Vibrant Fur Trading Life At Fort William On Lake Superior

Vibrant Fur Trading Life On Lake Superior At Fort William

Our son wrote this article based on his experience from a university trip traveling all the way around Lake Superior.  We hope you enjoy it and we can’t wait for him to share more. His journey went through Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ontario, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. 

 

An Important heritage and cultural attraction in Canada you shouldn’t miss is Fort William Historical Park in Thunder Bay, Ontario.  This living history fort shows how critical fur trading became for the regions economy. Besides, I truly enjoyed this unusual attraction and think you will too.

 

Where Is Fort William Historical Park?

Have you ever thought about what life was like during the days of fur-trading in Canada and the Great Lakes Region? Fort William Historical Park is a reconstruction of the fur trading post from 1816.

 

Fort William Historical Park is an excellent place for you to experience this. The fort is only 7 miles west of Thunder Bay, Ontario, and sits on the banks of the Kaministiquia River. Fur traders traveled along the river to Fort William from nearby Lake Superior and the thousands of small glacial lakes in Ontario.  

You will find how easy it is to visit given that it’s only 43 miles from Grand Portage, Minnesota in the beautiful Arrowhead region of the state. To point out, since it’s only 3.5 hours from Duluth, visiting makes an easy day trip. Plus, this drive along the North Shore of Minnesota is one of the most beautiful you will see.   

 

In fact, Duluth is one of our favorite places on Lake Superior to watch huge cargo ships come and go. Some are over 1,000 feet long and you can read about it here.

 

Fort William Was An Important Part Of History

During fur trading years, Fort William was the headquarters of the North West Company. In reality, British and Canadian fur traders created the North West Company to avoid taxes from the United States. During this time, the fort included 42 buildings, thus making it one of the largest fur-trading sites in North America. Because the location created one of the largest forts on the shores of Lake Superior, it also became the main passage to Western Canada by canoe. 

 

 With the amount of fur declining in Europe from over-trapping, traders started to come over to North America to trade with the First Nations of Canada and the Native American Ojibwe tribes. Both traders and Natives were dependent on each other since the traders offered guns, clothing, tobacco, and many other items. In return, Natives offered fur pelts, canoes, winter items, and more.  

 

Because of their excellent quality, beaver felt for top hats was in high demand in Europe. However, other popular furs traded were mink, muskrat, fox, deer, and martens.  

 

Why You Should Go

Now, with a little more understanding of fur trading history from the Lake Superior region, you should go to Fort William Historical Park and discover what it was like during the nineteenth century. 

 

I recommend starting at the visitors center for a more in-depth history of the park. After the visitors center, explore the park to get a better understanding of how they lived in that era. Throughout the park, you will see many living history characters working at the fort. Some of them include farmers, Ojibwa Natives, French Voyageurs, Scottish fur traders, blacksmiths, and many others.

It’s also important to point out that the park is handicapped accessible so that everyone can enjoy it.

 

You can also discover what pioneer life was like in Glacier National Park. We wrote about an overlooked section called Glacier National Park: Its Strange And Lonely North Fork Allure

 

What You Will See

 

While walking through the park you will see many sites, including an Ojibwa camp. Here, we processed a deer hide to trade with Scottish traders. We started by building specific tools and after we finished a fresh deer hide arrived. Next, we took a canoe voyage to the fort to trade the hide. Furthermore, this canoe was made out of birch bark like the Indigenous People used during that time. 

 My favorite site was the blacksmith shop where we made some nails and a fireplace poker. Since we were working with red hot iron we had to wear blacksmith clothing. This was one of the most important jobs for the fort since iron items were essential. In particular, some of the important items needed were axes, traps, and nails. The blacksmith was also responsible to repair and maintain weapons like cannons and guns.  

 In the meantime, we helped repair and maintain a replica musket from the era, then shot the musket along with a cannon. That was an experience!

 After the action and history-packed day, it was time for a voyager dinner in the Grand Hall at the center of the park. My Favorite part of dinner was the freshly baked bread that we helped make and cook over the fire.

Speaking of living history, check out one of my (Tom) favorite events with tons of photos.

 

Final Thoughts

 If you enjoy history and hands-on experiences then this is a great place to visit. There is an endless amount you will learn just from walking around the park. We spent two days there and both were action-packed. 

 

Fort William Historical Park even has an RV park if you would like to stay there. 

 

 Additionally, see the David Thompson Astronomical Observatory next door with one of the largest telescopes in Central Canada.

 

As always, thanks for reading Vibrant Fur Trading Life On Lake Superior At Fort William. And, thanks to our son for sharing his experience.

Tom and Kristi

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