Coureur Des Bois
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Coureur des bois From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (December 2008)
Arrival of Radisson in an Indian camp in 1660. The coureurs des bois (French pronunciation: [kuʁœʁ de bwa], runner of the woods) were French woodsmen, who travelled to the interior of Canada to engage the natives in the fur trade without permission from the French authorities. A Coureurs de Bois was an adventurer, expert canoeist, and skilled businessmen. The coureurs de bois, mostly of French descent, operated during the late 17th century and early 18th century in eastern North America, particularly in New France. Later, a limited number of permits were issued to coureurs des bois who became known as voyageurs.
[edit] Background
"Coureur de bois" - A woodcut by Arthur Heming
One of the reasons the Native peoples were essential to the fur trade was because they brought furs from the interior regions to the French trading posts of Quebec, Trois Rivières, and Montreal. The French could also obtain furs by going into the interior region themselves. During times of hostilities, it was safer to have the Native allies bring fur to the French, but high profits could be made by those who were willing to venture into the interior rivers and lakes and bring back beaver pelts themselves. During peaceful times, more and more young men of New France were attracted to the high profits and adventure in the fur trade. These men were entrepreneurs, working for themselves rather than representing a company. These energetic and daring adventurers became expert canoeists and shrewd businessmen. They were known as coureurs de bois or "runners of the woods" During the 17th century, the fur trade was very lucrative for New France. Competition was fierce, and many colonists risked the journey west and north through hostile Iroquois territory from the settlements around Montreal to the pays d'en haut, or "upper country" (the area around the Great Lakes) to trade with Native trappers. These coureurs des bois were not looked upon favourably by Montreal authorities or royal officials. They disapproved of settlers leaving the developing agricultural areas to seek their fortune trading. The French authorities would rather have let the transportation of furs be handled by the natives than have independent unregulated colonial traders, who were bringing in so many furs that the market was oversupplied. The unregulated traffic in furs also undermined Montreal's role as the focal point for the fur trade — where traders would exchange beaver pelts for trade goods such as clothing, muskets and copper pots. Some illicit traders also caused problems by trading alcohol for furs. Some coureurs des bois became famous, including Étienne Brûlé-Valiquette, Louis Jolliet, Médard des Groseilliers, Pierre-Esprit Radisson, Jean Nicolet, Guillaume Couture, Jean-Baptiste Chalifoux and Jacques de Noyon. References: http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_furtrade/fp_furtrade2.html
"Canoe Manned by Voyageurs Passing a Waterfall" by Frances Anne Hopkins By 1681, the French authorities realized the traders had to be controlled so that the industry might remain profitable. They therefore legitimized and limited the numbers of coureurs des bois by establishing a system that used permits (congés). This legitimization created a "second-generation" coureur des bois: the voyageur, which literally means "traveller". This name change came as a result of a need for the legitimate fur traders to distance themselves from the unlicensed ones. Voyageurs held a permit or were allied with a Montreal merchant who had one. The fur trade was thus controlled by a small number of Montreal merchants. New France also began a policy of expansion in an attempt to dominate the trade. French influence extended west, north and south. Forts and trading posts were built with the help of explorers and traders. 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 labourers.
Contemporary actor costumed as a voyageur at a Minnesota historic site For the most part, voyageurs were the crews hired to man the canoes that carried trade goods and supplies to "rendezvous posts" (example: Grand Portage) where goods and supplies were exchanged for furs. The canoes travelled along well-established routes. They then transported the furs back to Lachine near Montreal. Some voyageurs stayed in the back country over the winter and transported the trade goods from the rendezvous posts to farther-away French outposts. These men were known as the hivernants (winterers). They also helped negotiate trade in native villages. 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). The majority of these canoe men were French Canadian and/or Métis. They were usually from Island of Montreal or seigneuries and parishes along or near the St. Lawrence River. Many were from France and many were members of Native Aboriginal tribes.
"The Descent of the Fraser River, 1808", from a colour drawing by C. W. Jefferys The voyageurs were highly valued employees of trading companies, such as the North West Company (NWC) and the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). They were instrumental in retrieving furs from all over North-America but were especially important in the rugged Athabasca region of the North-West. The
Athabasca was one of the most profitable fur-trade regions in the colonies because pelts from further North were of superior quality to those trapped in more southerly locations. Originally the HBC was content to stay close to their trading posts along the shores of Hudson Bay and have their native trading partners bring the pelts to them. However, once the NWC began sending their voyageurs into the Athabasca it became easier for the natives to simply trade with them than to make the long trek to Hudson Bay.[1] As a result, Colin Robertson sent a message to the HBC London Committee in 1810 suggesting that they begin hiring French Canadian voyageurs of their own. [2] As this quote shows, he firmly believed them to be one of the keys to success in the fur trade: I would warmly recommend to your notice the Canadians; these people I believe, are the best voyageurs in the world; they are spirited, enterprising, & extremely fond of the Country; they are easily commanded; never will you have any difficulty in setting a place with them Men; however dismal the prospect is for subsistence, they follow their Master wherever he goes.[3] Despite this strong endorsement, it would be 1815 before the HBC took his advice and began hiring substantial numbers of French-Canadian voyageurs for trading expeditions to the Athabasca. Colin Robertson led the first of these HBC expedition to the Athabasca and claimed to have difficulty hiring voyageurs from the Montreal region because of NWC efforts to thwart him. The NWC realized how important the voyageurs were to their success and were unwilling to give them up easily. This competition for experienced labour between the HBC and the NWC created the largest demand for voyageurs in Montreal since before the merger of the XY Company and the NWC.[4] The voyageurs are legendary, especially in French Canada.[citation needed] They are folk heroes celebrated in folklore and music. The reality of their lives was that of toil. For example, they had to be able to carry two 90-pound bundles of fur over portages; more suffered from strangulated hernias than any other injury.
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Voyageurs who only paddled between Montreal and Grand Portage were known as mangeurs de lard (pork eaters) because of their diet, much of which consisted of salt pork. This is considered to be a derogatory term. Those who overwintered and ate "off the land" (mainly fish, pemmican and rubaboo) were called hommes du nord (northern men) or hivernants (winterers). Voyageurs were expected to work 14 hours per day and paddle at a rate of 55 strokes per minute. [5] Few could swim. Many drowned in rapids or in storms while crossing lakes. Portages and routes were often indicated by lob trees, or trees that had their branches cut off just below the top of the tree. [edit] See also
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European colonization of the Americas
[edit] References 1. ^ Englebert, Robert. Diverging Identities and Converging Interests: Corporate Competition, Desertion and Voyageur Agency, 1815-1818. Manitoba History, 2007, 55, 2. 2. ^ Englebert, Robert. Diverging Identities and Converging Interests: Corporate Competition, Desertion and Voyageur Agency, 1815-1818. Manitoba History, 2007, 55, 1. 3. ^ Library jnd Archives Canada (LAC), Hudson's Bay Company Archives (HBCA), AlO/l, Governor and Committee General Inward Correspondence, Colin Robertson to London Committee, 17 January 1810, Microfilm 55. 4. ^ Englebert, Robert. Diverging Identities and Converging Interests: Corporate Competition, Desertion and Voyageur Agency, 1815-1818. Manitoba History, 2007, 55, 5.
