Thunder Bay

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After leaving Manitoba it was easy to tell we had entered Ontario as the highways improvement was very noticeable. Travelling through Kenora and to Dryden the landscape was interesting and well into the Canadian Shield the rock was pink and grey granite and in fact the highways are constructed of this and have a sparkle, pinkish tinge to them. The miles between Dryden and Thunder Bay become a little boring with endless swamp spruce but relieved with a lot of small lakes. Portage La Prairie to Thunder Bay was an 8 plus hour drive and we found a campground about 30k west of Thunder Bay. Yesterday we toured Fort William, Canada's number 1 Historic Site. The place was the rendevous for the voyageurs from the east and west and the main post of the NorthWest Fur Trading Co. The buildings were authentic and the people in character for 1815. Built on the Kaministiquia (just call it the Kam) River. We learnt alot about life back then and most of it was not that pleasant unless you were a partner or gentleman of the NW Trading Co. or the Hudson Bay Trading Co. We spent a very enjoyable 6 hours stepping into the past and visiting an Apothecary, Fur Stores, Wintering House, Farm, Native Encampment and many more buildings of the era. One of cutest things was a 6 day old black lamb and the funniest was a squirrel stealing a piece of bannock from under a cloth . The weather was hot and it was very nice to come back to the trailer and AC. Today we drove out to the Kakabeka Falls on the "Kam" river and have come back early to do a little relaxing and staying out of the sun. Tomorrow it is onto Wawa and the adventure continues.

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Photos

Front Gates
entrance to Fort William natives, voyageur encampment and matee were all outside the fort walls

Inside the pallisade
Furs drying in the sun after getting a little damp from the trip on the river

The Canoe Shed
stripping green cedar for the inside of the canoe the outside was birch bark sown with the small roots of the tree

NWT co. Fire Truck
men on the sides of the wagon pumped a bar up and down and fellow on top directed the spray

Fort William
a picture of the picture of Fort William and surrounding encampments and farm land

Kakabeka Falls
Ojibwa for thundering water

The Falls
the falls are a natural wonder with the Kam river falling over layers of slate

Part of the Canadian Shield
Pink and Grey Granite lines both sides of the road.

Ojibwa wigwam
The ojibwa encampment outside the fort walls. the wigwam was constucted of birchbark and sown with the roots the same as canoes

Fort William
just one corner of the Fort, it was never used as a battle frontier even though it was built like one