Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 26.djvu/94

76 the autumn he ascended the Assiniboine to where Portage la Prairie now is and there established Fort La Reine. That same year he established Fort Rouge on the Red River of the North, at the mouth of the Assiniboine—the present site of Winnipeg. These activities constituted a long step in establishing the great route of the North, which became a regular thoroughfare of the fur companies, and so continued for more than a century.

In the fall of that year Verendrye was reinforced by the arrival of the brothers de la Marque, bringing men and supplies. With this assistance he was able to undertake an expedition he must have contemplated with eagerness for some time. He had learned from the Indians of a certain people known as the Mantannes (Mandans or Hidatsas) who lived southward on the Missouri, and who, it was said, knew the way to the sea and would guide him to it. This people he was told differed from other Indians. They occupied permanent dwellings, cultivated the soil and many of them were fair in coloring, like the whites.

Accordingly, with ten of la Marque's men and ten of his own, accompanied by one of the brothers la Marque and by two of his sons, he set out to visit the Mandans. He knew nothing of the distance from the Red River Valley to the Pacific Ocean, or whether the intervening country would afford subsistence for the party. The hope that the Mandans could tell him, and might guide him, filled his breast as he started up the Assiniboine. It was a year of protracted drought and 'the streams were lower than usual in October, 1738. On this account, practically the entire journey was made from Fort La Reine overland, following generally a southwesterly direction until a point was reached near the south bend of the Mouse River loop, not far from the present town of Verendrye, North Dakota. There La Verendrye found the first Mandan village, and from there he sent one of his sons and a Frenchman to other