The Kaministiquia River is a river which flows into western Lake Superior at the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Kaministiquia (Gaa-ministigweyaa) is an Ojibwe word meaning "(river) with islands" due to two large islands at the mouth of the river. The delta has three branches or outlets, reflected on early North American maps in French as "les trois rivières" : the southernmost is known as the Mission River, the central branch as the McKellar River, and the northernmost branch as the Kaministiquia. Residents of the region commonly refer to the river as the Kam River.
Sir George Simpson was the Governor-in-Chief of the Hudson's Bay Company during the period of its greatest power. From 1820 to 1860 he was in practice, if not in law, the British viceroy for the whole of Rupert's Land, an enormous chunk of northern North America.
Fort Assiniboine is a hamlet in northwest Alberta, Canada, within Woodlands County. It is located along the north shore of the Athabasca River at the junction of Highway 33 and Highway 661. It is approximately 39 kilometres (24 mi) northwest of Barrhead, 62 kilometres (39 mi) southeast of Swan Hills and 91 kilometres (57 mi) northeast of Whitecourt.
Fur brigades were convoys of canoes and boats used to transport supplies, trading goods and furs in the North American fur trade industry. Much of it consisted of native fur trappers and fur traders who travelled between their home trading posts and a larger Hudson's Bay Company or Northwest Company post in order to supply the inland post with goods and supply the coastal post with furs.
The York boat was a type of inland boat used by the Hudson's Bay Company to carry furs and trade goods along inland waterways in Rupert's Land, the watershed stretching from Hudson Bay to the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. It was named after York Factory, the headquarters of the HBC, and modeled after the Orkney yole. Two variations to the York Boat were scows and "Sturgeon Heads."
The Columbia District was a fur trading district in the Pacific Northwest region of British North America in the 19th century. Much of its territory overlapped with the disputed Oregon Country. It was explored by the North West Company between 1793 and 1811, and established as an operating fur district around 1810. The North West Company was absorbed into the Hudson's Bay Company in 1821, under which the Columbia District became known as the Columbia Department. The Oregon Treaty of 1846 marked the effective end of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department.
Norway House refers to a population centre of over 5,000 people some 30 km (19 mi) north of Lake Winnipeg, on the bank of the eastern channel of Nelson River, in the province of Manitoba, Canada. The population centre shares the name Norway House with the northern community of Norway House and Norway House 17, a First Nation reserve of the Norway House Cree Nation. Thus, Norway House has both a Chief and a Mayor.
Grand Rapids is a town in Manitoba, Canada located on the northwestern shore of Lake Winnipeg where the Saskatchewan River enters the lake. As the name implies, the river had a significant drop at this point. In modern days, a large hydro electric generating plant has been built. Cedar Lake, just a short distance up the river provides a natural water storage for this plant. PTH 6, the primary roadway in the region, crosses the Saskatchewan River at the Grand Rapids bridge.
Fort Langley National Historic Site, commonly shortened to Fort Langley, is a former trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company, now located in the community of Fort Langley opposite McMillan Island. Commonly referred to as "the birthplace of British Columbia", it is designated a National Historic Site and is administered by Parks Canada.
Canoe River is the most northern tributary of the Columbia River in British Columbia, Canada. Its lower reach is flooded by Mica Dam. The lower Canoe River is called Canoe Reach, part of the Mica Dam's reservoir, Kinbasket Lake.
The York Factory Express, usually called "the Express" and also the Columbia Express and the Communication, was a 19th-century fur brigade operated by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). Roughly 4,200 kilometres (2,600 mi) in length, it was the main overland connection between HBC headquarters at York Factory and the principal station of Columbia Department, Fort Vancouver.
Boat Encampment was a rendezvous and staging point for the Hudson's Bay Company in the early 19th century and later a locality by that name in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It was located at the "top" of the Big Bend of the Columbia north of the city of Revelstoke, British Columbia and southeast of Valemount. Its site today is beneath the waters of Kinbasket Lake Reservoir, formed by the Mica Dam of the Columbia River Treaty.
Canadian canoe routes (early): This article covers the water routes used by early explorers of Canada with special emphasis on the fur trade.
The voyageurs were French Canadians who engaged in the transporting of furs by canoe during the fur trade years. The emblematic meaning of the term applies to places and times where transportation of materials was mainly over long distances. This major and challenging task of the fur trading business was done by canoe and largely by French Canadians. The term in its fur trade context also applied, at a lesser extent, to other fur trading activities. Being a voyageur also included being a part of a licensed, organized effort, one of the distinctions that set them apart from the coureurs des bois. Additionally, they were set apart from engagés, who were much smaller merchants and general laborers. Mostly immigrants, engagés were men who were obliged to go anywhere and do anything their masters told them as long as their indentureship was still in place. Until their contract expired, engagés were at the full servitude of their master, which was most often a voyageur. Less than fifty percent of engagés whose contracts ended chose to remain in New France.
Fort Lac la Pluie was a fur trade depot established by the North West Company sometime between 1775 and 1787. It was located on a high bank on the west side of modern Fort Frances, Ontario across from International Falls, Minnesota on the Rainy River downstream (west) of some rapids where the river flows out of Rainy Lake. Upstream at the outlet of the lake was the old French post of Fort Saint Pierre (1731-1758). The site is marked by a granite boulder. Morton describes some runable rapids, Fort Saint Pierre and a fall that had to be portaged before reaching the fort, which implies that the river level may have changed.
Saskatchewan River fur trade The Saskatchewan River was one of the two main axes of Canadian expansion west of Lake Winnipeg. The other and more important one was northwest to the Athabasca Country. For background see Canadian canoe routes (early). The main trade route followed the North Saskatchewan River and Saskatchewan River, which were just south of the forested beaver country. The South Saskatchewan River was a prairie river with few furs.
Fur trading on the Assiniboine River and the general area west of Lake Winnipeg began as early as 1731.
Lac Île-à-la-Crosse is a lake in North-Central Saskatchewan, Canada on the Churchill River. It is basically Y-shaped. At the center of the Y is the town of Île-à-la-Crosse, the second oldest town in Saskatchewan. The Churchill exits the northeast arm and flows east to Hudson Bay through a series of lakes. The Churchill enters at the northwest arm called Aubichon Arm or Deep River. Upstream it leads northwest to Athabasca Country passing Churchill Lake, Peter Pond Lake, Lac La Loche and on to the Methye Portage leading to Lake Athabasca.
