Fur Trade Social Inequality and the Role of Non-Verbal Communication / By

* FUR TRADE SOCIAL INEQUALITY AND THE ROLE OF NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

James Scott Hamilton B.A. (Hons.) Brandon University 1979 M.A. University of Alberta 1985

THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUlREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Department of ARCHAEOLOGY

Name : James Scott ~amilton *' Degree : Ph.D. (Archaeology) Title of Thesis: FUR TRADE SOCIAL INEQUALITY AND THE ROLE OF NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

Examining Committee:

Chairman : Jack D. Nance

nut. R. el ad mar^ Professor Senior Super~ris.nr

~av?V. Bur,Ley Professor

nathan Driver

Robin Fisher Professor. .

Jarpes Deetz Professor Department of Anthropology University of California (Berkley) External Examiner

&b loj 1940 Date Approved PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENSE

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make partial single copies only for such users response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree that( permission for multiple copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. understood that copying publication this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission.

Title of Thesis/Bissertation: Fur Trade Social Inequality and the Role of Non-Verbal Communication

Author : blgnaT;ur,

James Scott Hamilton Name

December 10, 1990 Date Abstract The British North American fur trade is explored to address variability in the physical form and layout of trade posts and the material culture recovered from these sites. Two trade companies, the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company, are the primary focus of study. The period between 1780 and 1821 is of central concern, and is characterized as a time of intensive European competition and rapid expansion of the trade hinterland. The number of men and trade posts needed to carry out the trade increased sharply, resulting in a dramatic increase in the scale and cost of operations primarily due to large payroll and transportation-related expenses. When considering British-based fur trade companies, work-related social hierarchies are of particular importance. These hierarchies were much more than the organizational structure that assured the orderly operation of the fur trade. Given the isolated nature of the trade posts, and the "pre-Industrial Revolution" authority structure of both major companies, the work-related hierarchy coloured non-work social relations between the ranks, and figured prominently in defining one's social position in the community. In the case of the North West Company, sharp distinctions based on ethnic affiliation, literacy and social role divided the officers from the labourers. The shareholders and senior clerks were predominantly Anglo-Scots, while some of the clerks, and most of the guides, interpreters, steersmen and labourers were French Canadian. In spite of the important work roles of these latter employees, they had little or no prospect of promotion into the senior ranks. Anglo-Scots clerks with patronage links rapidly moved into posiiions of responsibility and authority, even becoming shareholders over the heads of much more experienced men of both English and French background. Nepotism and rank-related economic inequities in the North West Company coloured inter-rank relations, and created a measure of social tension. It is proposed that the North-West Company, in particular, sought to control this inter- rank tension by using the built environment and material culture to symbolize and reinforce the status and authority of all men of officer rank. This non-verbal communication of social position and authority was expressed in the physical layout of the posts, and in the size, position and furnishings of buildings exclusively used by the officers. Differential access to portable European luxury goods also was important. Rank-related privileges are readily apparent at the major posts under the charge of the senior officers. However, it is uncertain whether the need to reinforce the authority of junior clerks at the small and remote wintering posts outweighed the costs of transporting luxury goods inland. The comparatively junior members of the officer group were vulnerable to inter-rank tension due to their social isolation, limited trading experience and reliance upon highly experienced labourers. Thus, if material culture was used to non-verbally communicate and reinforce social position, then it would be particularly important to do so at the small wintering stations. Historic documents are used to identify mechanisms which asserted rank and authority in the more logistically important trade posts, and archaeological data are used to explore the dynamics of no&erbal communication of social position in the remote wintering posts. I conclude this study by proposing that informally derived mechanisms were used to assert status distinctions. European luxury goods have a small but persistent archaeological presence at most remote wintering posts. However, non-conventional means of status distinction, that were either inexpensive or unaffected by transportation costs, appear to be much more visible. These non-conventional mechanisms of symbolizing social position include carefully maintained social isolation, differential dress and work role, distinctive refuse disposal behaviour, and sometimes unequal access to preferred local food. I de'dicate this work to the memory of my brother, Gerry Hamilton. Aug 14, 1962 - Aug 28, 1990 Acknowledgements A number of people and institutions have contributed immensely to this dissertation in providing me with access to data and collections, copies of unpublished papers, and general encouragement and feedback. Particularly valued has been the assistance of David Arthurs, Doug Birk, David E)urley, Knut Fladmark, John Foster, David Hems, Olga Klimko, Greg Monks, Ed Oerichbauer, Heinz Psyzczyk, and David Riddle. The input of these and other individuals has contributed greatly to my understanding of the fur trade, and helped clarify my sometimes naive perspectives. Other important individuals include members of the local communities located near many of the archaeological sites described in this report. In my experience with Pine Fort, the Souris Mouth Forts and Rocky Mountain Fort, these individuals have played a very important role in protecting sites, generously offering "site leads" to archaeological crews, and providing invaluable infrastructural support to the archaeologists. Most valuable to my own field work are Morley and Alice Brown, and the Cullen family of Treesbank, Manitoba, and members of the North Peace Historical Society of Fort St. John, B.C. The Department of Archaeology at Simon Fraser University provided me with employment in the excavation and analysis of Rocky Mountain Fort for much of my two years in residence there. The Manitoba Historic Resources Branch is also acknowledged for funding five years of research at Brandon House, and for providing me with access to the 1 collections and copies of the data. Dr. Leigh Syms, curator of Archaeology at the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature, provided access to the Pine Fort and Rivi&reTremblante collections, and guided me through the intricacies of the CHIN data base system. 1 To a large measure, completion of this work is due to the encouragement and support of ) my colleagues in the Department of Anthropology at Lakehead University. I also want to thank Dr. John Whitfield, Dean of Arts and Science at Lakehead University, for his ) patience and understanding as I failed to complete my defence before my first contract expired. Thanks also to Ken Dawson for allowing me to occasionally pilfer his personal 1 library. I also owe a special debt to Carol Otte of the Lakehead University Computer Centre for her efforts in downloading data from tape, transforming it into a usable format, and explaining the process to me in plain English. Finally, I wish to thank Bev Hamilton for her patience and fortitude over many years as I worked on this and other projects. Her role in this process has been enormous. Not only has she had to deal with the frequent moves and financial uncertainty that are the part of any

I graduate student's life, but she has also shouldered more than her share of the responsibility for the care of our two children during my many extended absences doing field work, and frequent evenings and weekends of analysis and writing. Table of Contents Approval Page ...i Abstract 111 Dedication v Acknowledgements vi Table of Contents vii List of Tables X List of Figures xi Ch 1 INTRODUCTION THE RESEARCH PROBLEM THE THESIS SCOPE AND ORGANIZATION Ch 2 THE FUR TRADE IN HISTORIC CONTEXT GENERAL BACKGROUND SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL CONTEXT THE NWC AND HBC: COMMONALITIES AND CONTRASTS THE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM WORK-RELATED SOCIAL HIERARCHIES LOGISTICAL STRUCTURE SUMMARY Ch 3 COGNITIVISM, NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION AND THE MAINTENANCE OF AUTHOFXIY IN THE NWC INTRODUCTION THE MEDIEVAL BASIS OF FUR TRADE SOCIAL STRUCTURE SOCIAL RANKING AND AUTHORITY IN THE NWC THE SYMBOLIC CONTENT OF MATERIAL CULTURE Buildings and Possessions as Symbols of Authority and Status SUMMARY Ch 4 SYMBOLIC COMMUNICATION AND THE MAJOR NWC ADMINISTRATWE DEPOTS GRAND PORTAGE AND FORT WILLIAM: FUNCTIONAL ROLE AND SYMBOLIC MESSAGES Ch 5 FUR TRADE POSTS: VARIATION IN FORM, LAYOUT AND SIZE INTRODUCTION ADMINISTRATIVE POSTS" York Factory Fort Prince of Wales Fort Severn REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS Fort Chippewy an Edmonton House (Hl3C and NWC) Carlton Houses (Hl3C and NWC) Cumberland Houses (HBC and NWC) Fort George Buckingham House Pine Fort Fort Rivikre Tremblante Brandon House McDonell's House WINTERING POSTS

vii Snake River Post Yellow River Red Lake GrantMcLeod Nottingham House Old Fort Point Rocky Mou&n Fort Fort St John's Fort Assiniboine Montagne la Boss Michipicotan SUMMARY THE ROLE AND RATIONALE OF NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION Ch 6 SALARY PROFILES AND PURCHASING PATTERNS INTRODUCTION THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY THE NORTH WEST COMPANY THE COMPARATNE LOT OF HBC AND NWC LABOURERS Ch 7 RANK AND GOODS CONSUMPTION IN THE NWC VARIATION IN PURCHASING BETWEEN THE RANKS MATERIAL CULTURE AND NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION SOCIAL INEQUALITY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE WINTERING OUTPOSTS GOODS PURCHASE AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL VISIBILITY SUMMARY Ch 8 PROBLEMS WITH ARCHAEOLOGICAL DATA INTERPRETATION INTRODUCTION ARCHAEOLOGICALPXOBL~S AY'D DATA BIASES TAXONOMY AND ITS EFFECT UPON ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSIGHT EUR TRADE POSTS AND BIDIRECTIONAL ACCULTURATION CURATION AND ITS EFFECT ON FUR TRADE ASSEMBLAGES IDENTIFYING ARCHAEOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF STATUS DIFFERENTIATION SUMMARY Ch 9 VARIATION IN THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSEMBLAGE: EFFECTS OF LOGISTICAL ROLE AND DISTANCE OF RESUPPLY INTRODUCTION THE EFFECT OF SUPPLY LINES Smoking Pipes Glass Containerware Brass Sheet Metal DISTANCE AND STATUS CONSIDERATIONS IN WINTERING POSTS THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL VISIBLITY OF RANK IN WINTERING POSTS Ch 10 LOW COST STATUS DISPLAY IN THE WINTERING POSTS INTRODUCTION THE USE OF SPACE IN WINTEFUNG POSTS DIFFERENTIATIAL ACCESS TO FOOD AND

viii PA'ITERNED REFWSE DISPOSAL Nottingham House Rocky Mountain Fort Patterned Refuse Disposal at Rocky Mountain Fort SUMMARY

Ch 11 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS FUR TRADE SOCIAL DIFFERENTIATION APPENDIX I REFERENCES CITED List of Tables The distances travelled between posts The disposition of men and facilities by NWC Department in 1802 "Ethnic" Origin of NWC men in 1804 Provisions for Colin Robertson's 1819 Montreal Brigade The Size of Facilities at some Fur Trade posts The Allocation of Floorspace at Selected Trade Posts Change through time of the cost of equipment charged to HBC labourers Dispositions of Proprietors, Clerks and Interpreters of the NWC in 1799 Salary Scale and Equipment Variation with Winter Residence A Comparison of Salaries paid to HBC and NWC employees The transportation-related tariff markup on NWC goods The 1804 Tariff Structure of the NWC NWC Labourers who "staggered" their annual purchases of equipment Equipment costs of NWC and HBC labourers The sliding NWC Tariff rates Variation in the total value of Equipment categories purchased by NWC men Per Capita purchases of the three groups of NWC men Family related purchases made by NWC men Distance related decline of clay pipe representation Clay pipe Recoveries from the GrantJMcLeod posts Clay Pipe Bowl to Stem Ratios from some fur trade sites Glass Container Fragments recovered from fur trade sites The frequency of Glass Containerware fragments Surface dimensions of Brass Sheet Metal Scraps Ceramic and Tableware Recoveries from several Trade Posts Nottingham House Artifact recoveries Total Faunal Recoveries from Nottingham House The Faunal Recoveries from pits and cellars at N~ttinghamHeme Animal Size Class variation by locality at Nottingham House Formed Artifacts recovered from Rocky Mountain Fort Characteristics of Rocky Mountain Fort Archaeological Subareas Rocky Mountain Fort Faunal Recoveries The Non-random Distribution of Bone by frequency at Rocky Mountain Fort The Non-random Distribution of Bone by weight at

Rocky Mountain Fort " List of Figures Map of Rupert's land showing trade posts and transportation routes The distance of trade posts from their principal re-supply points The Socio-Economic Role of Fur Trade Companies and Officers in the larger societal context The Materiali~tCausal Pyramid and Feedback Loops Archaeological Sketch Plan of Grand Portage Plan of Fort William in 1816 The Reconstructed Fort William York Factory as it appeared in the early 1800's A 1894 plan of the ruins of Fort Prince of Wales Severn Factory in 1815 Severn Factory in 1823 A Sketch of Fort Chippewyan in 1823 A Sketch of Fort Edmonton in 1815 A Sketch Plan of Carlton House (18 14- 15) The NWC and Hl3C Establishments at Cumberland House in 18 15 An Archaeological Sketch Plan of Fort George Refuse Disposal Patterns as some Saskatchewan River Regional Headquarters An Archaeological Sketch Map of Buckingham House An Archaeological Sketch Plan of Pine Fort Artist's rendition of Fort Rivikre Tremblante An Archaeological Sketch Plan of Brandon House I The Brandon House I vicinity Magnetic Map of Brandon House IV Magnetic Map of McDonell's House An Archaeological Sketch Plan of Snake River post An Archaeological Sketch Plan of Yellow River (XYC) An Archaeological Sketch Plan of Yellow River QYWC) The 1790 plan of Red Lake Post An Archaeological Plan of the Grant/McLeod Trade Posts An Archaeological plan of Nottingham House Peter Fidler's 1804 plan of an wintering outpost An Archaeological Sketch Plan of Old Fort Point An Archaeological Plan of Rocky Mountain Fort An Archaeological Plan of Fort St. John's J.B. Tyrrell's 1890 sketch of Fort Assiniboine G. Bryce's sketch of Fort Assiniboine Sketch Plan of a Montreal Wintering post in operation near the mouth of the Michipicoten River in 1775 The Relative sizes of the Compounds of some Fur Trade Posts The relative floor space at selected fur trade posts Idealized Plan of an HBC trade post prior to 1821 The Salary Profile of Thomas Norn The HEK Salary Structure for 1791-93 Employment Strategies of Short Term HBC Labourers (Orcadians) Purchase Strategy of two Long Term HBC Labourers (Orcadians) Career Strategies of two Country Born HBC Labourers The price markups of various classes of goods depending upon final destination Canoemen and Officer costumes John Sutherland's Career Profile 49 The Recycling of sheet Brass, Iron and Silver objects 203 50 Iron re-working activities 204 5 1 A stone "Micmac" pipe from Pine Fort 214 52 Scatterplot of distance of re-supply versus standard deviation of sheet metal surface area 22 1 53 Refuse accumulation at Rocky Mountain Fort 232 54 Spatial distribution of glass beads at Rocky Mountain Fort 253 55 Spatial distribution of non-bead formed artifacts at Rocky Mountain Fort 254 Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

Canadian historical archaeology, particularly that of western Canada, has focused almost exclusively upon the fur trade. This is primarily due to early stimulation of European exploration and exploitation of northern North America by the economic benefits of the fur trade. The fur trade also provided the impetus for sustained contact between Europeans and northern native Americans, thereby offering great potential for acculturation studies. The conventional approach to fur trade studies focuses on the social and economic aspects of the trade, and addresses the considerable influence of European technology and contact on traditional aboriginal culture. Less frequently recognized is the impact of native culture and technology upon Europeans engaged in the fur trade. There was no single "fur trade experience", but rather, a number of quite different kinds which varied in part due to geography, biotic zone, and climate. Further complexity is introduced by the enormous scale of company operations, the diverse ethnic make-up of Indian, European and mixed parentagel participants, and the comparatively long temporal scale of fur trade operations. Of course, this has been long recognized by historians, archaeologists and ethno-historians alike. Despite this, we tacitly continue to view the fur trade as something of a monolithic economic entity directed by men of power in either London or Montreal. This thesis explores some aspects of the variability in the Anglo-Canadian fur trade, focusing upon the operations of the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company, and addresses a narrow range of causal factors to explain some of this variability. In order to control for the other factors, I deal with trade posts occupied roughly between 1780 and 1821. This relatively narrow time interval was selected since it represents a time of maximum"expansion of the fur trade in the context of intensive competition between several trade companies. The primary goal of this thesis is the study of the work-related hierarchies of the two major trade companies, and addresses how social reproduction and reinforcement of this

An extremely important element of the North American fur trade was the role and presence of Indian women in the trade posts (O'Meara 1968; Brown 1980; Van Kirk 1980). From marital alliances of these women with European men, over succeeding generations a diverse and increasingly important social category of mixed parentage children were born. These mixed parentage people developed into social groups known variously as MCtis, Halfbreed, Country Born, or Rupert's Land English (Brown 1980; Van Kirk 1980; Foster 1973, 1985). In the 19th century the term MCtis was used to refer specifically to mixed parentage children who traced their fraternal ancestry to a French Canadian root, while Halfbreed and Country Born are more frequently used to denote people of mixed Indian and English, Scots or Orcadian parentage. I will use the term "mixed parentage" to refer generically to people of mixed Indian and European parentage, and use MCtis and Country Born to refer to specific social categories of mixed parentage people. social order was facilitated using material culture and the built environment. It is my view that this symbolization of the social hierarchy is of great importance for any understanding of intersite variation in settlement pattern, site layout and material culture at fur trade posts located across western Canada and the northern United States. The symbolic companent of the built environmeni is considered in light of pragmatic issues of transportation, logistics, and the functional role of a number of trade posts. Non-verbal communication, using material culture, appears to have served a very important role in the operation of all fur trade posts. This role was in the assertion and maintenance of social distinctions within the work- related hierarchy. In the case of the major posts, these distinctions were symbolized in part with unequal access to exotic goods, imported food, and differential dress and work role. In my view, maintaining social distinction was much more than simply self aggrandizement. I propose that, in the contentious social atmosphere of the fur trade posts, keeping up appearances of social superiority was an essential component of asserting authority. It was in the maintenance of these "appearances" that material culture played a central role. This rationale for symbolization of social position is explored with particular attention to the situation in the small wintering stations, Given the costs of transportation to remote and relatively minor wintering posts, we might anticipate that cost concerns would supersede the ability of relatively junior officers to display status using heavy or fragile European commodities. However, I maintain that the contentious social atmosphere of the small wintering posts resulted in material symbolization of rank remaining an important means of asserting authority. European status goods occasionally appear in the archaeological record at these remote posts. However, given their social value as icons symbolizing status and authority, these items were likely carefully curated, and will appear only occasionally in the archaeological record. I conclude this study by proposing non-conventional and comparatively inexpensive mechanisms for signalling social inequality. These mechanisms were particularly important at the small and remote wintering stations of the interior. In effect, the occupants of these posts negotiated new mechanisms of social distinction that were unaffected by the transportation problems of the era.

THE RESEARCH PROBLEM The issue of intersite variability has been previously addressed by considering all significant variation to be caused by status differentiation, company affiliation or ethnicity. While these variables are important, a number of other considerations have been ignored. A central element of this thesis is the study of concrete expressions of social inequality in situations where material goods normally used to symbolize status are in comparatively short supply. Fur trade social hierarchy has been amply discussed by both historians and archaeologists (Foster 1973; Brown 1980; Pyszczyk 1985, 1987; Prager 1985; Monks 1985; Bobrowsky 1g85; Hamilton 1985a; and Burley 1985). From these studies, a general perspective of the work-related hierarchies has developed and some possible material correlates of social differentiation are apparent. However, there has been little effort made to examine these hierarchies as dynamic social entities. That is, how was work-related social inequality expressed in situations of uncertain status distinction, or in contexts where supply difficulties limited the ability to signal social position using conventional techniques. The conventional view of fur trade social hierarchy is of a pyramidal organization, with officers occupying positions of prestige and power, and labourers in subordinate positions. This model implicitly links social inequality to work role, wealth and power, and attempts to measure status by identifying unequal access to wealth and expensive items used to signal status. This approach is commonly used in historic archaeology, whether focusing upon meat cut selection (Lyman 1987; Schulz and Gust 1983; Singer 1985), or ceramic tableware purchase (Spencer-Wood 1987). While often exhibiting a strong correlation, particularly in industrialized society, the linkage between buying power and social position is not always a direct one. By equating social position with salary and buying power, one might be tempted to suggest that high status necessarily involves conspicuous consumption of exotic and expensive items. As Lyman (1987) points out, "while income level certainly controls purchase options, one's status or prestige in a society" may not necessarily be strongly correlated with income or purchasing power. This ambiguity between income, purchasing power and social position is certainly the case in both major fur trade companies. As addressed in a following chapter, social distinctions between apprentices and junior clerks versus manual labourers is not always clearly defined in terms of rate of pay. Upon initial appointment clerks and apprentices were often very poorly paid, even though they were accorded greater social status than the labourers. Many of the senior, highly skilled labourers received salaries which graded into and sometimes exceeded that of the junior clerks. These labourers often spent a very high proportion of their salary on goods, and many were men of consequence in the daily events of the trade post. Here we have a situation whereby salary and goods consumption are not clearly and unequivocally correlated with social position and rank. This situation is even more difficult as apparent with earlier efforts (Hamilton 1985b) to distinguish between formal rank positions, and the ambivalence introduced by high seniority labourers who occupied positions of some influence and authority within the trade post community. While these men were de facto officers, and often commanded salaries equivalent to or exceeding that of the junior officers, they still were only formally recognized as labourers. This distinction between formal rank and informal status and influence will be addressed in later discussion, particularly in terms of its material culture implications. A primary concem of this study involves the effects of the very difficult transportation system upon the availability of goods for trade and personal use. In a situation where all European commodities had to be transported by watercraft along dangerous river systems, and portaged around numerous navigational impediments, transportation costs were enormous. In such situations one might expect a certain degree of pragmatism in the selection of commodities. No doubt this included careful consideration of the utility of any bulky, heavy or fragile items used to symbolize status. While such efficiencies might be logical, one must remember that the social inequalities of the fur trade were very much related to the authority and chain of command of the trade post system. It is proposed that signalling social position using material culture was a very important means of maintaining authority and power, At issue is whether the importance of asserting social position exceeded the necessity of controlling transportation costs. That is, in the remote locations where transportation costs were high, was powerlstatus signalling suspended, altered, or limited? Alternatively, in such remote situations, was the need for junior clerks to validate rank and authority using European material goods sufficient to outweigh the transportation costs? It is proposed that the need to assert status and authority remained an over-riding concern, but the "physical props" used to signal power varied depending upon the logistical role and locale of the trade post. Several approaches will be taken to explore these research problems. The first involves a general review of historic and archaeological data to synthesize information concerning site settlement pattern, and to identify significant variation in form, scale and layout. The second approach involves a review of existing historical syntheses, narrative journals, and account books in order to document patterns of goods purchased by the various ranks. The third approach considers inter-site variability in archaeological recoveries to identify factors affecting material culture deposition. This includes a discussion of the biased archaeological view resulting from commodities being removed from the sites, material culture curation, and other transformation processes. It must be added that the historic record contains its own biases, and the archaeological record may prove very instructive in identifying these biases (Deetz 1988:362-367; Schuyler 1988: 36-42; Hamilton 1990). THE THESIS SCOPE AND ORGANIZATION A number of sites and documents will be reviewed in varying levels of detail. This study encompasses an enormous geographic and physiological area utilized by both the North West and Hudson's Bay companies2. Despite this wide scope, most of the research is directed towards' the North West Company, with reference to the Hudson's Bay Company to offer points of contrast. The localities and sites to be examined include: 1) the upper Mississippi River drainage basin southwest of Lake Superior (the S.nake River and Yellow River posts of the NWC); 2) the Fort William and Grand Portage inland depots of the NWC; 3) the HBC bayside depots of Albany, Severn and York Factories, with passing reference to several of the inland outposts of these factories; 4) the Assiniboine River posts of Brandon House I and IV, Pine Fort, Fort EspCrance, Fort Rivi2re Tremblante, McDonell's House and Montagne la Boss; 5) the Saskatchewan River posts of Fort George, Buckingham House, Fort White Earth, the GrantJMcLeod posts and Edmonton House; 6) the Athabasca sites of Nottingham House and Old Fort Point; and 7) the Peace River posts of Rocky Mountain Fort and Fort St. John's.

The locations of these sites, as well as others which figured prominently in the operation of the fur trade dming this time, are illustrated in Figure 1. While appearing to address only a limited range of causal factors affecting fur trade site variability, the scope of this thesis is quite large and complex. Limited to the period of intensive competition between the major Anglo-Scottish fur trade companies between 1780 and 1821, this interval represents the most dramatic period of inland expansion, post construction, intensive (and sometimes violent) competition, and the most vigorous efforts to exploit the resources of half a continent as quickly as possible. The geographic scale of these operations are staggering, encompassing an area of over 4.4 million square kilometres, employing several thousand men, and profoundly affecting the lives of tens of thousands of native people. The period of rapid fur trade expansion was also carried out during a time of sustained warfare in Europe (the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars), and a brief regional conflict in the New World (the War of 1812). This warfare

In this work the names of the major trade companies will be frequently abbreviated. The North West Company is referred to as the NWC, and the Hudson's Bay Company as the HBC. A second Montreal based firm figures occasionally in this study. It was called the XY Company (XYC or New North West Company), and was operated between 1798 and 1804 by a group of Montreal traders disaffected with the North West Company. Legend for Figure I

I HBC NWC HBC& NWC Other Administrative Centres H1 Ft P. of Wales N1 Grand Portage 04 Michilimackinac H2 York Factory N2 Fort William H3 Severn Factory H4 Albany Factory H5 Moose Factory H6 Eastmain Regional Headquarters H7 Martin's Fall N3 Ft Chippewyan B1 Edmonton Hse H8 Osnaburgh N4 Lac la Pluis B2 Cumberland Hse H9 Brandon Hse I N5 Ft George B3 Carlton Hse HI0 Buckingham ~seN6 McDonell's Hse N7 Ft Esperance N8 Ft Riv. Tremblante N9 Pine Ft I N20 I Bas de la Riviere H 11 Henley Hse N10 Snake River Yellow River H12 Naosqueisac N11 Yellow River GrantIMcLeod H13 Setting Lake N12 Ft Assiniboine Michipicoten H14 Indian Elbow N13 Mont. la Boss H15 Red Lake N 14 GranUMcLeod H16 Old Fort Point N15 Ft White Earth H17 Nottingham Hse N16 Ft St John's N 17 Rocky Mnt Fort N18 Fort Fork N 19 Rocky Mnt Port Hse

dramatically affected the availability of trade goods and employees, and seriously limited the market for furs. A number of independent trading companies were in operation during the period of interest, however only the North West Company (based in Montreal, Lower Canada), and the Hudson's Bay Company (based in London, England) will be considered in detail. These two companies dominated the trade, and were quite successful in driving the smaller concerns and private individuals out of business. Both companies were commercial enterprises operating within the colonial empire of Great Britain, and both utilized the same sources of supply and sought the same markets for their furs. Yet they were very different in their approach, organization and exploitation strategies. These distinctions are outlined in detail in Chapter 2. Capitalization of these large-scale trading operations was difficult given that several years of credit were required before a profit could be realized (Campbell 1983; Wallace 1934). The wartime footing of the British Empire in the late 18th and early 19th centuries greatly added to interest and insurance costs of the trade companies. Most of British North America was extremely difficult to traverse, and the transportation system was based upon water routes using comparatively small craft. As a consequence, the process of moving goods to the hinterland and returning with fur cargoes was very labour and time intensive. Despite these problems, the major trade companies were successful in transporting huge volumes of goods inland every year (albeit at great cost), and aggressively expanded the fur trade hinterland into much of the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic watersheds. The costs of trade, the problems of supply and transport, and servicing the annual debt required very careful management by all companies, and the senior decision makers sought to limit transport and trade costs as much as possible. A case in point is the system of providing food to the canoe and boat brigades. Transporting sufficient European foodstuffs in the watercraft was prohibitively expensive, both in terms of purchase costs and space required (at the expense of trade goods) in the boats. As an alternative, the North West Company procured locally preserved foods while in the hinterlands. These food stuffs can be conveniently referred to as "country provisions". In the case of the second half of the trip from Montreal to the west shore of Lake Superior, the NWC annually purchased large quantities of corn in Detroit to be shipped by schooner to Sault Ste. Marie and Fort William (Figure 1). At the Lac la Phis depot, fish and wild rice were procured to feed the crews from the Rainy River to Lake Superior, and the depots at Bas de la Rivikre and at Cumberland House received qaantities of pemmican, dried meat and grease from the Assiniboine and Saskatchewan River basins to supply those legs of the transportation route (Ray 1974:129) (Figure 1). Finally, the success of the Athabasca trade was largely dependent upon procuring a large supply of pemmican from the bison herds of the Peace River drainage (Innis 1970:202; A.S Morton 1973:347; Tyrrell 1935:452). The Hudson's Bay Company also sought to establish a similar food procurement system after its move inland. It is apparent from surviving documents and archaeological remains that these provisioning activities were an overriding concern at many of the posts to be discussed. Despite this pragmatism in some elements of their operations, the trading companies appear to have spent much effort and money on the purchase and transportation of "non- functional" commodities for the use of their senior personnel, and sometimes constructed facilities far beyond the basic functional requirements. The exploration of this "non- functional" behaviour forms a major component of the thesis. Perhaps the most important consideration in this regard are the work-related social hierarchies within each of the major companies; how they operated, and how they differed. Also of importance are the physical manifestations of this social hierarchy which might be susceptible to archaeological investigation. Each of these topics will be introduced and explored in Chapters 2 and 3. Chapters 4 and 5 review the variation in architecture and physical layout apparent at trade posts. This review describes elements of the built environment and amenities which served to non-verbally reinforce the social inequities of the chain of command. Chapter 6 considers the rank-related salary profile of the NWC and the HBC, and reviews the career strategies and goods purchasing patterns utilized by various types of men. This review considers the NWC in terms of its relationship with its employees, the high tariff markups on goods transported inland, and the nature of inter-rank relations. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the comparative lot of HBC and NWC labourers. Chapter 7 deals almost exclusively with the NWC, describing variation in goods purchased by officers versus labourers stationed in several departments. This is designed to identify distinctions in rank-specific material goods consumption. Some elements of these patterns of goods purchasing have direct relevance to the discussion of non-verbal communication of status using material culture. With Chapter 8, I shift to consideration of archaeological data, providing a brief overview of the nature and quality of research at fur trade sites. This review considers the approach taken by historical archaeologists, the kinds of research goals identified, and the methods used to achieve these goals. This review also identifies failings which limit the utility of archaeological data for the investigation of social organization in fur trade posts. Chapter 9 considers archaeological materials that imply the social status of their owners. These materials have been recovered from posts of all logistical functions and at various distances from major re-supply points. In an effort to gauge the affect of transportation upon the ability of junior officers at wintering posts to symbolize their position using European origin status goods, several posts of varying logistical role and distance from re- supply are considered. This review suggests that, while these items appear archaeologically at many trade posts, the great cost of acquiring them, and their important social function resulted in a low probability of them having archaeological visibility. In Chapter 10, I propose means of non-verbally communicating rank and status that are unaffected by transportation difficulties. These techniques involved the allocation of shelter within the post, social isolation between the ranks, differential access to locally available food, and variable patterns of refuse disposal. Chapter 11 serves to summarize the more important elements of the dissertation which relate to the role of material culture in symbolizing and reinforcing social inequality in fur trade communities of all types across northwestern North America during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Chapter 2 THE FUR TRADE IN HISTORIC CONTEXT

GENERAL BACKGROUND The fur trade, while primarily a commercial venture, provided the basis of the first 4' contact between Europeans and natives in much of northwestern North America. It was a complex and long-term development, which profoundly affected native society, and spawned a new social order in the many fur trade communities which developed across the continent. The term "community" is used very deliberately to evoke the image of fur trade posts as simultaneously economic, domestic and industrial central places. These trade centres were the hub of activity in the lives of the Europeans involved in the trade, and also served as important congregation points for natives. We can envision two popular images of British-based fur trade posts. The first can be termed the "bastion in the wilderness". Following this perspective, the trade posts were log fortresses that figuratively and literally represented the outposts of European economic and colonial interests. Surrounding each fortress was a largely unknown social and physical environment that was simultaneously the source of wealth and a dangerous unknown entity. Countering this imagery, the trade post can also be envisioned as a buffer zone between European mercantile interests and a number of Indian societies. This buffer zone image is reflected by the adoption of aboriginal technology and lifeways by the fur traders, the intermarriage of European maies and Indian females, and the unfortified open layout of many of the smaller outposts. The officers, clerks and labourers often spent many years in the remote inland, with no social contact beyond that of their fellow post occupants and the natives who came to trade. The work-related chain of command formed the basis of the participants' local social universe. These individuals might retain some contacts with either Europe or Quebec, but for the duration of their fur trade careers, the post formed the basis of all day-to-day social interaction. In my view, the social conventions which emerged were predominantly a reflection of pre-Industrial Revolution European society. However, many distinctive social overlays are also apparent which reflect the influence of colonial New France, the native groups with whom the traders came in contact, and the social and physical environment of the "Indian Territories". Given these locally derived influences, a central assumption of this work is that the social order that emerged in Rupert's land1 in the late 18th and early 19th centuries is

Rupert's land is the huge land mass which drains into Hudson and James Bays. It was granted to the Hudson's Bay Company under charter from the British Crown in 1670. The territorial expanse considered somewhat distinctive from that of Lower Canada and contemporary Britain. The social conventions worked out in the region are analogous to those of late medieval Europe. The Industrial Revolution of the late 18th and early 19th centuries wrought great change on the social structure of Great Britain, but at the same time, the isolated fur trade posts of British North America retaihed many elements of the previous late medieval era. In keeping with Deetz's (1977) description of the passing of early Colonial America in face of the Georgian era, I maintain that the period considered here represents the last decades of a social order that was to be rendered anachronistic by the organizational structure of the British Industrial Revolution. While the latter period is not directly relevant to this study, I offer this observation to make the point that the most useful model of social organization in the major fur trade companies might well be a medieval or perhaps military one. This issue is explored more fully below.

SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL CONTEXT The late 1700's and early 1800's are noted for an uncontrolled and rapid expansion of the fur trade. Violence was common, and the traders were vulnerable by virtue of their small numbers, the turbulence of the alcohol trade, aggressive competition, and their dependence upon the Indians for food, furs and other commodities, For the purposes of this study, the period from 1780 to 1821 provides a comparatively narrow time frame in which to consider the fur trade at the height of its rivalry and proliferation. The rapid geographic expansion of the Europeans $so caiised great difficulties with the tra~sportatior? system used to supply this growing hinterland. In the case of the NWC, these transportation problems were a function of the long distances travelled and the labour- intensive nature of canoe transportation. In the case of the HBC, the greatest problem was its inability to recruit "country skilled" labourers, forcing it to hire "unseasoned" men from Europe. After several years of training, many of these men returned to Europe, leaving the HBC chronically understaffed. These problems changed quickly after the 1821 "Deed Poll", and amalgamation of the two major companies. Not only was the ruinous competition brought to an end, but under the rather ruthless management of Governor George Simpson, many redundant trade posts were abandoned, and the new HBC was able to select the best, or most debt-ridden, men within this thesis is much larger than Rupert's land. It includes the lands draining south through the Mississippi River, east via the Great Lakes system, north down the Mackenzie River, and southwest through the Thompson, Fraser and Columbia Rivers. From a geographic perspective, it is inappropriate to use the term "Rupert's land as if it was synonymous with this huge territory. However, "Rupert's land is also evocative of a way of life based upon exploitation of the fur resources of northwestern North America. It is in this context that I refer to Rupert's land as the whole fur trade hinterland utilized as part of the British-based fur trade. from both services and release the remainder. Improvements in transportation involved the use of York boats, ox and horse carts, and eventually steam boats. With these improvements, the inhabitants of Rupert's land, particularly those near the administrative centre of Fort Gany and the Red River Colony, were offered a much wider range of goods. The period under consideration also characterizes the height of power and wealth of the Montreal-based fur trade, particularly that of the shareholders of the NWC. It further represents the last days of an old social order within the HBC which dates back to its inception in 1670. First in 1810 with the Retrenchment Policy (Rich 196 1:3 11, 3 13), and later with more effectiveness in 1821 with the Deed Poll (Rich l961:4Ol-43 I), the HBC reformed itself to operate more in line with the management strategies of the British Industrial Revolution (Hamilton 19858). This involved the breakup of old patterns of upward mobility and expectations of long-term service most eloquently described by \. Foster (1976) as the "Bay Tradition", and the emergence of much more aggressive, business-oriented management strategies under the direction of Governor George Simpson. The 1821 Amalgamation of the companies also marked the beginning of the end of old patterns of social integration which allowed some aspirations of social mobility, status and authority to men and women of mixed parentage (Brown 1980; Van Kirk 1980a). These transformations are not of direct relevance to this study, but it is important to note that the developments of the post-1821 era make it difficult to directly compare the fur trade before and after this date. While social inequality between the ranks is evident in the period under consideration, the difficulties of transportation may have resulted in few distinctive status markers being brought into the far interior, and even fewer surviving in the archaeological record. As will become apparent in the following discussion, prior to the first decade of the 19th century, the labourers of the Hudson's Bay Company were offered only a narrow and impoverished range of goods for purchase from the trade store. Further, many NWC labourers purchased large quantities of goods at extremely high markups; so high, in fact, that many were perpetually in debt to their employer. The implications of these buying patterns will be more fully explored later. After 1821 there was a transformation of fur trade society into the more rigidly hierarchical and racially based forms of the post-1821 era (see Brown 1980; Van Kirk 1980a). The mid 19th century period saw officers striving for membership in a predominantly European power elite. This involved increased consumption of expensive imported goods, the establishment of English-style households and furnishings, and church-sanctioned marriage to European wifes. Interestingly, organizational characteristics of the NWC, such as competition for promotion between clerks and denial of upward mobility to the labourers, were perpetuated by the HBC in the decades following the 1821 amalgamation. These developments coincide with improvements in the transportation system, and allowed a greater range of commodities to become available. Due to this transformation, discussions of status differentiation must be carefully placed in temporal context. As this study deals primarily with the pre-1821 era, archaeological and historic data from the later period will be used only on a comparative basis. Thus, the extended discussion of status differentiation within the HBC by Pyszczyk (1987) during the mid to late 19th century is of limited relevance to this study except to offer points of contrast. The geographic area to be considered extends from the Upper Great Lakes and the headwaters of the Mississippi River, north-westward along the primary water routes of the Rainy, Winnipeg, Red, Assiniboine, Saskatchewan, Churchill and Peace Rivers (Figure 1). Posts in this area represent all logistical types operated by both the NWC and HBC. Many sites have been excavated to some extent, and historic documentation for others is available. Excavation methodology and sample size is highly variable, and detailed comparison of artifact assemblages is problematical. As a result, a review of archaeological and historic data will be undertaken to construct general settlement patterns from a wide range of posts. A smaller group of sites with more comparable data quality will be selected for analysis involving artifact distribution studies. Historic data such as post records, bills of lading, personnel records and journals will be used to supplement the archaeological data, and to provide insight into the problem of inconsistency between the archaeological assemblage and what the historic documents tell us was originally present at the site.

THE NWC AND HBC: COMMONALITIES AND CONTRASTS To understand the dynamic processes underlying the fur trade, it is important to review some of the variables affecting its operation. To this end, several important features of the operations of the two major companies will be briefly summarized and compared. Both the HBC and NWC were commercial ventures owned and operated by British subjects, traded in overlapping geographic regions, acquired most of their trade commodities from the same European suppliers, and sold their furs to many of the same European buyers. Despite these similarities, there were many profound differences between the companies, particularly in their methods of trade and supply management. The Hudson's Bay Company was established by a Royal Charter in 1670 with exclusive ownership and rights to trade in all lands draining into Hudson and James Bay (Rich 196152). The enormous extent of this charter was unknown in Europe at that time, but it encompassed much of what is now northern Quebec and Ontario, most of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the eastern North West Territories, as well as portions of what later was claimed by the United States after its purchase of Louisiana (Figure 1). The HBC was owned by a group of British shareholders who had no direct experience in the North American fw trade. In fact, it is probable that up to the early 19th century none of the shareholders had ever been to North America, much less the shores of Hudson Bay. These shareholders appointed a body of senior members who formed the governing committee of the "Honourable Company". This London Committee directed the general scope of operations and acted as the ultimate decision maker of company policy. From the most important Chief Factor down to the lowest junior labourer, the individuals who actually conducted the trade in Rupert's land were employees. The day-to- day Rupert's land operations of the HBC were directed by a hierarchy of officers who followed the general directives and policy guide-lines developed by the London Committee. Once a year there was an exchange of correspondence between the London Committee and the senior officers that was relayed by ship with the annual consignment of goods. This correspondence reveals that the London Committee somewhat jealously guarded its authority and refused to grant its senior employees formal discretionary powers (HBCA, PAM, A.6116148d-49, 157d, 158, 158d)2. It is equally evident that the senior employees were often forced to circumvent or ignore the sometimes naive instructions issued from London and make "on the spot" decisions (for example, see Hamilton's 1985b:75-78 discussion of salary negotiations). This was a function of the long distance and delayed communications system, and the lack of direct experience on the part of the London Committee which sometimes caused it to make unworkable decisions. It is important to realize that the working relationship between the senior employees and the shareholders was tightly shackled by a communications vacuum, causing long delays in its response to emergency situations, and development of policy directives which hindsight indicates were inappropriate. Though the HBC operated under considerable difficulties in terms of communications and response time, it was favoured with a comparatively efficient means of transporting goods to North America, particularly during the first 100 years of its operation. The HBC bayside trade system was operated by ships sailing from London and off-loading cargo at major river mouths along the coasts of Hudson and James Bay (Figure 1). At these landing sites, the company eventually constructed large depots or "factories" which became central storage, trade and administrative bases. Prior to about 1774, these major "bayside

This citation style is that used by the Hudson's Bay Company Archives of the Provincial Archives of Manitoba. The letters and numerals following "HBCA, PAM" reference specific classes of documents produced in specific years. For a more detailed description of the documents cited, see the Bibliography. factories" were the primary scene of trade as the company remained on the coast and awaited the arrival of Indian "middlemen" who annually brought furs to them (Ray 1974). Aside from the economic efficiency of having the customers make the long trip to the bayside posts, this arrangement was logical in an ecological sense since the "factories" were established along a bhren coastline with little wood available with which to construct boats capable of traversing the interior waterways, and virtually no birch trees with which to build canoes. The HBC servants were recruited from Britain's urban south, and from among the farmers and fishermen of the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland. In fact, up to the first decade of the 19th century, the Orcadians formed the major ethnic group of the company's Rupert's land operations, and remained an important labourer source even after this date (Nicks 1980:102). Nicks reports that the Orkney Islands provided most of the labourers and some of the tradesmen, while England provided many tradesmen and officers. Upon initial recruitment, the Orcadian labourers were usually young men (mean age of 20 years), of lower or middle class background, and with no experience with the rigours of life in northern North America (Nicks 1980:112). They could not speak Indian languages and were unfamiliar with native cultures and social etiquette. Even if they were familiar with small fishing boats, it is unlikely that they were prepared for the rough and dangerous water routes that provided access to the interior of the continent. Only a few servants were sent inland over the first hundred years of the Company's existence, and little more than a vague notion of the nature of the interior was available to the London Committee. Given these, and considerations such as supplying food to inland crews, the so-called "sleep at the bay" should be viewed as an economically logical strategy of minimizing costs as long as the Indians continued to travel to the northern coast to trade. This situation changed and became increasingly unacceptable as the 18th century progressed. Up to the late 1750ts, French colonial exploratory and trading interests expanded the territorial extent of their inland exploration. Frequent Anglo-French warfare in Europe spilled over into North America, with the attack and capture of HBC posts on several occasions (Rich 196754-57; A.S. Morton 1973). While the French were reasonably successful in the exploration of the interior of the continent, it can be suggested that the scale of their commercial operations was not sufficient to divert most of the trade from Hudson Bay. Rich (1967:87) notes that officially recognized traders such as the La Vtrendrye family were instructed to expend most of their efforts on exploration for a route to the "Western Sea", and that trading was not to take precedence over this priority. While there is little doubt that trading was the central concern of the numerous "Coureurs de bois " as well as the officially sanctioned traderlexplorers, it is probable that the volume of goods

16 travelling inland via the Great Lakes was insufficient for the market, resulting in significant volumes of furs continuing to flow northward to the English bayside posts. Up until the last few decades prior to the conquest of New France in 1760, the HBC bayside operations continued to be effective, but under increasing pressure from Montreal based traders. This is apparent with the slow decline and eventual collapse of the volume of furs traded at major bayside factories between 1730 and 1780 (Ray 1974:52). The situation of modest but "acceptable" returns for the HBC changed dramatically after the defeat of France and the acquisition of New France by Great Britain under the terms of the 1763 Treaty of Paris. Shortly after the conquest, a number of Anglo-Scottish merchants established themselves in Montreal and took over the colonial French fur trade system. These merchants were faced with a number of disadvantages, not the least of which was the very complex and expensive transportation system. They had to order trade goods from European suppliers, and ship the goods from London to Quebec City and thence on to Montreal (Campbell 1983). The goods were sorted, organized and re-packaged for trans- shipment westward in large canoes. In the early 1760's much of this trade was centred at Fort Michilimackinac, with goods moving southwestward into the headwaters of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers (Campbell 1983) (Figure 1). However, by at least 1768 a few British traders were established far to the west of Lake Superior in the Saskatchewan and Assiniboine River basins (Campbell 1983:7; Rich 1967:140; W.L. Morton 1973:38). The Montreal traders overcame many of the difficulties with transportation by utilizing the transportation system of the French traders which, in turn, had been learned from Indians. They employed French Canadian labourers and boatmen who used technology, water routes and skills developed over the 200 year history of New France. The St. Lawrence River valley contained numbers of men who had grown up in a tradition of fur trade service. For generations they had been observing, adapting and adopting native technology such as canoes, snowshoes and clothing, and had learned the survival skills necessary to live in the interior. They knew the complex and extensive inland water routes, were familiar with many interior Indian groups, and spoke their languages. These men were also accomplished trappers and hunters in their own right, and were skilled canoemen inured to the hardships of a voyageur's life. Thus, the Anglo-Scottish merchants in Montreal placed themselves at the head of a pre- existing trade and transportation system, and with superior capitalization and access to the products of the early British Industrial Revolution, rapidly expanded the inland trade system beyond that of their French predecessors. Anglo-Scottish traders reached the rich Athabasca drainage basin by 1778, and increasingly gained a larger share of the annual fur return from the HBC. In effect, the Montreal merchants provided the capital, goods and salaries while the French Canadian voyageurs and clerks provided the necessary "country" skills and experience. They were able to attract the best and most experienced men from the farms and villages along the St. Lawrence River. This was in marked contrast to the situation of the KBC, which was forted to hire untrained recruits, and subject them to an extended training period. As many individual Montreal merchants, each with comparatively small stocks of goods, pushed westwards throughout the hinterland, they encountered problems in financing their business ventures. It became increasingly difficult to acquire goods in Britain, ensure their safe transport to Montreal, engage the necessary men, plan the trade venture, embark to the wintering stations, conduct the trade, and get the furs back to Montreal for shipment to the European fur markets. Several years of financial credit were needed to carry them through the time when goods were purchased and the furs were sold. While the HBC faced similar capitalization problems, the relative efficiency of its transportation system and greater size of its British shareholding organization spread the financial risk among larger numbers of investors. As a solution to these problems, from 1765 to the late 1770's the Montreal merchants gradually developed short-term partnerships with which to pool their purchasing power and reduce the level of competition. Gradually these coalesced into larger partnerships which, in 1779, culminated in the formation of the North West Company. The NWC was not really a formal corporate entity. Rather, it consisted of a partnership of several Montreal merchant firms who agreed to pool resources and share profits over a period of several years. These firms were headed by men with personal experience in the fur trade or with considerable administrative skill, who took on junior partners from among the clerks and traders supervising the active trade operations in the interior. These partners were often linked by strong social, political, religious-and kinship bonds (Brown 1980). The partners consisted largely of Scottish immigrants, many of whom shared clan linkages solidified by marital alliances that included only a few senior French Canadian traders. Despite these close links, the fabric of the NWC was periodically transformed by reorganizations and reformulations of the partnerships, as dissatisfied members left the group, or were pushed out, and as new members were added (Campbell 1983; Davidson 1918). The North West Company differed sharply in its structure and composition from the HBC. The Montreal partnership was composed of two types of shareholders. The most senior category were the Montreal agents, or proprietors, who were also senior members of their own commercial firms. They generally were men of experience in the fur trade. In fact, many were former inland traders who, with increased age and greatly improved fortunes, had chosen to retire from active fur trading to the relative comforts of Montreal. This group was responsible for the acquisition of new trade goods, arranged their packaging and shipment into the interior, and shipped the furs to market in Britain (Campbell 1983). The second group of NWC shareholders, the so-called wintering partners, were actually in charge of the inland trading departments. While they were of much lesser influence than the Montreal agents, collectively the wintering partners could exert significant power, For example, Morrison (1988) discusses the power machinations during the 1815 meeting of NWC shareholders at Fort William. In the realm of the inland trade posts they held very exalted and powerful positions as the heads of their respective departments. The shareholders of the NWC, in contrast to those of the HBC, were mostly active or former fur traders who understood the business in great detail, usually on the basis of direct experience. The wintering partners supervised the trade exchanges, were able to supply detailed information in the planning sessions, and were able to make immediate decisions. Since they were shareholders, their economic fortunes were directly linked to the success of the trade exchange. Consequently, the NWC was believed to be much more aggressive and innovative than the HBC, whose trade was conducted by employees receiving an annual salary (Harmon 1957:34). As the Montreal traders became increasingly successful in their ventures, and expanded to the northwest beyond Lake Superior, they intercepted a larger proportion of the Indian groups who had previously traded at the bayside posts. More trade posts were established in relatively close proximity to the Indians actually doing the trapping. The inland Indians were no longer forced to trade with an Indian middleman (Ray 1974), and had direct access to white traders. This had the affect of: 1) destroying the economic position of the Cree and Assiniboine middlemen; 2) forcing the latter to trap in their own right to acquire European goods; and 3) leading to a dramatic decline in the volume of furs flowing to the HBC bayside posts (Ray 1974). By the 1770's the HBC recognized the severity of this problem. Its response was an initially slow and tentative move inland to establish wintering trade posts. With this move inland, first in 1743 at Henley House and then more forcefully in 1774 at Cumberland House, the period of intensive inland expansion and competition began.

THE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM To carry out inland expansion, both the NWC and the Hl3C relied heavily upon natural waterways using large canoes or flat bottomed boats. The North West Company also employed wind-driven ships on Lakes Superior, Huron and Michigan. These craft were designed to carry goods and foodstuffs in large volumes westward to the rendezvous points. Still the company relied heavily upon canoe transportation through the Ottawa River system. This was a function of high duties, delays in getting government permits, and reluctance on the part of Colonial administrators to allow large volumes of strategic goods to flow past the American frontier both during and after the American Revolution (Campbell 1983). The primary water routes followed by the NWC are summarized by Morse (1979), and began with the canoe route from Montreal,, up the Ottawa River, and onwards to Georgian Bay via the Mattawa River and Lake Nipissing (Figure 1). The large freighter canoes then travelled westward along the shores of Lakes Huron and Superior until they reached either Grand Portage or Fort William. At this point the Montreal canoe brigades met the wintering brigades, and they exchanged cargoes. After this rendezvous, the Montreal brigades returned to the east with cargos of fur, and the wintering brigades returned to their inland stations with a new supply of trade goods. The primary transportation corridor westward from Lake Superior used a network of rivers and lakes that ultimately lead to the Rainy River system (Figure 1). The Rainy River, in turn, drains into the Lake of the Woods, and then the Winnipeg River. The mouth of the Winnipeg River was an important re-supply point in provisioning the Athabasca and Saskatchewan brigades, and at which the Assiniboine and Red River brigades left the main route (Figure 1). The Athabasca and Saskatchewan brigades continued north and west up Lake Winnipeg and into the Saskatchewan River. A second major provision re-supply point was at Cumblerland House, located along the south shore of Cumberland Lake (Figure 1). At this point the Saskatchewan brigades continued up that river, while the Athabasca brigades turned north through the Amisk LakeISturgeon Weir River system and on to the Churchill River (Figure 1). They followed the Churchill River to its headwaters, and then the Methye Portage provided access to the Clearwater and Athabasca Rivers which drain northward into Lake Athabasca (Figure 1). The west shore of Lake Athabasca formed a final strategic hub of this transportation system. Fort Chippewyan was an important administrative post and re-supply point for trade departments in the Mackenzie, Peace and New Caledonia areas. These most distant areas were supplied by brigades travelling along the Mackenzie and Peace Rivers. The Peace River, via the Peace River canyon, was the primary water route through the Rocky Mountains thereby providing access to the fur reserves of New Caledonia in the intermontaine region of north central British Columbia (Figure 1). The HBC transportation system was also water based. Instead of a centralized landfall such as Montreal, the HBC established a series of major posts or factories at the mouths of major river systems. These primary posts included Fort Prince of Wales, York Factory, Severn Factory, Albany Factory, Moose Factory, Fort Rupert and Eastmain (Figure 1). Of these major centres, York and Albany Factories are the most important for this discussion. York Factory was the most important post of the HBC system since it was the major landfall for goods destined for western Rupert's land. The Nelson River is the major river that drains the Saskatchewan, Winnipeg and Red River watersheds (Figure 1). Morse (1978:36) points out that the volume of water carried by this river made it unsuitable for canoe and batteau transportation, resulting in the smaller Hays River being the primary water route (Figure 1). The Hays River connects a series of lakes such as Knee and Oxford, ultimately providing access to Lake Winnipeg. At the north end of Lake Winnipeg, \ HBC watercraft could intercept the primary eastfwest route of the NWC, and travel west along the Saskatchewan, northwest via the Sturgeon-Weir and Churchill Rivers, or south on Lake Winnipeg (Figure 1). The water transportation system from Albany Factory followed the Albany River upstream as far as Lake St Joseph (Lytwyn 1986:66), (Figure 1). Through a series of smaller rivers and portages, the brigades radiated outward throughout much of what is now northern Ontario, and could intercept the primary NWC routes via Lac Seul and the English and Winnipeg Rivers (Figure 1). These transportation systems were labour-intensive, with large numbers of men needed to power the watercraft, and to carry vessels and cargo over numerous portages. The distances travelled were considerable (Table I), and it often required all of the ice-free season to complete the round trip. Table 1 provides an estimate of the approximate distances by water between various key posts along these rivers. These are very conservative estimates of the true distances travelled since they reflect straight line rather than meandering river courses. Figure 2 represents the distances that goods were transported from the major landfall to specific winter stations. It is apparent that the NWC transported goods much further than the HBC, thereby raising the costs of conducting the trade. The favourable situation of the HBC is particularly apparent when it is realized that posts such as Fort White Earth and Fort Edmonton 111, Brandon House and McDonell's House, Fort Chippewyan and Nottingham House, and Fort George and Buckingham House are virtually adjacent to one another (Figure 1). The boat and canoe brigades successfully travelled these distances in the ice free season since they employed oversized canoes capable of stepping a mast and sail, used standardized cargo packaging, and were provisioned with locally derived food from

I I strategically placed inland depots. Comparatively little cargo space was available for exotic foodstuffs, status goods, and materials not destined to be traded for furs. Consequently, it can be postulated that materials of this sort, upon arrival in the interior, would be expensive, and likely associated with the most important and wealthy members of the fur trade community. ,' Table 1 The distances travelled between posts. Travel distances by water (i km approx) NWC to Inland Depot I Winterer's Total distance goods travel from to I km round trip one way to wintering post Montreal Grand Portage 1 1825 3650 Montreal Fort William 1 1750

NWC Depot to wintering stations from to Fort William Yellow River Fort William Snake River

Fort William Lac la Phis Grand Portage Lac la Phis Grand Portage Pine Fort Grand Portage Fort EspQance Grand Portage R. Tremblante

Fort William GrantlMcleod Fort William Fort George Fort William White Earth

Lac la Phis Fort Chippewyan Lac la Phis Rocky Mtn. Fort

HBC to Inland Depot from to Albany Factory Martin's Fall HBC Depot to wintering stations from to Martin's Fall Osnaburgh Martin's Fall RedLake - Martin's Fall Brandon House Martin's Fall Indian Elbow

York Factory Setting Lake York Factory Cumberland H. York Factory Buckingham H. York Factory Edmonton House I11 York Factory Nottingham H. York Factory Ft Wedderburn

The North West Company annually shipped high volumes of goods from below the Lachine Rapids westward throughout the interior of the continent. This transportation system was divided into two primary components involving the employment of two sets of crews; the Montreal brigades, referred to as the mangews du lard (Pork Eaters), and the northmen or "winterers" (see Wallace 1934:72-74). The first component was responsible for moving goods westward from Montreal to Grand Portage, and returning with a cargo of furs collected by the winterers the previous season. It involved the use of very large birch bark canoes "36 feet long and 6 feet wide" (+l1 by 1.8 metres), each capable of carrying up to five tons (4,536 kg) of cargo. The cargo of each of these canoes consisted of approximately 2,000 lbs (907 kg) of trade goods, "several hundred pounds" of provisions consisting of dried peas or beans and salt pork, six to ten men each with about "forty Ibs" of personal luggage, plus canoe repair supplies (Campbell 1983:23). - Rocky Mtn. Fort --

Nottingham H Fort Chippewyan.

Edmonton House 111 White Earth

Fort George Buckingham H.

Brandon House McDonnell's House

Kilometres

Figure 2 The distance of trade posts from their principal resupply points.

Greer (1985:178-184) points out that the NWC sought out men from specific rural parishes noted for poor or limited agricultural potential to fill the ranks of the Montreal brigades. In a sense, the Montreal merchants followed much the same strategy as the HBC in the Orkney Islands. By going to such agriculturally poor parishes as Sorel, the NWC was able to avoid the contentious and competitive labourer market in the larger towns, and seek out peasant farmers (or the sons thereof) who needed a cash income to supplement that gained from their small farm holdings. The Montreal brigades also included relatively few men who worked for more than one season; most of the professional voyageurs with a long term commitment to the fur trade eventually found their way into the northern brigades (Greer 1985:182-183). While Greer (1985:180) suggests that these peasant farmers were willing to engage in seasonal work between Lachine and Fort William at comparatively low wages, subsequent chapters of this thesis demonstrate that all NWC labourers earned much more than the HBC labourers. The second stage of the NWC transportation system was conducted in smaller canoes on the more difficult water routes beyond Lake Superior. Being about "32 feet long and 4 feet ten inches wide" (+ 9.75 by 1.5 metres), each canoe carried twenty five "90 lb" packs of goods, plus provisions, the crew, and their personal baggage. The engage's who were employed on this second leg of the transportation system considered themselves to be the elite of the NWC labourer service due to the greater difficulties encountered, and since they wintered over in the northwest (Nute 1972:18-19). They also had a greater sense of "professionalism", having signed multi-year contracts of service in the fur trade, and were much more experienced than the mangeurs du lard as the Montreal brigades were derisively referred. Duncan McGillivray (A.S. Morton 1929; Nute 1972:65-66) suggested that the Athabasca men considered themselves to be the best of the northerners, and looked down upon men of the plains fringe posts who did not face the enormous distances involved in reaching Lake Athabasca and beyond. After Montreal, the most important points of the NWC transportation system were the depots along the west shore of Lake Superior. Grand Portage and, after 1804, Fort William were the central inland depots where the Montreal canoe brigades laden with new trade goods met the inland winterers with their cargo of furs. The NWC was forced to abandon the Grand Portage depot in the early 19th century in order to avoid paying duties on cargo passing through the territory of the United States (Davidson 1918:48). In addition to the major Lake Superior depots, another depot was established at Fort Chippewyan on the northwest shore of Lake Athabasca. This post was the administrative headquarters of the entire Athabasca Department, and for a time was the major supply redistribution and administrative centre of this rich hinterland. A measure of its importance to the general operations of the company is reflected by the number of posts, partners and men attached to each department in 1802 (Table 2, Davidson 1918:280). As Table 2 indicates, the Athabasca Department contained 15% of the trade posts, 25% of the wintering partners and over 21% of the labourers. The huge costs, yet high returns of the Athabasca Department made it the North West Company's most diligently protected trade zone, and it successfully maintained a virtual monopoly until the second decade of the 19th century. The Athabasca Department was so distant from the Grand Portage that the company established a forward exchange point at Lac la Pluis, at the west end of Rainy Lake (Figure 1). It was considered to be the most easterly point that the Athabasca brigades could safely travel to and from in one ice free season (Lamb 1970:6). To facilitate this exchange, Montreal canoemen were selected to relay the goods westward from Grand Portage, and return with the Athabasca furs. Table 2 The disposition of men and facilities by NWC Department in 1802 (after Davidson 19 l8:28O) ' POSTS Clerks Common 1 Total % of Name of Depamnents No. % Partners Interpreters Men total St. Maries 1 0.85 12 14 1.32 Michipicoton 3 2.56 1.23 Kamanistiguia 1 0.85 1.89 Grand Portage 2 1.71 1.O4 Mille Lacs 2 1.71 0.85 Pic 3 2.56 1.32 Nipigon Lake 2 1.71 0.85 Nipigon 7 5.98 6.24 Lac de la Pluis 6 5.13 3.21 Riviere Rouge & Assiniboine 10 8.55 10.21 Lac Ouinipique 7 5.98 7.56 Fort Dauphin 7 5.98 7 .O9 Shuskatchivan River 9 7.69 9.26 English River (Churchill) 9 7.69 8.41 Athabasca 18 15.4 19.57 Upper Athabasca River 3 2.56 4.73 S side of Lake Superior and Fond du Lac 12 10.3 7.94 Subtotal 102 87 18 141 92.72 Grand or Ottawa River 4 3.42 6 2.27 St. Ma1xic.e Posts 3 2.56 5 1.32 Moos River (Hudson's Bay) 2 1.71 1 3 1.32 6 5.13 1 6 2.36 Grand Total 117 20 161

These rendezvous points were the scene of considerable activity and confusion as the men from many inland stations .met, celebrated the end of their journey, purchased new personal equipment, briefly rested, and then packed a new outfit of trade goods in preparation for the long return trip to their winter posts. The summer rendezvous was also the time for a meeting of the shareholders of the company. The Montreal Agents described the prices of furs and the costs of goods in Europe, and the wintering partners briefed those present regarding conditions in the interior (Campbell 1983). At these meetings strategy was planned, new trade areas were discussed, controversies were resolved, and new placements and shares were allocated. The summer gatherings were one of the most important elements in the success of the company since most of the major figures gathered for face-to-face discussions, rather than relying upon the vagaries of long distance correspondence. The decision-making process of the NWC, when compared to the HBC, also enjoyed relative efficiency due to the winter mail packet system (Innis 1970:242). This involved the movement of letters from one officer to another, and included personal correspondence and general descriptions of the conditions in each department. These dispatches were relayed from the most westerly trade posts of Athabasca and New Caledonia in the early winter, from one post to another via dog team or men on snowshoes. As the letters worked their way eastward, a picture of trading conditions accumulated for the edification of all involved. By spring the dispatches arrived at Sault Ste. Marie where they awaited the arrival of the Montreal brigades and the senior partners. The information within these dispatches was studied, and plans were likely developed prior to the actual meeting of partners at Fort William. By this means, the brief annual meetings could be tightly focused on expeditiously reaching decisions rather than simply exchanging information. After the summer gatherings of only a few weeks, the crews were re-organized, and the winterers returned to the northwest with a supply of trade goods. The Montreal brigades loaded the previous winter's yield of furs and embarked on the return trip to Montreal. The Hudson's Bay Company inland system operated in much the same way, although on a much reduced scale. Rather than a single rendezvous of all officers and inland masters, each factory independently implemented its own re-supply system. In about 1790 the Albany Factory system established an inland rendezvous at the first impediment to navigation at Martin's Falls (Figure 1) (Rich 1961:179). The York Factory system had no such inland rendezvous point. All brigades travelled to the coast of Hudson Bay to exchange their fur cargo for a new supply of trade goods. These rendezvous were also times of festive gathering and information exchange. Given the employee status of the HBC officers, it is anticipated that they involved the circulation of instructions from the London Committee, rather than active decision making over major issues of policy and expansion. The summer rendezvous were important events for the labourers as well. The gatherings allowed time to meet friends who had wintered in other territories, and perhaps seek appointment to a new department under the direction of a different officer. It also presented an opportunity to re-negotiate contracts with senior officers, and purchase goods from a shop with a wider range of commodities. In the case of the NWC, the equipment shop at Fort William offered personal goods at a lower rate than that charged in the far interior.

