Fort Edmonton Parkin Photos (part 4)

Approaching Fort Edmonton, you can come upon some Cree women baking bannock outside their tepee.

Aboriginal Encampment

Tribesmen would often come to the Fort to trade and bring their entire family with them. They would set up camp outside the walls of the Fort and enter with their furs or other trade items to do business with the Hudson Bay men in the trading post.

The Watchtower

The tallest structure in the Fort Edmonton, it did serve as a lookout post but was more a landmark for folks heading too the fort. This "fort" was hardly a military base for it was run by the Hudson Bay Company. The Company felt the military might be bad for business and pretty much insisted that they be allowed to go it alone. The stockade may have served a defensive purpose if it was needed (a catwalk runs the entire length inside and there are guard boxes on four of the corners) but it was more for show.

The boat shed.

A special boat called a York Boat was designed and built to accommodate the shallow rivers that often became quite turbulent. These boats took the lines of the Viking long ship. They could be constructed at the Fort for use on the Saskatchewan River that ran nearby.

The Rowland House

Enter the main gate and the most imposing structure you see is the Rowland House. Part Inn, part residence (the HBC Factor lived here with his family), part barracks, part administrative offices, the Rowland House served many functions within the Fort.

The watchtower from below.

Several stories high, the legs of the tower were each of one huge timber. A guard house was constructed at the top.

Timber joint on Watchtower

Nails and spikes were pretty scarce articles out west in the early 1800s. Nearly everything would have been held together with wooden pins hammered through tenons. Here you can see some of the intricate wood joinery used to hold the massive timbers together.

#107 arrives at the depot.

We took the steam train back to the future and departed Fort Edmonton.