Mercer in Iron County, Wisconsin — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Flambeau Trail – Turtle Portage
Iron County Heritage Area
Photographed By Paul Fehrenbach, July 20, 2011
1. Flambeau Trail – Turtle Portage Marker
Inscription.
Flambeau Trail – Turtle Portage. Iron County Heritage Area. For centuries Native Americans and voyagers using the Flambeau Trail carried their birch bark canoes and cargo across the wide “plain” where you are standing, between Echo Lake (called Big Turtle Lake) and Grand Portage Lake (Little Turtle Lake).
Sometimes they paused here to re-gum leaky canoes using native pine pitch in preparation for the paddle to Lac du Flambeau.
The Flambeau Trail, followed the waterways, from here through Little Turtle Lake, following a narrow channel into Mercer Lake (Sugar Camp Lake).
From there travellers were forced to endure one final portage – three grueling miles through tamarack swamps to reach the Manitowish River (then called the Chippewa River). Easier travel by canoe was possible for the last 24 miles to the Flambeau Trail’s end at the Indian village and fur trading post at Lac du Flambeau.
For centuries Native Americans and voyagers using the Flambeau Trail carried their birch bark canoes and cargo across the wide “plain” where you are standing, between Echo Lake (called Big Turtle Lake) and Grand Portage Lake (Little Turtle Lake).
Sometimes they paused here to re-gum leaky canoes using native pine pitch in preparation for the paddle to Lac du Flambeau.
The Flambeau Trail, followed the waterways, from here through Little Turtle Lake, following a narrow channel into Mercer Lake (Sugar Camp Lake).
From there travellers were forced to endure one final portage – three grueling miles through tamarack swamps to reach the Manitowish River (then called the Chippewa River). Easier travel by canoe was possible for the last 24 miles to the Flambeau Trail’s end at the Indian village and fur trading post at Lac du Flambeau.
Location. 46° 10.517′ N, 90° 3.197′ W. Marker is in Mercer, Wisconsin, in Iron County. Marker is at the intersection of County Highway J and County Highway H, on the right when traveling east on County Highway J. Marker is located in Carow Park. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Mercer WI 54547, United States of America. Touch for directions.
(Inset) “Turtle Portage is an excellent one over the plain between the two Turtle Lakes. At the east end of the lake is an Indian village, inhabited in the summer by one of the bands of Chippewa. At present it is deserted, the band having gone north to their winter hunting grounds. Potatoes and corn are raised at this village.” - Geological Reconnaissance Report by David Owen, 1847
Photographed By Paul Fehrenbach, July 20, 2011
3. Flambeau Trail – Turtle Portage Marker
looking south toward Grand Portage Lake
Photographed By Paul Fehrenbach, July 20, 2011
4. Grand Portage Lake
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on July 27, 2011, by Paul Fehrenbach of Germantown, Wisconsin. This page has been viewed 665 times since then and 29 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on July 27, 2011, by Paul Fehrenbach of Germantown, Wisconsin. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
