Editing Lake Abitibi (section)

==History==
Artifacts dating to the [[Late Archaic period]] have been found at Lake Abitibi.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Clément |editor-first=Daniel |last=Côté |first=Marc |year=1996 |title=The Algonquins |chapter=Prehistory of Abitibi-Témiscamingue |series=Mercury Series No. 130 |publisher=[[Canadian Museum of Civilization]] |issn=0316-1854 |isbn=0-660-15961-9}}</ref>

[[File:HBC Post Abitibi Lake 1910.jpg|thumb|left|[[Hudson's Bay Company]] post on Lake Abitibi, {{Circa|1910}}]]

Application of ''Abitibi'' to describe the lake and the [[Cree|people]] living in the area around it was first noted in [[The Jesuit Relations]] in 1640.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Francis |first=Daniel |title=Lake Abitibi |url=https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/lake-abitibi |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia|access-date=March 17, 2014|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304085256/http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/lake-abitibi/|url-status=live}}</ref> One of the first Europeans in this area was [[Pierre de Troyes, Chevalier de Troyes|Pierre de Troyes]], who built a post on Lake Abitibi when he was on his way to [[Hudson Bay expedition (1686)|capture English HBC posts]] on James Bay in 1686.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.canadianencyclopedia.ca/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0000013 |title=The Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=2007-01-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930180444/http://www.canadianencyclopedia.ca/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0000013 |archive-date=2007-09-30 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Abitibi Post lay halfway between trading posts on James Bay and those on the [[Ottawa River]] and was in continuous existence throughout the French period.<ref name=Anick>{{cite journal |last1=Anick |first1=Norman |title=The Fur Trade in Eastern Canada Until 1870 |journal=Manuscript Report Number |date=1976 |volume=I |issue=207 |url=http://parkscanadahistory.com/series/mrs/207-1.pdf |access-date=13 September 2021 |publisher=National Historic Parks and Sites Branch, Parks Canada |archive-date=13 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210913160537/http://parkscanadahistory.com/series/mrs/207-1.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

The lake was part of the canoe route from James Bay to [[Montreal]], via the Moose and Abitibi Rivers, then a series of intermediate streams and [[portage]]s to [[Lake Temiskaming]] and the Ottawa River.<ref name=Anick/>

After the British conquered Canada in 1763, free traders either took over the French fort or built another post on the lake, providing strong trading competition to the main [[Hudson's Bay Company]] (HBC) fort at [[Moose Factory]] and the HBC outpost at [[Frederick House River#Frederick House|Frederick House]]. This moved the HBC to set up a post, called Abitibi House, on Lake Abitibi in 1794, located on the peninsula at the mouth of the Duparquet River. In subsequent decades this post, as well as competing posts of the [[North West Company]], were rebuilt or moved to various locations around the lake and its islands. Being unproductive due to competition, the HBC abandoned Abitibi House in 1811. When two companies merged in 1821, the HBC took over the trading post of the North West Company on Lake Abitibi.<ref name=Anick/><ref>[http://www.canadianheritage.ca/reproductions/20254.htm Lake Abitibi Post] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706170400/http://www.canadianheritage.ca/reproductions/20254.htm |date=2011-07-06 }} Canadian Heritage Gallery</ref>

The construction of the [[Grand Trunk Pacific Railway]] (now [[Canadian National Railway]]) through this district made it of some importance at the start of the 20th century.