Thunder Bay

Thunder Bay lies at the northwestern end of Lake Superior, where the Kaministiquia River enters the lake. The river and its portages form a passage from the great inland sea towards the lakes and rivers of the western interior. Ojibwe canoe travellers knew this route before the arrival of European fur traders, and their knowledge helped make the bay an important meeting place for the fur trade.

French posts appeared at the river mouth from the late seventeenth century. In 1803 the North West Company moved its principal inland depot from Grand Portage to the Kaministiquia, where a new post became known as Fort William. Each summer the company's partners met there while furs were assembled for shipment to Montreal and trade goods prepared for the journey inland. Canoes carried both cargo and crews between the lake and the distant trading districts.