 A specialized type of backpack, Duluth packs are nearly square in order to fit easily in the bottom of a canoe.The Duluth pack has its roots in a French-Canadian named Camille Poirier.Arriving in Duluth in 1870 with a small stock of leather and tools, he began a shoe store and quickly made a go of it in what was then a booming frontier town on the shores of Lake Superior.