Fort Reliance, Northwest Territories

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Fort Reliance, located on the East Arm of Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada, was erected in 1833 as a winter camp for George Back's expedition to the Arctic Coast via the Back River, in a mission of scientific discovery and in search of the missing expedition of John Ross. The fort consisted of a main house and smaller houses, heated with stone and clay chimneys. In 1855, the fort was rebuilt by Chief Factor James Anderson of the Hudson's Bay Company as a winter quarters during the search for Sir John Franklin, but it was again abandoned after one season. It was not a fur trading outpost although the site was later used by trappers in the Thelon River area. In 1897, one of these trappers, Buffalo Jones, built a log cabin on the site of the old fort, incorporating one of the stone chimneys. The old site was recognized as an important archaeological resource for the Northwest Territories, and in 1986 the old chimneys were rehabilitated and is now protected as a historic site.