View source for Methye Portage

{{Short description|Canadian fur trade route portage}}
{{Location_map+
|Canada Saskatchewan|relief=yes 
| width = 285
| float = right
| caption = Location of Methye Portage on the fur trade route from Lake Winnipeg to Lake Athabasca
| places =
  {{Location map~|Canada Saskatchewan| label=[[Grand Rapids, Manitoba|Grand Rapids]] | lat=53.206 | long=-99.3 | label_size=75 | marksize=6}}
  {{Location map~|Canada Saskatchewan| label=[[Saskatchewan River]] | lat=53.15 | long=-105.019 | label_size=75 | marksize=15| position=bottom|mark=AB-Fluss.svg}}
  {{Location map~|Canada Saskatchewan| label=[[Cumberland House, Saskatchewan|Cumberland House]]| lat=53.94 | long=-102.31 | label_size=75 | marksize=8||mark=| position=left}}
  {{Location map~|Canada Saskatchewan| label=[[Churchill River (Hudson Bay)|Churchill River]] | lat=55.41 | long=-104.5688 | label_size=75 | marksize=10| position=left|mark=AB-Fluss.svg}}
  {{Location map~|Canada Saskatchewan| label=[[Frog Portage]] | lat=55.398 | long=-103.532 | label_size=75 | marksize=8|mark=Info Simple.svg}}
  {{Location map~|Canada Saskatchewan| label=Methye Portage | lat=56.574 | long=-109.699 | label_size=75 | marksize=7|mark=Solid blue.svg| position=left}}
  {{Location map~|Canada Saskatchewan| label=[[Île-à-la-Crosse, Saskatchewan|Île-à-la-Crosse]] | lat=55.45 | long=-107.883 | label_size=75 | marksize=6|position=left}}  
  {{Location map~|Canada Saskatchewan| label=[[Sturgeon-Weir River]] | lat=54.266 | long=-101.8169 | label_size=75 | marksize=10 | position=right|mark=AB-Fluss.svg}}
  {{Location map~|Canada Saskatchewan| label=[[Fort Chipewyan, Alberta|Fort Chipewyan]] | lat=58.714 | long=-111.158 | label_size=75 | marksize=6 | position=left}}
{{Location map~|Canada Saskatchewan| label=[[Clearwater River (Saskatchewan)|Clearwater River]] | lat=56.898 | long=-108.9805| label_size=75 | marksize=10 | position=right|mark=AB-Fluss.svg}}
{{Location map~|Canada Saskatchewan| label=[[Athabasca River]] | lat=57.1867 | long=-111.6367| label_size=75 | marksize=6 | position=top|mark=AB-Fluss.svg}}
 }}
The '''Methye Portage''' or '''Portage La Loche''' in northwestern [[Saskatchewan]] was one of the most important [[portage]]s in the old [[North American fur trade|fur trade]] route across Canada.<ref name=Nw2001/> The {{convert|19|km|abbr=on}} portage connected the [[Mackenzie River]] basin to rivers that ran east to the Atlantic. It was reached by [[Peter Pond]] in 1778 and abandoned in 1883 when steamboats began running on the [[Athabasca River]] with links to the railroad. It ranks with [[Grand Portage National Monument|Grand Portage]] as one of the two most important and difficult portages used during the fur trade era.

