DCHP-1 Online
piece [< Cdn F pièce] Fur Trade, Hist. 
1 n. a pack of goods or furs weighing about 90 pounds.
See also: Indian pack package (def. 1) pacton (def. 2) pack ((n.)) (def. 1 a) fur pack
- 1761 (1901) The freight of a canoe . . . consist of sixty pieces, or packages of merchandize, of the weight of from ninety to a hundred pounds each.
- 1840 (1955) All their aim is to get through the voyage as quick as possible their cry is the D----l take the hindermost helter, skelter, bing, bang, the pieces here & there on the portage, pieces containing the most brittle ware are as tenderly dashed on the rocks' as two or three pieces of bar iron fasted together.
- 1874 (1956) Shipped the Battle River furs, amounting to 22 pieces. . . .
- 1965 . . . it takes but little imagination to see the colourfully dressed voyageurs packing their heavy "pièces" . . . along the rocky river bank.
2 n. See quote.
- 1941 Piece . . . At some posts . . . referred to the number of skins a hunter brought in.
- 1761 (1901) The freight of a canoe . . . consist of sixty pieces, or packages of merchandize, of the weight of from ninety to a hundred pounds each.