Manitoba Heritage Council Commemorative Plaques

East and West Mossy Portages

This site is part of the Pas Moraine, a high, well-drained natural causeway that served Indians long before European contact as a major east-west travel route between the northern Interlake and Manitoba's western uplands. With the advent of watercraft several thousand years ago, narrow portions of the moraine became portages vital to north-south traffic between Cedar Lake and Lake Winnipegosis. This route was opened to white traders in 1750 when the sons of La Verendrye crossed Mossy Portage. Until the 1870s, the portages connected the main western route from Hudson Bay to the Swan River-Lake Dauphin fur areas. The crossings were important to the Hudson's Bay Company, the Nor-Westers, and independent traders. Use of the portages diminished after the introduction of steam transportation in the North-West.