Beaver Club

Beaver Club

Beaver Club, Montréal club, founded in 1785. Admission was restricted to fur trade veterans of the pays d'en haut. The club embraced as members wealthy fur merchants, retired traders and well-connected wintering partners (principally, but not exclusively, from the North West Company); as honorary members, ships' captains and army officers; and as guests, illustrious persons. It embodied the heart of Montréal society, with winter bacchanalian feasts its principal activity. The club evidently ceased functioning around 1825, to be revived briefly in 1827. Its motto was "Fortitude in Distress."