extent in supplying power for mills. For a number of years 

 the lake region has been coming steadily into notice as a 

 mining district. All these reasons justify us in considering 

 it to-night at the annual nee ting- of our Historical and Scien- 

 tific Society. 



NAME. 



The earliest name we find the lake known by is that 

 given by Verandrye in his journey in l7ol. He says it was 

 called Lake Minitie (Cree Ministik) or Des Bois. (1) The 

 former of these names, Minitie, seems to be Ojibway, and to 

 mean Lake of the Islands, probably referring to the large 

 number of islands found in the northern half of the lake. 

 The other name (2) Lac des Bois, or Lake of the Woods, seems 

 to have been a mis-translation of the Indian name (Ojibway) 

 by which the lake was known. This name (3) was " Pikwe- 

 dina Sagaigan," meaning the " inland lake of the sand hills," 

 referring to the skirting range of sand hills running for some 

 thirteen miles along the southern shore of the lake, to the 

 east of the mouth of the Rainy river, its chief tributary. 



Another name found in a map prepared by the Hudson's 

 Bay Company in 1748 is (4) Lake Nimigon, probably mean- 

 ing " the expanse," referring to the open sheet of water now 

 often called " la traverse." Two other names, (5) Clearwater 

 Lake and (6) Whitefish Lake, are clearly the extension of the 

 Clearwater Bay, a northwestern part of the lake, and White- 

 fish Bay, still given by the Indians to the channel to the east 

 of Grande Presqu'ile. 



HISTORY. 



The Lake of the Woods, though sometimes referred to 

 by French Canadian authorities at an earlier date, was first 

 reached by Verandrye in 1732. The earliest references were 

 no doubt obtained from stories of Indians heard on Lake 

 Superior. Verandrye's notable voyage has been often des- 

 cribed. In 1731 Verandrye's party, as late as the month of 

 August, was ready to leave Lake Superior to find their way 

 inland. The journey promised to be severe, and a part of the 



