Fort Calgary | Fort Brisebois | Calgary’s History & Heritage | National Historic Site of Canada | 4K

Описание: Fort Calgary
Etymology: Calgary House, a castle at Calgary Bay on the Isle of Mull, Scotland
Location: 750 9th Avenue SE. Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Coordinates: 51°02′43″N 114°02′44″W
Area: 12 hectares (30 acres)
Built: 1875
Original use: North-West Mounted Police outpost
Demolished: 1914
Current use: Museum, park, social centre
Governing body: Fort Calgary Preservation Society
Owner: City of Calgary
Website: www.fortcalgary.com

Fort Calgary was a North-West Mounted Police outpost at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow rivers in present day Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Originally named Fort Brisebois, after the outpost's first commander, the outpost was renamed Fort Calgary in June 1876.

The outpost was built in 1875 as a part of the force's larger effort to curtail American rum and whisky runners in the region, and to create 'good relations' with the Indigenous peoples of the territory. The fort was designated as a "district post" in 1882, resulting in the fort's expansion. The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) continued to use the fort until 1914, when the site was sold to Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. The fort was demolished to make way for a rail terminal.

The site was later purchased by the municipal government of Calgary in 1973, with work on an interpretive centre taking place in 1977. The site was reopened as a historic site and museum in 1978, with the museum initially documenting the NWMP and its role in the area. The scope of the museum was later reoriented in 1995 to focus on the local history of Calgary. During the 1990s, reconstructions of several buildings that once stood at Fort Calgary took place at the historic site.

Background

The confluence of the Bow and Elbow River, where the fort was built, is on the traditional territory of the Niitsitapi (Blackfoot Confederacy; Siksika, Kainai, Piikani), the îyârhe Nakoda (Chiniki, Bearspaw, Wesley), the Tsuut'ina people and Métis Nation, Region 3, and has been a significant age-old gathering place.


Members of the North-West Mounted Police prepare for the March West from Fort Dufferin, 1874. By the early 1870s, American whisky and rum runners were conducting trade with First Nations in the area. The illegal trade and American incursion prompted the government of Canada to create the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) in 1873 in order to reassert Canadian sovereignty and curtail the whisky trade in the region. By 1874, the NWMP had captured or chased away most of the illegal traders, and had begun work on several forts in area; believing that the lawlessness seen in the settlement of the American west was preventable if law enforcement was in place before settlers arrived into the area. After Fort Macleod was established, whisky traders had moved their operations further away from it. A decision was made to build an NWMP outpost at the midway point between Fort Macleod and Fort Edmonton in June 1875. "F" Troop, commanded by Éphrem-A. Brisebois, was tasked with establishing the outpost at the midway point.

Related landmarks

Fort Calgary is also situated near two landmarks whose history is intertwined with the fort's, the Deane House and Hunt House.

The Deane House was built near Fort Calgary in 1906 for the superintendent of Fort Calgary, Captain Richard Burton Deane. He wrote about the house in his 1916 memoir Mounted Police Life in Canada. The house was originally constructed near 9th Ave and 6th St SE, facing east towards the barracks. Deane felt the previous superintendent's house was not good enough for his wife Martha. Although the budget for the project was $5,000, the total cost was $6,200. In 1914, the house was bought by the Grand Trunk Railway and moved to the southeast corner of the lot to act as an office and station master's house. The house was then purchased by C. L. Jacques in 1929 and moved across the Elbow River, where it stands today. It was used as a boarding house for several decades and was named Jasper Lodge. It was later purchased by Alex Brotherton who renamed the building Gaspé Lodge. Alex Brotherton died in the home in 1968 and the property was sold and proceeds divided among his children (Alfena Cunningham and Patricia Brotherton (Patricia Perkins), whose descendants still live in Calgary.

The Hunt House is the oldest building in Calgary still located on its original site. It was built between 1876 and 1881 for Métis employees of the Hudson's Bay Company located at 8th Street and 9th Avenue SE. The last person to live in the house was William Hunt, a rail worker, who died in the mid 1970s. It became an Alberta Provincial Historic Resource in 1977. The Métis Cabin, thought to have been built around the same time, was moved to the Calgary Brewing and Malting Company grounds in the 1930s and recently has been moved back to its original spot.