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Fort Langley

Fort Langley is a vibrant historic community that exists as a legacy of the courage and discipline of its early residents. The earliest residents that lived in the Fort Langley area were predominantly the Sto:lo. The Sto:lo lived alongside other Coast Salish groups that had the river as the centre of their way of life. After the fort was built the Sto:lo lived and worked alongside early Hudson’s Bay employees and local pioneers, conducting trade and intermarrying. These groups, each from a different vantage point, witnessed the construction of the first Fort Langley, experienced the fear of possible American take-over, and lived through the gold rush and the proclamation of the colony of British Columbia.

In 1824 James McMillan led thirty men on an expedition heading north from Oregon in order to locate a suitable site for a new Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) fort. The HBC needed a new fort in the Fraser Valley to draw trade away from Americans who had begun to dominate trade as they strategically anchored their ships at the mouth of the Fraser River. The company also needed a new fort to provide food to other HBC forts west of the Rockies. James McMillan selected the site for Fort Langley in 1827. The fort was named in honour of Thomas Langley – an HBC director and stockholder. McMillan would go on to serve as the fort’s first Chief Factor, the man in charge of the operations of the fort.

Over the years there would be a total of three forts built. The first fort was built a few miles downriver from where the Fort Langley Historical site now stands. This fort became dilapidated and was abandoned as its location was prone to flooding and was also not easily defensible. The second fort was built a few miles upriver but burned to the ground in 1840, reportedly from a fire that started with an unsuccessful attempt to cook dinner in the blacksmith shop. Construction of the third fort started almost immediately after the fire, a few hundred yards upriver from the smouldering remains of the second fort.

One of Fort Langley’s most important enterprises was the 2000 acre farm, called the “Great Langley Prairie,” which was situated southeast of the fort. This land was used to raise hogs and cattle, and to farm crops such as corn, peas, barley and wheat. These goods were used by the Fort or shipped inland. Fort Langley’s other function was to export salmon and pelts. Beaver pelts were shipped to England to satisfy the demand for fashionable beaver felt hats. But European fashions were ever changing and by 1852 beaver pelts were no longer the apex of European style.

In 1858 British Columbia’s gold rush boom began, marking a year that would be of great significance to the story of Fort Langley. The gold rush was sparked unintentionally by James Douglas, the governor of Vancouver Island. James Douglas sent a small package of Fraser River gold to San Francisco for refining, and as a result, the news of the discovery of gold leaked out into San Francisco and seemingly all over the continent. Since the California gold rush had run its course, the Fraser Valley quickly felt the weight of an influx of gold-seeking American foreigners. Fort Langley was soon surrounded by a tent city populated by miners who wanted to buy supplies. This sudden shift of demographics caused James Douglas to fear that an American take-over was a very real possibility. To ensure American gold seekers understood they were entering British territory where British law and order prevailed, Douglas anchored a ship at the mouth of the Fraser where officers charged each miner for a prospecting license. But James Douglas knew that more needed to be done to secure the British presence in the area, and on November 19, 1858, the new colony of British Columbia was officially formed. The ceremony of the proclamation of British Columbia took place in the Big House at Fort Langley where Matthew Baillie Begbie, the “Hanging Judge,” swore in James Douglas as the new governor of British Columbia.

Eventually, the Gold Rush ran its course and many ex-miners decided to settle around the fort. Although the gold rush had signaled the beginning of the end for the fort, it commenced a new era for Fort Langley as a village and community. Business at the fort slowed, and ultimately the emergence of canneries made the salmon industry at the fort unnecessary. By the end of the 19th century the Fort Langley farm was sold in sections to various Langley residents.

In 1872 more pioneers began to converge on the Fort Langley area. The keeper of the Fort Langley hotel, James Taylor, persuaded 29 landowners to sign a petition for the incorporation of ten square miles into a municipality. On April 26, 1873, Langley became a municipality. The fitting motto chosen was “Nihil Sine Cerere,” meaning “Nothing is without work.” The first reeve of Langley was a Scotsman named James Mackie who had settled near the Salmon River only a few years before. He was reelected as Langley’s reeve in 1874 and 1875.

By the 1880’s the fort was closed and the business operations of the HBC store’s operations were moved to a store near the wharf. Entrepreneurs took up opportunities by setting up businesses at the same location. Some of these businesses were the Commercial Hotel and the British Columbia Saloon Company. Although commercial growth was slow at first, the town experienced a growth that was speeding up in the late 1890’s.

Construction of the Canadian Northern Railway section between Vancouver and Hope began in 1910. The engineer in charge was the young William Swan who chose Fort Langley as his base of operations. During the construction of the Canadian Northern Railway it became apparent that Fort Langley would require a doctor to provide medical care to the men on the railroad crews. William Swan advertised for a doctor and he was soon answered by Dr. Benjamin Butler Marr of New Brunswick. Marr was only twenty-six years old when he arrived in Fort Langley. Dr. Marr lived with his wife and children in a house in Fort Langley until 1923. Today, this house still stands on Glover Road providing a home to a local business.

Dr. Marr was a key member of the Fort Langley Preservation Society and would help Fort Langley transition from a small village to a place of recognized historical significance. He worked with an organization called the Native Sons of British Columbia to initiate efforts to purchase the site of old Hudson’s Bay fort to allow for a park and recreation area. The culmination of Marr’s efforts to preserve Fort Langley’s heritage would come in 1958 when the official ribbon-cutting ceremony took place to inaugurate the Fort Langley National Historic Site that continues to exist today

Today, Fort Langley has retained much of its historic atmosphere and is a popular tourist destination. The fort itself has been reconstructed and is open to the public. Almost two hundred years since Fort Langley was founded, people can see the fort and experience the life of the village for themselves - becoming part of the continuing history of the town of Fort Langley.

Contributed by Anna Bergen
— 2009 Trinity Western University Practicum Student with The History Group Inc.