'Methye' is Cree and 'La Loche' is French for a fish that is called '[[burbot]]' in English. Although 'Methye Portage' is often used the official name since 1957 is Portage La Loche.<ref>{{cite web
| title =Natural Resources Canada, Geographical Names (Portage La Loche)
| url = http://www4.rncan.gc.ca/search-place-names/unique/HASXV
| access-date = 2015-02-11}}</ref> Both names are used in historical documents, books and journals. [[Alexander Mackenzie (explorer)|Alexander Mackenzie]] in his book "Voyages from Montreal" used  both Portage la Loche and Mithy-Ouinigam Portage (in 1789–1793).<ref name="Mackenzie, Alexander Sir">{{Citation
|publisher = Printed for T. Cadell, Jun. and W. Davies ..., Cobbett and Morgan ..., and W. Creech, at Edinburgh, by R. Noble ...
|isbn = 066533950X
|location = London
|title = Voyages from Montreal
|url = https://archive.org/stream/cihm_33950#page/n45/mode/1up
|author = Mackenzie, Alexander Sir
|date = 1801
|id = 066533950X
}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Back, George Portage La Loche 1825.jpg|thumb|left|The Clearwater River valley from the portage by [[George Back]] in 1825]]
The Methye Portage had been in use by [[First Nations in Canada|indigenous peoples]] as a trade route for generations.  They introduced it to Peter Pond<ref name=Nw2001/><ref>{{Citation|last = Calverley |first =Dorthea | title = Peter Pond, Methye Portage and the First Northern Alberta Trading Post| work = History is Where You Stand: A History of Peace  | publisher = South Peace Historical Society  | url = http://www.calverley.ca/Part%2002%20-%20Fur%20Trade/2-005.html  | access-date = 2008-06-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054021/http://www.calverley.ca/Part%2002%20-%20Fur%20Trade/2-005.html |archive-date= 2013-09-21}}</ref> in 1778.  Although [[Anthony Henday]] had come within sight of the [[Rocky Mountains]] in 1754 by overland routes to the south, the advance of western exploration was limited until this [[fur trade]] transportation route to the Athabasca opened.   The portage was in constant use until 1883 when the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]] reached [[Calgary]] ending more than 100 years as the main access to the north.<ref name=macgregor>{{Citation   | last = MacGregor  | first = James G.  | title = Peter Fidler, Canada's Forgotten Explorer 1769-1822  | publisher = Fifth House  | location=Calgary  | year = 1998  | edition = 3rd  | isbn = 1-894004-19-1}}</ref>{{rp|23}}  From the winter of 1822, [[York boat]]s came into use on this route in addition to canoes.  Furs were transported up the [[Clearwater River (Saskatchewan)|Clearwater River]] by crews who would bring them to the centre of the portage, where they would be picked up by crews from [[Norway House]] for that portion of their transport.<ref name=Morton>{{Citation   | last =Morton   | first =Arthur S |author2=Lewis G Thomas | title =A History of the Canadian West to 1870-71 | publisher =University of Toronto Press    | location =Toronto   | edition =2nd | isbn = 0-8020-4033-0   | oclc =666891   | year =1973}}</ref>{{rp|705}}

It also allowed for the spread of [[smallpox]] to previously untouched indigenous populations, decimating them in a matter of years.<ref name="Mackenzie, Alexander Sir"/><ref>{{Citation
 | last = Fenn
 | first = Elizabeth A.
 | title = History Today (The Great Smallpox Epidemic)
 | url=http://www.historytoday.com/elizabeth-fenn/great-smallpox-epidemic
 | access-date = 2012-10-12 }}</ref>

The Methye Portage was also used by [[Alexander Mackenzie (explorer)|Sir Alexander Mackenzie]] on his exploratory expedition to the west coast, an expedition which reached the [[Pacific Ocean]] in 1793, fully 12 years before the more famous [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]].<ref name="Mackenzie, Alexander Sir"/>

From 1826 to the early 1870s the [[Portage La Loche Brigade]] from [[Fort Garry]] arrived at the Portage in July. This famous brigade of York boats would then return via Norway House and [[York Factory]] to the [[Red River Colony|Red River Settlement]]; a {{convert|4000|mi|abbr=on}} round trip. For a number of years this brigade was under the leadership of [[Alexis Bonami]].<ref>{{cite web
| title =Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online (Alexis Bonami)
| url =http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=5381&&PHPSESSID=mgc39kn2cvca9n6vbbs3lipfv7
| access-date =2012-10-12 }}</ref>

