The Crossing

The city of Red Deer began at a crossing on the Red Deer River. This crossing was part of a trail that indigenous people had been using for a thousand years. Settlers build a hotel and store at the crossing. Eventually it was fortified during the North-West Rebellion to become Fort Normandeau. Leanard Gaetz, a shrewd businessman, offered to share his land with the railway company to have the railway built in his area, east of the crossing. That is where the city of Red Deer is located today.