Chequamegon Bay

Chequamegon Bay (/ʃəˈwɑːməɡən/ shə-WAH-mə-gən)[1] is an inlet of Lake Superior in Ashland and Bayfield counties in the extreme northern part of Wisconsin.

It was developed by refugee Petun, Huron, and Ottawa, who were fleeing the Beaver Wars and Iroquois invasions from the East after 1649.

Two French fur traders, Médard des Groseilliers and Pierre-Esprit Radisson, built a hut somewhere on the west shore of the bay, probably in 1658.

Other traders dwelt on this bay in 1660-1663 and were visited in the spring of 1661 by Father René Menard, the first Jesuit missionary to the Northwest.

In 1718 a French fort was built on the island where Louis Denis de la Ronde had a post for fur trading and exploration for copper mines.