voyageur

A woodsman, boatman, or guide employed by a fur company to transport goods and supplies between remote stations in Canada or the US Northwest.

The Canadian name of one of a class of men employed by the Northwest and Hudson’s Bay companies in transporting men and supplies, and, in general, in keeping up communication between their various stations. which was done exclusively in bark canoes, the whole region formerly under the exclusive control of these companies being almost everywhere accessible by water, with few and short portages. These men were nearly always French Canadians or half-breeds.

A traveler; — applied in Canada to a man employed by the fur companies in transporting goods by the rivers and across the land, to and from the remote stations in the Northwest.

A trader, particularly in furs, who worked (and explored) in the area of Canada and the northern United States from the 16th to early 19th centuries; they were often of Quebecois extraction.