What is the verendrye plate?
Vérendrye. PlaTe. The Vérendrye plate, placed in 1743, is a two-sided lead marker found in South Dakota with wording on one side (left) claiming the area for France, and hand carved wording on the reserve side naming the explorers who placed it. Photos courtesy of the South Dakota State Historical Society.
Who found the verendrye plate?
Hattie Foster, center, and George O’Reilly, right, were two of the young people who found the Verendrye plate on the hills above Fort Pierre. Also shown is Leslie Stroup, left. South Dakota State Historical Society photo.
What year did the La Verendrye brothers came to South Dakota?
We marched “over magnificent prairies where wild animals were plentiful,” wrote François La Verendrye. He was a French-Canadian. He and his brother, Louis-Joseph, were on a trek across South Dakota. It was 1743.
Where can I see the Verendrye plate?
Today, the Verendrye Plate is displayed at the Museum of the South Dakota State Historical Society at the Cultural Heritage Center, open daily, at 900 Governors Dr. in Pierre. A replica of the plate is also on display at the Verendrye Site.
Where did the Vérendryes reach?
The Vérendryes reached either the Big Horn Mountains, the Laramie Mountains or the Black Hills. The Big Horns are in the north Center. To the west is the Big Horn Basin and then the Yellowstone country. The Laramies are a projection of the Colorado Rockies on the south.
Where did the lead plate come from?
The lead plate was found at Pierre, South Dakota, in 1913 and is now in the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre. It is six by eight inches and similar to ones placed in the Ohio Valley.
Who were the Chevalier de La Vérendrye’s brothers?
The first journal describes the elder Vérendrye’s journey to the Mandans and the second “the Expedition of the Chevalier de la Vérendrye and one of his brothers to reach the Sea of the West.” The brothers are otherwise unnamed. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography gives some evidence for Louis-Joseph as the Chevalier and François for the brother.