to space the ribs as much as 10 inches on centers, but with birch
the spacing was about 1 inch, edge to edge. The sheathing was in
short splints and the inside of the canoe was "shingled" or covered
irregularly without regard to lining off the strakes, a practice
sometimes observed in Ojibway long-nose canoes. The much-bellied and
narrow headboards were fitted as in the long-nose canoe, and the heel
was secured under a piece of sheathing and held by it and the first two
ribs.
Western Cree canoes were built with a building frame, and the bed was
raised in the middle. The sewing varied. The ends were lashed with
combinations of close-wrapped turns, crossed turns, grouped, and spiral
turns; the lashing commonly went around the inside stem piece rather
than through it. Side panels were sewn with in-and-out stitches or
back stitches, and the gores with the usual spiral. Gumming as a rule
was done with clear spruce gum tempered by repeated meltings.
[Illustration: Figure 124
WESTERN CREE 2½-FATHOM CANOE, Winisk River District, northwest of James
Bay. Built of either birch or spruce bark. Inside root stem piece,
round gunwales, and much-bellied headboard are typical.]
The woodwork varied with the building site; some builders could use
much cedar, but spruce was most common and the thwarts were usually
of birch. When spruce bark was used it was never employed in a single
large sheet, since it would have been impossible to mold it to the
required shape. Hence the bark cover was pieced up, whether birch or
spruce, as an aid in molding the form. Before the spruce bark was
sewed and gummed, the edges of the pieces had to be thinned to make a
neat joint. Furthermore, in the continuous lashing it was desirable to
take two or three turns through one hole in the bark cover to avoid
weakening the material with closely spaced holes.
The western Cree paddles had parallel-sided blades with rounded tips;
the handle sometimes had a ball-shaped top grip and sometimes it was
pole-ended. The blade did not have a ridge on its face near the handle.
Old Cree paddles were often decorated with red pigment bands, markings
in the shape of crosses, squares in series, and dots on the blades; the
top grip might also be painted.
Many tribal groups in the western portion of the area have been
mentioned--Teton, Sioux, Assiniboine, Illinois, Huron, and many
others--but no record of their canoe forms has survived and the
assigning of any model to them is pure speculation. The fur trade alone
brought about a period of tribal movement among the Indians long enough
to erase many tribal distinctions in canoes and to cause types to move
great distances.
[Illustration: Figure 125
AN OLD 6-FATHOM FUR-TRADE CANOE, or "rabeska," used on the
Montreal-Great Lakes run. Also called the Iroquois canoe, it
approximates the canoes built for the French, at the Trois Rivières,
Que., factory and is of the style used by the North West and Hudson's
Bay Companies.]
_Fur-Trade Canoes_
Of all birch-bark canoe forms, the most famous were the _canots du
maître_, or _maître canots_ (also called north canoes, great canoes, or
_rabeskas_), of the great fur companies of Canada. These large canoes
were developed early, as we have seen in the French colonial records,
and remained a vital part of the fur trade until well toward the very
end of the 19th century--two hundred years of use and development at
the very least. A comprehensive history of the Canadian and American
fur trade is yet to be written; when one appears it will show that the
fur trade could not have existed on a large scale without the great
_maître canot_ of birch bark. It will also have to show that the early
exploration of the north country was largely made possible by this
carrier. In fact, the great canoes of the Canadian fur trade must be
looked upon as the national watercraft type, historically, of Canada
and far more representative of the great years of national expansion
than the wagon, truck, locomotive, or steamship.
Little has survived concerning the form and construction of the early
French-colonial fur-trade canoes. Circumstantial evidence leads to the
conclusion that the model was a development, an enlargement perhaps,
of the Algonkin form of high-ended canoe as described on pages 113 to
116. The early French came into contact with these tribesmen before
they met the Great Lakes Ojibway, the other builders of the high-ended
model. It is known that the Indians first supplied large canoes to the
French governmental and church authorities and that when this source of
canoes proved insufficient, the canoe factory at Trois Rivières was set
up and a standard size (probably a standard model as well) came into
existence. As the fur trade expanded, large canoes may well have been
built elsewhere by the early French; we know at least that building
spread westward and northward after Canada became a British possession.
