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.
Why did the voyageurs use canoe paddles that were red?
Why were the blades of voyageur paddles red? Was it to show them how deep they should paddle? (Darcy) Hmmm. After only a few hours of paddling, canoeists wouldn’t probably need a marker on their paddles — they would instinctively know how deep to paddle. I’ve...
Can people still see voyageurs? Where would you go?
Can people, like, see voyageurs still? Where would you go to learn how to do the work they did, like canoeing, or outdoor skills? Quinn, 11 Yup, there are lots of ways to see and learn how to be a voyageur. It depends on what you want to do, where you live and...
What was it like to paddle on a canoe brigade?
What was it like to paddle on a canoe brigade? Did voyageurs ever write about it? Did voyageurs keep journals? (Renner, 12; Carsyn, 13; Blake, 11) In 1793, John Macdonell left Lachine to begin serving as a North West Company clerk—and he kept a journal! This post...
Voyageurs sang while they paddled? Why was that?
Voyageurs sang?? While they paddled? Why was that? What kind of songs did they sing? (Kacee, age 9) Yes, voyageurs, the French-Canadian canoemen of the fur trade, sang while they paddled their birch bark canoes over thousands of miles of rivers and lakes across the...
How big was a voyageur's canoe?
How big was the canoe? How many voyageurs paddled it? (Christian, grade 4) There were different sizes of canoes. The first one that André paddled, from Montreal to Grand Portage, was the biggest. It was a Montreal canoe (also called the canot de maître or master’s...
How did fur traders know what trade goods to bring to Native Americans?
How did fur traders know what trade goods to bring to Native Americans? What trade goods did they want the most? Why? What did things cost? (Zak, age 14) Thelma Boeder, a re-enactor with La Compagnie des Hivernants de la Riviere St. Pierre, has thought about this. At...
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.
