The Birchbark Canoe

American Indians developed the birchbark canoe hundreds or thousands of years ago, and it provided the technology that allowed the North West Company to span the continent. The twenty-four-foot north canoes, called canots du Nord, could be portaged around rapids by two men, carried a one-and-a-half-ton cargo, and were used between Grand Portage and the Canadian Northwest. Master canoes, also called Montreal canoes or maitre canots, were about thirty-six feet long, carried a cargo of more than three-and-a-half tons, were propelled by a crew of up to fourteen voyageurs, and transported goods between Montreal and Grand Portage.

Grand Marais, Minnesota · United States