Mushing

Mushing is a term for a sport or transport method powered by dogs. It includes carting, pulka, scootering, sled dog racing, skijoring, freighting, and weight pulling. More specifically, it implies the use of one or more dogs to pull a sled on snow or a rig on dry land.

France was the first European power established in the Canadian Shield; accordingly, the coureurs des bois and the voyageurs of New France used the French word "Marche!", meaning "go" or "run", to command to the team to commence pulling. "Marche!" became "Mush!" for English Canadians. "Mush!" is rarely used in modern parlance, however; "Hike!" is more common in English.

The practice of using dogs to pull sleds dates back to at least 2000 BC. It originated in Siberia or North America, where many American Indian cultures used dogs to pull loads.

In 1534, Jacques Cartier discovered the Gaspé Peninsula and claimed the land in the name of Francis I of France. For the better part of a century the Iroquois and French clashed in a series of attacks and reprisals. That's why Samuel de Champlain arranged to have young French men live with the natives, to learn their language and customs and help the French adapt to life in North America. These men, known as coureurs des bois (runners of the woods), were the first European mushers in North America, extended French influence south and west and in 1609, New France controlled all the Canadian Shield. In 1680, the intendant Duchesneau estimated that there was not one family in New France who did not have a “son, brother, uncle or nephew” among the Coureurs des Bois. During the winter, sled became the ordinary transportation in the north of New France.

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