Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/201279
cozy canadiana if you're looking for a symbol of Canada's fur trade, there's likely nothing more iconic than the Hudson's Bay Company point blanket. Among the many colours that have been offered through the years, nothing says Canada quite like that white woollen blanket featuring green, red, yellow and indigo stripes — in that order. this colour combo has been in continuous production since 1800 and has long been favoured as a suitable gift for newlyweds. A twin-sized blanket will set you back about $295. A king-sized blanket costs just shy of $500. But if you really want something special, opt for the coyote-fur-throw number. this blanket features multi-stripe wool on one side and fluffy fur on the other. it rings in at $2,495. Blankets available at Hudson's Bay stores and thebay.com. At York Factory: aboriginals at the depot store (top), and buying white fox pelts (right). It's hard to imagine that in the mid-1800s, this was a bustling centre of trade with thousands of people going about their business. It was home to doctors and teachers, clergy and coopers, photographers, librarians, a blacksmith and a baker. If history had taken a different path, there's a good chance that Portage and Main would have been at York Factory. From 1812 to the late 1850s, it was the main entry point for European immigration to western Canada because they came via Hudson's Bay. Only two buildings still stand on the site, but getting to them takes some effort. If you have a couple of weeks and strong shoulders, a canoe trip up the Hayes will get you here. Otherwise, it's a chartered flight on a small plane (just like the one Heartland uses). Because the peninsula where York Factory sits can be marshy, planes must land on a gravel island in the Hayes River. If you're used to asphalt and blue lights on your runway, you might be in for a surprise. From the island, it's a boat ride to the factory, across the Hayes that churns out a seven-knot current. The big white building – called the depot – was built in 1831 and is the oldest and largest wooden building in Canada standing on permafrost. Inside, table after table is loaded with artifacts lined up in neat rows. Hudson's Bay Company Archives/Archives of Manitoba p18-23_MadeinMan.indd 21 There are handmade nails and shards of blue and white pottery, cannon balls and sewing needles made from bone, tiny glass medicine bottles and even a lone harmonica. Take a deep breath and you can almost smell the beaver, martin and lynx pelts that were stacked three storeys high, waiting to take the voyage through Hudson Bay, across the Atlantic and to an auction house in London. Lower Fort Garry National Historic Site and Fort Gibraltar One of the most common questions asked of the tour guides is, when was this site, 1,200 kilometres south of York Factory, reconstructed? The answer: it wasn't. This is the real deal, complete with original stone buildings and an imposing limestone wall that runs around the complex. When you step into the fur loft, imagine the countless negotiations that happened in this very space as Metis trappers haggled for the best prices on their lots. A bundle of marten pelts might be traded for two Hudson's Bay Company point blankets, a new tea kettle, five pounds of sugar and a little tobacco. Construction on Lower Fort Garry began in 1830. It served as the business hub for the Hudson's Bay Company until the last fur was shipped from these storied walls in 1911. the fur trade – alive and well Manitoba isn't only home to the history of the fur trade; it's an ongoing player in the fur industry. each winter, thousands of trappers repeat a process that's been going on for 350 years in this province. they head into the wilderness, harvest fur-bearing animals and sell those pelts to the highest bidder. For trappers in the north, the thompson Fur table held every December in thompson provides an opportunity for trappers to earn some revenue from early-season furs. the 207 trappers at last year's event took home a combined $683,559, the highest amount paid out in the past 30 years of this event. the most plentiful fur was marten with 6,875 pelts crossing the table. to put the numbers in perspective, 230 trappers were at the event in 2004 and a total of $497,408 changed hands. • –S.Z. GOING PL ACES >> w i n t e r 2 0 1 3 21 13-10-16 9:23 AM