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 1 
 
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 MANITOBA. 
 
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LONDON : 
 I'klNTED BY GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, LIMITED, 
 ST. JOHN'S SQUARE. 
 
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 THOMAS DOUGLAS, STH EARL OF SKLKIRK, F.R.S., ETC. 
 {From fosihumous Bust by Charatry.) 
 
 {Frontispiece. 
 
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i'^ 
 
 MANITOBA: 
 
 ITS INFANCY, GROWTH, AND PRESENT CONDITION. 
 
 HY THE 
 
 Rev. professor BRYCE, M.A, LL.B. 
 
 Head of Manitol'ii College, Deligni de V Institution lit/iuJiiraphiquc de l\iriit. Corn-- 
 sponding Se<:retary Afanitolui If istoriml Society, &>:, 
 
 WITH MAPS, AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 HotiUon : 
 SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON, 
 
 CROWN BUILDINGS, l88, FLEET STRKEI". 
 1882. 
 
 \^All rights resenh'(/.'\ 
 
 
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® 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 " Also after the manner of the farmer let me follow 
 the crooked plough, while the oxen break up the 
 fields that are lying ready to be worked," said Tibullus 
 the ancient in one of his Elegies. At the present 
 time the name of Manitoba suggests such thoughts 
 as these of Tibullus to thousands of those with whom 
 the world is going hard in Great Britain and Ireland. 
 One object in view in this work is to make it some- 
 what real to those who are looking towards Manitoba, 
 the great prairie land. The writer is neither a 
 Government emigration agent, a special corre- 
 spondent, nor a candidate for political honours, but 
 simply one who has led a most busy life in connexion 
 with the educational and social improvement of the 
 Canadian North-West for the last ten years, and has 
 tried to keep his eyes open during that eventful 
 period. One object of the present work is to collect 
 together the various recollections connected with the 
 names, Hudson's Bay Territory, Rupert's Land, 
 Assiniboia, Red River Settlement, and Selkirk 
 Colony — names that have been mainly swallowed up 
 in the Manitoba of to-day. Many unsolved problems 
 
 I 
 
'■%■ 
 
 VI 
 
 Preface. 
 
 of interest arc touched upon ; many disputed points 
 necessarily referred to, and the actions of many 
 different persons pronounced upon, under many 
 trying circumstances ; while a description of the 
 country, its resources, and prospects will be found 
 shining t-hrough all the discussions. 
 
 The author has tried to be just, has sought 
 "nought to extenuate, nor aught set down in 
 malice." He has endeavoured to call things by their 
 true names. He does not disguise the fact that he 
 seeks to ivrversc an opinion, held by some, ''that the 
 Earl of Selkirk was not worthy of confidence as a 
 colonizer." The feeling of reverence shown by the 
 Selkirk colonists in Manitoba till the present day 
 for the memor>' of their patron was the first thing 
 that directed the attention of the writer to the matter, 
 and further investigation has shown that justice has 
 been too long delayed to the memory of one of whom 
 Sir Walter Scott, an intimate friend, says, " I never 
 knew in my life a man of a more generous and dis- 
 interested disposition." The author has to return 
 thanks to the present Earl of Selkirk and Lady 
 Isabella Hope, only survivors of the family of the late 
 Earl, for supplying many of the materials of the 
 work. 
 
 The immediate cause of the present work is in its 
 having given recreation and a change of subject to 
 the mind of the writer, overtaxed with assisting 
 others in the heavy task of laying the foundations in 
 education and religion, in what was called at the 
 beginning of the last decade "The Great Lone 
 Land." 
 
 %f 
 
 > i 
 
 M 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 A GOOD Man and a noble Work 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 The Couriers of the West 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Canadian Fur-Traders and Explorers 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 The Adventurers to Hudson's Bay 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 The Earl of Selkirk— in his Writings 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Selkirk Settlement 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 The Indians of Selkirk Colony . 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Bois-br<)l£s and Nor'-Westers 
 
 • • 
 
 • t 
 
 I 
 
 26 
 
 52 
 
 104 
 
 125 
 
 142 
 
 167 
 
 198 
 
Vlll 
 
 Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Bloudshed in i8i6 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 Lord Selkirk to the Rescue 
 
 • • 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 Justice with Eyes Unbandagfd 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 Fifty Years of Peace . . . . 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 C Manitoba 
 TEN Years OF Progress J ^j^^jp^^^ 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 The Attractions of Manitoba 
 
 FAC.II 
 
 240 
 
 263 
 
 286 
 
 299 
 318 
 
 332 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 i'AGE 
 
 The Earl of Selkirk 
 Fort Douglas, Red River 
 Sir George Simpson . 
 Winnipeg, 1882 
 
 Frontispiece 
 
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MANITOBA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A GOOD MAN AND A NOBLE WORK. 
 
 In the little fihhing village of Helmsdale, on the east 
 coast of the Scottish county of Sutherland, a band of 
 colonists were waiting the arrival of the vessel in which 
 they were to begin their journey and cross the tempes- 
 tuous North Atlantic, to a new home in America. It 
 was seventy years ago, and the vessels that went round 
 the stcrmy coasts of the North of Scotland, and there 
 faced the billows of the Pentland Frith, were no doubt 
 staunch and well tried. Manned with the hardy 
 coastmen and the islanders from Orkney, the trim 
 little vessels rose and fell with the waves as if en- 
 dowed with life. Yet who would now think of 
 facing the dangers of the great sea in such craft ! 
 Those were not the days of the Allan liners, and for 
 weeks these small sailing-vessels of the older days 
 danced about the Atlantic with a westward trend, 
 until at length the new world was reached. The 
 village grave-yard spoke of many a daring mariner 
 
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 who had at hist fallen a prey to the stormy North 
 Sea, and been dashed in some hurricane upon the 
 shore: but the sea was the means of livelihood to the 
 fishermen, and though they knew that sooner or later 
 the water wraith would appear on its weird mission 
 of death, yet for wife and hungry bairns the dangers 
 must be faced — and familiarity lessens fear. 
 
 ]Uit the colonists were not fishermen. Along the 
 coast of Sutherlandshirc and the north-east of Scot- 
 land there live side by side two distinct races. The 
 fishermen are of Norwegian descent, are chiefly 
 known by the blue eye of the Norse nations, and 
 speak a Teutonic language. The people living by 
 farming — to whom the colonists belonged — had the 
 colour of the Celt, the language of the Celt, and the 
 Highland pride of the mountaineer. Woe to the luck- 
 less damsel of Highland blood, who listened to the 
 wooing strains of any young fisher-lad. If thus she 
 made her choice, she might ever after count on the 
 contempt of her own people, which could remain as 
 strong a feeling toward her and her offspring fifty years 
 after, as on the day when she forsook the ancestral 
 tradition by plighting troth to a fisherman lover. But 
 sad da\'s had fallen upon the Highlands. The 
 ** Highland Clearances " will ever glow witli the 
 lurid recollections of homes broken up, Highland 
 thousands driv^en to foreign lands, and Highland 
 hearts torn with pain at having to leave home and 
 country. And now the exiles stand gazing at the 
 stormy sea and their rolling vessel with failing 
 heat'ts. But they must go. The company has 
 gathered, and the bustle of needed preparation is 
 
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 A r.ooD Man and a Nor.Li: Work. 
 
 minified with the wccpinrr of women, the farewells of 
 relatives, and the wild joy of the unconscious children, 
 who sec and know only the novelty of the scene. 
 
 The colonists are going out under distinguished 
 patronage, and no less a person than a noble of one 
 of Scotland's ( dest families is present to see the 
 colony depart. A tall, spare man, full six feet high, 
 with a pleasant countefiance, is the Earl of Selkirk — 
 and he is bidding his people a hearty good-bye, 
 with a promise to come and visit them in their new 
 homes on the prairies in the very heart of North 
 America. Though from the South of Scotland, and 
 without a drop of Celtic blood in his veins, his love 
 for the Highland race had enabled him to take up 
 their language while rambling in their beautiful glens. 
 His lordship makes his promises to the older men, 
 comforts their weeping spouses with those Gaelic ex- 
 pressions which are the vehicle of intensest feeling, and 
 ^ives words of encouragement to the young men — the 
 hope of the colony. The whole number is about 
 seventy, of this first party, but this is only the advanced 
 guard, for in the land acquired by their patron is the 
 room denied them in their native country — and not 
 for them alone, but for a million of people. 
 
 But to these have assembled there a goodly 
 number of sorrowing relatives, many of whom shall 
 follow soon, and among them several of *' the men " 
 — a remarkable class of Highland worthies — having 
 counterparts nowhere else, so far as we know. They 
 were men of a superior sort, noted for their sanctity, 
 who seem to have taken the place in the Highland 
 mind of the bards and wizards of their Celtic fore- 
 
 B 2 
 
Maxttoiia. 
 
 fiithcrs. It was said tliat by their sii[)cri'jr goodness 
 some of tiiein had acquired a peculiar faculty, somc- 
 thincj bordering on the gift of prophecy, by which 
 they could foretell certain events — that indeed they 
 possessed the " second sight." On the present occa- 
 sion it is related that a family had as one of its 
 members a weak and helpless babe. They feared to 
 adventure themselves upon the deep with the sick 
 child, and were anxious to delay their voyage. But 
 one of "the men" professed to have it shown him 
 that after so many days out on the voyage a change 
 would take place, and the infant recover. The parents 
 embarked, and truly enough after being a few days 
 at sea the child, revived, but we shall leave our readers 
 to judge whether the recovery was from natural 
 causes, and to speculate if they choose whether the 
 prophet would have lost his fame had another result 
 followed. We have no doubt that these lay prophets 
 caused their spiritual overseer, the parish minister, 
 many an hour of anxiety, for without fail they would 
 claim to make up in piety for his superiority over 
 them in information and college lore. Lord Selkirk 
 had wished to send with the colonists a spiritual guide, 
 and had cometotermswiththe son ofthc parish minister 
 of Resolis ; but the young man desired to remain a 
 year to perfect himself in the native language of his 
 people, and so one of "the men" had been selected 
 to go — a man who afterwards bore himself irre- 
 proachably, and who had much influence in the colony. 
 The colonists had for their expedition and their 
 subsequent establishment been put under the care of 
 an experienced leader, whom Lord Selkirk had 
 
A coor) Man and a Nonr.r, Work. 
 
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 selected from those met by him in the new world on a 
 former visit — one acquainted with the rcj^ion to which 
 his colonists were proceeding. And now the ship — as 
 staunch and well manned as any afloat — is ready : and 
 the farewells have been taken, and the enterprise is 
 consecrated by the strong features of Christian sonLj 
 and reverent supplication. There is in these sonj:js of 
 the IliL^hlandcrs. what Professor JUackie calls, "The 
 quiver of the weird old psalm tunes, strcamiiiL; like a 
 choir of spirits through the bree/.y air of the mountains, 
 and making them most suitable for such occasions as 
 this." No doubt those tunes arc memorials of that 
 time of heroic venturing, when a body of Ross and 
 Suthcrlandshirc men went over to fight the battles of 
 Gustavus Adolphus in the Thirty Years' War, and 
 brought back these plaintive melodies so constantly 
 used by the plaidcd people of the mountains, which 
 became a part of their national life, as the name 
 Gustavus is still found in the Highlands. And with 
 the commendation to Ilim who rules the winds and 
 the waves by their faithful and kind-hearted pastor, 
 the journey is begun, and that ship-load become the 
 founders of a new-world province. 
 
 After going around the North of Scotland and past 
 the Hebrides, they land at Sligo, in North-Westcrn 
 Ireland, where they are joined by less than a score 
 of Celts like themselves, but different in language and 
 customs and sympathies. Once more out upon the 
 open Atlantic their prow is turned northward, for 
 they are searchers for a home that must be reached 
 by the dangerous and unprom.ising route followed by 
 the seekers for the north-west passage. Through 
 
Manitoi'.a, 
 
 I 
 
 the iccbcrj;s driftiiv^ soutluviircl from D.ivis Straits 
 they pass successfully, then thread their way throuj^di 
 I lutlson's Straits, and in the autumn of iSi i reach 
 T'ort Churchill on tiie north-west shore of the ^reat 
 inland sea of Hudson's Ikxy. Here they must stay 
 the winter. They are provided with daily supplies 
 of food ; and anxiously await the sprinj^ when they 
 may journey southward to the land of promise, on 
 the Red River of the North ; the spot now the 
 centre of the fertile province of Manitoba — the cyno- 
 sure of many eyes. Lord Selkirk's attempt to colo- 
 nize this district so early in the present century, and, 
 as wc shall see, in the midst of opposing inlluences, 
 ^vas a daring enterprise. 
 
 This region was a part of the fur country, and 
 the undertaking brought the colonizer into conflict 
 with the determined Canadian merchants and traders, 
 and hastened a hand-to-hand encounter between the 
 agents of the Hudson's Bay Company of London, who 
 favoured Selkirk's scheme, and the North-Wcst Fur 
 Company of Montreal, who, from the first, were hostile. 
 
