Two 19th century French trappers descend the icy Missouri River. Near the end of a long, early winter day of travel the Haute Louisian in the bow is enjoying one of the few luxuries to be found in his hard life; a smoke from his clay pipe. No one cherished a pipe of tobacco more than the French trappers, traders and voyageurs. The voyageurs broke their journeys up into breaks or 'pipes' much as we do a coffee break today. Rather than miles, a journey was often described as so many 'pipes' to define distance. Both men are clad in blanket coats, one with a hood attached for winter the other with a caped capote trimmed with blue ribbon. His long queue is contained in a fur trimmed Canadian cap and his hands are kept warm in woolen mittens perhaps made by his Indian wife. It was common to have one man pole while the other paddled the pirogues or dugout canoes. One had to be vigilant to the icicle clad snags in the river. Ice is also beginning to form along the banks and it won't be long before the river freezes over and the long winter will set in in earnest.
