South Branch House

South Branch House (1785–1794, 1805–1870) was the only significant fur trading post on the South Saskatchewan River. Most trade was on the North Saskatchewan River which was closer to the wooded beaver country. West of the Saskatchewan River Forks the two rivers run parallel to the northeast for about 100 miles. Between them there is a fair amount of forest. Shortly before 1785 Peter Pangman, an independent trader, built a place he called Fort des Isles and William Holmes of the North West Company built a post nearby. In 1785 William Tomison of the Hudson's Bay Company sent Mitchell Oman to build South Branch House at a ford later called Gardepuy's crossing. The two rival traders abandoned their posts and built new ones on the opposite side of the river 400 yards downstream. The explorer David Thompson was one of Oman's clerks here in 1786/87. In July 1794, following their destruction of Manchester House the year before, one or two hundred Gros Ventres attacked the HBC post. Only two company men were in the fort along with a handful of Indians. Two company officers, Magnus Annal and Hugh Brough, who were outside the fort were quickly killed. The two men inside barred the gate and hid in a cellar. The Gros Ventres broke in and butchered everyone inside including women and children, except for J. C. Van Dreil who managed to escape in a canoe after hiding in an abandoned cellar fo

Archaeological site data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).