 The life of the fur-trader is one of romance ; it is 
 out of the ordinary course, and he becomes, in conse- 
 quence, a man of mark. It affords great opportuni- 
 ties for gain, and so very often the fur-trader becomes 
 wealthy. But this king of the solitudes needs an em- 
 pire for his operations, an empire in extent, though 
 it must have for his purposes not human beings, but 
 foxes, as its inhabitants. The beaver is one of his 
 most valued subjects ; but the beaver hates and flees 
 from the face of man. From long journeys and dreary 
 wastes, and undisturbed and lonesome spots, civilized 
 
I 
 
 A I.OUU Man and a nuim.i: Work, 
 
 mail shrinks; but the native trapper, chul with leathern 
 coat and lej^^^Miigs, stalks on snow-shoes L;leefiilly from 
 place to place, to ^'ather the " catch" from his traps. 
 The trader himself speeds as if in sport over the 
 frozen plains in winter, with do^^s as his liorses, 
 draj^j^in^ the slidin;^ cariole, in which he is encased 
 in fiM*, and a native runner behind him, as liis driver, 
 brink's up the rear. Althouj^h the trading-post, far 
 from standing; in sepulchral silence, is the abode of 
 merriment and jollity, yet for all this the trader seeks 
 to keep the territory a solitude, that he and his 
 dei)endents may rejoice in it undisturbed. Not to 
 the same extent has this exclusive disposition been 
 the characteristic of all the fur-traders. The Hud- 
 son's Jiay Company has, on account of the conditions 
 of its licence to trade, been more inclined to improve 
 the native, and to foster civilizinj^ influences, than 
 the companies originating in the new world itself. 
 The early Trench Canadian fur-trader modestly re- 
 garded the northern half of the North American 
 Continent as little enough for his sole use. In the 
 days of Champlain and Frontcnac, and Beauharnois, 
 Canada and New York State were held as the 
 heaven-bestowed gift of the trapper; and since that 
 time Oregon and Columbia, and Minnesota and the 
 ^Mississippi country have been tenaciously withheld 
 from the settler as long as possible. Nevertheless, the 
 colonizer, armed with plough, and axe, and hammer, 
 has steadily encroached on the trapper's retreat, until 
 what we may call the fur-trader's isothermal, has 
 receded fully twenty degrees to the northward ; and 
 a country has been reached which, from its rocky 
 

 8 
 
 Manitoija. 
 
 
 conformation and severe climate — lying, as it does, 
 north of Lakes Winnipeg and Athabasca, and pro- 
 ducing the finest varieties of fur — may well be regarded 
 as reserved by nature for the trapper alone. At the 
 time of which we write, the fur-traders from Montreal 
 came as far south as parallel 49°, after they had 
 passed the Grand Traverse from Lake Superior ; 
 and they were as tenacious of their hold of the 
 country through which they passed, as a fur pre- 
 serve, as they were enterprising and successful in 
 their trade. They looked with intense jealousy on 
 rivals from any quarter whatever, and had at one 
 time, it is said, 5000 employes between the Atlantic 
 and Pacific. These daring forest and praiiie-rangers 
 were exceedingly formidable in case of disagreement ; 
 the more so, that the law in the wilderness solitude 
 was simply the pleasure of the strongest in arms. 
 The clysium of bears, and wolves, and foxes, must 
 not be invaded by the unwelcome feet of rival mer- 
 chants, much less of settlers and colonists. 
 
 It will be our task to follow out, to some extent, 
 these North-Westers in their efforts to retain the 
 country for themselves. Suffice it now to say that in 
 the second decade of this century, the distinguished 
 nobleman of whom we write, with every appearance 
 of right that legal opinion and firm belief in the 
 justice of his claim could give, undertook to settle his 
 colony in the very heart of the fur-traders' country, 
 upon land obtained by him from the Hudson's Bay 
 Compan}-, but which unquestionably had for years 
 been traversed by the energetic agents of the Com- 
 pany from Montreal. The fiercest of struggles re- 
 
A cooD Max and a noijle Work. 
 
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 m- 
 
 re- 
 
 « 
 
 I 
 
 suited, and bloodshed and litigation were the outcome. 
 The events of that troubled period, from i8i i to 1S20, 
 are a series of complicated issues. The historic mate- 
 rials of the time are evidently given on both sides as 
 the product of such violent partisanship, that the most 
 thorough research and calmest judgment are neces- 
 sary to gain the truth. It is to the interest of no one 
 now to keep back the facts. Sixty years may well 
 suffice to have let the fires of party-spirit die away. 
 
 The motives which Lord Selkirk had in founding 
 the colony on Uie banks of Red River, underly the 
 whole discussion. The Nor'-Westers did not hesitate 
 to accuse him of the grossest cupidity ; and their 
 spokesman wrote, warning all against " land-jobbing 
 speculators, a class of persons well known in America, 
 and of whom Lord Selkirk, from the magnitude of 
 his operations, may be styled the chief," Sheriff 
 Ross, a writer in thorough sympathy with Lord 
 Selkirk, in his work on Red River, after suggesting 
 various possible motives, ends by concluding that the 
 Christianization of the Indians was his aim, though 
 he has not shown how the noble earl hoped to accom- 
 plish this. A late writer has said, " His lordship's 
 real object in forming the colony on the Red River, 
 appeared at the time to be the hope of getting a 
 number of hardy men raised in the country, inured 
 to the climate, and devoted to their patron's interest, 
 to enter into the Hudson Bay Company's employ, 
 and become servile tools in carrying arbitrary 
 measures for the destruction of the North-West 
 Company." The historian of Minnesota states Lord 
 Selkirk's purpose to have been to effect the "colo- 
 
 I 
 
1 M' i 
 
 10 
 
 Maxitoiu. 
 
 nizing of British emigrants in these distant liritish 
 possessions, and thus check the disposition to settle 
 in the United States," In regard to all these reasons 
 for Lord Selkirk's project, it must be said they arc 
 insufficient. Sad, indeed, would it have been, had 
 any British peer been so unworthy of his order as 
 to make the miseries of hundreds of the starving 
 peasantry of his native country a means of gain. 
 Most unlikely is it that he would take families con- 
 taining women and children, by a route subject to the 
 rigours of an Arctic climate, to rear a native race of 
 Hudson's Bay trappers, when hundreds of Orcadians 
 and North countrymen could be got for low wages, 
 and shipped by whole vessel-loads to trap and hunt. 
 Not the sending out of but a single Highland cate- 
 chist (Sutherland) with his colonists, would have 
 been his method, had Indian civilization been his 
 object. Had Lord Selkirk only desired to check the 
 tendency towards American emigration, with less 
 expense and toil, he could have colonized the fertile 
 lands of Upper Canada, then open to settlement. 
 Why will men not take the simplest explanation 
 when it amply meets the case ? Lord Selkirk organ- 
 ized a colony for the good of the colonists, who were 
 in miserable circumstances in their native country ; 
 placed his colony where it would be unaffected by 
 contact with what he considered hurtful influences ; 
 and spent time and thought, and money — even his 
 own life being worn out in the struggle — to advance 
 the interests of his people. Why will men attri- 
 bute sordid, impure, interested motives, when pure 
 patriotism or noble philanthropy are simple expla- 
 
f ■•! 
 
 A GOOD IVIan and a Nor.LE Work. 
 
 II 
 
 nations, lying ready to hand ? Those so hard to 
 convince that human actions may be unselfish, arc 
 surely not the truest lovers of their kind. Baltimore 
 and Tenn stand worthy of remembrance as new- 
 world philanthropists ; and Selkirk, if we rightly read 
 his life, may with them make up an honourable trio. 
 
 Public sentiment has recognized Lord Selkirk as 
 worthy of honour. The name of Selkirk has been 
 indelibly fixed in the Canadian North-Wcst. The 
 metropolitan county of IManitoba bears his name ; 
 the spot below the rapids of the Red River has also 
 been named after him. Fort Daer, remembered by 
 the Selkirk refugees in their early winterings, situated 
 in the angle of the Red and Pembina Rivers, on the 
 south side of the latter, bore one of their patrons 
 titles. In the city of Winnipeg the site is still 
 pointed out at the base of the peninsula of Point 
 Douglas, of Fort Douglas^ commemorative of the 
 family name of the colonizer. 
 
 In estimating truly the character of a man, about 
 whom there is conflicting evidence^ his life must be 
 taken as a whole. It is only by seizing the salient 
 points of a character under varying circumstances, 
 and at different times, that we truly interpret it. To 
 this end the leading features of Lord Selkirk's life, 
 before he had any connexion with the Hudson's Pay 
 Company, and, indeed, of his early manhood, as 
 well as of his family history, may, with profit, be 
 considered. 
 
 Thomas Douglas — fifth Earl of Selkirk, Baron Daer 
 and Shortclcugh, P'ellow of the Royal Society — was 
 born in June, 1771, and lived an eventful life of forty- 
 
Il I ) 
 
 ill: 
 
 12 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 nine years. The family- scat of St. ]\Iary's Isle, in 
 Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, at the mouth of the 
 Dee, on a peninsula, formerly isolated by the sea 
 from the mainland, and looking out upon the 
 Solway Frith, knew him but comparatively little 
 in his adventurous career. He was an author, a 
 patriot, a colonizer, and a philanthropist. Ofaper- 
 fervid race, he was distinguished for enthusiastic 
 devotion to his projects. The intrepidity of the 
 Douglasses, the perseverance of the ancient family 
 of Marr, and the venturesomencss of the house of 
 Angus, were all his inheritance by blood descent. 
 Nineteen generations back, and not less than 700 
 years before his time, Theobald, the Fleming — the 
 Selkirk ancestor — had scorned the quieter pleasures 
 of home, and gone to seek his fortunes among the 
 Saxon peoples of old Northumbria, had bought him- 
 self a new home with the sword, and the lands of 
 Douglas were granted to him because he had won 
 them honourably. The same spirit and daring, we 
 shall see, survived in his descendant. The men of 
 five or six centuries ago had need of persistency and 
 grip. The surnames given to them in those days of 
 hauberk and steel, tell well enough the kind of work 
 men did, for Theobald's great grandson was Sir 
 William Douglas, the hardy, and Sir William's 
 grandson was Archibald, the grim. Sir William had 
 the hardihood to join the unlucky Wallace, and for 
 so doing the Englisli conqueror harried his lands, 
 seized his cattle, and carried off his wife and helpless 
 bairns. The following pages will show whether the 
 persecuted but persevering Earl of Selkirk was not a 
 
 ' n 
 
 i 
 
A coon Man and a noble Work. 
 
 13 
 
 worthy scion of his race. Did Lord Selkirk, in his 
 times of greatest difficulty, need the inspiration to 
 be got from an ancestral succession of noble deeds, 
 there was no lack of them. 
 
 It was one of that great house of Douglas, James, the 
 second Earl of Douglas, who, following in the footsteps 
 of his race, in keeping alive the fiery feuds of the 
 Border, gained the name given him by Fordun, " the 
 pluckiest of soldiers, and to the English ev^er the 
 most obnoxious." Penetrating to tho gates of York, 
 he brought the fierce wrath of Hotspur upon him 
 at Otterburne, and though signally defeating the 
 English, he fell in the hardest of the fighting, mor- 
 tally wounded, and thanking God that " few of his 
 ancestors had died in chambers." 
 
 To this same family also belonged the good Sir 
 James, It was his good fortune to have lived in the 
 auspicious days of Bruce, who reckoned him the main- 
 stay of the kingdom, and his friend. In Scott's 
 " Lord of the Isles," said this great warrior, — 
 
 Dead were my heart, and deaf mine car, 
 If Bruce should call nor Dou<;lashear. 
 
 Sir James was foremost at Bannockburn ; he headed 
 20,000 of an army on a sally into England ; with 200 
 horsemen he forced his way through the English camp 
 to the royal tent at Stanhope Park, and well-nigh 
 secured the person of King Edward. It was this 
 Douglas also to whom King Robert, in dying, gave 
 the solemn charge that his heart should be borne to 
 Jerusalem, and laid within the holy sepulchre. By so 
 brave and devoted a friend the charge could not be 
 disregarded. The journey was undertaken in person. 
 
I'l'^ 
 
 H 
 
 MANITf.^r.A. 
 
 Spain was reached, but in a conflict with the Moors his 
 life was lost. It happened thus : seeing the Saracens, 
 to whom he was opposed, flinching, and likely to 
 break into confusion, he threw the casket before him, 
 and into the midst of the enemy, exclaiming, " Pass 
 thou onward as thou wert wont, Douglas will follow 
 thee or die." The chances of war were adverse ; the 
 warrior never reached the Holy City, and the mutilated 
 body and his master's heart in the silver casket were 
 carried back to Scotland again. 
 
 And if these examples were not enough, there 
 stands the figure of the Earl of Selkirk's ancestor — 
 ten generations back — Archibald, well-known as 
 " Bell the Cat." 
 
 I mean that Douglas, fifth of yore. 
 
 Who coronet of Angus bore, 
 
 And when his blood and heart were high, 
 
 Did the third James in camp defy. 
 
 And all his minions led to die 
 
 On Lauder's dreary flat. 
 
 It was he who was courageous enough to warn the 
 infatuated James IV. against trying the odds of war 
 on the disastrous field of Flodden. The sturdy^ old 
 man, stung to the quick by the undeserved reply of 
 the king, "Angus, if you are afraid, you may go 
 home," left the field with tears of indignation — but left 
 his two sons, to whom he was dearly attached, to 
 perish in upholding the abused theory that ''the 
 king can do no wrong." 
 
