janeandbobandmore: GRAND PORTAGE

GRAND PORTAGE

Why is there a US National Monument at Grand Portage at the northern edge of Minnesota on Lake Superior near the Canadian border? First of all, what is a portage? Webster’s dictionary defines it as “the carrying of boats or goods from one body of water to another” often around an obstacle such as rapids or a waterfall.

The Grand Portage itself is a rocky, rugged 8-mile trail that sometimes was referred to as “the wilderness highway.” Thousands of fur traders, often carrying two 90-pound packs, tread over it to bypass the ten high falls and multiple rapids of the Pigeon River as it flows into Lake Superior. At either end of the portage, the traders could access a passable water route – one going west via rivers and lakes that penetrated deep into the interior of the US and Canada and the other going east following the Great Lakes (Superior and Huron) and then on to the Ottawa River to Montreal or Quebec.

Why would one traders do all this arduous travel? High quality beaver pelts from the New World were in great demand to make hats for Europeans as the European beaver had become almost extinct. To meet this need, French explorers and missionaries established a post at Grand Portage on Lake Superior soon after 1722 to serve as a hub for the very lucrative French and Indian fur trade.

There were two distinct parts of the trading system – one began in Montreal and the other started in the wild lands west and north of Grand Portage. Called the Rendezvous, those who carried trade goods from the east and those who transported the beaver pelts from the west met at Grand Portage on the shore of Lake Superior in late July.

1. 8-12 French voyageurs would carry up to 8,000 pounds of cargo for a two-month journey. They paddled 35-foot lake canoes – from east to west - from Montreal upstream on the Ottawa River and then with some portages, into Lake Huron. Next they would traverse Lake Superior, all the while hugging the shoreline for protection from the very rough lake waters. All these steps were necessary as these Montreal men, known as the “pork eaters” carried goods from Europe to be ultimately traded for the more valuable furs desired by Europeans.

2. A second group of French Canadian trappers-traders picked up these European goods at Grand Portage. Then they trekked across the 8-mile portage and carried these goods in their 15-foot birch bark river canoes into the interior of what is now Minnesota, Ontario and points west and north as far as the Rocky Mountains and Northwest Territories.

Known as “winterers,” the French trapper-traders departed Grand Portage in late July paddling up rivers and lakes to isolated Indian campsites where they spent cold dark winter months. There they traded finished goods for furs and lived with native Americans fur trappers. Together they skinned the beavers for their pelts, packaged them in 90-pound bundles that then could be carried by canoe back to Grand Portage in the late spring using the waterways as their highways. At Grand Portage the fur pelts were transferred for transport to the east, by the “pork eaters” who also left the trading base in late July and paddled their 35 foot lake canoes back to Montreal. This trade flourished for about a century as all parties gained from the exchange of goods – the Europeans wanted beaver pelts from the Indians and the Indians wanted iron pots, knives, guns, Chinese porcelain, and other manufactured goods from the Europeans.

Grand Portage was under the control of varying nations during its years as a trading post. In 1763 with the end of the Seven Years War, also known as the – French and Indian War, the English gained control of all of Canada. In 1784 a group of Scotsmen formed the Northwest Company to facilitate the fur trade and augment its profits. When the boundary between the United States and Canada was drawn in 1803, the English lost control of Grand Portage, which became part of what is now the state of Minnesota. The Northwest Company relocated its trading base north to Thunder Bay Ontario bringing to an end the vibrant trading days of Grand Portage. With diminishing profits from fewer beaver and fashion changes in Europe, the Northwest Company survived until 1821 when it merged with the Hudson’s Bay Company.

A National Monument visitor center has recently been built at Grand Portage to capture the vibrant years of the European and Indian life here at the trading post. On display are artifacts including a metal teapot spout, shards of porcelain from China, elegant beaded gloves all excavated at the area. The National Park Service has been able to make an accurate reconstruction of the fort and its many houses inside the stockade walls—all based on the archaeological record. The rendezvous at Grand Portage was part of the cultural encounter between Europeans and the Native Americans that forever changed their lives. It is part of our collective story with consequences still being felt.