DCHP-3

pose

[< Cdn F "a laying or setting down" < F poser set down, deposit]
Fur Trade, Hist.
DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

Entry from the DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.

1n.

one of several stopping places established on a long portage (def. la). See 1933 quote.

See: portage ((n.))(def. 1a),rest(def. 1),stage ((n.))(def. 5b)

Quotations

1793
The Portage is full of hills is divided by the voyageurs into sixteen Poses or resting places. . . .
1860
This rocher de Otamigan is in a swamp close to one of these poses.
1933
A pose was not merely a resting place; it was also a temporary depot, and all the packs were brought to the first pose before any were carried to the second. This arrangement was designed as a security against possible Indian raids. Inasmuch as the same places were used as poses by all who passed, it came to be the common thing to measure the length of a portage by the number of poses along the trail. The distance between two poses varied between six to eight hundred yards, depending upon conditions on the trail.
1961
. . . he puts down his load at a place known as a "posé" [sic].
2n.

the distance or track between two such stopping places.

See: lift(def. 1),rest(def. 2),stage ((n.)),stopping-place(def. 3)

Quotations

1798
A Rest, or Pose, is the distance the cargo of a canoe is carried from place to place and then rest.
1824
The Portage . . . is crossed in two poses or lifts; at each end of the pose a guard is stationed for the security of the property while the people transport the Canoes and Baggage.
1929
Such a load was carried by the voyageur at a kind of a dog trot, by "poses" or "lifts" of 500 to 800 yards if the portage was a long one.