In the rise of the great canoe of the fur trade, the basic model was
no doubt maintained through the method of training its builders. The
first French engaged in bark-canoe building learned the techniques, let
us say, from the original Indian builders, the Algonkin. As building
moved westward, the first men sent to the new posts to build canoes
apparently came from the French-operated canoe factory. It would be
reasonable to expect that as building increased in the west, local
modifications would be patterned on canoes from around the building
post, but that the basic model would remain. This may account for the
departures from the true Ojibway-Algonkin canoes seen in the _maître
canots_.
[Illustration: Figure 126
INBOARD PROFILE OF A 6-FATHOM FUR-TRADE CANOE, and details of
construction, fitting, and decoration.]
[Illustration: Figure 127
SMALL 3-FATHOM NORTH CANOE of the Têtes de Boule model. Built in the
19th century for fast travel, this Hudson's Bay Company canoe was also
called nadowé chiman, or Iroquois canoe.]
In model, all the fur-trade canoes had narrow bottoms, flaring
topsides, and sharp ends. The flaring sides were rather straight in
section and the bottom nearly flat athwartships. The bottom had a
moderate rocker very close to the ends. In nearly all of these canoes,
the main gunwales were sheered up only slightly at the ends and were
secured to the sides of the inner stem-piece; the outwales and caps,
however, were strongly sheered up to the top of the stem. The curvature
and form of the ends, in later years at least, varied with the place of
building.
After the English took control of Canada and the fur trade, a large
number of Iroquois removed into Quebec and were employed by the English
fur traders as canoemen and as canoe builders. Though the aboriginal
Iroquois were not birch-bark canoe builders, they apparently became so
after they reached Canada, for the fur-trade canoes built on the Ottawa
River and tributaries by the Algonkins and their neighbors became known
after 1820 as _nadowé chiman_ or _adowe chiman_, names which mean
Iroquois canoe. These "Iroquois canoes," however, were not a standard
form. Those built by the Algonkin had relatively upright stem profiles,
giving them a rather long bottom, and the outwales and caps stood
almost vertical at the stem-heads; in contrast, the "Iroquois canoes"
built by the Têtes de Boule had a proportionally shorter bottom than
those of the Algonkin, because the end profiles were cut under more at
the forefoot. Also, the outwales and caps of the Têtes de Boule canoes
were not sheered quite as much as were those of the Algonkin.
It is supposed that the Têtes de Boule were taught to build this model
by Iroquois, who had replaced the French builders subsequent to the
closing of the canoe factory at Trois Rivières, sometime about 1820.
After the English took possession of Canada in 1763, the old canoe
factory had been maintained by the Montreal traders (the "North West
Company"), and it was not until these traders were absorbed by the
Hudson's Bay Company that canoe manufacture at Trois Rivières finally
came to a halt, although it is probable that the production of canoes
there had become limited by shortages of bark and other suitable
materials. However, the North West Company had built the large trading
canoes elsewhere, for many of its posts had found it necessary to
construct canoes locally, and when the Hudson's Bay Company finally
took over the fur trade it continued the policy of building the canoes
at various posts where material and builders could be found. This
policy appears to have produced in the fur-trade canoe model a third
variant in which the high ends were much rounded at the stem head;
this was the form built by the Ojibway and Cree (see p. 139). It must
be noted, however, that the variation in the three forms of fur-trade
canoe was expressed almost entirely in the form and framing of the
ends; the lines were all about the same, though small variations in
sheer, rocker, and midsection must have existed.
[Illustration: Figure 128
MODELS OF FUR-TRADE CANOES, top to bottom: 2½-fathom Ottawa River
Algonkin canoe, Hudson's Bay Company express canoe, 3½-fathom Têtes
de Boule "Iroquois" canoe, 3¾-fathom Lake Timagami canoe, 5-fathom
fur-trade canoe of early type, and 5-fathom Hudson's Bay Company canoe
built in northwestern Quebec Province.]
Although no regulations appear to have been set up by the fur companies
to govern the size, model, construction or finish of these canoes,
custom and the requirements of usage appear to have been satisfactory
guides, having been established by practical experience. As a result,
the length of canoes varied and the classification by "fathoms" or feet
must be accepted as no more than approximate.