===Missionary activity===
After the first [[Oblate]]s opened a mission in [[Île-à-la-Crosse]] in 1846 <ref name="Champagne1949">{{cite book|author=Joseph Étienne Champagne|title=Les missions catholiques dans l'Ouest canadien, 1818-1875|url=http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/728/76.html|year=1949|publisher=Éditions des Études Oblates|page=76}}</ref> a [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] priest was usually present when the brigades arrived at the portage. They were well received by the French [[Métis people (Canada)|Métis]] from the Red River Colony and by the [[Chipewyan]]. Father [[Émile Petitot]] describes his reception in 1862.
{{quote|"We stayed at this mission, Father [[Émile Grouard]] and myself until the departure of the Mackenzie brigade, that is twelve days. I took advantage of the time to raise a conical chapel which I covered with white covers and colored decorations. An altar surrounded in white cloth stood the whole time we were there. It was in this improvised little temple that I had the joy of singing [[Solemn Mass|High Mass]] on the Sunday after our arrival, and to celebrate the holy mysteries each day in front of more than three hundred and fifty people, both Métis and indigenous."|(translation)<ref>{{cite web
| title =History of La Loche (Dene Tipis)
| url =https://sites.google.com/site/portagelaloche/grand-portage-la-loche/3a-dene-tipis
| access-date =2012-10-12 }}</ref>}}

In July 1845 [[Louis Schmidt (politician)|Louis Laferte dit Schmidt]],<ref name="Gagné2000">{{cite book|author=Peter J. Gagné|title=French-Canadians of the West: A Biographical Dictionary of French-Canadians and French Métis of the Western United States and Canada|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aKsiSAAACAAJ|publisher=Quintin Publications|page=472|year=2000}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| title =rootsweb (METISGEN-L Archives)
| url =http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/METISGEN/2001-10/1001975534
| access-date =2012-10-12 }}</ref> who was born on December 4, 1844, at Old Fort near
Fort Chipewyan, was baptised at Methye Portage by Father [[Jean-Baptiste Thibault]].<ref>{{cite web
| title =Memorable Manitobans: Louis Schmidt (1844-1935)
| url =http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/schmidt_l.shtml
| access-date =2012-10-12 }}</ref> Another noted baptism at Methye Portage was [[François Beaulieu II|Francois Beaulieu]] who was baptised in 1848 by Bishop [[Alexandre-Antonin Taché]].<ref>{{cite web
 |last        = Lorenz
 |first       = Caroline & Rod
 |title       = Native Spirituality - François Beaulieu
 |work        = Olive Leaf Journalc/o
 |publisher   = A People of Peace Community, Inc.
 |url         = http://www.peace.mb.ca/00.Native/nlrnz11.htm
 |access-date  = 2009-10-05
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20081011194623/http://www.peace.mb.ca/00.Native/nlrnz11.htm
 |archive-date = 2008-10-11
}}
</ref>

==Route==

[[File:Lac La Loche in Saskatchewan.JPG|thumb|Lac La Loche with a view towards the Portage]]
The trade route began on [[Lake Winnipeg]] and ran west up the [[Saskatchewan River]] to [[Cumberland House, Saskatchewan]], north up the [[Sturgeon-Weir River]], across [[Frog Portage]] to the [[Churchill River (Hudson Bay)|Churchill River]], west up the Churchill past the depot on [[Lac Île-à-la-Crosse]], through [[Peter Pond Lake]] to [[Lac La Loche]]. The portage proper, which is {{convert|19|km|abbr=on}} long,  began at Wallis Bay on the north side of Lac La Loche. The path ascends slowly for {{convert|8|mi|abbr=on}} to the small Rendezvous Lake. Here, crews coming from the north and south would exchange their loads. Different boats were used on the two sides of the portage and were rarely carried across it. The path ascends slowly from Rendezvous Lake until there is suddenly a view of the Clearwater River valley and the path descends about {{convert|180|m|abbr=on}} in {{convert|3|or|4|mi|abbr=on}} to the Clearwater. The altitude of Lac La Loche is about {{convert|1460|ft|abbr=on}}, Rendezvous Lake about {{convert|1680|ft|abbr=on}} and the Clearwater about {{convert|1035|ft|abbr=on}}. This section is so steep that sledges, horses and oxen were used. The portage road, which is wide enough for a wagon, is still visible. Having used the portage to reach the Mackenzie River basin, the route went west down the Clearwater River to the modern [[Fort McMurray]] and then north down Athabasca River to Fort Chipewyan and beyond.<ref name="Morse1969">{{cite book|author=Eric W. Morse|title=Fur trade canoe routes of Canada/Then and now|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o-eRAAAAIAAJ|year=1969|publisher=Queen's Printer}}</ref>

