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Wood Runner

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Le Coureur des bois | The Wood Runner 

The coureurs des bois (or coureurs de bois), translated as wood runners or runners in the woods, were travelling, unlicensed fur traders in New France between 1650 and 1700. They primarily sought fur from beavers, but also foxes, otters, ermines, muskrats, deer and moose.

"La Vérendrye at the Lake of the Woods" (circa 1900 painting by Arthur H. Hider, Library and Archives Canada, MIKAN No 2895946)

"La Vérendrye at the Lake of the Woods" (circa 1900 painting by Arthur H. Hider, Library and Archives Canada, MIKAN No 2895946)

Most French colonists who came to New France settled in the St-Lawrence valley. Very few people, natives excluded, had ventured west of the Ottawa River until the mid-1660s. Then, the combination of a significant drop in the price of beaver pelts, the arrival of thousands of indentured servants and soldiers, and peace with the indigenous Iroquois, gave birth to the concept of the coureur des bois, who travelled further and further west. They ventured into unsettled areas (the “woods”) to trade with indigenous peoples, exchanging various European items for furs. Along the way they learned the trades and practices of the aboriginal people. These expeditions were part of the beginning of the fur trade in the North American interior.

By 1680, some 500 coureurs des bois travelled westward to Lake Superior in search of furs, even though it was outlawed by both the church and New France authorities. Because of this unlicensed activity, fewer indigenous people brought furs to trade at Montréal and Trois-Rivières, which prompted colonial merchants to hire their own coureurs des bois in order to stay in business.

Fur trade in the interior necessitated long-distance transportation by canoe. Travel was dangerous and the coureurs des bois had a high mortality rate. They usually left Montreal in the spring, once the ice was clear. They could either paddle on the Ottawa and Mattawa rivers, which required many overland portages, or via the upper St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes, passing Detroit en route to Michilimackinac or Green Bay. Although it had fewer portages, this way was more exposed to Iroquois attacks.

"Coureur de Bois in typical dress" (woodcut by Arthur Heming, Wikimedia Commons).

"Coureur de Bois in typical dress" (woodcut by Arthur Heming, Wikimedia Commons).

These trips often lasted for months and covered thousands of kilometres. The coureurs des bois had to be extremely fit and strong, needing to paddle a heavy, loaded canoe up to twelve hours a day. Goods destined for trade such as broadcloth, linen and wool blankets, ammunition, metal goods (knives, hatchets, kettles), firearms, liquor, gunpowder and clothing, all needed to be loaded into the canoe. So did food, although the coureur des bois could also hunt and fish for his meals.

Some coureurs des bois would not return home if they were unable to pay the debts they owed to the merchants who financed their trips. The government would occasionally grant pardons to such coureurs de bois, usually in exchange for military service.

Eventually, licenses were introduced by the authorities to control illegal trade. Enter the voyageurs, fur trading “professionals” from the colony. Renegade traders persisted, but to a lesser extent. The coureurs des bois lost their importance in the fur trade by the early 18th century. 



 
 

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