The New Student's Reference Work/Lake of the Woods

Lake of the Woods, a picturesque sheet of water, at the western angle of Ontario, where it abuts on Manitoba and Minnesota. It extends southward from Rat Portage, on Winnipeg River and the Canadian Pacific, to Rainy River, the boundary between Ontario and Minnesota. The lake is identified with early attempts at western colonization, for the Verandryes in 1731 built a fort and mission at its southwestern corner and made it the base of later operations. Steamers now ply on it.