“American School Children are taught that Lewis and Clark were the first white men to penetrate the interior and therefore open up the West for the fur trade, and succeeding generations of setters.” These were comments made by Shebby Lee in April of 2008.  Lee, a historian, researcher, and writer made these remarks in a paper which she presented at the “Rivers and Plains” fortieth annual Dakota Conference held at Augustana College.  In her comments, she examined just why the American explorers were accorded such an unearned reputation.

Historical records clearly indicate that there were explorers, fur traders, and adventurous individuals who visited this area more than a century before the “Corps of Discovery” came up the Missouri River from St. Louis.

French explorers and fisherman arrived in what is now eastern Canada in the early 1500s and began almost immediately trading European goods for North American furs with Natives.  Furs of all kinds were valued in Europe, but a preference for hats made of felted beaver fur began to emerge about 1550 (although this was not yet the top hat of the late 1700s).

At that time, the demand for beaver pelts became so great that the animal became almost extinct on the European continent.  It was then that the merchants turned to North America and its seemingly inexhaustible supply of natural resources.

A French fur trading post was built at Quebec in 1608; however, the center of the North American operation shortly shifted to Montreal because it was closer to the fertile St. Lawrence valley.  From the beginning, the French employed Native Americans to do their trapping.

The French sent their representatives out onto the frontier to learn the language, trade routes, and customs of the natives.  One of their representatives may have been the first to search for the Northwest Passage in 1618.  The idea of this legendary passage was an important part of the “hopeful geography” which developed during the Enlightenment Period in America in the 1600s.

Jefferson was convinced that western North America was a mirror image of the east, with a single height of land—no higher than the Appalachians—parting the waters of the great western rivers.

The Lewis and Clark expedition (1804 – 1806) was predominantly a geographic endeavor.  Jefferson made it clear from the very beginning that the discovery of a practical route across the continent was the principal objective of the mission.  They were seeking to locate the evasive all-water route across the continent, the so-called “Northwest Passage.”

The instructions which Jefferson gave to Lewis and Clark left no doubt that the fur trade was already well established by 1803 when Meriwether Lewis departed the White House to begin his epic journey.  Jefferson’s attorney, General Levi Lincoln, had suggested that exploration and scientific discoveries were almost an afterthought, in case the much-desired water route to the West proved to be a fantasy.

As the “Corps of Discovery” progressed to the Pacific Ocean and back to St. Louis, Captain Lewis identified and recorded countless favorable habitats for fur bearing animals along the way, and Clark recommended likely locations for military forts to protect the anticipated fur trade — many of which were subsequently built.  They also reported many encounters with mountain men all along the route, many of who had been living and trapping in the West for decades.  Although, they never found the “Northwest Passage,” their reaching Oregon Country and the Purchase of the Louisiana Territory helped in the settlement of the West.

As early as 1738, French explorer Verendrye reached the village of the Mandan Indians.  In April of 1743 he buried a lead plate on a hill near the mouth of the Bad River with an inscription taking possession of the country in the name of the King of France.  He then returned to Canada

It was earlier that the first white man came to what is now South Dakota.  He was Charles LeSueur, a fur trader and politician.  He was a native of Montreal and visited the upper Mississippi River country as early as 1683.  From that time till 1700, he spent most of his time in the area and westward.  In 1699, he returned from France and built a fort on the Blue Earth River, a few miles from Mankato.  He later returned to France and furnished the information for a map of the central part of North America, including the eastern part of South Dakota.

The map shows Big Stone Lake and Lake Traverse, the Big Sioux River, James and Missouri Rivers, all in their proper relation and very well drawn.  The Omahas, Yanktons, and Tetons are identified.  There is a road shown on the map, extending westward from the mouth of the Wisconsin River, by way of Spirit Lake, Iowa, to Sioux Falls, and marked “track of the voyagers.”  Because of his accuracy and the details of his map, there is reason to believe that he was indeed the first white man to visit South Dakota.

In the early 1800s, Americans were adventurous and desired material possessions, and the Lewis and Clark Expedition was tailor-made to feed the America mythology.  If Lewis and Clark hadn’t lived, we would have had to invent them!

 

Author Clarence Shoemaker, originally published in the Gregory Times-Advocate on May 31, 2023