The Engagee's Quarters

This large two-story building served as sleeping quarters for the  French- Canadians and the Americans who were employed by the fur company to do the back-breaking labor of the trade.  They cordelled the keelboats upstream in the cold waters of the Missouri, walked across the cactus covered prairie in moccasins to collect furs and risked losing their scalps each time they left the fort to hunt, cut wood, or tend their live-  stock. Their labor was grossly underpaid at $150 per year.  Their life at the fort provided little excitement with a lot of boredom. Small shops for the craftsmen, who were needed to maintain the Fort and its business, were located on the ground floor. The tinker, tailor, carpenter and blacksmith operated shops within the compound that were maintained by the company.

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