The modern history of Lethbridge extends to the mid-19th century, when the area was developed from drift mines opened by Nicholas Sheran in 1874, and the North Western Coal and Navigation Company in 1882. Prior to the development of drift mines in the area, Lethbridge, Alberta was known as Coal Banks, and was part of the territory of the Blackfoot Confederacy. The Confederacy was made up of the Kainai Nation, the Northern Peigan, the Southern Peigan (Blackfeet), and the Siksika Nation. 19th century After the United States Army outlawed alcohol trading in 1869 with the Blood nation in Montana, traders John J. Healy and Alfred B. Hamilton started the whisky trading post Fort Hamilton near the junction of the St. Mary and Oldman rivers. It was burned down, but they rebuilt it and eventually it came to be nicknamed Fort Whoop-Up. The whisky traded at this post was often not much more than alcohol, river water, chewing tobacco and lye. The whisky trade eventually led to the massacre of many Assiniboines in the Cypress Hills area by some Americans in 1873. As a result, the North-West Mounted Police (now the RCMP) were established, and a contingent travelled to southern Alberta to stop the trade and establish order. The NWMP arrived at Fort Whoop-Up on 9 October 1874. Later in 1875, the NWMP established a post at Fort Whoop-up by renting a room from Healy and Hamilton. For the next twelve years, the fort continued to trade (although not in "whisky") while also hosting a NWMP post. Coal mining By the 1870s, Nicholas Sheran (an American entrepreneur) mined a coal seam in the coulees on the west side of what is now the Oldman River. He sold what he mined to Montana traders and the NWMP. Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt was interested in the success Sheran was having. He knew a transcontinental railway was soon to be built in the area, and the settlers it would bring would create a profitable market for the coal. On 13 October 1882, Galt's company North Western Coal and Navigation Company opened the first drift mine across from Sheran's operation. This mine was managed by William Stafford. The first president and largest shareholder of the company, William Lethbridge, was the one after whom the town was named. 20th century By the start of the 20th century, the mines employed about 150 men and produced about