Les Erables (The Maples)

The portage, which stood on the Ottawa River, between the La Cave and La Montagne, at Les Erables, was one of four important freighting stations. Historically a native encampment at its southern terminus, numerous explorers and fur traders used this same water route to access and transport furs. By the late 1860's, active lumbering and the beginnings of colonization schemes for northern Ontario and Quebec, contributed to a considerable amount of traffic along the river between Mattawa to the head of Lake Temiskaming.