source: Farm and Food Report
Following the business journey of Jim and Connie Chaplin is a little like trying to stop a runaway train.
The Fort Qu’Appelle couple owns the Rocking C Ranch, where they raise whitetail, reindeer, buffalo and elk in the valley, provide artificial insemination services and sell game ranch fencing supplies.
One would have thought this could fill a day pretty easily, but it seems that wasn’t enough.
Jim and Connie bought the old Hudson’s Bay Company store in town in the early 1980s. Connie ran a flower shop there for a few years and turned it into a thriving café-restaurant under the banner of Roca Jack’s in 2003.
The building and its significance are worthy of consideration.
This is a two-storey fieldstone building with an attached one storey annex, both built in 1897 by local contractor Charles Payne to the specifications of Hudson Bay’s last Chief Factor, Archibald MacDonald.
Previous to this, in 1864, the increased trade in bison robes and meat in the Qu’Appelle river area warranted a major provisioning post in the middle of the southern prairies, which led to the erection of buildings and palisades bearing the name Fort Qu’Appelle, approximately where the town’s museum is now located.
In the 1870s, the bison had disappeared, and soon settlers started to populate the land. Hudson's Bay built a rudimentary shop to experiment with retail activities in the heart of “downtown” in the 1880s.
Around the 1890s, the company was ready to expand into full-fledged retail activities throughout the west and built an ornate Hudson’s Bay store on the corner of Company and Broadway in Fort Qu’Appelle. Bricks made in Katepwa were used to build the main façade, where two prominent signs advertising the Hudson’s Bay Company were displayed.
“It was touted as one of the finest stores west of Winnipeg,” according to Archivist Frank Korvemaker, who is very familiar with the structure. “Although a number of older Hudson’s Bay Company buildings exist throughout the country, this is the oldest surviving retail store built by the Company.”
The fact that bricks cover only the front of the building indicates how difficult it was to access non-local building materials in a non-railway town. Stone was more readily available – and cheaper.
“The fieldstones are all locally harvested,” according to Connie Chaplin. “In 1997, on the occasion of the building’s own centennial, we re-mortared the stones to ensure the structure would be around for a while longer. The walls are two feet thick.”
In its heyday, the Fort Qu’Appelle store captured all the trade north of the Valley. People would come to town and buy food, hardware and clothes—much like a general store.
By 1917, however, the Hudson Bay Company had started to expand into larger department stores across Western Canada, and the retail potential for Fort Qu’Appelle was not considered high enough for the Bay to remain open here.
The Fort Qu’Appelle store was therefore sold to a group of local businessmen and operated as Pioneer General Store until 1970, when the building was abandoned. Shortly thereafter, it was acquired by the Provincial Government, which stabilized the vacant heritage building. The store was officially designated as a Provincial Heritage Property on November 8, 1983, shortly before the Chaplins acquired the building.
“Given the role this building played in ensuring settlers had access to all the comforts of the day, it is only fitting that the building now has a new life as a restaurant,” Connie Chaplin believes.
“The whole main floor ceiling is made of traditional embossed tin panels, which we have repainted yellow. In keeping with the prairie’s original wildlife, the only red meat we serve at the restaurant is bison. There is logic to our endeavours. We are really pleased with how this place has turned out.”
One can hardly miss this stunning building, lovingly restored to its original glory with its imperfections and all. Those who step inside also step back in time. The Chaplins’ venture certainly adds to Fort Qu’Appelle offerings in a big way.
For more information, contact:
Connie Chaplin
Rocking C Ranch
Roca Jack’s
(306) 332-3955 or (306) 332-4566
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