Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (July 2014) |
Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye | |
---|---|
Trois-Rivières, New France | |
Died | 5 December 1749 | (aged 64)
Resting place | Notre-Dame Church (Montreal) |
Occupations |
|
Known for | exploration of lands beyond Great Lakes |
Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye (17 November 1685 – 5 December 1749) was a
He was the first known European to reach present-day North Dakota and the upper Missouri River in the United States. In the 1740s, two of his sons crossed the prairie as far as present-day Wyoming, United States and were the first Europeans to see the Rocky Mountains north of New Mexico.[2]
Early life
Born in Trois-Rivières, New France, Pierre was the eldest son of René Gaultier de Varennes, who came to Canada as a soldier in 1665, and Marie, the daughter of Pierre Boucher, the first Governor of Trois-Rivières. The Gaultier family were minor nobility or landowners who came from the Anjou area of France. Varennes and La Vérendrye were 2 of their estates.[1]
Pierre's father died when he was 3, and he was educated at the Jesuit seminary in Quebec. At the age of twelve he received a cadet's commission in the
At age 22, he enlisted in the French Army, and fought in
Explorations
In 1726 his fortunes changed when his brother Jacques-René was appointed the commander of the poste du Nord. This was the north shore of Lake Superior with three main posts:
He became involved with the quest to find a route to the Pacific, what was known as the Northwest Passage. Under the 1713
In 1688
La Vérendrye questioned the Natives who came to trade. He learned of the Mandan country on the upper Missouri River. These people were described as white men who lived in big houses. Auchagah, a Cree guide, made a map of the canoe routes between Lake Superior and Lake Winnipeg based on his and other Cree experience.[7][8] La Vérendrye judged correctly that Lake Winnipeg was the geographic key which had to be reached to allow further exploration.
In 1730 he met
In 1731 La Vérendrye, three of his sons and 50 engagés left Montreal. That autumn his son
In Paris, Maurepas was pushing for more exploration. By this time explorers had identified two candidates as the 'River of the West'. The correct one was the Saskatchewan River, which flows east into Lake Winnipeg. The other was the Missouri River in the Mandan country in what is now North Dakota, United States. The Mandan were said to live in big houses and resemble Frenchmen. La Vérendrye picked the Missouri. In September 1738 he reached Fort Maurepas on Lake Winnipeg and ascended the Assiniboine River to Portage la Prairie, where he built Fort La Reine just south of Lake Manitoba (October 1738).
Joining a large band of
In 1740 he returned to Quebec on business, and in 1741 started on his fourth and last journey west. From Fort La Reine he sent his son
In 1743 La Vérendrye resigned. He returned to New France and led the life of a gentleman while doing a considerable business since his sons remained as traders in the west. In 1746 he was reappointed to his old post. He was planning the fifth expedition, this time up the Saskatchewan River, when he died on December 5, 1749. Shortly before his death, he was awarded the Order of Saint Louis.[10]
Afterwards
From 1744 to 1746 Nicolas-Joseph de Noyelles de Fleurimont held the command of poste du Nord, but accomplished little. After the elder La Vérendrye's death, the new governor Jonquière forced his sons out of their father's patrimony.
Control of the west was given to Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre (1750–53). He built Fort La Jonquière somewhere on the Saskatchewan, but failed in an attempt to ascend that river. He was followed by Louis de la Corne, Chevalier de la Corne (1753-1756). He built Fort de la Corne on the Saskatchewan. In 1756 the western command was given to Pierre's son Louis-Joseph Gaultier de La Vérendrye, but he was unable to travel to the west. During the French and Indian War (1754-1763), the North American front of the Seven Years' War, the French gradually abandoned the western posts. With France's defeat, the British took control of New France territory east of the Mississippi River.
Legacy and honours
- Saint Boniface, Manitoba.
