We are the center of North America

National Geographic has labeled this area and south into Iowa, Wisconsin, North and South Dakota as the centre of the continent. If one examines the crest of Rainy River First Nations, they too mark this area as the centre of North America.
Archeologists who have dug and researched in the Laurel Mounds (Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung), the World Heritage site have discovered trade items including shells from the Gulf Coast, items from Eastern Canada and the United States and the western area of Canada and the United States. It clearly identifies that traders and travelers using the waterways of the Mississippi, the Arctic water shed, the Missouri River travelled into this region.
It was the first European travelers who followed those same river routes and established trading forts in the immediate region. It was the centre of North America for trading with access to the ports of Eastern Canada and the mouth of the Mississippi.
Today “The Great River Road” marks the trail of the Fur Trade industry to New Orleans. The road begins in Dryden or Kenora and can be followed for over 2,700 KM. For many years the Chamber of Commerce for Kenora, Fort Frances and Dryden were active in promoting the route and extension into Canada as a means of promoting tourism from those group of states residing on either side of the great river. Signs still mark the route in Canada.
Simultaneously, Rainy River, Fort Frances, Atikokan continue to promote Yonge Street that begins on the water front of Toronto and terminates at the border crossing between Rainy River and Baudette. It is billed as the longest street in the World running over 1,800 KM.
Prior to September 11, 2001 the communities from Thunder Bay through Atikokan, Fort Frances, Rainy River, Warroad, Steinbach and the governments of Ontario, Minnesota and Manitoba established the MOM’S way route. The route was established to encourage an alternate travel route between Thunder Bay and Winnipeg. It was hoped that tourist traffic would divert to this route instead of following the “Trans Canada Highway” at Shabaqua. It gained success for several years. Signs continue to mark the route and encourage travelers to choose this alternate route.
More recently, “The Route of the Voyageurs” has been promoted as an alternative to MOM’S Way. Spear headed by the community of Atikokan, it is hoped that the communities of Fort Frances Emo, Sioux Narrows, and Kenora will join in designating Highway 11 and 17 as the route of the voyageur. Thunder Bay and Rainy River would also be included.International Falls and Voyageurs National park have declared that they are on the route of the voyageur. Hudson’s Bay, Northwest Fur Company and the American Fur Company all had forts for trading in this year and competed for the beaver skins to be shipped back to Europe.
The Old Dawson Trail is a remnant of the route using land and water that linked the Great Lakes and the Prairies. It was used by the Wolseley Expedition to quell the Red River Rebillion of 1870.
Our region is a historic cross roads for trade and transportation. How can the crossroads of the continent be celebrated?

–Jim Cumming,
Publisher