Humble Beginnings

In June 1866, James Nisbet, a mild-mannered Presbyterian missionary, settled on a patch of riverbank near what is now the intersection of Central Avenue and River Street. Nisbet came to the area, which he later called Prince Albert, to cultivate the soil and Christianize the Indians. While Nisbet is considered the founding father of the city, the first local settlement occurred in 1862, when James Isbister, a Metis trader and interpreter, built a log house and stable east of where the Saskatchewan Penitentiary now stands.