Canoe Warehouse at the Grand Portage Depot

Inside the Canoe Warehouse

NPS photo

Quick Facts

Amenities

6 listed

Benches/Seating, First Aid Kit Available, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Information - Ranger/Staff Member Present, Restroom - Accessible, Restroom - Seasonal

Why Outside the Stockade?

Archeological and historical data indicate that a large building stood here, probably a warehouse. It was built on a poor site which necessitated the use of pilings to level the foundation. Archeologists speculate that it belonged to an independent trader because adequate space still existed for additional NWCo. warehouses inside the stockade. It may have housed trade goods and supplies destined for Athabasca country in the far Northwest. These goods, packed in 90-pound bales, were carried from here to canoes waiting at Fort Charlotte, 8½ miles distant at the far end of the Grand Portage. From there they headed west through today’s Boundary Waters and Voyageurs National Park, and beyond to the fur country of the far west, the famed Pays d'en Haut, where the company’s fur posts awaited new supplies.

Historical Building Trades and Canoes

Today you can watch interpreters inside demonstrate woodworking, coopering, lathe work, basketry, carving, and canoe works. The warehouse also houses a collection of bark canoes to protect them from damaging sunlight. Two of them – a 38-foot Montreal Canoe (canot du maître) and a 26-foot North canoe (canot du Nord), both constructed by Bill Hafeman – hang from the rafters. These are the two main types of canoes in the trade that came from the East (Montreal) and went to the West (interior of the continent). Another, a ricing canoe donated by a local family, is over 80 years old.

The role of canoes during the Fur Trade.