Fort History Con't ...

All building windows were high and faced into the compound. The palisade walls were twelve to sixteen feet high, made from squared cottonwood logs and a bastion at each of two opposite corners. Each covered two walls. One bastion for use by riflemen the other had a three-pound cannon covering one wall and a gate. Inside a second artillery piece, a two-inch muzzle loaded cannon faced the gate. Ironically, no record of an attack on the Fort is recorded. Although rival traders attempted to take over the Fort unsuccessfully in 1872.

Fort Whoop-up became the headquarters of American activities in Canada and has supplied aids for prospectors, traders and others in the territory. It was the primary link with Fort Benton, a distribution center for most good traded or sold in southern Alberta. It was whiskey and rifles that brought Fort Hamilton both its customers and its reputation. Hides taken in trade were shipped by bull team into Benton and then to St. Louis by steamer on the Missouri River. Continue to part IV