WOMEN of RED RIVER

III ‘Signett) SeUcirJc Mu.chc Wkeseab ifidikcuiewikumaie Kayajieahebiiwa Marie Hit ^ ISark LeSonnemt La. Robt Narrt L’homnveNoir Pego Onckidoat His JScLrk Hit Mark. Premier m M Signal irv Presence of Thorncus TTwrnae James Bird> F. MatOiey Cap: F d/Orsonnens Cap P SKETCH-MAP attached to the Miles MicdUmHl trea:^ made by Lord Selkirk wi¬ I. BP ChF oLe JCorvrrvLcr th the Indians on July l&f^l81T, Lotas NollrvJ^ at the. Forks ^the F^d and the Assiniboine. ^ *=. <=. ^ By f/iat t/vdfj; the Indiawi gMe up tJieir title to the Lxnd. “exteruilng to the ciuitdnce o^-=i t\Vo Euglish. statute inUes Jhom the banks the said rivers on. each sidel and to "six niiies on. every side'yi'oni Fort Douglas‘==i (below the Forks) and Fort Daer (at tiie ino~ u-th qF the PenibhwL. river), in consideiâii' on qpa quit-rent of' two huncb'ecL poiuids' weight of' "good, nwix^hanfahle tobaecd', to Be paid on or b^hre October lO**^ql'easdi year, one half' to be delivered at the Forks to the chi^'and warriors' of' tJie Chippe' way, or Sauiteaux, iLatton, out id theoth- er at Portage la Prairie to the. chh^'s *=. and warriors lythe HjiistuieauxorCree, nation. The Indians' version of' the t/eaty was that they gave the Silver Chhg', as thy Tiarned Lotd SeUiuk.. the land back. from‘=^ the river barJ\S as jln' as daylight could be seen under the body of a pony siandirg on the level prairie. ‘=' '=' ‘-=' '==' WOMEN OP RED RIVER “Out and in the river is winding The links of its long, red chain.” vST. ANDREW’S (W THE RED FROM A COLORED WOOD-PRINT By WALTER J. PHILLIPS, A.R.C.A. ‘ k ■ 1 \ J .'. i BEING A B(X>S: WRITTEN FROM THE . RECOLLECTIONS OF WOMEN SUR¬ VIVING FROM TflB RED RHÊR ERA II Ml I I Ml I î<i< >• ► f W. T. HEAtY Tlôaifli X MrA f CuvL'Ât, <jD>»*M-v>r Of WM{lro«A Trent u^f^’ p£fmoKQm t A TRIBUTE TO THE WOMEN OF AN EARLIER DAY *» ' “ TUE WOMEN'S CANADIAN CEUU RUEkil'LE, DANG & CC*. LTD. WINNirifO ivij V • ' » J ^ tar^^ , ; ‘ r •- • 5(,7P /9^3 COPYRIGHT, CANADA 1923 Bt the WOMEN’S CANADIAN CLUB. WINNIPEG PRINTED AND BOUND BY BULMAN BROS. LIMITED WINNIPEG First Printing, September, 1923 Second Printing, November, 1923 'lA/HEN the publication of this hook was undertaken it was intended that the period of time included should extend to about the year 1880. To the surprise and delight of all engaged in the work, there was found to be available a wealth af material concerning an earlier, more picturesque and altogether unique time. Conse¬ quently it was thought desirable to set the year of the incorporation of the City of Winnipeg—1873—as the end of the period to he covered in these recollections even though this involved the abandonment of much that was of great interest. When so many have contributed, it is impossible to thank individually all who have aided in the prepara¬ tion of this hook. The Executive Committee of the Women's Canadian Club does, however, desire to express its appreciation of the sympathetic co-operation of the artists, Mr. Charles F. Comfort who did the pen and ink sketches, and Mr. Walter J. Phillips whose work is found in the frontispiece. Most of all it desires to thank the writer, Mr. W. J. Healy, without whose aid, unstinted and understanding, the Club would not have been able to offer to the women of past generations this tribute which, it is hoped, may he thought in some degree worthy of their fine achievements in the making of homes in a new and distant country. OFFICERS OF THE WOMEN’S CANADIAN CLUB, WINNIPEG IN THE YEAR OF PUBLICATION President - - - Mrs. R. F. McWilliams First Vice-President - Mrs. Robert Rogers Second Vice-President Mrs. G. N. Jackson Third Vice-President Mrs. John Bracken Fourth Vice-President Mrs. A. N. MacLeod Hon. Secretary - Mrs. C. S. Langille Archivist - - - Mrs. Donald F. McInt5Te Secretary-Treasurer - Mrs. Claude Nash ADVISORY COMMITTEE Mrs. F. W. Clark Mrs. J. Elliott Mrs. F. C. Hamilton Mrs. C. W. O. Lane Mrs. C. E. McPherson Mrs. Geo. Munro Miss Isabel Paton Mrs. J. Y. Reid Mrs. Thomas Tiimbull CONTENTS Chapter Page I. The First White Women In The West . 1 IL At Red River . • * • • . 11 III. Comfort and Happiness • • • . 15 IV. In Old Kildonan . 53 V. On the St. Boniface Side . 107 VI. Just Below the Forks . 127 VII. St. Andrew’s on the Red . 145 VIII. Travel and Transport . 167 IX. Play and Gaiety . 205 X. The Troubles of 1869-70 . 221 XI. When the Canadians Came • • . 