Wide Open Roads

grand portage state forest

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a large brown sign reads "THE GRAND PORTAGE: This 8.5 mile long portage became a vital link in the 18th century water trade route from Montreal and the Great Lakes to the north-western wilderness. First traveled by Indians, the Grand Portage by-passed a series of falls and rapids extending along the last 21 miles of the Pigeon River. During the fur-trade, thousands of tons of trade goods and furs were carried across the portage on the backs of voyageurs. Sieur de La Verendrye, David Thompson, Alexander MacKenzie, Alexander Henry and other explorers travled this route from 1729 through 1802. The North West Company held a summer rendevous at the eastern end of the Grand Portage along these shores of Lake Superior."