In order to access the riches of the forest, the Europeans dealt with great hunters, the Aboriginal peoples. The first contacts took place along the Atlantic coast and the shores of the St. Lawrence River. The Aboriginal peoples went there to trade their furs for pots, guns, fabric and other objects.

The Europeans rapidly set up trading posts, to facilitate this contact and strengthen their presence on the territory. In the St. Lawrence Valley, the first French trading post was founded at Tadoussac, in 1599. This trading post was located in the heart of a large territory dedicated exclusively to the fur trade, the Domaine du roi. Starting in 1608, Québec also served as a trading post. During the 17th century, this city hosted annual fur fairs as did Trois-Rivières and Montréal. These commercial, diplomatic and festive gatherings were very popular. Some years, close to 200 canoes would travel to the fair, carrying one hundred thousand furs.

The Dutch and the English, who were also interested in the fur trade, opened their own trading posts. The Dutch settled along the Atlantic coast near the Hudson, Delaware and Connecticut rivers. They traded and maintained outposts in the interior of the continent. Fort Orange (Albany) was not very far from Montréal. After the conquest of New Netherland in 1664, the English took over these fur trade undertakings. In 1670, the English also founded the Hudson Bay Company. English merchants traveled to the trading posts established in this northern territory every summer. Since Dutch and English merchandise was of excellent quality, these two groups represented disturbing competition for the French.

Under the pressure exerted by this competition, in the middle of the 17th century, the French decided they would no longer wait for the Aboriginal peoples to come to them. They wanted to get their supplies at the source, so as to prevent the furs from making their way to their rivals’ trading stations. The trading network was, moreover, re-built after the destruction of Huronia in 1650. The trade of coureur des bois was born. These men traveled along many rivers to make their way to the pays d’en haut (upper country), including the Saint-Maurice and the Saguenay. Other waterways such as the Richelieu River were not very inviting as a result of the Iroquois presence.

The best route for the fur trade, however, was the Ottawa River and the starting point was Lachine. This route was formed by a series of lakes, small rivers, rapids and waterfalls. From the Ottawa River it was possible to take Lake Témiscamingue and the Abitibi River to reach Hudson Bay. To reach the Great Lakes, fur traders had to turn left at the Mattawa fork, take the small river, cross Lake Nipissing, and then the Rivière des Français, to reach Lake Huron. An important fur trading post, Michillimakinac, was located at the junction of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, 1500 km from Lachine. The voyageurs reached it after one month of paddling and 36 portages. The outlying posts were occupied by fur trade employees as well as military personnel, tradesmen and missionaries. A few Aboriginal people would settle around these trading posts, developing bonds with the people there.

After Michillimakinac, the French continued with their exploration. They established many other trading posts, including one at Detroit. They traveled south, paddling along the Mississippi River, which took them to Louisiana. They traveled through the prairies, over the Rocky Mountains, and even reached the Arctic Ocean.

After the Conquest, the Northwest Company established a network with its central point at Grand-Portage, a trading post located at the western end of Lake Superior. Some voyageurs headed there from Lachine to meet others, who departed from Fort Chipewyan, on Lake Athabasca (Alberta). After the Northwest Company and the Hudson Bay Company merged in 1821, many other trading posts were established, even as far away as the Pacific Ocean, some of which became department stores in the 20th century.

The rivers of the North American continent led those who took part in the fur trade far from the homes of the colony. To learn more about the men who chose to travel these routes, we invite you to return on March 3, 2009.


Sources

CARON, Diane. Les postes de traite de fourrure sur la Côte-Nord et dans l'Outaouais.  [Québec], Ministère des affaires culturelles, [1984], 150 pages. 

GERMAIN, Georges-Hébert. Les coureurs des bois: la saga des indiens blancs. Outremont, Libre expression, [Ottawa], Canadian Museum of Civilization, 2003, 158 pages.

POMERLEAU, Jeanne. Les coureurs de bois: la traite des fourrures avec les Amérindiens. Sainte-Foy, Éditions Dupont, 1994, 143 pages. 



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