The form of the canoe was determined by the use to which it was to
be put, in trade or in travel. Fur-trade accounts often mention the
"light canoe," or _canot léger_, often misspelled in various ways in
early English accounts, and this class of canoe was always mentioned
where speed was necessary. Commonly, the light canoe was merely a trade
canoe lightly burdened. Due to the narrow bottom of these canoes,
they became long and narrow on the waterline when not heavily loaded
and so could be paddled very rapidly. It is true, however, that some
"express canoes" were built for fast paddling. These were merely the
common trade models with less beam than usual at gunwale and across
the bottom. Some posts made a specialty of building such canoes, often
handsomely painted, for the use of officials of the company, or of the
church or government, during "inspection" trips. Not all of the highly
finished canoes were of the narrow form, however, as some were built
wide for capacity rather than for high speed.
[Illustration: Figure 129
"FUR-TRADE MAÎTRE CANOT WITH PASSENGERS." From an oil painting by
Hopkins (_Public Archives of Canada photo_).]
The fur traders used not only the so-called fur-trade canoes, of
course, but they employed various Indian types when small canoes were
required. And in the construction of the high-ended fur-trade models,
they did not limit themselves to canoes of relatively great length.
Each "canoe road" forming the main lines of travel in the old fur-trade
had requirements that affected the size of the canoes employed on it.
The largest size of fur-trade canoe, the standard 5½-fathom (bottom
length), was employed only on the Montreal-Great Lakes route, in the
days before this run was taken over by bateaux, schooners, sloops,
and later, by steamers. At the western end of this route, a smaller
4-or 4½-fathom canoe came into use. The latter was used on the long
run into the northwest. Even smaller canoes were often employed by
the northern posts; the 3-or 3½-fathom sizes were popular where the
canoe routes were very difficult to operate. For use on some of the
large northern lakes, the large canoes of the Montreal-Great Lakes
run were introduced. Fur coming east from the Athabasca might thus be
transported in canoes of varying size along the way.
In judging the size of the canoe mentioned in a fur-trader's journal,
it is often very difficult to be certain whether the measurement he
is employing is bottom or gunwale length. In the largest canoes,
however, the 5½-fathom bottom-length was the 6-fathom gunwale length,
and the use of either usually, but not always, indicates the method of
measurement. This is not the case in the small canoe however, where the
matter must too often be left to guesswork. To give the reader a more
precise idea of the sizes of the canoes last employed in the fur trade,
the following will serve. The _maître canot_ of the Montreal-Great
Lakes run was commonly about 36 feet overall, or about 32 feet 9 inches
over the gunwales, and a little over 32 feet on the bottom. The beam
at gunwale was roughly 66 inches (inside the gunwales) or about 68-70
inches extreme beam. The width of the building frame that formed the
bottom would be somewhere around 42 inches. The depth amidships, from
bottom to top of gunwale might be approximately 30-32 inches and the
height of the stems roughly 54 inches. These dimensions might be best
described as average, since canoes with gunwale length given as 6
fathoms were built a number of inches wider or narrower, and deeper or
shallower. The earlier fur-trade canoes of the French and of the North
West Company, for example, were apparently narrower than the above.
[Illustration: Figure 130
"BIVOUAC IN EXPEDITION IN HUDSON'S BAY CANOE." From an oil painting by
Hopkins (_Public Archives of Canada photo_).]
[Illustration: Figure 131
OJIBWAY 3-FATHOM FUR-TRADE CANOE, a cargo-carrying type, marked by
cut-under end profiles, that was built as late as 1894.]
[Illustration: Figure 132
THIS TYPE OF 5-FATHOM FUR-TRADE CANOE was built at L. A.
Christopherson's Hudson's Bay Company posts at Grand Lake Victoria,
Lake Barrière, and Lake Abitibi. Called the Ottawa River canoe by
fur-traders, it was used for fast travel and shows the upright stems of
the northwest Quebec Algonkin.]
The 5-fathom size that replaced the larger canoe at the close of the
bark-canoe period was about 31 feet long over the gunwales or 30 feet 8
inches in a straight line from tip of upturned rail cap at one stem to
the other. The beam inside the gunwales was 60 inches. The width of the
building frame would be between 40 and 45 inches, and the frame when
formed would be about 26 feet 8 inches long. The depth of the canoe
amidships, from bottom to top of gunwale, was approximate 30 inches and
the height of the stems about 50 inches. The overall length of such a
canoe was about 34 feet 4 inches. An express canoe of this size would
be about 56 inches beam inside the gunwales or even somewhat less, and
the depth amidships about 28 inches or a little less.
