C H RO N I CLE S OF CAN A DA S E RI E S

TH I RTY - TWO VO L U M E S I L L U STRA T E D

M . R E R E W N . L A N G T E dited by G O G O G a n d H H . O N CH RON ICLE S OF CAN ADA S E RI E S

TH E FA M I CO M A C 24 . LY P T W W . t rt a a c By S ewa ll e.

AR VI I P T TH E ‘ A RI O E S ’ O F ’ * 25 . P T T 37 TH E A r . De e s By lf ed D c lle . STRU GGLE TH E RI N E O F N O A SCO IA FO R 26. T BU V T W I IIi m a n G ra n t . POLI TI CAL By Lawso

FRE E DOM 2 TH E W I N N I N O F O A R 7 . G P P U L GOV E RN M E N T *

By Archibald M a c M e ch a n .

8 TH E FA H E RS F CO N FE E RA 2 . T O D TI ON

A . . Co u h o u n . PART V II I By H . U lq

TH E TH E DAY O F S I R OH N M A C O N A 29 . J D LD

W O F Sir o se h Pe G RO TH By J p pe .

N ATI ON A LITY TH DAY O F S I R WI FRI A 30. E L D L U RIE R

c r Sk e to n . By Os a D . l

1 A LL AF A 3 . LO T PA RT I' Wi i a m W d By ll o o . N ATI ON A L 2 TH E RAI WA I E R 3 . L Y B U LD S HI GHWAYS k n O c r D . S e t o By s a l .

T R N T ' L W R O O O G ASGO , B OOK CO M PANY TH E RE D RIVE R CO LO N Y

BY LOUIS AU B REY WOOD

TH E RE D RIVE R COLON Y

A Ch ro n i l c e o f th e B e g in n i n g s

o f M a n ito b a

LO U IS AU B RE Y WOOD

T O R O N T O L W R G ASGO , B OOK COM PANY 1 9 1 5

MY FATH E R

CONTENTS

ST M A R ’S I S E I . Y L

I I . S E I R TH E CO ON IZE R LK K, L

TH E RSE -S RI N S E N I I I . PU T G LOOS

V S ORN OWA — A N D E O N I . T Y B Y D

V WI N E RI N O N TH E B AY . T G

V I RE D RI E R A N D E M I N A . V P B

H F V I I . T E B E GI N N I N G O STRI FE

I I I . CO I N RO E R SON TH E A E N E R V L B T , V G

N A I' . S E VE O KS

R E I R ’ ' . LO D S LK K S JO U RN E Y

'I FO R WI IAM . T LL

'I I TH E I E F EA E . P P O P C

B I BLIOGRAP H ICA L N OT E

I N D E'

ILLUSTRATIONS

H AS O AS FI F H E AR O F T OM D UGL , T L SE LKI RK F r o n ti spi ece

' Fr m th e in ti n a t St M r I o pa g a y s sle.

' ACE A R E N A I N 1 807 Fa ci n a e PL D M S, MO TRE L, g p g Fr om a water - colou r sketch after Dillon i n ‘ i n i r it r r M G ll U ve s y Lib a y.

OSE H FRO IS H E R A AR N E R I N TH E J P B , P T N ORTH -WE ST COM PA N Y Fr om a n en g ravi n g i n th e J ohn Ross Robertson

C ct n r n t u li c i r r . olle io , To o o P b L b a y

TH E CO U N TRY OF LORD S E LKI RK ’S S E TTLE RS m M a p by Bartholo ew.

H U N TI N G TH E BU FFA LO

Fr m in tin r i n o a pa g by Geo g e Catl .

A N O F TH E RE D RI E R CO O N PL V L Y .

r n rt m w D aw by Ba holo e .

FORT WI LLIA M Fr om a n old pri n t i n th e Joh n Ross Robertson C cti n r n t u i c r r olle o , To o o P bl Lib a y.

I M N M ‘TAVISH FO N E R F TH E S O , U D O N ORTH -WE ST COM PA N Y

‘ Fr om a water -colou r dr awi n g i n M Gill U ni t r r ver si y Lib a y .

IA M ‘ GI LLIVRAY A AR N E R I N WILL M , P T TH E N ORTH -WE ST CO M PAN Y

‘ r n i n i r it i r Fr om a photog aph i M G ll U ve s y L b ar y.

CHAPTER I

ST MARY’ S ISLE

WHEN th e Ra n g er stole into th e firth of r r Solway sh e ca ied an exultant crew. From the cliffs of Cumber land she might have been r m istaken for a trading bark, lined and c usted by long travel . But she was something else , as the townsfolk of Whitehaven , on the north f west coast o England , had found it to their r r t h e Ra n er cost . Out of thei ha bour g had r r just eme ged , leaving thi ty guns spiked and ’ r r r a la ge ship bu ned to the wate s edge . In

- fact , this innocent looking vessel was a sloop o f-w a r— as tr im and tidy a cr aft as had ever r r set sail f om the sho es of New England . On h e r upper deck was stationed a str ong batter y - r r of eighteen six pounde s , ready to be b ought ’ into action at a moment s notice . r r - Ra n er On the qua te deck of the g , deep in thought , paced the captain , John Paul Jones, a man of meagr e build but of indomitable a n d r will , as da ing a fighter as roved the ocean

K R. C . . A 2 THE RED RIVER COLONY in this year 1 778 . He held a letter of marque fr om the Congr ess of the revolted colonies in

Amer ica, and was just now engaged in harry r i n g the Br itish coasts . Ac oss the b road firth the Ra n g er sped with bellying sails and shaped h e r cour se along the south - wester n shor e of Scotland . To Paul Jones this coast was an open book ; he had been born and r r b r ed in the stewar tr y of Ki kcudb ight , which ’ r r lay on his vessel s sta boa d bow . Soon the Ra n g er swept r ound a for eland and boldly r enter ed the river Dee, whe e the anchor was r d opped .

A boat was swung out , speedily manned , and headed for the shelving beach of St ’ r r C Ma y s Isle . He e , as aptain Paul Jones knew, dwelt one of the chief noblemen of the Th e - r south of Scotland . vine clad , ambling m ansion of the fourth Ear l of Selki r k was just r r r behind the f inge of t ees ski ting the shore . Accor ding to the official r epor t of this descent ’ ’ r upon St Ma y s Isle , it was the captain s r r r intention to captu e Selki k, d ag him on r Ra n er r r boa d the g , and ca y him as a hostage r r to some harbou in F ance . But it is possible that ther e was another and mor e per sonal object . Paul Jones , it is said , believed that r he was a natu al son of the Scottish nobleman,

4 TH E RE D RIVER COLONY

’ r S m i se d . St Ma y s Isle was a remote pot , r r eplete with r elics of histo y, but uneventful in daily life and a r eal adventur e at his own doors could har dly fail to leave an impr ession ’ r on the boy s mind . The histo ical associa ’ tions of St Mar y s Isle made it an excellent

- tr aining ground for an imaginative youth . Monks of the Middle Ages had noted its m m favour able situation fo r a r eligious co unity, and the canons-r egular of the Or der of St Augustine had er ected ther e one of their r r r p io ies . A po tion of an extensive wall which had surr ounded the cloister was r etained in r r - r r the Selki k mano house . Fa ther afield we e other r eminder s of past days to stir the imagination of young Thomas Douglas . A few m iles eastwar d fr om his home was Dun r d ennan Abbey . Up the Dee was Th r i e v e C r r r astle , begun by A chibald the G im , and late used as a str onghold by the famous Black

Douglas .

The ancient district of Galloway, in which r m the Selki k ho e was situated , had long been known as the Whig countr y . It had C r been the chosen land of the ovenante s, the foes of pr ivilege and the defender s Of i r r r ‘ l be al p inciples in gove nment . Its lead ing families, the Kennedys, the Gordons, and ST MARY ’S ISLE 5

Do l s - the u g a se , formed a broad minded aristo r cracy . In such sur oundings , as one of the ’ T lads of the Dee , homas Douglas inevitably developed a type of mind more or less radical . O r His political pinions, however, we e guided r by a cultivated intellect . His fathe , a patron r fo r m e n u of lette s , kept open house of geni s , and brought his sons into contact with some of the foremost thinker s and writers of the day. One of these was Robert Burns , the r r most beloved of Scottish poets . In his ea lie r r life , when sca cely known to his count ymen , r Bu ns had dined with Basil , Lord Daer, ’ Thomas Douglas s eldest br other and heir r l apparent of the Selki k ine . This was the occasion commemorated by Bur ns in the poem of which this is the first stanza

This w o t ye all whom it c on cern s R m r R in i u rn I , hy e ob , al as B s , Oct r t n t -t i r obe we y h d , ’ A n r -to -be - r tt n e e fo g o e day, ’ Sa e fa r I spra ch l d u p th e br ae ’ ’ I din n er (1 w i a Lor d

One wet evening in the summer of 1 793 Burn s dr ew up befor e the Selkir k manor -house in R d l company with John Syme of ye a e . The two fr iends wer e making a tour of Galloway r on horseback . The poet was in bad humou . 6 THE RED RIVER COLONY

r r The night befo e, du ing a wild storm of rain r r and thunde , he had been inspi ed to the ’ rousing measures of Scots wha hae w i ’ r Wallace bled . But now he was d enched to the skin , and the rain had damaged a new pair m r Th e of jem y boots which he was wea ing . passionate appeal of the Bruce to his country r r men was now fo gotten, and Bu ns was as cr oss as the proverbial bear . It was the dinner hour when the two wanderer s ar r ived r r r and we e co dially invited to stay . Va ious other guests wer e pr esent ; and so agr eeable m was the co pany and so genial the welcome, that the gr umbling bar d soon lost his if rit Th i n able mood . e evening passed song and r r r sto y, a n d Bu ns ecited one of his ballads , we a r e told , to an audience which listened in ’ m dead silence . The young ind of Thomas Douglas could not fail to be influenced by such associations . In 1 786 Thomas Douglas enter ed the Uni r r ve sity of Edinbu gh . Fr om this year until 1 790 his name appears regular ly upon the class lists kept by its professor s . The gr ey metr opolis of the Nor th was at this per iod pre -eminent among the liter ary and academic r r r r cent es of G eat B itain . The p incipal of r the unive sity was Willia m Robertson, the ST MARY ’ S ISLE 7

celebrated historian . Professor Dugald Stew h o th art , W held e chair of philosophy, had gained a reputation extending to the con t i n n t r e of Eu ope . Adam Smith , the epoch making economist, was spending the clos ing yea rs of his life at his home near the Ca n o n a t e r r r g chu chya d . Du ing his stay in m Edinburgh , Tho as Douglas interested him i n r r r self the wo k of the lite a y societies , which wer e am ong the leading featur es of academic life . At the meetings essays were read upon var ious them es and lengthy debates wer e 1 88 r m e held . In 7 a g oup of nineteen young n at Edinbur gh for med a new society known as The Club Tw o of the or iginal member s T r were homas Douglas and Walte Scott , the latter an Edinbur gh lad a few weeks younger r than Douglas . These two fo med an intimate fr iendship which did not wane when one had r r become a pee of the ealm , his mind occupied r r by a g eat social problem , and the othe a baronet and the gr eatest novelist of his r gene ation . When the French Revolution stir red Eur ope w a s r to its depths , Thomas Douglas att acted r by the doct ines of the revolutionists , and went to Fr ance that he might study the new move ment . But Douglas, like so many of his con 8 THE RED RIVER COLONY

r tempor ar ies in G eat Britain , was filled with disgust at the blind carnage of the Revolution . He returned to Scotland and began a ser ies of tours in the Highlands , studying the condi tions of life among his Celtic countrymen and becoming proficient in the use of the Gaelic tongue . Not France but Scotland was t o be f the scene of his reforming e forts . CHAPTER I I

SE R TH E N Z LKI K, COLO I ER

FROM the north and west of Scotland have come two types of men with whom ever y schoolboy is now familiar . One of these has been on many a battlefield . He is the br awny r r r r Highland wa io , with buckled ta tan flung r ac oss his shoulder, gay in pointed plume filib r and e g . The othe is seen in many a famous picture of the hill-country— the High r i n i l d hepher , h sm p ai , land ”s d w apped with staff in hand and long side , h is flock in silent glen , y W - u BE t h e still runnin g burn , or out p lonely brae . But in Thomas Douglas ’s day such types of Highland life were ver y recent factors in i n Scottish history . They did not appear, deed , until after the battle of Culloden and l the failure of the Rebellion of 1 745 . Loya ty,

firm and unbe ndi ng, has always been a char a ct e ristic of th e mountaineer . The High 9 1 0 TH E RED RIVER COLONY

lander s held to the ancient house of Stuart

which had been dethr oned . George I I of England was r epudiated by most of them as ’ ‘ r a wee wee Lai die . More than thir ty thousand claym ore s flashed at the r beck of Char les Edward , the Stuart p ince ’ r acclaim ed as King 0 the Highland hea ts . When the upr isi n g had been quelled and Char les Edwar d had become a fugitive with a r r p ice on his head , little conside ation could r r be expected f om the house of Hanove . r r The B itish gove nment decided that , once

. sh ou ld b and for all , the power of the cla ns \e r b oken . Fo r centur ies the chief str ength of the r Highland ace had lain in the clan . By right of bir th ever y Highlander belonged to a sept r r or clan . His ove lo d was an elected chief, whom he was expected to obey under all r m T ci cu stances . his chief led in war and r r exe cised a wide autho ity over his people . h im r r Just below we e the tacksmen , who we e mor e near ly r elated to him than were the r r m r o dina y clans en . Eve y member of the

clan had some land ; indeed , each clansman had the sam e r ights to the soil as the chief

himself enj oyed . The Highlander dwelt in a h u m blt sh ea ' o o ( hng but, however p m e

1 2 TH E RED RIVER COLONY wedded to the old or der of things , and left it r r unchanged . With thei successo s, however, r began a new e ra . These men had come unde r the influence of the south , whithe they had r r gone for education , to co ect the rudeness r of their Highland manne s . On their return to their native country they too often held themselves aloof fr om the uncouth dweller s in r the hills . The myste ious love of the Gael for his kith and kin had left them they wer e no longer to their dependants as fathers to r r child en . Mo e especially had these Saxon br ed lor dlings fallen a pr ey to the commer cial ideas of the south . It was trying for them to possess the nominal dignity of landlor ds with r r out the money needed to maintain thei ank . r r r They we e ba e of etinue, shabby in equi r page, and light of pu se . They saw but one r f r solution of thei di ficulty . Like thei English r r and Lowland breth en, they must inc ease the r r ents upon thei Highland estates . So it came - r about that the one time clansmen , educed to mere tenants, groaned for the upkeep of their r r ove lo ds . N o r did this end the misfor tunes of the clansmen . An attractive lure was held out r r to the new gene ation of Chieftains , and g eed r r and ava ice were to t iumph . Southern spee n IZE R 1 SELKI RK, TH E COLON 3

lators had been rambling over the Highlands , r r eage to exploit the count y. These men had r r seen a land of grass and heathe , steep c ag, r and winte snow . Observing that the country was specially adapted to the raising of sheep , they sought by offering high rents to acquir e o r - r land f sheep walks . Thus , th ou gh the r length and b eadth of the Highlands , great enclosures wer e for med for the br eeding of r r r sheep . Whe e many c ofte s had once tilled S r the soil , only a lone hephe d was now found , meditating on scenes of desolation . Ruined dwellings and forsaken hamlets r emained to tell the tale . Human beings had been evicted ’ r r sheep had become the devou e s of men . In r i n e. h many pa ts of the Highlands t h abi ta nts , d r i a i n r t homes , were fo ced to eke out a meagr e e xist e n ca n n m a r r o w s t ri ps of h o r e r land b y t h M e a s , whe e they pined and where they half-st a m e dg n the fish caught in r the danger ous wate s . Fr om such a dilemma there was but one r r escape . Behind the evicted tenant y we e the

- sheep walks ; before them was the open sea . Few her r ings came to the net ; the bannock r r r meal was low ; the ta tan th eadba e . In their utter hopelessness they listened to the good news which came of a land beyond the 1 4 TH E RE D RIVER COLO NY

Atlantic wher e ther e was plenty and to spare . It is small wonder that as the ships moved westwar d they car r ied with them the destitute

Highlander, bound for the colonies planted in

North America . This expatr iation was Spread over many r r 1 weary yea s . It was in full p ocess in 797, when Thomas Douglas became Lord Daer. r r His six elder b othe s had been ailing, and one

by one they had died , until he , the youngest, r alone su vived . Then, when his father also 2 1 i n passed away, on May 4 , 799, he was left possession of the ancestr al estates and became r the fifth Ear l of Selki k .

As a youngest son, who would have to make r T his own way in the wo ld , homas Douglas r r had p epa ed himself, and this was a distinct advantage to him when his elevation in r ank r r r r occu ed . He ente ed into his fo tune and r place an educated man, with the b oad outlook upon life and the hum anitar ian sympathy which study and exper ience br ing to a gener r ous Spi it . Now he was in a position to car r y out cer tain philanthr opic schem es which had r r begun ea lie to engage his attention . His j aunts in the Highlands amid the mountain r r r and the flood we e now to bea f uit . The dolor ous plaint of the hapless clansmen had Z 1 SELKI RK, TH E COLON I ER 5 struck an answering chord in the depths of his r A natu e . s Thomas Douglas , he had meant to inter est himself in the cause of the High r r r lande s ; now that he was Ea l of Selki k, he decided , as a servant of the public , t o use his wealth and influence for their social and r economic welfa e . With this resolve he took up what was to be the main task of his life the pr oviding of homes under other skies for I n the homeless the Highlands .

’ In the spri ng 0 IE T t h e young earl r r r add essed a letter to Lo d Pelham , a ministe r r in the B itish gove nment , in which he dwelt with enthusiasm upon the subj ect of emigra tion . His letter took the form of an appeal , r r r and was p ophetic . The e had p eviously ’ come into Selkir k s hands Alexander M a c ’ kenzie s thrilling stor y of his j our neys to the r A ctic and the Pacific . This book had filled ’ r r Selki k s mind with a g eat conception . Men r had settled , he told Lo d Pelham , on the - r r sea coast of B itish Ame ica , until no tract — ther e w as left u n m ha brfld b u L frg W s n s r and érAd lai . What of the f uitful regions which lay in the YW i o r It was thither that the government should tur n the r thoughts of the homeless and the imp ovident . Leading to this temperate and fertile area w a s 1 6 THE RED RIVER COLONY — an excellent nor ther n highway the waters o f

Hudson Bay and the Nelson . Lord Selkir k received a not unfavourable r r eply to his appeal . The autho ities said that, though for the pr esent they could not under take a schem e of emigr ation such as he had r r r r outlined , they would aise no ba ie against any pr ivate m ovement which Lor d Selkir k might car e to set on foot . The refusal of the gover nment itself to move the dispossessed men was dictated by the political exigencies m r r of the mo ent . G eat B itain had no desire r to dec ease her male population . Napoleon r had j ust become fi st consul in France . His imper ial eagles would soon be car r ying their r r menace ac oss the face of Eu ope , and Great r m B itain saw that , at any mo ent , she might r equir e all the m e n she could bring into the

field . As the gover nment had not discountenanced r r his plan, the Ea l of Selki k deter mined to r put his theo ies at once into pr actice . He made known in the Highlands that he pro posed to establish a settlement in British r r No th Ame ica . Keen interest was ar oused , r r and soon a la ge company, mostly f om the isle of Skye , with a scatter ing fr om other r pa ts of Scotland , was prepared to embark. 1 SELKI RK , TH E COLON IZER 7 It was intended that these settlers should sail for Hudson Bay. This and the lands beyond r r r r r we e , howeve , by cha te ed ight the hunting ’ r p eserve of the Hudson s Bay Company, of r which mo e will be said . Presumably this r fOr f company inte fered , uno ficial word came from England to Selkir k that the scheme of colonizing the pr air ie region west of Hudson Bay and the Gr eat Lakes would not be pleas r ing to the government . Selki k, however, r quickly tur ned elsewhe e . He secured land r for his settle s in Prince Edward Island , in the Gulf of St Lawrence . The prospective r colonists, numbe ing eight hundred , sailed fr om Scotland on boar d thr ee char ter ed t vessels, and reached heir destination in the midsummer of 1 803 . Lor d Selkir k had intended to reach Prince

Edward Island in advance of his colonists, r r r in o der to make ready for their a ival . But r f he was delayed by his p ivate a fairs , and when he came upon the scene of the intended settlement , after sunset on an August day, the ships had arr ived and one of them had S la nded its passengers . On the ite of a little Fr ench village of former days they had propped poles together in a circle, matted them with foliage from the trees, and were B 1 8 THE RED RIVER CO LONY

e im living, like a band of Indians, in thes i pr o v i se d w gwams .

