The Mountain Portage

Photo by Dave Fernie - October 31, 2005

Plaque Location

The District of Thunder Bay
The Municipality of Oliver Paipoonge
In Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park, Highway 11/17, west of Thunder Bay

Plaque Text

This portage around Kakabeka Falls formed a link in the historic Kaministiquia canoe route connecting Lake Superior with Lake of the Woods and the West. First recorded in 1688 by the French explorer Jacques de Noyon, it was later abandoned in favour of the shorter Grand Portage-Pigeon River route. The latter came under American control following the treaty of 1783, and in 1798 the older route was rediscovered by Roderick McKenzie. From 1803 onward, the Mountain Portage was used by fur traders, explorers, soldiers, and surveyors including Simon McGillivray, David Thompson, Sir George Simpson, Sir John Richardson, Simon J. Dawson, and Col. Garnet Wolseley.