Fort Bourbon was one of the forts built by La Vérendrye during his expansion of trade and exploration west from Lake Superior. Besides providing support for the important

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, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...

in what is now

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, La Vérendrye wanted to conduct exploration of potential routes for what he believed was an interior western sea. The name "Fort Bourbon" was also given to

York Factory York Factory was a settlement and Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) factory (trading post) located on the southwestern shore of Hudson Bay in northeastern Manitoba, Canada, at the mouth of the Hayes River, approximately south-southeast of Churchill. Yo ...

while it was occupied by the French. ''First Fort Bourbon'' was at the mouth of 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 ...

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 Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Manitoba, Canada. I ...

. The youngest La Vérendrye son,

Louis-Joseph Gaultier de La Vérendrye Louis-Joseph Gaultier de La Vérendrye (November 9, 1717 – November 15, 1761) was a French Canadian fur trader and explorer. He, his three brothers, and his father Pierre La Vérendrye pushed trade and exploration west from the Great Lakes. He, h ...

, led an initial exploration to the area in 1737. An

epidemic An epidemic (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics ...

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

thwarted the mission. In 1740 Louis-Joseph had a successful trip exploring the Saskatchewan River to a short distance west of Cedar Lake and mapping the site for the first

Fort Paskoya Fort Paskoya or Paskoyac or Pasquia was a French fort and trading post on the lower Saskatchewan River above Cedar Lake. Around 1740 La Vérendrye built four forts to control the chain of lakes west of Lake Winnipeg. These were Fort Pascoya, For ...

at the west end of Cedar Lake. On his return toward Lake Winnipeg, he mapped the area and established a site for the first Fort Bourbon. The map of 1740 indicated a site between the

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

and Lake Winnipeg, on the northern shore of the Saskatchewan or White River. In 1741, the elder La Vérendrye sent an expedition of men to establish the fort. ''Second Fort Bourbon:'' Fort Bourbon was moved upstream at an uncertain date. It was probablyElizabeth Browne Losey,"Let Them be Remembered:The Story of the Fur Trade Forts",1999,page 60 at the inflow of the Saskatchewan into Cedar Lake, the same location as first

. In 1758, when the French withdrew from the west during the Seven Years' War (French and Indian War), it was plundered and burned. In 1777, Todd & McGill had a post about a mile and a half upstream.

References

''Manitoba Historical Society - Names and Places''

''Manitoba Historical Society - Grand Rapids''
French forts in Canada French forts in North America Forts in Manitoba 1741 establishments in the French colonial empire {{NewFrance-stub