Verendrye Plate to be celebrated

• Verendrye Plate

The Verendrye Plate, pictured here, was buried in 1743 on a Fort Pierre hillside by French-Canadian explorers Francois and Louis-Joseph Verendrye. (Photo courtesy of S.D. State Historical Society)

Talk about it

PIERRE — The Museum of the South Dakota State Historical Society in Pierre will celebrate the 100th anniversary Sunday of the discovery of one of the society’s signature artifacts, the Verendrye Plate.

The day will include a talk on Joseph LaFramboise , making take-home clay plates, and enjoying South Dakota State University ice cream. The event will run from 1 to 4 p.m. Central time at the Cultural Heritage Center, with free museum admission.

The original lead Verendrye Plate is on exhibit in the museum galleries. It was buried in 1743 on a Fort Pierre hillside by French-Canadian explorers Francois and Louis-Joseph Verendrye. The plate was undisturbed for 170 years until a group of teenagers found it on Feb. 16, 1913. They intended to sell the lead plate to a local print shop. State Historian Doane Robinson was contacted and the plate was saved.

The Verendrye Site in Fort Pierre where the plate was found is one of only a few verifiable sites associated with the first Europeans to explore the northern Great Plains region.

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