Fort Vermilion

History

{{stack| The fort was established in 1788, following the expeditions of Alexander MacKenzie. Winter residents would trade furs with the native trappers, then send the furs by river during the summer to exchange points to the east and then to Montreal. The fort was later transferred to the Hudson's Bay Company after the 1821 merger. By 1830, it was a prosperous fur trading post. The first Anglican church was built in 1877. The main access to the settlements was by means of the river, using river boats and then ferries to haul materials in the summer months, when the water was not frozen. In 1903 the first steam-powered vessel to serve Fort Vermilion was the St. Charles built to navigate the to the upper reaches of the Peace River, from Hudson's Hope to Fort Vermilion. The visitor centre is hosted in a 1923 dovetailed log house. Built on the banks of the Peace River, it was moved to its current location in 1983. Another heritage building is the 1907 Clark House, built for the Hudson's Bay clerk quarters, and moved in 1994 to the present location near the visitor centre. The Trappers Shack, built in 1912, is another dovetailed log house. It was listed as a provincial historic site. In 2018, the airport was named after Canadian Wop May, former bush pilot and WW1 flying ace. It was to Fort Vermilion that May flew to in 1929 with lifesaving drugs.

Geography

Fort Vermilion is located approximately southeast of High Level and northwest of Edmonton on the Highway 88 (Bicentennial Highway). The hamlet of La Crete is located approximately southwest of Fort Vermilion on Highway 697. The hamlet is one of the northernmost communities in the Peace River Country. Peace Country, in the aspen parkland biome, is Canada's northernmost land suitable for agriculture. The landscape is dominated by aspen, poplars and spruce, occasionally interspersed with areas of grasslands. Wildlife is abundant in the area, and includes bears, moose, deer, beavers, foxes, coyotes and Canada geese and Sandhill cranes and brief but fairly warm summers. Temperatures during the winter can drop to to . Summer days benefit from long hours of daylight due to its northern location. }}

Most-observed species

• Black-billed Magpie

  Pica hudsonia (Sabine, 1823) · Aves
  5
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  4
• Hermit Thrush

  Catharus guttatus (Pallas, 1811) · Aves
  3
• Pacific serviceberry

  Amelanchier alnifolia (Nutt.) Nutt. · Magnoliopsida
  3
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  3
• Sandhill crane

  Grus canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2
• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2
• Red-eyed Vireo

  Vireo olivaceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2