Ther e was , of course , much to be done . r r r Tr ees and unde g owth had to be clea ed away, t surveys made, and plots of land meted o u to m r r the var ious fa ilies . Lo d Selki k remained r fo r several weeks supervising the wo k . Then , r leaving the colony in cha ge of an agent , he set o u t to make a tour of Canada and the

United States . ’ r i Meanwhile , Selki k s agents n Scotland r wer e not idle . Du ing the same summer (1 803) a hundr ed and eleven emigr ants were r r m r r r muste ed at Tobe o y, a ha bou town o n r the island of Mull . Most of them we e natives m r a of the island . For so e eason , s id to be r Of r r r dange attack by F ench p ivatee s , they did not put out into the Atlantic that year ; they sailed round to Kir kcaldy and wintered 1 0 there . In May 8 4 the par ty went on board Ou ht n r the ship g o of G eenock, and after a six ’ r r weeks j ou ney landed at Mont eal . Thence r they t avelled in bateaux to Kingston . These settler s wer e on their way to B a ld o o n r Fa m , a tract of about nine hundr ed and fifty acr es which Lor d Selkir k had pur chased for r them in Uppe Canada, near Lake St Clair .

Selkirk himself met the party a t Kingston ,

2 0 THE RED RIVER CO LONY

M ‘ N a b sold the land to John , a trader of the ’ Hudson s Bay Company . Many descendants of the or iginal settlers are , however, still living in the neighbourhood .

Before returning to Great Britain, Lord Selkir k r ested fr om his tr avels for a time in the r e city of Montreal , whe e he was f ted by many r of the leading me chants . What the pluto e t ats of the fu r tr ade had to relate to Selkirk r O was of mor e than passing inte est . N doubt he talked with Joseph Fr obisher in his quaint M ‘T v i sh home on Beaver Hall Hill . Simon a , - r too, was living in a new built mansion unde the brow of Mount Royal . This old lion of ’ t Montreal , who was h e founder of the North C r West ompany, had for the me e asking a r r sheaf of tales, a s realistic as . they we e ente taining . Honour was done Lord Selkirk during his stay in the city by the Beaver Club , which met once a fortnight . This was an ex e r r lusive o ganization , which limited its membe r ship to those who dealt in fu s . Every meet ing meant a banquet , and at these meetings each club-man wor e a gold medal on which was engraved the motto, For titude in Dis tr ess Dishes wer e served which smacked of i i — pra r e and forest venison , bear flesh, and

H E Z SELKI RK, T COLON I ER 2 1 f ’ bu falo tongue . The club s resplendent glass S r r r and polished ilver we e ma ked with its c est , r a beaver . After the toasts had been d unk, the j ovial par ty knelt on the floor for a final r o r ceremony . With poke s or tongs whatever else was at hand, they imitated paddlers in r action, and a cho us of lusty voices j oined in r a bu st of song . It may be supposed that Lord Selkir k was impr essed by what he saw at this gather ing and that he was a sym k ‘ pathetic guest . He as ed many questions, r r and nothing escaped his eage obse vation . Little did he then think that his host s would soon be banded together in a struggle to the death against him and his schemes of western colonization . CHAPTER I I I

THE PU RSE -STRI N GS LOOS EN

z t o TRA FFIC in furs was ha ardous, bu it br u ght r r r Th e r r g eat etu ns . pelt y of the no th , no less than the gold and silver of the south , gave impetus to the effor ts of those who fir st settled r the wester n hemisphe e . In expectation of r r ample p ofits , the fur ship th eaded its way - r th rough the ice pack of the northe n seas , and the tr ader sent his canoes by tor tuous str eam m r r and toilso e po tage . In the ea ly days of the eighteenth centur y sixteen beaver skins could be O btained fr om the Indians for a single fo r musket , and ten skins a blanket . Profits r r SO we e g eat , and with the margin Of gain r m r r eno ous , jealousies and qua els without number were certain to ar ise between rival fu r r r t ade s . The r ight to the fur trade in America had b r — een g anted given away, as the English of the time thought— b y the hand of Char les I I

of England . In pr odigal fashion Charles con 22 JOS PH FROB I SH R A PA R E E , TN ER I N TH E N ORTH - VVE ST COM PA N Y

F1 0 111 th e o h n Ro ss Ro b e i tso J n Co lle ct o n o ro n to P ‘ i , T u bli c l l a l y

24 THE RED RIVER COLO NY

1 8 r Bay Company . In 7 3 a g oup of them r - m united to form the No th West Co pany, with r r headquar ter s at Mont eal . The o ganization gr ew in str ength and became the most power r ful antagonist of the olde company, and the open feud between the two spr ead thr ough the wide region fr om the Gr eat Lakes to the

Slopes of the Rocky Mountains . ’ o r w e st e rs The N , as the partners and servants of the North-West Company wer e r m n called , we e bold co petitors . Their e t h u si a sm fo r the conflict was all the more eager because their trade was regar ded a s r illicit by their ivals . There was singleness of pur pose in their r anks almost ever y man r in the se vice had been tr ied and pr oved . All the Montreal par tner s of the company had r r taken the long t ip to the Grand Po tage , a tr ansit station at the mouth of the Pigeon r r iver, on the western shore o f Lake Supe ior . Other par tners had wintered on the fr ozen o r r plains in the thick of the fo est , tracking - r - the yellow g ey badger, the pine marten , and r r the g eedy wolve ine . The guides employed r by the company knew ever y mile of the rive s , r r and they a ely mistook the most elusive trail . Its inter pr eter s could conver se with the r e d men like natives Even the clerks who looked TH E PURSE-STRINGS LOOSEN 25 after the office routine of the company z r laboured with est , fo , if they were faithful r m and attentive in their wo k, the ti e would come when they, too , would be elected as a r r r c n o p tne s in the g eat concer n . The a e m e n wer e mainly Fr ench- Canadian coureur s de r m bois , gay voyageurs on lake and st ea . In the veins of many of them flowed the blood of r r r r C ee or I oquois . Though half ba ba ous in t their mode of life , they had heir own devo r - tions . At the fi st halting place on their r r westwa d j ou ney, above Lachine , they were accustomed to enter a little chapel which stood r r on the bank of the Ottawa . He e they p ayed ’ reverently that the good Saint Anne , the r m n f iend of all ca n o e e , would guard them on w a r r their y to the G and Po tage . Then they ’ r ff r n e r d opped an o e ing at Saint A n s sh ine , r r a r r and pointed thei c aft ag inst the cu ent . These rovers of the wilderness wer e buoyant r of hea t , and they lightened the weary hours ’ of their six weeks j ourney with blithe songs r r of love and the ive . When the snow fell r r and ice closed the ive , they would tie their husky dogs to Sledges and tr avel over the r r r desolate wastes, ca ying fu s and provisions . It was a very different company that traded ’ into Hudson Bay . The Hudson s Bay Com 2 6 TH E RED RIVER COLO NY pany was launched on its career in a princely r r m anne , and had t ied to cling fast to its time wor n tr aditions . The bundles of uncured skins were r eceived fr om the r e d men by its m servants with po p and dignity. At first the ’ r r t o Indians had to b ing thei catch _ the r r Sho es of Hudson Bay itself, and he e they wer e made to feel that it was a pr ivilege to be r m allowed to t ade with the company. So e times they were per mitted to pass i n their war es only thr ough a window in the outer r r t e pa t of the fo t . A beaver skin was the r fo r gular standa d of value , and in return their skins the savages r eceived all manner of r r gaudy t inkets and also useful me chandise , s chiefly knive , hatchets , guns, ammunition, and blankets . But befor e the end of the ’ eighteenth centur y the activity of the N o r ’ wester s had for ced the Hudson s B a y Com r pany out of its a istocr atic slothfulness . The savages wer e now sought out in their prair ie m homes , and the co pany began to set up - r r trading posts in the inte ior, all the way f om Rainy Lake to Edmonton House on the North

Saskatchewan . Such was the situation of affairs in the fur bearing countr y when the Earl of Selkirk had his vision of a rich prairie home for t h e TH E PURSE-STRI NGS LOOSEN 2 7

d r esolate Highlande s . Though he had not

himself visited the Far West , he had some con ce pti o n of the pr obable outcome of the fier ce r iva lry between the two gr eat fur companies r r in North Ame ica; He fo esaw that, sooner r or late , if his scheme of planting a colony in r r m the inte ior was to p osper, he ust ally him self with one o r the other of these two factions r r of t ade s . ’ We may gain a knowledge of Lor d Selkir k s ideas at this time fr om his own wr itings and r 1 80 r public utte ances . In 5 he issued a wo k Si r on the Highlands of Scotland , which Walter Scott p r aised for its pr ecision and ’ c n a cura cy, and which expr essed the sig ificant sentiment that the gover nment should adopt a policy that would keep the Highlander s r r 1 806 within the B itish Empi e . In , when he had been chosen as one of the sixteen r e pr e se n t a ti v r r e peers f om Scotland , he delive ed a speech in the House of Lor ds upon the subj ect r of national defence , and his views we e after r r wa ds stated mo e fully in a book . With telling logic he argued fo r the need of a local militia, rather than a volunteer force , as the best protection for England i n a moment of ’ r pe il . The tenor of this and Selkirk s other wr itings would indicate the staunchness of THE RED RIVER COLO NY

his patriotism . In his efforts at colonization ’ his desir e was to keep Britain s sons from r em igr ating to an alien Sho e . ’ Now it is our duty to befriend this people , , ' fl r i th e H i h la de rs he affir med, in w ting of g . h e 1 r m i r i t , _t i r ec _ Let us d e g at on , __let them be ’ r led abroad to new possessions . Selki k states ‘ plainly his reason . Give them homes under ’ ‘ our own flag, is his entreaty, and they will tH n m r str n e the e pi e . In 1 8 07 Selki r k was chosen as lord - lieu o f r r r r tenant the stewa t y of Ki kcudb ight , and in t he sam e year took place his marriage with a r r - Co l il r Je n Wedde bu n v e , the only daughte of James W One year later he was 1 11

Royal Society, a distinction confer r ed only upon intellectual worker s whose labour s have ’ r inc eased the world s stock of knowledge . After some shrewd thinking Lor d Selkir k ’ decided to thr ow in his lot with the Hudson s u b s Bay Company . Why he did this will s e r quently appear. At fi st , one might have judged the step unwise . The financiers of London believed that the company was drift r ing into deep water . When the books we e 1 80 8 r made up for , there we e no funds avail fo r able dividends , and bankruptcy seemed TH E PURSE-STRI NGS LOOSEN 29

inevitable . Any one who o wned a share of Hudson ’s Bay stock found that it had not S r earned him a ixpence du ing that year . The company ’s business was being cut down by r r the ope ations of its agg essive rival . The ’ chief cause , however, of the company s financial plight was not the trade w a r in m r w a r A e ica, but the European , which had r r dealt a heavy blow to B itish comme ce . Napoleon had found himself unable to land m his ar y in England , but he had other means r 1 8 06 of st iking . In he issued the famous r r Be lin Decree , decla ing that no other countr y r r should t ade with his g eatest enemy . Dealer s had been wont to come every year to London r r f om Germany, F ance, and Russia, in order to purchase the fine skins which the Hudson ’s

Bay Company could supply. Now that this r t ade was lost to th e company, the profits dis o r appeared . F three seasons bale after bale of unsold peltr y had been stacked to the r r r afte s of the London wa ehouse . The Ear l of Selkir k was a practical man ; ’ and , seeing the plight of the Hudson s Bay

Company, he was tempted to take advantage of the situation to further his plans Of emigr a r tion . Like a genuine lo d of Galloway, how r ever, he p oceeded with extreme caution . His 30 TH E RE D RIVER COLO NY initial move was to get the best possible legal ’ advice regardin g the validity of the com pany s r r r royal cha te . Five of the foremost lawye s in the land wer e asked fo r their opinion upon this r r matter . Chief of those who we e app oached r was Si r Samuel Romilly, the f iend of Bentham r Th e r r r r a n d of Mi abeau . othe fou we e Geo ge m r Holr oyd and Ja es Sca let , both distinguished r Cr pleade s , and William uise and John Bell . Th e finding of these law yer s put the question r out of doubt . The cha ter, they said , was r r flawless . Of all the lands which we e d ained r r by the many rive s unning into Hudson Bay, m e r r r the co pany was the sol p op ieto . Within these limits it could appoint sher iffs and br ing - r r r r law b eake s to t ial . Besides , the e was no thing to pr event it fr om gr anting to any one -S r in fee imple t acts of land in its vast domain . Having satisfied him self that the char ter of 1 6 0 r 7 was legally unassailable, the ea l was n o w r eady for his subsequent line of action . He had r esolved to get a foothold in the com n f pa y itself . To e fect this O bject he br ought his own capital into play, and sought at the m ’ same ti e the aid of his wife s relatives , the r r -Co lv ile s Wedde bu n , and of other per sonal r r f iends . Sha es in the com pany had de r e ci a t e d p in value , and the owners , in many

32 TH E RED RIVER COLO NY

r r westers , who now had a ight to voice thei S r Opinions, fumed and haggled . Other ha e holder s flar ed into vigor ous pr otest as the ’ Ear l of Selki r k s plan was disclosed . In the midst of the clash of interests , however, the ’ ear l s following stated his proposal succinctly. They said that Selkir k wished to secure a tract of fer tile terr itory within the borders of ’ Rupert s Land , for purposes of colonization . r t h Pr efe ably, this should lie in the region of e h r r Red River, whic ran no thwa d towards Hud son Bay . At his own expense Selkirk would r r ple this t act within a given pe iod, foster

e ear ly effor ts of its settlers, a n d appease he claim s of the Indian tr ibes that inhabited r r r r r the te ito y. He p omised , moreove , to help to supply the Hudson ’s Bay Company r r o r with labou e s f its work . Had Lor d Selkir k been present to view t h e r r r r animated th ong of me chant adventu e s , he r r r would have fo eseen his victo y. In his fi st ’ tilt with the Nor wester s he was to be success r ful . The opposition was st ong, but it wore r down before the onslaught of his f iends . S Then came the how of hands . There was no uncer tainty about the vote ' two - thir ds of the cour t had pledged themselves i n favou r ’ r r r of Lo d Selki k s p oposal . TH E PURSE-STRI NGS LOOSEN 33

By the terms of the gr ant which the gener al court made to Selkirk , he was to r eceive squar e miles of vir gin soil in the locality which he had selected . The bound aries of this immense ar ea were car efully i fixed . Roughly speak ng, it extended fr om

Big Island , in Lake Winnipeg, to the par ting of the Red River fr om the head-water s of the r Mississippi in the south , and f om beyond the for ks of the Red a n d Assiniboine river s in the S r L west to the ho es of the ake of the Woods , L r r and at one point almost to ake Supe io , in the east . If a map is consulted , it will be seen that one -half of the gr ant lay in what is now r the p ovince of Manitoba, the other half in the pr esent states of Minnesota and North 1 Dakota . A gr eat variety of opinions wer e expr essed in London upon the subj ect of this gr ant . ’ Some wiseacres said that the earl s pr oposal r was as extravagant as it was visiona y . One ’ of Selkir k s acquaintances met him str olling r S r along Pall Mall , and b ought him up ho t on the street with the query ' If you a r e bent

1 It will be u n der stood that th e boun dary-li n e between B ritish a n d Am eri can territory i n th e N orth-West was n o t ye t estab lish d ar c m U ni t t t i a t t i e . What afterw ds be a e ed S a es so l was h s ’ tim e c lai m ed by th e H u dson s Bay Com pan y un der its charter .

R. R. C. C 34 TH E RE D RIVER COLONY on doing something futile , why do you not sow r r o r tar es at home in orde to eap wheat , plough r the deser t of Sahara, which is nea er The extensive tract which the Hudson’s Bay Company had bestowed upon Lor d Selkir k fo r the nominal sum of ten shillings had made h im the gr eatest individual land r e w owner in Ch istendom . His n possession g o v i n ce E I n was e__as the p of g ypt d a m Ca e sa r the ys , Augustus But in some ’ other respects Lord Selkirk s her itage was r much g eater . The province of Egypt, the r r g ana y of Rome, was fertile only along the

- banks of the Nile . More than three fourths ’ r r of Lo d Selki k s domain, o n the other hand , was highly fertile soil . CHAPTER IV

STORN OWAY— AN D B EYON D

ON 1 1 8 1 1 June 3 , , the deed was given to Selkir k of his wide possessions with the seal S ’ and ignature of the Hudson s Bay Company, r attached by Alexander Lean, the sec etary . r r Befo e this, however, Selki k had become deeply engr ossed in the details of his enter r p ise . No time was to be lost, for unless all ’ should be in readiness befor e the Hudson s Bay vessels set out to sea on their summer voyage , the proposed expedition of colonists r must be postponed for anothe year .

Selkirk issued without delay a pamphlet, setting forth the advantages of the pr ospective r colony . Land was to be given away f ee , or sold for a nominal sum . To the poor, tra ns - ' ' portM SL n g th i n g ; others Would have i t to pay agg ord n g to heir means . No one would be d ebar red on account of his religio us belief ; all creeds

' Th e seat o f t h e t ir i n cal led 35 36 THE RED RIVER COLO NY

r Assiniboia, afte a tribe of the Sioux nation, h r t the Assiniboines, buffalo unte s on the Grea

Plains . Wherever this pamphlet was read by m en r r dissatisfied with thei lot in the Old Wo ld , it aroused hope . With his usual good judg r r ment , Selki k had engaged seve al men whose training fitted them for the wor k of inducing r landless men to emig ate . One of these was

‘ Captain Miles Macdonell , lately summoned r r by Lo d Selkirk f om his home in Canada . Macdonell had been rear ed in the Mohawk r valley, had served in the anks of the Royal r r G eens du ing the War of the Revolution , and had sur vived many a hard fight on the New r r York f ontie . After the war, like most of r his egiment , he had gone as a Loyalist to the r r county of Glenga y, on the Ottawa . It so chanced that the Earl of Selkirk while in

Canada had met Macdonell , then a captain r of the Royal Canadian Voluntee s , and had r been imp essed by his cour age and energy . r In consequence, Selki k now invited him to r be the fi st governor of Assiniboia . Macdonell accepted the appointment ; and promptly upon his ar r ival in Br itain he went to the west coast of I r eland to win r ecr uits for the settle ment. Owing to the straitened circum stances — STORNOWAY AN D BEYON D 37

r of the I ish peasantry, the tide of emigration r r from I eland was al eady running high , and r Lord Selki k thought that Captain Macdonell , who was a Roman Catholic, might influence co -r some of his eligionists to go to Assiniboia . Another agent upon whom Selkir k felt that he could rely was Colin Robertson, a native of the island of Lewis, in the Hebrides .

