British colonial policy in 1763 was to create an Indian reserve area west of QuÄbec, administered by the military and open only to licensed trading. In 1774, with the passage of the QuÄbec Act, it was decided to alter the status of the western territory and reattach it to Quebec. The new boundaries were cited as one of many grievances responsible for the American Revolution. The western boundary of QuÄbec changed again in 1783 by the Treaty of Paris which ended six years of war and saw the formation of the United States. The new boundary ran through the middle of the Great Lakes to Sault Ste. Marie, through Lake Superior, then west along the water route to the Lake of the Woods. This dealt a severe economic blow to MontrÄal traders as it put their major east-west exchange point, Grand Portage, in the United States. Disputes delayed the abandonment of this crucial route for eighteen years until MontrÄal traders "rediscovered" a former French route inland from Kaministiquia and built Fort William on the Canadian side of the border.
