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The first white men to visit North Dakota came in search of furs and a water route to the Pacific Ocean. The first recorded visit to North Dakota was in 1738, by Pierre LaVerendrye. News of the abundance of fur bearing animals, especially the beaver and buffalo, brought thousands of fur traders to North Dakota. With the success of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Louisiana Purchase was mapped and advertised to the nation.
 An extensive fur trade developed among the traders, trappers, and Native Americans. With the development of the trade network, so came the development of the transportation frontier. Large quantities of trade goods needed to be moved up and down the Missouri and Red Rivers in North Dakota, and the introduction of the Steamboat made it possible.
Steamboats not only carried trade goods to this area, they also brought increasing numbers of settlers to the territory. With these settlers also traveled disease. Diseases, such as smallpox and measles, uncommon to Native American cultures, nearly wiped out several tribes. The landscape of North Dakota was changing. The buffalo had become scarce on the plains and more and more settlers were moving to the territory. Conflicts between the Native Americans and settlers brought the army to the territory. Through treaties and the reservation system, the government slowly forced the Indian tribes off of their land.
How did the fur trade and increasing settlement affect the first people of Dakota? Tour this era, to find out more.
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