Our History Is Who We Are Today

Canada has a rich and varied human and natural history spanning a considerable geographic and temporal range. We have spent a significant amount of time and energy protecting certain parts of that history that best portray who we are as a Nation.

The question then becomes: How and why do Canadians choose the places and stories to tell the world about our history? Is what we have chosen inclusive enough to represent our appreciable historic and cultural diversity?

The Canadian Government recognizes Canadian history through its designated National Historic Sites Program: “To be considered for designation, a place, a person or an event will have had a nationally significant impact on Canadian history or will illustrate a nationally important aspect of Canadian human history.”

This choice of places and their stories isn’t easy or entirely objective. Phrases such as ‘nationally significant impact on Canadian history’ or ‘illustrate a nationally important aspect of Canadian human history’, are open to interpretation. What is historically important and appealing to one person, group, or generation, may not necessarily be so for another. Political and ideological agendas occasionally interfere with the selection process as well.

Here’s an example, from Medicine Hat, Alberta, of how certain biases often get in the way of national recognition.

‘Nothing But A Human Sweatshop’: Medalta Potteries, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada

Many of us working in the heritage profession realized in the 1970s the historic importance of Medalta Potteries. Constructed in 1916 and operating until 1954, this pottery factory was the first in western Canada to send products east of Ontario. Its pottery clays came from southeastern Alberta and Saskatchewan and were made into pottery, fired by the extensive natural gas reserves available in the Medicine Hat area.

The Medalta industrial site met the criteria outlined in the Canadian Government’s recognition of National Historic Sites. However, some politically powerful individuals in the community felt that this part of Alberta’s history was better left untold. It was considered an example of ‘dark history’. Why promote and raise a place to Provincial or National Historic status where people laboured hard and were often paid poorly?

The story becomes even more perverse. Because of this political push-back, the Province was reluctant to acquire and preserve this site when the opportunity arose, which would have made it a Provincial Historic Site. ¹ In 1985, however, the Medalta Potteries Site was designated a National Historic Site.

Recognition of a country’s history must be as all-inclusive as possible in the designation process. Some of that history may not be very ‘jolly’. For example, since we now have a negative attitude toward the coal industry (because of its adverse effects on our climate) should we ignore the important contribution the coal industry made to Nation-building?

Human history is not always pretty. Some years ago I took my family to visit the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany. Now talk about ‘dark history’. But the Germans, to their credit, turned it into a historic site so that no one would ever forget the atrocities toward humanity carried out during that era. ²

What histories and stories are we missing in Alberta, or the rest of Canada, that might be considered Nationally significant? In the table below I have listed the number and percent of registered National Historic Sites in Alberta, according to ethnic affiliation. It is readily apparent, despite a long Indigenous history in Alberta, far surpassing more recent colonization, that the number of registered National Historic Sites affiliated with Indigenous history is low. Needless to say, the representation of our other minorities is almost zero. ³

When these same National Historic Sites are broken down according to regions in Alberta, there is a strong bias towards the central and southern parts of the province. Does this mean that little of national significance happened in northern Alberta? By the looks of these numbers, it seems so.

Below are several places in northern Alberta that I feel should be considered for National Historic recognition. I focus on this part of Canada which is the most familiar to me. You can go online and view the National Historic Sites listed in your province or country. Perhaps there are some places, like Methy Portage in Saskatchewan (also not on the National Registry), that should be on that list.

1. Peter Pond’s Fur Trade Post (c.1778-1788)

In 1778, American Peter Pond crossed Methye Portage, considered to be one of the most important Canadian fur trade overland routes, and entered the Athabasca drainage. Pond was the first White explorer/trader to enter the Athabasca region in Alberta. His map was the first to reveal parts of the geography of northern Canada. Some historians believe his explorations strongly influenced Alexander Mackenzie’s decision to explore rivers further north (Mackenzie River) and west (Peace River) to find an overland route to the Pacific Ocean.

In 1778 Pond established the earliest fur trade post in Alberta along the Athabasca River below Lake Athabasca. Parts of the post are still intact, but instead of being recognized as a National Historic Site, it will soon become a ‘National Historic Disaster’ as it erodes into the Athabasca River. ⁴ Pond’s early exploits opened the richest fur trade region in North America filling the coffers of North American and European fur trade companies.

