The Voyageurs

This short film tells the tale of the men who drove big freighter canoes into the wilderness in the days when the fur trade was Canada's biggest business. The film recreates scenes of the early 19th century with a soundtrack by an all-male chorus.
Directed by Bernard Gosselin - 1964
Watch more free films on NFB.ca → bit.ly/YThpNFB
Subscribe to our newsletter → bit.ly/NFBnewsletter
Follow us on Facebook → bit.ly/ytfbNFB
Follow us on Instagram → bit.ly/2FdmRol
Follow us on Twitter → bit.ly/yttwNFB
Download our free iOS Apps → apple.co/2dbva4h
Download our free Android Apps → bit.ly/2dbvHmO

[@ryangrimm9305]

I've done the trip, the length of Superior with others in trade canoes...21 days to Thunder Bay. Got to the Fort in time for Dominion Day, and consorted with the local ladies for three days. Down to the American fort (what a joke) for the Fourth. Then up the Grande Portage, one trip was enough. Then up to the Height Of Land....and later, home. June/July, 1979.

[@hohetannen4703]

Well the french did it first so piss on dumbinion day lol

[@glenfenderman]

Some the toughest kind of real men there ever was, and they had no doubt of their manhood!

[@charlesleblanc6638]

You got that right ... There was no toxic masculinity, or I don't identify as a male ! You had to be male, and a good solid one at that.

[@tomh6183]

AYE!

[@tumbleweed6658]

I love this short film these men were hard core I could not fathom paddling for 15 hours a day. I love canoeing and try to spend 5 hours during the weekend on the water and I am tired by the end of my outing. I love the work of the Mason family Bill, Becky, and Paul and their dear wife and Mom.

[@jasonhenn7345]

Fabulous, way better than fiction. 58 years a Canadian, they don't make em like they used to.

[@mantistobogganmd6580]

One of my forebears was a Voyageur, he was pushed out of a canoe during a fight injuring his leg and was forced into early retirement, ended up settling around Detroit where he later died.

[@marcusaetius9309]

You got that right!

[@anneroutes1693]

One night the cast of this movie got wasted and broke a bunch of glass beer bottles while camping on Georgian Bay. In the morning producer Bill Mason made the crew clean up all the glass and garbage otherwise he would not continue on. He always set a good example

[@nomadchopper]

Anne Routes got few guys in Canada off Pogie EH

[@mrhindin3070]

So they were method actors, getting deep into character.

[@mickyalberta3484]

Aww they were method actors getting into character.

[@markdemell3717]

As it should be . I love this kind of stuff.

[@hohetannen4703]

@@mrhindin3070C’EST LAVIRON QUIS NOUS MENE HAUT!!!!

[@CJHockey]

My school made me watch this

[@throwaway_6485]

same

[@xiexiatong8665]

Same home boy-

[@iiprandz-officialyoutubech5784]

Same

[@creeperparty7831]

same bro

[@t-train2148]

Same

[@CanoeToNewOrleans]

I showed this video to my Grade 4 social studies class today. (We're learning about the fur trade.) They enjoyed the songs and they liked the part where the voyageurs go through the rapids. Great video.

[@carolhutchinson566]

I always show this to my Canadian history class. I wish there were subtitles, though.

[@iamconfused7028]

I remember seeing this in fifth grade around 2 years ago. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it weren't for the panful hours of work I had to do, this was online school so I did the work with my mother and she made me squeeze every bit of information out of the video. but I am grateful that she did cuz I got a MIGHTY fine grade on the assignment.

[@mudfishnick9768]

It's been almost 8 years since I first saw this documentary, and the song at the beginning is still deeply ingrained in my memory

[@courtneydyck2616]

[@pink_dolphinplays8677]

@@courtneydyck2616 how do u get those emojis!!???!?

[@ryangrimm9305]

Learned to sing that and others in our Canoe Brigade, back in the late 70's. It actually has a funny ending....

[@danmac314]

​@ryangrimm9305 what is the song?

