~ 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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‘days when Fort. ‘St. Jamés was a

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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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1977 - North Shore News

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