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70 the post of La Gabelle. From 1726 until 1731 he was in charge of a post on Lake Nipigon north of Lake Superior. Many Indians from the far west came to this post to trade. Their accounts of the vast country beyond, the river flowing westward into a great lake of bad tasting water (the Pacific, or Great Salt Lake), fired him with zeal to undertake the much talked of discovery of an overland way to the Western Ocean. One of the Indians, Ochagach by name, gave a very particular account of the country and even made a map on birch bark showing the great River of the West.

By the year 1729, Verendrye's plans had ripened and he made the long journey to Quebec to lay them before the Governor of New France, General Beauharnois. The latter received him with enthusiasm, approved his project and sent an urgent request to the court at Versailles for the necessary official sanction and for financial aid.

But conditions in France had changed. The Regency was at an end. Louis XV had come of age and he and his kingdom were ruled by the agend and parsimonious minister, Cardinal Fleury. France moreover, was staggering under the crushing load of debt bequeathed by the wars and follies of the previous regimes. Still, the discovery of a highway to the sea, and the vast acquisition of territory consequent to such explorations, offered advantages not to be ignored. In view of this, the court granted to the Sieur de la Verendrye its official permission to make the exploration at his own expense, and to take possession of all newly discovered territories in the name of the King. In return he was to be granted exclusive fur trading privileges in the countries visited.

Naturally, Verendrye's resources were not great enough to finance such an undertaking, but with this fur trading monopoly as a bait, he was able to secure the backing of certain Montreal merchants. They cared nothing for his route to the Pacific but from reports of the vast region into which he was going, they believed