History

Part 7

Of all the men who may be in the upper county I do not think there are any who worked as hard as mine: a house twenty feet square, of logs placed one on the other made by four men; 70 cords of fire-wood chopped; pickets sawn for a fort; a bastion covered; a clearing made for sowing 8 kegs of potatoes; and all the journeys made here and there!!!

—François Victor Malhiot, 1805 There were two classes of voyageurs: mangeur de lard, or "pork eaters," and hivernants, or "winterers." Each summer, the company hired unskilled young men as "pork eaters." The majority came from the parishes around Montreal and Québec City. 

Paddling large freight canoes to the inland headquarters, these hard-paddling voyageurs earned their name from their daily diet of salt pork and dried peas. Hivernants were the wintering men. These seasoned voyageurs paddled the bourgeois, clerks and the trade goods into the interior, then spent the winter helping with the trading. 

In the spring, they paddled canoes and bourgeois back to the inland headquarters for rendezvous. Wintering men not only received clothing and blankets as part of their contract, they were issued credit in the "company store." They were also given goods they could trade with the natives directly. John Sayer—and four-and-one-half tons of European-made goods—were paddled up the Snake River in October 1804 by eight voyageurs. He takes an inventory of the goods he brings, but nowhere does he list his men by their given names.

Two of the men mentioned by name in his journal—Joseph Girard and Louis Bellair— are listed in company records as "voyageur." Another, Francois Bouché, was an interpreter. Others, like Mallet, Le Blanc and Deserve, are mentioned only by their nicknames. The others are simply called "men." Sunday 22nd [January]. A Mild Cloudy Day. Men employed makeing Sledges. took up 12 Bags of Oats from the Cache. nothing else Material Occurred. 2 Men went back to the Hunters. 

Brigades were usually made up of three to six canoes. Crews manning larger lake canoes usually consisted of a guide, steersman and eight paddlers. A large canoe could carry up to fourteen men. It could also be paddled with as few as five paddlers when the cargo was bulky or when labor was in short supply. The most experienced and skilled were interpreters and guides. These men were paid between two and four times as much. Nicolas Landry agrees, and by the present binds himself to Charles McKenzie & Co, here present and accepting for the said company, to winter for two years in the region of Lake Winnipeg in the capacity of interpreter, with exemption from building chopping paddling canoes and portaging Obligation to go en dérouine.

 —contract signed at Fort William, 1803 Guides held the highest position of authority in a brigade during a voyage. They were responsible for steering, guiding and tending the canoes.