Louis Fornel is credited with establishing the first year-round trading post at North West River in 1743. Situated near the head of Hamilton Inlet at the mouth of the river and being a well forested area, all served to make it a prime location for fur traders. The Catholic missiom was established in 1867 and the missionaries traveled inland with the Montagnais Innu, mapping a good deal of Labrador's interior. In 1957 the Innu began to settle on the south side of the river at Sheshatshiu, meaning narrow place in the river.