Fort Vancouver Historic Structures Report

History and location

A flagstaff had been a feature of Fort Vancouver since before the date of its dedication on the original site in 1825. Governor George Simpson recorded in his journal on March 19 of that year that he "Baptised" the post "by breaking a Bottle of Rum on the Flag Staff and repeating the following words in a loud voice, 'In behalf of the Honble Hudsons Bay Co. I hereby name this Establishment Fort Vancouver God Save King George the 4th.'" [1]

Undoubtedly a flagstaff was one of the first features to be erected at the new site when the fort was moved down onto the plain in 1829, but little is known about its appearance or location until 1841, when it was depicted in two sketches preserved among the records of the United States Exploring Expedition. [2] The two views agree in showing the pole as a simple, one-piece mast, but they leave some doubt as to its exact location.

One sketch, in Wilkes's Narrative, clearly shows the staff as being near the south palisade and close to the east end of the structure then serving as the Indian Trade Store (see plate LIII). In the other, found in a sketch book of Lieutenant Henry Eld, the pole occupies the same general position in the picture, but it seems to be shown farther to the east, perhaps even behind the Bachelors' Quarters (see plate IV). From what is known of the later location of the flagstaff, it would appear that the Wilkes sketch more accurately depicts the location.

What probably was this pole pictured in 1841 was blown down by a gale on the evening of September 14, 1844. [3] The sequel was recorded by Clerk Thomas Lowe in his journal entry for December 21 of that year. "This forenoon," he wrote, "all the men were mustered and with the assistance of the Cadboro's Crew succeeded in erecting a new Flag-staff 103 ft. in length, and in the same place as [the] last, within a few feet of the East end of the Fur Store." [4] Fortunately these informative words are supplemented by other evidence which permits the flagpole to be located with some precision.

Late in August, 1845, Lieutenant Warre and Vavasour of the British army reached Fort Vancouver on a secret reconnaissance mission. Before the end of that year Vavasour, a trained engineer, drew a plan of the post which present-day archeological excavations have demonstrated to be reasonably accurate. [5] This map shows a small circle, labelled "Flagstaff," situated near the south stockade wall about midway between the west and east ends.

As nearly as can be determined from the somewhat small scale of Vavasour's plan, the flagpole was situated about 22 or 23 feet north of the south stockade wall and about the same distance east of the southeast corner of the large warehouse labelled no. 8, "Stores," on the plan, "Summary Sheet, Archeological Excavations, Fort Vancouver National Monument" (see plate I). When one examines this same "Summary Sheet," however, it is noted that excavations revealed two lines of pickets, about nine feet apart, along the south wall. The wall shown on the Vavasour plan was clearly the inner wall, as is shown by the fact that the distance between the wall and building no. 8 as shown by Vavasour coincides almost exactly with the distance between the Summary Sheet's inner wall and building no. 8 as revealed by archeological excavations. This conclusion is supported by historical evidence and by stockade construction details. [6]

An interesting sidelight to this study of the flagpole's location is a hint as to why the staff may have been placed in that particular spot. If one measures the breadth of the fort as shown on the Vavasour plan, one observes that the flagpole was not quite midway between the west and east walls as the stockade was constituted late in 1845. But if one goes to the map, "Summary Sheet, Archeological Excavations," one finds that the site of the flagpole, if plotted at the spot described in the preceding paragraph, was almost exactly half way between the east and west walls (CF and HG) as they stood before the extensions of 1844 and 1845 were made. It seems possible, therefore, that the pole which fell down on September 14, 1844, had originally been positioned with a view to symmetry. The replacement flag-staff erected in its place was, as has been seen, merely put in the same location as its predecessor.

Construction details

The flagstaff erected on December 21, 1844, is shown in several pictures of Fort Vancouver drawn during the next few years. None of these views is large enough in scale to provide all the details one could desire, but at least they all agree on one point: the flagstaff was a single pole without any visible bracing at the base (see plates IX, XII, XVIII, XXII). As has been seen, Thomas Lowe recorded that the pole was "103 ft. in length." These words seem to indicate that this was the total length of the staff before erection; thus the above-ground height would have been somewhat less due to the base being buried in the soil.

The original pencil sketch of Fort Vancouver made in late 1845 or early 1846 by Lieutenant Henry J. Warre appears to show a round ball at the top of the flagstaff. [7] This same feature very definitely is indicated in the lithograph of the same scene published by Warre in 1848 (plate IX). [8] However, Warre's water color sketch, which evidently was sent to the engraver as a basis for the lithograph, shows no such ball atop the staff (see plate X).

