Flambeau Trail – Flambeau Trail Crossing. Iron County Heritage Area. You are standing on the ancient Flambeau Trail, an important route for commerce for Native Americans, voyagers, and explorers travelling between settlements at LaPointe on Madeline Island and Lac du Flambeau 90 miles to the south.
Until railroads came in the late 1880’s, the Flambeau Trail offered the only transportation link between the Lake Superior watershed to the north and the Mississippi watershed to the south.
When travellers arrived at this point, they had already portaged 27 miles uphill from Lake Superior and over the Penokee Mountain Range. Eighteen more miles of overland travel remained to cross the Continental Divide. There navigable waters at Long Lake offered easier travel by canoe to points south.
The Flambeau Trail was narrow and full of overturned trees, Muskeg, and thickets. It took between 2 1/2 to 7 days to portage and paddle the length of the Trail to Lac du Flambeau depending on trail conditions, the load to be carried, and the motivation of the travellers. It was considered among the most difficult portages in the old Northwest Territories.
You are standing on the ancient Flambeau Trail, an important route for commerce for Native Americans, voyagers, and explorers travelling between settlements at LaPointe on Madeline Island and Lac du Flambeau 90 miles to the south.
Until railroads came in the late 1880’s, the Flambeau Trail offered the only transportation link between the Lake Superior watershed to the north and the Mississippi watershed to the south.
When travellers arrived at this point, they had already portaged 27 miles uphill from Lake Superior and over the Penokee Mountain Range. Eighteen more miles of overland travel remained to cross the Continental Divide. There navigable waters at Long Lake offered easier travel by canoe to points south.
The Flambeau Trail was narrow and full of overturned trees, Muskeg, and thickets. It took between 2 1/2 to 7 days to portage and paddle the length of the Trail to Lac du Flambeau depending on trail conditions, the load to be carried, and the motivation of the travellers. It was considered among the most difficult portages in the old Northwest Territories.
Location. 46° 25.645′ N, 90° 15.384′ W. Marker is in Montreal, Wisconsin
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, in Iron County. Marker is at the intersection of Wisconsin Avenue (State Highway 77) and Elm Street, on the right when traveling west on Wisconsin Avenue. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Montreal WI 54550, United States of America. Touch for directions.
(Inset) “I will not undertake the portage today..the men.. ask rest. How weak they are. I gave each a drink of shrub, two double handfuls of flour, and two pounds of pork which they began to eat with such avidity that I was twice obliged to take the dish away from them, fortunately they all escaped with slight twinges of colic.” -Francois Victor Malhoit, 28 year old Clerk for the Northwest Fur Trading Company, 1804
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 616 times since then and 8 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on July 27, 2011, by Paul Fehrenbach of Germantown, Wisconsin. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.