Voyageurs

Jas, Elise and Eli stopped by Montreal on their way to Newfoundland.  We got to spend 3 short days with them.  A highlight of the visit was a trip to Parks Canada Fur Trade Museum.

Since this is a Parks Canada site and it is a Canada Strong summer you can get  Canada Strong Parks Pass for free.  That means, it is free to go to the Fur Trade Museum.  I love free stuff!

When I called to get more information about the museum I asked if they were running my favourite ever event--Canoeing up the Lachine Canal in a Traditional Voyageur Canoe.  We did this with our kids many years ago and loved it.  

The answer was YES.  And even better, if you had a minimum of 4 adults, they would organize a private tour.  Hooray.  Here is an example of a Voyageur Canoe.

This image come from the Voyageurs Website where you can learn a lot more about these 14 person canoes that traveled between Montreal and Fort Williams (Sudbury) in just 6 short weeks.  The voyageurs paddled 14 - 16 hours a day doing 60 strokes per minute.  The trip home was faster clocking in at 4 weeks.

Here is our crew getting ready for action.

And us practising our strokes in two rows.

And us in action.

It was a hot day.  Can you see the sweat beads on my face in the middle photo?

After the canoe ride, which involved ducking under several bridges and nearly reaching the St Laurent, we turned back and headed to the dock.  The water was too rough and we didn't have enough manpower to safely navigate the actual river. We loved that our tour guides names were Rose and Thomas and the boat was called Eric.  We felt like the whole family was there.

After the canoe ride, we checked out the museum.  Can you guess what a major reason for the fur trade was?

Hats of course.  Here is one famous type of hat made from beaver fur.  The TOP HAT.

We learned about the phrase - "Mad as a Hatter", tried to differentiate 8 different types of pelts and learned about trading with the Indigenous communities. 

I love this photo of Eli trying on hats.

We couldn't leave the museum without a photo of the Voyageurs.

Can you guess what song we were singing?  A traditional Voyageur song to help us paddle at the rate of 60 strokes per minute.  

Famous Voyageur Song

We are wearing the traditional garb --the red hat, wool coat and ceinture de flêche.  According to the website referenced above - "Other than holding his coat closed around the waist, historians also believe the sash provided back support during portages." It was needed as each Voyageur needed to be no taller than 5'7'', weigh less than 140 lbs. and be able to carry 2 bundles during portages of 90 lbs each.  I tried to lift one 50lb bundle and needed two arms.   

If you are in Montreal this summer, you should certainly make a visit to this museum and take adventage of the Voyageur adventure on the Lachine Canal.