Where did the Voyageurs travel to?

Asked by: Anthony Armistead

The main trade route from Montreal went up the Ottawa River and then through rivers and smaller lakes to Lake Huron. The other followed the Saint Lawrence River and Lake Erie to Lake Huron. Grand Portage on the northwest shore of Lake Superior was the jumping-off point into the interior of the continent.

Where did voyageurs go to?

The voyageurs were the backbone of the NWC, moving furs and trade goods over a route that spanned 5000 km. Once the canoes were prepared and the goods packaged, the men set off from Lachine in May. They proceeded to St-Anne-de-Bellevue, where they attended religious services.

Why did the voyageurs come to Canada?

Voyageurs were young men hired to transport goods to trading posts. They were forbidden to do any trading of their own. Until 1705, roughly 60 young men travelled on behalf of the Compagnie de la Colonie as far as the post of Detroit (founded in 1701).

How did fur traders travel?

They carried trade goods as they headed west from Grand Portage at the beginning of season, when the lakes thawed. While traveling through the area, they used canot de nord, or North Canoes. The indigenous Ojibwe built the North Canoes with birch bark, cedar, spruce resin, and watap or spruce roots.

Where did the voyageurs live in Canada?

The voyageurs made these long and difficult journeys to deliver the cargoes to the posts and to return with vessels laden with furs. Who Were the Voyageurs? Most voyageurs were French Canadian, recruited from villages and towns, like Sorel, Trois-Rivières, Quebec and Montreal.

What did voyageurs transport?

Voyageurs were the canoe transportation workers in organized, licensed long-distance transportation of furs and trade goods in the interior of the continent. Coureurs des bois were entrepreneur woodsmen engaged in all aspects of fur trading rather than being focused on just the transportation of fur trade goods.

What did the voyageurs carry?

The canoe carried 65 bundles of goods to trade as well as food for the trip, their personal belongings, an axe, a kettle, and material to repair the canoe. The canoe itself weighed 300 lbs (136 kg) adding to the weight the voyageurs carried over a portage. Each bundle weighed 40 kg (90 lbs.).

How much did a typical voyageurs canoe weigh?

Each piece weighed 90 pounds. The fur companies provided the voyageurs with dried peas, or corn, and flour. From this they made pea soup and galette (a flat bread), which they ate twice a day. 1.

What language did the voyageurs speak?

Although the new employers were English, the working language would remain French. In Making the Voyageur World, Carolyn Podruchny estimates the number of voyageurs at 500 in 1784, 1,500 in 1802 and 3,000 in 1821 at the height of the fur trade.

How do I become a voyageur?

When a youth had developed his arm and back strength, he could become a voyageur, about age 16, but some started as early as age 11. Voyageurs had to carry two 90-pound bundles of fur or trade goods over portages (and some carried more — they liked proving themselves). This job was at the lowest level in the fur trade.

What is the difference between a coureur de bois and a voyageur?

What is the difference between the coureurs des bois and the voyageurs? The coureurs des bois were active during the French Regime. They were small businessmen trapping fur animals and trading. The voyageurs, for their part, were hired hands.

What was the great rendezvous?

The annual Great Rendezvous at Fort William epitomized the success of the North West Company. In their pursuit of fur, the Nor’Westers established an ambitious transportation network spanning the entire country.

Why did the fur traders meet at Grand Portage?

When Grand Portage was the meeting site for fur traders, the stockade was meant to safeguard beaver pelts and other trade goods — the entire season’s work.

What did voyageurs do at Grand Portage?

Voyageurs, North Men and Montrealers, made up the bulk of the fur trade employees at Grand Portage. These hardy souls would spend weeks to months in the wilderness transporting trade goods to remote posts either in canoes or on their backs. Read further to learn about their lives and working conditions.

What major fur post located on Lake Superior was a major crossroad and rendezvous location?

Established in 1784, Grand Portage Depot was the largest fur trade post, where the “winterers” and “pork eater” voyageurs brought trade goods and gathered supplies.

What happened Grand Portage?

The Grand Portage is an ancient overland trail used by Indigenous peoples since at least the start of the first millennium CE. By the middle of the eighteenth century, European fur traders used it and depots at either end to transport people, supplies, and trade goods between the Great Lakes and inland waterways.

Why is Grand Portage important to Minnesota?

The British North West Company built its inland headquarters at Grand Portage; the post was active until 1802. Grand Portage is home to passenger ferries that provides access from the community to Isle Royale National Park, meaning Minnesota has access to the U.S. state of Michigan.

Where was the Grand Portage?

northeastern Minnesota

Grand Portage National Monument is a United States National Monument located on the north shore of Lake Superior in northeastern Minnesota that preserves a vital center of fur trade activity and Anishinaabeg Ojibwe heritage.