G.A.S.P.

(Great Adventures to Scenic Places)

[ Home ] [ Up ] [ June 1 ] [ June 2 ] [ June 3 ] [ June 4 ] [ June 5 ] [ June 6 ] [ June 7 ] [ June 8, 9 ] [ June 10 ] [ June 11 ] [ June 12 ] [ June 13 ] [ June 14 ] [ June 15 ] [ June 16 ] [ June 17 ] [ June 18 ] [ June 19 ] [ June 20 ] [ June 21 ] [ June 22 ] [ June 23 ] [ June 24 ] [ June 25 ] [ June 26 ] [ June 27 ] [ June 28 ] [ June 29 ] [ June 30 ]

June 3, 1999

The trip from Isle Royale to Grand Portage lasted about six hours, which gave me some time to work on Part 1 of the journal. I traveled on the Voyageur II, sort of the "local" boat as opposed to the "express" route of the Ranger III. The Voyageur II makes numerous stops all around the Island dropping off and picking up hikers in various places. I had talked with the

Click on thumbnail to see full photograph

Captain the night before (he spends the night at Rock Harbor), and had determined that he was pretty computer literate and camera knowledgeable. So when we arrived at Grand Portage, I showed him the photo I had taken of his boat chugging around Scovill Point the afternoon. He said had he known I was taking his photo, he would have mooned me. I said if he had, then I would have had to explain to everyone what the little white dot was in the photo.

By the time I repacked all of my gear and left the dock, it was almost 5:00pm. I arrived at the Grand Portage National Monument just as it was closing. However, I learned enough from the displays at the Monument and later from the Headquarters in Grand Marais that I have a pretty good feel for what the Grand Portage was all about. In the late 1600’s and continuing throughout the 1700’s this site was a very important trading post for the fur bearing Voyageurs of the Northwest. These Voyageurs spent most of the year trading with the Indians for pelts, mostly beaver (prized for hats in Europe), and then would head toward Lake Superior in the spring. The particular site of Grand Portage was the Lake Superior end of a 12 mile portage that bypassed several rapids on the Pigeon River (now the border between the US and Canada). In the early summer, the fur company representatives would arrive at Grand Portage to meet with and buy the pelts. The people, often called pork-eaters by the Voyageurs, would journey over a two-month period from Montreal to Grand Portage over the Great Lakes in large canoes. Once the trading was done, they had a large celebration, and then parted for Montreal and the rivers of the Northwest. A few years ago members of the Ojibwa Tribe (part of the Chippewa nation) donated land, and the National Park Service has now reconstructed some of the buildings that stood there in the 18^th century.

Click on thumbnail to see full photograph.