The Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) was given a royal charter by the British Crown in 1670 which provided it with a trading monopoly over a vast domain in Canada. By the nineteenth Century, HBC had extended its empire into the Pacific Northwest. In 1825, HBC established Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River as the administrative center and principal supply depot of the Columbia Department, an area of about 700,000 square miles. Fort Vancouver has been part of the National Park System since 1948.
The Historic Demonstration Garden at Fort Vancouver in Washington is maintained by National Park Service volunteers.