page_title: North Battleford
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: North Battleford / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Residential Street in North Battleford, Saskatchewan in late summer.
context_page_description: North Battleford is a city in west-central Saskatchewan, Canada. It is the seventh largest city in the province and is directly across the North Saskatchewan River from the Town of Battleford. Together, the two communities are known as "The Battlefords". North Battleford borders the Rural Municipality of North Battleford No. 437, as well as the North Battleford Crown Colony.
  The Battlefords are served by the Yellowhead Highway and Highway 4, Highway 26, Highway 29, and Highway 40.
  Battlefords Provincial Park is 40 kilometres north on Highway 4.
context_section_description: For thousands of years prior to European settlement, succeeding cultures of indigenous peoples lived in the area.  The Battlefords area (including the present city of North Battleford and town of Battleford) was home to several historic indigenous groups, including the Algonquian-speaking Cree and Blackfeet as well as Siouan Assiniboine First Nation band governments, who contested for control of local resources.
  Early European settlement began as a result of fur trading by French colonists in the late 18th century. The Canadians founded Fort Montaigne d'Aigle (Eagle Hills Fort)  nine miles below the confluence of the Saskatchewan and Battle Rivers in 1778. A year later the fort was abandoned following conflict between traders and natives.
  Permanent European settlement in the area centred around the town of Battleford, founded 1875 and located on the south side of the North Saskatchewan River. Battleford served as capital of the North-West Territories between 1876 and 1883.
  In 1905, the construction of the Canadian Northern Railway main line to Edmonton placed the line on the north side of the North Saskatchewan River. North Battleford, built along the railway line, was incorporated as a village in 1906, as a town in 1907, and as a city (with a population of 5,000) in 1913.
  The Assyrians were one of the first settlers of the area in and around North Battleford. The immigrant colony comprised 36 men and a few women from the town of Urmia in northwestern Persia. It was established in 1903 by Dr. Isaac Adams, an Assyrian Presbyterian missionary. In 1907, 40 more settlers arrived. Eventually, due to economic hardships, Dr. Isaac Adams and a few close relatives emigrated to Turlock, California. The descendants of the families who remained in North Battleford have names that are Assyrian in origin. Examples of Assyrian family names include Bakus, Essau, and Odishaw.
  Population growth stagnated until the 1940s and then grew to approximately 10,000 by the 1960s.
  The city has grown into an administrative centre and service hub for the economic, education, health and social needs of the region.
  The Latter Rain Revival, a Christian movement, started here in 1946–48.
caption: A residential street in North Battleford
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