Early History: The Fur Trade

To those who have seen it, the rugged, breathtaking beauty of Northwestern Ontario’s hills, endless forests and clear, sparkling waters suggests an impregnable, natural wonderland, where peace and unbroken tranquility have reined since the very beginning of time.

As unconquerable as this vast wilderness appears to be today, it was familiar ground a full 300 years ago to the colourful and romantic voyageurs of Canada’s early history. Its lakes and rivers formed the vital arteries of the fur trade and were the battlegrounds in a fight for access to the treasure house of wealth locked away deep in the Canadian forests.

It was the early fur trade which founded the Canadian nation.  And it was the major waterways joining together in the heart of Northwestern Ontario which were the very life blood of the fur trade.  They, and the men who traveled and fought over them, played a vital role in shaping the face of Canada as we know it today.

The importance of this area in the history of the nation was the result of the topography which brought about the convergence of all major waterways used by the fur traders at a point near Lac Seul.  An unusual, topographical formation on the height of land near the western end of Lac Seul produced a juncture of waters which radiated from that area like spokes of a wheel.  From that point it was possible to travel the length and breadth of the continent.  Conversely, whether coming by canoe from the east, west, north or south, all routes converged at this point on Lac Seul. This was the waterway which represented life or death to the early fur trade.

The fortune to be made in fur lured men westwards, sometimes to a savage end, sometimes to die of starvation, was a brave man’s venture.

It is believed that the first “coureur du bois” came to Obe-She-Ko-Ka (Lac Seul), in the first half of the eighteenth century. He had, no doubt, been outfitted by a firm in Montreal with supplies of tobacco, gunpowder, flints, shot and a few guns, axes, knives, kettles, a bale of cloth, needles and thread, beads and trinkets, a few kegs of French brandy, plus dried peas and salt pork for emergency rations.

He and his handful of young lads would have traveled in birch bark canoes, built by the Native people, by way of the Ottawa River, through Lake Nipissing, down French River to Georgian Bay, over the falls of Ste. Mary into Lake Superior.  From there he may have gone north to Lake Nipigon and followed the Native route westwards, or have arrived at the trade headquarters at Kaministikwia, meaning river of difficult entrance, and traveled northwards to his destination. Some early maps show the Kaministikwia River as flowing out of the southern end of Lac Seul.

Entering Lac Seul from the south, the traders would have soon discovered the summer camp on Obe-She-Ko-Ka, on the pine covered point which made a narrow place, and which gave the lake its name. They undoubtably, would have been impressed with the beauty of this narrow lake surrounded with stands of red, white and Norway pine and bejewelled with little islands.  Every man who came to Lac Seul before 1936 when the water was raised, was entranced with the ethereal beauty of this lake like no other. The saying that “anyone who drinks the water of Lac Seul must go back there to die”, must have been derived from the picturesque memory that its visitors of old carried in their hearts even to the grave.

The traders would probably have given gifts to the Natives upon their arrival; perhaps a gun and calico shirt to the chief; knives and gun flints, powder and shot to the men; beads, needles and trinkets to the woman; a fathom of tobacco for general distribution; and a watered down keg of brandy.  They would have then set up living quarters, gathered food and wood for the coming winter months. These traders had come to get fur, so they would have began trapping and trading goods with the Natives for furs.

It was one of the first of these lonely traders, looking out across the water of Obe-She-Ka-Ko with drifting snow covering the frozen ground at his feet, who called the lake “Lac Seul” - Lonely Lake. No one but he could appreciate how far he had traveled into unknown territory, with days of travel to the nearest outpost, alone and left to his own resources. Since then, the name, which so aptly described his isolation, his fear and perhaps despair, has always remained with the lake of Ear Falls.

The Hudson’s Bay Company had a post at Lac Seul as early as 1803-04. It was unsuccessful due to the fact that the “Canadians” were found to be in full force and had already captured all the trade of the Natives in the vicinity. They tried to establish a presence again in 1815, and again were unsuccessful.

In 1820-21, the trading season preceding the amalgamation of all the companies trading in the area, the North West Company had a post at Lac Seul.  This post came into the possession of the Hudson’s Bay Company at the Union and remained under the control of the H.B.C.  In 1934 a new store was built.  This Hudson’s Bay Post was built of logs, and stood on a sand point, now covered in water, 250 feet in front of were the second post was built.  That building is at present, the main lodge at Goldpines Camp.