This trade outpost was established around 1813 by the North West Company, a British owned fur trading concern.[1] It was built southeast of the current city of Newberg on the eastern shore (or southern due to an east-west stretch of the river at this location) of the Willamette River.[1] The location was a few miles west of Champoeg.[1]
Operations
Built as a trade depot, the post was used by the North West Company for trading and as a game relay spot in support of their main outpost Fort George at the mouth of the Columbia River.[2] In 1821, the North West Company was merged into the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) and the HBC took control of the fur post.[1] The HBC then used the facility as a rendezvous point for their traders forming fur brigades before traveling to points to the south.[2]
The Willamette Trading Post remained in use until the mid-1830s.[1] In later years, former North West Company and HBC employee Pierre Belleque settled a land claim and began farming at the site around 1833.[2] He lived in the former building for a time, as his wife was related to an HBC officer.[2]
References
^ abcdeCorning, Howard M. Dictionary of Oregon History. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956. pp. 267-268
^ abcdChapman, J. S. (1993). French Prairie Ceramics: The Harriet D. Munnick Archaeological Collection, Circa 1820-1860: A Catalog and Northwest Comparative Guide. Anthropology Northwest, no. 8. Corvallis, Or: Dept. of Anthropology, Oregon State University. p. 9.