It was on the main canoe route from Hudson Bay to the Saint Lawrence (James Bay, Moose Factory, Abitibi River, Lake Abitibi, portage, Lake Timiskaming, Ottawa River southeast to Montreal).

Circa 1679, Montreal merchants established a fort on the west side of Lake Timiskaming to compete with the English posts on the Hudson Bay, but it was destroyed by the Iroquois in 1688.

[3] In 1720, a new Fort Témiscamingue was founded by French merchants[4] on the east side of The Narrows where the two shores of Lake Timiskaming come closer than 250 meters (820 ft) to each other,[5] a former Algonquin encampment site called "Obadjiwan Point" (meaning "the strait where the current flows").

The mission comprised a presbytery for the Oblate fathers, a small hospital operated by two Grey Sisters of the Cross, and eventually a frame church.

[2] Of the fort itself not much remained, but a modern visitor's centre, exhibits, and reenactments highlight the cultural history of the place.