The Hudson's Bay Company in the Pacific Northwest

Left-top: HBC flag.  Middle: HBC logo.  Right:  Di, the Roger's family and myself at the Fall Festival.  Top right: HBC flag.  Middle: HBC logo.  Botton-left: Myself and a quick set up HBC camp I did for the Fall Harvest Festival, This Is The Place Heritage Park (2000).

Pictures of living history participants dressed in Hudson's Bay style clothing (cotton, etc.) at an encampment I participated in at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, Vancouver, Washington. (c) John Martinson, 1994.

As the sketches of clothing worn by employees of the Hudson's Bay Company shows on previous page of this website, there was a dramatic  difference in the typical clothing style of the voyageurs/traders compared to the rougher look of the mountain men.   American mountain men and trappers usually wore buckskin.  The HBC Company, with the availability ships from Europe, brought in cotton, wool and fine material to the forts.  Voyaguers were able to wear colorful clothing as presented on this page.   Clothing was an important part of the culture of HBC employees, who were married "in country"  to Native American Indians.   Styles of clothing not only represented their specific cultures such as Scotland, English and French Canada, but also mixed in the influences of the Native American Indians.

HBC voyagers often traveled my large cargo canoes up and down the rivers of North America carrying supplies and furs.  Pictured on the left-right are two pictures of the type of canoe and travel.

Voyageurs were commonly short, strong men who spent hours paddling the large canoes through the river-network of Rupert's land.  Voyageurs, trappers, traders and gentlemen (officers) would leave in the early spring for the trapping and trading routes.   Rough rivers and falls, would have to be portage around, and many voyageurs lost their life on the rivers in the North American hearthlands.

The Columbia Department was responsible for what is today Oregon, Washington, Idaho and British Columbia.  Govenor George Simpson dedicated Fort Vancouver, and employed Dr. John McLouglin as Chief Factor of the Department.     McLouglin assisted numerous Oregon Trail pioneers who arrived at Fort Vancouver in need, and created dissatisfaction with the HBC management in England.  However, from his kindness to the pioneers, McLouglin later received the title: Father of Oregon.   He retired to Oregon City, a scorn man who was disliked because of his connection to England.  However, from his kindness to the pioneers, decades later he was granted the title of "Father of Oregon".

Fort Vancouver.  The HBC Columbia Department Headquarters was located on the north side of the Columbia River (Washington) and named Fort Vancouver.  Today, the National Park Service operates the Historic Site, which consists of reconstructed buildings on their original location that includes the Chief Factor's residence, Kitchen, Wash House, Indian Trade Shop and Dispensary, Blacksmith's Shop, Fur Warehouse, Bastion and Carpenter's Shop.  The buildings are enclosed by a tall timbered fort sytle fence, with appropriate gardens and orchard to the north of the fort.  Originally, fences also enclosed more than 2,500 acres of crops including oats, barley, wheat, peas and garden vegetables that fed the fort's community.  The orchard grew apples, pears, peaches, plums and cherries.  Livestock included horses, cattle, hogs, sheep and goats. Shipping paid an important role at Fort Vancouver.  Ships from England would cross the Columbia River bar bringing supplies and trade goods upriver to the fort..  On their return trip, the ships were loaded with tallow, lumber, salmon, flour, and other produced products from the fort's economy.  This explains why the employees were able to wear fine clothing articles made from cotton and wood, compared to buckskin and fur.

George Simpson

Dr. John McLouglin

Dr. Forbes Barclay

Maria Pambrum Barclay

Pierre Pambrun served as Chief Factor at Fort Walla Walla.  Unfortunately, he had a horse accident and was killed.  As the custom, his wife and children relocated to the department's headquarter's at Fort Vancouver.  In 1840, Dr. Forbes Barclay (born in the Shetland Islands) was hired  as the Doctor at Fort Vancouver.  There he met Maria Pambrun, the daughter of Pierre Pambrun.  They were soon married.   Barclay retired from the Company in 1850, moving to Oregon City with his family.  There he served as a physician, fireman and two terms as Mayor of Oregon City, Oregon.  He and his wife are buried in the Old Cemetery in Oregon City.   His home was relocated next to Dr. McLouglin home, on the National Historic Register, is now a popular tourist site and operated by the National Park Service..       Clerks and officers from the Britsh Isles formed the "gentleman" class, while "engages" made up the major portion of the "lower class" employees.   These men came from North Briton, French and Cree mixed bloods, Canadians and Hawaiians from the Sandwich Islands.   There was a variety of languages used at the fort with a mixture of English, Gaellic, French and Chinook jargon. The Columbia Department was responsible for the following forts that were stragetically placed throughout the department's lands: Fort St. James, Fraser, McLeod, George, Babine, Connolly, Alexandria, Chilcotin, Thompson/Kamloops, Astoria/George, Spokane House, Kootenay House, Flathead House, Fort Okanagan, Nez Perces, Colvile, Langley, Nisqually, Umpqua, Hall, Boise, Victoria, the Cowlitz Farm and a Boat Encampment.  (Source: Thomas Stern. Chiefs & Chief Traders: Indian Relations at Fort Nez Perces, 1818-1855, Vol. 1, 1993, 6.    While serving as a volutneer interpreter at Fort Vancouver, I portrayed both a HBC voyageur and/or Dr. Forbes Barclay during special events and programs.

Fort Vancouver is located at 612 East Reserve Street, Vancouver, WA, 98661-3897.  Telephone: 206-696-7655

Fort Walla Walla.   Most historians believe there were at least six forts named Fort Walla Walla.  One of the first forts (left) was located near  the merging of the Walla Walla River (it  was also known as Fort Nez Perce opertated by Chief Factor, Pierre Pambrun) and the Columbia and Snake Rivers.  It is said that Walla Walla means "merging of rivers". This 1818 view looking east from the from the Columbia River, appeared in Ross, Fur Hunters of the Far West, 1855.   Middle:  This picture is a drawing by Joseph Drayton that was included in Charles Wilkes book, Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition During the Year 1838-1842, Vol 4, 391.   Right:  Today, part of the original property of the last Fort Walla Walla that was operated by the United State Army, has 8 acres dedicated to the Fort Walla Walla Museum Complex.  The rest of the property consist of original buildings of the that make up the Veteran's Hospital, a military cemetery, park and nature/wildlife area.  I served as Executive Director at the Fort Walla Walla Museum from 1995 to 1997. In 1846, the noted artist, Paul Kane also did a sketch of the earliest Fort Walla Walla.  (See J. Russell Harper, Paul Kane's Frontier, Figure 134). In the railroad survey's,  Exploration and Surveys-Mississippi River to Pacific Ocean, 1853-5 (Washington: Thomas H. Ford Printer), Vol 12, No. 1, 1860, is another picture of the early fort.  In Up-to-the-Times Magazine (p., 18) is a picture of the fifth fort  located on MIll Creek, believed to have been torn down in 1880 or 1881.

Links:   Hudson's Bay Company Archives - Manitoba Center for Rupert's Land Studies, University of Winnipeg   Jas. Townsend & Sons, Inc.   *

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