The Birth of New France First settlement island in the Saint Croix River United States and Canada Share this island today. Pierre de Gua Starting in 1603, Samuel de Champlain made the first of 23 trips to Canada. The King of France, King Henry IV, did not want to spend too much money in this new venture in a land that had not been overly beneficial to France. On this venture so he worked out a deal that allowed individuals to have gather as many beaver furs as they could (and to keep the profits) in exchange for starting a settlement in this new land. The first one to take the challenge was Pierre du Gua The first winter was disaster for this small bunch as they settled on a small island at the mouth of the Saint Croix River in present day New Brunswick. The site looked great in the summer but was a terrible location for the winter months. They were not prepared. Over one third of the 100 men died of cold and scurvy the first winter.

Port Royal Port Royal in Nova Scotia Acadian flag The settlement lasted only one winter when it was moved to Port Royal across the Bay of Fundy on what is now Nova Scotia. De Monts learned from his earlier mistakes and planned this new settlement well. They located close to forests, built a large weather proof square style building and planted a garden. Unfortunately, Du Monts’ fur trading monopoly didn’t last long as the king granted fur trading rights to other merchants. Port Royal was closed and abandoned. The colony was re-established three years later as a farming community and became the foundation of the Acadian culture in Canada, a culture that is still thriving today.

Quebec: the beginning Quebec Champlain convinced de Mont to try again in another location, this time at Quebec. It was a perfect location since it had a large river for water and food, an excellent harbour, a high rock for defense against enemies, and a high cliff behind for additional defense. In 1608, Quebec was founded, the oldest continuously occupied settlement in North America. Things did not go well at first. The men complained of the hard work, cold winters, hot summers and mosquitoes. There was even talk of a MUTINY, or rebellion against leadership. Champlain put the complainers on trial and hanged one man and sent another back to France.

Quebec: the beginning No sooner had Champlain dealt with these men when winter hit Quebec with a vengeance. 20 of the 28 men at Quebec died that first winter. Champlain needed help. He knew that France would have to take a more helpful role if Quebec was going to survive. Champlain needed food, building supplies, and settlers. Before France could help, Champlain turned to the Natives. 50 years previously, Cartier had help from the Iroquois. But Champlain befriended the Huron instead. He believed they had more skills that they French could use, like canoeing, snowshoeing, trapping beaver, and dealing with the winter weather. Also, they were very friendly towards the French. To show his support for the Huron, Champlain did something very daring.

French Huron friendship an arquebus A very important moment occurred in The Huron asked Champlain to join them and their allies (a confederacy) to fight against their enemy, the Iroquois. Champlain agreed. He took two other French men to assist him. In a spot near what is now Lake Champlain in New York state, the two fighting Indian sides met. Champlain was equipped with a gun called an arquebus. When he approached the Iroquois, he fired and killed one Iroquois chief. Champlain was hit with an arrow in the neck. He fought on as the Iroquois were defeated. The Huron were impressed. Champlain had proven his friendship by fighting with them, killing for them and even getting injured in the ordeal. The lines of friendship had been clearly drawn.

The Fur Trade In 1608, the fur trade in Quebec was an unsettled affair. In 1613, merchants from France formed the Canada Company which existed for 12 years. In 1627, the King’s first Minister organized another company called the Company of One Hundred Associates. The men in this company would get exclusive rights to all of the furs in Canada from the Arctic all the way down to Florida.

In return, the company would have to bring 4000 French settlers to Quebec over the next 15 years and provide them with jobs, houses, and other needed things. Unfortunately, the company was more interested in money from the furs than colonizing Quebec. After 20 years, and very little colonizing, they transferred their fur trading monopoly to another company… …the Company of Habitants…who also had no interest in colonization. They just wanted to profit from the beaver furs.

Coureurs de bois By the year 1600, the need for more beaver fur exploded. European beavers were dying out because of over-hunting and new fashions, like hats, used lots of beaver felt. The discovery of the North American beaver was like a miracle to hat- makers! To make it even better, the cold climate made the Canadian beaver to have thicker and better fur for hats. But how to get the furs? Some of the furs came directly to Quebec by the Indians, but that was not enough. Soon, men were travelling the rivers and lakes trading with the Natives in their lands. These early fur traders were the first white men to see much of what we now know as Quebec and Ontario. They were the Coureurs de bois, or ‘runners of the wood’.

