Forts Folle Avoine

If you're looking for an opportunity to step into the past and relive the fur trade of 1802, visit Forts Folle Avoine, located between Webster and Danbury on the Yellow River.

“Folle Avoine,” a French term meaning “wild oats” or “wild rice," is an appropriate name for the site. Because of the abundance of wild rice in the region, the North West Company called the St. Croix River drainage the “Folle Avoine.”

Forgotten for 185 years, Forts Folle Avoine, which includes previous headquarters for the XY Company and the North West Company, has been painstakingly unearthed by archaeologists from the Burnett County Historical Society. The thousands of artifacts, animal bone fragments, food and architectural remains, together with writings of the traders who were actually at the site, offer information from which the lifestyles of the traders and Indians have been recreated.

Besides the reconstructed companies and an Ojibwa Indian village, the area includes a visitor center that houses a museum, gift shop, and dining area. There are also two outdoor amphitheaters that host a variety of special events and programs. The facility is open daily mid-May through mid-October. Admission fees are required. For more information, call (715) 866-8890.