FORT MCMURRAY

formally McMurray city, northeastern Alberta, Canada, at the confluence of the Athabasca and Clearwater rivers. It originated as a North West Company fur-trading post (1790) known as Fort of the Forks, which was taken over by the Hudson's Bay Company (1821). Rebuilt in 1875, it was renamed Fort McMurray after a company factor, William McMurray. A gateway to the northwestern Canadian wilderness, the city has an airport and is connected by rail and highway with Edmonton, 270 miles (435 km) southwest. The city lies at the southern limit of navigation on the Mackenzie RiverGreat Slave Lake network, and the city is a busy port and transshipment centre in the summer months. To the north oil is extracted from the Athabasca Tar Sands. Fort McMurray is the seat of Keyano College. Inc. town, 1948; city, 1980. Pop. (1991) 34,706.