40 THE VERMILION IRON-BEARING DISTRICT. 



the Lake of the Woods and Lake Wiunepeg, and finally entering Hudson 

 Bay through the Nelson Ri^^er. It was in the country reached by means 

 of this string of connecting waters that the great battle of commercial 

 supremacy in the Northwest was fought in the early part of the century by 

 the Hudson Bay Company and its younger rival, the Northwest Fur Com- 

 pany. The Hudson Bay people came up the Nelson and carried out their 

 goods for the most part the same way. The Northwest Fur Company came 

 from Lake Superior and went to a great extent through the streams and 

 lakes bordering the Vermilion district down the Rainy River and returned 

 over the same route, although at times an all-Canadian route north of the 

 international boundary was used. 



Streams. — The streams of the district are, with one exception, short, 

 narrow, and shallow, and form merely the connections between the 

 numerous lakes. The Kawishiwi" River, which runs through T 63 N., 

 Rs. 9, 10, and 11 W., is the exception. This is a fairly long stream, which 

 for a portion of its course is within the southern border of the district. 

 In places it is both wide and deep. It is interrupted, however, by rapids, 

 and is full of widenings which really may be considered as lakes, so that 

 by a strict interpretation it could perhaps be classed with the other strings 

 of lakes. The course of this stream can be followed on the accompanying 

 maps, and an examination of the geologic majD shows that it follows the 

 contacts of the various formations occurring in the part of the district in 

 which it runs. The Kawishiwi River is peculiar in certain portions of 

 its course and shows clearly that over a greater poi'tion of its extent it is, 

 as has already been stated, merely a string of lakes. The main stream 

 flows through sees. 20 and 21, T. 63 N., R. 9 W., just below the margin of 

 the area mapped. At this place there is a large island, about 2 miles long, 

 extending northeast-southwest, but not caused, as one would naturally 

 think, by the stream dividing and flowing around both sides of it. It is 

 due to the fact that to the north of the island, in sec. 16, T. 63 N., R. 9 W., 

 there is a lake which has two outlets, and from which the water flows 

 to the southwest and to the northeast. The water running southwest 

 joins the Kawishiwi after flowing about one-fourth of a mile. The water 



"The Indian name of this river is reported to be Mishiwisliiwi, meaning "Big Beaver 

 House River." Ttie Minnesota maps give it as Kawisliiwi, and it is linown in local parlance as the 

 Cashawav. 



