Ft. William, Thunder Bay, Canada

[macwilkin]

Thanks, Tom, for your post. One of my best friends visited Ft. William about five years ago and noted the strong Scottish influence, which you noted. The Northwest Company, or "Nor'westers", were pretty much a Scottish company, with a few French Canadians and Metis thrown in -- William MacGillivray, Simon Fraser, Alexander Mackenzie are just some of the many Scottish names associated with the NWC. The Hudson's Bay Company also had some Scots working for them as well, including a number of boatmen from the Orkney Islands.

Incidently, the local Canadian Army regiment, the Lake Superior Scottish Regiment, adopted the MacGillivray tartan back in the 1950's when the old Lake Superior Regiment decided to "go Scottish". The tartan was chosen for the Scottish connections at Ft. William:

http://www.lssr.ca/scottish.htm

Peter C. Newman's "Empire of the Bay" is a good read about the Canadian fur trade & he mentions the Scottish influence --also, "Great Scots!" by Matthew Shaw has a whole chapter on the trade.

Thunder Bay is on my "must visit someday" list!

Cheers,

Todd

[macwilkin]

Tom:

Have you been to Grand Portage National Monument?

http://www.nps.gov/grpo/index.htm

If you like Ft. William, I think you'll like Grand Portage.

T.

[tomcherv]

Yes, I have, but it was many years ago. We did drive close by, but we were under a time crunch and did not have the time to stop.

I did notice that the McGillivray tartan was quite prominent: the vests of the Visitor Center employees, framed on the wall, etc.

However, the kilt that our guide wore was not the McGillivray tartan, as it would have probably been his own family's tartan, rather than his employers.

If you're heading up to Thunder Bay, come by way of Minnesota and stop in Duluth (great ship watching) and Mpls-St. Paul. Fort Snelling is also staffed with guides and a fun place to visit. http://www.mnhs.org/places/sites/hfs/

It's right near the airport and major roads, so the planes and road noise kind of ruin the atmosphere. Ft. William is a 10 minute walk from the Visitor Center, so road noise is not audible.

[macwilkin]

Yes, I have, but it was many years ago. We did drive close by, but we were under a time crunch and did not have the time to stop.

I did notice that the McGillivray tartan was quite prominent: the vests of the Visitor Center employees, framed on the wall, etc.

However, the kilt that our guide wore was not the McGillivray tartan, as it would have probably been his own family's tartan, rather than his employers.

If you're heading up to Thunder Bay, come by way of Minnesota and stop in Duluth (great ship watching) and Mpls-St. Paul. Fort Snelling is also staffed with guides and a fun place to visit. http://www.mnhs.org/places/sites/hfs/

It's right near the airport and major roads, so the planes and road noise kind of ruin the atmosphere. Ft. William is a 10 minute walk from the Visitor Center, so road noise is not audible.

Ft. Snelling is another place on my "to visit" list, mostly because it has such a good reputation (like Ft. William and Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island) for historic interpretation -- at one time, Ft. Snelling fielded a 70-man infantry company in 1820's period US Army uniforms, as well as other costumed interpreters, to illustrate life in military forts along the Permanent Indian Frontier(PIF). I'm not too far from another fort on the PIF, Ft. Scott in Kansas (http://www.nps.gov/fosc). Like Snelling, Ft. Scott is literaly in the middle of downton Fort Scott (the town grew around the fort), so the street lights and "town sounds" ruin the atmosphere, especially at night.

So many historic sites, so little time! ;)

Cheers,

Todd

[tomcherv]

If you hit Ft. Snelling at the right time, the Civil War reenactors from the Minnesota First are there.

That's when it gets really fun.

[Sciuropterus]

My wife actually got to spend a night camping inside the walls of Fort Snelling, it was one of the stops on a 40-mile Mississippi River kayak/canoe trip to raise money for river clean-up. I visited her group that evening, I had not been there since I was a kid, even though I only live ten minutes away.

All the staff was in costume and in character, I especially liked the sutler (storekeeper), his character was very funny, he was complaining about being stuck in Minnesota and longing for his civilized home in St. Louis. He had nothing but contempt for anyone who would want to settle in godforsaken Minnesota. They woke up the campers with a cannon the next morning!

It reminded me a bit of the Halifax Citadel (Nova Scotia) on a much smaller scale.

[macwilkin]

My wife actually got to spend a night camping inside the walls of Fort Snelling, it was one of the stops on a 40-mile Mississippi River kayak/canoe trip to raise money for river clean-up. I visited her group that evening, I had not been there since I was a kid, even though I only live ten minutes away.

All the staff was in costume and in character, I especially liked the sutler (storekeeper), his character was very funny, he was complaining about being stuck in Minnesota and longing for his civilized home in St. Louis. He had nothing but contempt for anyone who would want to settle in godforsaken Minnesota. They woke up the campers with a cannon the next morning!

It reminded me a bit of the Halifax Citadel (Nova Scotia) on a much smaller scale.

I had failed to mention the Halifax Citadel -- they maintain a living history company there portraying the 78th Highlanders (Seaforths) which is noted for their accuracy in their portrayal.

Not to drift OT here, but I have participated in candlelight tours of the aforementioned Ft. Scott in Kansas and Ft. Osage, a War of 1812 fort outside of Kansas City. They are very effective programs when done well, and can transport folks "back in time" for a brief instant! Besides, they're just a lot of fun!

Cheers,

Todd