What sets a canoeing expedition apart is that it purifies you more rapidly and inescapably than any other. Travel a thousand miles by train and you are a brute; pedal five hundred on a bicycle and you remain basically bourgeois; paddle a hundred in a canoe and you already a child of nature.– Pierre Elliott Trudeau
At this time of year many folks have packed up their canoes and paddling gear. Some are even preparing for next year’s trips….pouring over maps and route guide….getting ready to set off on a canoe trip. Such trips last from a few days to a couple of weeks. But there have been many long canoe trips over the history of paddling….so I thought I would highlight a few such trips.
Obviously the fur trade resulted in many long canoe journeys….these routes began with the French and then grew with the Hudson’s Bay Company and its Montreal based rival, North West Company….the Canadian Encyclopedia: Fur Trade Routes states:
Throughout the period of the historical fur trade, water routes were the natural “highways,” and canoes (later boats – principally York boats) the vehicles. The placement of trading posts depended on the presence of numbers of Indians willing and able to trade, and on the ease of transportation to and from them. In the Atlantic region, the absence of a dominant river system resulted in only a localized traffic in furs, but the French tapped a vastly greater potential via the St Lawrence River and its tributaries.
At posts at Tadoussac, Québec and Montréal, they received furs from the Montagnais, Algonquin, Huron and Ottawa who travelled various rivers from the King’s Domain, or came down the Ottawa River from Lake Timiskaming and beyond. But most important to the later trade was the route the French themselves developed to the west via the St Lawrence, Ottawa and French rivers; by the 1740s they had extended it to the head of Lake Superior and thence to the prairies. After the conquest of 1759-60 this route was adopted by anglophone independent traders and then by the North West Company. From Kaministiquia (later Fort William) the route inland began at Grand Portage and twisted north and west through a series of rivers and lakes marked by over 50 tortuous portages. From Lake Winnipeg the traders headed west via the 2 branches of the Saskatchewan River; many went northwest via Methye Portage [Portage La Loche] to Lake Athabasca.
The other major route was that of the London-based Hudson’s Bay Company through Hudson Bay. When that company began to move inland in 1774 with the construction of Cumberland House on the Saskatchewan, most of its traffic inland was by the Hayes River from York Factory. In the direct competition that ensued between the HBC and other traders, the rivals paced one another westward across the prairies. Eventually the routes proceeded via the Howse, Athabasca and Yellowhead passes through the Rocky Mountains and down the Columbia River to the Pacific region.
After 1814 HBC ships rounded Cape Horn to service Pacific posts by sea. As the more southerly trade declined, traders moved down the Mackenzie River into the western Arctic and from the East Main (east coast ofHudson Bay) inland. Access to Fort Chimo and Labrador was generally by sea. After the merger of the NWC and HBC in 1821, shipments through Montréal ceased.
This period of Canada’s history included many great explorers….many looking for new fur trade opportunities….Champlain La Salle, Radisson, Hearne, Pond, Mackenzie and Thompson are some of the notable names involved….from Canadian Encyclopedia: Alexander Mackenzie is this map:
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Exploration, Western Interior
From Canadian Encyclopedia: Fur Trade Routes
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Fur Trade Posts
As is summed up in It Takes 30: Guns, Germs And Fur Trade:
It was the fur trade that created the impetus for developing a vast network of transportation routes, largely based on canoes, that connected the interior with the growing settlements at the edges. The trade also offered career options for fur company employees: guides, translators, navigators and negotiators, and especially the voyageurs who traveled deep into the mysterious interior of Canada to bring back the furs. [The lives they lived look pretty miserable to us now: 14-16 hour days of constant paddling, occasionally interrupted by a portage, in which they would carry at least 180 pounds of furs — repeatedly — across rugged terrain. They often suffered hernias, and they ate mostly pemmican (dried bison meat), but they sang a lot, and so are now considered deeply romantic figures.]
A normal voyageur contract for a so-called “homme du nord” was 2 years long, because it was impossible to get all the way up to the north and back before winter hit. Many stayed much longer; one analysis of trader residence patterns estimated that the average trader spent 16 years in the interior. Many traders married, or “married”, native women, and had children who were dubbed the Metis, now a significant ethnic group in Canada. Though the fur trade was important, the number of voyageurs was not enormous: in the first half of the 18th century, there were only between 50 and 150 employees of the fur trade companies in the interior, and even at the beginning of the 19th century this number was only ~1600. Around 1870, the traditional fur trade ended, and so did the migration….
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Some major fur trade routes, travelled by canoe and portage, from It Takes 30: Guns, Germs And Fur Trade.
From the HBC Heritage: Fur Trade is this description:
Almost from the beginning Rupert’s Land had been penetrated by independent fur traders. In fact, Radisson and des Groseilliers were merely the first in a very long line of such men. For the independents the existence of the Hudson’s Bay Company Charter was a minor annoyance rather than a real impediment to business. Realizing that no monopoly could be enforced where the Company had no presence, they staked their claims in the interior. Meanwhile Hbc established a small chain of forts along Hudson Bay, and waited patiently for the natives to arrive each spring with another season’s worth of furs.
Notwithstanding the travels of Henry Kelsey, Anthony Henday, Joseph Colen and others, who reported the presence of French traders inland, it wasn’t until1774 that the Company realized it had to protect its interests. When Samuel Hearne was sent inland that year to establish Cumberland House, Hbc’s first interior post, he situated it not far from Fort Pasquia (Opasquia; Paskoyac; modern day The Pas), a post founded by the sons of Sieur de la Verendrye in 1741. Hbc had begun to recognize that the amount of fur arriving at the Bay was being negatively impacted by the “pedlars” (as it called the French) who were choking off the supply at its source.
For the first few years the company existed as a series of short-term partnerships which lasted for one trading cycle each. But by 1783 the NWC was a permanent entity. Led by shrewd, courageous and enterprising Scottish-Canadian traders from Montreal, the NWC quickly built a commercial structure which spanned the continent, the first North American company to operate on such a scale. In doing so, it openly defied the Royal Charter.By 1784, another fur trading company had begun to have a serious impact on Hbc’s profits. The North West Company (NWC) was a partnership of nine different fur trading groups and soon became Hbc’s most powerful rival. It had been founded in 1779 when his support of a British embargo of the Great Lakes – intended to deny guns, ammunition and goods to the rebel Americans – led the governor of Quebec to refuse to issue trading licenses to the Montreal traders. Although persuaded to change his mind, the damage was done. It was too late in the year for goods to reach the farthest regions and many merchants suffered serious losses. It occurred to one of them, Simon McTavish, that the traders’ influence would be greater if they worked together. Not only would they have more clout, but they could pool resources, minimize risks and share the profits. The North West Company was born.
