Saleesh House (Flathead Post, Saleech, Salish, Selish House): NWC, founded 1809, founded by David Thompson. Became HBC post; approximate location, 47°31′22″N115°2′16″W / 47.52278°N 115.03778°W / 47.52278; -115.03778 (Flathead Post).[4][5] Other info: "Saleesh House, 1809-1810?), Thompson Falls. A North West Co. trading post built by David Thompson, located on the north-side of the Clark Fork River nearly opposite the mouth of Prospect (Ashley) Creek." And: "Flathead Post (2), 1823-1847, Eddy. A Hudson's Bay Co. trading post built by Alexander Ross, located east of Thompson Falls on the north-side of the Clark Fork River. Also called Saleesh House (2)."[6]
Spokane House: NWC est. 1810 -> aban. 1821? (superceded de facto by Fort Nez Perces?). At confluence of Spokane and Little Spokane Rivers.
M.p.36: Founded by NWC, Thompson "or others", 1810.
M.p.38-39: July-August, 1811, Thompson travels up Columbia, Snake, and Palouse Rivers, acquires horses and goes overland to Spokane House, "to avoid the long upstream voyage around the Big Bend of the Columbia." And thus "marked out another link in the developing network of routes, an overlandd short cut potentially useful for eastbound parties." aka "Spokane Cutoff. Another trail, "easy" and "previously established" led from Spokane House through the Colville Valley to the Columbia at Kettle Falls.
M.p.41: Map shows "Spokane", "Fort established by N.W.Co."
M.p.51: "[In 1810 the NWC] had built Spokane House on a peninsula at the junction of the Spokane and Little Spokane rivers. It was their farthest outpost in the Columbia country, marking out a claim to a broad rich region between that point and the Rockies."
M.p.53-54: "[Before 1813 takeover of PFC] Spokane was poorly located either as a fur post or a depot within the British scheme [ie, Spokane as the "terminus of a tenuous continental axis"].
M.p.57: Problems after 1813 PFC takeover were "the reverse of Okanogan: a pleasant location but of little strategic value. ...In time Spokane House proved to have little functional value. The immediate area was not rich in furs... THough it became the headquarters and central depot for the interior Columbia posts, it had no water connections with any, and was, according to Ross, "six weeks' travel out of the direct line of some, and more or less inconvenient to all." It was therefore necessary to dispatch large pack trains, yet few horses were available locally... depended upon the Nez Perces for supply." Ross proposed removing the central post to the mouth of the Walla Walla or Snake Rivers, but company employees protested. Spokane House was popular and much enjoyed.
Kootenay (Fort): NWC est. "by 1810". On Kootenay River near today's Libby, MT. Prob. a number of short-lived posts over the years in the general area.
M.p.41: Map shows "Kootenay", "Fort established by N.W.Co."
M.p.55: called "Kootenay Fort". Location "near Libby, Montana".
Montana Forts: "1808-1809, Libby. A North West Co. trading post on the north-side of the Kootenai River opposite town."
Montana Forts: "1811-1812, Jennings. A North West Co. trading post located on the north-side of the Kootenai River opposite the town, near the Libby Dam."
Montana Forts: "1821-1824, 1829-unknown, near Libby. A North West Co. trading post located above the Kootenai Falls at the mouth of Rainey Creek. Abandoned, then replaced by a Hudson's Bay Co. post in 1829 on the same site."
History of the Libby, Montana, area: "There were several forts, or posts, built by early traders along the Kootenai River which were small log huts or tents, which served the general trading purpose. These were temporary structures that were frequently moved, and none of these remain today. A warehouse fort was built above Kootenai Falls in the winter of 1808-1809 by Finan McDonald. This was noted by explorer David Thompson in May, 1809, and may have been near Rainy Creek. Two other forts were built near Rainy Creek in 1812 and 1824. Another fort was built by Hudson's Bay Company men in the winter of 1810-1811, on the north side of the Kootenai River one mile downstream of the old town site of Jennings, Montana. Other forts or posts were built by the Northwest Company and the Hudson's Bay Company in the area until 1860."
Thompson River (Kamloops): NWC est. 1812 -> becomes Kamloops. Built across Thompson River from PFC post of She-whaps.
M.p.41: Map shows "Thompson's River", "Fort established by N.W.Co."
M.p.51: "[In 1812] another Astorian party was... erecting She-whaps post on the south bank of the South Thompson River, a locale which had yielded well for them the past winter. The North West Company built a rival post across the river (which became known as Kamloops)."
