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A Day with the Brigade

The long hard day

Daily life for the voyageur was exhausting. He worked about 15 hours a day for six to eight weeks at a time. Each day was different from the one before it, varying along with the weather and obstacles encountered en route.

Daily grind

Certain routines were common to every brigade: they woke up, loaded their canoes, paddled, sang, stopped for a pipée, and ate two or three times. They went around obstacles by doing a portage, a demi-charge, or by pulling the canoe with a cordelle , a kind of cord. They stopped to camp at night, they entertained themselves, and they slept.

Voyageurs pull a canoe using a cord. Voyageurs doing a demi-charge

A day in the life of a voyageur

Voyageurs at dawn

Voyageurs at dawn

To better illustrate the voyageur's routines, following is an example based on a true account of a day in the life of the Red River Brigade. Made up of four canoes and 17 Voyageurs, the brigade left the fort at Grand Portage on July 26, 1800. It was headed for the trading post at Pembina. On this fine morning of July 29, they are located on the shore of North Lake.


4:15 AM

The men, who were sleeping in the open, awaken to the guide's call. They load up the canoes.

4:30 AM

Departure. They take advantage of fine weather to make good mileage before breakfast. The milieux sing and paddle in unison.

5:25 AM

They stop for the first pipée (pipe break) of the day.

5:35 AM

They start again. The guide believes they can cover 100 kilometres today, depending on the number of portages.

7:15 AM

Arrival at Décharge aux Épingles. The water is too rough to continue. After eating breakfast, the brigade portages for two miles along the left bank of the river.

9:00 AM

A tree blocks the trail. François, a strapping lad from Berthier, clears the way for the other voyageurs.

9:25 AM

End of portage. The men take out their pipes for a smoke break. Afterward, they reload the canoes.

11:15 AM

Another smoke break. Two men are spotted on shore. The guide directs his canoe toward them.

11:35 AM

The two men are Ojibwa and have been fishing since early morning. The guide trades some biscuits for fresh fish for supper.

1:40 PM

The sky is clouding over. The brigade stops at the mouth of a brook for another pipe break. The men eat some biscuits. It looks like it will rain.

1:55 PM

Before leaving, the guide redistributes freight between two unevenly loaded canoes. The men paddle at full speed. They spot two brown bears on the left riverbank, perhaps a mother with her cub.

3:45 PM

The rain is getting worse. At the next rapids, the guide decides to do a demi-charge in order to save time. The men remove a portion of the freight and carry it over the portage trail. Two men in each canoe, one at the bow and the other at the stern, attempt to shoot the rapids in their lightened craft. Unfortunately, the fourth canoe crashes into a tree trunk and starts taking on water.

4:25 PM

The brigade stops a little further. The men carrying the cargo over the portage rejoin their companions. The damaged canoe is patched temporarily with spruce gum.

5:15 PM

Departure. The rain has stopped and a favourable wind comes up. The damaged canoe holds out till evening, although the milieux had to bail water regularly.

7:00 PM

The men catch up with the Chabolliez brigade, who had left Grand Portage a day before them. They issue dares, then take leave of each other in a friendly manner.

8:50 PM

The guide announces their stop for the night. They reach shore and unload the canoes. They set up camp, build a fire and repair the canoes. The bourgeois sets up his own tent using an oilcloth and wooden poles. The cook prepares corn meal and the fish they got through trade earlier that day.

9:35 PM

After supper, a dozen or so voyageurs gather around the fire. They tell stories, sing, laugh and play dice. The others fall asleep stretched out on the grass or sand with their heads underneath the raised side of the overturned canoes.

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