2009-2010: Special Exhibitions Gallery E
In the late 18th century, the Montréal-based North West Company embarked on a journey that would link, for the first time, the future country of Canada from sea to sea to sea. Aboard their fragile birchbark canoes, fearless young men pushed trade boundaries to barter for furs with First Peoples in Canada's North and West. Through their journeys, these adventurers explored new territories and opened trade routes that helped lay the foundations of the country as we know it today.
Featuring about 250 historic artifacts, the exhibition looks at the explorers' accomplishments, the fur trade, and living and working conditions of partners and clerks, voyageurs, Aboriginal trappers and “country wives.”