Issue link: http://publications.winnipegfreepress.com/i/368665
amazing Fortitude A trading post and garrison strategically located at the mouth of the Churchill River, the Prince of Wales Fort should have held up admirably against the Hudson's Bay Company's french fur-trade rivals. With massive stone outer walls measuring 6.5 metres high and 11 metres (36 feet) thick, it took 40 years to complete construction, starting in 1732. But when three french ships sailed into the bay in 1782, the fort fell without a single shot from its 40 under-manned cannons. The partially reconstructed fort is now a National Historic Site, accessible from Churchill by boat and helicopter. In summer, book a sleepover with a Parks Canada (www.pc.gc.ca) Night at the Fort adventure. making merry In 1746, the Hudson's Bay Company built the Cape Merry battery on the east shore of the Churchill River — inadvertently giving potential invaders an ideal location from which to fire upon Prince of Wales Fort. Named for Captain John Merry, the company's deputy governor from 1712-1718, the National Historic Site contains one of the original Prince of Wales cannons. four kilometres upriver, look for rocks where company men carved their names at the secluded harbour of Sloop Cove. While iron moorings are still visible, post-glacial land uplift has transformed the cove into a meadow, which is accessible via boat or helicopter. Fur Factory Manitoba's iconic york boat is named for its main destination, the once-bustling trading post of York Factory, near the mouth of the Hayes River about 250 kilometres southeast of Churchill. In use from 1684 until 1957, the site was Canada's main entry point for immigrants from 1812-1850. There's little trace left of the 50 buildings it contained in its heyday, but along with a cemetery and wildlife, visitors can see an 1832 depot with a claim to fame as the oldest and largest wooden structure standing on permafrost. The depot stands above archeological remains of a fort built in the 1700s. York Factory is accessible only by plane and, naturally, boat. sam's place Housed in The Pas Community Courthouse — the oldest brick building in northern Manitoba, built in 1916 — the must-see Sam Waller Museum (www.samwallermuseum.ca) houses exhibits related to natural history and northern culture, along with oddities such as costumed fleas collected by late naturalist, teacher and taxidermist, Waller. 33 saM waller MuseuM PrinCe oF wales ForT