Fort William was a city in
Northern Ontario, located on the
Kaministiquia River, at its entrance to
Lake Superior. It amalgamated with
Port Arthur and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of
Thunder Bay in January 1970. Since then it has been the largest city in
Northwestern Ontario. The city's Latin motto was
A posse ad esse (From a Possibility to an Actuality) featured on its coat of arms designed in 1900 by town officials, "On one side of the shield stands an Indian dressed in the paint and feathers of the early days; on the other side is a French voyageur; the center contains an elevator, a steamship and a locomotive, while the beaver surmounts the whole."