To this island he was now dispatched , with instructions to visit other sections of the

Highlands as well . Robertson had formerly held a post under the North-West Company in the Saskatchewan valley. There he had quarrelled with a sur ly-natur ed tr ader known - r as Crooked a med Macdonald , with the result that Rober tson had been dismissed by the Nor ’westers and had come back to Scotland r in an ang y mood . A thir d place of muster for the colony r r was the city of Glasgow. The e the Ea l of ’ Selkir k s representative was Captain Roderick ‘ r M D o n a ld . Many Highlande s had gone to t Glasgow, that busy hive of indus ry, in search of wor k . To the clerks in the shops and to the labourers in the yards or at the loom , ‘ M Do n a ld descr ibed the glories of Assiniboia . r Many were impressed by his wo ds, but o bjected to the low wages offered for their 38 TH E RE D RIVER COLONY

M ‘ D o n a ld services . compromised , and by offer ing a higher Wage induced a number to r r enlist . But the rec uits f om Glasgow turned out to be a Shiftless lot and a constant source ’ r f r of annoyance to Selki k s o fice s . ’ While this wor k was being done the N o r westers in London wer e burning with wrath ’ at their inability to hinder Lor d Selkir k s

r . r p oject Their hostility, we have seen , a ose r r o r r t f om thei belief, which was quite c ect , tha a colony would inter fer e with their tr ading r r operations . In the hope that the ente p ise r might yet be stopped , they ci culated in the r r Highlands va ious rumou s against it . An ’ r r r anonymous attack, clea ly f om a No wester r r sou ce , appea ed in the columns of the r r a Inve ness J ou n l. The author of this dia tr ibe pictur ed the rigour s of Assiniboia in ’ r r r terrible colou s . Selkir k s agents we e cha a ct e r i ze d r r as a b ood of dissemble s . With r espect to the ear l himself words were n o t h il minced . His p a n t h m py was all assumed he was only biding his time in or der to make r r i la ge p ofits out of his colon zation scheme . r Notwithstanding this cam paign of slande , gr oups of would-b e settler s came str aggling along fr om var ious places to the port of r endezvous, Stornoway, the capital of the

4 0 THE RED RIVER COLONY

Thames and steer ed up the eas t coast of r En gland . Opposite Ya mouth a gale rose and for ced them into a sheltering harbour . It was the middle of July before they rounded r the nor th shor e of Scotland . At St omness in the Or kneys the P r i n ce of Wa les took on boar d a sm all body of em igr ants and a number of the company ’s servants who were waiting r the e . At length th e tiny fleet reached the bustling har bour -town of Stor noway ; and here Miles f Macdonell faced a task of no little di ficulty . Or k n m n r Counting the e y e just a rived , there wer e one hundr ed and twenty- fiv e in his r m party . The atmosphe e seemed full of u r est , and the cause was not far to seek The ’ o r w st rs r r N e e were at wo k, and thei agents r r we e sowing discontent among the emig ants . r r m f Even Collecto Reed , the gove n ent o ficial r in cha ge of the customs , was acting as the ’ ’ r r tool of the No weste s . It was Reed s duty, r r of cou se , to hasten the depa ture of the ex pe dit i o n ; but instead of doing this he put r r every possible obstacle in the way . Mo eove , r r he mingled with the emig ants , u ging them to for sake the venture while ther e was yet time . Another partisan of the Nor th-West Com — STORNOWAY AN D BEYOND 4 1

pany also appeared on the scene . This w as r f an a my o ficer named Captain Mackenzie , who pretended to be gather ing r ecr uits for the

r . r a my He had succeeded , it appea s, in getting some of Selkirk ’s men to take the ’ king s shilling, and now was trying to lead these men away fr om the ships as deser ter s ’ ’ r f om His Majesty s service . One day this tr ouble-maker br ought his dinghy alongside r one of the vessels . A sailo on deck , who saw Captain Mackenzie in the boat and was eager r - S for a la k, picked up a nine pound hot , poised r it carefully, and let it fall . The e was a splintering thud . Captain Mackenzie suddenly e r rem mbered how dry it was on sho e , and put

Off for land as fast as oar s would hurry him . Next day he sent a pompous challenge to the commander of the vessel . It was, of course , ignored .

In Spite of obstacles , little by little the arr angements for the ocean voyage wer e being r r completed . There we e many i ritating de r r lays . Disputes about wages b oke out af esh r when inequalities were discover ed . The e was much wr angling among the emigr ants as to their quar ter s on the uninviting E dwa r d a n d A n r n . At the last moment a numbe of the party took fear and decided to stay at home . 4 2 THE RED RIVER COLONY

Som e left the ship in unceremonious fashion , even for getting their effects . These were sub r sequently sold among the passenge s . One ’ m a n r C , w ote aptain Macdonell , j umped into the sea and swam for it until he was picked ’ v r up . It may be belie ed that the gove nor of Assiniboia heaved a thankful Sigh when r r the ships we e eady to hoist their sails . It ’ has been a herculean task, ran the text of r r his pa ting message to the Earl of Selki k . On July 2 6 a favour able breeze bor e the vessels out to sea . There were now r r one hund ed and five in the pa ty, seventy of whom had pr ofessed an intention to r i n till the soil . The emainder had been ’ d e n t u r e d as servants of the Hudson s Bay - i Company. Seventy S x of the total number wer e quar ter ed on boar d the E dw a r d a n d A n r n . As the vessels swept seawa d many eyes were fastened sadly on the r eceding S r ho e . The white houses of Stornoway loomed up distinctly acr oss the dar k waters of the bay. The hill which rose gloomily in r the backg ound was tr eeless and inky black . r On the clean shingle lay the cod and her ing, i ’ p led loose to catch the sun s warm rays . The settler s r emember ed that they Wer e per haps scanning for the last time the rugged outline — STORNOWAY AND BEYON D 43

- of that heather clad landscape , and their r r hea ts g ew sick within them . For eland after r r fo eland came into View and disappea ed . At length the ships wer e skir ting the Butt Of - r r Lewis with its wave wo n clefts and cave ns . S r Then all ight of land vanished , and they we e r r r r stee ing their cou se into the no the n main . A man - o i —war had been sent as a convoy to

- the vessels , for the quick sailing fr igates of r r r r F ance had been ha ying B itish shipping, r r r and the me cantile ma ine needed p otection . After standing guar d to a point four hundr ed o ff r -o f- - miles the I ish coast , the ship the line r r tu ned back, and the th ee vessels held their r way alone in a tu bulent sea . Two of them E dw a r d beat stoutly against the gale , but the a n d A n fo r h e r m r r n hove to a time , ti be s c eak ing and her bowspr it catching the water as she rose and fell with the waves . And so they put out into the wide and wild Atlantic— these m r m - r poor, ho eless , sto tossed exiles, who we e to add a new chapter to Great Britain ’s colonial history. CHAPTER V

WI N TE RI N G ON TH E B AY

LITTLE is know n of the many strange things which must have taken place on the voyage . On boar d the E dwa r d a n d A n n sickness w as ’ pr evalent and the ship s sur geon was kept T r r busy . he e we e few days on which the r r - passenge s could come f om below decks . r r When weathe pe mitted , Captain Macdonell, who knew the dangers to be en counter ed in r r the count y they we e going to, attempted to r r h r give the emig ants military d ill . T e e ’ never was a more awkward squad , was his f r opinion , not a man , or even o fice , of the par ty knew how to put a gun to his eye o r had ’ e r r r r ev fi ed a shot . A p ominent figu e on the E dw a r d a n d A n n was a car eless-hearted r cle ic , whose wit and banter were in e v i d r ence th oughout the voyage . This was the r r Reve end Father Bu ke , an Irish priest . He had stolen away without the leave of his bishop , and it appears that he and Macdonell , 44 WI NTERI NG ON TH E B AY 4 5

although of the same faith , were not the best f r o f iends . After a stormy voyage of nearly two months r r r the ships ente ed the long, ba en str aits lead r ing into Hudson Bay. F om the beginning of September the fleet had been hour ly expected r r at Yo k Facto y, and speculation was rife r r there as to its delay in a iving . On Sep m r 2 - te be 4 the suspense ended , for the look out

' at the fort descried the ships moving in fr om r as r the no th and e t . They ancho ed in the S r S hallow haven on the weste n hore , where two streams , the Nelson and the Hayes , enter r r Hudson Bay, and the so ely t ied passengers T r r disembarked . hey we e at once ma ched r r r to Yo k Facto y , on the no th bank of the r Hayes . The st ong palisades and wooden b as tions of the for t war ned the newcomer s that there wer e danger s in Amer ica to be guarded against . A pack of husky dogs came bounding forth to meet them as they appr oached the gates . ’ A sur vey of the company s buildings con v i n ce d Macdonell that much mor e r oomy qu ar ter s would be requir ed fo r the appr oach r r r ing winte , and he dete mined to e ect suit r able habitations fo r his people befo e snowfall . With this in view h ecrossed over to the Nelson 46 TH E RE D RIVER COLO NY and ascended it until he reached a high clear ing on its left bank, near which grew an r abundance of white spruce . He b ought up r a body of men , most of whom now eceived r their fir st lesson in woodc aft . The pale and fla k y-bar ked ar omatic spruce trees wer e felled r r c and str ipped of thei b an hes . Next , the r logs wer e snaked into the open, whe e the r r dwellings we e to be e ected , and hewed into r pr oper Shape . These timbe s were then deftly fitted together and the four walls of a rude but dr o o substantial building began to rise . A p r ing oof was added , the chinks were closed , r and then the structu e was complete . When a sufficient number of such houses had been r r built , Macdonell set the pa ty to wo k cutting firewood and gathering it into convenient piles . The prudence of these measur es became appar ent when the fr ost king fixed his iron r AS r e g ip upon land and sea . the days sho ten d , the river s wer e locked deep and fast a shar p r r wind penet ated the fo est , and the salty bay w a s fr inged with j agged and glistening hum mocks of ice . So severe was the cold that the newcomer s wer e loath to go for th from their war m shelter even to haul food from the for t r ove the brittle , yielding snow. Under such

4 8 TH E RE D RIVER COLO NY

r disfavou . To him they seemed to have the appetites of a pack of hungry wolves . He ’ S r - dubbed them lazy, pi itless and ill disposed . ’ r r The Glasgow rascals, too , we e a sou ce of ‘ ’ r - annoyance . A mo e cross grained lot, he ’ r r asserted, we e neve put under any person s ’ car e . r Owing to the disco d existing in the camp , r r the New Yea was not ushe ed in happily.

In Scotland , of all the days of the year, this r r r annive sa y was held in the highest rega d . It was gener ally celebr ated to the strains of ’ ’ Weel may we a be , and with effusive hand shakings, much dining, and a hot kettle . The lads fr om the Or kneys wer e quite wide awake to the occasion and had no intention Of m omitting the custo s of their sires . On New ’ Year s Day they wer e having a rollicking n time in one of the cabins . But their e th u si a sm was quickly damped by a par ty of r r Irish who , having p imed their cou age with r r - r whisky, set upon the me y make s and r c eated a scene of wild disorder . In the heat ' ' of the m elee thr ee of the Ork n e ym e n wer e badly beaten , and for a month their lives hung in the balance . Captain Macdonell later r r sent seve al of the I ish back to Great Britain, saying that such worthless blackguards were

WI NTERI NG O N TH E BAY 49 better under the discipline of the army o r the navy. One of the number who had not taken kindly to Miles Macdonell as a medicine r man was William Findlay, a ve y Obdur ate Or k n e m a n y , who had flatly refused to soil his lips with the wonder-wor king syr up of the S r r r r white p uce . Sho tly afte wa ds , having m been told to do so ething, he was again dis i r obedient . Th s time he was fo ced to appear ’ before Magistr ate Hillier of the Hudson s Bay A Company and was condemned to gaol . S

- there was really no such place , a log house was fo r r built Findlay, and he was imp isoned in r f - r it . A g u f noted babel of dissent a ose among r r his kinsfolk, suppo ted by the men f om r Glasgow. A gang of thi teen , in which both r parties we e represented , put a match to r the pr ison whe e Findlay was confined , and r escued its solitar y inmate out of the blaze . T r r hen , utte ing defiance , they seized anothe r u building, and decided to live apa t . Th s, with the attitude of rebels and well supplied r m with firear ms, they kept the est of the ca p r r in a state of nervousness fo seve al months .

In June , however, these rebels allowed them r selves to fall into a trap . Having c ossed the o ff Nelson , they found their return cut by

R. c. R. D 5 0 THE RED RIVER COLO NY

n Of the m elti g the ice . This put them at the Of r r mer cy of the ficials at Yo k Facto y, and r r n r r e c i they wer e for ced to su e de . After e v ing their humble acknowledgments Macdonell r m r was not disposed to t eat the seve ely, and r he took them back into se vice . But what Of j ovial Father Bur ke since his ar r ival on the shor es of Hudson Bay P To all r r r appea ances, he had not been able to est ain r his flock f om mischief . He had , however, r been explo ing on his own account , and thor oughly believed that he had made som e r valuable discove ies . He had come upon pebbles of var ious kinds which he thought r m we e precious stones . Some of the shone like diamonds ; others seemed like rubies . Father Bur ke was indeed sur e that bits of the sand which he had collected contained r m pa ticles of gold . Macdonell hi self believed that the soil along the Nelson abounded in r r mine al wealth . He told the p iest to keep r r the discove y a sec et , and sent samples of sand and stone to Lor d Selkir k, advising him

' to acquire the banks of the Nelson river from the company . In the end , to the disgust of r Macdonell and Father Bu ke , not one sample r p oved of any value . t h r Weeks before e ice had left the rive , the WI NTERI NG ON TH E B AY 5 1 co lo n Ist s became impatient to set forward on h e r r t remainder of thei j ou ney . To tr anspor t SO r many pe sons, with all their belongings and f r with su ficient p ovisions , seven o r eight hundred miles inland was an under taking for mida b le enough to put Captain Macdonell ’s r ene gies to the fullest test . The only cr aft r r available we e ba k canoes, and these would be too fr agile for the heavy car goes that must r be bo ne . Stouter boats must be built . Macdonell devised a sor t of punt or flat m r m botto ed boat , such as he had fo er ly seen r r in the colony of New Yo k . Fou of these m r r r n clu sy c aft we e const ucted , but o ly with r f r r u g eat di ficulty, and afte much t o ble with r I n e ffici e n c the wo kmen . y , as well as mis o n r conduct , the pa t of the colonists was a m e n r m sor e tr ial to Macdonell . The f o the Hebr ides wer e now pr actically the only mem r fo r r bers Of the par ty who we e not, one eason

o r another, in his black book . It was almost midsum mer before the boats began to push up the Hayes river fo r the i n t e r i o r Ther e wer e many blister ed hands at

r ' r the oars ; neve theless , on the j ou ney they managed to make an aver age of thir teen miles r r each day . Befo e the colonists could each ’ Oxford House , the next post of the Hudson s 5 2 TH E RE D RIVER COLO NY

r r Bay Com pany, th ee dozen po tages had to r be passed . It was with thankful hea ts that they cam e to Holy Lake and caught Sight of - r r the tr ading post by its ma gin . He e was an ample r each of water, reminding the High

- lander s Of a loch of far away Scotland . When the wind died down , Holy Lake was like a r r r giant mi or . Looking into its quiet wate s , r r the voyage s saw g eat fish swimming swiftly . From Oxfor d House the r oute lay over a height -o f—land to the head-water s Of the Nel r f r son . After a se ies of di ficulties the pa ty Of reached Norway House, another post the ’ r Hudson s Bay Company, on an uppe arm r of Lake Winnipeg . At this time No way House was the centr e Of the gr eat fur-bear ing r n region . The colonists found it st ongly e r r r t enched in a ocky basin and asti with life . After a short rest they pr oceeded towar ds r Lake Winnipeg, and soon we e moving slowly - r r down its low lying easte n Sho e . Here they a d r r r h their first glimpse of the p ai ie count y, r r r r with its g een ca pet of g ass . Out f om the ’ r r water s edge grew tall , lank eeds , the lu king - r place of snipe and sand pipe . Doubtless , in

- the brief night watches , they listened to the r cr o r r sh ill y of the restless lynx, hea d the yapping howl Of the timber wolf as he slunk

CHAPTER VI

RE D RIVE R AN D PE M BI N A

SCARCE LY had the settlers taken stock of their sur r oundings on the Red River when they wer e chilled to the mar row with a sudden ter r or Towar ds them came r acing on hor se r - r back a fo midable looking t oop , decked out in all the accoutr ements of the Indian— spr ead r m ing feathe , dangling to ahawk , and a thick w a r - w a s coat of paint . To the newcomers it r - - b - r a neve to e fo gotten spectacle . But when r r the ide s came within close range , shouting r and gesticulating, it was seen that they wo e r r r bo owed appa el , and that their speech was r a medley Of F ench and Indian dialects . r r B rfilés é o r They we e a t oop of Bois , M tis , - r half b eeds of French and Indian blood , aping for the time the manners of their ’ r mothe s people . Their object was to tell ’ Lor d Selkir k s par ty that settlers wer e not wanted on the Red River ; that it was the r fu r count y of the traders , and that settlers must go farther afield . 54 RED RIVER AND PEMBI NA 55

r This was su ely an inhospitable reception , r r afte a long and fatiguing j ou ney . Plainly ’ r r r the No weste s we e at it again , tr ying now r to f ighten the colonists away, as they had r r r m t ied befo e to keep them f om co ing . These mounted half- br eeds wer e a deputation ’ r r r r ’ f om Fo t Gib alta , the Nor wester s nearest r - t ading post, which stood two miles higher up ’ r at the Fo ks , where the Red River is j oined

by the Assiniboine . r r Neve theless , Gove nor Macdonell , having planned as dignified a cer emony as the cir cum ’ stances would allow, sent to the Nor westers at For t Gibr altar an invitation to be pr esent ’ at the Official inaugur ation of Lor d Selkir k s n colo y . At the appointed hour, on Septem b e r r r r r r 4 , seve al t ade s f om the fo t , together r with a few F ench Canadians and Indians , put r Of Odd in an appear ance . In the p esence this company Gover nor Macdonell r ead the Ear l of ’ Selkir k s patent to Assiniboia . About him r was dr awn up a guard of honour, and ove head r the British ensign fluttered in the b eeze . Six

- r small swivel guns, which had been b ought r with the colonists , belched fo th a salute to ’ r r mar k the occasion . The No westers we e visibly impr essed by this show Of author ity r and power . In p etended friendship they 5 6 TH E RED RIVER COLO NY

’ enter ed Gover nor Macdonell s tent and a c r r c e pt e d his hospitality befo e depa ting . At var iance with the scowls Of trapper and trader towar ds the settler s was the attitude Of the full -blooded Indians who were cam ping along r e d the Red River . From the outset these r r skins we e f iendly, and their conduct was soon to stand the settlers in good stead . The pr ovisions br ought from Hudson Bay wer e fast diminishing and would soon be at ’ r Of r an end . T ue , the Nor westers fe ed for sale r r supplies of oats , ba ley, poult y, and the like , but their pr ices wer e high and the settler s had r r not the means of pu chase . But the e was r f r r other food . My iads O buffalo oamed ove r r the G eat Plains . He ds of these animals often dar kened the hor izon like a s lowly moving r m cloud . In summe they ight be seen crop r r ping the prai ie g ass , or plunging and rolling ’ r about in muddy wallows . In winte they r moved to highe levels , where lay less snow to be r emoved fr om the dr ied gr ass which they

' r devou ed . At that season those who needed; to hunt the buffalo for food must follow them W r he ever they went . This was now the plight Of the settler s ' winter was coming on and r r food was already sca ce . The settle s must seek out the winter haunts of the buffalo . RE D RIVER AN D PEMBI NA 5 7

r r The Indians we e of g eat service , for they offered to act as guides . r f A pa ty to hunt the bu falo was or ganized . r Of r Like a t ain pilg ims , the maj or ity of the colonists now set out afoot . Their dar k r r skinned esco t , mounted on wi y ponies , bent r r r r thei cou se in a southe ly di ection . The r edskins eyed with amusement the queer- clad r r strange s whom they we e guiding . These wer e ignorant of the ways Of the wild pr ai r ie country and badly equipped to face its d iffi cu lti s m e . Someti es the Indians indulged in r - r ho se play, and a few of them we e unable to ’ r keep thei hands o ff the settlers possessions . One Highlander lost an ancient musket which r he t easured . A wedding ring was taken by an Indian guide from the hand of one Of the r r women . Five days of st aggling ma ch brought the party to a wide plateau wher e the Indians said that the buffalo wer e accustomed r r r to pastu e . He e the pa ty halted , at the r r j unction of the Red and Pembina ive s , and awaited the ar r ival of Captain Macdonell , who came up next day on hor seback with thr ee o ar thers of his p ty .