Coureurs de bois The coureurs de bois pemmican The coureurs de bois of French Canada are the stuff of legend. They lived a difficult life of work and adventure as they paddles the streams, rivers, and lakes from Montreal, to the Great Lakes down the Mississippi. They worked on average 16 to 18 hours a day seven days a week paddling their canoes loaded with trade goods and beaver pelts. Their day began at 2:00 am as they rose and paddled for six hours before they stopped for breakfast. Lunch was pemmican eaten in the canoe. Pemmican was a mixture of dried buffalo or moose meat, combined with buffalo fat and maybe a few berries for flavour that was stored in a leather bag. This original ‘fast food’ could be eaten quickly and supplied the coureurs de bois with quick energy. It could last up to one year without spoiling.

Voyageurs Once every hour, the canoe stopped as each man had a break and smoked his pipe. They didn’t know how far they were going, so the coureurs de bois measured distances in ‘pipes’. Today we know that one pipe equals about six to eight kilometers. It seemed every young man in New France wanted to be a coureurs de bois – travelling the rivers, meeting the Natives, seeing new land…working on a farm in New France could not compete with this lifestyle! The problem of men leaving their farms and families and becoming coureurs de bois was so bad, the authorities made a law restricting how many men could work in this industry. They even changed the name of the workers from coureurs de bois (now illegal workers) to Voyageurs (legal workers).

Let the party begin! It made little difference. Legal or illegal, men left everything for this life. Their life was adventurous, yet the voyageurs had a horrible reputation in New France, and it was well deserved. Men left their farms and families to become Voyageurs. A child would see his father go and would not see him again for perhaps a year. When the men did return after a year of trading for beaver furs, they were paid one lump sum of money which they promptly spent on wild living. It was said that everyone knew when the voyageurs were back in town because of the partying and noise! Little of the money they earned went to the church, to their families or farms. Once the money was gone, they went back out to gain more furs.

The beginning of the Metis Nation Without a doubt, the single greatest objection to the lifestyle of the Voyageurs and Coureurs de bois dealt with their ‘new’ families. The Voyageurs were apart from the families they had in Quebec for a long time (or they may not have had families). Since all of the Voyageurs were men, many of these ‘lonely’ men became interested in the Native women. Some had girlfriends while others even took wives from among the Native population. The government of New France encouraged this intermarriage or metissage (although the church was against it). From these relationships came children – half Native and half French. These children became known as Metis. The Metis would eventually play an important role in the development of Canada.

Voyageur canoes A Voyageur canoe journey between Montreal and Athabaska (Alberta) took nearly 4 months. To make the travelling more efficient, there were 3 types of canoes, each one to fit the type of water the Voyageurs were travelling in. 1) The "canot de maître" was the largest canoe and was used in the route between Montreal and Lake Superior where there was lots of open water. It could transport up to 40 kilos or 90 pounds for each of the 8 to 12 crew, plus their equipment and even a few passengers. It measured up to 12 metres long, 2 metres wide and 75 cm deep. The "canot de maître" was too big for the smaller rivers of the interior.

The small one on Top is the canoe Du nord. Canot du nord 2) The "canot du Nord" was used in the interior, for voyages starting on Lake Superior. It was 7 metres long, 1 metre wide and 20 cm deep. This boat was manned by 4 to 6 men and could carry 35 bales, for a total capacity of 1700 kilos or 4000 pounds. It did not last over 1 or 2 seasons, and so, up to 70 were built or purchased every year by the NWC. Here is an example of the contents of a canot du nord in 1700: 5 bales of merchandise, 1 bale of tobacco, 1 bale of kettles, 1 case of guns, 1 case of iron works, 2 rolls of new twist tobacco, 2 bags of lead balls, 1 bag of flour, 1 bag of sugar, 2 kegs of gun powder, 10 kegs of wine.

Canot leger The express canoes that were used by the voyageurs were called "canot léger" or "canot batard" and were about 5 metres long. These were used to carry important people, reports, and news to and from different posts in the Northwest. They were not used to carry beaver furs or other trade goods. These canoes are most like the canoes that we use today for recreation.