Louis-Joseph Gaultier de La Vérendrye

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Louis-Joseph Gaultier de La Vérendrye (born November 9, 1717 on Île aux Vaches, Lac Saint-Pierre , Québec , † November 15, 1761 at Cape Breton Island ) was a French-Canadian explorer and fur trader .

biography

Map of the voyages of discovery of the de La Vérendrye family

Louis-Joseph's father, the explorer and fur trader Pierre Gaultier de Varennes , had him instructed in mathematics and cartography . In 1735 he left Montréal with his brothers and father for the west. They wintered at Fort Saint Charles on Lake of the Woods . In the fall of 1736, his father sent him to the Red River of the North to have Fort Maurepas rebuilt there. The following March, his father arrived at the fort to attend a conference with the Assiniboine and Cree Indians. He then went on a short trip to Lake Winnipeg and returned to the fort. In 1738 Louis-Joseph and his father reached the Missouri River and encountered Mandan villages in what is now North Dakota . This was the first European contact with this people. Then they traveled to Fort La Reine in what is now Portage la Prairie . In 1739 his father sent him on expeditions to the area west of Lake Winnipeg. In 1740 he took command of Fort Saint Charles. He spent the winter of 1741 to 1742 at Fort La Reine.

On April 29, 1742, Louis-Joseph and his brother François went on a journey to the territory of the Mandan. In July, accompanied by Indian guides, he set off towards the west-southwest. On his journey he met several Indian peoples, including the Absarokee , the Cheyenne and the Kiowa . On January 1, 1743, Louis-Joseph and his group came within sight of a mountain range that could have been either the Black Hills or the Big Horn Mountains . The members of Louis-Joseph's expedition could thus be the first Europeans to set foot on Montana and Wyoming and see the Rocky Mountains . In late February 1743, Louis-Joseph buried a lead plate near Fort Pierre in what is now Stanley County to claim the area for the French crown. This plate was found on 16 February 1913 and is now owned by the Historical Society South Dakota State Historical Society . On July 2nd, Louis-Joseph's expedition returned to Fort La Reine. The discoveries made on these trips contributed significantly to the geographical understanding of the Central Plains at that time, ensured the French the loyalty of the Indian tribes, and paved the way for further French and later British expeditions in the area.

In 1747, the then governor of New France, Charles de la Boische, sent Louis-Joseph and his brother Pierre on a journey to improve the fur trade with the Indians in the western colonies. Under Louis-Joseph's direction, the French merchants quickly advanced into the territory that the Hudson's Bay Company had previously claimed for itself.

In 1757 he returned to Québec. In 1758 he took part in an expedition to the Mohawk area . After the members of the Vérendrye family were removed from important posts in the western part of the French colonies by the intendant François Bigot for political reasons , Louis-Joseph began working again as a fur trader. In the course of the Seven Years' War , Louis-Joseph transported Indians from Fort Michilimackinac to Montreal in 1759 to let them fight against the British and their allies at Lake Champlain . On October 15, 1761, he went on a trip to France. On November 15, his ship was destroyed in a storm near Cape Breton Island . Louis-Joseph and his crew have been missing since then.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Dan L. Thrapp: Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography: PZ . U of Nebraska Press, 1991, ISBN 0-8032-9420-4 , pp. 1478 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e J. M. Bumsted: Dictionary of Manitoba Biography . Univ. of Manitoba Press, 1999, ISBN 0-88755-318-4 , pp. 138 .
  3. ↑ Junius P. Rodriguez: The Louisiana Purchase: A Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia . ABC-CLIO, 2002, ISBN 1-57607-188-X , p. 256 .
  4. ^ A b Patrick C. Douaud: The Western Métis: Profile of a People . University of Regina Press, 2007, ISBN 0-88977-199-5 , pp. 38 .
  5. ^ Jacques Lacoursière: Histoire populaire du Québec: Des origines à 1791 . Les éditions du Septentrion, 1995, ISBN 2-89448-050-4 , pp. 212 .
  6. ^ Derek Hayes: Historical Atlas of Canada . Douglas & McIntyre, 2006, ISBN 1-55365-077-8 , pp. 86 .
  7. ↑ Michael P. Malone: Montana: A History of Two Centuries . University of Washington Press, 1991, ISBN 0-295-97129-0 , pp. 24, 25 .
  8. ^ Bill Marshall: France and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History: a Multidisciplinary Encyclopedia . ABC-CLIO, 2005, ISBN 1-85109-411-3 , pp. 1183 .
  9. ↑ Rick Newby: The Rocky Mountain Region . Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004, ISBN 0-313-32817-X , pp. 264 .
  10. ↑ Nancy Capace: Encyclopedia of Wyoming . North American Book Dist LLC, 2001, ISBN 0-403-09613-8 , pp. 73 .
  11. ^ Maurice Isserman: Exploring North America, 1800-1900 . Infobase Publishing, 2009, ISBN 1-4381-0184-8 .
  12. ^ Robert Prévost: Mémorial de Canadiens français aux USA . Les éditions du Septentrion, 2003, ISBN 2-89448-352-X , p. 103 .
  13. ^ Jacques Lacoursière, Jean Provencher, Denis Vaugeois: Canada-Québec 1534-2000 . Les éditions du Septentrion, 2001, ISBN 2-89448-186-1 , p. 113, 114 .
  14. ^ RT Naylor: Canada in the European Age, 1453-1919 . McGill-Queen's Press, 2006, ISBN 0-7735-7546-4 , pp. 100 .
personal data
SURNAME La Vérendrye, Louis-Joseph Gaultier de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French-Canadian explorer and fur trader
DATE OF BIRTH November 9, 1717
PLACE OF BIRTH Île aux Vaches
DATE OF DEATH November 15, 1761
Place of death Cape Breton Island