Temporar y tents and cabins were erected , and steps wer e tak en to pr ovide m or e c o m i m o d o u s shelters . But this second winter 58 TH E RE D RIVER COLONY thr eatened to be almost as uncomfor table as the fir st had been on Hudson Bay . Captain Macdonell selected a suitable place south of the Pem bina r iver, and on this site a stor e r n r house and othe buildi gs we e put up . The n e d of the year saw a neat little encampment , r r su r ounded by palisades, whe e befor e had r r r been nothing but unb oken p ai ie . As a f r finishing touch , a flagsta f was aised within r the stockade , and in honour of one of Lo d ’ Selkir k s titles the name For t Daer was given to the whole . In the meantime a body of r seventeen I ishmen, led by Owen Keveny, had rr r Ol r a cco m a ived f om the d count y, having pli sh e d the feat of making their way acr oss the ocean to Hudson Bay and up to the settle m r 1 8 1 2 T ent du ing the single season of . his addition al for ce was housed at once in For t n r Daer alo g with the rest . Until sp ing O f pened , bu falo meat was to be had in plenty, the Indians br inging in quantities of it for a r r u r f slight ewa d . So unconscio s we e the bu falo of danger that they came up to the ver y pali sades , giving the settler s an excellent View of r - thei drab br own backs and fluffy, curling manes . On the depar ture of the herds in the spring time ther e w a s no reason why the colon ists

60 TH E RED RIVER COLONY

s n ow fell thickly and lay in heavy drifts , and the buffalo with animal for esight had wander ed ’ r to othe fields . The Nor westers sold the r colonists a few p ovisions , but were egging on B r filés their allies, the Bois , who occupied a small post in the vicinity of the Pembina, to r r annoy them whenever possible . It equi ed cour age of the highest or der on the par t of the r r colonists to battle th ough the winte . They r r r we e in ext eme pove ty, and in many cases r r - v r r thei f ost bitten , star ed bodies we e w apped only in rags befor e Spr ing came Those who r still had thei plaids , or other presentable r r r ga ments , we e p epared to part with them f r r o a mo sel of food . With the coming of r r Spring once mo e , the pa ty travelled north r r f r wa d to the Fo ks O the Red Rive , r e solved never again to set foot within the gates r r of Fo t Dae .

Meanwhile , some news of the desperate state of affairs on the Red River had reached r r the Ea l of Selki k in Scotland . So many wer e the discour agements that one might fo r give him ii at this junctur e he had flung his colonizing scheme to the winds as a lost ven ’ r . r tu e The lord of St Ma y s Isle did not , r howeve , abandon hope he was a persistent man and not easily turned aside from his pu r RED RIVER AND PEMBI NA 6 1 pose . Now he went in per son to the straths and glens of Suthe r landshir e to r ecr uit more r r settle s . For seve al year s the cr ofter s in this section Of the Highlands had been ejected in r r uthless fashion from thei holdings . Those who aimed to quench the sm oke of cottage fires had sent a r egim ent of soldier s into this r r shi e to cow the Highlande s into submission . Lor d Selkir k came at a cr itical moment and extended a helping hand to the outcasts . A lar ge company agr eed to j oin the colony Of ’ r Assiniboia, and under Selki k s own super intendence they wer e equipped fo r the j our - r ney . As the sad eyed exiles we e about to r leave the port of Helmsdale , the ea l passed among them , dispensing words of comfort and of cheer . This contingent numbered ninety-seven pe r r r r ' sons . The vessel ca ying them f om Helms dale reached the P r i n ce of Wa les Of the Hud ’ r son s Bay Company, on which they emba ked , r Th e r Of at Stromness in the O kneys . pa ish r r Kildonan , in Suthe landshire , had the la gest r r epr esentation among these emig ants . Names ’ commonly met with on the ship s r egister wer e M a cB e t h r Gunn , Matheson , , Suthe land , and r m Banne an . Wa les After the P r i n ce of had put to sea, 62 TH E RED RIVER COLO NY

r fever br oke out on boa d , and the contagion m r quickly spr ead a ong the passenge s . Many r r of them died . They had escaped f om begga y on shore only to perish at sea and to be con r r r signed to a wate y g ave . The vessel eached fo r Hudson Bay in good time, but some u m C r kn own r eason the captain put into hu chill , r r r r over a hund ed miles no th of Yo k Facto y . This meant that the newcomer s must camp on the Chur chill for the winter ; ther e was no r a r r thing else to be done . Fo tunately p t idge wer e numerous in the neighbour hood of their n e campment , and , as the uneventful months r r d agged by, the settle s had an unstinted f r r 1 8 1 r - supply O f esh food . In Ap il 4 fo ty one m r r b r embe s of the pa ty, a out half of whom we e m r r wo en, unde took to walk ove the snow to r r Sl Yo k Factory . The men d ew the edges on which their pr ovisions wer e loaded and went r fo r in advance, clea ing the way the women . In the midst of the company str ode a solemn

Visaged piper . At one moment , as a dirge r r r wailed fo th , the spi its of the people d ooped a n d m r they felt the selves beaten and fo saken . r But anon the music changed . Up th ough the scr ubby pine and over the mantle o f —snow r a ng the skir l of the undefeated and as they hear d the gather ing song Of Bonnie Dundee RE D RIVER AN D PEMBI NA 63 o r m fo r r the su mons to fight Royal Cha lie , r r r they pressed fo wa d with unfalte ing steps . r m r r This advance pa ty ca e to Yo k Facto y, r and , continuing the j ou ney, reached Colony Gar dens without m isadventur e ear ly in the r summer . They we e better husbandmen than r r r thei p edecesso s , and they quickly addr essed

themselves to the cultivation of the soil . Thir ty or for ty bushels of potatoes wer e r planted in the black loam of the p air ie . r These yielded a substantial inc ease . The thr ifty Su t h e r la n de rs might have saved the r totter ing colony, had not Gove nor Macdonell r r committed an act which , howeve legally ight , was nothing less than foolhar dy in the cir t n s r r cu m s a ce , and which b ought disaste in r its t ain . In his administr ation Of the affair s Of the colony Macdonell had shown good executive ability and a willingness to endur e ever y r r T r tr ial that his followe s endu ed . owa ds ’ the Nor westers , however, he was inclined to r r be stubbor n and a ogant . He was con v i n ce d that he must adopt str ingent measur es m r r against the . He dete mined to asse t his authority as gover nor of the colony under ’ Lor d Selkir k s patent . Undoubtedly Mac donell had r eason to be indignant at the 64 THE RED RIVER COLONY

r unfr iendly attitude of the fur t aders ; yet , so r far, this had merely taken the fo m of petty m annoyance , and ight have been met by good o nature and dipl macy . In Januar y 1 8 1 4 Governor Macdonell issued a proclamation pr onouncing it unlawful for any person who dealt in furs to remove fr om the colony of Assiniboia supplies of flesh , fish ,

r o r . g ain , vegetable Punishment would be meted out to those who offended against this r Official orde . The aim of Macdonell was to keep a supply Of food in the colony fo r the r suppo t of the new settlers . He was , however, Of r r fe ing a challenge to the fur trade s , for his policy meant in effect that these had no r ight i in Assiniboia , that t was to be kept for the m use of settlers alone . Such a andate could not fail to rouse intense hostility among the r r t ade s , whose doctrine was the very opposite . ’ The Nor wester s were quick to seize the occasion to strike at the stru ggling colony . PLAN RIVER COLON Y

Q 06 M e l/n o n

’ J e tb e m e frt

66 TH E RED RIVER COLONY i gate closed against him, he commanded h s

men to batter it in with their hatchets . They r obeyed with alac ity, and having filed inside r the for t, took cha ge of the contents of the r Of storehouse . Six hund ed bags pemmican r r wer e seized and ca ied to Brandon Hou se . Of Alr eady ther e was a state war in Assiniboia . The territor y which compr ised the colony was of great value economically to the North

West Company . The food supplies which supported its traders in the fa r interior were n largely drawn from this area . I the eyes Of ’ r r f the No westers , She i f John Spencer had performed an act of pur e br igandage at their r Sou is post . Still , they were in no hurry t o r - r execute a counte move . In o der to make no mistake they thought it best to restrain themselves until their partners should hold 1 their summer meeting at Fort William, o n r Lake Supe ior . The partners of the North-West Compan y

1 After it had been discover ed that th e Gr an d Portag e w a s itu t rt o n n r tr t to th e U n it t t s a ed pa ly la d awa ded by ea y ed S a es , ’ t h e N r t r i n 1 80 r ct n e w ct r t i rt o r o wes e s , 3, had e e ed a fa o y h y forty m i les farther n o rth wher e th e Kam in istikwia river en ter s u n r i t c m t ir c i fu r m riu m t Th de Bay. Th s pos be a e he h ef e po wes n t r a n d i n th e n m r t Wi i m tri u t of Mo eal , was g ve a e Fo ll a as a b e ‘ to Wi i m illiv ra o n e th e s in th ll a M G y, of lea ding partn er e m n c o pa y. TH E B EGI N NI NG O F STRI FE 67 m et at Fort William in the month of July 1 1 8 4 . Their fond hope had been that Lor d ’ r Selki k s colony would languish and die . r Instead , it was flou ishing and waxing a g S ive . The gover nor of Assiniboia had lish e d an edict which he seemed de to enforce , to the ruin of the busine r - Th e r r No th West Company . g izzled pa tners, r as they rubbed elbows in sec et conclave , decided that something m ust be done to cr ush r r o this t oublesome settlement . Whethe r not they formed any definite plan cannot be r r asce tained . It is sca cely believable that at this meeting was plotted the opposition to ’ Lor d Selkirk s enter pr ise which was to begin with deceit and pe r fidy and to culminate in ’ r r bloodshed . Among the No weste s were men r r r of great worth and integ ity . The e we e, r r r however, othe s in their anks who p oved ‘ ' r co n fe i l base and ir r esponsible . Du ing this ence at Fort William a bitter animosity was expr essed against Lor d Selkir k and the com pany which had endor sed his ’ ’ r r project. It was the No weste s and fault that some of their num ber wer e pre pared to vent this outspoken enmity in deeds

of criminal violence . Two wintering partner s Of the North 68 THE RED RIVER COLO NY — West Company men who remained in t h e — interior dur ing the winter appear to have been entr usted by their fellows with the task r Of dealing with the settle s on the Red River . r Both these men, Duncan Came on and Alex

ander Macdonell, had a wide experience Of the r r pra irie count y . Of the pai , Cameron was r r r unquestionably the mo e esou ceful . In view of the fact that later in life he became a tr usted r epresentative of the county of Glengar ry in r the legislatu e of Upper Canada , there has been a tendency to gloss over some of his mis r demeanours when he was still a trade in fur s . r r But he was a sinister cha acter . His p incipal

aim , on going to the Red River, was to pay lavish court to the settler s in order to de i ce v e them . He was a born actor, and could assume at will the gr avest or the gayest Of demeanour s or any disposition he chose to

put on .

Alexander Macdonell , the other emissary of ’ t h e Nor westers, was of an inferior type . He was crafty enough never to bur n his own r finge s . Macdonell had some influence over ’ the Indians of the Qu Appe lle distr ict and of r i r o the mo e distant west . H s immediate p posal was to attr act a band of redskins to the n eighbourhood of Colony Gardens with the TH E BEGI N NI NG OF STRI FE 69 avowed intention o f creating a panic among the settlers . Shor tly after the July meeting at Fort William these two men star ted on their mission for the Red River . On August 5 , - while at a stopping point by the way, Alex ander Macdonell dated a letter to a fr iend in r Mont eal . The tenor of this letter would ’ indicate that only a portion of the Nor westers were r eady to adopt extreme measur es against t the se tlement . Something ser ious will u n ’ ’ doubtedly take place , was Macdonell s callous admission . Nothing but the complete down ’ o f c fall the olony, he continued , will satisfy — a r some , by fair or foul means most desi able

obj ect if it can be accomplished . So here is ’ r r at them with all my hea t and ene gy . Towards the end of August the twain r r r r arrived at Fort Gib alta , whe e they pa ted r r company . Alexande Macdonell p oceeded ’ A e lle to his winter quarters at Fort Qu pp , on the river of the same name which empties r into the upper Assiniboine . Duncan Came on made his appear ance with considerable pomp r and cir cumstance at For t Gibralta . The settlers soon knew him as Captain Duncan r Came on, of the Voyageur Corps, a battalion which had ranged the bor der during the recent 79 TH E RE D RIVER COLO NY

r war with the United States . Came on decked r m himself in a c i son uniform . He had a swor d by his side and the outward bear ing Of of a gallant ficer . Lest there should be any

want Of belief on the part of the colonists, he caused his cr edentials to be tacked up on the r gateway of Fort Gibraltar . The e , in legible r scrawl, was an o der appointing him as captain and Alexander Macdonell as lieutenant in the r Th Voyageur Co ps . e sight of a soldier sent a thrill thr ough the breasts of the Highlander s h t - a n d the fig loving Irish . Cameron had in

fact once belonged to the Voyageurs , and no o n e at Colony Gar dens yet knew that the

corps had been disbanded the year before . At a later date Lord Selkirk took pains to prove that Cameron had been guilty of rank i mposture . To pose in the guise of a captain of militia ’ r r l was not Duncan Came on s only O e . Having

impressed his martial impor tance upon all ,

he next went among the settlers as a comrade .

He could chat at ease in Gaelic , and this won the confidence of the Highlanders . Some of the colonists were invited to his table . These

he treated with studied kindness , and h e furnished them with such an abundance of good food that they felt disg ust for the scant THE BEGI N N I NG O F STRI FE 7 1 a n d humble fare allowed them at the settle ment . At the same time Camer on began to r make bold insinuations in his conve sation . r He had, he said , hea d news fr om the inter ior that a body of Indians would raid them in the r spring . He ha ped upon the deplor able state in which the settler s wer e living out of fellow feeling for them, he said , he would gladly act r ' as their delive er. Why did they not throw themselves upon the mercies of the Nor th

West Company In their unhappy condition, a r bandoned , as he hinted , by Lord Selki k to , t r heir own resources, the e was but one thing r fo them to do . They must leave the Red r River far behind , and he would gua antee ’ that the Nor westers would assist them . ’ r r As a result of Came on s int igues, signs of wavering allegiance wer e soon in evidence .

On e Of the settlers in particular, George

C r . ampbell , became a t aitor in the camp Campbell had negotiated with Lord Selkir k ’ per sonally during Selkir k s visit to Suther land shire . Now he complained vigorously of his tr eatment Since leaving Scotland , and was in favour of accepting the terms which Cameron, - as a partner in the North West Company, offered . As many colonists as desired it , said ’ 01 Cameron , would be transported by the N 72 THE RED RIVER COLONY

westers free of char ge to Montr eal or other ’ parts of Canada . A year s provisions would

be supplied to them , and each colonist would r r be granted two hundred ac es of fe tile land . Tempting br ibes of money wer e offered some

them as a bait . An influential Hig hlander, r ‘ L n r r Alexande M e a , was p omised two hund ed ’ r pounds f om Cameron s own pocket , on con

dition that he would take his family away. Several letters which were penned by the sham Officer dur ing the winter of 1 8 1 5 can still ’ Of be read . I am glad , he wrote to a couple r r o settlers in Feb ua y, that the eyes of some f you are getting open at last and that you now see your past follies i n o beying t h e r r r sa unlawful orde s of a plunde e , and I may y,

of a highway robber, for what took place here last spring can be called nothing else b ut ’ manifest robbery . As yet Duncan Cameron had refrained

from the use of force , but as winter wore o n r h i towards sp ing he saw that , to complete s r wo k, force would be necessary . The pro por tion of settler s remaining loyal to Lord

Selkirk was by no means insignificant , and Cameron fear ed the pi eces of ar tillery at r f Colony Ga dens . He decided on a bold e fort fie l - to get these d pieces into his possession .

