Fort Langley National Historic Site facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Fort Langley National Historic Site |
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Inside Fort Langley National Historic Site
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| Location | 23433 Mavis Ave Langley, British Columbia, Canada |
| Founder | James McMillan Donald Manson |
| Built | 1827 (original) 1839/1840 (second site) |
| Original use | Trading post |
| Rebuilt | 1957–58 |
| Current use | Living museum |
| Governing body | Parks Canada |
| Designated | 23 May 1923 |
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Fort Langley National Historic Site, often called Fort Langley, is a historic fur trading post. It was once run by the Hudson's Bay Company. You can find it in the community of Fort Langley in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. The site sits by the Bedford Channel, across from McMillan Island. Today, it has a visitor centre and a mostly rebuilt trading post. This post includes ten buildings surrounded by tall wooden fences called palisades.
Fort Langley was first built in 1827 in a place now called Derby. Later, the fort moved to its current spot in Langley. The new fort was finished in 1839. But a fire destroyed much of it the next year, so it had to be rebuilt. The Hudson's Bay Company used the fort until 1886, when it stopped being a trading post.
By the 1920s, only one building remained: the fort's storehouse. The Government of Canada bought the site in 1923. It was then named a National Historic Site of Canada. Today, the site teaches visitors about the North American fur trade in the 1800s. The old storehouse became a museum in 1931. Parks Canada rebuilt the fort's other buildings and palisades in the late 1900s.
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Why Fort Langley Was Built
Long before Fort Langley, the Fraser Valley was home to the Sto:lo people for thousands of years. The Sto:lo used the Fraser River for food and travel. It helped them connect with other Indigenous groups. The Fraser Valley was a very rich area before Europeans arrived. The Sto:lo people had complex social groups, art, and buildings.
In 1763, the Royal Proclamation of 1763 said that First Nations owned their land. This meant that settlers or companies could not take the land without treaties. The Sto:lo nation owned this land.
After a big fur trading company merged with the Hudson's Bay Company in 1821, a leader named George Simpson had an idea. He wanted a main trading post further north, near the mouth of the Fraser River. Simpson thought this would help protect the coast from American traders. He also believed the Fraser River was easier to travel than the Columbia River.
Simpson sent James McMillan to explore the area. McMillan found a good spot near the Salmon River. It was good for farming and had lots of fish.
Fort Langley's Story
=The First Fort (1827)
In 1827, James McMillan returned to the Fraser River with 24 men. They included Iroquois and Native Hawaiian workers. Their goal was to build Fort Langley. It was named after Thomas Langley, a leader in the Hudson's Bay Company. The fort was about 50 kilometres (31 mi) from the mouth of the Fraser River. This was the first time European settlers had a lasting presence with Indigenous peoples on the Fraser River.
This first fort was not in the same spot as today's fort. It was about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) northwest, in a place now called Derby. When the men arrived, some were sick, and their horses were tired. Despite problems, 19 men began to clear the land. The settlers depended on the Sto:lo people for survival. To build good relationships, the men were encouraged to marry Sto:lo women. This showed how much the settlers relied on the Sto:lo people.
They planted potatoes and built two bastions (strong towers) by August and September. These were for defense and to show strength to the Indigenous people. The palisade walls were finished in early September. After the walls were up, only Indigenous people with furs were allowed inside. Fort Langley was officially finished on November 26.
In the first few years, the fur trade with the Stó:lō people was not as good as the Hudson's Bay Company hoped. Traders from Boston controlled much of the coastal fur trade. This kept fur prices very high. The Hudson's Bay Company tried to sell furs for less to push out American traders. They also set a trade rule that required five beaver skins for one two-and-a-half point HBC blanket.
Also, the Indigenous people along the river did not hunt much for furs. They mainly lived on salmon. The Stó:lō started trading salmon with the Hudson's Bay Company. This later became a very important export for the fort. The Stó:lō were self-sufficient and did not need many European goods. In the first year, they wanted guns to defend against attacks. But later, firearms were not traded as often. The best years for fur trading were 1829 and 1831, with 2,500 skins each year. The fort also started pickling salmon, making almost 300 barrels in 1831.
Another problem was that the Fraser River was not as easy to travel as George Simpson thought. He found that parts of the river had dangerous rapids and cliffs. This meant that some parts of the journey from the north had to be done by land.
=The Second Fort (1839)
To get rid of American competition, the Hudson's Bay Company made a deal with the Russian-American Company in 1839. This gave them control of trade in Alaska. The fort's location was moved about four kilometers upstream in 1839. The new fort focused more on farming, fish, and cranberry harvesting, not just furs. A fire destroyed much of the fort in 1840, so it had to be rebuilt again.
