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Forteau Travel Guide

Forteau is a town in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The town of approximately 448 people is located along Route 510 in Labrador, between L'Anse-au-Clair and L'Anse-au-Loup. Forteau is a service centre of for the Labrador Straits and the second largest community in the region.

The name Forteau may come from the French adjective forte (strong), describing the strong tides in the area. Excavations at Forteau show strong evidence of the Maritime archaic Indians settling here as early as 5560 BC. Much later, the Basque used the harbour as a whaling station. By 1757, a garrison called La Forteau had been erected by the French. In 1763, Labrador was given to the British and it came under the control of the Newfoundland government. The British, some of which were from the Channel Islands, began to use the area. In 1808, Joseph Bird established a cod, furring and salmon enterprise here and William Buckle and his wife Mary became Forteau's first settlers.

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