First European Explorer
Daniel Greysolon, Sieur de Du Lhut was selected by the Governor General of New France [present day Canada] to help insure the success of the French fur trade by promoting peace between the Native American tribes in the Lake Superior region, and by claiming the region in the name of Louis XIV, King of France.
In the spring of 1679, Du Lhut traveled from Montreal by water to the shores of St. Louis Bay, near where the present city of Duluth now stands. He then traveled inland to visit Native American villages near Lake Mille Lacs [MN] and back to the head of Lake Superior.
As part of his effort Du Lhut embarked on a trip to visit the Dakota along the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers in June, 1680 (as described below).
The source of the following excerpted text is Marshall, Albert M. 1954. Brule Country. North Central Publishing Company, St. Paul, MN.
The route to the Mississippi Valley chosen by Du Lhut followed the present Brule River to its source; then by carry across to Upper St. Croix Lake; and down that river to its union with the Mississippi a few miles below where St. Paul [MN] now stands. The first white man to traverse this subsequently familiar pioneer highway described his passage briefly in his journals.
“In June, 1680, not being satisfied with having made my discovery [of the Mississippi River] by land, I took two canoes, with an Indian who was my interpreter, and four Frenchmen, to seek means to make it by water. With this view, I entered a river [Bois Brule] which empties eight leagues from the extremity of Lake Superior on the south side, where having cut some trees and broken about a hundred beaver dams, I reached the upper waters of said river, and then I made a portage of half a league to reach a lake [Upper St. Croix], the outlet of which fell into a very fine river, which took me down to the Mississippi.”
In this first eyewitness account of the Brule, we are given a picture of a stream far different from the river that we know today. Huge beaver dams continually halted the wayfarer, and behind them must have lain miles of swollen waters and inundated banks. These dams also interfered with the movement of fish, making it impossible for them to find spawning beds. It is therefore notable that not until far later, when constant use of the river by trader and trapper brought about the removal of these obstructions, was the observation of fish in the rapid waters recorded.Note: Acknowledgement that Du Lhut was the first recorded explorer of the Brule - St. Croix River area is based on a letter that Du Lhut later wrote to the Marquis of Seignelay.