North Bay is a city in Northeastern Ontario about 330 kilometers (210 miles) north of Toronto. It differs in geography from Southern Ontario because North Bay is situated on the Canadian Shield which results in a more rugged landscape. North Bay straddles both the Ottawa River watershed to the east and the Great Lakes Basin to the west. The city's urban core is located between Lake Nipissing and the smaller Trout Lake. In 1882, John Ferguson decided that the north bay of Lake Nipissing was a promising spot for settlement. Apart from Indigenous people, voyageurs and surveyors, there was little activity in the Lake Nipissing area until the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in 1882. North Bay was selected as the southern terminus of the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway (T&NO) in 1902 when the Ross government took the bold move to establish a development road to serve the Haileybury settlement. During construction of the T&NO, silver was discovered at Cobalt and started a mining frenzy in the northern part of the province that continued for many years. The Canadian Northern Railway was built to North Bay in 1913.North Bay grew through a strong lumbering sector, mining and the three railways in the early days.Born in France about 1598, Jean Nicolet, explorer, fur trader, and interpreter came to Canada in 1618. Under orders from Samuel de Champlain, he spent the following two years with the Algonquins of Allumette Island. He was then sent to the Nipissing Indians of this area and dwelt among them for at least eight years, learning their language, adopting their customs, and strengthening their alliance with the French. Nicolet is credited with the discovery of Lake Michigan which he explored as far south as the head of Green Bay in 1634. He later settled in Trois Rivieres. He drowned in the St. Lawrence in 1642.The rivers and lakes of northern Ontario have been highways for travel and commerce for hundreds of years. First nations and European explorers used Lake Nipissing for transporting their furs. When the railroad reached the area in the 1880s, settlers and timber were transported across the lake.The Gateway Arch was constructed in 1928 and serves as an entrance to Lee Park. It is an important symbol of North Bay, the "Gateway City." The two pillars supporting the arch are made of large, rounded river stones that are held in place with cement mortar. The term and concept of "Gateway to the North" first appeared around the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This term came about due to the realization that North Bay, because of its geographical location, was an inter-connecting link for both north-south and east-west traffic.