Fort William, 1815

                                               Erica, Mom and I in the entrance to Fort William 

Erica and I in front of the dining hall for the clerks of the company, voyageurs often had to eat and sleep outside.

                                                Dad on some barrels in Fort William 

Chickens in the farm, the horses and cattle were out in the fields, but the chickens, pigs and sheep were in the barns

Fort William in Thunder Bay, the Northwest Trading Company base. Fort William is still in the 1800's by reinactment. They had no knowledge of modern technologies, they thought my nail polish was foot rott!We learnt of life back then and how the Company was run. Voyageurs, the people who paddled the canoes of goods, often came from Montreal. They would paddle for six weeks straight, taking small lakes and rivers. Each person was in charge of six fur packs of 90 pounds. Often they would have to portage, the fur packs were tied together in twos to provide better distrubution over the voyageur's back. Therefore, each man would be carrying 180 pounds on his back! With the packs tied in twos, the voyageurs had to do the portage thrice over. The Fort was very self sufficient, it had hired carpenters, blacksmiths, etc. leaving within the fort on a three-year contract. They also had a farm for food containing fields and livestock.