Some time back, a serious history buff/interpreter sent a request for information regarding the size of paddles used by voyageurs and the request was forwarded to me, among others. This individual had questions regarding the length of voyageur paddles, especially the apparent difference between the bow man (avant), the steers man (gouvernail) in the stern of the canoe, and the middle men (or milieux).
The paddle inquisitor had apparently read many books and old articles, and according to him, two of which suggest the middleman paddle was only 2 feet long with a blade 3 inches!
He quoted from a book called The Voyageur by Grace Lee Nute (from page 26):
Three Sizes of paddle were used: the common paddle, about two feet long and three inched wide, which was used by the middlemen (milieux)…..
So I tried to answer as best I could….by turning to an online search.
First here’s some info on voyageur paddles:
From Red River Canoes, http://www.redrivercanoe.ca/Historic%20Paddles.htm:
Edwin Tappan Adney and Howard Chapelle write in the classic The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America, “The voyageur was particular about his paddle; no man in his right mind would use a blade wider than 4 1/2 and 5 inches, for anything wider would exhaust him in a short distance.”
Let’s consider the use of paddles under traditional circumstances rather than today¹s recreational use, which involves only limited periods of time. Before the advent of roads, rivers and lakes were the highways throughout much of North America. To get anywhere, travelers would have to paddle their canoes hour after hour, day after day. A desirable paddle would allow the paddler to work all day without undue fatigue. A paddle that was too small would not be powerful enough to get the job done, whereas a paddle that was too large would excessively tire the paddler.
From the very fine Paddle Making blog, http://paddlemaking.blogspot.com/ :
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Voyageur Paddles – CL Sommers Canoe Base
Found this shot on FlickR featuring some decorative “voyageur” paddles at the CL Sommers Canoe Base in Minnesota.
They look very familiar to a paddle I posted on featured at 2008 Indian Summer Festival held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The paddle; The carved grip
I knew I had seen the distinct red tips somewhere before and then realized it was in a historical painting by Frederick Verner. Not the clearest image, but you can just make out the red tip on the paddle in the foreground.
Ojibway Indian Encampment by Frederick Arthur Verner, 1873 Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph, Ontario
Also from the Paddle Making blog, http://paddlemaking.blogspot.com/2009/09/walnut-laminated-voyageur.html:
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Walnut Laminated Voyageur
A common paddle design marketed today is the so called “Voyageur” blade, essentially a straight side paddle with a wide, squarish tip, and recurved shoulders at the throat. Despite the persistant occurance of this design in modern stores, there is little evidence that it resembles anything that the real voyageurs may have actually paddled. Certainly in the paintings of Frances Anne Hopkins, the paddles don’t resemble this blade design. The only other time I’ve seen the recurved shoulder design is with an early Mi’kmaq design documented by Adney.
Graham Warren refers to this design more precisely as a “North West Voyageur” simply because it appears in the voyageur art of Howard Sivertson. For some examples, I checked out a book of his entitled, The Illustrated Voyageur: Paintings and Companion Stories which has some delightful anecdotes and illustrations, although probably not entirely accurate.
Cover of Sivertson’s Voyageur themed book
In any event, I had made this blank many months ago from scraps of black walnut and a 3/4″ wide strip of yellow poplar. Given the small width of the poplar, the walnut was laminated from the grip all the way to the blade resulting in a neat contrasting look in the shaft area. Walnut and Yellow Poplar are both very easy to carve and the simple, straight edges meant that cutting out and shaving down the blade and grip was very quick. This was one of the fastest paddles I carved out from a blank. Here are some pics of the job.
Unfinished paddle; Blade Closeup
Since I was using left over cutoff scraps, the grain pattern isn’t perfectly symmetrical on the blade. There’s also point on the blade where the grain reverses suddenly giving the appearance of a horizontal “scratch”.
