As I drove north, I worried over a million small things that -- in the end -- didn't matter one bit, and the closer I got to the fort, the less I worried and the more excited I got.  The yellow sign on the Visitor Centre fed that excitement; the reunion was really and for truly happening.

I went up a day early for a couple reasons.

The first was to attend a meeting with the Friends of Fort Langley to discuss next year's big 175th anniversary celebration.  They had sent me e-mail about next year, asking if I'd extend a special invitation to the descendants of the First 25, and mentioning the Friday meeting.  I asked if I might attend.  They said yes.  The upshot of that meeting is that they want next year to be Special with a capital S -- after all, 175 years only comes round once -- and they want as many of us there as possible, both the First 25 and everyone who followed them.  The dates for this are the 3, 4, & 5 of August (Saturday, Sunday, and Monday).

The other reason was to pick up Laurel Katernick at the Langley City Greyhound.

Oh, and I wanted to get my computer setup so I wouldn't be driving around with it in my trunk.

So.  I arrived at the Fort about 9:30am.  Asked about a spot to put my computer and, with a smile, was escorted to our room.

Surprise Number One

Our room was in actuality the newly completed Exhibits Building, located between the Theatre and the Operations Building (see the Cyber Tour).  Later I found out that we were the first to use it.

(And yes, the picture on the right is a photograph of the actual sign. Thank you Al Kline.)

Next to that was a long table with potted flowering plants, a stack of flyers, and a small white-leather-bound guest book.

There were two sheets of paper stapled together; one was the same paper that was available in the Visitor Centre, the other was-- Well, I guess the best way to do this is to show you the info as I read it.  I am still overwhelmed at how very well the way the entire weekend went and find myself at a loss for words to adequately describe what happened.  Those of you who were able to make it understand, I think, and I do hope those of you who couldn't make it will be able to make it next year.  For now they're calling it "Come Home to Langley in 2002", but more on that in a bit.

It was two sheets of letter-sized paper stapled together, the top one of which reads, and I quote:

Fort Langley National Historic Site of Canada
Descendants Reunion 2001 - Itinerary

Welcome to the Descendants Reunion.  We hope you will enjoy the time chatting, listening to guest speakers, and experiencing Brigade Days on the site where your ancestors once walked.

Please contact Nancy Hildebrand (Fort Langley NHS staff) or Lisa Peppan (Children of the Fort) if you have any problems.  The Exhibits Building will be available to you throughout the weekend.

Welcome Coffee and Tea Times:

Saturday and Sunday between 10 am and 12 noon, coffee and tea will be served in the Exhibits Building, the headquarters for the Descendants Reunion.  During these times, you can share your information and history and talk with resource people.

Sto:lo Welcome Ceremony - 1:00pm Saturday:

This ceremony is to welcome you and celebrate the First Nations side of your heritage.  The event will take place outside in front of the Big House.  You will meet behind the Big House at the back palisade door to be led in to the ceremony.

Chief Trader's Dinner -- after site closes, Saturday at about 6:00 pm:

This is the potluck dinner that the encampers staying on site hold traditionally every year in the fort.  This year, we are inviting you to join this celebration.  In order to join the meal, you must provide your own cutlery, dishes, and enough food for yourselves to share.  There is an IGA and a bakery in Fort Langley.  The next nearest food stores are in Walnut Grove on 88th Ave., including Save-On-Foods and IGA.  Jamie Morton, a fur trade historian, will be attending this meal and will be available to show you around the site with some of his insights.

Descendants Homecoming - Sunday at 1:00

At about 12:45, a piper will lead you and the public down to Marina Park to watch the Canoe Arrival - where costumed paddlers will arrive from Mission by the Fraser River.  You can stand together in the group, putting anyone in costume in front.  After the arrival, you can follow the piper back to the fort and up to the steps of the Big House.  There will be reserved chairs for you to sit on.  At this time, Bryan Jackson, the Superintendent of the site and Jamie Morton will give a public talk about the original Fort Langley employees.

Farewell - Sunday at about 4 pm

The piper will pipe you around the fort one last time as a formal farewell.  If you can stay for this, please meet at 4pm in the Exhibits Building.

Special Thanks to the following Special Guests in attendance, who helped to make this a memorable weekend:

A special thank you to the Friends of the Fort for providing refreshments and making the Descendants Reunion possible.

. . . every summer, the Hudson's Bay Company employees at Fort Langley looked forward to the weeks of merriment that accompanied the arrival of the fur brigades by river . . .

