- Lethbridge
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/leth"brij'/, n.a city in S Alberta, in SW Canada. 46,752.
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city, southern Alberta, Canada, lying on the Oldman River near its junction with the St. Mary River, 135 miles (217 km) south-southeast of Calgary.Founded in the 1880s as a mining town called Coalbanks, it was renamed Lethbridge after William Lethbridge, president of the Northwest Coal and Navigation Company, upon the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway (1885). Over the next 20 years, Lethbridge developed into a major railway junction and also became the principal trade and service centre for a large agricultural region. At first, ranching was the main activity on the semi-arid plains and foothills, but irrigation (irrigation and drainage) greatly increased the region's productivity. Beginning in 1900, Lethbridge became the centre of the most extensive irrigation network in Canada, permitting the cultivation of grain, hay, sugar beets, corn (maize), and many specialty crops. More recently, the Lethbridge district has become known for intensive beef cattle production.A replica of Fort Whoop-Up (1860), once notorious for its whisky trade with the Indians, stands in Indian Battle Park; on the banks of the Oldman River, the park marks the site of the last great encounter (1870) between the Cree and the Blackfoot Indians prior to a peace treaty (1871). The Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden (created 1967) is one of the largest authentic Japanese gardens in North America. The city is the provincial headquarters of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and in July holds the annual Whoop-Up Days exhibition and rodeo. The University of Lethbridge was founded in 1967, Lethbridge Community College in 1957. Inc. town, 1891; city, 1906. Pop. (2006) 74,637.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
