Brandon House was the first fur-trading post or posts of the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

on the southern prairies, operating from 1793 to 1824 during the

Assiniboine River fur trade Fur trading on the Assiniboine River and the general area west of Lake Winnipeg, in what is now Manitoba, Canada, began as early as 1731. Geography Lake Winnipeg was a major junction for the fur trade routes. See Canadian canoe routes (early). ...

. It was located at several places on the north bank of the

Assiniboine River The Assiniboine River ( ; ) is a long river that runs through the prairies of Western Canada in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. It is a tributary of the Red River. The Assiniboine is a typical meandering river with a single main channel embanked ...

between

Brandon, Manitoba Brandon () is the second-largest city in the province of Manitoba, Canada. It is located in the southwestern corner of the province on the banks of the Assiniboine River, approximately west of the provincial capital, Winnipeg, and east of the ...

, and the mouth of the

Souris River The Souris River (; ) or Mouse River (as it is alternatively known in the U.S., a translation of its French name) is a river in central North America. Approximately in length, it drains about in Canada and the United States. Rising in sout ...

, about 21 miles southeast of Brandon in what is now the Municipality of Glenboro-South Cypress. Because of its location near the Souris River, it was a center for trade with the Mandans in

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

. It was moved four times and there were related forts nearby. The first post was abandoned by 1811 in favour of other nearby sites, including the Brandon House No. 4 site several miles to the northwest.

History

Around 1750, a French missionary lived in the area. Before 1793 there were ill-documented independent traders in the area and perhaps in 1793 a small post was established two miles upstream from the Souris by Ronald Cameron, a clerk to Peter Grant. In the period 1793 to 1811, the

North West Company The North West Company was a Fur trade in Canada, Canadian fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in the regions that later became Western Canada a ...

was then first to arrive followed very shortly by the

. The

XY Company The XY Company, also known as the New North West Company, was a joint-stock fur trading enterprise based in Montreal that conducted business chiefly in the Canadian Northwest between 1798 and 1804.North West Company The North West Company was a Fur trade in Canada, Canadian fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in the regions that later became Western Canada a ...

established the first Fort Assiniboine (not to be confused with

Fort Assiniboine Fort Assiniboine is a hamlet in northwest Alberta, Canada, within Woodlands County. It is located along the north shore of the Athabasca River at the junction of Highway 33 and Highway 661. It is approximately northwest of Barrhead, sou ...

on the Athabasca River). From the first year they traded in buffalo robes with the

Mandan The Mandan () are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains who have lived for centuries primarily in what is now North Dakota. They are enrolled in the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation. About half of the Mandan still ...

villages on the upper Missouri. In 1797, explorer David Thompson passed through on his way to determine the latitude and longitude of the Mandan villages. In 1804, when the NWC absorbed the XY Company, Fort Assiniboine was moved across the river to the site of Fort La Souris#1. In 1806,

Alexander Henry the younger Alexander Henry 'The Younger' (c. 1765 – 22 May 1814), was an early Canadian fur trader, explorer and diarist. From 1799 until his premature death in 1814 he kept an extensive diary which is the most complete record ever printed of the daily ...

passed through. The man in charge was

François-Antoine Larocque François-Antoine Larocque (August 19, 1784 – May 1, 1869) was a Québécois businessman involved in the fur trade. He was born in L'Assomption in 1784, the son of François-Antoine Larocque, and studied at the Collège de Montréal. After ...

who later reached the Yellowstone River. In 1807, the fort was torn down and its parts rafted downstream to

Fort des Épinettes A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

. In 1793, Donald McKay ''le malin'' and John Sutherland of the Hudson's Bay company established Brandon House about 100 yards away from the new NWC post. It was supplied from Fort Albany on James Bay. McKay lived up to his nickname by shooting at Joseph Augé who ran the NWC post. From 1795, they traded with the Mandans. There were usually two trips per year, in October and January. Using dog sleds or horses, they followed the

as far as

Minot, North Dakota Minot ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ward County, North Dakota, United States, in the state's north-central region. It is most widely known for the Air Force base approximately north of the city. With a population of 48,377 at the 2 ...

and then headed southwest across the prairie. The

Assiniboines The Assiniboine or Assiniboin people ( when singular, Assiniboines / Assiniboins when plural; Ojibwe: ''Asiniibwaan'', "stone Sioux"; also in plural Assiniboine or Assiniboin), also known as the Hohe and known by the endonym Nakota (or Nakoda ...

sometimes tried to block the trade and a few traders were killed. In 1796

John Evans (explorer) John Evans may refer to: Academics *John Evans (archaeologist) (1823–1908), English archaeologist and geologist * John Evans (topographical writer) (1768–c. 1812), writer on Wales * John Cayo Evans (1879–1958), Welsh mathematician *John Davi ...

reached the Mandan country from near Saint Louis. Brandon House seems to be the first HBC post to hear of the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...

. In 1809,

Manuel Lisa Manuel Lisa, also known as Manuel de Lisa (September 8, 1772, in New Orleans Louisiana (New Spain) – August 12, 1820, in St. Louis, Missouri), was a Spanish citizen and later American citizen who, while living on the western frontier, became a ...

