fitted with grommets around the edges for lashings. The cloth was
treated with ochre, oil, and wax to give it a dull red color and to
waterproof it. One of the tarpaulins usually served as the sail. The
fur bales were each sacked, that is, wrapped in a canvas cover that was
sewed on and stenciled with identification and ownership marks.
The cargo manifests were not always the same. Compare the previous
list with this cargo, with which two light canoes were each loaded: 3
_cassettes_, 1 travelling case, 2 baskets, 1 bag of bread, 1 bag of
biscuits, 2 kegs of spirits, 2 kegs of porter, 1 tin of beef, 1 bag of
pemmican for officers and 2 for the crew, 2 tents for officers, cooking
utensils, canoe equipment, and 1 _pacton_ for each of the 9 men in each
canoe.
The rate of travel varied a good deal, depending upon the condition
of the waterway and of the men. Perhaps, as an average, 50 miles a
day would be the common expectation during a 3-month run into the
northwest. Traveling fast with good conditions, an express canoe might
average as much as 75 or 80 miles a day, but this was exceptional.
The number of men required to man a fur-trade canoe varied with the use
required of the canoe, with its load, and its size. There were rare
occasions in which a _maître canot_ had 17 paddlers and a steersman,
but normally such a canoe was manned by between 7 and 15 men, depending
upon how much space aboard was required by cargo or passengers and
upon the difficulties of the route. An express canoe, traveling light
and at high speed, was manned by 4 to 6 paddlers, one of whom acted as
steersman or stern paddler, and one as the equally important bowman in
river work.
The most valuable information on the construction methods of fur trade
canoes was obtained in 1925 from the late L. A. Christopherson, a
retired Hudson's Bay Company official. He had joined the Company in
1874 and retired in 1919, after 45 years service, 38 of which he had
spent in western Quebec at the posts on Lake Barrière and on Grand
Victoria. These were canoe-building posts, and Christopherson had
supervised the construction of both the 5-and 4½-fathom trade canoes.
His posts had built the nearly vertical-ended _nadowé chiman_, the
Iroquois, or Ottawa River, type of Algonkin canoe. The actual building
was done by Indians, but the work was directed by the Company men.
[Illustration: Figure 138
FUR-TRADE CANOE BRIGADE, CHRISTOPHERSON'S HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY POST,
about 1885. Christopherson in white shirt and flat cap, sitting with
hands clasped. Five-fathom canoes, Ottawa River type.]
In the building the eye and judgment of the builder were the only
guides, aided by the occasional use of a measuring stick, and
Christopherson made it abundantly clear that the Company had no
rules or regulations that he knew of, regarding the size, model, and
construction of the canoes, nor any standards for decoration. The model
and appearance of the canoes were determined by the preferences of
the builders and the size by the needs of the posts. For example, the
5-fathom canoe had been built at the Grand Victoria post until it was
decided there that a 4½-fathom canoe would serve. The decoration, if
any, was apparently according to "the custom of the post."
The method of construction described by Christopherson seems to be
largely that of the Algonkin, modified slightly by Ojibway practices.
The canoes were built on a plank building bed made of 2-or 2½-inch
thick spruce; its middle was higher than the ends, as were the earthen
beds used in the east, and holes were bored in it to take the stakes.
A stake was placed near the end of each thwart and one between, along
the sides of the canoe. The individual builders had their preferences
as to the method of setting stakes; some set them vertically while
others bored the bed so that the stakes stood with their heads pointed
outward. A post might have two or more building beds, one for each
size, or model.
Canoes were always built by means of a building frame. This was made
with four or five crosspieces that determined the fullness or fineness
of the bottom of the canoe toward the ends. By altering the lengths
of the end crosspieces, the degree of fullness in the lines of the
finished canoe could be predetermined. As a result the bed, which was
usually about 18 inches wider than the building frame, might have the
shape of its frame marked on it twice, with two sets of holes for
stakes. Otherwise, the alteration in the building frame would require
a special bed to be used. In addition to the alteration in the ends
of the building frame, there could also be variations in its width
amidships. Christopherson's posts commonly built canoes intended for
fast travel, so most of them were narrower in beam at the gunwale and
across the bottom than were the fur-trade canoes of the period, and the
building frame was likewise narrower.
