While Nicholas Delin was instrumental in attracting settlers to Commencement Bay, a European settlement existed at the Puget Sound as early as 1833. Fort Nisqually was built as an outpost for the Hudson’s Bay Company, the oldest commercial company in North America. Settlers travelled from sites as distant and diverse as Scotland, Hawaii, Canada, and the West Indies to trade for beaver pelts, livestock, and crops. The fort was originally closed in 1869, when the United States government bought the land from HBC for 460,000.In 1930, the fort was rebuilt at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, primarily to provide new jobs during the Depression. While the only original buildings capable of being moved were the granary and the factor’s house, the Fort Nisqually Granary was named a National Historic Landmark in 1970.Fort Nisqually is one of the more popular tourist attractions because of its “living history” museum. This consists of volunteers dressing in authentic 19^th century clothing, speaking in 19^th century dialogue, demonstrating 19^th century craftsbasically recreating the feel of the Fort at its most bustling time. To add to the effect, recent restorations have reproduced the 1847 fort wall and two 1930s blockhouses, and archaeologists in the late 1980s discovered numerous artifacts from the Fort’s inhabitants.There are special exhibits throughout the year which dig deeper into the specifics of fort life. A showcase of dining and cooking at the fort ended on August 1, with the new “Lock, Stock and Barrel: Fort Nisqually’s Trade Guns” exhibit coming on August 7. That will run through November 28, and on December 4 the exhibit “Illuminating the Past: Lighting of the 19^th Century” will carry the fort into 2011.