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Heritage Site along the fur trade route of the Ottawa River in Chute-a-Blondeau, ON. This site was an historic portage and the house was built by fur trader John Macdonell for his Metis wife Magdaleine Poitras and family.
While the house was an important and historic portage place, and John operated a supply store for voyageurs, the house also became the home of the Williamson family in the later 1800s and 1900s, an important family in the lumber business.
Located right beside the Voyageur Provincial Park, the stone house was built (circa 1817) just after the pemmican wars (1814-1816) at this strategic spot which is now the Carillon dam location, and is one of the best examples of Georgian architecture for its time.
Come and learn about Metis women and their role in the fur trade, and find out about the family of John and Magdaleine, which included Miles Macdonnell (brother of John and first Governor of Assiniboia) who declared the ban on pemmican trade at Red River, and Cuthbert Grant Jr (close relative of Magdaleine Poitras and the first Metis leader) who led the resistance during the pemmican ban, which ultimately led to the Battle at Seven Oaks. Learn about pemmican, how it was made, what it was used for, and how its ban contributed to the end of the fur trade.
The house is presently open weekends in July and August for tourist visits, between 12 noon and 5pm Saturdays and Sundays, with exhibits and activities for the whole family! See our website summer schedule at www.mwhouse.ca