The Aboriginal people, whose ancestors are thought to have crossed the Bering Sea from Asia thousands of years ago, were the first people to live in what is now Alberta. Tribes included the Blackfoot, Blood, Piegan, Cree, Gros Ventre, Sarcee, Kootenay, Beaver and Slavey Indians all speaking a variety of Athapaskan and Algonkian languages.These people became valuable partners of the European fur traders who arrived in the 18th century. The first European explorer to reach what is now Alberta was Anthony Henday, in 1754.

The first fur-trading post in the area was established by the North West Company in 1778. The Hudson's Bay Company gradually extended its control and the region was fought over by the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company, each of which built competing fur-trading posts. The rivalry ended only in 1821, when the two companies merged.In 1870, the North West Territory was acquired by the Dominion of Canada and administered from the newly formed province of Manitoba.

Beginning with the arrival of the railway in 1883, the population started to grow quickly. Other factors that helped swell the population were the discovery of new strains of wheat particularly suited to the climate of the Canadian Prairies, the lack of new farmland in the United States, and the end of an economic depression throughout North America.

On September 1, 1905, Alberta, named for Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, fourth daughter of Queen Victoria, became a province of Canada with Edmonton as its capital city. The province of Alberta was created by joining the District of Alberta with parts of the districts of Athabasca, Assiniboia and Saskatchewan.