New Caledonia Furs

We who live beside and love Lake Superior have had much exposure to the fur trade of the 1800s.   We have admired the enormous birch bark canoes which made the treacherous journey across the big lake from Montreal, marveled at the strength of the voyageurs carrying their packs over the Grand Portage, paddled historic canoe routes in Quetico and Wabakimi Provincial Parks, visited historic sites such as Old Fort William,  Grand Portage, and Old Fort Mackinac; and truth be told, even hummed a few voyageur songs!   We learned that it was the fur trade that motivated early exploration of the western parts of both our country and Canada, and resulted in those maps so interesting to study.  We know it was all about the beaver, and specifically the fashion rage for beaver felt hats in Europe at the time that was behind it all!  

Felt beaver hat which resulted in the entire fur trade in No. America.
Seems as crazy to us as all that gold fever!

Old Northwester map of New Caledonia scribed on a beaver pelt

So there we were in north central British Columbia, and the Milepost book alerted us to our proximity to Fort St. James, a very important historic site in Canada as regards the fur trade.   We were aware that in addition to the guys who paddled Superior and portaged the packs, there were the characters called “northwesters”.   These were the ones who travelled far and wide in the Pacific Northwest, making contact with natives, learning about trails and survival skills, trading for furs, and wintering in the wilderness before returning to the rendezvous places with the furs.   Those guys seemed, to naive and romantic me, to have had the really cool jobs, and we were traveling through their home!   We made a quick left off off the Yellowhead Hwy to check this Fort St. James out!

Parks Canada staffs it with very knowledgable, costumed interpreters who shared the history of the place with us, including the effect it had on the indigenous people.   We really enjoyed it and learned a lot!    

Fort St. James is the largest site with original log buildings representing the fur trade in the entire nation.  Bernie’s building friends will be interested to know that the method of construction of these buildings themselves is historic.  It is variously referred to as "Red River Frame”, “Post on Sill”, or “Piece on Piece”, and made it possible to raise an entire fort in  a matter of months!   It required preparing uniform notched posts and short, hewn filler logs, then putting them together in various ways using just a few basic tools.  The buildings could also be dismantled and the components reused.   Handy for the frontier, I’d say!

    

   

Turns out Fort St James was in its own way as much at the heart of the fur trade as was our as our beloved Lake Superior.  It was established as the Stuart Lake Outpost in 1805 by Simon Fraser and John Stuart of the North West Trading Company—the very first inland post west of the Rocky Mountains.  It was renamed Fort St James in 1821 when taken over by the Hudson Bay Company and although its location may seem obscure and isolated, it was actually the center of transportation, trade, and communication in the area in its time.   It was, in fact, the capitol of New Caledonia, a vast region which included all of what later became British Columbia and what are now the states of Washington and Oregon in our country.  Right there on the lakefront of Fort St James, Hudson Bay Company sloops unloaded goods from European factories and carried local furs off to the auctions in London by way of Lake Superior and Hudson Bay!  Neat, huh?  

Tramway down to Lake Stuart over which all the trade goods were carried to the fort,
and the furs loaded onto sloops to be transported, ultimately, to Europe!

European goods available in the trading post.  The items most desired by indigenous people
were metal cooking pots and blankets

Sugar, tea, mustard....everything you can imagine!

Parks Canada interpreter explaining the currency used at the fort trading post,
which was based on beaver pelts of a very specific dimension,
called "made beaver"

Canned goods, liquor, tobacco....again, everything you can imagine...all
with a "price tag" of made beaver pelts

The fort manager's residence.   He and his wife were both "metis", or persons
of mixed blood, Native and French- or Englishmen

The foyer of this house was meant to impress businessmen visitors

The house was fine enough to undermine the notion that being stationed here
was a punishment--called "The Siberia of New Caledonia"

Bedroom

Kitchen

These serving items traveled an immense distance to get here in 1820!

We also found it fascinating to look at the history of the fort from the perspective of the indigenous people of the region, and were helped to do so by the interpreters and  museum exhibits which included taped interviews with elders.  This region was the traditional territory of the Dakelh Athabaskans, and Simon Fraser and his crew were the first white men they’d ever seen.   Their oral history records those with whom first contact was made feeling frightened but also quite curious about these people who arrived in their homeland SINGING—hey, they were voyageurs, right?  The Dakelh had some familiarity with European goods, notably cloth and metals, through ancient trading networks with other native groups on the coast.   They were happy for the opportunity to receive more trade goods from the newcomers, as they made certain aspects of their lives much easier.   Interestingly, although the Hudson Bay Company's goal was to have the Dakelh trap furs for them to trade, success was elusive.  The Company had to haul supplies here immense distances—first from their base in Montreal, Quebec, and after 1820, from Hudson Bay!   With the high cost of importing food like this, the Dakelh people were able to acquire trade goods by offering salmon to the hungry traders, rather than trapping beaver.   In fact, until the gold rush ushered in alternate supply routes such as pack horses/mules, steamboats, and trains, the newcomers were rather uncomfortably dependent on the first nations people for food.   There were no large game in the area, and knowledge about catching and drying fish, and collecting, preparing and preserving other local foods resided with the natives.  History seems to suggest there were good relations between the fur traders and indigenous people, however, with much intermarriage and social acceptance of the children born to these unions, some rising well up in the ranks of the Hudson Bay Company hierarchy.  For sure, this was a very different arrangement from that between the Russian (sea otter) fur traders and the Alutiq in Alaska at about the same point in time!  (see Sitka blog post)

One of Parks Canada's Athabaskan interpreters who told us some wonderful tales
of life here long, long ago.

Another historic site interpreter, also native, has worked here for 18+ years
and was a very knowledgeable historian.

Dried salmon storage took up a whole building at the fort.   Supplied in trade by the native people,
this was literally what kept the Hudson Bay employees alive in winter.
No, it's not real tasty!

One final story of our fur trade experience, just to make you smile—at least it made me smile—no, laugh out LOUD!   From Fort St. James we travelled east to Prince George, British Columbia, a city of 85,000.   Besides the usual resupply, I needed a haircut!   The visitor’s center directed us to the beauty shop in the local department store called, "Hudson’s Bay Company”, nicknamed "The Bay"...   

"The Bay" department store in Prince George, British Columbia

No kidding, "The Bay" is short for "Hudson's Bay Company"!!

So Bernie sat in the waiting area by the pay counter while I got trimmed.   He told me later about a cute conversation he had with the very attractive, young clerk there:

BERNIE:  “My wife is back there getting a haircut.  Should I just bring my beaver pelts up here to your counter to pay, and about how many will I need?”

CLERK:  “Pardon me, sir?”

BERNIE:  "Well, we were at the Hudson’s Bay Trade Store in Fort St. James earlier yesterday and they take beaver pelts in exchange for various goods and services.”

CLERK:  (in all seriousness, with big eyes) “Oh!  Do they have a Hudson’s Bay store in Fort St. James, too now??”

Bernie then realized she had no idea what he was talking about and did not get his little joke at all!  BAAAAD Bernie!!!   Bad boy!!

Bernie wishing to pay for my haircut