by the way
white building on
otherwise empty tundra, was erected in 1684 as one
of the first fur-trading posts of the Hudson’s Bay
Company. While its significance in Canadian history
is often sidelined—perhaps due to its remote location
at the mouth of the Hayes River—it played a huge
role in opening up western North America. Until
the mid-19th century, everything entering the west
from Europe travelled through York Factory. A visit
today is as entertaining as it is edifying. Take a peek
at colonial life during Manitoba’s fur-trading heyday
York FactorY, an expansive
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inside the pristine main building. Here you’ll find
100,000 historical artifacts ranging from cannon
balls, clay pipes and square nails to fine china and
cast iron stoves. The neighbouring cemetery houses
hundreds of mostly unmarked graves of traders and
members of the Cree First Nation who once lived
at the post and its surrounding settlement. The
complex remained a working Hudson’s Bay Company
outpost until 1957 and you can still find some area
elders who lived in and worked at the factory.
—Karen Burshtein
The It Factory