How Smith's Landing Became FitzGerald

Heroic Sacrifice of R.N.W.M.P. Officer Led to His Name Being Given to H.B.C. Landing

FitzGerald, originally known as Smith's Landing, is at the end of the Athabasca River navigation, approximately three hundred miles below McMurray. It is an important point in the transportation system, as cargoes are there discharged and portaged sixteen miles to Fort Smith, where they are loaded into other steamers navigating the Mackenzie River.

In 1910, a commissioned officer of the mounted police named FitzGerald, along with three members of the force, left Fort McPherson for Dawson. The party encountered severe storms, and lost their way in the mountain passes. After wandering for several weeks, they decided to return, but owing to lack of food and inability to procure game of any kind they suffered great privation. Finally, they were obliged to kill their dogs for food. One of the members of the party died and the position of the survivors was desperate, as two of the remaining members were unable to proceed. FitzGerald left these men with all the clothing and whatever else they had that might benefit them and continued alone in an endeavor to get back to Fort McPherson and bring help. On reaching a point about twelve miles of the Post—which was then actually in sight—he was too exhausted to travel further and was frozen to death.

Meanwhile, the non-arrival of this patrol in Dawson caused the mounted police to send out a search party from that end on the assumption that FitzGerald's party might have been held up nearby, but the search party had to continue within this short distance of McPherson before finding the evidence of the tragedy.

FitzGerald was held in high regard by all the people in the Northwest Territory in which he served and application was made to the authorities at Ottawa to change the name of Smith's Landing to Fort FitzGerald to commemorate his worthy but unfortunately unsuccessful effort to secure relief for his party.