===Staging area===

[[File:Franklin map fur route 3751971809 c0c67ca7d3 o huge map (2).jpg|thumb|500px|right|This section of [[John Franklin|John Franklin's]] [[Coppermine Expedition of 1819–22|1819-20 expedition map]] shows the [[North American fur trade|fur trade]] route from [[Peter Pond Lake]], up the [[La Loche River (Saskatchewan)|La Loche River]] (Methye River), across [[Lac La Loche]] (Methye Lake), across the Portage to the west flowing [[Clearwater River (Saskatchewan)|Clearwater River]] then north up the [[Athabasca River]]. Early trading posts of the [[North West Company]] and the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] are shown on the south west side of Lac La Loche.]]

For two weeks every July the south end of the portage was the main [[staging area]] for transferring freight from each end of the trail.

In 1862 there were 400 people<ref>{{Citation
|publisher = Letouzey et Ané
|isbn = 0665304463
|ol = 24242593M
|location = Paris
|title = En route pour la mer Glaciale (page 271)
|author = Émile Petitot
|date = 1887
|id = 0665304463
}}</ref> at the portage according to Father Émile Petitot. There were the two Portage La Loche brigades with 7 boats each and the Athabasca and Mackenzie brigades with 5 boats each. They had 225 men as crew and over 30 passengers.<ref>{{cite web
| title =History of La Loche (People at the Portage in 1862)
| url =https://sites.google.com/site/portagelaloche/grand-portage-la-loche/3-people-at-the-portage-1862
| access-date =2012-10-12 }}</ref>
One ''canot du nord'' arrived with a crew of 6-8 [[Iroquois]] and two passengers. [[Dene]] residents from the surrounding area were camped at the portage in a [[tipi]] village of 150 people.<ref>{{cite web
| title =Peel's Prairie Provinces (Peel 9595)
| url =http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/9595/12.html?qid=peelbib
| access-date =2012-10-12 }}</ref> The [[Hudson's Bay Company]] had 10 employees at the fort who maintained the transportation depots at each end of the portage and brought in horses, oxen and carts for the season.

Petitot wrote "While there were no more than 400 people gathered at the time on the south side of the portage they gave us a little understanding of the confusion of languages at the [[Tower of Babel]]. There were people from French Canada, Scotland, Orkney, England, Norway. There were [[Woodland Cree]], [[Swampy Cree]], [[Ojibwe|Chippewa]], [[Chipewyan]], [[Dane-zaa|Beaver]] and Métis of all kinds. Grouard and I represented the French." (translation).<ref>{{cite web
| title =History of La Loche (Grand Portage La Loche 1862)
| url =https://sites.google.com/site/portagelaloche/grand-portage-la-loche/1862
| access-date =2012-10-12 }}</ref>

===Portage trail===
[[File:Portage la loche trail.jpg|thumb|500px|Made by rdlaloche in 2011]]

Names were given to different locations on the Portage trail by the [[fur brigade]]s. On the table starting from the south end are some of the names in French and their translation.<ref>{{cite web
| title =History of La Loche (Grand Portage La Loche)
| url = https://sites.google.com/site/portagelaloche/grand-portage-la-loche
| access-date =2012-10-12 }}</ref>

These resting places were measured in paces wrote [[John Richardson (naturalist)|Sir John Richardson]] in 1848. From the Tail of La Loche to Little Old Man the distance was 2,557 paces. Another 3,171 paces led to Fountain of Sand and so on. The total number of paces from the Tail of La Loche to The Meadow is 24,593 or 1,294 paces per kilometre.<ref>{{Citation
|publisher = Harper
|isbn = 0665391471
|location = New York
|title = Arctic searching expedition
|url = https://archive.org/stream/cihm_39147#page/n75/mode/2up
|author = Richardson, John Sir
|date = 1852
|id = 0665391471
}}</ref>
Most of these resting places on the Portage have not yet been identified. Under ideal conditions {{convert|19|km|abbr=on}} is walked at an easy pace in about 4 hours.

