Engagé, is an 18th-19th century
Modern French term denoting a man, (usually
French-Canadian), who is
engaged, i.e., employed, with the promise of a steady salary to
canoe (or row a boat) and handle all transportation aspects of river and lake-chain travel (maintenance, loading and unloading, propelling, steering,
portaging, camp set-up, maps, interaction with Native American people, etc.) in the North American frontier, particularly within the
fur trade. It also applied to the men who staffed the
pirogues on the
Lewis and Clark Expedition. Compare with the merchant voyageur and seafaring
sailor.