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Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 4
by George Ingram Lower Fort Garry Comes of AgeToward the end of the 1860s or in the early 1870s, H. M. Robinson described the industrial activities at Lower Fort Garry at what must have been the peak of their development: Outside the walls of the fort, but belonging to it, is situated a miniature village of many and varied industries. In neat dwellings reside the heads of the different departments of what may be termed the outdoor businesses of the company. Here dwells the chief engineer of all the steam power in use upon its ships, boats, mills, etc. Here also lives the farmer who directs the cultivation of the immense agricultural farm connected with the fort; the herdsman, who superintends the rearing and care of the droves of cattle, horses and other stock of the corporation; the miller in charge of the milling interests; the shipwright, who directs the building, launching and refitting of the company's fleet. In the rear of these dwellings are mess-rooms for the accommodation of the workmen and the residences of the different overseers. Separate a little stand the flouring-mills, brewery, ship-yards, machine shops, etc., all supplied with the latest labor-saving machinery. Scattered along the bank of the river lie moored or drawn up on the beach the miniature navy of the company; here a lake steamer, there river steamboats, then schooners, yachts and a whole school of whale boats, with one mast, unstepped at will, and of three and a half tons burden, used in the freighting service, and requiring nine men as crew. Drawn upon the beach lie birch-bark canoes of all sizes and conditions, from the little one of a single passenger capacity to the long dispatch boat requiring thirteen navigators. The steam vessels are mostly manned by Americans; the sailing craft by the Orkney servants of the company, and the whaleboats by the native halfbreeds. The birch-bark canoe is the Indians' buggy. One or two steam-tugs whistle and puff rapidly up and down the stream, towing rafts of lumber, boats laden with limestone, fire wood, etc. The remaining surroundings of the fort are made up of a well kept vegetable garden, extensive stock corrals and a large farm under perfect cultivation.>1 It had taken over three decades for Lower Fort Garry to achieve the stage in its development which Robinson described, and after about two decades of bustling activity (the late 1850s through to the 1870s) it declined rapidly. Most of the industrial buildings had been sold off by the middle 1880s. When Governor George Simpson began to build Lower Fort Garry in 1830-31, he planned to make it the centre of the Company's activities in the Red River district to replace the fort which had formerly stood at the forks of the Red and the Assiniboine. Almost as soon as it was finished, however, even he realized that its remoteness from the centre of the settlement and from the busy forks made it less than an ideal location for the head post of the district. Another fort, Upper Fort Garry, was built at the forks, and by the end of the 1830s, it, instead of the lower fort, was firmly established as the centre for the district. The chief factor for Red River resided there while the lower fort was placed in charge of a clerk under the jurisdiction of Upper Fort Garry. The change in policy left the Company with a post which served no obvious important function in spite of its attractive residence and substantial storehouses. For a decade it served a residual function, receiving the overflow from the upper fort, and providing a residence for visitors to the settlement for whom the Company was the host. Sir George Simpson preferred to stay there on his many visits to the settlement because of its remote location. It is probably for this reason that some of the meetings of the Council of the Northern Department were held there in the early years. Its storehouses were probably used for the storage of goods coming down from York Factory for which there was no room at the upper fort, and of provisions bought by the Company in the lower settlement. Its fur-trading store served only the immediate area. Lower Fort Garry's relatively small role in the actual trade of furs contributed toward making it an important post in the provisioning of the Company. When it was decided to build a brewery and distillery in 1845, the lower fort was selected for the location of the new industry because of its remoteness from the centre of the settlement and yet relative proximity to the Company's activities there. Upper Fort Garry, enmeshed in the fur trade, would have been hampered by the presence of the distillery and the activities connected with it. By this time the storehouses of the lower fort were used to keep the many bushels of wheat and other agricultural products which the Company bought each year from the settlers to provision the trade. Again it was a more logical place to store the produce as the Company's stores at the upper fort would be filled with furs and trading goods. Thus by the mid 1850s a definite division of function was developing for the Company's two posts in the Red River. Upper Fort Garry was the head post of the district concerned mainly with administration and the conduct of the fur trade; Lower Fort Garry was becoming more important in the provisioning of the trade.2 However, the division was by no means cut and dried — some trade items were stored at the lower fort and some produce kept at the upper fort. At the same time, Lower Fort Garry was developing as an important link in the transportation system of the Company. Men for the difficult brigade to York Factory and for the trip to Athabaska were recruited by the clerk in charge of the lower fort among the nearby settlers. This function increased in importance as the settlement about the lower fort grew in size. The lower fort's activities in provisioning and transportation increased at the end of the 1850s when the change was made from the York Factory to the St. Paul route for supplying the interior; and the change made the division in function between the upper and lower forts more distinct. The trade goods were now brought in from the south and most of them were stored at the upper fort; the produce from the settlement would be bought and stored at the lower fort. When the Company decided in 1857 to establish a farm, Lower Fort Garry was the logical location, as it had always been the main provision centre for the Company in the Red River. Also it did not play an important role in the trade of furs which would be hampered by the activities of the farm. The fort's role in transportation was increased by keeping oxen there or at the lower fort's satellite stations, such as Netley Creek or Oak Point. Ladings for the brigades would be made up by taking provisions from the lower fort and trading goods from the upper fort. For instance, the cart brigade for Saskatchewan left from the upper fort. Oxen were sent up from the lower fort to be harnessed to carts most of which were apparently kept at the upper fort. Provisions would be taken up at the same time completing the ladings which had been partially filled by the trade goods already there. On the other hand, the boats for the Saskatchewan brigade left from the lower fort. The trip men would be assembled there having been hired by the clerk at the fort. The required provisions would be loaded from the fort's stores, and trade goods from the upper fort added to the load. The bills of lading came down from the upper fort, signifying that post's role as the administrative centre of the district. The division of function necessitated daily intercourse between the two posts. Carts, boats or sleighs, depending on the season, carried goods back and forth constantly; in the 1860s letters were written daily by William Mactavish, the factor at Upper Fort Garry, giving instructions to the clerk in charge of the lower fort. Lower Fort Garry's function had been virtually decided by the early 1860s and gradually over the next decade the various components were added to make up the busy scene which Robinson described. A grist mill and sawmill were built at the creek south of the fort in 1865-66 to complement the distillery, malt house and storehouse there since 1845-46. A blacksmith's forge and later a building housing a lathe were located between the creek and the fort. A men's house or barracks next to the forge accommodated the Company's many workmen. North of the fort were located the Company's stables, byres, and stockyards. Various other farm buildings were scattered about the fort area and across the road were the long, cultivated fields. These extensive facilities made the lower fort a logical place for the repair and building of boats and the Company's ships. No wonder Robinson was impressed with the busy scene at the lower fort!
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