Indians and obtaining from them information of the country further west, and to make an earnest appeal to his faint hearted associates for continued help. Also, the Jesuit missionary Father Messaiger, who had joined the Verendrye party at Michilimackinac on its outward journey, now daunted by the hardships and the terrible isolation of this small outpost of white men that were here plunged so deep in the unknown wilderness, demanded the earliest possible release from the enterprise,—an incident surprising to those who have read of the heroic Jesuits of the preceding century. The commander himself remained at or in the vicinity of Ft. St. Charles, trading and extending official relations with the Indians during an impatient summer and a third perilous winter. He received no supplies or word of encouragement.
However, in the spring of 1734, impelled by the deplorable state of his affairs, he set out for Montreal. Before leaving he managed, with characteristic determination, to make arrangements for one of his sons to proceed to Lake Winnipeg and there establish the projected post. This plan was duly carried out and Ft. Maurepas was built on the southeast shore of the lake in the late summer or fall.
In the meantime Verendrye, in Montreal, fought for the future of his enterprise. From Governor Beauharnois, in spite of the latter's good will, he obtained nothing but words of praise and further orders concerning the expedition; but by mortgaging the whole future profits of the fur trade he managed to secure a new set of partners. In the autumn of 1735 he was again at Ft. St. Charles, which he found destitute of food and "without hope of wild rice on account of floods of water."
The disasters of this tragic year of 1735-36 can be but briefly outlined. Owing to the mismanagement of the guide, the four canoe loads of supplies expected in the fall did not arrive. Fish and game failed, and by spring the occupants of Ft. St. Charles were starving.
