Okotoks

History

The town's name is derived from "ohkotok", the Blackfoot language word for "rock". The name may refer to Big Rock, the largest glacial erratic in the Foothills Erratics Train, situated about west of the town. Before European settlement, journeying First Nations, members of the Blackfoot Confederacy, used the rock as a marker to find the river crossing situated at Okotoks. The tribes were nomadic and often followed large buffalo herds for their sustenance. David Thompson explored the area as early as 1800. In the late 1870s and early 1880s, the site of the future town was a river crossing location on the freight wagon route from Fort Macleod to Fort Calgary. Stagecoaches also used the trail. Known as the Macleod Trail or the Macleod-Calgary Trail, the route was an extension of the Fort Benton-Fort Macleod Trail, which led from Fort Benton, Montana to Fort Macleod. There were two fords on the Sheep River, and two stopping houses were established on the north side of the river for rest and shelter for the travellers. Because of these stopping houses, the area attracted settlement. Once the railway was built through the town in 1892, the old trail fell out of use. In 1879, the area saw the killing of the last buffalo. Government leasing of land for or began in 1880. This created a major change in the region. The first settlers arrived in 1882. A community grew around a sawmill that was established in 1891, and it would grow in size. The last stagecoach stopped in Okotoks in 1891 when rail service between Calgary and Fort Macleod replaced horse-drawn travel. By 1897, the community name had changed three times, first from Sheep Creek, to Dewdney after Edgar Dewdney the Lieutenant Governor of the Northwest Territories, and later being informed by post office…

Geography

Effective 1 July 2017, the Government of Alberta approved the annexation of approximately of land. Okotoks and the Municipal District of Foothills reached an agreement more than three years after the town first issued its notice of intent to seek more land to accommodate its long-term growth plans. Okotoks will gain a 60-year land supply that will enable the Town to develop housing and other services over the next several decades. Although the Sheep River runs through Okotoks year round, artesian wells near the river supply the town with its water. In September 1998, Okotoks became one of the first communities in Canada to recognize its environmental limits to growth were restricted by the carrying capacity of the local watershed. In concern for the supply of water, the town announced a unique and controversial suggestion of capping its population at 25,000 residents. In an interview on The Current, Mayor Bill McAlpine stated that this objective may be politically difficult due to the surrounding region. Okotoks experiences a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb), with generally warm summers and long, cold winters. Rainfall is usually limited to the summer, with most of it falling between the months of May and September. Neighbourhoods of Okotoks are: * Air Ranch * Central Heights * Cimarron * Cornerstone * Crystal Shores * Crystal Ridge * D'Arcy * Downey Ridge * Drake Landing Solar Community * Green Haven Estates * Hunter's Glen * Mountainview * Olde Towne * Rosemont * Ranchers Rise * Sandstone * Sheep River Ridge * Skunk Hollow * Suntree * Tower Hill * Wedderburn * Westmount * Westridge * Woodhaven

Most-observed species

• Black-billed Magpie

  Pica hudsonia (Sabine, 1823) · Aves
  3,660
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,901
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,790
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,733
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  2,613
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,594
• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,513
• Northern Flicker

  Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,343

Most recent

• M 2.7 — 2023-06-07
  16 km NNW of Elkford, Canada
• M 3.1 — 2018-02-16
  14 km NE of Elkford, Canada
• M 3.3 — 2017-05-23
  23 km NNW of Elkford, Canada
• M 2.7 — 2010-05-09
  4 km NNE of Elkford, Canada
• M 3.6 — 2002-07-28
  29 km SSE of Canmore, Canada