The city of Red Deer, Alberta, was named by early settlers after the Red Deer River on which the city stands.
While the river was known by the Cree peoples as Waskasoo Seepee, which translates to ‘Elk River’, it is thought that early British traders adopted the name Red Deer River, mistakenly thinking that elk and the European red deer were the same species.
The Red Deer Crossing, some 5 kilometers west of present-day Red Deer, was the crossing point across the Red Deer River, and halfway point, of the main route between the cities of Calgary and Edmonton. When the Calgary & Edmonton railway arrived in the late 1800s and was routed further east, Red Deer developed around it, incorporating as a village in 1894 and later as a city in 1913.
