“It is a place where the French and Métis descendants of the HBC’s fur trade west of the Rocky Mountains settled in communities,” Anderson writes. The post explores the possibility that this area, just outside Fort Victoria, was once home to retired Hudson’s Bay Company employees and their families—Métis and Iroquois people who settled there and became part of a small militia known as the Victoria Voltigeurs.

BCMF’s research department has long been committed to recovering and telling these overlooked Métis stories. From Moodyville in North Vancouver to Maillardville in Coquitlam, and now potentially Portage Inlet, these hidden communities form a vital part of our shared heritage.

As Anderson notes, this may not have been a Frenchtown in name, but it was certainly one in spirit—a place where Métis families lived, gathered, and formed lasting kinship networks.

Click here to read the full story by Nancy Marguerite Anderson.