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^ Nute, Grace Lee.The Voyageur. New York: D.Appleton. 1931, p 55
Brown, Craig, editor. The Illustrated History of Canada . Toronto: Lester & Orpen Dennys Ltd., 1987. ISBN 0-88619-147-5. • Podruchny, Carolyn. Making the Voyageur World : Travelers and Traders in the North American Fur Trade. Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 2006. ISBN 9780802094285. References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coureur_des_bois The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued. Historically it had a large impact on the exploration and colonization of Siberia, northern North America and the South Shetland and South Sandwich Islands. Today the importance of fur trade has diminished and is currently centered around fur farms and authorized wildlife hunting, but remains controversial due to alleged cruelty and conflicts with the tourism industry. Several animal rights organizations oppose the fur trade, while supporters often cite their methods as not being cruel, that the animal populations are abundant and their rights to practice a traditional lifestyle should be respected. The use of fur on some items today has been partly substituted by synthetic imitations. New France From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search For the short-lived monarchy in South America, see Araucania and Patagonia. For the colony claimed by the Marquis de Rays to exist in New Ireland, see De Rays Expedition. Vice-royauté de Viceroyalty of New France French colony 1534-1763 Nouvelle-France
Flag from 1663
Coat of arms
Capital Quebec Language(s) French Religion Roman Catholicism Government Monarchy King - 1663-1715 King Louis XIV - 1715-1763 King Louis XV Legislature Sovereign Council of New France History Royal Control 1663 Articles of Capitulation of 1759 Quebec Articles of Capitulation of 1760 Montreal Treaty of Paris (1763) February 10 (1763) 1763 Currency New France livre Succeeded by Province of Quebec (1763-1791) Nova Scotia Rupert's Land Newfoundland (island) Louisiana (New Spain)
History of Canada
This article is part of a series Timeline Pre-Columbian 1534–1763 1764–1866 1867–1914 1914–1945 1945–1960 1960–1981 1982–1992 1992–present Topics Constitutional Cultural Economic Former colonies Immigration Military Monarchical Persons of Territorial evolution History of Canada portal New France (French: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America during a period extending from the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River, by Jacques Cartier in 1534, to the cession of New France to Spain and Britain in 1763. At its peak in 1712 (before the Treaty of Utrecht), the territory of New France extended from Newfoundland to the Rocky Mountains and from Hudson Bay to the Gulf of Mexico. The territory was then divided in five colonies, each with its own administration: Canada, Acadia, Hudson Bay, Newfoundland (Plaisance),[1] and Louisiana. The Treaty of Utrecht resulted in the relinquishing of French claims to mainland Acadia, the Hudson Bay and Newfoundland colonies, and the establishment of the colony of Île Royale (Cape Breton Island) as the successor to Acadia.[2][3] France ceded the rest of New France to Great Britain and Spain at the Treaty of Hubertusburg, which ended the Seven Years War (the French and Indian War). Britain received all lands east of the Mississippi River, including Canada, Acadia, and parts of Louisiana, while Spain received the territory to the west – the larger portion of Louisiana. Spain returned its portion of Louisiana to France in 1800, but the French sold it to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, permanently ending French colonial efforts on the North American mainland. Contents hide] 1 Early exploration history history history territories history history history significance era
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1.1 Jesuit missions 2 Royal takeover and attempts to settle 3 Military conflicts 4 Fall and British rule 5 Legal Issues of New France 6 Political Divisions 7 See also 8 References 9 Selected bibliography 10 External links [edit] Early exploration Around 1523, the Italian navigator Giovanni da Verrazzano convinced the king, Francis I, to commission an expedition to find a western route to Cathay (China).[4] Late that year, Verrazzano set sail in Dieppe, crossing the Atlantic on a small caravel with 50 men.[4] After exploring the coast of the present-day Carolinas early the following year, he headed north along the coast, eventually anchoring in the Narrows of New York Bay. The first European to discover the site of present-day New York, he named it Nouvelle-Angoulême in honour of the king, the former count of Angoulême. Verrazzano’s voyage convinced the king to seek to establish a colony in the newly discovered land. Verrazzano gave the names Francesca and Nova Gallia to that land between New Spain (Mexico) and English Newfoundland.[4]
Map of New France made by Samuel de Champlain in 1612. In 1534, Jacques Cartier planted a cross in the Gaspé Peninsula and claimed the land in the name of King Francis I.[5] It was the first province of New France. However, initial French attempts at settling the region met with failure.[5] French fishing fleets, however, continued to sail to the Atlantic coast and into the St. Lawrence River, making alliances with First Nations that became important once France began to occupy the land. French merchants soon realized the St. Lawrence region was full of valuable fur-bearing animals, especially the beaver, which were becoming rare in Europe. Eventually, the French crown decided to colonize the territory to secure and expand its influence in America. Another early French attempt at settlement in North America was Fort Caroline, established in what is now Jacksonville, Florida, in 1564. Intended as a haven for Huguenots, Caroline was founded under the leadership of René Goulaine de Laudonnière and Jean Ribault. It was sacked by the Spanish led by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés which then established the settlement of St. Augustine on September 20, 1565. Acadia and Canada (New France) were inhabited by indigenous nomadic Algonquin peoples and sedentary Iroquoian peoples. These lands were full of unexploited and valuable natural riches which attracted all of Europe. By the 1580s, French trading companies had been set up, and ships were
contracted to bring back furs. Much of what transpired between the natives and their European visitors around that time is not known for lack of historical records.[5] Early attempts at establishing permanent settlements were failures. In 1598, a trading post was established on Sable Island, off the coast of Acadia, but was unsuccessful. In 1600, a trading post was established at Tadoussac, but only five settlers survived the winter.[5] In 1604, a settlement was founded at Île-SaintCroix on Baie François (Bay of Fundy) which was moved to Port-Royal in 1605.[5] It was abandoned in 1607, reestablished in 1610, and destroyed in 1613, after which settlers moved to other nearby locations, creating settlements that were collectively known as Acadia, and the settlers as Acadians.[5] In 1608, sponsored by Henry IV, Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons and Samuel de Champlain founded the city of Quebec with 28 men, the second permanent French settlement in the colony of Canada.[6][7][8] Colonization was slow and difficult. Many settlers died early, because of harsh weather and diseases. In 1630, there were only 103 colonists living in the settlement, but by 1640, the population had reached 355.
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Champlain quickly allied himself with the Algonquin and Montagnais peoples in the area, who were at war with the Iroquois. In 1609, Champlain, along with two other French companions, accompanied by his Algonquin, Montagnais and Huron allies, travelled south from the St. Lawrence valley to Lake Champlain, where he participated decisively in a battle against the Iroquois, killing two Iroquois chiefs with the first shot of his harquebus. This military engagement against the Iroquois solidified the position of Champlain with New France's Huron and Algonquin allies, bonds vital to New France in order to keep the fur trade alive. However, for the better part of a century the Iroquois and French clash in a series of attacks and reprisals.[10] He also arranged to have young French men live with the natives, to learn their language and customs and help the French adapt to life in North America. These men, known as coureurs des bois (runners of the woods) (such as Étienne Brûlé), extended French influence south and west to the Great Lakes and among the Huron tribes who lived there.
Map of western New France, including the Illinois Country, by Vincenzo Coronelli, 1688. For the first few decades of the colony's existence, the French population numbered only a few hundred, while the English colonies to the south were much more populous and wealthy. Cardinal Richelieu, adviser to Louis XIII, wished to make New France as significant as the English colonies. In 1627, Richelieu founded the Company of One Hundred Associates to invest in New France, promising land parcels to hundreds of new settlers and to turn Canada into an important mercantile and farming colony. Champlain was named Governor of New France. Richelieu then forbade non-Roman Catholics from living there. Protestants were required to renounce their faith to establish themselves in New France; many chose instead to move to the English colonies. The Roman Catholic Church, and missionaries such as the Recollets and the Jesuits, became firmly established in the territory. Richelieu also introduced the seigneurial system, a semi-feudal system of farming that remained a characteristic feature of the St. Lawrence valley until the 19th century.
At the same time, however, the English colonies to the south began to raid the St. Lawrence valley, and, in 1629, Quebec itself was captured and held by the British until 1632. [11] Champlain returned to Canada that year, and requested that Sieur de Laviolette found another trading post at Trois-Rivières, which he did in 1634. Champlain died in 1635. [edit] Jesuit missions Main article: Jesuit missions in North America
Le Grand Voyage du Pays des Hurons, Gabriel Sagard, 1632. The French Catholic Church, which after Champlain’s death was the most dominant force in New France, wanted to establish a utopian Christian community in the colony.[12] In 1642, they sponsored a group of settlers, led by Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, who founded Ville-Marie, precursor to present-day Montreal, farther up the St. Lawrence.[13] Throughout the 1640s, Jesuit missionaries penetrated the Great Lakes region and converted many of the Huron natives. The missionaries came into conflict with the Iroquois, who frequently attacked Montreal. By 1649, both the Jesuit mission and the Huron society were almost completely destroyed by Iroquois invasions (see Canadian Martyrs). The transport infrastructure in New France was almost nonexistent, with few roads and canals.The canals would be up to 3 miles long at times and boats were thin and simple. Thus people used the waterways, especially the St. Lawrence River, as the main form of transportation, by canoes. In the winter, when the lakes froze, both the poor and the rich travelled by sleds pulled by dogs or horses. A land transportation system was not developed in the region until the 1830s, when stretches of road were built along the river, and the Rideau Canal project was not completed until 1840.
