La Vase River

From this point, Canadian explorers and early fur-traders caught their first glimpse of Lake Nipissing as they paddled westward on their journey from Montreal by way of the Ottawa, Mattawa, and French Rivers to the Great Lakes. Champlain viewed this scene in 1615, and Recollet and Jesuit missionaries, Brûlé, Nicolet, Radisson, Groseilliers, LaSalle, DuLhut, LaVérendrye, MacKenzie, Fraser, and Thompson all passed this point by canoe. Until the end of the eighteenth century, the LaVase River formed part of the principal Trans-Canada canoe route of the Montreal fur-traders, some of whom traveled as far west as the Pacific Ocean. This historic route can be retraced across the North Bay Divide back to Trout Lake, the source of the Mattawa River.

Ontario · Canada