Viewing Object

Object Description

Object ID

1410

Title

Alice Irene Landon and Brian D. Sherry in Fort Langley.

Date

7 Sep. 1942.

Description

Alice Irene Landon (nee Sherry) and her son Brian D. Sherry in front of a totem pole in Fort Langley, BC on Labour Day, 1942. Alice is wearing glasses, a vertical striped dress and a hat with a ribbon. She is sitting with her knees in front and legs behind her, leaning on her left hand. Brian is on her right side sitting between her and the totem pole. Brian is wearing a light bucket hat and a button-down shirt with dark shorts. His legs and arms are stretched out in front of him. The wood totem pole is only partially visible; it consists of four animals from top to bottom, which include a bear, whale, eagle, and raven. People are visible along the edge of the field. There is grass, flowers, trees, and mountains in the background.

People/Subject

Fort Langley National Historic Site

www.parkscanada.gc.ca/langley ***** The Hudson's Bay Company established Fort Langley in 1827 about 50 km. from the mouth of the Fraser River. The Company's first fort was established on the Fraser River in present day Derby Reach Regional Park, two miles downstream from what is now the village of Fort Langley. Recognition that the site of the fort was vulnerable to flooding and too far from its farming operations resulted in its relocation further upstream on a higher piece of land. A second fort was thus established at the site of the current reconstructed Fort in 1839. It burned in 1840 and was immediately rebuilt in the same location. The Fort mainly served as a provisioning post producing agricultural products and Salmon. The Hudson's Bay Company Fort went to pasture after the company moved its operations to the village of Fort Langley in 1886. From 1888 to the 1920's, the Mavis family farm occupied the land that would later become a National Historic Site. In the late teens and early 1920's, many became interested in the preservation of the historic fort site. Fort Langley was recognized by the federal government's Historic Sites and Monuments Board. At the Board's urging, the local community raised money to purchase three acres of the fur trading post in 1924, including the last remaining building. The HSMB and Native Sons unveiled a plaque commemorating the site in 1925. Between 1931 and 1958, the Native Sons operated a museum display in the Store House, the last remaining Hudson's Bay Company building. In 1955, the Fort was declared a National Historic Site. During the 1958 Centennial (the 100 year anniversary of Governor James Douglas declaring the mainland of present-day British Columbia a British colony), the federal government undertook the partial reconstruction of palisades and buildings at the Fort. The same year saw the construction of the Langley Centennial Museum.

Landon, Alice Irene (nee Sherry)

Alice Irene Landon (nee Sherry) was born on March 2, 1906 and died in February, 1948 in a forest lawn fire in Burnaby, BC.

Native Peoples of North America

See From: Indians, First Nations
See Also: St'Lo Indians

Sherry, Brian D.

Brian D. Sherry was born on April 10, 1939.

Argus v4.3.6.40 - Langley Centennial Museum