The first of two October sessions of “Tales of the Engagé” is set for 7 p.m. Saturday at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, 1001 E. Fifth St.
The second session will be on Oct. 27.
Both programs are free and will take place by the fire in the fort’s lantern-lit 1840s-era kitchen. The costumed storytelling program explores the adventures, experiences, music, and lives of the engagé, or contracted working-class people of the fur trade.
The workers often were unable to read or write, so information and stories were passed down orally, said Ranger Cassie Anderson.
The lives of hardship and adventure of those men and women — so different from the lives of the clerks and gentlemen of the Hudson’s Bay Company — created a rich storytelling tradition.
For more information, call the visitor center at 360-816-6230 or visit Fort Vancouver.
