31 visitthunderbay c om Fr om F or t Kaministiquia to F or t William Acr os s the P acifc A v enue o v erpas s in Thunder Bay s Eas t End a memorial t abl et and mark er c ommemor at e the sit e of F ort William a tr ading pos t that play ed a piv ot al r ol e in the earl y 19th c entury fur tr ade It s an unas suming tribut e tuck ed away near the Canadian P acifc Rail way y ar d at the c orner of McT avish and McNaught on s tr eets Those s tr eet names lik e other s in the neighbourhood r ec all the Sc ots who made the journe y acr os s the Atlantic in sear ch of fur s particularl y beav er pelts t o sell on the booming Eur opean mark et The North W es t Company es t ablished F ort Kaminis tiquia its inland headquart er s at the mouth of the Kaminis tiquia Riv er in 1803 Fiv e y ear s lat er it was r enamed F ort William in honour of William McGillivr ay who r eplac ed his dec eased uncl e Simon McT avish as the chief dir ect or of the North W es t Company The f ort s buildings w er e laid out symmetric all y and encl osed within w ooden palisade walls fank ed by bas tions The main gat e l ed t o the el egant Gr eat Hall and the o v er all appear anc e of the f ort was an imposing spect acl e on the otherwise unde v el oped landsc ape It was a bus tling c ommunity that pr oduc ed much of its o wn f ood the settl er s r aised liv es t ock and gr e w cr ops lik e pot at oes peas hay barl e y and oats About 50 hect ar es w er e plant ed with another eight l eft as open meado w f or summer gr azing The f ort off er ed an impr es siv e r ange of servic es that included a hospit al an armour er s shop that maint ained and r epair ed fr earms a blacksmith s shop that made it ems such as animal tr aps ax e heads and har dwar e lik e hinges and lat ches a tinsmith shop that made it ems lik e lant erns k ettl es pots and pans a c arpent er s shop that made e v erything fr om paddl es t o f arm impl ements and furnitur e a c ooper s shop that made c asks barr els and other c ont ainer s f or s t oring and tr ansporting a pl ethor a of goods lik e gunpo wder liquor four and fsh a t ail or s shop that made and r epair ed cl othing and a jail kno wn as the c ommon gaol The f ort also had an observ at ory but not the kind f or s t argazing it was a t o w er that pr o vided a l ook out f or appr oaching v es sels and doubl ed as a fr e t o w er In addition t o serving as the North W es t Company s major tr anshipment point f or goods and fur s F ort William also serv ed as the headquart er s f or the c ompany s annual busines s meeting kno wn as the r endezv ous The r endezv ous saw hundr eds of peopl e inv ol v ed in diff er ent aspects of the fur tr ade gather as c anoes c arrying tr ade goods fr om Montr eal met c anoes with fur s fr om further inland Giv en the l ength of their r espectiv e journe ys one c an onl y imagine their e x cit ement and the c el ebr at ory atmospher e at the f ort during this time Ac c or ding t o one of the North W es t Company s cl erks betw een rum and baubl es the har dearned wages of y ear s w er e oft en spent in a f e w w eeks In 1821 the North W es t Company mer ged with its riv al the Hudson s Bay Company and soon aft erwar ds F ort William s import anc e as a depot was undermined when the Hudson Bay r egion bec ame the main hub f or shipping fur s In 1878 the Hudson s Bay Company mo v ed its r et ail shop fr om the f ort t o Simpson Str eet in the futur e t o wn of F ort William and in 1902 the las t original s tructur e the St one St or e was t orn do wn it o mak e way f or the Canadian P acifc Rail way Histor y Comes to Life at F or t W illiam Histor ical P ark