Upper Fort Garry

Upper Fort Garry
Name	Upper Fort Garry
Location	Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Coordinates	49°53′N 97°08′W
Built	1822
Builder	Hudson's Bay Company
Used	1822–1880s
Materials	Stone (building), Timber
Condition	Demolished (gate preserved)
Ownership	Manitoba provincial government

Upper Fort Garry

Upper Fort Garry was a 19th-century stone and timber fortification and administrative center located at the confluence of the Red River of the North and Assiniboine River in what is now downtown Winnipeg. Established and operated by the Hudson's Bay Company and later the Government of Canada and the Province of Manitoba, the site served as a fur trade depot, customs house, garrison, and focal point in regional politics, most notably during the events surrounding the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the Province of Manitoba. The remaining gate and archaeological footprint are preserved as a historic site and interpreted by provincial and municipal institutions.

History

Upper Fort Garry originated as a strategic Hudson's Bay Company post established in the early 19th century to control inland trade routes associated with the Red River Colony and the fur trade that connected to posts such as Fort Garry (Lower Fort Garry), York Factory, and Fort Edmonton. Built under the oversight of factors tied to figures like Miles Macdonell and successor administrators who engaged with Métis leaders including Louis Riel, the fort witnessed period interactions among the Métis people, Cree, Ojibwe, Scottish settlers, and the Selkirk Settlement. Through the 1840s–1860s the fort functioned amid imperial currents involving British North America, the United Kingdom, and colonial offices such as the Colonial Office and the British Parliament, later intersecting with the policies of the Government of Canada after Confederation. The site played a direct role in political crises that involved personalities like John A. Macdonald and administrators from Ottawa and became a flashpoint during the 1869–1870 uprisings connected to the Red River Expedition and the Convention of Twenty-four.

Architecture and Layout

Designed as a fortified compound, the fort combined features found at contemporaneous structures like Fort Garry (Lower Fort Garry), Fort Vancouver, and Fort McMurray trading posts, integrating stone blockhouses, timber palisades, and utilitarian buildings for trade, storage, and residence. Key structures included a stone gatehouse, bastions, a powder magazine, a council house, and warehouses—arranged around a central parade ground comparable to the layouts at Fort William (Ontario) and Fort York. Construction materials sourced through regional trade linked to Selkirk settlers and suppliers connected to Montreal and London; masonry and carpentry reflected techniques used in 19th-century colonial outposts such as Fort Vancouver and Fort Nisqually. The surviving gate, preserved amid urban development near Portage and Main and adjacent to landmarks like the Legislative Building (Manitoba), offers a tangible remnant of the fort’s original footprint.

Role in the Red River Rebellion

Upper Fort Garry became the symbolic and operational center of resistance during the events commonly referred to as the Red River Rebellion, led by Louis Riel and supported by Métis councils that invoked precedents from the Convention of Forty and petitioned authorities in Ottawa and London. The fort’s occupation by Métis forces prevented outgoing officials loyal to the Hudson's Bay Company and appointed by Canada from exercising control, prompting the dispatch of the Wolseley Expedition and the Red River Expedition (1870) under Garnet Wolseley to assert federal authority. Negotiations and proclamations emanating from the fort shaped the terms of the Manitoba Act, 1870 and influenced subsequent legal and political disputes involving figures such as Donald A. Smith (Lord Strathcona), Amor De Cosmos, and George-Étienne Cartier.

Military and Administrative Functions

As both garrison and administrative hub, the fort hosted personnel connected to imperial and colonial institutions including Hudson's Bay Company officers, North-West Mounted Police, and later Canadian Militia detachments. It functioned as a customs post interacting with routes to St. Paul, Minnesota, Saskatchewan River, and trading corridors reaching Hudson Bay via York Factory. Administrative activities at the fort interfaced with legal processes, land surveys by agents linked to figures such as Thomas Scott (Ontario) and surveyors from Ottawa, and the enforcement of laws enacted by the Province of Manitoba and the Parliament of Canada. The fort also served as a logistical hub in relief operations and troop movements during crises that mirrored imperial deployments elsewhere, such as those referenced in histories of the Crimean War era.

Preservation and Legacy

Following partial demolition during urban expansion and railway development associated with companies like the Canadian Pacific Railway and municipalities such as City of Winnipeg, preservation advocates from heritage organizations, including provincial bodies and the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, secured the gatehouse and portions of the footprint. The site’s commemoration connects to institutions such as the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, the Manitoba Museum, and civic landmarks like Portage and Main and the Manitoba Legislative Building. Debates over interpretation and commemoration have engaged descendants of the Métis Nation, First Nations communities, academic historians at the University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg, and political actors in Ottawa and Winnipeg City Council.

Archaeological Investigations

Archaeological work at the fort’s footprint has been undertaken by teams affiliated with the Provincial Heritage Branch (Manitoba) and university departments, employing stratigraphic excavation, artefact analysis, and archival cross-referencing with records from the Hudson's Bay Company Archives, correspondence in the Library and Archives Canada, and maps held by the Public Archives of Manitoba. Finds include ceramics, trade goods tied to Montreal and London manufactures, building remnants comparable to materials documented at Lower Fort Garry, and ecofacts illuminating subsistence practices that linked to regional trade networks with Saint-Boniface and St. Andrews (Manitoba). Interpretive programs and exhibit collaborations with the Manitoba Museum and community stakeholders continue to refine understandings of the fort’s role in contact histories involving the Métis Nation and Indigenous nations such as the Ojibwe and Cree.

Category:Historic Forts in Canada Category:Buildings and Structures in Winnipeg Category:Manitoba History