This Man, That Man, Other Man
The Quetico Provincial Park has a chain of lakes known as the "Man Chain." It isn’t known where the names of the lakes in this popular route came from so it is anyone’s guess. There are other lakes in the Quetico that have names of unknown origin as well, but many of the lake names have a particular meaning. Some of the lakes are named after plants or animals, others are named after bush pilots or park rangers and others come from the Ojibwe language. Lake Names of the Quetico Provincial Park is a small book put out by the Friends of Quetico Park. It’s a great pamphlet that tells about the origin of many of the lakes in the Quetico Park. I’ve just listed a few below for your enjoyment.
- Bitchu Lake- Cree meaning Lynx
- Saganagons- Ojibwe meaning, "A group of islands all attached together down the middle of the
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lake-like beads strung together."
- Blackstone Lake- Named after Chief Magatewasin Blackstone(1723-1780)
- Lemay Lake- Named after Albert Lemay who was a park ranger from 1926-1940.
- Lilypad Lake- Known for the profusion of lilypads.
- Boulder Lake- Named because of the large exposed boulders on the shore.
- Keefer Lake- Harold Keefer was a Crown Lands Agend in Thunder Bay in 1909.
- Maligne River- French meaning "bad."
- Silver Falls- Ojibwe meaning "river shining with the foam of rapids."