 With such heroic blood in his veins the fifth Earl of 
 Selkirk was born — being the seventh son of Dunbar, 
 fourth Earl of Selkirk, who had resumed the name of 
 
 iii 
 
A GOOD Man and a noule Work 
 
 15 
 
 Douglas. Thomas Douglas early showed the ability 
 and industry of his race. Mis name is found upon the 
 class books of the various Professors of the Edinburgh 
 University from the year 1786 to 1790, and while pur- 
 suing his academic career there, he is known as one of 
 a band of illustrious young men earnestly engaged in 
 literary and learned pursuits. " The Club," number- 
 ing some nineteen in all, included among its members 
 the young Walter Scott, about the same age as 
 Selkirk, as well as others who afterwards rose to pro- 
 minence and fame. It is further interesting to note 
 the influences surrounding Lhe early years of the 
 young noble in the connexion of the House of Selkirk 
 with the poet Burns at this period. The father of 
 Thomas Douglas was not among those who refused 
 honour to the peasant bard. On one occasion the 
 poet being at St. Mary's Isle, and being asked to say 
 grace, extemporized the lines found in his works, and 
 well-known as the 
 
 SELKIRK GRA.CE. 
 
 Some ha'e meat and canna eat, 
 
 An' some wad eat that want it ; 
 But we ha'e meat, an' we can cat, 
 
 An' sae the Lord be thankit. 
 
 One of Burns' amusing poems, in which the intensely 
 realistic mind of the poet shows itself in an interview 
 between Lord Daer, the brother of young Douglas, 
 and Burns, may be referred to. Dugald Stewart, the 
 well-known Edinburgh Professor of moral philosophy, 
 was spending his summer near Ayr, in the year 1786. 
 Among the guests of the professor was Lord Daer. A 
 
i6 
 
 Manitoua. 
 
 real lord from such an ancient house as that of 
 Douglas filled the ploughman poet's mind with mis- 
 giving. But the genial and generous interest found 
 in this representative, as in all of the Selkirk family, 
 disarmed the prejudice of the poet, and drew forth 
 encomiums even from so hard a critic. 
 
 This wot ye all whom it concerns, 
 I, Rliymer Robin, alias Burns, 
 
 October twenty-third, 
 A ne'er to be forgotten day, 
 Sac far I sprachled up the brae, 
 
 I dinner'd wi' a lord. 
 
 Yes, wi' a lord— stan' out my shin— 
 A lord — a peer — an earl's son — 
 
 Up higher yet my bonnet. 
 And sic a lord — lang Scotch ells twa. 
 Our peerage he o'erlooks them a' 
 
 As I look o'er my sonnet. 
 
 I sidling shelter'd in a nook, 
 An' at his lordship stealt a look 
 
 Like some portentous omen ; 
 Except good sense and social glee, 
 An', what surprised me, modesty, 
 
 I marked nought uncommon. 
 
 I watch'd the symptoms of the great. 
 The gentle pride, the lordly state, 
 
 The arrogant assuming ; 
 The fient a pride, nae pride had he. 
 Nor sauce, nor state, that I could see, 
 
 Mair than an honest ploughman. 
 
 Then from his lordship I shall learn. 
 Henceforth to meet with unconcern 
 
 One rank as weel's another. 
 Nae honest, worthy man need care 
 To meet with noble, youthful Dacr, 
 
 For he but meets a brother. 
 
 A 
 
 i 
 
A (iooi) Man and a nohke Work. 
 
 17 
 
 tliat of 
 th mis- 
 t found 
 family^ 
 w forth 
 
 Amonj^ those who belonged to the Ckib of 
 CaiTuber's Place were some, afterwards so well known, 
 as William Clerk of Eldin, Sir A. Ferguson, Lord 
 Abercrombie, and David Douglas, afterwards Lord 
 Reston. 
 
 For the young nobleman it means much to be 
 associated with kindred spirits such as these — of 
 healthy mind and generous culture. Adverse circum- 
 stances and the desire for distinction give stimulus 
 sufficient to the poor and friendless scholar, but it 
 needs some of the attrition of mind gained from such 
 surroundings, to give the young man of family and 
 position motiv^e for energetic effort. The young 
 litterateurs met together in a room in Carruber's Close, 
 Edinburgh, off the High Street, and from this resort 
 they often adjourned to an oyster tavern in the neigh- 
 bourhood. It speaks well for the morals of these 
 young men to find one of them — no less than Walter 
 Scott himself— declaring about this time, "depend 
 upon it, of all vices drinking is the most incompatible 
 with greatness." Of the warmth and cordiality of 
 this association we get a glimpse in the fact that when 
 any member of the club received a promotion or 
 appointment, it was a rule that he should give a dinner 
 to his associates. Oh, for the sunny days of youth 
 again ! Youth fires youth to generous impulse, and 
 it would have been strange indeed if hopes and plans 
 and bright ideals for the regeneration of the \v'orld and 
 society had not found place among the discussions of 
 the club. 
 
 Scotland was at this time in a critical state. The 
 country was emerging from a state of backwardness, 
 
 Q C 
 
f 
 
 i8 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 almost of barbarism, and cMitcrin*^ on some phases of 
 improvement and civili/ation. In such transitions 
 mucli individual sufferinfj ensues. The wheels of 
 prof^rcss crush the weak, the 'mbecile, and the luck- 
 less. The Scottish hii^hlands from beinc^ simply wild 
 wastes, with here and there collections of cottars* huts, 
 were in many places being subdued and thrown into 
 wide stretches for the better cultivation of pastoral 
 pursuits. These were woeful days for the peasantry. 
 Of these events young Douglas, not yet come to his 
 title, was an interested spectator. lie saw the High- 
 lander as the embodiment of the picturesque. The 
 Highland chief was the most absolute of rulers. The 
 Highland regiment in the garb of the mountaineer, 
 with intense devotion to their mother-tongue, with 
 enthusiastic pride in their family history, as '* Evan's, 
 Donald's fame, sounds in each clansman's ears,'' with 
 their proud, loft}', and independent bearing, appeals 
 to the young and the romantic. The romantic en- 
 vironment of the Celt, coupled with the misery of the 
 change of life forced upon him, appealed irresistibly 
 to the heart of Thomas Douglas. In an article in the 
 Edinburgh Reviciv, October, 1805, appears the follow- 
 ing statement, " Without any local connexion with 
 the Highlands he (Douglas) was led very early in life 
 to take a w^arm interest in the fate of his countrymen 
 in that part of the kingdom. During the course of 
 his academical studies his curiosity was strongly 
 excited by the representations he heard of the ancient 
 state of society, and the striking peculiarity of 
 manners still remaining among them ; and in the 
 year 1792 he undertook an extensive tour through 
 
A c.onv Man and a xop.ik Work. 
 
 19 
 
 this wild rci^non, aiul c.\i)lorccl mail)' of its remotest 
 and most secluded valleys." The noble youth of 
 tuenty-oiic was fdled with patriotic ardour for their 
 relief. How beautiful a thiiv^ is the fresh outburst of 
 youthful hope and sympathy ere the sordid bands of 
 years and affiiirs swathe and close up the soul ! With 
 this tender-hearted Scottish iKjblt the dreams of 
 youth did not fade away as }'ears advanced, for no 
 sooner had he come into his title and estates than he 
 set about'preparinc^ plans for the relief of the llii^hland 
 peasantry. The death of his brother in 1797 brought 
 him the title of Baron Daer and Shortcleu,L;h ; and on 
 the death of his father, in 1799, he succeeded to the 
 estates and the peerage as I'Larl of Selkirk — the 
 title given four generations before, in 1646, to a 
 branch of the house of Angus. Ikit Napoleon was 
 now in his high career. The excitement of the time 
 checked any movement for the benefit of the home- 
 less peasants. 
 
 Selkirk seized the first opportunity of pressing 
 on a member of the British Government the crving 
 need of interfering to help the expatriated cottars 
 to find a resting-place in the new world. Eighty 
 years ago governments did not regard themselves 
 bound as now to succour the suffering, and the 
 strongest appeals produced no results. The compas- 
 sionate nobleman, with great energy, undertook to 
 settle a colony of these Highlanders in Prince Edward 
 Island upon waste lands given him by the Govern- 
 ment. To ensure success he undertook the personal 
 oversight of this enterprise. The mournful band of 
 pilgrims, to the number of 800, following the dictates 
 
 C 2 
 
20 
 
 Manitoua. 
 
 of prudence rather tliati of fccliiif^, broke up their 
 homes, if any option still rcnKiincd, and thou^Ljh un- 
 certain, were greatly cncouracjed by liis lordship's 
 interest and care. 
 
 In August, 1S03, the colonists reached their future 
 home, and by the middle of September liad become 
 settled on their lots, four or five families building 
 houses in a little knot together. The same month 
 Lord Selkirk came to Montreal. The next year was 
 one of earnest industry with the settlers: they were 
 all encouraged to labour, for the rewards were for 
 themselves. On being visited in that year by their 
 generous patron, they were engaged in securing their 
 harvest ; and the land cultivated in that year averaged 
 two acres for every working hand. The settlers had 
 also constructed rude boats, and with these secured 
 a harvest from the sea. The experiment instead of 
 being a failure, as prophets of evil had predicted, had 
 succeeded in the highest extent. Five thousand 
 people in Queen's County, "\-ince Edward Island — 
 the descendants of that band of 800 pilgrim fathers — 
 are to-day among the most prosperous of the inha- 
 bitants of the island. 
 
 In 1805, Lord Selkirk determined to bring the 
 matter of a more extensive emigration before the 
 British Government and nation in a more popular 
 form. This he did by publishing an octavo volume 
 of over two hundred pages, in which he discussed the 
 deplorable state of the Highlands, spoke strongly of 
 the need of promoting emigration ; and to show that 
 his projects were feasible, gave an account of the 
 Highland Colony taken by him to Prince Edward 
 
 ! 
 
 s 
 
A cdoi) Man and a noum; Work. 
 
 21 
 
 future 
 
 IslaiuK So well was this literary LMitcrprisc accom- 
 plished, that afterwards even (jhc of the carl's most 
 bitter opponents in his North-Western colonization 
 scheme says, " 1 was deliLjhted to find a Scotch 
 peer writiuLj with so much intelliLjcncc and felicit}- of 
 style." The book drew forth most favourable notices, 
 and the leadinr; critic of the time, Lord Jeffrc)-, sa)'S, 
 '•The candour with which the first obstacles arc 
 described, the practical and profound jutl^L;nient with 
 which the various measures and arrangements appear 
 to have been combined, and that love of benevolence, 
 without ostentation and yet thorouj^dily systematic, 
 which pervades the whole design, renders it the most 
 pleasin^i^ and useful history that has been ^ivcn to the 
 world of tlie establishment of a new colony." 
 
 ]kit the public spirit and j;enerous sympathy of 
 Selkirk may be further seen in the warm interest 
 taken by him in the welfare of ]3ritain in the perilous 
 times through which she was passing. ]\Ien's aims, 
 sympathies, and bent of mind maybe well gauged by 
 the part they play in times of national exigence. 
 
 Those who live for selfish objects — for mere money- 
 getting or pleasure-seeking, or even chiefly for literary 
 pursuits — care little what befalls the State ; intelligent 
 patriotism is an almost unfailing evidence of a large 
 heart. The early part of the nineteenth century was 
 a time of deepest anxiety to the British patriot ; 
 Napoleon with " Europe-shadowing wings " was at 
 his height ; 1807 brought his climax of greatness. 
 In August of that year he had created his brother 
 Jerome, King of Westphalia. The diadem on the 
 brow of a humble Corsican adventurer, and placed 
 
 .#» 
 
'\-: 
 
 f1 
 
 22 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 W' 
 
 \i- 
 
 there by the mighty soldier of fortune simply as one 
 of his gifts, struck terror to the heart of every 
 European sovereign. England quaked, and coura- 
 geous hearts dwelt on plans of defence — on saving 
 the State. Captain Birch of the Royal Engineers, 
 wrote an octavo volume, and Lord Selkirk another, 
 and the matter is so much a matter of moment that 
 the EdinbiirgJi Rcviciv discusses the books and deals 
 with the subject bulking so largely before the public 
 mind. To Lord Selkirk as a coastman looking out 
 into Sohvay and the Dec, from his seat near Kirkcud- 
 bright, the question was one of every day. So 
 insignificant a freebooter as Paul Jones had, in the 
 days of Selkirk's early childhood, dashed in upon that 
 coast and ravaged the family seat. Peasant ballads 
 may still be heard commemorating that event. 
 
 Yc'vc all heard of Paul Jones, 
 
 Have ye not ? Have ye no ? 
 Ycve all heard of Paul Jones, 
 
 Have ye no ? 
 Ye'vc all heard of Paul Jones ; 
 He was a rogue and a vagabond, 
 He was a rogue and a vagabond, 
 Was he no ? 
 
 He entcr'd Lord Selkirk's hall, 
 
 Did he not ? Did he no ? 
 He enter'd Lord Selkirk's hall, 
 
 Did he no? 
 He enter'd Lord Selkirk's hall, 
 Stole the gold and the jewels all, 
 Stole the gold and the jewels all, 
 Did he no? 
 
