The 2008 David Thompson Brigade flotilla of 160 canoeists will paddle through the Rainy River district to Pither’s Point in Fort Frances on June 27.
The visit is a part of a historical reenactment that journeys 1,389 miles through four provinces in 63 days.
The brigade is a bicentennial commemoration of explorer David Thompson (1770 – 1857). It is one of many events from 2007 to 2011 that celebrates the documenting of the Howse Pass in 1808 and exploration that would eventually establish a trade route from Fort William to the western end of the Rocky Mountains.
The trip began on May 10 at Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, and will conclude on July 12 at the Rendezvous festival of the Canadian fur trade at Fort William. The paddlers range in experience and are amateur fur trade historians, scientists and others that want to experience Thompson’s route and travels.
This 2008 brigade is the only of its type that Lund, current co-chairman and a founding member of the original 1967 brigade, says offers an opportunity for amateur and experienced paddlers to experience the long routes of the fur trade.
A professor at Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton, Lund is an avid canoeist and author of Mark's Guide for Alberta Paddlers.
Lund describes Thompson as a pathfinder, surveyor, mapmaker and legendary geographer who is considered “Canada's and possibly the world's greatest land cartographer.”
Members of the brigade also want to educate the public as they visit 30 communities along the way. The communities organize dinner and breakfast events for the visiting paddlers. By journey’s end, Lund anticipates that more than 1,000 volunteers will have contributed in some way to the success of the brigade.
“We have been treated royally by all the communities, to date,” he added.
Pam Cain-Hawley, curator of the Fort Frances Museum, said the timing couldn’t be better for the arrival of the brigade with Canada Day weekend events that also celebrate the explorers. She encourages canoeists to meet the brigade on the river and to try and keep up or meet them at Pither’s Point at about 6 p.m.
The brigade will stop at Rainy River on June 25 and at Emo on June 26, before Fort Frances.
Lund said Rainy Lake Post was a significant destination in Thompson's 1808 trip, and his travels over 27 years through Canada’s backwaters in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and western Ontario.
“I suspect other than the dam at International Falls/Fort Frances, and the farms and communities along the river, the Rainy River has not changed that much since Thompson's time,” said Lund.
The brigade will arrive during the Fun in the Sun Festival and Mall Days downtown on Scott and Portage Avenues. Hawley said the brigade is a reminder of the significance of the voyageur history to the area.
Rodney Brown, a Canadian musician out of Thunder Bay, known for songs about Thompson and other explorers, will perform at 2 p.m. downtown and again at 8 p.m. that evening at Pither's Point.
Hawley will be coordinating education events intended to make the public more aware of what the fur trade and Thompson meant to Canadian history. She said that Thompson’s maps were instrumental in defining the borderland boundaries.
The brigade route has changed to accommodate natural and manmade changes of the waterways. The trip began in Manitoba, and included a highway portage to Lake Winnipegosis, and a secondary fur trade route through several lakes and rivers. Lund said the middle and southern legs along Lake of the Woods are the closest to what Thompson might have experienced.
After a run down Painted Rock Channel through Quetico Park, the paddlers will enter the west end of Rainy Lake. From there they will travel up to Lac la Croix, then the Sturgeon River, through Quetico Park and up French Lake and to the Savanne River system. Then they cross over to the Dog and Kaministiqua Rivers for the “down hill run” to Old Fort William near Thunder Bay.
“To my mind the most ‘fearsome’ sections are the big lakes, Winnipegosis, Manitoba, Winnipeg, Big Traverse Bay on Lake of the Woods, and possibly Rainy Lake,” Lund said.
The longest portage will have the crew driving the boats from The Pas to Camperville, for Portage la Prairie and Savanna and Prairie portages. The longest they will have to carry their canoes will be on three portages of a mile or more at a time in Quetico Park. They will use portage carts to get around the dams on the Winnipeg River.
Preston Manning, an Alberta politician who founded Canada’s Reform Party, joined the brigade on the first day until they reached the Baptiste River. As an amateur fur trader and David Thompson historian, this will be Manning’s second trip with the brigade and he will join them again later in the journey.
“We greatly appreciate having a member of his significance along,” said Lund.
The paddlers opted not to use the cumbersome birch bark canoes of Thompson’s time, and instead will use the sleeker and faster 10-person kevlar canoes.
“Our paddlers travel with replica clothing and gear that is used for our community arrivals and events, but for the most part we paddle and camp with modern gear,” said Lund.
E-mailing from North Battleford in late May, Lund said the crew encountered difficult headwinds and rugged rain that slowed progress to a crawl.
“Blisters have been our biggest problems so far and some crews have taken today off to recover,” he added.
To find out more about the Thompson Brigade’s visit to Fort Frances call the local contact, Pam Cain-Hawley at 807-274-7891, or edmail phawley@fort-frances.com. Follow the trip online with GPS tracking at www.2008thompsonbrigade.com.