[edit] Royal takeover and attempts to settle
Great Seal of King Louis XIV used in New France after the colony was reformed as a province of France in 1663. In the 1650s, Montreal still had only a few dozen settlers and a severely underpopulated New France almost fell completely to hostile Iroquois forces. In 1660, settler Adam Dollard des Ormeaux led a Canadian and Huron militia against a much larger Iroquois force; none of the Canadians survived, but they succeeded in turning back the Iroquois invasion. In 1663, New France finally became more secure when Louis XIV made it a royal province. In 1665, he sent a French garrison, the Carignan-Salières Regiment, to Quebec. The government of the colony was reformed along the lines of the government of France, with the Governor General and Intendant subordinate to the Minister of the Marine in France. In 1665, Jean Talon was sent by Minister of the Marine Jean-Baptiste Colbert to New France as the first Intendant. These reforms limited the power of the Bishop of Quebec, who had held the greatest amount of power after the death of Champlain. The 1666 census of New France was conducted by France's intendant, Jean Talon, in the winter of 16651666.[14] It showed a population of 3,215 habitants in New France, many more than there had been only a few decades earlier.[14] But the census showed a great difference in the number of men (2,034) and women (1,181).[14] This was because most of the explorers, soldiers, fur traders and settlers who had come to New France were men. To strengthen the colony and make it the centre of France's colonial empire, Louis XIV decided to dispatch more than 700 single women, aged between 15 and 30 (known as les filles du roi) to New France. At the same time, marriages with the natives were encouraged and indentured servants, known as engagés, were also sent to New France. One such engagé, Etienne Truteau (La Rochelle,1641 Montréal, 1712) was the ancestor of Trudeaus of America like Prime Minister of Canada Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Talon also tried to reform the seigneurial system, forcing the seigneurs to actually reside on their land, and limiting the size of the seigneuries, in an attempt to make more land available to new settlers. These schemes were ultimately unsuccessful. Very few settlers arrived, and the various industries established by Talon did not surpass the importance of the fur trade. NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY Dr. Eric Mayer THE FUR TRADE
The fur trade, more than any other activity, contributed to the white exploration and opening of the wilderness north of Mexico, and it led to extensive contacts between whites and Indians.
All the colonial powers were involved in the mass commercial exploitation of animal pelts and skinsFrance, England, the Netherlands, Russia, and to a lesser extent Spainto fulfill the furious demand for furs in Europe, especially beaver pelts for hatmaking.
Competition among the European nations and among the Indian tribes for the fur trade was a major factor in many of the intertribal conflicts and colonial wars.
And reaction to white traders on Indian lands spawned considerable native resistance. The world fur market remained vital after colonial times into the 19 th century, and it played a significant part in the opening of both U.S. and Canadian wilderness to white settlement. Over the course of these centuries, the 17th through the 19th, impact on the Indians as a result of the fur trade came about in various ways. First, as skilled hunters and suppliers of pelts, the Indians were sought after as trading partners and were exposed to white culture. In exchange for their goods, the Indians received European products, both practical, such as iron tools and utensils, and decorative, such as bright-colored cloth and beads. The Indians also received firearms and liquor, both of which had an enormous impact on Indian lifeways. A second and devastating effect from trade with whites was the outbreak of European diseases among the Indian population. (See "The Spread of European Diseases." ) A third effect was the long-term ecological disruption of the food chain by the depletion of fur-bearing mammals. And finally, the fur trade had another long-term impact in the Indians by bringing whites onto their lands. After the white traders, trappers, and hunters came the trading and military posts, and after the posts came the settlers. In early colonial times, the French most thoroughly exploited the fur trade. Whereas mining and the raising of livestock had a greater economic bearing on the development of Spanish colonies, and farming dominated the economy and land use of the English colonies, commerce in furs determined French expansion. The French and Indian fur trade began with Jacques Cartier in 1534 along the St. Lawrence River. His original intent had been to find the Northwest Passage to the Orient,
but he found instead an untapped source of furs among the Indians who were eager to trade for European goods. Based on the results of Cartier’s expeditions, Samuel de Champlain arrived in New France in 1603, having the express purpose of trading with the Indians for furs. Over the next years, Champlain explored the northern woods and established trade agreements with various tribes to deliver their pelts to French trading posts. Port Royal in Acadia (now Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia), Quebec City, and Montreal all became thriving centers for commerce. Eastern tribes, such as the Algonquian-speaking Micmacs, Montagnais, Naskapis, Abenakis, and Crees, were all involved in the French fur trade. Yet the Iroquoian-speaking Hurons, living further to the west, became the foremost suppliers. From the years 1616 to 1649, the Hurons, in conjunction with the Algonquian Ottawas and Nipissings, developed a trade empire among the Indians from the Great Lakes to the Hudson Bay to the St. Lawrence. Each of the three main trading partners had its own river and portage route for travel by canoe, plus a yearly schedule, linking them up with other tribes as well, such as the Iroquoian Tobaccos and Neutrals. Acting as middlemen, the Hurons traded agricultural products to other tribes for pelts, which they then carried to the French in Quebec city or Montreal, to trade for European wares. In their flotillas of canoes now laden with such products as textiles, beads, paints, knives, hatchets, and kettles, they then completed the trade circle, returning to the other tribes to trade a percentage of their take for still more furs. This complex trade relationship lasted until the mid-17th century, ending with the military and economic expansion from the south by the Iroqois League of Five Nations, who were at the time trading partners of the Dutch. (See "The Beaver Wars" and "Rebellions against the Dutch." ) In the meantime, however, many Frenchmen, some of them sponsored by Champlain and others by the Catholic Church, had already ventured along lakes and rivers, deeper into the wilderness in search of new sources for furs. Many more would follow. The men who earned a livelihood by paddling large canoes into the wilderness Indian-style in quest of furs came to be known as voyageurs. This wilderness profession would lead to another breed of Frenchmen-the coureurs de bois independent, unlicensed entrepreneurs who defied regulations, many of them living among the Indians, and dealt in furs.
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Both voyageurs and coureurs de bois would propagate still another wilderness breed-the Metis-mixedbloods of predominantly French and Cree descent. (See "Canadian Indian Wars." ) In New France the lure of fur profits and fluctuations in the market proved a more powerful force than official policy and planning. The Company of New France (or Company of One Hundred Associates), charted in 1627 in order to settle the colony as well as develop commerce, largely ignored the former in favor of the lucrative fur trade. And the Catholic Church, through its Jesuit missionaries, also had its hand in la traite. It was only when trade was choked off by the Beaver Wars that the habitants of New France turned to farming to any significant degree. And even after the company’s charter was revoked in 1663 and New France became a Crown colony, royal governors, intendants, and other officials were more concerned with matters of commerce and their own investments than other areas of colonial growth, inspite of the efforts of wealthy merchants in France to keep the bulk of the profits on their side of the Atlantic. It took a fur market crash in 1696 to again effect another dramatic increase in farming among the settlers of New France. Nevertheless, despite fluctuations and interruptions, the French fur trade continued to expand into new regions. Under royal management, New France extended its territory from the Great Lakes to the trans-Mississippi area, known to the French as Louisiana. Looking for new Indian markets, the French explored Missouri, Platte, and Red River systems of the prairies and plains. They also commonly took the majority of a tribe from the Great Lakes country with them across the Mississippi; the Indian men would protect the explorers and hunt for them, and the women would process the furs and skins. Meanwhile, French traders expanded their markets in the southern part of the Louisiana Territory, from settlements along the Gulf Coast northwestward along the Mississippi and Red rivers. New Orleans, founded in 1718, became a bustling center of commerce. And during the 18th century, as they had done with the Hurons the century before, the French established a special trade relationship with the Taovayas (the French name for both Wichita and Caddo Indians), who acted as middlemen for them. The Taovayas and coureurs de bois established the Twin Villages of San Bernardo and San Teodoro on the upper Red River just east of the Comanches, with whom they conducted much of their business.
The Spanish, resenting the French presence and their sale of firearms to the Comanches, tried to oust the French from the area on several occasions, but without success. Both the coureurs de bois and Taovayas remained active even after 1763 and the takeover of Louisiana by the Spanish. Yet restrictive trade practices by the Spanish finally did dry up the Taovaya source of wealth. England, which had inherited a trade relationship with the Iroquois from the Dutch in 1664 and whose ships now plied the Hudson River, sought to develop trade especially in the Hudson Bay region. Claim to the area was based on the voyage of Henry Hudson in 1610, but it wasn’t until the overland expedition of Pierre Radisson and Sieur des Groseilliers in 1668 and 1669, and the subsequent charter of the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1670, that the vast fur-rich area came to be exploited. The English, rather than sending traders inland to collect furs, established trading posts for barter with the Indians at the mouths of the large rivers that drained the Canadian Shield into the bay. Ships could come and go in the summertime when the northern waters were free of ice. And because English goods were generally cheaper and of better quality than French goods, the English proved themselves competitive with tribes who had previously traded only with the French. At this time, England did not know the extent of Rupert’s Land, as its northern holdings were called, after Prince Rupert, the Hudson’s Bay Company’s chief backer and first governor. The French also claimed the Hudson Bay and sent out various military expeditions against British posts, with some successes, until 1713 and the Treaty of Utrecht, when they abandoned their efforts. Yet France continued to play a dominant role in the fur trade until England’s ultimate victory in the French and Indian Wars and the Treaty of Paris in 1763. During the period of conflict between France and England, Russia also began developing its fur trade. Vitus Bering’s voyage of discovery in 1741 precipitated a period of intense activity by the promyshlenniki, the Russian fur traders who had extended their domain into Alaska out of Siberia. By 1784, the Russians had founded their first permanent North American settlement, on Kodiak Island, as a year-round center of trading. By 1812, they also maintained a settlement in California. (For a more detailed discussion of the Russian fur trade, see "The Aleut, Tlingit, and Pomo Resistance against the Russians." ) The Hudson’s Bay Company also encountered fierce competition from the North West Company (charted in 1784 by Scotsmen), which now dominated the Montreal-based fur trade.