Trading was now done through a small window, with guards on the second floor. In 1840, the farm grew many potatoes, wheat, oats, and peas. A Catholic missionary named Modeste Demers visited Fort Langley. He held religious services and baptized over 700 children in 1841. However, settlers sometimes treated Indigenous people unfairly.
Fort Langley grew a lot because of its location. It was on the northern edge of the Oregon Territory and on the way to the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush. It was important in setting the 49th parallel as the border with the U.S. It was also where gold prospectors started their journey up the Fraser Canyon. The gold rush changed things for Indigenous peoples. They lost their trading ties with the Hudson's Bay Company. Settlers also moved onto their land, making it hard for them to fish and follow their traditions.
Because so many people came for gold, the British Parliament decided to create a new colony. Fort Langley was considered as a capital, but military leaders thought it was not easy to defend. So, New Westminster was built further down the river. On November 19, 1858, James Douglas announced the start of the Colony of British Columbia at Fort Langley. He became the colony's first governor.
The fort slowly declined over the next 30 years. First, paddle wheelers could travel further up the Fraser River to Fort Hope and Fort Yale. Second, the capital of the colony moved to New Westminster, then to Victoria. Finally, other businesses started competing with the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1886, Fort Langley stopped being a company post.
Becoming a National Historic Site
In 1923, the Canadian government made Fort Langley a National Historic Site. They put up a plaque near the storehouse. At this time, only the storehouse and 0.40 hectares (1 acre) of land remained. From 1931 to 1956, a local group ran a museum in the storehouse. Parks Canada took over in 1955. Three buildings were rebuilt for British Columbia's 100th birthday in 1958. In 1978, the site became a national historic park. Since 1985, it has been 8.5 hectares (21 acres) in size.
In 2019, students from Langley Fine Arts School worked with the Kwantlen Nation. They created a project called This is Kwantlen. It aimed to show more Indigenous history at Fort Langley. Photos and stories of Kwantlen First Nation members were displayed outside the fort in April and May 2019.
What You Can See at Fort Langley Today
The national historic site is where the second Fort Langley was built in 1839. It is located by the Bedford Channel across from McMillan Island. The site covers about 8.4 hectares (21 acres). When the government bought it in 1924, it was only 0.4 hectares (0.99 acres). It grew larger in later years, especially in the 1950s and 1990s.
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Inside the fort's palisades, there are ten buildings. Only the storehouse is from the 1800s. The other nine buildings are reconstructions, meaning they were rebuilt in the 1900s to look like the originals. However, you can still find archaeological remains of the 1800s fort. Most buildings are used to teach visitors about the fort's history. Two buildings are used for maintenance and storing old items.
Outside the fort's palisades, there is a visitor centre. It was built in 1997.
Bastion and Palisade Walls
The fort is surrounded by tall wooden walls called timber palisades. Archaeologists found where the original walls stood after the fort became a historic site in 1923. A two-story bastion, or tower, made of logs stands along the northeast walls. It has a pyramid-shaped roof. This bastion has small, uneven windows and two doors on its second level. These doors lead to walkways along the walls. The northeast bastion was rebuilt in 1957.
Fort Buildings
The fort's storehouse is a rectangular building with one and a half stories and a sloped roof. It is the only original building from the fur trading fort. It was rebuilt in the 1840s after a fire. It was also the only building left when the fort stopped being a trading post. The Mavis family, who later bought the land, used it as a barn. Then, in 1923, Fort Langley was recognized as a historic site.
Many other buildings at the fort are reconstructions. The Big House is a rebuilt two-story log building from 1958. It is the largest building inside the fort's walls. Its outside is painted white. The Big House is a copy of the homes of James Murray Yale and his wife, and William Henry Newton and his wife.
The servants' quarters is a one-and-a-half-story rectangular timber building. It has a white exterior and a sloped roof. It was also rebuilt in 1958. This building shows how three different Hudson's Bay Company employees lived. It used to show how barrels were made until 1992. Then, that display moved to the new cooperage. Both the Big House and the servants' quarters were built using a special method called Red River frame construction.
The blacksmith shop was first built in 1973 and rebuilt in 1975. It has a working forge and offers live demonstrations of blacksmithing. The cooperage was built in 1992, a bit south of where the original was. It has all the tools needed for making barrels and other woodworking. The Depot was rebuilt in 1997. It is mainly used for exhibits and offices. The original building was used to store supplies coming in and out of the fort.
See also