[Illustration: Figure 133
"HUDSON'S BAY CANOE RUNNING THE RAPIDS." From an oil painting by
Hopkins (_Public Archives of Canada photo_).]
A 4-fathom canoe measured 26 feet 8 inches over the tips of the
upturned rail caps, and 29 feet 11 inches overall. The beam amidships
was 57 inches inside the gunwales and the depth amidships to top of
gunwales was 26 inches; the height of the stem was 53 inches.
A 3-fathom canoe was 19 feet 2 inches overall, 16 feet 8 inches
over the ends of the gunwale caps, 42 inches beam amidships inside
of gunwales, the depth of the canoe from bottom to top of gunwale
amidships was 19 inches, and the height of the ends was 38 inches. The
building frame for this canoe was 15 feet 8 inches long and 27 inches
wide.
The canoes falling between the even-fathom measurements were often
of about the same dimensions as the even-fathom size next below;
a 3½-fathom canoe would have nearly the same breadth and depth as
a 3-fathom; only the length was increased. The half-fathom rarely
measured that--a canoe rated as 3½ fathom was actually only 20 feet 5
inches overall. One express canoe rated 3½ fathoms measured 20 feet 1
inch overall, 18 feet 3 inches over the gunwale caps, 44 inches beam
inside gunwales amidships, and 21 inches deep, bottom to top of gunwale
cap. The height of the ends was 39 inches. This example will serve to
indicate how inexact the fathom classification really was. It should
also be noted that the height of the ends varied a good deal in any
given range of length, as this dimension was determined not by the
length of the canoe but by the judgment and taste of the builder and
his tribal form of end. Generally, however, small canoes had relatively
higher ends than large canoes, in proportion to length, because, as
will be remembered, one function of the end was to hold the upended
canoe far enough off the ground to permit the user to seek shelter
under it.
[Illustration: Figure 134
"REPAIRING THE CANOE." From an oil painting by Hopkins (_Public
Archives of Canada photo_).]
Extremes of dimension appear to have been rare in fur-trade canoes;
none whose length overall exceeded 37 feet have been found in the
records, and the maximum beam reported in a _maître canot_ was 80
inches. When canvas replaced birch bark in the fur-trade canoes,
the high-ended models disappeared; the canvas freight canoes were
commonly of the white man's type having low-peaked ends, or a modified
Peterborough type.
Before discussing the methods of construction, the loading and
equipment of the fur-trade canoes should be described from contemporary
fur trade accounts. The goods carried in these canoes were packed into
easily handled bundles, or packages, of from 90 to 100 pounds weight.
Wines and liquor were carried in 9-gallon kegs, the most awkward of
all cargo to portage. In some cases the furs were packed into 80-or
90-pound bundles in the Northwest, and were repacked into 100-pound
bundles before being placed on the large canoes of the Montreal-Great
Lakes route, but bundles lighter than 90 pounds were made up for the
shipment of small quantities of individual goods to isolated posts.
The bundles, or packs, of furs were formed under screw presses so that
500 mink skins, for example, were made into a package 24 inches long,
21 inches wide and 15 inches deep, weighing very close to 90 pounds.
Buffalo hides formed a larger pack, of course. In the canoe, packs were
covered by a _parala_, a heavy, oiled red-canvas tarpaulin.
Boxes called _cassettes_ were carried; these were 28 inches long and
16 inches in width and depth, made of ¾-inch seasoned pine dovetailed
and iron-strapped, with the lid tightly fitted. The top, and sometimes
the bottom too, was bevelled along the edges. The lids were fitted
with hasps and padlocks and the boxes were as watertight as possible.
Each box was painted and marked; in these were placed cash and other
valuables. Also carried was a travelling case--a lined box for
medicine, refreshments for the officers, and what would be needed
quickly on the road.
[Illustration: Figure 135
HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY 4½-FATHOM NORTH CANOE, of the type built by
Crees at posts near James Bay in the middle of the 19th century, for
cargo-carrying.]
Provisions such as meat, sugar, flour, etc. were carried in tins and
were stowed in baskets which were usually of the form known to woodsmen
as pack-baskets. Baskets also served to carry cooking utensils and
other loose articles. Bedrolls consisted of blankets or robes, made up
in a tarpaulin or oilskin groundsheet and were used in the canoe as
pads or seats. The voyageur's term for the canoe equipment--paddles,
setting poles, sail, mast, and yard, and the rigging and hauling
lines--was _agrès_, or _agrets_.
