After living here for 4 years we finally made it to Fort Edmonton Park......it seems every time in the past that we have tried to get there, something happened to cancel the plans!
Well it was definitely worth the wait...whata wonderful place! We had such a fab day. I think we all learnt so much more about Edmontons history and the fur trade....and homesteading......
The actual Fort was fascinating......the courtyard would have been filled with rotting carcasses....the smell must have been so dreadful! There was a huge fur press to one side where the furs would be bundled together into bales for trading......the workers housing was amazing....the married mens quarters would have up to 20 people living in one house...usually three couples and their children....as the children were old enough to climb the stairs they would move into the bedrooms up there.....these quarters for so many people were just one room downstairs that was a kitchen, bedroom and living area in one....
John Rowands house on the other hand, was 8,000 sq ft and housed just himself, his wife and his three younger children.....and the Parson who homeschooled the children.....yet in winter perhaps it would be better to be crowded into the one room with 20 people as it was much warmer than the big house.....John Rowand was the HBC's Chief Factor for almost all of Western Canada.
The glass for the Rowands House was imported from England as there were no glass producers in Canada then. The poorer homes had animal skins for glass!!!
Everything back then was moved across country by river so boat making was important.
