The coureurs des bois (runners of the woods) or voyageurs (travellers) is the name given to the men who engaged in the fur trade directly with the Amerindians in North America from the time of New France up through the 19th century, when much of the continent was still mostly covered by the wilderness.

The voyageurs typically spoke French, and were French Canadian from Quebec or Métis. They were often employees of French, French Canadian, or later British trading operations who travelled by canoe deep into uncharted North America to trade fur with the First Nations/Native American peoples. The voyageurs typically interacted with the native peoples more closely than the settlers who were to follow in their footsteps. Many served as interpreters and guides for the French or the English.

During the struggle for supremacy in the fur trade in the late 19th century, the upstart North West Company challenged the more-established Hudson's Bay Company by employing a network of voyageurs. Unlike the Hudson' Bay traders, who traditionally stayed inside coastal posts and required natives to come to them, the voyageurs roamed along the river valleys as far as present-day Oregon, doing business directly with the natives. The success of the voyagers prompted a change in strategy by the Hudson's Bay Company, which began sending out its own expeditions into the continental interior. Eventually the Hudson's Bay Company caught and surpassed the North West Company in this technique.

Some coureurs des bois became famous, like Étienne Brulé, Louis Joliet, Médard des Groseilliers and Pierre-Esprit Radisson (who both betrayed France), Jean Nicolet, Guillaume Couture , and La Vérendrye. The coureur des bois is a legendary character in the culture of Quebec and continues to be a subject of inspiration today.

External links

• The Fur Trade in New France: Les Coureurs des Bois
• US National Park Service page on voyageurs