The Fort Garry National Historic Park outside Selkirk has as its center-piece the only stone fort from the fur trading era to survive intact anywhere in North America. Lower Fort Garry was erected by the Hudson's Bay Company in the 1830s, becoming an important center for the fur trade and serving as a base for the exploration of the Northwest Territories.
It was built to replace an earlier fort which originally stood at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers in what is now the center of Winnipeg. This old fort was destroyed by floods in 1826, after which George Simpson, Governor of Rupert's Land, ordered the construction of the Lower Fort on a more elevated (but more isolated) site at some distance from the existing busy settlement.
In later years Lower Fort Garry was used successively as a training camp for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, a prison, a mental institution, and a company headquarters, before eventually being leased to the Manitoba Motor & Country Club in 1911. It was handed over to the Crown by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1951. In 1964 Parks Canada began a program of restoration.
Fort Garry National Historic Park has been equipped with period furniture, crockery, pictures, etc. painstakingly gathered together over a period of years not only from within Canada but also from Britain and the USA.
Costumed Parks Canada employees act out the roles of the fort's earlier inhabitants, e.g. smiths, laborers, servants and "voyageurs" (i.e. traders who traveled by canoe bringing back pelts from the territories further north). Visitors are able to talk to the "Governor" and his wife and to various employees and domestic staff, as well as enjoying oatmeal biscuits in the basement kitchen. The result is a vivid impression of the complexities of life in a fur trading community.
Displayed in the building where the furs were stored are samples of pelts of every kind - lynx, fox, beaver, raccoon, mink and wolf. On the ground floor, a Hudson's Bay Company shop has been re-created, stocked with everything from clothing and household goods to beads, horse bells, traps, brooms, boots and blankets. The settlers were entirely dependent upon such shops to keep their needs supplied.
Standing beside the storehouse is an example of a "York Boat". Hundreds of these solidly built craft (capable of carrying up to 2 tons/tons) plied the lakes and rivers all the way from Hudson Bay to the Rocky Mountains and from Red River to the Arctic.
An audio-visual presentation on the history of Fort Garry National Historic Park greets visitors arriving at the Reception Center which also has excellent displays on the fur trade and the lives of the early settlers, illustrated with the aid of a variety of artifacts, pictures and models.
After visiting the Fort continue on Highway 9 via Petersfield to Netley Marsh.
Address:
Lower Fort Garry National Historic Site, 5925 Highway 9, St Andrews, MB R1A4A8, Canada
Phone: 1 (204) 785-6050, Fax: 1 (204) 482-5887
Hours:
May 14 to September 3: 9am-5pm
Tips: Group discounts available. Daily guided tours available daily in English and French.
Typical Visit: 3 hours
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