Grace Flandreau

“ The Verendryes, father and sons, have much claim to fame as pathfinders of the Northwest. They discovered the Red River of the North, the Assiniboine and Mouse Rivers, and the upper Missouri—that is to say, the great plains country of northwestern Minnesota, Manitoba, North Dakota, northern South Dakota, and eastern Montana. They established a post (Fort La Reine) 500 miles farther west than any that had been before located. In their quest for a route to the western ocean, they went more than half the distance from the Atlantic to the Pacific ”

“ France moreover, was staggering under the crushing load of debt bequeathed by the wars and follies of the previous regimes. Still, the discovery of a highway to the sea, and the vast acquisition of territory consequent to such explorations, offered advantages not to be ignored. In view of this, the court granted to the Sieur de la Verendrye its official permission to make the exploration at his own expense, and to take possession of all newly discovered territories in the name of the King. In return he was to be granted exclusive fur trading privileges in the countries visited. ”

“ We are not concerned here with the interesting reports and recommendations made by Charlevoix. though partially carried out, the resultant activities did not promote the western exploration. It often seems as if important achievements wait for the men especially fitted—one might almost say inspired or destined to bring them about. At any rate, no progress toward the discovery was made until a Canadian officer, the Sieur de la Verendrye, took up the quest with an ardent enthusiasm which was to endure for many years and meet without flagging many heart breaking difficulties. ”

“ Then winter again. Verendrye's partners had sent him no spring supplies and only one of the four canoe loads expected in the fall reached him. Another long Canadian winter, with the savage cold creeping through every crack of the windowless log fort, separated by hundreds of miles of ice-bound wilderness from the small French settlements on the Great Lakes. ”

“ The Crees and Assiniboines were eager to join with the French in a war of revenge upon the Sioux. This Verendrye would not permit, although in refusing he risked incurring the scorn and enmity of his allies. Such a war would seriously jeopardize further westward exploration, and would inevitably result in the death and torture of such Frenchmen as might be found in the Sioux country. ”

“ When the fur traders had cleared the streams of beaver and the plains of buffalo, the region that is now the Dakotas and Montana, was regarded for the most part, as a barren no man's land to be got over as quickly as possible in the rush to the Pacific. ”

“ They cared nothing for his route to the Pacific but from reports of the vast region into which he was going, they believed
Map that Chief Ochagach drew on birch bark for Verendrye at post on Lake Nipigon. that these virgin hunting grounds would yield rich returns and were willing to advance the necessary funds. The plan was to establish posts for trade with the Indians and to send peltries to Montreal each summer. That Verendrye regretted the necessity which obliged him to place the success of his mission at the mercy of these associates is apparent from his journal. ”

“ Their first objective was the Mandan village they had already visited in 1738, where they expected to obtain guides. The expedition left Fort La Reine and followed Mouse River past the present town of Verendrye to the Missouri.
The Mandans, it appeared, knew nothing of the sea, but they supplied the Frenchmen with two men who were to conduct them westward to a tribe obscurely referred to as the Horse Indians, [2] a people who, it was believed, had knowledge of the western ocean. ”

“ Where crops had thriven under the rude culture of the Indian women, crops on a far greater scale would-flourish under the advanced methods of cultivation; where buffalo, antelope and deer, elk and mountain sheep had found ample sustenance, the livestock of the pioneer would live and multiply. ”

“ Besides the disaffection of his associates Verendrye now had to cope with the importunities of the Assiniboines and Crees, who demanded that he obtain military protection for them from the Sioux. The unavenged insult offered to the whites by the latter had, they alleged, increased the audacity^of their enemies to a dangerous degree.
Early in the summer of 1737, Verendrye set out again for Montreal leaving his three remaining sons and most of his voyageurs among the Indians. This journey seems to have had happier results. ”