Lower Fort Garry

George Simpson had this fort built from 1830 on the Red River below the rapids, in stone rather than timber, and it survives intact, the oldest stone fur trade post still standing in North America. It served as a supply depot, a farm and later a penitentiary and an asylum. In August 1871 Treaty 1 was negotiated and signed here between the Crown and the Anishinaabe and Swampy Cree, the first of the numbered treaties, and the site presents that history with input from the treaty nations, including the differing understandings of what was agreed. Costumed staff work the fur loft, the store and the blacksmith shop.

What you actually see

• The stone fort - the oldest intact stone fur trade post in North America.
• The Treaty 1 site - where the first numbered treaty was signed in 1871.
• The fur loft - bales, presses and the trade goods of the exchange.
• The working trades - blacksmith, baker and store staffed in period roles.

When to go

May to September for the staffed site; it closes for winter with occasional events. Treaty 1 commemorations fall in August. The Red River setting is pleasant in summer.

Honest expectations

Closed roughly October to May. The site is spread out with walking between buildings. Staffing varies by day, so not every building is interpreted.

Nearby

Selkirk lies north; Winnipeg is south.