Fort Kilmaurs (Fort Babine)

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Fort Kilmaurs, Fort Babine
Fort Kilmaurs, also known as Fort Babine, was built on Babine Lake about 1822 and moved along the shore in 1836. It is directly east of Smithers, British Columbia. In October of 1822 Hudson’s Bay Company Trader William Brown 1 cleared the portage between Stuart and Babine Lakes landed on present day Old Fort as the location for the HBC post in ‘Babine Country’. Brown was new to the region west of the Rocky Mountains, having served most of his career on the plains to the east. Only a few of the early records from Fort Kilmaurs remain, but these are filled with Brown’s observations about the Babine people, the trade networks, and the country as it appeared to him in the early 1820s. Brown describes the location of Fort Kilmaurs as: Our Establishment is about eighty miles from the Portage, and thirty five from the River below—Situated on the North shore of a Large Bay, which stretches for a considerable distance to the North West—A small river falls into the head of this Bay, where those Indians who do not hunt in the spring resort to work the Carp—The Salmon mount this River in considerable numbers, but they have not been wrought there for these several years— Although the Hudson’s Bay Company had high hopes for the fur returns that they would receive by expanding into this region, they were largely disappointed in their initial profits. The problem was two-fold. First, Brown was forced to trade a large amount of salmon that was then sent to the other posts in New Caledonia, such as Fort Fraser and Fort St. James. The Babine had a much more consistent supply of salmon than the areas where these other posts were located so Brown was forced to trade a lot of salmon to supply the other posts. This meant that the Babine could get the things they needed without giving up any of their furs. Brown’s second problem was the very strong trade relations that the Babine had with the Wet’suwet’en and the Gitksan. Through these connections they had access to European goods that were being traded along the coast. Because these goods were brought to the coast on ships, they were traded at a far lower rate than the goods the HBC was trading. The HBC supplies had to be carried in canoes and by men and dogs all the way from Hudson Bay meaning that they cost more by the time they got to Babine Lake. Basically, Brown was being out traded by old trade

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Fort Kilmaurs was named after the home county of the Scottish Fur Trader William Brown. After entering the HBC in 1811, William Brown (1789-1827) served in both the Churchill district and Deer Lake before returning to Europe for two years in 1815. In 1817, he returned to North America, working his way up through the ranks while serving at Halkett House, Williams House, Big Point House, Fort Dauphine, Fort Resolution and Fort Wedderburn and became actively involved in the HBC-NWC dispute. In 1821 at the amalgamation of the HBC and NWC, Brown was appointed to the New Caledonia district and in October 1822, he built Fort Kilmaurs, later called Fort Babine. He stayed in the area generally keeping the journals until 1826 and, from 1824, jointly ran the New Caledonia district with William Connolly. He was to explore the country in 1825, but illness and the unsettled nature of the local people prevented him from doing so. That year, he was on crutches and the rheumatism in his right arm was so bad that he could barely write. In 1826 because of his deteriorating state, he was granted leave of absence in Europe and died the following year. William Brown had a wife, but she has not been traced.

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networks that also carried eulachon oil and seaweed inland, and berries and furs to the coast.

Edited and Compiled by Lawrence Barkwell Coordinator of Metis Heritage and History Research Louis Riel Institute

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