Unlike the sedentary Baymen, the men of the North West Company were constantly on the move. The Nor’Westers, as they were known, lived, wintered and worked mostly to the west of Hudson Bay. Vigorous competition for the fur trade took them over the Rocky Mountains and even to the Arctic Ocean. Most of the key explorers of these regions – Alexander Mackenzie, Simon Fraser, David Thompson and Peter Pond – were Nor’Westers. They showed their disdain for Hbc’s Charter rights by building their forts right beside those of Hbc at strategic trading points. One such location was Edmonton, where Hbc’s fort and the NWC’s Fort Augustus were neighbours.
The NWC was different from Hbc in significant ways. Based inNorth America it was owned and operated by men who were themselves active in the business. Many of the partners had themselves travelled into the interior and traded there. These hivernants – or “wintering partners” – well knew the business they directed and had a personal stake in the company’s success. They were, for the most part, Scots, and were bound by ties of nationality as well as close kinship through the clan structure. In contrast, Hbc’s directors and investors were primarily English noblemen and financiers, who governed the Company from afar. Their interest in the business was overwhelmingly financial and their actual knowledge of the trade was second-hand at best.
The NWC’s cycle was much longer and more expensive. Its voyageurs had to cover four times the distance overland as did Hbc simply to reach Lake Winnipeg. Canoe brigades leaving Montreal in late spring took 8 weeks to reach Fort William, the NWC’s great inland depot (modern Thunder Bay). There the previous year’s furs were loaded for the return trip to Montreal where they arrived in September. They would not be sent on to London for auction until April of the following year – almost a full year later.But the key difference between the two companies – and the one which would ultimately prove insurmountable to the NWC – was economic. The sea route to Hudson Bay, notwithstanding its attendant hardships, was a huge advantage. It enabled Hbc to benefit from a short business cycle. Ships could leave England, travel to Hudson Bay, offload goods, pick up furs and return to England in the space of about 5 months. A complete business cycle – from shipment of goods to return of furs in payment for those goods – normally took 14 months.
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Detail showing trade routes for Hudson’s Bay Company and the North West Company, map by Jack McMaster, 2004, from HBC Heritage: Fur Trade.
Meanwhile the goods offloaded at Fort William were shipped further west and north, arriving at their final destinations before freeze up. Traders could not ship the season’s furs out until the following summer, after the thaw, for the return journey to Fort William and onward toMontreal. The complete business cycle was almost 2 years, closer to three if one accounts for the procurement of trade goods and eventual sale of the resulting furs inLondon. The further the distances travelled, the greater the costs incurred – and the lower the profit. As the NWC expanded to the Pacific Northwest and the Athabaska regions – both areas rich in prime furs – profit margins decreased.
I do recommend reading about the likes of Samuel Hearne, Alexander Mackenzie and David Thompson….and check out some of the BBC TV programs by Ray Mears, especially his Northern Wilderness series (which were reproduced on YouTube and are listed under the links to the left of this blog….incredible series….but I do wonder why a Brit can tell our history so well….so why not a Canadian????).
Towards the end of the fur trade era, George Simpson became the key player for the HBC….as the Canadian.ca: George Simpson describes:
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Sir George Simpson, Governor of Rupert’s Land, Stephen Pearce, HBCA, PAM 1987/363-S-25/T78 (N13855), Painted 1857, Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, Provincial Archives of Manitoba, from Canadiana.ca: Pop-Up: Sir George Simpson.
George Simpson was born in Scotland. The unemployment rate was very high there so, at the age of 14, he went to England in search of work. When he was 30, his relatives found him a job with HBC offices in London. In 1820 he became the chief officer of a trading post. In 1820 he was sent to North Americato take charge should the company’s governor be arrested by the North West Company.
Simpson was made governor of the northern department in 1821 after the merger with the North West Company. He was described as cold hearted, but fair. He was good at making peace between the fur traders who had once been enemies. He was a strict businessman who did not want any waste.
He wanted the business to be run differently after the wild, disorganized days of the fur trade wars. As a result, he made surprise visits to trading posts to check on the employees. He got rid of unnecessary trading posts and fired extra fur traders.
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Governor of Rupert’s Land on a tour of inspection (Governor George Simpson), L.L. Fitzgerald, (from a photo of a painting by Cyrus C. Cuneo), from Canadian.ca: Pop-Up: George Simpson In A Canoe. (NOTE: Simpson was a very formal person. When visiting fur posts, he wore a long black coat and a top hat. When he entered the post, he had a bagpiper playing music! See the bagpiper in the canoe.)
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HBC York Boats at Norway House, Walter J. Phillips, from the HBC Corporate Collection, from Canadian.ca: Pop-Up: HBC York Boats.
(NOTE: York boats had flat bottoms and a pointed bow, and were based on a very old design – Viking longships. They could carry three times as many furs as the largest canoe, but had one big disadvantage: they were heavy and could not be carried the same way canoes could. For portaging, a road had to be cut through the trees and logs used as rollers for the boat to go over.)
Simpson realized the importance of finding new fur supplies. He also understood the value of conservation. When the fur supply was getting low in an area, he advised the traders to stop trapping the animals until the population increased again.
Efficiency was important to running a profitable business. Simpson decided to change the method of travel used by the traders from canoe toYork boats. This was because theYork boats could carry more supplies.
The fur trading area was divided into districts. Each district had its own supervisor. Simpson was put in charge of all the supervisors and became the governor in chief in 1826. He died in 1860.
