European fashions changed, and many American areas were getting over-trapped, with game declining. But active trade carried on until the failure of the fur trade in the 1840s. After creating a powerful monopoly, Astor got out of the business about 1830, as the trade was declining. There, portages connected Lake Superior with Lake Vermilion to the north and with the Mississippi River to the south. In 1817, it erected a new headquarters at present-day Fond du Lac on the St. The company began trading at the Head of the Lakes in 1809. In 1808, German-born John Jacob Astor organized the American Fur Company. Over time, Indian peoples and European Americans settled nearby, and a town gradually developed at this point. It had stockaded walls, two houses of 40 feet (12 m) each, a shed of 60 feet (18 m), a large warehouse, and a canoe yard.

Louis, the post became the headquarters for North West's new Fond du Lac Department.

The first post was where Superior, Wisconsin, later developed. Louis River in 1679.Īfter 1792 and the independence of the United States, the North West Company established several posts on Minnesota rivers and lakes, and in areas to the west and northwest, for trading with the Ojibwe, the Dakota, and other native tribes. The French explorer Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut, whose name is sometimes anglicized as 'DuLuth', explored the St. The French soon established fur posts near Duluth and in the far north where Grand Portage became a major trading center. Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Médard des Groseilliers explored the Duluth area, Fond du Lac (Bottom of the Lake) in 1654 and again in 1660. Étienne Brûlé is credited with the European discovery of Lake Superior before 1620.

Lawrence River led to the depletion of the animals in the region by the late 1630s, so the French searched farther west for new resources and new routes, making alliances with the Native Americans along the way to trap and deliver their furs. The fashion for beaver hats in Europe generated demand for pelts. Several factors brought fur traders to the Great Lakes in the early 17th century. Exploration and fur trade Ojibwe camp and white visitors on Minnesota Point, 19th century The 'Stopping Places' were the places the Native Americans occupied during their westward migration as the Europeans overran their territory. Īccording to Ojibwe oral history, Spirit Island, near the Spirit Valley neighborhood, was the 'Sixth Stopping Place', where the northern and southern branches of the Ojibwe Nation came together and proceeded to their 'Seventh Stopping Place', near the present city of La Pointe, Wisconsin. For both the Ojibwe and the Dakota, interaction with Europeans during the contact period revolved around the fur trade and related activities. The Ojibwe occupied a historic settlement at Onigamiinsing ('at the little portage'), the portage across Minnesota Point between Lake Superior and western St. History Native history Ojibwe women on the St. The city is also the starting point for vehicle trips touring the North Shore of Lake Superior toward Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. ports by tonnage.Ī tourist destination for the Midwest, Duluth has the nation's only all-freshwater aquarium, the Great Lakes Aquarium the Aerial Lift Bridge, which is adjacent to Canal Park and spans the Duluth Ship Canal into the Duluth–Superior harbor and Minnesota Point (known locally as Park Point), the world's longest freshwater baymouth bar, spanning 6 miles (10 km). The Port of Duluth is the world's farthest inland port accessible to oceangoing ships, and by far the largest and busiest port on the Great Lakes.

city on the lake, and is accessible to the Atlantic Ocean 2,300 miles (3,700 km) away via the Great Lakes Waterway and St. Situated on the north shore of Lake Superior at the westernmost point of the Great Lakes, Duluth is the largest metropolitan area, the second-largest city and the largest U.S. The two cities are commonly called the Twin Ports. Duluth forms a metropolitan area with neighboring Superior, Wisconsin. The population was 86,697 at the 2020 census, making it Minnesota's fifth-largest city. Duluth is south of the Iron Range and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.ĭuluth is named after Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut, the area's first known European explorer. Commodities shipped from the Port of Duluth include coal, iron ore, grain, limestone, cement, salt, wood pulp, steel coil, and wind turbine components. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Duluth ( / d ə ˈ l uː θ/ ⓘ də- LOOTH) is a port city in the U.S.

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