The Fur Trade at Lachine National Historic Site (''Lieu historique national de la Commerce-de-la-Fourrure-à-Lachine'') is a historic building located in the borough of Lachine in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, at the western end of the

Lachine Canal The Lachine Canal ( in French) is a canal passing through the southwestern part of the Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, running 14.5 kilometres (9 miles) from the Old Port of Montreal to Lake Saint-Louis, through the boroughs of Lachine, ...

. It is a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being ...

. Beginning in the 17th century,

voyageurs The voyageurs (; ) were 18th and 19th century French Canadians who engaged in the transporting of furs via canoe during the peak of the North American fur trade. The emblematic meaning of the term applies to places (New France, including th ...

would launch their canoes from this location to transport trade goods thousands of miles into the interior of North America lands. At that time the

Lachine Rapids The Lachine Rapids (french: Rapides de Lachine) are a series of rapids on the Saint Lawrence River, between the Island of Montreal and the south shore. They are located near the former city of Lachine. The Lachine Rapids contain large standing ...

prevented large ships from going any further west along the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...

. A stone warehouse was erected in 1803 to store the furs gathered as a result of fur trade. It is now a Parks Canada museum dedicated to the history of this strategic location as a departure and arrival point for fur trading expeditions. The site is separate from Lachine Canal National Historic Site, with which it is inextricably connected. Montreal was the start of nearly all westward canoe routes. See

Canadian canoe routes (early) This article covers the water based Canadian canoe routes used by early explorers of Canada with special emphasis on the fur trade. Introduction European exploration of Canada was principally by river. The land has many navigable rivers with ...

. Here furs were transferred from canoe to ship and trade goods from ship to canoe. A natural transfer point was the west end of

Montreal Island The Island of Montreal (french: Île de Montréal) is a large island in southwestern Quebec, Canada, that is the site of a number of municipalities including most of the city of Montreal and is the most populous island in Canada. It is the main ...

since goods could be carted over a nine-mile road around the

. Canoes usually left in May and returned in August. The

Northwest Company The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what is present-day Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario. With great weal ...

built a stone warehouse here in 1803. It was used until 1859 when it was sold to the Sisters of Sainte Anne who used it as an employee residence. The

was built around the rapids in 1825. Sir

George Simpson (administrator) Sir George Simpson ( – 7 September 1860) was a Scottish explorer and colonial governor of the Hudson's Bay Company during the period of its greatest power. From 1820 to 1860, he was in practice, if not in law, the British viceroy for the whol ...

had a mansion across the canal from the warehouse which was torn down in 1880. Parks Canada acquired the warehouse in 1977 and in 1985 opened a museum.Elizabeth Browne Losey, "Let Them be Remembered:The Story of the Fur Trade Forts",1999.

Affiliations

The Museum is affiliated with: the Canadian Museums Association, Canadian Heritage Information Network, and

Virtual Museum of Canada The Digital Museums Canada (DMC; , ''MNC'') is a funding program in Canada "dedicated to online projects by the museum and heritage community," helping organizations to build digital capacity. Administered by the Canadian Museum of History (CMH) ...

References

External links

The Fur Trade at Lachine National Historic Site
Parks Canada {{DEFAULTSORT:Fur Trade At Lachine History museums in Quebec Fur trade Museums in Montreal History of Montreal National Historic Sites in Quebec Lachine, Quebec