In our ongoing quest to paddle all of the major canoe routes in the eastern Boundary Waters we've been marking our routes through the years on a regional map. This winter we noticed something major was missing from the map: we haven't paddled a substantial amount of the Canadian border lakes.
These border lakes have a great historical significance. Traversing the waterways from the Northern depths of Canada to Lake Superior, the "Voyageur Highway" was the route that Voyageurs traveled during the Fur Trade era of the 1630-1760's. During this time fleets of birch bark canoes carrying beaver, moose, bear, caribou, fox and wolf pelts paddled and portaged the ancient trail.
The furs were trapped in the winter by Natives. They were then traded to representatives of the Hudson Bay and Northwest Companies for commodities like guns, traps and other supplies. French Voyageurs packed up the furs into their canoes and made their way down the Voyageur Highway to the Lake Superior. At Lake Superior, the "hivernants" (voyageurs who wintered in the north) rendezvoused with the "pork eaters" (voyageurs traveling in 30-40 foot canoes from Montreal). It was here, on the shores of Superior at the Grand Portage outpost that the two groups swapped their cargo loads. After a couple weeks of celebrating the voyageurs turned around and headed back to complete the trade. The Northerners carried their supplies North to spend the winter and trade with Natives for the next season of furs. The large canoes carried the furs back to Montreal to be felted and made into hats for the robust European markets.
I call the route that we took the "Height of the Land route" after the portage between North and South Lakes that straddles the Laurentian Divide. Geographically speaking, it's a major watershed divide (rivaled only be the Continental Divide of the Rocky Mountains): all of the water in North Lake flows to the Hudson Bay via the Rainy River watershed. The water in South Lake flows to the Atlantic via Lake Superior and the rest of the Great Lakes through the St. Lawrence seaway.
Significant as this divide might be portaging it is actually very anticlimactic. I've seen artistic renditions of this point being some great, steep and rugged ridge in the Northwoods. The reality is that most of the portage is a flat wetland with balsam, cedar, various sedges and thimble berry. No, we did not stop at the "top" of the divide and smoke a ceremonial pipe. I couldn't even really tell where the watershed break was. Nonetheless, it was one of those places where you could almost still the see the moccasin prints and hear the music of the countless french voyageurs who trotted that trail long before us.
These border lakes have a great historical significance. Traversing the waterways from the Northern depths of Canada to Lake Superior, the "Voyageur Highway" was the route that Voyageurs traveled during the Fur Trade era of the 1630-1760's. During this time fleets of birch bark canoes carrying beaver, moose, bear, caribou, fox and wolf pelts paddled and portaged the ancient trail.
The furs were trapped in the winter by Natives. They were then traded to representatives of the Hudson Bay and Northwest Companies for commodities like guns, traps and other supplies. French Voyageurs packed up the furs into their canoes and made their way down the Voyageur Highway to the Lake Superior. At Lake Superior, the "hivernants" (voyageurs who wintered in the north) rendezvoused with the "pork eaters" (voyageurs traveling in 30-40 foot canoes from Montreal). It was here, on the shores of Superior at the Grand Portage outpost that the two groups swapped their cargo loads. After a couple weeks of celebrating the voyageurs turned around and headed back to complete the trade. The Northerners carried their supplies North to spend the winter and trade with Natives for the next season of furs. The large canoes carried the furs back to Montreal to be felted and made into hats for the robust European markets.
I call the route that we took the "Height of the Land route" after the portage between North and South Lakes that straddles the Laurentian Divide. Geographically speaking, it's a major watershed divide (rivaled only be the Continental Divide of the Rocky Mountains): all of the water in North Lake flows to the Hudson Bay via the Rainy River watershed. The water in South Lake flows to the Atlantic via Lake Superior and the rest of the Great Lakes through the St. Lawrence seaway.
Significant as this divide might be portaging it is actually very anticlimactic. I've seen artistic renditions of this point being some great, steep and rugged ridge in the Northwoods. The reality is that most of the portage is a flat wetland with balsam, cedar, various sedges and thimble berry. No, we did not stop at the "top" of the divide and smoke a ceremonial pipe. I couldn't even really tell where the watershed break was. Nonetheless, it was one of those places where you could almost still the see the moccasin prints and hear the music of the countless french voyageurs who trotted that trail long before us.
Looking east across Rose Lake into Canada
Interesting in that we attended an archaeological open house at the site of Fort St Joseph in nearby Niles, Michigan yesterday that was part of the voyageurs trade route since the 17th century.
ReplyDeleteOur region's history is alive and well! Rendezvous days are happening as I type in Grand Portage, MN. Thanks for reading...
ReplyDeleteThanks, David. I love vicariously taking canoe trips. I can't believe it's already starting to cool down! Monsoon will be tapering off in the next few weeks for us and then it will be hot summer weather, I think. My seasonal sense is rather confused; it's more like a mild fall here now with all the rain. Hope you're both well.
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