Their rivalry spurred a period of extensive exploration in which new Indian contacts were established, especially among the tribes of the Canadian West. A "Nor’Wester," Alexander Mackenzie, became the first white man to cross the North American continent north of Mexico. The two companies merged in 1821 under the name of the older company. The U.S. fur business also began to expand in the early 19th century. In 1808, John Jacob Astor founded the American Fur Company, with various subsidiaries to follow-such as the Pacific Fur Company, with an important trading post at Astoria, Oregon, and the South West Company, operating near the Great Lakes. The next year, the Chouteau family, originally out of New Orleans, founded the St. Louis Missouri Fur Company. Both enterprises sponsored numerous expeditions into the western wilderness. In 1816, the American Congress enacted a law excluding British traders from the United States. By the time he died in 1848, John Jacob Astor was the richest man in America. Another American entrepreneur, William Henry Ashley, became a powerful force and amassed a fortune in the fur trade, participating in and backing various expeditions, especially to the Rocky Mountains. Many of the men who worked for and traded with him came to be known as the Mountain Men. Active in the 1820s and 1830s as hunters, trappers, and traders, they traveled the Indian trails and passes of the West. (See "Indian Trails and White Inroads." ) Like the voyageurs and the coureurs de bois of French Canada, the Mountain Men benefited from their extensive contacts with Indians, learning wilderness survival skills. And in terms of life-style, of all the whites to settle North America, the backwoods seekers of furs had the most in common with the Indians. During these same years, the U.S. government also played a part in the fur trade, through a system of government trading houses, called the "factory systems." During the years from 1790 to 1799, the American Congress passed four Trade and Intercourse Acts pertaining to Indian affairs and commerce. Among other regulations, the acts provided for the appointment of Indian agents and licensing of federal traders who could barter with the Indians for furs. In 1802, a follow-up Trade and Intercourse Act codified the four earlier ones. And in 1806, an Office of Indian Trade was created within the War Department to administer the federal trading houses.
The "factory system" was abolished in 1822, at which time provisions were made for the licensing of independent traders, who were better able to meet the booming demand for furs. The international fur market experienced a decline during the 1840s, partly because the beaver hat went out of style. Yet other factors besides changes in fashion account for the end of the centuries-long fur boom-namely the depletion of fur-bearing animals and the advance of farming settlements. In 1867, Russia gave up its North American venture and sold Alaska to the United States, and, in 1869, the Hudson’s Bay Company sold off its vast territorial holdings to the Canadian government. As for the Mountain Men and other counterparts, many of them stayed active long after the fur decline, as scouts and guides for the army or as settlers; some became the nemeses of the very people from whom they had learned so much-they were among the only whites skilled enough to track the warring Indians. Because of the rugged Indian-like life-style of the fur traders-from the French voyageurs and coureurs de bois to the Hudson’s Bay Company explorers to the American Mountain Men-they, like the American cowboy, have come to be romanticized. They certainly were stalwart, courageous, and individualistic, and, of all the whites entering the domain of the Indians, perhaps the most appreciative and respectful of Indian ways. But there were also those traders who held the Indians in disdain, using whatever means they could, especially alcohol, to cheat them. Although there is little comparison between the depredations these opportunistic individuals imposed on the Indians and those imposed by the the majority of Spanish conquistadors, for example, who sought to conquer, plunder, and enslave the Indian population, certain traders might nevertheless be called the harbingers of an insensitive and exploitative white culture. References: http://www.emayzine.com/lectures/FURTRADE.html
The Voyageurs - Charles William Jefferies
The Coureur des Bois, or Runners of the Woods, were a group of individuals who traded furs with the First Nations in New France in the 17th Century.
During the 17th Century, the Canadian fur trade was a very lucrative industry in New France. Competition was stiff and many settlers were willing to undertake the dangerous journey through Iroquois territory to trade with New France’s First Nation allies.
The Origins of the Voyageurs
The Coureur des Bois were frowned upon by the royal authorities in Montreal because they did not want the settlers to leave the developing agricultural areas to make their fortunes as trappers and fur traders. The colonial government preferred to have the First Nations bring the furs to trading posts where they could exchange them for trade goods and other supplies. By 1681, however, the French colonial authorities found themselves unable to stop the Coureur des Bois. In response they sought to control them instead. They legalized a limited number of Coureur des Bois by establishing a system of permits. In doing so the royal authorities created a second generation of Coureur des Bois, which they called Voyageurs, or Travellers. The result was that the fur trade was controlled by a small number of Montreal merchants who held the permits for the Voyageurs. Around the same time, New France began to expand, in an attempt to dominate the fur trade. In conjunction with this, the royal authorities in Montreal built a series of forts and trading posts to protect the trade routes. At the same time, they also negotiated treaties with the First Nations for access to their furs and the right to trap on their land. The result was that the Voyageurs started as independent traders, but gradually became hired labourers. The term “Voyageur” referred mainly to the men who manned the canoes that carried trade goods, furs and other supplies. The Voyageurs travelled all over North America to Lachine, near Montreal, following well known routes that had evolved from native hunting trails. The Voyageurs who travelled this route exclusively were derisively called, “Mangeurs du Lard,” or Pork Eaters, in reference to their diet of salt pork. Some Voyageurs became known as “Hivernants,” or Winterers, and “Homme du Nord,” which meant Men of the North, because they stayed in the back country during the winter and transported furs and other supplies to more distant forts and trading posts. The Voyageurs also served as scouts and guides for explorers, as well as during the French and Indian War, due to their extensive knowledge of the back country and their reputation as excellent woodsmen. The majority of the Voyageurs were French-Canadian or Metis and came from the area surrounding Montreal and the banks of the St. Lawrence River.
The Voyageurs and the Hudson Bay Company
By the early 19th Century, the trading companies operating in New France, now called Quebec, had come to rely on the Voyageurs as highly valued employees. The Voyageurs became instrumental in retrieving furs from all over North America. Of particular importance was the Athabasca Region, where the North West Company and the Hudson Bay Company were engaged in trapping the best beaver pelts on the continent. At first, the Hudson Bay Company was content to allow the First Nations to bring their pelts to the Hudson Bay Company’s string of trading posts along the shores of Hudson Bay. However, the North West Company began to send Voyageurs into the area to hunt and trap. The First Nations preferred this, because it allowed them to trade their pelts more easily.
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The History of New France A History of What Life in New France Was Like Where was New France?
In 1810, Colin Robertson, a former employee of the North West Company and a veteran of the Canadian fur trade, wrote a letter to the directors of the Hudson Bay Company, in which he urged them to hire Voyageurs of their own. “I would warmly recommend to your notice the Canadians; these people I believe, are the best voyageurs in the world.” However, it would not be until 1815 that the Hudson Bay Company would begin hiring large numbers of Voyageurs. Robertson was placed in charge of the expedition to the Athabasca Region, where the directors of the Hudson Bay Company hoped to re-establish the company’s presence. However, Robertson experienced delays setting out from Montreal because he was finding it difficult to hire enough Voyageurs for the journey. This was because the North West Company was actively trying to stop the expedition.
The Legacy of the Voyageurs
Today the Voyageurs are the stuff of legends, particularly in Quebec where they are still celebrated in folklore and songs. The reality was that the Voyageur’s life was filled with back-breaking labour. They often worked for 14 hours a day and were expected to paddle at a rate of 55 strokes per minute. They carried up to 180 pounds of pelts on their backs, and, ironically, few could swim. If they weren’t ruptured by their loads, they were often drowned in rapids or storms. Few Voyageurs left written accounts of themselves, but they played a critical role in opening Canada for settlement. Sources: Englebert, Robert. Diverging Identities and Converging Interests: Corporate Competition, Desertion and Voyageur Agency, 1815-1818. Manitoba History, 2007, 55, 2. Englebert, Robert. Diverging Identities and Converging Interests: Corporate Competition, Desertion and Voyageur Agency, 1815-1818. Manitoba History, 2007, 55, 1. Library jnd Archives Canada (LAC), Hudson's Bay Company Brown, Craig, editor. The Illustrated History of Canada. Toronto: Lester & Orpen Dennys Ltd., 1987. Podruchny, Carolyn. Making the Voyageur World : Travelers and Traders in the North American Fur Trade. Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 2006. References: http://www.suite101.com/content/the-voyageurs-of-new-france-a160155
Arrival of Radisson in an Indian camp in 1660. The coureurs des bois (French pronunciation: [kuʁœʁ de bwa], runner of the woods) were French woodsmen, who travelled to the interior of Canada to engage the natives in the fur trade without permission from the French authorities. A Coureurs de Bois was an adventurer, expert canoeist, and skilled businessmen. The coureurs de bois, mostly of French descent, operated during the late 17th century and early 18th century in eastern North America, particularly in New France. Later, a limited number of permits were issued to coureurs des bois who became known as voyageurs.