Simpson’s canoe journeys are described in Dictionary Of Canadian Biography Online: George Simpson
….Accompanied by James McMillan, Simpson left York Factory (Man.) on15 Aug. 1824in a north (or light) canoe manned by eight men and an Indian guide. This was the first, and in many respects the most remarkable, of his transcontinental journeys. The journal which he kept reflects the characteristics Simpson manifested throughout his life – exceptional observational powers, a compulsion to demonstrate courage and physical endurance in the face of adversity, and a passion for record-breaking speed. Six weeks after he left York Factory, Simpson overtook Chief Factor John McLoughlin’s party which had set out 20 days before him. McLoughlin, a veteran fur trader and former Nor’Wester, was on his way to the Columbia to take charge of the district. Simpson arrived at Fort George (Astoria, Oreg.) on 8 November, ending a journey of 84 days, 20 fewer than the previous record from Hudson Bayto the Pacific. During the next four months he and McLoughlin developed the plans that enabled the company to take the offensive against both the Russians, who were trading up the coast to the north, and the Americans, and eventually to dominate the fur trade from theColumbiatoAlaska. As part of this strategy Peter Skene Ogden was to conduct trading into the Snake River country to the south and McMillan was sent north in 1827 to establish Fort Langley (B.C.).
Simpson left Fort Vancouver (Vancouver, Wash.) for the return trip in March 1825 and, once again travelling at record-breaking speed, reached the Red River colony two and a half months later. He then made his way to York Factory….
Later in the same article:
….Though his headquarters were at Montreal, Simpson’s passion for arduous journeys continued unabated. He still drove himself at a frenetic pace. In 1826 he travelled to York Factory to meet with the Council of the Northern Department, and after spending the winter months in Montreal he set off in the spring of 1827 on a trip that took him to Michipicoten (Michipicoten River, Ont.), where he convened the Council of the Southern Department, and then again to York Factory. Heading back towards Montreal, he made a tour of the territory covered by the Southern Department, going up the English River (Ont.), through the rivers and lakes of the Lake Nipigon district to the Albany River, down to James Bay, on to Moose Factory, the departmental headquarters, and finally up the Abitibi and down the Ottawa rivers to the St Lawrence….
Still later:
….Almost to the end of his life he continued his canoe voyages to various company posts. During his 40 years of service with the company, in fact, he made at least one major journey every year, with the exception of three years when he was in London. He explained this exhausting activity by the need to keep himself informed, but there was undoubtedly an element in his nature which required these repeated tests of his constitution. The travels also had a remarkable effect on him. He periodically suffered from eye trouble, but his vision seemed to improve when he stepped into a canoe. The depression which seized him several times during his life lifted when he went on his grand tours and he once noted, “It is strange that all my ailments vanish as soon as I seat myself in a canoe.” In 1850, however, he wrote that “the journeys to the interior & the duties I have there discharged for upwards of thirty years are becoming increasingly irksome, & unless circumstances may arise which appear to render my presence desirable I shall not in all probability recross the height of land.” ….
One of his amazing canoe journeys was written up as Peace River: A Canoe Voyage From Hudson’s Bay To Pacific By The Late Sir George Simpson, Governor Hudson’s Bay Company, in 1828, by Archibald McDonald (a former HBC Chief Factor) in 1872. (NOTE: This is an interesting read.) More on Sir George Simpson can be found in The Emperor Of The North: Sir George Simpson and the Remarkable Story of the Hudson‘s Bay Company by James Raffan.
In 1967, as part of Canada’s Centennial celebrations, a re-enactment of the the fur trade routes in Canada was put on, known as the Centennial Voyageur Canoe Pageant. In All Business.com: The Centennial Voyageur Canoe Pageant as Historical Re-enactment, Dr. Misao Anne Dean describes this event as:
In 1967, the Canadian Centennial Commission sponsored a canoe race across Canada as part of the national Centennial celebrations. The race, from Rocky Mountain House (near Edmonton) to the site of Expo ’67 in Montreal, followed a route that had been used by the North West Company in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to transport trade goods and furs between Montreal and the isolated commercial outposts on the Saskatchewan and Winnipeg rivers, and in the North. Canoes representing eight provinces1 and the two northern territories, paddled by all-male teams of six (along with spare paddlers and a support crew), left Rocky Mountain House on 24 May and arrived at Expo on 4 September, to be welcomed by the Centennial Commission Chair John Fisher, and Secretary of State Judy Lamarsh in a live, nationally televised ceremony. The Voyageur Canoe Pageant was one of the most successful national Centennial events, with extensive radio and television coverage, and 67 front-page stories, 76 editorials and columns, and 4 complete colour supplements in local regional and national newspapers (Centennial Commission 1967). The arrival of the voyageurs in small communities was also a successful catalyst for local celebrations; sporting headbands and bright red Centennial sashes, team members participated in countless official welcomes, historical re-enactments, bison barbeques, sprint races, beauty pageants, parades, and other Centennial events organized specifically to mark their passage.
The CBC Archives: The Canadian Voyageur Canoe Pageant contains a radio broadcast of the opening of the event, described as:
Ten canoes plus 100 men racing over 3,300 miles in 104 days equals one big Centennial project. It’s Canada’s 100th birthday this year, and the Centennial Voyageur Canoe Pageant is just one way people are celebrating the country’s past and looking to its future. The CBC’s Bill Guest hosts the network’s live radio coverage of the pageant’s launch on the North Saskatchewan River at Rocky Mountain House, Alta.
The competitors, representing eight provinces and two territories, are tracing a route through rushing rivers, along windswept lakes and across gruelling portages. It’s a way of paying homage to the fur-trading voyageurs and explorers who opened up the country, and spectators in the hundreds have turned out to watch the official start on a rainy day. CBC reporter Doug McIlraith talks to two team captains from Manitoba and New Brunswick about the journey ahead.
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Photo from the CBC Archives: The Canadian Voyageur Canoe Pageant.
Years later a participant for Manitoba’s Centennial Voyageur Canoe Pageant entry, Don Starkell completed what is likely the longest canoe trip ever….while at least this how the CBC Archives: The Longest Canoe Trip Ever describes it:
The longest canoe trip ever
Broadcast Date: Oct. 13, 1987
Medium: Television
Program: The Fifth Estate
Broadcast Date: Oct. 13, 1987
Guest(s): Don Starkell, Dana Starkell, Jeff Starkell
Host: Hana Gartner
Duration: 14:20
There may never be another canoe trip like it. On June 1, 1980, Don Starkell of Winnipeg and his two sons, Dana and Jeff, set out from the shores of the Red River on a mammoth voyage. Their quest: to paddle all the way to coastal Brazil via the Mississippi River, the Gulf of Mexico and the Amazon and Orinoco rivers in South America. Jeff left in despair in Mexico, leaving Don and Dana to attempt the most arduous part of the journey. As illustrated in this 1987 report from CBC-TV’s the fifth estate they were shot at, robbed and jailed, and endured persistent physical agony. But incredibly and against all the odds, they made it.