WORK-RELATED SOCIAL HIERARCHIES Both major companies maintained relatively large work forces organized into hierarchical pyramids. The NWC was much more heavily staffed given its ready supply of trained and experienced labourers in Lower Canada, and due to the greater demands of its transportation system. In addition to having different numbers of men at its disposal, the two companies were also quite different in their organizational structure. The HBC Rupert's land operations were conducted by men who varied dramatically in rank and salary, but all remained employees. While the senior officers were English, the balance of the complement of every Factory were Orcadians (Nicks 1980: 103). Many of these individuals chose to remain in the company service for only one contract, but a significant number remained longer, sometimes ranging up to two or three decades (Nicks 1980: 118). With the passing of years, and as these individuals gained in experience and skills, they received significant increases in salary over reduced contract lengths (Hamilton 1985b). Even though they might be formally recognized as labourers on the company records, the salary level and work responsibilities of the experienced labourers graded into that of the officer group. The salary level of the most important labourers was actually consistent with their informal work role as many of them were placed in charge of work parties, assisted in the trade room, and were sometimes placed in charge of outposts (Hamilton 1985b). Up to the mid 19th century, the HBC maintained an informal tradition of upward mobility. This tradition held that with hard work, demonstrated skills, dedication, and patronage links, ambitious men could aspire to become officers with a high social position in Rupert's land (Foster 1976; Hamilton 1985b). Many Orcadian men found such a prospect more attractive than their situation at home, and chose to remain for extended periods of time. Nicks (1980:117) reports that the annual starting salary of •’6 (plus bounties, premiums, food, board and equipment) compared favourably to about •’2.5 per annum offered to farm labourers in the Orkney Islands. Forced military service upon return to the British Isles during the Napoleonic wars also likely encouraged extended North American service (HBCA, PAM,-A.6115154; A.61171150). To become an HBC officer implied much more than salary increases and movement up the corporate chain of command. In the informal social fabric of Rupert's land, to become an officer implied becoming a gentleman. This involved the right to take the privileges of the social position to the practical limits offered by the inland post system (Foster 1976). While rank had a mixture of privileges and worrisome responsibilities, it is apparent that many ambitious men sought upward mobility, and were willing to invest the balance of their adult lives in achieving that status. This had the affect of making the organizational fabric of the HBC in North America vertically integrated. Ambitious men with career aspirations within the HBC eagerly sought the interest and support of men already in the c officer group. This might involve strong patronage bonds, including kinship, whereby younger men married the daughters of older officers. This had the affect of improving the inter-rank cohesion within the HBC (Brown 1980:23-35). Countering this vertical cohesion within each factory were the limited communications, contact and cooperation between factories. This grew increasingly problematical in the case of the Lake WinnipegIAssiniboine River region where the hinterlands of York Factory and Albany Factory overlapped, and inland officers found themselves working at cross purposes (HBCA, PAM, B.22/a/15/19d; W.L. Morton 1973:43). The NWC was strongly segregated between the officer and labourer groups. This reflected the social reality of 19th century Lower Canada as much as it was a function of the organization of the company. In the early period of NWC operations, the labourers, boat-- en, guides, interpreters and clerks were predominantly French Canadians. With the exception of the clerks and perhaps the interpreters, these engage's were marginally educated men from the farms of the St. Lawrence valley (Campbell 1983), and had virtually no possibility of advancement beyond the status of guide and "Contremaitre" or foreman- overseer. Ethnic segregation between ranks is demonstrated by Brown (1980) who identifies ethnic origins of NWC men based on the surnames recorded in the lists of personnel attached to each department. These data are presented in Table 3. It must be noted that the surname of mixed parentage men was likely that of the father, resulting in their under- representation. For example, men such as Cuthbert Grant junior are subsumed in the "British clerk category despite their mixed parentage.

Table 3 "Ethnic" Origin of NWC men in 1804 (After Brown 1980:46) British French Indian Total or other Bourgeois 43 2 - 45 Clerks 44 32 - 76 Interpreters 2 43 - 45 Guides - 16 - 16 Voyageurs and others 24 625 8 657 Total 113 718 8 839

The salaries of NWC employees were higher than their HBC contemporaries. However, these salaries were more affected by competition for services, and seldom reflected a steady improvement with increased experience. As will become apparent in a later chapter, the salary scale was graded, subject to at least two considerations in zddition to "supply and demand". These factors include work roles formalized by positions in the canoe, and winter station. Using this latter criterion, Athabasca and Forts des Prairie men received larger salaries and equipment allowances than men stationed close to Lake Superior. It is also apparent that the NWC charged its employees high prices for the goods purchased from company stores, and the average engage' owed a substantial debt to his employer. In sum, they were a rough, boisterous group with no ambitions of becoming "gentlemen of the Csmpany", and if they did, such opportunities would have been denied them given the social role of the average French Canadian of Lower Canada during the 18th and 19th centuries. The NWC wintering partners were men of considerable means. They were partners and shareholders of the company, and were socially prominent in Montreal society. They were gentlemen accustomed to the comforts of life, whether in Montreal or in the distant trade posts. As will be more fully developed in subsequent chapters, rank had privileges even in the most remote posts. These men referred to themselves as the "gentlemen of the company", and they selected new members from the more able and well connected of the clerks under their charge. In this sense, close social bonds and some prospect of upward mobility also characterized the NWC, but with the important distinction that it was limited to the educated, predominantly Anglo-Scots clerks. The French clerks of the NWC form an interesting group of uncertain social position. They were socially and economically superior to the engage's due to their work role and literacy. While they possessed many potential criteria for moving into the shareholder class, they generally lacked the social connections, kin links and economic power to become senior clerks or gentleman shareholders. Notably, very few French surnames appear on the lists of shareholders of the NWC, and these men usually were close affinal kinsmen of senior Anglo-Scots partners (Campbell 1983). For example, one of the two French Canadian partners noted in Table 3 is Charles Chaboillez, brother-in-law of Simon McTavish. Another interesting exception is Jean Baptiste Cadotte, whom David Thompson described in 1798 as being ...about thirty five years of age. He was the son of a french gentleman by a native woman, and married to a very handsome native woman, also the daughter of a Frenchman: He had been well educated in Lower Canada, and spoke fluently his native language, with Latin, French and English. I had long wished to meet a well educated native, from whom I could derive sound information for I was well aware that neither myself, nor any other person I had met with, who was not a native, were sufficiently masters of the Indian Languages (Glover 1962:188).

Cadotte is one of a very few French Canadian clerks who succeeded in becoming a wintering partner. Apparently his exceptional education, training and linguistic skills, plus the importance of his family in the area southwest of Lake Superior (Birk 1980) led to his brief shareholder status. He was offered a wintering share in 1801 (Wallace 1934: 171) in the Lac du Flambeau region. However, Wallace (1934: 183) reports that he was stripped of his share as punishment for improper conduct, "neglect of his duty and indulging in drunkenness and riot" within a few years of his initial appointment. Throughout the .1790ts, the North West Company increasingly hired junior clerks of educated Anglo-Scots and sometimes Anglo-American descent (Campbell 1983). In many cases, these men were the sons, nephews or cousins of company shareholders who owed appointments to their family links and literacy. They gradually superseded the French clerks, but did not completely replace them, as the latter's language skills and experience as traders made them an indispensable part of the inland post system. However, it was the clerks of Anglo-Scots background, with strong connections to the shareholders, who eventually were offered wintering partnerships as they became more experienced. While Table 3 indicates that roughly equal numbers of men with French and English surnames were listed as clerks, few of the French clerks moved into the "senior clerk" rank and virtually none were offered partnerships. The sense of bitterness that such patronage must have evoked among French and English clerks who had been passed over is readily apparent in the writings of George Nelson (Van Kirk 1984:207). Brown (1980:48) cites Ross Cox to illustrate the fate of another able clerk named Willard F. Wentzell who lacked the necessary social connections. I me had] no family connexions to place his claims in the prominent point of view which they ought to occupy, and being moreover of an honest and unbending disposition, his name was struck out of the house-list of favourite clerks intended for proprietors, and he had the vexation to see many young men promoted over his head, several of whom had never slept a night with a hungry stomach (Cox 1832:283).

I argue that the NWC organizational structure was considerably more stratified than the HBC. This stratification was primarily based, but not exclusively so, along ethnic lines between the officerlshareholder and labourer groups. Vigorous competition for promotion also coloured the relationship between clerks. Improving one's chances for promotion required the favour of a patron, or aggressive trading to maximize company profit. Adopting the style of life expected of a senior clerk and "gentleman of consequence" would also aid in the struggle to succeed in the company service. It is apparent that the social pretensions of the officers of the HBC and the NWC were considerably different in scale. The HBC officers occupied an exclusive sod1sphere in the rather provincial world of the Albany or York Factory hinterlands, yet they remained a very i minor social and economic element within the corporate structure of the HBC and the larger society within which the HBC operated. The NWC officers, particularly the wintering partners or clerks with reasonable prospects of promotion, were men of social and economic importance. They could command a share of the profit of the company, and they had a voice in the decision-making process. The partners of the NWC also were sbcially prominent in Montreal and Lower Canadian society, owing to the power and influence of the NWC. The HBC officers, on the other hand, were obscure middle level functionaries and employees who were socially and physically removed from the senior decision makers of the company in London. Even more telling, the Hudson's Bay Company was a comparatively minor player in the enormous economic world of 19th century London. A schematic drawing by Brown (1980:43) very effectively represents these relationships, and is replicated in Figure 3. Varying degrees of social pretence are obliquely apparent when comparing salary scales of clerks, traders and "Inland Masters" of the two companies (see Chapter 6). It is also apparent that the NWC officers displayed greater affluence and social role at mildly competitive feasts with the heads of nearby posts. James Sutherland commented in 1796 on the superiority of hospitality offered by John McDonell, the newly appointed NWC Proprietor in the Upper Red River Department. Sutherland noted that the officers of the NWC could "afford a genteeler table" than he (HBCA, PAM, B.22/a/4/15d). Clearly, foodways were an important element of validating status. While both companies maintained a hierarchy of ranks within their respective services, it is clear that the HBC offered at least the appearance of upward mobility to its labourers; something denied to the NWC labourers. Despite this division between officers and labourers, it would be inappropriate to suggest that labourers of either company were men of equal rank and status under the command of their respective officers. Both groups of labourers were subdivided into a series of informal categories defined by work role, remuneration and social status among their fellows. Foster (1973) refers to a sort of "fur trade machismo" by which labourers measured themselves and their fellows. In both groups, "country skills", friendship connections, physical strength and endurance, courage, and drinking and sexual ability figured prominently in the pecking order of the employees. The material implications of this informal hierarchy will also be explored in another chapter. LOGISTICAL STRUCTURE Both the NWC and HBC maintained a tripartite hierarchy of trade posts, including administrative centres, regional headquarters and wintering sites. Each of these functioned in different roles, and could be occupied by quite diverse personnel. Figure 3 The Socio-Economic Role of Fur Trade Companies and Officers in the larger societal context (after Brown l980:43).

The administrative posts were large and carefully structured to support administrative, re-supply, and logistic functions. They contained buildings and furnishings which were comparatively elaborate, and designed to house and entertain senior officers during the annual gatherings. These posts were seasonally quite busy, and housed a number of tradesmen and labourers. They were not particularly important trade centres in light of the primary administrative, logistical and industrial functions served. This was particularly the case as the local resources were depleted. Grand Portage, Fort William and perhaps Fort Chippewyan of the NWC, and Albany and York Factories of the HBC are examples of such administrative headquarters. Regional headquarters were the winter residences for officers in charge of specific departments, and served as administrative and redistribution centres within it. Within the physical limits of the transportation system, these posts could be rather elaborate. Senior officers might possess extensive libraries and "large" residences. They consumed more imported foodstuffs and better quality alcohol, played host to Christmas and New Years festivities, and indulged in elaborate entertainment including mildly competitive feasting with officers of other companies. As administrative and re-supply centres, these posts often had numerous buildings to house personnel, provisions, and trade goods, and contained several workshops and trade stores. A narrow range of tradesmen in addition to manual labourers were also stationed at these centres. Depending upon the level of competition, each regional headquarters could support a number of small and temporary wintering stations. Wintering posts were solely designed to trade with the Indians, and were regularly moved. A junior officer or a high seniority labourer was placed in charge, and a few manual labourers would winter with him. Since the labourers were frequently dispatched from one post to another, employed hunting or hauling provisions, or collecting commodities from the Indian encampments (Hamilton 1985b), many of these posts were occupied by a very small complement of men. Facilities generally ranged from a small fortified compound containing a few buildings, one or two unfortified log buildings, or simple "log tents". Because of their temporary nature, and perhaps due to the relatively low status of their occupants, these posts were informal, crudely constructed, and with few or no special purpose areas. Of uncertain classificatory status are posts constructed in regions where their occupants enjoyed a trade monopoly. Such is the situation of the trade posts of the Athabasca Department prior to the successful entry of the Hudson's Bay Company in the late 1810's. During the period of monopoly, the NWC was able to place posts at widely spaced intervals, and they became the "central place" of a large catchment area. In this sense they fall intermediate between the small wintering stations and the regional headquarters. While they required comparatively more facilities to house the men and store the trade goods, they remained minor and distant elements of a larger supply system. For the sake of simplicity, these monopoly posts are considered to be temporary wintering outposts, in spite of their large hinterland and somewhat longer period of occupation. In sum, the trade posts can be organized hierarchically by logistical role, with the most important also being the headquarters of the highest ranked members of the company hierarchy, and the small wintering stations being in the charge of clerks or senior labourers.

SUMMARY The period encompassed by this study coincides with a time of rapid expansion and intense competition in the British-based North American fur trade. Two of the most important companies in this struggle were the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company; both owned by British shareholders, but the former was based in London and the latter in Montreal. While exhibiting many similarities in terns of source of supply and markets, sharp differences exist in terms of organizational structure. Both fur trade companies exhibit a hierarchically organized chain of command which was extremely important in defining most social relationships between individuals. However, sharp distinctions exist between them in terms of the detail of relationships between the ranks. The HBC Rupert's land service was composed entirely of employees, and was much more vertically integrated due to the possibility of upward mobility from the labourer rank into the officer rank. The NWC ownership structure consisted of a large proportion of shareholders who were directly involved in fur trading in the hinterlands. Most of these shareholders were Anglo-Scots profcssiona! fix traders. This offered the company advantages in terms of a more informed decision making process, but also resulted in a rigidly organized chain of command that limited the aspirations of some men, most notably the French Canadian labourers and clerks. It is also apparent that these rank distinctions also imply class distinctions with the officers considering themselves the social elite of the fur trade. These pretensions play an important role in understanding the social dynamics which affect the relationships between the ranks, and also likely contributed to social tension between men of different ranks. The dramatic expansion of the fur trade in the late 18th century resulted in the development of a complex transportation system and rapidly increased costs of conducting trade. In the case of the NWC, this was due to the large payroll costs involved in employing large numbers of men to power the watercraft along an enormous transportation network. This transportation system required careful attention by all trade companies, but the problems of the NWC were particularly acute. Chapter 3 COGNITIVISM, NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION AND THE MAINTENANCE OF AUTHORITY IN THE NWC

INTRODUCTION A fundamental assumption of this work is that architecture, the use of space, and material culture were important means of transmitting and reinforcing social information to members of the fort community. The mechanism of this information exchange was via non- verbal communication and the rationale for the information exchange was the reinforcement of authority by symbolizing work-related social inequality. It is important to recognize, however, that symbolization of authority using material goods need not be formalized and explicit. In fact, symbolization of social position may be very subtle and not clearly understood by the participants engaged in this activity. What is important is its affect in reinforcing assertions of authority. Efforts to explore the conditions of social life which posit the primary causal role of economics and the physical environment are commonly associated with "marxist", "cultural ecological" and "cultural materialistt' orientations (Harris 1968, 1980; Kohl 1981; Freidman 1974; Kent l987:5 18; Deagan 1982). Following these perspectives, the cultural values of a society are considered to be predominantly influenced by the physical conditions of life, the material/economic means available to the group, and the organizational structure of that grmp which fmction to extract basic needs hmthe environment. In Hodder's view (1985: 1-3; 1986: 1-9), studies using this theoretical construct envision individuals as passive figures who merely respond to the social and physical world around them. Further, Hodder maintains that the materialist considers the role of the individual as subordinate to the "systems" driving the culture which, in turn, animate the individual with social consciousness. The passive individual learns and follows appropriate rules of behaviour through acculturation, thus perpetuating the cultural system. Culture change is perceived to be the result of changes in the fundamental relationships which articulate the society to the larger ecological system within which it operates. A materialist position is prominent in much of North American archaeology, and reflects the emphasis on the role of the environment, the development of systems theory, and reliance upon the scientific method (Willey and Sabloff 1980). This paradigm maintains that the material conditions of life structure the development of non-economic aspects of society such as belief systems, social hierarchies and relations between members of that society. This theoretical model can be conveniently, if simplistically, visualized as an organizational pyramid whereby causality moves upwards to an apex representing social institutions and belief systems (Figure 4). Of course, systems theory advocated by many

Causality flows upward from the environmental base of the pyramid

Causality flows upward from the envkonmer?td base of

physical environment Rationalization of the Economic Relationships

- The economy, technology and social organization developed by humans to articulate themselves into the physical environment

The Physical Environment and the resources available to humans

Figure 4 The Materialist Causal Pyramid and Feedback loops. materialists recognizes that this causal pyramid is affected by feedbacks by which ideology and social structure impinge upon, and ultimately affect, both the physical environment and the nature of the economic relationships with that environment (for example, see Flannery 1972). A second theoretical orientation to be utilized is "cognitive" in its orientation. Here, the values and belief systems of a population are seen to condition how that population articulates with the environment and how it organizes its economy (Leone 1982:742-743; Deetz 1977). Following this view, causality flows downward from "ideational sub- systems" represented by the pyramidal apexes of Figure 4. That is, individuals in a society have an underlying conceptual order through which the physical and social universe is viewed, and it is these perspectives that structure the way people organize themselves and articulate with the environment. This approach is not necessarily divergent from the materialist orientation that incorporates feedback loops. In fact, one could take the view that it remains a materialist perspective, but one which is more focused upon the effects of the feedback loops. The cognitive approach is particularly fruitful when we recognize that many European participants in the fur trade viewed North America through a European Christian world view. The fur trade hinterland was perceived as an inhospitable wilderness to be explored and conquered in order to gain its wealth. This perspective of gaining control, or dominion, over the wilderness was certainly consistent with both Christian tradition and the political economy of Imperiai Britain. The imagery of isoiation in a hostiie, savage and foreign environment appears as a strong theme in some narratives, particularly those written by recently arrived officers. In a personal diary, Daniel Williams Harmon (1957) frequently mused upon the difficulty of maintaining his austere brand of Protestant Christianity and standards of moral behaviour in face of Indians' values, and the "lapsed morality" of fellow officers and Canadian labourers. The view of Rupert's land as a hostile and savage place was certainly not universal. Even Harmon changed his attitude over time and with experience. Since the few reminiscences, journals and diaries that have survived are almost exclusively written by members of the Anglo-Scottish fur trade elite, we must speculate about the attitudes of the French Canadian, Orcadian and mixed parentage men of the lower ranks. These men likely had quite different attitudes towards the wilderness, reflected by their long service, the establishment of comparatively stable domestic relationships, and exposure to quite different cultural values through their close contact with Indians. Some writings of experienced traders are insightful and sympathetic in their understanding of quite different native world views. Some examples include the observations of George Nelson (Brown and Brightman 1988) and the writings of George Keith, Duncan Cameron and Peter Grant (Masson 1960). The interior could become a place of familiarity, where men chose to pass much of their adult lives, and when the opportunity for inland retirement at Red River presented itself, many chose to remain in the west. Differences of perception can be expected to introduce some variability in the fur trade archaeological data base. On the one hand, men who resisted acculturation to life in Rupert's land might have maintained elements of their former lives in the posts, while others accepted and accommodated themselves to the new milieu. The latter was greatly facilitated by the establishment of "country marriages" between European men and women of native or mixed parentage. The role of material culture in transmitting messages about self to a larger community becomes very important in this li.ght. As Hodder (1985) maintains, the individuals involved were active, and "negotiated" their relationships with one another. One means of conducting this social negotiation is through the mediating role of material goods, but in a fashion conditioned by the symbolic meaning attached to objects by the participants.

Material culture patterning evokes and forms values and expectations. It is through the arrangement of the material world-the association of forms and uses-that the social world is produced and reproduced. Material culture provides the environment within which individuals find their places and learn the places of others, their goals and expectations. Yet it also produces new situations and is, with language and gesture, the medium through which individuals achieve their ends. Control over material culture (eg the organization of space and artifacts within a house) gives power and control over others in that the values and expectations of others can be changed and negotiated by providing a world of experience that creates new association and evokes new relationships and values. But again, individuals are not duped by the material world. Rather, they make sense of it in terms of their own interests. The same item can mean prestige or ridicule, control or freedom when used in different contexts or when viewed by different people in the same context (Hodder 1985:5-6).

Such plasticity of use and meaning makes any effort at interpretation of symbolic meaning using archaeologically derived data very difficult since it may shift with different individuals and social contexts. However, the control over context offered to historical archaeology through the written word allows greater credibility in these interpretations. Fur trade posts were occupied by individuals of widely divergent cultural backgrounds, attitudes and perceptions of appropriate conduct. This diversity is not merely due to the distinctions between native and European perceptions. These broad cultural categories subsume much cultural diversity, with several distinct populations within each major category. For example, when considering the European population, important social variables include ethnicity, work-role, rank, resistance to change or acculturation, and commitment to long term service. It can be suggested that these divergent perspectives are reflected by a range of attitudes regarding appropriate norms of behaviour, acceptable shelter, foodways and waste disposal, and the utility and value of specific kinds of material goods. The perspective utilized in this work is most eloquently advocated by James Deetz (1977) who relies heavily upon the work of folklorist Henry Glassie (1975). This position has been championed in North American historic archaeology by the works of Leone (1973, 1984) Yentsch (1988), Stevenson (1989), Burley (1985b) and others. It has been referred to as "mentalism" or "cognitivism" (Deagan 1982). While Deetz (1977) proposes that common cognitive "world views" or "mind sets" condition how we perceive ourselves in our surroundings, he maintains that they are culturally learned, subject to evolutionary change, and vulnerable to diffusion of new ideas from other social groups. In this sense, "mind set" can be defined as deeply ingrained patterns of learned behaviour which fundamentally condition how individuals view and interpret their physical and social universe, and how they place themselves in that universe. The divergent cultural backgrounds of fur trade participants make it clear that people with different world views can interact in a mutually intelligible fashion despite their differing perceptions. If common cognitive orientations are an important element of social life, then how were the participants in the fur trade able to interact effectively? Perhaps a soiution to this question is apparent in the assertion by iValiace (1961:34-36) that sociai interaction need not be based upon common understanding, but rather, on the ability to predict the behaviour and reaction of the other participants. If successful interaction between individuals from divergent groups is based upon successful prediction of action and reaction, perhaps shared cognitive "world views" are not an absolutely necessary precondition for social interaction. Rather, interaction is based upon the ability to predict responses to particular kinds of behaviour; the inferred meaning of which might vary between interaction partners. While these "ways of seeing and organizing" are rather transitory through time in face of changing patterns of learned behaviour, and difficult to operationalize for study, Deetz's (1977) analysis of Colonial America illustrates how fundamental they are to the participants of a particular culture. These deep seated organizational perceptions condition how people live their lives, organize their habitations, process their food, relate to their environment, and deal with other people. In this sense they are unconscious, but powerful mechanisms by which people view their social and physical world and articulate themselves with that world. Since these common world views are largely unconscious, they are unlikely to be described, and may not be readily apparent in historic literature. However, since they are powerful and all-pervasive, Deetz reasoned that they should be visible in the archaeological record. He provides a particularly illuminating illustration with his discussion of Colonial American society up to the mid 19th century. Deetz (1977) praposes that early Anglo-American society owes its roots to late medieval social conventions brought to the New World by early English immigrants. These people, arriving shortly after 1620, were largely peasant yeoman farmers who fled religious persecution in Britain. They brought with them a society and world view that was rooted in the traditions of medieval Europe, and they were unlikely to have been strongly influenced by the ideas of the Renaissance. In effect, they transplanted British medieval society into North America. Some archaeologically visible manifestations of this world view are apparent in the communal organization of food preparation and consumption, involving large joints of meat cooked as a stew or roasted in a fluid filled pot. This stew or "pottage" was served and consumed on wooden trenchers. Little production of individualized cuts of meat is apparent, and food consumption involved minimal use of ceramic or glass tableware. Rather, shared consumption by two or three individuals of food and drink from a single wooden trencher and cup was the norm (Deetz 19775). Pointed knives were the primary eating utensil; forks were rare and associated with the more cosmopolitan elites of the community. Buildings were vernacular in style and additions were built as the need arose, resulting in square or rectangular outlines with irregular placement of doors and windows. Homes were generally communal in their internal organization, with common living/domestic work areas and little in the way of what we would view as privacy. Refuse was disposed of indiscriminately, resulting in the production of sheet middens in the proximity of the doors of the houses where it could be scavenged by pigs, chickens and dogs, and eventually trampled into the yard fill. This pattern of refuse disposal is consistent with South's Brunswick Pattern of refuse disposal (South 1977b). Deetz develops his view of Colonial American society in a diachronic or evolutionary framework. He maintains that the initial colonists remained comparatively isolated for several decades up to about the 1660's due to the difficulties of Atlantic crossings, and since the English Civil War and the Cromwellian Protectorate ended the necessity for Puritans to flee religious persecution. During this period of isolation, the ancient medieval perspective slowly changed in response to physical and social conditions in North America. At the same time the parent culture in Britain changed, particularly after the restoration of the Stuart monarchy. Britain was, in affect, confronted with the social and scientific developments of the European Renaissance. Colonial America began to change dramatically between 1680 and 1760 as the pace of immigration and economic contact with Europe increased. In the larger and more cosmopolitan sea-port communities, trade, education and immigration brought many of the ideas of the Renaissance to the eastern seaboard. The ancient, conservative and medieval perspective remained dominant in the small, rural communities of the interior hinterland. The most dramatic transformation of Colonial society, involving a restructuring of world view, began in the 1760's and continued into the 1800's. Deetz (1977) refers to the product of this transformation as the Georgian mindset which involved a dramatic reformulation of many elements of life. The most obvious is the re-orientation of cognition, focusing upon individualism and symmetry of form. This has its material representation in a planned, academically-based architectural style emphasizing formal planning, carefully arranged symmetry, and repeated division of the internal living space into individualized compartments. The house was divided into a series of special purpose rooms, and there was a related shift in focus towards personal privacy and isolation. Food preparation and consumption also changed from the communal style of the previous eras, to one focusing upon individualized portions and serving vessels. Ceramic tablewares became widespread, at least in part through inexpensive mass production, but further reflecting the shift towards individualization. This resulted in settings of plate, bowl, cup and cutlery for each person. Forks and spatulate tipped knives became predominate. Meat butchering shifted from the large joint cuts for communal consumption, to smaller, more inciividualized, portions. Deetz's (1977) reconstruction of colonial lifeways illustrates both the nature of the cognitive approach, and the significance of these cognitive patterns to a more complete understanding of the way people organize their living space, prepare and consume their food, dispose of their refuse, and commemorate their dead. In Deetz's view, the wide ranging scope of these changes in colonial America reflects much more than the evolution of technology and the communication of new ideas to the hinterlands. They reflect fundamental changes in how people perceive of themselves in their surroundings. It is a subliminal conceptual order, but one that is powerful and pervasive in the archaeological record. Deetz does not address the fundamental issue of causality for these transformations, and we are left with suggestions of ideological and technological diffusion, renewed immigration, education and enculturation. Whatever the ultimate cause, the great utility of Deetz's approach is that he explicitly acknowledges the role of cultural learning in cognition. People adjust their lifes to conform to deeply felt, sometimes unconscious, notions of what is "right or wrong", and "comfortable or uncomfortable". He also explicitly illustrates the material cultural implications of these behavioural patterns or cognitive mindsets, and strongly makes the point that archaeological data are a reproduction of these deep-seated behavioural patterns. I will develop both a materialist and cognitivist approach in tandem to explore different aspects of the same xesearch problem; namely, the organization of space and consumption of goods. While I risk the charge of being eclectic, it is my belief that such an approach will prove fruitful. It seeks to provide a view of how people, thrust into very foreign physical and social conditions, adapted to the new situation and retained elements of their own cultural perceptions. The fur trade provides an exceptional case study from which to explore these variables since the participants were quite divergent in their cultural backgrounds and perceptions. For many of the Europeans involved, life and work in northern North America was a foreign and novel experience which exposed them to people, beliefs and attitudes which were very new and disturbing. At the same time that these individuals sought to maintain elements of the familiar in their lives, they were touched by the world they encountered. What emerged from this situation? Should the trade posts be considered outposts of colonial empire in a northern wilderness, or buffer zones composed of people who exhibit mixed social, economic and biological heritage emergent from the fur trade experience? I suspect that, depending upon the situation, both of these perspectives carry an element of truth. To explore the dynamics of this situation, I maintain that it is too simplistic to just take one "way of seeing". THE MEDIEVAL BASIS OF FUR TRADE SOCIAL STRUCTURE The fur trade was a very complex system which, at its most basic level, involved economic and social relationships between two general groups, the Europeans and native peoples. Again, at its most basic this relationship was quite simple and involved an economic exchange of commodities. Out of this comparatively simple situation arose a system of bewildering complexity. Within the terms of reference for this study, I have defined considerable diversity of participants. When considering the Europeans involved, we have the trading system of the Hudson's Bay Company with its organizational origins in late medieval Great Britain, and the North West Company composed of an upper level of Scottish immigrant businessmen who took over a pre-existing colonial French trade system. As has become apparent from the current generation of fur trade scholarship, these two fur trade traditions have strong contrasts and a few common themes. Using the model of British medieval society offered by Laslet (1965) as the basis for analogy, I (Hamilton 1985b) have followed the lead of Foster (1973) and Brown (1980) in proposing that the organizational basis of the Hudson's Bay Company was rooted in the ethos of the late medieval British manor house. Laslet (1965) maintained that the social and economic organization of British medieval society, both domestic and commercial, was based on the power and authority of the paternalistic head of the household. This household head was generally a male authority figure who directed both the domestic and commercial aspects of the household. This household-based "mode of production" was apparent whether one considers agriculture or guild production of manufactured goods. It consisted of a hierarchy of individuals with the householder and his family at the top, and with a range of individual labourers, servants and apprentices beneath. Ideally, the basis of authority was the paternalistic concern of the householder for his dependents, and respect and obedience of the servants for the authority figure. This pre-capitalist mode of social and economic organization is a useful model for the interpretation of the HBC organizational structure up to the early 19th century. Both Foster (1973) and Brown (1980) have proposed that this organizational prototype was initially used by the HBC to organize its North American bayside operations (Van Kirk 1980b:161). Not only would such a system be eminently logical to the shareholders of the late 17th century, but it can be argued that the recruitment of young rural men, rather than unruly and "debauched" urban labourers (Nicks 1980), served to perpetuate this organizational system. By going to rural areas of Great Britain such as the Orkney Islands, the HBC acquired labourers who knew little else than the medieval household pattern of social and economic organization, and might be more pre-disposed to accept the paternalistic authority of the Chief Factor and his officers. Apparently the urban workers of southern England were considered to be more difficult to manage, and too "well acquainted with the ways and debaucheries of the town" (Nicks 1980 citing Davies 1965). One might be tempted to suggest that these urban workers were also less likely to accept the paternalistic authority of the master and the old style of inter-class relations as the British Industrial Revolution began. If such a model is appropriate, the "bayside" organizational system can be argued to perpetuate the household mode of organization long after the decline of such a system in the urbanized and industrialized cities of Great Britain. It can also be argued that the isolation, long terms of service by Orcadian labourers, and aspirations of internal upward mobility all pre-conditioned the HBC service to maintain this ancient pattern of organization. It has been argued elsewhere that this system gradually broke down after the early 19th century as the HBC changed its management style to a system more in keeping with the ideas of the British Industrial Revolution (Foster 1976; Hamilton 1985b). This discussion of a medieval based society leads to an important cautionary consideration since it is often tempting to offer normative generalizations of human social organization without concern for behavioural deviance from that norm. In an earlier work, I (1985b) dwelt at length on the efforts of the labourers at Brandon House to improve their lot before and after the policy shifts of the Retrenchment in 1810. It is clear that the relationships between the officers and labourers were, at times, quite difficult as the latter sought to protect and improve their position, and the officers were equally manipulative in attempting to maintain control. These difficulties might have developed in response to the improved bargaining position of the labourers after the move inland, particularly in the context of the Napoleonic wars. However, Pannekoek (1979:4-11) describes life in "bayside" posts such as Moose and Albany Factories in the early 18th century, and an equally contentious social atmosphere is evident. These reconstructions run counter to the notion of the cohesive household system which is the basis of the Laslet (1965) model of British medieval social organization. Perhaps the image of the cohesive medieval household should be considered more a normative model of behavioural expectations during the medieval period. In itself this caution does not negate the value of the model of a cohesive and paternalistic HBC, but rather, makes the point that interpersonal relationships and individually established patterns of authority, patronage and deference were very important (Hamilton 1985b). Perhaps individually established authority, respect and fear were more important in forming a chain of command than the paternalistic attitudes of the Honourable Company. Suffice it to say that the authority of individual officers was closely linked to social position, personal respect and deference, and that.materia1 culture likely played an important role in offering visual cues to the social distinctions of rank. The nature and importance of these behavioural and physical cues will become more apparent in the chapters to follow.

SOCIAL RANKING AND AUTHORITY IN THE NORTH WEST COMPANY The North West Company, though different from the HBC in its internal organization, also used visual cues to enforce authority. It can be suggested that it used these techniques even more forcefully than the HBC. The most important figures of the NWC were of highland Scottish origin who had left their homeland as part of the social, economic and political upheavals of the mid 18th century, or were of the first North American born generation following this migration (Brown 1980:35-37). Most of the senior shareholders were merchant businessmen who had established themselves in Montreal shortly after the fall of New France, or as a result of the American Revolutionary War, and they were quick to seize the opportunity to take over the colonial French fur trading system. These men were loyal British subjects, but retained many linkages to the Scottish highlands which, a few decades previously, had been devastated by wars with the British Crown. These links to a European homeland were quite strong with some of the most successful shareholders of the NWC. For example, Sir Alexander Mackenzie retired from the fur trade to become a member of the landed gentry in Scotland (Lamb 1970), and members of the McGillivray family interested themselves in the affairs of their ancestral clan (Campbell 1962; 1983). The most important members of the company maintained control of the business by utilizing clan and marital ties to solidify their relationships with colleagues, and to introduce sons, nephews and cousins (many from the homeland) into the company service. These well connected young men were groomed for promotion by their patrons, and many were offered shares shortly after the completion of an apprenticeship. Such paternalistic linkages reflected concern for the well being of close family members, and can also be viewed as calculated manoeuvres to position reliable friends and kinsmen into positions of power. By such manoeuvres, the power brokers within the company were able to create reliable voting blocks in the sometimes turbulent decision-making and shares allotment sessions which periodically polarized the NWC (Morrison 1988; Campbell 1983). While strong, almost feudal, bonds linked some Anglo-Scots shareholders, clerks and apprentices together, it is apparent that few such bonds extended to the French speaking employees who composed the balance of the canoemen, labourers, guides, interpreters and clerks. English speaking clerks without a strong patron also faced little prospect of promotion to the rank of shareholder. The writings of George Nelson (Van Kirk 1984) attest to the bitterness that these inen felt as they were consistently passed over in favour of juniors with the requisite connections. It is interesting to speculate on what must have sometimes been a strained relationship between the French and Anglo-Scots components of the company, particularly in the far interior. The disdain that clerks and wintering partners such as Daniel Harmon (1957), James Mackenzie (Masson 1960) and Alexander Henry (the younger) (Coues 1897; Gough 1988) expressed regarding the French Canadian ( engag& is illuminating of the inter-ethnic tensions of the NWC, and the posture of moral and intellectual superiority on the part of the Anglo-Scots officers. Harmon, in the early years of his service, frequently remarked of loneliness and difficulties while stationed in small outposts with groups of French labourers. Not only was he socially isolated since he did not yet speak French fluently and his men spoke no English, but he made the point that even if he could speak to them, he held nothing in common.

March 6, 1802: I am just returned from paying my friends who are at Alexandria a visit and where I passed four Days pleasantly in conversing in my Mother tongue- which is a satisfaction as no one knows except those who are situated much like myself- that is alone as it were the greater part of my time, or at least with people with whom I cannot speak fluently- and if I could, what conversation would an illiterate ignorant Canadian be able to keep up. All of their chat is about Horses, Dogs, Canoes and Women, and strong Men who can fight a good battle (Harmon 1957: 55)

While Harmon was a rather austere and religious man who had recently joined the NWC, his social isolation and attitude regarding the inappropriateness of social contact with the lower ranks appears to be a common theme. His words implicitly link lower rank with lower class, and it is clear that the class structure of Lower Canada was perpetuated in the minds of the officer's in Rupert's land. These clerks sought each others' company, and relied heavily upon books and correspondence to fill their leisure time. The labourers, as the above quotation suggests, operated with quite different attitudes and perceptions of what was good and valued. Van Kirk (I984) comments briefly on these antagonisms in her review of the "wretched" career of George Nelson. She points out that young clerks of limited training, who were prematurely thrust into positions of authority, sometimes found great difficulty in assert&that authority and demanding obedience. ... Nelson was also subject to intimidation by the men. In 1805, when he was left in joint charge of summer affairs at Bas de la Riviere with one Perigny, Nelson was forced to yield to Perigny's authority because the men, who were all French Canadian, paid him no heed. Nelson, who was a perceptive observer of the mentality and lifestyle of the engages, frequently commented on ethnic antagonisms in fur trade society. It is well-known that the bourgeois were fond of ridiculing the French Canadian engages for what they perceived as shortcomings: the engages, Nelson reveals, could retaliate in kind. Nelson claims that he found himself cursed for being "a damned Englishman and a Protestant", and that the only way to earn an engage's respect was to beat him at one of his own skills, such as net making or snowshoeing (Van Kirk 1984: 209).

This suggests more than a social gulf segregating ranks into discrete classes. It implies strong tensions between the ranks, and indicates that the NWC was not the cohesive partnership of French country skills and English business sense of popular legend. Alexander Henry (the younger) also makes disparaging comments about the character of the French Canadians under his charge. While he was much less drawn to comment upon the moral and educational shortcomings of his men than Harmon (1957), his wry comments concerning the pretensions of the engag6.s (or "Meadow Gentry" as he called them) (Coues 1897:233) implies a strong undercurrent of tension, perhaps even bigotry, which pervaded the NWC. One suspects that the acculturation of the French Canadian engage's to native technology, dress ryld .behaviour further fueled the "Gentlemen's" attitudes of social superiority. In their view, the French Canadian and mixed parentage employees were little better than the "Savages", and self-respecting clerks were careful to maintain their distinctiveness from both. Several quotations are cited to provide a sense of this attitude of class and ethnic superiority. May 11, 1800 We are encamped on a small Island opposite to where the North West Coy. have a Fort [Coulonge] and the Person who has it in charge came to invited my fellow travellers and me to go to sup with him ... and was treated with all the politeness of which a Canadian is master (which is not a little) and they in that, as well as in many other respects resemble their ancestors the French (Harmon 1957: 14). May 12, 1800... My fellow traveller [another apprentice clerk named Joseph Pageman] and I have had a few words together, arising from his proceedings of last night while I was absent. When I set off for the Fort I gave him the Keys of our traveling Box and Basket that he might find wherewith to make his supper, and at my return I was not a little surprised to find not only him but several of the common men much intoxicated and the keys lost. And for such unbecoming conduct I gave Mr. Pangman a pretty severe reprimand, and told him that if ever I found him again in the condition he was last night, I should be under the disagreeable necessity of informing our Employers of his conduct as soon as we reached Head Quarters. Hereupon he promised never again to be guilty of the like behaviour, yet as his Mother was a Squaw (and it is in the blood of the Savages to be fond of Spiritous Liquour) I can place but little confidence or dependence in his promises or resolutions... (Harmon 1957: 14) October, 26 1800 Sunday This evening the People of the Fort danced (all Days appears to be the same to them) and the Women danced full as well as those of the lower Class in the Civilized World (Harmon 1957:37). These [Anglo-Scots] Pedlers seemed to be very polite rather upon the extreme, owing to their intercourse with the French Canadians; indeed the common Men seem to affect a kind of fulsome finesse in their Behaviour to each other, much above their Situation ... (Wallace 1934:44-45 citing Mathew Cocking's Cumberland House Journal of 1775-76) ...Having learned from the [NWC] gentlemen, most intimately acquainted with the character of the Canadian voyageurs, that they invariably try how far they can impose upon every new master with whom they may serve, and that they will continue to be disobedient and intractable if they once gain any ascendency over him... (Parker 1987:77 citing J. Franklin 1823) Even officers co,mmenting favourably on the labourers or their wifes often use an ironic tone that reflects the class-consciousness of the day. The use of double negative in Harmon's narrative, and Cocking's comments regarding the undue social pretensions of the "common men" serve as interesting cases in point. The officers, of course, are virtually the only source of information regarding these relationships, and the official records generally are mute regarding problems managing the labourers. The relationship between the ranks was clearly strained, and the labourers were controlled in part by good salaries, rewards involving alcohol, personal respect for officers who could successfully "best the labourer at his own game", physical confrontation, and the realization that it might be difficult to find employment in the fur trade if black-listed by the North West Company. To illustrate some elements of this contentious social atmosphere, examples of such conflicts, and the attitudes of the officers are provided. Duncan McGillivray, a NWC partner, describes the difficulties that Peter Grant, an independent Montreal trader, had with his employees along the Saskatchewan River in the winter of 1794. He [David Grant at Sturgeon Post] is said to be quite distracted ..., having no person in his service in whom he can place any confidence, his interpreters and most of the men being composed of Rascals who have formerly been expelled the Country for Misconduct, it cannot therefore be expected that people of this disposition will exert themselves with fidelity or honour in the service of their employers. Some time before the Holidays David received accounts that Roy his representative at Nipawi, being entirely addicted to drinking, squandered away the Goods with great profusion to his companions and favorites: - upon this he resolved to visit that place to remonstrate with Roy for his bad conduct, leaving Dumay to superintend affairs at Sturgeon Fort in his absence. Dumay did not long enjoy this situation, for La Verdue an old offender, usurped his authority; deprived him of the Keys, and became master of the Goods and before Mr. Grant could be apprized of this revolution he expended 7 or 8 kegs of H.Ws [High Wines] in company with some of our People, who he generally invited to partake of his liberality. In short David's situation is as disagreeable as can well be imagined; his men disobey and desert him; his goods are lavished away in his absence ... (Morton 192959-60 cited by Klimko 1987:11).

The Grant brothers, being a small Montreal firm, were forced to hire men who had been blacklisted and banished by other Montreal firms. While McGillivray took some satisfaction in reporting the labour problems of his competitors, he was not nearly so amused in recounting a "strike" by Athabasca Department labourers at Lac la Pluis in 1794 (Morton 1929:6-7). This work stoppage was calculated to improve salaries and treatment, but proved unsuccessful. Fearing the consequences, most of the labourers abandoned the strike, and left the leaders to face dismissal and return to Montreal in "disgrace". Harmon reports that the labourers ignored and ridiculed his pious rebukes for playing cards on the Sabbath (1957:37), and after the drunken festivities of Christmas in 1802, commented that; Of all people in the world, I think the Canadians, when drunk, are the most disagreeable; for excessive drinking generally causes them to quarrel and fight, among themselves. Indeed I had rather have fifty drunken Indians in the fort, than five drunken Canadians (1957:65).

Several HBC officers in charge of Brandon House reported incidents involving the desertion of NWC labourers and the response of the NWC officers in recapturing or punishing them. In 1796 James Sutherland reported that a NWC labourer, in company of a woman, deserted with some stolen property on his way to the Mandan villages along the Missouri River (HBCA, PAM, B.22/a/4/3 Id). The labourer was pursued, captured, and returned to the NWC post in irons. However, about a month later he again escaped, once more making his way to the Mandan villages. The response of the NWC was quite violent. ... search was made after him in vain, Two Indians was hired this morning for a big keg of Brandy to pursue him and either bring himself or his scalp. The Indians traced him through the snow, found him fast asleep in a bush wrapt in a Buffalo skin and not 6 miles off although he had the whole night to make his escape. He was chained to the wall of the house in Heavy horse chains and the Indians is now drunk on their hire ... (HBCA, PAM, B .22/a/4/35).

In 18 10 another such incident was reported, again indicating that local Indians were used to punish deserters. ... arrived two NWC deserters with a few swan skins to trade for ammunition, as they were watering their horses, the Indians that were drinking robbed them of their horses and certainly they would have killed them had not we appeased them ... Indians sober, I enquired of the Indians what was the cause of their using the deserters so badly they told me quite plain that the NW Gentlemen would reward any Indian well, that would cornmitt some outrage upon their deserters ... (HBCA, PAM, B.22/a/18a/4).

The severity of punishment for desertion from the NWC service observed by HBC officers is consistent with Nute's (1972:27) generalization that it was punished by flogging the offending party. The occasional reports of former NWC labourers and deserters seeking employment in the HBC (HBCA, PAM, B.22/a/15/3-3d) make it clear that the lot of the Montreal labourers was not as good as the high salaries would suggest. Alexander Henry (the younger) occasionally commented unfavourably upon the labourers under his charge. He also described the social pecking order among the men at the Pembina wintering post in the winter of 1800. Nov 6th Two of my men had a boxing match, or rather a rough and tumble fight. One of them had been taking too many airs upon himself, bullying those whom he knew were not an equal match for him, and had used some of them very ill. This morning, when he as usual commanded one to go for water and cook, another man, who was as strong as himself, and with whom the bylly had always been on friendly terms, got up and told him if he wanted water he should go for it in his turn; that the young men would no longer be his slaves; and, since they were not strong enough to defend themselves, he would take their part. A challenge was the consequence. To the joy of everybody, the bully got a beating which made him as quiet as a child, and the others began to crow over him ... (Coues 1897:135)

The labourers had their own criteria of leadership and status that were quite different from those embraced by the upper ranks. Accordingly, men were measured by their physical abilities to live the life of a voyageur. An important part of this was physical strength, courage, fighting ability, generosity and camaraderie. This sense of "male worth" (Foster 1973) pervaded the labourer ranks of the HBC as well, resulting in the emergence of informal leaders of ability and personality within the men's house. In the view of the labourers, we can expect that the lofty status and pretensions of the partners and senior clerks appeared slightly absurd when parroted by junior clerks who were sometimes placed in nominal charge of the posts. We can expect that some senior labourers held much power in the men's house, and could exert influence on officers who were mindful of both their experience and sway over the labourers. As a case in point, the HBC] journals written at Brandon House sometimes record the "negotiations" between the officers and the senior labourers regarding food allocation, work activities, and the refusal I of what the labourers viewed as dangerous work (Hamilton 1985b). Experienced officers were careful to consider seriously the input from the leaders among the labourer group. When the officer overruled this input, the consequences could involve the escalation of interpersonal tensions to the point of work stoppages, or physical conflict in extreme cases (Hamilton 1985b). In sum, the organizational structure of the NWC lacked the cohesive elements which tended to bind HBC officers and labourers together on the basis of inter-rank patronage and the prospect of upward mobility. As with the HBC, the Montreal traders linked their social position as gentlemen very closely to rank and work-role within the company. As pointed out by Brown (1980:46), the social cohesion within the NWC was very much within rank, rather than between ranks. Thus, groups of partners and favoured clerks were tightly allied, but these social connections did not extend to the clerks lacking patronage links, and most I certainly not to the French Canadian labourers. In addition to the social gulf between the ranks described by Brown, social tension was common as the junior officers sought to retain control over events and behaviour in the small trade posts.

THE SYMBOLIC CONTENT OF MATERIAL CULTURE Given the atmosphere of inter-rank tensions within the NWC, the techniques used to integrate it into an o;erational unit become important. What techniques were used to assert and signal authority, and how was the chain of command maintained? One means lay in a manipulation of the "built environment" and conspicuous display and consumption of personal possessions. Rapoport (1982) describes how body language, the built environment and personal possessions serve to make non-verbal communication a very powerful medium by which humans transmit cues regarding expected behaviour. While addressing this issue from a modem perspective using architecture and social psychology, he offers interesting insights which are particularly germane to anthropological enquiry. He utilizes Blumer's (1969) model of "symbolic interactionism" to illustrate "...how environments help organize people's perceptions and meanings and how these environments, which act as surrogates for their occupants, and as mnemonics of acceptable interpretations, elicit appropriate social behaviour" (Rapoport 198259). By environment, Rapoport means the environment constructed by humans, in part, to encode and transmit these messages. Some other mechanisms of communicating iilfoimatiofi by non-verbal mezm inchide body postiire and behaviour, hairstyle, clothing, and foodways. Of particular importance for this study are the nature of buildings and their furnishings, dress, and food consumption. Rapoport is quick to point out that non-verbal communication, like other forms of symbolization, is effective only in situations where the participants interpret the physical cues in a consistent and mutually intelligible fashion. In this sense, "it is the social situation that influences people's behaviour, but it is the physical environment that provides the cues" (Rapoport 198257). These physical cues serve to "set the stage"; to evoke appropriate behaviour by means of transmitted codes that have a mutually comprehensible social meaning for the human participants. Referring specifically to meals, he notes that ...a meal contains a great amount of information that is culturally learned and can symbolize much (Douglas 1974). Meals are, after all, social occasions that include appropriate settings, occur at appropriate times, occur in appropriate ways, include appropriate foods in the right order, and include or exclude certain categories of people and behaviours (Rapoport 1982: 66). As these physica1,props can emit powerful messages that condition behaviour, it is apparent that lack of consistency in the use of these props can result in a breakdown in the effectiveness of non-verbal communication. Again, Rapoport's generalizations are illuminating. ...When cloth;ngis role in providing iden tity... breaks down due to lackof consistency, it becomes difficult to place people into categories, that is, to interprete their identities on the basis of costume; it also becomes more difficult to act appropriately (1982:63) .

Clearly, what is considered to be a perfectly intelligible cue for appropriate behaviour to a participant of a specific cultural group, may have little meaning for a social outsider. In the context of our discussion of the fur trade, these "non-participants" might include Indians trading at the post or, for that matter, 20th century observers of the fur trade. It is this problem which makes interpretation of non-verbal communication in an archaeological context fraught with difficulties. However, the accessibility of the written record make this approach more amenable to testing.

Buildings and Possessions as Symbols of Authority and Status i Following the lead of Rapoport (1982), the built environment is viewed as a powerful medium for non-verbal communication encoded in the size, appearance, position, orientation and construction techniques of buildings. This idea has been employed by several archaeologists dealing with the historic period of western Canada. Most notable are Murray (1985), Monks (nd), and Burley, Horsfall and Brandon (1988). Each of these studies have a different focus and direction, but all maintain that the form, style and layout of buildings carry powerful social messages. Murray's study focuses on the North West Mounted Police (NWMP) post of Fort Walsh dating to the latter half of the 19th century. He maintains that the NWMP encoded messages in the post that were calculated to maintain and perpetuate the power of Imperial British civilization in the middle of a wilderness (Murray 1985). Monks (nd) is concerned with the HBC and British military presence at Upper Fort Garry, and the relationship of these entities with the mid 19th century Red River Settlement. He proposes that the structure and layout of Upper Fort Garry was designed to assert and defend the pre-eminent social, political and economic position of the HBC over the Red River Settlement. As he points out, this grew increasingly important as the occupants of Red River grew restive under the Honourable Company's monopoly. Burley, Horsfall and Brandon (1988) > discuss the emergence of the MCtis as a distinct ethnic entity in southern Saskatchewan and Alberta during the second half of the 19th century. They trace the emergence of a MCtis ethnic identity, in part through the development of a distinctive architectural style and site layout that was independent of the affects of the environment and transportation logistics. The importance which the built environment plays in conjunction with other elements of material culture is strongly emphasized by Murray (1985) and Monks (nd). In fact, Monks cites Murray to point out that: Ideological aspects of a culture are encoded in material items which act as part of a non-verbal communication system. The social relations that exist in conjunction with a given ideology are seen as a blueprint for spatial and material patterning in the tangible aspects of culture (Murray 1985: 1-7). "The patterns which a culture creates in its built, three dimensional form are neither random nor static; but instead, they are deeply embedded within human social purpose" (Murray 1985: 146 in Monks nd:7-8)

It is further proposed by Murray (1985) that the encoded messages transmitted by the built environment were directed at specific target populations who were either internal or external to the NWMP. Murray (1985: 132) argues that the location and appearance of buildings are the source of information and, in the case of Fort Walsh, three structural organizational principles were important: 1) symmetry of the structure; 2) spatial relation to the public entrance; and 3) decreasing rank of building occupants within the public area as one moves away from the public entrance.

As is clear in Deetz's (1977) discussion of Colonial America and Rapoport's (1982) more general comments, the nature and meaning of the encoded messages are symbolic and will vary between cultures and through time. Thus, the structural principles proposed by Murray may not be appropriate for the study of fur trade posts of another era; be they of British origin or not. This is certainly the case encountered by Monks (nd) when he attempted to use Murray's analytical model with data from the HBC establishment at Upper Fort Garry . While not referring directly to non-verbal communication, Pyszczyk (1986), makes the point that the increased importance of Fort Dunvegan in the late 19th century Peace River trade was reflected in the refurbishment of the warehouse facilities and the Factor's Quarters. This refurbishment, expansion and greater elaboration of the Factor's quarters, in his view, reflects "economic and social motivations" (Py szczyk 1986:49). That is, they symbolized the expanded social and administrative position of the Chief Factor in charge of Fort Dunvegan after he was placed in overall administrative charge of the district. Along the lines of Pyszczyk's 1986 study, Burley and Dalla Bona (1988) address the issue of stockades found at many western Canadian fur trade posts. In their view, the function of these stockades was not primarily to serve as militarily effective palisades, but as a medium of non-verbal communication in dividing the realm of the European traders from that of the Indians. The role of the palisades was to evoke a reassuring sense of security, to inspire awe, to manage traffic flow, and to discourage theft. Whether one maintains that the sy~boliccomponent of the stockades was a manifest or latent function, it is clear that their defensive utility in face of a concerted attack was limited. They did serve some "practical" purposes in directing and limiting traffic flow in the post, and limiting the level of theft. However, along the Saskatchewan River where native warfare was a serious threat to Europeans, the palisades were carefully placed to maximize the protection they offered. The symbolic role of stockades is also addressed in the present study. While it is clear that the stockades' military effectiveness against Indians was more apparent than real, I also maintain that Indians were not the only intended recipients of overt messages of power. I propose in a later chapter that these visually imposing log fortifications were also intended to overawe European competitors and employees. Seeking to identify encoded messages implicit in the form and layout of the built environment is fraught with problems involving issues of validity and verifiability. How does one interpret the symbolic message in a format amenable to testing? How do we know whether the derived message is not more a function of twentieth century perspectives rather than those of the historic occupants of the posts? Perhaps the proposed symbolic messages only obscure pragmatic concerns with functionality that were the primary considerations of the original constructors. This is a very serious consideration which must be kept in mind. Monks (nd), for example, takes great pains to point out that the stone walls of Upper Fort Gany were not a response to an explicit military threat, or flooding and ice rafting during spring floods. Rather, he concludes that they served a symbolic role in emphasizing the status of the HBC within the Red River Settlement. One must always view interpretations of symbolic meaning with healthy scepticism, and develop test situations calculated to confirm the validity of the original supposition of function. Chapter 4 explores these ideas by first considering the nature and layout of the NWC inland depot at Fort William, and then broadening the discussion in Chapter 5 to a number of trade posts across Rupert's land.

SUMMARY The work-related social hierarchy of the NWC, and to a lesser extent the HBC, was fraught with tension involving the maintenance of authority, particularly in the remote hinterlands. In the case of the NWC, these tensions were further exaggerated by the rigid vertical segregation between the labourers and the clerks, and the limited prospect for social mobility for clerks lacking the necessary social connections that assured promotion to shareholder status. In spite of these tensions, the operation of the fur trade system required that the upper ranks function as a cohesive unit. In the small wintering stations, the authority of the clerks in charge faced a certain degree of ambiguity resulting from their lack of experience and rel'iance upon the experienced labourers. I contend that this ambiguity in the work-related hierarchy was exacerbated by the competitive nature of the period, and the difficulties with transportation. The result was a strong emphasis being placed upon physical cues to support the authority and prestige of the officer group. Chapters 4 and 5 explore aspects of non-verbal communication by first addressing the structure and layout of a wide range of fur trade posts, and identifying key logistical and organizational factors influencing their nature. In Chapters 6 and 7, a review of the account books explores financial aspects of employment in both major trading companies that further reinforce the superiority of non-labourer members of the hierarchies. This discussion demonstrates that significant distinctions existed between the ranks of the NWC in terms of access to material goods, rate of pay, preferential treatment over tariff rates for goods, and access to luxuries. In the major posts, the wintering partners and clerks enjoyed a much more comfortable life than other members of the post community. These "perks and benefits" were calculated to reward officers, interpreters and guides for their efforts in managing the trade, acted to mold them into a cohesive work unit, and obscured the limited opportunities available to the "lesser" among them. In addition to instilling a sense of cohesion among the partners, clerks, guides and interpreters, these material considerations also distinguished and isolated them from the common labourers. Not only did this re-enforce discipline, but it was also aided in supporting the authority of the junior clerks who usually spent the winter in sole charge of the small wintering stations. While the written documents make it clear that the built environment and conspicuous consumption of luxury goods distinguished between the ranks, the records are not detailed enough to demonstrate that the junior clerks in charge of the small wintering stations enjoyed these comforts of life, The latter part of this study uses archaeological data to determine whether luxury goods were used as physical cues of social position and authority, or whether the transportation difficulties forced the development of new and less expensive mechanisms of asserting authority. Chapter 4 SYMBOLIC COMMUNICATION AND THE MAJOR NWC ADMINISTRATIVE DEPOTS

In Chapter 2 the NWC and the HBC trade operations were argued to have at least three levels of logistical organization. These are summarized as follows.

1) Posts of the greatest complexity were the major administrative centres that served primary administrative, warehouse/storage and trans-shipment functions, These posts housed the most senior and important members of the company hierarchy in Rupert's land, but were only marginally involved in direct trade with Indians. They often had a permanent staff of specialized tradesmen such as a cooper, carpenter, boat builder, blacksmith and armourer. The season of most intense activity at these posts was during the summer rendezvous. Within each fur trade administrative district was a regional headquarters. These posts were the winter residence of the officer in charge of the department, and the major administrative and re-supply depot in the local area. In addition to administrative functions, the regional headquarters were the scene of considerable trading activity with Indians. They were relatively long-term occupations which housed a few tradesmen, and generally maintained a small complement of men through the summer. North West Company regional headquarters were usually under the charge of a wintering partner. 3) Depending upon the level of competition, each administrative district maintained a number of small wintering posts. These were designed to trade directly with Indians during the winter season, and they consisted of small, temporary structures that were occupied for only a short period of time, perhaps only one winter season. Wintering posts were usually abandoned during the summer, and likely offered few amenities and comforts which were not highly portable. They were usually occupied by a very small group of men directed by a junior clerk or senior labourer.

This division of trade post types is complicated by two considerations. First, Fort Chippewyan was developed by the NWC as an advance inland depot for the remote Athabasca Department. While it was a regional headquarters, the great distance from re- supply necessitated the storage of a large inventory of goods by which even more distant brigades on the Peace, Slave and Mackenzie Rivers were supplied (Parker 1987). As a result, Fort Chippewyan was equipped with a greater range of facilities than generally associated with regional headquarters. A second problem with the tripartite division of posts is due to the variable levels of competition. During the 1780-1821 period, several - competing trade firms were in operation. In addition to the three largest (the HBC, NWC and the XYC), many small Montreal firms operated throughout much of the fur. trade hinterland. In fact, the powerful NWC was able to maintain its monopoly only in the New Caledonia, Columbia and Athabasca departments until 1819. In areas of intense competition, the larger companies sought to destroy competitors by offering as many trade opportunities as supplies and personnel allowed. Competitors were forced to follow suit, and divide their crews and trading outfits into smaller and smaller units. This resulted in the establishment of clusters of small competing posts; each post operated by a distinct company, and each seehng to take the trade from the others by whatever means possible. In periods of very severe competition, the companies were forced to constantly send small groups of men to the Indian encampments (ie to trade en de'rouine ) to collect furs owed on credit, trade for what additional furs or provisions were available, and to entice Indians to trade furs which legitimately belonged to other traders who had initially extended them credit (Nute 1972:93). This degree of competition was expensive and destructive, and it left the traders vulnerable to the physical environment, disgruntled customers, and competitors. In such situations regional headquarters supported a large number of closely spaced temporary wintering stations. As the level of competition grew, individual companies were forced to reduce their trade standard, and increase the stock of goods given as gifts to Indians. This resulted in a rapid escalation of the volume of goods annually brought inland, and it necessitated a large complement of men to support the transportation system and occupy the trade posts. For example, in the highly competitive Assiniboine River region in 1804 there I were 10 NWC posts occupied by 108 men (Davidson 1918:280). This complement was I exceeded only in the vast and rich Athabasca Department and the intensely competitive Fond du Lac region (Table 2). In departments where competition was minimal, the traders sought to reduce costs by I maintaining as few wintering posts as possible. Here, the density of posts was low, and I individual wintering stations sometimes became semi-permanent. Some were even occupied by a summer caretaker to ensure the safety of the structures, stored goods and equipment. For example, in the Peace River valley between 1790 and 1805, only eleven posts were established along a 1,000 kilometre stretch of river (Moodie, Lytwyn and Kaye 1987). These posts were not occupied continually during this period, and probably no more than I five or six were in operation at the same time. I Despite the existence of posts intermediate between administrative and regional headquarters, and wintering posts that were repeatedly used over several years, the tripartite I division of posts will be utilized in this study. Each of these types of trade posts; I) served I quite different functions, 2) were occupied by variable ranks and numbers of men, and 3) I exhibited considerable differences in building style, layout and size. A review of the I variation in form and layout of a number of posts is provided in Chapter 5. In addition to symbolic messages which were directed at occupants and visitors alike. It is the symbolic role of fort layout that forms the central theme of the discussions of Fort William and Grand Portage to follow. In an effort to demonstrate the symbolic component of fort layout, an extended description of Fort William is provided to demonstrate the meanings implicit in the built environment, an'd to set the stage for the description of other posts in Rupert's land.

