Society President Kathryn Ivany said the award, recently announced at a ceremony in Red Deer, was a recognition of Mr. Mitchell's personal contribution to the preservation and promotion of Alberta's history, through the Victoria Settlement Advisory Commitee, where he served as founding chairman, and the Friends of Fort Victoria Historical Society, where he was founding president. Earlier this year, Mr. Mitchell was presented with another award by the Edmonton and District Historic Society.

The Mitchell family name is synonymous with the history of Victoria Settlement and Pakan. Harold's great grandfather, John Mitchell, was one of Montreal's most prominent businessmen. Born in Dufftown, Scotland, he emigrated to Quebec at age sixteen, later founding a merchant enterprise, J&J Mitchell Co., which had extensive business dealings in such far-flung outposts of the empire as the West Indians and Newfoundland. A leading figure in Montreal social circles, John Mitchell was a founding member of the exclusive St. James' Club, as well as the Thistle Curling Club.

His son, Harold's grandfather, John Alexander Mitchell, decided to try and make his fortune in the west, and was among the earliest settlers in the North West Territories, traveling to Edmonton by ox-cart in 1878 with the Honourable Frank Oliver - who later became Minister of the Interior for the Canadian government under Sir. Wilfred Laurier - and helped to establish the Edmonton Bulletin. John A. Mitchell owned 200 acres of land in the south-side community of Strathcona, but sold it for $1 an acre in order to accept an appointment as an agent for the Department of Indian Affairs, starting as sub-agent at Victoria in 1882, and becoming agent in 1885. He owned land at Victoria Settlement, and registered one of the earliest brands in Alberta, then still the Northwest Territories. He successfully lobbied for a North West Mounted Police detachment for the settlement. By 1899 he was a merchant at Pakan, establishing J.A. Mitchell & Son and operating out of the former clerk's quarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Fort Victoria. He also owned the Mitchell Milling Company, which operated a grist mill. In 1901, John A. was appointed clerk at Pakan. He was the most prominent citizen of the community, and a 1905 development plan for Pakan had a street named after him - Mitchell Avenue.

Harold's father, Frank E. Mitchell was a farmer. Marrying Clara Thompson, they had nine children, among them Harold and his twin sister Elsie. Frank was author of A History of Pioneering in the Pakan District, and recognizing the great historical importance of Victoria Settlement and the need to preserve its memory, operated a private museum in Pakan until the time of his passing in 1974. Harold Mitchell later donated many of the artifacts his father collected to the Smoky Lake Museum. In presenting the Historical society of Alberta award, Kathryn Ivany also paid tribute to Frank Mitchell for his contribution, as well as other members of the Mitchell family, including Harold's wife Frances, who this summer acted the role of Mrs. Elizabeth McDougall at the annual tea held at Victoria Settlement Provincial Historic Site.

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