There is a fascinating story that dates back to when Colonel McCormick began exploring the North Shore region, one that unexpectedly united two people in their destinies.

Picture yourself sitting alongside Colonel McCormick, his wife Amy and two guides in a canoe navigating the area. At the end of the day, after they had set up camp, the Colonel decided to continue exploring on foot. Caught off guard by a blizzard, he lost his bearings in the forest. As darkness fell, he was offered a glimmer of hope: a light coming from the campsite of Pierre Ti-Basse St-Onge, a member of the Innu community and a native of Port-Cartier. What happened next? There are three different versions of the story, but they all point to a lasting friendship between the two men.

Their friendship was so strong, in fact, that the Colonel invited Ti-Basse to Chicago, where a portrait of him was commissioned, a symbol of their unwavering bond. The painting has been kept throughout the decades and is now preserved in the Société historique de la Côte-Nord archives. What’s more, the colonel made sure Ti-Basse was well supplied in provisions and munitions, a token of appreciation of his pioneering role.

Today, the Mont Ti-Basse in Baie-Comeau and the gallery that bears his name in Port-Cartier are reminders of the rescue story that altered the course of the region’s history.