1774: HBC builds Cumberland House, Saskatchewan downstream from Fort de la Corne. ('first' HBC inland post and gateway to Lake Athabasca.) English "Pedlars" from Montreal below the Forks. 1776: North Saskatchewan reached at Fort Sturgeon. 1781: Cold Lake House (NWC). 1786: Manchester House. 1789: Angus Shaw of the North West Company built a post on the northwest shore of Moose Lake (Alberta) called Fort or Shaw House. 1792: First post in Alberta on the North Saskatchewan River in Alberta at Buckingham House (fur-trade post). 1795: Fort Edmonton at present-day Fort Saskatchewan 1799: Rocky Mountain House. 1807: David Thompson crossed the Rocky Mountains at Howse Pass. Map and table Most of the posts lasted less than ten years because the area became depleted of beaver and because the wooden stockades tended to rot. The major or permanent posts on the North Saskatchewan River were Cumberland House, Fort Pitt, Fort Carlton, Edmonton and Rocky Mountain House. Especially in the east there were a number of minor temporary posts that left few or no records. Until 1811, fur traders affiliated with the NWC and HBC maintained very amicable relations to the extent that the rival posts were often enclosed within the same palisades for mutual protections. After 1811, however, competition between the HBC and the NWC became increasingly intense (Blondal et al. 2008). . In the table below locations are given by longitude and approximate straight-line distance from the post or landmark to the east. The straight-line distance from Lake Winnipeg to Howse pass is about 1,200 km or 750 miles. For Pedlars see Pedlar (fur trade). For the XY Company see North West Company#Organizational history. References Sources Arthur Morton (1939), A History of the Canadian West. Elizabeth Browne Losey (1999). Let Them be Remembered:The Story of the Fur Trade Forts. New York: Vantage Press. Myrna Kostash (2005), Reading the River: A Traveller's Companion to the North Saskatchewan River. Blöndal, A., J.P. Foster, S. Graham, Y. Kjorlien, A. K. Peach and M. Porter. 2008. Alberta Fur Trade Post Pre-Field Inventory and Assessment, Volume I: Fur Trade Post Inventory. Manuscript on file, Historic Resources Management Branch, Alberta Culture. Edmonton, Alberta. Economy of Manitoba Economy of Saskatchewan Economy of Alberta North Saskatchewan River Saskatchewan River Fur trade Economic history of Canada