I’ve read plenty of criticisms of this blade design on canoeing forums with many paddlers literally calling this blade shape a piece of junk. Personally I found it an acceptable design although the larger squarish tip certainly made for a noisy entry and the recurved shoulders tended to cause some cavitation and loss of power when paddling with a quick pace. But I found that if I slowed down and relaxed the pace it handled well with underwater recoveries. The walnut-poplar lamination also resulted in a super-light paddle and there’s no denying the rich-chocolatey appeal of the wood. Instead of adding any additional pyrography to this one, I’ve settled on simply oiling it and using it as an occasional light use paddle
Final work all oiled up
Or http://paddlemaking.blogspot.com/2009/12/canoe-museum-paddle-replicas.html:
Friday, December 18, 2009
Canoe Museum Paddle Replicas
Not so long ago, I wrote a post about William Armstrong’s painting of a Hudson‘s Bay Store scene. It depicted a painted paddle with yellow and red checkered pattern.
William Armstrong Hudson’s Bay Store, Fort William c. 1860-1870 National Gallery of Canada (no. 30490)
Paddle Closeup
While strolling through the “Historic Fur Trade” section on a recent visit to the Canadian Canoe Museum, I came across a display with a reproduction of this very same paddle. Normally, I probably would’ve passed it by without much attention, but now understand a bit more of its significance.
Canadian Canoe Museum Replica
Also frequent throughout the museum are replicas portrayed in the many paintings of Frances Anne Hopkins, especially those portrayed in her classic painting, Voyageurs at Dawn.
Voyageurs at Dawn, 1871 Archives Canada
Decorated paddles laying on the ground centre of painting)
More paddles leaning against a rock face (far right of painting)
These bright scarlett paddles were decorated with various hash marks and chevron patterns. Here are some next to the museum’s huge Montreal Canoe display.
Voyageur Paddle Replicas
After searching these great resources, I turned to other info.
From The Voyageurs, The Backbone of the Fur Trade By Dorthea Calverley, http://www.calverley.ca/Part%2002%20-%20Fur%20Trade/2-002.html:
Even more precious, perhaps was his pipe. For fifty-five minutes in every hour his arms drove like pistons — forty strokes per minute. Then a five-minute break, if they were in suitable water. Occasionally during the day, and always just before a bad rapid, they would stop to light a pipe. They measured their day’s progress by “pipes” — three, four, or more.
Day began at dawn, four o’clock or earlier in an express canoe. At eight there was a brief stop for breakfast. At two there was a pause for lunch. At dusk the canoe was brought to shore and unloaded in the stream to be lifted gently to land. The bowman leaped into icy water and held the craft while the steersman also got out to keep the stern steady. Then the middle paddlers got out. Last came the bourgeois and any “gentlemen” clerks who climbed aboard the middlemen’s shoulders and were carried pick-a back to shore. Then the lightened canoe was walked gingerly to the bank. To embark the next morning, the procedure was reversed. At each portage the performance was again repeated. Since two to four tons of cargo also had to be handled off and on, no wonder the voyageurs preferred to run a rapid or pole or even track up a bad stretch of water!….
The voyageur’s worldly wealth consisted of forty pounds of allowable personal possessions, which included his blanket and clothes of rough homespun probably woven by his wife or mother, a spare red shirt and spare moccasins for he might wear out a pair when tracking over rough rocks. There was his beloved long sash and toque, the badges of his trade, woven or knitted by the dearest of his women folk at home. There was his blue hooded cloak or capote, made of thick homespun or grade blanket cloth, and perhaps a few trinkets to barter for the favours of the Indians maidens or for a fine fur for his favorite female. His paddle, often brightly painted, might be a present or heirloom from his voyageur-father. The local priest would have blessed it. It was his life, his safety and his pride. This he carried himself over his shoulder.
There were social classes among the voyageurs. The inexperienced began as paddlers in the middle of the craft. They were the milieux. After many journeys, when they knew the waters of the route in all moods, they might graduate to steersman. Then, he would stand in the rear, and by means of a long sweep turn the craft on orders from the bowman. Unlike a two-man sport canoe of today, a freight canoe could not “slalom” or turn on her centre. Steersman and bowman often became an inseparable team for the steersman could not see ahead due to the length of the canoe. He had to read every gesture of the man at the bow, like a catcher and pitcher in a baseball game.
After many journeys the steersman could advance to the bow position or avant at an advance in pay. All the middlemen had to do in a rapid was fend the craft off any rocks in the channel or speed or brake the progress. They were bossed by both the avant and the governail or steersman.
