Table of Contents
What challenges did the voyageurs face?
There were many risks, many men drowned, suffered broken limbs, twisted spines, hernias, and rheumatism. The voyageurs needed food that was high in calories and would not spoil as they travelled.
What did the voyageurs do?
Voyageurs were independent contractors, workers or minor partners in companies involved in the fur trade. They were licensed to transport goods to trading posts and were usually forbidden to do any trading of their own. The fur trade changed over the years, as did the groups of men working in it.
What did the voyageurs do at Grand Portage?
Voyageurs, North Men and The Montrealers made up the bulk of the fur trade employees at Grand Portage. These hardy soles would spend weeks to months in the wilderness transporting trade goods to remote posts either in canoes or on their backs.
Who did the voyageurs work for what was their job?
“Voyageur”, the French word for traveler, refers to the contracted employees who worked as canoe paddlers, bundle carriers, and general laborers for fur trading firms from the 1690s until the 1850s. This is why voyageurs were also known as “engagés”, a loose French expression translated as “employees”.
What did a voyageur look like?
Voyageurs could be identified by their distinctive clothing. They often wore a red toque and a sash around their waist. The white cotton shirt was protection from the sun and mosquitoes. They also wore breeches with leggings and moccasins.
What were the voyageurs paid?
The wintering voyageurs were paid once a year at Grand Portage, but they were paid in goods or in vouchers for merchandise from the company-run story. Because of the inflated prices at Grand Portage, the pay was worth only two-thirds of what it would have been in Montreal.
Why is the Grand Portage important in the fur trade?
Composed of the Pigeon River and other strategic interior streams, lakes, and portages, this route was of enormous importance in pre-industrial times. It provided quick water access from Canada’s settled areas and Atlantic ports to the fur-rich Rupert’s Land and the North-Western Territory.
Where do voyageurs sleep?
When they were finished all of the work, the voyageurs told stories and sang songs until it was time to sleep. Shelter for the night was an overturned canoe, a bed of moss, and a blanket or furs for warmth. If the weather was bad, they erected a tarp as cover.
What food did the fur traders eat?
The food also had to keep and not spoil during the long journey. Their diet included biscuits, pork and beans, pancakes, dried peas, cornmeal and pemmican (dried meat that could be eaten fried, or even made into a stew seasoned with maple syrup or berries). Voyageurs didn’t eat fancy meals, but the meals were hearty.
Is the Hudson’s Bay Company still active today?
A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada and the United States. It had been a member of the International Association of Department Stores from 2001 to 2005….Hudson’s Bay Company.
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Divisions | Hudson’s Bay Saks Fifth Avenue Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th |
| Website | hbc.com |
Why was the Grand Portage important to the Voyageurs?
The Grand Portage, Gichi Onigamiing, avoids the falls of the Pigeon River. It travels over a pass from Gichi-gami (Lake Superior) to the fur-rich country beyond. Today the trail provides an unusual example of a historic trail that you can hike in its entirety, much as the Ojibwe and the voyageurs experienced it.
How many hours a day did the Voyageurs work?
It was expected that each voyageur work at least 14 hours a day, paddle 50 strokes a minute and be able to carry two “pièces” of 90 pounds across each portage.
How did the Voyageurs help the indigenous people?
These men were known as the hivernants (winterers). They also helped negotiate trade in indigenous communities. In the spring they would carry furs from these remote outposts back to the rendezvous posts. Voyageurs also served as guides for explorers such as Pierre La Vérendrye.
What was the rite of passage for the Voyageurs?
2) the “North men” or “hivernants” were voyageurs who wintered in the interior and brought down furs to Grand Portage (or Fort William) to meet the summer brigades coming from Montreal. At the Height of Land, a rite of passage was practiced that would allow a voyageur to “become” a north man.