Hudsons Hope Museum
Hudson's Hope

Hudson's Hope is situated on the banks of the Peace River in North Eastern British Columbia. It is a small rural town of 1100 people, some 80kms from the nearest major Peace River city of Fort St. John and 375kms from the regional city of Prince George. After the exploratory adventures of Alexander Mackenzie and Simon Fraser in the later 1700’s, the Northwest Trading Company established a fur trading post here in 1805. Hudson’s Hope is home to one of the world’s largest earthen dams, the W.A.C. Bennett Dam and G.M.Shrum Generating Station. This dam stretches 2 kms across the Peace River creating B.C.’s largest reservoir, Williston Lake, covering 410,000 acres.


The museum site in winter

Museum Awarded BC Museums Association

Museums in Motion "Award of Merit”

The museum was thrilled to receive the BCMA “Museums in Motion:  Award of Merit” for the Bedaux project “Our Hudson’s Hope Cowboys: Packers on the Trail – a 75th anniversary celebration of the 1934 Charles Bedaux Expedition.”  The announcement was made at the BCMA Annual Conference in Osoyoos on October 16th. This was an exciting culmination for all the hard work put in by museum staff and volunteers from the community and further afield. 
   Ross Peck with BCMA Award

On October 17th, the museum’s annual fundraising “Harvest Social” rounded off the year of Bedaux related events with the theme: “The Bedaux Expedition: Coming Home to Hudson’s Hope.”  In October 1934, Bedaux abandoned his ill fated expedition and hired boatmen to take his entourage and crew from the Whitewater post  down the Peace River to Hudson’s Hope.  They arrived on October 18th and held a baseball game and a farewell dinner.

Supporters of the museum came from across the region and province to replicate this homecoming.  Relatives and community members took advantage of the mild weather and played a baseball game on the afternoon of the 17th.

     
Photo: Wally Harwood, Clark Lavallee, Ed Forrester, Dave Kyllo waiting their turn to read from the Bedaux cowboy’s diaries.

Later on, everyone enjoyed a fun evening of readings from the Bedaux cowboys as well as photos and film footage from the expedition.  Some even dressed the part and we appreciated having “Mr. & Mrs. Bedaux” in attendance (aka Kaspar Michel & Heidi Bolliger).

Copies of the Bannock & Beans book are available for purchase at the Hudson’s Hope Museum as well as Bedaux T shirts and limited edition copies of Frank Swannell’s map (with kind copyright permission from Lorne Swannell).

 

Did You Know

Many visitors, both regional and international, have already called into the museum whilst on their travels.  Even if you live in Hudson's Hope, stop by and have a look around the "Trapper's Cabin" where we have an array of animal traps and examples of local wildlife.
Walk through the "Peck House" and see what kitchen utensils were in use 50 years ago. Ther's also the machinery display including a Donkey engine and part of the conveyor belt used in the construction of the WAC Bennett Dam.

Latest Events

History Timeline

1793 - Alexander Mackenzie canoed up to “The Glen”, the present site of Alwin Holland Park and campsite. He failed to “line” the rapids, which is a process of towing the canoe through the water from the heights of the cliffs. As his guides were two Beaver Indian they felt they had to bypass the existing portage to avoid confrontation with other tribes. This meant that he and his five man crew and the guides had to haul the canoe and the ton of supplies up the cliff face and then to cut their own trail through to the foot of Bullhead Mountain. There they could regain the river to continue their quest for a Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean.

1805 - Simon Fraser established Rocky Mountain Portage House for the North West Company.

1806 - David Thompson went through

1814 - North West Company abandoned

1821 - Amalgamation of North West Company and Hudson’s Bay Company

1823 - reopened for trade from Slave Indians only to punish Beavers for massacre in Fort St. John.

1828 - Simpson successfully navigated Peace Canyon for the first time in history

1860 - Gold prospectors arrive to seek gold from the Peace and Parsnip, some stay in Rocky Mountain Portage House to trap for the winter.

See Full Timeline

The Little Devil In The Rocks

Our area is rich in marine reptile fossils and dinosaur footprints. There is a great deal of useful and relative information on all local finds. However, most of the fossils have been found elsewhere throughout the world and I was looking for something extraordinary.

Enter the “Little Devil in the Rocks”, the Hudsonelpidia, a unique marine reptile famous throughout the world of paleontology. This exceptional fossil has an interesting local story behind it. The Little Devil was initially located in 1988 by Frank Riter, a local tour boat operator on Williston Lake. Mr. Riter took paleontologists to the site and because of its proximity to a second, thirty-foot ichthyosaur fossil, they assumed it was a rare baby. Only part of the fossil was exposed and it was located on a fairly steep site on a rock plate that was being forced forward by stress from underlying rocks. Mr. Riter was concerned that winters freeze and thaw cycles would damage the exceptional fossil before the Royal Ontario Museum paleontologists could recover it.

Full Story...

Contact Information

Hudson's Hope Museum
P.O.Box 98
Hudson's Hope, B.C. V0C 1V0

Ph: (250) 783-5735
Fax: (250) 783-5770

Email: hhmuseum@pris.ca

Contact Rosaleen Boardman

The Beginning

The Beginning  - Hudson's Hope Public Library
1960’s - Mel Kyllo, Marge Johnson, Vesta Gething, Edith Kyllo, Bonnie Pollen. Members of the Hudson’s Hope Historical Society

Bedaux Expedition Photos

Hours of Operation

Summer Hours

May/June:  Daily 10:00am – 5:30pm

July 1 – Sept 30:  Daily 9:30am – 5:30pm

Opening Hours: October 1st - 17th Mon - Fri 9:30am - 5:30pm


Winter Hours

October 18th - Nov 30th Mon/Tues/Wed 1 - 4pm

December 1st - 23rd Mon - Fri 9:30am - 5:00pm

January - March : Mon/Tues/Wed 1:00 - 4:00pm

Please Note: Outside of the summer season, this museum is operated by one staff member so please call beforehand if you are travelling far as opening times may change.

ADMISSION: By Donation

Dinos to Dams

Sponsors

  • BC Hydro
  • Service Canada
  • Young Canada Works
  • North East Native Advancing Society - NENAS
  • Canadian Heritage
  • District of Hudson’s Hope
  • North Peace Savings & Credit Union
  • North Peace Economic Development Commission
  • Heritage Legacy Fund of BC
  • British Columbia Museum Association
  • Archives Association of BC
  • 2010 BC 150 yrs
  • FOCUS
  • The Writer’s Union of Canada
  • The History Education Network THEN/HiER
  • Ministry of Housing & Social Development Direct Access Grant Program
  • BC150 Heritage Legacy Fund