[edit] Background
"Coureur de bois" - A woodcut by Arthur Heming
One of the reasons the Native peoples were essential to the fur trade was because they brought furs from the interior regions to the French trading posts of Quebec, Trois Rivières, and Montreal. The French could also obtain furs by going into the interior region themselves. During times of hostilities, it was safer to have the Native allies bring fur to the French, but high profits could be made by those who were willing to venture into the interior rivers and lakes and bring back beaver pelts themselves. During peaceful times, more and more young men of New France were attracted to the high profits and adventure in the fur trade. These men were entrepreneurs, working for themselves rather than representing a company. These energetic and daring adventurers became expert canoeists and shrewd businessmen. They were known as coureurs de bois or "runners of the woods" During the 17th century, the fur trade was very lucrative for New France. Competition was fierce, and many colonists risked the journey west and north through hostile Iroquois territory from the settlements around Montreal to the pays d'en haut, or "upper country" (the area around the Great Lakes) to trade with Native trappers. These coureurs des bois were not looked upon favourably by Montreal authorities or royal officials. They disapproved of settlers leaving the developing agricultural areas to seek their fortune trading. The French authorities would rather have let the transportation of furs be handled by the natives than have independent unregulated colonial traders, who were bringing in so many furs that the market was oversupplied. The unregulated traffic in furs also undermined Montreal's role as the focal point for the fur trade — where traders would exchange beaver pelts for trade goods such as clothing, muskets and copper pots. Some illicit traders also caused problems by trading alcohol for furs. Some coureurs des bois became famous, including Étienne Brûlé-Valiquette, Louis Jolliet, Médard des Groseilliers, Pierre-Esprit Radisson, Jean Nicolet, Guillaume Couture, Jean-Baptiste Chalifoux and Jacques de Noyon. References: http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_furtrade/fp_furtrade2.html
"Canoe Manned by Voyageurs Passing a Waterfall" by Frances Anne Hopkins By 1681, the French authorities realized the traders had to be controlled so that the industry might remain profitable. They therefore legitimized and limited the numbers of coureurs des bois by establishing a system that used permits (congés). This legitimization created a "second-generation" coureur des bois: the voyageur, which literally means "traveller". This name change came as a result of a need for the legitimate fur traders to distance themselves from the unlicensed ones. Voyageurs held a permit or were allied with a Montreal merchant who had one. The fur trade was thus controlled by a small number of Montreal merchants. New France also began a policy of expansion in an attempt to dominate the trade. French influence extended west, north and south. Forts and trading posts were built with the help of explorers and traders. 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 labourers.
Contemporary actor costumed as a voyageur at a Minnesota historic site For the most part, voyageurs were the crews hired to man the canoes that carried trade goods and supplies to "rendezvous posts" (example: Grand Portage) where goods and supplies were exchanged for furs. The canoes travelled along well-established routes. They then transported the furs back to Lachine near Montreal. Some voyageurs stayed in the back country over the winter and transported the trade goods from the rendezvous posts to farther-away French outposts. These men were known as the hivernants (winterers). They also helped negotiate trade in native villages. 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). The majority of these canoe men were French Canadian and/or Métis. They were usually from Island of Montreal or seigneuries and parishes along or near the St. Lawrence River. Many were from France and many were members of Native Aboriginal tribes.
"The Descent of the Fraser River, 1808", from a colour drawing by C. W. Jefferys The voyageurs were highly valued employees of trading companies, such as the North West Company (NWC) and the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). They were instrumental in retrieving furs from all over North-America but were especially important in the rugged Athabasca region of the North-West. The
Athabasca was one of the most profitable fur-trade regions in the colonies because pelts from further North were of superior quality to those trapped in more southerly locations. Originally the HBC was content to stay close to their trading posts along the shores of Hudson Bay and have their native trading partners bring the pelts to them. However, once the NWC began sending their voyageurs into the Athabasca it became easier for the natives to simply trade with them than to make the long trek to Hudson Bay.[1] As a result, Colin Robertson sent a message to the HBC London Committee in 1810 suggesting that they begin hiring French Canadian voyageurs of their own. [2] As this quote shows, he firmly believed them to be one of the keys to success in the fur trade: I would warmly recommend to your notice the Canadians; these people I believe, are the best voyageurs in the world; they are spirited, enterprising, & extremely fond of the Country; they are easily commanded; never will you have any difficulty in setting a place with them Men; however dismal the prospect is for subsistence, they follow their Master wherever he goes.[3] Despite this strong endorsement, it would be 1815 before the HBC took his advice and began hiring substantial numbers of French-Canadian voyageurs for trading expeditions to the Athabasca. Colin Robertson led the first of these HBC expedition to the Athabasca and claimed to have difficulty hiring voyageurs from the Montreal region because of NWC efforts to thwart him. The NWC realized how important the voyageurs were to their success and were unwilling to give them up easily. This competition for experienced labour between the HBC and the NWC created the largest demand for voyageurs in Montreal since before the merger of the XY Company and the NWC.[4] The voyageurs are legendary, especially in French Canada.[citation needed] They are folk heroes celebrated in folklore and music. The reality of their lives was that of toil. For example, they had to be able to carry two 90-pound bundles of fur over portages; more suffered from strangulated hernias than any other injury.
[citation needed]
Voyageurs who only paddled between Montreal and Grand Portage were known as mangeurs de lard (pork eaters) because of their diet, much of which consisted of salt pork. This is considered to be a derogatory term. Those who overwintered and ate "off the land" (mainly fish, pemmican and rubaboo) were called hommes du nord (northern men) or hivernants (winterers). Voyageurs were expected to work 14 hours per day and paddle at a rate of 55 strokes per minute. [5] Few could swim. Many drowned in rapids or in storms while crossing lakes. Portages and routes were often indicated by lob trees, or trees that had their branches cut off just below the top of the tree. [edit] See also
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European colonization of the Americas
[edit] References 1. ^ Englebert, Robert. Diverging Identities and Converging Interests: Corporate Competition, Desertion and Voyageur Agency, 1815-1818. Manitoba History, 2007, 55, 2. 2. ^ Englebert, Robert. Diverging Identities and Converging Interests: Corporate Competition, Desertion and Voyageur Agency, 1815-1818. Manitoba History, 2007, 55, 1. 3. ^ Library jnd Archives Canada (LAC), Hudson's Bay Company Archives (HBCA), AlO/l, Governor and Committee General Inward Correspondence, Colin Robertson to London Committee, 17 January 1810, Microfilm 55. 4. ^ Englebert, Robert. Diverging Identities and Converging Interests: Corporate Competition, Desertion and Voyageur Agency, 1815-1818. Manitoba History, 2007, 55, 5.
5.
