Curator Ken Favrholdt has been working since June along with others to develop the exhibit on the War of 1812 in the West, which opened Saturday. The exhibit will be at the Osoyoos Museum for six weeks before going on tour. Photo by Richard McGuire.

 

 

 

A little known chapter of the War of 1812 provides the theme of an exhibit that opened Saturday at Osoyoos Museum.
The exhibit, The War of 1812 in the West: The Oregon Country Legacy, was produced by Ken Favrholdt, executive director and curator of the museum.
It will also be going on a tour that includes national historic sites in B.C.
Favrholdt said he learned of federal funding available last year to commemorate the War of 1812 and applied on the basis of a storyline he said surprised many people because it isn’t well known.
He received $86,000, which includes costs for the exhibit to go on tour, a web-based version, and translation to French so it can be shown at national sites.
The exhibit will arrive in Kamloops in October, where it will be part of the 200-year commemoration of the handover of Kamloops from the Americans to the British.
Favrholdt notes that Kamloops is unique in that it began as an American outpost just before the War of 1812.
The exhibit returns to Osoyoos early in 2014, where it will become part of the permanent collection.
Histories of the war, which lasted from 1812 to 1814, usually discuss the events in eastern North America, where British and Canadian forces fought and repelled American invaders.
The history in the west, where no battles took place, is less well known.
At the remote Pacific Fur Company post of Fort Astoria, near the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon, British, Canadian and American fur traders co-existed and many were related to each other.
Osoyoos played a role because it was on the main route that furs and supplies travelled between Fort Kamloops and Fort Astoria.
It took seven months for news of the war to reach Fort Astoria and the inhabitants learned that a British warship, the Racoon, was on its way.
Rather than allow themselves to be invaded, the Americans with the Pacific Fur Company accepted an offer from the British of the North West Company to buy the fort.
When the Racoon sailed in, its captain, William Black, was surprised to see the British Union Jack already flying over the fort.
Not wanting to be deprived a glorious military victory, he staged a mock takeover.
Following the war, these developments led to a joint British-U.S. occupancy of the Oregon Country, which included much of B.C., all of Washington, Oregon and Idaho, and parts of Montana and Wyoming.
The Americans became tired of the joint occupancy later in the 19th century and the two countries nearly went to war again with the Americans demanding lands up to 54 degrees 40, roughly the latitude of Prince Rupert and including much of B.C.
The dispute and joint occupancy ended in 1846, however, with the Oregon Treaty, which established the present boundary along the 49th parallel.
Favrholdt said the legacy of this historic chapter is that it helped to establish the present boundary between Canada and the United States in the West.
He hopes visitors will take away a better understanding of this history.
The current exhibit is mounted on hinged wooden panels, but the bilingual version to be sent to federal historic sites will be on fabric hung between metal frames.
Favrholdt said he had to research numerous books because this history wasn’t all contained cohesively.
Staff and volunteers also assisted with editing, obtaining rights to photos, mapping, assembly and numerous other tasks.
“It really was a complex job,” said Favrholdt. “It was probably the most complex exhibit that we’ve produced here and certainly in my case as a curator this was quite involved.”