The longest canoe trip ever (some additional facts)
• Don Starkell was born December 7, 1932 in Winnipeg. His childhood involved stays in an orphanage and in a foster home. He took up canoeing in his teens and at age 17 was named most outstanding novice at the city’s Kildonan Canoe Club.• As shown in this clip, Don was a member of the winning team in the 1967 Centennial Voyageur Canoe Pageant. The 104-day race began at Rocky Mountain House, Alberta and ended in Montreal, the site of Expo 67.
• In 1973, Dana and Jeff were just 12 and 11 years old when the three climbed Banff’s Mount Rundle, a 9,000-foot summit.
• The Winnipeg to Belem voyage involved two lengthy recuperation periods, from November 1980 to February 1981 in Veracruz, Mexico (where Jeff departed) and from October 14, 1981 to January 1, 1982 in Trinidad. The trip ended at Belem, Brazil on May 2, 1982.
• In 1986, Guinness World Records recognized Don and Dana Starkell for having completed the longest canoe journey ever, a distance of 19,603 kilometres (12,181 miles).
• In 1990, Don Starkell set out to trace the Northwest Passage by kayak. The 4,830 kilometre trip took him three years and had to be terminated less than 60 kilometres from its end point at Tuktoyaktuk, NWT, due to frostbite and encroaching winter temperatures. Starkell lost the tops of his fingers and some of his toes.
• Victoria Jason was Starkell’s partner on some of that Arctic trip. She is the first woman to paddle solo through the Northwest Passage and wrote a book on the adventure, Kabloona in the Yellow Kayak. In it, Jason is very critical of Starkell and his canoeing style. Starkell responded to the criticism in an interview with the canoeing website Che-Mun. He said that he trained Jason personally and made compromises so that she could accompany him on the trip.
• Starkell is the author of two books. Paddle to the Amazon details the two-year journey from Winnipeg to Brazil. Paddle to the Arctic recounts the Northwest Passage expedition.
• Starkell was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 2006.
Voyage of the Paper Canoe; a geographical journey of 2500 miles, fromQuebec to the Gulf of Mexico, during the years 1874-5
In the summer of 1874 Nathaniel Holmes Bishop and an assistant set out on a 2,500 mile paddle from Quebec to Florida’s Cedar Keys on the Gulf of Mexico. Some 400 miles into the trip, he swapped his 18-foot wooden canoe for an innovative and much lighter weight paper canoe, designed and constructed by Elisha Waters & Sons of Troy, New York.
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The 37-year old outdoorsman, who had already authored a previous trekking tale entitled One Thousand Miles Walk Across South America, dismissed his helper and resumed a solo canoe journey, dedicating his narrative of the trip to the employees of the U.S. Coast Survey Bureau.
The final chapter of the Voyage of the Paper Canoe begins at Lower Mineral Springs on the Suwanee River after a 35-mile portage. Bishop is joined by a party of friends, including Major John Purviance, Commissioner of Suwanee County, who offered to escort the paper canoe down “the river of song.”
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This is an excerpt from N.H. Bishop’s fascinating journal:
It was nearly ten o’clock A. M. on Friday, March 26th, when our merry party left Old Town hammock. This day was to see the end of the voyage of the paper canoe, for my tiny craft was to arrive at the waters of the great southern sea before midnight. The wife and daughters of our host, like true women of the forest, offered no forebodings at the departure of the head of their household, but wished him, with cheerful looks, a pleasant voyage to the Gulf. The gulf port of Cedar Keys is but a few miles from the mouth of the Suwanee River. The railroad which terminates at Cedar Keys would, with its connection with other routes, carry the members of our party to their several homes.
The bright day animated our spirits, as we swept swiftly down the river. The party in the shad-rowed merrily on with song and laughter, while I made an attempt to examine more closely the character of the water-moccasin — the Trigono cephaluspiscivorus of Lacepede, — which I had more cause to fear than the alligators of the river. The water moccasin is about two feet in length, and has a circumference of five or six inches. The tail possesses a horny point about half an inch in length, which is harmless, though the Crackers and Negroes stoutly affirm that when it strikes a tree the tree withers and dies, and when it enters the flesh of a man he is poisoned unto death.
The color of the reptile is a dirty brown. Never found far from water, it is common in the swamps, and is the terror of the rice-field Negroes. The bite of the water moccasin is exceedingly venomous, and is considered more poisonous than that of the rattlesnake, which warns man of his approach by sounding his rattle.
The moccasin does not, like the rattlesnake, wait to be attacked, but assumes the offensive whenever opportunity offers, striking with its fangs at every animated object in its vicinity. All other species of snakes flee from its presence. It is found as far north as the Peedee River of South Carolina, and is abundant in all low districts of the southern states. As the Suwanee had overflowed its banks below Old Town Hammock, the snakes had taken to the low limbs of the trees and to the tops of bushes, where they seemed to be sleeping in the warmth of the bright sunlight; but as I glided along the shore a few feet from their aerial beds, they discovered my presence, and dropped sluggishly into the water. It would not be an exaggeration to say that we passed thousands of these dangerous reptiles while descending the Suwanee. Raftsmen told me that when traversing lagoons in their log canoes, if a moccasin is met some distance from land he will frequently enter the canoe for refuge or for rest, and instances have been known where the occupant has been so alarmed as to jump overboard and swim ashore in order to escape from this malignant reptile.
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Maria Theresa specifications
length: 14 ft
beam: 28 ft 8 in.
amidships depth: 9 in.
bow height: 23 in.
stern height: 21 in.
weight: 58 lbs.
The canoe’s paper skin was about one eighth of an inch thick. The craft was fitted with a pair of removable steel outriggers, two seven foot spruce oars and a double paddle of similar length. The mast and sail—which proved useless and were soon discarded—weighed six pounds.
Bishop provides other details:
“When I took on board at Philadelphia the canvas deck-cover and the rubber strap which secured it in position, and the outfit—the cushion, sponge, provision-basket, and a fifteen-pound case of charts—I found that, with my own weight included (130 lbs.), the boat and her cargo, all told, provisioned for a long cruise, fell considerably short of the weight of three Saratoga trunks containing a very modest wardrobe for a lady’s four weeks’ visit at a fashionable watering-place.”
