USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Coureurs des bois were itinerant, unlicenced fur traders from New France . They were known as “wood-runners” to the English on Hudson Bay and “bush-lopers” to the Anglo-Dutch of New York.

Detailed explanation-2: -coureur de bois, (French: “wood runner”) French Canadian fur trader of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Most of the coureurs de bois traded illicitly (i.e., without the license required by the Quebec government).

Detailed explanation-3: -Coureurs de bois (koo-wheres duh bwah) means “runners of the woods.” These men went out from French settlements to trade for animal furs with Native Americans. Their travels took them through the land that is now Michigan. Many of them married women from the Native-American tribes.

Detailed explanation-4: -Notable examples. Most coureurs des bois were primarily or solely fur-trade entrepreneurs and not individually well known. The most prominent coureurs des bois were also explorers and gained fame as such. Étienne Brûlé was the first European to see the Great Lakes.

Detailed explanation-5: -What is the difference between the coureurs des bois and the voyageurs? The coureurs des bois were active during the French Regime. They were small businessmen trapping fur animals and trading. The voyageurs, for their part, were hired hands.