The Voyageurs
The voyageurs traveled by canoe each spring, often from Montreal to trade for furs. They would pass through Sault Ste. Marie on their way to Fort William, (now Thunder Bay), at the other end of lake Superior.
At the beginning of the fur trade there were no roads or railroads so the canoe, the vehicle invented by the First Nations, was the only way to travel faster than walking.
Most of the first voyageurs were young Frenchmen who were indentured servants which means they paid for their trip from France to Canada on a sailing ship by working as a voyageur for free until the debt was paid. Today this would be like someone offering to pay your ticket to some exciting and far away place like Mount Everest as long as you work for them without pay for a few years. Would you do it?
A generation after the first voyageurs, many of them were Métis, men whose father was European (usually French) and whose mother was First Nations. Many of the oldest family names in Sault Ste. Marie are Métis.
Chief Dean Sayers of Batchewana First Nations has said that many family surnames (last names) in Sault Ste. Marie date back to the voyageur days. He related that when fur traders from places like Montreal arrived in the Sault each season they would want the same men that they had the year before to paddle their canoe. For example, a group of men would be known as "Sayers'" voyageurs because each season the fur trader by the name "Sayers" wanted the same First Nations men to work with him again.
Number 1
Canoe Manned by Voyageurs Passing a Waterfall (Ontario), 1869, by Frances Anne Hopkins
Courtesy Library and Archives Canada under the reproduction reference number C-002771 and under the MIKAN ID number 2894967
What is the fellow leaning over the side doing?
How does the voyageur in front of him feel about it?
The man reaching over the side is picking up a water lily.
The man in front of him is probably annoyed at the lily picker for getting in the way of his paddle.
Number 2
Canoe Manned by Voyageurs Passing a Waterfall (Ontario), 1869, by Frances Anne Hopkins
Courtesy vLibrary and Archives Canada under the reproduction reference number C-002771 and under the MIKAN ID number 2894967
Is that a lady sitting in the middle of the canoe?
What is she doing there?
For a long time only men traveled inland for the fur trade.
This lady's name is Frances Hopkins and she was the wife of the fur trader sitting beside her. She is the one who made this painting and many others that show what the fur trade era was like. Her husband, Edward Hopkins, was an official of the Hudson's Bay Company. (That is why they are not paddling.)
By the way, if you are wondering why the voyageur was picking a lily flower, look closely at what Frances has in front of her in the canoe.
Explore the gallery below to see more of Hopkins' beautiful paintings. What is the same and what is different in these paintings compared to the one we have been looking at?
Do you know what the Métis sash is?
Can you see the Métis sash in any of the paintings?
Shooting the Rapids, 1879, Frances Hopkins. Courtesy Library and Archives Canada , accession no. 00002 1989-401 X DAP
Voyageurs at Dawn, 1871, Frances Hopkins. Courtesy Library and Archives Canada , accession no. 00003 1989-401 X DAP
Canoes in Fog, Lake Superior, 1869, Frances Hopkins. Glenbow Museum Collection; Purchased, 1955 55.8.1
Canoe Party around a Campfire, 1870, Frances Hopkins. Library and Archives Canada, accession no. 00004 1989-401 x DAP
Encampment of Voyageurs, 1870, Frances Hopkins
Number 3
Canoe Manned by Voyageurs Passing a Waterfall (Ontario), 1869, by Frances Anne Hopkins
Courtesy vLibrary and Archives Canada under the reproduction reference number C-002771 and under the MIKAN ID number 2894967
What does this paddler have in his mouth?
This man is smoking a pipe. The voyageurs would stop about once an hour for a pipe break. A little break once in a while was nice since they were expected to work 14 hours a day and carry two 90 pound packs when it was time to portage around rapids like the ones at Sault Ste. Marie.
Brenda Powley of the Métis Nation of Ontario has said that the clay pipes would get chipped off a bit at a time by the voyageur's teeth and that some of them would
measure how long the trip had been by how much of their pipe stem was left.
Number 4
Canoe Manned by Voyageurs Passing a Waterfall (Ontario), 1869, by Frances Anne Hopkins
Courtesy vLibrary and Archives Canada under the reproduction reference number C-002771 and under the MIKAN ID number 2894967
What do you think this voyageurs job was?
The man at the back or the stern of the canoe was called the gouvernail and his job was to steer the craft. The man at the front of the canoe was called the avant.
Why do you suppose the names of these jobs are French words?
Number 5
Canoe Manned by Voyageurs Passing a Waterfall (Ontario), 1869, by Frances Anne Hopkins
Courtesy vLibrary and Archives Canada under the reproduction reference number C-002771 and under the MIKAN ID number 2894967
Can you guess what this flag is?
This is the flag of Britain called the Union Jack. From the early 1600s until 1763 when the country of France lost control of Canada to the British, the flag would have been French and looked something like this.