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^ Nute, Grace Lee.The Voyageur. New York: D.Appleton. 1931, p 55
Brown, Craig, editor. The Illustrated History of Canada . Toronto: Lester & Orpen Dennys Ltd., 1987. ISBN 0-88619-147-5. • Podruchny, Carolyn. Making the Voyageur World : Travelers and Traders in the North American Fur Trade. Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 2006. ISBN 9780802094285. References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coureur_des_bois The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued. Historically it had a large impact on the exploration and colonization of Siberia, northern North America and the South Shetland and South Sandwich Islands. Today the importance of fur trade has diminished and is currently centered around fur farms and authorized wildlife hunting, but remains controversial due to alleged cruelty and conflicts with the tourism industry. Several animal rights organizations oppose the fur trade, while supporters often cite their methods as not being cruel, that the animal populations are abundant and their rights to practice a traditional lifestyle should be respected. The use of fur on some items today has been partly substituted by synthetic imitations. New France From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search For the short-lived monarchy in South America, see Araucania and Patagonia. For the colony claimed by the Marquis de Rays to exist in New Ireland, see De Rays Expedition. Vice-royauté de Viceroyalty of New France French colony 1534-1763 Nouvelle-France
Flag from 1663
Coat of arms
Capital Quebec Language(s) French Religion Roman Catholicism Government Monarchy King - 1663-1715 King Louis XIV - 1715-1763 King Louis XV Legislature Sovereign Council of New France History Royal Control 1663 Articles of Capitulation of 1759 Quebec Articles of Capitulation of 1760 Montreal Treaty of Paris (1763) February 10 (1763) 1763 Currency New France livre Succeeded by Province of Quebec (1763-1791) Nova Scotia Rupert's Land Newfoundland (island) Louisiana (New Spain)
History of Canada
This article is part of a series Timeline Pre-Columbian 1534–1763 1764–1866 1867–1914 1914–1945 1945–1960 1960–1981 1982–1992 1992–present Topics Constitutional Cultural Economic Former colonies Immigration Military Monarchical Persons of Territorial evolution History of Canada portal New France (French: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America during a period extending from the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River, by Jacques Cartier in 1534, to the cession of New France to Spain and Britain in 1763. At its peak in 1712 (before the Treaty of Utrecht), the territory of New France extended from Newfoundland to the Rocky Mountains and from Hudson Bay to the Gulf of Mexico. The territory was then divided in five colonies, each with its own administration: Canada, Acadia, Hudson Bay, Newfoundland (Plaisance),[1] and Louisiana. The Treaty of Utrecht resulted in the relinquishing of French claims to mainland Acadia, the Hudson Bay and Newfoundland colonies, and the establishment of the colony of Île Royale (Cape Breton Island) as the successor to Acadia.[2][3] France ceded the rest of New France to Great Britain and Spain at the Treaty of Hubertusburg, which ended the Seven Years War (the French and Indian War). Britain received all lands east of the Mississippi River, including Canada, Acadia, and parts of Louisiana, while Spain received the territory to the west – the larger portion of Louisiana. Spain returned its portion of Louisiana to France in 1800, but the French sold it to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, permanently ending French colonial efforts on the North American mainland. Contents hide] 1 Early exploration history history history territories history history history significance era
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1.1 Jesuit missions 2 Royal takeover and attempts to settle 3 Military conflicts 4 Fall and British rule 5 Legal Issues of New France 6 Political Divisions 7 See also 8 References 9 Selected bibliography 10 External links [edit] Early exploration Around 1523, the Italian navigator Giovanni da Verrazzano convinced the king, Francis I, to commission an expedition to find a western route to Cathay (China).[4] Late that year, Verrazzano set sail in Dieppe, crossing the Atlantic on a small caravel with 50 men.[4] After exploring the coast of the present-day Carolinas early the following year, he headed north along the coast, eventually anchoring in the Narrows of New York Bay. The first European to discover the site of present-day New York, he named it Nouvelle-Angoulême in honour of the king, the former count of Angoulême. Verrazzano’s voyage convinced the king to seek to establish a colony in the newly discovered land. Verrazzano gave the names Francesca and Nova Gallia to that land between New Spain (Mexico) and English Newfoundland.[4]
Map of New France made by Samuel de Champlain in 1612. In 1534, Jacques Cartier planted a cross in the Gaspé Peninsula and claimed the land in the name of King Francis I.[5] It was the first province of New France. However, initial French attempts at settling the region met with failure.[5] French fishing fleets, however, continued to sail to the Atlantic coast and into the St. Lawrence River, making alliances with First Nations that became important once France began to occupy the land. French merchants soon realized the St. Lawrence region was full of valuable fur-bearing animals, especially the beaver, which were becoming rare in Europe. Eventually, the French crown decided to colonize the territory to secure and expand its influence in America. Another early French attempt at settlement in North America was Fort Caroline, established in what is now Jacksonville, Florida, in 1564. Intended as a haven for Huguenots, Caroline was founded under the leadership of René Goulaine de Laudonnière and Jean Ribault. It was sacked by the Spanish led by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés which then established the settlement of St. Augustine on September 20, 1565. Acadia and Canada (New France) were inhabited by indigenous nomadic Algonquin peoples and sedentary Iroquoian peoples. These lands were full of unexploited and valuable natural riches which attracted all of Europe. By the 1580s, French trading companies had been set up, and ships were
contracted to bring back furs. Much of what transpired between the natives and their European visitors around that time is not known for lack of historical records.[5] Early attempts at establishing permanent settlements were failures. In 1598, a trading post was established on Sable Island, off the coast of Acadia, but was unsuccessful. In 1600, a trading post was established at Tadoussac, but only five settlers survived the winter.[5] In 1604, a settlement was founded at Île-SaintCroix on Baie François (Bay of Fundy) which was moved to Port-Royal in 1605.[5] It was abandoned in 1607, reestablished in 1610, and destroyed in 1613, after which settlers moved to other nearby locations, creating settlements that were collectively known as Acadia, and the settlers as Acadians.[5] In 1608, sponsored by Henry IV, Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons and Samuel de Champlain founded the city of Quebec with 28 men, the second permanent French settlement in the colony of Canada.[6][7][8] Colonization was slow and difficult. Many settlers died early, because of harsh weather and diseases. In 1630, there were only 103 colonists living in the settlement, but by 1640, the population had reached 355.
[9]
Champlain quickly allied himself with the Algonquin and Montagnais peoples in the area, who were at war with the Iroquois. In 1609, Champlain, along with two other French companions, accompanied by his Algonquin, Montagnais and Huron allies, travelled south from the St. Lawrence valley to Lake Champlain, where he participated decisively in a battle against the Iroquois, killing two Iroquois chiefs with the first shot of his harquebus. This military engagement against the Iroquois solidified the position of Champlain with New France's Huron and Algonquin allies, bonds vital to New France in order to keep the fur trade alive. However, for the better part of a century the Iroquois and French clash in a series of attacks and reprisals.[10] He also arranged to have young French men live with the natives, to learn their language and customs and help the French adapt to life in North America. These men, known as coureurs des bois (runners of the woods) (such as Étienne Brûlé), extended French influence south and west to the Great Lakes and among the Huron tribes who lived there.
Map of western New France, including the Illinois Country, by Vincenzo Coronelli, 1688. For the first few decades of the colony's existence, the French population numbered only a few hundred, while the English colonies to the south were much more populous and wealthy. Cardinal Richelieu, adviser to Louis XIII, wished to make New France as significant as the English colonies. In 1627, Richelieu founded the Company of One Hundred Associates to invest in New France, promising land parcels to hundreds of new settlers and to turn Canada into an important mercantile and farming colony. Champlain was named Governor of New France. Richelieu then forbade non-Roman Catholics from living there. Protestants were required to renounce their faith to establish themselves in New France; many chose instead to move to the English colonies. The Roman Catholic Church, and missionaries such as the Recollets and the Jesuits, became firmly established in the territory. Richelieu also introduced the seigneurial system, a semi-feudal system of farming that remained a characteristic feature of the St. Lawrence valley until the 19th century.
At the same time, however, the English colonies to the south began to raid the St. Lawrence valley, and, in 1629, Quebec itself was captured and held by the British until 1632. [11] Champlain returned to Canada that year, and requested that Sieur de Laviolette found another trading post at Trois-Rivières, which he did in 1634. Champlain died in 1635. [edit] Jesuit missions Main article: Jesuit missions in North America
Le Grand Voyage du Pays des Hurons, Gabriel Sagard, 1632. The French Catholic Church, which after Champlain’s death was the most dominant force in New France, wanted to establish a utopian Christian community in the colony.[12] In 1642, they sponsored a group of settlers, led by Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, who founded Ville-Marie, precursor to present-day Montreal, farther up the St. Lawrence.[13] Throughout the 1640s, Jesuit missionaries penetrated the Great Lakes region and converted many of the Huron natives. The missionaries came into conflict with the Iroquois, who frequently attacked Montreal. By 1649, both the Jesuit mission and the Huron society were almost completely destroyed by Iroquois invasions (see Canadian Martyrs). The transport infrastructure in New France was almost nonexistent, with few roads and canals.The canals would be up to 3 miles long at times and boats were thin and simple. Thus people used the waterways, especially the St. Lawrence River, as the main form of transportation, by canoes. In the winter, when the lakes froze, both the poor and the rich travelled by sleds pulled by dogs or horses. A land transportation system was not developed in the region until the 1830s, when stretches of road were built along the river, and the Rideau Canal project was not completed until 1840.
