Canoe Route to the West

There are two plaques titled "Canoe Route to the West" on this page.
The first is in the District of Nipissing.
The second is in the District of Parry Sound.

Photo by contributor Colin Old - Posted November, 2009

Plaque Location

The District of Nipissing
The Town of Mattawa
On the northwest corner of
Main Street (Road 533) and Mattawan Street

Coordinates: N 46 19.126 W 78 42.391

Plaque Text

Here, when the canoe was the principal means of travel, explorers, voyageurs, missionaries and others bound for the West, left the Ottawa River and followed the Mattawa River to Lake Nipissing, the French River and the upper Great Lakes. For over 200 years the Mattawa River formed part of the route linking the St. Lawrence River settlements with the vast interior of the continent. Among the historic figures who passed here were: Samuel De Champlain, 1615, Jean Nicolet, 1620, fathers Brébeuf, 1626, and Lalemant, 1648, Radisson and Groseilliers, 1685, La Vérendrye, 1731, Sir Alexander Mackenzie, 1794, and David Thompson, 1812.

Photo by contributor Brian Herling - Posted May, 2005

Photo by contributor Sue - Posted June, 2007

Plaque Location

The District of Parry Sound
The Township of the Archipelago
In French River Provincial Park, along the walkway between
the parking lot and the Visitor Centre, just off Highway 69
first right southbound, south of the French River bridge

Coordinates: N 46 01.004 W 80 35.086

Plaque Text

The French River formed a vital link in the historic canoe route via the Ottawa and Mattawa Rivers and Lake Nipissing, which connected the settlements on the St. Lawrence with the upper Great Lakes and the far West. Most of the famous Canadian explorers, missionaries and fur traders of the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries followed this waterway. Here passed: Brûlé, discoverer of Lake Huron; Champlain, "Father of New France"; the Jesuit martyrs, Brébeuf and Lalemant; the colourful coureurs de bois. Radisson and Groseilliers; La Vérendrye, pioneer explorer of the prairies; Mackenzie, first European to reach the Pacific by land north of Mexico; Thompson, the great explorer and cartographer.

More
Information

More
Portages and Canoe Routes

Here are the visitors' comments for this page.

Posted August 26, 2009
Museum is up in French River Provincial Park, and the plaque is in the parking lot. Check out the amazing snowmobile bridge (claims to be the biggest in the world)

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