What Cheer House -Otentik- our home away

the tent......this is glamping!. we had a heater, bunk beds for 6, fridge, prep surface and table and chairs. although they didn't want you to eat inside the tent. lucky for us the weather was great and the undercover picnic area with sink and bbq area was great.

the name of the tent 'what cheer house' was for the north american prospectors but was also the name of a hotel? overnight lodge? that Samuel Robertson opened. Samuel was an Orkney man,a boat builder at fort Langley who was married to a Kwantlen Chiefs Daughter. IN another display at the fort they have his families digs all set up. Because he was a boat builder he had a bit more luxurious accommodations. there was a four poster bed! and a more finished cupboard/china cabinet.

this from a fort Langley website, the bit on Samuel Robertson-----who knows he may be a long lost relative as he was from Orkney and my Grandpa was a Robertson from Orkney too.....but grandpa came out to North America after WWI....

"Two enterprising individuals who opened a business at Derby were Peter Baker and Samuel Robertson. Upset with the Hudson's Bay Company's policy regarding gold buying from Indians around Fort Kamloops, Baker came to Fort Langley where he persuaded Robertson to leave Yale's employ and go into partnership with him. Their "What Cheer House" at Derby (visible in Reverend Crickmer's drawing of the townsite) did a roaring business. The pair soon realized; however, that the center of activity was beginning to gravitate from Derby back to Fort Langley. As a result they abandoned the "What Cheer House" and opened the British Columbia Saloon Company just west of the fort palisades.

The first man to pre-empt on the north side of the river was Samuel Robertson. In 1860 he had sold his interest in the saloon and with his Indian wife Julie and young son Donald became the first white settler on the north bank of the river. Baker followed suit. By 1863 Robertson had bought out his neighbours, which included Baker, and his 700 acres, known as Robertson Village, was the largest farm and landing on the river. Cherry trees and grape vines planted in the 1860s are still standing and producing on the original farm site.

Samuel Robertson's brother George also came out to Langley from Scotland with his wife. Nicknamed 'Black' Robertson, he owned property south of the H.B.C. farm. After a short time he sold this land and returned to Scotland. "

and another link to more info on Samuel Robertson: http://old.globalbirdphotos.com/mrpm/064_069_Sa…Read more