Voyageurs were French Canadians who transported furs by canoe during the fur trade years. Voyageur is a French word meaning “traveler.” From the beginning of the fur trade in the 1680s until the late 1870s, the voyageurs were the blue-collar workers of the Montreal fur trade. At their height in the 1810s, they numbered as many as 3,000 men. Hired from farms and villages of the St. Lawrence Valley, most spoke French and generally could not read or write. These men agreed to work for several years in exchange for pay, equipment, clothing, and “room and board.” Most voyageurs started working in their early twenties and continued into their sixties. Sometimes being a voyageur was a family tradition.

Hard-working, tough, and brave voyageurs powered the canoes, paddling at 40-60 strokes per minute for 16-18 hours a day. They were also required to carry a minimum of 180 pounds on their backs, as both trade goods and furs were placed into standard weight bundles of 90 pounds each, and each voyageur was required to carry two bundles, though some carried even more. Twelve beaver hides paid a common voyageur’s wages for the year.

The voyageurs were considered legendary, especially in French Canada, where they were considered heroes and celebrated in folklore and music. However, despite their fame, their lives were not nearly as glorious as folk tales make them out to be.

Danger lurked at every turn for the voyageur, not just from exposure to outdoor life but also from the rough work. Hernias were common and frequently caused death. Other physical ailments included broken limbs, compressed spine, and rheumatism. Drowning was common, and the black flies and mosquitoes were kept away from the sleeping men by a smudge fire that often caused respiratory, sinus, and eye problems.

Two classes of voyageurs existed—mangeur de lard, or “pork eaters,” and hivernants, or “winterers.” The first class, dismissively called “pork eaters” because of their daily diet of salt pork and dried peas, were unskilled young men who carried trade goods and supplies to the rendezvous posts, such as Grand Portage, Minnesota, where they were exchanged for furs. The 1,200-mile trip from Montreal to Grand Portage took six to eight weeks.

Hivernants were the wintering men and considered themselves superior to the “pork eaters.” These seasoned voyageurs paddled the bourgeois (traders), clerks, and the trade goods into the interior, then spent the Winter helping with the trading. In the spring, they paddled canoes and returned to the inland headquarters for the rendezvous. Wintering men received not only clothing and blankets as part of their contract, but also credit in the “company store.” They were also given goods they could trade directly with the natives.

In 1805, the voyageurs were described by François Victor Malhiot:

“Voyageurs were almost human paddling machines. They could paddle at speeds of six miles per hour for 12 to 15 hours a day. They sang to maintain the momentum and break the monotony of paddling for hours on end. Colorful and lively characters, they also carried all the cargo and canoes along the portage. They built the wintering posts. They cut firewood to keep everyone warm during the long Winter months. They planted gardens and traveled back and forth carrying mail, information, food, and furs. My people have not had a day’s rest since my arrival here last autumn. Of all the men who may be in the upper county, I do not think there are any who worked as hard as mine: a house 20 feet square of logs, placed one on the other made by four men; 70 cords of firewood chopped; pickets sawn for a fort; a bastion covered; a clearing made for sowing eight kegs of potatoes, and all the journeys made here and there!”

©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated Missouri.

Also See:

Fur Trading on the Frontier

Grand Portage National Monument, Minnesota

The Great Fur Trade Companies

North West Company Fur Post

See Sources.