Rue La Vérendrye was named in memory of Captain Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye.
Born in Trois-Rivières in November 1685, but educated in Québec City, Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye received a cadet’s commission in the colonial regulars, a military regiment who along with the Compagnies Franches de la Marine, were the only French regular military units in the French colonies. In 1704-1705 he took part in Queen Anne’s War, the name given to the North American theatre of the “War of the Spanish Succession”. He participated in the Raid on Deerfield, Massachusetts as well as the attack on St. John’s, Newfoundland and was promoted to Ensign shortly afterwards. At 22 years of age, he travelled to France to enlist in the Régiment de Bretagne of the French Army. He fought in Flanders during the “War of the Spanish Succession” and was seriously wounded in September 1709 at the Battle of Malplaquet. After recovering from his injuries, he was promoted to Lieutenant in 1710 and returned to Canada in 1712, where he farmed his lands for the next 15 years. In 1728, he took over the fur trading enterprise that his brother had founded in the area north of Lake Superior. For the next number of years, La Vérendrye organized various expeditions to explore the Western territories and by 1738 had reached Portage-la-Prairie. By 1743, suffering from ill health and no longer in favour with the authorities of New France, he resigned his post but was granted a captaincy in 1744. He died in Montreal in December 1749.