GRAND PORTAGE AND FORT WILLIAM: FUNCTIONAL ROLE AND SYMBOLIC MESSAGES Grand Portage and Fort William were the most important inland establishments of the NWC. Grand Portage, built initially in 1776, was replaced by Fort William in 1804. The construction of Fort William on undisputed British territory was necessary to avoid paying duties on goods transported through the United States. These two posts represented the most important hub in the NWC transportation and administrative system, and annually were the meeting place of the most important figures in the NWC corporate structure. As such, they served as a "stage" for the social posturings of the most powerful men of the Montreal fur trade, resulting in the most dramatic examples of the symbolic component of fort layout. As it will be argued, the most important symbolic "meaning" or "function" (Rapoport 1982) implicit in the physical nature of these posts was the visual reinforcement of the work-related social hierarchy, and affirmation of the solidarity of the managerial level of the company. The NWC Grand Portage depot was located along the west shore of Lake Superior (Figure 1). Little documentation of this site is available from the historical record. Existing descriptions suggest that it was a comparatively large, if somewhat "temporary appearing", post (Harmon 1957:20). The area suitable for construction was limited and of premium value (Taylor 1976), and was highly sought after by the various Montreal firms who established depots there. As the largest firm, the NWC had the largest establishment, and used domination to make it difficult for competitors to construct on the site. The NWC depot at Grand Portage was initially established in 1776 and remained in place until 1802. While Harmon was not impressed with the facilities, by the standards of Rupert's land, Grand Portage was a substantial facility. John McDonell provides a brief description of the post as he saw it in July of 1793. ...The pickets [of the post] are not above fifteen to twenty paces from the waters edge. Immediately back of the Fort is a lofty round Sugar loaf mountain the base of which comes close to the Picket on the North West side. The Gates are shut always after sunset and the Bourgeois and clerks Lodge in houses within the pallisades, where there are two Sentries keeping a look out all night chiefly for fear of accident by fire. A clerk, a guide and four men are considered watch enough. These are Montreal engagees (sic). The North men while here live in tents of different sizes pitched at random, the people of each post having a camp themselves and through their camp passes the road of the portage. They are separated from the Montrealeans by a brook ... All the buildings within the Fort are sixteen in number made of cedar with white spruce fir split with whip saws after being squared, the Roofs are covered with shingles of cedar and Pine, most of their posts, Doors and windows are painted with spanish brown. Six of these buildings are Stores Houses for the company's Merchandize and furs etc. The rest are dwelling houses, shops, compting house and mess house- they have also a warf or kay for their vessel to unload and load at... (Gates 1965: 93-94).

Alexander Mackenzie also describes the locality of Grand Portage and the small inlet within which it is located. The bottom of the bay, which forms an amphitheatre, is cleared of wood and inclosed; and on the left corner of it, beneath a hill, three or four hundred feet in height, and crowned by others of a still greater altitude, is the fort, picketed in with cedar pallisadoes, and inclosing houses built with wood and covered with shingles. They are calculated for every convenience of trade, as well as to accommodate the propriators and clerks during their short residence there. The North men live under tents: but the more frugal porkeater lodges beneath his canoe ... (Lamb 1970:96-97).

George Nelson, writing of his first impressions in 1802, provides the following observations. The establishment of the NWCo, tho' there was nothing superfluous or unnecessary, but was of an extent to prove at once the great trade they carried on, their judgement and taste in the regularity and position of their numerous buildings. The neatness and order of things was not (the) least part of it. (Barton and Nute 1947 as cited in Taylor 1976).

Detailed plans for this post are lacking, but incomplete excavations initiated in the 1930's and continued in the early 1960's suggest a large stockaded compound with warehouse facilities located to the east and west of a central courtyard (Figure 5). Along the west (back) side of the courtyard was situated a large "hall" which dominated the compound (Figure 5). Taylor (1976:49, 58) summarized the scanty archival and archaeological information, and noted that the Great Hall was 95 by 30 feet (29 by 9 metres) in size with a "puncheon" floor and a ten foot wide front porch. A kitchen, located 27 feet (8.25 m) behind the Hall was 30 feet square (9 m2). From Taylor's summary, it is evident that much of the building space was reserved for goods and fur storage, and to provide summer residences for the partners of the company. Smaller winterized residences for the officer and men permanently stationed at the post, and a small trade shop for local Indians were also present. Though the internal spatial arrangement of the post is uncertain given that most of the excavations were focused upon the Great Hall and the palisades, Nelson's comments, supported by those of Mackenzie and McDonell, imply an air of regularity, symmetry and neatness in the structures. These characteristics were also incorporated into the ~onstructionat Fort William.

Figure 5 Archaeological Sketch of Grand Portage (after Taylor l976:4O)

Grand Portage appears to be an organizational prototype for its successor, Fort William. The latter post, situated at the mouth of the Kaministiquia River, is more fully documented in the archival records. The Fort William site has also been the subject of much historical and archaeological research in the early 1970's in conjunction with a site reconstruction and visitor interpretation program. As yet unpublished, the individuals and agencies responsible for this work have generously provided access to their data. Particularly important for this summary is an unpublished monograph by A. M. Taylor (1976). An accurate reconstruction of the site also enhances the following discussion through the provision bf three dimensional imagery. The most detailed descriptions of Fort William are found in two primary sources. The first is by Gabriel FranchCre who visited the post in 1814. The second is a 1816117 plan of the post by Lord Sekirk. This plan dates to the period when Lord Selkirk, supported by soldiers hired from the disbanded De Meuron regiment, captured Fort William in response to the earlier destruction of the Red River Settlement by MCtis believed to be under the control of the NWC. A translation of Franch6re1stext is provided below. This text is best understood in reference to Lord Selkirk's original plan which forms the basis of Figure 6. ...We found almost all the partners of the Company gathered together at this post (Fort William) where it is their custom to spend part of the summer to receive the returns from the interior, form new outfits and discuss their business interests .... Though my stay at Fort William was short, I shall attempt a description of it that I do not guarantee to be exact,.. They had to face all the difficulties that a low marshy terrain can offer by they succeeded in draining the marsh and built a fort that looks more like an attractive village. In the middle of a spacious square rises a large frame house elegantly built and painted, raised about five feet above the ground level, with a verandah in front. This house is used as a mess or dining hall, about 60 feet long and 30 to 40 feet wide. [It is in this hall that the agents, partners, clerks, interpreters, and guides, take their meals together at different tablesll. At each end there are two small rooms used by the company's agents. [...two of these are destined for the two principal agents; the other two to the stewart and his department (Taylor 1976)l. The dining hall is hung with paintings and pastel portraits of a great number of the associates. Behind and adjacent to this hall are the kitchen and servant's quarters. On either side of this house are two others equally long but not so high. They are divided lengthwise by a corridor and each contains twelve attractive bedrooms. [One is destined for the wintering partners and the other for the clerks]. To the east is another similar house used for the same purpose. In the same direction is a huge warehouse for the inspection and packing of furs. Behind these is the house used as the guide's lodging and a fur warehouse. On the south east comer is the powder-magazine built of grey stone and roofed with tin. Along the front of the Fort are the apothecary's shop, the doctor's residence, then the main gate, above which has been built a guardroom. Bearing south west, one see the home of the ships' captain and that of the clerk who usually winters at this post. At the southwest comer is a stone building with a tin roof, which makes the front

In this case, text enclosed in square brackets are editorial notes by W.Kaye Lamb or A. M. Taylor (1976) that are included if they add clarity to the discussion. Stockade

......

...... : - ......

i . . .:: . Court .:: .- ::...... ::. .:: . : .: .:: . ::...... : :......

Boat Yard Bmkn Main Bas tion Gate Residences Administrative 1 Great Hall a,b,c,d rooms of 9 Counting House/Clerk's Quarters Montreal Agents 10 Committee House e Kitchen, f Pantry 2 Wintering Partner's House RetailIStorage 3 Officer's Wintering House 11 Indian Shop 4 C1c:k's Sum~erQuwters 12 Corn Stores 5 Doctor's House and 13 Dry Goods Stores and Shop Gentlemen's Infirmary 14 Stone Store 6 Guide's Quarters 15 Liquor Stores 7 Tradesmen's House 16 Provisions Stores 8 Tait's House 17 Fur Stores 31 Voyageur's Camp Area 18 Fur Stores 32 Farmer's Cottage 19 Powder Magazine 33 Boucher's House 0ther Trades Area 25 Hospital 20 Cooperage 26 Lookout Tower 21 Armourer 27 Prison 22 Carpenter 28 Jailor's Residence 23 Blacksmith/Tinsmith 29 Turret 24 Arget Store 30 Ice HouselDairy 34 Gentlemen's Privey

Figure 6 Plan of Fort William in 18 16 (after Moodie and Lytwyn 1987) uniform. On the west side is a row of houses or sheds, one of which is named by the voyageurs the cantine salope (Trollops' Tavern). This is where the regal is distributed upon the arrival of the canoes. This regal or treat consists of a mug of brandy, a four pound loaf of white bread and half a pound of butter. In addition, liquor, bacon, butter, flour, in a word all sorts of provisions are sold here. Another is used as a retail store for quality merchandise intended for the use of the partners and clerks. A little further north is another shop with effects intended for the engage's, where their outfits are issued to them. Adjacent to this is the warehouse where the outfits are assembled for the different posts in the interior. Behind this row of buildings is the counting house, which occupies an attractive little square building, very well lit. North of it is a tall little building that the voyageurs call the Butter Tub; it is used as a prison for the refractory, etc. Behind and to the northwest are to be seen the shops of the blacksmiths, tinsmiths, cabinet makers, and so on. Beyond is a spacious courtyard with sheds in the middle for the bark canoes, where they are stored and repaired, if necessary, and where new ones are built. All this is surrounded by a palisade of posts and occupies a considerable area. The Company keeps constantly in cornmision two schooners used to transport furs and bring back the food supplies and merchandise stored at Sault Ste Marie. To accomodate these vessels, wharves have been built along the front of the fort. Upstream along the river and about 3 or 4 arpents from the fort is the cemetery. The land around the post is cleared and planted in barley. Peas and oats seem to do as well as in our best soil in Canada. The wintering parties who come down and spend part of the summer at Fort William occupy an area reserved for them west of the Fort and outside it. "Les Mangeurs de Lard" (Pork Eaters) as these wintering men call the voyageurs who take service to go only as far as Fort William or Rainy Lake and do not winter, occupy the east side of the Fort. It is surprising to see the difference between the two camps, which contain three to four hundred men each. That of the Mangews dm lard is alw~ysfilthy, whereas the utmost cleanliness reigns in that of the wintering engage's. The North West Company make these engage's give a certain number of days of forced labour. That is how they get the land cleared. Once a wintering engage' has done the required labour it is done for all time; even if he remained twenty years in the upper country and came down every summer to Fort William he would still be exempt from this obligation. On the other side of the river the land is cultivated and inhabited by former servants of the Company who have not saved any money; married to Indian women and burdened with heavy family responsibilities, they dare not return to Canada but prefer growing a little corn, a few potatoes, etc. and living by fishing to going back to beg in a civilized country ... (FranchQe 1969: 179-182).

Franchkre's narrative does not include buildings such as the committee house, corn stores, provision warehouses, the Indian shop, the boat yard, the farmstead, or Boucher's house and shop. It nevertheless gives a detailed description of the post layout that is remarkably consistent with Selkirk's Plan (Figure 6). The role of symbolic communication implicit in the Fort William layout is not explicitly addressed by Taylor (1976). However, her building-by-building descriptive review is a particularly fruitful resource for such an analysis. It is apparent from this discussion that visual cues were "obvious" to all visitors to the site immediately upon landing at the boat dock. Visitors to Fort William in the 1810's would have no need to enquire where the authorities resided. The signs were blatant. After pulling their canoes up a single sloped inlet on the dock, they would find themselves standing before the one and only front entrance to the main enclosure. Passing through the gate, and without changing direction, they would be led naturally along a wide path through a spacious courtyard to the front steps of the Great Hall (Taylor 1976: 132)

As Figures 6 and 7 indicate, the visually most dominate structure in the compound is the Great Hall. It, and the flanking wintering partners' and clerks' quarters (Figure 6:1, 2, 4), are distinct from most other buildings of the fort. They dominate the back side of the compound, they are the tallest buildings after the watch tower and, with the committee house and the Counting House, they are the only buildings with white-painted clapboard siding (Figure 7). Interestingly, the white painted and clapboarded buildings are exclusively used by the clerks and partners. The interior and exterior facades hide all evidence of the structures' log construction. Of this group of buildings, the Great Hall is particularly dominate and was clearly designed to impress. It stood five feet above the ground level, and was the only building with a hip roof and front verandah (Figure 7). The front facade incorporated six large and symmetrically arranged windows with shutters. As an ultimate symbol of authority, two small cannon were located along the front face of the Great Hall. Taylor (1976:133-134) further comments upon the elegance of the interior of the Great Hall. She reports that the interior walls were "neatly boarded and wainscotted, and the central hall was decorated with symbols of past and present glory. Portraits of leading figures of the Company, a bust of Simon McTavish, paintings of glorious moments of British Imperial history, and a map of Rupert's land by David Thompson are reported to be conspicuously present (Campbell 1983: 160-161 citing Ross Cox 1832). From the front windows one could also view most activity within the fort compound. The Great Hall was the administrative and social centre of Fort William's summer activities. Not only did it house the "great men" of the company, the Montreal agents, but it served as the major meeting hall of the partners where company decisions were reached, and where major social events such as banquets and balls were held. Walking about the reconstructed Fort William, one's eye is automatically drawn to the Great Hall and its flanking summer residences. A great deal of effort was taken to make this reconstruction a faithful copy of the original. The visual affect of the white-painted, clapboard-faced buildings form a marked contrast to the weathered grey log walls of the nearby warehouses and stores (Figure 7). The greater height, large windows and distinctive roof line of the Great Hall gake it even more "eye-catching". One can only imagine the impression this building had upon early 19th century visitors who had spent the previous winter occupying rude log huts in the far interior, or who had not seen such grandeur since leaving Montreal, 1;400 kilometres and several weeks to the east. The furnishings of the Great Hall were of the best quality. Describing the fort as a whole, Taylor (1976: 136) reports the furnishings as manufactured from locally produced pine boards. The Great Hall, however, was equipped with a large cherry wood table that was the seat of honour for the partners of the company (Taylor 1976:136). The clerks, interpreters and guides, on the other hand, were seated on benches at pine board tables. Taylor also cites inventories describing fine china, glassware and other tableware that graced the table of the fur trade elite. The apartments of the partners were no less impressive. The two front rooms were occupied by the Montreal Agents. They were the largest and most luxuriously appointed, and they provided an unobstructed view of the open courtyard. These rooms served as the bedroom, sitting room and personal office of the agents, and may also have been equipped with small stoves to maximize the comfort of their occupants (Taylor 1976: 136). The Great Hall, in its function as a dining hall, is of particular interest to this discussion. Only the partners, clerks, interpreters and guides were entitled to eat there. Taylor describes the seating arrangements within the mess hall, and even this is evocative of the symbolism of power and status. When the bell rang at mealtime, every man from the agent to interpreter hastened to his proper place at table- and indeed, there seems to have been a proper spot for each. At the front sat agents and partners of long standing [ie along the back wall facing the front entrance]. Lower down, apparently in order, sat less important partners, clerks for the agents, wintering clerks according to prestige, and then guides and interpreters. Seating arrangements alone appear to have required the services of a knowledgeable and diplomatic steward (Taylor 1976: 136 citing Anonymous 1970).

The visual layout of the post, and even the formalized seating arrangement at meals, is consistent with Monks' (nd:21) description of the HBC's post of Upper Fort Garry. Monks interprets this arrangement through an analogy to the spatial patterning of medieval Great Halls, the Houses of Parliament, and formal dining rooms. He suggests that the seat of honour occupied by the king, speaker, or householder was centrally located along the back wall of the dining hall in a visually dominate position facing the main entrance. According to this ancient model of spatial organization, arranged on the right hand of the seat of honour were the most trusted, honoured and respected followers, while individuals of slightly lesser status sat along the left side of the head table. At right angles to this "head table" were the places of individuals of successively lower rank as one moved towards the front door. While I do not wish to extend this analogy too far, it is interesting to note the similarity of the medieval hail format to the layout of Fort William. It faithfully corresponds to Monks' model down to the placement of the wintering partners' summer residence to the right of the Great Hall, and the clerks' summer quarters to the left (Figure 6). Given the sustained connection of the senior shareholders of the NWC with the Scottish Highlands and the clan system, such similarities to medieval modes of spatial organization may be more than mere coincidence. Of additional interest is that only the partners, clerks, interpreters, guides and tradesmen were offered accommodations within the fort stockade; the numerous voyageurs of both the northern and Montreal brigades camped separately outside the walls of the fort. The buildings housing wintering partners and clerks were consistently divided into individualized bedrooms (Figure 6). This individualization and privacy appears to be a common marker of social rank that was reserved for the clerks and partners. Houses for the guides, steersmen and tradesmen consisted of a common room equipped with bunks and cots. These accommodations were located in remote and visually subordinate comers at the back of the compound (Figure 6). The winter residence for the officers permanently stationed at Fort William was located adjacent to the front gate of the post (Figure 6). These comparatively small winter residences were log buildings clad with white painted boards. As the officers' summer residences were virtually impossible to heat in winter, the permanent residents of the post were forced to make some accommodation to the environment. Taylor (1976) maintains that the visual cues implicit in the structure and layout of the post clearly transmit messages designed to reinforce the rank, social position and authority of the shareholders and their most highly ranked employees. Not only did the buildings and furnishings transmit these messages, but many other elements of life at the fort reinforced them. Most notable are the patterns of food consumption and the arrangements made for outfitting company personnel. In order to keep this discussion integrated as much as possible, I will limit it to the diet and equipment purchases of the various ranks, the function of the fort's palisades, and the relationship between the NWC and private traders established outside the fort compound. Food consumption at Fort William is evocative of the social differentiation characterized in the physical structures. Alexander Mackenzie described food consumed by the various ranks while at Grand Portage. One expects a similar or more elaborate scale of consumption to have characterized Fort William. The mode of living at the Grande Portage, is as foll~w~:The proprietors, clerks, guides and interpreters, mess together, to the number of sometimes an hundred, at several tables, in one large hall, the provision consisting of bread, salt pork, beef, hams, fish, and venison, butter, peas, Indian corn, potatoes, tea, spirits, wine, etc. and plenty of milk for which purpose several milch cows are constantly kept. The mechanics have rations of such provisions, but the canoe-men, both from the North and Montreal, have no other allowance here, or in the voyage, than Indian corn and melted fat. The corn for this purpose is prepared before it leaves Detroit, by boiling it in a strong alkali, which takes off the outer husk; it is then well washed, and carefully dried upon stages, when it is fit for use. One quart of this is boiled for two hours, over a moderate fire, in a gallon of water; to which, when it has boiled a small time, are added two ounces of melted suet; this causes the corn to split, and in the time mentioned make a pretty thick pudding. If to this is added a little salt, (but not before it is boiled, as it would interrupt the operation), it makes an wholesome, palatable food, and easy of digestion. This quantity is fully sufficient for a man's subsistence during 24 hours; though it is not sufficiently heartening to sustain the strength necessary for a state of active labour. The Americans call this dish hominee. Corn is the cheapest provision that can be procured, though from the expense of transport, the bushel costs about twenty shillings sterling, at the Grande Portage. A man's daily allowance does not exceed ten pence [ie about 1.5 litres per man] (Lamb 1970:98-99).

Access to the fare of the Great Hall was limited to the most important men of the company; primarily those who were accommodated within the post. The predominantiy French Canadian guides and interpreters were included in this exclusive group, making it clear that inequality in the NWC did not simply reflect ethnicity. Labourers who wished to supplement their daily ration of 1.5 litres of corn hominee were obliged to purchase meat, bread, butter and alcohol from the Cantine salope at high prices. The nature and cost of such purchases are described in a following chapter. Further indications of social differentiation in the day-to-day activities of the summer rendezvous are found in the distinction between the Little Shop and the Equipment Shop. According to Franchkre, the Little Shop was the most southerly one along the west side of the compound, and contained superior quality goods available for purchase only by partners and clerks (Taylor 1976:255-257). Taylor indicates that the drygoods, foodstuffs and spirits sold in this shop were intended to be transported inland to comfort the winterers, senior clerks and their families over the following winter. To further facilitate the comforts and prestige of the company gentlemen, a tailor was employed throughout the summer making clothing ordered by the partners and clerks. There is no question that this man [the tailor], like the cook was imported each summer to serve the "gentlemen" at rendezvous. He afforded wintering propriators and the more socially conscious and extravagent clerks their yearly opportunity to obtain the fitted clothing to which they were accustomed. Since the cloth for his work was purchased in the Little Shop, and likely picked up by him there, we would not be surprised to learn that he actually worked in or above that shop (Taylor 1976:256)

The voyageurs received their outfits and purchased extra goods from the adjacent \ equipment shop. According to Franchkre, and as later specified, the goods in the labourers' shop were of lesser quality. Taylor's (1976: 137-138) description of the pantry attached to the back side of the Great Hall suggests that the privileges of rank extended into the interior wintering stations as well. Inventory lists for the pantry identify assorted tableware, table cloths and exotic food stuffs. These goods were dispensed and packed into "Gentlemen's cases and Baskets for the interior", to provide the senior "winterers" with some of the luxuries and comforts that men of rank were entitled to. Harmon (1957:14) comments on these baskets in the context of berating Joseph Pageman for sharing alcohol stored therein with the common labourers. He further indicates that the baskets contained sufficient food to provide clerks with exotic provisions for several weeks. His trip inland from Montreal was so provisioned, and his brigade neared Lake Winnipeg before the private store of provisions was exhausted, forcing him to subsist on the same food as labourers. August 2, 1800... This is the first day I ever past (since my infancy) without eating either Bread or Biscuit, but as a substitute for them we now have what the Natives call pimican [pemmican], which is a compound of lean Meat dried and pounded fine and then mixed with melted fat, and then put into Bags ... This is what the common Men live upon from their Winter quarters to the Grand Portage, as well as part of their way back again (Harmon 1957:27-28)

In a document outlining cost-cutting measures made by the partners in 1806, the basket luxuries are identified. For several years tea, coffee and chocolate had been included in the packs going to the interior, despite high freight charges. Now these luxuries were to be cut to half ... Voyageurs, of course, had no such privileges (Campbell 1983:156).

Since the details of these cost cutting measures are instructive, the appropriate minutes of meeting are also provided. And whereas much confusion and irregularity has hitherto prevailed in the mode of supplying the Gentn. in the Country with the articles of Tea, Coffee etc. to prevent which in future it was agreed and understood by the parties present, that this matter should be regulated as follows. Propriators...... 6 lb Tea 4 Ib Coffee & 4 lb Chocolate P11- P11- in charge of Posts... 2 lb Tea 1 lb Coffee & 1 Ib Chocolate Inferior Clerks wintering with others ... 2 lb Tea The above quantities are intended as the Winters supply, and are independent of the consumption at this place [Fort William] and of the usual allowance carried off in Cases and Baskets, but it is understood that neither Interpreters or Guides are entitled to any provision of this kind, they being generally fed at the tables of their masters. (Wallace 1934:218, emphasis mine).

Colin Robertson, a former NWC officer who joined the HBC service, also enjoyed the comforts of rank while travelling from Montreal to the Athabasca rkgion in 1819. The nature of the provisions dispensed to all ranks is of particular interest and is summarized in Table 4. Given that Robertson was a former NWC officer, it is unclear whether all HBC brigades were outfitted as lavishly as the officers with Robertson. I would argue that the air of a medieval hall or an Officer's Mess that characterized dining in the Great Hall at Fort William was maintained in the interior posts, specifically the regional headquarters. No doubt, the officer in charge of such a Mess enhanced his personal prestige in the eyes of his juniors by conspicuous largess at the dining table. Other measures adopted by the NWC that were designed to cut costs in face of severe competition provide insight into the perquisites of rank which, for a time, were in operation. 1) That the practise of making use of Light Canoes by Propriators be entirely abolished throughout the NW departments. 2) That every proprietor shall attend his canoes in person in going in to and coming out from his Wintering Grounds. 3) That no Proprietor shall have a less load in his Canoe than 8 pieces under the regular load of the Canoes of his Brigade, this to make room for his Baggage. 4) That no Proprietor shall have more than one Man [ie servant], over and above the number that are in his loaded Canoes (Wallace 1934:194)

Proprietors frequently travelled to and from the rendezvous in small canoes paddled by a select group of men, with no cargo aside from personal baggage and food. By this means the wintering partner was saved a long and tedious trip which would have been the case if he travelled with the heavily laden brigades. However, manning these light canoes drew men from the cargo brigades, thereby slowing it down, or requiring a larger complement of men to maintain the pace. Even after the cost cutting measures, at least eight packs, perhaps representing upwards of 700 lbs, of the Proprietor's personal property were conveyed inland each year.

Table 4 Provisions for Colin Robertson's 1819 Montreal Brigade (Rich 1939:50,53 citing HBCA, PAM, B. 134/d/15/1-11; B. 134/d/15/6d) •’ Hal total S Labourers' Rations (10 canoes) Pork 150 lb per canoe 1600 Ib extra 100 Ib for Guide Biscuit 3 cwt per canoe 31 cwt extra 1 cwt for Guide Peas 3 bushel per 3 1 bushel canoe extra 1 bushel for Guide Biscuit 5 bags per 52 bags canoe extra 2 bags for Guide Pork and Peas 4 bags per canoe 42 bags extra two bags for Guide

Officers' Rations (4 clerks) 1 travelling basket 1 travelling case, large, furnished with fine Glass, China Cups, filled complete 4 Hams 59 ibs, 2 pr Cheeks i6 ib, 7 ib Smoked 3ef 10 Smoked Tongues, 1 tinnet beef 63 lb, tinnet 100 1bs fine biscuit, 30 half loaves, 3 bags 2 tinnets Butter 16 lb, tinnets, 3 padlocks 1 basket containing 18 doz eggs and bran 1 keg Maderia 9 gal, 1 keg Spirits 9 gal 1 keg brandy 2 gal, 1 keg shrub 2 gal 1 dispense keg containing 5.5 gal spirits

The clerks were also offered special benefits denied to the lower ranked employees. These benefits involved the tariff rates on goods purchased either at Fort William or at the inland stations. The rather confusing tariff regulations developed during the 1805 meeting are cited below. Resolve fixing the advance of goods for Clerks in the interior passed 1805. It is understood that henceforth, the Prices of Goods at the Places of Rendezvous - say Kamanitiquia and Lac La Pluie to every Clerk or other who - by their agreement have the Goods at Diminished Prices - shall be zs follows - 100 per cent to be charged on the cost of Goods at Montreal for the risk, trouble and freight attending bring such goods from Montreal to the place of Rendezvous- And 50 per cent on the above Prices from the Place of Rendezvous to the different Departments and Posts in every part of the interior Country- to all Clerks, who have an opportunity of purchasing goods, at the Place of General Rendezvous- but 100 percent only on the Montreal Prices shall be the Cost of Goods to those who remain to pass the Summer in Land, or, who do not order things from the place of Rendezvous by their Friends. No Clerk on any Pretence whatever shall be allowed to carry on Traffic with men or others, it being understood they only purchase such articles as are absolutely required for their own use. .. (Wallace l934:202-203).

In 1808 these preferential tariff rates were adjusted as follows. It is also agreed that the prices of Goods at Fort William to Clerks should be reduced to sixty two and a half per cent on the Montreal Advance, And the prices Inland to thirty three and one third per cent on those at Fort William- this at all the Posts in the Interior- The Goods to Interpreters to be at One Hundred per cent on Montreal Prices at Fort William. To do away Jealousies Amongst the Men, and other irregularities, and in order that all the Men should be supplied from the Shop without distinction, it was fixed, that the Sales at Mailloux's House should be confined entirely to Liquors and Provisions, and at the same prices with the Canteen in the Fort (Wallace 1934:253).

From these resolves it is apparent that Clerks were offered preferential purchase rates over those of interpreters which, in turn, were substantially less than those offered the labourers. Clerks who were forced to remain inland through the summer were offered an additional benefit in that they were not charged the extra 50% on the Fort William rate paid by Clerks at the rendezvous. Prohibitions placed upon private trade exchanges between clerks and labourers were designed to assure that clerks were not tempted to take undue advantage of the preferential rate offered them. North West Company labourers had no recourse but to acquire goods from the company. Even the independent trader established outside of the Fort William compound was associated with the NWC, and charged prices comparable to those in the Equipment Shop and Cantine. According to Taylor (1976: 269-271) an independent trade shop was a long-standing tradition of the Lake Superior rendezvous. These traders sold goods, food and alcohol to the labourers, thereby reducing congestion in the post. Alexander Henry the younger, upon encountering one such trader one day west of Fort William, describes his business activities.

Met at Prairie portage J. M. Bouche (sic), who has built a hut and an oven to bake bread to sell to the winterers en passant for dressed leather, buffalo robes, etc. He had a great stock of provisions and other articles for sale ... (Coues 1897:219).

Through such men as Boucher, the voyageurs found a market for their furs acquired by private trade and their own trap lines. The shop at Boucher's house, though an alternate outlet for the NWC labourers, was not a less costly source of supplies. Miles McDonell asserts that it was established by the company to "lure their servants and entertain them at an enormous rate" (Taylor 1976:273). Taylor comments that the shop was maintained to "discourage more independent traders (thus monopolizing all profits), to keep drinking and rowdiness inside the fort to a minimum, and to provide diversion for winterers, especially at night when the gates of Fort William were likely closed" (1976:273). Stockades, bastions and a general defensive posture are common elements of the popular imagery of the fur trade post, but it has been argued that these features had limited defensive utility in face of a concerted attack. Burley and Dalla Bona (1988) cite archival references to point out that stockades were generally considered to be of limited use in withstanding a determined military attack since the logs making up the palisades seldom could stop a bullet, and were often constructed with gaps between the individual members. The palisades, bastions and defensive arrangement of the buildings were effective in controlling traffic flow within the post, and minimizing the possibility of theft. However, in some regions defensive structures were essential to control potentially violent customers, and in very few circumstances, as protection from hostile Indian raids. These threats were most common on the hostile frontiers between warring Indian groups, or along the northern plains fringe. In spite of the occasional need for defensive fortifications, Burley and Dalla Bona (1988) maintain that an important element of the palisades was the transmission of symbolically encoded messages to members of the post community and to outsiders. It is in this context that we must consider the palisades of Fort William. Fort William was enclosed in a stockade composed of upright pickets, with two protruding bastions and a guardhouse over the main gate (Figures 6 and 7). While visually imposing, it is uncertain who or what the palisades were designed to protect the company from. Like Taylor (1976:41), I question the "defensibility" of the post from a military stand-point. There was no gallery around the stockade interior from which men could shoot, and the presence of bastions only on the front corners left the back walls undefended. Furthermore, the enclosure is far too large to be efficiently defended, particularly in the winter when only a handful of men were stationed there. In addition to serious doubts regarding the defensibility of the palisades, I question who they were designed to repel. The local Fort William Indian population was small, diffuse, and not hostile. In fact, many of these Indians benefited economically from the presence of the post through the sale of food and furs, and by employment in canoe construction and casual labour. It is also apparent that, on the basis of the modest fur returns from the Fort William (Kamanistiquia) district (Coues 1897: 282), the small number of ancillary trade posts in the district (Davidson 1918:280) (Table 2) and the small size of the Indian Shop (Figure 6), trading with Indians was a very minor activity at the post. The only hostile force that confronted the NWC at Fort William was Lord selkirk's force of De Meuron soldiers who captured the post in 1816. Interestingly, the post was surrendered to Selkk without a struggle @ch l96l:33 1). By far the most numerous, unruly and potentially dangerous group of men present at the post were the lower ranked employees of the company. These men were not permitted to sleep inside the palisades, and care had to be taken to separate the Montreal and northern brigades to avoid conflict. The labourers had little opportunity to enter the compound except to purchase equipment and to buy food and alcohol at the cantine. The palisades served as a means of traffic control, and to keep rowdies and drunkards out of the compound at night. While these considerations might explain the construction of the stockade, the imposing log fortifications with bastions and cannon appears excessive to deal with drunken employees. Aside from its function of traffic control, the role of the stockade may lie in its reinforcement of non-verbal messages of power, authority and social position. As with the previous discussion, the target population for symbolic communication must have been NWC employees, for few others were in the vicinity. Following the lead of Rapoport (1982), the palisades and elaborate nature of the Great Hall can be envisioned as physical cues calculated to overawe the labourers, to reinforce the chain of command of the company, and to proclaim the power of the NWC in the Canadian fur trade. The distinctions over who was allowed to sleep and eat within the post, and the nature of food served at the Great Hall also reinforced the social distance between the leaders and the labourers. It is particularly significant that the comparatively lowly junior clerks, apprentices, interpreters and guides were included in this exclusive group with the senior clerks, Wintering Partners and Montreal Agents. Given the vertical segregation of the NWC based in part upon ethnicity, one would not expect the predominantly French I Canadian interpreters and guides to receive such preferential treatment. I contend that the inclusion of these men in the sumptuous comforts of the Great Hall was a very deliberate effort to differentiate them from the common labourers. Their inclusion in the Great Hall feasts might have been calculated to reinforce the authority and prestige of all men taking leading roles in the company. This select group was offered privileges such as accommodations in the post, participation in ceremonial feasting, and preferential tariff rates and equipment allowances. These distinctions also served to isolate the clerks, interpreters and guides from the common labourers, and made it clear where their first obligations lay; to their employers rather than the common men with whom they spent the balance of the year in virtual isolation. Aside from irrational behaviour while intoxicated, one expects that the labourers were all too aware of the power and authority of the NWC, and were unlikely to blatantly arouse the displeasure of the partners and clerks at the rendezvous. The company was the most important employer in the Canadian fur trade and probably would not have hesitated to "blacklist" consisttmtly recalcitrant labourers. While the labourers might resent the company's authority figures, none but the most foolhardy would have acted on that resentment while at the centre of NWC power. If they were going to rebel, they would do so in the small wintering posts where individual clerks were isolated, and in fashions that would not leave them vulnerable to retaliation. This leaves us with the question whether the symbolic messages implicit in the layout and furnishings of Fort William had meaning in the much larger social universe of the entire NWC trading hinterland. The large investment in status display and social allegiance can be viewed as a means of asserting the status, power and authority of the partners, clerks and work party leaders of the company. These investments might have "paid off' in the inland hinterlands, long after the rendezvous. In this sense, the elaborate nature of Fort William, the Great Hall, the feasts, and the conspicuous consumption by officers were calculated to instil the solidarity of the more senior ranks, and served to model and define behavioural expectations in the hinterland. It reinforced the sometimes uncertain authority of the junior clerks who were placed in charge of the smaller wintering posts. The status of the junior clerks and apprentices was probably greatly enhanced in the eyes of the labourers through their association with the shareholders, and with preferential treatment in terms of foodstuffs, accommodations, equipment supply, and tariff charges. It remains to be seen if these officers sought to further assert their status and authority by using the same mechanisms of non-verbal communication in the inland regional headquarters and wintering stations. Addressing this question is a central element of the remainder of this work. Chapter 5 FUR TRADE POSTS: VARIATION IN FORM, LAYOUT AND SIZE

INTRODUCTION Fort William, &d Grand Portage before it, were very large complexes composed of many buildings and representing a major investment in material and labour. It is also apparent that a significant portion of that expense involved the construction, finishing and furnishing of specific structures far in excess of functional necessity. Table 5 illustrates that Fort William was the largest post of those examined. It contained just under twice as much area as York Factory, the largest HBC depot. It included 45 buildings totalling approximately 7,800 square metres of "floor space", and 22,405 square metres was enclosed by the stockade. The total floor space is probably underestimated by at least 40% due to the number of "one and a half" and two story buildings within the main compound. The dramatic appearance of Fort William is particularly interesting given the high cost of transportation of exotic materials to the site by Montreal canoe or sailing craft. Many of the features of these structures were designed to reflect and reinforce the social ranking of the fur trade company by differentiating its shareholders and senior employees from the common labourers. Was it simply a case of self aggrandizement in the hands of the partners? Given the hard-headed business orientation of the senior members, it is expected hat much more thaa persoad vai-iity was at stake. In this chapter the role of Fort William and the larger issue of non-verbal communication using material culture is clarified with a discussion of architecture and layout of trade posts of both major companies of all three logistical types. Some distinctive characteristics of posts of each logistical type are introduced in Table 5 which summarizes general architectural information from a range of trade posts throughout Rupert's land. From this table, considerable variation in form and size is apparent. Details of this variation are explored below.

ADMINISTRATIVE POSTS York Factory The major HBC depot for much of northwestern Rupert's land was York Factory at the mouth of the Nelson River (Figure 1). The nearest HBC competitor to the size and consequence of York Factory was Albany Factory, which was the major depot for much of what is now northwestern Ontario and southern Manitoba. Several successive posts were established at the mouth of the Nelson River by the HBC from as early as 1684, continuing in use into the mid 20th century (Voorhis 1930:123; Rich 1961:201). Table 5 The Size of Facilities at some Fur Trade posts ires il $quart netre of bui source Stockade S tockadc no. of' no. of ot. bldg. Gen. 3fficer's Men's Storage Trade (Sm. (metre) area m2 bldps. commrt. area Domest Res Res Retail Administrative Fort Prince of Wales HBC hist 96 x 101 9671 2 5 473 York Factory HBC hist 119 x 102 12131 12 28 1739 125 20C 392 65 Fort William NWC hist 117 x 192 2241: 45 -- 7807 1976 204 605 h rand Portage NWC arch 137 x 91 154' 16 Regional Headquarters Brandon House HBC arch 27 x 61 163( Cumberland House HBC hist f93x62 576: 6 12 922 3: 146 25 1 105 Edmonton House HBC hist 53 x 48 254( 7 14 134 14 1 82 Ft Wedderburn, Knee Lakr HBC hist f52x40 f 208( 5 10 685 225 80 Cumberland House NWC hist f 62 x 62 3841 4 8 866 29 1 159 Edmonton House NWC hist 62 x 48 300( 6 14 25 124 106 134 Fort Chipewyan NWC hist 7 ? min 757 23: 158 161 Fort George NWC arch 282 x 54 486( 7? 669 6C 177 6 1 4 Mcdonell's House NWC hist 184 4 Pine Fort NWC arch 27 x 49 130! 2? 6? 160.2 ? Wintering Outposts Brandon House IV HBC arch Buckingham House HBC arch Fidler fort plan HBC hist 14 92 Naosquiscaw House HBC hist 55 x 47 258: 3 6 14 1 3s 28 Nottingham House HBC arch 2 7 1 11 If 16 11 Red Lake House HBC hist 18 27 1; 11 8 Old Fort Point HBC? arch 1 96 GrantfMcLeod.1 Mont arch 1 41 Grant/McLeod.2 Mont arch 1 70 Michipicotan Mont hist 14 f 38 Fort Assiniboine NWC hist Montan e la Boss NWC hist Notting R am House NWC arch 2 33 Rocky Mountam Fort NWC arch 2or3 45 + Snake River Post NWC arch 31 x 16 49! 1 115 1lf Yellow River NWC arch 12 x 19 23 3 4 91 Yellow River XYC arch 12 30 Lesser Slave Lake HBC hist 9 5 10 355 85 7 1 75 36 Mont.= Misa:1. ~oniealTI lers hist = information from arc val source arch = information derived om archaeological research Despite the early occupation, it was not until 1774 that the size and importance of York Factory increased dramatically as it became a depot for the inland trade. In 1788, York Factory was captured and destroyed by the French (A.S. Morton 1973:333). Post re-construction between 1788 and the early 1830's was extensive and is illustrated in Figure 8 (G. Adams 1990: per. communication). Later construction at York Factory dating to the middle and late 19th century included a large depot, with a number of buildings clustered around it (Adams and Lunn l985:372), which continues to stand at the site. Moodie and Lytwyn (1987) illustrate a plan of York Factory as it appeared in 1815, prior to the extensive rebuilding in the latter half of the 19th century. This earlier incarnation consisted of a large palisaded compound in the centre of which was a large building, consisting of four pentagonal two storey "blockhouses" connected by rectangular buildings (Figure 8). This large flanker style building enclosed a central open yard area. The form and structure of this building is extraordinary and forms a defensive structure with extended bastions, reminiscent of military forts of the day. It contained a range of special purpose areas including officers' and labourers' quarters, cooking areas, and warehouse space. The military character of this structure aside, I propose that its distinctive configuration and imposing size was likely calculated to impress and control access, rather than withstand a concerted attack. The main building of the 1815 post was surrounded by a number of outbuildings which form a rough square. These include storage buildings, special industrial zones such as a distillery, cooperage and blacksmith shop, trading buildings, and a powder magazine (Figure 8). While much smaller than Fort William, York Factory boasted a large palisaded compound in excess of 12,000 square metres, and at least 1,739 square metres of floor space (Table 5). The floor space is an under-estimation and should be increased by about 50% given that the large depot building, at least, was two stories high. In spite of this under-estimation, it is clear that York Factory was much smaller than its NWC rival (Fort William). This is a reflection of the HBC strategy of maintaining several major factories, each with its own independent administrative headquarters. The NWC, on the other hand, carried out a larger trade, most of which was funnelled through one major depot. Given the presence of various small wintering houses in the 1815 plan (Figure 8), it appears that the domestic portions of the York Factory main building served only as summer dwellings during the annual rendezvous. No doubt this is a function of the difficulty of winterizing and heating such a large and expansive building, particularly in light of shortages of firewood. Like Fort William, Y ork Factory's winter occupants consisted of a relatively small group of labourers, tradesmen and officers. These men and their families occupied smaller, more modest and efficiently heated winter houses. Living quarters for the inland labourers within the fort compound contrasts sharply with the situation of the NWC at Fort William, but is consistent with the more vertically integrated nature of the HBC hierarchy.

York Factory HBC ca 1815 after HBCA, PAM, G.11113 CookRoom ! Magazine ]xGq 0 I I Winter House I

Fence Salt Shed B

I I Stockade I I I I 0 feet 100

I 0 2'0 Trades Areas metre Retail/Warehouse 7 Fur Shed 15 Carpenter's Shed Residences 8 Warhouses 16 Keg Shed 1 Officer's House 9 Sheds 17 Cask Room 2 Men's House 10 Trading House 18 Cooper 3 Servant's Apartment 11 Shop House 19 Blacksmith 3a Cook Room 12 Meat Shed 4 Inland Men's House 13 Oil Shed 5 Men's Winter Dwelling 14 Gateway 6 Officer's Room

Figure 8 York Factory as it appeared in the early 1800's.

While no plan is available for Albany Factory dating to the period o~f interest, Moo( and Lytwyn (1987) illustrate a painting of the site showing the south east face of a large two story, "flanker style" structure surrounded by several other smaller buildings. This view appears remarkably similar to the plan of York Factory, and it will be assumed that both major HBC depots were constructed along much the same pattern.

Fort Prince of Wales Fort Prince of Wales is the only bayside factory of the HBC to be constructed of stone. The original wooden post was established in 1689 at the mouth of the Churchill River (Figure I), and a large stone fortress was started nearby in 1731 and completed in 1771 (A.S. Morton 1973:226-227). The rationale for such a costly and labour intensive project was anticipated conflict with the French. J.B. Tyrrell's 1894 drawing of the fort ruins indicates that the complex was comparatively large and imposing, and had the appearance of a military fortress (Figure 9). The post was dominated by massive stone walls equipped with a parapet with cannon. The fortifications are in the "flanker style", with large bastions extending from each comer (Figure 9). The walls are quite thick, and dominate the treeless landscape (Hearne 1911:60). The buildings within the post are less impressive, consisting of two rectangular structures facing one another across a central courtyard (Figure 9). While the fortress itself was imposing, and dominated the harbour, it never contained a garrison sufficient to defend it. It was operated as an ordinary trade post and it was assumed that, in the event of warfare, crews from ships seeking shelter in the harbour would occupy and defend the post. However, when it was eventually attacked by the French in 1782, the officer in charge had no choice but to smender wiihout a shot shce he had too few men available to defend it (A.S. Morton 1973: 333). The similarity of the layout of Fort Prince of Wales and the main depot buildings at York and Albany Factories is interesting. All appear to have been constructed along military lines with massive protruding "bastions" surrounding a central courtyard. However, like the NWC's Fort William, this military character is more apparent than real due to the small complement of men stationed in them through the winter. The wood construction of York and Albany Factories made the posts militarily indefensible, particularly from rival colonial powers equipped with ship mounted ordinance. In fact, during the period of colonial warfare, only Albany Factory was successfully defended in 1709, and only in face of a small French force who launched an attack by land from New France mch 1961:385).

Fort Severn Fort Sevem was the site of a comparatively minor bayside factory which was initially occupied by the HBC in 1685 at the mouth of the Sevem River, and continued in use in several incarnations up to the present (Figure I), (Voorhis 1930:162). Fort Severn had a ...... After J.B. TyrreI1, 1894 ...... ,.,,,.,,,...... Parapet Walls 37 to 42 feet thick ...... !.!!!?!!!. 16 feet 9 inches high ...... \...I...\...... Wall ...... ,...,...I...... 0 10 20 30 A Scale (metres)

Figure 9 A 1894 plan of the ruins of Fort Prince of Wales rather small trade hinterland as it was located between two very large factories; York and Albany. Throughout the first 30 years of its occupation, this post was destroyed several times due to warfare between Britain and France (Voorhis 1930:162). The Factory herein discussed was established after 1759, although we can expect several rebuilding episodes. Two plans are in existence; the first dates to 1815 and consists of little more than an outline sketch of the buildings (Figure 10). This sketch roughly corresponds to a more detailed plan dating to 1823 (Figure 11). This latter sketch illustrates the relative positions of the buildings, and their front facades. The main dwelling house was two stories high, with three main entrances and at least four chimneys (Figure 11). While not of the "flanker" style normally associated with other HBC bayside depots, this early 19th century post was still a substantial establishment given the modest character of its hinterland. - I I I : Carpenter's Shed I Labourer's I Store House I I I I I I 1 I I Dwelling I I I I 1 I House I I I I I I I I I I I I 1 I I I I I I I ; Garden

Trade Good

Gate 0

metre

Figure 10 Severn Factory in 1815 (after HBCA, PAM, B. 198/e/1/9d)

The stockaded compound was approximately 6,493 square metres in extent (Table 5). The compound includes three or five rectangular buildings arranged in a U shaped configuration, with several auxiliary storage and industrial buildings scattered outside the main square (Figures 10 and 11).

1823. This sketch is not to scale and dates to the initial period of HBC occupation. While these considerations limit its utility, Parker (1987:36-43) notes that little in the way of refurbishment had been accomplished by the time of Keith's sketch. We may safely assume that the majority of structures noted in Figure 12 were those used by the NWC at the height of its power, and which had subsequently decayed into near ruin. Despite Parker's (1987:40) statement that Keith did not include dimensions with his sketch, the narrative portion of the Keith journal does provide considerable detail including building sizes. [referring to Fort Chippewyan] Having formerly and in a great measure still the general Rendezvous and Depot of these Northern Districts, it is provided with extensive and capacious buildings viz Two dwelling Houses of which one 61 x 28 feet is called the winter and is exclusively occupied by Resident Officers and families and also accomodates the Indians, the other 90 x 28 feet is appropriated for strangers, comers and goers and for transacting the business of the Dept, the upper floorings of both serving as stores, has a southern exposure fronting the Lake and forms one side of the oblong figure of the Fort. On the west side is a range of stores 98 x 20 feet and on the Eastern side a range of buildings 110 x 18 feet comprizing 6 men's houses and a Blacksmith shop exclusive of subordinate appendages. The whole enclosed and surrounded by stockades in which are six block houses or bastions, exclusive of a canoe yard at a small distance containing 2 capacious canoe and boat stores similarly secured and enclosed with stockades, ... being formerly the great entsepot or Emporium through which were conveyed the principal riches and Sine [?I of the NW Fur trade now dwindled and fall so much off ... (HBCA, PAM, B.39/a/22/25, 25d,26).

These calculations are assumed to be accurate and are incorporated into Table 5. Fort Chippewyan served as an important inland depot, was the winter residence of two or three partners, accommodated visiting officers in summer and contained considerable storage space for materials. However, Parker (1987) suggests that the furnishings and style of life at the post were hardly of the order associated with a major administrative centre such as Fort William. Such a comparison is inappropriate given the distance of re-supply to the Athabasca region. Considering its location, Fort Chippewyan boasted a large library and had furnishings such as writing desks, chairs, cupboards and tables (Parker 1987:43, 78). Figure 12 also indicates that the main houses were equipped with many windows, a watch tower, and two kitchens. Parker (1987:40-42) indicates that the windows of the officer's quarters were equipped with glass, while those of the remainder of the post were simply parchment skins stretched over the sashes. Compared to the small wintering stations, visitors to Fort Chippewyan likely viewed it as palatial. The post is contained within a palisade equipped with six bastions (Figure 12; Table 5), and a minimum of 750 square metres of floor space. Again, this is an under-estimate given that both the major buildings and the warehouses are two stories high (Figure 12). Fort Chippewyan is the most extensive of all the Regional Headquarters considered in this study (Table 5).

1 Front Gate 14 Winter Fish Oven 2 Flag Staff 15 Ft Chippewyan Kitchen 3 Packing Press 16 Men's House and Blacksmith's Shop 4 Stores with Ice Cellars 17 Block Houses or Bastions 5 Powder Magazine yard 18 Sunlmer Court and wood yard 6 Interpreter and Guides' House 19 Winter Court and wood yard 7 Ft. Chippewyan Winter 20 Side Gate and Summer House 8 Covered Passage Structures outside the Compound 9 Watch House and Observatory Boat Store and yard 10 Depot Summer House Canoe Store and yard 11 Depot Summer House Kitchen Stable 12 Depot Summer House Fish Oven Dog Kennel and yard 13 Sakes (?) (after HBCA, PAM, B.39la122 fo. 69) Figure 12 A Sketch of Fort Chippewyan in 1823

Edmonton House (HBC and NWC) Competing HBC and NWC posts, jointly labelled as Edmonton House (Moodie and Lytwyn 1987; HBCA, PAM G.1/98,99), shared a common stockade (Figure 13). Much confusion exists regarding the identities of posts along the North Saskatchewan River because of the frequent movement of posts, and the repeated use of names at successive locations. The Edmonton House described here is illustrated in a 1815 plan of the joint HBC and NWC post which may also equate with the Fort EdmontonIFort Augustus posts near Edmonton Alberta (Kidd 1987) (Figure 1).Excavations reported by Nicks (1969) and Hurlburt (1977) at Fort Edmonton IIIJFort White Earth refer to an occupation some 115 km downstream that was used briefly between 1810 and 1813 (Figure 1). According to Kidd (1970:8) shared palisades with a dividing wall was a common feature of Saskatchewan River trade posts such as Fort Vermillion, Fort White Earth-Fort Edmonton 111, Fort Augustus-Fort Edmonton and Fort Carlton. This appears to be a function of the risk of attack from warlike Plains Indians, the tension between Blackfoot and Cree groups, and the turbulence of the alcohol trade. Other tactical defensive features

I reflecting this greater risk of violence include stables and horseyards within the palisades to

I prevent theft, and secondary fortifications that enclosed the main gate areas. Figure 13 indicates that both posts were equipped with internal stockades that segregated visiting Indians from the main part of the fort compound. These internal palisades enclosed "reception areas" between the main gates and the trade shops which were overlooked by defensive galleries where guards could monitor the activities of customers. These defensive features clearly reflect a military or tactical consideration that is consistent with the turbulent relations between groups. However, these fortifications and internal defensive galleries and enclosed courtyards are not common in any other area but the Saskatchewan River region. In the case of the "Forts Des Prairies"', it appears that the stockades and bastions served a very real function in minimizing violence, by providing customers with access to only specific portions.of a post, which included a small open courtyard and a building called an Indian guardroom. This guardroom was an interior reception area where the actual trade was conducted and where Indians, on occasion, spent the night. In this sense, the defensive posture of fort layout served much more than a symbolic role, and was designed to confront a very real threat. The tactical character of the layout and fortifications is readily apparent in the construction of the palisaded reception area, the armed guards in the gallery, and the very limited access to the internal area of the post. Consequently, I think it is important to make a distinction between Fort Edmonton and the military threats faced by traders along the Saskatchewan River, and what I consider to be the symbolic appearance of strength that marks most other fortified trade posts considered in this chapter.

The term "Forts Des Prairies" generally refers to the whole Saskatchewan River department rather than to one specific post located on the edge of the prairie.

86 Front q Front Gate 12

......

u ! Carpenter's Wood Yard : Yard

-p-- Back Back

Residences Residences 1 Chief and Officer's House (2 Storey) 1 Proprietor's House and Storeroom (2 storey) la Kitchen 2 Trader's House 2 Trader's House 3 Clerk's House 3 Carpenter's House 4 Servant's Houses 4 Cooper's shop and dwelling 5 Kitchen 5 Servant's Houses RetailIStorage RetailIStorage 6 Inner Gates with overhead blockhouse 6 Indian Guardroom commanding the Indian Guard Room 7 Trading Room and the front gates. 8 Fish Shed 7 Indian Guard House 9 Meat Shed 8 Trading Room 10 Blacksmith Shop 9 Victual Room 11 Inner Gates 10 Servant's Meat Shed 12 Bastion 11 Blacksmith Shop 12 Bastions Figure 13 A Sketch of Fort Edmonton in 1815 (HBC and NWC) (after Moodie and Lytwyn 1987)

The two compounds at Fort Edmonton consist of open squares surrounded by buildings (Figure 13). The NWC half of the palisade encompassed about 3,000 square metres, while the HBC portion was somewhat smaller at about 2,500 square metres, although they contained buildings with a very similar floor space (Table 5). In the case of the HBC compound, the quarters of the senior officers were located on the back side of the compound facing the main gate. This building is one of the largest, was two stories high, and equipped with an attached kitchen that probably prepared food for the senior ranks. The trader did not live in this house (Figure 13), and his quarters were in a compartment of the row house adjacent to the trade shop. This would provide easy access to the trade shop, and it enabled the trader to serve customers arriving at night. The remainder of the right side of the Hl3C compound consisted of a large storage building and the carpenter's house. It is uncertain whether the latter represents the carpenter's living quarters, his workshop, or both. The labourers' quarters consisted of a row house of three compartments facing into an enclosed courtyard along the front face of the fort (Figure 13). This orientation, with access points facing the palisade rather than towards the central courtyard, is out of the ordinary. The rationale for this orientation is uncertain. Perhaps it was designed to deny even the labourers ready access to the central courtyard of the post. The remaining row house along the left side of the compound consisted of food storage facilities for the servants, workshops and the cooper's dwelling (Figure 13). Interestingly, only the occupants of the cooper's quarters and the officers had ready access to the central compound after the inner gates were closed. The NWC compound was also organized to maximize the defense of the post, with double gates and interior palisades to provide the customers access only to the guard room and trading rooms (Figure 13). The internal organization of the buildings was quite different, with the "proprietor's" two story house centrally located in the right hand row house (Figure 13) rather than placed at the back of the compound facing the main gate2. This row house also contained the trading facilities, storage areas in the proprietor's house, and the residences of clerks and traders. Given that the proprietor's house is the only one specified as being two stories high, it can be assumed that the rest of the row house was single storey. This had the affect of making the proprietor's house quite distinctive. Along the opposite side of the central courtyard was another row house containing a series of residences for the labourers and a blacksmith's shop. The NWC compound conforms to the U or box-shaped configuration noted with the adjacent HBC post (Figure 13). However, I believe it reflects a variation on this arrangement, consisting of two parallel row houses facing one another across a central courtyard. Given the greater size and importance of the facility, the two open ends of the compound have been "filled in" with meat storage and guardhouse buildings near the front gate, and an extra labourer's house in the back comer of the compound (Figure 13). On first examination, this building pattern contradicts the notion that the officer's house was consistently located in a visually dominant position. However, the internal organization of

The shareholders of the NWC, particularly the wintering partners, were often referred to as the "Proprietors" or "Gentlemen of the Company".

88 the compound is different from the HBC post, and it is centred on the two storey high proprietor's house. This layout, while not as common as the U-shaped configuration, does appear in several NWC trade posts. For the sake of this discussion, it will be referred to as the "two-parallel-row-house" configuration.

Carlton Houses (HBC and NWC) The Carlton House establishments were also located along the North Saskatchewan River on the edge of the prairies (Figure 1). Built originally 1787 by the HBC, a NWC post is also illustrated in a plan dating to 1814-15 which is reproduced in Figure 14 (HBCA, PAM, G.1176). Carlton House persisted in use even after the 1821 Amalgamation, and figured prominently in the 1885 Reil Rebellion (Voorhis 1930:47). Like Fort Edmonton, Carlton House consists of a large common palisaded area divided between the HBC and the NWC (Figure 14). While the sketch map in Figure 14 does not provide measurements of the various buildings, the dimensions of the stockaded area are reported. This stockade encompassed an area of about 3,465 square metres, and was surrounded by extensive gardens. The North West Company establishment contained five buildings arranged in a U or box shaped pattern, with the "Big House" located along the back wall, facing the main gate (Figure 14). This large structure likely served as the trade room and perhaps as a storage facility, while the Master's House and storage facilities occupied the east row house. Along the west and south sides of the compound were long narrow row houses used as the men's residence (Figure 14). The positioning of the Officer's quarters in a visually secondary position in the east row house is out of the ordinary. The HBC compound is also arranged in a U-shaped configuration, and also with the "Big House" placed in the visually subordinate position along the west side of the courtyard (Figure 14). The building facing the main gate is a store house or warehouse. The row houses along the east side of the compound were "men's houses", with a garden and "Horse Guard" behind them. The two men's houses are separated by a wide alley way to provide access to the side gate leading to the HBC gardens (Figure 14). Of those studied, this is the only HBC U-shaped compound to not have the main house placed opposite the main gate.

Cumberland Houses (HBC and NWC) Moodie and Lytwyn (1987) illustrate the neighbouring HBC and NWC facilities at Cumberland House as they appeared in 1815 (Figure 15). The HBC first built a post at Cumberland Lake in 1774, and the NWC established there in 1780 (Voorhis 193057). Voorhis (193057) also adds that the HBC maintained a presence at Cumberland Lake into the 20th century. These posts do not share a common palisade, but are in close proximity to one another (Figure 15). In 18 15, the HBC compound was appreciably larger (5,762 square metres) than the NWC one (3,844 square metres) (Table 5), but the latter was in the process of expanding its facility with a new post.

NWC & HBC Establishments at Carlton House HBCA, PAM, G.1

- f 82.5- metres N! Big House N2 Master's House H1 Stores N3 Stores H2 Master's House N4 House H3 Men's Houses N5 Men's Houses H4 Big House Figure 14 A Sketch Plan of Carlton House (1814-15)

The HBC post conforms to the U-shaped configuration, with the main building along the back of the courtyard facing the main gate. This building is partitioned into several special purpose areas which include an officers' residence and bedrooms, a guardroom and trading room, and a dwelling area for the labourers (Figure 15). The main house contained residences for both the officers and the labourers, plus trading facilities, yet it is apparent that the two ranks were still segregated. The men's house is separated from that of the officers' by the trading area, and the former had a separate entrance. Presumably access to the officer's quarters was by way of the Guard Room (Figure 15). The two flanking sides of the courtyard contain small buildings used for storage, dwellings, and a stable. Behind NWC RESIDENCES Old House 1 Officer's Dwelling Kitchen Garden 2 Guide and Interpreter's House 3 Men's House . 4 Men's House . . 5 Blacksmith's Shop ... 6 Stores . . .7 Fish House Front Gate .. I . I . .. (\ . \ Canadian Garden > NWC \ \ .. \ . \ . New House \ .. \ .. under construction

.* 0 feet 400

0 metre 100 Back Gate I I RES IDEHCES 1 I I 1 Small wintering room New Garden I I 2 Bedroom I I 3 Bedroom I I 6 Men's dvelling house I 8 Small dvelling house I 9 Cook room 11 Fisherman's house Front ----- *dl 1 RET A IL/STOR AGE Gate \ 1 Trading room \ HBC 1 1 Guard room or hall C Storehouse : Canoe House 't, Garden \ Canoe and Fish house ', \ I 1 1 Stable 1 I'.. ------..---;

Figure 15 The NWC and HBC Establishments at Cumberland House in 18 15 (after HBCA, PAM, G. 1/96) the main house, and well away from the central courtyard, was another storehouse. Much of the palisaded area was partitioned off and used for gardens (Figure 15). The NWC post at Cumberland House conforms to the "two-parallel-row-house" pattern. Unlike the post at Edmonton House, the officer's dwelling house was not centrally located in one bank of houses, but was a large compartment built on one end of a row house adjacent to the main gate (Figure 15). The remainder of the west row house contained quarters for guides, interpreters and labourers and a blacksmith shop. The row house opposite contained storage facilities. Like the HBC, the NWC maintained a large garden to supplement the supply of meat and fish.

