Battleford

Town in western Saskatchewan, Canada, 132 km/84 mi northwest of Saskatoon, at the confluence of the North Saskatchewan and Battle rivers; population (1991) 4,100. Together with North Battleford across the North Saskatchewan River, it constitutes a service centre for the surrounding region, which depends on mixed farming, oil, and gas wells, some light manufacturing, fishing, and tourism. Battleford has flour mills and mineral-water works.

History Battleford was the capital of the Northwest Territories 1876–83 and a North West Mounted Police post. The capital was relocated to Regina in 1883 when the Canadian Pacific Railway was routed through the southern Saskatchewan plains. Battleford was then looted and burned by the Métis in the 1885 Riel Rebellion, and in 1905, the Canadian National Railway bypassed it, creating North Battleford. Fort Battleford National Historic Park commemorates the old capital.