34 THUNDER BA Y EXPERIENCE 2020 F or t William Fur Tr ade F acts The s t apl e f ood f or the North W es t Company v o y ageur s was a lightw eight and highc al orie porridgelik e mixtur e of c orn and gr ease usuall y pork f at Indigenous peopl e such as the Anishinaabe and Metis w er e the c orner s t one of the fur tr ade Eur opeans r elied on their tr av el methods and r out es and the y w er e skill ed tr apper s The lar ges t bir ch bark c anoe was kno wn as the c anot du maitr e or Montr eal c anoe It was used f or the 1900 kil ometr e trip fr om Montr eal t o F ort William This mas siv e c anoe c ould c arry almos t 3600 kil ogr ams and had a cr e w of eight t o tw el v e men The c anot du nor d was a small er c anoe used in the int erior that c ould c arry 1700 kil ogr ams and had a cr e w of f our t o six men The trip fr om Montr eal t o F ort William t ook six to eight w eeks with v o y ageur s paddling fr om sunrise t o sunset cl ocking an av er age speed of about 11 kil ometr es per hour A V O Y A GEUR WHO WINTERED IN THE INTERIOR W AS KNO WN AS AN HOMME DU NORD FROM THE FRENCH F OR NORTHMAN Each v o y ageur was r esponsibl e f or c arrying six t o eight bal es of fur or tr ade goods each w eighing 40 kil ogr ams in addition t o f ood f or the trip their per sonal bel ongings an ax e a k ettl e and mat erial t o r epair the c anoe Of c our se the y also had t o c arry the c anoe The mos t c ommon building method at F ort William was piec es sur piec es or pos t and fll Horizont al squar ed l ogs w er e pegged int o mortised v ertic al pos ts and then the gaps w er e seal ed with a mixtur e of clay mud and s tr aw DURING THE ANNUAL RENDEZV OUS UPW ARDS OF 1000 BUSINES SMEN V O Y A GEURS AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLE INV OL VED IN THE FUR TRADE G A THERED A T F ORT WILLIAM WHEREAS ONL Y 16 T O 25 PEOPLE LIVED A T THE F ORT IN THE WINTER Goh Ir omot o Goh Ir omot o Goh Ir omot o