Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 83, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 April 1913 — OLD PLATE IS FOUND [ARTICLE]

OLD PLATE IS FOUND

French Explorer’s Tablet Discovered or. Missouri’s Bank. Metal Bears Latin Inscription, the Arms of France and the Date When It Was Imbedded ' ■ ‘ the Soil. - Pierre, S. D.—A metal plate buried more than 170 years ago by Chevalier de le Vendrle of France to mark his explorations in this country and proclaim the sovereignty of his king over the territory visited has just been found on the bluffs of the Cheyenne river near here. It was in 1741 that Chevalier de le Vendrle started on an exploration for France in the new world, coming into the west by way of the great lakes. On leaving France Louis XV. gave him a number of leaden or zinc plates to be buried at the various points he visited. These were graven with the coat of arms of France and bore a Latin inscription. It wis known that De le Vendrle went west as far as the Rocky mountains and came back to the Missouri river at some point not far from the present site of this city, but the exact spot wap unknown. At the point where he reached the Missouri river his journal shows that he went to the top of a ,hill and buried one of the plates. A few years ago Bishop O’Gorman of the Catholic church, in an address here mentioned the fact of the -Vislt of De le Vendrle, and said that at some time the plate he had buried on the hills along the Missouri river would be found. Another plate, according to the chevalier, was burled on the bluffs of the Cheyenne river about sixty miles from the point where he reached the Missouri river. Recently at Fort Pierre, while playing near the school building, Hattie Foster, a little girl, picked up a niece of metal and gave it to a* boy to clean off. The plate was about eight inches square, and deeply graven on one side

was the coat of arms of France and an ipscriptlon in Latin to the effect that it had been placed there in 1741 by Pierre de le Vendrie in honor of

his sovereign. On the reverse side, scratched with a sharp instrument, was “Le 30 la Mars 1743.” The piate appears to be genuine.