74 TH E RE D RIVER COLO NY

f r Macdonell , was not succeeding in his e fo ts ’ to incite the Indians about Fort Q u Appe lle against the colony . He found that the I n dians did not lust for the blood Of the settler s ; r and when he appea ed at Fort Gibraltar, in May, he had with him only a handful of r r r Plain C ees . These edskins linge ed about r the fo t for a time , being well supplied with

- liquor to make them pot valiant . Durin g their stay a number of hor ses belonging to the r r settle s we e wounded by arrows, but it is doubtful if the perpetr ator s of these out r Of r rages we e Indians . The chief the C ees

finally visited Governor Miles Macdonell , and convinced him that his war r iors intended the colonists no ill . Before the Indians departed they sent to Colony Gar dens a pipe of peace ’ r the red man s token of f iendship . An equally futile attempt was made about the same time by two traders of the North t a West Company to persuade Ka t a w a b e y, chief of the Chippewas, to lead a band of his r t ibesmen against the settlement . Katawa b et a Of y was at Sand Lake, just west Lake ’ r r r Supe ior, when his pa ley with the Nor weste s took place . The two traders promised to give Ka t a w a be t a y and his warriors all the merchandise and rum in thr ee of the com TH E BEGI NN I NG OF STRI PE 75

’ a n s p y posts , if they would raise the hatchet

and descend upon the Red River settler s . Th e cautious chief wished to know whether r r this was the desi e of the milita y author ities . The traders had to confess that it was mer ely Of r - a wish the No th West Company. Katawa b e ta r r y then demu red , saying that , befo e b e ginning hostilities , he must Speak about the matter to one of the pr ovincial militar y leader s ’ on St Joseph s Island , at the head of Lake r Hu on . Finding it impossible to get the Indians r to raid the settlement , Came on now adopted i n cre a s other methods . His party had been ing in numbers day by day . Joined by the ’ r w e st e r s deserters from the colony, the N o pitched their camp a Short distance down r r the river from For t Gib alta . At this point r r r g uns were mounted , and at Fo t Gib alta ’ r Cameron s men wer e being d illed . On June r 1 1 a chosen company, fu nished with loaded n r r muskets and ammu ition , we e ma ched to ’ wards Gover nor Macdonell s house , where m they concealed themselves behind so e trees . r Of James White , the su geon the colony, was f seen walking close to the house . A pu f of ’ ’ grey smoke came from the Nor wester s cover. r The shot went wide . Then John Bou ke , the 76 TH E RE D RIVER CO LONY

- r r store keepe , hea d a bullet whiz by his head ,

and narrowly escaped death . The colonists at once seized their ar m s and answer ed the ’ ’ fir Nor westers e . In the exchange of volleys,

however, they were at a disadvantage , a s r r their adve sa ies remained hidden from V iew. ’ r When the No westers decamped , four persons ’ on the colonists side had been wounded . Appar ently ther e was no longer secur ity for llife or p r oper ty among those still adher ing ’ r r to Lord Selki k s cause at Colony Ga dens . r r Duncan Came on , employing a subte fuge , now said that his main object was to capture co m Governor Macdonell . If this were a c li sh p e d he would leave the settlers unmolested . I n order to safeguar d the colony Macdonell ’ voluntar ily sur render ed himself to the Nor r r weste s . Came on was jubilant . With the r r loyal settle s wo sted and almost defenceless , r r and the gove nor of Assiniboia his p isoner, r he could dictate his own te ms . He issued an explicit command that the settlers must a v cate the Red River without delay. A r maj o ity of the settler s decided to obey, and ’ their exodus began under Cameron s guidance . r f About one hund ed and forty, inclusive O r women and child en , stepped into the canoes of the North -West Company to be borne awa y

78 TH E RE D RIVER CO LO NY

r emembered a cannon which was rusting u n ’ u sed at the sm all post which the Hudson s Bay r ‘ Company had on the rive . Hugh M Le a n and two other s wer e order ed to haul this to ’ the blacksmith s shanty . The three men soon

found the cannon , and set it up in the smithy. r r For shot , ca t chains we e chopped into sections and the Bois B rfilés were tr eated to ’ a raking volley of chain shot . This was s omething they had not looked for ; their

courage failed them, and they galloped out

of range . ”M ’ B u t the remnant of Lor d Selkirk s settlers who had dar ed to linger on the Red River w r r ere at the end of their esou ces . Taking b n s o u e l together, they resolved to quit the

colony . They launched their boats on the r iver, and followed the canoe route which led t r o Hudson Bay . They we e accompanied by a band of Indians of the Saulteaux tr ibe as far r as the ent ance to Lake Winnipeg . From t here a shor t j our ney placed them outside the b r r ounda ies of Assiniboia . When they a rived at the nor ther n end of Lake Winnipeg they r r found a tempo ary efuge , in the vicinity of

Norway House , on the Jack river. Alexander Macdonell and his Bois B rfilés w er e now free utter ly to blot out Colony TH E BEGI N NI NG OF STRI FE 79

r Ga dens . They visited every part of the fir e settlement and set to everything . Not a C single house was left standing . abins , stor e ’ r — houses , the colony s g inding mill all wer e ’ reduced to a mass of ruins . Camer on s ” duplicity had been crowned with success ; ’ Alexander Macdonell s ar med mar auder s had ’ finished the task ; Lor d Selkirk s colony of far mers -i n -the-making was scatter ed far and ’ r r wide . Neve theless , the No westers wer e not r undisputed maste s of the situation . In the ’ Hudson s Bay smithy, but ten feet square , four men continued the struggle . John ‘ ‘ M Le o d M I n t o sh l , James , and Archibald ’ r r i m ICu e , of the Hudson s Bay Co pany, de r — fended their t ading post , with the assistance ‘ ’ M Le a n of noble Hugh , the only settler remaining on the Red River banks . By day ‘ and by night these men wer e for ced to keep l r B r filés w a t ch and ward . Wheneve the Bois r drew near, the chain shot d ove them h ur riedly to cover . At length the enemy M ‘ Le o d r withdrew, and and his com ades walked out to survey the scene of desolation . CHAPTER V I I I

N RO E R N TH E AVE N E COLI B TS O , G R

TH RE E years o f self-sa crifici n g effort seemed to have been wasted . The colony of Assini boia was no mor e its site was fr ee to wander r r r ing redskins and g eedy t ade s . Yet , at the very time when the colonists were being dis rse d o ff r r pe , succour was not far . Lo d Selki k h a r r d received ala ming news some time befo e , and at his solicitation Colin Robertson had r hired a band of voyageu s , and was speeding r forwa d with them to defend the settlement . 1 1 1 Since 8 , when we saw him recruiting r r settle s for Lord Selki k in Scotland , Colin Rober tson had been in the service of the ’ Hudson s Bay Company . Having been a servant of the Nor ’westers he knew the value n o of Canadian ca e m e n in the fur trade, and , ’ on his advice , the Hudson s Bay Company r now imitated its rival by employing voyageu s .

In temperament Colin was dour but audacious , a common type among the men of the Outer 80

8 2 THE RED RIVER COLONY

river bank and launched their light canoes o n r r - r the cu ent . Down st eam , and northward r r along Lake Winnipeg, the pa ty t avelled , until they reached the exiles ’ place of refuge on r r the Jack ive . ’ Rober tson s resolute demeanour inspired r the settle s with new courage , and they decided to go back with him and rebuild r their homes . Befo e the summer was spent r they we e once more on the Red River . To their sur pr ise the plots of ground which they had sown along the banks had suffered

less than they had expected . During their ' ‘ absence John M Le o d had watchfully hus r banded the precious c ops , and from the land he so carefully tended fifteen hundred — bushels of wheat wer e realized the first bumper crop gar ner ed within the bor ders of what are now the pr air ie pr ovinces of ‘ M L o d Canada . e had built fences, had cut

and stacked the matured hay, and had even engaged men to er ect new buildings and to repair some of those which had escaped utter r dest uction . Near the spot where the colo n ist s had landed in 1 8 1 2 he had selected an appropr iate site and had begun to erect a r large domicile for the gove nor . It was of ’ r M ‘ L two sto ies, wrote e o d in his diary, O C LI N RO BERTSO N , TH E AVENGER 83

with main timbers of oak ; a good substantial ’ h ouse . ‘ M Le o d John was a man of faith . He ex ’ pe ct e d that Lord Selkir k s colony would soon be again firmly on its feet , and he was not to be disappointed . A four th contingent of settlers ar rived during the month of October 1 8 1 5 , having left Scotland in the spr ing . This band compr ised upwar ds of ninety r persons , nea ly all natives of Kildonan . These ; wer e the most energetic body of settler s so fa r ' r r enlisted by the Ea l of Selki k . They ex

e r i e n d r ‘ p ce , of cou se, great disappointment on r their a rival . Instead of finding a flo u r ish ing settlement , they saw the ruins of the r r habitations of their p edecesso s , and found that many friends whom they hoped would o r r greet them had been enticed d iven away. Along with these colonists came an I m portant dignitary sent out by the Hudson ’s r Bay Company. The Adventu ers of England ’ trading into Hudson s Bay wer e now alarmed t r egarding the outlook for fur s in h e interior, and the general court of their stockholders r had taken a new and impo tant step . It was decided to appoint a resident governor-i n chief, with power not merely over the colony ’ s o f Assiniboia, but over all the company 84 TH E RED RIVER COLONY

- trading posts as well . The man chosen to fill r r r m this office was Robe t Semple , a B itish a y captain on the retired list . He was a man of

- upr ight character and bull dog courage, but he lacked the patience and diplomacy n e ce s sary for the problem with which he had to deal . Another to a rrive with the contin r gent was Elder James Suthe land , who had been author ized by the Church o f Scotland to baptize and t o perform th e marriage ceremony. The occupants of Fort Gibraltar viewed the replanting of the settlement with baleful r e r r se n t m e n t . Their anks were augmented d u ing the autumn by a wayfarer from the east who hung up his musket at the for t and assumed control . This was none other than r r Duncan Came on , returned f om Canada, with the plaudits of some of his fellow-par tner s still ringing in his ears . To Colin Rober tson the presence of Cameron at Fort Gibr altar ’ was not of happy augur y for the settlers r welfare . Robe tson decided on prompt and r radical action . In a word, he dete mined ’ ’ r r to take the Nor weste s post by surp ise . r a s fie ld - His aid w successful . The pieces and the p r oper ty of the colonists which had r r been ca ied away in June were recovered .

86 TH E RED RIVER COLONY the breaking up of winter would descend like

a scourge upon the colony . The trouble br ewing for the settlement ’ r w a s freely discussed among the No westers . About the middle of March 1 8 1 6 Alexander Macdonell sent a note to Duncan Cameron ’ r e ll r from Fo t Qu App e . A storm is gathe ing ’ r r in the no th, decla ed Macdonell , ready to burst on the rascals who deser ve it ; little

do they know their situation . Last year was

but a j oke . The New Nation under their ‘ leaders are coming for ward to clear their ’ r native soil of int uders and assassins . A few words written at the same time by Cuthber t Gra nt show how the plans of the B r filés r - r Bois were matu ing . The Half b eeds of Fort des Prair ies and English River a r e all ’ r r t o be he e in the sp ing, he asserted ; it is to be hoped w e shall come o ff with flying ’ colours . 1 8 1 6 Early in Governor Semple, who had

been at Fort Daer, returned to Fort Douglas . Apparently he entertained no wholesome fears r of the impending danger, for, instead of t ying O r to conciliate his pponents , he embitte ed

them by new acts of aggression . In April,

for the second time , Colin Robertson , acting ’ on the governor s instructions , captured Fort TH E COLI N ROBERTSON , AVENGER 87

Gibraltar. Again was Duncan Cameron taken m prisoner, and this ti e he was held . It was decided that he should be carr ied to Englan d

r . r r for t ial In cha ge of Colin Robe tson,

Cameron was sent by canoe to Yor k Factor y. But no vessel of the Hudson ’s Bay Company was leaving fo r England dur ing the summer 1 6 of 1 8 , and the pr isoner was detained until r the following yea . When at length he was r m brought to t ial , it was found i possible to r convict him of any c ime , and he was dis r r charged . Subsequently Came on ente ed a suit against Lor d Selkir k for illegal detention, r asking damages , and the cou t awarded him 0 £30 0 . Shortly after Colin Robertson had departed r with his pr isoner, Gove nor Semple decided r to dismantle Fort Gibr altar, and towa ds the end of May thirty men wer e sent to wor k to r tear it down . Its enci cling rampart was borne to the river and formed into a raft .

Upon this the salvage of . the demolished fort — a great mass of structur al mater ial was driven down-str eam to Fort Douglas and there

t ili ze d . The tempest which Alexander Macdonell had presaged bur st upon the colony soon after this demolition of Fort Gibraltar . The 8 8 TH E RED RIVER COLONY incidents leading up to an outbreak o f hostilities have been nar r ated by Pierre

r . r Pambrun, a F ench Canadian In Ap il Pam brun had been commissioned by Gover nor ’ Semple to go to the Hudson s Bay for t on ’ ll r r the Q u Appe e rive . Ha d by this was ’ ’ - the Nor westers trading post, called Fort ’ A e lle m Qu pp . Pambrun re arks upon the gr eat number of ha lf-breeds who had gather ed ’ - at the North West Company s depot . Many m r r i of them had co e f om a g eat d stance . Some wer e fr om the upper Saskatchewan ; other s wer e fr om Cumberland House , situated h r r near the mouth of t e same rive . Pamb un says that dur ing the first days of May he went r r eastwar d along with Geo ge Suthe land , a factor of the Hudson ’s Bay Company on the ’ ’ u A e lle r Q pp , and a number of Suthe land s r r men . The pa ty j ou neyed in five boats, and had with them twenty-two bales of fur s a n d ” r 1 2 six hund ed bags of pemmican . On May they wer e attacked on their way down t h e ’ r iver by an ar med force of for ty-nine Nor r r weste s, unde the leadership of Cuthbert r r G ant and Peter Pangman . All we e made pr isoners and conducted back t o Fort ’ u A e lle r Q pp , whe e they were told by Alex ander Macdonell that the seizure had been

TH E RED RIVER COLONY pemmican to for m a rude fortification and r - planted two b ass swivel guns for defence . ’ They were preparing for war, for the N o r wester s had now r esolved finally to uproot ’ Lord Selkir k s colony from t h e bank s of the

Red River. CHAPTER I'

S EVE N OAKS

I N the meantime, far removed fr om the Red

River, other events bear ing upon this stor y were happening . The Ear l of Selkirk had had r r n 1 8 1 w a s many t oubles, and ea lyi 5 hg , again w ” filled with anxiety by n e w s r e ce iv e d in Scot land concerning the imper illed condition of

Assiniboia . In consequence of these evil t titi o n tidings he was led m Lord Bathu rst, se cr eta rg L i o r A M a r and s I n the h ' M Ifdr d Li v e r o o l administration of p , and to ask that some protection should be affor ded his r colonists , who we e loyal subjects of the crown . m r Lord Bathur st acted pr o ptly . He w ote in r dm i n is March to Sir Gordon D ummond, a r trator of the gove nment of Canada, saying ’ that Lord Selkirk s r equest should be gr anted a n d that action should be taken in Canada t r o protect the colony . But Sir Go don r Drummond , after looking into the matte , decided not to g rant the protection which 91 9 2 TH E RE D RIVER COLONY

Selkirk desired . He had reasons, which h e

sent to the British minister . By this time the affairs of his colony had come to such a sorry pass that Lord Selkirk

felt it necessary to travel to America . Accord i n l g y, in the he embarked for New Yor k a cco m pa n i r r hi S ~th r ee e h dr e n \ki k and \ , ri m and Katheri ne . Ar v g on November 1 5 , he heard for the first time of the overthrow of his colony through the machinations of r Duncan Came on and Alexander Macdonell . r At once he hastened to Mont eal , where he r eceived fr om eye-witnesses a mor e detailed r r version of the occu ence . Many of the settlers brought to the east wer e indignant at the treatm ent they had r eceived at the hands ’ of the Nor westers and wer e prepar ed to r testify against them . In view of this, Lo d Selkir k applied to magistr ates at Yor k r ffi (Toronto) and Mont eal , desiring that a davits should be taken fr om cer tain of the settler s with respect to their exper iences on

the Red River . In this way he hoped to accumulate a mass of evidence which should strengthen his plea fo r military assistance r f om the Canadian government . Among those whom Selkirk met in Montreal was

94 TH E RE D RIVER COLONY

t a n d _ t h e rei s e v e r- r ea so n a t a ck , y to expect that in consequence of this delay many ' live s may ’ be lo st. Lor d Selki r k wished to ‘ Send a message of r encou agement to his people in the colony. im n iér e r La u o , the wonde ful Canadian wood l r r r run wOu d ca y it . He w ote a number r r of letters, telling of his a ival in Canada, giving assurance of his deep concer n for the ’ r settlement s welfare , and p omising to come to the aid of the colonists as soon as the rivers r r were f ee of ice, with whateve force he could r r muster . Bea ing these lette s , the messenger set out on his j ourney over the wild spaces between Montreal and the Red River . In some way his mission became known to the ’ r r fo r Nor weste s at Fo t William , on June 3 ‘ M L o d Archibald Norman e , a partner of the - North West Company, issued an order that ’ Selkirk s courier should be intercepted . Nea r

Fond du Lac , at the western end of Lake L u im o n iér e Superior, a g was waylaid and r r obbed . The lette s which he carried were taken to Fort William, where several of them were found later .

As we have seen in the last chapter, it was r in this same month that Alexande Macdonell , i at Portage la Pra rie , was organizing his half SEVEN OAKS 95

breeds for a raid on Fort Douglas . His bri gade, as finally made up , consisted of about B rfilés seventy Bois , Canadians, and Indians, r all well a med and mounted . As soon as these r troopers we e ready to advance , Macdonell r r surrendered the leade ship to Cuthbert G ant , deeming it wise not to take par t in the raid r himself . The ma auder s then marched out in the direction of the settlement . The settler s in the meantime were not wholly oblivious of the danger thr eatening them . There was a gener al feeling of i n i n r security the colony, and a egular watch had been instituted at Fort Douglas to guar d r against a surp ise attack . Governor Semple, r however, did not seem to take a ve y ser i ous View of the situation . He was about to depart to York Factory on business . But a 1 rough awakening came . On June 7 two Cree Indians arrived at Fort Douglas with the alarming tidings that in two days an attack 1 would be made upon the settlement . ’ About five o clock in the after noon of June

1 9, a boy who was stationed in the watch

1 Fo r th e deta ils of th e tr ag edy which n o w occur red we a re th e cc u n t n rit c r rm r chi efly in debted to a o s of Joh P ha d , a fo e ’ tt it hi s m i a t th e Re d Ri r N or wester , who had se led w h fa ly ve , n c m i t c n n ct wi t th e tt m nt of Michael Hede , a bla ks h o e ed h se le e , - k th e c n t r r . a n d of John Bour e, olo y s o e keepe 96 TH E RE D RIVER COLONY house of the for t cried out that he saw a

- party of half breeds approaching. Thereupon Gover nor Semple hur r ied to the watch-house and scanned the plains through a glass . He saw a t r 0 0p of hor semen moving towards the — Red River e vidently heading for a point r some distance to the no th of Fort Douglas . ’ We must go out to meet these people , said ‘ Gover nor Semple ' let twenty men follow ’ me .

