Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Episode 093-April 1, 2020
Guest Suzanne Sommerville presents the history of the fur trade in both the French Regime and into the British period. She explains much of the terminology involved. We also look at which records were produced by our fur-trading ancestors and where to find them.
The Fur Trade
Suzanne and I discussed the following: 
Suzanne’s pet peeve: Many people believe that fur trading ended in 1696, but it didn’t. It just went to a new set of rules. In fact, the rules of the fur trade changed several times over the course of its 150-plus-year history.
Early period
The fur trade was run by private companies. There were various trading centers at Tadoussac, Quebec City, Trois Rivières, and Cap de Victoire (Sorel). For the most part, in 1627, the Indians brought their furs to one of these settlements. The Company of One Hundred Associates was in charge of this trade.
A few years after its founding in 1642, Montreal became the center for the fur trade due to its location. It was closest to the Ottawa River, the route to and from the Pays d’en Haut.
In 1645, the fur trade was conducted by La Communauté des habitants de la Nouvelle France.
By the 1650s, the fur trade was interrupted by Iroquois attacks. In 1663, Nouvelle France became a Royal Province, and La Compagnie des Indes took over trade. With the arrival of the Carignan Regiment in 1665, trouble with the Iroquois subsided and the fur trade resumed.
Exploration began, and voyageurs traveled with the explorers. Things went pretty well until the Iroquois attack on La Chine in 1689.
Terminology
Voyageur: a hired man who voyaged legally to explore or travel to the Pays d’en Haut to trade
Coureurs de bois: those who traveled into the interior to explore and also to trade with the Indians, mainly illegally. Many of these men were reported as absent from the colony from the 1670s up to the 1690s.
1681-end of French Regime
Marchand voyageur: a merchant voyager, who was given or purchased one of twenty-five congés. Usually the voyageur was a noble or semi-noble, former military officer or his widow, or a religious group. This merchant voyageur would hire a voyageur to man the canoes. Originally, a congé allowed one canoe with three men. These voyageurs often borrowed to finance the voyage. Look for these obligations in notarial records.
Voyageurs would hire other men, called engagés. Eventually the terms voyageur and engagé became synonymous. You can search for the engagés’ hiring contracts, called engagements, in the notarial records. A voyageur, especially one who was single, might also fill out a last will and testament before heading out on the dangerous voyage. Be sure to check for these records, too.
Change of rules
1696: A glut of beaver furs resulted in a royal edict to suspend trade. An outcry by French and Indians alike caused a change in rules, but trade was not totally suspended.
1701: Detroit was founded, and the Great Peace Treaty of Montreal made it safer to conduct trade.
Mid-1701: La Compagnie de la Colonie was granted trading rights.
1706: War between England and France as well as financial difficulties caused Cadillac to take over trade management at Fort Ponchartrain. Le Detroit du Lac Erié discusses the first years of the foundation of Detroit.
1716: Twenty-five congés were reestablished.
After posts were founded in the interior, the Natives no longer had to carry the pelts to the French settlements. It was the job of the voyageurs, the teamsters of their day, to deliver the pelts from the posts downriver to the various markets.
Post-Conquest
After the Conquest, the British had their own rules regarding the fur trade. They alienated the Indians by not offering gifts as the French had. The British fur trade was also more cut-throat.
Records of the fur trade post-Conquest are found at the Voyageur Contracts Database.
The fur trade began to slow down in the early 1800s.
Resources
FCHSM’s Fur Trade in New France page
FCHSM’s lists of engagements in journal (scroll down to Resources – Articles in Michigan’s Habitant Heritage (MHH): “Starting with the October 2012 issue of Michigan’s Habitant Heritage (MHH), Diane Wolford Sheppard has been translating and transcribing indices to the contracts to Detroit from Montréal. Starting in the January 2014 issue of MHH, Diane Wolford Sheppard has been transcribing and translating the indices to 17th Century contracts to the Great Lakes and Mississippi Valley. The transcriptions and translations to the 18th Century contracts to all posts other than Détroit began with the January 2016 issue of MHH.”
Societé historique de Saint-Boniface’s list of voyageur contracts (engagements) in Montreal beginning in 1714
A large hiring contract, including the terms under which engagés were hired and identification of the individual voyageurs with a digital image of those who could sign
FCHSM’s plaque honoring the voyageurs of 1701
Plaque honoring the voyageurs of 1701. Photo by Loraine DiCerbo.
