# Fort Paskoya

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{{Short description|Museum near The Pas, Manitoba, Canada}}
{{infobox museum
| name            = '''Fort Paskoya'''
| image           = 
| established     = 1741 -1742
| location        = near [The Pas](/source/The_Pas), [Manitoba](/source/Manitoba), [Canada](/source/Canada)
| type            = historic site
| director        = 
| curator         = 
| visitors        = 
| website         = 
}}
thumb|right|400px|A map of the area of operations of the La Vérendrye family.
'''Fort Paskoya''' (or '''Paskoyac''' or '''Pasquia''') was a [French fort](/source/List_of_French_forts_in_North_America) and trading post on the lower [Saskatchewan River](/source/Saskatchewan_River) above [Cedar Lake](/source/Cedar_Lake_(Manitoba)).

It was named after a [Cree](/source/Cree) word for 'narrows', or after the [Opaskwayak Cree Nation](/source/Opaskwayak_Cree_Nation), whom the explorers encountered. "Paskoyac" was also an old name for the Saskatchewan River. There is also a Pasquia River at The Pas.

== History ==
Around 1740, [Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye](/source/Pierre_Gaultier_de_Varennes%2C_sieur_de_La_V%C3%A9rendrye) built four forts to control the chain of lakes west of [Lake Winnipeg](/source/Lake_Winnipeg). These were Fort Pascoya, [Fort Bourbon](/source/Fort_Bourbon), [Fort Dauphin](/source/Fort_Dauphin_(Manitoba)), and [Fort La Reine](/source/Fort_La_Reine). Their purpose was to trade in furs and to divert to Montreal furs that had previously gone to the English on [Hudson Bay](/source/Hudson_Bay). Pascoya had a good location because most of the furs from the west and northwest came down the Saskatchewan. The forts were also part of a quest for a river that led to the western sea, which Verendrye now thought was the Saskatchewan.

''First Paskoya:'' In 1740 [Louis-Joseph Gaultier de La Vérendrye](/source/Louis-Joseph_Gaultier_de_La_V%C3%A9rendrye) mapped the west side of [Cedar Lake](/source/Cedar_Lake_(Manitoba)). During the winter of 1741-42, the elder La Vérendrye decided to build a fort on a small island where the river discharges into Cedar Lake. This post soon became a minor outpost of the first [Fort Bourbon](/source/Fort_Bourbon). The second [Fort Bourbon](/source/Fort_Bourbon) was probably built nearby.

''Second Paskoya:'' The second Fort Paskoya was built upstream at what is now [The Pas](/source/The_Pas). Morton<ref>Arthur Morton, "A History of the Canadian West", page 236</ref> believes it was built in 1750 and first occupied by Joseph-Claude Boucher, Chevalier de Niverville.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=2280 | title=BOUCHER DE NIVERVILLE, JOSEPH (Joseph-Claude) (Chevalier Niverville) }}</ref> In 1753 or 1754, it was strengthened by [Louis de la Corne, Chevalier de la Corne](/source/Louis_de_la_Corne%2C_Chevalier_de_la_Corne). In 1754, it was visited by [Anthony Henday](/source/Anthony_Henday) who described it as a "hogstye". Henday's visit is the only recorded visit by a British explorer or trader to any French fort west of Lake Superior, up to the close of French rule in Canada.<ref>Burpee, York Factory to Blackfeet Country (1907), p. 312, 313 http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/35/8.html?qid=peelbib%7Csaskatchewan%7C%28peelnum%3A000035%29%7Cscore</ref>

It was closed in 1759 during the [fall of New France](/source/fall_of_New_France). 

In 1775, [Alexander Henry the elder](/source/Alexander_Henry_the_elder) was blocked near here by a chief called The Pelican who demanded tribute to continue up the river.  About the same time the Frobishers had a single trader on the site. The [North West Company](/source/North_West_Company) seems to have had a post here that was taken over by the Hudson's Bay Company.

==References==
*Elizabeth Browne Losey, "Let Them be Remembered: The Story of the Fur Trade Forts", 1999
{{Reflist}}

{{Portal|France|North America|History}}
* {{cite journal |last=Champagne |first=Antoine |title=The Vérendryes and Their Successors, 1727-1760 |journal=MHS Transactions |publisher=Manitoba Historical Society |volume=Series 3 |issue= 25 |date=1968–69 |url=http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/transactions/3/verendryes.shtml}}
* [http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/transactions/1/names.shtml Some Historical Names]

{{coord|53.507|-100.651|type:landmark_region:CA-MB|display=title}}

Paskoya
Category:1742 establishments in the French colonial empire
Paskoya
Category:1742 establishments in North America
Category:Buildings and structures in Northern Region, Manitoba

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Fort Paskoya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Paskoya) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Paskoya?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.