===Cemetery===
Along the Portage Trail there were marked graves from the fur trade era according to the following [[Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate|Oblate]] account written in 1933 by Father Louis Moraud.

{{quote|"We started walking the trail hoping to find a few traces of the past. But this place like the vast oceans keep their secrets. Nature and the elements soon erase every trace of man. Our guide showed us a place of burial. The cross had been razed by fire. Other crosses had marked the graves of a few more adventurers. These too had disappeared."|(translation).<ref>{{cite web
| title =Peel's Prairie Provinces (Peel 8473)
| url =http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/8473/16.html?qid=peelbib
| access-date =2012-10-12 }}</ref>}}

==National historic site==
[[File:La Loche May 13, 2013.jpg|thumb|Ice break-up on Lac La Loche May 13, 2013 (Ice covers the lake from about the middle of November to about the middle of May).]]
The Methye Portage was designated a [[National Historic Sites of Canada|National Historic Site]] in 1933<ref name="Methye">{{cite web
| title =Parks Canada (Methye Portage National Historic Event)
| url =http://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=1640
| access-date =2012-10-13 }}</ref> and the Clearwater River was designated a [[Canadian Heritage Rivers System|Canadian Heritage River]] in 1986.<ref>{{cite web
 |title=Canadian Heritage Rivers 
 |url=http://www.chrs.ca/en/rivers.php 
 |access-date=2012-10-14 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120803005403/http://www.chrs.ca/en/rivers.php 
 |archive-date=2012-08-03 
}}</ref> Today the Methye Portage and the Saskatchewan portion of the Clearwater River are within the [[Clearwater River Provincial Park]].

A bronze plaque is set in a stone cairn at the entrance to the portage. The dedication is written in French and English. The English version is quoted:
{{quote|"In 1778 Peter Pond became the first white man to cross the 12 mile portage between Lac La Loche and the Clearwater River, thus opening the rich Athabasca region to direct trade. For over forty years, until the opening of the Edmonton-Fort Assiniboine trail, this portage was the only practical link with the Athabasca and the Peace and Mackenzie rivers beyond. Many famous traders and explorers followed this route. In the 1820s, the practice of hauling boats over the watershed was discontinued and a York boat terminus was established at each end of the portage."<br>Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.  Government of Canada<ref name="Methye"/>}}

==See also==
*[[Canadian canoe routes]]
*[[Continental Divide]]

==References==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name=Nw2001>
{{cite news 
| url         = https://books.google.com/books?id=7fSjmXgjVggC&q=ramparts&pg=PA23
| title       = North of Athabasca: Slave Lake and Mackenzie River Documents of North West Company, 1800-1821
| publisher   = [[North West Company]]
| author      = Lloyd Keith
| date        = 2001
| pages       = 10  
| isbn        = 9780773520981
| access-date  = 2017-04-29
}}
</ref>
}}

*Eric W. Morse, "Fur Trade Canoe Routes of Canada, Then and Now",1984

==External links==
{{GeoGroup}}

*South end of Portage {{coord|56|34|30|N|109|41|52|W}}
*Rendezvous Lake near centre of Methye Portage {{coord|56|40|20|N|109|48|11|W}}
*North end of Portage {{coord|56|43|08|N|109|51|45|W}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100807155834/http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/portage_la_loche.html Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan]

{{coord|56|34|26.74|N|109|41|58.25|W|display=title}}
{{Saskatchewan parks}}
{{Fur trade regions}}

[[Category:Portages in Canada]]
[[Category:Hudson's Bay Company trading posts]]
[[Category:Historic trails and roads in Saskatchewan]]