Fort George Fort George was a NWC post located along the North Saskatchewan River operating between 1792 and 1800 (Figure 1). Despite its rather short-term occupation, it served as a regional headquarters of the company until the exhaustion of fur resources of the region required its abandonment. The Saskatchewan River basin was the scene of rapid expansion whereby clusters of competing posts "leap-frogged" upstream, leaving older establishments somewhat superannuated in "backwater" positions far from the rapidly advancing frontier. This phenomenon affected the role and importance of Carlton House as well. Fort George was one of the first fur trade posts in western Canada to be systematically excavated and reported by archaeologists. It was initially tested by Robert Kidd in 1965, and work continued sporadically up to 1970 (Kidd 1970:14). This initial research was followed by research by Losey (Losey nd; Losey 1978,1979,1980), but much of this later work has not been published. While Losey greatly increased the sample size and information base regarding the site, Kidd's reconstruction of the post layout is presented in Figure 16, with some additional information from Losey's unpublished work that is cited by Qszczyk (1978) and Prager (1980). This post conforms to the U-shaped arrangement of structures, with a main house for the senior officer at the back of the courtyard facing the main gate. Kidd (1970:68) proposes that a kitchen was located along the west side of the main house and was connected by a passage way (Figure 16). Flanking the central courtyard were two row houses that likely were used as warehouses, living quarters for the labourers and workshops (Figure 16). Other buildings which were not consistent with the U-shaped configuration included buildings beside the main house and adjacent to the main gate (Figure 16). The west end of the palisaded area consisted of a large garden and triangular area believed to be a horse corral. These additional features greatly augment the area of the palisaded compound, even though the building floor space was about 25% less than other regional headquarters (Table 5). @ Refuse Midden

Figure 16 An Archaeological Sketch Plan of Fort George (after Kidd 1970:68, Pyszczyk 1978:87, Prager 1980:21)

Based upon excavation data, Pyszczyk (1978:87) identifies some of the major refuse disposal zones in and around the post. These are found in three areas: behind the main house, presumably containing kitchen and domestic refuse from that structure; to the northwest of the back gate; and to the east of the main front gate (Figure 16). It is expected that small sheet middens and pits are located in proximity to the labourer's quarters. Interestingly, an effort was made by the post occupants to collect and dispose of refuse, either outside the post stockades, or in areas of low visibility such as behind buildings in limited use areas. Pyszczyk (1978:87) draws attention to this refuse pattern when he illustrates the main disposal areas at several Saskatchewan River posts dating between the early 1790's and the late 1890's (Figure 17). This pattern of deliberate collection and disposal is a very interesting observation that forms a sharp contrast to refuse disposal patterns at the small wintering posts to be discussed shortly. I do not question Pyszczyk's observation that major refuse concentrations at the posts considered in Figure 17 were distant from the building area. However, it is likely that significant quantities of refuse were also deposited in localized pits, in disused storage pits, and indiscriminately scattered over the courtyard in a fashion reminiscent of pre-Georgian sheet refuse disposal practises in the American colonial centres (Deetz 1977; South 1977b). In the case of Fort White Earth at least, this is apparent with Hurlburt's faunal analysis of food refuse recovered from pits behind the engage's houses (1977:5). While the basis of Pyszczyk's generalization holds true, it is also apparent that small, comparatively minor, refuse disposal features did occur in proximity to some of the buildings, particularly those of the labourers. These differing patterns of refuse disposal figure very prominently in Chapter 10. Shifting attitudes towards refuse disposal seem to have occurred in trade posts of varying logistical roles, and with deposits associated with the various ranks occupying posts of all types. This holds some potential in exploring the distinctions between posts of differing types, and will be addressed more fully in the context of the wintering posts.

Buckingham House At much the same time that Kidd was excavating the NWC's Fort George, some research was conducted at the nearby HBC post of Buckingham House and the joint Hi3C/NWC occupation at Fort -White Earth (Figure i). This research was camed out by John and Gertrude Nicks, and is reported upon by the latter in a M.A. thesis (G. Nicks 1969). While scaled plans are not readily available, a sketch map of Buckingham House by John Nicks (Prager 1980:24) is replicated in Figure 18. This illustration shows a rectangular palisade with diagonally located bastions, and two large compounds tentatively identified as canoe and horse yards. Figure 18 indicates that in 1794 Buckingham House was expanded considerably from its 1792 configuration. The main compound conforms to the U-shaped pattern, with the main house being located along the back side facing the main gate, with auxiliary warehouse, workshop and labourer's residence buildings.

Pine Fort This NWC post is located along the Assiniboine River and was in operation between 1785 and 1794 (Hamilton 1986) (Figure 1). It was excavated between 1971 and 1974 by Hugh Mackie (Mackie 1972; Tottle 1981). A full excavation report has yet to be published,

NE Bastions Gate

I I I I I Canoe I I Yard I I Main House I 1 I I I I I Store : I House : I Flagstaff I I I I

I Shop Complex

Horse I Yard ? I House

,1111111. 1 1111111111111 Main Gate

SW Bastion ll.l.1792 palisades - 1794 palisades Figure 18 Archaeological Sketch Map of Buckingham House (after Prager 1980:24) although two short monographs, student's papers, and a B.A. Honour's thesis have been published in regional archaeological journals (McKay 1972; Tottle 1981; Hamilton 1986). Disturbance from a modern road, unfortunately, limits our understanding of the site settlement pattern to one row house, a small structure, and the stockade and bastions (Figure 19). From the excavations, it is clear that Pine Fort was a major establishment, with a palisaded compound of about 1,309 square metres, equipped with two diagonal bastions (Figure 19, Table 5). A row house was located in the extreme east side of the fort, parallel with the east end stockade, while the smaller building was centrally located in the courtyard. This small structure was equipped with a large cellar and is also connected to the north stockade interior picketing (Figure 19). Given the importance of this site to the NWC as a goods trans-shipment point and the base of the Mandan horse and corn trade (Hamilton 1986:7-8, citing Dyck 1975), the limited number of buildings seems anomalous. It is expected that at least one other large row house was present, but is now obscured by road construction. While the architectural layout of the post is uncertain, the recoveries from this site will be briefly refered to in the following chapters. Virtually complete excavation of two buildings and a large sample from the refuse disposal areas is available for study. The site is also important since Mackie utilized fine mesh screening (k3 mm) in all excavation areas, thereby assuring a high recovery rate of small artifacts.

SW Bastion

0 10

-metre Chimney Figure 19 An Archaeol ogical Sketch plan of Pine Fort (after Tottle 198 1).

The Pine Fort row house, containing a surface area of about 139 square metres (Table 3,was divided into a series of compartments with the northerly one(s) slightly narrower than the southern ones (Figure 19). The row house contained activity areas indicative of blacksmithing, domestic and trade activities (Hamilton 1986). The small centrally located building is quite distinct since it appears to have been semi- subterranean, or perhaps a small square building with a large cellar. It likely served as a storage building, although quantities of rocks were encountered that are interpreted as an eroded fireplace. The building was approximately 27 square metres in size, and has been subjected to damage from erosional in-filling. The reminiscences of a farmer who formerly used the site as his farmyard states that he used an "old cellar hole" for a cellar under one of his buildings (Hamilton 19865 citing PAM MG 9 A54). While artifact debris from this recent occupation was encountered over the north end of the row house, virtually no homestead era artifacts were recovered from the three filled cellars that have been excavated. Perhaps, the cellar hole utilized by the farmer remains beneath the road fill, and marks the location of other buildings within the compound. Pine Fort is of further interest due to the location of the refuse middens. Considerable effort was taken by post occupants to limit the visibility of refuse. Only very small and localized pits were found along the front of the row house and to the south of the small house (Figure 19). The primary refuse disposal zone was in large pits located between the row house and the palisades (Figure 19). These refuse middens contain enormous quantities of bone. This is certainly consistent with Pyszczyk's observations that some effort was taken to clear refuse from the main living areas of major or more permanent posts. The fort compound was contained within a stockade, and covered about 1,309 square metres, considerably smaller than the other regional headquarters listed in Table 5. However, this spatial extent is virtually identical to the estimated size of Brandon House, a very important HBC Regional Headquarters, and this smaller size may have been common to trade posts along the Assiniboine River. Two sets of palisades are visible in the site plan, but since refuse debris overlies portions of the inner palisade behind the row house, it is apparent that the double palisade reflects an expansion phase similar to that apparent at Buckingham House and Fort George.

Fort Rivi&re TremblanteIFort Espkrance Fort Rivikre Tremblante, a NWC post, was a contemporary of Pine Fort, located further upstream along the Assiniboine River at its junction with the Shell River (Figure 1). It was established and operated between 1791 and about 1797, and served as an important fur trading post during the early days of the NWC (Mackie 1968). For a time, Fort Rivibe Tremblante acted as the major trade post along the Assiniboine River, with access to the forested uplands of the Manitoba escarpment to the east (Duck and Riding Mountains). Fort EspQance on the Qu' Appelle River (Figure 1) served as the major provisioning depot, and Pine Fort filled multiple functions as a goods trans-shipment point, provision and fur trading centre, and base of the Mandan trade. It appears that Cuthbert Grant (senior), the proprietor in charge of the Upper Red River Department in the early 1790'~~used both Fort EspQance and Fort Rivikre Tremblante as his primary residences (Mackie 1968). No appreciable archaeological research has yet been conducted at Fort EspQance. In keeping with its role as the winter station of the NWC proprietor, John Sutherland of the HBC reported that Fort Espdrance was a substantial establishment which boasted "the largest library" he had seen since arriving in Hudson Bay (HBCA, PAM, B.63Ialltl). Presumably, when Cuthbert Grant was based at Fort Rivikre Tremblante, a similar scale of comfort was apparent. Fort Rivikre Tremblante was excavated by Mackie in 1967 and 1968, but a detailed report is not available. In fact, the only indication of architectural layout is based upon a preliminary sketch published by Mackie in an end of season report (Mackie 1968). This sketch map is replicated in Figure 20 along with an artist's rendition of the fort. Given the limited extent of excavation, and since no field notes and plans are available, the reliability of this somewhat conjectural sketch is unknown. Figure 20 illustrates a palisaded compound which is divided in half: one half containing buildings and the second half appears to have been empty. Perhaps this second enclosure served as a horse corral or garden. The living area of the post contains four buildings formed in a rough square, although no indication of what function each building served is available. Brandon House Brandon House I was the HBC regional headquarters for the Red River department (Hamilton 1985b). It was occupied between 1793 and 1810, and is located a short distance upstream from the mouth of the Souris River along the Assiniboine River (Figure 1). This region coniains a very large concentration of fur trade posts dating to the period of competition, which are collectively referred to as the Souris Mouth forts (Brown 1964). Brandon House was the administrative centre of a series of posts along the prairietforest interface in southern Manitoba, at the western limits of the Albany Factory hinterland (Hamilton 1985b; Lytwyn 1986). Brandon House deserves special mention since it consists of a relatively small linear arrangement of buildings in spite of its considerable importance to the regional trade (Table 5, Figure 21). The reconstruction of building layout is tentative since it is based upon only geophysical remote sensing and strategic test excavation (Hamilton 1982, 1983; Hems 1984, 1985,1986; Hems, Nieuwhof and Anderson 1983). The post was located on the top of a point bar terrace overlooking the Assiniboine River (Figures 21 and 22). This location was selected by Donald McKay, a former Montreal trader, because it contained the most westerly stand of suitable building timber. As well, several competitors had already established there, and winter was near at hand when he first arrived (HBCA, PAM, B.22/a/1/12-12d). Perhaps as a result of his personal background as a former Montreal trader, and conditioned by the location of the post on a restricted ridge of land, McKay

I Blacksmith Approx Building Outline n..I shop ( Chimney Mound r-J Depression Refuse Midden Ice Housc -metre r

Gat

Bastion

Figure 21 Archaeological Sketch of Brandon House I (1793- 18 11)

101

W Muskeglwetland Shovel Test Tansects Surface Collection Units Fort Compound Area

Magnetometer survey units

Figure 22 The Brandon House I Vicinity

102 initiated construction of a long building divided into a series of compartments upon the highest point of land. This complex grew to be quite large, including approximately 160 square metres) of space. At least part of the building was two stories high, with auxiliary buildings such as a large ice house and a blacksmith shop to the north (Figure 21). The main compound was enclosed in a rectangular stockade of about 1,320 square metres in extent. A large garden was also picketed (Carter 1980), and likely was located to the south and east of the main fort (Figure 22). The site was equipped with diagonally located bastions, and a cemetery was placed outside and to the northeast of the main stockade (Figure 21). Other auxiliary buildings are suspected to be located on the point bar, but excavation has not been sufficient to confirm this. Interestingly, Brandon House IV (1828- 32) (Figure I), even though its role was considerably downgraded to little more than a wintering post, conforms to the U-shaped compound format that was so prevalent with more permanent facilities (Figure 23), (Hamilton 1983). Given that Brandon House I was subjected to an extensive proton magnetometer survey, several probable refuse middens have been identified, although only a few have been test excavated. Various magnetic fields are identified which correspond to a large refuse pit located behind the main house, and on the slopes and lower terraces between the fort and the river bank (Figure 21). Perhaps the refuse pit behind the main house was the kitchen midden associated with the residential portion of the building. It is confined to a rather small area between the main building and the east stockade, and is bound to the north by a large pit believed to be an ice house, and to the south by a possible back gateway (Figure 21). Other middens are consistently located outside the stockade walls, although faunal refuse was scattered across the main compound in diffuse sheet middens. There are also occasional references in the post journals to the efforts of labourers and Native women who were put to work carting the "rubbish" out of the yard (HBCA, PAM, B.22Ial13; B.221d17; B.22Ial18a; B.22la118b). Presumably, the larger and more offensive rubbish was hauled out of the fort compound each spring to be disposed of in the main refuse heaps outside the stockade walls before the spring thaw facilitated decomposition.

McDonell's ~ouse John McDonell of the NWC established this post as his regional headquarters in 1796 shortly after his promotion to wintering partner status in charge of the Upper Red River department (Masson 1960:267) (Figure 1). The site appears to have been abandoned by 1805 (Carter 1980:74). It is also sometimes known as Fort la Souris 11. It was constructed primarily to intensify competition with the HBC and is located within a kilometre of Brandon House I (Figure 22). Unlike the vast majority of posts in Rupert's land, Strong Magnetic fields (point sources) 0 10 Moderate strength magnetic anomolies .:.:.:.:.:.:.:.: -metre Commemorative Cairn Depression/Cella.

Figure 23 A Magnetic Map of Brandon House IV (after Hamilton 1983)

McDonell's House is not located along a navigable water route. Rather, it was established along the main trail to Brandon House (Figure 22). It is suspected that this trail, still the primary access to Brandon House, is the historic Yellow Quill Trail (Hamilton 1983). This major trad linked the Mandan villages along the Missouri River to the Souris mouth posts in British territory, and eventually the establishments at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers (Figure 1). With the abandonment of Pine Fort, the Souris Mouth Forts became the major base of operations for traders dispatched to the Mandan villages (Hamilton 1985b; Jackson 1982), thus land transportation was very important at the Souris Mouth. Given the peculiar position of Brandon House on a point bar terrace between extensive bogs and wetlands to the east and the Assiniboine River to the west, land transportation to and from the post was limited to only a few routes (Hamilton 1985b) (Figure 22). By maintaining a post on the west bank of the Assiniboine River (Fort Assiniboine), and by constructing McDonell House inland from the river on the only trail to Brandon House, the NWC was in a position to intercept all Indians travelling by land or water to the HBC post. McDonell's House appears to have been one large structure that was reported to be 90 by 22 feet (27.4 by 6.7 metres) and heated by 6 fireplaces (HBCA, PAM, B.22/a/4/5). While consisting of only one row house, this "Great House" caused great concern for the HBC officer at Brandon House who feared that the amount of timber required to construct and heat such a structure would denude the area (HBCA, PAM, B.22/a/4/33d). The only information available that supplements the historic data is based primarily upon a proton magnetometer survey and very limited test excavation (Figure 24). As Figure 24 indicates, the site consists of an elongated group of magnetic anomalies oriented in an eastlwest direction, and of approximately the same dimensions as those reported above. To the northeast of this zone is a second considerably smaller and weaker magnetic field (Figure 24). Perhaps this second magnetic field represents an additional row house, suggesting the standard two-parallel-row-house configuration. However, James Sutherland reported in August of 1796 that the initial efforts to construct McDonell's House were thwarted by a fire which destroyed the nearly completed building, and that the NWC had to completely rebuild it (HBCA, PAM, B.22/a/4/5). The northern magnetic field might also represent this initial effort, while the large intense magnetic field marks the second successful effort. Whatever the case, the building(s) composing the post was a long narrow row house divided into a series of special purpose areas including living quarters, warehouse and tradehetail facilities, plus industrial zones such as a blacksmith shop and cooperage. It was a busy and important post, and was the wintering station for a large complement of men.

WINTERING POSTS There appears to have been a gradation of types of wintering posts (Table 5). At one end of the continuum were posts which were little more than small log huts or "log tents" designed for one winter's use. Some posts were used for one or two years duration and might consist of a single row house divided into a series of compartments. The most elaborate type of wintering post might contain several buildings encircled by stockades. These posts were designed for only a short occupation, to be supplanted by new posts depending upon the level of competition. Examples of posts across this spectrum are briefly described below.

u metre Weak Magnetic Field Excavation Square Shovel Test pit Figure 24 A Magnetic Map of McDonell's House (after Hamilton 1983)

Snake River Post Located within the Folle Avione Department southwest of Lake Superior (Figure I), the Snake River site was used as a wintering post by a partner of the NWC, John Sayer. It was occupied for only the 1804-05 trade season, and consisted of a single row house within a palisade (Figure 25) (Birk 1980:42). The site is located on a cultivated sandy ridge overlooking the Snake River, and was excavated intermittently over twelve years beginning in 1963 (Birk 1980:iii). As reported by Birk (1980), the site has been seriously damaged by cultivation, though a large number of sub-surface features are present.

Gate stockade Gate --- -=------0--...... _

""".-m"...mmm...: I 4 8 I. - - =- I 8 I I I 8 I I I I I 8 I I I =@ I

metre ...... Refuse Accumulation :K5m .:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.,,,...... ,. Firepiace

Figure 25 An Archaeological Sketch of Snake River post.

This wintering post is remarkable given the residence of a partner of Sayer's seniority, rather than at a regional headquarters. As this runs counter to my generalizations about the organization of the fur trade, I will review the unique situation of Sayer and the hinterland southwest of Lake Superior in some detail. Sayer was a long established veteran of the early Anglo Scots Montreal trade of the era prior to the rise of the North West Company. Birk (1980:49-99; 1984) provides a detailed biography of Sayer's fur trade career, and notes that he was of the "Old School" who had directed small firms and partnerships trading in the lands south of Lake Superior for two decades prior to his 1804-05 sojourn at Snake River. However, by the mid 1790's the fortunes of both the Fond du Lac department and John Sayer were in great difficulty. British-based fur trading in the territory south of Lake Superior was an uncertain prospect due to the sustained level of warfare between the Dakota and the Ojibwa (Hickerson 1965, 1970), trade competition, the declining fur resources of the area, and political uncertainty over the viability of British trade in territory claimed by the United States (Birk 1980). Thus, the early 1800's found Sayer in a very untenable position. He was deeply in debt to the Montreal firm of McTavish, Frobisher and Company (Birk 1980:82 citing Wallace 1934:104, 208), and in 1799 he lost control of the Pembina and Red River portion of the Fond du Lac region in favour of Alexander Henry the younger. His role in much of the remaining portion of the area south of Lake Superior appears to have been as a "perfunctory administrator" in the face of incursions from the east by the Codette family who operated under a licence agreement with the NWC (Birk 1980:84). Clearly Sayer's power and prestige had been eclipsed within the North West Company, and he sought to protect what remained of his territory and career. His most immediate threat was from the XY Company, and continued warfare between his Ojibwa customers and the Dakota. He dealt with the XYC by aggressively trading en derouine, by constantly shifting his men and posts in order to force his competitors to follow suit, and by directly taking personal charge of small inland posts to more fully secure the loyalties of his customers with gifts, promises and regals (Birk 1980:92). It is in this climate that we must consider John Sayer's presence at Snake River in 1804-05. The palisade at Snake River enclosed an area of approximately 500 square metres, with a building of 115 square metres. Two diagonally placed bastions were also present (Figure 25). The single row house consisted of six rooms, four of which were equipped with stone and clay fireplaces (Figure 25). Three of these U-shaped fireplaces are along the back wall of the building facing into the open room. The fourth fireplace is quite different, being centrally located with the open side of the firebox facing towards the back wall of the house (Figure 25). Birk (1980) suggests this odd arrangement represents a trade room divided by a counter. By this means the man tending the shop was in the warmest part of the house, and could feed the fire easily while attending his customers. The building was constructed using the "post in ground" technique whereby vertical log members were placed into pits, and horizontal logs were laid between the vertical posts. The internal partitions of the building consist of vertically oriented pickets placed in a trench (Figure 25). Presumably these vertical pickets were plastered over with mud to provide a solid wall. As Figure 25 indicates, Snake River differs from other posts described above in that the refuse pits encountered through excavation are indiscriminately scattered around the open courtyard in front of the building, with several more located within the structure. This pattern of refuse disposal consistently appears with small wintering posts. Yellow River The Yellow River posts are located along the banks of the Yellow River in the region south of Lake Superior, approximately 100 km from the Snake River post (Figure 1). This locality was jointly utilized by the NWC and the XYC between 1802 and 1804 during the height of competition between the two Montreal-based firms. Like the Snake River outpost, the NWC post at Yellow River was briefly occupied by John Sayer, the proprietor in charge of the district (Oerichbauer 1982). The Yellow River post was initially investigated in the late 1960's and again in the late 1970's (Oerichbauer 1982:153-154). The XYC post was a small and rudimentary building located some 30 metres to the south of the NWC palisades. These two posts are illustrated in Figures 26 and 27. The XYC post was a very short-lived occupation, for in 1803 threats of attack from Dakota Indians forced the XYC to pull down their building and move it within the protective palisades of the NWC post (Oerichbauer 1982:184). The constant warfare in the region had created a hostile frontier where neither the Ojibwa or the Dakota could safely reside (Hickerson 1970). This hostile frontier probably explains the defensive palisades and bastions at both Yellow River and Snake River posts. During the first year of occupation of Yellow River, the NWC post was directed by a French Canadian clerk named La Prairie. At that time the post consisted of three small buildings enclosed within a palisade equipped with two bastions. With the movement of the XYC into the palisaded area, the post was expanded by building an addition to the south end of Building 2, and extending the palisade southward (Figure 27) (Oerichbauer 1982). Despite this expansion, the post remained quite small and crowded with a total floor space of approximate 90 square metres and a stockaded area of about 230 square metres (Table 5). The buildings at Yellow River were arranged along the long axis of the palisades forming two parallel rows of structures. However, the compound was so crowded that there was little area to form a central courtyard (Figure 27). Furthermore, Buildings 1 and 2 are surrounded by refuse pits, further limiting the courtyard area. These pits are in very close proximity, particularly to the walls of Building 2, forming a marked contrast to the comparatively neat layout and refuse disposal pattern described by Pyszczyk (1978) for regional headquarters along the Saskatchewan River. Like Snake River, the buildings at Yellow River are noteworthy for their construction technique which consists of horizontal sill log members along the long axis of the buildings, with the end walls and internal partitions constructed of vertically oriented pickets (Figure 27). The west two buildings were equipped with clay plaster and stone fire boxes along the east walls, and facing into the main portion of the house. The fireplace in the main east building is quite different in that the open hearth located in the south room faces eastward towards the nearby wall. This extraordinary configuration is consistent with that reported by Birk at Snake River. Again, this "backwards" configuration may mark the internal partitioning of the trade shop, whereby the trader behind a counter was in the warmest part of the building, where he could monitor the fire, and serve the customers in the main part of the south room (Figure 27).

:. ..:.::.: Fireplace Apron 0 1 Fireplace , metre Figure 26 An Archaeological Sketch of Yellow River (XYC)

Red Lake Post The HF3C wintering post at Red Lake in what is now northwestern Ontario (Figure 1) is known solely from a 1790 sketch plan by James Sutherland (Figure 28) (HBCA, PAM, B. 177/a/l). This scaled plan illustrates a rectangular building equipped with two fireplaces; one on each end wall. The only exterior door opens into a passageway that leads to the men's house, the master's room and, presumably, into the trading room (Figure 28). While Gate ?

::;.:: ::;.:: Fireplace Apron Fireplace " :.=;*; Refuse Midden metre Figure 27 An Archaeological sketch of Yellow River (NWC). only containing a floor space of 27 square metres, this building was subdivided into special purpose zones that segregated the master and assistant from the labourers. In fact, about one third of the building was reserved for the "bedrooms" of the two senior men (and perhaps their families), and a common area which was probably a joint domestic, administrative and living area. The common labourers also had a sleeping "cabin" distinct from their common domestic area. This partitioning of the sleeping area from the common area appears in several other sketches to be discussed below. The central, unheated portion of the building was called the trading room, under which was a cellar. This area was the reception area where customers dealt with the trader, and goods and furs were exchanged over a counter that adjoined the master's common room. The master's common room also served as a readily accessible storage area where furs and trade goods were kept to prevent theft by labourers or customers.

1Master's

Door

0 feet 10

-' -' 0 2 metre

Figure 28 The 1790 plan of Red Lake Post (after HBCA, PAM, B. 177ta11)

The layout of the post indicates that even in such a small wintering station the ranks were segregated, and that the officer and his assistant were accorded more living space and more personal privacy than the labourers. One must keep in mind that the men's house often contained more people than the master's portion. The marking of only two bed places in the Men's House aside, I expect that it was appreciably more crowded with labourers and Indians who slept at the post rather than returning to their encampments. GrantIMcLeod Posts The GrantMcLeod trade post site consists of two small rectangular buildings which were occupied by the NWC and the XYC. These posts, located along the Saskatchewan River (Figure I), were operated between 1793 and 1795, and have been recently excavated and reported on by Klimko (1987). While it remains uncertain which building belonged to which company, both were small, short-term wintering stations for Montreal-based traders. Both structures are rectangular log buildings which have been damaged by flooding and ice rafting, and are overlaid with a thick layer of fine sediment and patches of gravel (Klimko 1987). The buildings are between 40 and 45 metres apart, with their long axes parallel with the river bank. Each is equipped with a cellar and at least one fireplace composed of rocks and clay (Figure 29).The northerly building is smaller (+40 m2) and has been more severely damaged by ice rafting. The southerly building contains approximately 70 m2 of floor space. Defensive palisades are absent, and refuse appears to have been dumped in shallow sheet middens between the houses and the river bank. These middens are approximately four to six metres removed from the buildings. Klimko (1987) indicates that these middens coincide with a shallow natural declivity or terrace edge over which the refuse was disposed.

Nottingham House This site marks the Hudson's Bay Company's first abortive attempt to directly tap the rich fur hinterland of the Athabasca (Figure 1). It was constructed and occupied between 1802 and 1806 under the command of Peter Fidler, and was abandoned under extreme competitive pressure from the NWC who built small guard houses within yards of the HBC buildings. These guard houses were manned by NWC employees noted for their belligerence, and their sole responsibility appears to have been to intimidate Fidler and his men, and to discourage any Indians wishing to trade. Nottingham House was excavated in 1972, 1973 and again in 1977 under the direction of Karlis Karklins (Karklins 1983). This post is particularly important since it represents a very brief occupation that is well documented, and with very good archaeological visibility, permitting quite detailed interpretation of the floor plan (Figure 30). This detail is supplemented by a sketch of a post building by Peter Fidler dating to 1804 (Figure 31). This latter plan appears to represent an idealized wintering post, and is virtually a mirror image of the post that Fidler built at Nottingham. It illustrates a rectangular row house divided into four compartments; three equipped with fireplaces (Figure 3 1). Fidler's plan locates beds and cupboards on each side of the fireplaces in compartments designated as the master's cabin and the cook room, and with no heating system in the warehouse. North- House

.,,....., Cellar 1 24 metres Refuse Midden r 0u 10 metre

Figure 29 An Archaeological Plan of the Grant/McLeod Trade Posts (after Klimko 1987)

The men's house is the largest room in the building, with a cupboard and a bed located on each side of the fireplace, and with partitioned sleeping compartments along the end wall of the house. These compartments consist of two "cabins" divided by a partition (Figure 3 1). Within each cabin are two beds separated by a common area equipped with a door. This arrangement affords maximum personal privacy with minimal subdivision of the house. However, one expects that such partitioning of sleeping quarters made them rather cold given their distance from the open fireplace. In Fidler's sketch two outside doors are 114 Structure 3 NWC House

Refuse filled

NWC House Figure 30 An Archaeological Plan of Nottingham House (after Karklins 1983:22) illustrated, one providing access to the men's house, and the second into the cook room (Figure 31). Access to the master's room and the warehouse was through internal doorways from the cook room. This suggests that the cook room was a central place in the building where people gathered, not only for their meals, but also to trade. A number of windows are illustrated on Fidler's sketch. The men's house was equipped with two windows on the front side of the house and one in each of the sleeping cabins (Figure 3 1). The warehouse was equipped with two windows, one on each outside wall. The cook room was also equipped with two windows, both located on the front face of the house, and the master's cabin had one window on the front and another on the side wall. Turning to the archaeological plan of Nottingham House, very close correspondence is found with Fidler's sketch (Figures 30 and 31). Clearly, he used the structure at Nottingham House as the basis for his model, with the only essential difference being a mirror image. There are four compartments, three of which are equipped with fireplaces. Even the relative dimensions of the room sizes are the same. The fireplaces are U-shaped arrangements of stone and clay, each with a fireproof apron in front of the open hearth (Figure 30). The walls were constructed using the post-in-ground technique, with the vertical and horizontal members secured with tenon and grooves. However, Karklins (1983:25) notes that the comers of the building were built using the post on sill method whereby the vertical comer posts were set upright upon horizontal sills rather than in post holes. W ------

Warehouse Men's icer's - Room I Cabin W] re------

W : Window D : Door metre (after HBCA, PAM, B.39/5b/l)

Figure 3 1 Peter Fidler's 1804 plm of a Wkterhg Post !ike!y medelled dter Nettinnh~mbuUuA House (after HBCA, PAM, B .39/a/5b/ 1)

A series of relatively large sub-floor storage pits in each of the four compartments are also of interest (Figure 30). Karklins (1983:28-39) briefly describes these pits and their contents, and indicates that some were lined with spruce boughs, some appear to have been filled by erosion, and others contained lens deposits suggesting that they served as refuse pits. No doubt these pits were originally used for storage, but some became convenient refuse pits once they were fouled. Windows were initially covered with stretched parchment skins, which, for subsequent year's occupations, were replaced with glass panes (Karklins 1983:40). Two other HBC structures were built on the site, namely a store house and a fish shed (Figure 30). Both were unheated log buildings located in irregular positions in close proximity to the main house. In total, the HBC buildings contain an area of approximately 70 square metres and the post was unfortified. Several irregular refuse pits were scattered about the courtyard in front of and between the buildings. Again, this attests to a more relaxed attitude towards refuse disposal compared to the more important and permanent regional headquarters. The remaining buildings identified at the Nottingham House site are likely the two NWC guard houses which served to to intimidate the HBC men (Figure 30). They are located in close proximity to the HBC structures, one within just a few metres of the compartment believed to be Fidler's cabin. Both of these small log houses are equipped with fireplaces, but it is believed that they simply served as residences for the men stationed there and only limited trade actually occurred within them.

Old Fort Point Old Fort Point, also situated in the Lake Athabasca region (Figure I), was excavated by Karlis Karklins in 1971 (Karklins 1981). The identity of the post is uncertain, initially being thought to represent the first Fort Chippewyan. Karklins reasoned that the post was too small and rudimentary for this to be the case, and subsequent ground reconnaissance revealed a second site now believed to be the early NWC establishment (Karklins 1981). The Old Fort Point site has been tentatively identified as a small wintering station operated by the HBC, perhaps Fort Wedderburn 11, and used primarily as a fishing station between 1815 and 1821. The site has a rectangular log building partitioned into four rooms, each equipped with a fireplace (Figure 32). The floor space of the single building is about 96 m2, with no large cellars (Table 5). However, several small storage pits lined with clay and grass were identified beneath the wooden floors (Figure 32). Some of these pits were deliberately filled to facilitate renovation of the house (Karklins 1981:217-228), while others were used as convenient refuse disposal pits after their function as storage facilities had ended. Unlike Nottingham House which consisted of a row house of compartments, each equipped with a separate door, Old Fort Point is reminiscent of the internal division noted at Red Lake House. That is, a single common entrance likely provided access to a series of rooms. In addition to the pits located within the building, at least seven more were in close proximity to the outside walls on three sides of the post (Figure 32). As these middens are all within metres of the building walls, efforts to clear refuse from the living space and high use areas were minimal.

Rocky Mountain Fort This NWC post was a small wintering station which, for a time, marked the most westerly land base of trade in British North America. It is located along the Peace River, 75 km east of the canyon where the river cuts through the Rocky Mountains (Figure 1). It was occupied between about 1794 and 1804 at which point it was supplanted first by Rocky Mountain Portage House in 1805, and later by Fort St Johns in 1806 (Fladmark 1985). This site was discovered and first tested by Fladmark in the mid 1970's (Fladmark, Finlay and Spurling 1977). In 1986 and 1987 large scale excavation was carried out under my field supervision (Hamilton 1987; Hamilton, Burley and Moon 1988; Burley and Hamilton in press).

Fireplace

...... Fireplace Apron -metre

Figure 32 An Archaeological Sketch Plan of Old Fort Point (after Karklins 198 1).

118 Rocky Mountain Fort has been extensively damaged by river bank erosion, leaving only one complete building foundation and a portion of a second (Figure 33). No evidence of a stockade was encountered. The remnants of these two buildings are at right angles to one another; the complete structure being roughly parallel to the present river bank. This arrangement likely represents an uneroded portion of the U-shaped building configuration so common with regional headquarters of the period. Since all evidence for a third building forming the west side of the compound is gone, this arrangement must remain conjectural.

I ...... : 20s --@rn ;$ 3iJ 0 5 w:u-- 4 1111 01 b l Building Wall - metre I Fireplace CelIar/Storage Pit Sheet Midden of I Pit Midden Varying Density

Figure 33 An Archaeological Plan of Rocky Mountain Fort (after Hamilton, Burley and Moon 1988)

The main building that appears to have been traditionally reserved for the officer's residence and trade store is approximately 10 by 5 metres (surface area of 50 m2), and is equipped with two stone fireplaces and a large centrally located cellar (Figure 33). The damaged building is approximately the same width, but of unknown length. It contains a complete storage pit in the extreme western end, with limited evidence for a fireplace which, now, has been completely destroyed. No evidence of post holes were encountered along the foundations of these buildings, indicating that they were built using the "post on sill" technique. One of the most intriguing elements of the use of space at this site is the identification of a large number of refuse middens in very close proximity to the two buildings, and in very visible locations (Figure 33). Some of the refuse pits surrounding the buildings may originally have been clay quarrying pits used to supply raw material to plaster the log walls and to construct the chimneys. These pits were subsequently reused for refuse disposal. Several sheet middens are present, and consist of enormous accumulations of charred and fragmented bone dumped on the ground or into shallow natural declivities. The accumulations of refuse are so large that several of the pits are filled to overflowing, and excavators were sometimes surprised to find deep pits completely obscured by a cap of refuse. Several of these middens are located within what once was a high traffic zone of the courtyard between buildings (Figure 33), and even accumulated against the outside west wall of the presumed row house. The storage pit located in the row house also seems to have been reused as a refuse dump, although it is rather hard to differentiate between deliberate deposition and erosion of sediments as the building collapsed. The quantities of refuse in high visibilitythigh traffic areas is one of the most interesting elements of Rocky Mountain Fort, particularly compared to the efforts at cleanliness and tidiness noted by Pyszczyk (1978). On a cautionary note, one must not impose late 20th century attitudes of cleanliness upon people of the early 19th century. However, it is clear that the occupants of Rocky Mountain Fort and similar wintering outposts were not concerned with the same standards of aesthetics and cleanliness as the occupants at such posts as Brandon House, Pine Fort or Fort George. Given that wintering stations were generally only occupied for a few years, perhaps the post occupants were not as concerned with clearing refuse from the central area of the fort. Presumably the accumulation of garbage was not a problem since the post was expected to be abandoned in a very short time. These considerations carry interesting parallels to Stevenson's (1982) observations concerning site abandonment behaviour. Since these posts were primarily occupied between late fall and early spring, concerns with odorous decay of the food wastes was not a concern for the post was virtually abandoned through the frost-free season. The cold winters, the rusticity of the log buildings and heating by open stone fireplaces, leaves one to expect that refuse dropped on the floor, or disposed of into disused storage pits below the floors, remained frozen for the balance of the winter. Fort St John's Fort St John's was operated by the NWC between 1806 and 1821, and by the HBC from the amalgamation of 1821 to 1823. The post was abandoned in the latter year after the murder of the occupants by local Beaver Indians (Fladmark 198550). It was constructed along the north bank of the Peace River a short distance downstream from the mouth of the Beatton River (Figure 1) as a partial replacement for Rocky Mountain Fort. The site was subjected to extensive excavation by Fladmark between 1974 and 1976 (Fladmark, Finlay and Spurling 1977:277). Two M.A. theses have addressed the recoveries from this site (Williams 1978; Bedard 1990). While the post was predominantly occupied during the period of NWC dominance of the Peace River Valley, the brief HBC occupation likely saw substantial renovation and refurbishment. The site minimally consisted of three buildings enclosed within a stockade (Figure 34). The buildings are arranged in the standard U- shaped configuration, and while the main structure is quite different from its equivalent at Rocky Mountain Fort, the posts are nearly identical in terms of their relative position and dimensions (Table 5). The main house at Fort St John's is unique. It contains a double, or H shaped, fireplace that served to heat two compartments. Like Rocky Mountain Fort, this site has been subjected to river bank erosion, resulting in the loss of a significant portion of the two row houses which are arranged perpendicularly to the river bank.However the northerly portions of both have survived, serving to confirm the U-shaped layout of structures. Fladmark proposes that the western row house was the iabourers' quarters, whiie the one opposite was a warehouse. 'While some refuse middens and disused storage pits are identified within and around the men's house, the major refuse disposal zone is located behind the main building immediately north of and outside the stockade (Figure 34).

Fort Assiniboine This NWC post was constructed on the west bank of the the Assiniboine River to the northwest of Brandon House I as part of that company's campaign of competition against both the HBC and the XYC (Figures 1 and 22). It was built in 1801 and was abandoned in 1805 (Hamilton 1982), and while it appears to be quite an extensive structure, it was a wintering post used to gather provisions, wolf skins and bison hides from the Indians and to harass the HBC and XYC. The site is presently cultivated, thereby destroying all surficial evidence of the buildings. However in the late 19th century G. Bryce and J. B. Tyrrell independently sketched the surficial remains on the then uncultivated prairie grass (Stewart 1930). Tyrrell's sketch is considerably more detailed and forms the basis of Figure 35. The Bryce sketch conforms to it in most details, however the scale is grossly in error (Figure 36). This site has not been excavated, although controlled surface collection has been undertaken (Hamilton 1982), and Mackie was successful in identifying buried features using infrared aerial photography in 1974.

.**: Refuse Middens

8 s s

8 s ,**** Gate s s ** s 8 **** s 8 Stockade*,.** a8 8 8a 8 ** 8 8 **** s s *** s s. Main ~ouseA 88 8

' Depression Collapsed Chimney Cellar [ Fireplace Refuse Midden

Figure 34 An Archaeological Plan of Fort St John (after Fladmark, Finlay and Spurling 1977:295) Stockade

I 0u 2 5 Cellar Depression metre Bone strewn Refuse Midden Collapsed Chimney Mound

0 Gate Post Hole Figure 35 J.B. Tyrrell's 1890 sketch of Fort Assiniboine (after Stewart 1930).

The Tyrrell sketch illustrates a large stockaded compound (398 m2) with gates at the east and west ends (Table 5). Within the stockade are a series of features suggestive of two linear row houses facing one another across an open courtyard (Figure 35). However, Bryce notes a pit feature in the centre of this courtyard in front of the main gate which he interprets as a centrally located house (Figure 36). This would be consistent with the building arrangement at Pine Fort if a second row house is located in the west end of the latter compound. Also of interest is an irregular pit "thickly strewn with the bones of buffalo" (Stewart 1930:36-37) which is located behind the remnants of the north row house, between it and the north palisade. This appears to be a large refuse midden that was located in a low visibility area of the post much in the same manner as noted at Pine Fort. It is probable that many other refuse deposition areas were used, but were not visible to Tyrrell85 years after site abandonment. .A Assiniboine R. A

Fort Assiniboine (NWC) \:!\

metre Mile Creek Fort la Souris (XYC) Figure 36 G. Bryce's Sketch of Fort Assiniboine (after Stewart 1930)

Montagne la Boss This post is another of the NWC early 19th century provisioning stations along tine Assiniboine River. It is located approximately 100 km northwest of Brandon House/McDonell's House (Figure 1). The site was reportedly discovered by historians in the 1930's (U. of Saskatchewan Archives, MAS C555/2/63), it has not been located recently, and may have been destroyed by river bank erosion, or obscured by cultivation. In the summer of 1804 John McKay, the Master at Brandon House, visited Montagne la Boss as it was being constructed. ... we arrived at the NW House. I see they are carrying on great Buildings on the bare plains, the buildings [?I is in 2 long [rows] opposite each other which forms a large strut or yard, besides other out houses and stables, the XY has begun a building along side, but for the want of horses, they have dropped it ... (HBCA, PAM, B.22/a/12/2d).

This site is of the two-parallel-row-house variety most frequently used by the NWC. It is not known whether this post was enclosed with a stockade. Michipicoten In 1776 Edward Jarvis of the HBC described two competing wintering stations operated by Montreal-based traders that he encountered near the mouth of the Michipicoten River (Figure 1) while exploring from his winter station at Henley House. This narrative is interesting from a number of perspectives for, while describing a typical wintering post, his remarks indicate an a-typical pattern that was foreign and noteworthy to him. No doubt his observations were of great utility as the HBC developed its inland exploitation strategy by mimicking Canadian methods with posts such as Red Lake House. Much of his interest appears to stem from the rusticity of the living conditions, the fact that the Indians had free access to the post, and that the French Canadians who maintained the post were heavily acculturated to Native technology, modes of dress, and patterns of behaviour. Jun 20/1776: ... There are only two persons that among the whole 6 wear breeches, the rest being dressed as Indians to whose manners they conform to so great a degree, that he is at this moment beating the conjouring drum, and singing an Indian song with a most melancholy air. ... The Master's name of one house is Jobber and one of the faculty of the other Alexander Henry. It seems they neither of them constantly reside at the Houses. The person's name that keeps Henry's is Joseph le Maire, could by no means learn the name of the person in charge of Mr. Jobbers. Their houses were nothing more than logs fastened together by wooden spikes, in the form of a small country barn, the roof covered with birch rind. The entrance into the Huts was on the broad side, which was towards the lake, and rather towards one end. About a third part was a kind of an outer room where were beds for two men, Indians likewise slept there promiscuously for tho there is a pallisade round each Hut, I observed no kind of fastening capable of keeping out even an Indian who get drunk and sleep in their houses as they please. The remaining two thirds is again divided length ways, the lesser half being the Master's House has as near as I could judge 200 made Beaver or more Jobber's 1500, There were two large canoes lying under the Bank about 4 feet broad at the widest part, and 13 of my steps long, they are carried by 10 men and I learnt that they will hold 36 bundles of Beaver of 80 [lb] each, one of which they tell me every man is obliged to carry in the carrying places. .. (HBCA, PAM, B .86/a/29/25).

A sketch accompanying Jarvis' description is replicated in Figure 37. This drawing has no scale, but the size of the master's bed makes it clear that the house was quite small (Figure 37). The small size and rudimentary nature of many wintering posts was remarkable, and it is surprising that sufficient space was available with which to conduct the trade. For example, Alexander Henry the younger reports that one of his outposts in the RedIPembina River region was 15 feet square, housed two men, and served jointly as a dwelling, storehouse and shop (Coues 1897:118). Clearly, such cramped living and working conditions required considerable flexibility, and suggests a relaxation of the distinctions between the ranks that were present in the regional headquarters and administrative centres.

1 Master's Bed 2 Master's Bedroom

Outer Room

I Fireplace

Sketch redrawn at twice original scale with no dimensions provided in the original sketch. Figure 37 Sketch Plan of a Montreal Wintering post near the mouth of the Michipicoten River in 1775 (after HBCA, PAM, B.8la129125)

The segregation of the master from the labourers is noteworthy, even in such tiny posts as Michipicotan where social distinctions based upon ethnicity were absent. The posts described by Jarvis were occupied by clerks and labourers of French Canadian origin. Ethnic and educational distinction between the masters and men were not as clearly defined as would occur later when the Canadian trade was dominated by Anglo-Scots. Men in charge of such posts were experienced wintering traders. They had adopted many Native- derived habits, attitudes, and modes of dress and behaviour throughout their careers. One expects that trading at the time of Michipicoten involved limited record keeping, and literacy probably was not considered a requisite skill. The authority of each outpost master was based primarily upon respect for his ability as a leader and trader, and was ultimately enforced by physical force. Even in these crowded and somewhat egalitarian posts there were appreciable distinctions between the master and the labourers. The master appropriated a significant portion of the hut for his own quarters, which doubled as a warehouse for furs and surplus goods. The remainder of the house was allocated for goods display, receiving customers, and living quarters for the labourers. Considerable variation in the form of the labourer's quarters is apparent. The Red Lake House plan and Fidler's generic fort plan both indicate that HBC labourers were sometimes provided with partitioned compartments for sleeping. These small rooms generally were little more than a small open space dividing two bunks in a compartment removed from the main living quarters. Other posts such as Michipicotan do not appear to have offered this compartmentalization, and bed places were likely arranged along the walls of the common room.

SUMMARY The posts summarized in Table 5, and examined in more detail in the preceding discussions, exhibit considerable variation in size and degree of investment in facilities. This is graphically illustrated in Figure 38 where proportional representations of stockade area for posts of various logistical functions are plotted. Fort William is enormous compared to all others, including other major administrative posts such as York Factory and Fort Prince of Wales. The tiny size of the wintering stations is also dramatically evident. Similar distinctions are apparent in Figure 39 in which the average floor space of various types of trade posts are recorded; again Fort William was much larger than all other posts examined. When the floor space associated with specific special purpose areas is considered, other generalizations are possible (Table 6). A very high proportion of the total floor space at Fort William was reserved for the exclusive use of the officers (25% of total), while only 3% was reserved as accommodations for the permanent staff such as farm workers, labourers and tradesmen. This is a function of the policy of denying voyageurs access to the compound. Such a sharp differentiation is in contrast to York Factory where labourers, who conveyed goods to and from the summer rendezvous, were housed in barracks (Table 6). In spite of the very important role of goods trans-shipment at Fort William, only 28% of the total space was reserved for storage, marginally less than the regional headquarters of both companies, and appreciably less than that at York Factory. This is largely a function of the enormous amount of space at Fort William that was reserved for the officers (Table 6). When considering the estimated floor space reserved for storage, Fort William contained about three times as much storage space as York Factory. This large area is obscured in the calculation of percentages due to the amount of space exclusively used to accommodate partners and clerks.

Average nf Cumher!and House, Edmonton !-!@usej Fort George and Pine Fort

Average of Snake River and Yellow River Figure 38 The Relative sizes of the Compounds of some Fur Trade Posts.

The administrative posts also contained the largest proportion of space reserved for agricultural and industrial purposes, in keeping with their role as administrative, repair and re-packaging centres. Much of the necessary equipment maintenance, repair and manufacture that was required at the smaller posts was carried out in the labourer's common room in the proximity of the heat and light of the open fireplace. Only industrial activities requiring special equipment such as blacksmithing and coopering had specially designated work zones. Perhaps the most important difference is the comparatively small percentage of total floor space that was designated as trade and retail areas at both Fort William and York Factory compared to the interior posts (Table 6). This emphasizes the minor role of fur trading at these administrative centres compared to the inland stations. It is also apparent that at both the regional headquarters and the wintering outposts, the officers' quarters doubled as a storage space for valuable or perishable commodities, and as the "administrative centre" of the post. The multiple activities of the officers' rooms, including domestic, storage and administrative tasks, should not detract from the fact that even in the smallest outposts, the master and his assistant were segregated from the common labourers.

Average of 6 Reglonal Average of 12 Headquarters wintering outposts

Figure 39 The relative floor space at selected fur trade posts.

Most of the administrative sites were surrounded by stockades, and were arranged in a defensive posture (Figures 5 to 11). In the case of the NWC at least, this defensive nature functioned primarily to control traffic flow and to provide visual cues of social differentiation between the various ranks of the corporate structure. A review of fort layout, facilities and size of sites of differing logistical roles provides interesting points of contrast. Regional headquarters frequently exhibit stockades and a sharp differentiation between the officers' and the labourers' accommodations, usually within different buildings. This even occurs in row houses, such as the NWCts Edmonton House, where the proprietor's house is the only two storey high compartment.

Table 6 The Allocation of Floorspace at Selected Trade Posts. NWC HBC Fort Y ork Regional Regional Wintering William Factory Head. * Head. + Outposts # sqm % sqm % sqm % sqm % sqm % Officer 1976 25 200 12 207.5 24 140 18 21.1 26 Men's Res 204 3 392 23 132.5 16 196 25 17.5 21 Storage 2165 28 655 38 228 27 226 29 17.3 21 Industrial 1103 14 300 17 62 7 61 8 TradeIRetail 604 8 65 4 134 16 93.5 12 15 18 Farm related 1425 18 58 7 41 5 Unknowdgeneral 298 4 127 7 25 3 32.5 4 11.2 14 TOTAL 7775 1739 847 790 82.1 * Average of NWC portion of Cumberland House and Edmonton House + Average of HBC portion of Cumberland House and Edmonton House # Average of Notringham House, Naosqueisoc and Red Lake House

Figures 12 to 24 provide examples of spatial layouts of some regional headquarters. In many of these posts, the officer's accommodations andlor trade shops were consistently located along the back side of the compound facing the main entrance. While these buildings were constructed of iogs, they are often reported to have been two stories high and with additions such as kitchens attached to the back or side. Flanking the right and left side of the central courtyard were rows of adjoining log buildings used as warehouses, workshops and winter accommodations for the labourers and tradesmen. This U-shaped or box-shaped layout is a smaller version of the spatial layout described at Fort William. Of course the architectural embellishments noted with the Great Hall and the Shareholder's and Clerk's quarters were not present in the more remote stations. Figure 40 indicates that the U-shaped model appears to have been institutionalized to a limited extent by the HBC. This sketch, dating to about 1887, represents an idealized version of what an HBC trade post was supposed to look like prior to 1821. While considerably more formalized than most posts, it is clear that a very definite model of what a suitable facility should look like was in the minds of the company officials. Whether this notion dates to the pre-1821 period as indicated in the plan, or is the product of mid 19th century perceptions remains to be seen. Bastion Stockade

I I Officer's: Potatoes or : Garden : Potatoes or Barley

I I I I ! : I I

Fur Horse Drying & Dog Yard Yard

:~en!swoodl ,\ Wood :Merits :yard: Yard Yard ' Yard' ------.I----..-----,---- J -,,-L------.

Men's Men'sGarden 1 Garden

!. Officer's Howe (Hal!) 4 Gmds Storage and Trade Shnp a Officer's Room 5 Sun Dial b Clerk's Room c Office 6 Powder Magazine 2 Officer's Kitchen 7 Main Gate 3 Fur and Provision Storage note: while Men's yards and gardens are noted, no accomodations for the labourers is illustrated. Figure 40 Idealized Plan of an HBC trade post prior to 1821 (after Gilman 1982)

Variations from the U-shaped model are apparent in some HBC posts, and somewhat more frequently with NWC posts. This alternate consists of two parallel rows of adjoining houses facing one another across a central courtyard (Figures 13, 14 and 15). These buildings were log structures sharing common walls, and sometimes chimneys equipped with double fireplaces. Each of these compartments was thought of as an individual "house" used to contain provisions, stores of goods or furs, and accommodations for the men. While the distinction between the quarters of the labourers versus that of the officer in charge is not as apparent, some cues are evident in the floor plan sketches. The proprietor's 131 house at the NWC establishment of Cumberland House was larger than the remainder of the houses in that row (Figure 15) (Table 5), and both the HBC and NWC portions of Edmonton House (Figure 13) contained officer's houses reported to be two stories high. Furthermore, the NWC Trader, Clerk and Proprietor were each provided with an individual house while an unknown number of labourers occupied three compartments in the row house opposite (Figure 13). Other visual cues include windows covered with glass panes rather than parchment as reported at Fort Chippewyan, more elaborate finishing of the house interior and a larger supply of portable exotic foodstuffs and other 1uxuries.While appearing to be somewhat more rudimentary than the U-shaped compound format, the parallel row house layout could be very large and impressive. For example, the construction of McDonell's House in 1796 near Brandon House caused some comment both for its size and its six chimneys. Wintering posts frequently consisted of only one or two buildings, often with no stockades. Table 5 and Figures 38 and 39 make it clear that these outposts were minuscule compared to the other fort types. Figures 25 to 37 provide examples of a number of such posts operated by both the HBC and the NWC. In general, these sites were little more than a rectangular log hut with a bark roof that was divided into separate compartments. The style of life at these small temporary posts was likely quite different from that at the major establishments. They appear to have been crowded, dark, and poorly heated, with one or two open fireplaces. There also appears to have been a relaxation in standards of cleanliness, reflected by a shift in the mode of refuse disposal. Despite this, the segregation of the ranks is still present. The officers and the labourers may have shared the same building, but the internal partitioning consistently separated them. The techniques of inland trading were developed by the Montreal traders, and likely began with the early itinerant traders of the colonial French period. These Canadian3 outposts served as models for the HBC upon their move inland. It is expected that during the period of Anglo-Scots domination of the NWC, the degree to which native lifeways were accepted would be somewhat less than those observed by Edward Jarvis during the 1770's at Michipicotan. As Anglo-Scots clerks moved into positions of authority in the small wintering stations, one expects that, like George Nelson's situation in the earlier part of his career, they were not as qualified as the seasoned French traders and clerks. In part to compensate for these inadequacies, more formalized markers of status were used to reinforce authority and command respect. These status distinctions included more rigidly

The Montreal-based traders were often generically referred to as Canadians, French, or Pedlers by the employees of the HBC. Ironically these terms were used in spite of the predominantly Anglo-Scots origins of the shareholders and most senior officers. defined segregation between the ranks, more extensive use of material culture to serve as mechanisms of non-verbal communication, and more careful mimickery of the manners, attitudes and dress of the senior members of the company. These considerations will be more fully developed in the next chapter. In situations with less competition, such as in the remote Athabasca district, wintering posts were of longer duration, reflecting the richness of the resources and the reduced need for saturating the interior with frequently shifting trade posts. Along the Peace River, for example, comparatively few posts were established, and these posts seem to have been occupied for longer than usual. Examples of such posts include Fort Forks, Fort Dunvegan, Fort Vermillion, Rocky Mountain Fort, Fort St John's and Aspen House (Moodie and Lytwyn 1987). Fort St John and Rocky Mountain Fort have been been extensively excavated. These posts appear to conform to the U-shaped arrangement of buildings that is normally present at regional headquarters (Figure 33 and 34). This greater than expected level of construction is likely the product of limited competition, thereby reducing the need for a high density of frequently moved wintering outposts that characterized the trade on the Assiniboine and Saskatchewan ~iverswhere competition was fierce. The role of stockade is also interesting upon review of archival sketches, or archaeological plans. All major administrative posts were equipped with stockades, bastions and other markers of defensive posture. With the possible exception of the bayside factories, these posts never faced attack from hostile forces, and were largely backwaters as far as active trading with Indians was concerned. Hostility from Indian customers only occured occasionally in the interior. Despite this, they consistently maintain the appearance of "Bastions in the Wilderness". Countering this pattern, are the dozens of isolated wintering posts whose occupants were daily in contact with potentially hostile customers. In these posts a very small number of labourers, led by a clerk or experienced labourer were housed. The danger grew considerably greater as the pace of the alcohol trade escalated during the period of competition. In fact Alexander Henry the younger commented in 1800 that stockades in the region under his control were a rather recent phenomenon (Coues 1897:105). Despite this vulnerability, the buildings were often not stockaded, and the posts sometimes consisted of little more than a small log hut. Examples of these rudimentary structures are Red Lake House, Michipicoten, Nottingham House, the GrantIMcLeod posts, and the Old Fort Point site (Figures 28 to 32). With the exception of Michipicoten, none of these posts show evidence for a stockade, and even Michipicoten's stockades are reported to have been of limited use for defensive purposes. Wintering posts of a more "developed" nature include Snake River, Yellow River, and Rocky Mountain Fort (Figures 33, 25 and 27). These posts exhibit more care in construction and contained much more floor space. With the exception of Rocky Mountain Fort, these more permanent wintering posts were stockaded. Posts on the fringe of the prairies sometimes faced a genuine risk of attack and destruction as Europeans became caught up in native warfare, or faced the consequences of the alcohol trade. Efforts to avoid this risk are apparent with the use of joint palisades at Forts White Earth, Carlton and Edmonton (Figures 13 and 14). The sketch of Fort Edmonton is indicative of this concern with defense, with the construction of interior pickets and raised blockhouses overlooking the trading area (Figure 13). These features were designed to limit access to the interior of the post, and to place armed employees in a strategic position if violence broke out in the trade area. In other situations, such as Pembina or Fort Chippewyan, Indians slept in houses within the post. In the case of Fort Chippewyan the Indians were housed in the structure reserved for the partners, clerks and their families (Parker 1987). In general, the more open and welcoming architecture of the wintering posts is consistent with the "trade post as buffer zone" orientation. Thus, we are faced with the situation where localities with the greatest investment in defensive structures had the least day-to-day contact with supposedly hostile customers. On the other hand, the wintering posts' occupants were in contact with Indians daily, were frequently involved in confrontational situations with other Europeans of competing companies, and sometimes were involved in violent incidents. However, these posts were usually the least protected. This leads to the conclusion that, aside from the traffic flow and theft prevention problems, the stockades and blockhouses were visual signals which were not directed at the Indians. The only other population that could be the recipient of these visual signals were the employees and shareholders of the trade companies themselves. It is logical to assume that this imposing quasi-military posture was designed, in part, to reinforce the ranking and social differentiation of the company's chain of command.

THE ROLE AND RATIONALE OF NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION In the case of the small temporarily occupied wintering posts, can we assume that reproduction of elements of social differentiation using the built environment was suspended in view of the great costs involved? Or, alternatively, can one generalize that the need to signal differentiation in rank disappeared in the remote wintering posts? As has been argued, such a vision of frontier egalitarianism is far from the truth. The man in charge of the post faced the daunting task of conducting the trade, supervising the work activities, disciplining his men, and assuring that the party secured sufficient provisions for the winter. With these responsibilities came the realization that if the trade failed, or if any number of untoward circumstances should occur during the long winter season, the clerk in charge was ultimately responsible. As is apparent with the early careers of Daniel Harmon and George Nelson, during the period of competition the outpost masters were often young and inexperienced clerks who regularly faced overwhelming difficulties in maintaining order, asserting their authority, and canying unpopular decisions to fruition. It can also be argued that experienced labourers placed in charge of the wintering posts over the heads of their fellow labourers also faced much social pressure. While these men might be more experienced than the junior clerks, they sometimes faced serious problems in asserting authority, and coping with the social isolation of command. Elsewhere, I have described the situation of an experienced HBC labourer who faced this dilemma of conflicting loyalties and obligations when placed in charge of wintering outposts (Hamilton 1985b:llg-121). Thomas Nom entered the service of the HBC as a labourer in 1788 with a salary of •’6 (Figure 41) (Hamilton 1985b:228). He served his first five year contract, and agreed to a second contract for three years at •’12. During this second contract he served as a "Second" and Outpost Master under the direction of John McKay in the Rainy Lake/Lake of the Woods area. Norn was a man of great ability, and it is clear that John McKay took an active interest in his career. In the winters of 1794-95 and 1795-96 McKay placed Norn in charge of a small outpost. The following extracts of correspondence to Norn from McKay are very illuminating of the situation that the Norn found himself in during his first foray as an outpost master. ...I do not approve of your eating with the men it will make you look little in the eyes of the natives ... (HBCA, PAM, B. 105/a/2/8). ... I have sent you a fashionable blue coat be sure to wear it at all times you see Indians ... (HBCA, PAM, B.l05/a/2/9) ... I wish you make all as you are a young man on your first trial your future preferment may depend in some manner on your exertions and good luck this year, since my first knowledge of you I have had an opinion of your being qualified to please the Natives let me not be mistaken (HBCA, PAM, B. 105/a/2/9d). ...Secrecy is a thing I would recommend to you as it will keep you out of an hundred errors never seen but when too late- never call Jasper Comgal [an HBC labourer] to your assistance in any matter of trade except when you cannot do without him you know the man and his principals better than I do therefore I will say the less ... (HBCA, PAM, B. 105/a/2/4,4d). 0 Assistant A Outpost Master Boatsteerer

Appointed as an Officer

Purchases

Figure 4 1 The Salary Profile of Thomas Nom HBCA, PAM, A. l6/5/ 100 A. l6/6/55,143 A. 16/7/63

Other passages make it clear that Norn faced difficulties with his former equals, they being disobedient and insolent, and pressuring him to increase their food allowance (HBCA, PAM, B.l05/a/2/10,10d, 18d, 19, 19d). The correspondence indicates that Norn's responsibilities weighed heavily upon him due to continued difficulties with his men and his customers, the insufficient supply of food, and his trade duties. Apparently he could not even find time to warm himself by the fireplace (KBCA, PAM, B. 105/a/2118d). Upon reading the exchanges of correspondence between Norn and McKay, one is struck with the loneliness and stress facing men placed in sole charge of the small outposts. They were expected to distance themselves from the men, and in the case of Norn, demand obedience, and inflict punishment upon men who had formerly been friends and equals. The clerks and outpost masters had to walk a "behavioural tight rope", and faced numerous risks that could destroy their careers, and could cost men their lives. One mark of social distinction enjoyed by the clerks of both companies involved freedom from manual labour. This created some problems, particularly for the HBC, as labourer shortages forced recently promoted junior officers to set aside their rank, and temporarily rejoin the labourers. In 1809 such a situation arose and John McKay reported that Thomas Norn agreed to return to manual labour. ...I must proceed to [Brandon House] with 4 men to a Boat. Thomas Norn was kind enough to take a vacant place. Notwithstanding the chief raised him to the rank of an Officer... (HBCA, PAM, B.22/a/17/2).