The Coode water color view of the fort, which must have been painted between June, 1846 and May, 1847, perhaps gives the best representation of the flagstaff. This picture seems to show a fairly large device or decoration on the top of the pole. As nearly as can be made out, this object most resembles a modern wind gauge, but the small scale of the drawing permits no definite conclusion on this score (see plates XI and XII). No other known picture showing the pole adds any significant information. It should be noted, however, that it was fairly common practice at the larger Hudson's Bay Company posts to place a weather vane at the summit of the flagstaff. [9]

Flags

It was not the general custom at Hudson's Bay Company posts to display flags every day of the week. Describing the routine of life at Fort Garry during the 1840's Robert M. Ballantyne, a company clerk who later turned to the writing of fiction, noted that the flagstaff "was used on particular occasions, such as the arrival or departure of a brigade of boats." [10] Another employee, writing of conditions at Fort Qu'Appelle during the 1860's, recorded that the firm's flag was hoisted on Sundays and holidays and on the arrival or departure of important visitors and brigades. [11]

No particular attempt has been made during this study to examine the history or design of the flags employed by the Hudson's Bay Company. Pictures of Fort Vancouver dating back to 1841, however, make it perfectly clear that by that date the post was displaying the Company flag which from at least 1818 until 1970 symbolized the firm at the far-flung posts scattered across the northern part of North America: the British red ensign with the letters "H.B.C." in white on the fly. [12]

During the present century, at least, it has been Company practice to join the letters "H" and "B" on the flag so that the firm's initials formed the symbol "HB C." In fact, one visitor to Fort Simpson on the Northwest Coast in 1868 sketched the flag flying there with the first two letters joined in this manner. [13] Undoubtedly the practice had an even earlier origin. [14]

However, there are several drawings of Fort Vancouver between 1841 and 1847 which distinctly show the flag, and all of them clearly indicate that the letters were separate. For examples, see plates IV, IX, and XII. Further confirmation of this practice is given by a sketch of Fort Ellice made by Lieutenant Warre while he was traveling toward Oregon in June, 1845. This very clear picture shows the flag at that post with the letters unjoined. [15]

The inventories and indents of Fort Vancouver throw some light upon the flags used there, but it is difficult to interpret all of the information in the cryptic entries. For instance, the "Columbia District" headquartered at Fort Vancouver ordered the following flags from London in its requisition for Outfit 1835 (to be shipped in 1833):

In the Fort Vancouver Depot inventory for 1844, under the heading "Naval Stores," are listed the following:

A better idea of the range of flag sizes employed at Hudson's Bay Company posts in general may be obtained from the York Factory scheme indents for 1832. This list contains orders for flags under the following descriptions:

There seems to have been another type of Company flag used at Fort Vancouver perhaps as early as 1849 or even before that date. The Fort Vancouver Historical Society of Vancouver, Washington, has in its possession a very large and obviously old flag which is said to have once flown over the Hudson's Bay Company's western headquarters. It is white, and on it in colors are painted the arms of the firm. [19]

It was given to Mr. Glen N. Rank, a leader in what first was known as the Fort Vancouver Restoration and Historical Society, in 1920 by Mr. C. H. French, then District Manager of the Hudson's Bay Company at Victoria, B. C. In transmitting this banner, Mr. French termed it a "house flag" and supplied the following information relating to it:

When I discovered it twenty years ago it was carefully stored away and labelled "Very old house flag used by Sir James Douglas." On further investigation old employees of the Company told me that it was brought from Vancouver, Washington, by Sir James Douglas when he moved here in 1849.

This constitutes the only available history on the flag. . . [20]

According to information supplied by the Hudson's Bay Company, this type of banner, though sometimes called a "house flag," was more frequently designated the "Governor's flag." It apparently was also flown on occasion by chief factors and by such persons as the Company's Deputy-Governor when he visited Rupert's Land. One account published in 1882 mentions that "a great white flag with the arms and motto (pro pelle cutem) of the Hudson's Bay Company" was flown from a York boat arriving at Norway House carrying the factor in charge of the district. [21] The similarity of this flag to the one now owned by the Fort Vancouver Historical Society is obvious. What appears to be a similar flag was flying at Norway House when that post was photographed in 1890. [22]

The "Governor's flag" was displayed at sea as well as at the Company's posts and on inland waters. One drawing shows that the coat-of-arms banner was flown on the firm's ships at least as early as 1767 or 1769. [23]

It is not known when the house flag ceased to be used at sea. On land, however, it still proudly flies, as is shown by the following extract from a letter written by the Company's librarian:

In this century the coat-of-arms was flown in Canada when the Governor was in residence; i.e., when the Governor visited Hudson's Bay House, Winnipeg, the flag was raised. This procedure was discontinued in 1951.

Since the transfer of the Company's Head Office from London, England, to Winnipeg, Canada, the coat of-arms flag has been flying from its Canadian headquarters at Hudson's Bay House, and the large Western Department Stores, in conjunction with the flag of Canada. [24]

Recommendations

It is suggested that an archeological search be conducted at the flagpole location described above for the remains of this feature. Such a search could be expected to reveal the exact site of the flagpole and information as to the diameter and bracing of the staff.

1. Frederick Merk, ed., Fur Trade and Empire; George Simpson's Journal. . .1824-1825 (Harvard Historical Studies, XXXI, Cambridge, Mass., 1931), 122-124.

