Lower Fort Garry Ghost Tour

Seasonal ghost tour at Lower Fort Garry, a former Hudson’s Bay Company post at St. Andrews, Manitoba, Canada

Ghost tours are a popular activity in the month of October, the month that ends with Hallowe’en. Lower Fort Garry National Historic Site, located 30 kilometres north of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is one of the places near me offering ghost tours. Generally closed outside of summer months, the place opens for these tours on Friday and Saturday nights through the month of October and into November.

Lower Fort Garry was a fort built in the 1830s for the Hudson’s Bay Company and operated as a company post until 1911. It has been restored to look like it might have in the 1850s and is now run by Parks Canada. In the summer months, costumed interpreters give visitors a glimpse into western Canada’s fur-trading past. You can read more about that in my post Lower Fort Garry: Life in the Canadian Fur Trade Era.

From 1913 to 1963, the Winnipeg Automobile Club leased Lower Fort Garry and operated it as the Motor Country Club, using the Big House as a dining facility. There was a private, nine-hole golf course on the site. It became a national historic site in 1951. The buildings were restored throughout the 1960s and early 1970s.

Red chairs along a river bank lines with trees with foliage of red and yellow fall colours

My Lower Fort Garry ghost tour started shortly after sunset. There was still enough light to appreciate the fall colours of the trees, but it soon grew darker. Parts of the path we followed were lit by battered-operated candles alongside it. Lights on the outside of buildings acted as beacons. Our guide carried a lantern. We stopped at various points, both outside in the dark and inside dimly-lit buildings, to hear spooky stories from the site’s history.

One level stone guest cottage at a 1850s fur trading post attraction at dusk — *Guest cottage*

People have reported seeing apparitions of a young girl in the guest cottage, located on the grounds of the fort outside the walled portion.

Circular table with white table cloth and teapot and tea cups as well as a couple of chairs covered in cobweb in dimly lit room — *Inside the guest cottage*

People sitting around a campfire — *We sat around a campfire to hear a story about a Windigo demon and three tripsmen (voyageurs)*

The stories we were told ranged across time from the early days of the fort to present day. They included the story of Tit Loup, a tripsman’s dog whom people heard yowling for his master even after the dog had died and the story of a strange box found in a corner while excavating to build the fur loft/sales shop. Supposedly that corner of the building always remained cold. Stories from more modern times included a guard locking up a building and finding a person in period costume who later disappeared into the walls and one of our story-tellers finding the arrangement she’d left on the table scattered the next day.

Stone big house inside a fort lit along veranda at night — *The Big House served as the company’s administrative headquarters and provided residences for high-ranking company officials*

We entered buildings (the fur loft/sales shop, the Big House, and the warehouse) inside the fort walls.

Upper outside wall of stone building at night with light shining through three windows — *The fur loft/sales shop*

Figure dressed all in black and wearing a black top hot standing behind doorway of dimly lit house

A figure dressed all in black, including a black top hat and black face mask, appeared at times. Although we all knew it was an actor, it was unnerving to have it suddenly appear beside you. It moved through the building without making a sound and used other pathways to get to another room ahead of you.

Figure showing in the light of a window on a dark night — *Sometimes we spotted figures in the windows*

Bangs, clangs, and scrapping sounds interrupted the stories we heard while inside the buildings. We knew the sounds were staged, but they still startled. We’d jump or gasp and then laugh at our own reactions.

The warehouse is the building where people have most had the sense of malevolent spirits. While serving as western Canada’s first penitentiary from 1871 to 1877, it witnessed the suicide of a keyholder. It temporarily housed a psychiatric facility from 1885 to 1886. In more modern times, park team members have reported feeling watched when alone in the building. They have also seen a man through a window on the third floor when the building was supposedly empty.

The tour ended at Thirsty Beaver Tavern, housed in what was the men’s quarters, with a cup of hot chocolate, a pleasant way to end the evening. I expect it would feel even nicer on cooler evenings. (The evening I’d taken the tour had been fairly warm.) For an additional fee, one could add a shot of Bailey’s to the hot chocolate or replace it with a beer.

All in all, it had been a fun evening.

Tours start every 15 minutes starting at 6:30 pm and run for 90 minutes. Advance reservations are recommended. There are a few spots throughout the tour where one sits to hear a story. None of the figures you see touch you, but their presence can still be a bit unnerving.

There are a few steps to go down at the beginning of the tour. You then walk on paved paths and grassy areas. While mostly flat, there are a few dips to watch for, which can be a bit tricky in the dark. At the end of the tour we were directed outside of the fort along a service road back to the parking lot. We could see the well-lit parking lot ahead of us, but it was dark along the path. We used a phone’s flashlight to help light the way.

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