left: detail of Fort Macleod’s northwest blockhouse with rampart (to the right) along the inner wall of the fortifications. The blockhouses originally comprised the barracks. centre: sketch by Richard B. Nevitt of Fort Macleod in 1875 [permission to use from the Glenbow Museum. Calgary, Alberta. NA-1434-8]. right: the original 19th century Kanouse House, a general store owned and oper- ated by the former whiskey trader Fred Kanouse. Note the sod roof of natural prairie grasses.
We start again tomorrow morning to cross the river, and then another one called Old Man’s River, and here among some hills called the Porcupine Hills, our long, tedious winter begins. — R.B. Nevitt. October 11, 1874 1 We have come to our journey’s end at last, a beautiful place in the val- ley of the rivers. We have already begun building, but probably it will be five or six weeks before we get into our winter quarters. — R.B. Nevitt. October 14, 1874 2
Fort Macleod, constructed in 1874 as an outpost for the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP), established Canadian sovereignty in the southern region of the area that in 1905 became Alberta. The fort, built over a period of several weeks, is just south of the Old Man River. An ample supply of cottonwoods provided the building material for the fort’s timber frame, and watchtowers were placed at each of the fort’s four corners. Period artefacts held by the NWMP museum are displayed in the various buildings located within the fort and include such cultural objects as buffalo robes, uniforms, medical instruments and a variety of First Nations artefacts. The structure of the fort itself is also an artefact, the buildings and forti- fications sharing similar characteristics with the smaller scale artefacts. Defining character- istics of an object or specimen as an artefact include: an object associated with an historical act, event, or cultural practice; its association with a significant person or institution; being representative of a type of design/style/workmanship in terms of construction and materials used; whether it is of scientific significance and value; the integrity of its physical require- ments or qualities. 3
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On Site review 20: archives and museums
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