The Archaeology of the Hudson's Bay
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200 Ontario Archaeology No. 93, 2013 Starting Over and Managing the Past: The Archaeology of the Hudson’s Bay Company Staff House, Moose Factory Island Dena Doroszenko Archaeological investigations took place at the Moose Factory Island Hudson’s Bay Staff House in 1979 and 1980 under the auspices of the Ontario Heritage Trust. This article summarizes the archaeological investigations of these two projects as well as additional archaeological reconnaissance projects undertaken on the island. Recently, the Ontario Heritage Trust completed curation histories of all its archaeological collections and rehoused these collections into stable archival materials. This paper discusses the responsibilities associated with archaeological curation as well as the challenges that result from the management of archaeological collections, using the Moose Factory collections as a case study. Introduction Since 1967, the Ontario Heritage Trust (OHT; with particular emphasis on the Staff House, and formerly Ontario Heritage Foundation) has been the recent evaluation of the archaeological dedicated to identifying, preserving, protecting, collections held by the Ontario Heritage Trust. and promoting Ontario’s rich and varied heritage for the benefit of present and future generations. Historical Background and Previous In pursuit of these aims, the Ontario Heritage Archaeological Research Trust currently holds 190 cultural and natural Originally called Moose Fort, Moose Factory was heritage properties, eleven of which are designated established in 1673 as the main trading post of the National Historic Sites. The most northern Hudson’s Bay Company and has long been property, located on Moose Factory Island, credited with being the first English-speaking consists of the Staff House for the Hudson’s Bay settlement in Ontario. The Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) in the nineteenth century. Company began as a fur trading enterprise in Moose Factory Island lies in the middle of the 1670 and evolved into a trading and exploration Moose River, approximately 15 km upriver from company that spanned Canada and part of the James Bay (Figure 1). The island is flat, United States. Moose Fort was the second post to approximately 4 by 1.5 km in size. Most of the be established in North America by the company. island consists of late glacial and postglacial It also served to protect the HBC from the French marine sediment and till deposit and rises almost traders to the south—and for good reason, 8 m above the river (Luegar 1984:2). The island is because in 1686, the French under Pierre de sub-divided into a Reserve belonging to the Moose Troyes captured by surprise Moose Fort as well as Cree First Nation (approximately two-thirds of the the Charles and Albany forts. Under the French, island); land held by the federal government; and Moose Fort was renamed Fort St. Louis. In 1696, an area that contains, among other things, a British forces recaptured all the HBC forts and hospital, the HBC buildings (including Northern burnt Moose Fort to the ground (OHF 2002). Stores), and the Anglican Church. Having changed hands several more times, the This article summarizes the archaeological post was ceded to Britain under the Treaty of investigations that have occurred on the island, Doroszenko Starting Over and Managing the Past 201 Utrecht in 1713 and then abandoned until 1730. railroad reached Moosonee in 1931 (Luegar By 1730, a new post had been built 2.5 km 1984). upstream from the original location on the island The HBC Staff House on Moose Factory at the request of the Cree, who found the canoe Island, constructed between 1847 and 1850 and trip to the James Bay posts too dangerous. Despite currently owned by the Ontario Heritage Trust, is another fire in December 1735, where the the last-known surviving Hudson's Bay Company majority of the Moose Fort again burned to the officers’ dwelling in Canada and the oldest ground, the HBC rebuilt and continued building in the James Bay area (Judd 1980). It is operations. By the 1770s, it was supplying the a large, two-storey structure built in the late inland posts that had been built to compete with Georgian style using squared timbers in the “pièce the North West Company. After the two sur pièce” technique. The house rests on a stone companies merged in 1821, Moose Fort became foundation, has a cellar, and is clad in white- the supply point for posts as far inland as Lake painted clapboard. The officers living there were Timiskaming on the Ottawa River watershed and recruited from the British Isles and came to Moose became known as Moose Factory. During the Factory as doctors, ship's captains, clerks, and nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Moose secretaries on five-year contracts. In summer, the Factory served as a regional HBC administrative men occupied the first floor of the house and in centre. During the mid-nineteenth century, a winter, the second floor, where it was easier to heat mission was established to serve the Cree and the rooms. Meals were served at the mess house Metis population. In 1903, Révillon Frères nearby. Initially, the house consisted of bachelors’ founded a trading post on the mainland north of quarters. After the turn of the century, it also Moose Factory, known today as Moosonee. The contained a store and apartments for married Figure 1. Location of Moose Factory Island and the Hudson’s Bay Company Staff House. 