| Fort Témiscamingue | |
|---|---|
| Ville-Marie | |
Remnants of Fort Témiscamingue with Lake Timiskaming in the background. |
|
| Type | Fort |
| Built | 1679 |
| In use | 1679-1902 |
| Controlled by | New France; Canada |
Fort Témiscamingue was a trading post from the 17th century in Duhamel-Ouest, Quebec, near Ville-Marie, Canada, located on the fur trade route on the east shore of Lake Timiskaming. Nowadays, the fort is a National Historic Site of Canada.
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Circa 1679, the government of New France established a fort on Lake Timiskaming to compete with the English posts on the Hudson Bay, but was destroyed by the Iroquois in 1688.[1] In 1720, a new Fort Témiscamingue was founded by French merchants[2] on a strategic location where the two shores of Lake Timiskaming come closer than 250 meters (820 ft) to each other,[3] a former Algonquin encampment site called "Obadjiwan Point" (meaning "the strait where the current flows").[1] This became a centre for the fur trade route from Montreal to Hudson Bay, roughly located halfway between these two: both about 20 days of canoeing and portaging away.
After the fall of New France in 1760, the North West Company took over the fort and gained a virtual trade monopoly by the 1790s. In 1821, the fort came into the hands of the Hudson's Bay Company.[2]
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, a small hospital operated by two Grey Sisters of the Cross, and eventually a frame church.[4]
In 1864, it became the seat of its district. By the end of the 19th century, lumbermen, missionaries, and settlers succeeded the fur traders and the fort's role as a trading post gradually became obsolete. In 1902, it closed down.[5]
Declared a national historic site in 1931,[1] 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 climactic forest type of the Laurentian maple stand and the Upper St. Lawrence forest sub-region.[3] 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.