Day 11

It rained again overnight. We woke up early and looking out the window, I could see puddles in the parking lot. Now, however, the sky has patches of blue. Hopefully, the clouds will all disperse as we continue west to Thunder Bay. Last night Kati was asleep early. This morning, her knee is badly swollen. The long drive to rest her leg will be good. Before bed, G3 and I played cards until he said he was tired. I then read until my own eyes felt heavy enough to sleep.

Kati’s knee must be bad. It kept her from getting a comfortable sleep last night. Therefore, she was sleepy today. Pain,

plus drowsiness, was bad enough that she relinquished driving duties to me. If you know Kati, you know how bad it must be for her to let me drive. Not because she thinks I’m a bad driver, but because she likes to drive. Five years ago, she only pulled over and let me drive when her detached retina was so bad she was practically blind in one eye. The drive to Fort William Historical Park in Thunder Bay was three and a half hours—of which I only drove two. The western half of Superior is not as pretty—at least along the highway—as the eastern portion. Plus, there was a great deal of construction along our route today.

Fort William is a living museum that attempts to recreate life in 1815 in this trading community. The fort and trading route were controlled by the North West Company. I was eager to visit because well you are well acquainted with my obsession with history by now. We arrived just in time for the afternoon tour which made me happy. I always learn more on tours, especially since I can ask questions. Kati sat this one out. Her knee made walking too difficult. She said she would just read my blog tonight and catch up on what she missed.

The North West Company was founded in 1783. It competed against the Hudson Bay Company which had a charter from England allowing it to operate throughout most of Canada. Since the Hudson Bay Company had charter rights, the North West Company predominantly relied on trade with the Anishinaabeg and other indigenous people to obtain their furs. Also, not having a charter meant they needed a rendezvous point. Fort William served that purpose. The company was rooted in Montreal. That meant all goods were loaded onto ships bound for the European market in Quebec.

However, Fort William was where voyageurs collected the furs to transport them over rivers and lakes to Quebec, a run that took only six weeks. That’s pretty impressive when you think of the distance the canoes—powered only by the voyageurs—had to travel. Just hugging the cost of Superior from Thunder Bay to a more easterly point seems eternal, not to mention tiring. And they had to paddle fast because they were racing the weather. They had to reach Montreal before the lake and rivers froze. But not only did they paddle, they had to portage around rapids and other obstacles. Portaging meant carrying the canoes and furs—ninety miles per parcel. The furs—roughly 200,000 pounds a year, those poor animals—came predominantly from areas north and west of Fort William—hence the name of the company. What is now Alberta was the most profitable area for the company to get fur.

The North West Company originally used Grand Portage, Minnesota as its Rendezvous point. However, it was a British Company and the territory was ceded to America following the Revolutionary War. The company continued to work out of Grand Portage for another decade. But the Jay Treaty of 1794, singed by England and America, reaffirmed American control of the area. To avoid paying taxes to the new nation, the company moved to Fort William in 1803. The site we visited today is a recreation of the original Fort which was nine miles down the Kaministiquia River. It was built in 1972.

Only people employed by the company resided in Fort William. It was purely a trading port, it was never a military outpost. Year round, no more than twenty or thirty people lived there. However, during the peak season—July into early August—when the voyageurs were gathering for their canoe treks, the population expanded to one thousand. During that period, there was one doctor to treat everyone. Doctors were required by British law to only use treatments and medicines that had been studied and tested. If they tried something new or adopted something from the Indigenous people, they ran the risk of losing their license. However, the indigenous people did have many plant based medicines that were highly effective. For instance, black ash leaves were turned into a poultice to treat snake biles and the bark was used to treat sore eyes. As a kid, I was always interested in Indigenous cultures, so much so that in third grade I did my science project for the school science fair on Native American medicine. Mom did all the research, but I learned the material well enough to place second.

The Fort was on Anishinaabeg land and in 1815 they had encampments nearby. They lived in wigwams that at a quick glance look like teepees. But teepees are made from animal skins and are used by nomadic tribes because they can easily be taken down and moved. Wigwams are permanent structures. The Anishinaabeg made them using birchbark panels for the surface and spruce logs for the skeleton. An entire community would gather to help when a wigwam needed to be built. With everyone working together it took about three days. The wigwams were not only places to sleep but places to gather. In the winter, elders told stories to children, passing legends down to younger generations. They could only tell these stories in the winter because that’s when the spirits were sleeping.

