Fort Témiscamingue was a
trading post from the 17th century in
Duhamel-Ouest, Quebec
Duhamel-Ouest is a municipality in northwestern Quebec, Canada in the Témiscamingue Regional County Municipality.
Located at a narrows of Lake Timiskaming, Duhamel-Ouest is home to the Fort Témiscamingue, a National Historic Site of Can ...
, near
Ville-Marie, Canada, located on the
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 ...
route on the east shore of
Lake Timiskaming. The fort is a
National Historic Site, operated as part of the national park system by
Parks Canada
Parks Canada (PC; french: Parcs Canada),Parks Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Parks Canada Agency (). is the agency of the Government of Canada which manages the country's 48 National Parks, th ...
, in partnership with the
Timiskaming First Nation.
History

Since
Lake Timiskaming is at the northwest "corner" of the
Ottawa River
The Ottawa River (french: Rivière des Outaouais, Algonquin: ''Kichi-Sìbì/Kitchissippi'') is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word 'to trade', as it was the major trade route of Eastern ...
where its course turns from west to southeast, the lake is a natural site for a trading post. It was on the main canoe route from Hudson Bay to the Saint Lawrence (
James Bay,
Moose Factory,
Abitibi River,
Lake Abitibi
Lake Abitibi (french: Lac Abitibi, oj, Aabitibiiwi-zaaga’igan) is a shallow lake in northeastern Ontario and western Quebec, Canada. The lake, which lies within the vast Clay Belt, is separated in two distinct portions by a short narrows, ma ...
, portage, Lake Timiskaming, Ottawa River southeast to Montreal). The lake was about the midpoint of a forty-day journey.
The
Hudson Bay expedition (1686)
The Hudson Bay expedition of 1686 was one of the Anglo-French conflicts on Hudson Bay. It was the first of several expeditions sent from New France against the trading outposts of the Hudson's Bay Company in the southern reaches of Hudson Bay. Le ...
was the first European group to use the route.
Circa 1679, Montreal merchants established a fort on the west side of Lake Timiskaming to compete with the English posts on the
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay ( crj, text=ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, translit=Wînipekw; crl, text=ᐐᓂᐹᒄ, translit=Wînipâkw; iu, text=ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓗᐊ, translit=Kangiqsualuk ilua or iu, text=ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᖅ, translit=Tasiujarjuaq; french: b ...
, but it was destroyed by the
Iroquois in 1688.
[Conseil de la culture de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue, ''Cultural Heritage and Tourism Discovery Guide'', ] In 1720, a new Fort Témiscamingue was founded by French merchants
[Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada] on the east side of The Narrows where the two shores of Lake Timiskaming come closer than to each other,
a former
Algonquin encampment site called "Obadjiwan Point" (meaning "the strait where the current flows").
After the fall of New France the post was re-occupied by independent traders, the
North West Company
The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what is present-day Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario. With great weal ...
(1788) and the
Hudson's Bay Company (1821). At the insistence of
George Simpson (administrator) it was supplied from Moose Factory rather than the more efficient Montreal. After 1863 it was again supplied from Montreal due to improvements in the transportation system. The arrival of lumbermen and later railroads and steamboats transformed the trading post into a general store. In 1887 the main store moved to
Ville-Marie, Quebec. The fort lingered on until it was closed in 1902.
[Parks Canada, ''Fort Témiscamingue National Historic Site'' leaflet, ] Around 1980 there were only some standing chimneys, but today there is a historic site.
A
Roman Catholic mission originally established at Fort Témiscamingue on the eastern shore of Lake Timiskaming in present-day Quebec was relocated to the Ontario shore of the lake in 1863. The mission comprised a presbytery for the
Oblate fathers
In Christianity (especially in the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Methodist traditions), an oblate is a person who is specifically dedicated to God or to God's service.
Oblates are individuals, either laypersons or clergy, normally livi ...
, a small hospital operated by two
Grey Sisters of the Cross
Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed ...
, and eventually a frame church.
Ontario Heritage Trust Timiskaming Mission
. Heritagefdn.on.ca. Retrieved on 2012-05-15.
National historic site
Declared a national historic site in 1931, the site is notable for its cultural and natural heritage. The park's territory is mainly three distinct natural areas: the plateau, the escarpments and the lowlands. Overall, over 80% of the total area of the park is a wooded area with approximately 20 different stands and a number of plants from the climatic forest type of the Laurentian maple stand and the Upper St. Lawrence forest sub-region. Of particular interest is a forest of cedar trunks so twisted that it was nicknamed the "Enchanted Forest".
Of the fort itself not much remained, but a modern visitor's centre, exhibits, and reenactments highlight the cultural history of the place.
References
External links
Parks Canada official site
Tourisme Temiscamingue
Temiscamingue Portal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fort Temiscamingue
Tourist attractions in Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Buildings and structures in Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Military forts in Quebec
National Historic Sites in Quebec
Hudson's Bay Company forts
Museums in Abitibi-Témiscamingue
History museums in Quebec
Protected areas of Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Forts or trading posts on the National Historic Sites of Canada register