Culture and history

Born in 1770, Jasper was uprooted from his Maryland home during the American Revolution. His parents, United Empire Loyalists, joined a migration of people leaving the United States in order to maintain their loyalty to the British Crown.

Jasper remained with his parents in Sorel, Québec until, at the age of 25, he travelled to Montréal and entered the service of Mr. Canavan and Mr. Cazelet, affiliates of the North West Company. Hired as a middleman, Jasper's first job with the North West Company was to sit anywhere between the bow and stern of the boat (hence the name middleman) and paddle from Montréal to Fort William and then on to Red River for the winter. There, he learned the fur trade business and delivered goods to outlying trading posts.

From 1797 to 1802, Jasper remained in the service of the North West Company plying the waters of the Missouri. By 1804, he had worked his way west into the Athabasca River District (now Alberta). In 1815, after 20 years of service, Jasper was appointed manager of a post. His name became associated with the post and with the town and park that followed.

Gateway to the West

In 1813, the North West Company built Rocky Mountain Portage House on Brûlé Lake as a provision depot for brigades crossing the Athabasca Pass to the Pacific. When Jasper Haws took command of the post in 1815, it became known as “Jasper's House,” to avoid confusion with Rocky Mountain House on the North Saskatchewan River. Under the trained eye of Jasper Haws, the post became the centre of a modest and diverse community responsible for meeting transportation and supply needs, caring for horses grazing in the valley, and trading goods for meat and furs with Aboriginal groups, including Iroquois and Métis peoples.

Jasper married an Iroquois woman and fathered no less than five children - three boys and at least two girls. He remained at Jasper House until 1821. When the North West Company was forced to amalgamate with the Hudson's Bay Company, he was suddenly without work. Leaving his wife and daughters with family, Jasper returned with his sons to Québec. They homesteaded in Hinchinbrooke, Québec until his death in 1855. Haws Creek in the Châteauguay Valley still bears his name today.