Many early French explorers passed through the Portage La Prairie area on their way to Lake Manitoba, in their vain search for the Northwest Passage to the Far East, and this is where, in 1738, Sieur de la Vérendrye built Fort La Reine as his base for exploring the prairies. Portage La
Prairie's name dates from that time, when it was on the portage between the Assiniboine River and Lake Manitoba. John Sutherland Sanderson made it the first settlement in western Canada.