Flooring of the West Periphery

On information card: Flooring of the west periphery of the cellar of La Loche House. Methy Portage, SK.

Historical note:

The site of the Northwest Company's La Loche House was located by Don Steer during an archaeological survey in the vicinity of Methy Portage, SK. At the time of discovery, no documentation had come to light as to the presence of a fur trading establishment in the locality. The post was tentatively designated a Free Traders' post in the last 18th century. However, in the spring of 1972, after extensive examination of the Hudson's Bay Company records in Ottawa, the writer found certain short excerpts relating to the post. The information, though limited, sufficed to date the time of occupation to ca. 1789-1791 and identified the post as belonging to the Northwest Company. Archaeological excavations have supported this information. The name, La Loche House, was given to the site by Steer. Until the present Methy Portage archaeological investigations took place, no extensive Historic Sites archaeology had been carried out in the northern forest regions of Saskatchewan.