First called Carlton House, there were several historic Fort Carlton posts that operated in different periods and at three different locations. Two posts were established in 1795 and 1805 respectively. A series of forts named Fort Carlton operated at a third location starting in 1810.
Three Locations
The first Fort Carlton was built at a safer site near the old French post of Fort de la Corne in 1795 following the destruction of South Branch House. James Bird was in charge; James Sandison was his assistant; and John Peter Pruden was an apprentice. From 1799 to 1801, Joseph Howse was the writer in charge. The NWC had a nearby post called Fort St. Louis. It produced few furs and was closed in 1801.
The second Fort Carlton was built on the South Saskatchewan River six miles upstream from the former South Branch House. Joseph Howse was a trader. There was a nearby NWC post. In 1810 both companies abandoned the South Saskatchewan and moved to the third Fort Carlton.
The third Fort Carlton was built on the south bank of the North Saskatchewan at the Great Crossing Place, a ford of that river. John Peter Pruden was master, master and trader and chief trader except for a brief furlough to London in 1824-1825. The area was prairie and not beaver country, but there were plentiful woods nearby and even a supply of limestone. The NWC had its Fort La Montée inside the same stockade as the HBC's Fort Carlton. In 1816 the Nor'Westers moved out and established a second Fort La Montée on the north bank 3 miles upstream. With the union in 1821 La Montée was abandoned and whatever could be salvaged was rafted down to Fort Carlton. In 1824 a group of Natives attacked Fort Carlton but were driven off. By 1835 the buildings were in disrepair and a new hexagonal fort was built 200 yards to the west. This fell into disrepair and a new fort was built a few yards east of the first fort in 1855-58. About this time it was a depot for the winter express mail. Men coming from the upper Saskatchewan and Athabasca would meet and exchange mail with men coming from the Red River country south of Lake Winnipeg. There was a smallpox epidemic in 1869. Steamboats arrived on the Saskatchewan in 1874.
The last fort at this location burned down in 1885 after a period of use as a police post.
Fort Carlton Provincial Park was opened in 1967. It features a partial reconstruction of the fort c. 1880, including four replica buildings of "Red River frame" construction. The site was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1976.