There was a prompt response to the call, and Semple led his volunteers out of the fort r r and towa ds the advancing ho semen . He had not gone far when he m et a n umber of r r colonists , unning towa ds Fort Douglas and shouting in wild excitement The half-br eeds ' the half-breeds Governor Semple now sent John Bourke r back to Fo t Douglas for one of the guns, and instructed him to br ing up whatever men could be spar ed fr om among those garr isoning t h e fort . The advance party halted to wait until these should arrive ; but at length Semple gr ew impatient and ordered his men ’ r t o advance without them . The No westers had concealed themselves behind a clump of r r t ees . As Semple app oached they galloped

- out , extended their line into a half moon

98 TH E RE D RIVER CO LONY

fr om his horse, and at this instant a Shot rang ’ r out from the column of the No wester s . ’ r Lieutenant Holt , a cle k in the colony s r service, fell st uggling upon the ground . Bou r a n r cher in the di ection of his own party, and soon ther e was the sound of another

musket . This time Governor Semple was

struck in the thigh . He called at once to his men Do what yo u can t o take care o f your ’ selves . r The band igno ed this behest, and gather ed round him to ascer tain the extent of his ’ o r w e st e r s injury. The N now began to bring

the two ends of their column together, and ’ r r r soon Semple s pa ty was su ounded . The fact that their foe was now helpless did not ’ keep the Nor wester s fr om pour ing in a de ’ s tructive fire . Most of Semple s men fell at r the fi st volley . The few left standing pulled r o ff their hats and begged for me cy . A cer tain Captain Roger s hastened towar ds the ’ line of the Nor wester s and threw up his

hands . He was followed by John Pritchard . One of the Bois B r filés shot Roger s in the h ead and another rushed on him and stabbed n him with a k ife . Luckily Pritchard was

confronted by a French Canadian, named S EVEN OAKS 99

Augustin Lavigne, whom he had for mer ly known and who now protected him fr om butchery . The wounded governor lay str etched upon d the groun . Suppor ting his head with his r hand, he add essed Cuthber t Gr ant ’ I am not mortally wounded , he said ,

and if you could get me conveyed to the fort , ’ S I think I hould live . r m Grant p o ised to comply with the r equest . He left the gover nor in char ge of one of his men and went away, but dur ing his absence an Indian approached and shot Semple to death . Meanwhile John Bourke had gone back fie ld - for a piece and for reinforcements . r Bourke reached the fo t, but after he had placed the small cannon in a car t he was pe r m itt e d by those in the fort to take only one m man away with him . He and his co panion r began to drag the ca t down the r oad . Suddenly they wer e star tled by the sound of the musketr y fir e in the distance which had ’ r n str uck down Semple s party . Fea i g lest r they might lose the gun, the pair tu ned back r towards the fort . On their way they we e r r r met by ten men from Fo t Douglas , hu ying to the scene of the conflict . Bourke told his 1 00 THE RED RIVER COLONY

fie ld - comrade to take the piece inside the fort , r and himself j oined the rescue pa ty. But they were too late ' when they ar r ived at the f scene of the struggle they could e fect nothing . ’ Give up your arms, was the command of ’ r the Nor weste s .

The eleven men, seeing that resistance on o their part would be useless, t ok to their heels . ’ The Nor wester s fir ed one of the fleeing men was killed and John Bour ke was sever ely r wounded . For the numbe s engaged the car r r r nage was te ible . Of the pa ty which had left Fort Douglas with Governor Semple ther e Six r were but su vivors . Michael Heden and ‘ Daniel M Ka y had run to the r iver side dur ing ‘ ée r t h e m él . They succeeded in getting ac oss in a canoe and arrived at Fort Douglas the same night . Michael Kilkenny and George

Suther land escaped by swimming the river .

In addition to John Pritchard , another r p isoner, Anthony Macdonell , had been

‘ spared . The total number of the dead was

- twenty three . Among the Slain were Rogers, ’ r r the gove nor s sec etary , Doctor Wilkinson, ‘ M L n Alexander e a , the most enterprising c settler in the olony, and Surgeon James r r White . The I ish colonists suffe ed severely in pr oportion to their number ' they lost

1 0 2 THE RED RIVER COLO NY

befor e an agreement was reached . On my ’ r ar r ival at the fo t, he said, what a scene ' of distress presented itself The widows , childr en and relations of the slain , in horrors 1 r of despair, we e lamenting the dead , and wer e trembling for the safety of t h e sur ’ V i v o r s . On the morning of June 20 Cuthber t Grant r W t himself, with over a score of his followe s, en r to Fo t Douglas . It was then agreed that the settler s should aba ndon their homes and that r the fo t Should be evacuated . An inventory was made of the goods of the colony, and the terms of sur render wer e signed by Cuthbert Grant as a cler k and repr esentative of the ’ - r North West Company . Contra y to Grant s r promises, the p ivate effects of the colonists r were ove hauled and looted . Michael Heden records that even his clothes and blankets were stolen . On the evening of the same day a mes senger presented himself at Por tage la Prair ie br inging Alexander Macdonell an account of the massacre . Pierre Pambrun declares that

1 Som e of th e dead wer e afterwar ds taken from th e field o f r n i n Seven O aks t o Fo t Dou g las by C r ee a n d Sau lteau x I d a s. r c i c n t u ri b u t th e t r n u n in t rr a s These e e ved de e b al, o he s , lyi g e ed

t n c m r t o th e W t th e r iri . hey had falle , be a e a p ey ild beas s of p a e SEVEN OAKS 1 9 3 Macdonell and others who were with him r ’ became hila ious with j oy. Good news , r shouted Macdonell in F ench, as he conveyed the tidings to his associates . ’ Again disaster had over taken Lord Selkirk s plans . The second desolation of his colony and expulsion of his colonists occur r ed on 22 1 8 1 6 June , . The evicted people set out in r canoes down the Red Rive . Michael Heden and John Bour ke both declar ed that the number of those who embar ked was a ppr o xi r r mately two hund ed . This total would appea , r r howeve , to be much too la ge , unless addi tions had been made to the colony of which we r have no documenta y evidence . Some French ’ r Canadian families had settled at the Fo ks, r r r it is t ue, but these we e not nume ous enough to br ing the population of the settlement to r r two hund ed pe sons , leaving uncounted the r n umber who had lately pe ished . 2 r On June 4 , as the exiles we e proceeding r down the rive , they met nine or ten canoes r and one bateau . In these we e almost a ’ hundr ed armed Nor wester s under the com ‘ mand of Ar chibald Nor man M Le o d of For t ’ ‘ L o d s r William . M e pu pose was apparently to assist in the exter mination of the colony. His fir st question of the par ty travelling north 1 9 4 TH E RE D RIVER COLONY ward was whether that rascal and scoundrel ’ Rober tson was in the boats . When he was told of the calamity which had befallen r Governor Semple and his band , he o dered all r f the exiles ashore . By vi tue of his o fice as a magistr ate for the Indian Ter ritories h e 1 wished to examine them . He searched the baggage belonging to the evicted settlers and scr utinized their books ’ r r e and pape s . Those who play at bowls , ‘ L o d marked Justice M e , must expect to ’ r meet with rubbe s . Pritchard was told to wr ite his version of the recent transactions at ’ the Forks , and did so but his account did ‘ not please M Le o d . You have drawn up ’ r a pretty paper, he g umbled ; you had r o r better take ca e of yourself, you will get ’ into a scrape . Michael Heden also was examined as to M ‘ Le o d his knowledge of the matter . When hear d the answers of Heden he was even more wrathful . ’ They are all lies , he declared with emphasis .

1 An a ct of th e I m perial parliam ent of 1 803 had tr an sferr ed ' j u risdiction in th e c ase of o fie n ce s com m i tted i n th e I n di an rr it ri r m r t rit in to n a n d the Te o es f o G ea B a Ca ada, had allowed Can adian au thorities to appoi n t m ag i str ates fo r these r ather ‘ un fin r i n M L o d o n e t m i tr t . de ed eg o s . e was of hese ag s a es

1 0 6 TH E RED RIVER COLONY took up his residence in the apartments of r r m ‘ the late Gove no Se ple . One day M Le o d and some follower s r ode over to an encamp ment of Cr ees and Saulteaux near the ruins ‘ r r r r M Le o of Fo t Gib alta . He e d collected r and ha angued the Indians . He upbraided them for their failur e to interfere when Dun can Camer on had been for cibly removed to

Hudson Bay, and he spoke harshly of their ’ sympathy fo r the colonists when the N o r westers had found it necessar y to dr ive them P u is away . e g , chief of the Saulteaux and the r leading figu e in the Indian camp , listened r attentively, but remained stolidly tacitu n . On the evening of the same day the Nor ’ westers retur ned to For t Douglas and i n r r d u lg e d in some of thei wildest revel ies . The Bois B rfilés str ipped themselves naked and celebr ated their r ecent tr iumph in a wild and r savage o gy, while their more staid com panions looked on with approval . According to the testim ony of Augustin ‘ M Le o d r r Lavigne, du ing his stay at Fo t Douglas publicly made the following pr omise m to an assembly of Bois B r filés My kins en , r my com ades, who have helped us in the time of need I have br ought clothing for you I expected to have found about forty of you SEVEN OAKS 1 9 7

r he e with Mr Macdonell , but there are mor e of r o you . I have fo ty suits of clothing . Th se who a r e most in need of them m a y have r r these , and on the a ival of the canoes in m autu n , the rest of you shall be clothed ’ likewise . CHAPTER '

LORD S E LKI RK’S J OU RN EY

r M WE left Lord Selki k at ontreal . Several days before the massacre of Seven Oaks he had completed the pr epar ations for his j ourney to the west, and was hastening for ward in the hope of arriving at the Red River r in time to save his colony . He had secu ed his own appointment as justice of the peace r for Upper Canada and the Indian Territo ies, and also the promise of a bodyguar d of one non-comm issioned officer and Si x men for his personal defence . This much he had obtained r f om the Canadian authorities . They r e r mained unwilling, howeve , to send armed aid r r to Assiniboia . This want Lo d Selki k was r himself supplying, for he was b inging with him a fr esh contingent of settler s— o f a Class r hithe to unknow n among his colonists . These r r r new settle s we e trained soldie s , disciplined and tr ied in active service on many a battle field

1 1 0 TH E RED RIVER COLONY

’ Matthey and D Or so n n e n s and Lieutenants — Gr a ffe n r e id and Fauche and about eighty of r the rank and file we e willing to enlist . It was agr eed that they should receive allot ments of land in Assiniboia on the ter ms gr anted to the settler s who had for mer ly gone r r f om Scotland and I eland . They were to be supplied with the necessar y agr icultur al im le m e n t s p , and each was to be given a musket for hunting or for defence . Their wages wer e to be eight dollar s a month for manning the boats which sho uld take them to their destina tion . In case the settlemen t should not be r to their liking, Lord Selki k pledged himself r r r to transpo t them to Eu ope f ee of cost, by r w a y of either Mont eal or Hudson Bay. On June 4 the contingent of men and officers began their j ourney fr om Montr eal up the St Lawrence . At Kingston a halt was made while Captain Matthey, acting for the r Earl of Selkirk, enlisted twenty mo e veter ans ill of the Wa tt e v e regiment . It is stated that an officer and several privates fr om another i n e n cible S disbanded reg me t, the Glengarry F , a s r were also engaged settle s, but it is not C r lear at what point they j oined the pa ty.

When all was ready for the long j ourney, the combined forces Skirted the northern shor e ’ LORD S ELKI RK S JOURNEY 1 1 1

r of Lake Onta io from Kingston , until they r reached Yo k, the capital of Upper Canada . Thence their route lay to Geor gian Bay by r way of Lake Simcoe and the Seve n . r r r 1 Lo d Selki k left Mont eal on June 6, fol i n - lowing the wake of his new won colonists , and over took them at the entr ance into r r Geo gian Bay . Appa ently he went over the r same route, for he c ossed Lake Sim coe . r m Info mation is lacking as to his co panions . Miles Macdonell could not have been with h im r , for Macdonell had been sent forwa d ear lier with a sm all body of m e n in light canoes that he might reach the settlement in r r a dvance of Lord Selki k . One hund ed and twenty Canadian voyageur s had been r ecently engaged to go to Assiniboia in the ser vice of ’ the Hudson s Bay Company . Possibly these ca n o e m e n accom panied Selkirk on the fir st r stages of his j ou ney .

On Drummond Island, at the head of Lake r Huron, was situated the most weste ly mili tar y station maintained by the gover nment r r of Upper Canada . Here Lo d Selki k halted and allowed his company to go on in advance r r into the str aits of St Ma y . At the milita y post at D r umm ond Island he was fur nished with the promised escort of six men under a 1 1 2 THE RED RIVER COLONY

- n f th non commissio ed o ficer of the 37 regiment . On July 2 2 he was present at a council held on the island by the Indian authorities r r stationed the e . One of the p incipal figures Ka t a w a b e t a at this council was y, chief of the Chippewas, from Sand Lake . On being Ka t a w a b e t a r questioned , y told of his efusal ’ the year befor e to j oin the N o r w e st e rs in an attack on the Red River Colony ; he also declared that an attempt had been made dur ing the pr evious spring by a trader named Grant to have some of his young Chippewas ’ r r waylay Lord Selki k s messenge , Lagui e du h a d moni re , near Fond Lac . Grant offer ed Ka t a w a b e t a y two kegs of rum and r r some tobacco , but the b ibe was efused .

The Ottawa Indians , not the Chippewas , had waylaid the messenger . This trader Grant had told Ka t a w a b e t a y that he was going t o ’ r 1 the Red River to fight the settle s . Lord Selkirk put a question to Katawa t b e a y .

Are the Indians about the Red River, or ’ that part of the country you come from , asked the earl through an interpreter, pleased

1 tr r r a r r n t c r i n th e The ade was p ob bly Cha les G a , a le k ’ N rt -W t C m n rt a t F n du La c a n d n o t ut rt o h es o pa y s fo o d , C hbe

r n t th e r a t n ak . G a , leade Seve O s

1 1 4 TH E RED RIVER COLONY

r r r i n enough reti ed soldie s to p eserve order. r But this hope was now utte ly blasted . He r m ight, however, use the resou ces of the law r r a gainst the trade s at Fo t William, and this

. r h e decided to attempt He was , howeve ,

i n . r a peculiar position He had , it is t ue ,

been created a j ustice of the peace , but it w ould seem hardly pr oper for him to try law b r eakers who wer e attacking his own per sonal i r r nterests . Acco dingly, befo e finally setting

o u t for Fort William, he begged Magistrate

John Ask in, of Drummond Island , and

Magistrate Ermatinger, of Sault Ste Marie ,

t o accompany him . But neither of these men r could leave his duties . When Selki k thus f ailed to secure disinterested judges , he de t e rm i n e d to act under the author ity with w r hich he had been Vested . In a lette , dated 2 r July 9, to Sir John She brooke , the recently r r appointed gove nor of Canada, he refe red with some uneasiness to the position in which r he found himself . I am the efore reduced ’ to the alternative of acting alone , he wrote, or of allowing an audacious cr ime to pass

unpunished . In these circumstances , I can n o t it doubt that is my duty to act , though I am n o t without apprehension that the law m a y be open ly resisted by a set of men who ’ LORD SELKI RK S JOURNEY 1 1 5 have been accustomed to consider force as ’ r r the only crite ion of ight . r Selki k advanced to Fort William . There is no recor d of his j our ney across the deep sounds and along the rock-girt shor es of Lake r Supe ior . His contingent was divided into two sections, possibly as soon as it emer ged ’ from the St Mary s river and enter ed White fish Bay Selkirk himself sped for war d with r the less cumbersome c aft, while the soldier settler s advanced more leisur ely in their r r bateaux . Ea ly in August the vangua d came within sight of the islands that b a r the a p r proach to Thunde Bay . Then , as their canoes r r r slipped through the da k wate s , they we e soon abeam of that majestic headland, Thun t h e ’ der Cape, e ag d Cape of Storms . Inside the bay they saw that long, low island known as the Sleeping Giant . A portion of the C voyageurs, led by a Canadian named hatelain, disembarked upon an island about seven miles r r f om Fort William Selki k , with the rest of r the advance party, went on . Ski ting the r settlement at Fo t William , they ascended

the river Kaministikwia for about half a mile , r and on the opposite bank from the fo t , at a M e u r o n Spot since known as Point De , they

e r ected their temporar y habitations . CHAPTER ' I

FORT WILLIAM

FORT WILLIAM was the Mecca of th e traders and voyageur s who ser ved the North-West a n d Company . It was the divisional point r r r - the wa ehousing cent e of sixty t ading posts . No less than five thousand pe rsons wer e e n gaged in the tr ade which centr ed at For t r r William . Du ing the season f om May to September the tr affic carr ied on at the fort C r r was of the most active ha acte . A flotilla of boats and canoes would ar r ive fr om Lachine with multifar ious articles of commer ce fo r r inland ba ter . These boats would then se t out on their homewar d j our ney laden with r r r pelt y gathe ed f om far and near . Every season two or thr ee of the pr incipal par tners of the company arr ived at the for t from ’ r r Montreal . They were hype bo ean nabobs, who travelled with whatever luxury wealth could affor d them on the express service by

lake and stream . 1 1 6

FORT WI LLIAM 1 1 7

At this time For t William had the pr o - t r portions of a good Sized village . Its s u c tures wer e of wood and wer e of all Shapes a n d m sizes . One co modious building near t h e n r r r ce t e of the fo t , f onted by a wide v r e andah , immediately caught the eye of t h e visitor . It contained a council hall , the mer cantile par liam ent- chamber of the ’ N o r r m weste s . Under the sa e roof was a r - g eat banqueting hall , in which two hundr ed r r pe sons could be seated . In this hall we e w ont to gather the notables of the Nor th C m West o pany, and any guests who were r r fo tunate enough to gain admission . He e , r r r in the hea t of the wilde ness , the e was no n r r stint of food when the lo g tables we e sp ead . Chefs br ought fr om Montr eal pr epar ed savour y v iands the br imming bowl was em ptied and too often r eplenished ; and the songs of this deep -thr oated r ace of mer chantm en pealed to r r r r m r the afte s until evel y al ost ended in iot . At one end of the r oom stood the bust of Simon ‘ M Ta v ish m , placed so that his gaze see ed to r est upon the pr opr ietor s and ser vants of the company he had called into being . About the walls hung numerous por traits— one of r the reigning mona ch , George I I I , another of r r the P ince Regent , a third of Admi al Lord 1 1 8 TH E RED RIVER COLONY

r Nelson . He e , too , was a painting of the m fa ous battle of the Nile, and a wonderful fu r - r r map of the bea ing count y, the wor k of r the int epid explorer David Thompson .