M.p.54: "[Before 1813 takeover of PFC] They [NWC] was at a serious disadvantage in the Thompson River district, where the most practical orientation was southward to Okanogan [rather than east over Athabasca Pass]."
M.p.55: "The post on the Thompson River at Kamloops in 1812, constructed to meet the Astorian challenge, was midway between their [NWC's] two fields of operation, suggesting the possibility of focusing the Fraser posts southward in the direction of the Columbia drainage. Accordingly, in May 1813, a party left Fort St. James with the idea that if they shouuld find a practicable trail to Kamloops, "we shall, for the future, obtain our yearly supply of goods by that route, and send our returns out that way, to be shipped directly for China..." ...the sale of the American company... merely cut short the incipient extension into the lower Columbia and.. British and American strategic competition, previously confined to the local fur districts."
Fort Nez Percés: NWC est. 1818 -> HBC post. Near mouth of Walla Walla River on Columbia River. Takes over focal point role of Spokane House. HQ for Snake River brigades.
M.p.37: July, 1811, at Snake-Columbia junction Thompson, en route to Astoria, erects pole and note claiming country for NWC/England. Note reads: "Know hereby that this country is claimed by Great Britain as part of its territories, and that the N. W. Company of Merchants from Canada, finding the factory for this people inconvenient for them, do hereby intend to erect a factory in this place for the commerce of the country around. Thompson. Junction of the Shawpatin River [Snake] with the Columbia. July 9, 1811."
M.p.41: Map shows "Nez Perces", "Fort established by N.W.Co."
M.p.61-62: The 1815 decision to supply and export furs via the Columbia for all NWC posts west of the Rockies resulted in a reassessment of operations in the Great Columbia Plain. Donald Mackenzie was placed in charge and after a "reconnaissance of the Nez Perces' country in 1816 he set forth a new scheme of operations for the region. His major suggestion was the abandonment of Spokane... and the erection of a new post in the Walla Walla region. An outcry... forced a delay." Mackenzie continued to work on it and in 1818 his new post was built, Fort Nez Perces. Spokane House, however, was retained. The building party arrived at the mouth of the Walla Walla River on July 11, 1818. The site was barren and bleak, but strategic: "Under the Astorians the lower Walla Walla Valley had been the main rendezvous for parties departing for and arriving from several peripheral districts. The North West Company not only inherited this traffic pattern but had now enlarged its significance by focusing the whole of New Caledonia southward to the Columbia; the intentions of opening up the Snake River country to the southeast would provide added emphasis. Increasing trouble with the Indians necessitated transforming it from an informal rendezvous into a permanent post." It was both the "most hostile" and "most vital" spot on the "whole line of communications,... for all routes converged into the trunk line to the sea. Furthermore, it was a location significant to the Indians themselves as a major meeting and trading ground, and as the site of their first encounter with the whites where Lewis and Clark made an informal treaty of friendship. This was not just another post, therefore, but the key strategic position west of the Rockies." Description of post follows; "the strongest and most complete fort west of the Rocky Mountains".
M.p.63: After Fort Nez Perces built and right of passage secured with Cayuse, "preparations were made for the Snake country expedition, a grand departure from common practice. In September, 1818, Mackenzie left his new base [Fort Nez Perces] at the head of a [large trapping party]... picking up the trail of Hunt and Stuart for the upper Snake country. They spent the winter trapping the southern tributaries of the Snake River. They would establish a main camp, and the men would disperse in small parties... as the beaver were depleted the main camp would be shifted onward... There was virtually no trade with the Indians. The return [to Fort Nez Perces] in July [1819] was triumphant, for the expedition "made up for all deficiencies elsewhere and gave a handsome surplus besides." Such profits won Mackenzie his point and the praise of the Fort George council; it was agreed that the founding of Nez Perces, the opening of this new fur country, and the change in the method of operations were solid accomplishments and that the Snake country expedition should become an annual affair." (which it did)
Fort Astoria: PFC est. 1811 -> NWC takeover 1813, renamed Fort George -> restored to US 1818? New NWC Fort George post built right next to old one?
Fort George: NWC est. 1818 right next to old Astoria/George after old site returned to US control?
M.p.41: Map shows "Astoria (Ft. George)", "Fort established by Astorians".
