Fort Qu'Appelle National Historic Site of Canada

Fort Qu’Appelle was designated a national historic site of Canada because of:

• its role as a main fur trade depot for the latter half of the 19th century.

Fort Qu’Appelle, a trading post just south of the Qu’Appelle River in southern Saskatchewan, was established in 1864 by the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) at the centre of a network of trails. Although numerous HBC posts had used the name ‘Fort Qu’Appelle’ since the early 1800s, the post established in 1864 was a major provision post for the southern Prairies. The post was forced to close after approximately eight years of operation due to the diminishing bison population. The post would form the basis for the town of Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan. The fort was also the site of the negotiations for Indian Treaty No. 4 in 1874 and served as a temporary camp of the Canadian Militia of General Middleton’s command during the 1885 Rebellion.