While Frenchmen had been trading and living among the natives since the earliest days of the colony, coureurs des bois reached their apex during the second half of the 17th century. After 1681, the independent coureur was gradually replaced by the state-sponsored voyageurs, who were the canoe travel workers of licensed fur traders. Coureurs des bois had therefore lost their importance within the fur trade by the early 18th century. However, even while their numbers were dwindling, the coureur des bois developed as a symbol of the colony, creating a lasting myth that would continue to define New France for centuries.