The tone of McKay's comment indicates that Nom's action was more of a favour bestowed than an order given. This is bourne out by the actions of another former labourer named Thomas Budge who was unwilling to give up the perquisites of rank. Budge arrived at Brandon House in the late fall of 1809 with urgent dispatches regarding the impending Retrenchment Policy, and spent the remainder of the winter at Brandon House. John McKay set him to work about the post, but within two days of hs arrival, Budge felt called upon to assert his rank and protect his recently acquired social prestige. ... George Budge makes me to understand that he is not obligated to work as the chief has appointed him second at [Osnaburgh House] where I wished he had remained as Idlers are to be found every place ... (HBCA, PAM, B.22/a/17/1 Id). Evidently Budge's attitude was that, if McKay did not have work befitting his newly acquired rank, then he would remain idle until he could return to his duties as second in command at Osnaburgh House. This pre-occupation with the perquisites of rank also appears to have been an important element of the Montreal fur trade service. This is apparent in George Simpson's 1820 Athabasca journal that includes correspondence which deals with problems with French Canadians who had been recently hired by the HBC (Rich 1938:83-84). Due to what Simpson referred to as "injudicious phraseology of the engagements" or contracts, some experienced French Canadian "brigade guides", clerks and interpreters considered themselves exempt from manual labour (Rich 1938:83). Due to the wording of their contracts upon engagement, these men felt that collecting birch bark, building canoes, sleighs and snowshoes and "voyaging" was beneath their newly acquired rank as junior officers, and refused orders to do such work. Simpson, upon review of the contracts in question, was forced to agree that the men were under no obligation. As a solution, he suggested that the men's supervisors should "request" rather than "order" them to carry out these important duties (Rich 1938:83-84). Since these men were recruited from the Montreal fur trade system, we may assume that freedom from manual labour was one of the commonly recognized perquisites of rank within the NWC. Another important mark of social distinction was social isolation of the officers from the labourers. As noted above, John McKay encouraged Thomas Nom to differentiate himself from the labourers by wearing distinctive clothing and not to socialize with them, in an effort to enhance his status with the Indians. I suspect that such social isolation was also calculated to reinforce the authority of the outpost master. Higher salaries, social isolation, differential dress and work role, secrecy, control of scarce resources, reputation, ability and (as a final resort) physical force were the basis of authority of the master. Control over the food and alcohol supply was a double edged sword in that it gave the master a certain measure of power over the labourers, but also subjected him to pressure to dispense some of that wealth to the labourers and customers. By resisting that pressure the master was resented by all, and was forced further into a position of isolation. Within this climate of isolation and veiled hostility, we may more fully understand the repeated comments by Harmon (1957) concerning the importance of books, companionship of other officers, the exchange of correspondence, and "moral fiber" in resisting loneliness, alcoholism and "lapsed virtue". In light of the problems of rank, Brown (1980:29)cites a 1794 report by Joseph Colen regarding an HBC labourer who declined the opportunity of becoming an outpost master. The labourer felt compelled to decline since he was illiterate, but this deficiency clearly had little to do with his ability to conduct the trade, and much to do with his relationship with his fellow labourers. ...he cannot write his own name and being obliged to apply to the men to read his Letters of instruction exposes him to their ridicule and contempt ... It had been long remarked in this Country that the men who are active and expert, at the same time ignorant of Letters are the most ready in learning the Indian Tongue-here are several clever men in this service who scarcely known a letter in the Alphabet are good Linguists and good servants- consequently would be proper for the station of Master, yet they are fearful to undertake it knowing that they would expose themselves to the Ridicule of their fellow Servants (HBCA, PAM, B.239/a/95/30).

The role and authority of the officers, particularly the junior clerks, would also be greatly reinforced by the realization by the labourers that the economic and political power of the company lay behind the clerks. That is, labourers who resisted or questioned the authority of a clerk not only faced the wrath of the officer in question, but also sanctions from the company hierarchy as a whole. Reports by even junior officers of disobedience could result in fines, and dismissal from the service. The success in using this threat of dismissal was directly related to the availability of replacement labourers, and the NWC had less difficulty in procuring high quality labourers than any of their competitors, due to their dominance in the Canadian fur trade. The visual c.ues of wealth and status at Fort William can be considered an element of this authority structure. Fort William might be remote from the outposts far to the northwest, yet the engagks would still remember that all senior ranks, including the guides, interpreters, clerks and apprentices were included in the very exclusive group permitted to reside within the post, to eat the delicacies offered in the Great Hall, and outfitted with a wider range of goods as part of their annual equipment. In the eyes of the engage's, the most lowly apprentice clerk, even though he might earn about a quarter the salary of a canoeman, was still a member of a very exclusive group that directed the affairs of the company. The engagb might laugh among themselves about the inexperience and failings of the clerks, might occasionally ignore the instructions given (Harmon 1957), and might even actively resist the will of the officer (Hamilton 1985b), but they did so with a wary consideration of the power of the clerks and senior officers who supported them. In effect, the visual cues of status, power and authority reproduced in the built environment at Fort William extended to the most remote and miserable log shanty of the company's domain. The luxuries of Fort William can be considered to represent far more than the mere self gratification of the elite of the company social hiermhy. They imparted a sense of social solidarity among the senior ranks who spent much of the year in self-imposed isolation from the labourers in the small wintering outposts. The junior members of the officer group were offered a taste of the good life, and the labourers observed their association with the elite of the fur trade. The clerks, guides and interpreters were also confronted with messages regarding their relative position in the corporate hierarchy. The order of precedence in the mess hall, the sliding scale of exotic foodstuffs allocated to partners versus clerks, and the deference expected from them in any social contact with the partners was a reminder that no matter what their position relative to the majority of the employees, the men of real consequence were the partners. A useful analogy can be made to the officer's mess of a 19th century British military establishment. While the mess was supposed to be a place of social equality among all officer grades, no junior officer with any political sense was likely to blatantly assert his equality with the senior officers. In fact, the HBC London Shareholders appear to have very explicitly sought to limit the extent of this hierarchical pecking order in an effort to establish an air of camaraderie and solidarity among their senior employees. We allude more particularly to the treatment of the junior officers... at the Mess Table, where there appears to be a distinction made of who is to partake of the little luxuries that may be on the table, this is not nor ought to be the case in well regulated messes- the Colonel of a Regiment and an Ensign in England are all on the same footing at Table and it is our wish that such should be the case among our officers in the Bay (HBCA, PAM, A.6119159d).

The patterns of exclusive membership and precedence of seating within the Fort William dining hall would serve a dual purpose. It signalled social solidarity among the officers to outsiders such as the labourers, and at the same time reinforced the social precedence within this officer group. The fact remains that the enlisted ranks were keenly aware that the officers were collectively a great power who would support the most minor member of their exclusive group. While this might not significantly raise the personal esteem that labourers felt for the junior officers, one can imagine that they would be reluctant to raise the ire of the entire authority structure by openly disregarding the instructions of even the most lowly member of that power structure. In sum, it is clear that social differentiation pervaded the ranks of both major companies. However, given the shareholder status of the most senior of the NWC officer group, and that many of the Anglo Scots clerks with the right skills and patronage links were destined to join that group, it is expected that the distinctions between the ranks were more dramatic than with the HBC. One expects considerable variation in the nature and visibility of the visual cues of status and authority between the posts of various logistical roles. This relates largely to pragmatic issues of logistical supply and extremely high transportation costs as one moved further inland. Another important consideration is whether the clerk in charge could afford the markers of status. It can be expected that the junior clerks faced some problems expressing their authority with displays of exotic goods. That is, they might not be prepared to expend a large proportion of their salary on expensive clothing and personal possessions. They might also not wish to purchase materials of an expense and quality that were beyond their relatively low station. To do so might run the risk of ridicule from more senior men. The problem of supply and salary raises the question whether new visual cues of social differentiation and status were developed in the small wintering posts which efficiently transmitted the social messages, but were not necessarily expensive. That is, by being careful to use social isolation, reserve and differential dress, diet and work role, a clerk might succeed in establishing an air of importance and authority. This authority would be greatly augmented by an officer who was able to exert his control through physical intimidation combined with the occasional regals of alcohol. His exclusive control of the trade outfit could be used to assert authority in a fashion which could be written off as part of the costs of conducting the trade. Chapter 6 SALARY PROFILES AND PURCHASING PATTERNS

INTRODUCTION This chapter uses archival documents to illustrate employee salary levels, and to provide insight into goods purchase patterns by the company employees. It explores some of the economic implications of the work-related hierarchy in terms of remuneration and equipment allowances offered men of particular ranks. I also review the financial strategies used by various categories of men throughout their fur trade careers, and compare the situation of labourers employed in each of the two major companies. Some fur trade literature (eg. Nute 1972) indicates that men employed by the NWC were comparatively well paid, were more skilled and better equipped, and generally had better morale than the labourers of the HBC. Since this perspective appears inconsistent with the climate of inter- rank social tension described earlier, the situation of the NWC and HBC labourers is compared. This analysis reveals that the NWC labourers, while generally receiving higher salaries than the HBC men, also paid much higher prices for goods, had little prospect of salary increases, and were perpetually in debt to their employer. Also important are the high tariff markups on goods destined for the interior. These markups indicate the enormous costs of transportation, and make it clear that employment in the NWC service was not as financially attractive as first impressions would suggest. Rather uneven coverage of the two major companies is offered due to the nature and survival rate of the documents. The discussion of the Hudson's Bay Company is based upon records relating to Brandon House, a regional inland headquarters in the Albany Factory hinterland. These data were initially compiled and presented as part of my earlier reconstruction (1985b) of the socio-economic situation of HBC labourers between 1793 and 1821. While focusing upon the labourers at one post, the general patterns identified are likely consistent with the lot of all labourers working in the inland portions of the Albany trade hinterland. The records of the North West Company are not nearly as complete, and detailed accounting of the financial situation of the men from a specific post is not possible. In fact, the only available financial records are summary accounts in the collections of the Hudson's Bay Company Archives (HBCA, PAM, 5M3 to 5M13). These documents give some information which is generally comparible to data from Brandon House. In using these data, some shortcomings must be emphasized. The Brandon House records provide year-by-year summaries of the salaries and the total value of goods purchased by each labourer between 1793 and 1821. Sporadic records of what these men actually purchased are also available. However, the record of the officers' purchases only consist of the total annual purchases, and many officers and some labourers supplemented this with goods privately ordered directly from Europe. In the case of the NWC documents, approximately 8% to 10% of the men listed in the ledgers dating between 18 11 and 1821 were randomly selectedl. These men were stationed at a number of posts in the Athabasca, Churchill, Saskatchewan, Red River and Nipigon departments. The records include each labourer's annual wage and total purchases from the company. The accounts of a number of clerks and wintering partners were also judgementally selected on the basis of their winter station, taking care to include both wintering partners and clerks. Listings of the items purchased by the officers and labourers are available, but are limited to the end of the period of interest (1820) when the records of the NWC were turned over to the HBC in 1821 (HBCA, PAM F.4/22,27,28). Use of these documents is further constrained due to at least four different types of currency used in the accounting process. While HBC documents almost exclusively utilize Pounds Sterling, the NWC documents occasionally refer to both the Sterling and Halifax Pound standard, as well as the Montreal and Grand Portage Livre. I have used a rate of exchange for these currencies that is based upon a note by W.L. Morton which is attached to the NWC account books in the possession of the Hudson's Bay Company Archives (HBCA, PAM, 5M7).

I •’ Haiifax = 24 Montreai Livre = i2 Grand Portage Lime 1 •’ Sterling = k.9 •’ Halifax = 26.66 Montreal Livre = 13.33 G.P. Livre 1 & Sterling = 20 Shillings = 240 Pence

Some confusion exists between the various currency standards employed in 18th and 19th century Canada. This confusion arises both from the proliferation of standards at the time, and some modern uncertainty over the rates of exchange. Parker (1987: 105-107) provides a review of these currencies and exchange values which is at odds with that used here. I suspect that much of this discrepancy is due to Parker's assumption that one Sterling Guinea was equivalent to •’1Sterling. This is in error. The Oxford English Dictionary describes the guinea as a gold coin valued at •’1.05 Sterling, or 21 shillings. The •’ Sterling, which is the currency unit of the HBC payroll, is valued at 20 shillings, therefore Parker's calculations are consistently 5 percent in error. While this error is mathematically minor, the cumulative effect when reading accounts interchangeably valued in •’ Sterling, •’ Halifax, and Montreal and Grand Portage Livre can result in considerable error and confusion.

The journal records are organized alpabetically, and were sampled by selecting every tenth name listed in the account books. For the purposes of the following discussion, the subdivisions of these currencies have been transformed from Pounds-Shillings-Pence (Elsld) or Live-Sol (Lls) into a base 10 decimal system (two decimal places maximum). While some rounding error is introduced, this approach greatly facilitates the analysis and presentation of financial data, and reduces confusion over calculation of goods values. The Grand Portage livre was valued at twice that of the Montreal livre, and appears to have been used exclusively by the NWC in their inland operations. Davidson (1918: 235, 237) repeats allegations by Lord Selkirk and others that the NWC deliberately took advantage of its employees in part through manipulation of the Grand Portage Livre. He also cites a 1793 explanation by Alexander Mackenzie of the origins of this currency standard.

The currency of the North west is double that of Canada which currency had its origine, I Presume, from the men's wages being formerly paid in peltries and it was supposed that one liver's worth of furs would be worth 2 livers to the person that took it to Montreal to be paid. The currency existed long before the North West Company had a being and I believe before Canada was taken from the French (Davidson 1918:237).

The allegations of inappropriate behaviour by the NWC will be discussed in greater detail when we turn to the issue of salary scales, tariff structures, goods selection and costs.

THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY The situation of the labourers at Brandon House I illustrates the different strategies used by labourers in planning their lives while in service to the HBC and after retirement. Many of the labourers were Orcadians, who entered the service as young men at comparatively low salaries. At the beginning of the study period the average starting salary was •’6 Sterling with contract periods of five years (Hamilton 1985b; Nicks 1980). During the period of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars in Europe, and later as part of its plan of labourer diversification, the HBC considerably increased starting salaries, and reduced the contract length. By 1815 some European recruits were offered three year contracts for up to •’18 to •’20per annum (see Hamilton 1985b for an extended discussion). Prior to the 1810 Retrenchment, salaries were supplemented with "bounties" representing rewards for inland service, plus a fixed percentage of the fur yield from their respective postings. This could raise a labourer's annual salary by upwards of •’4or •’5, in addition to which the company agreed to provide food and a basic set of clothing and equipment. This equipment was referred to as "Slops", an archaic naval term for rough, ready made work clothing (Oxford English Dictionary Vol 9:231). The cost of this equipment appears to have been absorbed by the company as part of the expense of conducting the trade, and the nature and cost of this allowance is not readily apparent from the records. In any case, this basic equipment was generally supplemented with purchases of goods from the company store. Salaries varied sharply with the formally recognized rank of the employees (Figure 42). Figure 42 is derived from the 1791-93 records of all Albany Factory employees and offers an intuitive measure of the relative importance of each of the ranks recorded. It is rather Salary E 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

Chief Factor Second to Chief Master Surveyor Surgeon Sloop Master Ship Wright Inland Trader Writer Linguist and Trader Superintendent of Craft Armourer Armourer and Smith Caqenter Sloop Mate + Allowed 40 p per canoe as bonus Boat Builder Bricklayer * English Labourers generally allowed Cooper •’ 10 per ann. on first contract Hunter Patroon of Woods Inland service provided a gratuity from •’ 2 to •’4 depending upon experience Steersman and Builder Sawyer "Patroon" is an archaic term which is Steersman equivelent to a sort of non-commisioned Smith officer. Canoe Man Tailor Sailor + Canoe Builder Chiefs Cook Steward "Labourer :

Figure 42 The HBC Salary Structure for 1791-93 (after HBCA, PAM, A.3015186d-87) deceptive, since many of the specialized work roles were filled by experienced labourers who served in several capacities. At the height of the period of competition when men were in short supply, the salaries of skilled and experienced labourers rapidly increased over succeeding contracts (Hamilton 1985b). This variability is apparent in the wide salary range offered to labourers (Figure 42). This variability grows more apparent in the late 1700's and first decade of the 1800's at the height of the inflationary spiral in salaries (Hamilton 1985b). While the starting salary for labourers appears low, it was better than what a young man could hope to earn in the Orkney Islands (Nicks 1980). Thus, a man of modest needs could hope to build up enough savings to eventually resume European life with the purchase of a small farm, or establishment of a business (Brown 1980:27). Since these men ultimately retired in Britain, we can envision them planning for this eventuality by carefully limiting their annual purchases to minimal quantities of luxuries and staples (see Nicks 1980), and relying upon the largess of the officer in charge to treat them to the small luxuries that the post had to offer. Men following this strategy often completed their first contract and either returned to Europe, or sought a shorter second contract with a substantial increase in salary. The salary profiles of two such labourers are illustrated in Figure 43. Despite the sharp increase in salary with their second contracts, these men continued to make minimal purchases from the company stores, and returned to Europe with the balance of their salary intact. This propensity for frugality and careful financial management was recognized and considered a universal trait of Orcadians, which formed a marked contrast to the volatile and spend-thrift nature of French Canadian labourers (Brown 1980:47 citing William Auld, HBCA, PAM, A. 1 l/ll8/23). The first 30 years of the study period during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars seems to have been the time of the greatest austerity for the short term HBC employees. Some of this apparent austerity is a function of the limited range of goods available for purchase, but comparison to long term employees indicates that the short term labourers were particularly frugal. In the post 1810 period, labourers generally spent a larger percentage of their salaries on goods. This increase in the value of purchases may reflect both a wider range of goods available for sale, the increased price charged for those commodities, or a combination of both. After their first or second contract, many Orcadians found their lot in Rupert's land to their liking, and appear to have sought long term service with the HBC. Many of these men remained in North America for 10, 20 and sometimes 30 years, accumulated skills and moved upwards in the company hierarchy to become highly valued senior labourers, a 1797 desires to return (if he will stay for 3 years may contract for •’10 (HBCA, PAM, David Brown I A.3016lld-2). b 1798 Mr. Clouston has been obligated to agree this man at O.H. One year at •’15/ann Bounties (last wages 6 out 1797 was to return. to return unless he will take •’10 for 3 years as ordered last year (HBCA, PAM, A.3017lld-2) c Is gone for one year to Red River on the same terms as last year (•’15 for 3 years) (HBCA, PAM, A.30181ld-2)

0 V, Ch Ch t- t- r( r( year

Peter Houston a desires to return, offered •’18 for 3 years (HBCA, PAM, A.30171 49d-50). b has agreed for 1 year at •’14 by Mr Clouston last wage •’6 was to return to contract for 3 years from 1798 at •’14 (HBCA, PAM, A. 16/6/23)

In 1796 invested •’26 through his European agent 1799 invested •’47.5 through his European Agent

0 Ch 0

Figure 43 Employment Strategies of Short Term HBC Labourers (Orcadians). (HBCA, PAM, A.1616123, 132, 157). boatmen, patroons or foremen (Hamilton 1985b). It is from the literate members of this group that the HBC recruited inland traders in keeping with the tradition of upward mobility. Coupled with an increasingly sharp climb in salary and shorter contract lengths, these men also relaxed the austerity of their lifestyle. The value of their purchases climbed consistently with their salary (Figure 44). This probably reflects an .effort to make life in Rupert's land more comfortable, and to provide goods for their families in the post. The increased level of purchasing by these men is also consistent with the proposition that senior men used material goods to symbolize their new status and role as workparty leaders, inland traders, and outpost masters. As these men established social linkages with Indians and NWC labourers, these goods could also be used in a system of private trade with furs smuggled to Europe for sale. Private trade was strictly forbidden by the London Committee, yet persistent references to the prohibition and occasional dismissals of ship's captains caught smuggling furs makes it clear that this underground market existed (HBCA, PAM, A.61161116d). The HBC labourers of French Canadian and mixed parentage origins followed a different strategy of service. These men were much less concerned with saving for eventual European retirement. In fact, with the possible exception of the few French Canadian labourers employed in the late 1700's and early 1800'~~these men were not in a position to retire outside of Rupert's land. When they left the service of the company, they returned to the native encampments or the fort environs to join their kinsmen. Due to their background and already established "country skills", they often commanded high opening salaries, with substantial increases in subsequent contracts (Figure 45). They were generally not interested in European investment, and their high rates of purchase can be viewed as a sort of investment in their lives in Rupert's land. Again, these men purchased goods to improve the comfort of inland service, and to support their families. I suspect that these goods also served to provide gifts to native kinsmen and associates in order to maintain social links following traditional patterns of reciprocal exchange. Throughout the period of interest, the average salary for labourers underwent a number of changes reflecting the supply of recruits in Europe, as well as organizational changes in the HBC. With the move inland, larger numbers of men with the requisite skills were needed to maintain the system. As it was difficult to recruit men during the Napoleonic war period, there was an upward spiral in the salary level and shortening of contract lengths. A sharp increase in the monetary aspirations of experienced men when re-negotiating contracts is also apparent. These aspirations were supported by the inflationary rationale that if a raw recruit was worth •’12 per year, then a boatsteerer or a skilled hunter and trader must be worth •’25 to •’30. The net effect was a steady increase in the average salary of the Brandon House labourers from •’8.3 in 1793 to •’19.3 in 1810 (Hamilton l985b). This, in part, is a function of the growing seniority of the balance of the Brandon House men, but it also reflects the inflationary spiral of wages that was part of the British wartime economy. Ironically, after 1810 the wages of the experienced labourers were subjected to increasingly severe downward pressure, at the same time that high starting salaries were

147 Year and Amount of J. Anderson European Investment HBCA, PAM, A.1616193 1803 •’52.5 A. 161714 1 1805 •’39.8 A.16125127 A.1612612 A. 1613711

Bounties /I \

!PPurchases

Henry Lena HBCA, PAM, A.1615198 Bounties A. 16/6/50. 142 fl/ / Wage Patroon of Craft

Figure 44 Purchase Strategy of two Long Term HBC Labourers (Orcadian)

148 1 Thomas Favel

BountiesfrA/-\

Year and Value of Goods purchased 7 Humphrey Favel in England ~r~avel1805 •’11.5 1807 •’46.3 Wage 1813 •’7 \ T. Favel 1800 •’15 1804 •’14 :chases 1801 •’12 1805 •’23 1803 533 i807 •’28 1813 •’3.5 Year and Value of European Investment T. Favel 1813 •’3

HBCA, PAM, A. 16/6/87 A.16/7/16,22,111 A.16/25/32,33 A. 16/26/23,25 A.16/37/107,108

Figure 45 Career Strategies of two Country Born HBC Labourers

offered to recruits from new labour markets such as Ireland, Scotland and Scandinavia (Hamilton 1985b). The labourer diversification plan was calculated to break what was perceived as a conspiracy on the part of Orcadians to protect their own lot. The strength of this sudden distrust of the Orcadians was even felt and resented by Orcadians who had moved up through the ranks to become officers (Hamilton 1985b). From 1810 up to 1821 the company sought to control the salary aspirations of the labourers, with only mixed success. However, after the amalgamation of the two major companies there was a large surplus of labourers, and successful bargaining for higher salaries was much more difficult (Hamilton 1985b). The Brandon House labourers purchased a narrow range of materials from the company stores (Table 7), dominated by dry goods such as prefabricated clothing, textiles, thread, blankets and other utilitarian items. During the early periods of occupation of the post, the supply of goods available for sale to the men was limited, reflecting the imperfect supply system which plagued the HBC inland operations during the Napoleonic wars (Hamilton 1985b:89-97). In fact, these shortages of goods were so acute that at least one man briefly deserted the service, in part over the inability of the company to supply him with goods (Hamilton 1986b:lOO-105). One officer also reported that the HBC labourers were forced into clandestine trade arrangements with NWC labourers in order to acquire clothing (HBCA, PAM, B.22/a/4/19d). Officers also reported that they were obliged to expend a large portion of their trade outfit simply to clothe the labourers for the winter (KBCA, PAM, B.22/a/4/19d; B.22/a/6/5d). The severity of these shortages are apparent in the following quotation. Sept 24,1796: ... finished selling [the men] cloth etc etc for their clothing, It may be judged what 28 men will require to cloath them, scarcely having a Blanket to their bed, shirt or Jacket to their backs, but what has been taken out of this outfit, which has ieft me oniy 4 pieces of Cloth and 5 Blankets in the house to trade with Indians, Had the men got their necessaries at Marten's fall as they ought to have done, the outfit could been kept whole for the trade and come here not as cargoe but in their own lumber bags ... (HBCA, PAM, B.22/a/4/13d). This recurring problem severely limited the effectiveness of the HBC in the highly competitive Red River Department, and may have provided the NWC labourers with a lucrative market for the goods which they purchased at Fort William each summer. This likely involved the barter of goods that were rare or expensive in the trade shop of each company. For example, HBC men could\purchase textiles and other goods, when available, at a much lower price than the NWC labourers, while the latter had access to a much wider stock of goods at Fort William. While undocumented, we can assume that a flourishing, albeit clandestine, barter system existed between labourers of adjacent posts. In addition to these consumable items of apparel, the HBC men consistently purchased alcohol, tobacco, and smaller tools and supplies, such as knifes, tobacco boxes, twine, needles, soap, and occasionally firearms (Table 7). These items were largely utilitarian and functional, with only occasional occurences of extravagance, generally at the hands of long term employees. Examples of such exotic. . goods include silk handkerchiefs and watches. Table 7 Change through time of the cost of equipment charged to HBC labourers &t mk Clothing Food breeches, blue serge bacon lb breeches, corderoy chocolate lb buckles, brass 02 coffee lb buckles, pinchback 02 flour CWt buckles, plated, no. 6 oz hams lb buckles, plated, no. 9 .oz oatmeal english bush buttons coat, plated 10z pimento lb buttons, breast plated ioz salt beef pieces salt pork pieces buttons, pewter coat loz lb buttons, pewter waistcoi Ioz sugar, brown sugar, loaf lb drawers, flannel lb frock, duck sugar, moist tea, bohea lb frock, guernsey lb reatcoats tea, hyson Household sources: aandkerchief, blk silk B.31d/104 handkerchief, cotton locks, chest B.3/d/105/3d handkerchief, linen trunks, small handkerchief, sossee Personal hat, coarse basons, pewter hat, fine bibles with psalms jacket, blue serge books of common prayer jacket, cloth no 4 combs jackct, cloth no 5 combs, ivo ~acket,cloth no 6 glasses, loo2 book jacket, lined glasses, oval gilt jacket, red ser e razor jacket, unlinef soap lb pantaloons, corderoy Recreation shawls no 1 brandy gal shawls no 2 brandy, french gal shawls no 3 rum gal shawls no 5 tobacco box shawls no 6 tobacco box jap'd shawls, cotton with bum lass shirt, calico, adults tobacco box, japt% shirt, calico, bo s tobacco pipe doz shirt, calico, inrants tobacco, Canadian rolled lb shirt, calico, youths tobacco, cut lb shirt, checked tobacco,irish roll lb shirt, cotton Tcxti!es Sh.irt, flannel thread, fine oz shlrt, plain white baize yd shirt, white linen calico, coarse yd shoes, coarse pr. cloth yd shoes, fine pr cloth blue,plain yd stockings, worsted cloth, blue fine yd trowsers cloth, blue, corded yd trowsers, blue cloth cloth, red corded yd trowsers, cloth cloth, red fine yd trowscrs, cotton duffle yd trowsers, duck flannel yd waistcoat, flannel yd waterboots Pi= yd Domestic ribbon yd blankets 1 112 points Russia sheeting for tents yd blankets 1 point serge yd blankets 2 points vittry yd blankets 3 points Tools blankets, 2 112 points flints blankets, stripped pun, 3.5 foot buffalo, robe un owder lb kettles, copper lb ini i e trading moose skins knife, best polished pans, iron f ing knife, clasp pans, tin puyding lines, net Pot, J?PP?~'~ needles doz pots japn d 1 pt pins, 1 paper Papel pots, jap'd 1 qt pistols tin pot scjssors tailors tin pot 1 qt scissors, common tin pot, 1 pint shot, bristol lb tin pot, 2 qt twine skein twine, fine skein all values presented in Sterling pence The above supplies were supplemented by items from the company stores such as snowshoes, leather for footwear, fish hooks, firearms, ammunition, axes or hatchets and cooking vessels. Career oriented labourers and officers occasionally ordered unspecified goods from Europe to supplement the narrow range of items available for purchase at the post (Hamilton 1985b). In sum, while some alternate sources of supply existed for the HBC men, they purchased and used a relatively limited range of goods with a distinct utilitarian flavour. The exotic or luxury items purchased were either perishable, or highly curated items that were unlikely to find their way into the archaeological record. Also of interest is whether the inflationary spiral affecting the labourers' salaries was mirrored by increases in the costs of goods purchased by them. In this way the company might have passed the increased costs of goods on to their employees, or have sought to reduce the high costs of the payroll by charging a high rate for the items purchased. Changes in the cost of items are rather hard to identify, as items appear only sporadically in the archival record. Reconstruction of the situation over several years is illuminating (Table 7). The costs of goods sold to the labourers remained remarkably stable throughout the first half of the study period. This stability is particularly noteworthy when one considers the significant increase in costs and decline in profit faced by the HBC. After the Retrenchment of 1810, the costs charged for some goods increased significantly. In the pre- 1810 period the HBC, in effect, subsidized the costs of goods purchased by the men, perhaps as an informal benefit of inland service. This certainly was the perception of the labourers involved, and they vigorously resisted any move to increase the price of "slops" in 1810. One example of this resistance is the Brandon House mutiny which involved, in part, suspicion and uncertainty over changes in the prices charged for goods (Hamilton 1985b). While major price increases did not occur until after the Retrenchment (Table 7), there was a substantial increase in the diversity of goods available for purchase through time. No listing of goods purchased by the officers is available to offer a point of contrast to the labourers. While we do not know what the HBC officers purchased, it is clear that their annual debt was higher, and that they more frequently ordered goods directly from Europe (Hamilton 1985b).

THE NORTH WEST COMPANY The documents relating to the salary scale and purchase patterns of the men of the NWC are more incomplete. However, it is clear that the NWC offered many fewer benefits to their labourers, and may have taken advantage of them, as was alleged by Lord Selkirk. The original NWC documents refer to salaries and purchases in Grand Portage Livre and sometimes in Halifax •’ currency. In order to offer a basis of direct comparison, all data are presented here in •’ Sterling. Like the HBC, the NWC established salary scales which reflected the rank of the various employees. The highest ranked members of the company were the shareholders. These men were paid on the basis of shares in the profit of the trade. The shares remained in the hands of the NWC as working capital from which the cost of annual purchases were deducted. This money earned interest while in the hands of the company, and it enabled the NWC to capitalize a portion of its operating costs by borrowing money from its own shareholders (Davidson 1918: 226-227). Davidson (1918: 234) cites an unnamed wintering partner who reported in 1795 that the annual share for NWC partners over the previous 11 years had ranged from "worse than nothing to sixty thousand livres", but with modification of the company including more shareholders, low prices for furs, European warfare and trade competition, the annual shares of profit were then in decline. Ranked beneath the partners were clerks, with a range of experience and rates of remuneration. The most lowly of them were the apprentices who signed 5 to 7 year contracts at salaries lower than that offered the voyageurs (ie •’14.28 to •’20 per annum representing a total of •’100 for the term of their apprenticeship) (Davidson 1918:226-227). Additionally, the company agreed to house, feed and cloath them. Clerks were usually young men who were being trained in the fur trade; the most active, talented and well- connected of whom might be offered a partnership shortly after completion of the apprenticeship. Upon completion of their apprenticeship, those clerks not immediately offered a partnership received dramatically increased salaries from •’100 to •’300 per year, plus annual equipment allowances. The clerks were divided into senior and junior categories; the former being placed in charge of the smaller departments or larger wintering outposts, and the latter working under the direct supervision of proprietors or senior clerks. Masson (1960 I:61-66) cites Roderick Mackenzie's 1799 notation of "arrangements" for proprietors, clerks and interpreters. Senior clerks and interpreters each earned 1,000 to 4,000 Grand Portage livre (•’75 to •’300) per annum, plus equipment valued at •’20 (Halifax) (Table 8). This listing is particularly interesting since it not only names the various men involved, thereby providing an indication of their ethni~origin, but it also notes individual salaries earned. Despite many of the names being Anglo-Scots in origin, it is notable that many earned lower salaries than experienced French Canadian clerks (Table 8). However it must be remembered that, as the Anglo-Scots clerks gained experience and served out their apprenticeship, many were eventually made wintering partners, or were offered high salaries as senior clerks. The seasoned Canadian clerks and interpreters had, by and large, reached the pinnacle of their monetary aspirations. Table 8 Dispositions of Proprietors, Clerks and Interpreters of the NWC in 1799 (after Masson 1960 I:61-66) Clerks and Interpreters Anglo Franc0 3-Scots Franco-Canadian no. no. SP lime GP lime Athabasca 1 495.56 Upper English River 2 1200.00 Lower English River 1 360.00 Fort Dauphin 1 840.00 Upper Fort des Prairies 2 968.00 Lower Fort des Prairies Upper Red River 1 360.00 Lower Red River 1200.00 Lac Winitic 1 320.00 Nipigon 1132.00 Pic Michipicoton South of Lake Superior Fonds du Lac 1 Lac La Pluie 1 960.00 Grand Portage 900.00 Total -iT Average salary 794.14

As Davidson's (1918: 228-23 1) discussion of late 18th century salary scales indicates, the lower ranks of the NWC service were well paid compared to the HBC employees described earlier. Guides who also acted as interpreters received between 1,000 and 3,000 GP livres (& •’75 to •’225) plus equipment, while Montreal guides only received 800 to 1,000 GP livre (+ •’60 to •’75)plus equipment (Davidson 1918:229). The Montreal canoe men received about one half of what the so-called "North men" or "Winterers" were paid (Davidson 1918:23O). In the late 1790's the Montreal men were divided into three general categories: foremen and steersmen (or bouthe), and milieu or middlemen. The former two received 400 to 600 GP livre (•’30 to •’45) for the Montreal trip, while the middlemen received 250 to 350 GP livre (•’18.75 to •’26.25) plus equipment consisting of one blanket, a pair trousers, and one shirt (Davidson 1918: 230). Northmen received a higher salary commensurate with the more arduous work involved in conveying goods west of Lake Superior, and since they were employed year-round rather than just through the summer season. According to Davidson (1918:230) in the 1790's foremen and steersmen received 1,200 GP livre (•’90) plus equipment consisting of "2 blankets, 2 shirts, 2 pairs trousers, 2 handkerchiefs, 14 lb of carrot tobacco and some trifling articles", while middlemen were paid 800 GP livre (•’60) with similar equipment except for 10 lb of tobacco. The Montreal men engaged in the service by the year, while the contracts for the.North men were of three years duration. The winterers were also fed and housed by the company and, up to 1805, were allowed to trade for furs in their own right (Campbell 1983: IS), by which means it was estimated that they were able to earn nearly as much again as their salaries. Many engage's also maintained their own trap lines to further supplement their income (Coues 1897:132- 133). Salary scales reported in the 1806 minutes of the NWC shareholders meeting (Wallace 1934:213-215) indicate that wages for winterers declined from that of the late 17901s, perhaps reflecting the reduced competition for men after the amalgamation of the NWC and the XYC in 1804. It is also interesting to note that the salary and equipment allowance varied between departments (Table 9). Table 9 Salary Scale and Equipment Variation with Winter Residence (after Wallace 1934: 213-215) ATHABASCA DEPARTMENT wages: Bowsmen 600 L, Steersmen 600 L and Milieux 400 L Equipment Bowsmen and Steersmen Milieux 1 blanket 3 pt 1 blanket 3 pt 1 " 2.5 pt 1 " 2.5 pt 2 pr leggins 2 pr Leggins 2 shirts 2 shirts 2 braclets 2 braclets 2 handkerchiefs 2 handkerchiefs 4 carrots tobacco 3 carrots tobacco 3 large knives 2 large knives 3 small knives 2 smaii hives .5 lb beads .25 Ib vennillion ENGLISH AND RAT RIVER DEPTS ROCKY MOUNTAINS F.P. Wages and Equipment the same as the Athabasca Wages and Equipment as above except that the Milieux have 50 L. more wages or 450L. UPPER FORTS DES PRAIRIES Bowsmen and Steersmen 500 L wages and the English River Equipment LOWER FORTS DES PRAIRIES Bowsmen and Steersmen 450 L wages Milieux 350 L wages and Com. Equipment vizt Bowsmen and Steersmen Milieux 1 Blankets 3 pt the same Equipment 1 blankets 2.5 pts except 1 carrots tobacco 2 shirts less than the Bouts 2 braclets 2 pr leggins 4 carrots tobacco It is understood that the Men of Cumberland House may if necessary have something more- but not exceeding 50 Livre.

FORT DAUPHIN UPPER RED RIVER Bowsmen and Steersmen 400 to 450 L Bowsmen and Steersmen 400 to 500 L and Milieux 350 L and common Equipment and Milieux 300 to 350 L and Common Fquipment LOWER RED RIVER LAKE OUINIPQUE Bowsmen and Steersmen 400 to 450 L Bowsmen and Steersmen 450 to 500 L and Milieux 300 L and Common Equipment and Milieux 350 to 400 L and common Equipment LAKE LA PLUIE LAC DES ISLES Bowsmen and Steersmen 450 L Bowsmen and Steersmen 350 L Milieux 300 to 350 L and common equipment and Milieux 400 L and common equipment

MONONTAGUE LAKE NIPIGON Bowsmen and Steersmen 400 to 450 L Bowsmen and Steersmen 400 to 450 L and Milieux 300 to 350 L and common equipment and Milieux 500 Land common equipment

ATHABASCA RIVER DEPARTMENT FOND DU LAC DEPARTMENT Bowsmen and Steersmen 700 L and Milieux 500 L from 400 to 500 L and common equipment and English River Equipment

FOLLE AVOINE COUNTRY RIVIERE DE MONTREAL from 350 to 400 L and common equipment from 400 to 450 L and common equipment

The salary schedule presented in Table 9 is instructive since it illustrates that the NWC labourers were ranked according to their work role, and on the basis of their winter station. The men stationed in the more distant and difficult to supply departments were offered larger salaries and equipment allowances. In fact, men forming the more distant brigades considered themselves to be the elite of the NWC voyageur service, and much tension and rivalry existed between men of the various departments (Nute 1972:65; A.S. Morton 1929:ll-12). The life of an engage' was extremely arduous, though it appears to have been financially attractive to French Canadian men of modest background and education. Davidson (1918:230) cites a 1789 Board of Trade report that indicates that labourers in Quebec were "worth from 10d to 1s 4d Sterling [LO4 to .06] in winter and from 2s to 2s 6d [&.I to E.1251 in summer". It is not known whether these wage scales reflect weekly or monthly rates. The data indicate that there was seldom a significant upward spiral in starting salaries consistent with that of the HBC. Salaries remained stable through time, and could decline as a function of the availability of men. Table 10 provides a comparison of the salary scales between the HBC and the NWC throughout the study period. The average salaries for each rank indicate that all types of NWC employees were better paid than men of equivalent rank within the HBC. This dichotomy is even greater than is immediately apparent since the average HBC officer's salary is skewed upward due to the sustained presence of Peter Fidler at Brandon House. He was the official surveyor to the HBC even though he spent much of his career as a trader. As a consequence of his dual responsibilities, he was paid •’100, a salary to the most senior of HBC officers, and considerably higher than the average inland trader. When his salary is removed from the cdculations, the average salary of the HBC officers, clerks and post masters drops to •’37.44.

Table 10 A comparison of sdari :s paid to HBC and NWC emplc HBC HBC HBC NWC Officer Junior Labourer Officer Officer Tradesman Officer 8.00 21.69 77.48 25.63 0.00 7.11 33.05 sample size 2 29 1 8 1 Average HBC officers' salary not including Peter Fidler

While the NWC labourers and clerks earned higher salaries, they seldom were in a position to retain a significant portion of it due to the high costs of goods purchased from their employer. As noted earlier, several contemporary observers suggested that the NWC charged excessively high prices in order to recover their employeesf salaries, and to more firmly ensure long term service from employees under heavy debt obligations (Davidson 1918:234-235). Lord Selkirk charged that "spirits were sold to the employees in the interior at the rate of eight dollars a quart [or about 24 Grand Portage livre], having cost the North West Company little more than one dollar a gallon in Montreal" (Davidson 1918:235). If Sellkirk was correct, then alc~hdwas mzked q 3,200% over the Montreal cost. Parker also cites comments by the Duke of Rochefoucault-Liancourt who travelled through the west in the late 1790's. In Fort Detroit these articles are sold for three times their usual value in Montreal, in Fort Michilimackinak four times dearer, at the great carrying place [Grand Portage] eight times, at Lake Winnipeg fifteen times; nay the agents fix the prices still higher at their will and pleasure (1987: 114).

While these examples are derived from rather partisan sources, it was certainly in the best interest of the NWC to encourage its employees to run up large debts at the "company store". In the interior the employees had no other source of supply, and the goods purchased were advanced according to the distance inland from Montreal. The profit upon liquor and tobacco was doubtless great, and the sales of articles of clothing and ornaments for the native women must also have been lucrative. Moreover, the Northwest currency standard lent itself to skilful manipulation since it was just double the value of the Canadian currency. A voyageur would thus be tempted to purchase articles at a nominal price which might be temptingly low, only to find, in settling his accounts, that one shilling in the interior was counted as two shillings at Montreal ... The charge was also made that the North West Company encouraged extravagence and vice on the part of its employees, in order to get them in debt (Davidson 1918:234-235).

Lord Selkirk further observed that the NWC employed about 2,000 voyageurs in the second decade of the 19th century; each paid approximately •’40. This meant an annual payroll of •’80,000 to •’90,000 that was to be paid from a gross return on the trade seldom exceeding •’150,000 (Davidson 1918:235). H.A. Innis (1970:242) cites Alexander Mackenzie's 1798 estimation that the annual cost of transportation, represented primarily by labourers' wages, comprised about half of the "total adventure of the Company and the prosecution of the trade in more remote areas following the date of his estimate...p robably increased the proportion". These observations emphasize the enormous costs of transportation and the high annual NWC payroll. Given the costs and risks faced by the NWC, a net profit was difficult to achieve without recovery of much of the payroll. With a monopoly over purchases by their employees, the most effective means of recovering this payroll cost was by inflating the prices charged for goods. In any case, the employees accumulated an enormous debt load through the course of their careers. The extent of these debts, in Grand Portage Livres, is apparent in the following list provided by Davidson (1918:233 citing Masson Papers no 2370, McGill University). Debts to NWCo. Credits Athabasca River Dept. 18,144 7,692 Upper Fort des Prairies 8,434 25 Fort des Prairies 44,423 2,169 Lower Fort des Prairies 30,666 5 2 Fort des Prairies (summer men) 10,426 13,428 English River (Freemen and c.) 42,036 19,734 Lower Red River 42,466 8,318 Upper Red River 66,098 12,964 Fort Dauphin 32,960 1,225 Rat River 3,996 1,294 Lac Ouinipique 50,752 3,769 Mille Lacs 10,282 --- Lake Nipigon, Lake of the Islands, etc 3 1,s96 9,630 Red Lake and Lac Seul 25,968 305 Pic Dept 5,927 1,260 Fond du Lac 25,113 1,993 River des Sauteux 5,361 299 Point Chagouamigon 2,865 --- Lac des Flambeaux 7,444 4,260 Lac la Pluie 27,972 2,930 total 492,927 91,346

According to these records, the accumulated debts in the men's accounts outnumbered the credits by a ratio of over 5 to 1. Such debt loads are consistent with the popular notion of Canadian voyageurs as an improvident and extravagant lot. However, this stereotype is an over-simplification. While the men purchased goods far in excess of their means, it must be remembered that they supplemented their income with cash gratuities and equipment for extra duty. For example, conveying packages over the Grand Portage earned the men " 1 Spanish dollar per pack" (Davidson 1918:23 1). They also supplemented their income by maintaining their own trap lines (Coues 1897:132-133), and by trading in their own right with Indians (Davidson 1918:230). Given that private traders at Fort William, such as Boucher, fixed their prices to be consistent with that of the NWC, it is uncertain whether the voyageurs realized much of a profit from furs disposed of at Fort William. The men's purchases were not for their exclusive use, but were used to support their families as well. The quantity of goods needed is evident in comments recorded by Davidson (1918: 230) that upwards of 700 Indian women and children were housed and fed at company expense. The majority of these women and children composed the families of the labourers and clerks of the company, and would have been clothed and equipped at the men's expense. It must be interjected that, while officers with both companies bemoaned the quantity of food consumed by supposed "hangers on", these women and children contributed very significant economic benefits to the trade that are largely unrecognized in the journals and account books (Hamilton 1990). Another economic factor affecting the NWC transportation system was the tariff on goods which varied depending upon the final destination. In 1785 Joseph Frobisher estimated that the transportation costs of goods conveyed on the Ottawa River route was in the order of 20% of the value of the cargo of each canoe. In the case of provisions and articles of small value, the cost of transporting a 100 lb pack over the Ottawa River route was between 50 to 60 livres, while all the way to Grand Portage cost 80 to 90 livres (Davidson 1918:212). A more telling indication of both the rate of goods markup and the considerable transportation costs is provided in the 1802 agreement involving the means of settling accounts upon the retirement of a partner. ...That goods at the Grand Portage shall be accounted for at the rate of twenty five per cent on the Montreal costs and advances, those at every other post in the North west, except English River and parts beyond [ie the Churchill River and beyond], at the rate of fifty-seven per cent on the cost and advances of the Grand Portage, those of the English River and posts beyond it at the rate of ninety per cent on the cost and advances of the Grand Portage; And as the present concern have in view to extend their posts to other and more distant parts of the North West, towards the Rocky Mountains and beyond them, the charge on goods at all such Posts shall be regulated according to the expense of sending them thither when known. It is however understood and agreed that whenever it shall be found from experience that the expense of carrying goods to the Grand Portage or into the Indian Country or Interior Country shall increase or diminish, a new tarif shall be made out accordingly it being the intention that young men succeeding to shares shall pay no more for such goods than their true cost. That all debts due by Guides, Men and Interpreters shall be accounted for at one third of their amount, the debts of the Clerks at their full value ... (Masson 1960:II pp 477, emphasis mine).

This agreement was drawn up by the shareholders expressly to determine an equitable procedure for retiring old partners without taking advantage of new ones. As such we may consider it to provide a close approximation of the costs of transportation. Using this agreement, the markup on an hypothetical package of goods valued at •’100 is illustrated in Table 11.

Table 11 The transportation-related tariff markup on NWC goods. 2 markup advanced value Montreal cost 100 Grand Portage cost 25% •’125 From Grand Portage to Churchill River 125 57% •’196.25 Beyond Churchill R. 125 90% •’237.5 Beyond Rocky Mtns 125 ? ?

These calculations indicate that goods were priced at nearly double their Montreal value beyond Grand Portage. Since the Shareholders were prepared to absorb at least two third's of their employees' accumulated debts, this supports the allegations that the NWC attempted to recover its transportation costs by overcharging its employees. A schedule of tariff rates attached to the 1804 minutes of meetings at Fort William (Wallace 1934:197) also indicates that the tariff costs not only varied with the distance travelled, but also with the kinds of goods imported (Table 12). These transportation costs were staggering, primarily due to the salaries of the numbers of labourers needed along the transportation system. Even the percentages presented in Table 12 do not make the magnitude of the markup clear, since those for inland stations were based not on the Montreal Standard, but rather, on the value at Grand Portage. The percentage markups listed above were re-calculated on the assumption that each category of goods was valued at •’100each, for a total value of •’600 at Montreal. The resultant markup of value is presented in Figure 46. As Figure 46 indicates, the initial •’600investment in Montreal, was valued at •’738 at Fort William, but sharply rose to approximately •’1,800 for posts immediately west of Lake Superior (Lac La Pluis, the Red River, Fort I3auphin and the Lake Winnipeg regions), •’2,200 for the Fort Des Prairie posts (Saskatchewan River), and •’2,600 in the Athabasca River Department. Again, no calculations are available for the even more distant New Caledonia and Columbia regions, but one expects that they were larger than the Athabasca markup.

Table 12 The 1804 Tariff Structure of the NWC at Batchiwina, Michipicoton and the Pic, 20% advance on the cost at Montreal of all Goods imported without distinction of pieces: At Kamanistiquia, 23 % advance on the Montreal Cost of all Goods without reserve. Departments ABCDEFG Dry Goods, bales, cassettes, cases guns, knives, hats, andbasketsofkettles...... 26 45 45 60 65 70 80 Percentadvance Tobacco ...... 65 105 105 150 155 175 210 on the cost and Gunpowder ...... 53 90 90 125 130 140 170 advance to Fort High Wines ...... 130 210 210 305 310 350 420 William of the Shot and Ball ...... 167 375 375 350 360 400 490 different classes Iron Works ...... 105 130 130 165 170 190 230 ofgoods NB the foregoing goods assorted average ...... 55 87 87 112 113 123 130 %onthecostand advance above specif. And the average freight of each piece indiscriminately is ...... 4.5 7.5 7.5 10.75 11.0 12.25 14.8 & Halifax currency

A Fond du Lac Dept and its dependencies B Nipigon Dept. C Lac la Pluie, Lac Ouinipigue, Upper and Lower Red River and Fort Dauphin Depts. D Forts des Prairies or the Riviere Opas Depts. E English River and dependencies F Upper Athabasca River G Athabasca and dependencies

These markups are important in providing some quantitative measure of the tremendous costs of conducting trade in the Athabasca department; an area encompassing the Mackenzie, Athabasca and Peace River drainage basins. It is expected that these costs dramatically affected the nature of commodities transported to these distant posts. For example, perishable and relatively light weight items such as dry goods, small tools, tobacco and even gunpowder were the most cost effective materials to transport inland. The heavy and bulky goods such as alcohol, lead ammunition and "ironworks" were increasingly marked up, reflecting the transport costs (Figure 46). However, the strategic role of these materials in the trade, particularly in light of intensive competition in most departments, forced the company to transport large quantities of all materials inland every year in spite of the great cost. Many inland men appear to have sought to minimize the costs of equipment by limiting their purchases of high priced goods at the inland stations, and buying most of their needs while at Fort William (HBCA, PAM, F.4122, 27, 28). Thus, they avoided significant markups by conveying the goods inland as their own baggage. Many men also stocked up on goods every other year, so that during one year they would purchase goods valued at more than their. annual salary, but the next year would purchase considerably less (Table 13).

mont Batch Ft Will A B C D E F G iron works shot and ball high wines gunpowder Tobacco Dry Goods

While the markups were very high, one must remember that the NWC incurred very high costs in conveying goods inland by canoe over extremely long and dangerous water routes. It also faced the costs of warehousing, packing and shipping goods through Lower Canada with all of the requisite duties, inspections and permits. The markups on goods is telling on two counts. First, the company faced huge financial costs in the operation of the trade, and was prepared to charge their employees at least the full cost of the goods plus transportation. Second, this is contrary to the attitude of the HBC that seems to have viewed subsidized equipment prices as a benefit of inland service.

THE COMPARATIVE LOT OF HBC AND NWC LABOURERS Some data are available with which to measure the relative lot of the labourers of both companies, However these data are not directly comparable due to incomplete document survival. Table 7 records the costs of commodities purchased by HBC men between 1793 and 181 1. It summarizes the commodities sought, and the comparatively stable prices charged throughout this period of high wartime inflation in Europe. The summary of the costs charged by the NWC in 1820 forms an interesting point of contrast (Table 14)2. While it is expected that some of the discrepancy between the HBC and NWC rates reflect nine years of inflation between 1811 and 1820, this is likely minimal since the wartime economy of Great Britain was seriously depressed at this time by the defeat of Napoleonic France and the end of the War of 18 12 (Marshall 1973: 8 1,231). Since Great Britain was the primary supplier for both companies, we can expect that they purchased goods at similar rates.

Table 13 NWC Labourers who "staggered" their annual purchases of equipment (from HBCA, PAM, 5M7)

Jean Bap. Francois Louis Pierre - Cartier Desmarrais Ettier Gardipie Jeanvenne Balance Fonvard -182 -506 2 -1160 -306 18 12 wages 400 400 400 450 purchase 467 410 429 546 % purchases/wages 117 10 3 107 121 18 13 wages 400 400 400 450 purchase 425 195 316 221 % purchases/wages 10 6 49 79 49 18 14 wages 400 500 400 450 purchase 181 195 116 9 % purchases/wages 45 39 29 2 18 15 wages 400 500 400 450 purchase 361 548 63 613 % purchases/wages 90 110 16 136 1816 wages 400 500 400 450 350 purchase 526 574 25 7 234 418 % purchases/wages 132 115 64 52 119 18 17 wages 400 500 500 350 purchase 27 576 133 257 % purchases/wages 7 115 27 73 1818 wages 350 500 500 3 50 purchase 137 309 495 48 % purchases/wages 39 62 99 14 1819 wages 300 500 500 purchase 599 42 441 lo66 % purchases/wages 200 8 88 18 20 wages 400 600 500 600 purchase 249 602 605 192 % purchases/wages 62 10 0 121 32 18 2 1 wages 400 500 500 650 ~urchase 319 Values Livres, (rounded off)

* The values of NWC goods are re-calculated to pence Sterling to provide a basis of comparison. The HBC values represent averages over 20 years to account for price increases. In situations were it is likely that the items are virtually identical, both HBC and NWC costs are provided in the same row. Otherwise, similar items are grouped together to provide a convenient means of comparison. Table 14 illustrates that the NWC labourers paid much more than HBC labourers for essentially the same goods. Many of the items, particularly clothing and textiles, are in the order of three times more expensive than those available to the HBC men. No doubt the HBC men of the post-retrenchment era paid more for their goods, but it is unlikely that these costs approached that paid by the NWC men. Clearly the financial lot of the NWC labourers was not as attractive as their high salaries would suggest. On average, Table 14 indicates that HBC labourers paid between 30% and 50% of the prices charged NWC labourers. However, some NWC commodities were even more expensive. These latter materials include recreational goods such as alcohol and tobacco and small tools (Table 14). The high prices on frequently purchased luxury items such as tobacco and alcohol, as well as necessities such as as gunflints and knives, were sure to result in the recovery of much of the NWC payroll (Table 14). Again, this is in marked contrast to the more paternalistic strategy of the HBC, and likely contributed greatly to the social tension between the ranks of the NWC. Why did NWC labourers allow themselves to be placed in such a situation? Why did they acquire and transport large quantities of personal goods inland? At one level the popular image of the improvident voyageur, whose life involved arduous physical la6our interspersed with rough and boisterous good times (Nute 1972; Coues 1897) appears appropriate. However, the stereotype of the simple Canadian peasant who was only concerned with the immediate future is rather one dimensional. Like the HBC labourers, these men likely had personal agendas which were quite rational in their eyes. Part of this rationality is reflected by the officially sanctioned, and later clandestine private trade in furs. Quite probably some of the goods purchased and conveyed inland by the labourers were intended for this private trade. Like many of the senior HBC labourers, the NWC labourers maintained families in the interior, and their annual purchases reflect the needs of wives and families. With such familial responsibilities, labourers might have had little choice but to place themselves in debt in order to clothe their dependents. Finally, the high debt load of the average NWC labourer also served as a means of preventing dismissal from the service. That is, the NWC might have been reluctant to release a man who owed them several thousand livres, and might choose to continue his employment in the hope of recovering some of that debt. In sum, it is clear that the lot of the NWC labourers was not as enviable as their comparatively high salaries would suggest. Allegations of financial exploitation of these labourers, the limited prospects for social mobility for French Canadian clerks and labourers, and the tensions apparent between the ranks, all support the argument that maintenance of authority was sometimes a problem. It is in this context that I wish to Table 14 Equi ment costs 1 and NW IT~M NWC 100 ITEM NWC HBC IHBCINWCX ITEM -unit NWC HBC ~HBCINWCX 100 clothing- foodstuff textile beads, blue 2 16.05 chocolate 108.03 tobacco, plugs 36.01 beads, coloured 324.08 sugar 54.0 1 calico, coarse yds 144.04 beads, common sugar, brown cloth beads, round white 2 16.02 sugar, loaf cloth blue, plain Y d breeches, blue cloth tea 288.07 cloth, blue fine yd 405.10 breeches, blue serge tea, bohea cloth, blue, corded Y d breeches, corderoy tea, hyson cloth, red corded yd trowsers, blue cloth household cloth, red fine yd 405.10 trowsers 216.05 blanket, embossed flannel Y d 144.04 trowsers, cloth 468.11 blanket, stripped 2.5 pt linen Y d 90.02 trowsers, corduroy 468.11 blanket, strip ed 3 pt tool trowsers, cotton blankets 1 118 points Russia sheeting yd 2 16.05 trowsers, cotton, stripped blankets 1 point unflints 4.5 trowsers, duck blankets 2 points f nife trading trowsers, fine corduroy 576.14 blankets 3 points knife, best polished trowsers, Russia sheeting 216.05 blankets, 2 112 points knife, clasp 72.02 canot. blanket 468.12 blankets, stripped knife, crooked 54.01 capot; cloth 720.18 glasses, oval gilt knife, fine 90.02 capot, maltin 2.5 ells 270.07 needles $02 scissors 54.0 1 capot, maltin, 3 ells 324.08 needles, common doz scissors tailors jacket, blue serge pins, 1 paper scissors, common jacket, cloth no 4 thread, fine oz scissors, large 108.03 jacket, cloth no 5 personal scissors, med 72.02 jacket, cloth no 6 combs, horn scissors, shop 90.02 ~acket,lined combs, ivory Average goods cost for I ICI labourers compared to NWC labourers 95 lacket, red ser e razor These values reflect e percentage ofL HBC costs relative to NWC costs jacket, unline Lf razor, single case shawl no 1 razors, case of 2 + strop values are recalculated to Pence Sterlin shawl no 2 recreation Original NWC values in GP livres, HB 8 values in & Sterling shawl no 3 soap lb shawl no 5 brandy gal * underlined values represent the average % difference shawl no 6 brandy, french gal within each goods class shawl, cotton rum pint shawl, mid 216.05 tobacco box shawl, small silk 216.05 tobacco box, jap'd shawl, large 270.07 tobacco box, steel shawls, small 180.05 tobacco box, tin shirt, calico, adults 324.08 tobacco pipe, clay do2 shirt, calico, bo s tobacco, carrot shirt, calico, in? ants tobacco, cut lb shirt, calico, youths shirt, cotton 216.05 shirt, flannel 216.05 shirt, plain white shirt, white linen shoes, coarse shoes, fine shoes, child's 144.04 shoes, military 216.05 shoes, oxhide 108.02 shoes, women's 180.05 handkerchief, bandanna handkerchief, blk silk 2 16.05 handkerchief, cotton 180.05 hat, coarse 270.07 hat, fine 540.14 explore the role of material culture in the maintenance of the authority and status of the officers, particularly junior clerks placed in charge of smaller wintering stations. Given the enormous costs of transportation, we can assume that some transportation induced limitations were placed upon luxury items which might have served as conventional icons of social position. The next chapter explores the NWC records to determine whether certain kinds of material culture are consistently associated with specific ranks. If so, it can be proposed that these commodities aided in the non-verbal communication of rank within the NWC. Chapter 7 RANK AND GOODS CONSUMPTION IN THE NWC

This chapter addresses variation in goods purchasing between the ranks in the NWC, and then turns to variation in goods sought by men stationed in different departments. This demonstrates that men of one rank sought out some kinds of commodities not purchased by men of other ranks in all departments. These distinctions in purchases likely formed part of the symbolization of status and authority which appears to have been an important element of life in the NWC. While such symbolization of status was important, several other factors contributed to purchase decisions made by the men. Two such considerations are the location of the winter station, and whether individual men supported a wife and family. The rationale for rank-specific distinctions in modes of dress, differential access to food, and food service goods is also more fully explored. Finally, the chapter concludes by addressing the question whether these material culture distinctions can be expected to be archaeologically visible, particularly in the small wintering outposts.

VARIATION IN PURCHASING BETWEEN THE RANKS In this section I first identify differences in purchasing patterns between the labourers and officers, and then determine whether labourers based in different departments purchased different sorts of goods. Various NWC equipment books dating to 1820 are available th~oughthe Hlxdson's Bay Company Archives. The documents list the equipment purchases by labourers in the Red RiverILake Ouinipique (or Winipic) department (HBCA, PAM, F.4122), Athabasca ~e~artmentllabourers' purchases at the Lac la Pluis depot (HBCA, PAM, F.4129), and clerks' and partners' purchases at Fort William (HBCA, PAM, F.413 1). A sample comprising approximately 30% of each group was selected2. The values of goods purchased by these three groups are re-calculated from Grand Portage Livre and & Halifax into Pence Sterling in order to provide a standard unit of measure. Before turning to these data, it should be pointed out that the complex sliding scale of tariff rates used by the North West Company is difficult to interpret. This sliding scale is illustrated in Table 15. Eighty types of frequently purchased goods were selected for consideration. Surprisingly, the Red River men appear to have generally paid marginally more for goods than the Athabasca men. While it was initially thought that the Red River equipment book listed goods acquired while at Fort William, I am no longer certain of this. If, indeed, these purchases were made at Fort William, then they should have been less

It is suspected that some "Forts des Prairie" or Saskatchewan River men also purchased goods at Lac la Pluis. The men's accounts were sampled by selecting every fifth man. Table 15 The Sliding NWC Tariff Rate (recalculated to the nearest pence sterling) Red Lac la Officer's River Pluis Purchases Cost labour labour differences rnM -unit 3.1 unit p.1 unit 1.1 unit LabIOff % Clothing Belt, NW scarlet no 648 135 3 52 Bonnet, child's beaver 324 180 144 Capot, Blanket 468 276 130 Handkerchief, black silk 264 58 332 Handkerchief, cotton no. 180 49 308 Hat common wool no 360 79 318 Hat, child's fine no 270 113 210 Hose, women's (white) Pr. 170 40 171 Hose, worsted Pr 162 32 480 Shawls, small, cotton no. 216 20 786 Shirt, cotton, fine no 324 77 339 Shirts, calico fine 324 80 324 Shirts, flannel common 216 Shoes, Imported 360 171 160 Shoes, military Pr 270 Trousers, corduroy fine Pr 540 177 252 Trousers, corduroy, corn. Pr. 461 140 267 Trousers, Russia sheeting Pr 216 Vest Swansdown no 468 119 302 Domestic Bells, table no. 216 Blanket, embossed no. 8 10 301 216 Blanket, stripped 3 pt 576 223 207 Looking giass, ovai gilt 108 *AI* 533 Soap Ib. 7 1 8 7 2 0 Food Bread and 112 lb butter loaf 135 Bread, 1 loaf 108 22 400 Bread,l loaf, 1 lb pork 162 Chocolate lb 108 16 267 Flour lb 2c 5 546 Prunes lb 72 8 379 Raisins lb 72 9 334 Sugar lb. 54 13 171 Tea lb 288 62 186 Recreation Rum pint 180 9 1600 jew's harps 18 1 1368 playing cards pack 108 11 400 Shrub pints 216 12 1410 Tobaccco, carrot 324 tobacco Ib 108 22 200 tobacco box, jappaned 108 19 457 tobacco box, steel no 96 Tobacco pipes, clay no 5 Pers. Orn ments Beads, corn. b. ?.J lb 216 32 268 Beads, common rod white Ib 216 29 300 Beads, red lb 110 Crosses, silver 2 Ear bob, small ' pr 4 Feathers, Foxtail, black no 49 Garnets, mock mnc 13 h Hat cords, tinseled no 8 Hat cover no 42 Rings, metal no. 0 Rings, silver no. 7 Vermillion lb 7 1 Personal Comb, horn no. 8 Comb, ivory no. 14 Razor case of 2 94 Textiles Calico, common yds Calico, fine fath 24 Calico, furniture fath 27 Cloth, #2 green fath 277 Cloth, blue #2 fath 324 corduary, fine fath 73 Corduroy, common fath Cotton, common fath 54 Cotton, fine fath 65 Cotton, printed fath 46 Russia Sheeting fath 72 Strouds fath 178 Ribbon, #6 fath 10 Ribbon, #9 fath 15 Tfiread lb 80 Thread Coloured lb 52 Tools G~flirns no Needles no 0 Pins PV 30 Portage sling no. Scissors, med. Pr. Scissors, sm. Pr Scissors,large Pr. 16 average difference Frequency distribution of Percent Markups I100 % 2 101 to 300 % 28 301 to 500 % 25 501 to 700 % 2 2 700 % 6 costly than goods at Lac la Pluis. Since the majority of items cost more, they probably represent purchases in the Red River Department (located to the west of Lac la Pluis), and reflect slightly higher price markups. Also of uncertain meaning are debit entries for "Orders on Shop" and "sundries in the defence". Of the documents examined, only the Red River account books include these entries. Perhaps they reflect orders sent in to Fort William by men summering in Red River. As the NWC was responsible for making up their orders and transporting them with the canoe brigade, these extra charges and higher tariff rates were added on. Interestingly, commonly purchased items such as shirts, rough work trousers, blankets, bread, alcohol, hat cords and hat covers are priced the same at Lac la Pluis and Red River (Table 15). Very dramatic distinctions are apparent between the costs of goods charged to the labourers and those charged the clerks and partners (Table 15). These latter prices reflect a base price to which a tariff of 25% or 100% was added. Even with the tariff added, the officers paid much less than the average price charged the labourers. The 100% tariff charge was on goods purchased by the estates of deceased officers for the support of the man's survivors (HBCA, PAM, F.4/31). An additional 7.5% tariff was charged for purchases made in the inland. Assuming an average 25% markup on officers' purchases, it is apparent that labourers paid an average of 378% more for goods than officers (Table 15). Some commodities were offered to the labourers at particularly high rates, such as small shawls, soap, rum, shrub3 ,jew's harps and needles (Table 15). The very high markup on alcohol, 14.1 to 16 times higher than that charged the officers, is particularly noteworthy. Such a high markup was a very effective means of recovering much of the payroll costs due to the volume of alcohol consumed by the labourers. While these very high markups are dramatic, the markup of 300% and 400% on the frequently purchased ready made clothing and textiles was likely a much more effective means of recovering the payroll costs. Indeed, these clothing purchases form over 60% of labourer's purchases (Tablel6). The average purchases of the three groups of NWC men are presented in Table 16. The Red River men acquired higher average values of goods than the Athabasca men. Interestingly, all three groups of men contain some individuals who purchased a low total value of goods. This indicates that, while the majority of NWC men were comparatively extravagant, some were as frugal as the Orcadian labourers of the HBC. As there is only one year's record of purchases, it cannot be determined whether this represents genuine frugality, young unattached men with limited needs, men who "staggered" their major purchases in alternate years, or individuals who were saving their money pending a return to Lower Canada. In Table 16, the purchases made by these men are divided into a series of general taxonomic categories that include clothing, domestic items, foodstuffs, gaming and recreational items, personal ornamentation, personal items, textiles, and tools. These

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Shrub is a "prepared drink made with the juice of orange or lemon (or other acid fruit), sugar and rum (or other spirit).