2. These sketches are those found in Henry Eld, Journal, Statistics, &c., in Oregon and California, MS, Sketch Book No. 1, in Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University; and in Wilkes, Narrative, IV, 327. Because these pictures are similar in many respects, it is probable that the Eld view was the basis of the small illustration in the Wilkes volume, although it has been ascribed to Albert T. Agate. See OHQ, LXV (June 1964), 137. Another drawing perhaps based on the Wilkes view but with several independent features is found in Sartain's Union Magazine of Literature and Art, VII (September, 1850), 137. This latter picture, however, does not show the flagpole.

3. Lowe, Private Journal, MS, 4.

4. Ibid., 11.

5. See plate VI. There are several versions or copies of this plan, which was an inset on a larger map entitled "Sketch of Fort Vancouver and Adjacent Plains," dated 1845. The copy used as a basis for the calculations described in this section was one in the records of the British Foreign Office, a reproduction of which was furnished to the National Park Service about 1947 through the courtesy of Mr. Howard J. Burnham of Vancouver, Washington. It was reproduced in Caywood, Exploratory Excavations at Ft. Vancouver, plates 31 and 32.

6. See discussion above in Chapter I on the stockade. At the time this report was written, archeologists had not yet excavated in the part of the fort site where the flagpole was located.

7. Henry James Warre, Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory, By Captain H. Warre, with an introduction by Archibald Hanna, Jr. (Barre, Massachusetts: Imprint Society, 1970), plate 40.

8. This view appears in Henry James Warre, Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory [London, 1848].

9. For an example, see the picture of Norway House in Erwin N. Thompson, Grand Portage National Monument, Great Hall Historic Structures Report, History Data Section (multilithed, Washington, D. C.: National Park Service, May, 1970), plate 37.

10. Robert Michael Ballantyne, The Young Fur-Traders: Snowflakes and Sunbeams (London, Melbourne and Toronto: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, n. d.]), 20-21.

11. Isaac Cowie, The Company of Adventurers: A Narrative of Seven Years in the Service of the Hudson's Bay Company during 1867-1874 on the Great Buffalo Plains . . . (Toronto: William Briggs, 1913), 213.

12. According to information in Company files, the "earliest specific reference" to the firm's red ensign was in 1818; its use was discontinued in 1970. Mrs. Shirlee A. Smith (Librarian, Hudson's Bay Company) to Mr. Robert E. S. Clark, Winnipeg, November 18, 1971, MS, in files, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.

13. Emil Teichmann, A Journey to Alaska in the Year 1868. . . (New York: Argosy-Antiquarian Ltd., 1963), 105, 107.

14. The Archivist of the Hudson's Bay Company stated in 1963: "The earliest reference we have on file to the Company flag as it is in use to-day is dated 25 May 1818 when nine 'Ensigns 6 yds. red with the letters HB C sewed on ditto...'" were shipped from London to York Factory. Miss Alice M. Johnson to William R. Sampson, London, March 28, 1963, MS, in files, Fort Vancouver National Historical Site.

15. Henry J. Warre, Journal from Red River to the Columbia, 1845, MS, opp. p. 23, which is item 3 in the microfilm strip, Journals of Henry J. Warre, in The Public Archives of Canada.

16. H.B.C., York Factory Indent Books, 1823-1838, H.B.C.A., B.239/n/71, MS, fol. 134, from microfilm copy in The Public Archives of Canada.

17. H.B.C. Account Book, Fort Vancouver, 1844 [Inventories], H.B.C.A., B.223/d/155, MS, 126.

18. H.B.C., York Factory, Scheme Indents, 1832, H.B.C.A., B.239/m/2, MS, from microfilm copy in The Public Archives of Canada. It will be noted that the "H" and "B" are joined in these specifications for the initials "H.B.C." However, by 1832 "HBC" was the commonly used symbol for the Company name, employed in shipping marks and other places. Possibly the use of this symbol in an order did not necessarily mean that the initials appeared so on the flag.

19. See Hussey, History of Fort Vancouver, plate XXXIX, for a photograph of this flag; also Caywood, Final Report, frontispiece, for another version, probably a later copy. See also plate LIV of the present report for a picture of the first version.

20. C. H. French to Glen N. Rank, Victoria, B. C., June 7, 1920. MS, photocopy of the original in files of the Fort Vancouver Historical Society through the courtesy of Mr. Robert E. S. Clark, Chief Park Interpreter, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.

21. Miss Alice M. Johnson to William R. Sampson, London, March 28, 1963, MS, in files, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.

22. Thompson, op. cit., plate 37.

23. Miss Alice M. Johnson to William R. Sampson, London, March 28, 1963. The Company's librarian, in a more recent communication, says that the earliest representation of this flag was in 1779. Mrs. Shirlee A. Smith to R. E. S. Clark, Winnipeg, November 8, 1971, MS, in files, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.

24. Mrs. Shirlee A. Smith to R. E. S. Clark, Winnipeg, November 8, 1971.