Fort Pelly was a

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...

fur trading The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most ...

post Post or POST commonly refers to: *Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal service **Iraqi Post, Ira ...

located in the Canadian province of

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

. The fort was named after Sir John Pelly, governor of the Hudson's Bay Company. The current village of

Pelly, Saskatchewan Pelly ( 2016 population: ) is a village in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to th ...

, takes its name from the fort, and is located approximately 8 miles north of the site of the fort.

The first fort

Before Fort Pelly was built there was a Fort Hibernia in the general area. The first Fort Pelly, at , was constructed by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1824, in the northeast corner of the elbow of the

Assiniboine River The Assiniboine River (''; french: Rivière Assiniboine'') is a river that runs through the prairies of Western Canada in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. It is a tributary of the Red River. The Assiniboine is a typical meandering river with a sing ...

. It was situated at a convenient portage point between the Assiniboine and Swan Rivers. Since the upper Assiniboine is shallow and crooked the area was most easily reached from the Swan River. The route was Lake Winnipegosis - Swan River - Snake Creek - Miry Creek - portage to the Assiboine River. It was the administrative centre of the Hudson's Bay Company's Swan River District. Fort Pelly consisted of a dwelling house, and Indian house, several staff houses, a store, and stables, all enclosed within a square palisade, 120 feet a side. Its first chief trader was Alan McDonell, who had selected the site and oversaw construction. The fort traded with Cree and Salteaux Natives from the surrounding area, along with recruiting employees from both nations. Tolmie, William Fraser. ''The journals of William Fraser Tolmie, physician and fur trader.'' Vancouver, B.C.: Mitchell. 1963, p. 340 In 1841 Fort Pelly had four employees, along with their Métis families. The first fort was destroyed by fire in the winter of 1842 and rebuilt immediately by chief trader Cuthbert Cumming. In 1849

Thomas McKay Thomas McKay (1 September 1792 – 9 October 1855) was a Canadian businessman who was one of the founders of the city of Ottawa, Ontario. Biography McKay was born in Perth, Scotland and became a skilled stonemason. He emigrated to the C ...

, who would become first mayor of Prince Albert and a prominent territorial politician, was born at Fort Pelly.

The second fort

Fort Pelly was moved to in 1856. This move, to approximately one quarter mile southeast of the original position, was due to problems with occasional flooding at the old location. The old fort was however still used in some capacity until at least 1859. On July 15, 1870, the Hudson's Bay Company surrendered its lands to Canada, while retaining its posts and some land immediately surrounding them. The fort was now located on block 17 of the Fort Pelly Reserve. Around 1871

Fort Ellice Fort Ellice was a Hudson's Bay Company trading post operated from 1794 to 1892. First established on the Qu'Appelle River, the post was rebuilt in 1817 on the south bank of the Assiniboine. Another iteration of the post was built near the first i ...

succeeded Fort Pelly as district headquarters. In 1909 the

Canadian Northern Railway The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was a historic Canadian transcontinental railway. At its 1923 merger into the Canadian National Railway , the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonton. Man ...

was built 6 miles north of Fort Pelly, and trade at the fort all but ceased, and it was abandoned in June, 1912.

Current status

During the summers of 1971 and 1972, the former fort sites were excavated by the Saskatchewan Museum of Natural History, at which time all known buildings were located, and 7,000 objects were recovered. The first Fort Pelly site was designated a Historic Site by the Province of

in 1986 and is operated by the Saskatchewan Parks Service. The site of the second fort was purchased by the Fort Pelly Historical Society and was designated a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being ...

in 1953.

References

External links

''History coming alive : R.M. of St. Philips, Pelly and district'', Volume 1
St. Philips / Pelly History Book Committee, 1988. {{Authority control Hudson's Bay Company forts National Historic Sites in Saskatchewan St. Philips No. 301, Saskatchewan Forts or trading posts on the National Historic Sites of Canada register Canadian Register of Historic Places in Saskatchewan Fur trade National Historic Sites of Canada Division No. 9, Saskatchewan