The district at first was a far-flung mixed urban and rural riding that extended from the North Saskatchewan River into the Northland northeast of Edmonton.

At the time of its creation, this district included a massive, sparsely populated rural area.

In 1924, it took in parts of the now-abolished Strathcona riding that had been within Edmonton city limits.

This riding elected the following members of the House of Commons of Canada: 1917-1921 Henry Arthur Mackie (Conservative) 1921-1925 Donald Ferdinand Kellner (UFA) 1925-1926 A.U.G.

Bury (Conservative) 1935-1938 William Hall (Social Credit) 1938 (by-election) - 1940 Orvis Kennedy (Social Credit) 1940-1941 Frederick Casselman (Liberal) 1941 (by-election) - 1945 Cora Taylor Casselman (Liberal) 1945-1949 Patrick Ashby (Social Credit) 1949-1953 Albert Frederick Macdonald (Liberal)[8] Note: Canadian Alliance vote is compared to the Reform vote in 1997.