Abstract

As trading relations between the Hudson's Bay and Northwest Companies began to intensify, a number of explorers were dispatched to the western regions of Canada for the purpose of establishing posts and securing trade relations with native populations in the surrounding areas. In 1774, Samuel Hearne founded the first Hudson's Bay Company inland trading post, Cumberland House I (or old Cumberland House) along the southern shore of Cumberland Lake. In 1790 construction began on Cumberland House II (or New Cumberland House) 1.5 km northwest of the old site and by 1794 Old Cumberland House was abandoned and operations were moved to the new location. Three field seasons of excavation, in the summers of 1991, 1992 and 1994, were carried out at the Old Cumberland House site under the supervision of Dr. David Meyer and Jill Musser from the University of Saskatchewan. This presentation deals with the subject of those investigations and subsequent analysis of the Old Cumberland House archaeological collection.