The fur trade in New France focussed on MontrÄal which was established in 1642 as a religious community. Its strategic position near the junction of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence rivers meant that it developed rapidly in the late seventeenth century as a major supply point for the interior trade. MontrÄal traders, despite opposition from the Governor, sent hundreds of men westward each spring to trade. These expeditions were reprovisioned at Michilimackinac before pushing farther into the interior. In this way, despite the attempt of the French Crown to restrict trading activity through a system of licenses, the French empire expanded over a significant part of North America.
Officials attempted to stop the loss of manpower to the colony by ordering that markets or fairs be held in MontrÄal where all merchants would have an equal opportunity to trade with Indians from the Upper Great Lakes. The illustration imagines one such fair with hundreds of Indians encamped on the river's edge, visiting the stalls of merchants offering goods to trade. Habitants, priests, military officers and government officials mingled with the Indians in a riot of sound and colour. The fairs lasted only a few years. The policy was abandoned because the trip east proved too long and too dangerous for Indians who had to circumvent Iroquois ambushes. At the same time, coureurs de bois were willing to carry goods directly to the natives.
Courtesy: Picture Division, Public Archives of Canada (C-11013)
