There was abundant fishing, hunting and wild rice, an important matter since it was difficult to haul food from Montreal or Fort Michilimackinac.

On June 6, 1736 an expedition departed from Fort Saint Charles, consisting of Jean Baptiste de La Vérendrye (the eldest son) with the Jesuit missionary priest Father Jean-Pierre Aulneau and nineteen French-Canadian voyageurs.

The Dakota were retaliating against La Vérendrye père, who was trading guns for beaver skins to their traditional enemies, the Cree and Assiniboine, in an effort to both cover his mounting expenses and get out of debt.

After the massacre was discovered, La Vérendrye père directed that the bodies of his son and the priest, and the heads of the 19 voyageurs, be brought back for burial at Fort Saint Charles.

[citation needed] To celebrate the Golden Anniversary of the Catholic Knights of Columbus in Minnesota, they and co-religionists in Manitoba raised funds to buy the property of the fort and reconstruct it, including a shrine to Fr.

Local NW Angle pioneer residents (in particular Norman Carlson and Joe Risser) were instrumental in the reconstruction of Fort St Charles.

They provided invaluable machinery and knowledge of the area, and without their assistance, the Knights of Columbus would have fallen on hard times in their quest for the restoration.