“She’s the dog-gonedest thing I ever seed, and jist as putty as a new coffin!” – A river raftsman admiring the Maria Teresa’s beautiful finish.
An0ther to travel far by paddle was the amazing American paddler, Verlen Kruger….according to Wikipedia: Verlen Kruger:
Verlen Kruger (June 30, 1922 – August 2, 2004) was a canoe enthusiast who paddled over 100,000 km (62,000 mi) in his lifetime according to the Guiness Book of World Records, all the more remarkable because he did not start until age 41. Of particular note are the 29,341 km (18,232 mi) Two Continent Canoe Expedition and the 45,130 km (28,040 mi) Ultimate Canoe Challenge, the longest canoe journey ever.
Verlen Kruger.com has more information….including a wonderful book All Things are Possible, The Verlen Kruger Story: 100,000 Miles By Paddle by Phil Peterson….as well as maps of Verlen’s incredible journeys:
Cross Continent Canoe Safari (CCCS) 1971
The CCCS was Verlen’s first major paddling trip. Following a route sometimes called the Fur Trade Route, he and CLint Waddell paddled a tandem canoe from Montreal to the Bering Sea. No one had ever managed this 8,000-mile trip in less than a year due to annual freeze-ups along the route, but Verlen and Clint made it in 176 days. Instead of waiting for the ice to break up in Montreal, they portaged their canoe and gear 40 miles miles to reach open water.
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Ultimate Canoe Challenge (UCC) 1980-1983
Verlen and Steve Landick’s UCC was five years in the planning. They began their monumental trip in Red Rock, Montana and ended it 3-1/2 years later in Lansing, Michigan. Over the course of their 28,000-mile-plus trip, they paddled through or along the borders of most of the states. The UCC included two especially impressive stretches: upstream on the entire Mississippi River and upstream on the Colorado River all of the way through the Grand Canyon.
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Two Continent Canoe Expedition (TCCE) 1986-1989
Verlen and his partner, Valerie Fons, began the TCCE in Inuvik, Northwest Territories in Canada and rounded Cape Horn about 2 1/2 years later. This 21,000-mile trip included open-ocean stretches, during which Verlen and Valerie were out of sight of land for a day or more. Verlen and Valerie encountered severe flooding in many parts of South America and frequently slept in their canoes instead of making a camp.
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Mississippi Challenges 1984, 2001, 2003
In addition to the upstream paddle that he and Steve made during the UCC, Verlen also paddled down the Mississippi’s entire length. The first trip was the Eddie Bauer Challenge in 1984 with Valerie Fons, for which they earned a Guinness World Record. Verlen’s next trip downstream was in 2001, when he and Bob Bradford were the paddlers for the Team Kruger in the Great Mississippi River Race for Rett Syndrome. In 2003 Verlen did not paddle, but instead was Race Director and part of Team Hope’s shore crew.
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And the amazing thing is that Verlen Kruger didn’t start until he was 41….so there’s still hope for me LOL LOL.
On Canadian Canoe Routes Forum: Paddle Across Canada, a query was posted about paddling solo across Canada from east of the Rockies to the Atlantic…..one of the replies was this:
It’s a great idea, and it sounds like you’ve already made the biggest decisions: which direction to go, and whether or not to cross the Rockies. West to East is the much quicker direction. It saves you paddling up one of the long, fast rivers that flow down from the Rockies. So now you just have to pick which one of these rivers you want to cruise down. The 3 obvious candidates are (in order of route “easiness”, with the quickest first):
- North Saskatchewan River Start at Rocky Mountain House (or right at the base of the Rockies at Saskatchewan River Crossing in Banff National Park)
- Athabasca River Start at Jasper, paddle to Fort McMurray, turn up the Clearwater, over the Methye Portage, down the Churchill River to the Frog Portage, then down the Sturgeon Weir River to meet the Saskatchewan at Cumberland House. Be warned, though: between Jasper and Fort Mc, the Athabasca River has some large rapids on it.
- Peace River Start at Summit Lake/Giscome Portage, follow Crooked/Pack River down to Williston Lake, then down Peace River to Lake Athabasca, up Athabasca River to Fort McMurray, then as per route 2. You could maybe even start at the logging road bridge over the Parsnip River and paddle the short distance to the watershed between Arctic Lake and Portage Lake before flying down the Peace River.
All 3 rivers have fairly fast currents so paddling downstream will be quick.
In terms of time, and best months…basically this will take all the paddling season available. Start as soon after ice break-up as you can bare. Since you’ll probably be starting on one of the big rivers, break-up will be earlier than if you started on a lake (the rivers open-up quicker than the lakes). Late April might be as ambitious as you could really expect to be. You’re likely to make Montreal or Quebec City sometime between late September and November.
Your proposition is very ambitious, but don’t let other people put you off. You can certainly do it if you have the determination. I’d strongly recommend the North Saskatchewan route to maximise your chances of success. It’s by far the easiest. Both the Athabasca and Peace rivers are in the Arctic watershed, which means extra upstream work and portaging. The entire North Saskatchewan route from RMH (Rocky Mountain House) to Montreal has only one short stretch of real upstream paddling: the Rainy River (only 130km or so). The other sections which on paper look upstream have very little current. The French River, the Winnipeg River (thanks to some dams) and Quetico’s miscellaneous rivers are of the “pool and drop” variety typical of the shield. It just means a few extra portages around rapids you might have run going the other way.
In the same response was added information on other such expeditions:
In 2004, Joe O’Blenis attempted to cross from near Kittimat BC to Nova Scotia. This was essentially the Peace River route with the addition of a monster portage up the mountains in BC plus a run down the Nachako and a trip up a short part of the Fraser. He burned out at La Loche (after the Methye Portage) with a stomach bug. Having a few bits of gear stolen just finished him off (though he did get the stuff back). He ended up skipping the Churchill, Sturgeon Weir, Lake Winnipeg, Winnipeg River, Rainy River, Boundary Waters and restarted on Lake Superior.
Max Finkelstein did the first year of his 3 year trip solo. He paddled from Ottawa to Cumberland House in only 3 months. Under the pressure of a tight schedule, he too almost burned out, skipping Lake Winnipeg. For his next 2 seasons, he chose to maximise his travel with the current, and he travelled with other people as much as he could arrange.