The unexpected appearance of Lord Selkir k in the vicinity of For t William found the ’ Nor westers o ff their guard and cr eated a gr eat r sensation . It was a matte of common know ’ ledge among the Nor wester s that Selki r k was o n his way to the Red River with a squad of armed men, but they understood that he would follow the route leading past their fort d u r at Fond Lac . The e is evidence to show ’ that a plot to compass Selkir k s death or r r seizu e had been mooted some weeks befo e . r r John Bou ke , on the road to Fo t William as r r b a p isoner, had ove heard a conversation e tween Alexander Macdonell and sever al other r r - pa tners of the No th West Company . This r r r conve sation had occu ed at night , not far from Rainy Lake . According to the story, r r Bou ke was lying on the g ound , seemingly asleep , when the partners , standing by a -fir camp e , fell to discussing their recent coup ’ r r r at the Fo ks . Thei talk d ifted to the ’ subject of Lor d Selkir k s pr oposed visit to

Assiniboia, and Macdonell assured the others

FORT WI LLIAM 1 1 9 that the North -West Company had nothing r to fear from Selki k, and that if extr eme measures wer e necessar y Should be quiet a ssa ssi T h e

declared, will take him while he is asleep , ’ r early in the mo ning . Macdonell went s o far as to mention the name of a Bois B r filé who would be willing to bring Lord Selki r k down with his musket, if necessary . r - r r Bou ke told to his fellow prisone s , Pat ick

Corcoran and Michael Heden, what he had

overheard . It thus happened that when Heden now learned that the founder o f Assiniboia was actually camping on t h e h i s Kaministikwia, he became alarmed for r e safety . Though a prisone , he seems to hav

had some liberty of movement . At any rate, he was able to slip off alone and to launch a r th e small boat . Once afloat, he owed to island where Chatelain and his voyageur s r Th e had halted on the way to Fo t William . r r a t water was boiste ous, and Heden had g e r diffi culty in piloting his c aft . He gained the r r island , howeve , and told Chatelain of his fea

that Lord Selkir k might come to harm . Heden r returned to the fort , and was the e taken to task and roughly handled for his tem er ity in ’ going to see one of Lord Selkir k s servants . 1 20 THE RED RIVER COLONY

On August 1 2 the second section of the c ontingent ar r ived with the exper ienced cam

i n e r s r . pa g . F om the moment they r aised t heir tents Lor d Selkir k began to Show a bold ’ r r ’ fr ont against the No weste s . Captain D o r sonnens was entr usted on the day of his a r rival with a letter fr om Selkir k to William ‘ Gilli v r r m n r M a y , the most p o i ent pa tner at ‘ r M Gi lli v r a Fo t William . In this y was asked h i s reason for holding in custody var ious r r pe sons whose names we e given , and was r r r m m r equested to g ant thei i ediate elease . ‘ M Gilliv r a r r n r y was su p isingly co ciliato y . He per mitted sever al of the per so n s nam ed in the ’ l r r r ette to p oceed at once to Selki k s camp , and assur ed Lor d Selkir k that they had never b r r r een p isone s . John Bou ke and Michael r r r Heden he still etained , because thei p esence w a s m r r de anded in the cou ts at Mont eal . n r Acti g as a j ustice of the peace , Selki k n o w held a cour t in which he hear d evidence ‘ fr om those whom M Gi lliv r a y had sur r en r dered . Befo e the day was over he had r f r secu ed su ficient info mation , as he thought , to justify legal action against cer tain of the r r p artne s at Fo t William . He decided to ‘ a r r M Gilli r a r est William v y fi st , and sent two m e n as constables with a warrant against

1 2 2 THE RED RIVER COLONY

r we e at Fort William . To accomplish this he drew up the necessary papers, and then a sent the same constables to m ke the arr ests . Twenty-fiv e De M e u r o n soldiers under Captain ’ D Ors o n n e n s and Lieutenant Fa u Ch é were detailed as an escort . When the constables strode up the river bank to the fort to perform their official r duty, they found a g eat throng of Canadians , - r r half b eeds, and Indians gathe ed about the ’ D Orso n n e n s entrance . and the bulk of the escort remained behind on the river within easy f r call . Near the gateway the o fice s saw two of the par tner s whom they were instr ucted to apprehend, and im mediately served them with ‘ r r D o n l warrants . A thi d pa tner, John M a d , made a sturdy Show of resistance . He de r r claimed against the validity of the wa ant , and pr otested that no str anger dar e enter the M ‘ Gilliv r a r fort until William y was set f ee . ’ r A sc amble followed . Some of the Nor r wester s t ied to close the gate , while the con stables struggled to make their way inside . When one of the constables shouted lustily for aid , the bugle blew at the boats . This was by prear r angement the Signal to Captain Matthey at Point De M e u r o n that the con stables had met with opposition . The signal , WI LL I AM M ‘ G I LLIV RAY A PA R N R I N TH E , T E V N O RTH -V E ST COM PAN Y

Fr o h ‘ m a p o to g ra ph I n M Gi ll U n iv e rsity Lib ra ry

1 24 THE RED RIVER COLO NY m orning many paper s wer e bur ned in the m - r ess room kitchen at the fo t . Word was a ls o br ought to Lord Selkir k that a quantity of firear ms and am munition had been r e r r moved f om Fort William du ing the night . I n consequence of this infor mation he issued a r r r r r nother wa ant , autho izing a sea ch fo ’ r r a ms . When the sea ch was made fifty or m or e guns and fowling-pieces wer e found r hidden among some hay in a ba n . Eight b arr els of gunpowder wer e also found lying i n r r r a swampy place not fa f om the fo t , and t h e manner in which the gr ass was tr am pled d own indicated that the bar r els had been d r r r eposited the e ve y recently . When Selki k learned of this attempt to remove arms a n d a m munition , he felt j ustified in adopting s r r r r t ingent measu es . He o de ed what was r r m p actically an occupation of Fo t Willia . B rfilés Most of the Canadians , Bois , and I ndians in the ser vice of the Nor th -West Com pany wer e commanded to leave the for t and t r r o c oss to the other side of the river . Thei r r canoes we e confiscated . The nine pa tners w er e held as prisoner s and closely watched . ’ Selkir k s force abandoned Point De Men t on and er ected their tents on ground near Fort W illiam . The hearing was continued, and it FORT WI LLIAM 1 25 was finally decided that the accused should be committed fo r trial at York and conducted r thither under a st ong guar d . Selkir k had not exceeded his authority a s a justice of the peace in holding the investiga tions and in sending the par tner s fo r tr ial t o r r the judicial headqua te s of the province . But he had also seized the pr oper ty of t h e Nor th-West Company and dr iven its ser vants r r from thei fo t , and this was str aining his legal r powe s . The task of taking the nine par tner s r r L to Yo k was ent usted to ieutenant Fauché. T r r r fo r r h ee canoes we e p ovisioned the j ou ney . Indians r egular ly employed by the Nor th West Com pany we r e engaged as ca n o e m e n 1 8 r and guides . On August the pa ty set o u t r r r r f om Fo t William . At fi st the j ou ney r went t anquilly enough . On the eighth day, ’ r about one o clock in the afte noon, the party r r a u r i n d ew up thei canoes on Isle Pa isien , r Whitefish Bay, to take dinne . A heavy r r r o n weste ly b eeze sprang up , but they we e the leewar d side of the island and did n o t r é notice its full st ength . Lieutenant Fauch r had misgivings , however, and befo e he would r r r r esume the j ou ney he consulted his p isone , ‘ illi v a r t William M G r y , who was an expe ‘ illi v ra t canoeman . M G y was confident tha 1 26 TH E RED RIVER COLO NY the traverse to Sault Ste Mar ie could b e made in safety if the Indian guides exer cised great caution . The guides , on the other hand, obj ected to leaving the island . Their advice r w a s not heeded, and the th ee canoes put out . Very soon they wer e running before a squall r and shipping water . The fi st canoe tur ned r r its prow in the di ection of Isle aux E ables , lying to the left, and the other two followed r this example . Near Isle aux Erables the e were some shoals destined now to cause tragic disaster . In attempting to pass these shoals r the leading canoe was capsized . The othe s, so heavily laden that they could do nothing to rescue their companions, paddled hurriedly r r to Sho e , unloaded part of their ca goes, and then hastened to the spot wher e their comr ades r r r we e st uggling in the stormy wate s . But it r was too late . In spite of the most he oic efforts nine of the twenty-one per sons belong r r ing to the wrecked canoe we e d owned . ‘ K n zi r - Kenneth M e e , of the No th West Com pany, was one of those who perished ; six of the others wer e Indians ; the remaining r two were discharged soldie s . Another canoe was procured at Sault Ste Ma rie . The party continued its j our ney and reached Yor k on é September 3 . Fauch at once sought the

1 2 8 TH E RED RIVER COLO NY

’ r r the south . The No weste s in Fort Douglas wer e wholly unawar e that a foe was advancing r against them . On a bluste ing night , amid ’ r r storm and da kness , Selki k s men cr ept up t o r r r the walls , ca rying ladde s . In a t ice they r r had scaled the amparts, and the fo t was i n their possession . On the fir st day of May 1 8 1 7 Lord Selkir k himself went for war d to the west fr om For t r d William , taking with him the bodygua r m which he had procured at D um ond Island . ’ He followed the fur tr ader s r oute up t h e w a Kaministikwia to Dog Lake , thence , by y of the waters which connect with Rainy Lake , t h e on to the Lake of the Woods , and down r n rushing Winnipeg . After a j ou ney of seve weeks he emer ged fr om the for est -clad wilder ness and saw for the first time the little r o w of farms which the toil of his long- suffering colonists had brought into being on the open plains . CHAPTER ' I I

TH E PI PE OF PEACE

‘ THE W . W AS r Lord Selki k spoke , he was standing I n what is to-day the nor thern part of the city of Winnipeg . A large gathering of settlers listened to his words . The refugees of the r r yea befo e , who were encamped on the Jack r r r iver, had eturned to thei homes , and now, in instituting a par ish fo r them and cr eating the first local division in Assiniboia, Lord Selkir k was giving it a nam e r em iniscent of r r r the vales of Suthe landshi e . He e you shall ’ r r build your chu ch , continued his lo dship . ’ r r - The Ea l of Selki k s religion was deep seated , and he was r esolved to make adequate pro ’ r vision for public wo ship . And that lot , r r he said , indicating a piece of g ound ac oss a ‘ r Cr fo r r ivulet known as Pa sonage eek , is a ’ r school . Fo his time he held what was advanced r adical doctr ine in r egar d to educa r r b e a tion , fo he believed that the e should r common school in eve y parish .

R. R. C. I 1 30 TH E RED RIVER COLO NY

’ Selkir k s genial presence and his magnani mity of char acter quickly banished any pre j udices which the colonists had fo r med against

him . In view of the hardships they had r endured , he divided among them, f ee of m all dues , so e additional land . To the dis charged soldiers h e gave land o n both sides r r of the river . They we e to live not fa r e r r moved from Fo t Douglas , in o der that they might give speedy aid in case of trouble . r r The settle s we e enj oined to Open roads, con r flo u r - struct b idges , and build mills at con n i n t v e e places . r Meanwhile , the distu bances in the fur country were being consider ed in the mother o f f land . When news the Seven Oaks a fair and of other acts of violence r eached Gr eat r r m B itain, Lord Bathu st thought that the ho e government should take action . He sent r an official note to Sir John She brooke , the r governor of Canada, inst ucting him to deal with the situation . Sherbrooke was to see r i n that the forts, buildings, and prope ty volved in the unhappy conflict should be

restored to their rightful owners , and that

illegal restr ictions on tr ade should be removed . r When Sherb ooke received this dispatch , in 1 1 February 8 7, he selected two military

1 32 THE RED RIVER COLO NY Douglas a body of chiefs who represented the s Cree and Saulteaux nation . The Indian chiefs made eloquent speeches . They said that they wer e willing to sur r ender their claim to a str ip on either side of the Red River u p-stream fr om its mouth as far as the Red r r r Lake rive (now Grand Fo ks, No th Dakota) , and on either Side of the Assiniboine as far ’ r as its junction with the Muskrat . Selki k s desire was to obtain as much on each bank of these str eams fo r the length agreed upon as ’ could be seen under a horse s belly towar ds r the ho izon , or approximately two miles, r and the Indians ag eed . At three places r r at Fort Douglas, Fo t Dae , and the con flu e n ce of the Red and Red Lake rivers Selkirk wished to secur e about six miles on each side of the Red River, and to this the r 1 8 1 8 1 chiefs ag eed . In the end , on July , 7, r r r r Selki k concluded a t eaty, afte dist ibuting r r r p esents . It was the fi st t eaty made by a subj ect of Great Br itain with the tribes of ’ r Rupert s Land . In signing it the seve al chiefs dr ew odd pictur es of animals on a rough r r map of the te itory in question . These animals wer e their respective totems and were placed opposite the regions over which they claimed authority. It was stipulated TH E PI PE OF PEACE 1 33 that one hundred pounds of good tobacco should be given annually to each nation .

Having finished his work, Lord Selkir k bade the colony adieu and j our neyed south r wa d . He made his way thr ough the u m or ganized ter ritor ies which had belonged to the United States since the Louisiana Pu r 1 8 0 chase of 3, and at length reached the town of St Louis on the Mississippi . Thence he r n p oceeded to the New Engla d States , and by w a y of Albany reached the p r ovince of Upper

Canada . Here he found that the agents of the Nor th-West Com pany had been busy with T r plans to attack him in the cour ts . he e wer e four char ges against him , and he was ordered to appear at Sandwich , a judicial r n r e centre on the Det oit . The accusatio s lated to his pr ocedure at For t William .

Selkir k tr avelled to Sandwich . One of the Th e char ges was quickly dism issed . other r r r thr ee wer e held ove , pending the a ival of witnesses, and he was released on bail to the 0 amount of £35 . In May 1 8 1 8 Colin Rober tson and sever al other s wer e char ged at Montreal with the r r wilful destr uction of For t Gib alta , but the jur y would not convict the accused upon the t h e evidence presented . In September, at 1 34 THE RED RIVER COLONY

j udicial sessions at Sandwich , Lord Selkirk r was again faced with cha ges . A legal cele b r it y of the day, Chief Justice Dummer r r r m Powell , p esided . The g and j u y co plained r that John Beve ley Robinson, the attor ney r r r r gene al of the p ovince, was inte fe ing with r r their delibe ations, and they efused to make a presentment . Chief Justice Powell waited two days for their answer, and as it was r r not fo thcoming he adj ou ned the case . The actions were afterwar ds taken to Yor k and r r Fo r r wer e t ied the e . some reason the leade s of the political faction known in the annals of Upper Canada as the Family Compact were r r not f iendly to Lord Selki k ; the Rev . John r - Strachan , the fathe confessor of this group AS of politicians , was an open opponent . a result of the tr ials Selkir k was mulcted in 2 0 damages to the extent of £ 0 0 . The courts of Lower Canada alone were empower ed to deal with offences in the Indian T r r r r r - r e ito ies . The gove no gene al of Canada r could , however, transfer the t ial of such cases

to Upper Canada, if he saw fit . This had been r done in the case of the char ges against Selki k, r r and Sir John Sherb ooke , afte consulting r with the home autho ities , decided to refer ’ ’ r i Selki k s char ges against the Nor westers, n

1 39 TH E RE D RIVER COLONY

Unquestionably, he had not secured a full r measure of justice in the cou ts of Canada . A man strong in health might h a Ve borne his A l . S misfortunes more ightly it was , Selkir k r let his wrongs pr ey upon his Spi it . On 1 1 8 1 r March 9 , 9, he add essed a letter to Lord r Live pool , asking that the Privy Council should inter vene in order to correct the C r erroneous findings of the anadian cou ts . ’ r r r - Sir James Montgome y, Selki k s b other i n

law, moved in the House of Commons , on 2 f r s June 4 , that all o ficial cor e pondence touch ’ r f r ing Selki k s a fairs should be p oduced . The r esult was the publication of a large blue f book . An e fort was made to induce Sir Walter Scott to use his literary talents on his ’ r f iend s behalf . But at the time Scott was prostr ate with illness and unable to help the r f iend of his youth . ’ r Meanwhile , Lo d Selkirk s attachment for his colony on the Red River had not under gone

any change . One of the last acts of his life r r was to seek settle s in Switze land , and a con sid e r a b le number of Swiss families wer e pe r su a d r e d to mig ate to Assiniboia . But the heads of these families wer e n o t fitted for r r pionee life on the prairie . For the most pa t

- they were poor musicians, pastry cooks, clock T H E PI PE OF PEACE 1 37 makers, and the like , who knew nothing of husbandry . Their chief contr ibution to the

r r e d - C colony was a numbe of buxom , heeked r daughte s, whose arr ival in 1 8 2 1 cr eated a j oyful commotion among the militar y bache r lo s at the settlement . The fair newcom er s wer e quickly wooed and won by the men who ’ r r had se ved in Napoleon s wa s , and numer ous r r ma iages followed . ’ Selkir k s continued ill - health caused him to seek the temper ate climate of the south of r r r i 8 1 8 20 F ance , and the e he died on Ap l , , r at Pau , in the foothills of the Py enees . His r body was taken to O thez, a small town some - fiv e r r twenty miles away, and bu ied the e in m l the Protestant ce etery . The ength of two ’ countries separ ates Lord Selkir k s place of bur ial from his place of birth . He has a monument in Scotland and a monum ent in m r n m n m France , but his ost endu i g o u ent is the great Canadian West of which he was the r so n ba r a m e s t ue founder . His only h Du n J r Douglas , inhe ited the title, and when he died in 1 8 85 the line of Selkir k becam e ex r r m tinct . Long befo e this the Selki k fa ily had br oken the tie with the Canadian West . In 1 836 their rights in the countr y of Assini r r r boia, in so fa as it lay in British te itory, 1 38 TH E RE D RIVER COLONY

’ wer e purchased by the Hudson s Bay Com pany for the sum of The character of the fifth Ear l of Selkir k has been alike lauded and vilified . Shor tly ’ after his death the Gen tlem a n s M a g a zi n e com mended his benefactions to the poor and his r kindness as a landlo d . To the counsels of an enlightened philosophy and an im m ovable ’ r r r r firmness of pu pose, decla ed the w ite , he added the most complete habits of business ’ r f r i r and a pe fect knowledge of af ai s . S Walter Scott wr ote of Selkir k with abundant ’ r fe vour. I never knew in my life, said the r r r Wiza d of the No th , a man of a mo e r o r generous and disinte ested disposition, one whose talents and perseverance wer e better qualified to bring great and national schem es ’ r to conclusion . History has p oved that Lord Selkirk was a m m s ; it is false to

r r fru it le ssw i i o n s . say, howeve , that his we e s Time has fully justified his colonizing activity in relation to settlement on the Red River . He was firm ly convinced of what few in his — s lm th ra iri e j m day believed that the qi q g pp was r t l - t o w s e r f ui u a n d would give r he osaz . f b a t‘ e d w r r i sa fiShi His wo st fault was his pa t p. In his eyes the Hudson ’s Bay Company was endowed with all the Vir tues ; and he never pr oper ly

1 4 9 TH E RE D RIVER COLONY and fifty bushels of grain wer e secur ed at Lor d ’ r r Selki k s expense , and b ought back on fla t r boats to the colony . Neve since that time has ther e been a serious lack of seed on the

Red River . The year 1 8 2 1 brings us to a milestone in r the histo y of the Canadian West , and at r r this point our story terminates . Afte Lo d ’ Selkir k s death the two gr eat fu r - tr ading companies r ealized the folly of continuing r r r their disast ous rival y, and made prepa a r f tions to bu y their di ferences . Neither com pany had been making satisfactory profits . r In Great B itain especially, where only the r echoes of the st uggle had been heard , was there an increasing desir e that the two com a n i e s r p Should unite . One of the fo emost par tner s of the Nor th-West Company was r Edward Ellice , a native of Aberdeenshi e , and member of the House of Commons r for Coventry . Ellice championed the pa ty ’ among the Nor wester s who wer e in favour o f ‘ illiv r a union, and the two M G ys, Simon and f r r William , earnestly seconded his e fo ts . Te ms acceptable to both companies wer e at length 26 1 8 2 1 agreed upon . On March , , a formal ’ - th e document , called a deed poll , outlining s basis of union , was signed by the two partie THE PIPE OF PEACE 1 4 1

1 22 in London . In 8 Edwar d Ellice intr o d u ce d a bill in par liament making the union of the companies legal . The name of the Nor th West Company was dr opped ; the new cor po ra ti o n was to be known as the Hudson ’s

Bay Company . Thus passed away fo r ever the Singular par tner ship of the Nor th - West Company which had made Montr eal a mar ket fo r furs and had built up For t William in r the depths of the fo est . No longer did two r r - o r r m ival t ading posts stand by lake st ea . No longer did two r ival camp - fir e s light up blazed tree-tr unk o r gr ass-str ewn pr ai r ie by r r r r the long and sinuous t ail . F om Lab ado r r m r to Vancouve , and f o the A ctic to the souther n confines of the Canadian West and C r . . . farther, the B itish flag, with H B on its r r - folds , was to wave over eve y t ading post . Midway between the Atlantic and the Pacific r a little ham let was to st uggle into life , to — str uggle feebly for many years a mer e adjunct of a fu r -tr ading post but at length it was to come into its own, and Winnipeg , m the pr oudest city of the plains , was in ti e to rear its palaces on the spot wher e fo r long year s the Red River Colony battled fo r exist ence against human enemies and the obstacles r of natu e . BI BLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

