1741 in Canada
Encyclopedia
Events
- First Fort DauphinFort Dauphin (Canada)Fort Dauphin, was built in 1741 near Winnipegosis, Manitoba with Pierre Gaultier de La Vérendrye, the western military commander, directing construction. The area provided a post located between the Assiniboine River and the Saskatchewan River...
, was built near Winnipegosis, ManitobaWinnipegosis, ManitobaWinnipegosis is a village of approximately 630 people, located at . Farmlands surround the town. There is a beach in town on Lake Winnipegosis. The Mossey River flows into the lake. Except for its lakeshore, it is bordered by the Rural Municipality of Mossey River. Once there was a thriving...
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- Vitus BeringVitus BeringVitus Jonassen Bering Vitus Jonassen Bering Vitus Jonassen Bering (also, less correNavy]], a captain-komandor known among the Russian sailors as Ivan Ivanovich. He is noted for being the first European to discover Alaska and its Aleutian Islands...
, in service of RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, reaches AlaskaAlaskaAlaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
; Russians soon trade with natives for sea otter pelts.
- Alexei Chirikof, with Bering expedition, sights land on July 15; the Europeans had found Alaska.
- Russians Vitus Bering and Aleksi Cherikov 'discover' Alaska and bring back fur skins (Bering shipwrecked on return and died); the Fur Rush is on.
- The lives of early Alaskans remained basically unchanged for thousands of years, until Russian sailors, led by Danish explorer Vitus Bering, sighted Alaska's mainland in 1741.
- The Russians were soon followed by British, Spanish, and American adventurers. But it was the Russians who stayed to trade for the pelts of sea otterOtterThe Otters are twelve species of semi-aquatic mammals which feed on fish and shellfish, and also other invertebrates, amphibians, birds and small mammals....
s and other fur-bearing animals, interjecting their own culture and staking a strong claim on Alaska. Once the fur tradeFur tradeThe fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
declined, however, the Russians lost interest in this beautiful though largely unexplored land.
- Fort BourbonFort BourbonFort Bourbon was one of the important northern forts that La Vérendrye had built during his long tenure as commandant of the western forts of New France. This was during the earliest exploration of the northwest of North America...
established near present day Grand Rapids, ManitobaGrand Rapids, ManitobaGrand Rapids is a town in Manitoba, Canada located on the northwestern shore of Lake Winnipeg where the Saskatchewan River enters the lake. As the name implies, the river had a significant drop at this point . In modern days, a large hydro electric generating plant has been built...
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- François-Josué de la Corne DubreuilFrançois-Josué de la Corne DubreuilFrançois-Josué de La Corne Dubreuil, was an officer in the colonial regular troops of New France and, as was the norm of the day, involved in family commercial enterprises . He was the son of Jean-Louis de la Corne de Chaptes and a brother of Louis de la Corne, Chevalier de la Corne and Luc de la...
appointed commandant at Fort KaministiquiaFort KaministiquiaFort Camanistigoyan, now standardized as Fort Kaministiquia, located at the mouth of the Kaministiquia River on Lake Superior in what is now northwestern Ontario, Canada, was established in 1717 by Zacharie Robutel de la Noue following the restoration of the system of trading permits by...
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