David Dunn, age 14, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., for his question:

WHERE IS THE GRAND PORTAGE NATIONAL MONUMENT?

You'll find the Grand Portage National Monument marking the site of a famous trail crossing and fur trading center during the 1700s.

It is located in the town of Grand Portage, Minn., just south of the United States Canadian boundary, on the shore of Lake Superior.

The interesting historic spot was established as a national monument in 1958. It covers just under 710 acres.

In the 1700s, canoe men called voyageurs and fur traders carried their canoes and goods overland at this point to avoid waterfalls and rapids in the Pigeon River. This nine mile portage was the longest portage in the regular canoe route from Montreal to the Rocky Mountains.

The North West Company established a trading post in Grand Portage in the 1780s. Each summer, brigades of canoes brought goods and supplies from Montreal while fur traders brought their collections of pelts from the Canadian wilderness.

Grand Portage remained an important canal route and fur trading center until the United States took possession of the territory in the early 1800s.