FORT MACLEOD

town, southwestern Alberta, Canada. It lies along the Oldman River, 32 miles (52 km) west of Lethbridge. The fort, established there in 1874 by Colonel James F. Macleod, was the first headquarters of the North West Mounted Police (now the Royal Canadian Mounted Police); it has been reconstructed as a museum. The ensuing settlement became the first town in southern Alberta and was known as Macleod until officially renamed Fort Macleod in 1952. The town's economy is based on ranching, irrigated grain farming, dairying, and coal mining. At the Belly Buttes near Stand Off (south), the Blood Indians gather annually for their traditional Sun Dance. Inc. 1892. Pop. (1991) 3,112.