Note 201 — Chapter XXVI

Lake of the Woods is a translation of the French designation Lac des Bois; they also termed it Lac des Isles, because of its numerous woody islets. The Indian name was Minnititi. The canoe-route across it from northwest to southeast is about seventy-five miles in length. The lake has played a prominent part in the history of the Northwest. Vérendrye’s Fort St. Charles was built upon its western bank in 1732. At the Peace of Paris (1783) the northwest corner of the Lake of the Woods (which was then supposed to be in latitude 49°), was made the boundary between the United States and Canada. This point being 39′ north of the supposed latitude, a long controversy ensued, which was finally settled by a joint commission in 1876. See Campbell and Twining, Reports upon Survey of Boundaries between territory of the United States and possessions of Great Britain from the Lake of the Woods to the Summit of the Rocky Mountains (Washington, 1878).—Ed.