Étienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont

Étienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont was a French explorer from an ancient Normand family who was recognized and ennobled by Louis XVI for documenting and making the first European maps of the Missouri and Platte rivers in North America. He documented his travels and made the first European maps of these areas in the early 18th century. He wrote two accounts of his travels, which included descriptions of the Native American tribes he encountered. In 1723, he established Fort Orleans, the first European fort on the Missouri River, near the mouth of the Grand River, and present-day Brunswick, Missouri. In 1724, he led an expedition to the Great Plains of Kansas to establish trading relations with the Padouca.

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