Can you tell the difference between different people - students, teachers, store-workers, police etc. - by what they wear or how they speak?
If you made a flag for your school, what would it look like?
Number 6
Canoe Manned by Voyageurs Passing a Waterfall (Ontario), 1869, by Frances Anne Hopkins
Courtesy vLibrary and Archives Canada under the reproduction reference number C-002771 and under the MIKAN ID number 2894967
What is sitting on top of the blankets?
That object is a kettle. Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins were from Britain and no doubt enjoyed a cup of tea when the voyageurs reached camp.
Why do you suppose British people love to drink tea? The British purchased their tea from China which is where the British and other explorers were trying to go when they found North America instead. Have you ever heard the saying, "I wouldn't do that for all the tea in China!" Now you know where it comes from!
Number 7
Canoe Manned by Voyageurs Passing a Waterfall (Ontario), 1869, by Frances Anne Hopkins
Courtesy vLibrary and Archives Canada under the reproduction reference number C-002771 and under the MIKAN ID number 2894967
What were the fur trade canoes made of?
The canoes were made from birch bark, tree branches and heated pine gum which sealed up any holes. This was a time when people made what they needed themselves. Can you imagine having to build your own bicycle or car if you wanted to go somewhere?
Number 8
Canoe Manned by Voyageurs Passing a Waterfall (Ontario), 1869, by Frances Anne Hopkins
Courtesy vLibrary and Archives Canada under the reproduction reference number C-002771 and under the MIKAN ID number 2894967
What are these markings on the front (the bow) of the canoe?
This artwork has both First Nations and Métis influences. The circle divided into four or, in this case eight, is a very important symbol in First Nations art that speaks of both wholeness and the interconnectness of all things. The flowers below the circle are a much beloved theme of the Métis.
Below you can see a vest and a traditional octopus bag made by Sault Ste. Marie Métis, Mitch Case.
Detail of vest by Mitch Case
Vest by Mitch Case
Octopus bag by Mitch Case
Number 9
Canoe Manned by Voyageurs Passing a Waterfall (Ontario), 1869, by Frances Anne Hopkins
Courtesy vLibrary and Archives Canada under the reproduction reference number C-002771 and under the MIKAN ID number 2894967
What would the voyageurs pack for their trip?
Canot du maître - A Canadian Fur Trade Canoe. Courtesy of the The Canadian Canoe Museum Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.One of the two main types used by the Nor’Westers was the canot du maître or Montreal canoe, up to 40 feet (12 metres) in length, with a capacity of 4 tons (3.5 tonnes) and manned by ten paddlers. At the western end of Lake Superior, the goods were transferred to canots du nord, or north canoes, smaller vessels with half the carrying capacity but light enough for two men to lift across portages. Birch bark was strong enough to carry economical loads, yet sufficiently light to be spun away from rock outcrops with the flick of a steersman’s wrist.
Fashioned from the bark of the yellow birch the canot du maître weighed less than 300 pounds (136 kilograms) yet was capable of carrying 4 tons (3.5 tonnes) of crew and freight. Only an axe, a crooked knife, a square or Indian awl, plus some spruce roots and pitch (spruce gum) were required to build a canoe.
Canot dumaitre - A Canadian Fur Trade Canoe
length - 36ft, width - 6ft, weight 600lbs,
3 tons of cargo, gross weight 4 tons
Cargo for 12 Voyageurs:
- Six 100 lbs kegs of hard biscuit
- Sixty 90 1b pieces (Sewn, sealed packs of trade goods)
- 99 gal. rum (10 gal. kegs)
- Two 100 1b kegs of salt pork
- Two 100 1b kegs of beans
- One 100 1b keg of flour
- One 50 1b keg of sugar
- Four wooden boxes, iron strapped from medicine, instruments, valuables, glass ware and cash
- Two basket packs for cooking utensils and kettles
- Fifteen, 40 1G packs for fifteen Voyageurs
- Blankets and matching oil skins
- One tent for Gourgeois or clerk
- Guns as appropriate for the trip
- Bundle of 10ft setting poles
- Two heavy oiled red tarps for rain cover and sail
- One-mast and rigging
- 60 yards of rope
- Two tins of pine pitch
- One rol of water (spruce root)
- Spare rolls of bark
- Axe, 22 bailing sponges
- Narrow, four foot paddles for the milieux
- Six and nine foot paddles for each of lesbouts
- Two iron cooking pots
Number 10
Canoe Manned by Voyageurs Passing a Waterfall (Ontario), 1869, by Frances Anne Hopkins
Courtesy vLibrary and Archives Canada under the reproduction reference number C-002771 and under the MIKAN ID number 2894967
Now look at the painting again without all those numbers.
How many of the things you learned about it can you remember?
Can you remember all nine?