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Grand Portage National Monument

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Bird’s-eye view of the reconstructed Grand Lodge on Grand Portage Bay

Bird’s-eye view of the reconstructed Grand Lodge on Grand Portage Bay, ca. 2010s. Photograph by the National Park Service.

The Grand Portage National Monument in far northeastern Minnesota was established in 1960, after the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (Ojibwe) ceded nearly 710 acres of their land to the US government. A unit of the National Park Service (NPS), it consists of the eight-and-a-half-mile Grand Portage trail and two trading depot sites—one on the shoreline of Lake Superior and one inland, at Pigeon River. A partially reconstructed depot sits at the Lake Superior site.

The Grand Portage is an ancient overland trail used by Indigenous peoples since at least the start of the first millennium CE. By the middle of the eighteenth century, European fur traders used it and depots at either end to transport people, supplies, and trade goods between the Great Lakes and inland waterways. They abandoned the area in the early nineteenth century. Ojibwe people, however, continued to reside on and near the Grand Portage reservation, which was formed after the ratification of the Treaty of La Pointe in 1854.

The site was largely forgotten by white Minnesotans until the 1920s, when interest in Northwoods history, conservation, and tourism grew rapidly. In 1922, Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) director Solon Buck launched a campaign to preserve the Grand Portage as a state park. In response to a Grand Portage resident who was worried that private property owners were fencing off the trail, Buck sent MNHS field secretary Cecil Shirk and journalist Paul Bliss to retrace it. The subsequent newspaper coverage generated public interest and support. Because the area was tribal land, however, it fell under federal regulation, and a state park was not possible.

Efforts to preserve and interpret the Grand Portage received federal backing in the 1930s. From 1933 to 1940, archaeologists, historians, and crews from the Indian Division of the Civilian Conservation Corps cleared the trail and conducted archeological digs. They then reconstructed a Great Hall and stockade at the Lake Superior depot site. In 1936, as a result of this work, the federal government declared the Grand Portage a site of national significance.

That same decade, the Grand Portage Band formed a Reservation Tribal Council, as a result of the Indian Reorganization Act in 1934. After World War II, the council joined with white conservationists to urge the federal government to help bring more tourists to the site. Toward that end, the Department of the Interior designated Grand Portage a National Historic Site in 1951. In 1958, the tribal council took the unusual step of ceding 709.97 acres of tribal land to the US government. This allowed the NPS to establish the Grand Portage National Monument two years later.

The creation of the monument sparked a second round of archeological studies and reconstructions. Information from these excavations helped builders design more historically accurate reconstructions. In 1966, for instance, the stockade was rebuilt with a more historically accurate gatehouse.

In 1969, lightning struck the Great Hall, starting a fire that destroyed the building and its artifacts. Excavations beneath the rubble revealed information incorporated into a new Great Hall, completed in 1974. A kitchen building found behind the Great Hall was built a year later. A canoe warehouse was built outside the stockade in 1973.

Despite the early involvement of the tribal council, interpretation at the site was largely focused on European fur traders. Slowly, interpretation at the site shifted to include more Ojibwe community histories. One of the most popular yearly events at the monument, Rendezvous Days, began in 1962. This event is a reenactment of the period during midsummer when fur traders, voyageurs, and Indigenous people convened at Grand Portage to exchange furs and supplies. By 1972, Rendezvous Days coincided with what would become the band’s annual Celebration Pow Wow. In 1992, an “Ojibwe village” was reconstructed outside the stockade walls to interpret seasonal cultural practices of Ojibwe people.

In the 1990s, the tribal council advocated for a greater role in site management, and in 1999, the Grand Portage Band and the NPS agreed to co-manage the monument. Together, they moved forward on the construction of a new visitor center, opened in 2007. Known as the Heritage Center, the new building provided more room for interpretative materials, created additional job opportunities for band members, and moved the monument’s offices from Grand Marais to Grand Portage.

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Birk, Douglas. “Grand Portage National Monument." National Register of Historic Places nomination form, March 2, 2005.
https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/66000111

Buck, Solon J. “The Story of the Grand Portage.” Minnesota History 5, no.1 (March 1923):14–27.
http://collections.mnhs.org/mnhistorymagazine/articles/5/v05i01p014-027.pdf

Cockrell, Ron. Grand Portage National Monument, Minnesota: An Administrative History. Omaha, NE: National Park Service Midwest Regional Office, Office of Planning and Resource Preservation Division of Cultural Resources Management. September 1982, rev. October 1983.
http://npshistory.com/publications/grpo/adhi/index.htm

Gilman, Carolyn. The Grand Portage Story. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1992.

