From the late 1600s to about 1820 the chain of waterways of which Minnesota's border lakes form a segment was the thoroughfare of a vast fur trading empire. As its longest, this water route stretched from Montreal to Lake Athabasca, and over it a . . . — — Map (db m8363) HM
Steamboats on the Rainy River
As a part of the fabled “Voyageurs’ Highway” of rivers and lakes, Rainy Lake and the Rainy River saw a traffic of fur trade canoes for nearly two centuries before the first steamer, the Louise Thompson, . . . — — Map (db m206948) HM