Hudson Bay Company Trader William McBean
This is one presentation you don't want to miss. William McBean is a treasure trove of information on the life and times of the middle 1800s. He presents a picture of life as real as though you were suddenly transported back 150 years.
Come to Fort Walla Walla Museum and hear what it was like to be a fur trader and manager of the only business in the area in the late 1840's, the Hudson Bay Company's Fort Walla Walla. Although today we think of forts as military establishments, in the 1800s a trading post was often given the name "fort."
The first Fort Walla Walla was built at the mouth of the Walla Walla River and was one of the earliest Northwest outposts for trading furs and other items with the local Native American population. The fort was built in 1818 by the Northwest Trading Company, which soon was bought out by the Hudson Bay Company. The structure was so sturdy that its first factor (manager) called it the "Gibraltar of the Northwest." Unfortunately that sturdy fort lasted only 10 years before being destroyed by fire. A second fort built on the same site had also succumbed to fire by the time William McBean came on the scene as manager of the third Fort Walla Walla.
William McBean, of British and Indian parentage, was born in Canada about 1807 and came to the Walla Walla region in 1846. He was the chief factor in charge of the Hudson's Bay Company fort at the mouth of the Walla Walla River at the time of the Whitman Massacre in 1847. He left Fort Walla Walla in 1855 at the time of the Indian wars and later returned to the valley with his Indian wife and children. He continued to reside in Walla Walla and was active in assisting various Catholic institutions until his death in 1872.
McBean presents myriad factual details on the times he lived in and the people and cultures with whom he worked. He shares with his audience many different examples of fur trade items, including pelts, beadwork, axes, bowls, pottery, clothing, and smoking pipes. McBean paints a colorful picture of his life and times, giving visitors a very real experience of Walla Walla in the middle 1800s.
Museum hours are 10 am to 5 pm daily. Admission is free to members, children under 6, eligible service personnel & their families through the Blue Star Museums program, and through a reciprocal agreement Tamástslikt Cultural Institute's Inwai Circle cardholders and enrolled members of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation; $3 for children ages 6-12; $6 for seniors (62+) and students; and $7 for adults. Your admission cost can be applied to a membership, which includes free admission to all Living History performances, priced beginning at $25. For more information, contact Fort Walla Walla Museum at 509-525-7703 or info@fortwallawallamuseum.org.
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