Fort Kaministiquia 1717

and

William McGillivray 1764-1825

These two plaques are at the same location in the City of Thunder Bay.
Both can be seen on this page.

Photos by contributors Peter and Gloria - Posted July, 2012

Plaque Location

The District of Thunder Bay
The City of Thunder Bay
At city hall, on the southwest corner of
Donald Street East and May Street South

Coordinates: N 48 22.936 W 89 14.749

Plaque Text

A small fort was established near here in 1717 by a French officer, Zacharie Robutel de la Nouë. First of a projected series of bases en route to the "Western Sea", it replaced a structure built in 1679 by Daniel Greysolon, Sieur Dulhut, on another branch of the Kaministiquia River delta. It served as a trading post and base of operations, 1727-43, for Pierre Gaultier de la Vérendrye, the famous explorer. Following the conquest of New France in 1760 this fort was abandoned. A later Fort Kaministiquia, built a short distance downriver by the North West Company, was renamed Fort William in 1807. It became the nucleus of this city.

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Photo by contributors Peter and Gloria - Posted July, 2012

Plaque Text

Born in Inverness-shire, Scotland, McGillivray joined the North West Company in 1784, became a partner in 1790 and its principal director in 1804. Fort Kaministiquia, the Company's wilderness headquarters, was renamed Fort William in his honour in 1807. He was largely responsible for the Nor'Westers' bitter opposition to Lord Selkirk's Red River Colony, but later supported negotiations which led to the union of the Hudson's Bay and North West Companies in 1821. He served as lieutenant-colonel of the Corps of Canadian Voyageurs during the War of 1812 and as a member of the Legislative Council of Lower Canada 1814-25.

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Here are the visitors' comments for this page.

Posted December 10, 2010
The plaques are actually much closer to the original site of Fort William then the Fort William Historical Park is, but you should totally visit FWHP its an awesome historical site

Posted March 14, 2010
I am related 2 to McGillivray!! He is my 9th great grandfather!

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