Lac La Biche - History - Transportation

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Portage La Biche 2

While the Beaver River route was officially abandoned by the Hudson’s Bay Company it is unlikely that canoe traffic completely ceased using the portage. Free traders and Natives undoubtedly continued to use the Beaver River Route and adjacent horse trail to Lac La Biche until the Saddle Lake Trail was cut in the mid 1800’s. Indeed, the area surrounding Portage La Biche was a favoured area for settlement by Métis affiliated with or formerly affiliated with the fur trade from the time of its discovery. With the families of Desjarlais, Cardinal and Nadeau focusing their activities around Portage La Biche, one of the earliest Métis settlements in Alberta came into being. "Stovepipe City" and "Dog Bark City" on the edge of Portage La Biche represented the continuation of this early Métis settlement.

The significance of Portage La Biche

Portage La Biche is judged to be a significant historical site for the following reasons:

It is one of two main portages which provided a link between the Athabasca River and Churchill River drainage systems. The other, Methy Portage or Portage La Loche, is situated in the province of Saskatchewan and provided a link between Lac La Loche and the Clearwater River. Both portages are, however, unique in that they had different purposes. Traffic over Methy Portage was primarily destined for the Peace and Mackenzie Rivers whereas traffic over Portage La Biche was primarily destined for the southern portion of Athabasca Country or the Pacific Ocean.
Portage La Biche is integrally related to the founding of Red Deer’s Lake House I by David Thompson in 1798 and Greenwich House by Peter Fidler in 1799. Greenwich House, the first Hudson’s Bay Company post built in Athabasca Country, was built in direct response to the North West Company’s establishment of Red Deer’s Lake House I on Lac La Biche. Prior to the establishment of Red Deer’s Lake House I, William Tomison, organizer of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Saskatchewan trade against the North West Company, did not support discoveries outside the Saskatchewan River. With the North West Company building Red Deer’s House I and linking it with Fort George, their post on the North Saskatchewan River, trade outside the North Saskatchewan could no longer be ignored by Tomison. This and possibly the decline of trade on Saskatchewan River led to Tomison initiating a Hudson’s Bay Company trading endeavour in Athabasca Country via the North Saskatchewan emanating from Buckingham House, the Hudson’s Bay Company post adjacent to Fort George. Portage La Biche, therefore, provided the vital transportation link for the founding of Greenwich House, the first Hudson’s Bay Company post in Athabasca Country, and marked the beginning of the intense rivalry between the Hudson’s Bay Company and North West Company in Athabasca Country. The portage also played an important role in the Hudson’s Bay Company’s internal affairs since York Factory’s success in establishing Greenwich House led to Churchill Factory’s loss of the inland fur trade to York.
Portage La Biche is the reason why the Beaver River became an important water route in the early fur trade. The Beaver River Route and Portage La Biche were important to the trade in the Lesser Slave Lake district. Portage La Biche was also a critical link in Canada’s first important transcontinental communication system which resulted in the establishment of a trade network reaching from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The portage was used by the North West Company en route to the Pacific to establish trading operations and by the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Columbia Express. Portage La Biche remained an important link in the Hudson’s Bay Company transportation system until 1824 when Sir George Simpson ordered the abandonment of the route in favour of a trail linking Fort Edmonton to Athabasca River. The abandonment of Portage La Biche was an important aspect of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s attempt to rationalize the fur trade during the period 1821 to 1859 by discontinuing the use of inefficient transportation routes.
Portage La Biche was the focal point for the establishment of one of the earliest Métis settlements in Alberta. The Métis were enlisted in the transport of goods and canoes across the portage and their presence at the portage ensured an easier crossing. In addition, the Métis continued to occupy the area following the abandonment of the Beaver River Route resulting in a permanent settlement which so successfully competed in the fur trade that in 1853 Governor George Simpson was forced to re-open a Hudson’s Bay Company trading post at Lac La Biche.
Portage La Biche is associated with important fur trade personages such as David Thompson, Peter Fidler, Angus Shaw, Governor George Simpson, Charles Isham, James Bird, Gabriel Franchère, Peter Skene Ogden, John Work, John Lee Lewis, Ross Cox and Dr. John McLoughlin (Father of Oregon); all of whom camped along the portage. The portage also served as a focal point for settlement and was used by the free traders and Métis including such notable men as Antoine Desjarlais and Julien Cardinal.
Portage La Biche is associated with archaeological remains and cultural features. Fur brigades passing over the portage camped on both the north and south end of Field Lake and at the northern terminus of the Long Portage. David Thompson is known to have erected a small log building on the shores of Field Lake to store his canoes and Ross Cox is known to have constructed a series of dams across Little Red Deer Creek. A horse trail which paralleled the Beaver River and the portage still exists along the east shores of Field Lake. In addition, portages are commonly associated with "transport accidents" which occurred when canoe men slipped and fell under heavy loads resulting in the loss of trade goods. These historic remains all serve to enhance the interpretive potential of the portage.
Portage La Biche has considerable potential as a tourist attraction. The accessibility of Lac La Biche to a large tourist population is conducive to the portage being developed as a major attraction. Moreover, the portage could play an important role in the annual Pow Wow Days festivities which promotes the history of northeastern Alberta. For example, canoe races, horse races and packing contests revolving around the historic route could serve as an exciting way of drawing attention to the historical significance of the Lac La Biche region. The portage, if developed in conjunction with other important historical resources such as the Lac La Biche Mission, Red Deer’s Lake House I and II, Greenwich House, Lac La Biche Post, Métis trading posts, etc., could lead to the development of a "Fur Trade Village" at Lac La Biche.

The setting of Portage La Biche is aesthetically pleasing and could be enjoyed by residents and tourists if developed into a historic park. Field Lake with its high banks and spectacular vista, as well as its historic fur trade significance is particularly suited to park development. Field Lake is also of geological interest since it is an ice marginal channel which was situated along the front of the Laurentide Ice Sheet and marks the flow of melt waters from the ice sheet following the retreat of the ice and the drainage of glacial melt waters from the area. The areas freed of ice would in turn have quickly been inhabited by prehistoric man.

Given what we now know about Portage La Biche, it simply cannot be allowed to slip into oblivion again. Your comments are welcomed.

In 1884, Father Sequin and Brother Kearney were given what was described a beautiful statue from France from a Mr. Gaudet, but it was not until February, 1886 that they received some news of it. Through a priest from Red River, it was learned that the statue of the Blessed Virgin - Our Lady with the Child Jesus in Her arms, weighing 160 pounds, had been forwarded to Lac La Biche. By barge, portage and human muscle with back breaking difficulties at every stage, it was stranded in a Mackenzie River warehouse where it remained all winter. It arrived on August 4, 1887, badly damaged. It will take some time to repair it, but I hope to do just that.

Said one of these men, long past seventy years of age: "I could carry, paddle, walk and sing with any man I ever saw. I have been twenty-four years a canoe man, and forty-one years in service; no portage was ever too long for me. Fifty songs could I sing. I have saved the lives of ten voyageurs. Have had twelve wives and six running dogs. I spent all my money in pleasure. Were I young again, I should spend my life the same way over. There is no life as happy as a voyageur’s life!" – From "The Voyageur" by Grace Lee Nute, 1931.

"As was their regular custom, the canoe men sang as they paddled, and the words of some of the songs were inclined to be spicy. Sister Lagrave set this right by making up new words for those that seemed to go too far." –From "The Romance of the Canadian Canoe".