Bas de la Rivière is a geographical area on both shores of the Winnipeg River

Winnipeg River

The Winnipeg River is a Canadian river which flows from Lake of the Woods in the province of Ontario to Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba. This river is long from the Norman Dam in Kenora to its mouth at Lake Winnipeg. Its watershed is in area, mainly in Canada. About of this area is in northern...

 at and near the mouth where it empties into Lake Winnipeg

Lake Winnipeg

Lake Winnipeg is a large, lake in central North America, in the province of Manitoba, Canada, with its southern tip about north of the city of Winnipeg...

. It had a storied historical period in the opening of the west and the subsequent fur trade and settlement.

It is known that Jean Baptiste de La Vérendrye

Jean Baptiste de La Vérendrye

Jean-Baptiste Gaultier de la Vérendrye was the eldest son of Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La Vérendrye and Marie-Anne Dandonneau Du Sablé...

, Pierre Gaultier de La Vérendrye

Pierre Gaultier de La Vérendrye

Pierre Gaultier de La Vérendrye de Boumois was the second son of Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye...

 and their men, explored the area in 1733 and built Fort Maurepas on the Red River in 1734. They may have established a structure at Bas de la Rivière at that time. A second Fort Maurepas was located there shortly after the first was established on the Red River.

After the La Vérendrye era and the Seven Years' War

Seven Years' War

The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...

 there was a steady increase in trade and commerce at the location. A supply depot, fishery and farm all flourished there. A community of Cree

Cree

The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although...

 had a large village there by 1775 when Alexander Henry (the elder) traded in the area. Certain records refer to Fort Bas de la Rivière as the headquarters of the North West Company

North West Company

The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what was to become Western Canada...

in the Winnipeg River basin at the time of the fur wars.