~ trading

‘ DISTINGUISHED CLERK

In the

fur-trading fiefdom, it was the capital of all New
_Caiedonia,.one of the few settlements west of the
Rockies and north of Mexico. But, as fur trading
“became less important and new communities grew
up to the south and west, Fort St. James slipped
into obscurity, one more town off the beaten track
in the northern half of the province.

Now Fort. St. _James is on governor of British Columbia

ma
the way back. Pineen - acres ana received his» knighthood

. of the townsite have been from Queen Victoria, he.was

declared a national historic a clerk at Fort St. James. He
- park and the buildings of the even married the boss’
- fur fort are being restored in daughter: Amelia Connolly,
‘a. re-creation of the fur daughter of Chief Factor

and provisioning William Connolly.’ _
fort. .

; ‘The buildings that orig-
Fort St. James was foun- inally stood on this site are.

_ded by Simon Fraser in 1806, gone now, but five of the fur
on one of his trips west. for: trading buildings that’ date
the North West Company. from the 1880’s still remain
.After the union. of the and are in the process of
Norwesters and the Hud- ‘being restored.

son’s Bay Company, it Largest and most striking

became the capitai of New of the buildings is the 1,800
- Caledonia—what is. now the square foot fur warehouse

northern two-thirds of British pow standing at the head of a

‘Columbia. former tramway > from the
- ~Jakeshore. Built in 1888, it is
one of the’ largest and best
examples of the traditional
Perhaps its best-known Hudson’s Bay Company con-

resident was James. Douglas. | struction style termed “Red |
Long before he _ became_ River frame.”’

"RESTORED INTERIOR of the old for trading post [B.C
Govt photo]

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adsl be

OLD FUR TRADING and provisioning buildings at Fort

St. James [B.C. Govt photo]

HELD TOGETHER

The 10-man - restoration
crew faced the major task of
raising the building and
setting it down on a concrete
foundation.

If it had been raised in the
normal way, it would have
collapsed like a deck of
cards. Steel brackets were
fashioned to hold the build-
ing together, and in May,
1974, the project was succes-
sfully completed.

Workmen have replaced
rotted floor joists and planks,
_ using axes to shape and lever
- the wood as the original fur
traders did.

Upstairs i in the warehouse
is. a trove of historical .
graffiti, for paper was in
Short, supply. in those days

Other buildings being res-

tacaA an th r=)

wewu whe ad site are

an
Ee

eean

elevated fish cache, also built
in Red River frame style, and
the clerk’s ‘house and a

‘bunkhouse built in the more

common dovetail corner log
style. oe

PAVED ROAD
The ‘factor’s house is
scheduled for future restor-

ation and the wooden com-
pound. that originally surr-

ounded the fort will also be.

reconstructed. = -—

The restoration of the fori
is only part of the restoration
of Fort St. James fortunes. In
the 1960’s, a paved road
finally linked Fort St. James
to the rest of the province
and opened up the territory
to fishermen and holidayers.

It may never be the capital

of the region again, but Fort

and many records were kept St. James is back on the

_by writing on the walls.

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‘page 21 - March 9,

1977 - North Shore News

So

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