M.p.52: "[In 1813, with news of the outbreak of war...] Tentative arrangements were made for the 1813-14 season, but when they [Astorians] received news of the impending arrival of a British warship on the Columbia, and when a large party of North West personnel voyaged down the Columbia and encamped adjacent to Astoria in a sort of passive, disorganized siege, the Astorians decided to salvage what they could by selling [entire PFC operation to NWC]. In December, the British sloop arrived, the official British claim to the Oregon country was reaffirmed, and Astoria became "Fort George".[footnote]" Footnote reads: "...rough estimate [of PFC's catch that season]... about 50% obtained from Okanogan and She-whaps, 40% from Spokane and tributary posts, and 10% from the Willamette. ... The decision to sell out to the British involved a complex of circumstances, hinged crucially upon certain personalities, and its interpretation has been a controversial matter among historians..."
M.p.54, footnote: "...Astoria was restored to American title in 1818; the North West Company did build alongside and remained in firm control of the fur trade...".
Fort Okanogan: PFC est. 1811 -> NWC takeover 1813 -> HBC post. At confluence of Okanogan and Columbia Rivers.
M.p.41: Map shows "Okanogan", "Fort established by Astorians".
M.p.50-51: "On August 31 [1811] they [Astorian party led by David Stuart up the Columbia from Astoria] came to the Okanogan and the prospects seemed favorable. The tributary valley appeared to offer an easy avenue into an extensive area to the north, and... the thick woods on the mountain slopes to the west suggested a potential fur district. Moreover they were met by "a great concourse of Indians" who were anxious for them to establish a post, and after some negotiations the Astorians agreed. They selected a site near the point of the peninsula at the confluence of the Okanogan and Columbia, and gathered driftwood to construct a small dwelling. ...The principal objective of this first [Astorian] reconnaissance was thus achieved. The party now split: Alexander Ross remained in charge at Okanogan, one group was sent to explore the upper Okanogan and to winter with the Shuswaps Indians on the Thompson River, while the remainder returned to Astoria to report..."
M.p.56-57: In 1814, now in NWC hands, local furs, promising in 1812, appeared already depleted. An attempt to find either furs or a route to Puget Sound in the mountains to the west (Cascades) failed on both counts. "Nevertheless, as the junction of the New Caledonia trail, the post was necessary, and in the summer of 1816 the establishment was rebuilt about a mile from the original site. Three dwellings, a storehouse, and a trading shop were constructed and enclosed with a stockade of palisades... This transformation from a trading post into a fort was evidence of the growing insecurity of the fur-trade relations with the tribes of the Columbia Plain."
Willamette: PFC est. 1812 -> NWC takeover 1813. On lower Willamette River. Not Willamette Trading Post? See below.
M.p.41: Map shows "Willamette", "Fort established by Astorians".
Oregon Forts: "Fort Champoeg, (Champoeg State Park), 1811-1861?, near Donald. Originally Fort (William) Wallace or Willamette Post of the Pacific Fur Company. Sold in 1813 to the North West Co. Taken over by the Hudson's Bay Co. in 1830 and enlarged and renamed. Also spelled Champooick. A fire and a flood in 1861 destroyed the post and settlement. The history of the post is told at the state park museum. Friends of Historic Champoeg. Nearby is the Willamette Mission State Park."
("Fort") Spokane: PFC est. 1812 -> NWC takeover 1813, never used? Built next to NWC's Spokane House.
The Old Oregon Country, p. 86: "In 1812 Fort Spokane was built by John Clarke, an Astorian. It was located near the North West Company's Spokane House, built two years before."
Land of Giants, p. 98: "[In the summer of 1812] Astorian John Clarke built an American post within a hundred yards of the Canadians' Spokane House... and in the fall dispatched trading brigades to undercut the Nor'Westers among the Kootenays and Flatheads."
M.p.41: Map shows "Spokane", "Fort established by Astorians".
M.p.51: "[The NWC had built Spokane House in 1810, then in 1812] the Astorians set up camp immediately adjacent, called an assembly of Indians to declare their readiness to compete for furs, and dispatched wintering parties to the Coeur d'Alene, Kootenay, and Flathead districts."
She-whaps: PFC est. 1812 -> NWC takeover 1813, never used? Across Thompson River from Kamloops.
M.p.41: Map shows "She-whaps", "Fort established by Astorians".
M.p.51: "[In 1812] another Astorian party was... erecting She-whaps post on the south bank of the South Thompson River, a locale which had yielded well for them the past winter. The North West Company built a rival post across the river (which became known as Kamloops)."