 The plans suggested by Lord Selkirk were com- 
 prehensive and well considered. He would have a 
 
; 
 
 A GOOD Man and a noble Work. 
 
 23 
 
 system of militia introduced, whereby trainini^ would 
 be cjiven for three months to begin with to every able- 
 bodied young man between eighteen and nineteen 
 years of age, and then three weeks in each succeeding 
 year to be spent in camp tili the soldier be twenty-five. 
 The critics of the time were able, of course, to point 
 out weaknesses, but the success that has attended 
 this system, as worked out by the Prussians in their 
 overwhelming victories in the Austrian-Prussian war 
 of 1 866, and the Franco-Prussian war since, is a 
 favourable commentary on the plan proposed by Lord 
 Selkirk in 1808. It was immediately after the publi- 
 cation of this work ihat the distinijuislied honour cf 
 P^ellow of the Royal Society was conferred upon the 
 author. 
 
 But the ever-active mind of the earl would rise to 
 higher things — and these nothing less than founding 
 an empire in the heart of North America. After 
 planting his Highland countrymen in Prince Edwaid 
 Island by the sea, in 1803, he had, in visiting Montreal, 
 heard of the fertile lands of Upper Canada, and 
 started a small colony in the county of Kent, at a 
 place called Baldoon; but this was simply doing wlu.t 
 individual settlers could accomplish for themselves. 
 He would start unhampered by old conditions aid 
 pre-existing enactments, he would found a colony on 
 the virgin soil to work out a destiny of its own. 
 While sojourning in Montreal in the year 1803, there 
 was much that appealed to his love of the picturesque 
 and the daring, and confirmed the views he already 
 had as to the North-Western country. He met the 
 North- Western fur-traders, he saw their baronial 
 
11 ;i 
 
 ( i\ 
 
 4.11 
 
 IB 
 
 24 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 hauteur and their lordly gatherings, but he heard more- 
 over of the adventures of the voyageurs. That after 
 passing many hundred miles by fell and flood, running 
 rocky cascades, and portaging around rapids too fierce 
 to be faced, they arrived at a land — the Manitoba of to- 
 day — where the green grass waved over hundreds of 
 miles, where the rivers were thronged with fish, where 
 the buffalo careered, and where bountiful Ceres gave 
 forth her treasures simply for the asking. He con- 
 trasted this with rocky glades, and sterile lands, and 
 contracted holdings, and the imagination of the en- 
 thusiast was fired, and the heart of the colonizer satis- 
 fied. A great obstacle met him on the threshold. 
 One of the great monopolies of modern times — the 
 Hudson's Bay Company — held the country. For well- 
 nigh 140 years this company had carried on its work 
 with exclusive powers, got originally from easy-going 
 Charles H., who had given away what neither he nor 
 any of his ministers — keen and shrewd as they were — 
 knew aught about. So huge an 'obstacle would have 
 convinced most men that further progress towards the 
 ideal was impossible. The organizer of the Prince 
 Edward Island Colony of Highlanders, with his in- 
 creased experience, with ample means, and urged on 
 by the continued cry of misery of his unfortunate 
 countrymen in the Highlands, was equal to the 
 emergency. 
 
 He undertook a scheme of magnificent proportions 
 — a scheme which while showing him to be a high- 
 minded and honourable man, also presented him as a 
 philanthropist of enthusiastic purpose and brilliant 
 conception. This was to purchase and settle with 
 
 r 
 
colonists a region lialf as large again as all England 
 and Wales in the very centre of the North American 
 continent. The features of this great undertaking 
 are of the greatest interest. Not that the colonizer 
 fully accomplished the great plan he so well con- 
 ceived ; for difficulties unforeseen and unexpected 
 beset his path-way, but that he greatly dared and 
 nobly suffered will be fully shown as we give the 
 details of the enterprise, crowded into the short space 
 of nine years allowed him by Providence for his 
 work. 
 
t\- 
 
 i;! 
 
 li 
 
 26 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 1 
 
 ll 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE COURIERS OF THE WEST. 
 
 Reference has been made already to Selkirk's visit 
 to Montreal, and the account he then heard of the 
 great interior of North America, several years before 
 the first detachment of his tearful colonists left the 
 fishing-town of Helmsdale in their great journey to 
 their homes by way of Hudson's Bay. At that time 
 with characteristic shrewdness, and with the strong 
 imagination peculiar to the men who have founded 
 states and empires, realizing in thought what it has 
 taken many years — perhaps centuries — to accomplish, 
 Lord Selkirk saw the greatness of future empire in the 
 prairies of Rupert's Land. He heard the story told 
 of how the Montreal traders reached the interior. He 
 heard the hardy voyageur tell of leaving Montreal, of 
 his threading the Ottawa, and by portage and lake, 
 and river, passing through Nipissing, the French river, 
 and entering Lake Huron, the "sweet sea" of the 
 early discoveries. He heard the daring trader and 
 hardy voyageur tell of adventures among the savages. 
 He met the gathered fur merchants in their wild was- 
 sail in the hospitable halls of some leading partner in 
 Montreal, and was allowed to listen to the voyageur 
 
The Couriers of the West. 
 
 27 
 
 c's visit 
 of the 
 before 
 left the 
 ney to 
 at time 
 strong 
 Dunded 
 ; it has 
 iiphsh, 
 : in the 
 y told 
 r. He 
 real, of 
 1 lake, 
 1 river, 
 of the 
 T and 
 vages. 
 i was- 
 ner in 
 ageur 
 
 as he related to his children, Jacques and Emile, and 
 " la petite Marie," in the village of Lachinc, or Ste. 
 Anne's, and to his " bonne femme Henriette," the wild 
 scenes of the West, till they shouted with glee at his 
 escapes, and panted and sighed as he portrayed his 
 dangers and hardships. It may be worth our while 
 to know more of this great route, along which gather 
 the stories of two centuries. 
 
 The remote west was first Michilimackinac, and 
 Baie Vcrte, and Sault Ste. Marie ; and many is the 
 old man's tale carried from that well-known region. 
 But the spirit of adventure could not rest content with 
 unknown regions yet beyond. Sometimes armed with 
 vice-regal authority from the Chateau St. Louis, at 
 Quebec, and sometimes in quest of unauthorized 
 gain, the explorer and his band pushed on through 
 the great Lake Superior, penetrated the lands on its 
 farther shores, made rude maps to record their w^an- 
 derings, and claimed the country as a part of " La 
 Nouvelle France." Past where Fort Wiliam was after- 
 wards built on the Kaministiquia — through Lac La- 
 pluie (Rainy Lake) and river — over Lac du Bois, 
 (Lake of the Woods) — and down the river Ouinipique 
 (Winnipeg) into the lake of the same name — they 
 reached the borders of the fertile prairie solitudes, 
 which eighty years afterwards were to be the desti- 
 nation of the colonists with whom we started by the 
 way of Hudson's Bay. The buffalo now took the 
 place of the jumping deer of the woods ; and the 
 " grizzly " to the far west, as the rocky mountains 
 were being reached, was met instead of his less dan- 
 gerous cousin the black bear. The rivers had now the 
 
ll 
 
 26 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 sturgeon and the gold-eye — the trout had stayed behind 
 in his sparkHng brooks. It was a new world that 
 Verandrye and his sons fell upon, as armed with full 
 authority from Quebec, they first of white men from 
 Canada penetrated this region, and even leaving Lake 
 Winnipeg, ascended the Red River — thence up the 
 Assiniboine, still up the Souris, and reaching what is 
 since known as the '* Great Divide," saw the country 
 of the Missouri. And it was a still vaster region they 
 beheld when west of Lake Winnipeg, they ascended 
 the mighty Saskatchewan even to the foot of those 
 towering rulers of the far west, the Rocky Mountains, 
 which for the time proved themselves too strong 
 for even such kings of adventure as the Verandryes 
 to cross. A new west was now known, and henceforth 
 Michilimackinac is but on the verge of the land of 
 romance to the early trader. 
 
 Such were our thoughts as we sat on the verandah 
 of Pierre, the story-teller, in the village of Ste. Anne, 
 on the Ottawa, one beautiful evening in the month of 
 July. We had that evening come up the twenty-two 
 miles from Montreal by the Grand Trunk Railway. It 
 was the historic character of the little village that had 
 brought us — my friend whom, on account of his fond- 
 ness for research, I was accustomed to call the histo- 
 riographer and myself — from Montreal to spend a night 
 in the old " last spot " of the voyageurs as they passed 
 on their long trip to the north-west. We had taken 
 our evening meal at the neighbouring hotel, and then 
 sauntered down to our friend Pierre's, of story-telling 
 fame, Pierre was now well advanced in years, but 
 in his early life he had often threaded the mazes 
 
The Couriers of the West. 
 
 29 
 
 of the fur-trader's route. Several of his grandchil- 
 dren, if not his great-grandchildren, we observed, 
 gathered around us or occupying the open windows 
 that looked out upon the verandah, and were plainly 
 fond of the tales "le bon vieillard" delighted to spin. 
 The historiographer, having lit his pipe, which he said 
 added greatly to his powers of contemplation and en- 
 joyment, was sitting in an arm-chair, similar to that 
 in which " Ic grand-pere" was seated, and settled 
 down into a state of evident satisfaction as the old 
 man began his story. 
 
 OLD PIERRE'S STORY. 
 
 " All ! messieurs, those were good days in the far back 
 time when my brothers Jean and Francois and myself 
 were leading the canoes up the Uttawa" — and he gave 
 the accent on the second syllable — " up the Uttawa for 
 the great Captain Macdonell. As our jolly voya- 
 geurs struck the water with their paddles, the boats 
 would spring faster than the jumping deer that went 
 flying away from us on the shore as wc turned a point 
 on the pretty river. The sturgeon and the pike 
 heard our paddles, and they fled away. Poor Jean 
 and Francois ! They are dead now twenty-five years, 
 and Pere Menager buried them over there in the 
 graveyard, for there is the voyageur's sleeping-place. 
 They both asked to be laid in the shadow of the 
 church spire of ihe sweet Ste. Anne. But when they 
 were alive and dressed with their bonnet rouge and 
 the blue capote on a Sunday morning, while they were 
 
'! 
 
 ■I 
 
 30 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 || -I, 
 
 here, and with a handsome silk scarf around their 
 middle, they were the dashin^^ lads ! Jean was older 
 than Francois — but Francois could run, and leap, and 
 lift, and strike a mark with the arrow, and fire a mus- 
 ket, and guide a canoe as well as any voyagcur from 
 Lachine to Baie des Puants. Ah ! yes, to face the 
 Indians, to know the forests, to live on little food, to 
 build our cabins, to cut down trees, and find his way 
 a hundred leagues in the woods without a guide, with 
 no provision other than what his gun supplied — no one 
 could outstrip my Fran9ois. 
 
 " I remember well when Francois and myself led a 
 b .",adc of boats from Montreal — our thirteen boats — 
 and a hundred good voyageurs in them all the way to 
 the Sault Ste. Marie. We had many dangers on that 
 journey, for the English and French traders were 
 molesting each other. We slept with only one eye, 
 when we camped at night. It was as if we were under 
 the gun continually. We had got our canoes all ready 
 — and those were the good canoes — not made of paper, 
 as you see them now. The good birch bark is all gone 
 now — as tough as leather, it would yield when we 
 struck a rock, and be as good as ever afterwards. We 
 had a heavy load, powder and shot to trade for 
 peltries, and blankets for the warriors, and red cloth 
 and shawls and beads and needles and thread for the 
 squaws ; and boxes of tea and bundles of tobacco ; — 
 and in each carioe a box of tomahawks for the young 
 braves ; but our good canoes would each carry as 
 much as eighty hundredweight. At Montreal " — and 
 he gave it the common patois, Moreal — "we loaded up. 
 It was the hardest work of the year, for we couldn't sing 
 
TiiL Couriers of the West. 
 
 31 
 
 our songs, nor have our jokes, nor tell our tales of the 
 west, but the keeper of the stores with book and pencil 
 kept strict account of all our bales, and how many 
 each boat carried. And at the end, before we started, 
 every man c^ot, what the good perc said he would 
 have been better without, a bottle of rum, and for the 
 night the young men spent their time cheery enough, 
 and they danced and sang with the demoiselles of the 
 village near the river, and told their stories of the 
 voyage. It was their last look of the vilkigc for a long 
 time and of their sorrowful sweethearts. But next 
 morning by sunrise all were alive, and the boats were 
 dressed out gaily, though our hearts were sad enough. 
 But as the paddles struck the water, the sound brought 
 back the scenes of the west, and we joined together 
 in a song to cheer us. From Montreal we came up 
 the little river St. Pierre, that you may have seen run- 
 ning from the marsh on the island for four miles or 
 more, and then by a channel dug out wide enough to 
 carry a single canoe to the upper end of the island, a 
 little above where the great Lachine canal now re- 
 ceives the largest vessels, which fear to run the rapids 
 under the guidance of the old Caughnawaga pilot. Ah ! 
 the voyageur is still the only man to run the rapids I " 
 
 Old Pierre was evidently about to launch out into 
 a eulogy of the voyageurs again, when my friend the 
 historiographer, who had never heard of the canal 
 used in the early times, interrupted him, saying, "But, 
 you are romancing, Pierre, about the old canal for 
 your canoes." 
 
