Fort Smith (Chipewyan: Thebacha "beside the rapids") is a town in the South Slave Region of the Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada.

It is located in the southeastern portion of the Northwest Territories, on the Slave River and adjacent to the Alberta border along the 60th parallel north.

Peter Pond of the North West Company was the first white trader recorded to have traveled on the Slave River and made contact with Indigenous peoples in this region.

Dominated by the activities of the Hudson's Bay Company, the fur trade penetrated more deeply into the Mackenzie River district in the 19th century.

York boats were used to run the Slave River rapids and, where needed, small portages were established to bypass the most dangerous areas.

In 1872, the Hudson's Bay Company built an outpost called Smith's Landing (Fort Fitzgerald) at the most southern set of the Slave River rapids.

Both posts were named in honour of Donald Alexander Smith, who in August 1897, was elevated to the Peerage of the United Kingdom as The 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal.

[9] In 1886, the Hudson's Bay Company launched the steam-propelled vessel SS Wrigley to run from Fort Smith to the Mackenzie River.

The steamer SS Grahame ran the Slave River from Fort McMurray to the head of the rapids at Smith's Landing beginning in 1882.

In 1911, government was established in Fort Smith when Ottawa sent an Indian agent and a regional medical doctor, and the Royal Northwest Mounted Police opened a detachment.

With the discovery of oil at Norman Wells in 1920, a federal government administration building was constructed to house the new Northwest Territories branch and the first court of justice in the Mackenzie District.

In 1924, Fort Smith received the first of the Northwest Territories and Yukon Radio System installed by the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals.

The discovery of gold in Yellowknife in 1938 was a catalyst for an economic boost to Fort Smith, as many prospectors came passing through and bought supplies at the post.

They brought hundreds of barge loads of supplies; and in order to move these, they built a tractor road from Fort Smith to Hay River and even farther north.

Government administrative facilities were increased to keep up with population needs and the village developed as a transportation hub for the Mackenzie District.

The completion of a southern rail link to Hay River in 1964 meant that Fort Smith's role as the transportation hub was largely negated.

On Friday August 9, 1968, disaster struck Fort Smith when a landslide some 1,010 by 300 m (3,300 by 990 ft) broke away from the riverbank; it caused property damage and killed one person.

Reshaped as a gentle hillside, it is known as Riverbank Park, and features groomed trails, picnic areas, and a viewing platform to oversee the Rapids of the Drowned.

[15] Fort Smith has a dry continental subarctic climate (Koppen: Dfc) with very long winters combined with warm but relatively short summers.

Whooping cranes, an endangered species, also nest in the area during the summer and can be viewed via air charters as ground access is prohibited.