202 Ontario Archaeology No. 93, 2013 officers. In 1915, a kitchen and a dining room the fifth non–Parks Canada historic site in were installed, after which the house was known as Ontario excavated by the late 1970s (Luegar the Staff House. The Company now used it to 1980:11). The OHT has kept the 5V designation lodge male employees and visitors. By the mid- on the artifacts, but the Borden number, EhHd-1, 1960s, all employees were being hired locally, so is its preferred designation when referring to the the building was used as a guest house for hunters Staff House site. Following the Parks Canada and business people. (1977) recording system, Operation numbers were In 1978, the OHT acquired the building and used to delineate large excavation areas. Upper- began to undertake extensive historical research. case letters were used to designate the individual In 1979, it started archaeological excavations. excavation units, called Sub-operations. The Minor archaeological work had been conducted actual soil layers uncovered during excavation were on the island prior to the OHT excavations. Ken referred to as Lots. In a departure from the usual Dawson excavated sixteen test pits on the island Parks Canada provenience system, Luegar also in 1968 in an attempt to locate the original 1673 used feature numbers. In addition, he used level Moose Fort, but was not successful (Dawson n.d.). designations, in an attempt to regroup arbitrary His considerable reconnaissance, including oral lots into more stratigraphically and historically interviews with island residents, led Dawson to meaningful units across the site (Luegar 1980:12). propose areas in which to conduct further These levels used roman numerals in reverse explorations in the future. A second search for the chronological order, often followed by lower-case original fort was conducted in the early 1970s by letters, for the purpose of discussing discrete Walter Kenyon of the Royal Ontario Museum. features within levels. All of Luegar’s levels have This survey did not identify the location of the been evaluated and correlated into phases, as fort either, but it did prompt Kenyon to publish a shown in Table 1. brief summary of the fort’s early history (Kenyon The intent of the excavations in Operation 1 1975). was to define the former cellar entranceway, In 1978, Thor Conway (Regional which, when excavated, was found to consist of Archaeologist with the former Northeastern square timbers stacked horizontally on the sides of Regional office of the Ministry of Culture and a pit (Feature 1), lining an entranceway corridor to Recreation, now the Ministry of Tourism, Culture the cellar door. This cellar entrance was found not and Sport), spent several days at the Staff House to be original to the construction of the Staff excavating four test squares, completing one of House, and it appeared that the area had seen a these. Based on Conway’s recommendations, the great deal of disturbance during the twentieth OHT commissioned archaeologist Richard Luegar century (Luegar 1980:27). Traces of an earlier to conduct intensive archaeological investigation structure were noted, suggesting that Feature 1 of the Staff House in advance of the OHT’s replaced an earlier entranceway, probably for a restoration of the masonry foundation. short time period in the first half of the twentieth century (Luegar 1980:26, 73). Archaeology of the HBC Staff House: Operation 2 consisted of a trench of five units 1979 Field Season along the northern wall for the chimney base in the basement (Luegar 1980:36). The objective in Luegar’s work in 1979 focused on the cellar and basement archaeology, in general, is to examine exterior perimeter of the building foundation possible earlier floor surfaces and activity areas and (Figure 2). The excavations revealed details on the to establish the presence or absence of subsurface original use of the basement, as well as the exterior features. During 1979, a possible timber-lined access to the cellar and main floor of the Staff well and a system of wooden floor sleepers were House. Luegar adapted and applied the uncovered (see Figure 4). provenience system used by Parks Canada. He Operation 3 involved two trenches in the designated the Moose Factory site as 5V, that is, Doroszenko Starting Over and Managing the Past 203 Figure 2. Plan of the 1979 and 1980 Staff House archaeological excavations.