 " Non, monsieur ! For miles we took our canoes up 
 the small canal, the eight or nine men of each canoe 
 
32 
 
 Maxitoija. 
 
 I .) 
 
 Si! 'i 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 with ropes dragfred their boats up the channel and 
 reached the upper end of the ishmd. It was slow 
 work, and weary work, too: but by-and-by we reached 
 the mouth of the Ottawa, and soon left the rapids 
 far behind us, as we struck our oars, and san^j some 
 cJiaiison dc voyage. As we came up the stream yonder, 
 we moored our boats at the old warehouse on the 
 street. Here in our little villacjc we are under the 
 care of Ste. Anne, the guardian of the voyageurs." 
 
 Just at the time the old story-teller reached this 
 point our attention was attracted by the singing 
 from the boats upon the open river before Ste. 
 Anne. The white cottages on the other side of the 
 river looked like blocks of marble in the moonlight, 
 and twenty or thirty boat-loads of children, young 
 men and women, and a number of the tourists fre- 
 quenting the hotel as summer quarters, gave an 
 appearance of life and beauty to the glassy stream. 
 Their songs resounded far and near. Here the heroic ; 
 there the romantic ; now full of the laugh of joy- 
 ous children, now sighing with the notes of unrequited 
 love, anon the hymn of calm delight as the praises of 
 Ste. Anne were sung. It was as the strains of one of 
 these songs reached us that the old man spoke of the 
 patroness of the parish, and of the voyageur's village 
 of Ste. Anne, and he went on : — 
 
 " Ste. Anne has long been the saint of the quiet 
 people hereabouts. They relate that more than a 
 hundred years ago, a priest, who had gone with the 
 voyageurs, lay upon the spot where yonder church 
 stands, drawing near death. At the portage, above 
 the village, he had been assisting the vo^^ageurs with 
 
The CouRii-Rs oi- Tin: \Vi:st. 
 
 33 
 
 ncl and 
 I'as slow 
 reached 
 ; rapids 
 nrr some 
 yonder, 
 on tlic 
 ider the 
 urs." 
 led this 
 singing- 
 )rc Ste. 
 : of the 
 •onh'ght, 
 , young 
 ists frc- 
 ^ive an 
 stream, 
 heroic ; 
 of joy- 
 
 equited 
 aises of 
 fone of 
 ■ of the 
 village 
 
 - quiet 
 than a 
 th the 
 church 
 above 
 s with 
 
 ■i^ 
 
 i.1 
 
 
 tlicir boats through the h'ttlc canal made to avoid the 
 rapids, Hke that near Lachine. A portion of tlie hind 
 on the water's edge had given way, and the good 
 father having lost his foothold, had fdlen under the 
 earth and stones, and was raised up with his leg badly 
 brok'cn. Able to get but poor attendance, he had 
 laid himself down to die on the spot where stands the 
 old church. The thought entered his mind to pray 
 to Ste. Anne. To his surprise Ste, Anne appeared, 
 whereupon he promised that should he recover he 
 would erect a church to the saint. Of course," said the 
 old voyageur, with a knowing nod of the head, **good 
 Brcbex recovered, and built the old church of Ste, 
 Anne many, many years ago. Our voyageurs always 
 had a parting service in that old church, and gave 
 handsome gifts to their guardian on the rivers and 
 and lakes of the Far West. Once I heard my father 
 tell of a brigade of boats running against the rocks, 
 driven by the swift current, and it seemed as if all 
 must be dashed to pieces, and the bodies of all 
 aboard be crushed and broken, but by supplication to 
 our saint the dangers were averted, and their lives 
 were saved. Not always^ however, did we all escape. 
 Near one of the rapids in the Ottawa there were to 
 be seen not less than twenty crosses, showing that 
 as many voyageurs had perished in the devouring 
 flood. Away, then, away from Ste. Anne's." 
 
 At this juncture the historiographer, who had 
 allowed his pipe to go out, in his attention to the , 
 voyageurstory-tellcr, now fully aroused with his story, 
 could not help interjecting that "it gives new life to 
 Tom Moore's expression, • We'll sing at Ste. Anne's 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 IMaxitoija. 
 
 1 1 
 
 'll! 
 
 ft, 
 
 I'! fe'l 
 
 ■ I; 
 
 Si! 
 
 our piirtiiiLj hymn,' ill his 'Canadian l^oat Son^,' to 
 listen to tlic sin^^in^ on the water, to hear the manner 
 of tlie voya^^inc^, and to rest upon tiie very spot. 
 That old church, I am told, was built in the year 
 
 " I saw, a few days ago," continued our historical 
 friend, " an old man who had seen Moore on his voyage 
 as he came down the Ottawa from Bytown, as the city 
 of Ottawa was then called. The poet came in the open 
 boats with the voyageurs, and the weather was very 
 hot, so that as an inexperienced traveller the Irish 
 bard was not in the most poetical of moods, with a 
 roasted face and fevered bodv. He staved a short 
 time with an old nor'-wester officer at the Carillon 
 Rapids, and was soothed to a happier mood by the 
 peaceful air of Ste. Anne's. Yonder," said our learned 
 friend, pointing to a two-storey house of large size, 
 and supporting a pavilion roof, all bearing marks of 
 some age, *' is the house, so one of my tourist friends 
 told me, lived in at the time by one Fraser, with 
 whom the poet sojourned while at Ste. Anne's." 
 
 But Pierre, whose poetry was that of action only, 
 seemed to care little for the foreigner who had written 
 the song, even so nearly recognized as national as the 
 "Canadian Boat Song," and rather resented the inter- 
 ruption of my friend. 
 
 " Bon voyage,^' resumed the story-teller, *^ and the 
 boats glide up the stream, while the oarsmen, as their 
 paddles strike the water, keep time to the lively 
 strains of * La Claire Fontaine.' And soon we are 
 on the Lake of Two Mountains with its Indian 
 villages. The Indians give their friendly cheer as we 
 
The Coukieks oi- the West. 
 
 35 
 
 •on^r/ to 
 
 niamicr 
 
 y spot. 
 
 lie year 
 
 istorical 
 
 ! voyage 
 
 the city 
 
 lie open 
 
 as very 
 
 ic Irish 
 
 i, with a 
 
 a short 
 
 Carillon 
 
 I by the 
 
 learned 
 
 'ge size, 
 
 larks of 
 
 friends 
 
 ^r, with 
 
 n only, 
 written 
 \ as the 
 e inter- 
 
 md the 
 LS their 
 lively 
 we are 
 Indian 
 • as we 
 
 %. 
 
 pass, for they are good friends of the voyagciirs. The 
 )-oung men are strong, and the canoes fly thrtnigh the 
 water. 
 
 "Ah! you think your steamers are swift, and 
 you laugh al the speed of the voyageurs, but I have 
 seen the day when with my crew of ten men we could 
 give the steamboat a good push." 
 
 The historiographer gave a knowing look as he 
 heard the characteristic boasting of the veteran boat- 
 man. 
 
 ** But by-and-by," continued Pierre, " we reached 
 the Carillon Rapids, and we drew up the boats within 
 the friendly < iclosurc and left them there for the 
 night. It was at this place that the great Captain 
 IMacdonell lived, and me vo\ageurs here unloaded 
 their bales and drew up their boats, and made ready 
 for the heavy work of the portage. It was a busy 
 scene, the boatman's encampment, when the loads 
 were all drawn up and covered with the tarpaulin. 
 These goods must be well secured, for through many 
 a weary mile, through rain and dew and sunshine, had 
 we to carry them to the Indian country. Then we lit 
 the fires, and got our tea and dried provisions. Some- 
 times we cooked the fish we had caught, as we had 
 drawn along behind our canoes the line and the 
 trawling-spoon. Ah ! we poor voyageurs were very 
 like the silly fish that saw our spoon glancing and 
 glittering in the water, but didn't see the cruel hooks 
 that were behind it. We loved the voyageur life and 
 followed it for years, and spent our money freely, and 
 bought our handsome scarfs and coats and moccasins, 
 and had our jolly gatherings ; but cruel fate caught us 
 
 D 2 
 
Manitoba. 
 
 !!, !| 
 
 liil 
 
 ni 
 
 at last, and many of us died with nothin^i^ more to 
 leave than the good memory that we were honest and 
 agile voya<2:curs." 
 
 The old in?n'.'5 eyes were filled with tears, and in- 
 deed he had well-nigh lost the thread of his story, 
 when I recalled him to the subject by inquiring 
 whether the great Captain MacdoncU had lived in 
 the house still p inted out to tourists at the foot of the 
 rapids at Point Fortune. The mention of Macdonell 
 had the desired effect. 
 
 " Yes, monsieur, he was one of thv, partners ; but 
 no man could run the canoe, or portage a load, or 
 heave a stone with the captain. At first he had lived 
 in a house just behind the stone one on the water's 
 edge. There he lived with the Indian wife he had 
 brought from the Cristinaux country, ?nd she was 
 a good woman too. She was kind to the poor 
 voyageur. Many a time she gave medicine to the 
 sick boatman, and tended with her own hand some of 
 the men who had come by accidents on the long- 
 journey. She was always fond of laugh and joke ; 
 and though the captain knev/ about books and many 
 things we poor men did not know, yet he was kind to 
 Otchagissa, his wife, for she had been married to him 
 by old Pere Menager in lawful wedlock, she was the 
 mother of his children, and he loved her for her 
 goodness. But he was a mighty man when I knew 
 him first, our commander. He was tall — more than 
 a handbreadth above six feet he stood in his mocca- 
 sins — and he walked as straight as a rush till he was 
 an old man. Pie was an old nor'-wester, and many a 
 rough encounter had he met in his youth. He was a 
 
 I ■ 
 
norc to 
 est and 
 
 and in- 
 s story, 
 quiring 
 ivcd in 
 it of the 
 cdonell 
 
 s ; but 
 oad, or 
 d lived 
 water's 
 he had 
 10 was 
 e poor 
 to the 
 ome of 
 e long- 
 joke ; 
 many- 
 kind to 
 to him 
 'as the 
 or her 
 [ knew 
 e than 
 Tiocca- 
 he was 
 lany a 
 was a 
 
 i 
 
 The Couriers of the West. 
 
 37 
 
 noted hunter of tlie moose, and it needs a man quick 
 on foot, keen In scent, sharp of car, and tough and 
 strong to stand the strain of hunting that antlered 
 king of the woods. Ho hunted after the Indian 
 fashion : he would call the mate by imitating the cry 
 of the male deer ; ind as for hunting the red deer, 
 ah ! it was notlilng to him. But it was on the voyage 
 that his crreat strenirth was shown ; he could draw a 
 boat at the ' decharge ' — that is where we only portage 
 the load and drag the canoe up the rapids — all alone 
 up the swiftest rapid. He would carry his two large 
 bundles over a portage of lOOO yards and never stop 
 to rest. Sometime-, too, we used to spend the time 
 when we were waiting for supplies at the Kaministi- 
 quia in games and sports. The Indians were the 
 best runners ; but when it came to wrestling, the 
 captain used to come and try it with the best of us. 
 It was a good thing that le capitainc^ our commander, 
 a Scotchman and a gentleman, would come to strive 
 with us men of the river, but he would do it, and 
 could beat the best of us. He was the leader among 
 the partners, too, when they met in Montreal or at 
 Lachine, I was with him then, and Jean and 
 Francois, for he had a great liking for us. We had 
 seen him through many hardships, and he often 
 promised to make us happy in our old days, and, ah ! 
 well, he did give me this house and little piece of 
 ground for myself and my children when my 
 voyaging days were done. But, allons ! It was a 
 great day after the partners had met together for the 
 year, and after their hard work and great speaking 
 about the trade of the year was over. They had a 
 
""1 ii'?!i 
 
 J 1 t M 
 
 
 38 
 
 Manitoua. 
 
 time of fcasti!>g, and the wine was poured out very 
 freely. The captain was always the first among the 
 partners. Ah ! but it was a rare sight to sec their 
 sport. When they had been feasting long into the 
 morning, they would sit down upon the carpet, and 
 one would take the tongs, and another the shovel, and 
 another the poker, and so on ; and they would sit in 
 regular order, as in a boat, and rowing, they would 
 sing a song of the voyage, and loud and long till the 
 early streaks of the east were seen would the rout 
 continue. All the men and servants and attendants 
 were allowed in to see this great fete of the year ; 
 and, perhaps, the partners sometimes stayed too 
 Jong in their merriment. But when the captain 
 returned to his home at Carillon it was all work 
 and the voyage that filled his mind. 
 
 " His neighbours there used to tell a strange story 
 of our good friend. When he disliked the men who 
 met him in trade he was cross and surly to them. 
 One day three traders had met and tried to take 
 advantage of him — two of them English, and the other 
 an Irishman. He had met them some miles below 
 the Carillon, and had given them rough treatment. 
 He had started to go home, and as it was getting 
 dark the three traders thought to overtake him and 
 give him a beating. They got a pony and cart after 
 his departure, and hastened after their man. He was 
 between fifty and sixty years old then. Thev over- 
 took him where the road ran along the side of a hill. 
 They had come close to him before he saw them. 
 They made a sudden dash upon him. The strongest 
 of the three he seized and hurled to the ground. 
 
 ■■I 
 
I 
 
 TiiK Couriers of the West. 
 
