For some time, however, he was not able to carry out this intended visit to the Mandans. The death of his nephew La Jemeraye, followed soon after by the murder of his son Jean, upset all his plans for a time. Further, he had great difficulty in keeping peace among the Indian {46} tribes. The Chippewas and the Crees, who had always been friendly to the French, were indignant at the treacherous massacre of the white men by the Sioux, and urged La Vérendrye to lead a war party against this enemy. La Vérendrye not only refused to do this himself, but he told them that they must on no account go to war with the Sioux. He warned them that their Great Father, the king of France, would be very angry with them if they disobeyed his commands. Had they not known him so well, the Indians would have despised La Vérendrye as a coward for refusing to revenge himself upon the Sioux for the death of his son; but they knew that, whatever his reason might be, it was not due to any fear of the Sioux. As time went on, they thought that he would perhaps change his mind, and again and again they came to him begging for leave to take the war-path. 'The blood of your son,' they said, 'cries for revenge. We have not ceased to weep for him and for the other Frenchmen who were slain. Give us permission and we will avenge their death upon the Sioux.' La Vérendrye, however, disregarding his personal feelings, knew that it would be fatal to all his plans to let the friendly Indians have {47} their way. An attack on the Sioux would be the signal for a general war among all the neighbouring tribes. In that case his forts would be destroyed and the fur trade would be broken up. In the end, he and his men would probably be driven out of the western country, and all his schemes for the discovery of the Western Sea would come to nothing. It was therefore of the utmost importance that he should remain where he was, in the country about the Lake of the Woods, until the excitement among the Indians had quieted down and there was no longer any immediate danger of war.