Voyageurs

Voyageurs PDF Author: Margaret Elphinstone
Publisher: Open Road + Grove/Atlantic
ISBN: 0802191517
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 351

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Book Description
“A marvelous . . . rich and moving . . . historical novel . . . Elphinstone has created a humble and courageous hero, a man historically and culturally remote, but strikingly relevant to our own age of war.” —Ron Charles, The Christian Science Monitor Voyageurs garnered praise for both its historical versimilitude and its exacting character portraits, as well as the story’s contemporary relevance in a time of international conflict. Elphinstone’s magnificent sixth novel, Voyageurs, gives us Mark Greenhow, a naive and peaceful Quaker who lands on the shores of North America on the eve of the War of 1812, thinking only of finding the missing sister he has always admired for her adventurous spirit. Mark hitches a ride with the voyageurs who have canoed the rivers, transporting the tons of furs that feed the trade that has made the region a battleground of the French and British empires. Though Mark enters this brave new world with his conscience clean and his convictions sound, his encounters with a place and people he never could have imagined test his rigid upbringing. The backwoods of Canada have certainly led his sister astray; she has been excommunicated from the Society of Friends for running off with a non-Quaker. After her child is stillborn she runs again, deep into Indian country. On this increasingly desperate search, Mark finds himself among spies and domestic warriors, displaced natives, infidels, and religious folk who must fight to maintain their particular way of life. Elphinstone’s crisp and effortless prose, coupled with her riveting, organic way with description, her fully drawn characters, and the history of the region, make this novel an astonishingly authentic and profoundly satisfying work of historical fiction.

Voyageurs

Voyageurs PDF Author: Margaret Elphinstone
Publisher: Open Road + Grove/Atlantic
ISBN: 0802191517
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 351

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Book Description
“A marvelous . . . rich and moving . . . historical novel . . . Elphinstone has created a humble and courageous hero, a man historically and culturally remote, but strikingly relevant to our own age of war.” —Ron Charles, The Christian Science Monitor Voyageurs garnered praise for both its historical versimilitude and its exacting character portraits, as well as the story’s contemporary relevance in a time of international conflict. Elphinstone’s magnificent sixth novel, Voyageurs, gives us Mark Greenhow, a naive and peaceful Quaker who lands on the shores of North America on the eve of the War of 1812, thinking only of finding the missing sister he has always admired for her adventurous spirit. Mark hitches a ride with the voyageurs who have canoed the rivers, transporting the tons of furs that feed the trade that has made the region a battleground of the French and British empires. Though Mark enters this brave new world with his conscience clean and his convictions sound, his encounters with a place and people he never could have imagined test his rigid upbringing. The backwoods of Canada have certainly led his sister astray; she has been excommunicated from the Society of Friends for running off with a non-Quaker. After her child is stillborn she runs again, deep into Indian country. On this increasingly desperate search, Mark finds himself among spies and domestic warriors, displaced natives, infidels, and religious folk who must fight to maintain their particular way of life. Elphinstone’s crisp and effortless prose, coupled with her riveting, organic way with description, her fully drawn characters, and the history of the region, make this novel an astonishingly authentic and profoundly satisfying work of historical fiction.

The Last Voyageurs

The Last Voyageurs PDF Author: Lorraine Boissoneault
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1681771160
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 169

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Book Description
Reid Lewis never wanted to be an ordinary French teacher. With the approach of the American Bicentennial, he decided to put his knowledge of French language and history to use in recreating the voyage of René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, the first European to travel from Montreal to the end of the Mississippi River. Lewis’ crew of modern voyageurs was comprised of 16 high school students and 6 teachers who learned to sew their own 17th-century clothing, paddle handmade canoes, and construct black powder rifles.Together they set off on an eight-month, 3,300-mile expedition across the major waterways of North America. They fought strong currents on the St. Lawrence, paddled through storms on the Great Lakes, and walked over 500 miles across the frozen Midwest during one of the coldest winters of the 20th century, all while putting on performances about the history of French explorers for communities along their route. The crew had to overcome disagreements, a crisis of leadership, and near-death experiences before coming to the end of their journey. The Last Voyageurs tells the story of this American odyssey, where a group of young men discovered themselves by pretending to be French explorers.

The Voyageur

The Voyageur PDF Author: Grace Lee Nute
Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society Press
ISBN: 0873517067
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 285

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Book Description
Nute's best-selling book portrays the indefatigable French-Canadian canoemen, whose labors were vital to the fur trade and whose influence reaches us through the colorful songs, place names, customs, and legends they left behind.

