Key Number:	HS 24194
Site Name:	Fort Victoria Cairn
Other Names:
Site Type:	1315 - Governmental: Monument, Cairn or Statue

Location

ATS Legal Description:

			Twp	Rge	Mer
			58	17	4

Address:	N/A
Number:	N/A
Street:	N/A
Avenue:	N/A
Other:
Town:	Pakan
Near Town:

Media

Type	Number	Date	View	Source

Architectural

Style:
Plan Shape:
Storeys:
Foundation:
Superstructure:
Superstructure Cover:
Roof Structure:
Roof Cover:
Exterior Codes:
Exterior:	N/A
Interior:	N/A
Environment:	On the north shore of the North Saskatchewan River at Pakan, a small community south of Smoky Lake. Adjacent to, and on same parcel of land as designated HBC Clerk's Quarters (DES 713).
Condition:	N/A
Alterations:	N/A

Historical

Construction:	Construction Date:
Usage:	Usage Date:
Cairn	1961/03/01
Owner:	Owner Date:
Province of Alberta Province of Alberta County of Smoky Lake No. 13 Province of Alberta	1960/10/12 1978/09/07 1978/09/07 1982/06/22

Architect:	N/A
Builder:	N/A
Craftsman:	N/A
History:	The Clerk's Quarters at Victoria Settlement is the oldest building in the province still resting on its original site. The modest white-washed house is located at Pakan, on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River, 70 miles northeast of Edmonton. The site is one of the most significant in Alberta. It was the location of a Methodist mission founded by Reverend George McDougall in 1862, and a Hudson's Bay Company post opened in 1864. The church and trading post attracted Cree Indians and Metis, many of whom settled nearby. After the turn of the century, as settlement patterns began to change, a separate mission was established at Victoria to serve Ukrainian homesteaders. * * * Heritage Significance: On October 17, 1864 Wm. Christie, Chief Factor at Edmonton, informed the Officer in charge at Fort Garry that he had established a new post at the Victoria Mission in order to oppose the fur traders who had come into the district at that time. The clerk at Victoria was George Flett, but his correspondence from there has not survived; hence we have no details about the post. However, a diagram of the fort drawn by Richard Hardisty in 1874 has survived (HSS file R2M). Throughout its operation the Fort at Victoria was subject to periods of slack trading which often lead to the fort being temporarily closed. The post was closed in June 19, 1883. It was re-opened by October 5, 1887. The post was closed permanently sometime during the outfit 1 June to 31 May 1898, but our records do not give the exact date. * * * Text on bronze plaque: "Victoria Post Here in 1864 the Hudson's Bay Co. established a fur trading post to compete with free traders operating near the new Methodist Mission. Closed in 1883, Victoria Post was re-occupied in 1887 and finally abandoned during the fur trade year 1897-98 ". 45 words. Order No. 7028, March 8, 1961.

Internal

Designation Status:	Designation Date:
Provincial Historic Resource	1976/06/15

Register:	N/A

Links

Internet:
Alberta Register of Historic Places:	4665-0022