The term _pacton_ was applied to packs made up ready for portage; they
were ordinarily made up of two or more packages, so the weight carried
was at the very least 180 pounds. No self-respecting voyageur would
carry less, as it would be disgraceful to be so weak. The _pacton_ was
carried by means of a _collier_, or tump-line similar to that used
to portage canoes (see p. 122). It was made of three pieces of stout
leather. The middle piece was of stout tanned leather about 4 inches
wide and 18 inches long, tapered toward each end, to which were sewn
pliant straps 2 or 2½ inches wide and 10 feet long. These were usually
slightly tapered toward the free ends. The middle portion of this piece
of gear was of thick enough leather to be quite stiff, but the straps
were very flexible. Sometimes the middle portion and 2 or 3 feet of
the end straps were in one piece with extensions sewn to the latter.
The _pacton_ was lifted and placed so that it rested in the small of
the carrier's back, with its weight borne by the hips. The ends of the
_collier_ were tied to the _pacton_ so as to hold it in place, with
the broad central band around the carrier's forehead. On top of the
_pacton_ was placed a loose package, _cassette_, or perhaps a keg. The
total load amounted to 270 pounds on the average if the trail was good;
the maximum on record is 630 pounds. With his body leaning forward to
support the load, the carrier sprang forward in a quick trot, using
short, quick paces, and moved at about 5 miles an hour over a good
trail. A carrier was expected to make more than one trip over the
portage, as a rule.
The traditional picture of the fur-trade voyageur as a happy, carefree
adventurer was hardly a true one, at least in the 19th century.
With poor food hastily prepared, back-breaking loads, and continual
exposure, his lot was a very hard one at best. The monstrous packs
usually brought physical injury and the working life of a packer was
very short. In the early days, and during the time of the North West
Company, the canoemen were allowed to do some private trading to add
to their wages, but when the Hudson's Bay Company took over this was
not allowed and discipline became far more harsh. As a result, the
French Canadians deserted the trade, to be replaced with Indians and
half-breeds. The paddling race against time, to reach the destination
before the fall freeze, was labor comparable to that of a galley
slave, but in a very harsh climate. Altogether, if the brutal truth is
accepted, the life of the canoeman was far more hardship than romance.
[Illustration: Figure 136
FIVE-FATHOM FUR-TRADE CANOE FROM BRUNSWICK HOUSE, one of the Hudson's
Bay Company posts.]
The cargo of a fur-trade canoe was not placed directly on the bottom;
light cedar or spruce poles were first laid in the bottom of the canoe
and then the cargo loaded aboard. The poles prevented damage to the
canoe by any undue concentration of weight. The weight of cargo carried
varied with the size of the canoe and with the conditions of the canoe
route. The canoes were usually loaded deeply, except in the case of the
light express canoe, in which the cargo was reduced for sake of rapid
travelling.
An account written in 1800 by Alexander Henry the younger gives the
following list of cargo in a trade canoe on the run to Red River in
the Northwest, where canoes under 4½ fathoms were generally used:
General trade merchandise, 5 bales; tobacco, 1 bale and 2 rolls;
kettles, 1 bale or basket; guns, 1 case; hardware, 1 case; lead shot,
2 bags; flour, 1 bag; sugar, 1 keg; gunpowder, 2 kegs; wine, 10 kegs.
This totaled 28 pieces: in addition the crew had 4 bales (1 for each
paddler) of private property, 4 bags of corn of 1½ bushels each, and
½ keg of "grease," plus bedrolls and the canoe gear. The trade goods
carried to the posts included such items as canoe awls, axes, shot,
gunpowder, gun tools, brass wire, flints (or, later, percussion caps),
lead, beads, brooches, blankets, combs, coats, fire-steels, finger
rings, guns, spruce gum, garters, birch bark, powder-horns or cartridge
boxes, hats, kettles and pans, knives, fish line, hooks, net twine,
looking glasses, needles, ribbons, rum, brandy, wine, blue and red
broadcloth, tomahawks or hatchets, tobacco, pipes, thread, vermillion
and paint, and false hair.
[Illustration: Figure 137
FUR-TRADE CANOES ON THE MISSINAIBI RIVER, 1901. (_Canadian Geological
Survey photo._)]