What was the voyageurs role in the fur trade?

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. …

Who were the original voyageurs?

Voyageurs were French Canadians who engaged in the transporting of furs by canoe during the fur trade years. Voyageur is a French word, meaning “traveler”. From the beginning of the fur trade in the 1680s until the late 1870s, the voyageurs were the blue-collar workers of the Montreal fur trade.

What ethnicity were most voyageurs?

French Canadian
Most voyageurs were French Canadian, recruited from villages and towns, like Sorel, Trois-Rivières, Quebec and Montreal. Voyageurs could be identified by their distinctive clothing. They often wore a red toque and a sash around their waist.

What was the number one cause of death of a voyageur?

Some carried up to four or five, and there is a report of a voyageur carrying seven bundles for half of a mile. Hernias were common and frequently caused death.

What replaced the fur trade?

Animal rights organizations oppose the fur trade, citing that animals are brutally killed and sometimes skinned alive. Fur has been replaced in some clothing by synthetic imitations, for example, as in ruffs on hoods of parkas.

What food did the fur traders eat?

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).

What does 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.

Is the fur industry declining?

Euromonitor International estimates the global production of fur and fur products (including faux fur) declined 2.6 percent last year. In Western Europe, the decline was 13.3 percent.

Why is beaver fur so valuable?

Beaver fur, which was used in Europe to make felt hats, became the most valuable of these furs. The demand for beaver increased rapidly in the early 1600’s, when fashionable European men began to wear felt hats made from beaver fur. Such furs as fox, marten, mink, and otter also were traded.

What did the Voyageurs eat for lunch?

At night, they settled by the firelight to enjoy a meal of pemmican, dried peas, or cornmeal. Cornmeal was made into hominy, a type of thick white porridge combined with bacon fat or bear grease for added taste. Sometimes they would have meat or fish that had either been caught or traded for during the day.

What did the Voyageurs eat for breakfast?

One observer recorded that a voyageur’s daily allowance of food included no more than a quart of Indian maize and one pound of grease. On other occasions they had pemmican (a greasy dried-meat mixture), wild oats and wheat, and dried meat or fish.

Did the voyageurs get 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.

What was the importance of the Voyageurs in the fur trade?

History 1 Value to the fur trade industry. The voyageurs were highly valued employees of trading companies, such as the North West Company (NWC) and the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC). 2 British era. 3 Fading and end of the voyageur era.

How did the Hudson’s Bay Company help the Voyageurs?

Treaties were negotiated with native groups, and fur trading became very profitable and organized. The system became complex, and the voyageurs, many of whom had been independent traders, slowly became hired laborers. By the late 1600s, a trade route through and beyond the Great lakes had been opened. The Hudson’s Bay Company opened in 1670.

Is the coureurs des Bois the same as the Voyageurs?

The coureurs des bois’ zenith preceded the voyageur era, and voyageurs partially replaced them. For those coureurs des bois who continued, the term picked up the additional meaning of “unlicensed”. Another name sometimes given to voyageurs is engagés, indicating that one is a wage-earning canoeman.

How did the French Canadians do the fur trade?

The major and challenging task of the fur trading business was done by canoe and largely by French Canadians. The term in its fur trade context also applied, at a lesser extent, to other fur trading activities.