Gower, Calvin W. “The CCC Indian Division: Aid for Depressed Americans, 1933–1942.” Minnesota History 43, no.1 (Spring 1972): 3–13.
http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/43/v43i01p003-013.pdf

Neil, Pam, and Mike Plummer-Steen. “A Monumental Task: Grand Portage National Monument Celebrates 50 Years.” In The Grand Portage Guide (National Park Service, 2008), 7–19. http://npshistory.com/publications/grpo/newsletter/2008.pdf

Treuer, David. The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present. New York: Riverhead Books, 2019.

Related Images

Bird’s-eye view of the reconstructed Grand Lodge on Grand Portage Bay
Bird’s-eye view of the reconstructed Grand Lodge on Grand Portage Bay
Cecil W. Shirk and Paul LaGarde at the site of Fort Charlotte
Cecil W. Shirk and Paul LaGarde at the site of Fort Charlotte
Ojibwe man on Grand Portage trail
Ojibwe man on Grand Portage trail
Civilian Conservation Corps workers at Grand Portage
Civilian Conservation Corps workers at Grand Portage
Dedication of Grand Portage National Historic Site
Dedication of Grand Portage National Historic Site
Sign at Grand Portage trailhead
Sign at Grand Portage trailhead
Site of Fort Charlotte on the Pigeon River
Site of Fort Charlotte on the Pigeon River
Grand Portage excavation site
Grand Portage excavation site
Excavation work at Grand Portage
Excavation work at Grand Portage
Reconstructing the Great Hall at Grand Portage
Reconstructing the Great Hall at Grand Portage
Ed Wilson and Mike Flatt
Ed Wilson and Mike Flatt
Grand Portage National Historic Site dedication
Grand Portage National Historic Site dedication
Restored stockade at Grand Portage
Restored stockade at Grand Portage
Great Hall, Grand Portage National Monument
Great Hall, Grand Portage National Monument
Canoe in the Stockade Museum at Grand Portage
Canoe in the Stockade Museum at Grand Portage
Great Hall at Grand Portage
Great Hall at Grand Portage
Canoe shed at Grand Portage
Canoe shed at Grand Portage
The Great Hall and kitchen at Grand Portage National Monument
The Great Hall and kitchen at Grand Portage National Monument
Interior of the Grand Portage National Monument Heritage Center
Interior of the Grand Portage National Monument Heritage Center
Interior of the canoe warehouse at Grand Portage
Interior of the canoe warehouse at Grand Portage
Interior of the Great Hall at Grand Portage
Interior of the Great Hall at Grand Portage

Turning Point

In 1958, the Grand Portage Reservation Tribal Council cedes 709.97 acres of Ojibwe tribal land to the US government. This allows the National Park Service to establish the Grand Portage National Monument two years later.

Chronology

1922

MNHS Field Secretary Cecil Shirk, Minneapolis journalist Paul Bliss, and guide Paul LaGarde (Fond du Lac Ojibwe) retrace the Grand Portage trail. The resulting publicity raises public interest in restoring and preserving the trail and fort sites.

1931

The Minnesota and Cook County Historical Societies cosponsor a celebration of the 200th anniversary of the arrival of French traders in Minnesota that coincides with the MNHS annual convention. Fundraising yields $2,500 for preservation of the site.

1936

The Advisory Board on National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings, and Monuments lists the Grand Portage as a Site of National Significance.

1933–1940

Archaeologists, historians, and CCC-Indian Division crew members clear the Grand Portage Trail, dig and document archeological sites, and reconstruct the stockade and Great Hall of the Grand Portage fort.

1951

The Department of the Interior designates Grand Portage as a National Historic Site.

1958

The Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa cedes 709.97 acres of land, including the Grand Portage trail and the Grand Portage and Fort Charlotte fort sites, to the US government.

1960

Grand Portage National Monument is officially created.

1962

The first Rendezvous Days are held at the monument.

1966

The stockade and gate house are rebuilt based on new archaeological information.

1969

Lightning strikes the Great Hall reconstructed in the 1930s, burning it to the ground.

1973–1978

Newly reconstructed buildings based on archeological evidence are built. They include a canoe warehouse (opened in 1973), the Great Hall (1974), and a kitchen building (1975).

1977

The Grand Portage site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

1999

Through the efforts of its tribal council, the Grand Portage Band becomes a full partner with the NPS in the administration of the monument.

2007

The Grand Portage National Monument Heritage Center opens, providing more space for a more inclusive interpretive program and providing monument staff with onsite offices (formerly located in Grand Marais).