Lac La Biche - History - Transportation

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Portage La Biche

The portage at Lac La Biche is one of the most difficult on the waterway system coming from Montreal and going to the North. In this section, local historians present the case for the importance of "Portage La Biche".

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"Les rivières sont des chemins qui marchent et qui portent où l'on veut aller." Pascal Pensées

Portage La Biche: Where Is It? Is It Significant?
by Mike Maccagno and Edward McCullough

The historic portage at Lac La Biche may have been more aptly called the "Forgotten Portage" as it is mentioned in passing in but a few history books. Indeed, it is only following the completion of the preliminary historical studies initiated by Alberta Vocational Centre that the portage is popularly being referred to by its proper name, "Portage La Biche".

Although the existence of a portage over the height of land between the Beaver River and Lac La Biche was known, the research studies sponsored by the Alberta Vocational Centre indicate that the historical value and significance of this portage has been greatly underestimated. These studies suggest that Portage La Biche has been overlooked primarily because previous works have been all-encompassing rather than specific to northeastern Alberta. Also because research interests have tended to focus on the exploration of northern Athabasca Country, Portage La Biche and the southern aspects of Athabasca Country have been largely overshadowed.

Portage La Biche is one of the three principal entry points into Athabasca Country from Rupert’s Land (i.e., Hudson Bay Drainage Basin); the other two are Methy Portage or Portage La Loche and the height of land between Wollaston Lake and Hatchet Lake, both in the province of Saskatchewan. The entry point north of Wollaston Lake linked the Lake Athabasca basin with the Churchill River Basin, and by Peter Fidler’s, account was the route used by all the Southern Indians (Cree), some of the Beaver Indians, and some of the northern (Chipewyan) Indians travelling to Churchill prior to the settlement of Athabasca Country by the "Canadians".

Portage La Biche and Methy Portage provided the main connections between the Athabasca River and Churchill River Basins. They served different purposes, however Methy Portage was primarily used by traffic entering the Mackenzie and Peace Rivers while Portage La Biche was primarily used by fur traders exploiting the Lesser Slave Lake district on their way up Athabasca River to the Pacific Ocean via the Columbia River. Hence, their roles were complementary rather than competitive. According to Elliot Coues, renowned fur trade historian, it is because of Portage La Biche that Beaver River became an important transportation waterway known as the Beaver River Route. Situated along the southern edge of the boreal forest and outside the territory of the Blackfoot Indians who frequently attacked the fur brigades on the North Saskatchewan River, Beaver River provided safe access to Athabasca Country and the Columbia District by circumventing the northern great plains.

Portage La Biche is a monument to, and symbolic of, the crossing from the prehistoric to the historic era in the Lac La Biche region. It is the meeting place of two cultures and is of historical significance to peoples of both Native and white ancestry. The town’s slogan, "Portage to a Great Future", reflects the community’s belief in its potential and the contribution which it can make to the province. Portage La Biche is, therefore, symbolic of our past as well as our future.

Portage La Biche still exists as a Natural Area of Historical Significance and is situated southwest of the Town of Lac La Biche. Like Methy Portage, Portage La Biche is made up of a short portage and a long portage. At Methy, there was a long portage between the north end of Rendez- vous Lake and Clearwater River and a short portage between the south end of Rendezvous Lake and Lac La Loche. Similarly, at La Biche there was a short portage between Beaver River and Field Lake and a long portage across the wetland above Field Lake and Lac La Biche. The Short Portage, Field Lake, and the Long Portage are integrally related, constituting the final "leg" in entering the Arctic drainage system via the Beaver River Route.

While Methy Portage has been described as "one of the most important portages in the whole of the fur trade country", Portage La Biche has received little or no recognition. In fact, it has even been mistakenly stated that until the opening of the Edmonton-Fort Assiniboine Trail, the "Methy Portage was the only way to Athabasca", a comment which clearly indicates the lack of awareness about the significance of Portage La Biche and its role in the fur trade.

Portage La Biche was first documented by David Thompson of the North West Company in 1798 when he established Red Deer’s Lake House I on Lac La Biche. However, it is clear that the existence of the Portage was known prior to Thompson’s description because he was led to it by a "pilot" named Laderoote (a common Métis name) who clearly had crossed it many times prior to his crossing with David Thompson. In addition, the powerful Cree middlemen who were at the forefront of the fur trade undoubtedly crossed the Portage when they explored the Beaver River to its source, and proceeded onward to Lesser Slave Lake and the "war road" to the Peace River, driving the indigenous Native populations (likely Beaver Indians) from the area.

Peter Fidler, surveyor and fur trader of the Hudson’s Bay Company, used Portage La Biche to enter the Athabasca drainage system when he established the Hudson’s Bay Company’s first important fur trading post in Athabasca Country, Greenwich House. Fidler also provided the earliest map of the Portage.

The establishment of Greenwich House, built on behalf of York Factory, was a major event in the history of the Hudson’s Bay Company since it led to the end of the internal rivalry between Churchill Factory and York Factory for possession of the Athabasca Country. With York Factory gaining a stronghold at Greenwich House, the focus of the inland trade shifted, reducing the importance of Churchill. The establishment of Greenwich House also initiated the period of intense rivalry between the North West Company and the Hudson’s Bay Company in Athabasca Country and marked the beginning of the decline of the North West Company’s dominance in Athabasca Country. This rivalry terminated with the amalgamation of the two companies in 1821.

Following the abandonment of Red Deer’s Lake House I and Greenwich House, Portage La Biche was used by the Lesser Slave Lake Brigades as well as by free traders to enter the Athabasca River drainage basin. With David Thompson’s discovery of the Athabasca Pass in 1811, Portage La Biche provided the vital link between the Interior and the Columbia River trade beyond the Rocky Mountains. As a result of this discovery, Athabasca River and Beaver River also served as a primary transportation corridor to the Columbia River valley with Portage La Biche providing a crucial link. This travel route extended from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean - from Cumberland Lake it went north over Portage du Traite to Churchill River, Beaver River and Portage La Biche, down La Biche River to Athabasca River, over Athabasca Pass, and down Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean.

The route from the Columbia River Valley via Portage La Biche surveyed by Thompson was to become the main artery to the Columbia District used by the North West Company and by the Hudson’s Bay Company, following the amalgamation of the two concerns in 1821. The Columbia Express, the Hudson’s Bay Company mail canoe which carried yearly instructions and annual reports and conducted minor business transactions, utilized the route as did officers changing posts and new recruits assigned to the Columbia District.

In 1824 George Simpson, Governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company, while at Lac La Biche ordered the abandonment of the Beaver River Route in favour of a road linking Athabasca River to Fort Edmonton via Fort Assiniboine. (This road was built by Julian Cardinal of Lac La Biche.) George Simpson was able to effectively eliminate the Beaver River Route by uniting the transportation business of the Cumberland and Saskatchewan districts and the Lesser Slave Lake and Columbia districts into a single brigade large enough to force the Plains Indians to discontinue their attacks.

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