On B.C. Day, Monday, Aug. 5, Metis artist Pat Calihou will be at Fort 91原创 National Historic Site, answering questions about the traditional river boat, known as a bateau, that he spent six months building by hand, with assistants, using traditional methods.

Used to transport goods during the fur trade, was "challenging," Calihou, a Maple Ridge resident, said.

"We had really old plans that were missing information," Calihou told the 91原创 Advance Times.

"We were steaming and hand-cutting ribs and things like that, made some tools, and the blacksmith [at the fort] made nails for us," Calihou recalled.

"I couldn't find a piece of wood for the keel anywhere that was suitable. We had to recycle a beam out of a Vancouver building."

Visitors will be able to have their pictures taken in the bateau from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m.

It's all part of Brigade Days, the annual celebration of the fur trade over the B.C. Day long weekend at the fort, located at 23433 Mavis Ave.

Running Aug. 3-5, dozens of costumed interpreters and volunteers will reproduce the fur trade era at the fort, including black powder musket demonstrations  daily at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., as well as displays of traditional skills such as blacksmithing, gold panning, trapping, and fur trading. A fur trade fashion show is set for 1 pm on Sunday, Aug. 4.

On B.C. Day, Monday, the  will re-enact the voyageurs paddling down the Fraser River to exchange their furs at the Fort, arriving on the shore just below the Fort at 1 p.m. where they will be greeted by Fort staff and members of the community.

A full calendar of events can be found online at

The in Fort 91原创, at 9131 King St., will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on B.C. Day, with displays and demonstrations allowing visitors a chance to experience farming the way it used to be.

Museum president Sandy Hope, a fourth-generation Fort 91原创 farmer, has seen a lot of change in his own lifetime.

"It's not as long and hard [a job] as it used to be," Hope remarked.

"When my dad started [with] chickens, everything was fed by hand. Now it's all done automatically. I mean, I can look at my barns on my phone," Hope said.

"100 years ago, the amount of work to go into haying [for example], there's no comparison to today."

Over at the at 23245 Mavis Ave., during the B.C. Day long weekend, the elaborate miniature railway display in the caboose, which took five years to be build, will be open to visitors from noon till 4 p.m. with a special theme.

Volunteer Gerry Landsman said for B.C. Day, it will be a tribute to B.C. Rail, the provincially-owned railway that the then-Liberal government sold off to CN Rail in 2004, leasing all of the freight operations with the exception of the Deltaport line.

Usually, the display represents the CNR, set in the 50's, during the transition from steam to diesel, Landsman explained.

"But as time went on, we decided that we would do different themes throughout the year. And of course this coming weekend is called BC Day. And therefore, we thought we would celebrate BC Rail."

There will be trains in both the dual green, and the red, white and blue colour schemes adopted by BC Rail.

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