TheHudson's Bay Brigade Trail, sometimes referred to simply as theBrigade Trail, refers to one of two routes used byHudson's Bay Companyfur traders to transport furs, goods and supplies between coastal andColumbia District headquarters atFort Vancouver and those inNew Caledonia and also inRupert's Land. Importantly the route was that used by the annual "Hudson's Bay Express", a shipment of the company books and profits to company headquarters.
The older of the two routes, and the most used, was from Fort Vancouver via theColumbia andOkanagan Rivers toFort Shuswap (akaFort Kamloops, today'sCity of Kamloops, then via theBonaparte andCariboo Plateaus to theFraser River atFort Alexandria). From there the Express used river travel via thePeace River to thePrairies and Rupert's Land. Another route used by the Express was the direct to Rupert's LandYork Factory Express via the Columbia River toBoat Encampment on that river'sBig Bend (beneath today'sKinbasket Lake reservoir) and then viaHowse Pass orAthabaska Pass . The route from Fort Kamloops to Fort Alexandria later featured prominently in the migration to theCariboo goldfields and was known to miners using it as the Brigade Trail. The southern part of the trail, between Forts Vancouver and Kamloops, was at this time known as theOkanagan Trail.
In anticipation of the division of the Columbia District/Oregon Country, the company established a new fort just north of the future boundary atFort Langley on the lower reaches of the Fraser River and the exploration of alternate routes via British territory for the company fur brigades from the seacoast to the Interior was undertaken. Considered among the new routes were what later became known as theLakes Route and passes in the southernCanadian Cascades later used by theDewdney Trail and theCrowsnest Highway, but the most viable route was decided to be a difficult crossing of the Canadian Cascades, over the east wall of theFraser Canyon just aboveSpuzzum onto theThompson Plateau, then to Fort Kamloops. A great deal of money was spent on the route, which was steep and narrow and carved into the mountainside, rising fromKequaloose, which lies opposite Spuzzum on the east bank of the Fraser near today'sAlexandra Bridge, and was only used a few times by fur brigades because of its difficulty forpack animals. Most shipments by this route were disastrous. It had fallen into disuse by the time of theFraser Canyon Gold Rush.
Portions of the Fraser Canyon route along the Canadian Cascades are maintained as hiking trails by theFraser Valley Regional District, including the first main ascent from Kequaloose.[1][2] The Hope Mountain Centre for Outdoor Learning is a volunteer organization that builds and maintains trails along the original Brigade routes including the HBC (1849) Heritage Trail, a 74 km wilderness route fromHope toTulameen with ten backcountry campsites,[3] and the Tikwalus Heritage Trail, a 10 km trail nearAlexandra Bridge that formed part of the 1848 brigade route and also is a traditional route for theNlakaʼpamux (Thompson) people.[4]