By
carrying his canoes over the portages, and running the rapids when
possible, he came to the head of Rainy River, went back again with his
furs, and after several such journeys, came down the Winnipeg River from
Lake of the Woods, to Lake Winnipeg, and after a while made a dash
across the stormy Lake Winnipeg and came to the Red River. The places
were all unknown, the Indians had never seen a white man in their
country, and the French Captain, with his officers, his men and a
priest, found their way to the Forks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers.
This was nearly three-quarters of a century before the first Selkirk
Colonists reached Red River. The French Captain saw only a few Indian
teepees at the Forks, and ascended the Assiniboine. It was a very dry
year, and the water in the Assiniboine was so low that it was with
difficulty he managed to pull over the St. James rapids, and reached
where Portage la Prairie now stands, and sixty miles from the site of
Winnipeg claimed the country for his Royal Master. Here he collected the
Indians, made them his friends, and proceeded to build a great fort, and
named it after Mary of Poland, the unfortunate Queen of France--"Fort de
la Reine," or Queen's Fort.
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