170 generic categories contain a wide range of items purchased by the three groups. Variation in the purchases of these categories is illuminating. Table 16 Variation in the total value of Equipment categories purcha5 d by NWC men. Red ~iver Clerks and Labc rers Labourers Partr rs n=66 % of n=40 % of n=31 % of Pence tot val. Pence -tot val. Pence tot val. Total value of Purchases )58,7(i8 183,709 237,641 average per man 5,436 4,593 - 7,666 ? 1,242 234 75 6 0.32 Clothing 116,784 64,43 8 31,883 13.42 Domes tic 9,857 5,923 12,483 5.26 Food 9,776 4,668 44,943 18.92 GameIRec., alcohol 24,594 22,272 3,006 1.27 Miscel. 432 1,332 48 0.02 Personal Ornamentation 14,701 4,591 4,579 1.93 Personal 8,461 5,383 10,742 4.52 Textiles 124,063 62,386 65,411 27.54 Tools 4,623 1,823 1,158 0.49 Order on shop and sundries in defence 44,235 Sundries Inland 5,160 2.17 bills in debit 10,659 15,471 6.5 1 Markup on goods 41,902 17.64

costs recalculated to Pence Sterling.

While the average value of goods purchased by labourers was between 60% and 70% of that of the officers, the low prices charged the officers assured the latter a much greater volume of goods for their money. There is considerable variation in the total value of each general type of goods purchased by these three categories of men. Since the prices charged varied with rank and winter station, the purchases by each group of men cannot be directly compared. In Table 16, the total value of each category of goods puchased by each of the three groups of men was calculated, and then the proportion which that type contributed to the total was calculated. For example, 32.55% of the total value of purchases made by the Red River men were articles of clothing, while the value of the Athabasca men's clothing represented 35.08% of their total purchases (Table 16). Table 16 indicates that labourers expended about one third of the value of their total purchases on clothing; officers but 13.42%. The proportions represented by textile purchases are also interesting in that the Red River and Athabasca men spent 34.94% and 32.73% respectively, and the officers expended 27.54% (Table 16). However, the sliding tariff rates obscure the fact that the officers were less interested in ready-made clothing and

171 bought a great deal of textiles destined to be processed into tailored clothing. This emphasis on tailored clothing is also apparent in the purchase of assorted buttons by the officers (HBCA, PAM, F.4/22, 27, 28, 30, 62). These items, plus the large value of sewing supplies, also reflect the activities of the wives of the officers in producing clothing for their families. The propensity of the officers to purchase textiles is also apparent in Table 17 which summarizes the per capita purchases of a number of commodities. Particularly important is the per capita purchase quantities of shawls, shirts, trousers, foodstuffs, fine calico, and high quality cloth, including #2 blue, green and brown cloth, blue list cloth and fine cotton (Table 17). The labourers consistently purchased larger amounts of coarse, ready-made clothing suited to their work role, such as common cotton and flannel shirts, and corduroy and "russia sheeting" trousers (Table 17). Officers tended to buy higher quality fine calico shirts, fine blue cloth trousers, and substantially more of the better quality textiles (Table 17). The labourers bought larger per capita amounts of common cotton, corduroy, and strouds4 (Table 17), again consistent with their income and work role. Despite this pragmatism, the labourers also spent a large proportion of their salaries on goods which added colour and extravagance to their clothing and outfits (Tables 15 and 17). Some examples include assorted silk handkerchiefs, coloured feathers, tinseled hat cords, hats, hat covers, and shoes. Interestingly, officers also purchased many of these items, either to supply themsleves, their families and Indian associates, or to offer gratuities to their complement of labourers (Table 17). The volume of goods destined to be consumed by the families of the men is also of interest. The documents list purchases of expensive items, such as child's beaver bonnets, shawls, women's and children's hose, hats, and shoes, large quantities of ribbon and assorted domestic items such as cooking vessels, looking glasses, scissors, pins, needles, beads, combs and gartering. Unmarried labourers might purchase some of these domestic items, but the volume and nature of these goods purchased reflects the presence of women and children. Some of these family-related items are summarized in Table 18. The listings of Red River labourers' and officers' purchases of family-related items were much higher than those for the Athabasca men. This suggests that fewer Athabasca men had families than occurred with the other two groups. Probably as a function of the remoteness of the Athabasca region, the labourers would have had fewer opportunities to establish long-term domestic relationships with women. It also reflects the larger Mktis population of the

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, stxouds are a coarse cotton cloth commonly used to produce rough work clothing and outer wear. Table 17 Per Capita purchases of the three groups of NWC men L 1 Pluis ted River L 1 Pluis Xed River Officers Labourers Labourers Officers Labourers Labourers n=31 n=40 n=66 n-3 1 n=40 n=66. U- nit jer capit per capita per capita & per capitz per capita per capita GamesIHecreation capot, molton,Clothin? 2 e 1s 0.03 0.41 jew's harps 1.52 0.10 handkerchief, blk silk, lrg 0.32 0.15 rum 3int 1.02 0.39 ribbon, #6 f ath 0.53 0.95 shrub mt 0.52 0.40 ath 0.42 0.46 tobacco lb 0.19 0.45 0.23 tobacco, carrot 1.20 0.68 tobacco, plug 0.08 shawls, small 0.65 0.44 Personal ornaments shirts, flannel common 0.25 feathers, fox 0.94 0.18 shirts, cotton common 0.06 0.30 hat cords, tinsel 1.77 0.38 shirts, calico fine 0.55 0.15 Hat cover 0.65 0.28 shirts, cotton fine 0.03 0.43 rings, plain 2.84 shirts, flannel fine 0.10 rings, silver 1.90 shirts, furniture cloth vermillion lb 0.10 trowsers, blue list 0.03 0.2 1 comb, horn 0.35 0.23 trowsers, cordoroy boys 0.03 comb, ivory 114 0.26 0.03 trowsers, common cloth soap 9d per lb lb 3.59 1.39 trowsers, corduroy fine 0.03 0.15 soap, white ake! 2.16 trowsers, corduroy, com. 0.03 0.13 Textiles trowsers, fine blue cloth 0.13 calico, common Fath trowsers, russia sheeting 0.20 calico, fine Fath 2.52 0.48 Domestic Items calico, furniture Fath 0.09 blanket, 3 pt 0.02 cloth #2 ? Fath 0.05 blanket, 4 pt cloth, #2 blue hth 1.46 0.10 blanket, embossed 0.13 0.02 cloth, #2 brown Fath 0.66 0.06 blanket, plain 1.5 pt 0.06 cloth, blue #2 hth 0.30 blanket, plain 2.5 pt 0.03 0.02 cloth, blue list Fath 0.93 0.05 blanket, plain, 2 pt 0.16 cloth, drab Fath 0.13 0.0 1 blanket, stripped 2.5 pi 0.iO cloth, green, #2 Fath 0.52 0.15 blanket, stri ped 3 pt 0.16 cloth, grey 1114 Fath 0.12 0.04 Pood cloth, scarlet, #2 Fath 0.05 0.06 Chocolate lb 0.84 0.02 cloth, sea? Fath 0.06 coffee I lb 0.10 corduary common Fath corn 'ag 0.52 corduary, fine Fath 0.10 figs lb 0.94 cotton, common Fath 0.16 0.50 flour 1% 0.39 0.02 cotton, fine Fath 1.44 0.3 1 flour lbs 1.65 1.52 cotton, fine printed 2/2 'a th 0.54 grease reg 0.15 cotton, fine stripped 'ath 0.62 lb 0.64 flannel, blue -a th 0.39 0.1 1 Ese lb 0.45 flannel,gartering white 'ath 0.74 mustard lb 0.05 roll 0.08 0.03 pepper lb 0.10 0.01 gartering, highland 'ath 0.89 0.61 pork reg 0.10 linen, Irish 'ath 0.23 pork lb 3.22 0.1 1 Russia sheeting, white Bth 0.63 prunes lb 2.16 0.02 sheeting, Bro? 'a th 0.05 raisins lb 7.71 0.24 strouds, common 'ath 0.23 1.45 sugar ceg 0.27 thread coloqred lb 0.34 0.09 sugar lb 3.52 0.02 thread nun's 02 0.32 sugar, brown reg 0.03 thread, M? 02 0.03 sugar, loaf 2 gal keg reg 0.03 thread, stitching lb 0.05 0.1 1 tea, green lb 0.98 0.02 Tools tea, hyson lb 1.94 needles, common 24.5 8 2.65 pins, paper ape] 0.55 0.06 thimble, brass 0.84 thimble, steel top Id 0.23 RedIAssiniboine River basin, whereby a greater number of families with daughters of marriageable age were supported within the posts. Marriages of these women to company employees greatly increased the "dependent" population within the posts. One of the most dramatic discrepancies between purchasing patterns for the labourers and officers is the high proportion of food associated with the latter. Table 16 indicates that 18.9% of the value of the officer's purchases were foodstuffs, while the labourers only expended 2 to 3%. This discrepancy is even more apparent in Table 17 where the per capita estimates of specific kinds of these goods are tabulated. It should be pointed out that the sole purchase of food by the Lac la Pluis labourer group is flour. This entry consists of one man who purchased a 50 lb bag of flour, thereby skewing the per capita estimates upwards. The high food purchases by the officers reflect bulk purchases of flour, corn, grease, tea, coffee, chocolate, dried fruit, spices and salted meat (Table 17). This volume of goods would serve to supplement the allowance of foodstuffs used to stock the officers' private larder over the winter. The labourers, on the other hand, were more concerned with the purchase of loaves of bread, butter and pork for immediate consumption at the rendezvous. These immediately consumed foods were purchased at high rates (Table 15) from the cantine. A few Red River men made purchases of storable foods such as flour, dried fruit, tea, coffee, sugar and spices, but the Athabasca men had no interest in these commodities (Tables 15 and 17). The category of "gameslrecreation" includes playing cards, jew's harps, rum and shrub, tobacco, tobacco boxes and clay pipes. Only 1.27% of the officers' purchases are represented by such commodities, while the Athabasca and Red River men expended 12.13% and 6.86% respectively on these goods (Table 16). The officers were not interested in such materials as carrot tobacco, but consumed tobacco in cut or snuff form (Table 17). Much of the total value of the labourers' purchases are represented by rum or shrub for immediate consumption and carrot tobacco. Given the means of dispensing the alcohol by the pint or quart, I assume that it was immediately consumed, while the tobacco might have been smoked at the rendezvous, or transported inland to provide a supply for the upcoming winter. The Athabasca men's high consumption of recreational goods is primarily represented by tobacco (Table 17) .

MATERIAL CULTURE AND NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION Archaeological deposits in all of their diversity provide a range of information that can be interpreted in many different ways. One such class of information important in this analysis involves consideration of the symbolic content of the objects that transcended the Table 18 Family related Purchases made by NWC men Red River L 1Phis init ; Officer I Labourer Labourer p;~ := 66 I= 40 peT - ca ita 1 uant. cpsa ita pant. camta clothing chocolate 116 bonnet irl's coffee bonnet,%eaver, grey corn bonnet, child's 2 0.05 figs ! hat, boy's fine no 1 0.03 flour )ags hat, boy's jockey cap flour lbs hat, boy's wool grease hat, chlld's fine ruff hat, child's wool kF hat, iondon beaver mustard hat, london plated no pepper hat, Man's montreal pork hat, man's plated pork hat, woman's fine p'-y?es hat, woman's plated raisins hat, wool sugar hat, youth's fine ruff sugar hose, child worst hose P' sugar, brown hose, men's cotton sugar, loaf 2 gal keg hose, woman's cotton 1 0.02 tea, reen hose, worsted 1 0.0: tea, ayson jacket, bo 's grey cloth per. ornament ribbon, #J yds 39 0.9t beads, barley corn unc ribbon, #6 yds 109 2.7; beads, bright green oz ribbon, #9 yde 140 3.5( Beads, coloured Ib ribbon, hair yde beads, com. b. lb ruff, child's fine beads, corn. rod white Ib ruffs, fine beads, red lb 7 0.11 beads, rod yellow lb shawl, large, cotton Beads, round, white lb. shawls, milarr 5 0.1: Beads, seed 118 unc shawls, small 4 0.1( crosses, silver shawls, small, cotton Ear bob, small 1 0.0: feathers, cock shoes, boy's !ea Pr feathers, fox shoes, child's montreal feathers, ostrich shoes, fisher's pumps garnets nas shoes, plloe? hat band and buckle shoes, imported 1 0.0: hat cords, tinsel shoes, imported Hat cover shoes, men's Can. pumps Pr shoes, men's? rings, plain 1 0.0: rings, silver shoes, military rings, stone shoes, Montreal Pr shoes, oxhide personal shoes, ro a1 lea? blackin , by stick shoes, dllington boots brush, c7 othes brush, shoe shoes, woman's can. pumps 1 0.0: I' shoes, woman's fine soap domestic soap, white bowls, Queensware soap, windsor cassette recreation dishes, tin, small jew's harps kettle copper, .75 lb liquor case kettle, covered copper, 1 Ib playing cards kettle, covered copper 51b rum kettle, tin shrub looking glass, oval gilt snuff trunk, red lea snuff box trunk, small hair spirits food tobacco beef lb tobacco box, jappaned biscuit lb tobacco pipes, clay bread loaf tobacco, carrot butter wine, port butter 11. per lb % functional roles that they served. For example, glass containers and tableware serve specific functional roles in containing substances and permitting their consumption. Glass bottles contain fluids until consumed, either by drinking from the container, or from receptacles specifically designed for the purpose. A range of functionally redundant forms of glass bottles, tumblers, goblets, mugs, and cups serve these purposes. However, a great gulf of meaning exists between the consumption of rum from a tin cup and sherry from a finely decorated glass goblet dispensed from a glass decanter. Subtle and not so subtle signals are transmitted that encode and subsume social information. In this case, the signals of wealth, prestige and status are transmitted on the basis of the nature and costliness of the containers and their contents. These messages serve to both reinforce the perception of self, and to signal to the social universe statements of social position, the significance of an event, and distinction from others. Clearly, objects possess an important symbolic content. It is my contention that the symbolic content of goods and consumption in fur trade sites had important pragmatic considerations involving reinforcement of authority and power. As Sackett (1982; 1986) and Hodder (1986) have independently pointed out, even rather mundane and everyday material culture can retain a symbolic content that is embedded in very subtle manners of use and presentation, and this can vary depending upon the situational context. For example, the mode of dress employed by men of differing rank within the NWC had great variation in meaning. Young clerks might invest much of their salary in acquiring material possessions generally associated with more senior officers. Such displays were calculated to impress. The question is, who was the primary audience for such displays. As the previous discussion of Thomas Nom's difficulties with moving into the officer ranks indicated, wearing distinctive European clothing was an important part of social mobility. Ostensibly, this visual display was calculated to impress the Indian customers with the wealth and social position of the officers. I suspect that it was also used to reinforce the authority of the officer in the eyes of the labourers. Charles McKenzie, a NWC clerk stationed in the Hidatsa villages along the Missouri River in 1806, provides an illuminating view of the role and importance of clothing. While trading and living in the villages, McKenzie writes that he adopted the native mode of dress owing to its comfort, and since it made him less obtrusive. Upon receiving two visiting NWC wintering partners, Alexander Henry the younger and Charles Chaboillez, McKenzie was reproached by his superiors for his dress (Coues 1897:383). McKenzie defensively commented in his journal that he wore Indian dress for comfort and convenience while in the village, and had "no intent of adopting their manners" (Coues 1897:383). This suggests that the European frock coat was designed to signal much more than wealth to the Indians. It suggests that the distinctive officer's clothing served to mark the clerks and officers as 'f "civilized" gentlemen of the company. Failure to wear such clothing was perceived as a denial of social position and responsibility. The senior officers felt that it was important for officers to wear their European frock coats at all times. No such proscription appears to have affected the labourers' dress, with their preference for leggings and breech cloths (Nute 1972). Thus, clothing served as a visual cue of social superiority, and aided in the maintenance of authority. It is also interesting to note that McKenzie overheard several Hidatsa commenting unfavourably on Alexander Henry's rather travel-worn hat, breeches and corduroy top coat, and nine days stubble on his face (Coues 1897:385), compared to the dress uniforms of the officers of the recently departed Lewis and Clark expedition (Gough 1988:xliv citing Thiessen 1980:69-70). Evidently, the Indians were not as easily overawed as the officers liked to imagine. The engagb also used clothing and personal adornment as markers of social position in the informal work-related hierarchy within their rank. The high-status guides, bowsmen and steersmen of the canoe brigades are more commonly and consistently associated with specific items of dress. Styles of hat decoration, and embellishment of shirts and leggings with coloured ribbon differentiated these important men from the common engage's. The use of these social symbols was not formalized as with military uniforms and badges of rank, but social information was implicit in the embellishment. Feathers and hat cords were further marks of distinction. Nute (1972:60) suggests that the wearing of feathers in the hat was considered to be the exclusive perquisite of men who "wintered" in the north west. These marks of distinction are consistent with the high consumption rate of ribbons by all men (Table 18), particularly that of the Athabasca department men who were outfitted at Lac la Phis. She cites other references to suggest that the feathers were calculated to signal the skills mastered by the wearer, which were essential and most fully developed with the steersmen and bowsmen of each canoe.

The voyageurs are engaged, and on the spot, each with a red feather in his hat, and two others, in possession of the steersman, one for the bow, and the other for the stem of the canoe. These plumes in the canoe are intended to indicate that [it] has been tried and found worthy (Nute 1972:17 citing McKenny 1827:199).

This quotation, though rather confusing in its stilted style, suggests that these feathers were considered to be marks of distinction in identifying skilled men making up the canoe brigades. Ordinary voyageurs possessed only one feather each, while the highly skilled bowsman and steersman marked their status with two feathers each. These distinctions in dress were neither formalized or clear cut. However, it appears that informal rank among the labourers was marked by the use of feathers and other embellishments which varied in degree rather than in kind, and are also related to disposable income and career decisions of individual men. For example, an important steersman might have several tinselled hat cords, bands and feathers in his hat while a middleman might have only one cord. Elaboration of the voyageurs' costume differentiated the senior, country skilled men from the common engagb. Such distinctions met with snide ridicule from the gentlemen of the company, for officers operated with different criteria for defining and signalling social position. No doubt, this is the basis of the comments by Alexander Henry the younger regarding the pretensions of the "meadow gentry" and the excessive courtliness of the engage's that was viewed as something beyond the labourers' station in life (Coues 1897: 225, 233, 256). Material symbols of rank operated in dual social systems. We are confronted with what might be termed as the "refined simplicity" of the muted blue, brown or grey frock coats of the gentlemen which early 19th century sketches illustrate as rather severe and plain (Figure 47). The simplicity of muted colour and limited decoration on tailored frock coats, ruffed shirts and plain tall hats serves as a dramatic counterpoint to the elaborate and colourful costume of the senior canoemen5. What might be viewed by the officer as the engage's' garish abandon, consisted of brightly coloured ribbons, elaborately decorated headgear, and gilt epaulettes and hat cords. I should hasten to add that the listings of equipment purchased by the engagks often included quite expensive clothing such as "London Plated" hats, beaver bonnets, and "fisher pumps" (shoes) (Tables 16, 17 and 18). The engage's made purchases which were very expensive, but the embellishment of these items with coloured feathers, hat covers and tinselled hat cords created an effect quite different from the officers'. Figure 47 illustrates an early 1830's sketch of a canoe containing two officers (HBC) and likely a crew of French Canadian and mixed parentage voyageurs. The bowsman or guide in the bow of the canoe is dressed distinctively from the rest6. He wears a long frock coat with a tall, elaborately decorated hat that distinguishes him from the more senior of his passengers. Thus, while the most important voyageurs might possess the

It must be kept in mind that voyageurs did not regularly wear their finery while toiling in the canoes or carrying packs over the portages. Such dress was carefully packed away to be used only upon arrival at an important rendezvous during the summer, or at festive occasions such as the Christmas and New Year season. While daily work clothing likely minimized the obvious distinctions within the voyageur rank, perhaps we can envision the important steersmen retaining at least their top hats and frock coats in daily use (see Figure 47).

In the large freighter canoes, the bowsmen were particularly important given that they were reponsible for working the bow of the canoe around navigational hazards. Furthermore, the highly paid brigade guides would be stationed in the bow of the lead canoe in order to mark out the best channels and portage landings. marks of a gentleman such as a frock coat and a tall beaver hat, the effect is quite different from the restrained or understated "elegance" of the officer. SOCIAL INEQUALITY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE WINTERING OUTPOSTS The institutionalized chain of command dramatically influenced the social identity and allegiance of many people involved in the two principal British trading companies. The social inequalities inherent in these corporate structures were largely related to work role, gender, education, patronagelnepotism and ethnicity. The NWC exhibited considerable segregation between the labourer and officer ranks, with limited social mobility of French Canadian clerks. The NWC had a well-developed system of visual cues used to signal social position. The most prominent of these are the architecture and spatial layout of buildings within the posts, and possession of exotic material culture, primarily clothing, domestic items and foodstuffs. Similar patterns are apparent with the HBC, yet a greater degree of vertical integration of the ranks, and the employee status of the HBC officers resulted in a weaker physical expression of social distinctions. Clearly, work role related social inequality existed in fur trade society. The question remains as to whether the physical manifestations of non-verbal communication of social inequality are detectable in the archaeological record. Measuring the concrete material expressions of social inequality, particularly from an archaeological perspective, is not a straight forward proposition. In addition to the methodological issues to be considered shortly, elements of trade post life confound clear-cut archaeological correlates of social distinctions. The discussion of purchasing patterns on the part of the NWC labourers illustrates that much of their annual salary was used to equip both themselves and their families. To a lesser degree, the high seniority labourers of the HBC also appear to have been relatively heavy consumers of goods. Perhaps these buying patterns resulted in few distinctive material markers between the senior labourers and the lower ranked clerks and traders. While most of the NWC labourers spent the balance of their annual salary on goods, the magnitude of these purchases was affected by the very high price markups. Further, an unmeasurable clandestine trade in goods existed in the hinterland. Well-defined and unambiguous social distinctions divided the participants at the annual NWC rendezvous at Fort William. These distinctions within and between the senior ranks are visible in many aspects of life at Fort William, and they are explicitly reinforced by the architecture, foodways and sliding scale of perquisites based upon rank. The status and authority of the senior ranks, from interpreters and apprentice clerks right up to the partners, were reinforced by these highly visible symbols of rank. This pre-occupation with the privilege of rank was more than mere vanity on the part of the great men of the Company. Rather, displays of social status, conspicuous segregation, and consumption of wealth items served to reinforce the authority of the key figures in an inland trade system vulnerable to social contention. If status display merely reflected self-aggrandizement of the partners, then why were the comparatively minor apprentice clerks, guides and interpreters included in the festive activities at the Great Hall? These latter men held little power and authority compared to the Wintering Partners and Montreal Agents, but they did play a strategic role in the operation of the small outposts of the inland trade system. In effect, status displays at Fort William promoted a sense of social solidarity among the officers of various levels of seniority, and reinforced the authority of junior clerks and senior engage's in charge of wintering posts in the remote hinterland. The internal ranking of the authority figures was also encoded and symbolized by the order of seating in the Great Hall, the nature of accommodations within Fort William, and in the quantities and types of goods carried into the winter stations. With these considerations in mind, the logistical system and enormous transportation costs of the NWC becomes particularly important to the discussion of non-verbal communication of rank. The values of trade goods shipped west from Fort William were marked up from 233% to 433% over their initial Montreal costs (Figure 46). The primary rationale for these markups were the difficulties of inland transport and the labour-intensive nature of the inland system. As the hinterlands expanded westward, and goods were distributed to scores of small wintering stations, transport costs escalated rapidly, and all the trade companies found themselves dangerously over-extended. This was exacerbated as sustained European warfare raised the cost of European goods, increased the costs of transportation and insurance from Europe, and depressed the fur markets. Table 1 makes it clear that the NWC company confronted greater distances of transportation than the HBC. Yet the HBC also faced serious problems, including the scarcity of experienced labourers, the use of heavy wooden boats, and war-induced shortages of goods. All of these considerations suggest that, as the trade expanded westward, as increasingly minor wintering outposts were established, and as the social distance between officers and men grew narrower, the Qterials used to signal status may have became increasingly scarce and "blurred". Further, as the social distinction between the occupants became narrower, the means to signal social position using material culture became increasingly expensive. Following this line of reasoning, we should expect a sharp decline in the recovery of artifacts used to signal and reinforce status differentiation in the small and remote wintering outposts. Yet, the need to signal social position and authority remained important, and perhaps became essential as junior clerks struggled to retain authority over their men. What should we expect to emerge from such situations? Did the clerks continue to signal their social position with material goods, as occurred at Fort William, in spite of the high cost? Was signalling social position and authority with material goods suspended in light of these costs? Did less expensive means of signalling status develop consistent with the rudimentary nature of the posts, and the costs of supplying them? These questions are addressed more fully in the following chapters.

GOODS PURCHASE AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL VISIBILITY Discussion to this point has begged the question as to the archaeological visibility of purchased goods. Unfortunately, most of the material distinctions between the ranks were perishable and will have no visibility in an archaeological assemblage. Of note is the enormous volume of textiles and ready-made clothing. The clasps, buttons and buckles on this clothing are the only items which can be realistically expected to survive. Since the labourers were more inclined to purchase cheaper, ready-made work clothing, we can expect that the fasteners were of lesser quality, with a reduced number of finely decorated or gilded ones. Officers were the major buyers of buttons, especially those of gilded metal for vests and coats, although they also purchased some common ones (Table 17). However, these distinctions are rather dangerous to make given that some labourers purchased costly items such as vests, hats, shoes and so on. Isolated finds of engraved or gilded buckles and buttons may be apparent in both the officers' and labourers' quarters. A more promising avenue with which to explore the issue of status distinction using material culture involves the purchase and use of foodstuffs. The officers purchased significantly more exotic foodstuffs than the labourers. While these goods were perishable, some of the containers will be visible in an archaeological assemblage. For example, bottled alcohol purchased by the officers (wine and spirits) will be represented by fragments of glass containers, while the labourers appear to have purchased their alcohol by the pint from wooden kegs for immediate consumption. No doubt, regals of alcohol in the winter stations were similarly dispensed from kegs to the labourers, while the officers had access to occasional bottles of wine or better quality brandy. The ceramic and glass tableware that were included in the "Gentlemen's baskets", and occasionally supplemented with purchases such as Queensware bowls (Table 17) will be archaeologically visible. Fragile glass and ceramic items were likely curated, but breakage is known to have occurred given the annual @lacement of ceramic and glass pieces in officer's baskets (Taylor 1976:138). Archival documents fail to indicate the use of ceramic and glass tableware by labourers and they, most probably, used bark containers, wood trenchers, and tin or pewter plates and cups. Thus, ceramic and glass tableware may have been exclusively associated with the tables of the officers. These heavy and fragile items, as well as exotic foodstuffs, are more frequently associated with the NWC officer's messes than with the HBC, particularly in the early years of inland trade. Review of the Albany Factory correspondence indicates that the equivalent of the NWC officer's baskets were rare, and possession of one was the object of jealous competition between HBC inland masters. We are concerned to hear that the contents of the canteen sent in 1793 for the use of Mr. D. McKay consisting chiefly of glass and china articles were broken to pieces. The Canteens were purposely sent to Albany for the accommodations of Masters Inland, several articles of less importance sent to Mr. McKay as a compensation for his loss at Snake Fall never reached his hands. We would not willingly impute this to willful neglect or omission but it looks very much like it ... (HBCA, PAM, A.6/15/130,131).

Occasional oblique comments regarding the pretensions of the NWC partners as hosts and gastronomies, and the difficulty which HBC officers had in reciprocating the entertainment on a comparable scale are reported (HBCA, PAM, B+22/a/4/15d).Apparently the NWC officers, particularly the wintering partners, lived a comparatively comfortable life in the interior regional headquarters. Whether the lower ranked clerks were able to maintain a similar level of comfort is not clear in the documents. A comment by James Keith in 1823 regarding George Nelson suggests that even the junior NWC clerks were more elaborately equipped than the HBC officers. After the amalgamation of the NWC and HBC in 1821, Nelson, a clerk of long service in the NWC, was offered employment within the HBC. In a brief and generally favourable review of Nelson's management of the trade at Lac la Ronge, James Keith comments unfavourably on the personal habits of extravagence that he felt Nelson brought with him from the NWC service. In the articles of the mess Mr. Nelson appears to have been pretty much inclined to epicurism; but this is no more than might have been expected from one who has been for some years back at least, accustomed to comparative luxurious living (HBCA, PAM, B.89/a/5/20 as cited by Brown and Brightman 1988:19).

If the "extravagant" habits developed by Nelson are consistent with all men of the officer class of the NWC, then we may assume that at least some of the comforts of the Fort William Great Hall were perpetuated i@ven the smallest of winter stations. We can expect that the officers' consumption of exotic foods and use of imported tableware resulted in the disposal of some distinctive containers. Fragments of tin, lead and copper containers will represent the consumption of chocolate, tea and spices. However flour, corn, preserved meats, grease and dried fruit were likely packaged in wooden kegs, canvas bags, or waterproofed paper containers. One expects that the posts' supply of patent medicines, contained in small glass bottles and vials, was also controlled by the officer responsible for attending to the labourers' medical needs. These medicines were likely dispensed to and disposed of by the labourers in and around their own quarters. The possibility of fewer women and children being attached to the labourers' houses in the more remote regions such as the Athabasca Department also has implications for the intra-site distribution of material goods. If fewer women occupied the labourer's quarters, then we might expect lesser quantities of glass beads, articles of personal adornment and domestic goods than in the officer's quarters. While beads, and brass and silver objects likely decorated some ot the men's clothing, it is unlikely that they actually produced the beadwork. Thus, labourer's quarters that did not contain women and children are likely represented by comparatively few beads lost from clothing, rather than the larger concentrations lost as a result of clothing production and decoration activities. In the situation of only a few women living in the post, perhaps only the officer's quarters will yield evidence of the domestic activities of women. While these women and children are virtually invisible in the archival record, they may dominate the archaeological deposits in the domestic quarters. This is a function of the nature of the activities carried out by these women as they cared for their families, prepared food, and undertook a number of auxiliary economic activities (Hamilton 1990). These women were either native or of mixed parentage who, during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, likely had only limited knowledge of European technology and clothing styles. They might have had access to large quantities of textiles and other domestic goods through their husbands, but we can assume that these materials were prepared and used in fashions consistent with the cultural learning of the women. Clothing was likely constructed in a native fashion and heavily decorated with beads, brass and silver ornaments, and vermillion. Since the primary sustinance was locally derived mammal, fish and fowl flesh, we can expect that it was butchered and prepared in fashions consistent with native culinary practice (Hurlburt 1977; Hamilton 1990). The women and "country skilled" men also were responsible for activities requiring mastery of native technology such as the production of winter footwear, leather outerwear, snowshoes, canoes, nets, bark containers an@": ther materials. Given that these activities occupied much of the women's time, and since many result in the loss or discard of large quantities of materials, we can expect these activities to dominate the archaeological record. Ironically, though the officer might have chosen to appear as a transplanted Anglo-Scots gentleman, his domestic quarters might show very few distinctions from that of the labourers due to the influence of his wife. While luxury foodstuffs and tableware were very important means of symbolizing rank distinctions, it is also likely that these items will have minimal archaeological visibility since they were highly valued and carefully cared for, and will seldom appear in the archaeological record. Thus, while the archival data indicates that material cultural distinctions were apparent between the ranks, it is by no means certain that they will appear as a distinct pattern in the archaeological record. Since these valued ceramic and glass tableware items were fragile, they have the greatest likelihood of being represented archaeologically. However, these materials will be only sparsely represented, and very vulnerable to underrepresentation due to sampling error, or variations in site abandonment processes. The issue of goods curation and archaeological visibility is explored more fully in Chapter 9. The frequency of highly valued ceramic and glass items recovered from a number of sites is reviewed to determine whether their presence is a function of the logistical role of the post, or whether distance from resupply figured more prominently in the distribution.

SUMMARY A note of caution has been offered regarding status distinctions using archaeologically derived material culture. The labourers sporadically purchased fine goods such as shoes, hats and shawls for themselves and their families. They also frequently purchased decorative feathers, tinseled hat cords and epaulettes, and other items of personal clothing adornment. Such dashes of personal decoration may have served as important markers of informal social position within the labourer ranks (Nute 1972). This extravagant clothing and lavish purchasing by the labourers, likely contrasts sharply to the muted elegance of the officers' top hat and frock coat. Again, the question of archaeological visibility figures prominently in these concerns. In the same sense that we distinguish between "refined simplicity" and "gaudy ostentation" in contemporary fashion, so too did 18th century individuals. Simply because a voyageur chose to purchase a fine calico shirt, blue list trousers, a pair of fine Fisher's pumps complete with stockings and a London plated hat, does not suggest that he was moving into a new social realm that was formally recognized by the company. No doubt, '$ possession of these items was Important as a mark of success as an experienced voyageur, but his pretensions of grandeur might well have been the object of amusement and mild ridicule from the officers as he added multiple hat cords and gaudy feathers to his outfit. This is the underlying message in Alexander Henry's words of derision regarding the "Meadow Gentry" under his charge, and the enormous accumulation of possessions by the men and their families, particularly after the acquisition of horses in the Red River region (Coues 1897:226-227). These men had the financial means to purchase a wide array of goods, and the horses and carts necessary to transport these materials from one winter station to another. Such accumulations in even the small outposts would have very profound affects upon the interpretation of archaeological materials from such sites, and emphasizes Hodder's observation that ...Individuals are not duped by the material world. Rather, they make sense of it in terms of their own interests. The same item can mean prestige or ridicule, control or freedom when used in different contexts or when viewed by different people in the same context (Hodder 1985:s-6).

The labourer's possessions were the object of humour, mild contempt and some concern in Henry's perspective. To him, the "kettles, cassettes and other trash" did not reflect the accumulations of a lifetime and the domestic wealth of the household. Rather, the personal belongings distracted the men from efficiently transporting the trade goods of their employer, and seriously limited the efficiency of the NWC operations. To the labourers, particularly senior labourers, possession of a wide array of equipment likely reflected necessary domestic equipment and the small luxuries that they had been able to bestow on their families. An individual's prestige among his fellow labourers probably was greatly augmented by the fact that he had both the means to purchase (for example, a guide's salary) and to transport (his horses) a wide range of personal possessions. What was the object of ridicule in Henry's eyes was the material manifestation of success and high prestige to the labourers. Material culture does not directly provide social position; it serves to signal already established position and power, and aids in bids to establish new status positions. In this light, the tailored clothing of the officer served to reinforce already established authority, while the distinctive hats of the voyageurs may have served to differentiate steersmen from middlemen. Clerks who failed to earn the respect of their labourers and customers would not be respected and obeyed simply because they wore frock coats and drank tea from a ceramic cup. We have the example of the early careers of Thomas Norn, Daniel Harmon and George Nelson to confirm this. However, careful management of an image of gentility and authority, coupled with social isolation, secrecy and external support from other officers could greatly augment the uncertain authority of the most inexperienced of junior clerks. As noted previously, an important element of building this image was based upon the inclusion of the lower ranked clerks and traders with the great men of the company in the comparative opulence of posts such as Fort William. Simply because we recognize that material culture has contextual meaning does not mean that junior officers and ambitious labourers did not seek to reinforce their bid for upward mobility using material goods. In fact, it is expected that these social strategies were frequently attempted, but were not always successful. In this context I turn to the situation of John Sutherland, a HBC employee who entered the service as a labourer in 1778 (HBCA, PAM, A.30/5/56d-57). He was an ambitious young man who eagerly sought promotion, primarily by taking an active part in the westward expansion of the Albany Department. He was involved in the exploration of the forests of northern Ontario, and was "Mad Donald McKayts second in command at Brandon House in 1793 (Hamilton 1985b). He was placed in charge of various HBC operations along the upper reaches of the Assiniboine River for the next ten years, and he eagerly sought to improve his fortunes by using his journals and correspondence to cast light upon his conspicuous exertions on behalf of the HBC. His journals also indicate that he felt overlooked and ignored when promotions were considered because of his low station upon entry to the HBC service, and because he lacked patronage links with the senior officers (HBCA, PAM, B .63/a/ 11 13d- 14). Sutherland was a man eager to make his mark as an officer, and to claim the social prestige of that rank. However, oblique comments in the journals and the correspondence of his superiors tend to undermine the impression of ability and devoted service that Sutherland so carefully tried to instil. While the HBC officers were muted in their written criticism, NWC officers who were in contact with Sutherland felt no need to ignore his failings. Archibald Norman McLeod was particularly vociferous in his journal concerning his dislike of the man. Dec 9 1800 ... Mr. John Sutherland (alias Sugar Royall) came here to pay me a visit accompanied by two of his men, and I made him very drunk, of all the stupid Puppies I ever set eyes on he is the most nonsensical1 and dull Dec 10, 1800 ... Mr. Sugar Royall did no think proper to leave me and I was tormented with his Super Stupid conversation all day ... (Gates 1965: 138). Feb 17, 1801 ... I passed the day with Mr. Sutherland, reading and Sometimes playing at Cards. He says he'll let me have a few Blkts. and a Gun but he can spare no Rum, he having barely sufficient for HIMSELF (Gates 1986:159). March 14, 1801 ... Mr Sutherland from the [Indian] Elbow with 2 of his men came here. I fancy he is come to get the wolves I intend bartering with him. he brought a Gun he intends to sell for wolves. I made him drink the best part of two [quarts] of wine which sett his head a reeling and he surely talked the compleatest jargon of Stupidity and nonsense that ever ignorance and meanness dictated (Gates 1965: 164)

Daniel Harmon, a NWC clerk, was more tempered in his criticism. He seems to have been favourably impressed with Sutherland's wife, but noted that the husband was "a great Drunkard and when in his cups a perfect mad-man" (Harmon 1957:40). These considerations make it clear that no matter how hard Sutherland tried, his personal failings, alcoholism and social background severely limited his personal prestige in the eyes of fellow officers and gentlemen of both major companies. While he spent a considerable portion of his annual salary in purchasing the physical markers of social position (Figure 48), he still lacked full acceptance and respect as an equal among his peers. This chapter has argued that social position was carefully reinforced with consumption of goods, social behaviour and careful maintenance of the perquisites of rank. While we have hints in the archival documents that junior officers used these techniques in the remote interior posts, it remains unclear what the degree of non-verbal communication using material goods actually was. The remainder of the thesis addresses this question by turning to the archaeological recoveries from several trade posts. John Sutherland

- Outpost Master

Year

Figure 48 John Sutherland's Career Profile after HBCA, PAM, A. 16141137 A. 16/5133,82,134 A. 1616158,135 A.16/7/10,119 Chapter 8 PROBLEMS AFFECTING ARCHAEOLOGICAL DATA INTERPRETATION

INTRODUCTION The forgoing chapters have provided a historical overview and interpretive framework for the British-based fur trade between 1780 and 1821. This has addressed work-related social hierarchies, the transportation system, and the logistical structure of the two principal trade companies. At this point I shift direction and address aspects of the fur trade through the archaeological recoveries from fur trade posts; primarily those representing the smallest logistical level of organization. This review examines potential archaeological correlates of work-related social inequality in an effort to determine whether material culture was used to symbolize and reinforce authority at all levels of the North West Company trade system. While I believe that similar patterns are apparent in HBC trade posts, the more integrative nature of the hierarchy in that service likely obscures the distinctions between the ranks. The primary focus of the remainder of this thesis is on NWC trade posts; occasionally reference to specific HBC sites such as Brandon House and Nottingham House will be made, however. This chapter is divided into two parts. First I review some methodological and the~reticdasnects Y of fw trade achazo!ogy. Here serious prnl?lems wit,h_the archaeological data base are identified which confound attempts to elicit social information. Some of these problems result from the nature of archaeological assemblages, some reflect the growing maturity of historic archaeology over the past forty years, and others are the product of the rather simplistic approach which many archaeologists have taken in an examination of the fur trade. In the second part of this chapter I discuss elements of the fur trade which further complicate the search for archaeological correlates of social inequality and the effect of difficult transportation. This discussion serves as a prelude for chapters 9 to 11 which consider elements of the archaeological data base that are sufficient to address the issue of non-verbal symbolization of social inequality.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROBLEMS AND DATA BIASES The archaeological data base recovered from fur trade sites is of limited utility for addressing complex problems such as social inequality. This is a function of the nature of the sites, but also the direction of research at many fur trade posts. This discussion is not intended as a rhetorical diatribe against those undertaking fur trade archaeological studies in

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.\ western Canada. Rather, it reviews weaknesses in the archaeological data that are beyond our control, and identifies some biases that can be corrected in the future. Adam (198 I), in a critical review of western Canadian fur trade archaeology, identified several failings of research efforts dating up to about 1980. I suggest that during the ten years subsequent to this review, few dramatic changes in the direction of research have occured. One of the most serious failings relates to the poor publication record for Canadian fur trade archaeological projects. Of the 53 sites that Adams reviewed, about 144 written references were available. However, only about half of this total were published and readily accessible to other researchers (Adams 1981:40). Of the published reports, 82% were short end-of-season summary reports or small articles, and only 18% were complete descriptive reports (Adams 1981:40). Adams (1981:39-40) reports that critics of fur trade archaeology label much of the research as either "redundant or irrelevant", or both.

The claim of redundancy is based on the fact that archaeologists spend large amounts of time, money and manpower in excavation without extracting information that is new or useful. To carry it further, historians might even suggest that the information recovered was probably available without excavation. The irrelevant charge suggests that most conclusions derived from these excavations have no significance to either the concerns of other researchers or to reality (Adams 1981 :40).

Adams (1981:39-42) summarizes the contents of the more complete reports and a consistent series of themes and approaches are apparent. A substantial proportion of each report reviews the history of the site and region in which it was located, followed by the description of the features and building remains. Most reports also provide a descriptive summary of the recovered artifacts which varies widely in its level of detail. These reports are generally concluded with a short summary consisting of low-level generalizations regarding the nature of the artifact assemblage and the historical and anthropological significance of the site in question. My review of much of the same literature leads me to concur with Adams' comments that a majority of this research can be labelled as redundant and perhaps even irrelevant. Adams concludes his study with a brief review of new directions apparent in a few research efforts dating to the late 1970's. Ten years after Adams' observations I find it particularly interesting to observe that the stimuli for many of the new research directions continue to be from social historians, ethno-historians and economic geographers (Ray 1974; Ray and Freeman 1978; Bishop 1974; Brown 1980; Van Kirk 1980; Foster 1973, 1976; and Francis and Morantz 1983). These influences are starting to come to fruition with historical archaeologists beginning to develop new approaches to archaeological data (Pyszczyk 1978, 1985, 1987, 1989; Prager 1985; Bobrowsky 1985; Monks 1985; Stevenson 1982, 1989; Klimko 1983; Burley 1985b; Burley a 1988; Hamilton 1990). For example, some of this new research is focused upon the material implications of unequal status, the implications of dramatic organizational and economic changes in the mid 19th century, and the role of material culture in signalling social group belonging. In spite of these new trends, I maintain that much of the fur trade archaeology of the past decade continues in the tradition criticized by Adam (1981). Most excavations have been conducted to fulfil limited goals including the confirmation of site location and identity, and the delineation of architectural detail. Many of these research efforts are unpublished and incompletely analyzed. While these preliminary research goals are essential to any site investigation, few archaeological studies have proceeded beyond them. To a certain extent these failings reflect the goals and managerial priorities of the provincial government agencies charged with heritage management. These priorities are primarily focused on site documentation, assessment, public education, and resource management that Swannack (1975) referred to as "mission oriented" archaeology. The implications of these goals will be addressed briefly below. In addition to resource management priorities, an even more important reason for the rather redundant nature of most fur trade archaeological studies is related to the historical roots of the discipline. North American historic archaeology traces its origins to the historic site commemoration and development movement of the late 1950's and 1960's (see Noel Hume 1968). At this time, the primary goal of historic archaeology was to serve as a supplemental data source for historical interpretation of sites of national historical significance (for example see Harrington 1955, 1957). To a great degree the historical questions addressed by investigations at these sites can be dealt with most effectively by using historic documentation. Given that the research goals are historical goals, archaeological data were ill-suited to play anything but a minor confirmatory role concerning the location and dimensions of structures, clarification of uncertainties in the historic record, and to provide archaeolqgical specimens to aid in the public appreciation of the site (Noel Hume 1968; Walker 1967). Fundamental changes in North American archaeology came about during the 1960'~~ and historic archaeologists were confronted with a "crisis in identity" whether their research was more appropriately a sub-discipline of history or anthropology (Cleland and Fitting 1968). Perhaps a more appropriate question is how can historic archaeologists, as practicioners of a distinct discipline, simultaneously utilize and integrate historic and archaeological data in a fashion which has relevance for scholars outside the bounds of the discipline (Schuyler 1988). While Schuyler's advocation of "Historic Ethnology" (1988) is quite different from Deetz's (1988) call for integration of historic and archaeological insight, the two have offered proposals which have interesting parrallels. Both recognize that neither history nor archaeology is free of bias, and neither can independently provide access to some ultimate truth. However, both scholars insist that sophisticated use of both history and archaeology as independent and equal avenues of research can be quite insightful. Ironically, Leone and Potter (1988) assert that discrepancies or ambiguities between archaeological and historical insight offer very important insight by forcing us to develop explanations why these ambiguities exist. Much of the historic archaeology that focuses on the fur trade has been carried out by individuals who have a rather one dimensional view of historiography, or the methodology of doing history. This perspective holds that historians read documents and link sequences of key events in causative chains. This process of establishing the primary causal factors tends to become reified into an accepted truth. There is little explicit recognition that historical narrative is an intellectual creation which utilizes an incomplete data base to reconstruct social phenomena without having direct access to, and participation in, those phenomena. From this perspective, historians share many uncomfortably familiar problems with archaeologists. Since the early 20th century, and with the development of social history and folk history, the discipline of history has undergone something of an intellectual schism (de Vries 1983; Knapp 1984). This debate also related to the adequacy of historical narrative, drawing attention to the biases and failings of the historic documents. Historians have long recognized that the written word is not necessarily an absolute truth, and that much of written history consists of documents which reflect the perspectives and attitudes of the literate elite of a past society. For example, I refer the reader to the writings of Daniel Harmon (Harmon 1957) and Alexander Henry the younger (Coues 1897; Gough 1988). In the case of the fur trade, the balance of the documents reflect the perspective of literate, male, Anglo-Scots officers. These documents are also selective in the information deemed to be significant, and often incomplete in their coverage of routine events. Using these documents to frame our understanding of the past is fraught with dangers, particularly when they are employed by archaeologists who might be unfamiliar with these weaknesses. The debate over processual archaeology in the late 1960's and 1970's had a significant affect upon historical archaeology. This debate addressed a number of issues, not the least of which was the meaning of science, and whether historic archaeology should follow its European tradition as an element of historical enquiry, or should embrace a more anthropological orientation. While I do not wish to review the polemical arguments of the late 1960's and early 1970's by Binford (1972), South (1977b), Cleland and Fitting (1968), Noel Hume (1968), and Walker (1967, 1972), it appears that many fur trade archaeologists have not considered the implications of these arguments. Of particular importance is the question of how archaeologists are to integrate a historical and archaeological understanding of the same phenomenon in a fashion that recognizes the failings of each, yet giving both equal value (Leone and Potter 1988; Deetz 1988). By this I mean that exploration of the historic past must be balanced between the two data sources. A historical and archaeological interpretation of the same phenomenon might provide different views, and rather than reflecting an error resulting from the failings of one discipline or another, the inconsistency offers avenues for new research. In making this observation, Leone and Potter (1988: 11-13) point out the similarity of the relationship between historical and archaeological data to Binford's (1987) discussion of ambiguity between archaeological and ethno-archaeological data. These ambiguities between independent data sources offer opportunities to identify new avenues for research, or re-interpretation of conventional perspectives of the fur trade (Hamilton 1990). In Adams' (198 1) view, much of the poor quality of fur trade archaeological research is related to the failure to develop a clear "problem orientation" involving explicitly stated research goals that will add to our understanding of the fur trade phenomenon. Much of the early fur trade research focused upon a discussion of the historic documentation, and a description of the physical arrangement of sites and the artifacts recovered. This was designed to provide some "base line" information regarding the nature of material culture associated with the fur trade (Kidd 1970; Woolworth 1984; Noble 1973; Kehoe 1978; Mackie 1967, 1972). The charges of redundancy and irrelevance made by Adams (1981) reflect a continued focus on these goals as legitimate research efforts. This failure to develop new research objectives is partially a function of the conditions under which much recent research has been conducted. Over the past fifteen years, the Cultural Resource Management movement has led to a large number of sites being excavated with a "mission oriented" goal (Fladmark, Finlay and Spurling 1977; Fladmark 1985; Losey 1978, 1979, 1980; Klimko 1987; Hamilton 1982, 1983; Hems 1984, 1985, 1986; Hems 4 1983; Karklins 1981, 1983). I do not mean to imply that "mission oriented" research is not legitimate and valuable. This recent work, however, reflects management priorities involving site documentation and identification, and determination of site integrity and vulnerability to destruction. My experience in conducting this type of research indicates that development of more substantive research goals is very difficult due to the tightly focused "managerial" terms of reference within which one must work. Upon completion of one project, individual researchers are often faced with new site documentation and management problems, and seldom have the opportunity to return to more fully investigate previously gathered research data. Despite these systemic limitations, in order to escape the charge of redundancy, fur trade archaeologists must begin to address issues which take our understanding of the past beyond the current state of knowledge. The predominantly managerial goals of most fur trade research have resulted in an archaeological database which, in some cases, may be inadequate for addressing more substantive research questions. For example, if excavation has the goal of defining the spatial parameters of the site, determining the identity of the occupation, or assessing the spatial integrity of the deposits, one is pre-conditioned to excavate in specific areas. It is certain that such sampling will be inadequate to satisfy all research goals. It can be rationalized that new samples tailored to specific goals may be subsequently drawn from the same site. This, of course, assumes that significant portions of the site remain intact, and funcis and time are available to conduct another excavation. More frequently, archaeological samples originally collected for divergent goals are utilized in completely inappropriate manners by a series of different investigators. For example, if the original excavator sought to recover large quantities of "representative" or "time sensitive" artifacts, it may be safely assumed that the buildings, cellars and middens were consistently excavated. Such high-yielding zones are likely to provide a diverse range of materials which will permit definition of cultural affiliation and time period of occupation. However, such samples may be of limited utility in an exploration of the settlement pattern of the site where attempts are being made to understand and interpret intrasite activities. Excavations designed to determine the extent of the fort stockade or the surrounding plantation will yield quite different artifact assemblages from those focusing upon the buildings and middens. Instead of a comparatively rich array of European-origin artifacts and animal bone, the stockade and plantation zones will yield some enigmatic lithic debris and faunal fragments, and linear trench features marking the stockades, bastions and gates of the post. Sample comparability problems will also occur depending upon the size of the excavated area and the methodologies used to collected these samples (Bobrowsky 1985; Ball and Bobrowsky 1987). In order to assure some measure of comparability, the goals, methodology and sampling procedures of excavation at sites reviewed in this study must be assessed. For a surprisingly large proportion of these sites, nearly the total extent of the fort buildings were investigated. This is a function of either a methodology involving large-scale stripping of the site, or multiple years of research that cumulatively resulted in most of the built area being exposed. While this gives the appearance of a large and unbiased sample, logic indicates that these large exposures are often gained by speeding up the excavation work. This accelerated rate of excavation is likely achieved through reduced control over artifact provenience, screening, and feature definition. At the other end of the spectrum, some sites such as McDonellls House and Brandon House, are represented by only a very small proportion of the total site. These small samples can be illuminating if drawn in a fashion that provides an assemblage from a number of different localities. However, archaeological sampling can be quite haphazard, and based upon intuitive selection of areas that are deemed suitable to achieve the research goals at hand. That is, areas considered likely to yield a large sample of archaeological "fossil indicators". Once again, we are presented with a systematic bias towards buildings and middens. Whether a site is extensively excavated or just sampled, it is probable that all activity areas are not represented in the excavation sample. This is a function of the model that many archaeologists bring to fur trade sites. They are envisioned as a series of buildings which may or may not be enclosed by a stockade. This convenient site boundary is largely the product of our own imaginations in which trade posts are envisioned as fortified enclosures. With this model, research has focused almost exclusively upon the role of Europeans in the fur trade. Post buildings were usually small, dark and crowded, and not particularly pleasant places to live and work. While the post occupants spent much time inside the buildings during the winter, a great deal of activity occurred in the compounds and "plantations" outside the stockades. Activities such as hunting, wood collection, agriculture, lime and charcoal kiln production, canoe construction and repair, and trading in the Indian camps (Hamilton 1979, 198%) are not represented. Very little research effort is focused on the Indians involved in the trade. This could be carried out by either finding and investigating the encampments adjacent to the posts, or more distant camps. No doubt, this failure to explore non-compound fur trade activity zones is a function of the great difficulty in locating and defining such areas (for example see Adams 1983 and Gullason 1990). With very few exceptions, the outlying areas immediately surrounding the post have never been investigated, and when they have, it involved the excavation of an astronomically small sample of the plantation area surrounding the stockade (for example see Hamilton 1982; Hems a 1983), (Figure 22). From an increasingly large body of archaeological theory has emerged the consensus that all archaeological data are severely biased. Scholars such as Schiffer (1972, 1976) have repeatedly made the point that the archaeological record represents only a remnant portion of the residue of past human activity. These deposits are constantly undergoing transformation subject to a number of cultural, biological and geological processes. It is clear that even comparatively recent and depositionally rich sites are also subject to these transformation processes. While I do not wish to dwell on these considerations, it is important to acknowledge their existence, and recognize their effects upon site "visibility" and "focus" (Deetz 1977:94). At many fur trade sites, processes such as biological and chemical degradation, wind and water erosion, disturbance through cultivation, vegetation and animals, and systematic looting have profoundly affected a rapidly dwindling resource. Also of serious concern is the continued excavation of these sites using conventional destructive techniques such as full-scale excavation. Only a very few projects have begun to develop strategic sampling programs designed to maximize data return while minimizing site disturbance (see Hamilton 1983, 1987; Hems 1986). Unfortunately, these studies are comparatively recent, unpublished, and not widely circulated. Most fur trade sites, particularly the smaller wintering stations, were extremely short- term occupations; sometimes used for only one or two winter seasons. Since the European commodities transported to these sites were expensive and rare, only a very small proportion of the entire range of artifacts were deposited on the site through loss or discard. Further decline in representativeness is due to the perishable nature of such trade mainstays as alcohol, tobacco and textiles. Exacerbating the problem of a narrow and sparse assemblage are the excavation methodologies frequently used on fur trade sites. One source of sample bias results from techniques of backdirt screening. When reviewing the fur trade literature, one immediately realizes that by far the numerically most important non-faunal artifacts are minute glass beads, nondescript pieces of lead shot, pins and needles, tiny sherds of glass, small pieces of sheet metal, and fragments of clay pipes. Many of these small items, particularly beads, are ubiquitous on fur trade sites, and most are readily visible to alert excavators. Yet recovery rates are a function of individual excavators, and no two excavators will identify the same proportion of small artifacts in situ. Very seldom do site excavation directors develop bias detection strategies that are implemented in the field. Excavators do not monitor each others' backdirt, differing excavation techniques are seldom compared to determine cost-effectiveness, and only infrequently is an effort made to ensure uniform universal collection rates. Differentially applied artifact collection techniques result in the identification of concentrations of materials in some areas, but no assurance of equal standards of representativeness across the site can be made. In such situations, the spatial distribution of small artifacts could reflect more upon excavator bias than original distributions. Such biases can limit the utility of excavation results, particularly in those sites known for sparse recovery rates and small specimen size. Such excavations are also of limited use for intra-site activity area studies and associated concerns with space utilization.

"i,

197 With few exceptions, all of the sites herein discussed were either not subjected to screened excavation, or only coarse screens were consistently used. Some excavation reports imply that the expertise of the excavators was such that no screening was required since few artifacts were encountered in the 6 mm (.25 inch) mesh screens (Kehoe 1978:l I- 13), or state that soil conditions made it impossible to use screens (Karklins 1983:16). When screens were employed, they were usually comparatively coarse +6 mm (114 inch) mesh hardware cloth (Klirnko 1987:20), but some excavators shifted to fine screens to maximize the recovery rate in areas were small items such as beads and shot were encountered (Kidd 1970:15, Karklins 1981:215). One analyst reports that screening was discontinued once it was established through preliminary test excavations that few small artifacts were present, thereby negating the need for universal screening (Karklins 1981:215). This diversity of screening methodology will have significant, but presently unmeasured affects upon sample size and diversity of small artifacts (Ball and Bobrowsky 1987). In anticipation of these problems, the inter-site comparison of recoveries in Chapter 9 is limited to a series of larger-sized artifact classes which are relatively unaffected by screening methodolagy. I recognize that individual archaeologists must adjust their excavation methodologies to accommodate for special conditions and constraints which are often site specific. However, particularly in the case of salvage excavations, we may be offered one and only one opportunity to investigate a specific site due to impending site destruction. Perhaps one solution would be a rigourously employed strategy of collecting sediment control columns which can be used as a test of screening representativeness, while the majority of excavation areas are removed using coarser and more time-efficient methodologies. By the magnitude of the excavation, many archaeological investigations assure the destruction of the site if a concerted effort is not made to conserve a portion of the deposit for the future. In this light, archaeologists must accept responsibility for maximizing data return given the non-renewable nature of the data base, and the destructive element of archaeological research. The challenge remains with establishment of effective techniques of generating a representative sample that will serve the immediate goals at hand, and also those of future researchers who will have to rely upon museum collections to address new research questions.

