Fort Frances

Fort Frances was the first European settlement west of Lake Superior and was established by French Canadian Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye, first commander of the western district.

It is currently a town in, and the seat of, Rainy River District in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The population as of the 2016 census was 7,739. Fort Frances is a popular fishing destination. It hosts the annual Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship.

History
Fort Frances was the first European settlement west of Lake Superior and was established by French Canadian Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye, first commander of the western district. In 1731 he built Fort Saint Pierre near this spot as support for the fur trade with native peoples. In 1732 his expedition built Fort Saint Charles on Magnuson Island on the west side of Lake of the Woods. After some time, Fort St. Pierre fell out of use.

In 1817, following the War of 1812 and redefinition of borders between Canada and the United States, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) built a fort here. In 1830 HBC Chief Factor John Dugald Cameron named the fur trading post after Frances Ramsay Simpson, the 18-year-old daughter of a London merchant, who had married earlier that year in London, George Simpson, Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, who would visit the fort many times. In 1841 she became Lady Simpson after George Simpson was knighted, and she died in 1853 at Lachine, Quebec.