1738 - Sieur de la Verendrye first European to visit Mandan Villages

     Verendrey reaches the Mandan Villages near the Heart River - possibly the village called Double Ditch - which has recently been excavated by archeologist, Raymond Wood.

Verendrye Expedition

  Sieur de la Verendrye meeting Indians on the American plains in the 1730s.  Verendrye was astonished when he arrived at the Mandan Villages at the confluence of the Heart and Missouri rivers to find that the Indians were trading in goods manufactured in Europe.

Laverendryemap

  A map of Verendrye's route to the Mandan Villages in 1736.

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      Verendrey and his sons would make three more trips to the Mandan Villages over the next ten years, including explorations to the west that probably reached the Big Horn Mountains in central Montana.