 
 One of the others he struck down by a stunning blow, 
 while the third took to his heels. Then the angry 
 old man took the horse and cart, and lifting them 
 both, threw them over the fence down the side of the 
 hill, and never stopped to see what should become of 
 them. Ah! he was a Hercules! But one day a 
 stronger foe than these met him, and in the struggle 
 le capitaine was beaten, for who can fight and gain 
 the day with death ? It was death that met him on 
 a December day, when his hairs had all become grey, 
 and the icy grasp was too strong for him. He sleeps 
 now in the churchyard, at the bottom of the hill in 
 the village of St. Andrew's ; his wife and children lie 
 beside him in that quiet spot, and the people say yet, 
 as they speak of the great captain, ah ! he was an 
 honest vrr , he hated what was mean and low; and 
 he gave every man his due ! I w.ould like to see his 
 grave," said the old story-teller, "before I die, but 
 perhaps his enemy may seize me too, before I can 
 make the voyage, for Jean and Francois are both 
 gone now, and the way to the Carillon would be long 
 without them. 
 
 " Now farewell to Carillon, and by portage and 
 decharge we go. We pass the roaring Chaudiere — 
 the Calumet — Portage du Fort — through Lake Nip- 
 issinly, camping and carrying and pushing on. 
 Sometimes we had long nights of story-telling. 
 Francois and myself had many stories of the early 
 French travellers that wc had heard of around the 
 village fires ; of brave Champlain, who had gone by 
 the same route and foolishly got drawn into the 
 Indian wars — of La Salle, whose accounts were always 
 
I 
 
 40 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 'I 'V { 
 
 'I i ' 
 
 ■'•} '' '!' 
 
 .I'll 
 ! If 
 
 fit: I 
 
 the best — and of Hennepin, whose stories \vere the 
 biggest — and of the good fathers Breboeuf and Mar- 
 quette. But always as we told the stories, camped 
 on a point on the lake or river, and on the edge of 
 the dense, gloomy forest, it made the hearts of the 
 voyageurs quake with fear. There was the story of 
 the ' Wendigo,' that we had been told by the Indians. 
 Our men would not push on after the sun was set for 
 fear of him. Some said he was a spirit condemned 
 to wander around continually, on account of dreadful 
 crimes he had committed; others said the Wendigo was 
 no spirit at all, but an Indian who had got the taste 
 for human flesh, and who continually prowled about 
 the camping-places of the traders, seeking to catch 
 some unlucky wight alone or to seize some one asleep. 
 There were not wanting those who had heard of 
 some of their companions disappearing for a time 
 into the woods, and who had never been heard of 
 again. There is no doubt the Wendigo made the 
 camping-spot a much less pleasant place than it 
 otherwise would have been. I think the partners too, 
 must have talked much of him so that we would not 
 waste much time in fishing or hunting at the rapids 
 and currents, and told the dreadful story to make us 
 push on more rapidly. Long ago one of them said 
 about the enemy of the voyageur on the river, — 
 
 II vit sur le rivage et dedans la riviere, 
 II ecrase les gens d'une dent mcurtriere, 
 II se nourrit des corps des pauvres voyageurs, 
 Des malheureux passants, et des navigateurs." 
 
 Our friend the historiographer came to the rescue, 
 
 
It 
 
 The Couriers of the West. 
 
 41 
 
 Ige of 
 
 and said that though from "his translation it would be 
 very evident that poetry was not his forte, he would 
 willingly give us the meaning of the old story-teller's 
 verse. 
 
 The historiographer's crude translation being 
 finished, which we deem it best in his interests not to 
 reproduce, Pierre resumed his story : — 
 
 "Many of the partners of the company wereEcossais, 
 but it was the French Canadians who did the work of 
 the voyagcur, and some of my countrymen rose to be 
 partners too. The French trader was before the 
 Scotchman. I have heard my grandfather tell of the 
 gc.Ttlcmcn from France who led the way up the rivers 
 to Michilimackinac and the Sault de Ste. Marie. 
 
 "My grandfather was a voyageur, and lived to be of 
 great age, and told mc the stories of the wild Indians 
 of those days, and our brave French Canadians who 
 were a match for them. There was a great man of 
 whom he used to speak much, Monsieur de Langlade. 
 M. Langlade's father was Augustin de Langlade, the 
 son of a nobleman, and his mother was Madame 
 Villencuvc, the widow of M. Villeneuvc, a merchant 
 of the west. The young Charles de Langlade was 
 born in the far western wilds at Michilimackinac ; 
 and grew up to know the ways of the Indians and to 
 be a great captain and fur-trader. The savages loved 
 him as being born in their country, but when he 
 became a great trader they feared to offend him. 
 My grandfather told me that about the time when 
 the English and French were fighting bitterly in 
 Acadie, Charles de Langlade and his father left the 
 old fort at Michilimackinac, and went to trade with 
 
 • 
 
If 
 
 42 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 i,'l 
 
 the savages at ]5aie Vcrte (Green Bay), which was 
 at that time called Bale des Puants (Bay of ill 
 smells)." 
 
 At the mention of this savoury name the historio- 
 grapher exhibited much interest. " That is the name 
 — Puant," said he, "given by the French to the 
 peculiar little animal of exceedingly bad odour, 
 Mephitis Americana — the Skunk." The historio- 
 grapher having given his explanation, one would have 
 thought the poor old Frenchman would have been 
 overcome by the learning of our pedantic friend, had 
 his features not indicated some amusement, arising 
 no doubt from the set of the historiographer's nose 
 while speaking of the Puant. " The same name," 
 continued our learned friend, " is in its Indian form 
 found in that of the great metropolis of the West — 
 Chicago ; but it is a popular error to suppose that 
 the Indian tribe known as Les Puants, who gave 
 their name to the bay, are so called from any bad 
 odour about them, for the Jesuit Relations state that 
 these Indians, probably the Potawotomies, call them- 
 selves so because they state their ancestors came 
 from the shores of a sea far away to the south whose 
 water is salt and of bad odour, and they are thus 
 called the people De I'eau Puante." 
 
 The subject was one having nothing specially attrac- 
 tive about it, and so the story-teller after waiting 
 deferentially, something after the manner of Boswell, to 
 hear the wise sayings of his learned friend, resumed, — 
 
 " Charles de Langlade, who was only sixteen or seven- 
 teen years of age at the time of the family removal to 
 their new home at Green Bay, had a great name for 
 
 i 
 
 
The Couriers of the West. 
 
 43 
 
 one so young. IMy grandf^ithcr told mc 'that when 
 Langlade was a child about seven years of age, there 
 was a war raging between the Ottawas, many of 
 whom lived at IMichilimackinac, and another tribe 
 allied to the English. Twice the young men of the 
 Ottawas had gone forth to attack a village of the 
 enemy, and each time had they been driven back. 
 The French officer at the fort urged them to make the 
 attack again. The Ottawas were not willing. At 
 last their chief said that he had had a dream ; that in 
 the dream he saw a fight ; that the young Langdale 
 was there ; and that in his dream the Ottawas seemed 
 to win the day. The dream gave the young men 
 courage on its being told them. They must be ac- 
 companied by the child Langlade, and they would go 
 upon the war-path once more. The father Langlade, 
 at first unwilling, at last agreed, but only on a pledge 
 given by the boy that he would never disgrace his 
 father by being a coward. The Ottawas were now 
 ready to go forth ; they advanced with the terrible 
 war-cries of the savages ; inspired by the recollection 
 of the dream and the presence of the boy, they gained 
 the day, and brought home many scalps of their 
 enemies. The young Langlade was now held in 
 great honour ; they said he was no doubt preserved 
 by a mighty Manitou. No wonder, when the youth 
 went with his father to Baie Verte the savages there 
 looked with surprise upon the boy. Most of the 
 Indian bands about their new home received the Lang- 
 lades with honour, but one tribe headed by chief 
 Tepakeneni several times threatened the stores of 
 unless the trader would crive them 
 
 Langlade 
 
 m- 
 
44 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 li/i. 
 
 nbundance of presents. Youiif^ Langlade was not 
 slow to answer the uncivil savages in their threats. 
 * My friends, if you have come to fight us, let us 
 measure weapons on the prairie on the other side of 
 the river, where we will gladly give you that amuse- 
 ment.' The savages, well acquainted with the 
 bravery of the youth, were very careful not to take up 
 the gauntlet. Ah ! messieurs, my grandfather would 
 get warm as he told us of the attacks, and war-deeds 
 and bloodshed of those wild times. 
 
 " lie used to tell a terrible tale about a man of 
 French origin, who came to Baie Verte to work at 
 his trade, that of a blacksmith. An Indian had one 
 day given the blacr:smith Amiot an axe to mend. 
 He came a (cw days afterwards, offering afi pay for 
 the mending of the axe a pelt, as was the custom. 
 The blacksmith, forgetting all about the Indian 
 having left the axe, denied there was such a thing of 
 his there. The savage replied warmly, and claimed 
 his hatch.et, with loud exclamations. Out of patience 
 at last, Amiot seized the Indian by the neck, and 
 burnt him terribly with the red-hot tongs. The 
 Indian, mad with rage, dealt in return such a blow 
 with his axe, that the blacksmith was struck senseless 
 to the earth. The savage came to Langlade, told 
 him what he had done, and that he had done it in 
 self-defence. Larglade went to the aid of the wounded 
 man, who had recovered his senses, but w^as found to 
 have received a frightful jjash in the head. Like a 
 good Samaritan, he had him taken to a neighbouring 
 house, where an Indian girl waited on him. But the 
 worst is still to tell. One day, when Amiot had got 
 
The Couriers of the West. 
 
 45 
 
 ^vas not 
 threats, 
 let us 
 side of 
 amuse- 
 th the 
 take up 
 would 
 r- deeds 
 
 man of 
 ^ork at 
 ad one 
 
 mend. 
 )ay for 
 ustom. 
 Indian 
 ling- of 
 laimed 
 iticnce 
 s and 
 The 
 I blow 
 iscless 
 , told 
 
 it in 
 -inded 
 nd to 
 -ike a 
 luring 
 t the 
 d got 
 
 past danger, a brother of the cruel cliief Tepakencni- 
 asked permission to see the blacksmith. No sooner 
 had he entered the house, than he fell upon the half- 
 recovered man,, and dealt him a fatal blow with his 
 knife. The Indian girl asked the murderer why he 
 had so acted, when he replied with a jest, that he had 
 taken pity on the sick man, and wished to put him 
 out of pain. 
 
 " These were the times and the people among whom 
 Charles de Langlade passed his life in the far West. 
 He was a great warrior, too. My grandfather, who 
 had seen war also, used to tell of that brave man's 
 many mighty deeds in battle with the English and their 
 friends, the Iroquois, sometimes as far south as Fort 
 du Quesne (Pittsburg, Pennsylvania), and even under 
 the walls of Quebec, with the great soldier Montcalm. 
 But I never saw the line-of-battle, and I can't tell 
 all my grandfather told of the deeds of our heroes. 
 Langlade, I remember hearing, came down by the 
 voyageur's route at the time when our people were 
 at war with the English colonies, south of us, and 
 brought a great body of warriors — Sioux, Sacs, 
 Foxes, Menomonees, Winnebagoes, Ottawas, and 
 Saulteaux — all the way to Montreal, where they had 
 the grand war-dance. 
 
 "Ah ! but the days are different now : the steamers 
 have driven away the beaver, and the savages are only 
 one for ten to what they were, and the coureurs des 
 bois, the name they gave to us voyageurs, have ceased 
 to make the woods around our lakes and rivers re- 
 sound with their boat-songs.^' 
 
 The old man was now becoming well tired out with 
 
46 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 tclHnc^ his story ; and so wc thanked him, <^avc some 
 small presents to the cliildren, and havin,^ shaken 
 hands with old Pierre with the feelincrthat we should 
 never see his face ac^ain, walked back to our hotel for 
 the nij^ht. On our way thither the historioc^rapher, 
 whose imagination had been fired with the story of 
 the voyageur, remarked that many a strange scene 
 had been witnessed on our inland waters during 
 the past 200 years, and that it is a great mistake to 
 speak of our country as one so young and having no 
 history, when Sault Ste. Marie had been founded by 
 the good father Marquette in 1668. 
 
 "By the way," said he, "did you ever examine 
 Baron La Hontan's account of his joufncys in the 
 west, just about two centuries ago?" I had to state 
 that I had seen the volumes, but was not very familiar 
 with them. " Well," said he, " the baron, who was a 
 Frenchman, but who had left his own country to 
 enter the service of Denmark, journeyed over the far 
 West, and gives in these volumes, which were very 
 popular in his day, in Europe, as a book of travels, 
 an account of what he saw, and of what also the 
 Jesuit Father Charlevoix says neither he nor any one 
 else ever saw. I leave all matters of dispute between 
 the great Jesuit historian and the adventurous baron," 
 continued the historiographer, " and advise you to 
 read La Hontan's quaint description of the habits of 
 the beaver, the great prize of the fur-traders, and the 
 ^.romoting cause of all these voyages of which wc 
 have been hearing from old Pierre." 
 
 After consideration we have determined to add a 
 short account of the life of the beaver, as supplied 
 
The Couriers of the West. 
 
