andans. Wherever
he went, among the Chippewas, the Crees, or the Assiniboines, some one
was sure to speak of the Mandans, and the stories grew more and more
marvellous. La Verendrye knew that Indians were very much inclined to
exaggerate. They would never spoil a good story by limiting it to what
they knew to be true. They liked a joke as well as other people; and,
when they found that the white men who visited them were eager to know
all about the country and the tribes of the far interior, they invented
all sorts of impossible stories, in which truth and fiction were so
mingled that at length the explorers did not know what to believe.

Much that was told him by the Indians concerning the Mandans La
Verendrye knew {45} could not possibly be true; he thought that some of
their stories were probably correct. The Indians said that the Mandans
were white like himself, that they dressed like Europeans, wore armour,
had horses and cattle, cultivated the ground, and lived in fortified
towns. Their home was described as being far towards the setting sun,
on a great river that flowed into the ocean. La Verendrye knew that
the Spaniards had made settlements on the western coast of America, and
he thought that the mysterious strangers might perhaps be Spaniards.
At any rate, they seemed to be white men, and, if the Indian stories
were even partially true, they would be able to show him that way to
the great water which it was the ambition of his life to find. His
resolve, therefore, was inevitable. He would visit these white
strangers, whoever they might be; and he had great hopes that they
would be able to guide him to the object of his quest.

For some time, however, he was not able to carry out this intended
visit to the Mandans. The death of his nephew La Jemeraye, followed
soon after by the murder of his son Jean, upset all his plans for a
time. Further, he had great difficulty in keeping peace among the
Indian {46} tribes. The Chippewas and the Crees, who had always been
friendly to the French, were indignant at the treacherous massacre of
the white men by the Sioux, and urged La Verendrye to lead a war party
against this enemy. La Verendrye not only refused to do this himself,
but he told them that they must on no account go to war with the Sioux.
He warned them that their Great Father, the king of France, would be
very angry with them if they disobeyed his commands. Had they not
known him so well, the Indi