The Fur Trade at Michipicoten

The Fur Trade at Michipicoten. Fur Trading Posts. , Welcome to the centre of Canada's dynamic fur trade history for nearly 200 years. The Michipicoten First Nation's introduced the first European explorers to the rich fur-bearing forests of their home in the 1600's. , Michipicoten was the ideal location for a post to trade with local Ojibway as well as a rest and re-supply stop for traders and adventurers travelling across North America. Michipicoten was a mere 3 day trip by canoe from Sault Ste. Marie; 4 days more to Fort William (Thunder Bay) on the west shore of Superior; and 16 days up the mighty Michipicoten, Missinaibi and Moose Rivers to Moose Factory on James Bay. , French traders were the first to secure trade with the Michipicoten Ojibway and build a post in 1725. This small post was built in a clearing on the opposite bank of the river where the Michipicoten meets the waters of the Magpie below Silver Falls. Following the Treaty of Paris in 1763 the French retreated from many posts across the land. Independent traders, like Alexander Henry, set up headquarters at Michipicoten between 1767 and 1783. It was in this year that the newly created Northwest Company took over the Michipicoten Post and thus began an aggressive rivalry with its competitor, the Hudson's Bay Company. , While the NWCo. established outposts next to the HBCo. trading posts throughout the land, in 1797 the HBCo. built a post slightly upriver and across from the Michipicoten post. Outposts were also constructed at the mouths of the Agawa and Batchawana rivers along the east shore of Lake Superior towards Sault Ste. Marie. Amicable negotiations resulted in the closure of the HBCo. post in 1802. Depleting furs soon reignited competition between the two companies and in 1816 the HBCo. rebuilt downriver from their original location. This post remained in place until the two rival companies amalgamated and the HBCo. re-established itself in the prime post buildings and NWCo. property on the south side of the river. , In 1827 Michipicoten took over from Fort William as the headquarters for the Lake Superior District of the Hudson's Bay Company. Other important commercial and government activities at the post included the construction and repair of wooden York boats, a tinware industry, a post office, Missionary activities, Indian Agent office and location of the first Mining Division Bureau in Ontario. The post was also home to a commercial fishing operation which supplied barrels of salted fish to outlying posts and markets as far away as Toronto, Montreal, Chicago, and Detroit. , After 179 years of being a strategic and crucial link in North America's fur trade and exploration, the Michipicoten Post was officially closed for business in 1904.