Rocky Mountain House, Alberta

Photo: Interpretive trails at Rocky Mountain house National Historic Site, courtesy Parks Canada

At the end of the fur trade line on the North Saskatchewan River in 1799, two rival companies set up trading posts and entered into fierce competition for furs. During the next 76 years, the trade at Rocky Mountain House involved nine different aboriginal groups.

David Thompson, the great map maker and explorer, was also a fur trader. During the time he was seeking a pass through the Rockies, he stayed at the Northwest Company post at Rocky Mountain House.

In the Rocky Mountains about halfway between Banff and Jasper, the forts no longer stand. What remains today is a national historic site where once two large colonial enterprises fought over the fur trade.