Culture and history

In 1805 and 1806, the North West Company constructed the first two permanent fur trade posts west of the Rocky Mountains. The second, Fort St. James, became the centre of the northern fur trade district, known as New Caledonia. Although today it is restored to a single year in time, 1896, the story you will hear spans about one hundred and forty six years, starting with the arrival of the fur traders and ending in 1952, when the Hudson‘s Bay Company closed shop on the original site.

The years of early contact and the decades of trade between Carrier and the Euro-Canadian newcomers were an era of important changes and adjustments. As you wander among the historic buildings, you will discover that each of them is a cultural treasure. Here you will meet and talk to site interpretive staff in period costume. You will see that Fort St James is a place of many stories, and that the array of events and experiences have had different meanings and implications for different people.