GNWC: Voyageur! (Page 1)

Early Exploration of BC

The first Europeans to cross the continent of North America came from East to West. They were the fur trade explorers of the North West and Hudson's Bay trading companies.

Travelling in birch bark canoes, they explored west from Hudson's Bay (HBC) or Lachine, Quebec. (NWC)

Following the inland river and lake systems, and led by MacKenzie, Fraser and Thompson, they built trading posts, explored the waterways and created the first maps of those regions. These were the Voyageurs!

In 1778 Captain James Cook explored the coast, as part of his search for a western passage or significant inland waterway.

Russian traders had already established trading posts and begun trading in Alaska; they had also started exploring further down the coast. Spanish explorers had been in the area a few times, as early as 1774.

In 1793 Alexander MacKenzie became the first person to travel across North America by land north of Mexico. Trading posts began to develop, built by both the NWC and HBC companies.

VOYAGEUR! (PART 1)
Words and Music .

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They came by here, those voyageurs over water sweet as wine
Those bold adventurers of a long forgotten time
Long before the riverboats, before the pioneers
Their chansons echoed through the wilderness frontier

On the 1st of May the spring brigades
Would depart from old Lachine
With sweat and blood they'd muscled through
The hellish terrain
Over rocks or through white water
Or the miles of cursed mire
To winter in the Chipewyan, cold and huddled by a fire

Those nights went on forever
With the cruel wind howling at the door
When each man prayed to hear
The bells of sweet Saint Anne's once more
To die in the Harlot's Tavern! in tassels, sash and plume
Fol da, diddle di, re fol dadin-o

Rise up you bold Nor'wester, an hour before the dawn
The sun will set again before your toil is done
.

In the early 1800's, people began travelling from the British Isles and other parts of Europe to British Columbia (New Caledonia, at the time) and became Canada's first fur traders. They traded manufactured goods like iron pots and blankets for furs which they brought back to Europe. These furs were made into hats, jackets and other items.

The North West Company sent more people to explore the area and try to find the best overland route. Simon Fraser charted the Fraser river from 1807-1811, and David Thompson explored the Columbia River. They were both NWC men.

[Steamboatin' Jamiesons] [Ned McGowan's War] [Ghosts of Read Island] [John Antle]
[Richard Moody] [Spanish Banks] [Auld Lange Syne] [Voyageur!]