During Fort Langley's peak years, one of its main roles was that of interior depot for the inland Hudson's Bay Company trading posts.  In the winter supplies for the interior were shipped to Fort Langley from Fort Victoria.  Fort Langley staff spent the winter months dividing the bulk provisions into smaller units, filling oak kegs from large puncheons of flour, molasses, tobacco and liquor, and making oilcloths for wrapping bales of goods.  Once everything was ready, the supplies were shipped by bateaux to Fort Hope.  The brigade men and furs were brought down on the return journey.  As many as 60 men and officers arrived at Fort Langley in the summer, often with whole families accompanying the brigade.  The annual stay at Langley was an occasion for celebration by the labouring men of the interior.

During the four weeks the brigades were at Fort Langley, Chief Factor James Douglas came from Fort Victoria to renew employee' contracts, receive reports from the officers and discuss arrangements for the following year.  Once the business and social activities had ended and the brigades had left for their return journey to the interior, the work of preparing the furs for England began.  The last brigade left Fort Langley in the summer of 1858.  A few months later James Douglas read the proclamation creating the Crown Colony of British Columbia from the Big House at Fort Langley.

Fort Langley National Historic Site highlites the important role the brigades played in its history at the Brigade Days special event held on the August long weekend.  This year, descendants of the original Hudson's Bay Company employees are gathering for a reunion at Fort Langley.  To celebrate this event, we are having several guest speakers, a Sto:lo Welcome Ceremony, and the "Descendants Homecoming" - events which everyone is welcome to join.

FORT LANGLEY NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE OF CANADA
BRIGADE DAYS 2001 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Every day: See costumed re-enactors of all ages living in the style of the 19th century fur trade

*Blacksmithing *Coopering demonstrations *Bake oven *Gold panning
*Contract signing *Concession *Woodworking
*Children's games and activities *Special presentations
*Genealogical society display tables

My thanks to everyone --

For those of you who couldn't make it this year, I wish I could say something more intelligent than a still slightly awestruck ". . . wow . . .", but [insert a SHRUG here].  If you can, please try to make it out next year.  I have a list of local lodging information that I would be happy to pass along.

WHO WAS THERE

There were two guest books: one for the Fort and one for us. Some signed both, some signed only one, some didn't sign either; the below list comes from our guest book (which was a half dozen loose sheets of paper stacked next to the Fort's small white book).  If you were there and don't see your name below, drop me a line and and I will be happy to add you to the list.

On Saturday August 4 we had, listed Employee: Descendant . . .

I'm not exactly sure what time it was but someone official looking with a clipboard asked me if I knew anyone who wanted to paddle a canoe, they'd had some unexpected last minute cancellations and needed bodies to man the canoes bringing in the Brigade.  I asked when.  He replied, "In 10 minutes," adding that the staging area was down by the IGA, a two minute walk away.

On Sunday, August 5th, had you followed the Piper to Marina Park, you'd have seen the following, looking east from Marina Park at about 1:00pm.

The picture below is an enlargement taken from the picture on the left, showing that there are 6 canoes coming down along the south bank of McMillan Island.

I got to paddle.

If you know what/who you're looking for, you can just make us out through the foliage of the bush on the left side of the picture on the right.

Come Home to Langley in 2002

Early in the morning of Wednesday 27th June 1827, twenty-five men slid their two boats into the waters of the Columbia River at Fort Vancouver on their way to "form an Establishment at the Entrance of Fraser' s River".

At noon, Monday, 30th July 1827, the men were "all busily employed in clearing ground for an Establishment", though they spent that night -- as well as the next 5 nights -- aboard ship.

The 2nd August saw them clearing ground for the Bastion, the 21st saw them digging a trench for the walls, by the 31st, the second Bastion was up and roofed.

And on Monday 8th October, clerk and journal keeper George Barnston writes in The Journal,

"We got comfortably housed in our new lodgings, and the men are now all occupied in rendering their own dwellings habitable, with the exception of a few hands who are kept constantly employed in rooting out & burning the Stumps within and without the Fort, which is a work of no small toil and trouble..."

Now, fast-forward 175 years.

Beginning 10:00 am on Saturday 3rd August 2002, the Fort Langley National Historic Site of Canada will be celebrating the summer of 1827 for three days.  As I understand it, the big spot light will be on the descendants of the First 25 -- with a special ceremony to recognized them (they were after all the guys who did the actual grunt work of building the first fort AND were the new kids on the block who had to learn to work with their neighbours) -- but the Fort was also emphatic about having as many of all The Descendants, of all the guys, as possible.  My hope is that the current World Uglies will have been settled to the point that all of us will be able to Come Home to Langley in 2002.

One thing I am working on for one of these years is a large sign for the procession from Marina Park to the Fort . . . maybe two -- out of cloth.