Читать книгу Boundary Waters Canoe Area: Western Region онлайн

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Throughout the 18th century, the French Canadian Voyageurs paddled their birch-bark canoes from the hinterlands of northwestern Canada to the shores of Lake Superior, transporting furs from trappers toward the European markets. But the Voyageurs era was short-lived. By the mid-1800s, the populations of fur-bearing animals that had once flourished in the region were nearly depleted. The trappers moved on to more promising areas and the colorful Voyageur era came to an end.

After years of boundary disputes between the British and Americans, the two governments signed the Webster-Ashburton Treaty in 1842. It established the international boundary along the “customary” route of the fur traders. The Americans had argued that the customary route of the Voyageurs was along the Kaministikwia and Maligne rivers to the north. The British had claimed that the St. Louis River, far to the south, should constitute the boundary. The existing boundary was a compromise.

During the latter half of the 19th century, settlers moving into the area took up farming, logging, and mining. Mineral prospectors first sought gold along the border region, and a short-lived gold rush attracted considerable attention to the area. Far more important to northeastern Minnesota, however, was the discovery of high-grade iron ore. Numerous mines sprung up at the present sites of Ely and Soudan, and in the area southwest of those towns. After the railroad penetrated this part of the country, extensive logging and mining operations threatened to devastate the entire region.