Editing History of Minnesota (section)

=== 18th century ===
Explorers searching for the fabled [[Northwest Passage]] and large inland seas in North America continued to pass through the state. In 1721, the French built [[Fort Beauharnois]] on [[Lake Pepin]]. In 1731, the [[Grand Portage]] trail was first traversed by a European, [[Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye|Pierre La Vérendrye]]. He used a map written down on a piece of birch bark by Ochagach, an [[Assiniboine people|Assiniboine]] guide.<ref>{{cite web| work=TimePieces|title= 1731: The Grand Portage Trail| url=http://events.mnhs.org/TimePieces/EventDetail.cfm?EventID=500| publisher=Minnesota Historical Society| access-date=February 17, 2007| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222023528/http://events.mnhs.org/TimePieces/EventDetail.cfm?EventID=500| archive-date=February 22, 2012}}</ref> The [[North West Company]], which traded in fur and competed with the [[Hudson's Bay Company]], was established along the Grand Portage in 1783–1784.<ref>{{cite web| work=TimePieces |title= 1784: North West Fur Co.| url=http://events.mnhs.org/TimePieces/EventDetail.cfm?EventID=490| publisher=Minnesota Historical Society| access-date=February 17, 2007| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222023541/http://events.mnhs.org/TimePieces/EventDetail.cfm?EventID=490| archive-date=February 22, 2012}}</ref>

[[Jonathan Carver]], a shoemaker from Massachusetts, visited the area in 1767 as part of another expedition. He and the rest of the exploration party were only able to stay for a relatively short period, due to a lack of supplies. They headed back east to [[Fort Michilimackinac]], where Carver wrote journals about the trip, though others would later claim the stories were largely [[plagiarize]]d. The stories were published in 1778, but Carver died before the book earned him much money. [[Carver County, Minnesota|Carver County]] and [[Carver's Cave]] ([[Wakan Tipi]]) are named for him.<ref>{{cite web | last=Browne | first=Leanne | url=http://www.carvercountyhistoricalsociety.org/about_us/historypages/JonathanCarver.htm | title=History – Who was Jonathan Carver? | publisher=Carver County Historical Society | access-date=September 19, 2006 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930190242/http://www.carvercountyhistoricalsociety.org/about_us/historypages/JonathanCarver.htm | archive-date=September 30, 2007 }}</ref>