Kaministikwia [key], river, c.60 mi (100 km) long, rising in Dog Lake, W Ont., Canada, and flowing S, then E into Lake Superior at Thunder Bay. In fur trade days it was the chief alternate to the Grand Portage–Pigeon River route into the northwest. After 1783, when the Pigeon River formed part of the U.S. boundary, it became the main route used by the North West Company to Fort William, their western headquarters at the mouth of the river. Kakabeka Falls (130 ft/40 m high), W of Thunder Bay, is used to generate hydroelectricity.
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