Portage-du-Fort is a village and municipality in the Pontiac Regional County Municipality

Pontiac Regional County Municipality, Quebec

Pontiac is a county regional municipality MRC Pontiac in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada. It should not be confused with the municipality of Pontiac, which is located inside the county regional municipality of Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais....

 in the southwest corner of the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada. The village lies across the Ottawa River

Ottawa River

The Ottawa River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. For most of its length, it now defines the border between these two provinces.-Geography:...

 from Chenaux, Ontario

Whitewater Region, Ontario

Whitewater Region is a township located within the scenic Ottawa Valley, in eastern Ontario, Canada on the Ottawa River in Renfrew County. Whitewater Region is made up of the former municipalities of Beachburg, Cobden, Ross and Westmeath, which were amalgamated into the current township on January...

.

At Portage-du-Fort there is a dam, the Chenaux Hydro-Electric Power Station, and bridge across the Ottawa River.

Toponymy

Portage-du-Fort is named after the portage

Portage

Portage or portaging refers to the practice of carrying watercraft or cargo over land to avoid river obstacles, or between two bodies of water. A place where this carrying occurs is also called a portage; a person doing the carrying is called a porter.The English word portage is derived from the...

 trail which started here and would lead upstream around a set of falls on the Ottawa River.

However there are several hypotheses to explain the "Fort" portion. Among the most popular is the assumption that a fort was present here on the shore of the Ottawa River to keep provisions at the portage. It has been claimed that a fort called Dufort was flooded in the rapids at this location. However, some researchers argue that the fort in question has never existed and may be a reference to another fort at the mouth of the Coulonge River

Coulonge River

The Coulonge River is a predominantly wilderness river in western Quebec, Canada. It is 217 km long, has a drainage area of 5060 km² , and runs in a general south-eastern direction from its headwaters in Lac au Barrage to the Ottawa River at Fort-Coulonge, Quebec...

 (after which modern Fort-Coulonge is named). Moreover, the word formerly did not always convey a military connotation and could be more or less synonymous with a village or hamlet, or even a post or warehouse which was fortified.

One theory suggests that the name goes back to a custom of the Algonquins who would paint their bodies here and it was originally named Portage du Fard (French for "make-up"), which changed into "Fort".

Another possibility is that Fort (French also for "strong") makes reference to the strength needed to haul the heavy canoes and supplies over the arduous portage.

But there is no certainty on any of these theories.

History

In 1611, a French scout named Nicolas de Vignau

Nicolas de Vignau

Nicolas de Vignau was a companion of Samuel de Champlain in New France. Champlain said of him in his writings "[He is] the most impudent liar that has been seen for a long time"....

 arrived at this site together with a group of Algonquins while on their way to Allumette Island. From here they had to portage

Portage

Portage or portaging refers to the practice of carrying watercraft or cargo over land to avoid river obstacles, or between two bodies of water. A place where this carrying occurs is also called a portage; a person doing the carrying is called a porter.The English word portage is derived from the...

 around a series of 5 difficult waterfalls on the Ottawa River. The portage from Harbor Square to Bentley's Landing is one of the oldest trails in North America because the Native peoples inhabiting the valley have used it for thousands of years.

In 1694, Louis d'Ailleboust, Sieur de Coulonge, established a fur trading post near the mouth of the Coulonge River

Coulonge River

The Coulonge River is a predominantly wilderness river in western Quebec, Canada. It is 217 km long, has a drainage area of 5060 km² , and runs in a general south-eastern direction from its headwaters in Lac au Barrage to the Ottawa River at Fort-Coulonge, Quebec...

. Subsequently the long portage around the falls that led to Fort Coulonge became known as "le portage du fort". But the site was only periodically inhabited, based on travel periods, especially in spring and early summer.

In the early 19th century timber slide

Timber slide

A timber slide is a device for moving timber past rapids and waterfalls. Their use in Canada was widespread in the 18th and 19th century timber trade. At this time, cut timber would be floated down rivers in large timber rafts from logging camps to ports such as Montreal and Saint John, New...

s were built around the falls, allowing loggers easy access to Pontiac County and Portage-du-Fort became the hub for all traffic connected with the lumber industry.

The first real settlers came in 1844, the year when the village was surveyed. In 1847, the post office opened and Henry Osborne built a depot with storehouse to supply the lumber industry further inland. On September 19, 1855, Portage-du-Fort became the county seat with Patrick Fox as its first mayor and warden.

A memorial of Lady Head`s visit to the Upper Ottawa, in a bark canoe, in 1856, stands at Portage-du-Fort, Quebec

Portage-du-Fort, Quebec

Portage-du-Fort is a village and municipality in the Pontiac Regional County Municipality in the southwest corner of the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada...

. She was the wife of Sir Edmund Walker Head, 8th Baronet. Portage du Fort was home to the area's first newspaper, the Pontiac Pioneer and Portage du Fort Advertiser, which was published by G.E. White from 1855 to 1865.

From 1860 onward, Portage-du-Fort was an important centre of the Pontiac with its mills, its train station, and its terminus for steam boats carrying grain and wood.

This prosperity led to the creation of the municipality in 1863 when it separated from the municipality of Litchfield Township

Litchfield, Quebec

Southern small part...

. That same year Stanislas Drapeau wrote:
However, a serious fire in 1914 almost destroyed the place entirely and curbed its development for many years. Further decline came when the Canadian Northern Railway

Canadian Northern Railway

The Canadian Northern Railway is a historic Canadian transcontinental railway. At its demise in 1923, when it was merged into the Canadian National Railway , the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonton.-Manitoba beginnings:CNoR had its start in...

bypassed the village.

In 1950, the Chenaux hydroelectric power plant and dam were built.

Demographics

Population:

• Population in 2006: 280 (2001 to 2006 population change: 9.8 %)
• Population in 2001: 255
• Population in 1996: 289
• Population in 1991: 295

Total private dwellings (excluding seasonal cottages): 110

Languages:

• English as first language: 79 %
• French as first language: 10.5 %
• Other as first language: 10.5 %