The translation for coureur de bois is “wood runner.” This was a name given to fur traders in early New France. (Canada)
Fur trading was a huge industry in the early colony of New France. The coureur de bois were independent fur traders, trading with Native Americans and returning to the settlements with their furs to sell. Soon, the fur trading companies came to realize they needed industry standards which would require their participation in gaining access to the furs. They gave contracts out to the fur traders with guidelines. These men were the voyageurs who did the trading for the furs on behalf of the companies. The companies monopolized the industry, making it illegal to trade independently, so the independent traders were basically pushed out of the market. (1)
Although it is probable that the farmer who worked as a coureur de bois during the off season did some trapping himself, when the fur trading companies became involved, the voyagers did not do any trapping themselves. They merely traded with the Native Americans for the furs. Some farmers still worked as voyageurs to help support their families and earn extra income to purchase land.
These voyageurs were hired by military personnel, or priests, to deliver goods to outlying posts or missions, as well as merchandise they needed for trade. Sometimes a group of family members created a team in order to do this. There are several known voyageur families; brothers, or husbands and wives with adult children, because the contracts still exist. They would bring supplies and merchandise to trade going to the destination, having to unload and carry the goods on their backs over many portages, and then reloading the canoes. Portages are places on the river where the canoes can’t go. Some rivers had many portages.
On the trip back, they would have to do the same with the bales of furs they had traded for with the Native Americans. In this way, they were paid to go out to the outpost, then paid when they returned and sold the furs. There were times when they would have to wait to return until they could trade for food and to repair canoes, “as it was impossible to carry sufficient supplies for a round-trip voyage of several months.” (2)
Sources:
(1) Nolin, Diane, “The Fur Trade,” Genealogy; Beyond the BMD,
https://genealogybeyondthebmd.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-fur-trade.html
(2) Sommerville, Suzanne Boivin, “Fur Trade in Nouvelle France”, Michigan’s Habitant Heritage
(MHH), October 2005. https://habitantheritage.org/cpage.php?pt=22 (accessed Jan 8 2020)
(3) “Voyageurs,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyageurs (accessed Jan 8 2020)
(4) “Coureur des Bois,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coureur_des_bois (accessed
Jan 8 2020)
Laroche Ferland Clan 