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The Grand Portage Guide

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The Grand Portage Guide The Grand Portage Guide Bold Explorers Superintendent Tim Cochrane During the glory years of the fur trade , Grand The last sixteen days through the Boundary Portage was synonymous with the idea of Waters – the Voyageur’s Highway - he paddled exploration. Today we hope your visit will and camped without seeing another person as he continue that historic association – please explore rushed to “make” Grand Portage as the days the ancient pathway – the Grand Portage – or grew shorter and nights colder. Appropriately, explore the fur trade depot that served as a this winter we stored his canoe under the great doorway to the North West. We are pleased you Montreal Canoes in our Canoe Warehouse that are here and willing to explore and learn anew would have been used on such lengthy journeys. about this historic place. This year Martin will recommence his trip here bound for Portland, Maine, the last leg of 1,200 The association of exploring and Grand Portage miles. continues today. Last November when ice was forming on the edge of Grand Portage Creek, a Occasionally, others like him still stream by this young man and his canoe emerged from the place carrying canoes and large packs down the Portage trail. Alexander B. Martin had paddled eight and one half mile Grand Portage. Last 3,000 miles from Astoria, Oregon to here. He year, Erik Simula, park ranger, went on his own made a modern day “portage” from the Missouri voyage of discovery in his 13-foot birch bark River to the Red River watershed by pedal power, canoe. Traveling with Kitigan, his amazingly pulling his canoe on a mini-trailer from his bike. calm sled dog, Erik traversed much of the area you have just driven through. And like all Grand Portage travelers, Erik experienced the winds Table of Contents and seas of the Big Lake making him “wind Grand Portage National Monument bound” for days. Erik too had uninvited visitors Welcome and Map of Site......................................................................................2 to his camp in the middle of the night -- a bear Daily Activity Guide ................................................................................................3 and mountain lion. He finished his trip lugging Self-Guided Activities .............................................................................................4 Books Worth Browsing ..........................................................................................4 his gear and canoe down the Portage, including Special Events ..........................................................................................................5 his sawed off toothbrush – cut off to reduce The Crossroads of Nature and Culture……………………………………………6 weight. Other canoe trippers from North Woods Fur Traders on facebook........................................................................................6 camps sometimes, too, make a pilgrimage down Wild Rice .................................................................................................................11 What’s That Plant?................................................................................................14 the Grand Portage arriving at the depot and A Rough Guide to the Grand Portage ................................................................16 celebrating with a plunge into the cold waters of Area Information................................................................................................... 18 Lake Superior. We know this because we can Kid’s Page ...............................................................................................................19 hear their screams from the Heritage Center. Tips and Reminders ..............................................................................Back Cover (Continued on page 10) A GUIDE TO HELP Bonjour YOU FIND YOUR WAY AT Welcome GRAND PORTAGE NATIONAL MONUMENT Welcome to Grand Portage. We are pleased More than 200 years ago, the North West you are here and exploring “Portage” with us. Company concentrated its business activities in There is much to see and do. Please join our and around the stockade. Four of the most interpreters and participate in the past. Please important structures have been reconstructed ask us about the fur trade and its ingenious on their original foundations: The Great Hall, technology, or its novel customs. Or come and kitchen, warehouse, and gatehouse. National learn about the intrinsic links between the fur Park Service employees and Volunteers-In- traders and the nearby residents, the Grand Parks (VIPs) staff these buildings. You will find Portage Ojibwe. rangers and VIPs wearing dress appropriate to the period, or in the NPS uniform. The Staff of Grand Portage