[@ryangrimm9305]

"Riding one day, the road to Rochelle City..." is all I remember, it HAS been nearly 40 years..... It's about a man riding his horse to Rochelle City, and along the way he picks up a pretty young hitchhiker, and when he gets to her house.... THe rest I leave to the mists f time, it's too damned long to type out the whole thing. @@danmac314

[@laurachisick5139]

This is so amazing how you recreated the voyageurs in history to the present!

[@StormLaker]

I chuckle every time I watch this when the one dude hops out and has a pair of Chuck Taylor's on, haha.

[@jamesn5595]

also the gold watch, lol

[@paxtonk2]

How about the tent with mosquito netting?

[@16mmMaestro]

Awesome observation, I think you might have spotted a time traveller right there ;)!!!

[@samhurst4084]

Or the second specs

[@frediheld5649]

In 1967 i saw the re enactment of their Journey across eastern Canada...to the Prairies......a lot of paddling !

[@geoffwilson2197]

I used to watch this from time to time. Now I just listen to it every week. This should have 100 million views not 100 thousand. I wish I was a voyageur!

[@16mmMaestro]

It sure is a gem!

[@ostrowulf]

Video is good... being a voyageur sounds brutal.

[@jordyndavis7651]

I'm sad to say that this beautiful film, these amazing men, you can't find many now days. cahoots to u guys who still go and play and travel like these

[@16mmMaestro]

Amen!

[@boopdoggy]

ya

[@jcrass2361]

Yeah I never see ripped guys with beards anymore lol

[@poche660]

Amazing. Saw them in Little Current. Had arms like tree trunks.

[@TheSpaceMost]

One of my favorites from the NFB.

[@SydneySorbet12]

My school made me watch this,we’re not even Canadian…we’re American.

[@arumrunner]

Well, find a canoe now and get on the water!

[@hohetannen4703]

It’s a big part of Minnesota’s history, the froggies were the first white people to come this way. Unless you believe the ancient Viking runestones to be real… it’s funny, my Ojibwe friend thinks they are but me, a German American, I am doubtful.

[@stacker1134]

I watched this 2 years ago at my school but it’s so good

[@pl5675]

Brings to life a song we New York schoolchildren sang about 75 years ago: From the wilds of the North / Comes the young voyageur, With his buoyant canoe/ Well laden with fur. Gladsome and free, / Little cares he, For there’s joy in the heart /Of the young voyageur.

[@fuzzyboi1721]

Please don’t delete these videos. I need the nostalgia.

[@Luhvrinn.]

super true :)

[@AgentAreYouthere]

True

[@jimf1964]

They hardly even touched on the hardships these guys lived through. Tough guys to be sure. I love these old NFB videos. We used to get the old super 8 projector out and watch them in school.

[@bleusammy]

two of my great great grandfathers were first cousins best friends and were voyageurs and their adventures were handed down.

[@colemancalgary5260]

bleusammy sure they were

[@doughroasterbushcraftandsu3947]

So you’re an inbred

[@colemancalgary5260]

How old are you! 150? I don’t think you took your medication today

[@rylandwarren5935]

I think he was off on the great great. I also have ancestors that were voyageurs for the Hudson bay company

[@boopdoggy]

cooooooooooool

[@hockeydude810]

The voyageurs are the heroes of Canadian history-what they went through is unbelievable. Men of steel and great skill. There wasn't a river they didn't conquer upstream and downstream and their paddles opened up the west.

[@aperson8792]

No there not

[@chrissmith2921]

@@aperson8792 yes they are

[@boopdoggy]

some times there not and some times they are!

[@courtneydyck2616]

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

[@bensyroishka6335]

@@aperson8792 how???

[@tomvee7892]

thanks for the great memory of when i first saw this. i remember it each time i fish at french river!

[@Not.Me7363]

My Family has documentation that our first ancestors to New France Jeanne Daigle was a Voyager. We also have documentation that he made at least on voyage with Raddison of Hudson Bay Co fame.

