Edmonton became the hub for all of western Canada. It was the ending of the Carlton Trail (the overland route for Metis freighters between the Red River Colony (Winnipeg) and Edmonton. It was also the western hub for York Factory Express (on Lake Superior) for the Hudson Bay Company and Fort Vancouver by the Pacific Ocean.
River lots were the first farming settlements established around Edmonton. Edmonton, became a city in 1904 with a population of 5,000 people.