Hinton

Sister cities

• Wanouchi

History

The area around present day Hinton deglaciated 12,800–11,600 BCE. Archeological sites up the Athabasca River from Hinton show repeated habitation from 8,000 BCE until approximately 1500 AD. Other sites around Hinton demonstrate that the foothills were also an important travel and trade corridor for Indigenous peoples for thousands of years prior to European contact, dating to at least 7,000 BCE. Before Europeans arrived in North America, the upper Athabasca region was relatively sparsely inhabited by groups speaking Athabascan/Dene languages (including the Tsuut'ina, Tsa'tinne, and Tse'khene), Siouan languages (specifically Nakoda) and, potentially, Salish languages (such as Secwepemctsín, now present west of the Rockies). European settlement in eastern Canada resulted in waves of western migration of Indigenous groups in the 18th and 19th centuries including Algonquian language-speaking groups (in particular Woodland Cree and Salteaux), Iroquoian speakers, and Métis. Around the start of the 19th century, furs supplied by these groups, and a desire to access the Columbia River, encouraged the Hudson's Bay Company and North West Company to establish trade and supply posts in the vicinity of the Divide. David Thompson's guide Thomas the Iroquois led a brigade over Athabasca Pass, establishing the York Factory Express. Company employees would continue to pass through the area on the Athabasca River for the next half century, primarily to transport correspondence and move personnel between districts. The Jasper House post also collected furs traded by the local Indigenous people. This population, estimated to be about 200 in 1836, was a cultural mix of Iroquois, Cree, Dane-zaa, and Métis. Present-day Hinton was within the area that they hunted, travelled, and camped:…

Geography

Hinton is situated along a stretch of the Athabasca River valley, on the southeast side of the river. The western town boundary is Highway 40 South. Highway 16 and the CN Rail tracks run side-by-side, approximately parallel to the river and divide the town lengthwise – the area downhill of the tracks and highway, towards the river, is generally referred to as the Valley District and the area above the tracks and highway is called The Hill District. Hinton has nine districts: Eaton, Hardisty, Hillcrest, Miette, Mountain View, Riverside, Terrace Heights, Thompson Lake, and West Riverside. Hinton lies in the Alberta Plateau Benchlands physiographic subdivision of the Interior Plains. Soils around town are influenced by deposits of carbonate-rich, wind-blown sand and silt which usually have surface textures of loam, sandy loam or silt loam. They are moderately alkaline, in contrast to the varying, mostly moderate acidity which prevails beyond the zone of calcareous aeolian material. Under the Köppen climate classification, Hinton is classified as Dfc: subarctic, a subcategory of the continental climates. This is defined as having its coldest month averaging below , three months averaging above , and no season contributing more than 70% of the annual precipitation. The closest Environment Canada weather station was located at Entrance, about southwest of Hinton. It supplied climate normals data up to 2010. Current Environment Canada weather forecasts and climate normals data up to 2020 rely on the Jasper Warden Station near Maligne Canyon, southwest of Hinton.

Most-observed species

• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  484
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  481
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  473
• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  464
• Red-breasted Nuthatch

  Sitta canadensis Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  464
• Black-billed Magpie

  Pica hudsonia (Sabine, 1823) · Aves
  417
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  413
• Dark-eyed Junco

  Junco hyemalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  371

Most recent

• M 4.6 — 2015-06-13
  34 km SSW of Fox Creek, Canada
• M 2.5 — 2008-01-31
  10 km NNW of Edson, Canada