The economy of Northeastern Ontario has always been based mostly on natural resources, the fur trade initially.
Timmins Museum director-curator Karen Bachmann (BAWK-mun) says it began in the 15-hundreds… and the last fur trading posts were around until the late 18-hundreds.
“It’s  part of the developing economy in this area” Bachmann explains, “in the sense that the indigenous people were working with the Coureurs de Bois and the Voyageurs directly and were trading directly with those fur trade posts. So there was the beginnings of that kind of economy in the region.”
As the fur trade subsided somewhat, explorers followed the routes into the area to map it.
“The survey crews came in at the late 19th century to do some surveys in the area, Geological Survey of Canada is in the area just to see what’s what and that eventually does end up opening up Northern Ontario for the mineral discoveries in Cobalt and in Kirkland Lake and the gold discoveries in Timmins.”
A lot of this topic matter is part of the new permanent exhibit at the Timmins museum called “Where We Stand: Stories of the Land”.