The Verendreye Plate

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

On February 16, 1913 a group of teenagers were walking along a Missouri River bluff and discovered a small lead rectangle. The group gathered it and hoped to sell It for pocket money. Luckily for history the group eventually came in contact with state historian Doane Robinson who convinced them to donate the object to the state.

The object the group had found was what is now known as the Verendrye Plate. In the 1730s Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye lead an expedition into North America. Due to health reasons his sons finished the journey in his stead. In 1743 those same sons made it to what is now Fort Pierre and met with Arikara tribal leaders, who lived in villages at that time.

Reports from the tribes indicate that the brothers then buried something in honor of their faraway king. Burying such plates was a common practice at the time as a method for European explorers to claim the land. This small lead plate helps serve as proof of the French claim on the land that would become the Louisiana Purchase. Pictured here is the Verendrye Plate and a photo of two of the finders of the plate, Hattie Foster (center) and George O’Reilly (right).