2. Boyer’s Post/Mansfield House/Fort Liard (c.1788-1804)

In 1788 the Montreal-based North West Company (NWC) sent Charles Boyer to build a fort near the confluence of today’s Boyer River and Peace River, about five kilometres downstream from the present community of Fort Vermilion, Alberta. Boyer’s Post was the first fort built along the Peace River and is considered by the Fort Vermilion residents to represent the beginning of continuous Euro-Canadian settlement in the area. Later, the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) followed with Thomas Swain building Mansfield House in 1802. Then Simon Fraser of the NWC returned after the company abandoned the original Boyer River Post in 1792, to construct Fort Liard in 1802. The XY Company also built a fort nearby sometime in 1802. ⁵

While the HBC c.1830 Fort Vermilion is a designated National Historic Site, it is so for the wrong reasons. According to the National Registry, this site supposedly marks one of the first permanent settlements in Alberta – a label that more appropriately belongs to the Boyer River fur trade sites located further downriver. This fort sits across the river from these earlier posts in the present community of Fort Vermilion. It is marked by the still-standing stately Old Bay House (shown on the cover of this website).

The Boyer River fur trade sites are also of national historical importance because it was here that some of the most intense, brutal competition between the three companies in the northern fur trade took place, much to the detriment of First Nations trading there. If the toxic whiskey trade in southern Alberta, with the coming of American pedlars in 1869, was emblematic of the poor Indigenous-White relations in southern Alberta, then this area is its equal in the north. It also marks where Simon Fraser first built his fort and traded on the Peace River and eventually reached the Pacific Ocean, via the Fraser River in 1808.

3. The ‘Chutes’ (Vermilion Falls)

Key inland fur trade routes into the Canadian Northwest followed major rivers and lakes. But the journey from Hudson Bay or eastern Canada to the inland forts was not always ‘smooth sailing’. Along northern Alberta’s Peace River, Vermilion Falls, or the ‘Chutes’, was one of the most formidable obstacles and important portaging routes (located approximately sixty-five kilometres below Fort Vermilion, Alberta).

The Chutes are the second largest waterfall in Canada by average flow rate (second to only Niagara Falls), and the widest falls in Canada (stretching approximately 1.8km across at the widest point). They were a formidable navigation obstacle, especially during low water, as shown in the photograph below. This scow took the wrong route and ended up on the falls’ rocks.

According to some residents, parts of the portage trail along the river’s southern shore are still visible. The physical heritage potential along this eight-kilometre stretch of river has yet to be determined. 

4. Northern Metis Places

Recognition of the importance of the Metis people in Canadian history is scanty. Although northern Alberta has had a considerable Metis population for over two hundred years, not one place has been considered for National Historic designation. Here are two locations that deserve more than a passing note:

Carcajou (Wolverine Point)

Located approximately 170km north of Peace River, Alberta, Wolverine Point is shown on David Thompson’s 1814 map of the Canadian Northwest. The initial date of settlement is uncertain, but it could turn out to be one of the oldest Metis settlements in Alberta.

“It was a small settlement of Indians and half-breeds. Few cattle and horses produce feed from the prairies nearby. Hunting and trapping is their chief source of income. Nine houses, three stables, a barn, four gardens, two storehouses (one-HBC), a Roman Catholic church, and graveyard.” (Keg River History Book Committee 1994).

When we visited the site in 2016, it still contained well-preserved standing log structures dating back to the late 19th century. Because of little research, its heritage potential has yet to be fully explored.

Buttertown, Fort Vermilion, Alberta

This old river lot settlement is located on the north banks of the Peace River across from Fort Vermilion, Alberta. Metis freemen settled across from the fort sometime after it was built in 1830. They supplied the Hudson’s Bay Company with provisions and labour. Like Victoria Settlement (south of Smoky Lake, Alberta, which is a National Historic Site) the historic narrow river lot system is still visible, also containing some late 19th – early 20th century log buildings.

