Fort Bailey was a trade outpost established by the Northern Legion Trading Company[1] at the Canadian frontier region in the 19th century. In late 1815, the place was facing continous attacks by werewolves over the course of several weeks until it was eventually overrun and burned down.
This fort was presumably the first settlement in south-eastern Canada in the 19th century. It was situated at the future location of the town of Bailey Downs.
History[]
On their push westward, the Northern Legion Trading Company built the fort in a stretch of the Canadian wilderness that was also inhabited by local indigenous people[N 1], who advised against using this exact location. As it turned out, the place was prone to dampness, which made it uncomfortable in the cold[2].
To survive the harsh winters, the inhabitants of the fort were dependent on food supplies that had to be gathered during an annual trade expedition in exchange for pelts. For this, a trading party would leave the fort in spring using York boats and travel all the way up to Hudson Bay to then return in fall[1].
In the fall of 1815 the return of the party was already more than a month overdue when the fort was suddenly attacked by strange creatures which the inhabitants named "hellhounds". Several residents of the fort, including the Chief Factor's wife, were killed in the initial attacks. Already short on supplies, most of the people that stayed there decided to go home[2], leaving the fort with only a small number of remaining men, including the Chief Factor, the fort's priest, a soldier, trappers and craftsmen, who wanted to hold out and wait for the return of the trading party.
A few weeks later, two young girls arrived at the fort seeking shelter after one them was injured by a bear trap. In the following days it was discovered that the hellhounds were in fact members of the lost trade party that got turned into werewolves and also that the Chief Factor's allegedly dead son was transforming into one as well. This set in motion a series of events that eventually led to the deaths of all the remaining people at Fort Bailey except the two visiting girls and resulted in the destruction of the fort in a fire.
Overview[]
The fort consisted of a massive stockade that surrounded several buildings arranged around a central square court yard (J). On the corners of the stockade were watchtowers.
A straight walkway (B) lined with fences on either side led from the main gate (A) to the central quadrangle, passing right through one of the buildings (E) on the forward side of the court yard. From there on the opposite end of the square sat the large main house (M), the Chief Factor's residence. On the sides of the court yard were two long one-story houses. The buildings were connected with wooden walkways. To the right of the fenced-in entryway lied the fort's cemetery (C). On the central yard was also a stone well with a tripod in front of the right side of the main house. Behind the main house stood a tall wooden watchtower (N). There was also a second gate (L) on the eastern wall.
Main house[]
The Main House was the largest single building in the fort, measuring four storeys in height, including the roof with an inhabitable attic. This building served as residence for the chief factor and his family. It also houses the Company Hall, a large oppulently decorated room which was also used for dinners on special occasions, and was equipped with a big fireplace as well as a music box. Below the roof was the room of Chief Factor Rowlands' son Geoffrey, with windows overlooking the court yard. After the boy got afflicted with lycanthropy, his father hid him away in a windowless chamber of the house.
Side buildings[]
All other buildings in the fort are one-story houses or cabins, containing the sleeping quarters for the regular inhabitants, workshops, storerooms and the doctor's office.
The fort in the movie[]
When Fort Bailey first appears in the movie, we see the northern side with the Main House (M) visible behind the stockade. This part is actually very far away from the main gate (A), which we see immediately afterwards. The gate is adorned with crosses and has wooden spikes in front of it.
The sisters then enter and the fenced entryway (B) is seen. During the walk to the central quadrangle, we get the first view of the cemetery (C) to the right of the path. Ginger and Brigitte then walk through a passage (E) in a building and enter the court yard. The Main House (M) comes into view. Shortly after they walk to Doc Murphy's sick bay (K). The location of the sick bay is not yet clear but is in a later scene revealed to be located behind the first door in the building to the right of the yard, after Murphy shot Finn.
When the sisters later try to leave the fort they are at first at an unclear location close to the main house, which is actually at its back (2), close to the northern outer wall. They are then shown walking along the stockade with the supports for the upper walkway visible to the right. They then show up on the cemetery (C) and approach the gate (A). After the hellhound attack starts and the gate is closed again, the girls walk back over the cemetery reaching a characteristic building covered with a sod roof (H), which is a structure called the ice house on the real fort. This house is close to the eastern wall, with another gate (L) to the outside close by. This house is still visible when Reverend Gilbert shows up and tells them to go into the other house in front (G), where he locks them in with the werewolf. This house is actually part of the long building that separates the court yard from the forward portion of the fort with the walkway to the main gate and the cemetery. On the next day, more scenes take place on the court yard and the cemetery. The location of Seamus' death is not clear.[N 2]
When Ginger starts looking for Geoffrey to kill him, she is seen behind (3) the main house. Visible in the background is the lattice of the watch tower (N) in the back of the main house. In the next scene she's seen walking behind a fence. The sod roof (H) in the background and the wooden braces (from D) give away the location close to the fenced entryway. Ginger then crosses over to the cemetery (C). We then see more scenes on the court yard. When the girls flee the fort they exit though the broken gate (L) next to the sod roof building.
At the final showdown, we see more scenes happening on the courtyard and close to the maingate. Brigitte kills the Hunter in the passage through the building between the yard and the fenced entryway. After the girls leave the fort, they end up outside (4) of the northeastern palisade and the final view of the fort shows the burning mainhouse (M) and the tall watch tower (N).
People of interest[]
Leadership[]
- Wallace Rowlands (Chief Factor of the fort)
- Reverend Gilbert (Priest)
- James (Sergeant Major)
Personnel and residents[]
- Doc Murphy (Physician)
- Seamus (carpenter)
- Claude (trapper/guard)
- Cormac (guard)
- Finn (mapmaker/guard)
- Owen (guard)
- Milo (Seamus' son and apprentice)
Guests[]
- Hunter (independent hunter who often frequents and supplies the fort)
- Ginger Fitzgerald (visitor)
- Brigitte Fitzgerald (visitor)
Shooting location[]
For the movie, the fictional location of Fort Bailey was portrayed by a replica of a 19th century fort located at the living history museum Fort Edmonton Park near Edmonton, Alberta in Canada. The structure at the park, named "1846 Fort", was modeled after the historic Fort Edmonton that was originally established by the Hudson Bay Company in 1795. Incidentally, the real fort had a Chief Factor with the name "Rowand" from 1823 until 1854.[3]