Henry Kelsey passed through the area on his journey along the North Saskatchewan River in 1692, when he tried unsuccessfully to bring locals that he called "Neywatame" to the trading fort York Factory. The first trading post set up in the area was built in 1776 by Peter Pond. James Isbister, an Anglo-Métis employee of the Hudson's Bay Company, settled on the site of the current city in 1862. He farmed there until 1866, and had been joined by a number of families who called the site Isbister's Settlement.