Lake Superior North Shore

The North Shore of Lake Superior runs from Duluth, Minnesota, United States, at the southwestern end of the lake to Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, in the north to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, in the east. The shore is characterized by alternating rocky cliffs and cobblestone beaches, with rolling hills and ridges covered in boreal forest inland from the lake, through which scenic rivers and waterfalls descend as they flow to Lake Superior. Americans often refer only to the Minnesota shoreline from Duluth to the international border at Grand Portage as the North Shore.

Lake Superior was settled by Native Americans about 8,000 BC when the Wisconsin Glaciers began to retreat. By 500 BC, the Laurel people had established settlements in the area and had begun to trade metal with other native peoples. The Laurel people were animists and probably created many of the pictographs present on rock faces along the North Shore and other Canadian rock faces in order to communicate with spirits. In the 12th century AD, on the easternmost portion of the North Shore, the ancestors of the Ojibwa migrated into the area. These people left behind small pits dug in the ground which archaeologists now call Pukaskwa Pits. On the Minnesotan portion of the north shore, there are only three archaeological sites, so it cannot be determined who lived there at the time. By the 18th century, the Ojibwa had settled the length of the North Shore approximately as far as the modern Canadian-Minnesotan Border. The Minnesotan portion of the North Shore was settled mostly by the Cree, and the Dakota lived to the south.The first white explorer to reach Lake Superior was a Frenchman named Etienne Brule who was sent out by Samuel de Champlain to search for the northwest passage in 1623 or 1624. His exploration allowed Champlain to create the first map of the lake in 1632. Charles Raymbault and Isaac Jogues, Jesuit missionaries, were the next significant explorers, who tried to establish a more permanent missionary post further west but only got as far as Sault Ste. Marie.[2] In 1658, two French explorers, Radisson and Groseilliers, became the first whites to circumnavigate Lake Superior by sailing south along the North Shore. When they returned, they brought a flotilla of Native Americans with fur pelts, beginning interest in the fur trade in the Lake Superior region.

Conflicts between native tribes began to escalate towards war during this period when an alliance of Anishinabe tribes was formed and defeated the Ojibwa in a battle west of Sault Sainte Marie in 1662. This warfare between the tribes along Lake Superior prevented European trade in the area for several years. In 1670, the Hudson Bay Company was founded, which began the fur trade nonetheless. In the late 1670s, Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut, helped negotiate a more permanent peace between these tribes, thus providing safe trade across Lake Superior for the French. With this, the foundations for European settlement on the North Shore were laid. Fort Kaministiquia, around modern Thunder Bay was established in 1683. In 1688 Jacques de Noyon became the first European to visit the Boundary Waters region west of Lake Superior.

A war between Britain and France, followed by a sharp drop in fur prices, slowed exploration for several decades. In 1732, the French-Canadian La Vérendrye built Fort St. Pierre on Rainy Lake near the head of the Rainy River in order to gain access to the west.


The Great Hall at Grand PortageIn 1763, according to the terms of the Treaty of Paris, the British took possession of all French holdings east of the Mississippi River, including the North Shore. In 1784, the North West Company, the newly organized rival to the Hudson Bay Company, started moving traders into its new fort at Grand Portage. With new headquarters on the North Shore, the North West Company began to build 40 new forts and ports all along the North Shore and northern Minnesota. In 1821 the North West Company was forced to merge with the Hudson Bay Company.

With the eventual depletion of fur-bearing animals, the fur trade and associated settlement diminished.

In 1855, when a lock system first allowed steamboats onto the lake, rich Americans from the east began to travel onto Lake Superior for recreational purposes. The rich would then canoe or be ferried from Duluth up the North Shore, and would stay in hunting and fishing camps. In the 1920s, the North Shore highway was built, which helped make the North Shore accessible by land. At the same time, commercial fishermen began to go out of business as catches declined. Many of these fishermen built cabins and resorts, which were inhabited by more rich people on recreational trips. Certain exclusive clubs also bought land for resort and sport purposes. In the far north, the Naniboujou holding company built an exclusive lodge for the rich and famous, which was frequented by, among others, Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey. Further south, a group of Duluth businessmen, the Tettegouche Club, bought 9,346 acres (37.8 km²) of land for use as a private retreat.

During the early 20th century, the government decided that continued exploitation of the North Shore would destroy it. In 1909, Teddy Roosevelt organized the Superior National Forest, putting over 3 million acres (12,000 km²) of the forests between the North Shore and the Canadian border under protection. The government of Minnesota slowly began to acquire the lands which became the modern North Shore state parks. The first park to be formally organized was Jay Cooke State Park, in 1915. In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps established several camps organized along the North Shore and built rustic structures in what would become several North Shore state parks. The North Shore still has the old resorts which were built for the rich, but they have since changed hands to less elitist management.

Information courtesy of Wikipedia

About 300 miles in two days.

We spent two nights here. It was a lovely park right on Burlington Bay which is part of Lake Superior.

Our site.

She is getting pretty good at climbing in and out of swings now.

A pretty flower.

A flower for Mommy.

The view from the beach was incredible.
While we were here, we found out about a big cajun festival called the Bayou Boogie that was happening this weekend up in Grand Portage. We called the place where it would be and made site reservations.

Gooseberry Falls

We stopped at a few places on the way up to Grand Portage. This was Gooseberry Falls.

Several people commented on Marla's outfit. Apparently there aren't many ballerinas walking around in the north woods.
   

Splitrock Lighthouse
This was a fun stop. We went to the top of the lighthouse. They do not have the fog horns anymore, but they can still reproduce the sound. It was really loud.

Mark at a radar station.

An exhibit that shows the wrecks that occurred during the bad storms of 1905 and the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald 70 years later.

    

Grand Portage National Monument

The reconstructed Indian village and North West Company property and buildings are incredible. There are people dressed in period clothing that explain what everything is. They do a wonderful job and it was all very interesting. There are also two short films that explain how traders brought the goods east to Lake Superior and sold them to the North West Company.

This was a really nice fireplace.

A recreated North West Company building.

Showing how they made boats.

Woodworking tools of the time.

      

Grand Portage Lodge and Casino
This is where the Bayou Boogie was. We had a very good time here.

The food was delicious.

Marla would only eat the bread. I think the rest was too spicy for her.

    

Lining up to watch the parade. They had two parades each day. One for adults, one for kids.

This was the kid's Mardi Gras parade.

The Queen.

The King of the parade.

The kids in the parade seemed to have a great time.

She has really cool glasses.

 

Marla got several bead necklaces on the second day that we watched the parade. The first day she was too overwhelmed to get close to the people in the parade.

Grand Portage State Park and the High Falls
The High Falls are the highest falls in Minnesota. We decided to go visit them before we left.

This flower is making me sneeze!

Rainbow Dots and Mr. Elephant go for a ride on Marla's Mardi Gras beads.

Canada is on the other side of the Pigeon River from where we are standing.

We're tired after all that walking.

      

Canada

Since we were so close to the border (you can see the border from the State Park entrance), we decided to go to Canada for lunch. It was neat. I've never left the country before.

This is where we stopped for lunch, about 15 miles into Canada.

Waiting to enter America again.