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Voyageur

From Encyc
A crew of voyageurs "shoot the rapids" in their freight canoe.

In North American history the term voyageur refers to a mariner who specialized in navigating the rivers and lakes of North American by canoe.[1] The term was coined in Quebec, and voyageurs from Quebec carried cargo all they way to and from Quebec across the rivers that flowed into the North American Great Lakes, the Mississippi River, and its tributaries, and the rivers that flowed into Hudson's Bay.

Voyageurs were known for their strength and endurance.[1]

References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 Nat Eliason (2022-08-29). "We're Much Weaker than We Think". Nat Eliason's blog. Archived from the original on 2026-02-07. Retrieved 2026-07-04. A standard Voyageur pack weighed 90 pounds, and the minimum amount of weight you were required to carry across a portage was two packs. Some would carry four or five depending on the distance, and there’s one particularly legendary story of an aspiring Voyageur carrying seven packs (630lbs) for half a mile as part of his job application.