Fort Providence is located on the northeast bank of the Mackenzie River at 61°21’ N, 117°39’ W, 233 air km southwest of Yellowknife and 72.4 air km west of Great Slave Lake.
Monsignor Grandin opened the Roman Catholic Mission in 1886, and a school in 1896. It was soon followed by the estabilshment of The Hudson’s Bay Company post which attracted Slavey Dene to the area in numbers sufficient to begin a settlement.