Grand Portage National Monument

Grand Portage National Monument, memorial erected in Grand Portage, Minn., on Lake Superior near the Canadian border. Here the Native Americans, European pioneers, and fur traders carried their boats and supplies overland 9 mi (14 km) to avoid rapids and the treacherous 70-ft (20-m) Pigeon Falls on the Pigeon River. In 1803, when the British North West Company left and the United States took over the territory, use of the portage declined. Summer tours are now given between Grand Portage and nearby Isle Royale National Park.