When early French Explorers entered the Mattawa area , the Fur Trade began as a sideline to the search for an easier route west to China . Champlain convinced the French courts that fur was the value that the new world provided . He received permission to develop the industry and settlement to enrich France . Making use of the existing trade network , Mattawa became a place where furs were gathered for the last leg of the journey by canoe to Montreal .
Since , the French population was not large enough to physically cover the territories , aboriginal peoples