The length of the building frame used in these canoes was the same as
the bottom length, or a little longer than the distance between the two
headboards of the finished canoe. Thus, in a 5-fathom canoe the bottom
length would be 30 feet, and in a 4½-fathom canoe, 27 feet; the beds
would be some 6 feet longer than these lengths.
[Illustration: Figure 139.
FOREST RANGERS, LAKE TIMAGAMI, ONTARIO. (_Canadian Pacific Railway
Company photo._)]
As the canoes at Christopherson's were built for speed and rarely
measured more than 48 inches beam between the gunwale members, the
building frame was about 32 inches wide amidships, or approximately
two-thirds the beam inside the gunwales in a 5-fathom canoe. The beam
of his 4½-fathom canoes was less, say 42 inches inside the gunwales
and 27 or 28 inches across the building frame, with a depth, bottom to
top of rail cap, of between 19 and 21 inches. A 5-fathom canoe of this
narrow model would carry nearly 2½ short tons with a crew of six, while
the smaller model would carry nearly 2 tons. However, the capacity of a
wide canoe was much greater. A 6-fathom canoe, the _Rob Roy_, built by
another post about 1876 to bring in the bishop for the consecration of
a church at the Lake Temiscaming post, was described by Christopherson
as being about 6 feet beam on the gunwales. Considered a fine example
of a freight canoe, the _Rob Roy_ was afterwards loaded with 75 bags of
flour, totaling 3½ tons deadweight, and carried as well a crew of seven
and their provisions and gear.
The bark cover was commonly in two lengths on the bottom of the canoe,
summer bark being used. The post maintained a supply of bark for canoe
building and sheets 4 fathoms in length and 1 in breadth were not
uncommon. Such sheets would have been ample for the cover of a small
canoe but would not be expended so needlessly; hence, the canoes, large
or small, had two lengths of bark in their bottoms. The lap was toward
the stern. In what appears to have been a local characteristic of the
canoes built at Christopherson's posts, the bows were indicated by
making the thwarts toward that end slightly longer than those toward
the stern, so that the forebody was fuller at sheer than the afterbody;
the canoe master could thus instantly see which end was the bow
without having to examine the bottom or the bark cover.
The two pieces of bark sewn together were placed on the building bed
and the building frame placed on it and weighted down, in the usual
manner. The stakes were then set in the holes in the bed and the bark
secured to them with the usual inside stakes, as well as with the
clothespin-like clamps used by the Algonkin and other Indian canoe
builders. The end stakes were set in a peculiar manner: a short pair
were set with their heads sloping inboard, for use later to support
the sheering of the outwales, and a long pair were set raking sharply
outboard to help support the bark required for the high ends. As the
bark cover was made up, pieces were worked into the ends to allow
the high ends to be made. The side panels often seen on the eastern
Indian bark canoe were used, and the bark doubled at the gunwales. The
doubling pieces were put on about 6 inches wide and trimmed off after
the outwales were in place. The pieces were widest amidships, and
when trimmed would extend about two inches or a little more below the
outwales, narrowing somewhat toward the ends. Longitudinal battens to
fair the bark along the sides were placed as usual in canoe building.
The main gunwales were originally made of white cedar, but when this
became scarce at the posts, whipsawed spruce was used instead. The
gunwales were rectangular in cross section, with the outer lower
corner beveled off. The cross section of the inner gunwale member was
smaller, in proportion, than the outwale, compared to a small eastern
Indian canoe. The gunwales were bent "on the flat" in plan, and were
sheered "edge bent." The tenons for the thwart ends were cut slanting,
so that when the gunwales were made up they stood at a flare outward
toward the top edge. The gunwales had much taper toward the ends as it
was usual to work in some sheer in these members. The canoes built at
Christopherson's posts, unlike some other trade canoes, had a good deal
of sheer at the ends, as the main gunwales rose nearly to the top of
the stem.
