The Marathon Corporation was purchased by American Can, and in 1982 by the James River Paper Company. The Pic river drive was phased out and trucks were employed in lieu of the water based system that was in place for many years. The woodlands that furnished wood for the mill at Marathon were delineated by the Pic watershed. In the early years woodsmen walked from Marathon after their hire, following trails blazed along the Pic river to camps built to provide wood for the mill. Walkers went from the mill to the camps taking mail and gathering statistics on wood cut and hauled by horses to the river. During the early years all wood was 'driven' in the spring, down the Pic and White Otter rivers. In later years roads supplanted the trails, but until 1982 there was a Camp near the White Otter River operated by American Can. Dynamite caches were located at strategic places along the river so that log jams could be cleared. Etymology Two possibilities exist for the origin of the name of the river. It may be from either Ojibwe bikodinaa or French meaning "be a high ground" for the promontory found at the mouth of the river, or from the corruption of the Ojibwe "pekatek" or "mud", which describes its silty water. Hydroelectricity development Small scale hydroelectricity developments have been proposed for sites at High Falls and Manitou Falls by the Ojibways of the Pic River First Nation. These would tie in to the transmission line from an existing development on the Kagiano River at Twin Falls, a development just upstream of that river's mouth with the Pic River. Tributaries Black River Camp 14 Creek (right) Spruce Creek (left) Goodchild Creek (left) Lacobeer Creek (right) Jim Creek (right) Little Joe Creek (right) Huck Creek (right) Cirrus Creek (left) Dewey Creek (right) Nama Creek (left) Slingshot Creek (left) Kagiano River (right) White Otter River (left) Hagarty Creek (left) Deadman Creek (right) Dianthus Creek (right) Kaboosa Creek (left) Bluejay Creek (left) Mustela Creek (right) Bambino Creek (right) See also List of rivers of Ontario References Sources Rivers of Thunder Bay District Hudson's Bay Company trading posts Tributaries of Lake Superior