Height of Land Portage facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Height of Land Portage |
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At the obelisk boundary marker. Canada is to the viewer's right; United States to the left.
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| Location | Cook County, Minnesota / Thunder Bay District, Ontario |
| Nearest city | Grand Marais, Minnesota |
| Area | 2 acres (0.81 ha) |
| Governing body | Federal |
| Designated | October 18, 1974 |
| Reference no. | 74001012 Search in MN for Height of Land; this is the one located in Cook County. |
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The Height of Land Portage is a special path between Canada and the United States. A portage is a place where people carry their canoes and gear overland between two waterways. This portage is located right on the border between Ontario, Canada, and Minnesota, USA.
This path is an easy way to cross the Laurentian Divide. Think of a divide like the peak of a roof: rain falling on one side goes one way, and rain on the other side goes another. Here, water on one side flows to the Atlantic Ocean, and water on the other side flows to the Arctic Ocean.
For hundreds of years, Native Americans used this portage for canoe travel. They taught European voyageurs (French-Canadian fur traders) how to use it. It was a super important route for the fur trade in North America. After the American Revolution, this portage became part of the official border between British North America (now Canada) and the United States.
Today, the Height of Land Portage is a protected historic site. It's found in La Verendrye Provincial Park and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. People still use it for canoe trips, but now it's for fun adventures, not for trading furs.
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Geography of the Portage
This portage is about 80 rods (0.25 mi; 400 m) long. It crosses a low area between two lakes: North Lake and South Lake. You can see the clear strip of land, called a border vista, that marks the Canada–United States border right next to the portage.
South Lake is where the Arrow River begins. This river flows into the Pigeon River, which then goes to Lake Superior. From Lake Superior, the water travels through the other Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.
North Lake is part of a different water system. Its water flows into the Rainy River. From there, it goes through the Winnipeg and Nelson Rivers, eventually reaching Hudson Bay in the Arctic Ocean. This shows how the portage sits right on that important water divide!
The border between Ontario and the United States is mostly on water. Only about one kilometer of it is on land. The Height of Land Portage makes up a big part of that land border. Two other portages, Watap Portage and Swamp (or Monument) Portage, also form small parts of the land border nearby.
A Look Back: History of the Portage
Historians believe that many portages, including this one, might have started as paths used by animals. Later, the first people living in the area began to use them. Before Europeans arrived, birchbark canoes were the main way to travel through the thick forests of this region. The Height of Land Portage was very likely used by these early peoples.
European explorers came to this area looking for the Northwest Passage, to trade furs, and to spread their religion. In 1732, a French explorer named La Vérendrye used Native American routes to reach Rainy Lake.
Later, in the 1700s, French-Canadian voyageurs used this portage as their main route. They traveled from Grand Portage on Lake Superior to the "upper country" (pays d'en haut) where the best furs were found. This portage was key to getting past the high land that separated the Great Lakes from the fur-rich lands to the northwest. There was even a place on the west end of the portage where canoes could be repaired.
Voyageur Traditions
When voyageurs came to the "upper country" for the first time, they had a special initiation ceremony after crossing the Height of Land Portage. Newcomers would be sprinkled with water using a cedar branch. They had to promise never to let another new person pass without the same ceremony. They also promised never to kiss another voyageur's wife without her permission! The ceremony ended with a salute of gunfire and drinks. After that, the new "Nor'wester" (Homme du nord) and his group would continue their journey.
The Portage Becomes a Border
After the American Revolution, the Treaty of Paris in 1783 set the border between British North America and the United States. It was supposed to follow the main water route between Lake Superior and the Lake of the Woods.
During that time, there were three main water routes that canoe groups used to connect these two lakes. All of them crossed the high land that separated Lake Superior from the Hudson Bay water system:
- The Grand Portage route, which used the Height of Land Portage we are talking about.
- The Kam–Dog–Maligne route to the east, used by explorer Jacques de Noyon in 1688.
- The St. Louis–Vermilion route to the west, which started near modern Duluth, Minnesota.
Britain thought the westernmost St. Louis-Vermilion route should be the border. The United States wanted the easternmost Kam–Dog–Maligne Route. After surveys in the early 1800s, the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842 finally decided the border. It set the route along the Pigeon River and the Height of Land Portage between North and South Lakes.
Since then, the Height of Land Portage has been a recognized part of the border. It is "free and open to the use of the citizens and subjects of both countries." People continue to use it as a path to carry canoes across the land that separates the Great Lakes Basin from the Canadian northwest, just as they have for centuries.