In 2004, Jean-Philippe Bellefeuille took the Athabasca route, starting in Jasper. He was more flexible, philosophical even, in his approach. Beaten by the opposing current, he had no qualms about taking a jet boat up much of the Clearwater River. He skipped Lake Winnipeg and the Rainy River. Some may consider these “cheats”, but remember, it’s your trip: you can do what you like, and you can make the rules. But these compromises meant that he made his trip sustainable and he made it home. He didn’t burn out.
As solo cross-Canada canoe trips go, the greatest achievment I am aware of is that of Chris Taggart. In the same year as Max Finkelstein, he started from Montreal, paddled his Old Town Penobscot (yup, didn’t even have a fancy light-weight boat) all the way across to and up the Churchill, and then (and this is the really admirable bit) made it all the way up the Peace River and over the Rocky Mountains watershed following Alexander Mackenzie’s challenging Parsnip River/James Creek route only to be frozen in the MacGregor River canyon. All in one season! He too burned out. Ric Dreideger of Churchill River Canoe Outfitters tells the story of watching this emaciated stick-man paddling into Missinippi on the Churchill. Chris had been feeding himself on only Kraft Dinners. Nonetheless, after a revitalising feed-up his single-minded obsession to continue drove him onwards. He was a little crazy, but there’s nothing like turning a weakness into a strength!
Ilya Klvana paddled from Prince Rupert to the east coast solo in a year (in a kayak) but other than that, I don’t know much about him. Still, west to east is definitely the way to go for speed.
As noted, Canada has had its share of long distance paddlers….Gary and Joanie McGuffin definitely should be included in this lot….they literally began their long distance canoe journey while on their honeymoon….a great online article, Paddler Magazine: The World’s Top Canoe Expeditions – From Voyageurs to Modern-Day Record Setters lists some of their achievements:
The Honeymoon Excursion (Gary and Joanie McGuffin)
Imagine two years of paddling from the Atlantic to the Arctic Ocean, starting from the St. Lawrence Seaway where the river is 50 miles wide. Now imagine two weeks of Hell dealing with huge sea swells, tidal bores and powerful rip currents that whip your tiny canoe between the shore and the middle of the river. Imagine cold sleeting rain and heavy winds. Now imagine this is your honeymoon, which is exactly what it was for Gary and Joanie McGuffin, possibly Canada’s most celebrated paddling couple.
When they first started out, the McGuffins had not expected such trouble from the St. Lawrence River. The north shore of Lake Superior was the place they feared most, yet when they arrived they found the lake in the grip of a long calm spell. The same cannot be said for Lake Winnipeg, which has an average depth of only 12 feet and was a huge frothing mud puddle with waves up to 12 feet high. At one point they were wind-bound for three days, and when the wind finally dropped, they paddled for 30 hours straight to get off the lake.
As they reached the end of their first summer in central Manitoba, the McGuffins were lost in a maze of marshes on the lower Saskatchewan. They found their way out by following flocks of white pelicans feeding in tiny riffles of current. After wintering in The Pas, Manitoba, the McGuffins continued north along the Churchill, but rather than portaging over the height of land into the Clearwater, they paddled up the Reindeer River into Reindeer Lake and then spent 40 miles paddling and portaging over the height of land into Wollaston Lake. From there it was downhill all the way into Great Slave Lake and the Mackenzie River. They struggled against monstrous waves as the Arctic winter closed in on them, and at the mouth of the Mackenzie they were greeted by snow and heavy winds blowing off the icecap. Four days after they were finished, the icecap sealed itself against the Mackenzie’s mouth.
Superior Journeys (Gary and Joanie McGuffin)
Few lakes inspire as much awe, respect and even terror as Lake Superior. The largest freshwater lake in the world is deep, cold and prone to huge storms that whip it into thundering fury. In addition, warm winds passing across the water’s surface create isolated fog patches, making it easy to get disoriented while navigating through large swells and currents, even with a compass and detailed charts. Stories abound of Voyageurs who lost their bearings paddling from point to point in the fog, and ended up capsizing in monstrous swells in the middle of the lake.
But the McGuffins were hooked. In 1989 they tackled a circumnavigation of the lake using two of Verlen Kruger’s Monarch canoes. It was a 2,000-mile sojourn that took them 80 days to complete, the first time the trip was completed in modern times. Along the way they experienced 15-foot waves, bone-chilling winds and fog patches which threatened to swallow them up. At one point while taking pictures from under a tree well away from the crashing rollers a wave steamrolled up the beach until it had buried them to their waists in foam. The McGuffins also saw spray from Superior’s waves whip the tops of 80-foot trees along shore.
Ancient Forest Odyssey (Gary and Joanie McGuffin)
In the summer of 1997 the McGuffins completed a 1,200-mile canoe odyssey through Northern Ontario, linking the last pockets of old-growth forest from Algonquin Park to Lake Superior. To raise awareness for the endangered forests they carried a laptop computer, a 32-pound satellite phone, solar panels, digital camera equipment and a 100-pound communication box. The McGuffins spent more than three months looking for old portage trails. At times it was like “bushwhacking with a canoe on their heads,” struggling along faint game trails littered with deadfall. Weighing just over 110 pounds, Joanie sometimes carried 100 pounds of gear as they fought their way through 12 previously unconnected watersheds. Because of the difficulty, on more than one occasion the couple was reduced to tears. They used the sat phone to do weekly radio interviews, and their laptop and digital camera allowed them to submit articles to 58 newspapers across Canada. A Web site was created, films were made, and a book is in the works for later this year.
Gary and Joanie McGuffin have written several books on these incredible expeditions….here are the titles so far:
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![Superior: Journeys On An Inland Sea (autographed copy)]()
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![Great Lakes Journey: Exploring the Heritage Coast (autographed copy)]()
Photos from Gary & Joanie McGuffin: Books
As already noted there was Max Finklestein who has paddled in the path of Alexander Mackenzie, across Canada in over three years. Finkelstein spent six months over three years following the land and water routes of Alexander Mackenzie across Canada to the Pacific Ocean, a journey he chronicled in a book titled Canoeing a Continent: On the Trail of Alexander Mackenzie. As the description of his book, Amazon.ca: Canoeing a Continent: On the Trail of Alexander Mackenzie states:
A highly personal account of the travels of Max Finkelstein as he retraces, some two hundred years later, the route of Alexander Mackenzie, the first European to cross North America (1793). Mackenzie’s water trail is now commemorated as the Alexander Mackenzie Voyageur Route.
