Fort Livingstone was the first site of the Capital of the North West Territories. It was three miles north of the Village of Pelly, Saskatchewan, 110 kilometers north of Yorkton, and it is marked by a tablet bearing the following inscription: “Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.” Here Lieutenant-Governor Laird and his council were sworn into office on 27th November, 1876, and here on the 8th of March, 1877, was held the first session of the North West Council. Members of that notable council were: Col. James F. Macleod, Commissioner of the North West Mounted Police; Hugh Richardson, Stipendary Magistrate; Mathew Ryan, Stipendary Magistrate.” This monument replaced one erected by E.A.W. R. Mckenzie, at the time a prominent trader at Fort Pelly, who at his own expense had the tablet erected not only to commemorate an important event in the affairs of Western Canada, but also to honour the men who at the time administered the affairs of the West. All members of that noted council have passed away but this little tablet serves to keep their memory alive. Fort Livingstone was the first seat of Government for the North West Territories before Battleford and then Regina was chosen as capital. The site was far removed from supply centres. There had been a dream of building a transcontinental railway up that way, but the idea was scrapped for a much more southern route closer to the international boundary which became the mainline of the Canadian Pacific Railway. It was also the first post built specifically for the North-West Mounted Police, and generally known as Swan River Barracks was erected in 1874, but not fully occupied until the following spring. It provided facilities for 185 men and their mounts and included a residence for a stipendiary magistrate. The headquarters of the Force were moved to Fort Macleod in 1876, but Fort Livingstone continued as a post until 1878 when it became a substation to Shoal Lake. It was destroyed by prairie fire in 1884.
