Fort McPherson – Teetl'it Zheh
- "At the Head of the Waters"

The first Northwest Territories community driving north on the Dempster Highway, Fort McPherson is the oldest of the Mackenzie Delta communities. It began as a trading post on the Peel River in 1840. By the 1850s Gwich'in families settled here and by 1903 the first Gwich'in minister of the Anglican church was ordained. For a century, York boats and sternwheelers called here with goods and passengers for northern points. Today this is home to a remarkable language program where the Gwich'in develop written materials and document their heritage.

The community has a hotel, restaurant, two general stores and a gas station. A tent and canvas factory makes tents and soft sided luggage, all for sale. Don't miss the Nitainlaii Visitor Centre that provides an introduction to Gwich'in culture, and the little Anglican graveyard where members of the Lost Patrol, a Northwest Mounted Police patrol lost in the winter of 1911, are buried. There’s a music festival nearby each summer at Midway Lake.

Tell me more about Fort McPherson’s history

Tell me more about Fort McPherson

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