Fort George & Buckingham House, 1792 - 1800
Posted by: 
yellowmojo
N 53° 52.589 W 110° 53.792
12U E 506802 N 5969783
A sign south of Elk Point, Ab on Hwy 41
Waymark Code: WMC778
Location: Alberta, Canada
Date Posted: 08/03/2011
Views: 20
Over 200 years ago, two fur trade rivals brought their competition for furs westward into what is now Alberta. In 1792 the Montreal-based North West Company and the London-based Hudson's Bay Company built competing posts on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River near present day Elk Point.
The North West Company arrived in the fall and started to build Fort George. Unwilling to let its rival gain the upper hand, the Hudson's Bay Company arrived soon after and began constructing Buckingham House less than 100 meters away. The two posts shared a well.
Known as Fort des Prairies, they were both fur trading posts trading beaver and other valuable furs from the woodlands to the north, and provisioning posts. Provisioning posts produced the pemmican that fuelled the men powering the canoe and boat brigades that carried trade goods up and furs down the North Saskatchewan. Pemmican was made from meat gathered by post hunters, or buffalo hunted by Natives on the grasslands to the south and brought to the forts for trade. The meat was fried and pounded to a powder, then mixed with dried berries.
For eight years the posts traded metal goods, textiles, arms and ammunition, rum and tobacco in return for furs and provisions brought by Cree, Assiniboine, and other Aboriginal nations who came to trade. By 1795, the beaver in the surrounding are had been largely trapped out. The companies moved further west, building new posts where the beaver was still plentiful. By the spring of 1800, Fort George and Buckingham House had been completely abandoned.
To learn more, visit Fort George and Buckingham House Provincial Historic Site, located 13 km east of Elk Point off Provincial Hwy 646.
Type of Marker: Geographical / Natural History
Sign Age: New Alberta Tourism Marker Style
Parking: road side pull out off the Hwy
Placement agency: Alberta Tourism
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