Fort Gibraltar was founded in 1809 by Alexander Macdonell of Greenfield of the

North West Company The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what is present-day Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario. With great weal ...

in present-day

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, Canada. It was located at the confluence of the Red and

Assiniboine The Assiniboine or Assiniboin people ( when singular, Assiniboines / Assiniboins when plural; Ojibwe: ''Asiniibwaan'', "stone Sioux"; also in plural Assiniboine or Assiniboin), also known as the Hohe and known by the endonym Nakota (or Nakod ...

rivers in or near the area now known as The Forks in the city of

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

. Fort Gibraltar was renamed

Fort Garry Fort Garry, also known as Upper Fort Garry, was a Hudson's Bay Company trading post at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers in what is now downtown Winnipeg. It was established in 1822 on or near the site of the North West Company' ...

after the merger of North West Company and the

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 ...

in 1821, and became Upper Fort Garry in 1835.

History

In the early 19th century fur-trading was the main industry of

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

. Two companies had an intense competition over the trade. The first, the

, was a London, England-based organization. The second, the

, was based in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

. Hudson's Bay Company was distinctly

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

in its culture and flavour while the North West Company was a mix of French, Scottish and First Nations cultures. The

voyageurs The voyageurs (; ) were 18th and 19th century French Canadians who engaged in the transporting of furs via canoe during the peak of the North American fur trade. The emblematic meaning of the term applies to places (New France, including th ...

of the North West Company were a highly mobile group of fur traders. They established temporary encampments in the forks region that later became Winnipeg. In 1809 the North West Company built Fort Gibraltar. About half a mile north the Selkirk settlers and HBC employees built Fort Douglas which was started in 1813 and completed in 1815. There were many conflicts between the mostly Scottish employees of the HBC and the NWC employees, who were mostly French-Canadians and Métis.(see

Pemmican War The Pemmican War was a series of armed confrontations during the North American fur trade between the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) and the North West Company (NWC) in the years following the establishment of the Red River Colony in 1812 by Lord Se ...

) On March 17, 1816, Fort Gibraltar was captured and destroyed by Robert Semple, new Governor of the

Red River Colony The Red River Colony (or Selkirk Settlement), also known as Assinboia, was a colonization project set up in 1811 by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, on of land in British North America. This land was granted to Douglas by the Hudson's Bay ...

. The action was ruled illegal by British authorities and the North West Company was given permission to rebuild the fort in 1817. On March 26, 1821, the North West Company was merged with its rival under the name of the Hudson's Bay Company. The site of the fort was designated a National Historic Site in 1924 as part of the " Forts Rouge, Garry, and Gibraltar National Historic Site of Canada".

Chronology of Fort Gibraltar

* 1809: The

builds Fort Gibraltar * 1816: Fort Gibraltar is captured and destroyed by the

* 1817: Fort Gibraltar is rebuilt by the North West Company * 1821: The North West Company merges with

– Fort Gibraltar continues its operations under the Hudson's Bay Company standard * 1822: Fort Gibraltar is renamed

* 1835: Fort Garry is rebuilt after being destroyed by the 1826 floodA Short Pictorial History On Upper Ft. Garry
Lincoln Park Gallery website. Retrieved 16 Oct 2010. and the name changed to Upper Fort Garry

Fort Gibraltar Museum

A reconstructed Fort Gibraltar located in Whittier Park in

St. Boniface, Winnipeg St-Boniface (or Saint-Boniface) is a city ward and neighbourhood in Winnipeg. Along with being the centre of the Franco-Manitoban community, it ranks as the largest francophone community in Western Canada. It features such landmarks as the St. B ...

was built in the late 1970s for the

Festival du Voyageur The Festival du Voyageur is an annual 10-day winter festival that takes place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The event is held during each February in Winnipeg's French quarter, Saint-Boniface, and is western Canada's largest winter festival. ...

, the largest winter festival in

. In the summer, the museum operates

living history Living history is an activity that incorporates historical tools, activities and dress into an interactive presentation that seeks to give observers and participants a sense of stepping back in time. Although it does not necessarily seek to ree ...

demonstrations of life in the fur trading post as in 1815. Fort Gibraltar is currently located in Whittier Park at 866 St Joseph Street.

References

External links

Fort Gibraltar official website

Plan of the Settlement on Red River as it was June 1816

The Lord Selkirk Settlement at Red River, Part 2

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North West Company North West Company forts Hudson's Bay Company forts Museums in Winnipeg Living museums in Canada

Saint Boniface, Winnipeg