Fort Pitt Provincial Park

Fort Pitt Provincial Park is a provincial park in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Fort Pitt was built in 1829 by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) and was a trading post on the North Saskatchewan River in Rupert's Land. It was built at the direction of Chief Factor John Rowand, previously of Fort Edmonton, to trade for bison hides, meat and pemmican. Pemmican, dried buffalo meat, was required as provisions for HBC's northern trading posts.

Fort Pitt
  • waskahikansis (Cree) 'little fort'
  • Itakapioxis (Blackfoot) 'circle of houses'
Battle of Fort Pitt
LocationFrenchman Butte, Saskatchewan, Canada
Coordinates53.571°N 109.792°W / 53.571; -109.792
Built1829
Original useTrading post
Demolished1885
Rebuilt1886 (partial)
National Historic Site of Canada
Official nameFort Pitt National Historic Site of Canada
Designated7 June 1956
Location of Fort Pitt in Saskatchewan
Fort Pitt Provincial Park (Canada)

In the 1870s the abundance of buffalo in the area had been severely diminished through the overhunting necessary to meet the growing demand from the HBC for both furs and pemmican. One academic journal states "with the disappearance of the buffalo, pork had replaced pemmican altogether", showing the drastic effects of the HBC on the local buffalo population.

Fort Pitt was built where the territories of the Cree, Assiniboine, and Blackfoot converged. It was located on a large bend in the river just east of the present day Alberta–Saskatchewan border and was the major post between Fort Edmonton and Fort Carlton. In 1876, it was one of the locations for signing Treaty 6. It was the scene of the Battle of Fort Pitt during the North-West Rebellion of 1885. The site was designated a national historic site of Canada in 1954.

In 1986, approximately 10.4 ha (26 acres) of land surrounding the remains of the fort was designated as Fort Pitt Provincial Park by the government of Saskatchewan.

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