Echoes Of 1885: Remembering The Frog Lake Massacre

Frog Lake Mill Wheel Center. Photo Sonya Lee

Just northeast of Vermilion lies a quiet patch of land with a history that still reverberates today. On April 2, 1885, during the height of the North-West Resistance, the small settlement of Frog Lake became the site of one of the most tragic and controversial events in Alberta’s early colonial history, the Frog Lake Massacre.

Tensions between Indigenous communities and the Canadian government had been building for years, sparked by broken treaty promises, severe food shortages, and assimilation policies under the Indian Act. The Cree people, like many others on the Plains, were pushed to the brink as bison populations collapsed and federal food rations failed to meet basic needs.

In desperation, a group of Cree warriors led by Wandering Spirit entered the settlement at Frog Lake. In a tragic act, nine settlers, including two Catholic priests, were killed. The victims were mostly government agents or church officials seen as enforcers of Ottawa’s unpopular policies.

The massacre shocked settlers and government officials, prompting a swift military response. Several Cree men were captured, tried, and executed, including Wandering Spirit. Eight Indigenous men were hanged in the largest mass execution in Canadian history.

Today, the Frog Lake National Historic Site, located roughly 90 km from Vermilion, stands as a somber reminder. Interpretive signs, a memorial cairn, and walking trails mark the site.

For many Indigenous people, it represents a symbol of resistance, misunderstood for generations. As Canada continues its journey toward truth and reconciliation, the Frog Lake Massacre remains a vital, though painful, part of the conversation.

A lesser-known but powerful artifact of that time is the historic mill wheel from the original grist mill at Frog Lake. The mill was destroyed during the massacre in 1885, and its large wooden wheel was abandoned in Frog Creek. In 1952, the wheel was recovered and later brought to Vermilion. The center of the wheel can be seen just outside the front entrance of the Vermilion’s Heritage Museum, honouring its connection to that turbulent moment in Alberta’s past. The rest of the wheel and the commemorative plaque are also at the museum in storage. Though separate from the official historic site, the wheel serves as a tangible reminder of the lives disrupted, the communities changed, and the stories still being told.