Exploring Thunder Bay's History

The weather today threatened rain, so we decided to explore in a way that we would not regret if the heavens opened.  We decided to visit Kakabeka Falls, historic Fort William, and stop at a more recent historic site: an overlook with a memorial to Terry Fox.

KAKBEKA FALLS PROVINCIAL PARK

Kakabeka Falls is the second largest falls (by height) in North America, after Niagara Falls.  It graces the Kaministiquia River some 30 miles before the river empties into Lake Superior at Thunder Bay. Our first view of the falls was spectacular:

The falls are so vertical because of the nature of the layers of stone making up the cliffs under the falls.  To oversimplify, layers of shale underlie capstone of iron chert.  The capstone is very hard, and prevents the flowing water from eroding the underlying shale.  But, eventually, shale does erode and, as it does, the capstone over it eventually breaks off.  This process naturally results in a vertical cliff face, over which the water continues to flow.  A view down the river valley from the falls shows eons of wear such as this, as the falls slowly recede from Lake Superior:

Here is a dramatic view of the capstone at the top of the falls:

The local Ojibwa were one of the earliest people to see Kakabeka Falls.  They named it, “Kah-kah-pee-kah,” meaning “sheer cliff” or “thundering water”:

The first European recorded to have visited the falls was Pierre-Jacques Payen de Noyan, establishing the precedent of the French explorers and voyageurs crossing Canada and establishing trading relationships with the local First Nations peoples.

If you look closely in the photo below, you will see an “island” of cliff, complete with tree, that will eventually be eroded so that it crashes into the river below the falls:

The falls were so formidable that Ojibwa and French trappers, as well as the English who followed, all had to portage around them.  The historic trail used by those early peoples still exists and is named the “Mountain Portage Trail.”  We walked that trail today.  Here, David stands at the trailhead sign:

Eventually, the rise to dominance of the Hudson's Bay Trading Company caused the fur trade to move north to Hudson's Bay, where transport of furs to Europe and other goods in return to the interior of Canada was much easier than along the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes.

FORT WILLIAM HISTORIC PARK

We moved downriver, both actually and figuratively following history, as we drove to historic Fort William.  The present location of the reconstructed fort is some miles upriver from the original site of the fort, which was at the mouth of the Kaministiquia River where it empties into Lake Superior in Thunder Bay.  The original fort was abandoned and decayed, leaving no evidence of its original structures.  Its location is now occupied by a train yard.  However, the owners of the fort left detailed maps and plans of the fort, which modern Canadians used to reconstruct the fort in its original form at the present location.

Our first impression of the fort was the Visitor Center, which boasts beautiful original murals and sculptures:

After exploring the visitor center, we walked 10 minutes or so down to the fort on the river.  Here, Kathy stands at the entrance to the fort:

The fort was not a “fort” as we presently understand the term in a military sense.  It was originally constructed by the North West Trading Company as a central trading post in their far-flung commercial empire.  The North West Trading Company was owned and run by Scotsmen, as distinguished from Hudson's Bay Trading Company, which was English.  This location was key to North West Trading Company, because it was the junction of water traffic down the St. Lawrence and through the Great Lakes, with overland traffic through the interior of western Canada.  Sitting on the river, the fort was a central meeting place for French trappers, voyageurs, First Nations traders, English and Scots traders and others.  Here is a view of the fort as reconstructed:

The fort boasted a Great Hall, where all European visitors would take at least one meal:

Bedrooms in the Great Hall were reserved for shareholders of the North West Tradling Company:

In 1816, on the pretext of responding to a dispute among English settlers that had moved into the Canadian interior at the behest of the Hudson's Bay Company, and local hunters and trappers (who were in commerce with North West Trading Company), over the right to sell pemmican (dried deer meat) to European traders, the head of Hudson's Bay Trading Company persuaded English soldiers to assist in the takeover of the fort, sending North West Trading Company managers to Montreal for prosecution for allegedly violating restrictions on trading pemmican.  That physical takeover resulted in the merger of the North West Trading Company into Hudson's Bay and cemented the latter's role as the exclusive representative of the English in settling and ruling western Canada.

Here is the trader's square in the fort, where many voyageurs, Native Americans and tradespeople engaged in barter:

The fort was self-sufficient, with substantial farmland.  Farm animals were raised, including goats, which were a constant nuisance in the streets of the fort:

The trading company that owned the fort was responsible for all the needs of its shareholders, agents, clerks and other employees, as well as their families.  As a consequence, the fort had all the resources a local would need, including a general store or trading post, in which all goods were priced in “credits” determined by the value of a beaver pelt, and a fort doctor, who tended to the health of company people and their families:

There was much more to learn about the fort, but we simply ran out of time and couldn't talk to all of the re-enactors and historians based in each of the 42 reconstructed buildings on the site.  We bade the fort a fond farewell and made note to return next time and stay in the park's campground so we can explore it in greater depth.

TERRY FOX MEMORIAL AND OVERLOOK

A trip to Thunder Bay isn't complete without visiting the Terry Fox memorial and overlook, which stands on a hill east of Thunder Bay, overlooking Lake Superior.

Terry Fox was an 18-year old British Columbia citizen who lost one leg to cancer and decided to run a 26-mile marathon each day, from the Atlantic toward the Pacific, to publicize the need for research to cure cancer.  At mile 3,339, near this site, he had to give up the run because of the ravages of the disease.  He died, but not before inspiring the Canadian nation.  Memorials have been built to Terry Fox all over the country, including in Canoe Landing Park in Toronto near our son Matt's house.  The memorial statue here is impressive:

Walking out to the viewpoint from the statue, we were given an amazing view of the Sleeping Giant. We could see the entire rock formation, from head to toe  In the photo below, the Giant's head is to the left, and his toes to the right.  We had hiked up to the Sleeping Giant from the other side yesterday, and now we got this spectacular view of it:

With these ventures, we ended our day exploring the history of Thunder Bay.  It gives us a perspective on the area as we continue to hike its trails in the next few days.