The Last Voyageur

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.

Boatman's Quarterly review: "It will keep you on the edge of your easy chair. You'll want to read this Amos Burg book by Vince Welch more than once, that's for sure." CLICK HERE to download the first 45 pages from, The Last Voyageur (Provide us with a little information and we'll send your download directly to your inbox) “What is this thing in me that enables me to leave comforts and a wide variety of entertainments and feel a strange satisfaction wandering down a cheerless and indifferent river, enduring hardships and eating very little and exposed to all sorts of weather . . . tonight even as I sit shivering and listening to the patter of the rain, I see myself in many places all over the world, wandering like a gull on the winds, working with the ideals of Truth and Beauty as part of my vision to bring these things back with me for other people to see.” -- Amos Burg, Yukon River, July 1928 * Amos Burg ran all the major rivers of the West when they still flowed freely and potential danger was just around the next bend * Part early 20th-century history, part adventure, part biography of the West’s first commercial outdoor guide Amos Burg (1901--1986), a native of Portland, Oregon, was the first to complete transits of the free-flowing, undammed Snake and Columbia Rivers by canoe, and in 1938 he became the first to navigate the length of the Colorado River in a rubber raft. In his daring explorations of waterways from the Southwest up through Canada and into Alaska, Burg is considered to be the only person known to have run all major Western rivers from source to mouth. In The Last Voyageur: Amos Burg and the Rivers of the West author Vince Welch, himself a river guide, weaves a passionate and well-researched narrative using extensive material from Burg’s own rich archives. History buffs, paddlers, and adventure readers alike will delight in this remarkable regional history of the larger-than-life Burg, a quintessential man of the American West and one of the last “voyageurs” of North America’s great waterways.

Alexander Robinson spent over a half century in the fur trade. It was an unforgiving business that literally killed many more than one participant who made a lone misstep. It was the kind of profession that you learned by doing. If you were fortunate, you had a mentor to teach you the business of staying alive and prospering on the far foreword edge of civilization. You learned how to handle a whole variety of diseases, gun shot wounds, knife wounds, plus the occasional attack by large animals. You also learned to deal with varying Indian Tribes by learning their customs and language. By the time you learned your craft the winds of history had pushed the business further west. Alexander Robinson chose to stay with his family and farm for a living. It would prove to be a wise choice.

A Quaker’s faith is tested during the War of 1812 in this “stunning work of historical fiction” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). Mark Greenhow, a naive and peaceful Quaker, lands on the shores of North America on the eve of the War of 1812, thinking only of finding the missing sister, a missionary whose adventurous spirit he has always admired. His pursuit begins by hitching 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 the pious each engaged in their own battles to maintain their particular way of life. With Elphinstone’s crisp and effortless prose, coupled with her riveting, organic way with description, her fully drawn characters, and the history of the region, she “brings the landscapes and peoples of 1800s Canada back to thrilling life in her pacy, colorful and intelligent epic: the finest trip along these rivers since Brian Moore’s great Black Robe” (The Independent).

Voyageur Classics is a series of special versions of Canadian classics, with added material and new introductory notes. In this bundle we find five biographical and autobiographical titles that shed light on some of Canada’s most important figures at crucial times in the country’s development. William Kilbourn brings to life the rebel Canadian hero William Lyon Mackenzie: able political editor, first mayor of Toronto, and the gadfly of the House of Assembly. The Scalpel, the Sword celebrates the turbulent career of Dr. Norman Bethune, a brilliant surgeon, campaigner for socialized medicine, and communist. Elizabeth Simcoe’s diary, describing Canada from 1791 to 1796, is history written as it was being made, an account instilled with excitement and delight. And finally, two titles by the legendary Grey Owl tell his own astonishing story and advocate for a closeness with and respect for nature. Each of these books is an essential classic of Canadian literature. Includes The Firebrand Mrs. Simcoe’s Diary The Scalpel, the Sword The Men of the Last Frontier Pilgrims of the Wild

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

Brian, his mom, and his sister Jennie have left their Manhattan home for a canoe trip in Northern Quebec in order to scatter the ashes of Brian's father, whose most cherished memories were of his childhood summers spent at a boy scout camp. Although the trip starts out well enough, it soon becomes clear that the 3 are in over their heads-literally, in Brian's case-when they take a wrong turn into rapids! It is only the quick action of an old man named Pierre that saves Brian from drowning. Seeing just how ill-equipped the family is to complete their journey safely, Pierre kindly offers to guide them to their destination. Along the way Brian faces his grief and his deepest fears of life without his father while developing a friendship with Pierre, who turns out to be somebody far more important than Brian could have imagined...

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.