The Fort Ostell Museum society was founded in 1967 with their first museum housed in a wood frame building. They moved to their current location in 1987.
One of the great displays in the museum is this 3D model of the original fort. Fort Ostell was built in May of 1885 around a former
Hudson's Bay Company post. There are no remains of the fort at the original site. Information at the museum identifies the location of the post as "
in the farm field just south of the County Dump sight (sic) at the south end of Ponoka". Following is the text from a nearby Province of Alberta Highway Marker concerning Fort Ostell.
When a number of Metis led by Louis Riel rose in rebellion in the spring of 1885, fear spread that this might lead to a general insurrection across western Canada. An Alberta Field Force was quickly assembled under a retired British army officer, General Thomas Bland Strange, who was then ranching east of Calgary. The Field Force was joined by some North West Mounted Police and other trained soldiers from eastern Canada, among them the 65th Canadian Militia from Montreal.
To control the countryside between Fort Calgary and Fort Edmonton, men of the 65th established three temporary forts interconnected by a telegraph line. Fort Normandeau was located near Red Deer and Fort Ethier near Wetaskiwin, while the middle post, Fort Ostell, was located near here. A former Hudson's Bay Company building was converted for military use and named after Captain John B. Ostell, one of the unit's commanders.
The rebellion turned out to be short-lived, with the Cree of this district, led by chiefs Bobtail and Ermineskin, proclaiming their loyalty to Canada. On 19 May, word was received that Riel had surrendered and Gabriel Dumont had fled to the United States. By the end of June, the 65th Militia was en route back to Montreal. Fort Ostell was abandoned and dismantled shortly thereafter.