The Little Trading Post at Tadoussac

During the course of his first voyage, Champlain took the opportunity to explore the area. He would leave for a few days at a time but always returned to Tadoussac.

Among other locations, he explored the Saguenay River to Lac Saint-Jean. He arrived at Hochelaga (Montreal) and wanted to continue westward, but was stopped at the Lachine Rapids because he was travelling by rowboat and not canoe.

Indian Family Travelling by Canoe, Canada East, Quebec [ca. 1860]
National Archives of Canada/C-40205/Detail

Champlain became aware of the importance of the canoe for travel within the interior of the continent at Tadoussac. As soon as he arrived, he met with the Native Peoples, "then we saw nearly two hundred canoes, which was strange, because even though our rowboat was well-armed, they still went faster than us."

He also noticed that it was easier to handle a canoe over the small rapids. He added "with the canoes of the Sauvages we could go freely and quickly over all waters, small and large. And with the Sauvages and their canoes, we are able to see everything, good and bad."

Indian Camp, Tadoussac, Quebec
William James Topley/National Archives of Canada/PA-8680/Detail

The Little Trading Post at Tadoussac

"Furs from this northern region [Nipissing, Abitibi] were taken ultimately to Tadoussac [sic], on the north shore of the St. Lawrence at the mouth of the Saguenay. This location had been a North American marketplace long before the coming of the white man, and here, items, including sea shells from as far away as Florida, would be traded for prime beaver from as great a distance as Hudson's Bay. Champlain accidentally bisected this trade route when he settled on the St. Lawrence, and the Indians were very quick to see the advantage of trading for European goods in preference to sea shells."

Quotation from Murray Leatherdale, Nipissing from Brûlé to Booth, p. 12.

Reconstruction of Chauvin's House Built in 1600
Stands on the Site of the Original in Tadoussac.
National Archives of Canada/C-10256/Detail