Rocky Mountain House National Historic Site of Canada
Rocky Mountain House, Alberta
General view
© Parks Canada Agency/Agence Parcs Canada K., Dahlin, 2002.
Address :
Hwy. 11A, Rocky Mountain House, Alberta
Recognition Statute:
Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date:
1926-05-22
Dates:
-
1799 to 1799
(Construction)
-
1799 to 1821
(Significant)
-
1835 to 1861
(Significant)
-
1868 to 1875
(Significant)
-
1799 to 1835
(Significant)
Event, Person, Organization:
-
David Thompson
(Person)
-
Northwest Company
(Organization)
-
Blackfoot peoples (Nitsitapi)
(Organization)
-
The Peigan (Pikani)
(Organization)
-
Hudson’s Bay Company
(Organization)
Other Name(s):
-
Rocky Mountain House
(Designation Name)
Research Report Number:
1978-007; 1968-029
DFRP Number:
15346 00
Plaque(s)
Existing plaque: Chimney Trail near Visitor Centre, Hwy 11A, Rocky Mountain House, Alberta
The Hudson’s Bay and North West companies each build fortified fur trade post here in 1799. The anticipated trade with the Kootenay Indians, who lived west of the mountains, did not develop, but these posts and their successors after the 1821 company merger drew in the trade of the Blackfoot, Peigan and Blood Indians, as well as that of the Stoney, Sarcee, Gros-Ventre and Cree. The North West company post was also used as a base for exploration and from it, in 1807, David Thompson crossed the Rockies to the Columbia River. The last fort at Rocky Mountain House was finally abandoned in 1875.
*Note: This designation has been identified for review. A review can be triggered for one of the following reasons - outdated language or terminology, absence of a significant layer of history, factual errors, controversial beliefs and behaviour, or significant new knowledge.
Description of Historic Place
Rocky Mountain House National Historic Site of Canada is an archaeological site that contains the remains of several early 19th-century fur trade forts known as Rocky Mountain House. It is located on the North Saskatchewan River at Brierly Rapids, which was historically an obstacle to navigation. The designation refers to the remains of trading establishments built and occupied between 1799 and 1875 on the west bank of the North Saskatchewan River above its confluence with the Clearwater River together with an associated burying ground.
Heritage Value
Rocky Mountain House has been designated a national historic site because of : its role in the historic fur trade, its association with David Thompson and ''exploration towards the westward'', its relationship with the Blackfoot peoples (Nitsitapi) particularly the Peigan (Pikani).
The heritage value of Rocky Mountain House lies in its historical associations as illustrated by its setting and archaeological remains. Rocky Mountain House was established by the Northwest Company in 1799 on a site frequented by the Blackfoot people, and close to Acton House, established nearby by the Hudson's Bay Company at the same time. It served initially as a post on the transcontinental route, then as a fur trade and provisioning post and boat-building operation, then as the focal point of the Hudson's Bay Company's strategy towards the American competitors on the Missouri River. Its occupation was not continuous during the fur trade, and posts were rebuilt and replaced over the years using at least four different sites (1799-1821, 1835-1861, 1868-1875 and the site of Acton House, 1799-1835, respectively). After 1875 there was no permanent occupation of the site.
Sources : Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Minutes, 1968; Commemorative Integrity Statement, 1998.
Character-Defining Elements
Key elements contributing to the heritage value of this site include:
archaeological remains of the four post sites and the archaeological evidence they contain concerning the composition, materials, technology, functions and settings of individual structures; the footprints of the post sites and their spatial relationships to one another; the burying ground in its integrity, extent and location; evidence of fur trade and Blackfoot, especially Peigan, life during the 1799-1875 period, both above and below ground (such as surviving evidence of middens and canoe landing sites); archaeological artifacts removed from the site and held by Parks Canada; the natural setting of the site (its undisturbed river terraces); the natural vegetation of the site (its riverine spruce forest); its location adjacent to Brierly Rapids on the North Saskatchewan River; viewscapes from the site up and down the North Saskatchewan River valley; viewscapes to the sites of earlier and later settlement on adjacent property.