More than just a travelogue of a canoe trip across Canada, this is an account that crosses more than two centuries. It is an exploration into the heart and mind of Alexander Mackenzie, the explorer, and Max Finkelstein, the “Voyageur-in-Training.” Using Mackenzie’s journals and his own journal writings, the author creates a view of the land from two vantage points. The author retraced the route of Alexander Mackenzie across North America from Ottawa through to Cumberland House, Saskatchewan, and paddled the Blackwater, Fraser and Peace Rivers, completing the trip in 1999. This route is the most significant water trail in North America, and perhaps the world.
![Canoeing a Continent: On the Trail of Alexander Mackenzie]()
Photo from Amazon.ca: Canoeing a Continent: On the Trail of Alexander Mackenzie.
Max was also involved in another long distance trip that also resulted in another book….with James Stone he retraced the journey of Albert Paul Low, a 19th-century geologist and gifted mapmaker (and Max and James felt A.P. Low is among this country’s greatest explorers)….in the review of their book, Canada’s Iron Man: Retracing The Routes of Mapmaker and Explorer A.P. Low, on Ottertooth.com (Ottertooth.com: Canada’s Iron Man Retracing The Routes Of Mapmaker And Explorer A.P. Low), George E. Kampouris wrote:
They set out in early August, driving eight hours to Lake Mistassini. From there a floatplane ferried them to Lake Naococanne, another 300 kilometres north where they unloaded their 17-foot canoe and 150 kilograms of gear and supplies.
“Low would have taken weeks just to get to our starting point,” said Finkelstein of their inauthentic shortcut. “We didn’t have all summer.”
Ahead of them lay 1,000 kilometres of hard travel that would span five weeks, through 87 portages over rough ground, past abandoned trading posts in the middle of some of the most isolated country on Earth.
Max Finklestein and James Stone knew the 625 mile route from Naococanne Lake, near the geographic centre of Quebec, to the community of Waskaganish, where the Rupert River dumps its waters into James Bay would be tough – but not how tough. And they were wearing lightweight, fast-drying modern fabrics that were tougher than the wool and cotton garments worn by Low and his crews (Low reported that they were never dry and that the boots literally rotted off their feet). In the end, Max and James ran out of time, and had to be picked up 80 kilometres short of James Bay.
Jay Morrison was another cross-Canada paddler….originally he had planned to become the first person to paddle solo across Canada from the Atlantic to the Arctic Ocean in a single year, covering a distance of more than 8,000 kilometres starting in the ocean tides of the Gulf of St. Lawrence at Les Escoumins, Quebec, following the vast Boreal forest that stretches across much of northern Canada, and finishing where the Mackenzie River flows into the Beaufort Sea near Inuvik in the Northwest Territories….but as the CPAWS: Jay’s Great Canadian Canoe Quest points out:
To fulfill a long-held personal dream, and in support of CPAWS’ work to conserve Canada’s great Boreal wilderness, Jay Morrison paddled and portaged over 3,000 km across Canada between April 9th and August 1st 2006, along the historic trade routes established by the Aboriginal peoples and later used by European explorers and fur traders.
Jay’s amazing expedition started in the ocean tides of the Gulf of St. Lawrence at Les Escoumins, Quebec, and followed the vast Boreal forest that stretches across Quebec, Ontario and eastern Manitoba. In 2007 and 2008, he paddled another 5,000 km to the Arctic Ocean.
Jay’s Canoe
Jay’s canoe is an item of special interest in itself. After Jay built it himself, the canoe was decorated by artist Dot Bonnenfant with images of creatures symbolic of both Aboriginal culture and of the Canadian landscape. Jay has built several canoes in cedar and other wood materials, creating innovations that permit lighter weight with sufficient strength for wilderness tripping. For this trip, he has designed a unique wood and epoxy canoe inspired by the decked Verlen Kruger canoes intended for extreme big water expeditions, although lightened to allow single-carry portaging of the boat and gear over the Canadian Shield. At 16.5 feet in length and only 28 inches wide, this boat is built for both speed and seaworthiness. It weighs just 36 pounds.
The canoe is named in both the Algonquin and Ojibway languages: “Kida-Aakiinan” and “Daki Menan”, respectively which mean “Our Land” in the inclusive sense of being shared by all of the humans and creatures in it. This name honours the traditional values of the Aboriginal people which include decision-making for the long term (seven generations) and the taking only of resources from the land that can be sustained, values that much of modern society has yet to appreciate but will become increasingly important in the future.
Jay’s trip was written up in CBC News: Retired Bureaucrat Completes Canoe Odyssey: 7,000 Km, 150 Days:
Retired bureaucrat completes canoe odyssey: 7,000 km, 150 days
The Canadian Press
An Ottawa man has fulfilled a boyhood dream of a cross-Canada canoe trip, completing the final leg in northern Manitoba after paddling more than 7,000 kilometres over 150 days.
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Jay Morrison paddles his self-built wood canoe on the Ottawa River, below Parliament Hill, in April 2006. The retired civil servant recently completed his cross-Canada canoe trip in The Pas. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)
Jay Morrison, 58, a retired federal civil servant, stepped out of his canoe in The Pas on the weekend.
Morrison estimates he made four million paddle strokes on the journey.
He started his journey in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in April 2006 with the dream of criss-crossing the country through its lakes and rivers all the way to the Arctic Ocean. But four months later, he abandoned his trip in Manitoba after paddling through punishing headwinds and fog on Lake Superior.
In May 2007, Morrison resumed the trip in his canoe, which he built himself.
According to his online journal, he started on Lake La Loche in northern Saskatchewan, paddling north through Fort McMurray, Alta., and up the waters into the Northwest Territories.
By mid-July, he had made it to Inuvik at the edge of the Mackenzie Delta.
He then sent his canoe by truck and flew back to Alberta, where he continued paddling east into Manitoba, arriving in The Pas on Aug. 18.
![Kayak Deck Art, Daki Menan]()
From Heritage Paddles: Sample Designs, taken by Jay Morrison. (NOTE: The artisan, Dot Bonnenfant described the photo as: “My friend Jay Morrison paddled Alexander MacKenzie’s route – paddling across Canada. 8,000 kms - He built his own boat.Named Daki Menan (meaning ‘Our Land’), this canoe is one tough boat!!! Jay requested a design with specific animals to have their spirits accompany him on his voyage. Here’s his canoe, pre-trip, on his living room floor.”)
