Brandon House

Brandon House was a Hudson's Bay Company post or posts from 1793 to 1824. It was located at several places on the Assiniboine River between Brandon, Manitoba and the mouth of the Souris River about 21 miles southeast of Brandon. Because of its location near the Souris River it was a center for trade with the Mandans in North Dakota. It was moved four times and there were related forts nearby, so its history is necessarily complex. For background see Assiniboine River fur trade.

Around 1750 a French missionary lived in the area. Before 1793 there were ill-documented independent traders in the area and perhaps in 1793 a small post was established two miles upstream from the Souris by Ronald Cameron, a clerk to Peter Grant.

In 1793–1811 then the North West Company was first to arrive followed very shortly by the Hudson's Bay Company. The XY Company had a post from 1798-1804.

In 1793 Cuthbert Grant Sr. and John MacDonnell of the North West Company established the first Fort Assiniboine (not to be confused with Fort Assiniboine on the Athabasca River). From the first year they traded in buffalo robes with the Mandan villages on the upper Missouri. In 1797 David Thompson (explorer) passed through on his way to determine the latitude and longitude of the Mandan villages. In 1804, when the NWC absorbed the XY Company, Fort Assiniboine was moved across the river to the site of Fort La Souris#1. In 1806 Alexander Henry the younger passed through. The man in charge was François-Antoine Larocque who later reached the Yellowstone River. In 1807 the fort was torn down and its parts rafted downstream to Fort des Épinettes.

In 1793 Donald McKay le malin and John Sutherland of the Hudson's Bay company established Brandon House about 100 yards away from the new NWC post. It was supplied from Fort Albany, Ontario on James Bay. McKay lived up to his nickname by shooting at Joseph Augé who ran the NWC post. From 1795 they traded with the Mandans. There were usually two trips per year, in October and January. Using dog sleds or horses, they followed the Souris River as far as Minot, North Dakota and then headed southwest across the prairie. The Assiniboines sometimes tried to block the trade and a few traders were killed. In 1796 John Evans (explorer) reached the Mandan country from near Saint Louis. Brandon House seems to be the first HBC post to hear of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. In 1809 Manuel Lisa's group arrived on the upper Missouri and in 1812 the trade was abandoned to the Americans. In 1806/07 there were 53 men at the post. In 1807 part of the saga of Isobel Gunn may have taken place here.

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