Louis-Joseph Gaultier de La Vérendrye, the youngest La Vérendrye son, led expeditions from Fort La Reine and built the following western installations in what is now Manitoba: Fort Dauphin, Fort Bourbon, and Fort Paskoya. In 1743, the fort was also the starting point for an exploration of the upper Missouri River as far as the Yellowstone River. One old source says that the fort was burnt to the ground by the Assiniboines after the French had left it in 1752 The first priest to travel this far west arrived at the fort in 1743. He was a Jesuit named Claude-Godefroy Coquart.