We usually avoid ye olde historical towns, but Fort Langley is not far out of Vancouver on our route east so we stopped in, and we're happy we did. Fort Langley is where the Hudson Bay Trading Company set up a trading station with the local First Nation people ( not referred to as indigenous here). They soon realised the trade in salmon was more profitable than the trade in fur so adapted their plans and seemed to live respectfully amongst the locals. That was until gold prospectors arrived who apparently could not care less about the land or its people and were soon at war. My understanding is that in part, British Colombia was founded at Fort Langley in 1858 as a way of establishing British rule of law (and possibly undercutting any rights of the Trading Company to resources) in what had become a pretty lawless region during the Fraser River goldrush.
The site is really well set up, particularly for children who receive a booklet on entry with activities to complete around the fort. There is an embossing press at each activity so children can collect stamps each time they complete a task. Ruby loved it and afterwards was able to explain why the fort was built, what was traded and with whom and had a go at making a barrel, some blacksmithing, bale carrying, animal feeding and panning for gold......or at least some gold painted stones.
No comments:
Post a Comment