Regarding the height of voyageurs, I found the following:
From Festival du Voyageur info, http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/francais/frcore/elem/progetud/PKK1-3.html:
One would expect Voyageurs to be men of heroic proportions, but usually they were not. The average Voyageur was five feet six inches in height. Had they been taller, they would have occupied too much precious space in the canot (canoe) already overloaded with provisions (cargo). But though the Voyageur was short, he was strong. He could paddle fifteen – yes, if necessary – eighteen hours per day for weeks on end and joke beside the campfire at the close of the day. He could carry from 250 to 400 pounds of merchandise on his back over rocky portages at a pace which made unburdened travelers pant for breath in their endeavour not to be left behind.
Finally regarding specific info regarding paddle length:
From PaddlerMagazine, http://www.paddlermagazine.com/issues/2000_1/feature1.htm:
Voyageurs, most of them under five-foot-six—shorter than your average 20th century 12-year-old. Short was best, because the small Voyageur took up less space, needed less food, and could easily use the standard four-foot, three-inch paddle. Hardy fools with a taste for adventure, Voyageurs were little more than indentured slaves to the companies that employed them. They usually paddled 15 hours a day, five to six men to a boat, their freight canoes larger than those the explorers used. Voyageurs had to handle boats measuring up to eight yards in length and by the 17th century, the canoes were made of wood, a sturdier material for whitewater encounters.
By trip’s end, with winter setting in, Voyageurs dipped their blades in ice slush around the fragile boats. Loaded with provisions and trade goods on the way into Canada’s interior, the boats were now burdened with a ton or more of stinking furs—and every day’s journey meant portages, sometimes a dozen or more, hauling the fur bundles over rock-and-swamp forest trails. The Voyageurs used tumplines, or portage collars, to carry their loads along the trails, trotting along at about three miles per hour, up to 200 pounds on each bent back. The tumpline wrapped around a bale of fur and rested across the Voyageur’s forehead. Settling the first 80-pound bale into place behind him at roughly hip-level, they then piled a second pack, sometimes even a third, atop the first. From What Voyageurs Wore, http://www.northwestjournal.ca/XVII1.htm:
There are a few other points to discuss regarding voyageurs’ bodies. Although it may be true that most voyageurs were short (5’4″ to 5’8″), so that they didn’t take up much room in the canoe, I haven’t found any clear evidence that this was the case during the 1774-1821 time period. In fact, voyageur Bazil Lucie was reportedly 6′ 3″. Although the majority of voyageurs were French-Canadian, there were also Native (primarily Iroquois, Huron, Cree, and Ojibway) and Mixed-Blood voyageurs. There was also a small number of Blacks and Hawaiians.
Finally, don’t forget that voyageurs supplied their own paddles ; milieux had short paddles (two feet long by three inches wide), while the avant and gouvernail, in the bow and stern of the canoe, had longer, wider paddles to enable them to paddle standing up. Voyageurs also had iron-tipped setting poles to help pole the canoe upstream if practical. Using paddles and poles for props may help reenactors bring to life the voyageurs’ very active, very dangerous occupation.
Now I hope that helps provide an answer to the question of the length of voyageur paddles….at least a bit….especially the above reference….because the avant and gouvernail would often stand up they needed longer paddles….the milieux did not. Therefore the paddles used by those in the bow or stern were longer than those used by the middle paddlers. I hope it also provides more insight into the voyageurs in general.
Paddles up until later then….for anyone looking for more info, I suggest they check with the Canadian Canoe Museum….Jeremy Ward (the CCM Curator) has built a 36 ft. bark canoe, which was even featured in Ray Mears TV series The Northern Wilderness…..and of course, also check out the Paddle Making blog….Murat is a keen historian on many things dealing with paddles, including those used by voyageurs.
NOTE: The length of two feet long and three inched wide, which was used by the middlemen (milieux) as Grace Lee Nute wrote in The Voyageur and also noted in the piece from What The Voyageurs Wore - and as both were recorded above – should be for the blade length, not the overall length of the paddle.
In regards to paddle length of the milieux and all paddlers one may have to take into consideration the amount of free board of both a loaded and unloaded canoe.
Hopkins artwork of shooting the rapids shows a canoe with no cargo with only passengers relaxed to a point that a tin cup and pouches is shown on the seat between the two paddlers seated behind the avant.
I would speculate that even the milieux carried paddles(at least a spare) of different blade/shaft lengths for perhaps moving from deep water lakes to rivers.
