Fort George and Buckingham House Provincial Historic Site

08/29/2026

Summer season at Fort George & Buckingham House is quickly coming to an end.

Be sure to stop by for a visit during the last week of the year. Fort George & Buckingham House will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on these days:

Saturday, August 29
Sunday, August 30

Wednesday, September 2
Thursday, September 3
Friday, September 4
Saturday, September 5
Sunday, September 6
Monday, September 7

08/28/2026

Lots of images of fur traders show able-bodied men paddling canoes or hauling impossibly heavy cargo.

But just like today, illness, injury, and disability were realities of the fur trade.

The records from Hudson’s Bay Company employees travelling from York Factory to Buckingham House report that William Tate was experiencing some sort of serious disability during the trip.

August 14, 1792: “Wm [William] Tate in a very bad situation, cannot put his cloathes [clothes] on or off and carried out and into the canoe.”

August 16, 1792: “Wm Tate is still unable to help himself.”

August 27, 1792: “William Tate still continues helpless.”

The records don’t give us any more clues, so we can only imagine how difficult the canoe trip across western Canada must have been for a man who couldn't dress himself or get in and out of canoes.

Journal excerpts from: HBC Archives, B.24/a/1.

Image: “Shooting the Rapids” Frances Anne Hopkins, 1879. Library and Archives Canada, 2894476, 2895750.

08/26/2026

How did paddling a canoe and carrying heavy cargo affect fur traders’ skeletons?

This is the second of two blogs about some of the unique evidence of early boating in Alberta. The first blog explores First Nations boats and the second discusses the earliest Euro-Canadian vessel…

08/21/2026

What’s your favourite memory of visiting Fort George & Buckingham House?

08/19/2026

On Saturday, August 22 and Sunday, August 23 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Fort George & Buckingham House will be hosting our annual Water Transportation themed weekend. Come on by to learn all about the boats that made the fur trade possible and see if you can portage bales of furs faster than these small and adorable voyageurs.

08/16/2026

Birch rind and buffalo flesh. These were two items that were brought to Buckingham House this week in 1793.

The hunter – who would likely have been an Indigenous man contracted by the fort, and his whole family – brought meat back to the fort on August 14, then again on August 17, and once more on August 19.

2 Cree people arrived at Buckingham House with “birchrind” to trade. That birch rind would be made into canoes.

08/14/2026

Finger weaving is beautiful, historic, useful….It can cause inexperienced fingers to cramp. But we promise it’s worth learning.

Next time you’re in the area, stop by the visitor centre for a mini finger weaving lesson and try for yourself how the colourful sashes so popular with fur traders were made.

08/10/2026

Calling all saskatoon pie fans!

This weekend is when we celebrate Bounty of the Land here at Fort George & Buckingham House.

Explore how the animals, plants and environment around the forts were crucial to the survival of both people and fur trade.

Discover why the people at Fort George made 27,000 pounds of pemmican in a single year.

Find out just how many times Indigenous folks brought “birch rind” to trade instead of furs.

Participate in a plant scavenger hunt around the site, and on SUNDAY ONLY treat yourself to the modern prairie crowd pleaser: saskatoon pie.

Slices of saskatoon pie available by donation while supplies last on Sunday, August 16th, starting at 1 p.m.

08/09/2026

Buckingham House is calling you!
Stop by for a tour of the air-conditioned museum, or step outside to explore where history really happened. Open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day except Mondays and Tuesdays.

08/07/2026

We’ve been carefully trimming quills to produce nibs that can be used for writing.
These are the same kinds of writing utensils that would have been used by the men recording the daily events in the Fort journals.

Next time you’re in the area, stop by the visitor centre. Peruse some of the journal entries from 1792. Then write your own journal entry in the replica journal using a quill and ink.