[@lucpednot646]

I thoroughly enjoyed that film. Makes me want to go on a canoe for the day.

[@boopdoggy]

I do too!;) I love to go on a canoe

[@coywolfoutdoor540]

I remember watching this in grade 5. Man, I hated the teacher who showed the class this I am glad she showed it to us. Made a hell on an impression on me

[@markdemell3717]

History,good and bad.

[@cameronball6781]

Same bro

[@shoknifeman2mikado135]

I remember seeing this as a kid

[@MWEric]

OJ Sixx Remember watching this in during the 70s s

[@adenmcisaac4920]

this is my favourite video on youtube

[@josephbaker9932]

I watched this in school in Grade 5

[@tommylyons3765]

Watching in the dead of winter in eager anticipation of upcoming summer adventures in the bwca of northern minnesota and quetico in southern Ontario!

[@petertuckergoettler5720]

"Good Stuff," merci.

[@courtneydyck2616]

so helpful thankyou so much

[@MrPaul1872]

such pride I have for the like as these.

[@michealnagy5763]

These were tough men!

[@8BitAtari]

These NFB films should be mandatory Canadain Content on TV even today.

[@HerAeolianHarp]

Read “Astoria” for a great description of these sturdy and impressive men.

[@jessecerasus9621]

This book is hard to find!

[@Weaponofmassins]

Yay! Many thanks to the Squints in the NFB Tech Department for re-uploading this film. To all you folks who complained for years about the previous upload of this file being corrupted, maybe next time you may wish to send a note to the NFB, because I'm fairly certain they don't read KZbin Comments on their uploads. It only took a couple days for them to re-upload the file here after I sent them a note about it not working. - Just sayin'

[@amynikkel495]

🚿🏫🗿🏬🏤🏥🏦🔩🚿

[@TheFreemanZygote]

For those of us who trace our ancestry to Quebec from the 1600's forward....

[@markdemell3717]

my 8 times great grand father Jacques Amable Lemeilleur is from Rouen france and my great great grandfather was a Hessian soldier who settled in Quebec,Quebec. Adam Rohmann.

[@THX-vn2ke]

Remembered watching this in school on film not video tape I watched intently I did.

[@sarahjean629]

oh yeah! back then they totally had high-end glasses like that nice job kid

[@SwampDonkey530]

Because I like this video I'm compelled to say, the FilmBoard Rulz..or used to.

[@augustinep6193]

Good video. Thanks.

[@petergoettler8680]

Oui, merci.

[@shoknifeman2mikado135]

These men were about 5 feet tall and carried loads that would cause any of us to rupture

[@tesssst4874]

Loving it. Great country! From Russia with love

[@louisepotier2784]

Beautiful!

[@hiddenwoodsben]

ah, timeless. collapsing someones tent or, if it is a really light person, grabbing a foot and yanking them out into the morning sun. such wonderful fun.

[@Thebonesoftrees]

those dudes would in good shape after a summer doing this madness.

[@StormLaker]

Work on a forest service crew in the Boundary Waters Canoe area...same result, haha.

[@summer20105707]

Madness?? My god it made them strong and healthy.

[@zachhoy]

or strained

[@zeddez1005]