 47 
 
 ivc some 
 shaken 
 ' should 
 hotel for 
 c,n-apher, 
 story of 
 ^c scene 
 during 
 
 stake to 
 ■ving no 
 ;ided by 
 
 examine 
 in the 
 to state 
 'amih"ar 
 was a 
 ntry to 
 the far 
 re very 
 travels, 
 Iso the 
 my one 
 etween 
 jaron," 
 Kou to 
 bits of 
 nd the 
 ch wc 
 
 add a 
 pplied 
 
 by our historical friend from the book of the abused, 
 and, wc arc somewhat afraid, justly abused baron. 
 
 "The Beaver of 1690. 
 
 '• I have spoken of hunting the elk and some other 
 Canadian animals in previous letters, which makes 
 me now naturally pause to give you a t'escription of 
 hunting beavers, which I stated also in a former letter 
 are amphibious animals. On that occasion, also, I 
 sent you a figure of this remarkable ammal. How- 
 ever, as the skill and the admirable instinct of these 
 creatures are something surprising, it is well to show 
 you in what these consist, by sending you a sketch of 
 thcirdwcllings, which they can make more artistically 
 than man can. 
 
 " Beavers give a subject for thought to the savages 
 of Canada, on account of their superior nature. They 
 say they have too much mind, capacity, and judg- 
 ment, to allow it to be thought that their souls die 
 with their bodies. They add, that if it were allowed 
 them to reason on invisible things, which are not 
 evident to the senses, they would venture to affirm 
 that the castors are immortal, like ourselves. With- 
 out pausing to consider this chimerical opinion, it must 
 be admitted that there are a great many men upon 
 the earth, not to mention some Tartars, peasants of 
 Muscovy, Norwegians, and a hundred other peoples, 
 who have not the hundredth part of the understanding 
 of these animals. The beaver displays so much art 
 in his work that one cannot, without doing violence 
 to his judgment, attribute it to instinct alone, for we 
 
48 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 1 « 
 
 4 
 
 arc allowed to doubt certain things which cannot be 
 accounted for, provided they have no connexion with 
 religion. Some of these things one would prefer 
 having seen before believing them, so far are they 
 removed from common sense and reason. However 
 that may be, I run the risk of writing to you several 
 particulars relating to this subject, which may, per- 
 haps, make you doubt the truth of my narrative. 
 
 " I will begin by assuring you that these animals 
 form together a society of lOO, that they seem to speak 
 to each other, and reason with each other, in low, 
 plaintive tones. The savages say that they have an 
 intelligible jargon, by means of which they commu- 
 nicate to each other their feelings and their thoughts. 
 I have never been a witness of this beaver assemblage 
 but a number of savages and coureurs du bois — 
 people v/orthy of credit — have assured me that nothing 
 could be more true. They have added that the beavers 
 consult each other as to the best means of keeping up 
 their huts, their dams, and their ponds, and on every- 
 thing relating to the preservation of their republic. 
 The good people would assure me that these creatures 
 establish sentinels, whilst they cut down large trees 
 for barricades with their teeth, in the neighbourhood 
 of their little ponds or lakes, and that when these 
 sentinels call out at the approach of men or beasts, 
 all the workers throw themselves into the water, and 
 escape by diving down until they reach their huts. 
 I put forward this fact on the authority of a thousand 
 persons, who have no interest in wishing to impose 
 on any one by fables ; but here is something I observed 
 myself on this matter, in the hunting-grounds of the 
 
1 *^ 
 
 Tnr: Couriers of tiik Wkst. 
 
 49 
 
 cannot be 
 -xion with 
 Jld prefer 
 arc they 
 However 
 u several 
 
 "i-'iy, pcr- 
 tive. 
 
 c animals 
 to speak 
 !", in low, 
 ' have an 
 com mil - 
 :houg^hts, 
 ;cmblage 
 1 hois — 
 nothing 
 : beavers 
 ■ping up 
 n every- 
 cpublic. 
 features 
 !^e trees 
 )urhood 
 n these 
 beasts, 
 er, and 
 r huts, 
 ousand 
 impose 
 •served 
 of the 
 
 Outagamis, of whom I spoke in a previous letter. The 
 
 beavers, fuuiing tlieniselvcs in a flat or prairie, with 
 
 a rivulet running through it, resolved to make dykes 
 
 and causeways, which, stopi)ing the water, caused an 
 
 inundation over all the flat, which was not less than 
 
 ■ two leagues' width. A dyke is made of trees, which 
 
 the beavers cut with their large, thick, incisive teeth, 
 
 and the fallen trees arc then dragged to their places 
 
 by the animals swimming in the water. The pieces 
 
 of wood, having been ranged across the bottom of the 
 
 flat, the beavers load themselves with herbs and grass, 
 
 which they carry on their large tails, and throw among 
 
 % the wood with so much art and industry, that the 
 
 !| most skilful masons would have difficulty in making 
 
 walls with lime and cement, that would be as strong. 
 
 .4 During the night these wise builders may be heard 
 
 if| working with so much diligence and to so good a 
 
 ;;^' purpose, that it might be thought it was men at work, 
 
 ^ did one not know to the contrary. The beaver's tail 
 
 serves for a trowel, his teeth for a hatchet, the paws 
 
 for hands, and the feet for oars ; indeed, the band of 
 
 them make dykes of 400 or 500 feet in length, by 
 
 twenty feet in height, and seven or eight in thickness, 
 
 in five or six months, though there might be no more 
 
 than 100 labourers engaged, all told. It should be 
 
 observed in passing, that the savages never break 
 
 these dykes. This is from conscientious scruples. 
 
 The most they ever do is to make a hole in the dyke, 
 
 as I shall afterwards explain. 
 
 " Besides the talent for cutting trees, that of making 
 them fall upon the water appeared to me quite sur- 
 prising, for the workers have the judgment and atten- 
 
 E 
 
50 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 
 tion to choose a suitable time, and particularly when 
 a favourable wind is blowing, to make the trees fall 
 easily, and in the ponds where they are wanted. 
 But the work of erecting their huts is a finer thing 
 still on the part of these animals ; indeed, surpassing 
 imagination, in doing this, they must have strength 
 and skill enough to make the holes at the bottom of 
 the water to plant six piles, which they are careful to 
 place exactly in the middle of the pond. It is on 
 these piles that they make their little house, built in 
 the form of an oven, made of grass, herbs, and 
 branches of trees, of three stories, so that they may 
 mount from one to the other, when the water rises 
 from rim or from the thawing of the snow and ice. 
 The floors are of reeds, and each castor has a room 
 to himself. They enter their hut under water, where 
 there is a large hole at the first-floor, surrounded 
 with poplar wood, cut in pieces, to be drawn in more 
 easily when they wish to eat ; for as this is their ordi- 
 nary food, they take the precaution to make always 
 a great collection of it, particularly during winter, 
 foreseeing that the frosts must close up the ponds, 
 and confine them for two or three months in their 
 cabins. 
 
 " I should never finish, were I to set myself to give 
 a description of the different works of these ingenious 
 animals, the order established in their little republics, 
 and the precautions they take to shelter themselves 
 from the attacks of other animals. The thing I notice 
 most about these animals is, that all the other crea- 
 tures that are upon the earth have some others to 
 fear, however strong, active, or vigorous they may 
 
 
 II 
 
The Courikrs of the West, 
 
 5 
 
 \y when 
 rces fall 
 wanted, 
 er thing 
 rpassing 
 strength 
 )ttoi'n of 
 arcful to 
 
 It is on 
 , built in 
 rbs, and 
 hey may 
 ater rises 
 
 and ice. 
 5 a room 
 er, where 
 rrounded 
 
 in more 
 leir ordi- 
 2 always 
 J winter, 
 e ponds, 
 
 in their 
 
 be ; but those of which I speak have only man to 
 dread, for the wolves, foxes, and other animals, do 
 not care to venture to attack them in their cabins, 
 even though they may have the faculty of swimming 
 in the water. It is certain that those making the 
 attack would not find what they counted on, for the 
 beavers would very easily rid themselves of them 
 with their sharp, incisive teeth. It is only on land, 
 then^ that they can be threatened, and that is why 
 they never go as great a distance as twenty steps 
 from the edge of their pond ; and when they do make 
 so short an excursion, they have sentinels on the 
 watch, as I have said, who call out to warn the 
 workers when there is the least noise. There re- 
 mains to me only to explain the nature of the country 
 where the beaver is found." 
 
 But at this point we find the historiographer has 
 ceased his translation, and his beaver lore is finished. 
 
 If to give 
 ngenious 
 epublics, 
 emselves 
 I notice 
 her crea- 
 others to 
 hey may 
 
 E 2 
 
52 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 'A 
 
 ! ' 
 
 CANADIAN FUR-TRADERS AND EXPLORERS. 
 
 Selkirk's Utopia, we have seen, could be reached 
 by the famous canoe route of the voyageurs, along 
 whic> so much of legend and story had gathered 
 during tne two centuries of its use. Ottawa, Nipis- 
 sing, Huron, Kaministiquia, Assiniboine, Winnipeg, 
 and Poskoiac, were sonorous Indian names, marking 
 this route as well known in Montreal, when Selkirk 
 visited it, as Quebec or Toronto are known in Britain 
 to-day. It is not only important for us to know 
 the manner of the voyageur's life, which has been 
 depicted in the previous chapter, but also to be 
 acquainted with some of the men whose names have 
 become historic in connexion with this famous canoe 
 route. 
 
 A line of inland communication, 5000 or 6000 miles 
 in length, and extending from the mouth of the 
 St. Lawrence on the Atlantic, to the mouth of the 
 Mackenzie on the Arctic Sea, or the mouth of the 
 Fraser on the Pacific, may well excite our wonder. 
 It was a slow process, the opening up of this " watery 
 way," lying like a great serpent across British North 
 America ; and it was fully two centuries and a half 
 
 'H 
 
ERS. 
 
 reached 
 rs, along 
 gathered 
 1, Nipis- 
 /innipeg, 
 marking 
 I Selkirk 
 1 Britain 
 to know 
 las been 
 
 to be 
 nes have 
 us canoe 
 
 )00 miles 
 
 1 of the 
 h of the 
 h of the 
 
 wonder. 
 " watery 
 h North 
 id a half 
 
 Canadian Fur-Traders and Exn.ORERS. 53 
 
 from the time the early French disco\'crcrs entered 
 the St. Lawrence till Canadian expeditions shot out 
 into the Icy Sea, or the great Pacific. We sketch 
 shortly the discoveries of three of the kings of adven- 
 ture, who penetrated the continent by this way — 
 CJiamplaiii, Ve rand rye, JMackciizic. 
 
 The first story carries us back well-nigh 300 years, 
 to Samuel de Champlain, a native of lirouage, on 
 the Bay of Biscay, sent out with an expedition by 
 Henry IV. Champlain's adventurous life was the 
 foundation of much of the interest taken by France 
 in her New World possessions, but it also left a 
 heritage of Indian wars, which at times threatened 
 the existence of the whole colony. It may be in- 
 teresting to the reader to hear the great adventurer 
 himself narrate his exploits, and, accordingly^ we give, 
 simply changed for convenience from his Saintonge 
 French, 
 
 Champlain's own Story, 161 3. 
 
 "The 1 3th of May, 1613, we setout from Quebec, in 
 order to go to Sault St. Louis (Lachinc Rapids), 
 where we arrived on the 21st, and found one of our 
 boats, which had left Tadoussac later than we did, 
 and which had bartered some goods with a small 
 company of Algoumequins, just come from fighting 
 the Iroquois, and having with them two prisoners. 
 The boatmen informed these natives that I had come 
 with a number of men to assist them in their wars ; 
 and, furthermore, that I wished to go to their country 
 and make an alliance with all their friends, at which 
 
i:' 
 
 54 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 i 
 
 ■ii' 
 
 they were greatly rejoiced. Inasmuch as they wished 
 to return to their part of the country, to assure their 
 friends of their victory, see their wives, and put their 
 prisoners to death in a solemn war-feast, they left 
 their bucklers, made of wood and deer-skin, and part 
 of their bows and arrows, as a pledge of their return, 
 which they promised should be before the middle of 
 the first moon. It was a great disappointment to me 
 not to find it convenient to go with them to their 
 country. 
 
 "Three days after, three canoes of Algoumequins 
 arrived, and after much conference I succeeded in 
 obtaining from them two canoes, and only one Indian, 
 although many presents had been given them. Now, 
 having only two canoes, I could not take with me 
 more than four men, among whom was one named 
 Nicolas de Vignau, a most impudent liar, as the sequel 
 of this narrative will show, who had formerly wintered 
 among the Indians, and whom I had sent to make 
 explorations the preceding years. On his return to 
 Paris, in the year 1612, he had reported to me that 
 he had seen the North Sea, that the river of lIic 
 Algoumequins (the Ottawa) flowed into it, and that 
 one could go and come from Sault St. Louis to that 
 sea in seventeen days. He also reported having seen 
 the wreck of an English vessel on the coast, where 
 eighty men, who had got safe to land, had been 
 killed by the Indians because they wished to take 
 their Indian corn and other provisions by force. He 
 said he had a great desire to show me the scalps of 
 these men which the Indians had taken, according to 
 their custom, together with a young English boy. 
 