Animals were vital to the Anishinaabeg. They hunted and trapped them for food and other necessities for themselves, but also to trade with the North West Company. At the Indigenous trading post, each pelt was worth one credit, and the accumulation of credits was used to buy European goods. This fur based currency of course favored the company. They got much more for the pelts in Europe than they gave the indigenous people credit for. Since the indigenous people had no idea what the going market rate was over in Europe, they had no idea how unfairly they were being treated. The Anishinaabeg learned from observing animal behavior. From wolves, they learned the importance of community. From bears they learned courage, but also the more practical lesson of what was safe to eat and what might be poisonous.

The North West Company made—the equivalent on Canadian currency today—$110 million a year. They paid their voyageurs between $10,000 and $20,000 for their grueling six weeks of labor. While fifty percent of the furs sent to Europe were beaver, they also traded for coyote, timberwolf, fox, minks, wolverine, and muskrat. The canoes used to transport the furs were made of birchbark, each of which took 300 hours of labor to make.

In 1814, David Thompson drew a map of western Canada that was extremely accurate. Years earlier, he broke his leg. It took three years for it to heal. While recovering, he studied arithmetic and cartography. When he could finally go out and explore, it took him 18 years to draw the map. It includes the McKenzie River, known also as the River of Disappointment. McKenzie was an explorer set on finding the Northwest Passage. He thought he found it, but it went too north and not west. That river now bears his name.

The tour guide was fabulous. Not only was he informative, he was also humorous. He cracked jokes about the history which I appreciated. After the tour, G3 and I walked around the grounds of the fort. We visited the sheep and fowl. I think G3 enjoyed visiting the animals. His grandfather always liked seeing the farm animals wherever we went. Otherwise, G3 was bored. He appreciated history more when he was younger. Today, he complained that there was nothing new for him to learn. “How many trading posts, living museums, and forts have you taken me to. This is just another one,” he commented while we were watching the reenactors dancing and singing.

While we were in the fort, Kati paid a visit to Dr. Google and diagnosed herself with arthritis. She has also discovered that going to the restroom on the road will now be challenging because she can’t hover without being able to bend her knee. And it does look very swollen. She wanted to get a brace so when we stopped at a grocery store to get water she looked for one. They didn’t have them. G3, however, found maple coke because it’s Canada and they put maple in everything. And yes, I let G3 get it so he could try it. We haven’t opened it yet.

There was rain in the forecast so Kati wanted to get our tents set up before the rain commenced. The only thing worse than breaking down in the rain is setting up on the rain. So after getting water and soda we went to Sleeping Giant Provincial Park where we had a campsite reserved. En route, we saw a red fox sitting along the side of the road as if waiting for a bus. Kati slowed so we could take pictures, and the fox started to chase after us. Kati stopped and the fox sat down next to our car as if begging for a ride. Later, when we were leaving to get dinner the fox did the same thing. It made me so sad. It’s like he was really looking for a family to take him in. Kati thinks he might have been someone’s pet and when he started acting too wild they abandoned him on the road. His personality seemed to fit that and his desperation made me want to take him home.

It started to rain when we arrived at the campground. It was only drizzling so we were able to get the tents up quickly without getting too wet. Last night, I told G3 multiple times to lay out his tent to dry. Each time he said he would do it in a minute. He never did it. So tonight, he was grumpy that his tent is still wet. Since he doesn’t want to sleep in a dirty wet tent, he is sleeping in the car. Maybe next time he’ll listen better.

We headed back into Thunder Bay for dinner. It’s the largest city in Western Ontario and the section we drove through this evening looked ruin down. We ate in a Jamaican restaurant and we all enjoyed our food. Kati had fried chicken. G3 had jerk chicken. And I had chickpeas in curry wrapped in roti with fried plantains—I love fried plantains—on the side. I think it was the best food I’ve had on the road this summer.

I dove back to the campground because it was dark and raining which meant Kati couldn’t see. We did not see the fox. I wonder where he went. it’s still raining as I sit in the car and write. Hopefully tomorrow won’t be so wet.