What Lies Beyond the Pale?

An Old English term for a "stake" is "pale".The Pale marks a boundary. When a person's behavior is "beyond the pale", it is out of bounds. A line of pales is a palisade. In this case, the "fence" around the fort. Fort Charlotte at Grand Portage National Monument is a reconstruction of the late 18th Century fort that served as a point of trade between trappers, fur buyers and Indians. The fort, located on the shore of Lake Superior, was at the end of the Grand Portage, an 8.5 mile footpath that bypassed a series of waterfalls on the Pigeon River.

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Copyright: Copyright © Steve Simmer
Image Size: 7284x4861 / 13.1MB; Grand Portage Lake Superior North Shore fog
Contained in galleries: Lake Superior North Shore

An Old English term for a "stake" is "pale".The Pale marks a boundary. When a person's behavior is "beyond the pale", it is out of bounds. A line of pales is a palisade. In this case, the "fence" around the fort. Fort Charlotte at Grand Portage National Monument is a reconstruction of the late 18th Century fort that served as a point of trade between trappers, fur buyers and Indians. The fort, located on the shore of Lake Superior, was at the end of the Grand Portage, an 8.5 mile footpath that bypassed a series of waterfalls on the Pigeon River.