Voyageur’s Blog
Ask a voyageur a question
Here’s a blog to answer your questions, like what was life like during the 1800s in French Canada? Like who could or couldn’t be a voyageur? How big the canoes were? What trade goods they carried? What different furs were worth? What they used for medicine? I’ll answer these and more in the “A Voyageur’s Life” blog. Click on the button below to ask your question or go to the “Contact” section of this site — I’ll find the answers.
Gift-giving greased the wheels in the fur trade
Instead of trading right off the bat, French-Canadian fur traders gave gifts to their Native hosts at the start of trading, which made them much more successful in the long run.
How point blankets morphed …
Coats made from point blankets —capotes — were used by the British in the War of 1812, and then morphed into Mackinaw jackets, winter wear now preferred by outdoorsmen.
A short course on point blankets
Those Hudson’s Bay blankets (point blankets, with threads sewn in from selvage to indicate size) have a rich history, dating to before the fur trade.
And heeeere’s Greg Ingram, fur trade re-enactor!
Learn about re-enactor Greg Ingram who’s also a collector and carver, and shares his long-time passion for the fur trade era.
Baptized — now a full-fledged voyageur!
To become a full-fledged voyageur, one must be baptized, with water, promises and two kinds of shots (gun and high wines).
Time travel back to the fur trade era
Visiting historic sites is a fun way to travel back in time.
No wonder Nikki Rajala writes about voyageurs—her French-Canadian ancestors paddled birch bark canoes on many fur trade brigades. One great-great wintered for 16 years in fur posts west of Lake Superior and threads of family stories infuse this book. On Girl Scout canoe expeditions as a teen, she explored Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Ontario's Quetico Provincial Park. Nikki loves rendezvous re-enactments, reading fur trade journals, visiting museums, tasting voyageur foods.
