The Namekagon Portage (sometimes referred to as the "Namekagon Court Oreilles Portage") was a well known canoe portage connecting the St. Croix River watershed to the Chippewa River watershed and was located about five miles south of the present day city of Hayward in Sawyer County, Wisconsin.
The route then led southward down the St. Croix to its junction with the Namekagon River.
[1] This was done by proceeding eastward from the St. Croix/Namekagon junction up the Namekagon River to the vicinity of current Hayward, Wisconsin.
His journal entry and survey journal for June 29 and 30, 1767 record his leaving the Ojibwe Indian village on Lac Courte Oreilles, passing through Grindstone Lake and Windigo Lake, and using the Namekagon Portage to reach the Namekagon River.
[3] The southeastern end of the Namekagon Portage is now indicated by a historical marker located approximately five and one-half miles south of Hayward on State Highway 27 (see external link below).