Fort Douglas (2)

Fort Douglas (2) (1812-1824) - A Scottish settler Fort established in 1812 in present day Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Named Fort Douglas after Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk who purchased the land from the Hudson’s Bay Company to establish the Red River colony. Abandoned in 1824 and destroyed in 1826. History of Fort Douglas Established on 30 August 1812 by settlers of Lord Selkirk's Red River Colony on the west side of the Red River in present day Winnipeg, Manitoba. The site was located almost directly across from the site of the North West Company fur trading post, Fort Gibraltar. The settlers were harassed and attacked by the North West Company in 1814 and the few remaining settlers were driven off to await the arrival of a new batch of settlers in 1815. Lord Selkirk himself came to Montreal in 1815 to try to negotiate a truce between the settlers and the North West Company. By June of 1815 the settlers had returned and they were again attacked, this time with twenty some settlers killed along with the appointed Governor Semple. Fort Douglas was surrendered and the settlers again were driven off. When Lord Selkirk received the news, he organized an attack against the North West Company headquarters at Fort William and captured it, arresting the North West Company officers. A small party of twenty two men then seized back Fort Douglas on 10 January but this did not end the harassment of the settlers. Lord Selkirk returned to Scotland in 1819 a sick man, he died there on 8 Apr 1820. The few settlers that remained faced great hardships to retain their land grants. Fort Douglas was destroyed by the great flood of 1826. Current Status Two markers are located at the site to commerate the fort. {"selectable":false,"width":"500"} Location: Douglas Park, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Maps & Images Lat: 49.90043 Long: -97.1302 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: .....' See Also: North West Company Hudson's Bay Company Fort William Sources: Links: North American Forts - Fort Douglas Wikipedia - Fort Douglas (2) Manitoba Historical Society - The Lord Selkirk Settlement at Red River (three parts) Visited: 27 Jul 2016