Canada became a country in 1867. It was much smaller than it is now, and did not include the parts of the country to the west. From 1670 to 1870, parts of Alberta were included in "Rupert's Land," land owned by the Hudson’s Bay Company in support of it’s trading monopoly over a vast area of Canada and parts of the United States. Northern part of Alberta was part of the what was then called "Northwestern Territories." 