Kesagami Lake

Kesagami Lake lay in Cree country inland from James Bay, amid low, poorly drained ground where waterways offered the main connections through bog and forest. Its outlet led north toward the Harricana River and Hannah Bay. Camps, burial places and fishing grounds formed part of a landscape known through repeated journeys and seasonal use. Company traders entered an inhabited country whose routes and provisions depended on Indigenous knowledge.

In 1777 the Hudson's Bay Company established Mesackamee House at the lake to challenge the trade passing toward Abitibi. The expedition led by George Atkinson left Moose late in the season; ice damaged the canoes and delayed its progress. The post proved short-lived and was abandoned in 1779. Another attempt followed in October 1815, when Andrew Stewart and four men established themselves on Mesaugummee Lake, a historical name associated with Kesagami. They did not return the following year. These brief ventures show the limits of simply placing a trading house inland: access, the season and the choices of local hunters mattered to whether a post could attract enough business to survive.