Join the Edmonton City as Museum for two immersive walking experiences this summer! Our Curiosity Tours bring Edmonton’s past to life.
Strikes, Struggles and Success Discover the working-class stories of Edmontonians who’ve built our city through this downtown walking tour. You’ll get a taste of the local pemmican industry, learn about protests like the 1947 Chocolate Bar Strike, and get to know historical labour leaders like Margaret Crang. Taste modern pemmican and make your own protest signs!
Starts and ends at: Main entrance of Royal Alberta Museum (9810 – 103a Avenue NW)
Tours available June – September 2026, Thursdays 12 – 1 PM or Saturdays 10 AM – 12 PM (alternating weekly)
Children of the Flats From Forts to floods, learn how the Rossdale neighbourhood changed through the lives of two kids who grew up there: Donny and Dolly Ross. You’ll taste Scottish oat crackers, learn about the Ortona Armouries and Rossdale Brewery, and see how the 1915 flood reshaped Edmonton.
Starts and ends at: ArtsHub Ortona (9722 102 St NW)
Free parking available at ArtsHub Ortona
Tours available June – September 2026, Thursdays 12 – 1 PM or Saturdays 10 AM – 12 PM (alternating weekly)
Tour Details:
- Length: 1 hour or 2 hours (alternating weekly)
- Distance: 2.5-3 kilometers each
- Accessibility: Sidewalks with street crossings, mostly level terrain
- Seating not available at most stops
- $15 for 2-hour tours, $10 for 1-hour tours
- Kids 12 and under free!
Note: Some nearby streets will be closed intermittently for construction. Check current disruptions at edmonton.ca/transportation/current-traffic-disruptions
We run tours rain or shine, so dress for the weather and bring water and sunscreen! Events will only be cancelled in case of extreme weather or air quality warnings (in which case we will provide full refunds).
Questions? Email ecamp@edmontonheritage.ca
- Fair trade chocolate provided by Camino
- Pemmican provided by Mitsoh
- Finkel, Alvin “Waltzing With the Angels: The Metis Ironworkers Who Built Edmonton’s Downtown,” Edmonton City as Museum Project, November 5, 2024
- Brown, Jocelyn, Margaret Crang: The Life of Labour’s Leading Woman Activist in Depression Alberta. Alberta Labour History Institute, 2021
- “Strike Situation Goes Ominous,” Edmonton Journal, May 9, 1935, 1
- “Making of Pemmican on Large Scale New Industry at Calder,” Edmonton Journal, May 24, 1924.
- “Edmonton Boasts Pemmican Factory,” Edmonton Journal, Jan.10, 1929.
- “Federal Plant to Manufacture Pemmican Here,” Edmonton Journal, Sept. 6, 1923.
- Cole, Catherine C., GWG: Piece by Piece. Goose Lane Editions, 2012.
- Monto, Tom, Protest and Progress: Three Labour Radicals in Early Edmonton, Self-published, Tom Monto, 2012.
- Finkel, Alvin, The Great Labour Revolt, 1919. Alberta Labour History Institute, 2019.
- Plawiuk, Eugene, The Edmonton General Strike of 1919, Libcom.org, September 21, 2007
- And Still, We Rise: A Black Presence in Alberta, late 1800s – 1970s (Virtual Exhibit), Edmonton City as Museum Project
- Coombs-Montrose, Donna, “The Porter: Building a Better Canada for All,” Edmonton City as Museum Project, February 16, 2021
- Markewicz, Lauren. “Like Distant Thunder: Canada’s Bison Conservation Story,” Elk Island National Park, July 3, 2018
- Colpitts, George. “Food Energy and the Expansion of the Canadian Fur Trade,” in Powering Up Canada: A History of Power, Fuel, and Energy from 1600. McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2016.
- Colpitts, George. Pemmican Empire: Food, Trade, and the Last Bison Hunts in the North American Plains, 1780-1882. Cambridge University Press, 2018.
- Callihoo, Victoria. “Our Buffalo Hunts,” Alberta Historical Review 8 no. 1 (Winter 1960): 24-25
- Maria Dunn’s song about the Edmonton Hunger March of 1932: “We Were Good People”
- Canadian Labour Defense League, The Alberta Hunger-March. Edmonton: C.L.D.L. Hunger March Defense Committee, 1936.