's group arrived on the upper Missouri and in 1812 the trade was abandoned to the Americans. In 1806 to 1807, there were 53 men at the post. In 1807, part of the saga of

Isobel Gunn Isobel (or Isobella) Gunn (1 August 1781 – 7 November 1861), also known as John Fubbister or Mary Fubbister, was a Scottish labourer employed by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), noted for having passed herself off as a man, thereby becoming t ...

may have taken place here. In 1798, the XY Company built Fort La Souris on the opposite (south) bank of the river. In 1804 the NWC absorbed the XY Company and Fort Assiniboine was moved to the Fort La Souris site. In 1801 the NWC built a small post about half a mile upstream. The HBC established this one in May 1811 on the south side of the river six miles above the mouth of the Souris.

Peter Fidler (explorer) Peter Fidler (16 August 1769 – 17 December 1822) was a British surveyor, map-maker, fur trader and explorer who had a long career in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in what later became Canada. He was born in Bolsover, Derbyshire ...

was in charge from 1811/1812 to 1819. In May 1816, during the so-called

Pemmican War The Pemmican War was a series of violent confrontations between the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) and the North West Company (NWC) in the Canadas from 1812 to 1821. It started after the establishment of the Red River Colony by Thomas Douglas, 5th Ea ...

Cuthbert Grant Cuthbert "James" Grant (1793 – July 15, 1854) was a Métis leader of the early 19th century who participated in the Pemmican War as an employee of the North West Company. Life Cuthbert Grant was born in about 1793 at Fort de la Rivière Tr ...

and his men seized a load of pemmican coming down from

Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan Fort Qu'Appelle () is a town in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan located in the Qu'Appelle River valley north-east of Regina, Saskatchewan, Regina, between Echo Lake (Saskatchewan), Echo and Mission L ...

and then plundered Brandon House and took their loot across the river to Fort La Souris. The following year the fort was almost completely destroyed by fire, but Peter Fidler began rebuilding it in 1817. By 1821, there was a cart trail north of the river that was used in preference to canoes. When the two companies merged in 1821 Brandon House was moved across the river to Fort La Souris. In 1824, it was closed as part of George Simpson's attempt to consolidate posts. In 1811, the NWC closed

and built a second Fort La Souris 200 yards from Brandon House#2. In June 1814, during the so-called

Miles Macdonell Miles MacDonell ( – 28 June 1828) was the first governor of the Red River Colony (or, Assiniboia), a 19th-century Scottish settlement located in present-day Manitoba and North Dakota. Miles Macdonell Collegiate, opened in 1952, in Winnipeg, M ...

sent a group of men from the

Red River Colony The Red River Colony (or Selkirk Settlement), also known as Assiniboia, was a colonization project set up in 1811 by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, on of land in British North America. This land was granted to Douglas by the Hudson's Bay ...

and seized some thirty tons of pemmican and other food at Fort La Souris. Some was taken to Brandon House but most was sent downriver to the River settlements. In 1821, the two companies merged and Brandon House was moved to the Fort La Souris site. Brandon House was re-established in 1828 to prevent the Indians from taking their trade to

Pembina, North Dakota Pembina () is a city in Pembina County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 512 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Pembina is located south of the Canada–United States border, Canada–US border. Interstate 29 in North ...

. The site was 12 miles upriver due to the lack of trees for building at the old site. It was closed when the area became trapped out and because of fear of attack by the

Gros Ventre The Gros Ventre ( , ; meaning 'big belly'), also known as the A'aninin, Atsina, or White Clay, are a historically Algonquian-speaking Native American tribe located in northcentral Montana. Today, the Gros Ventre people are enrolled in the Fort ...

Fort Ellice Fort Ellice was a Hudson's Bay Company trading post that operated from 1794 to 1892. It was first established in February 1794 by John Sutherland on the Qu'Appelle River about upstream from its mouth at the Assiniboine River, and known as the Qu ...

replaced it.

Locations

Brandon House was moved four times on the north bank of the

between

, and the mouth of the

, in what is now the Municipality of Glenboro-South Cypress. A man named Barkley from the United States had a post between the first two locations at an unknown date.Kavanagh, Martin. 1946. "The Assiniboine Basin". The exact locations of these posts do not seem to have been determined. The first Brandon House was on the north bank of the Assiniboine about two miles above the mouth of the Souris River on the Yellow Quill Trail to Portage la Prairie opposite something called "Five Mile Creek". Kavanagh (1946) has this at , the XY post at the edge of the woods below the mouth, one post across the river in an obvious clearing and another to the north of the creek in a plowed field. The second Brandon House was six miles upriver from the Souris on the west bank and the NWC post on a high bank across the river. Kavanagh (1946) has this as , but he also puts the first Brandon House on the east bank at this location which was probably the NWC post. The third (or fourth) location is about 15 km northeast of the first, probably near the cairn erected in October 1828 at by Chief Trader Francis Heron. It was abandoned in 1832.Historic Sites of Manitoba: Brandon House No. 4 Cairn (RM of Cornwallis)

References

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History

Locations

References

Further reading