areas filled with willow and tamarack. The area has always been sparsely populated, with Cree natives passing through the region for the last 5000 years mainly settling around the different lakes in the region (such as Shoal Lake). In 1810 a First Nations trail was explored by David Thompson to connect the North Saskatchewan with Athabasca Pass, creating the first Canadian Transcontinental connection. In 1811 the first letter ever delivered from British Columbia to Montreal passed through this trail and its importance as a communication and trade route began to grow. In 1824, at the request of Gov. George Simpson the trail was widened from Fort Assiniboine to Fort Edmonton passing one mile (1.6 km) east of the present town, to accommodate the increased traffic along to route (as many as 75 horses or more a day). Some of the larger pack trains had over a hundred head of horses. The Cree natives and trappers moved across the area as they went about their business. As the First Nations peoples trapped a greater number of beavers and broke a number of dams the Klondike trial became flooded and partially abandoned until 1898. During the gold rush some Klondikers attempted to use the trail, although most preferred the drier route that was established heading up to Athabasca Landing. The pack-trail was widened to allow teams of horses and wagons, loaded high with provisions, to carry gold seekers north. Homesteaders soon followed. Surveys of the land took place in 1906 and 1907 and the pioneers applied for quarters (160 acres) of land. Trading posts were busy on both the Pembina and Athabasca rivers. A small store in the log home of Percy and Mary Johnstone (2 miles north and east of town) was in operation. Andy Tuttle lived to the south and helped many settlers as they arrived. A post office named Paddle River was opened on Ted Speck's farm, one mile (1.6 km) southeast of town on the south side of the river in 1907. A store in Josh Cason's house, south and west of town, was operating in 1908 and a lean-to on the side provided a room for a school. Hugh Critchlow had taken land a mile north of Specks', along the Klondike Trail in 1907. Soon the Speck brothers (Ted and Fred) had built a bridge across the river and a sawmill was in operation on the north