5. No National Historic Recognition for Canadian Farming in Alberta – Seriously?

Can you believe that there isn’t one farm or homestead on our list of Alberta National Historic Sites? If we consider the importance of agriculture at a national level, the history of farming on the western prairies should be on top of the list. ⁶ As Trelle’s story above confirms, farming in Alberta, including northern Alberta’s Peace Country, produced some world-class crops. And this folks was accomplished at latitude 56 degrees north. ⁷

The story is much the same even further north in the Fort Vermilion/High Level area (farming at 58 degrees north, a rare occurrence of agriculture found anywhere else in the world). The area produced vegetables and grains during the late 18th century when the fur trade arrived. In 1907, F. S. Lawrence established the first experimental farm at Fort Vermilion, bringing seeds and plants from eastern Canada.

“…nearly every kind of vegetable including asparagus, corn and tomatoes as well as the hardier kinds […] The cereal and the leguminous plants are the finest I ever saw; in fact anything that can be made to grow at all in the north reaches a greater perfection here than elsewhere.” (Hulbert Footner (1911 Journey) Outing Publishing Company, 1912 [first edition])

In 1934, after a major flood, the experimental farm was relocated to higher ground just west of the present community of Fort Vermilion. That farm, still replete with standing buildings from that era, and now operated by the Mackenzie Applied Research Association (MARA), continues experimenting with various grain, cover, and forage crops. Over the years the farm even produced special varieties of Alfalfa (Peace Alfalfa) and Flax (Nor-Alta flax) better adapted to Canada’s northern climate.

“I remember saying, ‘there’s no way you can farm this far north. It’s too cold. Too wet. Too hard,” (Mick Watson, Farmer, High Level, Alberta)

In 2015 I was tasked with creating an exhibit about northern agriculture for our new Royal Alberta Museum. On one of our archaeological projects, I met Wason, a retired farmer from the High Level area. Mick, despite his concerns about farming this far north, still managed to produce some award-winning grains at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto in the 1950s.

Either the original or more recent Fort Vermilion Experimental Farm (or both) warrant National Historic recognition for their outstanding contribution to agriculture in Canada.

You Have the Power

Recognition of places, people, or events that represent Canadian history is a difficult, often daunting task. The selection process does not always operate on a level playing field. Some peoples’ and places’ histories often go unrecognized. And to some extent, historic recognition is a moving target, as our attitudes and knowledge about our past change and as we continue to add more layers to our already fascinating Canadian history.

These are just a few historic places in Alberta that should be considered for the National Historic Sites designation. I’m sure more hidden gems wait to be discovered in this Province and Country. Perhaps you have one to share with all Canadians. ⁸

1. Only those sites owned by the Government of Alberta and run as functioning historic sites or museums are designated Provincial Historic Sites. Because the Provincial Government never bought the site it is not a designated Provincial Historic Site.[]
2. I still vividly remember meeting with members of the Lac La Biche community in the 1980s, many of who were of Indigenous descent. Some members were rather angry and couldn’t understand why we were investing resources in the preservation of the Catholic Mission and church founded by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate – a place that they still remember as a residential school bringing back very dark memories. We responded by saying that this was their opportunity to tell their stories of what this place was really like. Today the mission is a National and Provincial Historic Site.[]
3. In fact, the last time I checked the list it was zero. There isn’t one National Historic Site listed that represents our other ethnic minorities in the province.[]
4. Equally problematic are a few registered National sites which may no longer exist. Fort Fork, for example, located just upriver from the present city of Peace River, Alberta, is now mostly destroyed by river erosion. It was designated a National Historic site because Alexander Mackenzie launched his journey to the Pacific Ocean from this post[]
5. Not a single XY Company fort has been excavated or received National recognition. This company was an off-shoot of the North West Company operating from c.1798-1804. It was formed by disgruntled NWC men, including Alexander Mackenzie.[]
6. In Saskatchewan the Motherwell Homestead, east of Regina, is on the National Historic Sites list. The original buildings of the Motherwell farm are of outstanding quality as are the well-defined original fields. This brings up one major obstacle often missing when searching for historic farms to designate – a site’s ‘defining features’ or ‘character-defining elements’. Of the thousands of farmsteads scattered across western Canada, how many are still intact from their beginning days? There are few if any physical ‘character-defining features’ left, greatly diminishing their chances of being designated as National Historic Sites.[]
7. If Trelle’s farmstead is still intact, it should receive some consideration for National designation.[]
8. To my Canadian readers, the selection process is not out of your hands. You can go online and nominate a place, person, or event you consider worthy of National Historic recognition.[]