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Louis-Joseph Gaultier de La Vérendrye (November 9, 1717 – November 15, 1761) was a
French Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fre ...
fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...
r and
explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...
. He, his three brothers, and his father
Pierre La Vérendrye Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...
pushed trade and exploration west from the
Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...
. He, his brother, and two colleagues are thought to be the first Europeans to have crossed the northern
Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, a ...
and seen the
Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...
in
Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to t ...
. Louis-Joseph Verendrye was born in
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...
. He joined the family business in 1735, leaving
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...
with his father and travelling west to Fort St. Charles on
Lake of the Woods Lake of the Woods (french: Lac des Bois, oj, Pikwedina Sagainan) is a lake occupying parts of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba and the U.S. state of Minnesota. Lake of the Woods is over long and wide, containing more than 14,5 ...
. He assisted in re-establishing Fort Maurepas in 1736 and building Fort La Reine in 1738. From Ft. La Reine, he and his father travelled to visit the
Mandan The Mandan are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains who have lived for centuries primarily in what is now North Dakota. They are enrolled in the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation. About half of the Mandan still re ...
Native Americans along the Missouri River in
North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, ...
later that same year. In 1739 and 1740, he went north from Fort La Reine and explored
Lake Winnipeg Lake Winnipeg (french: Lac Winnipeg, oj, ᐑᓂᐸᑲᒥᐠᓴᑯ˙ᑯᐣ, italics=no, Weenipagamiksaguygun) is a very large, relatively shallow lake in North America, in the province of Manitoba, Canada. Its southern end is about north of ...
,
Lake Manitoba Lake Manitoba (french: Lac Manitoba) is the 14th largest lake in Canada and the 33rd largest lake in the world with a total area of . It is located within the Canadian province of Manitoba about northwest of the province's capital, Winnipeg, at ...
, Lake Winnipegosis and the
Saskatchewan River The Saskatchewan River (Cree: ''kisiskāciwani-sīpiy'', "swift flowing river") is a major river in Canada. It stretches about from where it is formed by the joining together of the North Saskatchewan and South Saskatchewan Rivers to Lake Winn ...
as far as the area of the present day The Pas.


Rocky Mountains journey

In 1743-44 he may have travelled southwest to what was probably Wyoming and came within sight of the Rocky Mountains. The documentation is poor and it may have been a different Vérendrye brother who made the journey.


Commandant posts

By late 1743, Louis-Joseph's father, Pierre La Vérendrye, was forced to resign as commandant of the poste de l’Ouest. The new commandant, Nicolas-Joseph de Noyelles de Fleurimont, retained the services of La Vérendrye’s sons during his tenure, which began in 1744. Louis-Joseph was post commander at three posts, the most important one being Fort Kaministiquia. The elder La Vérendrye again became western commandant in 1747, while Louis-Joseph returned to New France with Noyelles. He provided services to both Noyelles and Governor Beauharnois while expecting and intending to rejoin his father at the western posts. Before he made that return, his father returned east and died in 1749. Louis-Joseph spent the next several years settling his father's financial affairs, and subsequently entered into partnership with Luc de la Corne in the fur trade. His brother François was an interpreter for the partnership. The claim that he reached the
Saskatchewan River Forks Saskatchewan River Forks refers to the area in Canada where the North Saskatchewan and South Saskatchewan rivers merge to create the Saskatchewan River. It is about east of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. The province of Saskatchewan maintains the ...
in 1749 may be false. In 1756, Louis-Joseph obtained a three-year appointment as commandant of the poste de l’Ouest. He carried out this enterprise through agents, as he was personally involved in military matters during the Seven Years' War. He was succeeded as western commander in 1758 by Charles-René Dejordy de Villebon. After the conquest of Quebec he died while returning to France, when his ship, the '' Auguste'', sank off Cape Breton.


In popular culture

A fictionalized version of de la Vérendrye appears in the 2014 video game ''
Assassin's Creed Rogue ''Assassin's Creed Rogue'' is a 2014 Action-adventure game, action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Sofia and published by Ubisoft. It is the seventh major installment in the Assassin's Creed, ''Assassin's Creed'' series, and is set betw ...
'', where he is a member of the Colonial Brotherhood of Assassins. He is introduced as a supporting character with an antagonistic relationship with protagonist Shay Cormac, whom he consistently belittles and refers to as a 'cabbage farmer', and is known for his short temper and brusque and egotistical attitude. Following Shay's defection to the Templars, de la Vérendrye takes on the role of an antagonist, and in the penultimate mission of the game, is hunted down by Shay, Haytham Kenway, and
James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...
for his maps leading to the Precursor sites the Assassins and Templars seek. After cornering him off the coast of Newfoundland, Shay boards de la Vérendrye's ship, ''Le Gerfaut'', and mortally wounds him before throwing him overboard to his death.


See also

*Sons of Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye: ** Jean Baptiste de La Vérendrye (b. 1713) ** Pierre Gaultier de La Vérendrye (b. 1714) ** François de La Vérendrye (b. 1715) **Louis-Joseph Gaultier de La Vérendrye (b. 1717)


References

* * * * Grace Flandrau, ''The Verendrye Overland Quest Of the Pacific'', has a translation of his journal. * has a translation of the journal with commentary.


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:La Verendrye, Louis-Joseph Gaultier De Explorers of Canada Canadian explorers People of New France Explorers of the United States French explorers of North America French Canadian people of the French and Indian War 1717 births 1760 deaths