A
Short Pictorial History On Upper Ft. Garry
his is a short pictorial history on the most important
fort in the development of Western
Canada. Sadly, all that
remains of this magnificent fort is the North Gate. This gate is conveniently
tucked away just off the corner of Broadway Avenue and Main Street. When viewing this small but significant artifact of Manitoba history, it is difficult to imagine how impressive
this fort really was.
Upper Fort Garry was the last of five forts, known to have been built in
this general vicinity. The other forts included: Fort Rouge (circa 1736), Fort Gibraltar (circa 1806), Fort Douglas (circa 1815) and the original Fort Garry (circa 1821).
After the flood of 1826 when the original
Fort Garry was demolished, Govenor George Simpson (later to be Governor of
Ruperts Land), for politcal reasons, decided to rebuild the fort downstream and
in 1831 built Lower Fort Garry at its present location near Selkirk, Manitoba.
The move was unpopular because the majority of trade was already established at
"the forks" and it required at least a day's journey to Lower Fort
Garry. So the Hudson's Bay Company decided to return to the forks, which
was the centre of trade and built a second fort. This new fort built in 1835,
was named Upper Fort Garry to distinguish it from Lower Fort Garry. With its
four large bastions and formidable 15 foot high stone walls its presence was
meant to demonstrate the Company's dominant role in the area. Both forts were
named after Nicholas Garry, an important director of the Hudson's Bay Company, who assisted in the amalgamation of
the HBC and the North West Company.
This view shows the south end, the original part of
the fort as seen from across the Assiniboine River. This photograph (circa 1878) probably the most
famous one of Upper Fort Garry, gives a good indication of how impressive this
structure was. Among the buildings enclosed by the fort were the barracks,
officers quarters, Chief Factors residence, general store, fur store,
Governor's residence and pemmican store. The building in the far right of the
photograph, just outside the south wall is the liquor store.
By 1853, the fort was proving to be too small
for the increasing trade and it was extended to the north. It was decided to
forgo the expense of stone in favour of wooden walls made of two rows of
squared oak logs filled with dirt. The North Gate, the only original remnant of
the fort that has survived, had parts of it's wooden walls restored about 20
years ago.
The traffic between the two forts was
considerable. To traverse this trail, the ox carts would travel 20 side by
side, rather than in a long single file. This was to distribute the weight of
the carts and avoid very deep ruts which was a problem with the soft earth of
the area. This left a wide road of about 120 feet. As the city of Winnipeg developed, this trail known then as Garry Street would eventually be paved over, maintaining its
original width. Of course we know it better as Main Street. http://www.lpgallery.mb.ca/fort_garry/
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The Stone Fort, as it is
known, was built during the 1830s
by the Hudson's Bay Company. They had already built a fort at the
forks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers in 1822, but spring flooding was such a problem
that the company looked for a better location down river. It turned out to be
a mistake, because the other site was much better (except for the floods!),
so in 1836 the HBC went back to the forks and did most of their business out
of Upper Fort Garry. The upper fort was a victim of its own success - as the
town grew up around it the fort was engulfed, and eventually obliterated, by
what is now Winnipeg.
Meanwhile the lower fort
was used for a variety of things.
Its main purpose was as a supply depot for the Red River settlement and the surrounding Indian and Métis population. The post
traded essential manufactured goods to the farmers and hunters for produce
that was in turn used for provisioning company treks into the north. The fort
included several industrial buildings, such as a flour mill, sawmill, forge,
and a brewery.
Every now and then there
was a crisis that called for
military action, and Lower Fort Garry was the obvious choice for a base of
operations. In the 1840s, British troops were sent to the fort when a dispute
erupted with the Americans over the boundary between Oregon and what is now British Columbia. When the Red River Rebellion broke out in 1870,
Louis Riel occupied Upper Fort Garry, and the Canadian militia took the lower
fort. Many of the NWMP of 1873-74 had been there already during the rebellion
in 1870, including Inspector
James MacLeod, who had met his fiancée, Mary Drever at Lower Fort Garry
on the previous trip.
The first contingent of
Mounties arrived in Lower Fort
Garry on the 22nd of October 1873, and on the 3rd of
November they were sworn in and commenced training. The bitter winter was
spent drilling and learning to ride - a difficult thing to do in sub-zero
temperatures! The parade ground was frozen as hard as concrete, and was
pretty unforgiving when a recruit was unexpectedly pitched from his horse. By
the following June they were caught up in preparations for the arrival of Commissioner
French and the other divisions, and headed out to meet them at Fort
Dufferin. The fort was turned over once again to the militia.
The fort is now one of Parks Canada's
flagship historic sites, but over the years it has also been a penitentiary,
and insane asylum, a HBC residence and a country club. The HBC owned the fort
until 1951, when it was given to the federal government.
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