The manner of forming the gunwales varied somewhat. If the stakes
around the building frame had been set to stand vertically, it was
necessary to assemble the gunwales with temporary crosspieces, or false
thwarts, each shorter by several inches than would be the finished
thwart in their place, or twice the amount of flare desired. After the
gunwale assembly had been set above the building frame on the usual
posts to determine its height above the building bed, the bark cover
would be lashed to each gunwale member. This done, each crosspiece
would be removed in turn and replaced with its corresponding thwart. By
this means the gunwales would be spread and, in the process, lowered
in proportion to the change in beam. This would usually make too much
sheer. Therefore, if the gunwales were to be spread as a result of
the side stakes standing vertically, they had to be formed with some
reverse sheer amidships. This was done as usual, by first treating
each member with hot water and then weighting it on a long plank, or
unused building bed, over a block placed under it at midlength. The
height of the block would determine the amount the sheer was "humped"
in the middle, usually only an inch or so. The gunwale ends were
also treated with hot water and sometimes were split horizontally to
get the required sheer there; they were then bent up and held, while
drying and setting, by a long cord that was stretched between them and
placed under tension by means of a strut, about 4 feet long, placed
under the cord at midlength and stepped on the gunwale member being
bent. However, if the side stakes were set sloping outward, it was
unnecessary to hump the sheer amidships.
The reason why many builders preferred to set the stakes on the bed
vertically was that it made easy the goring and the sewing of the bark
cover side panels; if the bark available for the cover required little
sewing, the sloping stakes might be preferred. It appears, however,
that the usual procedure was to set the stakes vertically and to spread
the gunwales, since good bark was usually available. A good deal of
judgment was required to estimate the amount of hump or reverse to
be worked into the gunwale members; too much would leave a hump in
the sheer of the finished canoe and not enough would cause too much
dip amidships. Before being bent to sheer, the gunwale members were
worked smooth with a plane or with scrapers made of glass or steel. The
building frame was taken apart and removed from the canoe after most of
the thwarts were in place.
The ribs Christopherson called "timbers" and the sheathing, "lathing."
The ribs, commonly of cedar, were usually ¼ to ⅜ inch thick, and were
2½ to 3¼ inches wide in most canoes, with a long taper so that near the
ends the width was about half that at the middle, and at the ends they
tapered almost to a point. Some large canoes had ribs 4 inches wide
at the centerline, amidships, but these appear to have been unusual.
The ribs were placed on the building frame at their proposed position
and the width of the frame at that point was marked on each. After
being cut to about the required length and tapered, the ribs were
then treated with hot water, and were then usually bent over the knee
in pairs, the marks determining where the bending was to be done. In
a freight canoe the ribs amidships would be nearly flat across the
bottom but in a fast canoe they would be slightly rounded. The parts
of the rib nearest the ends were not bent, and thus the rib would
appear dish-shaped when in form. Each pair while drying was sometimes
held by cords tied across the ends, or the ribs might be inserted in
about their proper location in the unfinished canoe and held in place
by battens and struts until they took their final set. The ribs at
the extreme ends were often "sprung" or "broken" at the centerline
to get the ~V~-section required there, particularly in a sharp-ended
express canoe.
[Illustration: Figure 140
FUR-TRADE CANOE STEM-PIECES, models made by Adney: 1, Algonkin type; 2,
Iroquois type, Ottawa River, old French; 3, Christopherson's canoes.]
The sheathing was about ¼-inch thick and was laid according to the
tribal practice of the builder; Christopherson appears to have followed
the Algonkin practices generally in this as in other building matters
at his posts.
Whereas Malecite practice was to lash the bark cover to both inwale
and outwale, in the western type of canoe the cover was lashed to the
main gunwale first, owing to the spread gunwales, and the outwale was
then pegged to the gunwale and also lashed, the ends being wrapped
with figure-eight turns. All gunwale lashing in fur-trade canoes was
in groups. Because of the sheer at the ends, the outwales were split
horizontally into four or more laminae, and the splitting extended
almost to the end-thwart positions. In a few canoes outwales were
omitted or were short and did not extend beyond the end thwarts, but
this practice was relatively uncommon. The outwales were usually
rectangular in cross section and much tapered toward the ends.
The rail caps were also rectangular in cross section, but often they
had the outboard upper edge rounded off or beveled. The caps were
pegged at 1-foot intervals to the main gunwales, but at the ends they
could only be lashed to the outwale, as both outwales and caps were so
sharply upswept at the ends that they stood almost vertically. The ends
were squared off and stood a little above the top of the stems, so that
when the canoe was placed upside down as a shelter for the paddlers
and packers it rested upon these members rather than on the sewing of
the bark cover on the tops of the stems, as was usual with all the
high-ended Algonkin and Ojibway canoes.
The stem-pieces and headboards were assembled into single units,
as shown on pages 149 and 151, before being installed during
construction. The stem-pieces were of white cedar, about four fingers
deep fore-and-aft and laminated, and about ¾ to 1¼ inches wide,
depending upon the size of the canoe and the judgment of the builder.
In Christopherson's area the stem-piece was relatively short, the
head coming up and around and ending at a point far enough under the
rail-cap ends for it to be securely lashed to these members and to
the outwale ends. It was bent by use of hot water and the laminae
were secured by wrapping the stem piece with fine twine. The stem was
stiffened by stepping the headboard on its heel in the usual manner,
and the two were held in the required position by two horizontal
struts, the outboard ends of which were lashed to the sides of the
stem piece well up above the heel; the inboard ends were pegged at
the sides of the headboard, in notches, or were passed through the
headboards in slots and the strut ends secured with wedges athwartships
on the inboard face of the headboard. The result was a rigid and
strong end-frame. More complicated bending was employed at some posts,
where the building of fur-trade canoes followed Algonkin or Ojibway
practices. In these, as has been mentioned, the stem-pieces were
brought down and around under the stem-head to the back or inboard
edge of the stem-piece and lashed, then brought inboard horizontally
to end in a hole in the headboard, between struts placed as in the
Christopherson-built canoes. Another method was to bring the stem-piece
around the stem head and down and around outboard to the inboard face
of the stem, where the end was split and each half lashed to the sides
of the stem-piece. In this case there was a lashing between stem-piece
and the headboard, placed where the reverse was made, inboard and
below the top of the stem, well up on the headboard. The heel of the
headboard and stem-piece were pegged together.
Struts were not required with this construction, described earlier (on
p. 123) as the Ojibway method. In bending the stem-piece, the reverse
curve around the stem-head was formed over a short strut that was
removed when the stem-piece was dried and set to shape. As a variety
of forms were used in shaping these stem-pieces, it was the ingenuity
of the builder that decided just how the end of the stem-piece was
best secured and how the whole was to be braced. These details will be
better understood by reference to the plans and illustrations on pages
134 to 151.
The headboards were not sprung or bellied, but stood nearly vertical
in the canoes. The inboard face was often decorated; in the old French
canoes and in those of the North West Company, the board was carved or
painted to represent a human figure, _le petit homme_, which was often
made in the likeness of a voyageur in his best clothes. In some canoes,
only a human head was used, or the top of the headboard, or "button,"
was decorated with a rayed compass drawn in colors.
The thwarts were usually rather heavy amidships and were made in
various forms to suit the taste of the builder. They were commonly of
maple, but Christopherson's canoes had spruce or tamarack thwarts,
the latter being his preference. These thwarts were not intended to
be used as seats, though the sternman, or steersman, often sat on the
aftermost one. The paddlers often used seats in the large canoes; these
were planks slung from each end by cords made fast to the gunwales.
These cords allowed the height of the seats to be adjusted; the
paddlers usually knelt on the bottom of the canoe with hips supported
by the seat. The seats were usually slung before the thwarts, except
amidships, where the space was taken up by passengers or cargo.
The factors often took great pride in the appearance of the canoes from
their posts and many, like Christopherson, had the craft gaily painted
in a rather barbaric fashion. Christopherson's canoes did not use any
of the circular decoration forms; his canoes usually had painted on
them, he recalled, such names as _Duchess_, _Sir John A. MacDonald_,
_Express_, _Arrow_, and _Ivanhoe_. The ends were often painted white,
with the figures or letters on this background. The Company flag was
often painted on the stern with the initials of the Company, H.B.C.,
said to mean "Here Before Christ" by disrespectful clerks. Many posts
used such figures as the jackfish, loon, deer, wolf, or bear, on the
bow. The rayed circular devices appear to have been long popular and
were said to have been introduced by the French. There is no record
of any device being officially required in any district but the
_cassettes_ of certain districts were marked with distinctive devices
at one time; Norway House used a deer's head with antlers, Saskatchewan
two buffalo, Cumberland a bear, Red River a grasshopper, and Manitoba a
crocus.
[Illustration: Figure 141
FUR-TRADE CANOE STEM-PIECES, models made by Adney: 1, Têtes de Boule
type; 2, Ojibway form; 3, old Algonkin form.]
During Christopherson's long service he knew the canoes built in
his vicinity at such nearby building posts as Lake Abitibi, Lake
Waswanipi, and Kipewa, in western Quebec; and Lake Timagami (Bear
Island), Matachewan on Montreal River, Matagama (west of Sudbury), and
Missinaibi, in nearby Ontario. These were but a few of the building
posts, of course, for canoes were built at numerous posts to the west
and northward.
When portaged, the large canoes might be carried right side up or
upside down, the former being more usual method. The _canot du nord_
was often light enough to be carried by two paddlers, one under each
end, with the canoe right side up and steadied by a cord tied to the
offside gunwale and held in the carrier's hand. The _maître canot_
required four men to carry it. Various methods were used. One was to
lash carrying sticks across the gunwales near the ends and to carry
the canoe right side up with a man on the end of each stick. Another
way was for the men to distribute themselves along the bottom of
the canoe, near the ends, and to use steadying cords. Or the canoe
might be carried upside down with the men carrying it by placing one
shoulder under the gunwales at convenient places. When a bad place
in the portage was reached, the whole crew might have to turn to. The
method of portaging had to meet the physical limitation of the portage
path and the matter was not so much one of standard procedure as of
improvisation of the moment.
[Illustration: Figure 142
PORTAGING A 4½-FATHOM FUR-TRADE CANOE, ABOUT 1902, near the head of the
Ottawa River. Shows an unusually large number of carriers; four would
be the normal number. (_Canadian Pacific Railway Company photo._)]
The voyageur was particular about his paddle; no man in his right mind
would use a blade wider than between 4½ and 5 inches, for anything
wider would exhaust him in a short distance. The paddle reached to
about the users' chin, when he stood with the tip of the paddle on the
ground in front of him. Longer paddles, about 6 feet long, were used by
the bow and stern men, the two most skillful voyageurs in the canoe and
the highest paid. These men had, also, spare paddles whose total length
was 8 feet or more; these were used in running rapids only. The paddles
were of hardwood, white or yellow birch or maple, as hardwood paddles
could be made thin in the blade and small in the handle without loss of
strength, whereas softwood paddles could not. The blades were sometimes
painted white, the tips in some color such as red, blue, green or
black, but other color combinations were often used.
In Christopherson's service, sail was rarely used, as the canoemen
were unskilled in handling it and loss had resulted. In early times,
however, it appears to have been much used on the Great Lakes routes
by the French and the North West Company. A single square-sail was the
only rig employed; the canoes could not be worked to windward under
fore-and-aft sails.
During the great seasonal movements the trade canoes moved in fleets
called brigades, the usual brigade in early times being three or four
canoes, but later, when the needs of the individual posts had grown,
the brigade could be of any necessary number of canoes to carry in the
required supplies and goods or to bring out the season's catch of furs.
The leader of the brigade was the _conducteur_ or _guide_; sometimes
he was the post's factor. In French times the _maître canot_ would be
loaded with 60 pieces, or packs, to the total of about 3 short tons
and half a ton of provisions, and eight men, each with an allowance
of 40 pounds for gear, so that the whole weight in the canoe would
be something over 4 short tons. An example of such a canoe measured,
inside the gunwales, 5½ fathoms long and 4½ feet beam. The usual
brigade of four of these canoes would thus carry roughly 12 short tons
of goods.