Canoes carrying paddlers, VIPs, and supplies floated back in time, and westward along the Fraser River, on Monday afternoon.

For the 25th year, the re-enactment of the arrival of the fur brigades took place along the swift-moving Fraser.

The arrival of the six canoes was the signature event of the Fort Langley National Historic Site's (FLNHS) weekend-long Brigade Days celebration, which marks the arrival of brigades from B.C. Interior posts between 1848 and 1858.

During that period, hundreds of people arrived with their year's return of furs.

On B.C. Day, the boaters, dressed in 19th century period costume, received a hero's welcome by fellow re-enactors as well as the public.

The sounds of muskets firing in unison and people yelling "hip-hip-hurrah" filled the air as the paddlers steered the canoes towards the shore, where chief trader Mr. Yale (Stewart Goodin) greeted the flotilla as it made landfall on Fort Langley's sandy shores.

This past weekend's Brigade Days started Saturday and ran until Monday at the FLNHS.

Featuring weapons demonstrations, vignettes, an encampment heritage cook-off, a procession to and from the brigades' arrival, and a picnic at the park concert and barbecue, the event has been hosted by the Fort each year since 1987. Re-enactors travelled from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and from throughout B.C. to re-live the fur trade era at the Fort in the 1850s.

One of the re-enactors from south of the border was John Simpkins from Tacoma, Wash. Simpkins portrayed a mid-19th century era blacksmith.

Simpkins has taken part in the Fort re-enactment since its inception 25 years ago.

"We do a similar thing in Tacoma next weekend," said Simpkins, who described the camaraderie amongst the Fort's Brigade Days re-enactors as "incredible."

"Those people up here that we see just once a year, when we get together, it's like we've never left," Simpkins said. "It's like we've been here forever."

Aldergrove resident Howard Morgan attended his first Brigade Days on Monday. He brought along with him a brand new Nikon camera, hoping to get a good shot of the canoes as they arrived.

"I saw the story in the newspaper," Morgan said. "The weather was a little cooler than it was yesterday and we decided to come down."

tlandreville@langleyadvance.com