(Photographs courtesy of the Edmonton Cracker Cats)
The first professional team to utilize this stadium was the Edmonton Eskimos. The Eskimos had been playing in the "Big Four League", an attempt to recreate the Western Canadian League. In 1953, the Northwest League (aka Western International League - Class B, still in existance today as Single-A), signed the Edmonton Eskimos to be a part of the league's expansion, along with Calgary. Victoria and Vancouver British Columbia had already been playing for the league since 1946.