Lac La Biche

Lac La Biche is a hamlet in Alberta, Canada, within Lac La Biche County. It is located approximately 220km northeast of the provincial capital of Edmonton, on the southern shore of Lac la Biche. Previously incorporated as a town, Lac La Biche amalgamated with Lakeland County to form Lac La Biche County on August 1, 2007.HistoryHistoric voyageur highwayLac La Biche was on the historical voyageur route that linked the Athabaskan region to Hudson Bay. David Thompson and George Simpson used the fur trade route via the Beaver River from the main Methye Portage route that reached the Athabasca River. David Thompson was the first known European to record his sojourn on Lac La Biche. Thompson, who referred to the lake as Red Deers Lake, arrived October 4, 1798 and built a trading post, now known as Lac La Biche, and overwintered there. He entered copious notes in his diary on the Nahathaway (the Cree), their customs, traditions, and the Western Forest Land, including the large supply of whitefish and beaver.Historian Paul Robert Magocsi notes how the settlement grew over the next few decades: