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voyageurs

Voyageurs (French: [vwajaʒœʁ] (listen); lit. 'travellers') were 18th and 19th century French Canadians who transported furs by canoe at the peak of the North American fur trade. The emblematic meaning of the term applies to places (New France, including the Pays d'en Haut and the Pays des Illinois) and times where that transportation was over long distances. The voyageurs were regarded as legendary. They were celebrated in folklore and music. For reasons of promised celebrity status and wealth, this position was coveted. Despite their fame, their lives were arduous and not nearly as glamorous as folk tales made out. For example, they had to be able to carry two 90-pound (41 kg) bundles of fur over portages. Some carried four or five, and there is a report of a voyageur carrying seven bundles for half a mile. Hernias were common and frequently caused death. Most voyageurs started working in their early twenties and continued working until they were in their sixties. They never made enough money to consider early retirement from a physically grueling lifestyle.Fur trading was done by canoe and largely by French Canadians. In the fur trade context the word also applied, at a lesser extent, to other fur trading activities. Voyageurs were part of a licensed, organized effort, a distinction that set them apart from the coureurs des bois. Additionally, they differed from engagés, (hired men) who were much smaller-scale merchants and general laborers. Mostly immigrants, the engagés were men required to go anywhere and do anything their masters told them as long as their indentureship was still in place. Until their contract expired, engagés were servants of their masters, who were most often voyageurs. Less than fifty percent of engagés remained in New France when their contracts ended. The others either returned to France or died while indentured.

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