by Nikki Rajala | Sep 27, 2026 | Voyageur
Q: What gave the voyageurs hope against impossible odds? A: Two things: Protection from Ste. Anne, supplemented by a wealth of Native lore and seafaring beliefs. Peter Pond, describing his brigade’s departure in 1773: (Read Pond’s words aloud to better...
by Nikki Rajala | Aug 31, 2026 | Voyageur
When my sisters visited Canada a few years ago, they presented me with this gift card from the flagship Hudson’s Bay Company store. HBC was founded in 1670, first serving the fur trade and later the public with fascinating department stores I loved the trademark...
by Nikki Rajala | Aug 1, 2026 | Voyageur
This book came out a year ago. It’s taken me more than a year to consolidate my thoughts into a post. While I requested permission to reprint images and quotes, I never heard back, so the only artistry I can show are the covers of Gawboy’s work. “Fur Trade...
by Nikki Rajala | Jul 2, 2026 | Voyageur
In the last days of June 1793, John Macdonell and two partners shifted cargo out of their canoe and moved their belongings into an express canoe, with more paddlers so as to travel as fast as possible to the rendezvous. Leaving the remaining crew to transport...
by Nikki Rajala | Jun 12, 2026 | Voyageur
John Macdonell’s account began when he signed his contract on May 10, 1793, with his first-ever canoe brigade ( Part 1). After a month upstream on the Ottawa and Mattawa Rivers (Part 2 and Part 3) and a few days’ rest, this section recounts how his brigade...
by Nikki Rajala | May 22, 2026 | Voyageur
John Macdonell was born in Scotland in 1768, and his family migrated to New York in 1773 and then to Canada. He began his first trading venture in 1793, when he was 25. His diary describes his impressions of voyageur life. In this section, he has been on the...
