Lethbridge, a city in the province of Alberta, Canada, has a population of about 73,000 people. It is located near the Canadian Rockies and is 210km (130 miles) southeast of Calgary on the Oldman River.
Starting in 1869, it was the home of Fort Whoop-Up which illegally sold liquor to the First Nations. The North West Mounted Police were formed in 1873, partially in response to the American liquor traders of Fort Whoop-up and others, after the Cypress Hills Massacre.
Lethbridge started off as a coal mining town in 1874; it was initially called Coalbanks. The town was renamed Lethbridge in 1885.
Indian Battle Park , located in the coulees of the Oldman River, commemorates the last battle between the Cree and the Blackfoot First Nations in 1870. A formal peace treaty between the two nations was signed in 1871.
It is home to the University of Lethbridge, founded in 1967, and Lethbridge Community College , founded in 1957.
The Lethbridge Viaduct or High Level Bridge (common), constructed on the western edge of the city is the longest railway bridge of its kind in the world.
In 2003, Lethbridge city councillor Dar Heatherington became embroiled in a scandal when it was alleged that she had filed false reports with police about a stalker. She was convicted of public mischief on June 29, 2004, and resigned her seat on August 9.
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