[edit] Royal takeover and attempts to settle
Great Seal of King Louis XIV used in New France after the colony was reformed as a province of France in 1663. In the 1650s, Montreal still had only a few dozen settlers and a severely underpopulated New France almost fell completely to hostile Iroquois forces. In 1660, settler Adam Dollard des Ormeaux led a Canadian and Huron militia against a much larger Iroquois force; none of the Canadians survived, but they succeeded in turning back the Iroquois invasion. In 1663, New France finally became more secure when Louis XIV made it a royal province. In 1665, he sent a French garrison, the Carignan-Salières Regiment, to Quebec. The government of the colony was reformed along the lines of the government of France, with the Governor General and Intendant subordinate to the Minister of the Marine in France. In 1665, Jean Talon was sent by Minister of the Marine Jean-Baptiste Colbert to New France as the first Intendant. These reforms limited the power of the Bishop of Quebec, who had held the greatest amount of power after the death of Champlain. The 1666 census of New France was conducted by France's intendant, Jean Talon, in the winter of 16651666.[14] It showed a population of 3,215 habitants in New France, many more than there had been only a few decades earlier.[14] But the census showed a great difference in the number of men (2,034) and women (1,181).[14] This was because most of the explorers, soldiers, fur traders and settlers who had come to New France were men. To strengthen the colony and make it the centre of France's colonial empire, Louis XIV decided to dispatch more than 700 single women, aged between 15 and 30 (known as les filles du roi) to New France. At the same time, marriages with the natives were encouraged and indentured servants, known as engagés, were also sent to New France. One such engagé, Etienne Truteau (La Rochelle,1641 Montréal, 1712) was the ancestor of Trudeaus of America like Prime Minister of Canada Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Talon also tried to reform the seigneurial system, forcing the seigneurs to actually reside on their land, and limiting the size of the seigneuries, in an attempt to make more land available to new settlers. These schemes were ultimately unsuccessful. Very few settlers arrived, and the various industries established by Talon did not surpass the importance of the fur trade. NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY Dr. Eric Mayer THE FUR TRADE
The fur trade, more than any other activity, contributed to the white exploration and opening of the wilderness north of Mexico, and it led to extensive contacts between whites and Indians.
All the colonial powers were involved in the mass commercial exploitation of animal pelts and skinsFrance, England, the Netherlands, Russia, and to a lesser extent Spainto fulfill the furious demand for furs in Europe, especially beaver pelts for hatmaking.
Competition among the European nations and among the Indian tribes for the fur trade was a major factor in many of the intertribal conflicts and colonial wars.
And reaction to white traders on Indian lands spawned considerable native resistance. The world fur market remained vital after colonial times into the 19 th century, and it played a significant part in the opening of both U.S. and Canadian wilderness to white settlement. Over the course of these centuries, the 17th through the 19th, impact on the Indians as a result of the fur trade came about in various ways. First, as skilled hunters and suppliers of pelts, the Indians were sought after as trading partners and were exposed to white culture. In exchange for their goods, the Indians received European products, both practical, such as iron tools and utensils, and decorative, such as bright-colored cloth and beads. The Indians also received firearms and liquor, both of which had an enormous impact on Indian lifeways. A second and devastating effect from trade with whites was the outbreak of European diseases among the Indian population. (See "The Spread of European Diseases." ) A third effect was the long-term ecological disruption of the food chain by the depletion of fur-bearing mammals. And finally, the fur trade had another long-term impact in the Indians by bringing whites onto their lands. After the white traders, trappers, and hunters came the trading and military posts, and after the posts came the settlers. In early colonial times, the French most thoroughly exploited the fur trade. Whereas mining and the raising of livestock had a greater economic bearing on the development of Spanish colonies, and farming dominated the economy and land use of the English colonies, commerce in furs determined French expansion. The French and Indian fur trade began with Jacques Cartier in 1534 along the St. Lawrence River. His original intent had been to find the Northwest Passage to the Orient,
but he found instead an untapped source of furs among the Indians who were eager to trade for European goods. Based on the results of Cartier’s expeditions, Samuel de Champlain arrived in New France in 1603, having the express purpose of trading with the Indians for furs. Over the next years, Champlain explored the northern woods and established trade agreements with various tribes to deliver their pelts to French trading posts. Port Royal in Acadia (now Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia), Quebec City, and Montreal all became thriving centers for commerce. Eastern tribes, such as the Algonquian-speaking Micmacs, Montagnais, Naskapis, Abenakis, and Crees, were all involved in the French fur trade. Yet the Iroquoian-speaking Hurons, living further to the west, became the foremost suppliers. From the years 1616 to 1649, the Hurons, in conjunction with the Algonquian Ottawas and Nipissings, developed a trade empire among the Indians from the Great Lakes to the Hudson Bay to the St. Lawrence. Each of the three main trading partners had its own river and portage route for travel by canoe, plus a yearly schedule, linking them up with other tribes as well, such as the Iroquoian Tobaccos and Neutrals. Acting as middlemen, the Hurons traded agricultural products to other tribes for pelts, which they then carried to the French in Quebec city or Montreal, to trade for European wares. In their flotillas of canoes now laden with such products as textiles, beads, paints, knives, hatchets, and kettles, they then completed the trade circle, returning to the other tribes to trade a percentage of their take for still more furs. This complex trade relationship lasted until the mid-17th century, ending with the military and economic expansion from the south by the Iroqois League of Five Nations, who were at the time trading partners of the Dutch. (See "The Beaver Wars" and "Rebellions against the Dutch." ) In the meantime, however, many Frenchmen, some of them sponsored by Champlain and others by the Catholic Church, had already ventured along lakes and rivers, deeper into the wilderness in search of new sources for furs. Many more would follow. The men who earned a livelihood by paddling large canoes into the wilderness Indian-style in quest of furs came to be known as voyageurs. This wilderness profession would lead to another breed of Frenchmen-the coureurs de bois independent, unlicensed entrepreneurs who defied regulations, many of them living among the Indians, and dealt in furs.
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Both voyageurs and coureurs de bois would propagate still another wilderness breed-the Metis-mixedbloods of predominantly French and Cree descent. (See "Canadian Indian Wars." ) In New France the lure of fur profits and fluctuations in the market proved a more powerful force than official policy and planning. The Company of New France (or Company of One Hundred Associates), charted in 1627 in order to settle the colony as well as develop commerce, largely ignored the former in favor of the lucrative fur trade. And the Catholic Church, through its Jesuit missionaries, also had its hand in la traite. It was only when trade was choked off by the Beaver Wars that the habitants of New France turned to farming to any significant degree. And even after the company’s charter was revoked in 1663 and New France became a Crown colony, royal governors, intendants, and other officials were more concerned with matters of commerce and their own investments than other areas of colonial growth, inspite of the efforts of wealthy merchants in France to keep the bulk of the profits on their side of the Atlantic. It took a fur market crash in 1696 to again effect another dramatic increase in farming among the settlers of New France. Nevertheless, despite fluctuations and interruptions, the French fur trade continued to expand into new regions. Under royal management, New France extended its territory from the Great Lakes to the trans-Mississippi area, known to the French as Louisiana. Looking for new Indian markets, the French explored Missouri, Platte, and Red River systems of the prairies and plains. They also commonly took the majority of a tribe from the Great Lakes country with them across the Mississippi; the Indian men would protect the explorers and hunt for them, and the women would process the furs and skins. Meanwhile, French traders expanded their markets in the southern part of the Louisiana Territory, from settlements along the Gulf Coast northwestward along the Mississippi and Red rivers. New Orleans, founded in 1718, became a bustling center of commerce. And during the 18th century, as they had done with the Hurons the century before, the French established a special trade relationship with the Taovayas (the French name for both Wichita and Caddo Indians), who acted as middlemen for them. The Taovayas and coureurs de bois established the Twin Villages of San Bernardo and San Teodoro on the upper Red River just east of the Comanches, with whom they conducted much of their business.
The Spanish, resenting the French presence and their sale of firearms to the Comanches, tried to oust the French from the area on several occasions, but without success. Both the coureurs de bois and Taovayas remained active even after 1763 and the takeover of Louisiana by the Spanish. Yet restrictive trade practices by the Spanish finally did dry up the Taovaya source of wealth. England, which had inherited a trade relationship with the Iroquois from the Dutch in 1664 and whose ships now plied the Hudson River, sought to develop trade especially in the Hudson Bay region. Claim to the area was based on the voyage of Henry Hudson in 1610, but it wasn’t until the overland expedition of Pierre Radisson and Sieur des Groseilliers in 1668 and 1669, and the subsequent charter of the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1670, that the vast fur-rich area came to be exploited. The English, rather than sending traders inland to collect furs, established trading posts for barter with the Indians at the mouths of the large rivers that drained the Canadian Shield into the bay. Ships could come and go in the summertime when the northern waters were free of ice. And because English goods were generally cheaper and of better quality than French goods, the English proved themselves competitive with tribes who had previously traded only with the French. At this time, England did not know the extent of Rupert’s Land, as its northern holdings were called, after Prince Rupert, the Hudson’s Bay Company’s chief backer and first governor. The French also claimed the Hudson Bay and sent out various military expeditions against British posts, with some successes, until 1713 and the Treaty of Utrecht, when they abandoned their efforts. Yet France continued to play a dominant role in the fur trade until England’s ultimate victory in the French and Indian Wars and the Treaty of Paris in 1763. During the period of conflict between France and England, Russia also began developing its fur trade. Vitus Bering’s voyage of discovery in 1741 precipitated a period of intense activity by the promyshlenniki, the Russian fur traders who had extended their domain into Alaska out of Siberia. By 1784, the Russians had founded their first permanent North American settlement, on Kodiak Island, as a year-round center of trading. By 1812, they also maintained a settlement in California. (For a more detailed discussion of the Russian fur trade, see "The Aleut, Tlingit, and Pomo Resistance against the Russians." ) The Hudson’s Bay Company also encountered fierce competition from the North West Company (charted in 1784 by Scotsmen), which now dominated the Montreal-based fur trade.
