The London-based Hudson's Bay Company established and extensive fur trading network throughout the Pacific Northwest, utilizing two dozen posts, six ships, and about 600 employees during peak seasons. Fort Vancouver was the administrative center and principal supply depot of this "Columbia Department," controlling 700,000 square miles stretching from Russian Alaska to Mexican California, and from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean.
The fort became a center of activity and influence, supported by a multicultural village with inhabitants from over 35 different ethnic and tribal groups. The first hospital, school, library, grist mill, saw mill, dairy, shipbuilding, and orchard in the region were all centered at Fort Vancouver.
A part of the National Park System since 1948, today the park is also part of the Vancouver National Historic Reserve.
Fort Vancouver has been designated the premier historical archaeological site in the Pacific Northwest. A strong combination of archaeological and historical research informs the way the site is reconstructed and its past shared with visitors.
A collection of over two million museum items is cared for here, spanning the American Indian, fur trade, and U.S. Army occupations of the area.
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