Fort Confidence, Northwest Territories
Encyclopedia
Fort Confidence, located at the mouth of the Dease River on the eastern tip of the Dease Arm of Great Bear Lake
, Northwest Territories
, was a Hudson's Bay Company
post built in 1837 by Peter Warren Dease
and Thomas Simpson during exploration of the Great Bear Lake and Coppermine River
area, serving as a quarters for two winters. The structure was a log building, and burned down a short time later. In 1848, the post was rebuilt and used by Sir John Richardson
and Dr. John Rae
as a base of operations during the search for famous explorer Sir John Franklin
, who went missing along the Arctic Coast
. These buildings were still standing in 1902, but had again been destroyed by fire by 1911 when George M. Douglas' expedition to the Coppermine River passed through the area. The remains of this fort consist of four stone and clay chimneys.
Fort Confidence was featured in Jules Verne
's book The Fur Country
.
Great Bear Lake
Great Bear Lake is the largest lake entirely within Canada , the third or fourth largest in North America, and the seventh or eighth largest in the world...
, Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
, was a Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
post built in 1837 by Peter Warren Dease
Peter Warren Dease
Peter Warren Dease was a Canadian fur trader and arctic explorer.-Early life:Peter Warren Dease was born at Michilimackinac on January 1, 1788, the fourth son of Dr. John Dease, captain and deputy agent of Indian Affairs, and Jane French, Catholic Mohawk from Caughnawaga...
and Thomas Simpson during exploration of the Great Bear Lake and Coppermine River
Coppermine River
The Coppermine River is a river in the North Slave and Kitikmeot regions of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut in Canada. It is long. It rises in Lac de Gras, a small lake near Great Slave Lake and flows generally north to Coronation Gulf, an arm of the Arctic Ocean...
area, serving as a quarters for two winters. The structure was a log building, and burned down a short time later. In 1848, the post was rebuilt and used by Sir John Richardson
John Richardson (naturalist)
Sir John Richardson was a Scottish naval surgeon, naturalist and arctic explorer.Richardson was born at Dumfries. He studied medicine at Edinburgh University, and became a surgeon in the navy in 1807. He traveled with John Franklin in search of the Northwest Passage on the Coppermine Expedition of...
and Dr. John Rae
John Rae (explorer)
John Rae was a Scottish doctor who explored Northern Canada, surveyed parts of the Northwest Passage and reported the fate of the Franklin Expedition....
as a base of operations during the search for famous explorer Sir John Franklin
John Franklin
Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin KCH FRGS RN was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. Franklin also served as governor of Tasmania for several years. In his last expedition, he disappeared while attempting to chart and navigate a section of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic...
, who went missing along the Arctic Coast
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...
. These buildings were still standing in 1902, but had again been destroyed by fire by 1911 when George M. Douglas' expedition to the Coppermine River passed through the area. The remains of this fort consist of four stone and clay chimneys.
Fort Confidence was featured in Jules Verne
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
's book The Fur Country
The Fur Country
The Fur Country is an adventure novel by Jules Verne in The Extraordinary Voyages series, first published in 1873. The novel was serialized in Magasin d’Éducation et de Récréation from September 1872 to December 1873. The two-volume first original French edition and the first illustrated...
.
External links
- Fort Confidence at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage CentrePrince of Wales Northern Heritage CentreThe Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre is the Government of the Northwest Territories' museum and archives. Located in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, the PWNHC acquires and manages objects and archival materials that represent the cultures and history of the Northwest...
- The Great Bear Lake: Its Place in History
- Chapter 8 of The Fur Country
- CHAPTER IX. Transactions at Fort Confidence^ winter 1837-8. — Death of Peter Taylor, — Winter Discoveries and Surveys. from Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coast of America, effected by the Officers of the Hudson’s Bay Company, during the years 1836—39 by Thomas Simpson