"Kamloops". BC Geographical Names.: "in May 1812, Alexander Ross established a post at "Cumcloups" --the meeting of the waters-- at the junction of the North Thompson and South Thompson rivers. He was representing the Pacific Fur Company; his trade during the ten days of his visit was extensive, and he found himself in the midst of a good beaver country. The previous summer the Pacific Fur Company had sent David Stuart from Astoria to explore the territory lying between the Columbia and Fraser Rivers; ascending the Okanagan to the height of land he reached the South Thompson river, and was compelled to spend the winter with the Shuswap and other Indian tribes in the neighbourhood. His report led to the visit of Alexander Ross. In 1812 the Nor'Westers built a post close to that of the Astorians, whose whole undertaking was acquired in 1813. Eight years later the amalgamation of the Hudson's Bay Company with their rivals led to the establishment of the Company in Kamloops."
Name "She-whaps" used in The Old Oregon Country, p. 86: "...[the Pacific Fur Company built] the trading post of She Whaps at the junction of the branches of the Thompson River..."
Land of Giants, p. 98: "When David Stuart [of the PFC] built Fort Kamloops [in the summer of 1812] on the Thompson River, a party of Nor'Westers promptly moved in beside him..."
There is a link on Secwepemc Cultural Heritage Museum to a Kamloops history site, or within its own site, mentioning the move of one of these two forts after the other was gone. All such details, like the ones you've found, are prerequisites for starting Fort Kamloops - if that's what the article could/should be called, as it's more well-known that way although was not an official name until at least the 1850s (if it ever was).
Clearwater: PFC est. 1812 -> NWC takeover 1813, never used? On Clearwater River "somewhere below Lapwai Creek". Probably never more than a winter camp. AKA Mackenzie's Post.
Land of Giants, p. 98: "[In the summer of 1812] Donald McKenzie [PFC] established a ramshackle post...where the Clearwater runs toward the Snake..."
M.p.41: Map shows "Clearwater (1812-1813)", "Fort established by Astorians".
M.p.51-52: "[In 1812] another Astorian group headed for the Clearwater country, an area as yet well south of British penetrations. A camp was established on the lower Clearwater, but they soon found that the Nez Perces... "spurned the idea of crawling about in search of furs"... They did have large herds of horses, however, and so the Astorians settled in to barter." A footnote says: "On the location of Mackenzie's camp... "Mackenzie's Winter Camp 1812-13"... it was apparently near or below Lapwai Creek [on the Clearwater River]."
Idaho Forts: "Donald MacKenzie's Post, Nez Perce National Historical Park, 1812-1813, Lewiston. Originally a Pacific Fur Co. trading post on the north-side of the Clearwater River, known as Clearwater Post. The North West Company bought out the Americans in 1813 after war broke out."
Fur Trade Posts in Idaho: "MacKenzie's Post...served as a winter shelter. One of the Astorian partners, Donald MacKenzie left Astoria, June 29, 1812, to establish a post on the lower Clearwater in the Nez Perce country. He returned to Astoria, January 13, with news from Montreal that the War of 1812 had broken out, and after made another trip to his Clearwater post (March 31-June 12) to bring out the season's fur catch, the [PFC]... was dissolved as a failure. So MacKenzie's post was abandoned."
Oregon Forts: "1832-1850, Elkton. A British fur trading post on the south (or west) bank of the Umpqua River, also known as (Thomas or Desportes) McKay's Fort. It was later acquired by the Hudson's Bay Co. and moved five times, although remaining in the same general area. The last location was opposite the mouth of Elk Creek. A reconstruction of the stockaded post is planned in the near future."
Kootenay Post (HBC)
Montana Forts: "1846-1860, Rexford. A Hudson's Bay Co. post also called Fort Kootenai, and also (John) Linklater's Post after 1852. Located either on the west-side of the Kootenai River at the mouth of Young Creek, or on the east-side at the mouth of the Tobacco River. After the 49th Parallel survey, the post moved north to Canada (near Roosville, BC) and was eventually replaced by Fort Steele, British Columbia."
British Columbia Forts: "1860-unknown, near Roosville. A Hudson's Bay Co. post that had to move across the newly surveyed international boundary from Montana. Also known as John Linklater's Post. Following the discovery of gold in Wild Horse Creek, the post was moved to Joseph's Prairie. Replaced by Fort Steele a few years later."
