The original Fort St. John was established as Rocky Mountain Fort in 1794, making Fort St. John
the
oldest white settlement on mainland British Columbia. It was an employee of the North West Company,
John Finlay, who established the first trading post at the junction of the Beatton and Peace Rivers, initially known as
Rocky Mountain House.
The name,
Fort St. John, originally a North West Company post (later Hudsons Bay Company) was officially adopted by the Geographic Board of Canada on June 30, 1910.
In 1942, Fort St. John became field headquarters for U.S. Army troops and civilian engineers working on construction of the Alaska Highway in the eastern sector.
Fort St. John has a population of about 21,000 residents and is the largest city in Northeastern BC. It is situated along the world-famous Alaska Highway. Fort St. John is located at Historic Milepost 47 of the Alaska Highway, 47 miles north of Dawson Creek where
Mile 0 is located, markmig the beginning of the Alaska Highway.
Fort St. John is known as The Energetic City for its large resource base of oil, natural gas, forestry and agriculture.
The Village of Fort St. John was incorporated on December 31, 1947.
The Fort St. John City Hall was renovated in 2006 by Field Lievers Architecture Ltd.
The History of Fort St. John
It surprises most people to hear that Fort St. John is the
oldest non-native settlement in British Columbia, as well as being one of the oldest native settlements.
The arrival of fur traders brought change, but not as dramatic as in many areas. There were at least 7 separate trading posts built near the present location of Fort St. John:
- Rocky Mountain House, built in 1794, was the first white settlement on the mainland of British Columbia. It was located southwest of present Fort St. John, on the Peace River just upstream from the Moberly River. It closed in 1805.
- Fort d'Epinette was built in 1806 by the North West Company. Renamed Fort St. John in 1821 when the North West Company was bought by the Hudson's Bay Company. It was located about 500 yards downstream from the mouth of the Beatton River, which at that time was called the Pine (d'epinette in French). Closed in 1823.
- the Revillon Frères company built a 2-storey cabin for trading in about 1806, but did not remain long.
- Fort St. John, built in the 1860s, was located on the south side of the Peace River, directly south of the present community. Closed in 1872.
- Fort St. John, built in 1872, was located on the north side of the river, across from the previous fort. Closed in 1925 due to a new wagon trail being built to Fort Nelson. Also see the 1945 obituary of the post's factor, Frank Beaton.
- the Revillon Frères returned about 1910 and built a trading post along the river, but it didn't last long either
- Fort St. John, built in 1925, was on Fish Creek, northwest of the present community, on the new trail to Fort Nelson. They supplied many of the trading posts along the route. Closed in 1975.
The church was into the Peace River district quite early as well. In 1866, Bishop Faraud, of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, arrived to teach the Beaver Indians about God. Five years later, the Right Reverend William Carpenter Bompas held Anglican services in Fort St. John and Hudson Hope. By 1890, a small chapel had been built for worshippers at Fort St. John.
The Klondike Gold Rush affected the region, as the Beaver Indians refused to allow stampeders to pass through their territory in 1898.
In 1913, the first settlers arrived to take up land in the Peace River Block. The 3.5 million acre parcel had been given to the federal government by British Columbia in 1883, to be sold to pay for construction of the BC portion of the national railway.
The next major influx of people arrived in the late 1920s, when the 2nd Homestead Act allowed prairie farmers to settle in the Peace District after drought had wiped out their farms.
An expedition in 1934 led by Charles Bedaux passed through the region, providing both an influx of cash for supplies and wages for assisting the expedition, and also probably a bit of comedic relief to farm life.
The year 1951 marks the beginning of the region's fame as a major producer of oil and gas. In that year, the "Fort St. John No. 1" well hit gas at a depth of 1524 meters. A few months later, in January 1952, the first deep well hit gas at 4418 meters. Drilled on the Bouffioux farm, that well is still producing today.
Transportation improved at a rapid rate after that. In 1952, the Hart Highway finally connected the region to the rest of British Columbia, and in 1958, the Pacific Great Eastern Railway arrived in Fort St. John. That ease of transportation has allowed the region's agricultural and forest industries to compete in distant markets.
From Explore North