The Construction of Fort Rupert at Port Hardy

This article was originally published in the North Island Gazette January 5, 2012.

Fort Rupert was established in Beaver Harbour on Northern Vancouver Island in 1847, the second permanent trading post established on Vancouver Island after Fort Victoria (1843) by the Hudsons Bay Company (HBC).

During the advent of coal-powered steamships, Fort Rupert was established support the mining of coal from reported surface deposits in the area.  This is very unique and unusual in the history of the HBC.

Due to the perceived hostility of local First Nations, Fort Rupert was one of the most highly fortified Forts constructed by the HBC. It had an 18ft palisade wall, was fortified with inner and outer gates, and was protected by a number of cannons (one of which is on display outside the current Kwakiutl Band Administration office).  Over 2500 First Nations lived in the area immediately adjacent to the Fort.  There are numerous historical references to cannons being used on local First Nations villages during this early historical period.

James Douglas, the Chief Factor for the HBC in Victoria, signed two Douglas Treaties with the Queackar and the Quakeolth First Nations in the North Island in 1851, order to settle concerns about establishment of the Fort.  They were paid in blankets the equivalent of £64.00 and £86.00 respectively.  These are some of the only treaties ever concluded historically with B.C. First Nations.

Over 220 large stumps were removed to prepare the site, which is just to the South-East of the main Kwakiutl reserve today.  The Fort was constructed with green wood, which reportedly twisted and cracked as it dried, meaning the buildings required significant repair as they aged. There are some reports that some of the buildings and materials for Fort Rupert were moved from Fort Stikine. 

The chimney for the central oven was constructed three times before it met the specifications of standards required.  It was one of the last remaining vestiges of the Fort, still visible as recently as 2003.

French Canadians, Russians, and Hawaiians were employed to construct the Fort.   The settlement included wharves, houses, a blacksmith’s shop, gardens, a common kitchen, livestock areas, water closets, a provisions house, a trading shop, and areas for coal and firewood supplies.  Before long it also included a graveyard behind the main Fort.

The Fort was designed to be manned by a small number of employees who would be isolated for long periods of time. 

Fort Rupert never lived up to the expectations of the HBC, and was sold to an HBC employee, Robert Hunt, at some point between 1873 and 1882.  Hunt and his wife Mary Ebbets (from a high ranking Tongass-Tlingit First Nations family in Alaska), had 10 children, and many of their descendants still reside on the North Island today in such families as the Hunts, Lyons, Cadwalladers, and many others.