Cranberry Portage is an unincorporated community recognized as a local urban district located in the Rural Municipality of Kelsey, Manitoba. It was an important part of the pre-European contact trade routes of the Cree and Assiniboine peoples. Long before the fur trade with the Bay and during the Fur Trade, this location was used as a campsite and portage between Grassy River, at the head of a number of well-used routes from Hudson Bay, and Lake Athapapuskow, which connected to the Saskatchewan River system. Once on the Saskatchewan routes were open through the prairies to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. History The area has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Archaeological digs on Lake Athapapuskow revealed pottery, arrowheads, and other artifacts which were at least 2,500 years old and indicated regular habitation by the "Shield Archaic Culture", who hunted caribou in the area as far back as 7000 years ago. They were eventually supplanted by the Woodland Cree who were nomadic hunters in this region. The site of Cranberry Portage has been an important portage route linking the Grass River and Saskatchewan River watersheds for at least 2,000 years. The first European believed to have used that route and reach Lake Athapapuskow was the fur trader Joseph Smith in 1763. In 1774, the explorer Samuel Hearne paddled up the Grass River to Cranberry Portage and into Lake Athapapuskow en route to establishing Cumberland House. This route became an important part of the North American fur trade, known as the "Upper Tract". It was abandoned by 1800 in favour of the Nelson River and Hayes River routes. In 1806, explorer and surveyor Peter Fidler recorded the main waterways of his Cree partners in the notable "Cha Chay Pay Way Ti's Map of the Waterways of a Part of Northern Manitoba", Cranberry Portage is clearly marked on it. In the early 20th century, rich gold, copper, and zinc deposits were discovered nearby in what would soon become the area of Flin Flon, Manitoba. Mining development in the area fueled a great deal of local infrastructure development, beginning with the extension of the rail line and Highway 10 from The Pas, Manitoba to Flin Flon, both of which passed through Cranberry Portage, a requirement of having large lakes lying North and South of the traditional portage. Following the conclusion of World War II, the Department of National Defence took a decided interest in