Winnipeg River

The governor, however, could do nothing.

meanwhile jean la vrendrye's eldest son had advanced still further and had made his way to lake winnipeg he took with him a handful of toughened veterans and tramped on snow-shoes through the frozen forest four hundred and fifty miles in the stern mid-winter of a region bitterly cold Near the mouth of the Winnipeg River, where it empties into Lake Winnipeg, they found an ideal site for the fort which they intended to build.

Immediately they set to work, felled trees, drove stout stakes into the frozen ground for a stockade, put up a rough shelter inside, and had everything ready for La Varenge's arrival in the spring.

They named the post Fort Maurepas, in honour of a prominent minister of the King in France at the time.

Laverandrie knew that Indians were very much inclined to exaggerate.

They would never spoil a good story by limiting it to what they knew to be true.

they liked a joke as well as other people and when they found that the white men who visited them were eager to know all about the country and the tribes of the far interior they invented all sorts of impossible stories in which truth and fiction were so mingled that at length the explorers did not know what to believe much that was told him by the indians concerning the mandans la vrendrye knew could not possibly be true he thought that some of their stories were possibly correct the indians said that the mandans were white like himself that they dressed like europeans wore armor had horses and cattle cultivated the ground and lived in fortified towns their home was described as being far towards the setting sun on a great river that flowed into the ocean la vrendrye knew that the spaniards had made settlements on the western coast of america and he thought that the mysterious strangers might perhaps be spaniards at any rate they seemed to be white men and if the indian stories were even partially true they would be able to show him that way to the great water which it was the ambition of his life to find his resolve therefore was inevitable he would visit these white strangers whoever they might be and he had great hopes that they would be able to guide him to the object of his quest for some time however he was not able to carry out his intended visit to the mandans the death of his nephew la followed soon after by the murder of his son jean upset all his plans for a time further he had great difficulty in keeping peace among the indian tribes the chippewas and the crees who had always been friendly to the french were indignant at the treacherous massacre of the white men by the sioux and urged la vrendrye to lead a war-party against this enemy la vrendrye not only refused to do this himself but he told them that they must on no account go to war with the sioux he warned them that their great father the king of france would be very angry with them if they disobeyed his commands had they not known him so well the indians would have despised la vrendrye as a coward for refusing to revenge himself upon the sioux for the death of his son but they knew that whatever his reason might be it was not due to any fear of the sioux as time went on they thought that he would perhaps change his mind and again and again they came to him begging for leave to take the war-path the blood of your son they said cries for revenge we have not ceased to weep for him and for the other frenchmen who were slain give us permission and we will avenge their death upon the sioux la vrendrye however disregarding his personal feelings knew that it would be fatal to all his plans to let the friendly indians have their way an attack on the sioux would be the signal for a general war among all the neighboring tribes in that case his forts would be destroyed and the fur trade would be broken up in the end he and his men would probably be driven out of the western country and all his schemes for the discovery of the western sea would come to nothing it was therefore of the utmost importance that he should remain where he was in the country about the lake of the woods until the excitement among the indians had quieted down and there was no longer any immediate danger of war at length in the summer of seventeen thirty eight la felt that he could carry out his plan of visiting the mandans he left one of his sons pierre in charge of fort st charles and with the other two francois and louis set forth on his journey to the west Traveling down the Winnipeg River in canoes, they stopped for a few hours at Fort Maripos, then crossed Lake Winnipeg and paddled up the muddy waters of Red River to the mouth of the Assiniboine, the site of the present city of Winnipeg, then seen by white men for the first time.

Le Verre and Dree found it occupied by a band of Crees under two war chiefs.

Hence to Lake La Pleuie Fort, ninety-eight.

Thence to Fort Alexander down the Winnipeg River, one hundred twenty.

And at last from that place to St. Boniface, between thirty-five and thirty-seven.

Total, seven hundred leagues, traveled in four hundred and eighty-eight hours, or thirty-three days of forced marches.