Fort Langley National Historic Site
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Fort Langley National Historic Site of Canada
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| Location | Fort Langley, British Columbia, Canada |
| Governing body | Parks Canada |
| Website | Fort Langley National Historic Site |
| Designated | 1955 |
Fort Langley is a former trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company, now located in the community of Fort Langley opposite McMillan Island. Commonly referred to as "the birthplace of British Columbia", it is designated a National Historic Site of Canada and is administered by Parks Canada.
After John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company sold its assets in the Oregon Country to the North West Company following the War of 1812, Astor's Fort Astoria was renamed Fort George and became the main depot for Pacific interior trade. Pelts collected in the northern New Caledonia district travelled south along the Fraser River to Fort Alexandria, then overland via a route known as the Brigade Trail to Fort Okanagan then along the Columbia River to Fort George on the coast.
The Oregon Country/Columbia District was shared between the British and Americans as a result of the Treaty of 1818, but the treaty was to expire in 1828 and since Fort George stood on the south side of the Columbia River, it would likely be awarded to the United States in any boundary agreement. After the North West Company merged with the Hudson's Bay Company in 1821, the HBC administrator George Simpson suggested the creation of Fort Vancouver on the northern bank of the Columbia, but that it serve as secondary post to a larger trade hub further north near the mouth of the Fraser River. Simpson felt such a location help secure the coast from ocean-based American competition, and believed the Fraser to be more navigable than the Columbia River. He sent Chief Trader James McMillan to explore the region, and McMillan proposed an area near the Salmon River suitable to agriculture, and where fish were plentiful.
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