TAXONOMY AND ITS EFFECT UPON ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSIGHT Related to the question of excavation goals and sampling biases is the issue of how archaeologists impose biases upon their data by means of the taxonomies constructed to make sense of the recoveries. In order to provide analytic order and to meet the goals of research, all archaeologists develop and use conceptual categories that recognize some attributes and ignore others. These taxonomies are an essential element of archaeological research, but they tend to become "reified" in a fashion that is not appropriate for all analytic purposes. Some taxonomies reflect self-conscious and methodical efforts to organize the specimens in a fashion consistent with the goals at hand. One example is South's (1977b) efforts at "pattern recognition". Taxonomies can be descriptive, designed to provide definition of form for a wide range of purposes that include dating, determination of country of origin, measurement of social differentiation, or patterns of trade exchange (South 1971; Spencer-Wood 1987; Schultz and Gust 1983; Reitz 1987). Some can serve no apparent purpose other than to provide excruciatingly detailed taxonomic divisions of formally derived variation in form and composition (Stone 1974). Still others are intuitively derived and reflect the analysts' sense of organization (Kehoe 1978). Whatever the nature and degree of specificity of the archaeological taxonomy, it has the affect of pre-conditioning interpretation of the data along very specific lines. In response to important works by Binford (1962) and Deetz (1965), archaeologists have increasingly focused attention upon the anthropological meaning of variation in the form and decoration of artifacts. Much of this debate focuses upon variation which transcends the functional capabilities of an artifact. In fact, Binford (1962) popularized this debate by pointing out that artifacts could "function" in "technomic, socio-technic and ideo- technic" realms. Identifying the criteria which enable distinction between these functions calls for very carefully developed taxonomic structures by which archaeologists are able to differentiate subtle states of variation. Definition of "stylistic" versus "functional" variation, and the role of taxonomy is explored by Sackett (1982, 1986), who makes the point that all artifacts are imbued with social meaning. Even mundane objects can contain a component of social meaning that, in Binford's view, is more fully developed and expressed only in artifacts of the "socio- technic or ideo-technic" sort. Analyses that seek to explore the "non-functional" component of artifacts (Sackett 1982, 1986; Hodder 1979, 1982; McGhee 1977; Conkey 1980; Wiessner 1983) are relevant to this discussion when it is recognized that developing a taxonomy involves accepting and using a specific range of attribute states in the organization of data. By necessity, this process involves emphasis of some traits over others. This is not necessarily bad. In fact, it is an essential stage of analysis in order to focus the direction of research along lines that can address the goals at hand. Further, any one taxonomy may not be appropriate for all goals. This creates problems for research efforts which utilize data collected, analyzed and presented by a host of different authors, each with different goals. FUR TRADE POSTS AND BI-DIRECTIONAL ACCULTURATION Another of the interesting issues affecting archaeological interpretation of fur trade posts, and largely ignored to date, is bi-directional blending of European and Indian technologies. This blending was largely the product of native and mixed parentage women and children residing within the trade posts. Not only did the officers and labourers annually purchase large quantities of European materials to support their families, but these families made a significant contribution to the economic and social life of the post in ways that involved the production and use of aboriginal technology. Bark and skin canoes formed the basis of summer transportation, leather outer wear and footwear were necessary for winter survival, while toboggans and snowshoes were also essential winter gear. In fact, the necessity of these skills was emphasized by Alexander McKenzie who pointed out that if Indian women were not available to make snowshoes, winter movement was virtually impossible (O'Meara 1968:223). Native women brought with them knowledge of local food production involving snares and fishing weirs, and they likely were responsible for much of the domestic food preparation. They also played a significant role in the production of food surpluses which were the basis of the transportation system (Hamilton 1990). These women sometimes acted as interpreters in the trade shop (HBCA, PAM, B.22/e/1/9d), and it is expected that most domestic household management within the posts exhibited a strong native social and technological influence. Given the dominance of Indian and MCtis spouses in the fur trade up to the 1840's (Brown 1980; Van Kirk 1980a), it is expected that native technology was a very important component of domestic material culture. These women might have had access to European tools and textiles through their husbands, but we can anticipate that such materials were used in fashions strongly reflecting aboriginal influence. Interestingly, this phenomenon is largely ignored by the authors of fur trade journals and reminiscences that consistently reflect an elite male perspective (Hamilton 1990). The presence of native women in fur trade posts introduces additional problems for the archaeological identification of social inequality since they appear to have created a "masking affect". The "debt lists" cited in Chapters 6 and 7 indicate that officers often purchased superior quality items for themselves and their families, including exotic foodstuffs, "windsor" or white soap, finer quality cloth, and more silver jewellery. The "Country Wives" of all ranks, however, often utilized many of the same materials (Table 18), and likely employed similar modes of domestic management. This is particularly evident in the earlier period of the British-based interior trade. At this time I '11-genumbers of Indian women, who were only marginally acculturated to European valucs and technology, became "Country wives" of fur trade personnel. As time passed, more mixed parentage women, who had been raised in the trade posts, reached marriageable age. A decline in the native character of elements of the trade post assemblage can be hypothesized. This proposition might involve a decline in the use of stone, bark, wood and bone tools of local manufacture, and greater representation of European food containerware and food service vessels (see also Bedard 1990). In any case, the presence of native and mixed parentage women is expected to mask the distinctions between the quarters of the officers and labourers. The larger number of labourers compared to officers will also skew depositional patterns at the posts. The sole clerk in charge of the wintering post might have possessed superior goods, on occasion might have consumed European food delicacies, and utilized ceramic and glass tableware. However, since his presence is countered by five to ten labourers and their families, archaeological remains reflecting these distinctions will be numerically insignificant, and vulnerable to under-representation due to curation and sampling bias.

CURATION AND ITS EFFECT ON FUR TRADE ASSEMBLAGES The distances travelled by the canoe brigades were enormous and this will have affected how some goods were treated after anrival at the inland posts. It is not known whether there was an effort to limit the transport of specific classes of expensive goods. Nor is it known whether greater levels of curation and recycling occurred at posts more removed from the source of supply. It is certain that the remote regional headquarters such as Fort Chippewyan, the winter station of several wintering partners, were comparatively well equipped in spite of the long distance of re-supply. The question of whether the remote wintering posts were equally well supplied remains. The role of the post and the relative seniority of the man in charge were of equal importance to its distance from re-supply. Curation and recycling appear to have been very common activities at the posts, and can be considered to be auxiliary industrial activities (Hamilton 1986). Curation will seriously skew the archaeological sample, and will have profound affects upon archaeological interpretation. Since nails were difficult and expensive to transport in large numbers, scrap iron and broken tools were collected and recycled into nails (HBCA, PAM, B.22/a/12/9d; Provo and Wood 1984; Mackie 1972). A similar phenomenon is reported in early colonial American settlements, where old buildings were salvaged for usable wood and construction hardware (Deetz 1977:94). Other recycled items include brass, ferric and copper sheet metal pots and kettles which had developed unrepairable leaks. These vessels were cut apart with chisels and shears, and

201 were used to produce a range of sheet metal items that include several kinds of clothing decorations, metal projectile points, hinges, pipe bowl "sleeves", and a range of other fortuitously needed tools, fittings and furnishings (Figure 49). Lead bale seals, used to close and identify the contents of bundles of trade goods, are only sporadically recovered in fur trade posts and it is assumed that they were collected, melted down, and cast into ball and shot, Large silver ornaments were frequently cut into smaller pieces for clothing and hair decoration (Figure 49). Presumably these expensive items were cut apart to extend the supply of personal decorations when the trader lacked a sufficient outfit. Sections of musket barrels were sometimes cut off, flattened and cached to be recycled into other materials such as nails. I have also examined old files driven into the bores of sawed-off musket barrels. By this means, a solid block of metal was prepared for recyling. At McDonell's House a rectanguloid ingot of ferric metal was recovered. This ingot represents several pieces of ferric metal that were packed together and annealed into a solid mass, presumably for recycling (Figure 50). Files produced from high quality steel were not discarded when worn out. Rather, they were recycled into chisels, wedges and fire steels (Figure 50). Alcohol, the mainstay of the late 18th century fur trade, was seldom transported in glass bottles. Rather it was shipped in fortified or "high proof' form in wooden kegs to be later diluted prior to trading. These kegs were repeatedly used for a number of purposes, and when they were no longer usable, the iron hoops were removed for reuse by the fort cooper, or were cut into pieces to produce new tools by the Indian customers (HBCA, PAM, B.22/a/4/13d). Remnant sections of recycled hoops were encountered at Brandon House. These sections represent overlapped ends of hoops that were riveted together. The double thickness of metal made them difficult to reuse, and they were more frequently discarded (Figure 50). The single layer portion of the hoops were presumably cut into sections to make other tools, and are seldom recovered at fur trade sites. A particularly evocative example of this recyling attitude was discovered in a bastion at Brandon House. Here, carefully stored within a small pit, were two small wooden boxes filled with assorted tool fragments, spare and broken gun parts and glass bottles (Hems 1985). One can envision that one of the labourers owned individual springs, frizzens and hammers to repair and maintain his musket, and deposited broken items on the chance that they might fill some future need. Whether the bottles represent a carefully hoarded supply of alcohol, or (more likely) a cache of potentially useful glass containers remains unknown. This late 18th century concern with curation and recycling severely limited and directed the range of material culture which eventually made its way into archaeological context. While it is tempting to use general examples of curation to demonstrate the affect of Figure 49 The Recycling of sheet brass, iron and silver objects Figure 50 Iron Re-working Activities transportation difficulties on the occupants of the post, it is a rather empty logic. At best it provides infrequent examples to demonstrate the existence of goods curation in a post hoc fashion. Nonetheless, the phenomenon of goods curation exists, and we are confronted with the problem of determining whether specific goods are not present because they were carefully curated (such that they were seldom lost, broken or discarded), or whether the problems of transport resulted in no attempt being made to bring them into the hinterland in the first place. Like the presence of native women in the fort compounds, goods curation has a considerable affect upon efforts to identify archaeological correlates of social differentiation.

IDENTIFYING ARCHAEOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF STATUS DIFFERENTIATION The issue of defining status differentiation using material culture is a current topic for study with fur trade archaeologists (Pyszczyk 1985, 1986, 1987; Monks 1985; Bobrowsky 1985). Social differentiation is strongly developed in historic Euro-American society, and efforts have been made to define archaeological correlates of status. Yet these efforts have met with mixed results and considerable debate (for example see Otto 1977, 1980; and Orser 1987). I do not wish to directly address this issue by seeking correlates of status in the fur trade archaeological record due to problems which, in my view, confound status differmtizt;,cr, is a fxr trade context. Rather, 1wish ta foc~the remainiiig chapiers on the exploration of some variables affecting non-verbal communication of social position using material culture. That is, exploration of the affect of the distance of re-supply and logistical role of individual posts on the ability of the occupants to use material culture to signal their social position. To investigate these problems it must be first determined whether long distance transport affected the selection and use of status goods. Then, variation in goods availability, as a function of transportation difficulties, must be differentiated from the varying logistical role of the posts in question. This can involve investigation of goods representation that have a clear status-related function, or the affect of transportation on the availability of trade commodities at specific posts. There are two possible approaches to addressing these questions. The first involves use of cargo manifests to determine whether some posts received different proportions of goods. That is, did some posts receive more status goods reflecting their administrative role and the high rank of their masters? Similarly, were different proportions of trade goods conveyed to the more remote wintering posts, perhaps in an effort to maximize the profit margin by minimizing transportation costs (to reduce or eliminate items of low resale value or high transportation cost). Unfortunately, this is not possible since the available manifests are not specific enough and tend to refer to the outfit for an entire department rather than for individual wintering posts. A second approach involves utilization of the archaeological record. That is, do posts of differing distances of re-supply (but the same logistical role) have similar patterns of archaeological recovery, This approach can also measure the affect of distance from re- supply on goods curation as indicated by the presence and degree of recycling of specific sorts of European technology.

SUMMARY Archaeological measurement of social differentiation in fur trade sites is a very complex undertaking. These difficulties relate to methodological issues involving excavation biases, variable sample size, and variation resulting from where archaeologists chose to dig. Logistical role, transportation difficulties, and the composition of post personnel will also have a profound affect. Of these, transportation-induced curation of valuable items will be particularly important, and forms the basis of the next chapter. Chapter 9

VARIATION IN THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSEMBLAGE: EFFECTS OF LOGISTICAL ROLE AND DISTANCE OF RESUPPLY INTRODUCTION Efforts to explore the effects of the distance from re-supply upon the range and frequency of artifact classes are hampered by severe problems inherent in the fur trade data base. Many of these problems are a function of differences in excavation methodology, sample size, and uncertainty introduced by differing lengths of occupation. To further assess these problems, and to seek means of circumventing them, this section reviews some of the archaeological contents of fur trade posts. Three wintering posts of the same logistical role, but widely varying distances of re- supply are considered. These posts are the NWC establishment at Yellow River in northwestern Wisconsin (Oerichbaurer 1982), the NWC and XYC occupations of Grant/McLeod in central Saskatchewan (Klimko 1987) and the NWC's Rocky Mountain Fort in northeastern British Columbia (Fladmark 1985; Hamilton 1987; Hamilton, Burley and Moon 1988) (Figure 1). Additional trade posts that sewed as regional headquarters are also discussed to provide a point of contrast to the wintering posts. These include Fort George, Pine Fort, and McDonell House operated by the NWC, and Brandon House of the HBC. wintering outposts were generally minor and short-term occupations, however some comparability problems can be anticipated due to variation in duration of occupation. Yellow River and GrantlMcLeod were occupied for only two or three winters each, while Rocky Mountain Fort was occupied for anywhere from six to ten years. The effect of different occupation lengths on the diversity and fragmentation of select artifact classes has been addressed by Pyszczyk (1984). He identified clear distinctions between short and very i long occupations. As all the sites herein considered would be classed by Pyszczyk (198472) as short term (less than 20 years), it might be expected that the affect of differin:: occupation durations between these three sites is minimal. However, I am not convinced that appreciable differences between posts occupied for two versus ten years do not exist. As a consequence, in later analysis, I will transform the frequency data in an effort to account for such temporal distinctions. Such calculations should also account for differences in the number of people occupying these posts. However, any calculation of "person-years" of occupation at most of these posts is frustrated by the frequent movement of labourers from one post to another (Hamilton 1985b), and inadequate historic documentation of the number of personnel stationed at any one place. The problem of variable sample size aside, we may assume that variation in duration of occupation has some presently unmeasurable affect on artifact frequency. Correction of this factor will be carried out by multiplying the artifact frequency by a standard based upon the duration of occupation. Thus, data from the short term occupations (2 to 3 years) will be transformed by multiplying the artifact frequency by three to make it "theoretically" consistent with the six to ten year occupation at Rocky Mountain Fort. Other factors which will affect artifact frequency at a site include the logistical role of the post, and its distance from a re-supply depot. The affect of varying logistical role will become apparent upon comparison of the wintering posts with the regional headquarters. The affect of varying transportation costs is also of interest. It is hypothesized that, given the high cost of transportation, artifact diversity and frequency will vary inversely with the distance of the post from its re-supply station. Unfortunately, given differences in archaeological sample size, representativeness, and variable collection techniques for small specimens, quantitative verification of this relationship is difficult. In this light, no attempt will be made to compare the entire range of recoveries from these sites. Instead, I will address variation in very specific classes of artifacts which are represented in most site assemblages, and which are large enough to assure consistent collection by all techniques of excavation. A final consideration is the selection of some artifact classes which likely reflect goods used, in part, to symbolize social position. Some variation in excavation methodology is apparent at the three wintering posts. Yellow River and GrantMcLeod were subjected to screening through 6.4 mm (.25 inch) mesh, while Rocky Mountain Fort was universally screened through 3.2 mm (.I25 inch) mesh. All three sites were excavated with block excavation using small hand tools, though areal coverage and nature of the sampled areas varied. At Yellow River excavations were largely confined within the stockades. Excavations took place over several years in a fashion designed to expose the entire floor area of each house, as well as a zone around the buildings. The GrantIMcLeod excavation removed virtually all the interior areas of the buildings, as well as a sample from in front of each of the two structures. Because of good quality remote sensing data based upon a proton magnetometer survey and mapping of topographic micro-relief, the excavations at Rocky Mountain Fort proceeded in a somewhat different direction. While virtually all of the building interiors were ultimately excavated, the compound immediately surrounding the buildings was also strategically tested. This resulted in a sample from many refuse disposal features, plus outside workldump areas some distance removed from the buildings. Unfortunately, the Rocky Mountain Fort sample representativeness is affected by river bank erosion of at least half of the site. Given the longer period of occupation at Rocky Mountain Fort, a greater investment in facilities is apparent compared to GrantJMcLeod (Figures 29 and 33). The former consisted of two and perhaps three buildings, while the two companies at the latter locale only constructed one small rectangular building each. Neither post was enclosed within a stockade. Yellow River is interesting in that, while it was only occupied for two or three years, three buildings were built and enclosed within a stockade (Figure 26). The stockade was necessary given that the post was located in the war zone between the Dakota and Ojibwa Indians, and faced the threat of attack by hostile Dakota. It must be reiterated that, in spite of presence of three buildings and an enclosing palisade, Yellow River remained a very small outpost encompassing only 90.5 m2 of building area contained within a stockaded area of 231 m2. By way of contrast, the remaining portion of the heavily eroded Rocky Mountain Fort consists of 66 m2 of building space and a compound area of approximately 300 m2. These latter figures represent about 30 to 50 percent of the original extent of the post. This degree of erosion at Rocky Mountain Fort will have an affect upon the artifact assemblage since the eroded portions may have contained different activity areas yielding different classes of artifacts.

THE EFFECT OF SUPPLY LINES One of the most important factors affecting inter-site variation in artifact recoveries at trade posts is expected to be related to the distance of supply. This variable is particularly important with posts of the same logistical function. The three sites considered are widely dispersed across the NWC trade hinterland. Yellow River is located within 500 km of Fort William (and 2,245 km from Montreal), Grant/McLeod is 1,995 km from Fort William (3,745 km from Montreal) and Rocky Mountain Fort is 4,335 km removed from Fort William (6,085 km from Montreal) (Table 1). This represents only a minimum one way distance; the canoe brigades travelled twice this distance each summer in conveying cargo to and from the posts. Given the costs of transportation described in previous chapters, economies were implemented in goods transportation and in extending the use of dwindling inventories. This hypothetically involved efforts to reduce the quantity of heavy or bulky items transported to the most distant posts, and reduction of the number of items with a low value relative to weight and bulk. Countering this, such economies were also affected by the need to maintain a range of goods in order to compete effectively. The impact of logistics in select artifact categories will now be explored. Smoking Pipes Clay smoking pipes, used both domestically and in trade, are quite fragile. Nevertheless, they are comparatively inexpensive, even at the inflated prices paid by the NWC labourers.(Tables 14 and 15). Given their fragility and limited use-life, it is expected that they were not a particularly efficient item to convey inland. In the era of intensive competition where traders of all companies routinely gave Indians gratuities of tobacco, alcohol and small items as inducements to trade, we can expect that clay pipes were handed out as part of these trade preliminaries. In spite of this ready availability, I question whether labourers were likely to have purchased quantities of fragile clay pipes, and transported them long distances in their personal luggage. Tobacco consumption was virtually ubiquitous among labourers of all trade companies. In fact, NWC canoemen referred to rest periods from paddling and portaging as "pipes" (Nute 197250-51). During these rest periods, tobacco smoking, rest, and conversation were central considerations. Fragments of clay tobacco pipes are a common item recovered at most fur trade posts. This is a function of their relative cheapness and fragility. The bowl portion is more resilient than the stem, and the use-life of the pipe can be quite long in spite of the frequent breakage of the latter. This results in the deposition of comparatively large numbers of stem fragments relative to bowl fragments (Richie 1978; Pyszczyk 1984). The general abundance of clay pipe fragments in historic sites makes surprising the variation in frequency apparent in the three trade posts considered here. Twenty-seven clay pipe fragments were recovered at Yellow River, five at Rocky Mountain Fort, and a comparatively large recovery of 183 specimens from the GrantIMcLeod posts. If the frecpency of clay pi~efragm-ents is negatively correlated with the distance of re-supply as was expected, then the GrantJMcLeod assemblage should fall numerically between that of Yellow River and Rocky Mountain Fort. The credibility of the relationship between the decline of clay pipe fragments with increased distance of supply is affected by the small recovery rate from these sites. When Yellow River and Rocky Mountain Fort, at opposite ends of the transportation system, are considered, there is a weak representation of this relationship (Table 19). This weak relationship is consistent with the NWC purchasing data that indicates that clay smoking pipes were not an important purchase item with Athabasca men, even though they consumed much more tobacco than the other groups of men considered (Tables 16, 17 and 18).

Table 19 Distance related decline of clay pipe representation Site duration pipe frag transform index Yellow R. 2-3 years 27 x3 8 1 Rocky Mount. F. 6- 10 years 5 x 1 5 The varying duration of occupation (Yellow River for 2 or 3 seasons versus Rocky Mountain Fort for 6 to 10 seasons) likely minimizes the distance-related decline in representation. As the deposition of these fragile items is an accretionary process, the longer the period of occupation, the greater the expected accumulation. In an effort to remove the effect of varying duration of occupation, the data were transformed to take account of variable occupation periods. This transformation merely accentuates the observed pattern. The degree of erosion at Rocky Mountain Fort affects all artifact recoveries due to the removal of much of the labourer's quarters from the sample. Since virtually no clay pipe fragments were recovered from the main building, nor from the extensive midden and compound excavations, it is clear that clay pipes are dramatically under-represented at Rocky Mountain Fort. The GrantMcLeod assemblage is problematical since it does not conform to the expected "fall off' in the frequency with distance of re-supply. The recovery of clay pipe stem and bowl fragments is considerably larger than one would expect, particularly given the short duration of occupation at the two outposts (1793-95). Even more interesting is the high representation of bowl fragments over stem fragments reported by Klimko (1987), Table 20.

Table 20 Clay pipe Recoveries from the GrantJMcLeod posts (after Klimko 1987).

bowl bowl junt. stem total North Bldg. 46 7 37 90 South Bldg. 54 11 28 93

This is very much contrary to expectations given the generalizations regarding use-life of clay pipe bowls offered by Richie (1978:135) based upon site assemblages from the Canadian High Arctic. He noted that, while the stems of clay pipes are particularly fragile and routinely break off, the bowl portion is more resilient, and might have a substantially longer use-life. On the basis of this differential breakage, he proposed ratios of stem to bowl fragments which one should realistically expect in domestic situations. Pipe assemblages reflecting smoking activities, dating prior to 1780, "should be not less than one bowl fragment to every four stem fragments" (Richie 1978: 13.5). In the case of assemblages dating after 1780, he proposed a ratio of "not less than one bowl fragment to every 1.5 to 2 stem fragments" (Richie 1978:135). Since the trade posts under consideration all post-date 1780, the bowl to stem ratio of 1 to 1.5 or 2 should be the expected norm. Not only is the frequency of pipe fragments considerably higher than expected for the short-term wintering outposts at GranVMcLeod, but the ratio of bowl to stem fragments is large. In keeping with Richie's analysis, fragments representing the stedbowl juncture are considered to be an integral part of the bowl, and are added to the bowl class. On the basis of the frequency of recoveries cited above, the north house yields a bowl to stem ratio of 11.8, while the south house ratio is 11.47. Table 21 compares several contemporaneous trade posts of varying logistical functions, illustrating that GrantIMcLeod is different from all sites.

Table 2 1 Clay Pipe Bowl to Stem Ratios from some fur trade sites

Clay Clay Stone pipe pipe pipe bowl or Clay bowl stem blank bowllstem Regional Headquarters Brandon House HBC Fort George NWC McDonell House Nwc Pine Fort NWC

Wintering Stations Yellow River NWC GrantJMcLeod (south) ? GrantLMcLeod (north) ? Rocky Mount. Ft. NWC Nottingham House HBC Old Fort Point HBC

At GranVMcLeod the two buildings were operated as independent entities and it is unlikely that both posts would suffer coincidental accidents in the trade room resulting in ' high rates of pipe breakage. Klimko (1987) reports that all the clay pipes yield evidence of unspecified use, and the deposition pattern suggests that they were used, broken and discarded in congregation areas. She points out that in the north house, 60% of the fragments were concentrated in a refuse pit in the north end of the building, in an ash deposit in or around the fireplace, or from the cellar. Most of the remaining 40% were found scattered in the northerly portion of the house or in the exterior bone and ash middens (Klimko 1987), (Figure 29). In the south building the impression of domestic use is even more apparent with 42% of the total recovered from the central room of the structure which also contained the fireplace. The other major deposition area was in the large exterior midden to the east of the house (Klimko 1987:59), (Figure 29). These patterns suggest that most of the pipe fragments were deposited as the result of smoking activities in the vicinity of the fireplaces, the most likely congregation and recreation area of the outpost in the winter, or in refuse middens where domestic debris accumulated. It is probable that the extremely low rate of recovery of clay pipe fragments at Rocky Mountain Fort is a function of the inefficiency of transporting large quantities of fragile clay pipes to the most westerly reaches of the Athabasca hinterland. Since the Athabasca engag& purchased more tobacco per capita than other employees (Table 17), we must assume that they consumed it either by chewing or by smoking it in stone pipes. The latter is indicated at Rocky Mountain Fort where more stone pipe fragments than clay ones were encountered (Table 2 1). While such a proposal may be offered to account for the low frequency of clay smoking pipes at Rocky Mountain Fort, the stone smoking pipe industry reflects much more than supply logistics. These items may be directly relevant to this discussion of the symbolic content of material culture. As Table 20 indicates, the stone pipe manufacturing industry was widespread throughout the interior, particularly at the larger regional headquarters. Production of stone pipes required access to soft stone of fine grained texture and time for manufacturing. Despite this time investment, the durability of stone pipes made them more efficient to use than the fragile clay pipes. This cost effectiveness grows greater as one moves westward from the point of re-supply at Fort William. It has been argued by Kidd (1970: 153) that stone pipes were sometimes used by Europeans as trade commodities with the Indians. While this might be the case to a limited extent, I do not consider them to have been a particularly important item of trade. Sites such as Pine Fort yield stock piled raw material and discarded pipe blanks which indicate that pipe manufacturing was a local industry (Hamilton 1986). One would also not expect that stone pipes would be a particularly marketable commodity given the availability of workable stone in many areas, and the long-standing tradition of stone and clay pipe manufacturing among many Indian groups. Many stone pipes have been recovered from a number of fur trade contexts across western Canada (Pyszczyk 1989; Klimko 1983; Kidd 1970; Kehoe 1978; Hamilton 1979a). While limited variation in form and material of manufacture is apparent, some generalizations can be offered. The majority of the pipes in fur trade assemblages that I have examined conform to a style generally referred to as the "Micmac" s&le (West 1970:228), consisting of a bowl, a constricted neck and a broad keel or base (Figure 51). This form has been identified in a number of geographic and ethnic contexts which are both aboriginal and European. Barka and Barka (1976:84-85) cite the journal of Alexander Henry the elder (1901:24) who comments that both "Indians and Canadians" (French Canadian labourers) used soft stone to carve stone pipe bowls. West (1970) describes use Figure 51 A stone "Micmac" pipe from Pine Fort of the "Micmac" style pipes by the Inuit of the eastern Arctic, and Hind (1971:140) refers to variations of this pipe style associated with some Plains Indian groups. Notably, Leigh Syms (1979:per comrn) points out that prehistoric aboriginal stone pipes do not conform to this style, suggesting that they may not be associated originally with any known Indian group. Whatever the origin, this pipe style diffused over much of northern North America. I contend that the agents of this diffusion were the fur traders, most likely the French Canadian engagks. Pyszczyk (1989:233) calls attention to the recovery of "Micmac" pipes from fur trade posts; most notably at posts of NWC affiliation and, to a lesser extent, in HBC posts dating after the amalgamation of 1821. He maintains that these pipe forms directly reflect the "presence of native peoples" at the sites, and that their markedly reduced percentage, relative to clay tobacco pipes at HBC establishments, reflects the reduced number of native women and men in the English company's posts (Pyszczyk 1989:233). I suggest that the stone pipes do not necessarily imply the presence of Indian people in the community, but rather, reflect the adoption of what is generally viewed as native technology by French Canadians. As Pyszczyk (1989) points out, the NWC engagis were predominantly French Canadian, while the majority of HBC labourers in the pre-1821 period were of Scots, Orcadian or English origin. Depending,upon one's perspective regarding the origin of stone pipe manufacturing, the comparatively high representation of stone pipes at NWC posts reflects either the ethnicity of the pipe manufacturers (French Canadians), or the greater degree of acceptance of stone pipe manufacturing by some labourers. Stone pipe manufacture at fur trade posts indicates "country skills"; skills that were developed and transmitted as a product of experience and necessity. It is also important to recognize that many of these "country skills" reflect acceptance of native technology and skills to suit the fur trade situation. Thus, the trade post community as a social institution, assured the social reproduction of skills and technology in the hands of successive generations of European, Canadian and mixed parentage people. As the data presented in Table 21 indicates, stone pipe production and use did occur, albeit at a minor scale, in HBC posts before the 1821 Amalgamation. This likely reflects the presence of some French Canadian and mixed parentage men, or long-term Orcadian labourers who developed these skills during their careers. After the 1821 amalgamation of the two major companies, the new HBC retained a higher proportion of French Canadian labourers (Rich 1938:xxxiii). With the employment of a higher proportion of French Canadian labourers, it can be hypothesized that more stone pipes will appear in HBC archaeological assemblages post- dating 1821. This is verified by Pyszczyk's study (1989:233) with sites such as Rocky Mountain House, Fort Pelly and Fort Victoria yielding more stone pipes than HBC posts of

215 the pre-182 1 era. The long-term use-life and curation potential of stone pipes makes even a small number of archaeological specimens potentially significant in examination of tobacco consumption at the trade posts. Many of the stone pipes recovered from fur trade assemblages are elaborately decorated, reflecting a level of craftsmanship and aesthetic appeal that supersedes functionality. They are finely produced and highly polished, with incised decorative lines, and lead inlay decoration. One particularly impressive example in the Pine Fort collection is decorated with a complex pattern of concentric circles and dots incised into the keel and encircling the bowl (Figure 51). These lines were further highlighted with a slip of red verrnillion to make the decoration stand out in relief, and the bowl and neck were also inlaid with lead. The artisans who produced these pipes expended much time and attention on the finishing and decoration, and they must have been a source of pride to the owner. With this in mind, the consumption of clay pipes is obviously affected by considerations other than distance of re-supply. Some men preferred to smoke tobacco in pipes of their own manufacture which also served as a show-case for their craftsmanship and, perhaps, ethnic affiliation. That pipes served functions other than mere receptacles for burning tobacco is clear. Perhaps geographic variation in the recovery of clay versus stone smoking pipes might reflect something quite different from transportation-induced goods shortages. The fine workmanship expressed in the production of stone pipes is consistent with the colourful and elaborate decorative tastes of many labourers, particularly the engage's of Canadian and MCtis origin. Also expressed in the highly decorated clothing, embellishment of dog trains and harness, saddles, and other personal accoutrements (Nute 1972; Brasser 1987), this decorative art can be viewed in light of personal pride in skills and accomplishments. Professional voyageurs may have used such possessions as personal statements of accomplishment as seasoned "northmen". In this light, the production and use of stone pipes resulted in a local craft industry whereby men sought to mimic and exceed their fellows in the decoration of pipes and other elements of personal property. Brasser (1987) argues that much of this artistic embellishment developed into the folk art of the MCtis in the early 19th century. Here, perhaps, there is an evolution of meaning for this decorative art. Originating as a statement of personal accomplishment of "country skilled" Canadian and MCtis men and women in the NWC trade post communities, these art forms may have come to symbolize ethnic affiliation for the Red River MCtis of the mid 19th century. Interestingly, most of these people, particularly those with French surnames, likely traced their lineage to men and women involved in the Montreal-based fur trade service (Sprague and Frye 1983; Peterson 1987). While the discussion of stone smoking pipes does not directly relate to transportation and logistical considerations, it does make the point that we must not view any social phenomenon from a purely economic perspective.

Glass Containerware Another artifact category in which transport distance is expected to affect frequency is that of glass containerware. Much of the alcohol transported inland during the period under study was conveyed in wooden kegs, yet some superior quality spirits were stored in glass bottles destined primarily for the table of the officers. Another common form of glass container is the "patent medicine" bottle. These items were generally small, vial-sized containers with a constricted neck and outflaring finish. Many were embossed with the manufacturer's name and product in raised-relief lettering on the sides. They most commonly were stopped with a cork, and contained preparations for medicinal purposes (Karklins 1983, citing Brown 1971). Patent medicine bottles are frequently recovered in fur trade archaeological sites. As is the case with the clay pipes, glass bottles are not efficient items to be transported long distances inland, particularly when the cargo had to be frequently portaged. A far more efficient means of transporting alcohol involved storing high proof alcohol in wooden kegs of an easily handled size. These secure and comparatively durable containers were particularly efficient in terms of volume per unit of weight, and can be placed at the opposite end of an "efficiency scale" from glass bottles. Despite the transportation inefficiency of bottles, glass container fragments are routinely recovered from even the most remote and minor trade posts (Table 22). These fragments are much more frequently encountered in regional headquarters that served as winter residences of wintering partners and senior clerks. The presence of a few sherds of bottle glass from even the smallest wintering outposts indicates that junior clerks also possessed a small stock of non-kegged alcohol or, alternatively, that the larger containers were carefully curated and reused long after their original contents were consumed. Even as late as 1844, the value of glass containers is apparent in a comment by Rev. George J. Mountain while travelling along the north shore of Lake Superior (Cloutier 1976:14 citing Mountain 1845:29). He purchased milk from the master of one isolated post and, lacking a suitable container, coaxed the officer in charge to loan him a glass bottle to store the milk. He was successful in acquiring the bottle only by promising to leave it at the next post to the west with instructions for it to be returned. Given the small volume of patent medicine bottles, it is uncertain whether they would have had recycling value. Many of these bottles were originally used as containers for high quality spirits destined for the officer's mess, or pharmaceutical goods in the rudimentary medical kits assembled for the inland stations. In either case, the representation of glass containers is primarily affected by considerations of the costs of transport and the logistical functions of the post. Therefore, when considering the three NWC wintering outposts, the frequency of recovery is hypothesized to be negatively correlated with the distance of re-supply.

Table 22 Glass Container Fragments recovered from fur trade sites.

Glass Containerware bottle portion curvedlfacet. pharmaceut. total frags REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS Brandon House HBC Fort George NwC McDonell House NwC WINTERING OUTPOSTS Yellow River NwC GranUMcLeod S NWCIXYC GranVMcLeod N NWCIXYC Rocky Mount Fort NwC Old Fort Point HBC Nottingham House HBC

Testing this hypothesis is detrimentally affected by the fragility of glass containers, ~herebj;olie specimen might be represented by a co~npletebottle, or hiii~dredsof sma:: sherds. This is the case with the three sites under consideration (Table 23). The Grant/McLeod posts yielded one complete pharmaceutical bottle, while Rocky Mountain Fort yielded nine tiny fragments of pharmaceutical bottle(s) that were identified only on the basis of the relatively thin wall and the distinctive raised relief lettering. Given the problem of differential breakage, it is not surprising that the frequency of recovery is not clearly related to the the distance of supply to specific posts.

Table 23 The frequency of Glass Containenvare fragments

Glass Containenvare tranform sherd freq. trans Rocky Mtn. Ft. 46 x 1 Grant/McLeod N. bldg 19 x3 Grant/McLeod S. bldg 0 x3 Yellow River 279 x3

If the recoveries from Yellow River and GrantJMcLeod are transformed to account for the brief duration of occupation, the trend towards greater frequency of recovery in posts closer to Fort William is apparent. The situation at GrantIMcLeod is, again, problematical. Glass fragments are under-represented at these Saskatchewan River posts. None were recovered from the south building, and only 19 were encountered from the north one. This low frequency could be a function of differential breakage rates, as Klimko (1987:29) reports 18 fragments of light green bottle glass and one near-complete medicine bottle.

BrassICopper Sheet Metal Brass or copper sheet metal scraps are taken to directly reflect both the recycling industry and concerns with transportation-induced curation. These items are the by- products of recycling brass kettles into a series of new items. Some secondary items include clothing decorations such as trapezoidal pendants and tinkling cones, tools such as projectile points, and a range of other items. Recycling activities also resulted in the deposition of an array of discarded pieces, such as kettle handles, lugs, rivets and sections of the reinforced rims. The majority of re-manufactured tools were likely transported off the site, but sheet metal discard scraps indicate their production. Sheet metal scraps may also represent larger pieces which were stockpiled for future need. The brasslcopper sheet metal industry was very widespread throughout the western Canadian fur trade, and resulted in a comparatively frequent deposition of artifacts. Major regional headquarters can be expected to yield large quantities of these scraps as a function of the greater supply of worn-out kettles. Evidence of these re-working activities is also present in most of the small wintering posts. It is also reasonable to expect that the more remote outposts were the scene of comparatively more intensive sheet metal recycling, resulting in the absence of larger pieces. This proposition, if correct, may serve as an important index of transportation costs, curation and recycling, since it is directly and unequivocally related to sheet metal recycling, and is unaffected by fortuitous breakage. With this in mind, it is proposed that the mean surface area of brass and copper sheet metal recovered from selected sites will vary inversely with the distance from re-supply of those sites. To test this proposition, the brasslcopper sheet metal fragments from Rocky Mountain Fort and Yellow River were measured with a planometer to determine the surface area. The GrantMcLeod assemblage was not available for study, and is represented by too small a sample size to be useful (Klirnko 1987:42, 62). As no other winter outpost assemblages were available along the primary transportation routes, I used the assemblages from Pine Fort and Fort Rivikre Tremblante. These latter sites represent smaller-sized regional headquarters of the NWC's operations on the Assiniboine River and, not surprisingly, yielded a larger sample than the two wintering posts. The results of the analysis are presented in Table 24. On first examination these results appear discouraging for, though the mean surface area generally declined as the distance of re-supply increased, the Pine Fort assemblage mean is virtually identical to that from Rocky Mountain Fort (Table 24). This may be a function of the mixed logistical roles of the posts under consideration. As Pine Fort served as a regional centre for nearly a decade, it was the site of a substantial sheet metal re-working industry with a blacksmith shop and a larger labourer complement. This resulted in a more concentrated and sustained industry than appears to have been the case at the smaller wintering stations. With Pine Fort a centre for this sort of metal working activity, the sheet metal assemblage is numerically dominated by small trimming fragments even though many large pieces were recovered. The numeric dominance of small fragments has the affect of skewing the mean surface area downwards, and obscuring the presence of larger pieces. In fact, Pine Fort yielded the largest pieces of all the sites herein considered as demonstrated by both the range and midrange (Table 24).

Table 24 Surface dimensions of Br; s Sheet Metal Scraps. Brass Sheet Me a1 Surface Area Rocky Mtn Ft. Ft. Riv. Tremb Pine Fort Yellow River Dist from Ft William* 4335 1560 1270 495 n 64 223 77 1 75 mean 3.8 5.9 3.8 6.6 midrange 11.7 37.9 77.7 33.3 standard deviation 3.2 8.5 7 9.2 Range 22 75.3 155.2 66.i Variance 1 10.5 72.6 1 49.4 84.4 * The distance reported varies between Grand Portage or Fort William depending upon where the outpost was re-supplied from. The difference is minor (variation of only 100 km) .

When one considers measures of dispersal from the mean surface area such as range, variance and standard deviation, and non-parametric measures of central tendency such as midrange, the anomalous nature of Pine Fort is considerably reduced, and something approaching a declining "fall off" curve is achieved. This is particularly apparent when distance of re-supply is plotted against standard deviation (Figure 52). The more distant posts yield samples which are clustered closer to the mean, with a much smaller maximum size reflected by the range and standard deviation (Table 24). This indicates that scraps of sheet metal were worked into smaller fragments before being discarded, and fewer large pieces are encountered in these sites. These results are more complex than originally anticipated. Again, this is a function of the distance of re-supply, and the logistical roles of the posts considered. Remote posts such as Rocky Mountain Fort were the scene of more intensive sheet metal recycling activities reflected by the small average surface area, narrower range, and considerably smaller standard deviation. At such remote sites fewer pieces representing lost or abandoned stockpiled supplies of sheet metal are recovered, and indicate a more intensive effort to salvage a valued raw material than occurs at more easterly posts.

Figure 52 Scatterplot of distance of re-supply versus standard deviation of sheet metal surface area. 1: Rocky Mountain Fort, 2: Fort Riv. Tremblante, 3: Pine Fort, 4: Yellow River

While intensity of sheet metal re-working increases with the distance of re-supply, it must be remembered that regional headquarters were also important centres of recycling independent of geographic location. This results in large samples of sheet metal scraps, often dominated by minute fragments as is apparent in the Pine Fort assemblage. The preponderance of these tiny fragments skews the mean downwards, and obscures the fact that many larger pieces were also recovered. This emphasizes the.point that the logistical function of the site is a very important consideration when one conducts inter-site comparisons. DISTANCE AND STATUS CONSIDERATIONS IN WINTERING POSTS The costs of transportation affected the level of curation and recycling at wintering outposts far removed from Fort William. While we can posit that men placed in charge of these relatively minor posts asserted their authority by visible displays of material culture, it is uncertain whether it superseded logistical constraints. One means by which the clerks sought to distinguish themselves from the engage's involved exclusive access to the canteens which contained exotic foodstuffs, and glass and ceramic tableware. Due to the weight, fragility and bulk of these items, transportation costs involved in possessing these items assured that they remained rare and valued icons of social position at the remote wintering stations, particularly during the era of canoe transportation. It remains to be seen whether such goods remained in the major regional headquarters, or whether the clerks in charge of the wintering posts also shared in the bounty. Exploration of this question hinges on the assumption that breakage of fragile and expensive items persistently occurred. It is probable that such rare possessions were carefully curated, and this would result in only a marginal archaeological representation at the short term wintering posts. For example, do low frequencies of tableware indicate relative absence, or that the expensive tableware was carefully used to the point where none found its way into the archaeological assemblage? Acknowledging these problems, and due to low frequencies, a quantitative analysis is inappropriate. A review of the form, decoration spatid pr~veiiieiiceof the few ~ii~hiiems represented archaeoiogicaily does offer limited insight. The main house at Rocky Mountain Fort yielded fragments of a finely decorated glass stemware goblet. These fragments were recovered in and around the south fireplace, and consist of portions of a colourless, unpatinated goblet decorated with wheel-ground designs (Hamilton 1987). In addition, 19 small ceramic fragments were recovered from the site. Of this total, 15 fragments were encountered within the main house. The remaining four items were recovered from sheet middens in the general compound between the two buildings. No glass or ceramic tableware fragments were recovered from the Grant/McLeod sites (Klimko 1987). Karklins (1983) reports the recovery of a few status-related tableware items associated with the HBC occupation of Nottingham House. These consist of the base and stem section of a plain goblet, and several fragments of etched and cut glass. He also reports the recovery of a number of sherds from two pearlware saucers. These sherds werc associated with both the officer's and men's quarters of the main structure as well as the main HBC trash midden. Though these materials are widely distributed, Karklins maintains that the recovery of an "English breakfast cup and saucer set" in this remote 1802-05 site suggests an "upper class owner who was quite up to date" (Karklins 1983:203). As Peter Fidler and Thomas Swain were the only non-labourers at the site, we can assume that these items belonged to one of these officers. However, only two of the 58 saucer fragments were recovered from the officer's quarters and three others were found in the men's house. Since the remainder came from midden deposits, attempts to define the social position of the occupants of specific rooms and houses on the basis of status-related items are frustrated by refuse removal from the living area. Perhaps this process of "tidying" can be viewed as an indication of the social consequence of the occupants of a house compartment. This issue will be addressed more fully in the following chapter. The Yellow River NWC site also yielded a few tableware specimens which may reflect status display. These items consist of 21 sherds of pearlware ceramics from at least two vessels characterized as "undecorated" and "handpainted" polychrome tableware (Oerichbauer 1982:213-214). Additionally, Oerichbauer reports the recovery of numerous fragments of a stoneware snuff or tobacco jar. The only glass tableware reported was the base of a fire-damaged tumbler (Oerichbauer l982:2 15). This brief discussion indicates that the clerks in charge of the smallest and most remote of wintering stations had access to at least a few ceramic and glass tableware items. Unfortunately, the short occupation of the posts, and curation of these expensive items resulted in little or no representation in the archaeological assemblage. By way of contrast to the wintering posts, regional headquarters such as Fort George and McDonellts House of the NWC and Brandon House I of the HBC yielded greater densities of ceramics and glass tableware (Table 25). This also appears to be independent of the occupation length for the posts. Variable sample size and differential representation of activity areas can be expected to contribute to sampling errors, but the density of recovery per square metre suggests that status-related ceramic and glass tableware and containerware was much more heavily represented in regional headquarters than wintering posts. This is consistent with both the longer duration of occupation of the major posts, and the presence of wintering partners.

THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL VISIBILITY OF RANK IN WINTERING POSTS A final point of consideration in any understanding of the archaeological correlates of rank in the fur trade is the affect of the numerical superiority of labourers over clerks. Given the low seniority of clerks in charge of wintering outposts, the difficulty of transporting goods to remote wintering stations, and the heavy purchasing of goods by some labourers, difficulties in distinguishing between the majority of materials left by the two ranks can be expected. Coupled with this is the fact that few sites allow for unequivocal distinctions between the residences of clerks versus labourers in ways independent of the material cultural recoveries.

Table 25 Ceramic anl rableware Rec reries fron several Trac Posts Miscel Glass Earthenware Stemware, Glass freq density Porcelain Cut glass Tumbler 7 Regional Headquarters Brandon House 150 1.6 Ft. George 5 2 .28 3 McDonell House 10 1.4 Wintering Posts Yellow River 8 1 .24 Grant/McLeod S 0 2 Grant/McLeod N 0 Rocky Mountain Fort tre 18 .17 19 density = freqhquare me : of excavated area I One exception is Nottingham House, occupied between 1802 and 1806 by the HBC under the command of Peter Fidler. Nottingham House has a wealth of surviving documents written by Fidler during his sojourn at the site. Among the Fidler papers is a sketch plan of what appears to be what Fidler considered to be an ideal wintering outpost (Figure 31). It is essentially a mirror image of the building that he occupied at the time (Figure 30), and it can be taken to be an accurate plan of Nottingham House. It identifies Fidler's quarters as the end compartment of the house opposite from that of the labourers. Karklins' (1983) analysis of the Nottingham House data is based upon a room by room summary of recoveries, thus allowing the archaeological debris to be associated with the quarters of specific ranks. The recoveries from portions of Nottingham House are presented in summary form in Table 26. This tabulation does not include all of the artifact categories defined by Karklins, but rather, draws attention to ones which seem to reflect fundamental patterns in the horizontal distribution of artifacts. It must be remembered that Karklins' tabulation and analysis is based upon excavations which did not employ screens, except in situations were beads and shot were encountered in situ by the excavators (1983:16). In Table 26 high recovery rates of glass beads, of both wire wound and drawn varieties, are reported from both Fidler's quarters (1700 or 49.5%) and the labourer's quarters (642 or 18.9%). The high concentration in the officer's quarters may be largely Table 26 Nottingham House Artifact Recoveries HBC trz Main House Str Pit Pi RmClRmD 2 A-B C PERSONAL I I miscel textiles 9 button, miscel brass 2 7 button, miscel pewter 12 Rm A = Fidler's res button, miscel bone 1 Rm B - trade room, kitchen cuff links, miscel Rm C = warehouse clothing buckle Rm D = Men's Res glass beads, drawn 29 225 Str 2 = HBC storehouse 11 I, w. wound 14 tinkling cones 14 broochs, miscel silver 11 finger rings, miscel earring, silver pendants, ferric clay pipe bowllstem . 2 5 clay pipe bowl 3 24 clay pipe stem 13 49 stone pipehlanks gallipot frags 5 8 bottle frags, olive green 10 2 bottle frags, yellow green 4 bottle frags, clear 2 clasp knife frags 3 comb, bone Mirror frags DOMESTIC firesteels 11 kettle, sheet metal kettle frags 3 35 pearlware saucer frags 5 48 glass stemware decorated glass 2 cask frags wood cask frags, iron hoops 116 thimbles 1 needles 1 SUBSISTENCE gunparts, miscel. 1 gun worms gunflints, miscel 11 gunflints, frags 1 lead balls 1 lead shot 2 10 fishhooks 1 HARDWARE awls, ferric 1 awls, bone files 1 fleshers handwrought nails 6 18 glass window pane 3 39 miscel wire 18 BUSINESS slate pencil lead seal MISCELLANEOUS sheet iron scrap 1 miscel brass miscel lead unid bone items worked bondantler 2 6 birch bark 4 due to the domestic activities of Mary Fidler, the only woman recorded as being present at the site. Over six times more tinkling cones were present in the labourer's quarters than in Fidler's, suggesting this mode of clothing decoration was very popular with the labourers, or they were manufacturing them in their residence for trade. Other indications of ancillary industrial activities in the men's house are apparent with the recovery of iron hoop and brass sheet metal fragments. At Nottingham House there is little doubt that the labourers were responsible for much of the recycling activities that occurred, and no special purpose industrial areas existed. Thus, the labourers' house was an important focus for a number of industrial and domestic activities. Most of the Nottingham House tableware fragments associated with status display were not recovered from the officer's residence, but rather, from refuse middens. A pre- occupation with refuse collection and secondary disposal appears to be in marked contrast to attitudes towards refuse disposal in the labourer's quarters. As Figure 30 and Table 26 reveals, not only were several storagelrefuse pits discovered below the floor of the labourer's quarters, but much more biodegradable faunal refuse was deposited within them than was the case with the officer's quarters. This may reflect the larger concentration of people residing within the labourer's quarters. However, I believe that it also reflects fundamental differences between the ranks regarding concepts of cleanliness and refuse disposal. This issue will be addressed more fully in the next chapter. Karklins (1983:107) identifies fragments of small creamware and earthenware containers as gallipots, used to package "ointments such as pomades for the hair". All of these gallipot fragments that were reco;ered in the main structure were associated with the warehouse or the men's quarters (Table 26). Karklins, noting an absence of usewear on the gallipots, suggests they did not serve secondary functions as drinking vessels, and that they imply "a certain degree of affluence on the part of the owner" (1983:198-199). Short of breakage, I question what "use wear" should be expected on ointment containers or drinking cups. I suggest that, in the context of a remote wintering post, these small containers very likely served as drinking vessels or "dram glasses" for the labourers. Whether the men purchased these items for their original contents, or acquired them for their secondary function as drinking vessels is a separate issue. At Nottingham House, the largest concentration of lead ammunition was recovered from the labourer's quarters followed by the warehouse or trade room (Table 26). The absolute difference in recovery between these rooms is uncertain given the screening methodology. Nonetheless, this high density of shot is likely the product of the men preparing hunting equipment in their residence that also served as an informal workshop. I While there are suggestions that junior officers in charge of wintering outposts sought to maintain a social distinction from the common labourers, it is clear that their comparatively low seniority relative to other officers, and the difficulty of supplying remote posts, made such assertions difficult and expensive. Therefore, it is assumed that transportation costs made status related goods precious icons of rank that were carefully curated. I assume that the most important items which were used to symbolize rank consisted of distinctive frock coats, exotic foodstuffs, and ceramic and glass tableware. It is

1 unlikely that these status goods will be frequently encountered in the archaeological record. The HBC officers were characterized previously as being more poorly supplied with status goods than clerks of the NWC. I expect that the junior clerks of the latter company also faced constraints on personal affluence and access to status items. Because of transportation costs, I assume that junior officers of both companies left a rather "impoverished" archaeological residue of expensive and readily apparent status 1 markers. Thus, if highly curated goods are used as markers of status differentiation, the archaeologist has very little opportunity to distinguish, in a statistically significant fashion, correlates of work-related status in the material cultural record. Possible alternative strategies of status display that were in keeping with the situation of the wintering posts are explored in the following chapter. This involves consideration of differential access to local food, use of space, and refuse disposal. Chapter 10 LOW COST STATUS DISPLAY IN THE WINTERING POSTS

INTRODUCTION In previous chapters a series of status-related items were described that can be expected to reflect the social position of their owners. Archival records indicate that officers purchased a range of clothing and personal possessions that made them visually distinctive from the labourers. Further differentiation is apparent with the officers' exclusive control over most exotic foodstuffs, and fine ceramic and glass tablewares. Chapter 9 also indicates that, while these goods have been encountered in remote fur trade posts of both the HBC and the NWC, the great cost and important social function of these items resulted in curation to the point that they only sporadically appear in the archaeological record. This chapter explores otlier mechanisms of non-verbal communication at the small wintering posts which might have supplemented the social impact of conventional status goods such as tableware, clothing and exotic foods. These non-conventional marks of social differentiation can be viewed as relatively "inexpensive", or at least not directly influenced by transportation-induced scarcities. In effect, these patterns reflect the officers' efforts to both explicitly and implicitly differentiate themselves from the labourers by using the built environment, and locally available material culture that was not directly affected by transportation difficulties. In remote wintering posts which were most affected by transportation induced shortages, it can be argued that these non-conventional mechanisms of symbolizing social position were particularly important.

THE USE OF SPACE IN WINTERING POSTS The short term wintering stations usually consisted of a few rectangular buildings divided into compartments. The smaller ones were quite rustic in keeping with their short term of use, hurried construction, and the comparatively low status of all individuals wintering in them. These small posts were frequently the winter stations of a small number of labourers under the leadership of a junior clerk or experienced labourer. As such, first impressions suggest that the rigid inter-rank differentiation which characterized the more permanent and important centres would have been suspended. To a certain extent this appears to have been the case, with a limited occurrence of special purpose buildings and compartments, less frequent construction of officers' houses placed in visually prominent locations, and less use of stockades. Given the relatively low seniority of the individual in charge, and in light of the enormous costs of transportation, the officer likely had only a narrow range of goods that are readily archaeologically recognized as being imbued with status-related meaning. Further confounding the identification of artifact types used to signal social position, these rare and valued items were likely carefully curated. Thus, we can expect that they will be virtually invisible from an archaeological perspective. Despite the difficulty in communicating social position with material goods in conventional ways, I maintain that non-verbal reinforcement of social position remained a very important part of asserting authority in the small outposts. The need to symbolize and assert authority was a function of the tensions between the ranks, and the labourers' ambivalence over accepting the authority of junior clerks placed in charge of the post. This ambivalence was likely most expressed in situations where junior clerks were forced to rely upon the superior experience and country skills of the senior labourers. In this uncertain social environment, continued reinforcement of authority using material goods and the built environment can be expected. Concrete manifestations of this non-verbal reinforcement of authority are expected in even the most remote wintering stations, but in fashions which were only marginally affected by transportation difficulties. I conclude this study by proposing mechanisms of status display which used rather mundane aspects of trade post life. That is, symbolic meaning was attached to some "everyday" activities which served to communicate the social distinctions between the occupants. Given the rather informal derivation of these social cues, they would have been transitory and dependent upon the situational context. The attitudes and expectations of rank held by the French Canadian clerks are not clear in the NWC documents. However, George Simpson of the HBC provides some interesting insights through his Athabasca Journal of 1820 (Rich 1938). At that time the HBC hired large numbers of French Canadians who had been formerly employed by the Montreal trade companies. The more senior of these French Canadian employees maintained that, since their contracts specified them to be of the junior officer rank, they were entitled to certain privileges that included freedom from manual labour (Rich 1938:82-85). When their supervisors ordered them to cany out tasks usually done by "country-skilled" labourers, they sought to protect their status as clerks, guides and interpreters. They resisted orders to do manual labour even though they were formerly employed as labourers and canoe men, and were masters of the required skills. This suggests that exemption from manual labour was a firmly entrenched privilege held by all clerks, guides and interpreters in the service of both the NWC and the HBC. One particularly effective means of asserting social dominance was by judicious dispensation of alcohol to the labourers. However, officers who were too frugal with these supplies faced pressure from the labourers, and the HBC records indicate that the labourers occasionally resorted to work stoppages to assert their demands for more alcohol and food of their choosing (Hamilton 1985b). On the other hand, too frequent gratuities of alcohol could raise the ire of the clerks' superiors if the "costs of trade" grew too great. Thus, the clerks had to maintain a fine line between too much and too little liberality in dispensing gifts to both the labourers and the Indian customers. According to James Mackenzie, a NWC clerk, this created difficulties as clerks cautiously doled out gifts to Indians (Masson 1960:382). The customers compared the parsimonious attitude of the clerks to the liberality of the wintering partners, and expressed contempt for the more frugal nature of the junior traders. This made routine winter trade activities more difficult and sometimes potentially dangerous. Less expensive means of asserting social superiority are apparent with the clerks' separate residence, if only a bedroom removed from the barracks of the labourers. In even the most rustic of wintering stations such as Michipicoten, Red Lake and Nottingham House this spatial segregation is evident. When considering the floor space per person available in these wintering posts, the clerks retained control over a large proportion of the building. However, it must be remembered that the clerk and his family shared the apartment with the more valuable commodities in a bid to prevent theft. One of the most interesting distinctions between the regional headquarters and the wintering stations is variation in refuse disposal in and around the structures. In a discussion of several major posts located along the Saskatchewan River, Pyszczyk (1978) observes that major refuse middens were generally removed from the buildings, and in some cases, were located outside the stockaded compound (Figure 17). While the distribution of refuse in and around these posts has not been quantitatively considered, it is clear that refuse was systematically collected and disposed of in "low visibility" locales, or at least away from the major living areas. In the case of Pine Fort, White Earth and Brandon House, the middens were located behind the buildings and adjacent to the stockades (Figures 19 and 21). In the Brandon House journals, the officer periodically reported setting the labourers, their families, or local Indian dependents to work at general domestic chores that included hauling rubbish out of the compound and disposing of it into middens outside the stockade walls (HBCA, PAM, B/22/a/13, 17, 18a, 18b). This systematic effort at refuse disposal in regional headquarters is consistent with the generalizations offered by Pyszczyk (1978). The small wintering stations suggest quite different standards of sanitation and strategies of refuse disposal. This is apparent in the floor plans of Yellow River, Snake River, the GrantMcLeod posts, Nottingham House, Old Fort Point and Rocky Mountain Fort (Figures 27, 25, 29, 30, 32, 33). At these wintering posts, refuse was allowed to accumulate on or under the floors of the structures, in disused sub-floor storage pits, and in pits and sheet middens adjacent to the buildings. This is most strongly expressed at Rocky Mountain Fort, were large quantities of ash and bone refuse was allowed to accumulate against the outside wall of one of the structures (Hamilton 1987:53), (Figure 53). While this somewhat relaxed standard of cleanliness appears quite common with wintering posts, distinctions are apparent between the quarters of the officer and the labourers. These distinctions will be explored with a review of the HBC's Nottingham House, and the NWC's Rocky Mountain Fort.

DIFFERENTIAL ACCESS TO FOOD AND PATTERNED REFUSE DISPOSAL Nottingham House European foodstuffs and tableware were important means of asserting social position in posts of all logistical types. Differential access to locally derived food and patterned disposal of refuse were also very important in distinguishing between officers and labourers. Whether these distinctions reflect differing social position, ethnic affiliation or rejection of fur trade standards of hygiene, the officers' quarters at Nottingham House reflect patterns of food consumption and refuse disposal that are quite distinct from that of the labourers' quarters. I propose that these patterns represent efforts made by the officer to differentiate himself from the labourers, and to signal social superiority. Not only would such techniques of non-verbal communication be effective, but they also were "inexpensive" compared to symbolization of rank using imported European commodities. I will explore the nature of differential access to "country food" by first identifying distinctions in faunal recoveries between the various compartments in the main building at Nottingham House. This involves a brief discussion of food preferences and dietary breadth, and then will turn to a review of faunal refuse disposal strategies. The good archaeological visibility and superior historic documentation for Nottingham House makes this site an extremely important archaeological site. The officer in charge of the post occupied compartment A in the main house, while the labourers were housed in compartment D (Figures 30 and 31). The kitchenltrade room was an important common area for all ranks as well as Indian customers. Sub-floor pits or small cellars are located in all rooms of the main building (Figure 30). Several large refuse disposal pits are located in the central courtyard between the various buildings making up Nottingham House and the competing NWC guard houses (Figure 30). The placement of these large pit middens in the central courtyard is consistent with other small wintering posts.

