The Place:
The oldest continuously occupied Euro-Canadian site in British Columbia, Fort McLeod was first established by the Northwest Company in 1805 as a fur trading post. From 1821 until 1952 the post was operated by the
Hudson's Bay Company, first as a fur trading post and later as a Hudson's Bay Company Store. Founded in 1670, the Hudson's Bay Company is the oldest company in North America.
The community which grew around the Hudson's Bay post remains quite small, with a population just under 100 at present. Adjacent is the McLeod Lake Indian Reserve No. 1, home of an Athabascan Sekani people known as "Tse'Khene" (the people of the rock, in reference to the Rocky Mountains). The population of the reserve is also just under 100.
Stretching along both sides of Highway 97, McLeod Lake consists almost entirely of residences, the only business being the Post Office & General Store. McLeod Lake, the lake, is immediately west of the community. On the west side of the lake is the McLeod Lake Indian Reserve, with residences, the administration offices of the McLeod Lake Indian Band, and a resource centre.
Originally named Trout Lake Fort, it was founded by the explorer and North West Company trader Simon Fraser in 1805 and was for a while known as La Malice Fort, after an employee left in charge during Fraser's absence. It became known soon after as Fort McLeod during the tenure of
Archibald Norman McLeod, who was in charge of the post for many years. The site of the fort was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1953.
From Wiki
Archibald Norman McLeod
Major The Hon. Archibald Norman McLeod (17 March 1772 – after 1837) J.P., was a partner of the North West Company and a political figure in Lower Canada. In 1805, he built Fort Dunvegan. He was a member of the Beaver Club and represented Montreal West in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada from 1810 to 1814. He fought in the War of 1812 as a Major with the Corps of Canadian Voyageurs and the Canadian Voltigeurs. McLeod Lake, British Columbia is named for him.
Born at Kilfinichen, he was the fifth son of Rev. Neil McLeod (1729-1780) M.A., a native of St Kilda, and Margaret MacLean (1737-1789), daughter of Rev. Archibald MacLean (b.1683) M.A., of the MacLeans of Boreray, North Uist...
...Archibald entered the North West Company as a clerk, probably through the interest of one of the partners, Alexander McLeod, some time before 1793, and became a partner in the NWC in 1796. He was stationed in the Lower Fort des Prairies department in 1794-5, and in 1800-1 he was in charge of the Swan River district, wintering at Fort Alexandria, where he kept a journal that survives. From 1802 to 1808, he was working in the Athabasca district. In 1805, he established Fort Dunvegan, named for his family's ancestral home, Dunvegan Castle. He retired from wintering in the wilds in 1809. He was named a justice of the peace for the Western Territories in 1809 and then for Montreal district in 1810. McLeod was an officer in the militia and served during the War of 1812. He did not run for reelection to the assembly in 1814. McLeod was one of the instigators of the Battle of Seven Oaks.
After the merger of the North West Company with the Hudson's Bay Company, he moved to Scotland, settling at Sunnybank, Aberdeenshire. During his time in the western territories, he had married a native woman. McLeod later served as master of the barracks at Belfast until around 1838. He was dead by 1845, when his widow's death is recorded.
From Wiki
Located west of Highway 97 near the community of McLeod Lake in north central British Columbia, the fort has been moved from its original site a short distance west along the lakeshore. The only remaining extant buildings at the fort, a workshop, a house, an icehouse and a warehouse, are all twentieth century buildings, built between 1926 and the early 1940s.
While a National Historic Site, the CNHS plaque for the fort is not at the site of the fort but in front of the McLeod Lake Post Office & General Store on Highway 97, about 620 metres (2,030 feet) to the southeast. The fort itself is at the northwest corner of McLeod Lake, down a short dirt road leading southeast off Carp Lake Road.
McLeod's Lake Post
1805-1952
Established in 1805, McLeod's Lake Post is the longest continually occupied European settlement in British Columbia. Representatives of the Northwest Company, out of Montreal, set up this post in order to take over the Native trade in the northern part of British Columbia. But, the traders did not "take over" so much as add on to the existing trade. Therefore, there was little conflict during the history of this fur trade post.
In 1821, the Hudson's Bay Company and the Northwest Company joined forces under the name Hudson's Bay Company. They operated a store here until 1952. They then moved their store across the lake to the Hart Highway where it stands today.
In 1969 the site came under the management of the Province of British Columbia. At present three buildings date to the 1920s and one to the 1940s. These buildings are more than just a fur trader's residence and work and storage space, they are also a part of the heritage of the Tsek'ehne people. They lived and worked in this area prior to the fur traders' arrival and are still the main group in the area today.
From the plaque at the fort