Explorer.
Born on Île Dupas, son of Pierre Gaultier De Varennes La Vérendrye, he was commissioned a cadet in 1731, and he became a member of the contingent sent west under his father’s command. He wintered at Rainy Lake and in 1733 built a fort on the Winnipeg River. He accompanied his father to Fort Saint-Pierre (at Rainy Lake) to meet with warring Crees and Monsonis. He left his father to accompany the Aboriginals on the warpath against the Sioux, but later left that expedition and built Fort Maurepas on the Red River north of present-day Selkirk. He wintered at Fort Saint-Charles (Lake of the Woods) in 1735-36. He and a number of companions were killed by Indians on a small island on Lake of the Woods. He is commemorated by a monument in St. Boniface Cathedral Cemetery.
He is often regarded as the founder of the province of Manitoba.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Father Jean-Pierre Aulneau and J. B. La Vérendrye Memorial (Tache Avenue, Winnipeg)
Jean Baptiste Gaultier de La Vérendrye, Dictionary of Canadian Biography II, 238-40.
Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by John M. “Jack” Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 7 May 2021
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