Another famous Canadian long distance paddler was Pierre Trudeau….in 1944 he wrote an essay called Exhaustion and Fulfillment: The Ascetic In A Canoe, found at Trudeau: PM, Patriot, Paddler….this essay came from a trip Trudeau took in 1941 with three others from Montreal to James Bay, up the Ottawa River, over the elevated land mass, and down the Harricanaw River. This trip crystallized his thoughts in many ways. As Trudeau wrote three years later:
A canoeing expedition….involves a starting point rather than a parting. Although it assumes the breaking of ties, its purpose is not to destroy the past, but to lay down a foundation for the future. From now on, every living act will be built on this step, which will serve as a base long after the return of the expedition….and until the next one.
There have been many long distance trips which didn’t end up very successfully….sometimes even ending in death….one such was a expedition planned by John Smith, from Peterborough, Ontario to Peterborough, England….across the Atlantic Ocean….solo….in a 16 foot Peterborough canoe….here are two capsules of this largely unknown attempted canoe journey:
From Peterborough History And Culture:
1934 – John Smith’s famous attempt to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a 16 foot Peterborough Canoe (“Pride of Peterborough”) begins and ends in his death in the Gulf of St Lawrence.
From Peterborough Museum & Archives Canoe and Boat Collections:
PG6A-35 / “Pride of Peterborough” A postcard showing John Smith sitting in his 16 foot Peterborough Canoe, christened, “Pride of Peterborough (1934). Smith attempted to paddle from Peterborough, Ontario to Peterborough, England in the summer of 1934. He perished after his sailing canoe was swamped in rough waters in the Gulf of St Lawrence.
This incredible story was written up by James Raffan in Canoeroots: Alone Across The Atlantic (Tumblehome: James Raffan, P. 16)….check out this amazing tale for yourself.
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From Canoeroots: Alone Across The Atlantic (Tumblehome: James Raffan, P. 16).
The great online article, already mentioned, Paddler Magazine: The World’s Top Canoe Expeditions – From Voyageurs to Modern-Day Record Setters, which has such individuals listed as Samuel de Champlain, Alexander Mackenzie, Lewis & Clark, Simon Fraser, David Thompson, Verlen Kruger, the McGuffins, and many others, is worth checking out for more on the subject of long distance paddling. There is a brief capsule history of each of these canoe expeditions.
One of the paddlers mentioned was a Scot by the name or John MacGregor, who was probably the first to take long ‘recreational’ canoe trips:
John MacGregor: the Rob Roy
Credit for turning canoeing from work to play can largely be handed to John MacGregor, yet another exuberant Scot with a magnetic attraction for publicity. During a trip through Canada in 1859, he paddled several canoes on the Ottawa River and immediately fell in love with the sport. Traveling onto Kamchatka he was soon introduced to northern kayaks, and when he returned to England he set to the task of building a canoe of European technology and Inuit design. His intention was to create a hybrid craft that was stable, durable and comfortable for long-distance tripping.
In 1865 his canoe was finished, and he christened the covered oak boat the Rob Roy. With ample space below deck for supplies and religious tracts, he set off for a three-month paddling tour around France, Germany and Switzerland, which took him to more than 20 lakes and rivers, covering over 1,000 miles. The following year he published a book about his exploits A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe which was quickly snatched off bookshelves on both sides of the Atlantic. His enthusiasm was contagious, and soon canoe clubs were spawned across North America and Europe, including the Royal Canoe Club, which was headed by the Prince of Wales a coup for MacGregor s mission. Gentlemen adventurers of the late 1800s turned from paddling around the European continent to grand explorations in the Canadian Northwest.
But one of the stories I was not aware of was the British duo of Neil Armstrong and Chris Macguire, who literally went on the longest canoe trip:
Expedition Britanica (Neil Armstrong and Chris Maguire)
Neil Armstrong and Chris Maguire say there’s no better way to beat a world canoeing record than to set off on a nearly impossible route with no planning or experience. Paddling out of Medicine Hat, Alberta, in an old Clipper Tripper in July 1993, these two Brits were supposed to be on vacation for three months. Little did they know they would spend three years retracing Don Starkell’s “suicidal route” to the mouth of the Amazon River.
Once on the Mississippi River their trip gained significant momentum, aided by the gallons of American beer they consumed along the way. They often stopped early to drink and tell tales until the bars closed, which meant sleeping in late the next morning. As a result, the two men nearly froze into the Mississippi during ice up. In Mexico the weather warmed, but the pair soon ran out of money. To finance the rest of their trip they learned how to make hats from palm fronds. On more than one occasion they also ran into would-be thieves. While camped in Nicaragua they were mistaken for drug smugglers and were fired on. They crawled for several hours through a mangrove swamp in the darkness before they managed to shinny down to the beach. Once in the water they let the current drag them out, and for the next two hours they drifted through the surf. It wasn’t until the next day that they managed to find their belongings in a small native village. They told the chief their story, after which he proclaimed everything a big misunderstanding. Still, he insisted the Brits pay for the gasoline, flashlight batteries and bullets that were used while pursuing them the previous night.
To avoid Colombia the pair opted to portage their canoe for 75 miles across the desert on the Guajira Peninsula, eliminating 210 miles of coastal paddling. Even with a modified boat trailer to help pull their gear, they suffered from heat exhaustion. The worst behind them, they arrived at Belem, Brazil in August of 1996. They had paddled more than 13,000 miles, breaking Starkell’s canoe record.
There will be future long distance canoe trips attempted….hopefully most will be completed safely….though some will fail, maybe even in death….yet surely records may fall….for as long as there are places to paddle….to put a canoe in the water….someone will think of dipping a paddle and setting off on a long distance journey….in 2011 there was the Trans CanEAUda Project, which I have posted about here before. Trans CanEAUda is a cross Canada canoe expedition and project being undertaken by 8 friends throughout the spring, summer, and fall months of 2011. They departed from Ottawa, ON, during the first week of May 2011, pointing their canoes in a north-westerly direction, paddling and portaging some 7000 kilometers in an attempt to reach Inuvik, NWT, and the waters of the Beaufort Sea.
Paddles up until later then….and maybe you’ll decide to take your own long distance trip….though any distance is good….just being out on the water is great….so have paddle, will travel….whether for a few days….or for several months.
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