The I.G. Baker company, based in Fort Benton, Montana, played a vital role in the early history of Western Canada. This is a replica of their first Canadian store, in Fort Macleod, Alberta.
In July 1874, the newly-formed and ill-prepared North-West Mounted Police (now the RCMP) began their March West from Winnipeg to suppress the illegal whiskey trade in the Canadian prairies. Their goal was the Fort Whoop-Up whiskey fort, near what is Lethbridge, Alberta today.
When the main body of men reached the expected site of Fort Whoop-Up in September 1874, both men and horses were in dire straits. They discovered that Fort Whoop-Up was not at the confluence of the Bow River and Oldman River, as expected, which dashed any hope of getting supplies from the fort.
Commissioner French decided take a handful of men to the United States for resupply. He went to Fort Benton, Montana. It was at the most northerly end of the Mississippi River that could be reached by steamboat, and received regular shipments from St. Louis. French and the I.G. Baker company in Fort Benton struck a deal for the necessary supplies for the men that he had left behind.
In addition to the badly-needed provisions for the long-suffering men of the NWMP, I.G. Baker & Company ended up supplying the materials needed to build the NWMP's Fort Macleod, Fort Calgary, and Fort Walsh. The company went on to open stores next to these forts which supplied both the NWMP and the settlers and miners who followed in their wake. In 1875, the NWMP at Fort Macleod ordered a sawmill from I.G. Baker to supply their buildings with floorboards and shingles.
In 1891, the Hudson's Bay Company--which was never fond of competition--bought I.G. Baker's Canadian operations.
REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING
Heritage Park: I.G. Baker & Co. Store (
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Heritage Park: North-West Mounted Police Sawmill c. 1880 (
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Galt Museum: I.G. Baker and Company (
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Galt Museum: Fort Benton (
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University of Calgary Digital Collections:
I. G. Baker and Company's store, Fort Macleod, Alberta with new front. [1879 photo] (
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Wikipedia: I.G. Baker Company
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Canada's Historic Places: Fort Calgary Archeological Site [I.G. Baker built Fort Calgary] (
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Wikipedia: George Clift King [left NWMP in 1877 to manage Calgary's I.G. Baker store] (
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University of Calgary Digital Collections: I. G. Baker and Company store, Calgary, Alberta. [Frederic Remington sketch for Harper’s Weekly, 1889] (
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University of Calgary Digital Collections: Group in front of I.G.
Baker store, Calgary, Alberta. [photo of 1875 store] (
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University of Calgary Digital Collections: I.G. Baker and Company store, Stephen Avenue, Calgary, Alberta. [1886 sandstone building, still standing at 102 - and 104 - 8 Ave SE] (
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Canadian Encyclopedia: North-West Mounted Police (
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Wikipedia: March West (
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