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Old French fort on northwest shore of lake Manitoba, called by the French Lac des Prairies. Built by the sons of Vérendrye 1741 at the portage to lake Winnipegosis, at the mouth of a small river now called Mossy river, and by the French "rivière des Biches", flowing from the west. The first fort was destroyed by the Indians, but the French rebuilt it in 1743. The last fort was probably destroyed when abandoned by the French at the cession of Canada. The site has been built upon several times. It was one of the oldest trading posts in the west. The site of Fort Dauphin was known to the Canadian traders who traversed this part of the country immediately after the cession of Canada. It was evidently no longer in existence when Pond and Henry travelled west in 1774. Its location is shown on map of French claims 1756 (No. 10) and Devine map 1857 (No. 12) also Bellin's map 1755 (No. 93).

Bougainville 1757 says "Fort Dauphin is 80 leagues from la Reine, situated on the river Minanghenachequeké or "De l'eau Trouble".