National Monument 2 ACTIVITIES & RANGER-CONDUCTED PROGRAMS LIVING HISTORY DEMONSTRATIONS Come to the Voyageur Encampment and Ojibwe Village, where you will see demonstrations of Ojibwe and voyageur life in the late 1700s. While there, see our American Indian Three Sisters gar- den, and witness the firing of a North West Com- pany trade gun. Visit the Great Hall, historically furnished circa 1790s. Also in the Great Hall, there is a Try- It-On historic clothing exhibit where you can fit into history! Follow your nose to the kitchen, where you can see period cooking and baking demonstra- tions from mid-June through early September. Don’t miss our historic heirloom garden and out- door bake oven located just behind the kitchen. A gouvernail paddle takes shape in the warehouse. RANGER-CONDUCTED INTERPRETIVE PROGRAMS History comes alive when you take part in an interpretive program here at Grand Portage. Park rangers will transport you back in time, where you can become part of the story that unfolds before you! These programs range in length from 20 minutes to 60 minutes. Be sure and check the “Program” sign in the Heritage Center or ask information desk staff for program topics, locations, and starting times. Please note: Our program schedule is subject to change without notice due to staffing or weather conditions. VIDEO PRESENTATIONS Video programs are offered regularly in the Heritage Center classroom. There are several to choose from. Please see “Notes” below - Schedule subject to change. ● Northwest Passage: The Story of Grand Portage – Running time is 10 minutes. - Note: Shown on the hour. ● The Voyageur – Running time is 20 minutes. - Note: Shown on the half-hour, except 10:30 & 2:30. ● The Birch Bark Canoe Builder – Running time is 30 minutes. - Note: Shown at 10:30 & 2:30. 3 SELF-GUIDED ACTIVITIES BOOKS WORTH BROWSING HIKING TRAILS To help alleviate the isolation of winter posts, the North West Company pro- The Grand Portage: The 8½-mile Grand Portage is vided reading materials. Daniel open for hiking. Two campsites are available for Harmon, a North West Com- primitive camping at Fort Charlotte. A free permit is pany clerk wrote, required, and can be obtained at the Heritage Cen- ter or at one of three registration boxes located “Most of our leisure mo- along the Grand Portage. ments (and which is nearly nine tenths of our time) will Mt. Rose Trail: The Mt. Rose trail, located across be spent reading, and con- from the historic depot, is a paved ½-mile-long na- versing on what we have ture trail which climbs 300 feet for a spectacular vista read.” of the depot and Lake Superior. Approximate hiking time is 1 hour. A self-guiding trail brochure is avail- The following titles may be found in your local library: able at the trail head. “Native American Clothing: An Illustrated History” by Theodore Brasser, 2009. Firefly Books, Buffalo, BROCHURES AVAILABLE New York, 368 pg. We offer several brochures for your use and “Minong - The Good Place: Ojibwe and Isle Royale” enjoyment: by Timothy Cochrane, 2009. Michigan State Uni- versity Press, East Lansing, Michigan, 285 pg. • NPS Grand Portage Official Map and Guide “Ojibwe In Minnesota (People of Minnesota)” by An- • Ojibwe Lifeways ton Treuer, 2010. Minnesota Historical Society Press , St. Paul,MN, 112 pg. • Historic Garden “John Beargrease: Legend of Minnesota’s North • Bird Checklist Shore” by Daniel Lancaster, 2009. Holy Cow Press, Duluth, MN, 173 pg. • Mt. Rose Trail “Roadside Geology of Minnesota” by Richard W. Oja- kangas, 2009. Mountain Press Publishing Com- JUNIOR RANGER PROGRAM pany, Missoula, MT, 370 pg. “Fingerweaving Untangled: An illustrated Beginner’s Become a Grand Portage Junior Ranger! This Guide Including Detailed Patterns and Common program, for kids ages 7 to 13, is free. Activity Mistakes” by Carol James, 2008. Published by guides can be picked up at the Heritage Center Carol James, Fiber Artist, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, 64 pg. and Great Hall. You should allow at least 1½ “Birchbark Brigade: A Fur trade History” by Cris Pe- hours to complete this activity. When finished, terson, 2009. Calkins Creek, Honesdale, PA, 136 kids are awarded a Junior Ranger badge and a pg. voyageur’s contract. This is a family activity “Profit & Ambition: The Northwest Company and the and we encourage parents to get involved and Fur Trade 1779-1821” by David A. Morrison, 2009. Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau, Que- enjoy the program with their kids! Children un- bec, Canada, 64 pg. der the age of 7, or those with special needs, will These books are also available at the Eastern National require the assistance of an adult. bookstore in the Grand Portage National Monument Heritage Center. 4 The Grand Rendezvous Ranger Karl Koster The hustle and bustle of summer activity peaked Lake Superior
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