The report of excavations at Nottingham House consists of a descriptive study of the historic records, archaeological features, and artifacts (Karklins 1983). A faunal analysis was conducted by Rick (1983). At first, this faunal analysis seems difficult to utilize due to the structure and presentation of data. The recoveries from the interior pits are discussed separately from those of the floor areas of the buildings and the outside trash features, and the data from each of these zones are not presented in an entirely consistent fashion that permits easy integration. Discussion of the faunal recoveries from the site as a whole either does not address the "floor area", or refers to the four compartments of the main house as a single entity. This makes it difficult to summarize the information in one table. Despite this, several very interesting bone distribution patterns are apparent. Rick (1983) describes the recoveries by first dividing them into a series of taxonomic categories: identifiable versus unidentifiable fragments; general classes of animals such as fish, birds and mammals; and finally, the species or family identified. As with the situation at other boreal forest fur trade sites, fish resources were the primary and most reliable food source available in the Lake Athabasca region (Rick 1983:230 citing Smythe 1968:249). Of a total of 9,359 vertebrate bone fragments, 3,558 (38%) were fish, 2,606 (28%) were avian and 2,844 (30%) were mammalian (Rick 1983:227). About 25% of the total were identifiable at least to the family level. This low proportion of identifiable bone is due to deliberate breakage, likely to extract marrow and fat (see also Zierhut 1967; Hurlburt 1977; Hamilton 1990). While 38% of the recoveries are identified as fish, this is likely an under- representation due to poor preservation, differential destruction by dogs, removal of dried fish off the site as provisions for the canoe brigades (Karklins 1983:213), and bias introduced by minimal screening of the archaeological sediments (Rick 1983:227). Karklins (1983) suggests that mammals such as beaver, moose, bison and deer contributed the largest proportion to the diet based upon calculations of projected food yield using the minimum numbers of individual animals representedl. However, Table 27 indicates that, with the exception of moose, the larger mammals are represented by a very small number of bone fragments. Karklins (1983:213) points out that the low NISP values for most large mammal species might reflect the transportation of portions of carcasses to

Minimum Numbers of Individuals, or MNI, is method of calculating the number of animals of each species represented in the assemblage. This is determined by identifying the most frequently recovered anatomical element of each species, and extrapolating the minimum number of animals of that species required to produce the assemblage. A number of methods are used to calculate MNI, but as a measure of species representation, all can be considered to provide a very conservative estimate of species abundance (Grayson 1973; 1979). A second quantification technique, NISP, refers to the "number of individual specimens present" of each species. This quantification technique simply calculates the number of fragments that are identifiable to each specieslfamily category. As such, it provides a maximum or upper limit of abundance of each species. Ho 1983:233) Table 27 Total Faunal Recoveries from Noningham se (Rick MNI I Str I Str Str Str Pits Pit Pit Test Total MNI Str Str Str Str Pits Pit Pit Test Total 3 4 A-B C D Pit n % Mammals 1 2 3 4 A-B C D Pit n % Small Mammals total 92 14 3 3 1 8 1 9 7 1 7' 308 3.29 1 0.01 1 Salvelinus namaycush lake trout 16 1 13 5 16 5 47 0.50 4 Peromyscus maniculatu deer mouse 1 1 0.01 1 Coregonus sp. whitefish or cisco 71 6 16 5 76 2 10 2 188 2.01 28 Microtus SP. voles 1 4 0.04 1 Hiodon alosoides goldeye 7 2 1 4 1 15 0.16 3 Ondatra zibethicus muskrat 3 1 3.23 22 Esox lucius northern pike 29 9 6 27 61 11 29 12 184 1.97 24 Lepus americanus snowshoehare 91 11 2 31 81 9 71 6 302 Catostomus sp. sucker. 2 11 4 0.04 1 24 4 Medium Mammals total doglwolf 312 96 1 21 85 3 21 14 270 2.88 Lota lota burbot 4 1 5. 8 2 1 3 0.26 2 Stizostedion vitreum walleye 160 13 15 22 114 13 41 4 382 4.08 33 Canis SP. 2 11 1 3 19 0.20 2 Total identified fish 289 32 44, 6 26 44, 86, 21, 844, 9.02, 97 canis familiaris dog 2 73 9 1 2 1 88 0.94 Unidentified fish 1352 137 67 161 653 36 209 99 2714 29.00 Vulpes vulpes red fox 321 4 5 13 0.14 2 Total Fish 1641 169 111 226 916 80 295 120 3558 38.02 Alopex lagopus arctic fox 1 1 0.01 1 Martec americana marten 1 1 0.01 1 Birds Gulo luscus wolverine 1 1 37 1 40 0.43 2 Olor columbianus whistling swan 0.04 1 Castor canadensis beaver 6 4 1 2 1 14 0.15 2 Olor buccinator trumpeter swan 0.09 2 Lynx canadensis lynx 7 8 4 12 1 8 31 0.33 2 small goose 0.29 5 Unidentified medium mammal 11 6 4 29 8 5 63 0.67 7n- .rm med. goose I.WL 3L large goose I 0.38 4 Large Mammals total Anus platyrhynchos, mallard, pintail, 0.00 Alces alces moose acuta, strepera gadwell 0.97 10 Rangifer tarandus caribou Mareca americana widgeon 0.04 1 Cervidae deer family Anas carolinensis green-winged teal 0.01 1 Bison bison bison Aythya americana redhead 0.01 1 Unidentified large mammal Anus collaris ? ring-necked duck 0.01 1 Anus valisineria canvasback duck 0.03 2 Unidentified med-large mammal 201 71 42 148 165 Anatidae duck species 0.51 Total Mammal 478 314 104 332 538 Buteo lagopus rough-legged hawk 0.0 1 1 Uncertain class 109 21 5 73 63 Buteo sp. hawk1 0.0i 1 otal uone j 3134j 674j 336j 8i9j 228il Canachites canadensis sprucegrouse 0.011 1 Lagopus lagopus willow ptarmigan Pedioecetes phasi anellus sharp-tailed grouse Tetraonidae grouse-ptarmigan Grus canadensis sandhill crane Lams argentatus herring gull Corvus corax raven C. brachyrhynchos crow Total Identified birds Unidentified small birds Unidentified medium birds Unidentified med-large birds Unidentified large birds Total unidentified birds Total Birds I the site, rather than the whole animal. Highly variable amounts of usable meat can also be expected from animals of the same species due to sexual dimorphism, age, physical condition, and season of the kill. Additionally, bone consumption by dogs and sampling biases will result in a net under-representation of bones from smaller animals. In my perspective, these considerations cast some doubt on Karklins' (1983) use of "usable meat yield" as a measure of species importance. Given these uncertainties, I will only discuss the identifiable bone fragments to derive a more generalized view of species importance. The identification of 844 identifiable fish bones, 720 goose, 302 snowshoe hare and 107 canid bone fragments, in contrast to 99 moose, 1 caribou and 1 bison bone fragments, suggest that the smaller animals contributed much more to the diet than a "usable meat yield" index would suggest. Nonetheless, large ungulates, particularly moose, likely were prized resources that were eagerly sought when available. I do not want to dwell upon the variable interpretations possible of these data. Rather, I offer the species summary to make the point that a variety of animals were available, and that small mammals, fish and aquatic birds likely played a more prominent role in the diet than Karklins suggests (1983:212-213). Subdivision of the faunal recoveries by building compartment and feature is also very illuminating. Table 28 summarizes the NISP values by specieslfamily class from depressions within buildings and exterior refuse pits, but does not include the recoveries from the house floors. While miuch of the fmnal refcse was discard& into exterior trash middens, a substantial amount of biodegradable refuse was disposed of into sub-floor pits within the structures (Table 28). Dramatic variation also exists between the quantities of bone refuse recovered from the officers' and labourers' quarters. The labourers' quarters yield a much higher concentration of faunal refuse than all other building compartments, and matches the frequency from the exterior refuse middens (Table 28). Clearly, the labourers were utilizing sub-floor pits much more frequently than were Fidler and his family. Dramatic variation in species and animal class representation is also apparent, with much higher percentages of mammalian bone recovered from the officers' than the labourers' quarters (Table 28). Rick (1983) provides a general summary of fish, bird and mammal recoveries from several distinct areas of the four compartments making up the main house (Table 29). A great deal of faunal material was disposed of by simply dropping it to be "scuffed" under the surface of a dirt floor, or allowing it to accumulate between the gaps of a plank floor. Table 29 indicates that the officers' quarters (compartment A) yielded dramatically fewer fish bones (9%) compared to birds (34%) and mammals (57%). This contrasts sharply with the recoveries from the site as a whole, and particularly from the labourers' quarters Table 28 The Faunal Recoveries from pits and cellars at Nottingham House (Rick 1983:236)

Main HI : How - Storehouse Trash Pits I Species )fficers itchenltrade -wz >use abouren - total Rm. A Rm. B im. C im. C Rm. D post pit pit Pl t cellar pit pit kg. pit hole A-B C D Hish - lake trout 2 4 5 15 3 29 whitefish or cisco S 16 26 3 67 2 9 132 goldeye 1 1 3 4 1 10 northern pike 1 1 15 L 58 7 14 98 sucker 2 1 3 burbot 2 2 1 5 walleye S 2: 36 52 1 106 5 23 257 Unid Fish 4 41 5 lo8 445 I 535 28 10.5 1283 Total Fish 4 62 3: 162 549 E 778 58 155 1817 Birds trumpeter swan I 3 4 small goose 2 18 1 2 23 me& goose 1 15 29 275 3 123 13 4 464 large goose 1 3 3 10 2 19 mallard, pintail, gadwell 1 5 1 16 10 1 16 50 widgeon 3 3 green-winged teal 1 1 redhead 1 1 canvasback duck 1 1 duck species 1 5 12 7 1 26 willow ptarmigan 1 4 3 3 11 sharptailed grouse 1 3 4 grouse-ptarmigan 1 1 3 16 sandhill crane 1 2 3 raven 17 17 Unid bird L 34 I 73 253 4 505 14 50 951 Total Bird 1 62 117 580 9 687 31 73 1583 Mammals snowshoe hare 4 4 23 13 72 3 28 156 voles 1 1 muskrat 1 doglwolf dog red fox 1 wolverine lynx 1 moose 1 t deer family Unid mammal 1: 2C 2? 5s t 197 595 Total Mammal 2( 2 45 80 C 302 248 916 class uncertain 1 15 35; 55 11 132 Total Bone 31 15: 4( -3z m Z: Table 29 Animal Size Class variation by locality at Nottingham House (after Rick 1983 and

Area Fish Bird Mammal bone m. sq. Freq % dens Freq % den Freq % den total dens. Main House - Rm A (Fidler) tot. 13.2 4457 3 floor 2 4 cellar 20 Rm B (Kitchen) tot. 10.8 39 21 4 floor 14 hearth pit 2 5 Rm C (warehse) tot. 12.8 110 29 9 floor 104 pit 6 Rm D (men's hse) tot. 16 248 13 16 floor 120 hearth 1 large pit 8 0 small pit 4 7

Structure 2 12 314 48 26 Structure 3 9.5 104 31 11 Structure 4 10.24 332 45 32 Pits A-B 3.9 538 24 138 Pit C 4 165 54 41 Pit D 6 746 61 119 Test Pits 167 41 average 155 39 40 stand. dev. 191 16 49 upper 5 4 iower 2 3 trash density average 46 trash density sd 2 0 that yielded a high proportion of fish (72%), and a dramatically smaller proportion of mammal bone (14%) and bird bone (13%) (Table 29). The calculations of density of bone per square metre from the four compartments is also illuminating since it controls for the differing size of the rooms (Table 29). While likely affected by sample bias and differential refuse disposal, these data suggest that the officers enjoyed a wider range of fatty mammalian food than the labourers, who subsisted to a greater extent on fish. In fur trade posts where food consisted primarily of meat, fat was eagerly sought as the primary source of carbohydrates (Hurlburt 1977; Hamilton 1990). Speth (1983) points out that fat is metabolically essential for people in cold climates who lack a source of plant carbohydrates. This is consistent with fur trade records which report that fat was an eagerly sought food resource (Hamilton 1985b; 1990). Not only was fatty red meat preferred, but fish were regarded by fur trade company employees as food to be eaten only as a last resort in face of starvation (Hurlburt 197752-54). Hurlburt (197752-53 citing Johnson 1967:lxviii) reports that labourers sought winter appointments in the bison-rich Saskatchewan River region, rather than posts in the boreal forest where the primary subsistence was fish. In 1804 the labourers at Brandon House also expressed their distaste for fish as long as mammalian meat and fat were available. They ceased working in protest when the officer in charge attempted to replace the preferred provisions with fish (HBCA, PAM, B .22/a/ l2/3). Hurlburt (1977:28-37) reports a 19th century folk classification of large ungulate meat quality, whereby female bison were considered to be the best quality, followed by younger male bison, moose and the lowest ranked wapiti. A strong dietary preference for female bison is also apparent in the Brandon House journals (Hamilton 1990). The ranking of preference from bison, to moose and then to wapiti involved consideration of the texture and palatability of the meat as well as the rendered body fat, marrow and bone grease (Hurlburt 1977). Like fish, wapiti was sought out only when more favoured food resources failed. Of course, these subtle preferences between food species could be realized only in situations where the preferred animals were available. In the boreal forest, or in times of scarcity, even fish were eagerly sought and consumed. Even in relatively impoverished boreal forest contexts such as the Lake Athabasca region in the early 1800ts,food preferences could be acted upon to a certain extent. At Nottingham House the officer appears to have consumed comparatively more mammalian meat than fish, and the labourer's quarters yield a much higher proportion of fish bones. If the varying bone recoveries indicate that the officer enjoyed a greater variety of food than the labourers, then we may assume that he was able to enforce this inequitable distribution of prized fatty meat on the basis of his authority as outpost master. The labourers did much of the hunting, snaring and fishing, hauled animal carcasses to the post, and observed what commodities the local Indians traded. They probably had a very good idea of what food reserves were available in the post, and it is unlikely that the officer could have successfully kept the availability of red meat and fat a secret. The officer's more varied diet could have served as a useful social symbol that re-affirmed his superior rank and social position. It also would supplement the symbolism of distinctive dress and residence, and exclusive control of European foodstuffs, alcohol and tableware. Junior officers at remote outposts could engage in this affirmation of social position using materials that were not affected by the costs of transportation. In effect, locally derived food can be viewed as an important social icon which remained inexpensive from a monetary perspective, but which was still the object of great desire on the part of the labourers. This differential pattern of food consumption is apparent in spite of the fact that the officers more consistently disposed of food waste in outside refuse middens (Table 29). With this higher standard of sanitation, we can expect that the larger mammalian and avian bones were more consistently disposed of into the outside middens, while unobtrusive fish bones had a greater chance of remaining on or under the floor. Despite this, fish are dramatically under-represented in the officers' quarters compared to all other depositional contexts at Nottingham House (Table 29). Fidler's residence does not have small pits below the floor (Figure 30). In many of the other compartments the small pits were used as refuse middens. Sub-floor garbage pits were a common feature of many posts, particularly the small wintering posts. Fidler's compartment at Nottingham House contained a comparatively large sub-floor storage pit or cellar (Figure 30) that yielded only a limited amount of faunal refuse (Table 29). The large size of this storage pit was a function of the more valuable trade goods being stored in the officers' quarters at small wintering posts. The low rate of bone recovery from this feature indicates that it served a storage function for much of the life of the post, and was not used to dispose of refuse. The smaller storage pits in the labourers' quarters were frequently lined with coniferous tree boughs (Karklins 1983:33-35), and were likely originally used to store surplus food and other perishable materials. These storage features probably became fouled by the slow decay of food, and had a shorter use-life th& the large cellar under Fidler's residence. At the end of its role as a storage feature, a sub-floor pit became a convenient refuse disposal feature. In winter the odorous decay of biodegradable matter in these sub-floor pits was likely a minimal concern for the labourers given the inadequate heating with a single open hearth. The refuse deposited of into the pits, as well as that scattered on the floor of the room, likely remained frozen until spring. With spring, the small wintering stations were usually abandoned, or left in the care of a very small complement of men. Thus, odour and sanitation was of minimal concern during the winter period of occupation. Sub-floor refuse disposal was a viable option for the officers and their families since their quarters were seldom better heated than those of the labourers. Despite this, the officers' quarters at Nottingham House and Rocky Mountain Fort, described below, yield significantly reduced amounts of faunal refuse compared to all other buildings. Like other elements of life discussed previously, this differential pattern of refuse disposal was a highly "visible" distinction between the ranks. I propose that such differences dramatically differentiated "gentlemen" officers from the labourers, and served as another means of non- verbally communicating social superiority. Like unequal access to locally derived foodstuffs, differential refuse disposal was "inexpensive" and unaffected by transportation costs. Rocky Mountain Fort Rocky Mountain Fort was a remote wintering outpost operated by the NWC on the western frontier of the Athabasca Department between 1794 and 1804. Until it was supplanted by trade posts at the Peace River Canyon and in New Caledonia after 1804, it was the most westerly land base of the British North American fur trade. It was situated in a comparatively new and untapped hinterland, and offered the NWC a rich array of food and fur resources. River bank erosion has removed a significant portion of the post, though a large archaeological sample is available from a range of different building localities, outside work areas and refuse middens. These subareas will be described later. As expected of a remote wintering outpost, the artifacts of European origin consist of a comparatively narrow range of utilitarian materials and trade goods, such as beads, lead shot, gunflints, items of personal adornment, and some metal tools (Table 30). Notable for their minimal representation are fragile items such as clay smoking pipes and expensive ceramic and glass tableware and storage containers. The most numerically important recovery is faunal material. The sample consists of approximately 136,300 fragments of which only 6% (about 8,300 specimens) are identifiable to species/animal size class or anatomical element. The enormous quantity of bone fragments is consistent with the only surviving journal written at the site during the winter of 1799-1800 (OtNeil 1928). This journal exhibits a strong pre-occupation with hunting and provisioning matters, and describes at length the activities of an Indian hunter who was hired on a "piece work basis to procure game for the post. This hunter was very successful, and killed 21 bison, 18 wapiti and several rabbits over one winter season, contributing over 14,848 lbs of meat (Hamilton 1987:21). In addition to the food procured by this man, other Indians traded large quantities of meat and fat in addition to furs. It is readily apparent that bison were the primary prey of the hunters, with wapiti and beaver being important alternate resources. The accumulation of food was important to assure provisions for the post over the winter, and to feed the canoe brigade from the winter station to the summer rendezvous and back. Narratives such as that of Philip Turnor (TyrreU 1935:401) also note that provisioning activities at posts along the Peace River were essential to feed the canoe crews from posts located in the boreal forest that were unable to accumulate a sufficient surplus of dried provisions. I have argued elsewhere that food procurement and processing activities at posts such as Rocky Mountain Fort should be considered to be something of an industrial-level activity which may even have rivalled the importance of the furs traded (Hamilton 1987:22-23; Hamilton 1990). This preserved food may have had a negligible monetary value as an export commodity, but it was essential to -

Table 30 Formed artifacts recovered from Rocky Mountain Fort

Court 1 Court 2 Court 3 1 Court 4 Hse A 1 Hse A 2 Hse A 3 Ise A 4 Hse B 1 Hse B 2 Hse B 3 Plant 1 Plant 2 Plant 3 Plant 4 ta1 tot a? tot aver I tot aver tot aver tot aver tot aver tot aver tot aver tot aver tot aver tot aver tot aver tot aver tot aver total a;;-I '2 Ceramc Tableware 4 0.1 / 0.39 4 0.06 0.05 1 0.02 30- Clay tobacco pipe 1 0.06 9 Bead, tube 7540 418.89 2002 31.28 13 4.33 17,086 Bead, wire wnd. 77 4.28 65 1.02 226 Glass, flat 9 0.5 30 0.47 64 Glass, curved 7 0.39 30 0.47 64 Bone tool 45 2.5 20 0.31 111 Stone pipe 1 0.06 , 1 0.02 10 nail, hand wrought 51 2.83 I 115 1.8 351 pencillchalk 3 debitage 1 0.13 3,069 mt 137 ball, lead 15 shot, lead 1 0.33 730 sprue, iead Pi5 project. pnts., metal 1 gun Parts 6 button 22 comb, bone 3 exotic shell 23

Court 1 Courtyard between buildings Hse B 1 Interior of House B Court 2 Magnetic fields within the Courtyard Hse B 2 Pit under House B Court 3 Pit middens within the Courtyard Hse B 3 Outside margin of House B Court 4 Sheet middens within the Courtyard Plant 1 General Plantation area Hse A 1 Cellar under House A Plant 2 Magnetic field in the Platation Hse A 2 East end of House A Plant 3 Pit Midden in Plantation Hse A 3 West end of House A Plant 4 Work area in the Plantation Hse A 4 Outside margin of House A feed the canoe crews servicing the fur trade hinterland far beyond the zone that could be economically provisioned with European foodstuffs. The 1986-87 excavations at Rocky Mountain Fort sought to maximize the recovery of small specimens, including bone fragments. Part of this effort involved consistent use of dual screeners equipped with 6 and 3 mm mesh. This screening methodology is designed to permit the consistent recovery of fish, bird, and small mammal bone fragments unaffected by sample biases in favour of the bones of larger animals. While not compensating for the loss of the front half of the site to river erosion, I consider that the recovery provides a representative sample of all sizes of artifacts from a wide range of the remaining site subareas. Faunal analysis involved definition of all identifiable bones, division of these bones into groups reflecting the subarea of recovery, and detailed analysis by a faunal analysis specialist2. This involved determination of the anatomical element represented, definition of patterns of butchering and bone processing, and species identification whenever possible. Given that the time and resources allocated for faunal analysis were limited, the entire identifiable bone assemblage could not be studied. Approximately 74% of the 8,300 identifiable bones were examined. The basis of sample selection involved identification of subareas across the site using geophysical remote sensing data, topographic micro-relief and excavated exposures of deposits (Hamilton 1987; Hamilton, Burley and Moon 1988). Table 31 lists the defined subareas of the site, the characteristics of each, and notes the surface area of the sample of each subarea. These subareas consist of refuse disposal features, the compound area between and within six metres of the buildings, and a series of localities in the "plantation" surrounding the post. The two buildings and their immediate vicinities are subdivided into a series of zones that include sub-floor storage features, the fireplaces and their proximities, the building floor areas, and the immediate exterior environs of the buildings within one metre of the structures. With the exception of the courtyard, the plantation, and the cellar within the main house, all identifiable bones from all the subareas were analyzed. Identifiable bone fragments from ten square metres in the courtyard between the buildings were judgementally selected and investigated. The plantation area is also represented by the recoveries from 10 square metres.

The faunal analysis was conducted by Karla Kusmer assisted by Tina Van Gaalen, using the zooarchaeological comparative collection at the Department of Archaeology at Simon Fraser University. Table 3 1 Characteristics of Rocky Mountain Fort Archaeological Subareas square met re Courtyard Court 1 31.75 Courtyard area between the buildings forming the compound within 6 metres of the buildings Court 2 3 Magnetic fields within the courtyard area Court 3 9 Pit middens within the courtyard Court 4 10.25 Sheet middens within the courtyard Mouse A cellar 4.5 Large slumped cellar under the centre of the main house east end 16 General area within the east end of House A east fireplace 3 Area inside and within one metre of the east fireplace west end 16 General area within the west end of House A west fireplace 3.25 Area inside and within one metre of the west fireplace outside 13.5 Area within one metre of the outside wall of house A margin House B general 9.75 Area within the walls of house except for storage pit storage pit 1.5 A storage pit or inside refuse midden outside 5.5 Area within one metre of the outside wall of house B margin Plantation gen. plant. 9.75 General area around the fort compound mag. plant. 7.5 Magnetic disturbances within the plantation area Plant work 9 Area of dense faunal refuse and magnetic disturbance Pit Midden 0.75 Refuse Pit outside the courtyard

The only other area not fully analyzed was the cellar fill within the main house. Only a .25 square metre soil column of cellar fill was subjected to detailed analysis even though the cellar yielded a high density of faunal refuse. Much of the cellar fill was originally interpreted as redeposited sediment that had collapsed into the cellar from the surrounding floor area of House A. Thus, it was reasoned that a sample from this zone would merely mimic that recovered from the floor area of the house (Hamilton, Burley and Moon 1988). Re-analysis of the recoveries, profile drawings and excavation notes has led me to a change my interpretation. The cellar was originally constructed by excavating through a buried horizontal stratum of coarse sand. This sand is unstable, particularly when dry, and appears to have slumped into the uncribbed cellar during the occupation of the building. Since the ,collapsed cellar was no longer usable as a storage facility, it was likely used as a convenient refuse disposal feature by the building occupants late in the period of use of the site. This resulted in the accumulation of faunal refuse which was later overlaid by collapsed flooring, eroded building sub-floor sediments and alluvium. Such an accumulation of food refuse in a sub-floor pit under the officers' residence trade area appears inconsistent with the observations at Nottingham House. I suspect that this refuse deposition into the feature reflects the unique situation of the collapse of the cellar in light of an anticipated abandonment of the fort. Such site abandonment behaviour (Stevenson 1982) might have resulted in the suspension of the usual refuse disposal strategy employed by the officer. I base this proposal on the extremely low recovery of faunal materials from all areas within and immediately around Building A (Table 32)3. If the enormous accumulation of faunal material within the cellar fill was redeposited by the slumping of floor area into the depression, then I would expect a high bone density from the uneroded floor contexts surrounding the cellar depression. Table 32 indicates this is not the case, with House A yielding extremely low concentrations of bone, and the cellar manifesting a frequency similar to the exterior refuse middens and the sub-floor pit within Building B. The implications of this re-interpretation of the cellar feature will be addressed more fully later. The provisioning phenomenon at Rocky Mountain Fort forms a very interesting contrast to events and activities at the HBC's Nottingham House along the shores of Lake Athabasca. Because the ecology of the Peace River and the provisioning activities of posts in this region contrast so sharply to that of Lake Athabasca, a brief review of these differences is necessary to place a comparison of posts in context. Rocky Mountain Fort was a busy outpost, newly established in a previously untapped region, and with a virtual monopoly over trade in its hinterland. It also was in a rich ecotone zone consisting of a mosaic of coniferous and deciduous forest, and open grassland (Rowe 1972). Nottingham House was located along the shores of Lake Athabasca in the boreal forest. It was within 2 region that had been the scene of intensive fur trading activity for at least twenty years, likely resulting in a sharp decline in the large mammal population that had been present prior to the arrival of Europeans. The limited availability of large mammals at Nottingham House is also a reflection of the nature of competition in the Lake Athabasca region. Peter Fidler reports that the NWC was very aggressive in its efforts to deny the HBC a foothold in the Athabasca region. The NWC used physical intimidation of both HBC employees and Indians to assure that few furs, and little food was traded at the post (Karklins 1983:lO citing HBCA, PAM, B.39/a/l, 2). Efforts to starve the HBC out of the area resulted in few large mammals being available, forcing a heavy reliance upon fish resources. From an ecological perspective, I suspect that Rocky Mountain Fort had more in common with trade posts in the northern plains than with "neighbouring" posts in the Athabasca Department located in the boreal forest. This is apparent in both the 1799-1800 journal (O'Neil 1928) and in the faunal recoveries (Table 32). Based upon NISP bone

The statistical strength of this faunal distributional patterning is briefly addressed below with reference to Tables 33 and 34, and Appendix I. Medium Mammal Beaver Red Fox Lynx canis sp. Porcupine Wolverine beavedporcupine large rodent large rodent Fisher Badger Otter Large Carnivore med carnivore Small Carnivore TOT. MKD. MAMMAL Small Mammal 107 1.74 lepus sp. 101 1.64 Microtus sp. 6 0.10 Red Squirrel 6 0.10 Mustelid 5 0.08 Mink 2 0.03 Pcromyscus sp. 2 0.03 martintmink 1 0.02 med. rodent 1 0.02 mustelid, large 1 0.02 mustelid, martin size 1 0.02 Martin 1 0.02 Muskrat 0 TOT. SMALL MAMMAL 234 3.81 Avian large bird medium bird small bird duck duck. small Mallard Goose Swan Grouse Common Crow Passenger Pigeon Woodpecker Raven Coot swanleoose TOTAL AVIAN Fish 144 2.34 1 8 7 16 13 castomidae 52 0.85 5 1 10 2 5 P.oregonensis 299 4.87 1 1 1 2 10 28 7 1 cyprinidae 6 0.10 1 27 8 2 12 1 burbot 6 TOTAL FISll SO: % 1 0.20 1 0.20 8 1.59 8 1.59 22 4.37 0 1 0.20 15 2.98 3 0 0 1 0.20 366 72.62 0 22 4.37 45 8.93 12 2.38 2 0.40 TOTAL ID MONE 6149 33 0.54 95 1.551 145 2.36 75 1.22 62 1.01 295 4.80 366 5.96 599 9.751 565 9.20 186 3.03 190 3.09 807 13.14 208 3.39 1146 18.64 1036 16.87 209 3.401 1321 2.15 area considered (sq metre) 5 6 7 3 0.25 1.75 density of ID bones 5.25 1 2 1 1 1 3 9 6 10 10 7 16 21 25 248 169 70 599 283 186 190 807 69 127 173 21 13 values, the numerically most important animals listed in Table 32 are large mammals, specifically large and medium ungulates such as bison and wapiti. Large mammals compose 61% of the total identifiable bone fragments, and when medium and small mammals are considered, mammals represent about 89% of the total. Avian bones and fish only contribute 3% and 8% respectively. This high representation of large mammal bone fragments is consistent with the recovery from plains-edge trade posts such as Brandon House and Fort White Earth (Hamilton 1990; Hurlburt 1977). This forms a dramatic contrast to Nottingham House where 38% of the recoveries were fish bones, avian species represent 28%, and mammals represent 30% (Table 29). The 1799-1800 Rocky Mountain Fort journal makes little or no mention of food resources other than the highly valued bison and beaver, with wapiti also being procured in some numbers (Hamilton 1987:21-22 citing O'Neil 1928). Moose are not mentioned in the 1799-1800 journal (O'Neil 1928). Small mammals, waterfowl and fish were not exploited, or did not figure as important resources in the mind of the anonymous journal author. He likely was pre-occupied with the procurement of meat and fat from medium and large mammals to satisfy the day-to-day needs of the post, and to build up a surplus to provision the canoe brigades. Given the availability of prized fatty mammalian meat, secondary resources would not have been sought out, nor written about, unless food shortages forced the hunters to shift to these alternate prey. The archaeological recoveries indicate that waterfowl and fish resources were not heavily utilized, although they are represented more frequently than the journal would indicate. A high proportion of the fish bone fragments were recovered from a specific lens within pit midden feature 3 (Table 32). This depositional lens likely represents a short- duration dumping event, and the low recovery of fish from most other areas of the site indicates that they were only sporadically exploited. Likely fish were exploited only in the event of a shortage of more favoured food supplies, or to offer novelty to the diet. During the 1799-1800 season at least, mammalian meat and fat was available in sufficient quantity to form the daily food for all occupants, and still provide a large reserve for the canoe brigades (Hamilton 1987:22 citing O'Neil 1928). Perhaps the officers were not in a position to appropriate more than their share of the preferred food. Table 32 summarizes the recoveries of identifiable bone from the various subareas of the site. While only a small portion of Building B is available for study, the excavation of a wide range of refuse disposal features provides a broad base for interpretation of species utilization over much of the site. With the exception of the cellar, a very small proportion of the large mammal bones were deposited in House A. The low density of bone in most contexts of House A is consistent with differential patterns of refuse disposal noted at Nottingham House. Following the arguments developed for Nottingham House, we should expect that most of the larger bone fragments were removed from House A to be deposited in the exterior refuse middens. Indeed, over 80% of the identifiable recoveries are from refuse disposal features outside the buildings. However, a substantial percentage of the remaining large mammal bones were recovered from the cellar of House A (Table 32), providing insight into the officers' diet in spite of the efforts at refuse disposal in outside middens. The actual function of House B is uncertain, but it is believed to be a portion of the labourers' residence. This is supported by the large concentrations of food refuse on the floor and in the sub-floor pit, coupled with ash and bone from the refuse middens immediately outside the structure. Indeed, the recovery of glass beads, money cowrie shells, bone, brass and silver clothing ornaments -and buttons, knife blades, a decorative side plate from a musket, and other assorted items implies the multi-purpose character of a domestic residence (Table 30). With this assumption in mind, the recovery of nearly 12% of the total large mammal bone from House B forms a sharp contrast to the 2% from House A (Table 32). This comparatively high proportion of large mammal bone in House B is due to differential refuse disposal patterns, whereby the officer's residence was more consistently cleared of larger bone fragments. The cellar feature under the officer's house yields a high density of bones which forms a sharp contrast to the low recovery of large mammal bone from the floor area of House A. The floor area yields a density of between 1 and 1.4 large mammal bones per square metre, and the cellar reveals a density of 72. This suggests that the discrepancy in large mammal bone frequency between the two buildings noted in Table 32 is a function of refuse disposal patterns rather than differences in food accessibility. The recovery of medium and small mammal bone fragments from the two buildings are surprisingly similar (Table 32), again suggesting that the occupants had access to similar food supplies. Thus, no significant differences in accessibility of the major animal types is apparent between the ranks at Rocky Mountain Fort. While absolute totals are minimal, Table 32 indicates that the relative proportions of some of the smaller animal size classes do diverge between the buildings. Somewhat more small mammal, bird and fish bones are recovered from House A than House B. Again, these comparisons only address the faunal recoveries from the buildings, and do not consider the recoveries from the refuse middens. This is in contrast to the recoveries from Nottingham House where the officers' quarters yielded proportionally more mammalian bone and less fish than the labourers' (Table 29). At Rocky Mountain Fort the situation seems to have been reversed, with a slightly larger proportion of the smaller mammals, fish and fowl being recovered from the building believed to be the officer's residence. Rather than refuting the proposal that officers claimed a disproportionately large share of the preferred food for their own use, Rocky Mountain Fort must be considered in light of its environmental circumstances in a land of relative plenty. With the enormous quantity of highly prized large ungulates routinely available for consumption, a standard diet of mammalian meat and fat was likely enjoyed by all members of the post community. We can imagine that, as the winter progressed, this diet might take on the character of unrelieved monotony. In this situation the addition of beaver, rabbits, waterfowl and fish might be an eagerly welcomed change from a steady diet of bison and wapiti. The somewhat higher representation of smaller mammals and fish in the officer's house is interpreted to suggest that the senior members of the post assured themselves a disproportionate share of these foods. It must be emphasized that fish and waterfowl did not form a substantial proportion of the officers' diet. Rather, the frequency of each animal size class summarized in Table 32 indicates that large mammals, specifically ungulates, were an extremely important food source for all members of the community. The smaller game served as a supplemental food source that probably offered some novelty and variety to the diet. It is in this context that the greater dietary breadth apparent in the House A assemblage must be considered. These observations suggest that social differentiation was represented in both the situation of officers consuming a high proportion of mammals at Nottingham House, and a marginally greater number of fish and fowl at Rocky Mountain Fort. These data must be considered in light of the quite different environmental situations of the two posts. Tacitly recognized symbolic meaning in one situational context may have quite different meanings in others (see also Hodder 1982). Non-verbal communication of social position using consumption and disposal of local foods was an important but informal activity in small remote trade posts. We should expect some variability in the expression of these patterns from one post to another. In light of localized patterns of food availability that are seasonal and based upon the ecological context, the sharp differences between the Peace River and Athabasca trade posts are not surprising.

Patterned Refuse Disposal at Rocky Mountain Fort The spatial distribution of artifacts in and around the buildings at Rocky Mountain Fort is very illuminating of the social dynamics of small fur trade posts. Like Nottingham House, the occupants of Rocky Mountain Fort utilized refuse disposal strategies that varied with rank. To more fully explore this phenomenon, the recoveries are briefly discussed in terms of the strength of their non-random dispersal in and around the buildings. This discussion focuses primarily upon the distribution of faunal material, with some limited discussion of other artifact classes. The frequency of artifacts was tabulated for each .25 m2 collection unit excavated at Rocky Mountain Fort. Each of these 594 collection units was assigned to one of 15 subsets representing distinct site subareas. These artifact cluster samples were subjected to statistical analysis to determine whether the artifact recovery significantly varied from one subarea to another, and whether variation within each subarea is appreciably different from that between subareas. To this end, the data (stratified by locality) was subjected to an analysis of variance, or ANOVA. For a description of the anlytical techniques employed, presentation of the data, and instructions how to interpret the data summary tables, please refer to Appendix I. The dispersal of faunal material reveals strategies employed by the post occupants to dispose of biodegradable refuse. As Tables 33 and 34 indicate, bone fragments were recovered in high concentrations in several localities; within the cellar of House A, in and around House B and its sub-floor pit, and from exterior refuse disposal features (Figure 53). The cellar under House A and the fireplaces and their immediate proximities yield consistently higher concentrations of bone than all other House A contexts (Tables 33 and 34). This confirms the patterns described earlier which indicated that the living space of House A was consistently cleared of refuse, and this debris was disposed of either into the disused cellar, into the hearths of the fireplaces, or into exterior refuse middens. This pattern of differential refuse disposal is also consistent with the pattern apparent at Nottingham House. Interestingly, the zone which yields the lowest average density of faunal material occurs within one metre of the exterior walls of House A. While an average of 22 fragments per .25 m2 were recovered from the immediate exterior of House A, on average, 297 fragments per collection unit were recovered from the edges of House B (Table 33). This demonstrates that quite different refuse disposal rules were in operation in each of the two houses. These patterns of dispersal are maintained, and sometimes even strengthened when the weight of faunal refuse is considered (Table 34). The spatial dispersal of all bone fragments in and around the buildings is visually represented in Figure 53. Strongly entrenched rules of behaviour affected disposal of biodegradable refuse in the officer's house. These rules resulted in a very low density of bone fragments deposited within the house or in the immediate vicinity of the building. The removal of refuse from visible areas in and immediately around House A forms a sharp contrast to the situation in and around House B. In this latter structure, refuse was disposed Table 33 The Nonrandom distribution of bone by frequency at Rocky Mountain Fort

e A and immed. vicinii 1 and vic fauna freq 3 14 15 9

1) Gen Comp 2) Hse A cellar ...... 3) Hse A east ....:.:.:.:.: 4) Hse A e fire 5)Hse A mrg 6) Hse A west 7) Hse A w fire N 8)HseB I- 9)HseBmrg I 10) Hse B pit I. 11) Plantation 12) Plant mag. 13) Plt wrk area 14) Pit Midden E 15) Sht Midden I. untransformed (represented by Log trans ormed (represented by h or 1) F=26.18

Average Density of recovery in each area Low avg Mkdium avg High a'% 9 Hse A mrg 22 8 Hse B. 237 2 Hse A cellar 475 3 Hse A east 52 9HseBmrg. 399 15 Sht rnidd 565 6 Hse A west 81 10 Hse B pit 804 11 Plantation 111 14 Pit midd 899 1 Gen Compound 124 4 Hse A e fireplace 143 12 Plant. magnetic 146 7 Hse A W fireplace 168 13 Plant work area 199 Table 34 The Non-random Distribution of bone by weight at Rocky Mountain Fort

House A and l~ouseB and vicinity fauna gram 1 2 13 18 19 1 10 11 1 12 1 13 1 14 1 15

1) Gen Comp 2) Hse A cellar 3) Hse A east 4) Hse A e fire 5) Hse A mrg 6) Hse A west 7) Hse A w fire 8) Hse B 9) Hse B mrg 10) Hse B pit 11) Plantation 12) Plant mag. 13) Plt wrk area 14) Pit Midden 15) Sht Midden

Untransformed (represented by H or L) Log transformed (represented by h or 1) F 39.56 F 33.5 P=.OOOl 1 p=.OoOl

Average weight in grams recovered from each area Low avg Medium avg High avg 6 H A west 29 13 Plant work area 100 9 House B mrg. 409 3 H A east 32 4 H A e fireplace 113 15 Sht midd 500 5 HAmrg 53 11 Plantation 127 2 Hse A cellar 768 7 HAW fireplace 65 12 Plant. magnetic 132 10 H B pit 1140 1 Gen Compound 142 14 Pit midd 1442 8 House B. 229 into the sub-floor pit, onto the floor of the house, and into exterior pit and sheet middens located immediately south of the building (Figure 53; Table 33). While affected by very low frequencies of many artifact classes, the distribution of non- faunal artifacts forms a sharp contrast. Figures 54 and 55 illustrate the dispersal of beads and other European origin artifacts across the site. These distributions indicate that the disposal rules regarding biodegradable refuse did not apply to other sorts of materials. This is particularly evident in the case of House A where large concentrations of beads were encountered within the structure, and in a small depression immediately behind the house. It remains uncertain whether this shift in behavior is a function of the non-biodegradable nature of the refuse, or its generally minute size. While efforts to remove potentially offensive biodegradable refuse is apparent with both wintering outposts and regional headquarters, the nature of these disposal strategies varies dramatically. The sketch plans of regional headquarters, such as Pine Fort, Brandon House, Fort George, Buckingham House, and Fort Verrnillion, reveal a distinct disposal strategy (Figures 16, 17, 19, and 21). This pattern involves consistent removal of refuse from the visible portions of the compound, and deposition either outside the palisade, or in low visibility areas behind the buildings. However, at wintering outposts this disposal pattern is not apparent, with refuse middens being located either inside the structures or within a short distance of the buildings in high visibility locations. This latter pattern is most strongly expressed at Rocky Mountain Fort (Figure 53), where very high concentrations of bone refuse were disposed of within a few metres of House A in sheet and pit middens located in the central courtyard area between the buildings. At both Nottingham House and Rocky Mountain Fort, this rather indiscriminate refuse disposal strategy does not occur within the areas occupied by the officer in charge. The Nottingham House and Rocky Mountain Fort data indicate that only the immediate area of the officer's quarters was kept free of refuse. What is particularly interesting is that this distinction in refuse disposal would have been of minimal effectiveness in sparing the officer from the sight and smell of decomposing or burning food refuse in summer. At best, the concentrations of bone were no more than 3 or 4 metres removed from the officer's house (Figure 53). Furthermore, the refuse disposal strategy was suspended with the fortuitous disposal of food waste into the disused cellar at the latter site. In this light, rank related distinctions in food refuse probably does not reflect concerns with sanitation. I propose that it marks a deliberate effort to maintain sharp distinctions between the ranks using biodegradable refuse. Appearances seem to have been everything, and the officer's house was consistently cleared of food refuse. This deliberate removal of refuse served a very

important function in supplementing the symbolic messages of status and authority imparted by the built environment and the European status goods owned by the officer.

SUMMARY This chapter has explored mechanisms of non-verbal communication of social position using materials that were not directly affected by high monetary value or transportation costs. These inexpensive techniques of status symbolization involved differential access to local food and the disposal of bone refuse. It is also of interest that these informally derived status distinctions are not apparent in the archival documents, but are very visible from an archaeological perspective. Comparison of refuse disposal patterns at regional headquarters versus wintering stations indicates that a more concerted effort was made at the former to remove refuse from visible locales in the fort compound. At the wintering stations refuse was either disposed of on or under the floors of the houses, or in middens in close proximity to the main living and working areas of the post. i The spatial distribution of bone fragments at the HBC's Nottingham House and the NWC's Rocky Mountain Fort reveals that the officer's quarters were consistently cleared of biodegradable refuse in spite of the generally more relaxed standard of refuse disposal that characterized wintering posts. In the case of Rocky Mountain Fort, this pre-occupation with bone refuse disposal even involved a consistent clearing of bone from the immediate area surrounding the officer's quarters. In the labourer's quarters bone fragments were disposed of in large quantities in and immediately around the building. Since the primary middens are within only a few metres of all buildings, the deliberate removal of garbage from the officer's quarters is unlikely to have involved sanitation considerations. Indeed, the poor heating system of all buildings likely ensured that biodegradable refuse in all contexts remained frozen throughout much of the winter trade season. I propose that the patterned disposal of biodegradable refuse was intended by the officers to make a very visible distinction between themselves and the labourers. I further suggest that this distinction served to non-verbally communicate superior social status and reinforce the authority of the junior officers. The species of animals represented in the faunal debris from these various depositional contexts is also illuminating. At Nottingham House, where fish formed an important dietary staple, the officer's quarters yielded substantially reduced densities of fish bone and higher recovery rates of bones from a range of mammals. Given the historically documented preference for fatty mammalian flesh, and the low value placed on fish, it is asserted that the officer used his authority to re,tain a disproportionately large share of the mammal carcasses. His appropriation of this food was on the basis of his authority, and his success in doing so, would act to reinforce that authority and rank-related status. The situation at Rocky Mountain Fort forms an interesting contrast due to a quite different environmental context. It was located in the Peace River valley which was characterized at that time by large concentrations of bison and wapiti. These ungulates were the primary prey of the post hunters, and the supply of meat and fat exceeded the quantity needed to provision the summer canoe brigades. As a result of this easily accessible supply of prized food, the officer was in no position to claim a disproportionate share of the mammalian flesh. In fact, the steady diet of large and medium sized mammals was only occasionally augmented with small mammals, fish and birds. It is of interest that these supplemental food sources are more strongly represented in the officer's house. With a routine diet of flesh and fat from large mammals, perhaps the officer used the smaller game animals to offer variety and novelty to his diet. Again, distinction from the labourers appears to be very important. While the rationale for this distinctiveness remained the same, the mechanism and context of non-verbal communication was quite different, and based upon the situation at individual posts. Chapter 11 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS FUR TRADE SOCIAL DIFFERENTIATION The British North American fur trade was a complex socio-economic phenomenon which profoundly affected all participants. It also evolved in response to a number of political, economic, ecological and ethnic considerations. Given this complexity and diversity, I have deliberately limited the focus of this study to elements of the HBC and NWC fur trade during the period of competition between approximately 1780 and 1821. The trade posts considered represent all logistical levels of the two companies over a large part of what was to become western Canada. While elements of this study are relevant to much of the 19th century fur trade, the generalizations offered for the period of competition must be considered in light of the dramatic developments which came about with the post- 1821 "monopoly" of the HBC. This dissertation addresses the issue of social differentiation in the European element of the fur trade system. Historic documents are reviewed to describe the work-related social hierarchies of both the HBC and the NWC. These two British-based companies were quite different in their organizational structure, exploitation strategy, and employee composition. Despite these differences, some important sirnildties are apparent. Of particular note is the similarity in logistical organization of their inland operations, and techniques used to overcome the challenges imposed by the size and geography of the region. While both companies are considered, most of the discussion involves the NWC. I have explored social differentiation by addressing the material cultural implications of unequal status. In the case of the work-related hierarchy of the NWC, an enormous social gulf existed between the predominantly Anglo-Scots shareholders and senior clerks, and the Canadian interpreters, guides, tradesmen and labourers. In addition to work role and ethnicity, other distinctions include the level of education and financial affluence. The distinctions between the officers and the labourers were generally consistent with the class divisions in Lower Canada during the late 18th and 19th centuries. In the eyes of NWC shareholders and clerks such as Alexander Henry the younger and Daniel Harmon, distinctions in rank were closely related to differences in class, upbringing and education. . The journals of some officers betray zn attitude towards the engagks which ranged from mild contempt to outright bigotry. The labourers were perceived by many officers as rough and boisterous men who were ideally suited for the arduous life of a labourer, but were illiterate, improvident, and unruly when drunk. In the eyes of the officer gentlemen, non- work social contact with these men was clearly inappropriate. The difficulties reported by Daniel Harmon and George Nelson in their dealings with the labourers demonstrate that the latter were often equally unimpressed with the junior clerks who were, on occasion, placed in charge of small wintering posts. The men occupying the middle tiers of the hierarchy form an interesting contrast to the distinctions between the shareholders and the lower-ranked employees. In this intermediate category are experienced and valued men who played essential roles as canoe brigade guides and steersmen, work party leaders, skilled tradesmen, interpreters and en derouine traders. Also important are the various grades of Anglo Scots and French Canadian clerks who worked as traders, outpost masters and "seconds" to wintering partners. A sharp distinction in expectations existed between the clerks which was related in part to ethnicity and patronage linkages. With only a few exceptions, the French Canadian clerks remained employees of the company. Promotions to the rank of shareholder or senior clerk were primarily reserved for the most able and well-connected of the Anglo Scots clerks. Anglo Scots apprentice clerks could enter the service on five year contracts, and if they had strong patronage links, supersede the long-term French Canadian clerks within a very few years of the completion of their apprenticeship. The NWC offered salaries which, on the surface, appeared much higher than those paid to HBC labourers and clerks. However, the extremely high tariff on goods purchased by the labourers from the company stores resulted in most of the salaries remaining in the hands of the NWC. Indeed, most of the NWC labourers remained deeply in debt to their employers, in sharp contrast to the the situation of the HBC employees. There is strong evidence that the NWC used high markups on goods as a deliberate strategy for recovering its pay-roll costs. This is particularly apparent in the price differences charged the officers and labourers for the same commodities. These socio-economic inequities resulted in tension between the ranks of the NWC. These tensions were particularly serious during the period of intensive competition when all trade companies sought to overcome competitors by expanding their work-forces and establishing a large number of small, short-term wintering posts. The rapid expansion of the trade post network resulted in shortages of experienced officers and labourers. As a result, inexperienced Anglo Scots junior clerks were sometimes placed in charge of the small outposts, with a complement of experienced French Canadian labourers. These junior clerks often relied upon specific experienced labourers who, in effect, could use their influence with other labourers to usurp the nominal authority of the clerk in charge. In the absence of sufficient clerks, senior labourers were also sometimes placed in charge of these outposts. While these men might be seasoned traders, many were illiterate and found it difficult to cope with the correspondence and accounts, and risked losing face if they were forced to rely upon literate but more junior men. Labourers placed in charge of outposts also faced serious conflicts of interest in directing and disciplining friends and former social equals. In the context of this social tension, non-verbal communication of rank and authority using the built environment and portable material culture was particularly significant. Chapters 4 and 5 review the variability in form, size, furnishings and layout of a range of trade posts throughout the area controlled by the British fur trade during the period of interest. This review identifies a tripartite taxonomy of trade posts according to the logistical role served by each. The most important of these trade posts consisted of major administrative centres which jointly served as supply trans-shipment points and administrative headquarters during the summer rendezvous. These gatherings at major centres were important opportunities for senior officers and shareholders to exchange information, plan new ventures and re-allocate personnel and supplies. The annual rendezvous at the administrative headquarters was also a festive time. Men from a number of different fur trade regions gathered to exchange news, socialize and relax for a brief time, and to purchase personal supplies from comparatively well equipped shops. These major posts were an annual hub of activity at which most Europeans involved in the trade gathered. These major centres exhibited a large investment in facilities used to store commodities and house the more senior members of the trade company. Fort William, the major NWC inland administrative post, illustrates this with its elaborate accommodations used by the elite of the company. In addition to comfortable quarters, the shareholders, clerks, guides, interpreters and steersmen also shared in comparatively elaborate feasts in the Great Hall. Notably, the common labourers were excluded from these festivities and were not permitted to reside within the stockade. Administrative posts were quite large, and were enclosed within palisades that evoke a strong defensive posture. This imposing architecture occurred at all administrative posts, whether it faced a potential military threat or not. I propose that this appearance of strength was not intended to withstand any external military threat, but rather, functioned as a physical symbol of the power and authority of the fur trade elite which annually gathered there. It is probable that the symbolic messages of power, and conspicuous inclusion of lower ranked apprentices, steersmen, guides and interpreters in the feasting in the Great Hall were calculated to reinforce the sometimes uncertain authority of these more junior authority figures who were often placed in charge of small and isolated wintering outposts. The regional headquarters were the second most important trade post type. These posts usually were central places that served as the headquarters for a wintering partner or "inland master" who was responsible for the management of a regional hinterland. These posts also contained a few tradesmen in addition to labourers, and were important administrative, trade, repair and re-manufacturing centres. They were generally well equipped with structures needed to house people, trade goods and equipment, but were not as elaborate as the administrative headquarters. They were also frequently palisaded. Consistent with the administrative posts, the officer's quarters at regional headquarters were usually distinctive from the other buildings. They were placed in a visually dominant location, were two stories high, or were more elaborately equipped and furnished than the surrounding buildings. However, these quarters were never as elaborate as was apparent with the administrative headquarters. This "down-scaling" likely reflects the high costs of transporting goods inland. Not only did these transportation costs affect personal possessions and furnishings, but also likely conditioned the size and grandeur of the structures due to limited availability of construction hardware, paints, glass window panes, and special construction tools and skilled tradesmen. While profoundly affected by goods curation and excavation sample size, regional headquarters also contain portable material culture that reflected upon the social status of its owners. These materials consist of expensive and fragile ceramic and glass tableware, and glass containers which are present in spite of the great difficulty and cost of transportation, and are interpreted as symbolizing the social role of their owners. In addition to conventional markers of social position, regional headquarters also appear to have been more consistently cleared of food refuse, with ridden accumulations located i;; low visibility areas in aiid around the psi. The third trade post type includes the small and temporary wintering outposts that were scattered across each fur trading region at a density deemed necessary to respond to the level of competition. These posts were generally quite rudimentary, often consisting of one or two rectangular log huts, and were often unfortified. While any one post of this type was quite minor, cumulatively they contributed most of the fur returns, and had the most frequent contact with Indian customers. These posts were generally occupied by a small complement of labourers under the direction of a junior officer or a senior labourer. Not only were these posts rather small and rustic, but they were generally only occupied for a few trade seasons, and were abandoned through the summer. While the wintering posts were physically rather rudimentary in light of both their role and their remoteness, the officer in charge sought to maintain his distinctiveness from the labourers by utilizing, in part, the built environment. While the officers' quarters might not be characterized by architectural elaboration, this exclusive area was consistently present even if it was little more than a bedroom that served double duty as a warehouse. Even such rudimentary quarters remained a symbolic mark of the social isolation and authority of the man in charge. Other means of reinforcing this authority involved the use of expensive imported goods such as tailored clothing, and some tableware, better quality alcohol and European foodstuffs. In my view, status display was an important priority of the officers at all logistical levels of the NWC; the difference being that mechanisms available to engage in this display were dependent upon the situational context. In the small and remote wintering posts, junior and poorly paid clerks were not in a position to frequently or consistently symbolize their authority in conventional ways, using tableware and European foodstuffs. As a result they appear to have negotiated new ways of differentiating themselves from the labourers by using locally available food, social isolation and distinctive refuse disposal patterns. The central thrust of this study is that the built environment and material culture were used to symbolize and encode distinctions in rank. This non-verbal communication of social position was extremely important in reinforcing the authority of men placed in charge of trade posts of all types, particularly in light of the social tension that pervaded the ranks of the North West Company. Given the attitude of many Anglo-Scots officers towards Canadian employees, the inclusion of the guides, steersmen and interpreters in the festivities in the Great Hall at Fort William makes it clear that it represented much more than celebrations among social peers. If the latter was the case, I would expect that only the shareholders and the most senior and favoured clerks would have taken a part. I interpret the inclusion of the more junior leaders in the annual festivities of the Great Hall as an attempt to instii an esprit de corps among these leaders, and to reinforce the authority of the more junior leaders who were frequently placed in charge of the small wintering posts. The "audience" of common engagks observed the inclusion of clerks, guides and interpreters in the activities of the shareholders. These messages of power, mutual support and authority would not be lost on the labourers and, in my view, greatly aided in consolidating the authority of the more junior of the leadership rank. While the more junior leaders were including in these festive activities, it is also important to note that the hierarchy of power within the officer rank was also symbolized in the Great Hall banquets. This is apparent in the seating of the shareholders at the back of the hall at an imported cherry wood banquet table, and with the clerks, interpreters and guides arranged in lesser positions at locally produced spruce plank tables and benches. Perhaps a grading of tableware quality was also apparent between the head and subordinate tables. Other marks of distinction and inclusion in an exclusive group enjoyed by the officers included access to tailored clothing, freedom from physical labour: comparatively generous allowances of exotic foodstuffs and equipment, and preferential tariffs on goods purchased from specially equipped company stores. The personal possessions served as important portable icons of social position that reinforced the position and authority of these men. These goods were transported inland to the winter stations and, in this interior context, they played an important role in communicating the privileged position and authority of the clerks and the collective might of the NWC leaders. While I propose that all officers possessed a few of these valued items that symbolized status and authority, the archival records are not detailed enough to specify the degree to which the junior officers could engage in these status displays in the remote wintering posts. In my view, it was at these small posts that the clerks were in the greatest need of symbols to support and validate their claim to authority and status. Ironically, when they were the most vulnerable, these men were confronted with limited purchasing power and pragmatic concerns with the costs of transporting goods inland. Given the monetary and social value of these objects, particularly the fragile ceramic and glass tableware, they were carefully used to minimize breakage. Thus, we can expect that these items have only minimal archaeological visibility. Nonetheless, isolated fragments of tableware are recovered at posts of all logistical types. This raises the question whether they are sparsely represented because of careful use, or reflect a minimal presence since the junior officers were forced to give up these physical symbols of their authority in light of pragmatic considerations of transportation costs. Given that communication of rank using conventional status-related goods will leave a minimal archaeoiogicai imprint at remote wintering outposts, 1 'nave sought to identify patterns in the dispersal of goods that are unaffected by monetary cost or transportation difficulties. Particularly illuminating in this regard is differential access to locally derived food. This technique of symbolizing status were quite informal, and I propose that it was dependent upon the environmental context of individual posts, and should be considered in light of patterns of resource scarcity. In posts such as Nottingham House, located in the boreal forest region around Lake Athabasca, the most reliable food staple was fish. While fish formed the primary staple, large waterfowl and a range of small, medium and large mammals were also available. Fish were not a preferred food among fur trade personnel; instead, fatty mammalian flesh was the most highly prized. Given these dietary preferences, the distribution of bone fragments of various species at Nottingham House is very instructive. The officer's quarters yield a disproportionately high density of bird and mammalian bone fragments and a low density of fish bone remains. This is a reversal of the pattern apparent in the labourers' quarters. I interpret this as evidence that the officer used his authority to appropriate a larger share of the most highly prized local food for his own use. Acquisition and consumption of more than an equitable share of a prized commodity provides a good definition of what a status object is and represents. By appropriating a large proportion of the preferred "country food" the officer, in effect, created a luxury commodity. By conspicuous consumption of this commodity, he was able to assert his social role, and validate his claim to authority. Most importantly, he was able to communicate his social position in a fashion that was unaffected by the enormous costs of transportation to the Athabasca department. The Rocky Mountain Fort faunal data presents a somewhat different aspect of the same phenomenon. Both the archival and archaeological data indicate that this post was primarily provisioned with high quality meat and fat from bison, wapiti and beaver. In this case, the richness of the resource base assured a plentiful supply of highly valued "country food" for all occupants. Prized types of food were not scarce commodities, and the archaeological data indicates that no significant differences are apparent between the officer's and labourer's quarters in terms of the density of medium and large mammal bones. When considering the recoveries from within buildings, the small mammal, fish and avian bone fragments appear somewhat more frequently in some parts of the officers' house. While not exhibiting a statistically strong pattern, the recovery of bones from these smaller animals indicates that the officer supplemented his regular diet with fish, fowl and small mammals more frequently than the labourers. If this distinction is viewed as an effort by the officer to introduce variety or novelty into his diet, then it would also serve to differentiate the officer from the labourers. The most dramatically apparent pattern distinguishing between the officers' and labourers' quarters at both Nottingham House and Rocky Mountain Fort involves the disposal of refuse. In both situations, the officer's quarters yield dramatically less biodegradable refuse than the labourers' quarters. The latter compartments are characterized by more sub-floor pits of smaller size, which were often used as convenient refuse middens. The floor space of the labourers' quarters also yield many more bone fragments, indicating that a significant proportion of the food refuse was simply dropped to the floor. The officer's quarters are conspicuous for the reduced density of bone fragments, and the presence of large sub-floor storage pits which were seldom reused as refuse middens. The collapsed and disused cellar at Rocky Mountain Fort appears to be an exception to this generalization. I have interpreted this to be due to slumping of the cellar, and perhaps in anticipation of abandonment of the site. Despite the enormous accumulation of bone fragments in the cellar, the remainder of House A is characterized by an extremely low bone density. This effort at removing refuse from all visible parts of the officer's house even included a narrow buffer zone around the house exterior. This refuse free zone is in sharp contrast to the large accumulations of bone against the south wall of House B and the fact that several large middens are located only a few metres away from the officer's house. I contend that this removal of refuse served as yet another visual statement emphasizing the distinctiveness of the officers from all other occupants of the post. I acknowledge that social information is routinely transmitted through language. However, it is apparent that the built environment and material goods also play an important role in reinforcement of this information. The physical props used to symbolize and transmit this information may well be much more effective than we might think, and certainly are much more visible archaeologically. As Rapoport (1982) points out in his study of contemporary society, the products of non-verbal communication surround us, and we absorb their messages almost subconsciously. In fact, this subconscious absorption of the message projected by the built environment is what makes it particularly powerful. One may not be aware of and able to articulate the messages one is being subjected to, but they have an affect nonetheless. For example, the Great Hall at the reconstructed Fort William has an almost overpowering presence when one walks into the compound. Its evocative aspect is given particular strength because of its visual contrast to the adjacent warehouses, stores and workshops. Its symbolic power is unstated, but ever present. While physical manifestations of the social hierarchy are dramatically apparent at major trade posts such as Fort William, it is particularly interesting that symbolization of rank and status was undertaken in even the most remote and logistically minor of trade posts. While a sparse representation of highly curated portable material culture occurs in these remote whtering pats, I srrspeci a more effective mechaiiism of assertkig reiiiforciiig social position and authority involved negotiation of informal social cues. This included the use of space within the outpost, unequal access to scarce and valued local resources, and distinctive patterns of refuse disposal. Even the most junior and poorly paid clerk could engage in this social posturing without being affected by the enormous transportation costs of moving conventional status symbols far inland. While these distinctions appear to be widespread throughout Rupert's land, it is also important to recognize that informally derived symbols of rank and authority were developed primarily in light of the local situation of each fur trade post. In the case of Rocky Mountain Fort and Nottingham House, the message being transmitted to the labourers was similar, but the mode of non- verbal communication varied depending upon local ecological conditions. In conclusion, it is evident that material culture and other components of the built environment are extremely valuable for archaeological inference. However, valid interpretation of the meaning and rationale for non-verbal communication by the historic occupants of these forts remains problematical. Interpretation of "motivation" of long-dead people can be dismissed as "paleo psychology" or intuition. Even more dangerous is the uncritical imposition of late 20th century values upon those of the past. It can be asked whether the pre-occupation with status and hierarchy was not as much a concern of the fur traders as it is with scholars of the late 20th century. This is a very legitimate concern which greatly limits the validity of this approach when dealing with ancient cultures. However, in the case of archaeological observation of historically documented cultures, this approach can be considerably more credible. The historic documents, both narratives and financial records, can be quite illuminating. They offer insight into the cultural ethos of a past society, and open "windows" of interpretation that can be tested archaeologically. By archaeological testing, I do not mean a process of merely confirming the accuracy of the historic record. Rather, what I propose is consideration of historic and archaeological data as two independent sources of information, each with its own strengths and failings. In effect, each offers an incomplete alternate view of reality. By using one data source to develop a model with implications amenable to testing, we have an independent mechanism to test our provisional model. Also important, this process can identify ambiguities or contradictions between a historical and archaeological view of reality. These ambiguities are, in themselves, valuable as they can redirect research down new avenues of enquiry that would not be otherwise apparent. Appendix I This section summarizes the analysis of the spatial distribution of faunal material recovered from Rocky Mountain Fort. This analysis is intended to determine whether the dispersal of faunal material is non-random. More specifically, I wish to determine whether the archaeologically defined subareas of the site contain characteristic distributions of artifacts which are distinctive and mutually exclusive. To this end the artifact recoveries were subjected to an analysis of variance, or ANOVA. ANOVA is designed to compare "between group" variability to "within group" variability. If the mean and variance between groups is significantly different from that within groups, then it can be suggested that the groups were drawn from different populations. If this proves to be the case, then it may be asserted that differing refuse disposal strategies characterize the various subareas under consideration. Alternatively, if the "between group" variance does not differ significantly from the "within group" variance, then the differences between subareas could be due simply to random variation within a single population. If the latter situation occurs, then no statistically significant differences in artifact dispersal exist between the site subareas. A number of assumptions are implicit in the use of ANOVA (Sokal and Rohlf 1973:209-213). One of these assumptions is that the data are normally distributed around the population mean. This assumption is not fulfilled with the Rocky Mountain Fort data. PYImt ~f the data i~vestigatedwere heavily skeiiied, afid 1 "imrn;$izd" the frequezcy distributions by logarithmically transforming each frequency value (Sokal and Rohlf 1973:215). The Rocky Mountain Fort data was subjected to two different approaches to analysis of variance; the untransformed data with badly skewed frequency distributions, and the logarithmic transformations of these artifact frequencies. Given that the faunal debris was severely smashed in order to facilitate bone grease processing, both the weight and frequency of bone fragments were also considered. In the situation were significant F values are identified through the ANOVA tests, the data were subjected to a series of "a posteriori" tests which identify which group "means" vary significantly from the others. This permits determination of which subareas are significantly at odds from the others. Several approaches have been used, but which one is the most appropriate remains uncertain due to the risk of committing Type I or Type 11 errors (Sokal and Rohlf 1969:236). With Type I errors, one faces the risk of accepting as significant a relationship which is insignificant. Type I1 errors involve rejecting as insignificant a relationship which actually is significant. To avoid committing one or the other of these errors, two "a posteriori" tests are utilized: the Fisher PLSD and the Scheffe F test. Winer (1971:199) reports that the greater "conservatism" of the Scheffe approach results in a reduced chance of committing a Type I error at the greater risk of Type 11 error. This is apparent in the analysis since the Fisher PLSD test sometimes identified significant differences between subareas that the Scheffe F test indicated were not. Thus, I consider the results of these tests to be reliable if both identify significant relationships, but will place less credence if only the Fisher test indicates that significant relationships exist. The results of these "a posteriori" tests are presented in a contingency table that compares the relationships between each of the subareas under consideration. Table 33 considers the total frequency of bone fragments recovered, and will be used to illustrate how to interpret them. Each of the subareas are numbered and presented on the horizontal and vertical axis. Also included are the F scores from the ANOVA calculations with the level of probability (p) that the F score reflects random variation rather than deliberate patterns of refuse disposal (Table 33). The results of the Fisher PLSD and Scheffe IF tests are presented in paired columns for each subarea. The F and S column headings refer to the Fisher and Scheffe tests respectively. These tests were conducted using the untransformed and log transformed data. Subareas that are significantly different from one another are represented by letters placed in the appropriate cells of the contingency table. Upper case letters refer to tests conducted using untransformed data and lower case letters refer to the log transformed data (Table 33). For example, if an H or an h are placed in any particular cell, then the subarea represented by the row heading yielded an artifact density significantly higher than the recovery from the subarea represented by the column heading (Table 33). Conversely, if L or 1 are placed in a cell, then the subarea represented by the row heading yielded an artifact density significantly lower than the column heading (Table 33). When viewing Table 33 the Fisher PLSD and Scheffe F tests on both transformed and untransformed data indicate that significantly more bone fragments were recovered from Pit and Sheet Middens than from the General Compound area (Table 33). Given the possibility of committing Type I and 11 errors, I have elected to accept those relationships which yield significant differences in three or four out of four tests. Relationships judged significantly different in only two out of four tests are suspect, and those judged significant in only one out of four tests are ignored. Given the degree of smashing of bone that occurred at Rocky Mountain Fort, perhaps bone fragment frequency is not the most appropriate measure of artifact distribution. For example, numerous tiny fragments of fish, waterfowl and small mammals might yield a recovery frequency which rivals that of some of the refuse disposal areas dominated by fragments of large mammal bones. However, when the mass of the bone is considered, dramatic distinctions are apparent. For example two subareas yielding an average of 50 bone fragments each might yield an average weight of 34 versus 560 grams. Using the average weight of faunal material derived from each zone is also potentially dangerous. For example, the recovery of a few isolated large bone fragments from a subarea could yield the same average weight as another subarea containing large numbers of small bone fragments. To avoid the pitfalls of both of these means of quantification, the analysis used both frequency and weight (Tables 33 and 34). 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