The trade center Fort Colvile (also Fort Colville) was built by 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 ...

(HBC) at Kettle Falls on the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

in 1825 and operated in the Columbia fur district of the company. Named for Andrew Colvile,Lewis, S. William. ''Information concerning the Establishment of Fort Colvile.'' The Washington Historical Quarterly 16, No. 2 (1925), pp. 102-107 a London governor of the HBC, the fort was a few miles west of the present site of Colville, Washington. It was an important stop on the York Factory Express trade route to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

via the

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay, sometimes called Hudson's Bay (usually historically), is a large body of Saline water, saltwater in northeastern Canada with a surface area of . It is located north of Ontario, west of Quebec, northeast of Manitoba, and southeast o ...

. The HBC for some time considered Fort Colvile second in importance only to

Fort Vancouver Fort Vancouver was a 19th-century fur trading post built in the winter of 1824–1825. It was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department, located in the Pacific Northwest. Named for Captain George Vancouver, the fort was ...

, near the mouth of the Columbia, until the foundation of Fort Victoria. Under the Treaty of 1818, the

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

both claimed rights to the

Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long Oregon boundary dispute, dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been demarcat ...

. The contentious Oregon dispute for ownership of the land was ended by the

Oregon Treaty The Oregon Treaty was a treaty between the United Kingdom and the United States that was signed on June 15, 1846, in Washington, D.C. The treaty brought an end to the Oregon boundary dispute by settling competing American and British claims to ...

in 1846. The boundary between British North America and the United States was extended to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

on the 49th Parallel, with all of

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

considered British. During the gold rushes of the 1850s and 1860s, Fort Colvile in 1860 especially became an important centre for mining activity and supplies. Abandoned in June 1871,Barman, Jean and Bruce M. Watson. ''Fort Colvile's Fur Trade Families and the Dynamics of Race in the Pacific Northwest.'' The Pacific Northwest Quarterly 90, No. 3 (1999), 140-153. some buildings stood until they burned July 6, 1910. The construction of

Grand Coulee Dam Grand Coulee Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation water. Constructed between 1933 and 1942, Grand Coulee originally had two powerhous ...

resulted in the site being flooded in 1940, as was Kettle Falls. When Lake Roosevelt was drawn down for construction of Grand Coulee Dam's Powerhouse #3 in the late 1960s and early 1970, Fort Colvile and Kettle Falls were revealed. After archaeological work was performed by

Washington State University Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest Land-grant uni ...

and the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

, the Fort Colvile site was again inundated by Lake Roosevelt. In 1974, Fort Colvile was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

for its historic significance.''Currents and Undercurrents:, An Administrative History of Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area''
National Park Service

Establishment

It replaced Spokane House as a regional trading center, due to the latter being deemed to be too far from the Columbia River. Governor George Simpson considered the disuse of Spokane House to likely offend

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south ...

elders, and ordered for a dispersement of gifts among them. The removal of the company property at Spokane House was moved to Fort Colvile in March 1826. Simpson also gave instructions to Chief Factor John McLoughlin for "every possible exertion be used to be lay up an abundant stock of Fish and other provisions" due to limited capacity to send freight from Fort Vancouver. Additionally Simpson stated that a station on Kettle Falls would be "a more desirable situation in regard to Farming, fish, provisions generally as also in respect to Trade..." than the Spokane House.

Operations

During the 1820s, yearly purchases of furs rarely exceeded 20 blankets being sold. McLoughlin, John and Burt Brown Barker. ''Letters of Dr. John McLoughlin, written at Fort Vancouver 1829-1832.'' Portland: Binfords & Mort. 1948, p. 68 Increased amounts of animal hides were gathered by Fort Colvile started with the "Flat Head brigade," which joined the Bitterroot Salish on their annual migrations past the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

. A skirmish in 1829 between the Bitterroot Salish and inhabitants of

Columbia Lake Columbia Lake is the primary lake at the headwaters of the Columbia River, in British Columbia, Canada. It is fed by several small tributaries. The village of Canal Flats is located at the south end of the lake. Columbia Lake is a fresh water la ...

caused fears among HBC employees about the defenseless state of Fort Colvile Additional employees were sent to erect a palisade and establish the mill during the Winter. The staff number for Fort Colvile fluctuated with the seasons. Operations commencing in the Spring required upwards of 30 employees during the 1830s.McLoughlin and Barker (1948), p. 95 Usually only five men were stationed there throughout Winter, and if the number was above that, McLoughlin would reassign the extra staff. Spokane Garry was considered a prospective employee at the Fort until McLoughlin rejected the proposition. Alex McLeod, born at the fort in 1854 recalled that "The trading post proper was a square enclosure. The store and warehouses were on the north side, and Chief Trader McDonald's house was on the east side. The married employees, like my father, lived outside the enclosed post yard on the south and west sides."Work Projects Administration
''Told by the Pioneers, Volume 1.''
Olympia: Washington Pioneer Project, 1937. The

American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) was among the first American Christian mission, Christian missionary organizations. It was created in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College. In the 19th century it was the l ...

