The Great Carrying Place

Have you ever travel to some of America’s rugged frontier locations and wondered about the stamina and hardships of the early pioneers and explorers who first managed to traverse the harsh wilderness? I’ve often wondered about the spirit and struggles they faced when I’ve visited the Appalachians, the Badlands, the Rocky Mountains, and my own beloved Great Lakes and rivers leading into the west. 

Shooting the Rapids, 1871 by Frances Anne Hopkins (1838–1919)

In my latest release, Mist O’er the Voyageur, I dug deep into my imagination for what it must have been like to be among those who first voyaged across the broadest fresh-water lake in the world, Lake Superior. I have the blessing of living near that great beauty, as powerful and raging at times as an ocean or as tranquil and refreshing as a 1300-foot-deep bathtub - but a lot colder!

Can you imagine what it took for explorers, natives, and fur-traders, to paddle those waters before tall ships were able to navigate them, due to the Sault Sainte-Marie, the “Rapids of Saint Mary,” in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula?  Many such dangerous places had to be circumvented by portage of the long voyageurs’ canoes. The larger ones called Montreal Canoes were more than thirty feet in length and had to be carried overhead, along with their thousands of pounds of cargo, for as many as twelve rocky miles in order to get around the larger falls and chutes.

Grand Portage National Monument

One such place on the voyageurs’ journey, which was used to transport the rich furs from the North American interior, was called le Grand Portage – or the Great Carrying Place. This trail covered an 8.5-mile distance along the Pigeon River near the border of Minnesota and Canada not far from the shore of Lake Superior, where the river emptied. In the interior of the continent, the men traveled by a shorter version of voyageur canoe called a North Canoe, or even smaller, traditional birch bark canoes. Imagine not only carrying those canoes over steep and rocky terrain but also having to carry two, 90-pound packs or bales of furs on one’s back. Yikes! Those men had to have been built like tree trunks to have hauled those loads.

In Mist O’er the Voyageur, my heroine, Brigitte Marchal attempts to flee a cruel suitor in Montreal by disguising herself as a young man and joining a voyageurs’ brigade to take her deep into the wilderness. There, she hopes to find her long-missing, fur-trader father. Of course, her disguise does not last long while having to face such harrowing tasks as hauling heavy packs and paddling the long canoes. As she grows accustomed to the life of a voyageur, and her faith and heart’s desires are challenged, she visits many places, le Grand Portage among them. Here, the mystery of her search deepens and brings new fears.

Nowadays, in August each year, the Great Carrying Place is celebrated with a rendezvous re-enactment at the Grand Portage National Monument, at the reconstructed fort that once was bustling with fur-trade activity. The Rendezvous replicates the annual Great Rendezvous that took place there each summer in the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries. The fort was initially built for trade between the Native American tribes, the Métis people who lived in the lake region of Upper Canada, and the European traders who came from places like Montreal. When the Americans took over, the French fort was moved further north near Thunder Bay and renamed Fort William. The current fort of Grand Portage is now a National Monument worth visiting both for its gorgeous vistas and its historical significance.

I would love to share more gorgeous photos of Grand Portage and the annual Rendezvous, but I’m going to direct you to take a look at this site I’ve linked since I do not hold the copyright. Next year I hope to attend the Grand Portage Rendezvous myself – and maybe I’ll gather my courage to try a taste of the haggis cooked by the voyageur re-enactors or fulfill a bucket list dream to ride the waves in a voyageur’s Montreal canoe!

How about you? Have you visited any fur trading landmarks or sites around the Great Lakes like my heroine Brigitte in Mist O’er the Voyageur?

Naomi will be giving away 3 e-copies of Mist O’er the Voyageur during October, and a Grand Prize of a signed paperback copy, lovely art, and other swag on October 31^st. Enter the Rafflecopter drawing below win! Winners will be notified via Naomi’s blog and her newsletter.

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ABOUT THE BOOK:

After her aunt's death, Métis woman Brigitte Marchal finds herself alone in Montreal. Uninterested in the convent and desperate to flee a loathsome suitor, she disguises herself as a young man to travel west by voyageurs' brigade in search of her long-absent, fur-trader father. But her inexperience and disguise don't hide her for long.

René Dufour yields to the unwelcome position of shielding Brigitte, but he cannot hide her identity forever. Keeping her safe while meeting his North West Company obligations and honoring his family promises may prove to be more disquieting to his heart than he imagined.

As Brigitte adjusts to the voyageur life on Lake Superior, she struggles to justify the faith she grew up in with the mysticism around her, but greater still is the conflict her heart must settle over who to trust in this rugged, unfamiliar country. 

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