Fort St James

We departed Smithers at 8:30 AM in full sunshine and it remained a lovely day.  We drove 210 miles to Vanderhoof and sequestered the Winnebago at Dave's RV Park, made some sandwiches and headed for Fort St James in the Jeep.  Fort St James is situated at the east end of Stuart Lake and was the Capital of New Caledonia as the territory was known prior to becoming British Columbia in the mid 1800s.  This was fur trading central in the early 1800s and had a very active Hudson Bay Company store and warehouse which have now been restored and are staffed with people in period costume.

Stuart Lake

We enjoyed talking to Nicole who was staffing the Men's quarters and creating a beautiful bead work vest.  She invited me to try out the Fur Trader Recliner so I got her to pose for a photo of me in the recliner.  A recliner, a bottle of whiskey and a good woman.  What more does a fur trader need.

A Recliner, a Bottle of Whiskey and a Good Woman

Nicole in Front of Men's Quarters

They had a very interesting demonstration of hide tanning the way they did it back in the fur trading days.  

Hide Tanning Demo

Most of the buildings are from the fur trading days and have been restored and stocked with goods as they were in the late 1800s.  

Hudson Bay Company Warehouse

We ended the day back at Dave's RV Park taking care of chores and relaxing.