Dawson route, a pre-railway line of communication between Port Arthur, Ontario, and Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was named after S. J. Dawson, who was appointed by the Canadian government in 1857 to explore the country from lake Superior westward, and was employed in 1868 to open the route over which the Red River expedition passed in 1870.

Source: W. Stewart Wallace, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. II, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 411p., p. 187.