Fort William Historical Park, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
I love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. Psalm 18:1-2
We spent the day walking around Fort William. It’s similar to the Grand Portage Fur trading village, only more reconstructed. It was built after the North West Company left Grand Portage and this one portrays the year 1816. I don’t know why they call it a fort. It’s really not.
I won’t go into all the details of trading, etc., because I just covered that. The biggest thing here was the focus on the fight between the North West Company and the Hudson’s Bay Company, a competitor. Things got really ugly and 21 men were killed, and in the end, North West ended up merging with Hudson’s Bay and keeping the Hudson’s name. Believe it or not, Hudson’s Bay is still in business to this day.
Founded in 1670 in London, England (no that’s not a typo) it’s a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, they now own and operates retail stores in Canada, the United States and parts of Europe, including Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. And believe it or not, they’re not the oldest still established company. That honor goes to a hot springs place in Japan that dates back to 705!
As with any Canadian Parks we’ve ever been in, this one (a Provincial Park) was well done, though it seemed a bit understaffed, especially for a Saturday. It was uncommonly hot again today, but there were opportunities for respite.
Ready to tour? Here we go!
This is the entrance.
It’s also where we had to go to check into the campground.
The lobby is great!
They do weddings and receptions here.
Looks like there’s one today!
It’s a 10 minute walk to get to the entrance.
These people each paid $5 for a 20-minute “Voyageur Canoe Ride”.
We watched them leave. None of them were paddling together. : )
You could also make bread, fire a musket or make a beaded necklace. Each for $5.
We discovered that a lot of the staff did double or even triple duty, portraying different characters as needed.
This guy was the bagpipe player, a fur trader, the manager at the office and a clerk today. And that’s just the places we saw him at.
The other guy (who really looks the part, I think) showed up with all his furs.
They had volunteers from the group who were supposed to haggle for store credits.
All but one of the volunteers were late elementary age kids. They didn’t haggle. : )
We went up there!
This is what we saw.
Apparently there were separate sleeping quarters for different ‘classes’ of men.
This and the next are from the Guides House.
These next four are from the doctor’s office/hospital.
I don’t even want to know what that stain on the floor is from . . . .
This letter was tacked onto a mostly shut door.
There lies Monsieur Vallee awaiting transportation to his final burial place.
This is the Main Square
The Great Hall
The room of one of the ‘important’ men.
And his desk
I don’t think this is necessarily a good representation of the period, but what do I know?
Dining in the Great Hall.
The head table was for the important ones, and as you went through the room, each table got less and less important.
They found old glass for their reconstruction. Nice!
Another important bedroom.
A group of people and a couple of staff (with the sash) were playing a rousing game.
Well, not so rousing. It seemed to be a lot like toss the ball – – only with nets on the ends of their sticks.
Hey! That sounds a lot like lacrosse! (without the running)
Which just so happened to have it’s origins many moons ago with the Native Americans in the US and Canada.
A ‘lesser’ man’s room, but note the green spread.
Green was hard to come by, so anyone with green fabric was more wealthy than your average joe.
The council house, where business was conducted.
Also legal hearings and trials.
This must be showing the previous year’s take. See the date? We’re supposed to be in 1816.
The jail.
It was really dark in the jail, so I had to use my flash.
They had a recording going of a man confined in here.
Pretty creepy!
The tradesmen’s lodging.
Inside. The ladder led to bedrooms upstairs.
The downstairs was for the single men. Upstairs was for the married ones who had their families with them.
This is a fire engine!
The cooper’s shop.
In here, we heard the tail end of how barrels were made.
The carpenter’s shop.
They had a working lathe!
The tin smith’s.
Seems to me this may have been a lucrative trade to know, since the candle holder was being sold in the gift shop for $145!
When we first arrived, we were told to keep an eye out for the ‘man in black’. He’s mean and we should steer clear of him.
He turned around just as I took the picture. Rats!
Blacksmith’s shop.
We were told the blacksmith was the highest paid of all the various men working here.
They did things like horseshoes, oxen shoes (didn’t know they made those) and fixing guns.
They did not make the guns.
What is that ornery girl up to now?
I asked. He said yes.
After he showed me how to use it.
Man! Was that thing heavy!!
This is the farm.
On the farm was a dairy house.
The girl here told us about making butter.
They did not make cheese.
In the barn
They let the goats and chickens run around freely.
There were also pigs and sheep.
Piglets!
This is the home of one of the farmers that lived here.
The Outfits building.
I don’t know if it was to outfit the 1816 people, or for the current workers. There was no one here to explain it when we got here.
Lunch!
Turkey and homemade chips
Blaine had a hot dog and fries. The dog was pretty small. : (
Typical bed for a child.
They got one bed until they moved out.
They were telling us that a 14 year old girl slept on this, but they were seeing about getting her married off. Yikes!
The rich doctor lived here. See all the green?
Desk in the doctor’s house.
Inside the Apothecary – aka pharmacy.
I liked this piece.
This contraption was used for shock treatments.
Crank the glass wheel that spun around inside furs and touch the end.
That’s the single shock one. The four bottles? Yeah, somehow they charged those if you needed a bigger shock.
Ouch!
Canoe building.
At 2:30pm, they did a re-enactment of “Rivals Clash!” The employees of the North West Company have had enough of Selkirk’s forces invading their home. Watch their plan unfold to get rid of he Hudson’s Bay Company!
It was fun to watch! Shooting guns and firing cannons (although I missed the cannon firing all three times!) Here are some snippets I did record.
After that, we walked home, passing by the wedding reception area again.
Looks even better now!
And the staff is gathered, getting ready to serve – or whatever.
We were really glad we’d left the air on in the coach for our return!