Kootenae House National Historic Site of Canada

Kootenae House was designated a national historic site of Canada in 1934 because:

-built in 1807, Kootenae House was the first trading post in the Columbia Basin;

-it served as David Thompson’s base of exploration of the Columbia River and its tributaries; and,

-its establishment led to contacts and trade with First Nations throughout the region.

In 1806 the North West Company clerk, Jaco Finlay, blazed a trail over Howse Pass from the Saskatchewan to the Columbia River. The next year, David Thompson followed this route to the Columbia, then turned up river and built Kootenae House below Windermere Lake in order to trade with the Ktunaxa (Kootenay) people. Using this fort as a base, he explored the upper Columbia and Kootenay rivers, and established a chain of posts on the Columbia watershed. Kootenae House was used periodically until 1812, when the hostility of the Peigans east of the pass forced abandonment. The land where Kootenae House stood was donated to the Government of Canada by Mrs. Alice M. Hamilton in 1935 in honour of her husband Basil G. Hamilton.