The Voyageur

by Grace Lee Nute

The Voyageur is the authoritative account of a unique and colorful group of men whose exploits, songs, and customs comprise an enduring legacy. French Canadians who guided and paddled the canoes of explorers and fur traders, the voyageurs were experts at traversing the treacherous rapids and dangerous open waters of the canoe routes from Quebec and Montreal to the regions bordering the Great Lakes and on to the Mackenzie and Columbia Rivers. During the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, explorers and fur traders relied on the voyageurs to open up the vast reaches of North America to settlement and trade.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Canada

301 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1955

About the author

Historian and teacher Grace Lee Nute earned an A.B. in American literature from Smith College in 1917, an A.M. from Radcliffe College in 1918, and a Ph.D. in American history from Harvard University in 1921. Nute moved to Minnesota in 1921 and was the curator of manuscripts at the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul from 1921-46, and a research associate from 1946-57. She taught Minnesota history at Hamline University from 1927-60, conducted study courses for business women from 1930-34, was a lecturer on Minnesota history for the University of Minnesota Extension Division from 1948-52, was a visiting professor at Macalester College from 1956-59, and the director of the James J. Hill papers project for the Hill Reference Library in St. Paul from 1960-66.

Nute wrote manuals on collection preservation and organization and she pioneered the use of microfilm and photocopies to preserve manuscripts and make them more accessible to scholars. Nute also wrote books and articles on the fur trade and the exploration of Minnesota, including The Voyageur (1931) and Caesars of the Wilderness (1943). Nute was on the editorial board from 1957 on for The Naturalist, the Natural History Society of Minnesota magazine. She was a consultant for the Encyclopedia Britannica film Robert Cavalier, Sieur de la Salle (1950) and Chairman of the Clarence W. Alvord Memorial Commission, Mississippi Valley Historical Association from 1940-56. She received a Guggenheim Fellowship to fund research in Europe from 1934-35, an Honorary Litt.D. from Hamline University in 1943, a Ford Foundation grant in 1945, and an Award of Merit from the Western History Association in 1981.

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting work to skim, having grown up in voyageur territory. Written in the 30's and reads like it.

[Jacqueline Bussjaeger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a dated history, particularly toward indigenous people of North America, but nevertheless an impeccably researched and detailed account of the life of the northwoods voyageur.

[Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

“This day being Christmas, our people have spent it as usual in drinking and fighting.”

"Know all men by these presents, that I, Pierre Parrant, residing near the entry of the Saint Peter’s River, and in Wisconsin Territory, do hereby make over, transfer, and quit-claim to Guillaume Beaumette, of said Saint Peter’s, all my right, title, and interest in and to all that tract or portion of land which I, the said Parrant, now reside upon and occupy, at the cave, so-called, about four miles below Fort Snelling…. [Signed with an X]"

“...No water, no weather, ever stopped the paddle or the song. I had twelve wives in the country; and was once possessed of fifty horses, and six running dogs, trimmed in the finest style. I was then like a Bourgeois, rich and happy: no Bourgeois had better dressed wives than I, no Indian chief finer horses, no white man better harnessed or swifter dogs. I beat all Indians at the race, and no white man ever passed me in the chase. I wanted for nothing; and I spent all my earnings in the enjoyment of pleasure. Five hundred pounds, twice told, have passed through my hands; although I now have not a spare shirt to my back, nor a penny to buy one. Yet, were I young again, I should glory in commencing the same career again, I would willingly spent another half-century in the same fields of enjoyment. There is no life so happy as a voyageur’s life; none so independent; no place where a man enjoys so much variety and freedom as in the Indian country. Huzza! Huzza! Pour le pays sauvage!”

[Ed Kohinke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though informative, this is an old book written in a different era. I didn’t realize just how old (1931!) when I picked up a copy, but still knew I’d be in for some eat-your-vegetables type of reading. I am much richer for having read the accounts of the Voyageurs and the fur trade, but had to cringe and stomach a lot of awkward phrases (“dusky maidens”?) and politically incorrect references to “half-breeds”, the “glory” of exploits, and wild men in need of “spiritual services” of the clergy? About a quarter of the book is the French lyrics and music of the Voyageur songs, which I skipped entirely. Unfortunately, also, the image I have now of Voyageurs is that along with having superhuman endurance, spirit, and bravado, they seem much like Tolkein’s hobbits, or even Snow White’s Seven Dwarves… simple, full of braggadocio, reckless, vain, and blindly loyal and subservient. Oh but the gist is that it is all very charming and adorable, like the family dog? The book only touches briefly on the magical idea that, hey, here were several generations of a group of Europeans that peacefully related with the indigenous tribes, adapted, intermarried, coexisted wonderfully, and integrated into the New World landscape without thoughts of conquest or amassing wealth. I’d like to know more about that!

[Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reads Like A Novel

This is an extremely pleasant read. The author keeps the pace lively, as befits a book centered on the paddling of birch bark canoes along swift rivers and down even swifter rapids. But Ms. Nute gives us a decent amount of depth as well, drawing on primary source material - regarding the songs the voyageurs sang while paddling, how the variously sized birch bark canoes were constructed, the rigors of the great portages, how pemmican was made, which expeditions of exploration voyageurs were part of, their involvement in the American Revolution and the War of 1812, the settlements they founded, etc. For many readers who have only a scanty knowledge of voyageur exploits and culture, the book will be something of an eyeopener. For those who know a bit more, I’m sure you will still find solid gems of information here and exciting stories and unknown facts. Recommended.

[Linda Kenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was first published in 1931 with amazing woodcut illustrations of Carl Bertsch who I googled but couldn’t come up with any information. We live in Minnesota and have geographically crossed paths with the Voyagers. This is one of the rare books that attempts to tell their story including their music. You can picture them coming across the lakes of the North in their birchbark canoes, singing lustily in French. They were the real pioneers of our true North. The book is published by the Minnesota Historical Society.

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid read if a bit dated. Casually uses fur trading nomenclature and assumes the reader has base understanding of the fur trade and its history - this isnt a criticism, but something a prospective reader should be aware of prior to picking up (keep other materials / google handy for the obscure phrases, names, references etc.)

[Zac · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, a fairly interesting read about the namesake of the Minnesota National Park.

When I was invested in a chapter topic, I greatly enjoyed the writing. When the chapter was over a topic I cared less about, the writing dragged a bit.

So a book I skimmed through a bit, but I learned a lot about the Voyageur and their understated important to the American frontier.

[Matthew Dambro · Rating 4 out of 5]

A somewhat outdated (1931) examination of the voyageur phenomenon of the 18th and early 19th centuries. Fascinating stories of the French Canadian canoe men who opened up the Old Northwest; written well but research is somewhat limited.

[Steven Kensinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a funny little book. Interesting mostly as a piece of historiography. It has some anthropological interest for its focus on voyageur songs and for its discussion of people of mixed-race and bicultural heritage and their importance to the North American fur-trade.

[Tyler Howe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, but more of a shelf book to pull out and enjoy from time to time.

[Daniel Dendler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for work to learn about the Voyageurs. I can say that while informational this book can be a bit dry at times. I think this is due mostly to agezz

[Kimb · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting history of a very bad ass group people that I never knew existed.

[Shannon R Sopha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Viva la espirit de voyageur

Flap jacks and Chilly Willy the Penguin. Great reflection on the history of North America. I'm always excited to find family names in these books, but only places I've been appear here. If you want to know the real meaning of the North or America, here it is.

[Shaun]

Fascinating book. Much of the Upper Midwest and Western Canada owe their early (Western) settlement to these explorers, traders, and canoemen. Also, knowledge of French helps for reading the songs, although there are translations, sometimes they seem to differ slightly from the original.

[Cbphoenix · Rating 3 out of 5]

For anyone who has French-Canadian ancestors, this book is a good read. Many were voyageurs. This is a fascinating group of men who were unique in many ways. Would love to see a documentary about these lively men. Seems very well researched.

[Matt Laduke · Rating 5 out of 5]

A view of my ancestor's life

My Grandfather was French Canadian as far back as I can trace. This book give a thorough look at how some of them may have lived, and a interesting view of early American history unique to the northeast and Midwest states.

[Sherri Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed most of the book. Parts where she is describing locations gets a little confusing and I am not a big fan of poetry so those parts in the book tend to turn me off but there was so very good information about the time period.

[Kohrtj · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice history of a little-mentioned group of men who were critical to the exploration of the northern US and Canada.