Upper Fort Garry was a fur-trade fort in the region of Winnipeg, MB, Canada. The first – formerly Fort Gibraltar – was appropriated by the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1821 after its amalgamation with its bitter trade rivals, the North West Company. In 1826, one of Winnipeg’s major floods struck, totally destroying another area fort, FortDouglas, and damaging Fort Garry beyond repair. The decision was made by Governor George Simpson to move the HBC headquarters to a position 32 km. north of the current site near modern Selkirk MB, naming the fort Lower Fort Garry, as it was down river from the previous site. However, as the fort was removed from the booming market of the Forks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, the confluence where the previous Fort Garry stood, the governor decided to move back and in 1836 construction on Upper Fort Garry began. In 1854, after years of steady increase and prosperity of business, the fort was extended north and it was then that the Governor’s Gate was constructed.

This fort was occupied by Louis Riel, a Metis whose rebellion led to the creation of the province of Manitoba in 1870 and gave impetus to the Canadian government to complete the National Railway as far as the prairies, occupied the fort. The fort also served as a seat for the Council of Assiniboia until the creation of Manitoba, and for a time held legislative meetings. With the growth of Winnipeg and its incorporation as a city in 1874 the role of the fort steadily declined as independent merchants set up shop in the shadow of the fort that gave birth to their market. Its use expended, deconstruction of the fort began in 1882, ending in 1888, with only the gate standing. Asides for a few minor repairs, the gate we have today is the gate that was left in 1888. Today, many buildings in the downtown district have the Tyndall limestone of Upper Fort Garry in their foundations. One can thus say that Upper Fort Garry is both the historical and physical foundation of the city of Winnipeg, which grew out of, and surpassed, the successes of the fort. The Gate, therefore, is the city’s one remaining relic of this glorious past, a testament to the genesis to the beginnings of this booming city that, under the railroad’s dominance, would dominate Chicago as the gateway to the west, while remaining a strong trade center in North America. We must preserve the sanctity, memory, and honour of this gate, the only remaining relic of the once great fort, as recognition for the role that it played in history.