Numerous places were named in his honour:
- La Verendrye Provincial Park in Ontario
- La Vérendrye Wildlife Reserve in Quebec
- Boulevard de La Vérendrye in Montreal
- Boulevard La Vérendrye in Gatineau, Quebec
- The neighbourhood of Saint Bonifacedistrict in Winnipeg, and École LaVérendrye in the Earl Grey neighbourhood of Winnipeg
- La Vérendrye Hospital in Fort Frances, Ontario
- École Secondaire Catholique de LaVérendrye, Thunder Bay, Ontario
- Fort la Reine Museum, Portage la Prairie, Manitoba
- La Verendrye School, Portage la Prairie, Manitoba
- Verendrye, North Dakota - unofficial ghost town
- La Vérendrye Trail, Manitoba
- Mount Verendrye in British Columbia
See also
- His four sons:
- Jean Baptiste de La Vérendrye (b. 1713), killed by the Sioux
- Pierre Gaultier de La Vérendrye (b. 1714)
- François de La Vérendrye (b. 1715)
- Louis-Joseph Gaultier de La Vérendrye (b. 1717), reached the Rocky Mountains
- Christopher Dufrost de La Jemeraye (his nephew, b. 1708)
- Jean-Pierre Aulneau, a missionary killed with Jean Baptiste de La Vérendrye
- Charles-Michel Mesaiger, another missionary
- French colonization of the Americas
- History of North Dakota
References
- ^ a b Zoltvany, Yves F. (1974). "Gaultier de Varennes et de La Vérendrye, Pierre". In Halpenny, Francess G (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. III (1741–1770) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
- ^ The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.), 09 July 1925. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
- Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
- ^ a b Yves F. Zoltvany, “GAULTIER DE VARENNES ET DE LA VÉRENDRYE, PIERRE (Boumois),” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 3, University of Toronto/Université Laval
- ^ Arthur Silver Morton: A History of the Canadian West, Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1939, pp. 162, 169; reprinted University of Toronto Press, 1973, ed. Lewis G. Thomas
- ^ Morton, p. 164
- ^ "Maps and Nations Exhibit". The Newberry Library. 1999. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
- ^ Macpherson, K.R. "Auchagah". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. University of Toronto. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
- ^ Kalm, Pehr (1716-1779). "Travels into North America", Forster, John Reinhold (translator), p. 278, August,1749, Wisconsin Historical Society, 2003.
- ^ "The La Vérendryes: Family of Explorers". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
- Berthelette, Scott (Summer 2014). "The Making of a Manitoban Hero: Commemorating La Vérendrye in St. Boniface and Winnipeg, 1886–1938". Manitoba History. 74. Manitoba Historical Society: 15–25.
- Champagne, Antoine (1968–69). "The Vérendryes and Their Successors, 1727–1760". MHS Transactions. Series 3 (25). Manitoba Historical Society.
- Oregon Historical Quarterly. 1925.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) – has a translation of the journal of his visit to the Mandans
. 26 (2). - Heidenreich, C.E. (2015) [2008]. "Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La Vérendrye". The Canadian Encyclopedia (online ed.). Historica Canada.
- Reid, Russell (April 1965). "Vérendrye's Journey to North Dakota in 1738". North Dakota History. 32 (2): 117–129.
- Smith, George Hubert (1980). W. Raymond Wood (ed.). The Explorations of the La Vérendryes in the Northern Plains, 1738–43. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-4712-3. – has a translation of the journal with commentary.
- La Vérendrye, Pierre Gaultier de Varennes de (1927). Lawrence J. Burpee (ed.). Journals and Letters of Pierre Gaultier de Varennes de La Vérendrye and his Sons. Champlain Society.
- "Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de la Vérendrye". Canada: A People's History. 7 January 2001. CBC Television.
- "The Explorers: Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La Vérendrye 1732–1739". Virtual Museum of New France. Canadian Museum of History. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
- "Unit 2: Set 2. La Vérendrye visits the Mandan – Introduction". North Dakota History. State Historical Society of North Dakota. Retrieved 24 March 2019.