The Front Line of the Fur Trade War
They built Fort William a thousand miles from civilization. But it was the key to the fur trapping industry satisfying the fashion whims of high society in London and Paris. The Europeans were snapping up beaver pelts at exorbitant prices to be used in their new headgear of choice, the top hat.

 The new North West Company sensed quick riches and carved out an overland route linking the western trapping grounds to the shipping fleets in Montreal . Only one thing could stop them -- the legendary Canadian winter.

Fort William served as the half-way transfer point so the famous Voyageur canoe teams could beat the big freeze-up of lakes and rivers. The fort enabled the Nor'Westers to capture 78 per cent of all furs sales. And it served as inland headquarters for the North West Company. Fort William was an oasis of civilization in a rugged, impenetrable landscape.

The rich bounty enjoyed by the company and its new fort soon caught the eye of their arch rival, the Hudson Bay Company. Hostility between the two companies soon broke wide open into the Fur War and Fort William was on the front line.

The scene was set for a bloody confrontation. Hudson Bay director Lord Selkirk surrounded the fort in 1816 with his Swiss mercenary soldiers. But the North West company directors surrendered without a shot being fired. They took their chances in court and lost. A ruined North West company had to merge with Hudson Bay. That spelled the end of Fort William. By 1863 it closed for good.

The fort had served as the anchor to a chain of trading posts which staked Canada's claim to the 49th Parallel as its border with the American colonies.

Its contribution was not forgotten. In 1971, the fort was reconstructed in precise detail with 43 buildings spread over a 25-acre site. It is one of the largest historical reconstructions in North America.