Fort George, shown here approximately as it looked about 1795, was typical of smaller trading posts located on the North Saskatchewan River. Smaller outposts were under the control of a clerk or post master. Wherever possible buildings were enclosed by a palisade of logs set on end in a trench. The main building at Fort George (A) was divided on the ground floor into three rooms, a storeroom, a large trading room and the post master's living apartment. Two cellars were used for storage and the building was heated by two fireplaces. An upper story may have been occupied by clerks. The other buildings at the post provided living quarters, storerooms, a kitchen and shops for various tradesmen. The few windows would have been parchment rather than glass and would have had heavy shutters. The roof would have been shingles of wood or strips of overlapping bark. Buildings in most cases were made of local materials and required constant upkeep. Mud or moss chinking sealed cracks in the wall and a lime whitewash might have been applied to the wooden exterior. There was no internal water supply; baths were never taken and washing of any sort was rare. Posts changed little throughout the nineteenth century, with the exception that iron stoves replaced fireplaces for cooking and heating.
