Long-standing Name of Unknown Origin

January 6, 2020

This article was done in partnership with the Lac du Bonnet & District Historical Society. It appeared in the January 9, 2020 edition of the Lac du Bonnet Clipper.

Often, place names have interesting origin stories. Other times, a name exists with no real history behind it. Take Lac du Bonnet: French for Bonnet Lake. Local folklore states that Pierre Gaultier de La Verendrye stopped on the shore, tossed his hat against a tree and named the body of water Lac du Bonnet. It’s a good story. There are just no indications in the historical records that La Verendrye, or his sons, stopped on this piece of the Winnipeg River.

Members of the La Verendrye expedition travelled through this region for six years while searching for the Western Sea. They reached Lake of the Woods in late 1732, where they established an operation base at Fort Saint-Charles. La Verendrye’s eldest son, Jean-Baptiste, and nephew, La Jemerais, made it as far as La Barriere (Sturgeon Falls on Nutimik Lake) in spring 1733 before ice forced their return.

In 1734, two scouts journeyed down the Winnipeg River, then along the south basin of Lake Winnipeg, reaching the Forks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers before returning to Lake of the Woods on the Whiteshell River. Later that year, Fort Maurepas was established on the western bank of the Red River.

La Verendrye first travelled there in February 1737 “by way of the Prairie.” He returned to Fort Saint-Charles via the Winnipeg River route. Fort Maurepas was later moved to the mouth of the Winnipeg River, where it remained for La Verendrye’s explorations further West. The journals of La Verendrye documented discoveries and challenges met by the expedition. No mention was made of this particular widening of the Winnipeg River. It was just another shoreline to paddle past in their search for the sea.

The first appearance of the name Lac du Bonnet came in the 1760 itinerary of Joseph Derouen, a voyageur of whom not much is known.

In later years, the name Lac du Bonnet became widely used in the many journals written by people who travelled the Winnipeg River for exploration or trade. Alexander Mackenzie, Scottish fur trader and explorer, passed through in 1793. He recorded crossing a four-mile-long widening of the river, Lake du Bonnet, before reaching a set of rapids called Galet du Bonnet. At the portage Mackenzie notes that the Indigenous people laid stones in a circle to mark the route. Above these stones were wreaths of “herbage and branches.” Many believe these could be mistaken for the headdresses worn by the Indigenous people at the time.

While the origin of the name Lac du Bonnet may never truly be known, in 1900, when applying for a post office, Walter Wardrop made sure the name would stay on the town and surrounding area. After all, we could have been Eureka for the past 120 years…

References:

Aileen Oder, ed., Logs and Lines from the Winnipeg River: A History of the Lac du Bonnet Area (Steinbach, MB: Derksen Printers, 1980), Page 3.

Denis Combet, ed., In Search of the Western Sea: Selected Journals of La Verendrye (Winnipeg: Great Plains Publications, 2001), Page 173,175.

Antoine Champagne, “GAULTIER DE LA VÉRENDRYE DE BOUMOIS, PIERRE,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 3, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003 http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/gaultier_de_la_verendrye_de_boumois_pierre_3E.html.

Voyage de Montréal a Michilimakinak et de la a la Mer de l’Ouest par Joseph Derouen, Dec. 25th, 1760.
Note: These papers are obscure and are not available online. Some sources list this document as part of Gazettes by Père Potier. Others show this itinerary as being part of the Archives of Collège Ste. Marie in Montreal.

Alexander Mackenzie, Journals of Alexander Mackenzie: Exploring Across Canada in 1789 and 1793 (Narrative Press, The, 2000), ProQuest Ebook Central, Page 53.

Elliott Coues, ed., New light on the early history of the greater Northwest: The manuscript journals of Alexander Henry and of David Thompson 1799-1814, (New York: F.P Harper, 1897).      https://archive.org/details/newlightonearlyh01henr/page/32