjoyed the confidence of Indians and bishops, politicians and businessmen. His reputation among the native peoples led him to act as mediator for the federal government when the interests of the Canadian Pacific Railway clashed with those of the original inhabitants. As a colonizer, he was the frequent emissary of Bishops TachÄ of St. Boniface and Grandin of St. Albert in negotiations with government authorities in Ottawa, Quebec, or in Europe. His Mission of St. Albert, seen here in 1895, served as the focal point for French-speaking communities of northern Alberta. Lacombe himself recruited settlers for his community. It grew from three families in April 1861, to fifty-six families by 1877 and to over 1,000 people by 1888. Father Lacombe's settlement was unique in that it was an attempt to regroup dispossessed MÄtis families. After 1896 he was one of the prime movers in the establishment of the colony of St. Paul de MÄtis, about one hundred miles north-east of Edmonton. The MÄtis were a wandering nation in search of a home. This colony was open to general settlement in 1907. He also undertook missions to Austria to seek aid for the Ruthenian settlers. This Oblate father, often called the "black-robe voyageur", died in 1916.
Courtesy: Emeric O. Drouin, Joyau dans la plaine Saint-Paul, Alberta (Quebec: Le Editions Ferland, 1976). Provincial Archives of Alberta, Ernest Brown Collection. Glenbow - Alberta Institute
