Explorations of Verendrye and His Sons From Lake Superior to the Rocky Mountains
Warren Upham
Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Natural Sciences, Volume 4, Number 2, pages 277-281

This post is part of a series highlighting selected articles from the Journal of Minnesota Academy of Science archives in honor of the Minnesota Academy of Science’s 150th Anniversary. Read more about
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Warren Upham (1850-1934) was an early members of the Minnesota Academy of Natural Sciences. An eminent geologist, Upham worked extensively in Minnesota. He made important contributions to understandings of Glacial Lake Agassiz during his work with the Minnesota Geological Survey. During his time with the Geological Survey, he walked or rode a horse more than 11,000 miles through Minnesota. In 1885, he married Minnesota resident Addie Bixby. The couple resided in Saint Paul, where Upham served as the superintendent of the Minnesota Historical Society until his death in 1934.

As Upham writes in his JMAS article, his interest in the travels of Verendrye (a French fur trader) began while researching his comprehensive book, Minnesota Geographic Names. Initially published in 1920, this book contained 15,000 names of human and geological areas within Minnesota. Considered an essential and classic reference book, a third edition was republished in 2001 by the Minnesota Historical Society Press.

Upham’s 1905 JMAS article begins with a detailed description of a remarkable 1728 map created by “an Assiniboine Indian named Ochagach” depicting the area which is now known as Northern Minnesota. Upham expounds upon the vast geographic and geologic knowledge contained in Ochagach’s map, drawing comparisons to his own experiences and understandings of Minnesota landscapes.

Subsequently, Upham outlines the travels of Pierre Gautier Varennes, (also known as Sieur de la Verendrye) a French fur trader who traveled with his sons and nephew in northern Minnesota as well as the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains. Upham traces the probable path of these men and the recounts some of their experiences with the numerous Indigenous people who were living in these areas.

This article allows insights into the functioning of early settler colonialism in Minnesota and the surrounding areas. It provides an example of the intersection between colonialism, cartography, place names, and scientific knowledge.

References

The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Vol. VII. James T. White & Company. 1897. pp. 127–128. Retrieved December 21, 2022.

Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La Vérendrye. The Virtual Museum of New France, Canadian Museum of History. Retrieved December 22, 2022.

Decolonizing the Map: Recentering Indigenous Mappings. Reuban Rose-Redwood et al. 2020. Cartographica, Volume 55, Number 3.