Fort Vermilion - High River AB - Alberta Heritage Markers on Waymarking.com

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Fort Vermilion
The origins of the Fort Vermilion area as a meeting place go back more than 8,000 years when Aboriginal groups began hunting, gathering, and living in the area. The origins of Euro-Canadian settlement in the area can be traced to Charles Boyer, a fur trader with the North West Company. In 1788 he built Boyer's Post near the junction of the Boyer and Peace rivers. Other fur traders quickly followed, not wanting to be left out of the area's rich fur harvest. Trapping remained the principal trade of the area's Aboriginal, Metis, and Euro-Canadian inhabitants until the early 1900s.

Fort Vermilion was established at its present location by 1830. The area already had a name as a centre of agricultural activity supplying other fur trade posts that less favourable growing conditions. Turnips, carrots, and parsnips had been grown at Boyer's Pest, and cereal grains were being grown in the area by the 1820s. In the early 1900s the Canadian government became interested in the area's agricultural potential and in studying the suitability of various crops for northern climates. Experiments were underway by 1907 on the flats of the Peace River at Stoney Point using seeds and plants sent from Ottawa. The Experimental Farm was relocated to an upland location just west of the Fort in 1935. A flood in 1934 had damaged the farm at Stoney Point and the site at the new location had soils more typical of those found on lands being taken up by settlers.

Fort Vermilion gets its name from the deposits of red ochre visible along riverbanks in the area. The Fort shares its 1788 birthday with Fort Chipewyan They are the oldest settlements in Alberta.

Fur Trade Posts
The number of fur trade posts in the Fort Vermilion area reflects the competition between the two main fur trading companies, the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company,and the sometimes difficult time posts had securing enough game and resources survive. The companies amalgamated in 1821 as the Hudson's Bay Company.

Boyer's Post, North West Company, established 1788
Aspin House, North West Company, established 1792
La Fleur's Post (Fort Vermilion I), North West Company, established 1798-9
Mansfield House, Hudson's Bay Company, established 1802
Fort Laird, North West Company, established 1802
Fort Vermilion II, Hudson's Bay Company, established by 1830, from which today's Fort Vermilion evolved

Type of Marker: Cultural Sign Age: New Alberta Tourism Marker Style Parking: Northbound roadside pullout Placement agency: Alberta Historical Resources Foundation

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Date Logged Log User Rating   10/06/2021 Bon Echo visited it 07/10/2014 PeterNoG visited it

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