237 ILLUSTRATIONS Page St. Andrew’s on the Red.Frontispiece “They Followed the Trail”., . 3 The Fraser Home.13 Mrs. Cowan.16 Mrs. F. H. Francis, Mrs. W. R. Black, Mrs. Neil Campbell . 60 The Selkirk Teapot.77 Fish Oil Lamp and Pierced Lantern.81 Kildonan Church.83 War Workers.101 Sister Laurent.109 “Turrets Twain”.121 The First St. John’s.131 Andrew McDermot’s Chair and Table.137 Model of Edinburgh Law Courts.140 The Barber House.142 The Norquay Quern.153 Mrs. E. L. Barber, Mrs. John Norquay, Lady Dubuc . 155 Miss Davis’s School.159 Miss Janet Bannerman and Mrs. Robert Tait .... 213 Invitation to a Funeral.224 The First Grace Church .243 Mrs. Bryce’s School Announcement . 251 THE FIRST WHITE WOMEN /. The First White Women in the West The first white woman in the West of whom there is record came out from the Orkney Islands in 1806 in a Hudson’s Bay Company’s ship, disguised as a young man. She was following her lover who had deserted her. In the journal of the fur trader Alexander Henry it is recorded, without mention of her name, that on December 29th, 1807, she gave birth to a child at his trading post at the mouth of the Pembina river. Of the life of the child born that day, the first child born in the West of a white father and a white mother —“a fine boy,” wrote Henry—nothing is known but that his mother took him with her when she returned to Scotland in the summer after his birth. There is no record that the unfortunate Orkney girl met the second white woman in the West, Marie Anne Lagimoniere, whose first child was born eight days later than the Orkney girl’s child, near the bank of the Pembina river. Marie Anne Lagimoniere arrived in the West in the summer of 1807. She accompanied her husband in one of the canoes of a brigade which travelled by the fur traders’ route from the St. Lawrence, a journey of two thousand miles. They came up the Red river from 1 WOMEN of RED RIVER Lake Winnipeg and passed the mouth of the Assiniboine on their way to the headquarters of the buffalo hunters at the mouth of the Pembina. There, in a wigwam on January 6th, 1808, the first child of the Lagimonidres was born, a girl who grew up to become the mother of Louis Riel. No other white woman came to the West until the summer of 1812, when the second party of Selkirk settlers arrived at York Factory on Hudson Bay. In that party, as it was listed by Owen Keveny, who was in charge as the representative of Lord Selkirk, there were eighteen women “above fifteen,’’ one girl, and eleven children “under eight.’’ There was ship fever on board; and while the ship was laboring through a furious storm in the Bay two days before she came to anchor, there was a child born. “An increase of one, Mrs. McLean haveing a young daughter,’’ as Keveny wrote in his letter to Lord Selkirk, on landing. “Both are doing well,’’ he added, “and tomorrow will be ready to proceed inland.’’ It was late in October of that year when the women and children of the second party of Selkirk settlers arrived at the Forks of the Red and the Assiniboine. While they were making the journey from York Factory to the Red river there had already landed on the shore of Hudson Bay a third party, after a voyage on which there had been deaths from ship fever. Most of the 2 THE FIRST WHITE WOMEN survivors were so weak that the journey of seven hun¬ dred miles to the Red river could not be undertaken that fall. Rough log cabins had to be made with axe and spade for a winter camp near the mouth of the Churchill river. Early in April, 1813, twenty-one men York Factory, with a party of the Company’s men. They were aU on snowshoes. The strongest of the men went ahead, dragging rough sledges loaded with pro¬ visions and stores, and so made a trail for the women. There was a Highland piper in the middle of the line. 3 WOMEN of RED RIVER A few sturdy men brought up the rear, to prevent straggling and to help the weary on that journey of nearly a hundred miles through a wild and difficult region. On the second day a halt had to be made to set up a tent, bank it with snow and supply it with firewood and food and a musket and ammunition. In that tent Angus McKay, who was nineteen years old, and his wife, who was younger, stayed. The others pressed on; the supply of food was so scanty that none of the others could wait.

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