Réaume's Trading Post (

Smithsonian trinomial A Smithsonian trinomial (formally the Smithsonian Institution Trinomial System, abbreviated SITS) is a unique identifier assigned to archaeological sites in many states in the United States. They are composed of one or two digits coding for the sta ...

21WD15) was a

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...

established on the Leaf River in 1792 in what is now Wing River Township, Minnesota, United States. No visible traces remain at the site, which is on private property, but archaeological investigations have identified several features. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1974 for having state-level significance in the themes of commerce and

historical archaeology Historical archaeology is a form of archaeology dealing with places, things, and issues from the past or present when written records and oral traditions can inform and contextualize cultural material. These records can both complement and conflict ...

. It was nominated for its role in and research potential on the opening of the fur trade in north-central

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

Establishment

Joseph Réaume was trading among the

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

on Red Lake as early as 1785. Around 1789 he joined with John Sayer, Jean Baptiste Cadotte, Jr., and Gabriel Attina dit Laviolette to trade in the Mississippi headwaters region. In 1792 he accompanied Cadotte on an expedition down the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

into central Minnesota, which was then a hunting territory of the Dakota people. When Cadotte stopped to build a trading post on the

Crow Wing River The Crow Wing River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed November 29, 2012 tributary of the Mississippi River in Minnesota, United States. The river rises at an elevation ...

, Réaume continued upstream to the Leaf River where he established his own post. Both posts were on an established water route between

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

and the

Red River of the North The Red River (french: rivière Rouge or ) is a river in the north-central United States and central Canada. Originating at the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers between the U.S. states of Minnesota and North Dakota, it fl ...

. Réaume's post was abandoned at an unknown date and later burned to the ground. Réaume himself must not have spent long at the post, because he is recorded working on the

Assiniboine River The Assiniboine River (''; french: Rivière Assiniboine'') is a river that runs through the prairies of Western Canada in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. It is a tributary of the Red River. The Assiniboine is a typical meandering river with a sing ...

after 1794. In 1797 he joined the North West Company, serving as a clerk and interpreter. In the 1802–1804 diary of fur trader George Nelson, Réaume is referred to as "a respectable old gentleman" in charge of the Folle Avoine region and trading on the Snake River.

Excavation

Surveys in 1869 and 1901 first noted ditches, two diamond-shaped depressions, and piles of rock at the site, but these were presumed to be traces of a Native American fortification. It wasn't until 1972 that further surveys, correlated with historical narratives, suggested the site was that of Réaume's trading post. Those efforts identified a stockade comprising two angled palisades, a ditch, and possibly a blockhouse. Within the stockade were depressions indicating the presence of buildings, and piles of rock suggesting collapsed chimneys. On the riverbank were two canoe landing sites. The few artifacts recovered at the time included some bone fragments and a

nail Nail or Nails may refer to: In biology * Nail (anatomy), toughened protective protein-keratin (known as alpha-keratin, also found in hair) at the end of an animal digit, such as fingernail * Nail (beak), a plate of hard horny tissue at the tip ...

. Archaeologist Amelie Allard of the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

began conducting new studies of the site in 2011. Its exact location remains undisclosed as part of the agreement with the property owner.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reaume's Trading Post 1792 establishments in the United States Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota Commercial buildings completed in 1792 Geography of Wadena County, Minnesota Trading posts in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Wadena County, Minnesota

Establishment

Excavation

See also

References