Winnipeg River - Exploration and Fur Trade

Exploration and Fur Trade

The Winnipeg River was the main route from the Great Lakes to Western Canada before the coming of railroads. Once on Lake Winnipeg one could go by canoe as far as the Rocky Mountains, Arctic Ocean or Hudson Bay. This section covers the route from Lake Superior to Lake Winnipeg via Rainy Lake, Rainy River, Lake of the Woods and the Winnipeg River. For the route in general see Canadian canoe routes (early)#Nelson River basin.

The area was too rocky to be good beaver country. Grand Portage was the second longest portage in Canada after Methye Portage. Once over the height of land rivers led west to Rainy Lake and Rainy River. Duncan M'Gillivray called the Rainy the 'most beautiful river in the north'. George Simpson (administrator) and many others made similar comments. The route then went up the east side of Lake of the Woods and over the Rat Portage (Kenora) to the Winnipeg. The Winnipeg was notorious for its many portages and décharges. Three were the Dales, Portage de l'Isle and La Rivière Blanche named for its white water. This last was the scene of many deaths and had seven portages all visible from the same spot. After the last portage, apparently Manitou Rapids, the river opened out into the Bas de la Rivière and then the lake. About halfway up the river, the English River (Ontario) led to Fort Albany, Ontario on James Bay.

In 1679 Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut reached the western tip of Lake Superior. In 1688 Jacques de Noyon went from Kaministiquia as far as Rainy Lake and perhaps beyond. He seems to have been followed by coureurs des bois who may have gotten as far as Lake Winnipeg. They left no records but the English on Hudson Bay heard reports of them in 1718 if not earlier. In 1717 Zacharie Robutel de La Noue tried and failed to penetrate the area. The land west of Lake Superior was opened by La Vérendrye in 1731-1743. In 1731 his men built a post on Rainy Lake. In 1732 he built Fort Saint Charles on Lake of the Woods. In 1733 one of his sons got almost to Lake Winnipeg but was blocked by ice. In 1734 two explorers reported that they had reached the south end of Lake Winnipeg and the first Fort Maurepas (Canada) was built there soon after. By 1743 the French had reached the Assiniboine River and Saskatchewan Rivers and had sent explorers to North Dakota and, probably, Wyoming.

All this drew trade away from the Hudson's Bay Company. After the conquest of Canada the French were replaced by "Pedlars" (as the HBC people called them) from Montreal. The pedlars soon formed the North West Company. From about 1775 the HBC began building competing posts in the interior, including one on Rainy River. Competition ended in 1821 when the two companies merged and trade was diverted to York Factory on Hudson Bay. Trade was also diverted south as population grew on the US side. The last major use of the route was by the Wolseley Expedition in 1870. After 1885 the Canadian Pacific Railway connected eastern and western Canada with a route north of Lake Superior.

Trading posts on the route were:

• Lake Superior: 1.Fort Kaministiquia (1717), later called Fort William, Ontario (NWC, 1803) and 2. Grand Portage with Fort Charlotte;
• Rainy River: Fort Saint Pierre (1731), Fort Lac la Pluie (NWC, circa 1780), Asp House (HBC 1794), Hungry Hall (HBC 1825);
• Lake of the Woods: Fort Saint Charles (1732);
• Winnipeg River Mouth:Fort Maurepas (Canada) (c 1739), Fort Bas de la Rivière (NWC, 1792), Fort Alexander (HBC, before 1800)