Verendrye Site

The Verendrye Site near Fort Pierre marks one of the region's early European exploration stories. It is a small place with a large historical reach, tied to French movement through the northern plains in the 18th century.

Come for the context rather than spectacle. The Missouri River setting does much of the work, helping you imagine why this corridor mattered long before modern highways and state capitals.

things to do historic site monument
A story
A lead plate associated with the La Verendrye expedition was found near Fort Pierre in 1913. It is one of the tangible traces of French exploration on the upper Missouri, long before South Dakota existed as a state.