The period prior to the exploration of the southern portion of Canada west of Lake Winnipeg was full of turmoil between England and France. They were often at war with one another and the competition to settle North America under their own flag became intense and bitter.
England already had many fur trading posts in Canada, and the French were eager for the profits of the fur trade as well. It was the French who had resolved to find a route from New France in eastern Canada to the fabled “Western Sea.” This sea was thought to be an outlet to the Pacific Ocean.
It was their plan to establish a string of forts and trading posts in the vast western Canadian wilderness. Pierre Verendrye’s expeditions, though never reaching the Western Sea, were largely responsible for the opening of central interior Canada to French control.
Pierre Verendrye was born in 1685 on the banks of the St. Lawrence River in eastern Canada. He entered the French army in 1697 at the age of twelve. His entire military career was served in Canada and France.
After a period of peace between the English and French, Verendrye returned to Canada to take up the fur trade. He accepted command of the Lake Nipigon (north of Lake Superior) trading center in 1726. From other explorers, he learned of a great lake and river that flowed from it through a “treeless country where roam herds of cattle (Bison).” This river, he was told, led to a “great salt sea.” This caused him to have a significant interest in the area and he immediately decided to find a route to the Western Sea for France.
After receiving reports from Verendrye, Governor Marquis de Beauharnois of New France decided to interview him in 1730. Verendrye was appointed commissioner of a project to find the Western Sea. For this, he received financial support from local merchants who wanted a share of the fur trade.
From 1730 (forty-six years before the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia) the elder Verendrye, and his four sons began pushing French trade and exploration west from Lake Superior out onto the Canadian prairie.
After a month of storms, bad weather, traveling over 200 miles by canoe, many difficult portages, constant annoyance of biting flies and mosquitoes — the men broke into open mutiny and rebellion. Some feared “evil spirits” and others did not want to continue so late in the season (August 26, 1731).
On June 8, 1732, exactly one year after the expedition began, they resumed their travel westward. One month later, they arrived at the site where they built a new fort. A profitable fur trade was developed and the loyalties of the Cree, traditional enemies of the Sioux, were won with gifts of guns and shot.
Going west with an escort of 50 men and canoes, the expedition reached “The Lake of the Woods” and followed along the present Canadian-American border. A fort was established in Minnesota where they spent the winter and established the fur trade in that area.
After spending the winter of 1734-35 in Montreal, Verendrye returned to Fort St. Charles (the second Fur Post established by Verendrye and located on Lake of the Woods) on September 6, 1735. It was at this site on June 22, 1736, that Verendrye learned of the death of one of his sons, plus 20 others with him. The Sioux had attacked, and the men were found carefully laid in a circle with their decapitated heads beside them, wrapped in beaver skins.
During the difficult winter of 1736-37 at Fort St. Charles, Verendrye learned about a tribe further in the west called the Mandans. They were reported to be living in forts and tilling the ground. He inquired about the great river the Mandan lived on (Missouri River in North Dakota) and wondered if it was the river to the west they were seeking. He was told that it ran south and discharged into the Pacific, where many folks lived.
On October 18, 1738, the elder Verendrye and guides left Fort La Reine (located at the south end of Lake Manitoba) for the Mandans. He was looking for the rumored “River of the West” that was thought to flow into the Pacific Ocean. They traveled toward the Pembina River, around the Turtle Mountains, and passed Bismarck, North Dakota. On November 25th, they met a Mandan chief who took them to the first fort of the Mandans.
The Mandans impressed Verendrye, as they lived in large comfortable homes, arranged in neat little streets inside a well-built fort. He remained on the treeless plain for much of the winter and learned of other tribes even further to the west of the Mandans.
The records of the Verendrye’s, their travels across the middle of North America are at times incomplete and are subject to conflicting interpretations. However, according to North Dakota records and historians, the elder Verendrye was the first white man to enter North Dakota in 1738 when he approached within a day’s journey of the upper Missouri River. Verendrye returned to Fort Reine, very ill and needed time to recuperate.
In 1739, the first European crossing of the Great Plains was made by Pierre Antoine and Paul Mallet who traveled from the Mississippi River to Santa Fe.
The trip to the prairies was not profitable since there were not many furs to be traded and the expedition proceeded under a cloud of debt. After going to Montreal to clear up some legal issues involving his debtors, Verendrye returned to Fort Reine on October 13, 1741. During this time, his son, Pierre, returned to the Mandan in the west and was able to determine that the Missouri River was not the river of the west. It flowed south and into the Gulf of Mexico, not the Western Sea. He returned to Fort Reine with horses he had received from the western tribes and was responsible for bringing the first horses to the Canadian prairies.
Wintering at Fort Reine in 1741-42, Verendrye sent two of his sons, Louis-Joseph and Francois, for a third expedition to the Mandans. They returned to the Mandans in North Dakota on May 19, 1742.
On their way to the Mandans, the sons of the celebrated French explorer, Verendrye, camped at the base of “Crowhigh Butte” (now called “Crow Flies High Butte”). The 565-foot high butte dominates the surrounding plains and was an ideal vantage point. This spot, on the left bank of the upper Missouri River, marks the spot where they camped during their explorations in 1742, more than 60 years prior to the expedition of Lewis and Clark.
Because of the difficulty of identifying the places and Native tribes in their reports, there is no certainty as to the route they took or how far their traveled. We do know that their travels took them into North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, and South Dakota. They were likely the first European explorers to view the Rocky Mountains.
The “Verendrye National Monument” was established on June 29, 1917 in North Dakota. It is one of the most important landmarks associated with the Verendrye explorations. This may indeed be the site where the Verendryes climbed to view the Little Missouri Valley in 1742.
Author Clarence Shoemaker, originally published in the Gregory Times-Advocate on November 29, 2023