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Look around…you will see mountains, prairies, forests and wildlife! You've found Okotoks, in the heart of foothills country! From your first visit, you'll know that Okotoks is a special place. The Mayor of Okotoks, Bill McAlpine, sums up the quality of life in this thriving community by saying: “The high standard of housing, well planned subdivisions, numerous community parks, enviable school system, and pristine river valley provide a quality lifestyle for our residents. Our expanding business community provides many unique and varied shopping opportunities”. Okotoks is friendly and caring, home to a large number of growing families and active seniors - a vibrant, contemporary community, which has retained its small town charm.” 
First Nations peoples had led a nomadic existence in the Okotoks area for thousands of years prior to the arrival of the Europeans. The First nations people left us with a legacy in the name of Okotoks, which is derived from the Blackfoot name "Okatoks". As Plains Tribes did not use rivers to travel on, a good river crossing like that found at Okatoks (near the present day Town of Okotoks) made it an important place."Okatoks" was an easy name to choose as tribes used the Big Rock as a reference marker in their journeys. The rock was not just a large rock, but a spiritual refuge for the First Nations who deposited gifts for the Great Spirit Napi at the base of the stone - the stone that once chased Napi across the prairie after a disagreement about the loaning of a coat. It was by chance that the rock died where it is after being killed by a bird called upon by Napi to save him.
David Thompson explored the region in 1800, and others soon followed his path. Trading posts sprang up, including one established in 1874 at the Sheep River crossing -- on the trail leading from Fort Benton, Montana to Calgary. The "intrusion" of this new lifestyle created conflict with the nomadic, buffalo-focused existence of the Blackfoot tribes. A culture wanting to maintain an independent spirit and a government encouraging permanent settlement met at Blackfoot Crossing in 1877 to sign Treaty #7. The Blackfoot, Blood, Peigan, Stoney, and Sarcee bands were thrown into culture shock by the Treaty, as development and the concept of property ownership were introduced where only nomadicism was known. The killing of the last buffalo in the Okotoks region in 1879 and government leasing of land for one cent per acre starting in 1880 ensured that the prairie would undergo a revolution. A new era and a new legacy began. For more local information on Okotoks visit http://www.okotoks.ca
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