Data · dataset · 2026
Alberta Homestead Index: A Rescued Web-Scraped Dataset of Prairie Settlement, 1870–1930
Listed in Borealis
This dataset is a rescued, machine-readable copy of the Alberta Homestead Index: an all-name index of 666,535 partially transcribed homestead applications filed in Alberta between 1870 and 1930 under the Dominion Land Survey.
Description
The index names nearly every individual recorded in a homestead file, including applicants who never received patent and the neighbours who vouched for them, together with the legal land description and references to the source microfilm and accession.
The underlying records are held by the Provincial Archives of Alberta across four accessions; the paper originals were destroyed after microfilming. The data were partially transcribed by Alberta Genealogical Society volunteers from 2005 and existed only on a single JavaScript-dependent site. It was captured in 2024 with Python Scrapy and cleaned in OpenRefine.
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Because each record carries a legal land description, the dataset can be linked to the historical Census of Canada and to surveyed township maps, supporting historical-geographic, genealogical and census-linkage research. It also records settlement across three treaty territories, including applications associated with the Blackfoot Reserve and with Métis and mission settlements. Two objects are deposited: the unaltered capture as the spider produced it, and the cleaned and enriched working file built from it.
See README.txt for the column reference, the cleaning log and known issues.
Links
Where it is published
- Dataverse dataset page borealisdata.ca/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi%3A10.5683%2FSP4%2F6DF1EB ↗
landing page · from borealisdata ca
- DOI doi.org/10.5683/sp4/6df1eb ↗
DOI / persistent id · from borealisdata ca
Catalogue records · 1
- Dataverse API borealisdata.ca/api/datasets/:persistentId/?persistentId=doi%3A10.5683%2FSP4%2… ↗
metadata API · from borealisdata ca
Topics
- Stated by source
- Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences
- From keywords
- Humanities · Social Science
Provenance · 1 source records, 10 field assertions
| Source | Key | Last seen | Raw |
|---|---|---|---|
| Borealis | doi:10.5683/SP4/6DF1EB | 12 d ago | JSON v1 |
| Field | Assertion | Extractor | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| concepts[field].dataverse_subject:arts-and-humanities | source · borealisdata ca | connector:borealisdata_ca@1.0.0 | /subjects |
| concepts[field].dataverse_subject:social-sciences | source · borealisdata ca | connector:borealisdata_ca@1.0.0 | /subjects |
| concepts[field].local:field:humanities | mapping · borealisdata ca | connector:borealisdata_ca@1.0.0 | /subjects |
| concepts[field].local:field:social-science | mapping · borealisdata ca | connector:borealisdata_ca@1.0.0 | /subjects |
| created_date | source · borealisdata ca | connector:borealisdata_ca@1.0.0 | |
| description | source · borealisdata ca | connector:borealisdata_ca@1.0.0 | /description |
| publication_date | source · borealisdata ca | connector:borealisdata_ca@1.0.0 | |
| title | source · borealisdata ca | connector:borealisdata_ca@1.0.0 | /name |
| updated_date | source · borealisdata ca | connector:borealisdata_ca@1.0.0 | |
| version_label | source · borealisdata ca | connector:borealisdata_ca@1.0.0 |