Wallace House (fur-trade post) facts for kids
The Wallace House, also known as Wallace Post or Calapooya Fort, was an important fur trading spot. It was located in an area called French Prairie, which is now Keizer, Oregon, in the United States. This trading post was started in 1812 by people from the Pacific Fur Company (PFC). It was a key place for getting beaver furs and deer meat for this American company, which didn't last very long in the Pacific Northwest.
During the War of 1812, the Wallace House became cut off from other areas. The company worried that the Royal Navy or their rivals, the North West Company (NWC), might attack their main base, Fort Astoria. Because of this, the Pacific Fur Company decided to sell all its property to the North West Company in late 1813. The North West Company used Wallace House until 1814. After that, they stopped using it and moved their operations to a new place nearby called the Willamette Trading Post.
Why Was Wallace House Built?
The American Pacific Fur Company (PFC) began setting up trading posts along the Columbia River in March 1811. This started when their ship, the Tonquin, arrived and they built Fort Astoria. The company's main goal was to collect fur pelts from North American beaver. They wanted to sell these furs in the Qing Empire (which is now China).
After Fort Astoria was built, the company decided to create more trading posts. They wanted to spread out across the Pacific Northwest. The Willamette Valley was a great choice because it had many beavers. This made it a perfect spot for another trading station.
Building the Trading Post
On November 23, 1812, two men named William Wallace and John C. Halsley led a group of fourteen men. They traveled from Fort Astoria to the Willamette Valley. Their mission was to find a good place for a new trading post.
The group built the post and stayed there for the winter. They spent their time trapping beavers and hunting animals. They also traded goods with the local Kalapuyan nations. Another group of PFC workers, led by Donald Mackenzie, returned to Fort Astoria that winter. These returning trappers put a strain on Astoria's small food supply. So, some of the men were sent to the Wallace House.
Alfred Seton led these men to the new location. He described the area as a "great prairie" with many animals. There were large numbers of Elk, Columbian white-tailed deer, and Black-tailed deer nearby. Wallace, Halsley, and their men returned to Fort Astoria on May 25, 1813. They brought a lot of venison (deer meat), which was greatly needed for food. Even more important, they brought 775 beaver furs. These furs had been collected over the winter.
The North West Company Takes Over
The War of 1812 caused big problems for the Pacific Fur Company. They became completely cut off from their supplies and support. Their main rivals were the North West Company (NWC). This company had its bases in places like Fort St. James in what is now British Columbia, Canada.
To avoid fighting with the Royal Navy, the Pacific Fur Company leaders decided to sell their property. They sold everything to the North West Company in 1813.
From 1813 to 1814, several trappers worked out of Wallace House. These included Thomas McKay, Étienne Lucier, Alexander Ross, and Donald McKenzie. A new trading post nearby, the Willamette Trading Post, slowly became more important than Wallace House.
In January 1814, three American workers moved from the new post to Wallace House. Even though they only had six traps, they managed to collect 80 beaver skins. The Wallace House was closed after that season. There are no records of it until 1832. That year, Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth showed it on a map of the Willamette Valley. In the early 1840s, the Methodist Mission in Oregon started building the Oregon Institute near where Wallace House used to be.
