Northwest Passage
This was the name Europeans gave to the hoped-for water route across North America to reach Asia faster.
The Northwest Passage
This Minnesota location became an important trading post because traders could not paddle past nearby waterfalls.
Grand Portage
These animal skins were in high demand in Europe from the 1600s–1800s.
Furs
Many of Minnesota’s first settlers moved west because they were searching for this.
Opportunities (land, work, a better life)
French explorers were some of the first Europeans to search for this route through what region of North America?
The Great Lakes region
The word “portage” refers to this action that traders had to do when they reached waterfalls or rough water.
Carry boats and supplies over land
This powerful trading company was founded in 1670 to control much of the fur trade in North America.
Hudson’s Bay Company
One of the first things settlers typically built when they arrived was this.
A house
The main reason Europeans searched for this route was to create a faster trade path to this part of the world.
Asia
This activity made Grand Portage an important meeting place for Native Americans and European traders.
Fur trading
This city became a major fur trading center in the 1700s
Detroit
Settlers often traveled west using this covered form of transportation pulled by horses.
Covered wagons
Even though explorers searched for centuries, the Northwest Passage through central North America was never found because the continent blocks a continuous water route between these two oceans.
The Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean
Grand Portage became a key trading center because it connected water travel on Lake Superior with river routes leading into the interior of North America.
It linked Lake Superior to inland river trade routes
Several European countries competed for fur resources in North America, including Russia in Alaska and Spain attempting to limit Russian expansion, showing that the fur trade influenced international politics.
The fur trade caused competition and conflict between European nations
Fort Snelling grew rapidly in the mid-1800s because it became a center for military protection, trade, and settlement, helping nearby towns grow quickly.
It helped support and protect growing settlements and trade