The Voyageur's Paddle

The Voyageur's Paddle PDF Author: Kathy-jo Wargin
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
ISBN: 162753122X
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 42

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Book Description
Voyageur is the French word for "traveler," but in the Great Lakes region during the seventeenth century it described those men who made their living trading furs and goods along water routes. Traveling by canoe, these voyageurs helped to establish north woods trading posts and settlements, opening up the West to future exploration. Young Jacques's father is such a voyageur. He works long hours in bitterly cold weather, absent from home for weeks at a time. As he awaits his father's return from a season of trading, Jacques dreams of the day he will hold the canoe paddle and join the ranks of voyageurs.Author Kathy-jo Wargin is known for her many stories celebrating Great Lakes lore and north woods history including the 2001 IRA Children's Choice Award winner, The Legend of the Loon. She lives with her family in Petoskey, Michigan. David Geister's body of work with Sleeping Bear Press continues to grow and includes The Legend of Minnesota, also written by Kathy-jo Wargin. He specializes in historic art and has a background in commercial art. David lives with his family in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The Littlest Voyageur

The Littlest Voyageur PDF Author: Margi Preus
Publisher: Holiday House
ISBN: 0823443094
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Book Description
A red squirrel stows away on a canoe to fulfill his dream of joining a group of voyageurs--men who paddle canoes filled with goods to a trading post thousands of miles away. A Finalist for the Minnesota Book Award It is 1792 and unbeknownst to a group of voyageurs traveling from Montreal to Grand Portage, an intrepid squirrel, Jean Pierre Petit Le Rouge, sneaks onto their canoe. Le Rouge is soon discovered because he can't contain his excitement--mon dieu he is so enthusiastic. The smells! The vistas! The comradery! The voyageurs are not particularly happy to have him, especially because Le Rouge rides, but he does not paddle. He eats, but he does not cook. He doesn't even carry anything on portages--sometimes it is he who has to be carried. He also has a terrible singing voice. What kind of voyageur is that? When they finally arrive at the trading post Le Rouge is in for a terrible shock--the voyageurs have traveled all those miles to collect beaver pelts. With the help of Monique, a smart and sweet flying squirrel, Le Rouge organizes his fur-bearing friends of the forest to ambush the men and try and convince them to quit being voyageurs. Written by a Newbery honor author, the book has over 20 black-and-white illustrations. A Junior Library Guild Selection

Making the Voyageur World

Making the Voyageur World PDF Author: Carolyn Podruchny
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 0803287909
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 442

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Book Description
Through a detailed analysis of their unique occupational culture, Making the Voyageur World reexamines the French Canadian workers who dominated the fur trade industry and became iconic images of North American lore.

The Voyageurs (A North Woods Canoe Adventure)

The Voyageurs (A North Woods Canoe Adventure) PDF Author: Bruce Stacy
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 0557311748
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 90

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Book Description
Ben, a 13 year old boy, is invited to accompany his Uncle Jake and their French-Canadian guide on their annual canoe-camping-fishing trip into the North Woods. They fly to Duluth, Minnesota where they are met by their voyageur-like guide, Mick. Mick then drives them to the fringes of civilization and they launch their canoes into the wilderness. The trip is an awakening for Ben, who overcomes his lack of self confidence while learning outdoor lore, the history of the North Woods, the voyageur culture, and solving a longstanding family mystery. This story is part educational, part history and part mystery wrapped in the magic of the northland . . .

French Fur Traders and Voyageurs in the American West

French Fur Traders and Voyageurs in the American West PDF Author: LeRoy Reuben Hafen
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 9780803273023
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 110

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Book Description
?Frenchmen were far ahead of Englishmen in the early Far West, not only prior in time but greater in numbers and in historical importance,? writes Janet Lecompte in her introduction to French Fur Traders and Voyageurs in the American West. They were the first to navigate the Mississippi and its tributaries, and they founded St. Louis and New Orleans. Though France lost her North American possessions in 1763, thousands of her natives remained on the continent. Many of them were voyageurs for Hudson?s Bay Company, whose descendants would join American fur trade companies plying the trans-Mississippi West. ø This volume documents the fact that in the nineteenth century Frenchmen dominated the fur trade in the United States. Twenty-two biographies, collected from LeRoy R. Hafen?s classic ten-volume The Mountain Men and the Fur Trade of the Far West, represent a variety of origins and social classes, types of work, and trading areas. Here are trappers who joined John Jacob Astor?s ill-fated fur venture on the Pacific, St. Louis traders who hauled goods to Spanish New Mexico along the Santa Fe Trail, and those who traded with Indians in the western plains and mountains.

Voyageurs Highway

Voyageurs Highway PDF Author: Grace Lee Nute
Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society Press
ISBN: 0873517563
Category : Canada
Languages : en
Pages : 113

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Book Description


Voyageurs National Park

Voyageurs National Park PDF Author: Frederick Theodore Witzig
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 9781452905983
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
Voyageurs National Park chronicles the complex legal and political campaign to found Minnesota's only national park. Witzig's thoroughly documented and referenced research allows him to offer a detailed view of the unanticipated disappointments and defining moments of achievement that accompanied this complicated legislative battle. Concentrating on the period from 1962 to 1975, Witzig identifies and explains the central issues surrounding the campaign including land acquisition policy, local concerns and opposition to the park, interagency conflict over inclusion of U.S. forest lands, antifederal attitudes in northeastern Minnesota, and the overstated case for the economic benefits a national park would bring. Witzig covers of the dispute over the inclusion of Crane Lake in the park and focuses on the many individuals and groups who were instrumental in the establishment of Voyageurs National Park, such as Governor Elmer L. Andersen, John A. Blatnik, Sigurd F. Olson, and Rita Shemesh.