What was the primary activity of the Coureur de Bois?

• A. Governing the colony
• B. Building a flour mill
• C. Running into the forest to seek and trade with First Nations
• D. Collecting taxes for the King

Answer: (C)

Coureurs de bois were frontier traders and explorers whose everyday work centered on venturing into forests and interacting directly with First Nations to trade for furs. They traveled deep into the interior, learning routes, languages, and trade networks, and brought European goods to Indigenous communities in exchange for pelts like beaver. This hands-on, mobile role was what connected New France to distant hunting territories and fueled the fur trade that sustained colonies and shaped relationships with Indigenous peoples.

Governing the colony, building a flour mill, or collecting taxes were tasks tied to colonial administration and infrastructure, not the core activity of these traders. Their value lay in expanding trade routes and partnerships through direct, on-the-ground exchange in the woods.