"How the men who are employed in this difficult navigation exist, without ruining their constitutions, is a mystery which I am utterly unable to explain. They are compelled, almost every hour, when actually melting with heat and fainting through fatigue, to jump into the water, frequently up to their arm-pits, and to remain in it towing the boast, until they are completely chilled. They then have recourse to the aid of ardent spirits, of which on all occasions they freely partake, and, in a few minutes, are once more bathed in perspiration" (Edward A. Talbot 1824). The voyageurs were the backbone of the NWC, moving furs and trade goods over a route that spanned 5000 km. Once the canoes were prepared and the goods packaged, the men set off from Lachine in May. They proceeded to St-Anne-de-Bellevue, where they attended religious services. It is from here that the men considered the start of their trip, as it was the last church to be seen on the island of Montreal. Today, the church of the town is still dedicated to the tutelary saint of many French settlers in Canada, the cult of which can be traced to the Normandy and Brittany of the Middle Ages. It was expected that each voyageur work at least 14 hours a day, paddle 50 strokes a minute and be able to carry two "pièces" of 90 pounds across each portage. Voyageurs suffered from drowning, hernias and broken limbs, twisted spines, rheumatism as well as clouds of black flies and mosquitoes against which the best repellent was a mix of bear grease and skunk urine. The voyageur's daily routine was a back-breaking one: for the 6 to 8 weeks he was on the road, he was roused as early as 3 am, and set off without eating breakfast. Before 8 o'clock, a breakfast stop was made on a beach. At around 2 in the afternoon, a midday lunch was served on the boat, though often lunch was only an opportunity to chew a piece of pemmican or "biscuit" while rowing. A stop was made for a few minutes each hour to allow the men to have a pipe. This event was so important that distances came to be measured in pipes: 3 pipes might equal 15 to 20 miles of travel. A 32 km lake would be measured as 4 pipes or 4 hours of travel, depending on wind and waves. At nightfall, the canoes were unloaded and turned over to serve as shelters. Supper, which was pre-cooked the night before, was warmed and served. The men dropped down on turf, moss or beach with their heads under the overturned canoes. A tarp provided protection from wind and rain. During the night, a kettle filled with 9 quarts of peas and water was hung over the fire, added to it were strips of pork. This simmered until daylight, when the cook added four "biscuits" and continued to let it simmer. At dawn, the call "lève lève nos gens", resounded through the camp. Canoes were loaded and launched. The swelling of the peas and biscuit had now filled the kettle to the brim, so thick that a stick would stand upright in it. Three pipes, or about 12 miles of paddling were done before breakfast. digital.library.mcgill.ca/nwc/history/08.htm

[@thelandofart5032]

WTF

[@juwright1949]

EXCELLENT!

[@courtneydyck2616]

thank you

[@courtneydyck2616]

hi

[@williamb4920]

loved it

[@user-ht4gb2fw4e]

18:30....The amount canoes wrecked and goods lost is astounding! it happened alot.

[@sarahjean629]

a lot**

[@petergoettler1798]

Français Du Sang. Thxs.

[@kingtut8381]

EXCELLENT

[@Jim63071]

The version of "Ma jolie rochelle" at the beginning is truly beautiful. Does anybody know where (if anywhere) I can find it on it separately?

[@Pressureproductions]

Been looking for a wee while now. Close i've got is kzbin.info/www/bejne/p33LZWh3ZrmhpqM&ab_channel=AlanMills-Topic. I think the song is actually called "C'est l'Aviron". The link is sent is a pretty good version.

[@Pressureproductions]

Just checked the ending credits, this is indeed the singer, but i figure the NFB brought in a few extras to get the round going. You'll hear in the link his voice is essentially the same. Amazing tune!

[@Jim63071]

@@Pressureproductions Thanks!

[@jessecerasus9621]

In Quebec it is called ''C'est l'aviron''

[@ForestRiver-pw7qy]

Did he just say bear grease and skunk oil?!?! Good God man! I believe it 😂

[@petertuckergoettler5720]

Merci.

[@lolhyena1714]

That intro song reminds me of a Clockwork Orange

[@annagilbert6960]

the music tho LOL

[@laydenraak1087]

I had to watch it at my school learn about the French wizard

[@Pierre50mm]

The very first North-American heroes are those French fur traders and explorers who went down to the Mississipi and as far as the Rockies. They knew how to deal with the natives. Daniel Boon and Davie Crocket are just kids compared to them.

[@e.grieves2905]

Mmmm....Boone not so much

[@cronk58]

The bow paddler is Irwin 'Buzz' Peterson.

[@timgarec6240]

I think Bill Mason is also one of the paddlers

[@eumerzagada8156]

that paddled all across Canada

[@silversliver1592]

Didn't realize at the time when i was doing the french River part 1981 including 450 lb canoes with 70lb packs when we portaged that i would look back and think just how lucky i was to do exactly described in this video

[@hefalu]

Entrañable video. Saludos desde Spain river Ebro

[@johnrococo982]

Love to know the song in the beginning

[@McShag420]

This is why modern society seems to suck so much; we don't all get a mid-morning spirit break.

