History of Northwest Territories capital cities of the Lieutenant Governor. Battleford hosted the first official royal visit in western Canada, when the Marquis of Lorne and Princess Louise Caroline Alberta toured the territories in 1881. The first Northwest Territories legislature building, and residence for the Lieutenant Governor named "NWT Government House", was completed and used by the territorial government until 1883. After the government moved the building stood as a historical site until it was destroyed in a fire in 2003. After consultation with Canadian Pacific Railway officials, Lieutenant Governor Edgar Dewdney made the decision to move the capital to Regina, also in present-day Saskatchewan, in
Yellowknife also resulted in new discoveries at the Con Mine, greatly extending the life of the mine. The Yellowknife townsite expanded from the Old Town waterfront, and the new townsite was established during 1945–1946. The Discovery Mine, with its own townsite, operated to the north-northeast of Yellowknife from 1950 to 1969. Between 1939 and 1953, Yellowknife was controlled by the Northern Affairs department (now Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada) of the Government of Canada. A small council, partially elected and partially appointed, made decisions. By 1953, Yellowknife had grown so much that it was made a municipality, with its own council