A Northwest Journal article discussing different characters of the fur trade that may be portrayed during re-enactments. Also available online are other articles from this fur trade living history and re-enactment publication (quarterly publication of the Northwest Brigade Club, Alberta).
Home web site for Old Fort William, an historic site which was the inland headquarters of the North West Company, and site of the Company's annual Voyageur Rendezvous from 1803-1821. The Fort reconstruction is located in Thunder Bay, Ontario, nine miles from the original site, near the mouth of the Kaministiquia River.
From Canoe Saskatchewan, an interesting article on the contribution that the rivers of Saskatchewan played in the fur trade, who the Orkneymen, Coureur de bois, and Voyageurs actually were and the hardships they faced, and the evolution of watercraft used by the HBC Orkneymen vs. the NWC Voyageurs.
The archives for the Hudson's Bay Company, founded in 1670, which includes "original handwritten journals, correspondence and accounts of more than five hundred HBC trading posts (1688-1949), Company ships' logs, original maps and plans, various journals of travel and exploration and other Company or related documentation that accumulated in HBC files in the years since 1671." Owned by the Government of Manitoba. Need we say more?
Part of a virtual tour at the Canadian Museum of Civilization's web site, read a series of beautifully illustrated articles on the crucial role played by canoes of various types in the economic, political, military, and missionary affairs of North America. For example, the museum houses a full-scale replica of a canôt de maître (Montreal canoe), used by voyageurs.
The web site of a Voyageur "living history" historical re-enactment group, with information on events and activities they take part in.
Home site for the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario. Houses the world's largest collection of canoes and kayaks, canoe-building workshops, an original trading post from Canada's Fur Trade period, and many exhibits.
The web site of another "living history" group who operate the White Oak Learning Centre and a 1798 Norwest Company Fur post - the White Oak Fur Post - on the upper reaches of the Mississippi, near Deer River, Minnesota. Click on the On-line Learning link, and write a note to a voyageur member of the interpretive staff. Lots of good links too.
The TVOntario web site offers a docudrama on the pioneering spirit of the voyageurs and fur traders.