FMCA.CA - About TIV

The Thousand Island Voyageurs (TIV) is a chapter of the Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA). The chapter was founded on June 13, 1987 to promote motor coaching as a way of life and a fun activity for family recreation.

Your FMCA membership benefits are fully realized with your participation in one, or more, of the chapters. Each Chapter provides members an opportunity to use their coaches to enjoy the fellowship of old and new friends with a common interest without driving great distances.

Members of the Thousand Island Voyageur chapter are numerous and varied. Most are from northern New York State, eastern Ontario and southern Quebec. There are full timers, part timers and snowbirds, each contributing to form a unique blend of experiences found exclusively in our chapter.

Each chapter of FMCA develops its own personality and techniques for fun. The rally masters of the TIV chapter strive to make each and every rally special and memorable. Four rallies are organized annually, normally two in the USA and two in Canada. Go to a rally. Join us! Anyone can attend.

More than a name... it's a modern tradition!

When the northern portion of North America was first colonized by Europeans, there were no roads of any remark. Lakes and rivers served as the highways of commerce. Along these extensive watery highways the Europeans travelled with their trade goods to exchange for furs. They brought beads, cloth, steel axes, hatchets, guns and demon rum. The furs they brought back were shipped to Europe where they fetched high prices.

The King of England licensed two trading companies to trade for furs in the New World. The Great Northern and Hudson Bay companies formed chains of trading posts throughout the Great Lakes regions. They were located northward to Hudson and James Bay, and ultimately, westward to the Pacific coast. Tons of supplies had to be transported by river to the trading posts and furs brought back for shipment to Europe.

The mightiest freighters of the Ottawa and St Lawrence Rivers at the time were the thirty five to fifty foot canoes of the Coureurs de Bois, the Voyageurs. These hardy French-Canadian entrepreneurs formed companies in what is now Montreal, contracting their services to the two competing companies. Twenty or more paddlers would haul five or more tons of freight to settlements such as Fort York (Toronto), Fort Detroit and Fort Chicago. When rapids prevented their passage, they portaged carrying freight packs frequently weighing as much as the men carrying them.

The next time you travel to the region and the 1000 Islands Bridge, look down at the tranquil waters below. Reflect for a moment on those brave, hardy men who helped open up North America, braving both treacherous waters and the threat of ambush or attack as they applied their trade.

Today, we are the modern Voyageurs, travelling through the lands opened up by people such as those voyageurs who preceded us. As we travel for pleasure to increase our knowledge, making friends on both sides of the St Lawrence, we bear our name proudly as the "Thousand Island Voyageurs"