George Clift King

Who was George Clift King?

George Clift King was the second mayor of the town of Calgary, Alberta.

King was born in Chelmsford, England in 1848. At the age of 26, he left England for Canada, arriving in Toronto, Ontario in 1874. He joined the North-West Mounted Police and was part of the first contingent sent west to establish Fort Calgary in 1875. Constable King is often called Calgary's First Citizen, since he was the first NWMP officer to cross the Bow River and set foot on the future site of Calgary. This title is also sometimes given to Sam Livingston, another Calgary pioneer who arrived in the Calgary area in 1874; however, Calgary's first European settler was John Glenn who settled at Fish Creek in 1873.

King left the NWMP in 1877 to manage the first store in Calgary, the I. G. Baker Store. In November 1879, he married Louise Munro, the daughter of a fur trader. They were the first couple married in Calgary. Together they had four children.

In 1882, King started his own store which also housed the local post office. King was appointed postmaster in 1885 and held this position for 36 years.

King was the mayor of the town of Calgary from November 4, 1886, to January 16, 1888. He also spent four years as town councillor. After his retirement as postmaster in 1921, he opened a tobacco and confectionery counter in MacLean's Drug Store on Eighth Avenue. King ran this business until his death in 1935. King was inducted into the Order of the British Empire on January 1, 1934, by King George V.