The Grand Portage

Photo by Dave Fernie - October 31, 2005

Plaque Location

The District of Thunder Bay
The Municipality of Neebing
In Middle Falls Provincial Park across the river from the site of the former portage, Highways 593 and 61 - southwest of Thunder Bay

Plaque Text

Circumventing 33 km of falls and rapids, this portage ran some 14 km from Lake Superior to a point upstream on the opposite side of the Pigeon River. It was first mentioned in 1722 by a French trader named Jean Pachot. Following its use in 1732 by La Vérendrye, it replaced the Kaministiquia Route as the canoe route to the West. About 1767 the Grand Portage became a rendezvous for Canadian fur traders and, after 1778, the North West Company's inland headquarters. By the Treaty of Paris, 1783, the Portage fell within American territory. In 1803, the Company moved its headquarters to Fort Kaministiquia (Fort William), and the Pigeon River route was then abandoned.

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