PRIMARY SOU RCE S

TH E Selkirk Paper s in the Dom in ion Archiv es con sist o f sev enty-n ine portfolios contai n i n g tr an r i o f r r d n v id n a n d sc pts co espon e ce, leg al e e ce, ’ other pr oceeding s relati n g to the E ar l o f Selki rk s i i n colon z g enter prises . ’ Lor d Selki r k s pr i n cipal works a r e 'Obs e r v a ti o n s o n th e P r e s e n t S ta te o f th e H ig h la n ds i n S co tla n d (pu blished i n 1 805 a n d descr ibi n g the j ou r n ey to P i d r n d i n 1 80 On th e r n ce E w a d Isla , etc . , 3) N e ces s i ty o f a m o r e E ffi ci e n t S y s te m o f N a ti o n a l D e fe n ce A S k e tch o f th e B r i ti s h Fu r Tr a de i n N o r th Am e r i ca

Th L o f M i M d n — 2 e etter Book les ac o ell J uly 7, 1 81 1 b r r 2 1 8 1 2 m i i r iv , to Fe ua y 5, (Do n on A ch es R r 1 88 — n i n r dr b epo t, 6) co ta s ten lette s ad essed y M d n ir fr m rm u w ac o ell to Selk k o Ya o th, Storno ay, r r a n d N m m Yo k Facto y, elson Enca p en t ; besides r v r i u i n div idu othe s to a o s als. I n con sequ en ce o f the disaster s which befell the Re d Riv r n m 1 8 1 a n d 1 8 1 6 r r e Colo y 5 , the e appea ed i n Gr eat Br itai n A S ta tem en t r e spe cti n g th e Ea r l ’ o f S elk i r k s S e ttle m e n t up o n th e Re d Ri v e r i n

N o r th Am e r i ca e tc . r i n M r r , ( epubl shed by J oh u ay, 1 42

1 44 TH E RED RIVER COLO NY w ith th e Weste r n I n dian s (v i d e Appen dix to Th e Tr ea ti e s o f Ca n a da b d r y Alexan e M orris ,

S E CON DARY M AT E RIAL

r n r w i 1 821 Since the p ese t sto y closes th , it is necessary to classify as secondary m aterial a work that i s to b e r eg ar ded as a pr im ar y sou r ce on the — later history o f the colony Th e Re d Ri v e r S e ttle m n n d e t (1 856) by Alexa er Ross . Ross w a s a pion eer em igran t to the colon y o f Astor ia on ifi 1 8 1 r d v the Pac c Coast. In 7 he ente e the ser ice o f the N orth-West Com pany ; after the un ion o f the fu r com pan ies i n 1 821 he r em ai n ed i n the ’ m o f th e u d B a C m n 1 82 e ploy H son s y o pa y. In 5 w n r Re d Riv r n he e t as a settle to the e Colo y, r b m i n flu n i ffi w he e he soon eca e an e t al o cer . H i s nar r ati v e i s v ig or ou s in style as w ell as fai r n i r i i i m a n d n i i m i ded in ts c t c s s, is a nd spensable r i o n t h e b i n n i n o f b au tho ty eg g s Manito a. Th e m ost pr olific w r iter upon the career o f Lord Selki r k a n d th e history o f the Re d Riv er Colon y i r f r r r o f i n n i s P o esso Geo g e B yce, W peg , who has ‘ ’ been a r esiden t at the For ks o f the Re d a n d i i n r i v r i n 1 8 1 h u Assi n bo e e s s ce 7 . He has t s been i n a position to g ather a n d pr eser v e t h e tradition s n d d w n b r d i r r a n d n i ha e do y e sk n, t appe , colo st. ’ Con s u lt h i s Ro m a n ti c S e ttle m e n t o f Lo r d S elk i r k s l n i s ts l M a n i to ba ' In fa n P Co o a so cy , r og r e ss a n d P r e s e n t Co n di ti o n Th e Re m a r k a ble

’ Hi s to r y o f th e H u ds o n s B a y Co m pa n y (I 900) ; l d i n M a ck e n zi e , S e k i r k a n S m ps o BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE 1 45

An accou n t o f Lor d Selkir k w ill b e fou n d i n i n f r d Hi s to r o f Ca n a da l v o . ix Th K g s o , y , . e r e a der d n u lt i n Ca n a da a n d i t i n shoul also co s , s Pr o v ce s

v o l. xix th e ll n m n ( ) , exce e t o og raph by Pr o fe ssor M r i Th i i h Chester a t n . s s t e m o st r e ce n t a n d prob a bly th e m ost thor ou g h ly g r o u n de d stu dy o f Re d Riv r n Th e a m o r k n a in the e Colo y. s e w co t s a g ood accou n t o f th e Selki rk S e ttlem e n t i n Pr i n ce dw r d n d v o l iii b D r An dr e w E a Isla ( . x , p. 354) y M i Th B a ldo o n le m e n t i s r e a t d o f acpha l . e Sett t e r M i h i n th e P r o ce e di n s o f by Dr Geo g e W . tc ell g i r i ca l S o ci e t 1 e e l th e On ta r i o H s to y fo r 1 9 3. S a so ‘ ’ r Pi n r ttle m n t o f r the m on og aph, o ee Se e s ' Uppe i n Ca n a da a n d i ts C . C m n Can ada', by A. assel a

i n c l v ii . Pr o v es , v o . x

K. R. C .

1 48 THE RED RIVER COLONY

r cru it fo r Red Ri r n r r im n r r his e s ve Colo y, F ase , S o , explo e , - 1 0 1 0 1 22 1 0. rr t a t rt Wi i m 1 2 9 , , 3 a es Fo ll a , 3, ’ - D O rs o n n e n s C t in n i t 1 2 . , ap a , e l s s 4 5 it r r 1 1 0 a t w h Lo d Selki k, ; W m 22 rt 1 20 1 1 2 . n rr n ci r i Fo illia , , , 3 Gle g a y Fe bles, p ov de ru m m n S i r r n re r cru it fo r Re d Ri r D o d, Go do , e s ve Co l u r i r rm o n 1 1 0 1 f ses Lo d Selk k a ed y, , 30. - a i t n c 1 2 . Gra ffe n re id i u t . en li t it ss s a e, 9 , 93 , L e , s s w h r S i r 1 1 0 Lo d elk k, . ic E r his i to r n t r ri n i n ll e, dwa d, b ll G a , Cha les, b bes I d a s iz th e u n i n th e t o La u im o n iere 1 1 2 leg al e o of waylay g , N rt -W t a n d th e n a n d n t o h es H u dso o e . m n i 1 0- 1 r n t C u t rt tt c Bay Co pa es, 4 . G a , hbe , a a ks Col o n r n 86 c tu r y Ga de s , 77, ap es m il m ct th e a n d r r n n u 88 8 s Fa y Co pa , , _ Lo d B a do Ho se , , 9 ; lead

ir 1 . i n n O m a cr Selk k, 34 Seve aks ass e , 95, é i u t n i -2 u c t it 1 01 1 0 . Fa h , L e . , e l s s w h 99, , 5 r i r 1 1 0 a t Lo d Selk k, ; Fort Wi i m 1 22 t N rt n ic esca a ll a , ; akes o h Hede , M hael , pes t W m n r n t t r to en O n . 1 00 1 02 es Co pa y pa e s Sev aks, 95 , , , - n tr fo r t r 1 2 . 1 0 1 0 1 0 a n d r Mo eal ial , 5 7 3, 4, 5 ; Lo d ’ in Wi i m i r a n u r t t 1 1 1 20. F dlay, ll a , obd a e Selk k s safe y, 9,

Ork n e m a n . i n r S c t n t ir y , 49 H g hla de s of o la d , he tc r r r itr t be t -1 0 1 1 t ir co n Fle he , Maj o , a b a es loyal y, 9 , ; he t n r ir a n d th e diti o n s 1 0- 1 1 dis wee Lo d Selk k of life, 9, ; N rt -W t m n 1 1 o f t i r r t o h es Co pa y, 3 . possessed he he i ag e, r t r th e Re d R r 1 2- 1 t ir tri ti n 1 Fo Dae , ive 3 ; he expa a o , 3 ’ c n i t i n t r u rt r n 1 1 1 1 - - - q o . 8 20, 2 8 8 , olo s s w e a e s 4 7 7 . 3 43 th e m in 8 8 2I 3 Pe b a, 5 , 5. 3 3. rt u i n n Ga r i i r m i tr t a t r k Fo Do g las, Colo y H ll e , a ag s a e Yo n 8 cu t 1 02 1 0 ct r de s, 5 eva a ed , , 5 ; Fa o y, 49. ’ ccu i N o r w e ste r s 1 28 t i u t . k i a t v en o p ed by , ; Hol , L e , lled Se

r t n 1 28. O 8 . e ake , aks, 9 rt i r t r th e N rt u n Red Ri r Fo G b al a , o h H dso Bay, ve col W m - t n t o n th e o n i sts Wi n t r o n 1 62. es Co pa y pos e , 45 5 , ’ Re d R r -6 8 u n s m n 2 -6 ive , 55 9 74, 75) 4 ; H dso Bay Co pa y, 5 , ’ m 8 . 80 a n d r i r e de olished, 7 ; Lo d S elk k s mi ’ rt u A e lle a N rt ra tio n c m 1 t i r fla w Fo Q pp , o h g s he e , 7 ; he W - t m n t 88. c r t r 22 0 m e es Co pa y pos , less ha e , 3, 3 ; so rt Wi i m 66- 1 1 1 1 r tr u 28- t ir Fo ll a , 7, 3, 5 ; ea ly o bles , 9 ; he th e cc th e N rt -W t r n t n to r ir Me a of o h es g a ofla d Lo d Selk k, m n 1 1 6- 1 8 t n a n d 1 - in t r n r er Co pa y, ake 3 4 appo a g ove o ov ccu i r ir A in i 8 a n d u rc s o p ed by Lo d Selk k, ss boia, 3 ; p ha e - ’ 1 2 . r kirk ri t 1 - 3 4 Lo d Sel s g h s, 37 8 ; I NDE' 1 49

t ir u n i n i t the N rt he o w h o h c n A n r rt Ma do ell, lexa de , a pa W t m n 1 0-1 es Co pa y, 4 . n e r of th e N orth-West Co m n 68 86 8 88 tr pa y, , , 7, des oys n i n t ir r ti n it I d a s , he ela o s w h C n r n 6 - olo y Ga de s, 9, 73 4 , 77 Red Ri r n 6 6 ve Colo y, 3 , 54 , 5 , 79 o r g an iz es a raid o n Fo rt 8 8 1 02 IL 1 1 2- 1 57, 7 1 91 951 , 3 u 8 - n Do g las, 9, 94 5 a d th e a u x E r c n di s Isle ables, a oe m cr a t S n O 1 02 assa e eve aks, t r a t 1 26. as e , 1 0 1 0 1 0 t to 3, 5, 7 ; his plo assas sin a te r i r 1 1 8- 1 n n Lo d Selk k, 9. , i n it Joh so L o el, w h Sel c n A n t n ta k e n ’ Ma do ell , ho y, pri s kirk s settlers a t B a ldo o n n r a t S n O a 1 00 . F rm 1 o e eve ks , a , 9. c n t . fir t n Ma do ell , Cap Miles , s , tai n n Pa u l h is Jo es Cap Joh , r n r A in 6- g , 3 , r i o n th i - ove o of ss iboia 7 e r t c t 1 . a d B ish oas s, 3 rcu n t 0-2 74 ; his he lea ask , 4 , Ka ta w a be ta i 44 ; t i n t r qu r y, a Ch ppewa es ablishes w e a c i m t r i r t r o n th e N n - 6 h ef, 74 ; ee s Lo d Selk k , e s elso , 45 , 47 1 1 2- his O in i n th e m r n t 1 3. p o of e ig a s, n O n rr i it 47- 5 1 o ffiCIa lI i n u u r t Keve y, we , a ves w h ; y a g a es rt Re d Ri r C n -6 pa y of I rish colon ists a t ve olo y, 55 ; n r n 8 r ct rt r -8 Colo y Ga de s, 5 . e e s Fo Dae , 57 his i n n ri in c t n tr u r c m t n 63 K ldo a pa sh , S o la d , disas o s p o la a io , 6 6 61 8 i n Win n i 1 2 4, 5, 67 ; u rr n r m , 3 ; peg , 9. s e de s hi self t o C m r n 6- n t n n i c c a t , 7 , 93 ; Kilke y , M hael , es apes a e o 7 se to Re d R r in n c n O 1 00. Seve aks, ive adva e of

r r 1 1 1 1 1 . Lo d Selki k , , 3 ‘ La u im o n i e re rin n M Gilliv ra W m rtn r g , b g s ews of y , illia , a pa e rest oration of Colon y Ga r of th e N orth - West C o m

n t o r S r n 66 n . rr t a t F rt de s Lo d elki k, 93 ; pa y, ; his a es o i a n d r o n Wi m 1 20-1 1 2 - a n wayla d obbed his llia , , 4 5 ex r tu rn 1 1 2 rt c n m n 1 2 -6 u r e , 94, . pe a oe a , 5 ; favo s ’ i n A u u tin it the u n i n it th e u n Lav g e, g s , w h o w h H dso s Bay ’ N o r t r a t S n O C m n 1 0. wes e s eve aks, o pa y , 4 ‘ m in t 1 06. M I n to sh n c 99, , Ja es , he defe e ’ r r a n d r n r n . Live pool , Lo d , Selki k s of Colo y Ga de s , 79 ‘ c r i n t th e N rt M Ka n i c a t ha g es ag a s o h y, Da el , es apes

W m n 1 S n O 1 00 1 0 . t 6. es Co pa y, 3 eve aks, , 5 c nz i Sir A n r Ma ke e , lexa de , c n Ar c i u t r r a n d r S l r Ma do ald, h bald, dep y explo e , Lo d e ki k ,

rn r i n . 1 1 g ove o of Ass iboia, 73 5 , 3 ‘ M Do n a ld n hi s rr t a t c n zi t in a n d th e , Joh , a es Ma ke e, Cap a , - - - W 1 2 n i n u n t 1 . rt i m 1 22 . Fo ill a , 3, 4 5 e po d sho , 4 ‘ ‘ M D o n a ld t . R ri c M Ke n zie n n t h i s rr e t , Cap ode k , , Ke e h , a s ’ i r n t in a t F rt W m 1 21 1 2 - Selk k s ag e Glasg ow, o illia , , 4 5 ;

- r n d 1 26 . 37 8. d ow e , 1 5 0 TH E RED RIVER COLONY

‘ M Le a n A n r 2 i -6 60 6 - 6 -6 6 t ir , lexa de , 7 ; k lled 55 , , 3 4, 5 , 7 ; he ff r t to a t S n O 1 00 . tr th e c n eve aks , e o s des oy olo y, ‘ M Le a n u h i s n c - 8 - 0 th e S n O , H g h , defe e of 74 5 , 9 9 ; eve aks C n r n 8 m cr - 1 01 t ri olo y Ga de s , 7 , 79. assa e, 95 al of ‘ M Le o d A rc N rm n rt n r a t r 1 - , hibald o a , a pa e s Yo k, 34 5 ; ’ part n er of th e N orth-West u n ion with th e H u dson s Bay m - m n m i tr t n 1 0 1 . Co pa y, 94 ; as ag s a e Co pa y , 4 ’ n n i N r u u n of I dia Te rr ito r e s ex o way Ho se, a H dso s

m in ict d i m n t 2 8. a es ev ed Re R ver Bay Co pa y pos , 5 , 7 c n i t 1 0 - a t rt olo s s, 3 5 ; Fo u 1 0 - Ott r Do g las, 5 7. awas, waylay Lo d Sel ‘ ’ M Le o d n h is n r m n r 1 1 2. , Joh , g alla t de ki k s esse g e , n c o f C n r n fe e olo y Ga de s, 77 8 u r i n i 82 P m ru n i r r ri n r 7 , 79 ; his g a d a sh p , a b , P e e , held p so e ’ h N o r w e s r - 8 8 . t e te s 88 1 02 . 3, 5 by , 9, ‘ M Lo u h lin Dr n h is n m n t r a n d u t rt g , Joh , Pa g a , Pe e , C hbe

r r t a t F rt W m 1 21 r n t 88 . a es o illia , , G a , ’ - 1 2 . m r a n d i r 4 5 Pelha , Lo d , Selk k s ‘ M N a b n u B ld n c m m i r ti n 1 1 6 , Joh , b ys a o o s he e of e g a o , 5, ,

F rm r L r 1 . m i r 2 . a f o o d Selk k, 0 7 ‘ M Ta v i sh im n u n r l i u tic a n d th e , S o , fo de of Powel , Ch ef J s e , th e N rt -W t m n tri r ir 1 o h es Co pa y, al of Lo d Selk k , 34 ’ 20 1 1 . a n d th e N r t r 1 . , 7 o wes e s , 35 tt t in n i t it rin c E r n Ma hey, Cap a , e l s s w h P e dwa d Isla d , Sel ’ - r r 1 1 0 a t rt ir c n o n 1 1 8 . Lo d Selki k, ; Fo k k s olo y , 7 W i m 1 22 ritc r n t n ri n r ill a , . P ha d , Joh , ake p so e

éti . i B rfilés a t n O n . 8 M s, 54 See Bo s . Seve aks, 95 , 97, 9 ; n t m r S i r m ct a s m i t r 1 01 -2 1 0 Mo g o e y, Ja es , a s ed a o , , 4, - - br other ih law of Lor d S el 1 05.

ir 1 6. k k, 3 Re d Ri r n 2 1 1 its ve Colo y, 3 , 4 ; N n I 1 6 his r in t n t a n d it n - 1 2 apoleo , ; Be l De ex e pos io , 33 4 , 3 ; cr 2 c n ti n tt m n t ee , 9. o di o s of se le e , 35 , N n r i r N ew r c 1 1 0 t tt r -8 elso ve , Yea ele ; ypes of se le s, 37 , - bra tio n s o n th e 8 . 0 2 8 1 6 8 , 4 9 39, 4 , 4 , 47. 4 . 5 . 3. 3, - - N e w N ti n th e 8 86. 1 08 1 0 1 6 th e rtu r a o , , 5, See , 3 7 ; depa e i B rfilé fir t c n ti n n t c n i t Bo s s . of s o g e of olo s s N rt -W t m n 2 - r m t rn 8- r c o h es Co pa y, 3 5, f o S o oway , 3 43 ea h 1 1 n t r t i n r r u n - a n d Wi n 7 ; e e a Lo d Selki k H dso Bay, 44 5 ; i n n tr 20-1 t ir t e r o n th e N o n - 1 Mo eal , he els , 45 5 ; iti n t o hi s c n iz in u r n t o Re d R r 1 - oppos o olo g j o ey ive , 5 4 ; c m 1 -2 8 0- 1 th e ffici i n u u r t n th e s he es , 3 , 3 , 4 , 55, o al a g a io of 6 1 t ir n t n i m t o c n -6 r t n W t 7, 33 he a ag o s olo y, 55 ; ela io s i h a r Red Ri r n th e n i a n s 6 8 w ds ve Colo y, I d , 54, 5 1 57) 741 7 1

1 5 2 TH E RED RIVER COLO NY

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