Napoleon Sold Louisiana. So Why Are We Still Arguing About Alberta 223 Years Later?

In 1803, Napoleon Bonaparte sold Louisiana to the United States for $15 million, despite nobody knowing exactly where its northern boundaries ended. Some early maps and interpretations of French territorial claims even extended into parts of what are now Alberta and Saskatchewan.

It was one of the largest land transactions in history, involving an enormous territory already inhabited by Indigenous nations who had neither offered their land for sale nor been consulted about the arrangement.

Britain and the United States eventually established the 49th parallel as their boundary from the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains in 1818, dividing territories that Indigenous peoples had occupied for thousands of years. Canada subsequently acquired vast western territorial claims through an arrangement with the Hudson’s Bay Company, negotiated treaties with First Nations, displaced Métis communities, and encouraged European immigrants to settle the Prairies.

Louis Riel fought to protect Métis rights and helped negotiate the creation of Manitoba in 1870. Fifteen years later, Canada executed him for treason.

Meanwhile, thousands of Ukrainian and Polish families arrived from Galicia, a region of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, including my own ancestors. They established farms, built communities and helped shape the Prairie provinces we recognize today, often without fully understanding the history of the land they were encouraged to settle.

Alberta and Saskatchewan did not become provinces until 1905, decades after Treaties 6 and 7 had been signed and several years after Treaty 8. Those treaty relationships, along with other Indigenous and Métis rights, did not disappear when Parliament drew provincial boundaries.

And now, 223 years after Napoleon’s extraordinary transaction, Alberta separatism has brought the question of territorial authority back into public debate.

Because a province voting to leave Canada is not the same thing as having the constitutional authority to take every community, treaty relationship and square kilometre within its borders along with it.

The point? European governments spent centuries buying, selling and dividing land that was never empty. They drew the borders, made the promises, broke plenty of them, and left future generations to deal with the consequences.

And 223 years later, we’re still arguing over who gets to decide what happens to the land.

The History Behind the Borders

This history is far too extraordinary to squeeze into one article. Behind every border are centuries of imperial ambitions, commercial interests, political negotiations, broken promises and ordinary families trying to build lives amid decisions made by people they had never met.

These four stories follow the astonishing chain of events that helped shape western Canada.

1. Napoleon Sold Louisiana. Nobody Knew Where It Ended.

In 1803, Thomas Jefferson wanted to secure New Orleans and access to the Mississippi River. Napoleon offered him an enormous portion of North America instead, for $15 million.

There was just one problem. The boundaries were so poorly defined that France, Spain, Britain and the United States could not agree on precisely what had been sold.

Fifteen years later, the Convention of 1818 helped establish a boundary that still separates much of Canada from the United States.

Read: Napoleon Sold Louisiana. Nobody Knew Where It Ended.

2. The King Who Gave Half a Continent to a Department Store

In 1670, King Charles II granted the Hudson’s Bay Company sweeping trading and governing powers over an enormous portion of North America.

Two hundred years later, Canada arranged to acquire those territorial claims, compensating the company £300,000 while allowing it to retain valuable land interests.

Yes, the same Hudson’s Bay Company where Canadians would eventually buy blankets, winter coats and kitchen appliances.

Read: The King Who Gave Half a Continent to a Department Store

3. Canada Bought the Land. Somebody Forgot to Tell the People Living There.

When Canada arranged to acquire Rupert’s Land, the people already living there had not agreed to the transfer.

Louis Riel and the Métis resisted, negotiated protections and helped bring Manitoba into Confederation. The federal government subsequently failed to implement important land promises with the diligence required of the Crown.

Riel would eventually be executed, while Canada’s expansion continued across territories governed by treaties whose promises were repeatedly contested and inadequately honoured.

Read: Canada Bought the Land. Somebody Forgot to Tell the People Living There.

4. Alberta Wants to Leave Canada. There’s Just One Rather Important Problem.

Alberta became a province in 1905. Treaties 6, 7 and 8 were signed before Alberta existed.

Those treaties established enduring relationships and obligations that cannot simply be erased by a provincial referendum.

With Alberta separatism once again part of the political conversation, the question is no longer simply whether Albertans want to remain Canadian.

It is whether a province can determine its political future without addressing the rights of the Indigenous nations whose territories existed long before its boundaries were drawn.

Read: Alberta Wants to Leave Canada. There’s Just One Rather Important Problem.