Fort William was the inland headquarters of the North West Company, the traders of which utilized the St. Lawrence-Great Lakes route to the West. Originally their depot had been at Grand Portage, but when this became American territory the Company had to move its operations. Completed about 1804, the fort was situated on the north shore of Lake Superior at the mouth of the Kaministikwia River. This water-colour by William Armstrong was painted in 1865. During the summer rendezvous, the fort was transformed into a teeming town of over 3,000 persons. Nor'Wester Ross Cox left this description of Fort William:
The buildings ... consist of a large house, in which the dining-hall is situated, and in which the gentleman in charge resides; the council-house; a range of snug buildings for the accommodation of the people from the interior; a large counting-house; the doctor's residence; extensive stores for the merchandise, and furs; a forge; various workshops, with apartments for the mechanics, a number of whom are always stationed here. There is also a prison for refractory voyageurs. The whole is surrounded by wooden fortifications, flanked by bastions.... Outside the fort is a ship-yard, in which the Company's vessels on the lake are built and repaired.