- Roy, Cathy. ALHI Tour of Edmonton Working Class Heritage Buildings. Alberta Labour History Institute, 2023.
- Arctic Ice Company, Limited. Arctic Ice Company Records. City of Edmonton Archives, Edmonton, AB. MS-231.
- Billerman, Shawn M., Brooke K. Keeney, Guy M. Kirwan, Fabrice Medrano, Nick D. Sly, and Michael G. Smith, eds. Birds of the World. Ithaca, NY: Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, 2026. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.
- “Births_R_1880-1905.” Provincial Archives of Alberta, Edmonton, AB. alberta.ca.
- Canada. Department of Agriculture. Census of Canada, 1881. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, ON. Item ID: 18275684. bac-lac.gc.ca.
- Canada. Department of Agriculture. Census of Canada, 1891. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, ON. Item ID: 28630502. bac-lac.gc.ca.
- Canadian Great War Project. “Person Profile: 85968.” Accessed April 19, 2026. canadiangreatwarproject.com.
- Cinema Treasures. “Photos.” Accessed April 19, 2026. cinematreasures.org.
- City of Edmonton Archives. “The Flood of 1915.” Virtual Exhibits. https://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/edmonton_archives/the-flood-of-1915.
- City of Edmonton Planning and Development Department. Rossdale Historical Land Use Study. Edmonton, AB: City of Edmonton, 2004.
- “Edmonton 1881 School.” Municipal Historic Resource. City of Edmonton, Edmonton, AB. edmonton.ca.
- Edmonton Historical Board. “Ortona Armouries (Hudson’s Bay Company Stables).” Alberta Register of Historic Places. alberta.ca.
- Edmonton Historical Board. “Ross Flats Apartments.” Alberta Register of Historic Places. alberta.ca.
- “Electrician Donald Ross Retires After 31 Years Service at the MacDonald Hotel.” City of Edmonton Archives. https://cityarchives.edmonton.ca/electrician-donald-ross-retires-after-31-years-service-at-the-macdonald-hotel.
- Find a Grave. “Donald Ross (1842–1915).” Memorial ID 98260672. Accessed April 19, 2026. findagrave.com.
- Find a Grave. “Donald Ross (1881–1938).” Memorial ID 98260670. Accessed April 19, 2026. findagrave.com.
- Find a Grave. “James Alexander Ross (1884–1953).” Memorial ID 98260673. Accessed April 19, 2026. findagrave.com.
- Find a Grave. “Olive Ross (1888–1971).” Memorial ID 98260676. Accessed April 19, 2026. findagrave.com.
- Herzog, Lawrence. “The Ice Age in Edmonton.” Edmonton City as Museum Project (ECAMP). February 3, 2021. citymuseumedmonton.ca.
- “Hotspots – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.” eBird. Accessed April 19, 2026. https://ebird.org/region/CA-AB-EL/hotspots.
- Lepage, Denis. “Bird Checklists of the World – Edmonton.” Avibase. Accessed April 19, 2026. https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/checklist.jsp?region=CAab11.
- “Letter from Council re: Donald Ross Hotel.” Donald Ross clipping file. City of Edmonton Archives, Edmonton, AB. edmonton.ca.
- Lorne [Nephew]. Letter to Olive Ross. Olive Ross Fonds. Provincial Archives of Alberta, Edmonton, AB. albertaonrecord.ca.
- McGill University. Old McGill, 1909. Montreal: Graduates’ Society of McGill University, 1909. McGill University Library and Archives. mcgill.ca.
- Nature Alberta. “Member Clubs.” Accessed April 19, 2026. https://naturealberta.ca/member-clubs/.
- Olive ‘Dolly’ Ross Attestation Record. Olive Ross Fonds. Provincial Archives of Alberta, Edmonton, AB. bac-lac.gc.ca.
- “Resource Detail: HS 53917.” Alberta Register of Historic Places. HeRMIS. alberta.ca.
- “Royal Victoria Hospital School of Nursing – Graduating Class of 1909.” Photograph. MUHC Health Sciences Archives. accesstomemory.org.
- Scott, Sally. “June 29, 1915 – Edmonton’s River Valley Floods.” Edmonton City as Museum Project (ECAMP). June 29, 2015. citymuseumedmonton.ca.
- Wild Birds Unlimited Edmonton. “Where to Go Birding in Alberta.” Accessed April 19, 2026. https://edmonton.wbu.com/birding-in-alberta.