Grand Portage, Minnesota

The British North West Company built its inland headquarters at Grand Portage; the post was active until 1802.

It was at the point where a major canoe fur trade route of the voyageurs left the great lakes.

Soon Grand Portage became one of Britain's four main fur trading posts, along with Niagara, Detroit, and Michilimackinac.

[6] Even after the American Revolutionary War and victory by the rebellious colonists, the British continued to operate in the area.

Under the Treaty of Paris in 1783, Britain had to cede former territory to the United States, including this area.

Finally with the signing of the Jay Treaty in 1796 defining the northern border between Canada and the US, British traders planned to move from Grand Portage.

In 1802 the traders planned to move north to create a new center, what they called Fort William.

[7] The North West Company moved its headquarters northward to what they named Fort William.

After British fur traders abandoned the area, it rapidly declined economically until fisheries and logging became popular in the 19th century.