The history of Fort 91原创 has been told through the eyes of Hudson鈥檚 Bay Company workers, First Nations, British officers and transient gold seekers, but there is one important character who is often forgotten 鈥� the beaver.
鈥淔ort 91原创 wouldn鈥檛 have been there if it wasn鈥檛 for beavers,鈥� said Frances Backhouse, author of Once They Were Hats: In Search of the Mighty Beaver.
鈥淐olonial North America was built on the backs of beavers.鈥�
Like many Hudson鈥檚 Bay Company posts across British North America, Fort 91原创 did not have dollars as a form of currency. Instead, they used the Made Beaver.
鈥淭he Hudson鈥檚 Bay Company was built on the beaver fur trade. They traded all kinds of furs, but beavers, in particular, were the staple of the fur trade for 300 years and the most important for when the transatlantic fur trade first started,鈥� Backhouse explained.
鈥淭hings were valued in terms of one prime beaver pelt. Instead of using dollars, like we use now, if you wanted to come into the Fort and buy a packet of sewing needles or some traps, the price would be in terms of Made Beaver. And also, if you brought in other furs, like a lynx, the value of what you would get paid would be in Made Beaver.
鈥淭hat was Canada鈥檚 first formal currency.鈥�
Not only were beavers important to the colonial economy, they are also a quintessential keystone species for wetland habitats today, Backhouse said.
In Once They Were Hats, which took six years to research and write, Backhouse examines beavers from historical, ecological and cultural perspectives.
鈥淚n the last few years there鈥檚 been a growing realization that they are really important as water stewards in damming rivers and streams and creating ponds,鈥� Backhouse said.
鈥淭hey have a big impact on groundwater levels, on mitigating floods, on keeping water present through droughts, and all these things are becoming increasingly important because of the climate change effects that are happening.鈥�
Digging through countless scientific papers and historical materials, Backhouse also interviewed a variety of experts on North America鈥檚 largest rodent.
鈥淚 really wanted to have a first-person connection to the story, so I went out and talked to people who had an interest and knowledge in beavers 鈥� biologists and historians, trappers, First Nations," she said.
"I talked to a woman, who鈥檚 the matriarch of a clan up in the Yukon, who鈥檚 clan animal is the beaver 鈥� and went to places to look at beavers and look at beaver habitats.鈥�
What Backhouse discovered is just how important the beaver is to British Columbia.
鈥淚 was surprised how long beavers have been influencing North America,鈥� she said.
鈥淚 hadn鈥檛 realized that the species that we know today has been in North America for a million years, and they鈥檝e been shaping the landscape for all that time.
鈥淭hey shape landscapes so profoundly, so to think about how they鈥檝e been having that influence for such a long time, it made me realize how integral they are to this continent.鈥�
On Nov. 19, Backhouse will be joining the Fort 91原创 National Historic Site in celebration of Douglas Day, marking when James Douglas proclaimed British Columbia as a crown colony in Fort 91原创鈥檚 Big House 157 years ago.
This year鈥檚 festivities include a proclamation re-enactment, and the official launch of Backhouse鈥檚 new book. Joining her is Mark Forsythe, retired CBC host and Fort 91原创 resident, who will be doing a live interview with Backhouse as she reads excerpts from Once They Were Hats.
The event is on from 7-9:30 p.m. at the National Historic Site, 23433 Mavis Ave.
Cost is $11.70 for adults, $7.80 for youth, $10.45 for seniors or free for annual pass holders.
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