Winnipeg (Red River) to Edmonton. The first steamboat on the river was the Northcote in 1874. In 1905 the Canadian Northern Railway, following the route of the old Carleton Trail, reached Edmonton from Winnipeg. The boreal forest region to the north was inhabited by Cree who had migrated northwest as middlemen in the fur trade and, in the early and middle 19th century, Saulteaux. Immediately south were the Plains Cree and Assiniboines with the Nakoda (Stoney) near the mountains. To the south were the Gens du large or Plains Indians or First Nations: Gros Ventre in Saskatchewan, Blackfeet in Alberta and Piegan Blackfeet near the Rocky Mountains. Across the mountains were Kootenays. Since the Cree and Saulteaux had beaver-skins to trade and the plains Natives had little more than buffalo and wolf skins, the northern peoples got most of the guns. They used them to expand south. This made the plains Natives hostile to the traders since they seemed to be allies of the more northern tribes. Further, many of the voyageurs were part-Cree and knew the language. The trading posts were too well fortified to be easily attacked and were only destroyed when the traders were away. The only exception was Fort Pitt in 1885 which by then no longer had a stockade. In the east the Gros Ventres destroyed South Branch House and Manchester House in 1793–94. In the west the Blackfeet often damaged the fur trade. They did not trade where there were many Cree and tried to keep the Kootenays from getting guns. Fort Sturgeon was burnt in 1780 and Rocky Mountain House in 1860. Fort Pitt and Fort Carlton were burnt during the North-West Rebellion in 1885. (Carlton was accidentally burned down as it was being evacuated in 1885.) Exploration 1691:Henry Kelsey reached the lower Saskatchewan from Hudson Bay. 1731-1743: Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye pushed west from Lake Superior. 1739: Louis-Joseph Gaultier de La Vérendrye was somewhere on the lower Saskatchewan. 1741: Fort Bourbon at the mouth of the Saskatchewan and Fort Paskoya on west side of Cedar Lake. 1753: Fort de la Corne about 20 miles below the Forks. 1755: Anthony Henday, after almost reaching the Rocky Mountains from Hudson Bay, returned down the North Saskatchewan from near Edmonton. 1759: With the conquest trade collapses. It takes the English about 15 years to restore it. 1768: James Findlay at Nipawin.