Museums 101: The Fort Vancouver Fur Warehouse (photo diary)

by Ojibwa for Museums

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Monday, Apr. 20, 2020 Monday, Apr. 20, 2020 at 7:32:34am PDT

The Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) was given a royal charter by the British Crown in 1670 which provided it with a trading monopoly over a vast domain in Canada. By the nineteenth Century, HBC had extended its empire into the Pacific Northwest. In 1825, HBC established Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River as the administrative center and principal supply depot of the Columbia Department, an area of about 700,000 square miles. Fort Vancouver has been part of the National Park System since 1948.

Fort Vancouver existed to provide a profit for Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) investors in London. The large warehouse was stocked with furs which could be shipped back to London for sale and the goods which were to be traded to the Indians for the furs. The warehouse also stocked supplies for the fur brigades (trappers employed by HBC) and trade goods for non-Indian settlers in the area.

According to the Park Service brochure:

“Most Indians were shrewd traders, so trade goods were carefully chosen. Almost all trade items were imported from or through Britain, so there was a two-year lapse between ordering and receiving.”