Many people have expressed an interest to me about the presence of old fur-trading posts in Edmonton.
Fort-des-Prairies
Wikipedia has this to say:
Fort Edmonton was called Fort-des-Prairies, by French-Canadian trappers and coureurs des bois. (source unknown)
Morice in his book Dictionaire historique places the lower [upper?] Fort des Prairies near the site of present-day Edmonton. This is according to a footnote in an interesting book entitled Five Fur Traders of the Northwest, published by University of Minnesota Press. This is a compilation of reprints of old diaries and journals kept by five explorer/ fur traders - Peter Pond, John Macdonell, Archibald N. McLeod, Hugh Faries, and Thomas Connor (available for reading on Peel's Prairie Province website).
link:
But deciphering what Morice meant by Fort des Prairie requires more research.
Here's another brief write-up from Five Fur Traders of the Northwest (from p. 98):
-------------------
"It is difficult to determine the location of Fort des Prairies since the name seems to have been applied to several different posts. Pond puts it above (upstream of) the fork of the Saskatchewan on the North Branch, whereas Bain says it was just below the junction of the two branches. See Davidson, North West Company, p. 37n.
In tracing Thompson's route of 1808, Tyrrell says the explorer passed Fort a la Corne "on the site of the old French Fort des Prairies," some [kilometres] below the forks.
Coues points out as the trade pushed up the river, the name was applied to establishments on the upper reaches of the North Branch, such as Forts George, Vermilion and Augustus [at Fort Saskatchewan and/or Rossdale]. When two of these were operating, they were sometimes called Upper and Lower Forts des Prairies. (Thompson, Narratives, p. lxxxviii, Coues, New Light, 2:481n.
---------------------------
The Fort des Prairies might have even been the name of the fort that might have been built by traders operating out of New France in the 1700s (before the British Conquest).
La Verendrye came through Prairies in 1738 La Verendry, of New France, is reputed to be the first white man to sight the Rocky Mountains in what is now Canada. His route of travel was the Saskatchewan River so it seems he came through Edmonton. Beaver pelts were important to New France, and it seems that Le Verendrye noticed the abundancy of that animal in the Edmonton area. Already the Native name Beaver Hills was in use for the hills [eight kilomtres] off on the southside of the river (now Elk Island Park). Beavers prefer the level park region of Edmonton's environs over the heavily-timbered area to the southwest of the city.
"Although there is no record to show what the French traders did, it may be taken for granted that when the NW Co. entered the field and established a post here, they took advantage of the previous occupation of the French. (Claresholm Review-Advertizer, April 9, 1920, p. 2)
The location of Fort-des-Prairies has never been discovered. Being built of natural local materials, it would not leave long-standing traces. Frank Oliver, when he arrived in Edmonton in 1880s, said he saw evidence of an old fort at the mouth of Groat ravine. This, he thought, might have been that old French fort itself.
Certainly, it seems, this place, Edmonton, has been a gathering place for Natives in their seasonal travels for millennia. So the location would have been a good location for a post.
"Fort des Prairies, a name applied at different times to various fur-trading posts, among them Fort à la Corne, Fort Augustus*, Fort La Jonquière, and Fort aux Trembles on the Saskatchewan River. The name Lower Fort des Prairies was later applied to Fort Vermilion, and the name Upper Fort des Prairies to Fort Augustus."
Source: W. Stewart WALLACE, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. II, Toronto, University Associates of Canada 1948, 411p., p. 367
*Fort Augustus was the name given to forts operated by the North West Company, the HBC's main competitor. The two corporations merged in 1821.
Here's another thing pulled off the internet:
"Fort Augustus (1794-1821) - A North West Company post first established by Angus Shaw in 1794 near present day Edmonton, Alberta."
If Fort Augustus operated from 1794 to 1821, which it did, and it was situated next to the HBC's Fort Edmonton's, which it was, then it was a series of posts, not just one.
Although to be truthful, the NWC was more flexible or crafty, and it was not the NWC that moved to be near the HBC posts but the other way around.
Such was the case in 1795. The HBC moved its fort in a rush to be close to the NWC fort (Fort Augustus) that had already moved unexpectedly upriver to the mouth of the Sturgeon River, at today's Fort Saskatchewan.
The HBC officials/workers, when they had time to take a breath after getting the fort established, named it Fort Edmonton. This was the first of five successive posts, in different locations, that would have that name (causing much confusion for the head honchos in faraway London).
The hectic work of establishing this post is described in another blog.
The Wikipedia article "Fort Edmonton" gives good run-down of the five Fort Edmonton's. (The recreated fort in Fort Edmonton Park is a copy of #5.)
The one corrective I would offer is that Edmonton House IV, the start of the present City of Edmonton, began in October 1812. (Since then, we know someone was always living on the site of Edmonton. Prior to 1912, there was no permanent human occupancy as far as we can know.)
A crew was sent to begin construction of a new fur-trading post in what is now Rossdale on October 6, 1812. Post Factor James Bird marked out the location of the new post on Oct. 10. (Edmonton House Journals, Correspondence and Reports, 1806-1821 (published by the Historical Society of Alberta), p. 182)
Three of the Fort Edmonton's (#2, #4 and #5) were located within the present City of Edmonton. #4 was the one that was started in October 1812.
Philip Coutu's book From Castles to Forts A True History of Edmonton gives great information on other forts in Rossdale and on the Victoria /Groat Flats.
Although we think of Edmonton as a northern city, it is interesting to note that Edmonton was for many years the southernmost of the HBC's forts.
Edmonton is located on the farthest north of the major rivers flowing to the Hudsons Bay and to the Company's shipping posts there. But there is a great deal of Northland north of us. And the Northland is where the best furs were - and are, and where the profitable fur-trading posts were.
So I hope that was useful.
=================================================================
コメント