Fort Vancouver Historic Structures Report

Construction details

On one of the original versions of the Vavasour plan of 1845 (Plate VI, vol. I), the Beef Store scales out to about thirty by eighty five feet. The second original version (Plate VII, vol. I) indicates that the dimensions were about thirty by eighty feet, while the traced copy (Plate VIII, vol. I) shows the structure as measuring about thirty two by eighty feet. The 1846-47 inventory made by the Company lists the Beef Store as being thirty by seventy-five feet. The site of the Beef Store was partially excavated in 1952, but no footings or even molds in the earth where footings might have rested were found. [54] Lacking physical remains, therefore, it is necessary to rely on the somewhat contradictory historical evidence and estimate that the building measured about thirty by eighty feet. The long dimension lay east-west.

Until the entire northwestern portion of the fort enclosure has been thoroughly excavated it is unsafe to speculate on the possible nature of the Beef Store footings. It might be noted, however, that footings of other early structures that stood in this vicinity, such as the first Big House, apparently have not yet been found either. This fact points to the possibility that it may have been the practice to remove the footings when old structures were demolished by Company employees, disturbing the ground to such an extent that not even the molds remained.

If such was the case, however, it is difficult to explain the "well defined section of wooden flooring preserved by pitch and asphalt" found by the archeologists within the site of the Beef Store. Also uncovered, in the southeast corner of the Beef Store site, were the remains of an oak barrel and a large, three-sheaved wooden block. [55] Such items would hardly have remained had the area been thoroughly "policed" after the demolition of the building, but there still exists the possibility that they were evidence of a later activity on the site. A thorough archeological exploration of this area possibly could clarify this confusing situation.

Lacking any information, physical or historical, concerning the type of construction, one can only assume--on the assurance of witnesses that nearly all fort structures were built of squared logs--that the usual Canadian style was employed. Fortunately, the roof of the Beef Store can be clearly identified immediately to the right of the Granary in two contemporary pictures: the 1847-48 painting by an unknown artist (Plate XVI, vol. I) and the Gibbs pencil sketch of 1851 (Plate XVIII, vol. I). Both views show it to have been a long, low, gable-roofed structure, with the ridge of the roof running east and west. The eave line was below the top of the palisade. No windows are visible in the gable ends, the building was unpainted, and the roof apparently was covered with vertical boards, though it is impossible to be certain on this last point.

The Emmons plan of 1841 (Plate III, vol. I) shows three doors evenly spaced along the south (front) wall of the general warehouse that then stood on the approximate site of the Beef Store. Because it is by no means certain that Emmons's general store was the same structure as the 1845 Beef Store, the 1841 plan cannot give positive guidance as to the number and location of the doors. Yet the placement appears reasonable and, lacking better data, it is suggested that Emmons be followed in this respect. Probably the doors were double and arched as on most of the other storehouses. Almost surely the doors were approached by wooden ramps so that carts could enter the building.

No information whatever is available concerning windows in the Beef Store. It must be assumed that there were a number of small, shuttered windows on the ground floor, spaced as in the other ware houses. Probably there was a garret, but with much lower walls than those found on the second floors of the larger stores. If so, there almost surely would have been at least one window in each gable end and perhaps several very small ones close under the eaves along the front and rear walls. The painting of doors, windows, shutters, and trim would have been the same as for the other warehouses.

The interior was probably unlined, with very heavy ground-floor ceiling beams unsupported by center posts. The floor would have been of thick, unfinished planks. Probably there were several trapdoors in the ceiling, with heavy wooden blocks for lifting the barrels of salted meat. The remains of a three-sheaved wooden block found on the site of the Beef Store by archeologists in 1952 are shown in Plate LXVIII.

It should be noted that the "Line of Fire" map of 1844 shows what appear to be two lines of fencing or pickets connecting the north wall of the Beef Store with the north stockade. Such links are not pictured on the Vavasour plan, but one version of the latter (Plate VI, vol. I) depicts a similar barrier connecting the south west corner of the Beef Store with the northeast corner of the Sale Shop.