To the Fort

In celebration of Banff National Parks 125th Birthday, some Canada Parks were offering free admittance today, so our family headed over to the participating Fort Langley Historical Site

where we spent 4 delightful hours and got ourselves some sore legs and very wet children.  Enjoy the pics.

An HBC (Hudson Bay Company) flag

A fun puppet show the children loved about Biodiversity and a spider coming to appreciate its own unique characteristics.

Children always love the animals.

Inside a soldiers' tent.

Inside a Cooper's barrel.

Inside a picture!

This hung on the wall beside a bed.  They would keep their candles in this metal box to keep the rats away.  After all, the candles were made (attractively for rats) with animal fats!

The fellow in the middle was a great story-teller, imagining he was the captain of some voyageurs traveling by canoe from Fort St James to Fort Langley with a portage at Hell's Gate. The guys on either side were 'acting out' what life for them might have been like being voyageurs.  Here they carry 100 lb packs of pelts on their backs, using straps around their foreheads.  Their bellies would be wrapped time and time again with fabric (up to 40 feet long) to help support their abdominal muscles to prevent ruptured hernia's and spilled guts!

Up on the fort wall, on a corner with a view of approaching Indians.

I think Gold Panning was a big hit for the family.

But Laars preferred to float 'boats' of bark in the overflow of the sluice box.

Anders enjoyed all the different furs.  This one was a grey wolf.  

 

This other fur was from a Timberwolf, much bigger.

The children almost always enjoy a coloring opportunity.  Here Maret and Tov are coloring eagle heads to make hats.

Another successful unschooled day.  Anders asked, "Can we come here tomorrow?"