Colonial Despatches

Fort Langley is located in present-day Langley, British Columbia. The original fort was constructed by the HBC in 1827 as part of a growing trade network dependent on the Fraser River.1 The fort traded mainly in fur and salmon with local indigenous groups. It was also an arrival point and depot for European goods destined for the interior.2

Politically, it stabilized the British foothold on lands north of the 49th parallel. The old fort was abandoned and a new one constructed 4 km upstream, but it burned down 10 months later, after which it was rebuilt.3 Roughly 20 years of flush trade followed, in grain, salted pork and beef, and thousands of barrels a year in salted salmon, which was especially popular in the Hawaiʻian Islands.4

• 1. Fort Langley National Historic Site of Canada, Parks Canada.
• 2. Ibid.
• 3. Ibid.
• 4. Ibid.