the vancouver area was home to native americans before the arrival of europeans. chinook and klickitat tribes called this area "land of the mud turtles" before 1775. disease killed most natives before the hudson's bay company came in the 1820s. the hudson's bay company built fort vancouver to trade in beaver skins, which were used to make top hats. workers at fort vancouver came from england, the sandwich islands, scotland and canada. many trappers had native wives and lived outside fort vancouver.