Hunter Island (Ontario)
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Hunter Island, or Hunters Island, is a large land mass — now known not to be an actual island — which occupies the area between the two most historically significant
fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...
waterway routes in northern
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada: the
Kaministiquia Kaministiquia () is a community in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in the Thunder Bay District on Highway 102 approximately 30 kilometres west of Thunder Bay. A designated place served by a local services board, Kaministiquia had a popu ...
and the
Grand Portage Grand Portage National Monument is a U.S. National Monument, United States National Monument located on the north shore of Lake Superior in northeastern Minnesota that preserves a vital center of fur trade activity and Anishinaabeg Ojibwe heritag ...
. It is an area of large, remote and windy lakes and is now the southern half of the
Quetico Provincial Park Quetico Provincial Park is a large wilderness park in Northwestern Ontario, Canada, known for its excellent canoeing and fishing. The park shares its southern border with Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which is part of the ...
.


Geography

Hunter Island is bounded to the south by Ottertrack, Knife, and
Basswood ''Tilia americana'' is a species of tree in the family Malvaceae, native to eastern North America, from southeast Manitoba east to New Brunswick, southwest to northeast Oklahoma, southeast to South Carolina, and west along the Niobrara River to ...
lakes on the international
Canada–United States border The border between Canada and the United States is the longest international border in the world. The terrestrial boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Can ...
, to the east by
Saganaga Lake Saganaga Lake is a large lake on the Minnesota – Ontario international border. Most of the lake is protected by the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in the United States and by Quetico Provincial Park and La Verendrye Provincial Park in ...
, to the north by Kawnipi and
Sturgeon Sturgeon is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretace ...
lakes, and on the west by the
Maligne River The Maligne River ( ) is a medium-sized river in the Canadian Rockies. It runs through parts of Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada. The Maligne is a major tributary of the Athabasca River. The river takes from the French word for malignant or ...
. With the Saganaga-Maligne drainage to the east and north and the Basswood drainage to the south and west, Hunter Island can be thought of as a
peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...
connected to the United States across the Monument Portage between Swamp and Ottertrack Lakes. The "island" is approximately across at its maximum east–west extent and about north to south.


History

A very early French map of the region indicates ''Iles des Chasseurs'' ("Isles of the Hunters") for the area now called Hunter Island. In the 1890s, the Hunter Island region was the focus of a boundary dispute between the United States and Canada, owing to the millions of tons of
iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...
in the area. The controversy was settled in favour of Canada.


Canoeing

A canoe loop circumnavigating Hunter Island measures over and normally takes at least twelve days to complete. It passes through some of the busiest access points to the park and wilderness areas as well as many notable natural and historical features.


Lakes of the Hunter Island region

*
Agnes Lake Lake Agnes may refer to: * Lake Agnes (Alberta) in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada * Lake Agnes (Colorado) in Colorado, United States * Lake Agnes (Florida) in Florida, United States, site of Fantasy_of_flight * Lake Agnes (Minnesota) * Lak ...
* Kahshahpiwi Lake * Kawnipi Lake *
Saganaga Lake Saganaga Lake is a large lake on the Minnesota – Ontario international border. Most of the lake is protected by the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in the United States and by Quetico Provincial Park and La Verendrye Provincial Park in ...
* Sarah Lake * McIntyre Lake * Brent Lake *
Basswood Lake ''Tilia americana'' is a species of tree in the family Malvaceae, native to eastern North America, from southeast Manitoba east to New Brunswick, southwest to northeast Oklahoma, southeast to South Carolina, and west along the Niobrara River to ...
* Sturgeon Lake (Quetico)


References

{{authority control Canada–United States border Islands of Ontario Landforms of Rainy River District