Diane Wolford Sheppard’s review of Susan Sleeper-Smith’s book, Indian Women and French Men
Map of the Great Lakes in 1755 by Jacques-Nicolas Bellin
Le Detroit du Lac Erié discusses the first years of the foundation of Detroit
Tim Kent’s thoroughly researched books on voyageurs (see episode #68)
MSS-067-French-Canadian Notary Records: Learn how to discover and access your ancestor’s obligations, engagements, and testaments.
Don’t forget. If you have a voyageur ancestor, be sure to scour BAnQ for his testaments (if he were single), obligations, and engagements.
AFGS Moments
Annette Smith, co-editor of the AFGS’s journal Je Me Souvien, shares a tip for those who have Canadian ancestors who moved to the US and then married.
Announcements
Trois-Rivières/Montreal 2020 tour
Yes, it’s been postponed to a later date. We’re sad, but the group decided to look ahead to walking in their ancestors’ footsteps in France. Stay tuned for more information in the future.
MSS hiatus
I have a project I’ve been working on and need to finish. I need a chunk of time to buckle down and just get it done. So the podcast is going on hiatus for a few months. I’ll announce it’s return in the Facebook group. Everyone, stay safe and healthy until then!
Listener help
Doug said, “I have the first settlers, some born at ‘The Sillery.’ I have many in the fur trade including Francois Pelletier, Pierre Tessier, Francois Fafard, Nicolas Bonnehomme, the Amiot line, Francois Lemaitre and Judith Regaud, Antoine Trottier ,etc. I need someone to connect the dots to an acceptable proof for Metis connection. Can someone help.” If anyone knows of a published proof argument proving a Métis connection for any of those people, please send it along, and I’ll get it to Doug.
The Spanish flu and your family
If you’re one of the many out of work because of the coronavirus, research your family during the Spanish flu of late 1918 and 1919. Have the kids help out. A friend of mine created an article for her family called A Hundred Years Ago – Where Were Our Family Members During [the] Spanish Flu Epidemic 1918. Research your ancestors’ location and the family structure. For background information, listen to the Generations Cafe podcast, #44 Our Ancestors and the Spanish Flu Epidemic with Lori Lyn Price.
Listener support
Thanks to Dan from Massachusetts for supporting the podcast!
French-Canadian News
Because of the coronavirus, most meetings around the country have been canceled or postponed. For the next few months, you might want to check in on the website of your favorite society and see if or when their meetings will resume. Here are the links to each.
The American-French Genealogical Society
The French Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan
The Quebec Family History Society
The French-Canadian Genealogical Society of Connecticut
The Vermont French-Canadian Genealogical Society
The American-Canadian Genealogical Society
The French-Canadian Heritage Society of California
Northern New York American-Canadian Genealogical Society
The Minnesota Genealogical Society’s Canadian Interest Group
Podcast Support
If you wish to support the podcast, you can send your donation to Sandra Goodwin, PO Box 124, Leicester, Massachusetts 01524. You can send a check or set up a small monthly payment through your online banking. You can also donate through Pay Pal (maplestarsandstripes [at] gmail [dot] com). Thank you for your support. It means the world!
[DISCLOSURE: This website may contain affiliate links. Maple Stars and Stripes will be compensated if you make a purchase through these links. There will be NO additional cost to you. Thanks for your support.]
Get Maple Stars and Stripes
Subscribe to the MSS Newsletter
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts (iTunes)
Subscribe on Stitcher
Join our private Facebook group
How to Contact Maple Stars and Stripes
Post comments on Show Notes page (MapleStarsandStripes.com/#-of-episode) or at end of blog post
Go to https://MapleStarsandStripes.com/contact
Email me at feedback [at] maplestarsandstripes [dot] com
Send a voicemail by clicking on the ‘Send Voicemail’ link from any page at MapleStarsandStripes.com
un grand MERCI pour votre excellente présentation. J’ai beaucoup appris!!!!!
Excellent presentation. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
Have been tracking a conge of a great-grandfather, Guillaume Couture
1688, 20 juillet.—Engagement de François Laberge à Guillaume Couture et Le Marchant pour faire le voyage des Ottawas—Étude
Have you seen this before?
This had to be the later Guillaume Couture, born 1662, as the original Guillaume was 71.
Was the “Le Merchant”, Constant Le Marchand, Sieur de Lignery?
Didn’t François Laberge end up married in Detroit?
Another great podcast. My thanks to Suzanne for a most informative discussion on these hale and hearty men. Sandra, wishing you a productive time away. We’ll look forward to your return to producing these podcasts. Stay safe and well.