Thwaites, Reuben Gold (2007) [1904]. Early Western Travels, 1748-1846. Reprint Services Corporation. pp. pp. 201-202, 230–231. ISBN9780781264549. ((cite book)): |pages= has extra text (help) online at Google Books
ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT FORT BONNEVILLE: "The Fort Bonneville Site (48SU29) is an historic period settlement established in 1832 by Captain Benjamin Louis E. de Bonneville on the banks of the Green River in present-day Sublette County, Wyoming. The site occupies a dry terrace of the Green River just above its confluence with Prairie Creek, five miles above the Green's confluence with Horse Creek. Fort Bonneville, sometimes called Fort Nonsense due to the severe winters noted for the site environs, was intermittently occupied from 1832 to 1836. Ft. Bonneville is the first historic period building locale known for Wyoming and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places."
National Register of Historic Places, link at Upper Green River Rendezvous Site: 4 miles west of Pinedale, Wyoming on U.S. 187. ... "The Upper Green River Rendezvous were held in various places near Daniel, Wyoming from 1825 to 1840. The area they encompassed was river grassland from 15 to 20 miles long and from one to five miles wide. Five of the fifteen Rendezvous were held near the junction of Horse Creek and the Green River. ... Of all the rendezvous sites connected with Rocky Mountain fur trade, the most popular was that on the Green River. Of the 15 annual meetings held by the mountain men, 8 were at the Green River site, and 5 of them were held near the junction of Horse Creek and the Green River. ...the rendezvous was a previously established meeting place to which the great supply caravans from St. Louis brought trade goods which were exchanged for furs... The first rendezvous was held in 1825 and the last in 1840."
Beavers, nwcouncil.org: "Around 1820, shortly after the 1818 [10 year extension of "Joint Occupation"], the began to implement a policy to strengthen its economic power in the Northwest by exterminating fur-bearing animals, particularly beaver, south and east of the Columbia River. “It was a conscious policy of destruction designed to forestall U.S. competition,” historian Robert Bunting wrote." --Perhaps the "South Brigades" were similar to the Snake country expeditions, deliberately trapping as unsustainably as possible, creating "fur deserts". ...continued quote: "In 1825, the company ordered its Columbia Department to concentrate its fur trapping south of the Columbia River. This new policy had the desired effect. That same year, botanist David Douglas noted the scarcity of beavers in an area of the Willamette Valley where they once had been numerous."
Euro-American Presence in the Mid-Willamette Valley, 1811-1844: "Among the earliest were the Astorians, the American fur traders who established several sub-posts in the Willamette Valley during the period 1811 to 1813. Wallace House, one of these sub-posts, was located to the north of present day Corvallis on the Willamette River near what is today the site of the city of Salem. Between 1818 and 1821, the Canadian North West Fur Company, the company that displaced the Astorians, sent its traders into this region and further south." ... "Between the years of 1825 and 1843, the Hudson's Bay Company sent fur brigades almost annually from the Columbia River region to California." ... "the most important route used by these brigades was a north-south route on the west side of the Willamette River that became known as the Hudson's Bay Company Pack Trail or the Oregon-California Pack Trail." (some trail description follows).
Mountain Men and Fur Traders of the Far West; pp.116-117: [HBC early Fort Vancouver era] "To the south of the Columbia the lush Willamette Valley was the route to rich beaver sources in the Coast Range, the Cascades, through the Cascade passes to the high interior country, and up the Willamette, across its upper divides to the tree-lined valleys of the Umpqua and Klamath rivers. By the 1830s the trapping parties were spilling over the Siskiyous to streams infested with beaver in the watersheds of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers..."
Slavorossiya (Glory of Russia, Novarassi, Slavarassi, Yakutat Colony, Yukutat Settlement, New Russia Archaeological Site): Founded 1795 on Yakutat Bay, on Phipps Peninsula. Established to offer a more stable base for Russian settlement and colonization than the existing fur trading posts; and as a link between the fur trading center of Kodiak to the north and the rapidly southward-moving sea otter population pursued by the Russians. In 1805, Tlingits, who had used the area for otter hunting, attacked and destroyed the stockade. According to a Russian hunter, they left "not one log...standing on another." This pivotal event postponed European intrusion in the region and helped keep it open for later American traders and explorers.; reportedly consisted of 7 buildings within a stockade and 5 outside; 59°33′0″N139°48′0″W / 59.55000°N 139.80000°W / 59.55000; -139.80000 (Slavorossiya).[22][23][24][25]
M = Meinig, D.W. (1995) [1968]. The Great Columbia Plain (Weyerhaeuser Environmental Classic edition ed.). University of Washington Press. ISBN0-295-97485-0. ((cite book)): |edition= has extra text (help)