Route of the Voyageurs

From the late 1600s to about 1820, the chain of waterways of which Minnesota's border lakes form a segment served as the thoroughfare of a vast fur trading empire. As its longest route, it stretched from Montreal to Lake Athabasca, carrying a treasure in furs from the North American wilderness to the markets of Europe and Asia. A mainstay of this commerce was the rollicking, indomitable men who paddled traders' canoes and packed goods on their backs over portages. Mainly French-Canadians, they were called voyageurs, the French term meaning travelers. Early each summer they paddled fur-laden canoes eastward to inland depots like Rainy Lake, Grand Portage, or Michilimackinac; each July they returned carrying trade goods and supplies to isolated wintering posts. They were fiercely proud and could paddle eighteen hours a day or carry a load of 450 pounds while retaining a lusty joy in their work. Decked out in gay sashes and ostrich plumes, they strutted, quarreled, consorted with the Indians, and lightened their toil with French folk songs, gay and rhythmic or hauntingly sad. Today their route, scarcely touched by the modern world, remains open to all who seek adventure.

Canada