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Norway House, 1846

Norway House, 1846
(courtesy Stark Museum, Orange Texas, POP14)

The Norway House fur trade post was the major inland distribution centre of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) during the first half of the nineteenth century. Remnants of the post still remain, providing a visual link to the community's past and a potential economic opportunity. With the precedent of Louisburg as inspiration, this fort could be restored to its fur trade glory days to support a tourist industry.

Wesleyan Mission Station, 1846

Weslayan Mission Station, Ross Ville, 1846
(courtesy Stark Museum, Orange Texas, PWC 17)

At the urging of the local Cree, who had been evangelized by their relatives at the Red River Settlement, the HBC permitted the establishment of the Wesleyan Methodist Mission in 1840, with headquarters at Norway House. Located across the bay from the HBC post and named after Donald Ross, the post manager, Ross Ville flourished from the beginning. The Cree language was first written and read there, using a syllabic system developed by the Rev. James Evans, the mission's first superintendent. Eventually, syllabics were used throughout Western and Northern Canada not only by the Cree, but by other aboriginal groups as well.

Peter Jacobs, 1846

Peter Jacobs, 1846
(courtesy Stark Museum, Orange Texas, PWC14)

Peter Jacobs, known also by his Mississauga (Ojibway) name of Pahtahsega "he who comes shining, or one who makes the world brighter," was the first schoolmaster at Ross Ville. As the first professional educator in the community, it is fitting that his picture should hang in the new educational complex at Norway House.

Ogemawwah Chak, 1848

Ogemawwah Chack or "Spirit Chief," 1848
(courtesy Stark Museum, Orange Texas, WOP2)

Ogemawwah Chack, an old man when Paul Kane painted him in 1848, was probably of Cree and Inuit ancestry. Originally from the region about York Factory, he moved inland first to Oxford House and then to Norway House. He is ancestor to many of the people living at Norway House and Grand Rapids today.