The word is likely derived from the Mohawk word "tkaronto" meaning "where there are trees standing in the water", which originally referred to The Narrows, near present-day Orillia. Hurons and many other groups that had lived there drove stakes into the water to create fishing weirs. French maps from the 1680s to 1760s identify present-day Lake Simcoe as Lac de Taronto. The spelling changed to Toronto during the 18th century. As the portage route grew in use, the name became more widely used and was eventually attached to a French trading fort just inland from Lake Ontario on the Humber.