Missionaries established Tshimakain Mission in 1838. The missionary families of Elkanah Walker and Cushing Eells developed ties with Fort Colvile officers and wives, then the closest white settlement in the area. After the Whitman Massacre, the missionaries fled their station for the protection of the HBC trading post. Agricultural operations at Fort Colvile were prominent, eventually supplying other interior posts with wheat, peas,

flint corn Flint corn (''Zea mays'' var. ''indurata''; also known as Indian corn or sometimes calico corn) is a variant of maize, the same species as common corn. Because each kernel has a hard outer layer to protect the soft endosperm, it is likened to bein ...

, and potatoes. The prairie that the station was on was deemed an "island of fertility" by visiting artist Paul Kane. At its foundation, 24 bushels of potatoes were sown, but over half was eaten by rodents. The farm was able to produce enough crops to feed its staff and Fort Nez Perces in 1830. The harvest wasn't large enough to support the brigade of fur trappers headed to the New Caledonia district, requiring shipments from Fort Vancouver. 20 Native and White men labored on the farms in 1838, about two-thirds of the total number of men kept at trade post. The potato harvests had increased greatly in size compared to the initial sowing, in 1838, it was over 7,000 bushels.Gibson (1985), p. 445.

Charles Wilkes Charles Wilkes (April 3, 1798 – February 8, 1877) was an American naval officer, ship's captain, and List of explorers, explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842). During the American Civil War between 1861 and 1865 ...

of the

United States Exploring Expedition The United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby ...

found that farming was the primary focus of the establishment "for the whole of the northern posts depend upon Colville for supplies of provisions." Wilkes, Charles
''Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition, Volume IV''
New York City: G. P. Putnam and Co., 1856, p. 455. Salmon was easily procured when the seasonal runs commenced. One pioneer recalled that Kettle Falls men would "put large wicker baskets below the falls and raised them up three times a day, always filled with fish." Fort Colvile was the center for construction of Columbia boats, the wooden-planked canoe-like watercraft used to convey freight and passengers on the Columbia River in the fur trade era.

Later years

After the signing of the Oregon Treaty of 1846, Fort Colvile was south of the 49th parallel and therefore within American claimed land. The Hudson's Bay Company founded Fort Shepherd, British Columbia, just north of the new boundary, as a surrogate location secure on British territory. They continued some operations at Fort Colvile for a few years longer. While traveling through in 1853, Washington Territorial

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Isaac Stevens Isaac Ingalls Stevens (March 25, 1818 – September 1, 1862) was an American military officer and politician who served as governor of the Territory of Washington from 1853 to 1857, and later as its delegate to the United States House of Represe ...

described Fort Colvile as:

The buildings consist of a dwelling house, three or four store-houses, and some smaller buildings, used as blacksmith shops, etc., all of one story and constructed of squared logs. The whole was once surrounded by a stockade, forming a square of about 70 yards on each side. This has been removed, except on the north side, where it encloses a narrow yard containing offices. One bastion remains. About 30 yards in the rear of this square are the cattle yards, hay sheds, etc., enclosing a space of 40 by 60 yards, roughly fenced in, and the sheds covered with bark. On the left of the front are seven huts, occupied by the lower of the company. They are of rude construction, and much decayed. On the right of the square, in the rear, at a distance of a few hundred yards, are three more buildings, used for storing produce.''Reports of explorations and surveys, to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. Vol. 1.''
Washington D.C.: Severely Tucker. 1855, p. 420.

In 1859 the Palliser Expedition reunited in Fort Colvile and proceeded down the Columbia River, after having explored much of what is now western Canada, from the Great Lakes to Lake Okanagan. The mill maintained at the fort was sold in 1865. Early settlers surrounding Colvile were often French-Canadians formerly in the employ of the HBC. At social occasions held at their former station, "would drink whisky icand brandy and sing old songs or tell tales of hunting experiences." Such outings were found to be composed of "the lighthearted trapper with his gaudy moccasins and leggings, through all shades of colour to the dusky hue of the Indians".

Managers

References

External links