This is a history of 300 years of trade and tradition on Lake Superior's North Shore, with special interest in Grand Portage where the Grand Portage National Monument was established.

The purpose of this report is to describe the fur trade that took place at Grand Portage between Europeans and Native Americans in the 18th and 19th centuries. During this period Grand Portage was important for many reasons. A strategic geographical point in the trade route between the Great Lakes and the Canadian Northwest, it was best known as a trade depot and company headquarters in the period between 1765 and 1804.