Their rivalry spurred a period of extensive exploration in which new Indian contacts were established, especially among the tribes of the Canadian West. A "Nor’Wester," Alexander Mackenzie, became the first white man to cross the North American continent north of Mexico. The two companies merged in 1821 under the name of the older company. The U.S. fur business also began to expand in the early 19th century. In 1808, John Jacob Astor founded the American Fur Company, with various subsidiaries to follow-such as the Pacific Fur Company, with an important trading post at Astoria, Oregon, and the South West Company, operating near the Great Lakes. The next year, the Chouteau family, originally out of New Orleans, founded the St. Louis Missouri Fur Company. Both enterprises sponsored numerous expeditions into the western wilderness. In 1816, the American Congress enacted a law excluding British traders from the United States. By the time he died in 1848, John Jacob Astor was the richest man in America. Another American entrepreneur, William Henry Ashley, became a powerful force and amassed a fortune in the fur trade, participating in and backing various expeditions, especially to the Rocky Mountains. Many of the men who worked for and traded with him came to be known as the Mountain Men. Active in the 1820s and 1830s as hunters, trappers, and traders, they traveled the Indian trails and passes of the West. (See "Indian Trails and White Inroads." ) Like the voyageurs and the coureurs de bois of French Canada, the Mountain Men benefited from their extensive contacts with Indians, learning wilderness survival skills. And in terms of life-style, of all the whites to settle North America, the backwoods seekers of furs had the most in common with the Indians. During these same years, the U.S. government also played a part in the fur trade, through a system of government trading houses, called the "factory systems." During the years from 1790 to 1799, the American Congress passed four Trade and Intercourse Acts pertaining to Indian affairs and commerce. Among other regulations, the acts provided for the appointment of Indian agents and licensing of federal traders who could barter with the Indians for furs. In 1802, a follow-up Trade and Intercourse Act codified the four earlier ones. And in 1806, an Office of Indian Trade was created within the War Department to administer the federal trading houses.
The "factory system" was abolished in 1822, at which time provisions were made for the licensing of independent traders, who were better able to meet the booming demand for furs. The international fur market experienced a decline during the 1840s, partly because the beaver hat went out of style. Yet other factors besides changes in fashion account for the end of the centuries-long fur boom-namely the depletion of fur-bearing animals and the advance of farming settlements. In 1867, Russia gave up its North American venture and sold Alaska to the United States, and, in 1869, the Hudson’s Bay Company sold off its vast territorial holdings to the Canadian government. As for the Mountain Men and other counterparts, many of them stayed active long after the fur decline, as scouts and guides for the army or as settlers; some became the nemeses of the very people from whom they had learned so much-they were among the only whites skilled enough to track the warring Indians. Because of the rugged Indian-like life-style of the fur traders-from the French voyageurs and coureurs de bois to the Hudson’s Bay Company explorers to the American Mountain Men-they, like the American cowboy, have come to be romanticized. They certainly were stalwart, courageous, and individualistic, and, of all the whites entering the domain of the Indians, perhaps the most appreciative and respectful of Indian ways. But there were also those traders who held the Indians in disdain, using whatever means they could, especially alcohol, to cheat them. Although there is little comparison between the depredations these opportunistic individuals imposed on the Indians and those imposed by the the majority of Spanish conquistadors, for example, who sought to conquer, plunder, and enslave the Indian population, certain traders might nevertheless be called the harbingers of an insensitive and exploitative white culture. References: http://www.emayzine.com/lectures/FURTRADE.html
The Voyageurs - Charles William Jefferies
The Coureur des Bois, or Runners of the Woods, were a group of individuals who traded furs with the First Nations in New France in the 17th Century.
During the 17th Century, the Canadian fur trade was a very lucrative industry in New France. Competition was stiff and many settlers were willing to undertake the dangerous journey through Iroquois territory to trade with New France’s First Nation allies.
The Origins of the Voyageurs
The Coureur des Bois were frowned upon by the royal authorities in Montreal because they did not want the settlers to leave the developing agricultural areas to make their fortunes as trappers and fur traders. The colonial government preferred to have the First Nations bring the furs to trading posts where they could exchange them for trade goods and other supplies. By 1681, however, the French colonial authorities found themselves unable to stop the Coureur des Bois. In response they sought to control them instead. They legalized a limited number of Coureur des Bois by establishing a system of permits. In doing so the royal authorities created a second generation of Coureur des Bois, which they called Voyageurs, or Travellers. The result was that the fur trade was controlled by a small number of Montreal merchants who held the permits for the Voyageurs. Around the same time, New France began to expand, in an attempt to dominate the fur trade. In conjunction with this, the royal authorities in Montreal built a series of forts and trading posts to protect the trade routes. At the same time, they also negotiated treaties with the First Nations for access to their furs and the right to trap on their land. The result was that the Voyageurs started as independent traders, but gradually became hired labourers. The term “Voyageur” referred mainly to the men who manned the canoes that carried trade goods, furs and other supplies. The Voyageurs travelled all over North America to Lachine, near Montreal, following well known routes that had evolved from native hunting trails. The Voyageurs who travelled this route exclusively were derisively called, “Mangeurs du Lard,” or Pork Eaters, in reference to their diet of salt pork. Some Voyageurs became known as “Hivernants,” or Winterers, and “Homme du Nord,” which meant Men of the North, because they stayed in the back country during the winter and transported furs and other supplies to more distant forts and trading posts. The Voyageurs also served as scouts and guides for explorers, as well as during the French and Indian War, due to their extensive knowledge of the back country and their reputation as excellent woodsmen. The majority of the Voyageurs were French-Canadian or Metis and came from the area surrounding Montreal and the banks of the St. Lawrence River.
The Voyageurs and the Hudson Bay Company
By the early 19th Century, the trading companies operating in New France, now called Quebec, had come to rely on the Voyageurs as highly valued employees. The Voyageurs became instrumental in retrieving furs from all over North America. Of particular importance was the Athabasca Region, where the North West Company and the Hudson Bay Company were engaged in trapping the best beaver pelts on the continent. At first, the Hudson Bay Company was content to allow the First Nations to bring their pelts to the Hudson Bay Company’s string of trading posts along the shores of Hudson Bay. However, the North West Company began to send Voyageurs into the area to hunt and trap. The First Nations preferred this, because it allowed them to trade their pelts more easily.
Read on
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The History of New France A History of What Life in New France Was Like Where was New France?
In 1810, Colin Robertson, a former employee of the North West Company and a veteran of the Canadian fur trade, wrote a letter to the directors of the Hudson Bay Company, in which he urged them to hire Voyageurs of their own. “I would warmly recommend to your notice the Canadians; these people I believe, are the best voyageurs in the world.” However, it would not be until 1815 that the Hudson Bay Company would begin hiring large numbers of Voyageurs. Robertson was placed in charge of the expedition to the Athabasca Region, where the directors of the Hudson Bay Company hoped to re-establish the company’s presence. However, Robertson experienced delays setting out from Montreal because he was finding it difficult to hire enough Voyageurs for the journey. This was because the North West Company was actively trying to stop the expedition.
The Legacy of the Voyageurs
Today the Voyageurs are the stuff of legends, particularly in Quebec where they are still celebrated in folklore and songs. The reality was that the Voyageur’s life was filled with back-breaking labour. They often worked for 14 hours a day and were expected to paddle at a rate of 55 strokes per minute. They carried up to 180 pounds of pelts on their backs, and, ironically, few could swim. If they weren’t ruptured by their loads, they were often drowned in rapids or storms. Few Voyageurs left written accounts of themselves, but they played a critical role in opening Canada for settlement. Sources: Englebert, Robert. Diverging Identities and Converging Interests: Corporate Competition, Desertion and Voyageur Agency, 1815-1818. Manitoba History, 2007, 55, 2. Englebert, Robert. Diverging Identities and Converging Interests: Corporate Competition, Desertion and Voyageur Agency, 1815-1818. Manitoba History, 2007, 55, 1. Library jnd Archives Canada (LAC), Hudson's Bay Company Brown, Craig, editor. The Illustrated History of Canada. Toronto: Lester & Orpen Dennys Ltd., 1987. Podruchny, Carolyn. Making the Voyageur World : Travelers and Traders in the North American Fur Trade. Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 2006. References: http://www.suite101.com/content/the-voyageurs-of-new-france-a160155
