But he could not forget "The Forks"--the
Winnipeg of to-day--and so gave instructions to one of his lieutenants
to stop with a number of his men at the Forks, cut down trees, and erect
a fort for safety in coming and going up the Assiniboine. The Frenchmen
worked hard, and on the south side of the junction of the Red River with
the Assiniboine, erected Fort Rouge--the Red Fort. This fort, built in
1738, was the first occupation of the site of the City of Winnipeg. The
French Captain Verandrye, his sons and his men, made further journeys to
the far West, even once coming in sight of the Rocky Mountains. But
French Canada was doomed. In twenty years more Wolfe was to wrench
Canada from France and make it British. The whole French force of
soldiers, free traders, and voyageurs were needed at Montreal and
Quebec. Not a Frenchman seems to have remained behind, and for a number
of years the way to the West was blocked up. The canoes went to decay,
the portages grew up with weeds and underwood, and the Western search
for furs from Montreal was suspended.
THE INDIANS OF THE RED RIVER.
No man knew the Indian better than Andrew McDermott. No one knew better
how to trade and dicker with the red man of the prairie.
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