[@guadalahonky4002]

I am gobsmacked that they can do 70 miles in a day, minus portages.

[@basmajerbi9980]

My school made me watch this as well

[@J8R8N]

anyone else watching this for a school assignment? lol

[@allstar1470]

Ydd

[@user-ht4gb2fw4e]

The heat in summer in the bush is unbearable! And to carry heavy endless loads of goods over rocky, tangled ground at a portage is unthinkable for the modern man! He'd crack in less than an hour!

[@HiVizCamo]

I think that's Lord Stanley's Keg being passed around at about 14:30.

[@Zhyper400]

Artist: ayo new song just dropped The song: 0:24

[@Elen1628]

We watch this on my school in social studies

[@urmomhahaha3189]

im watching this for school please help

[@throwaway_6485]

it is annoying

[@roseporter6824]

9:51 like they be carrying a lot of bags 😯

[@geoffwilson2197]

" Such is their misery that they literally run with their loads" if you can't relate to that go to BWCA or Quetico or anywhere in northern Wisconsin with a long portage and you'll know why!

[@matak99]

Killarney. The Pig.

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

THat's BIll Mason swimming while holding the camera over his head after they dump!

[@josiedinsmore]

Is it really?! I had no idea. They used to show this film at the Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park museum all the time years ago, as parts of the film were filmed within the park and nearby area. I remember watching it every summer at the park's museum when I was a little kid!

[@boopdoggy]

???

[@josiedinsmore]

@@boopdoggy ?

[@timgarec6240]

I noticed this as well. I kept thinking to myself, that's gotta be Bill Mason paddling and waking up inside the tent when they make it fall over in the morning.

[@josiedinsmore]

@@timgarec6240 I never noticed that before, but yes that looks like him. Looks like the tent he used in his other films too. Actually now that I get looking at that scene, I don't think voyageurs had tents with netting and a zipper years ago lol!

[@peterlambert1051]

What is the name of the fiddle/accordion tune that starts around 14:00 and goes for about a minute?

[@THX-vn2ke]

I believe I may of seen this in school at some point,it look's familiar.

[@ThomasHall-fc2zy]

Does anyone have any information on the music and songs used in this documentary? Thank you

[@dominicplayz4982]

Cool

[@jamesn5595]

notice one voyageurs gold watch. lol.

[@AceEnjoysGamesOfficial]

Gigachads of the fur trade.

[@user-il2ou2qq8b]

My teacher made us watch this😂😂

[@m0cean]

hey class

[@HendoBrawl]

Same

[@jokeobden]

I beg you. Who is the group singing "c'est l'aviron"? No info anywhere. Les Quators Alouettes?

[@berkeleyfleming8516]

It is then well-known and beloved traditional folksinger Alan Mills and a male chorus. The chours was perhaps the Art Morrow Singers. My father was responsible for the music for the film, some of which was original. That would include arrangements of traditional tunes.

[@jokeobden]

I have been waiting nine years for this. Well worth the wait! Thank you so much!

[@gregsurrell598]

They some modern looking glasses back then. :)

[@roseporter6824]

Greg Surrell LoL

[@boopdoggy]

It is fake!Ok

[@gregsurrell598]

Chris Doll it’s a bad recreation.

[@puppypals2817]

what are they drinking on the night before the end?

[@harryputh5900]

It’s march 20 2023, and we are watching this for our history class. Man this is horing

[@johnconnor9418]

Wow

[@seekingbeta]

Me too

[@markdemell3717]

We are all here because we are not all there.

[@randolphsonone]

I have earned the Title of Northman, and anyone who has done so, knows the terrors of northern rivers and wild lands. paddled.

[@randolphsonone]

They French engages came past my home Canadian River... in todays Oklahoma