| Summary: | came with a group of French speaking Catholic immigrants being J. B. Beauchamp, the Marcelin brothers, J. B. Paiment and Charles Menier. The family of Damase Charbonneau also came at this time but came by themselves, according to the history of the family, compiled by Alzier Charbonneau Brusseau, one of the older children in the family at the time in immigration. The first whites definitely known to have set foot in the area of Olga were the members of the la Verendrye expeditions. The leader, Pierre Gautier la Verendrye, a French nobleman of Canadian birth with two sons and a nephew and a party totaling in all 52 men, obtained the permission of Louis XV of France to make explorations at his own expense in the northwest regions of what is now the United States. La Verendrye procurred funds for his mission from Montreal and Quebec financiers. The party set but from Montreal in 1731 and spent much time along the northern Minnesota boundary and in Manitoba. The members of this party were the first whites who left records, definitely proving that they saw the Red River of the North. In 1738, the explorer was commissioned bv the governor-general of Canada to seek a "great river" southwest of the present site of Winnipeg, which it was thought led to the Pacific Ocean. La Verendrye set out in 1738. The party moved down froTn Canada and District Judge C. W. Buttz of Devils Lake, after careful study of the meager records in the explorer's journals, believes that the expedition passed through Cavalier County in November of 1738 and camped in the vicinity several miles northwest of Olga. Many of the first settlers came on immigrant trains, loaded with their belongings. They suffered greatly from the cold for they came in March and encountered unexpected storms. With the exception of the Charbonneau family, all of the first settlers were single men or men who brought their wives to the area later. Before the first settlers came, there were many Metis (part French, part Indian), living in the Olga vicinity. A well known and truly historic trail passed Olga before settlement days. This was the trail from Winnipeg and the White Horse Plains to Fort Totten and the Devils Lake area. Traces of this trail were still visible well into the 1900's in the Beaulieu and Olga neighborhoods. Traders and Indians sometimes debouched from the route, but the general direction was followed. Early trading post at Beaulieu and Olga served travelers on this trail that went on to Fort Totten. David Beauchamp (no relation to J. B. Beauchamp) had a stopping place along the trail near Olga before the settlement began. His original building was torn down about 1927. Another stopping place was at the home of Mr. Louis Lariviere near what later was known as Beaulieu. John Reed, an early Cavalier County commissioner, told of travelling westward from Fremont Township to the Turtle Mountain area in the 1880's and finding this trail marked by buffalo skulls. This was a practice of later years, adopted from the Indians who marked new routes in this way for those who were to follow on buffalo hunting trips or other imigrations. The Indians and Metis buffalo hunters traveled through the area in large numbers and followed these regular routes. The old trails were a vital part of the old life, more important even than the broad highways of today. Before and at the same time the buffalo hunters were travelling through the area many battles were fought among opposing Indian tribes. One account of a battle very near the townsite of Olga was told by Mr. John Reed in the fall of 1900. Mr. Reed said an elderly lady living in the Beaulieu area told him about this war between the Sioux Indians and the Turtle Mountain Indians which took place in 1848. It appears that the Turtle Mountain Indians had trespassed on the hunting territory of the Sioux; and for that reason the Sioux went to declare war on them. But as they got there the Turtle Mountain Indians had gone to Walhalla to meet with the Indians of Northern Minnesota for their annual Powwow. The Sioux Indians followed them there but as they got there they discovered that they were so numerous they did not dare to tackle them. "A .-'I ;• '■' s?fe.".rV\ So, in place of war, the Sioux stole all their horses and ponies but as the country was all timber at the time, it became a slow process to get away; and the Sioux were overtaken about 80 rods west of the now Olga village. The customary mode of 31 Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.
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