Canadian Fur-Traders and K:<rLORERs. 55 
 
 ' wished 
 re their 
 )ut their 
 ley left 
 nd part 
 return, 
 liddle of 
 it to me 
 to their 
 
 nequins 
 eded in 
 I Indian, 
 . Now, 
 ,vith me 
 I named 
 le sequel 
 ivintered 
 :o make 
 sturn to 
 
 me that 
 ■ of chc 
 md that 
 
 to that 
 ing seen 
 t, where 
 ad been 
 to take 
 ce. He 
 icalps of 
 rding to 
 sh boy, 
 
 whom they had kept. This news caused me great 
 joy, thinking I had nearly found what I had been 
 seeking so long. I conjured De Vignau to tell me 
 the truth, in order to give the king notice, assuring 
 him tliat if he stated anything false, he was putting a 
 rope round his own neck ; whilst, if his story proved 
 to be ti ae, he might expect a handsome reward. He 
 gave me assurances wi- 1, stronger oaths than before ; 
 and in order to play his part the better, he gave me a 
 map of the country, which he had made the best way 
 he could. The confidence, then, that he seemed to 
 have, the simplicity of his narrative, and the chart he 
 had prepared, having a great appearance of truth led 
 me to trust him. Further, the voyage which the 
 English had made towards Labrador (1610-11) made 
 me believe his account reliable. 
 
 "I then reported to the Chancellor, Mons. de Sillery, 
 and acquainted Marshal de Brissac and President 
 Jeamim, and other Seigneurs of the court with the 
 matter. They said to me that I must see the thing 
 in person. This was the cause of my requesting the 
 Sieur Georges, a merchant of Rochelle, to give De 
 Vignau a passage in his vessel, which he did willingly. 
 Thither I went to question him why he undertook 
 this voyage, and inasmuch as he had no need to do 
 so. I asked him if he expected any salary? He 
 answered that he hoped for nothing but from the 
 king, and that he undertook the voyage only to show 
 me the North Sea which he had seen. He further 
 made a declaration to this effect at Rochelle before 
 two notaries. 
 
 " As I took leave of the chiefs at Sault St. Louis (the 
 
1 
 
 56 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 I ' 
 
 i 
 
 day of Pentecost, 26tii. May, 1613, commending my- 
 self to their prayers and to those of all in fjencral) I 
 said to Dc Vignau in their presence, that if he had 
 formerly stated what was not true he ought not to give 
 me the trouble of undertaking this voyage in which 
 so many dangers must be incurred ; but he once more 
 assured me that he was willing to risk his life on the 
 truth of his statement. 
 
 " Thus, our canoes laden with provisions, with our 
 arms, and goods to make presents to the Indians, 
 I set out from the Isle of St. Helen on Monday, the 
 27th of May, with four P'rcnchmen and one Indian. A 
 farewell salute was fired for us from several small 
 pieces, and we did not get beyond Sault St. Louis 
 that day, the bad weather preventing us. 
 
 " On the 29th we passed it partly by water, partly 
 by land, where it was' necessary to carry our canoes, 
 baggage, provisions and arms, upon our shoulders — no 
 small trouble for those not accustomed to it. Two 
 leagues from the Sault, we entered a lake (St. Louis) 
 which has a circumference of about twelve leagues, 
 and into which three rivers flow ; one coming from 
 the west (St. Lawrence) from the coast of the Ocha- 
 taiguins, distant from the great Sault 150 or 200 
 leagues^ another from the south country of the Iro- 
 quois (Chateauguay) of similar distance, and a third 
 (the Ottawa) from the north, which comes from the 
 Algoumequins and Nebecerini (Nipissings) about the 
 same distance. 
 
 " This northern river, according to the Indians, has 
 its course further off, and passes through the country 
 of some tribes unknown to them, and distant about 
 
 ' if j a»WQ iL » m»t jj ^ ttic 
 
Canadian Fur-Traders and Extlorers. 57 
 
 ing my- 
 ncral) I 
 
 he had 
 : to crive 
 n wliich 
 ce more 
 
 on the 
 
 nth our 
 [ndians, 
 ay, the 
 lian. A 
 d small 
 t. Louis 
 
 ■, partly 
 canoes, 
 ers — no 
 ;. Two 
 . Louis) 
 leagues, 
 ig from 
 e Ocha- 
 or 200 
 :he Iro- 
 a third 
 om the 
 )out the 
 
 ans, has 
 country 
 it about 
 
 200 leagues from them. This lake (St. Louis) has 
 many large and beautiful islands — prairies where the 
 pleasures of the chase may be enjoyed, venison and 
 game being there in abundance, as well as fish. The 
 country which surrounds the lake is covered with large 
 forests. We pitched our camp at the entrance of the 
 lake, and made barricades because of the Iroquois who 
 lurk in these places to surprise their enemies ; and 
 being sure that if we kept close together they would 
 allow us to live as luxuriously as themselves, we kept 
 a good watch all the night. 
 
 " The next day I took the latitude of this place, and 
 found it 45° 18'. About three o'clock in the afternoon 
 we entered the river that comes from the north (the 
 Ottawa), and passed a small rapid, separating the Isle 
 of Perrot from the Island of Montreal. This we did by 
 land to lighten our canoes, and remained at an island 
 the rest of the night awaiting the dawn. On the last 
 day of May we passed another lake (Two Mountains) 
 from seven to eight leagues long and three wide, in 
 which there are some islands. The country around is 
 very flat, excepting in some places where there are 
 hills covered with pines. 
 
 " We passed a rapid called by the natives Ouene- 
 chouan (Ouinzechiens), full of stones and rocks where 
 the water runs with great rapidity. We had to jump 
 into the water and drag our canoes along the shore by 
 ropes. Half a league further on we passed another 
 sault, making use of our oars, which is not done but by 
 the sweat of one's brow. Great dexterity is shown in 
 passing these rapids in avoiding eddies and breakers. 
 The Indians do it with a skill which cannot be sur- 
 
58 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 
 passed, seeking turnings and safe places which they 
 distinguish by the eye. 
 
 " On Saturday, the ist of June, we ascended yet two 
 other rapids — the first half a league long, the second 
 on l^.ar ! ;. ~\, here we had great difficulty for the swift- 
 nes ; .filie current is too great : it makes a terrific noise, 
 and . 1 CSV 0'"' ding breaks everywhere into foam so 
 white that the water does not appear at all. This 
 rapid is dotted with rocks and islands, which are here 
 and there covered with pines and white cedars. 
 
 " It was among these we had greatest difficulty, for 
 not being able to carry our canoes by land on account 
 of the denseness of the woods we were obliged to drag 
 them through the water by ropes. In drawing mine 
 I gave myself up for lost, for it was caught in one of 
 the eddies, and if I had not luckily fallen between two 
 rocks, I should have been dragged in with it. I had 
 not time to undo the rope which was twisted round 
 my hand, and which hurt me so much, I thought 
 it would have cut me. In this danger I cried to God, 
 and began to pull my canoe which was restored to me 
 by the rebound the water makes in these rapids, and 
 having escaped, I praised God, and asked Him still 
 further to preserve us. Our Indian afterwards came 
 to my assistance, but I was then out of danger. My 
 anxiety to save our canoe need not cause surprise, as 
 had it been lost we should have had to make prepa- 
 rations to remain there or wait for some Indians to 
 pass, which is a poor resource for those who have 
 nothing to dine upon, and are not accustomed to such 
 fatigue. As for the rest of our French, they had not 
 much better luck, for they several times gave them- 
 
Canadian Fur-Traders and Explorers. 59 
 
 hich they 
 
 d yet two 
 he second 
 ' the svvift- 
 rific noise, 
 foam so 
 all. This 
 1 are here 
 ars. 
 
 ficulty, for 
 >n account 
 ed to drag 
 zing mine 
 
 in one of 
 ween two 
 it. I had 
 ted round 
 [ thought 
 :d to God, 
 •red to me 
 ipids, and 
 
 Him still 
 irds came 
 ger. My 
 irprise, as 
 ke prepa- 
 ndians to 
 kvho have 
 ;d to such 
 y had not 
 ve them- 
 
 ^ 
 
 selves up for lost, but God preserved all of us. The 
 remainder of the day we rested, liaving gone through 
 toil enough. 
 
 " Having received a few Indians from a company 
 of Algonquins we met, we passed up the river and 
 reached a rapid which falls from a height of six or 
 seven paces. Here there is a quantity of small islands 
 which are only sharp and rugged rocks, covered with 
 low, scrubby wood. In one place the sva. r falls 
 with such impetuosity over a rock that in irse of 
 time, it has hollowed out a wide a' ' c^ep basin. 
 The water running in this with a circula* movement, 
 and foaming and bubbling in the c tre has made 
 the Indians call it Asticou, which means a kettle or 
 boiler (Chaudiere). This waterfall makes such a 
 noise that it is heard more than two leagues off. The 
 Indians in passing it perform a ceremony, which we 
 will describe in its place. We had much difficulty in 
 ascending against a strong current, rowing wi'h all 
 our might to gain the foot of this fall. Thcie the 
 Indians took our canoes, and the French and myself 
 our arms, provisions, and other goods, to pass by the 
 sharp rocks which the rapid contains for a quarter of 
 a league. Sometimes we had to embark, sometimes 
 land again, and walk through the coppice for about 
 three hundred paces, then again jump into the water 
 and get our canoes over the sharp rocks with all the 
 trouble imaginable. I took the latitude of the place, 
 and found it 45° 38'. 
 
 " Next day (5th of June) we continued our way till 
 we reached a great rapid, where the water descends over 
 a declivity of ten or twelve paces, and makes a won- 
 
T'i 'F!! 
 
 60 
 
 Manitoha. 
 
 1 1 
 
 1 
 
 dcrful noise. It is dotted with an infinity of islands 
 covered with pines and cedars. In order to ascend 
 we resolved to leave our maize or Indian corn and a 
 few other provisions, with our less necessary clothing-, 
 reserving only our arms and nets to sujiply us with 
 the means of living as time and opportunity for the 
 chase should occur. Thus lightened we went on, 
 sometimes rowing, sometimes on foot, carrying our 
 canoes and arms past this rapid, which is a league 
 and a half in length. Here our Indians, indefatigable 
 in this kind of work, and accustomed to endure such 
 hardships, helped us greatly. 
 
 "Having passed other islands and rapids, our Indians 
 left their sacks with their provisions and the less 
 necessary articles, in order to be lighter for going by 
 land, to avoid several rapids yet before us. There 
 was a great discussion between the Indians and our 
 impostor De Vignau, who affirmed that there was 
 no danger by the rapids, and that \vc ought to go 
 that way. The Indians said he must be tired of his 
 life, and told me not to believe him, as he did not speak 
 the truth. As I had several times observed him to 
 be ignorant of the way, I followed the advice of the 
 Indians, and with this he found fault, for he sought to 
 make difficulties in order to mislead me and disgust 
 me with the enterprise, as will be seen by the con- 
 fession he afterwards made. 
 
 " We then crossed to the west a river that runs 
 northward (the Gatincau), and took the elevation of 
 this place, which was 46^ latitude. We had much 
 trouble in making this way by land, being laden for 
 my own share with three arquebuses, as many oars. 
 
 I 
 
Canadian Fur-Traders and Explorers. 6i 
 
 of islands 
 to ascend 
 :)rn and a 
 
 clothincr. 
 \y us with 
 ty for the 
 
 went on, 
 Tying our 
 
 a Icaijue 
 Icfatigablc 
 idure such 
 
 ur Indians 
 1 the less 
 going by 
 |is. There 
 s and our 
 there was 
 ght to go 
 ired of his 
 I not speak 
 ed him to 
 ^ice of the 
 J sought to 
 nd disgust 
 y the con- 
 that runs 
 evation of 
 had much 
 laden for 
 nany oars, 
 
 my cloal:, and some small trifles. I encouraged my 
 companions, who were more hcr.vily laden, and more 
 oppressed by the mosquitoes than by their burdens. 
 Thus after having passed four small lakes and jour- 
 neyed two leagues and a half, we were so fatigued it 
 was impossible to go further. It was twenty-four 
 hours since we had eaten anything excepting a little 
 roast fish without any sauce, having left our provisions 
 behind, as I before stated. So we rested on the edge 
 of a lake, lighting a fire to drive away the mosquitoes, 
 which molested us greatly — indeed, their persistent 
 annoyance is beyond all description. 
 
 "Next day we passed over this lake, and having 
 crossed a country in wliich fallen pines made travelling 
 most difficult, as we had to pass sometimes under 
 sometimes over them, we came to another lake, six 
 leagues long and two wide, so plentiful in fish, that 
 the native people have their fisheries there. Near 
 this place there is a settlement of Indians who 
 cultivate the land, and harvest Indian corn. The 
 chief, Nibachis, who came with his band to see us, 
 wondered very much how we had been able to reach 
 them over the rapids and bad roads we must have had 
 to pass. After tobacco had been presented, according 
 to their custom, he made an address to his companions, 
 saying that we must have fallen from the clouds, for 
 he could not see how we possibly could have passed ; 
 that it was only with great difficulty that the natives 
 could travel over the bad places, giving them to un- 
 derstand that I must be able to attain whatever my 
 mind was set upon : in short, that he believed all that 
 the other Indians had told him of me. Then, knowing 
 
62 
 
 Manitoha. 
 
 I'l-: 
 
 ii I 
 
 I 
 
 that wc were luingry, he pave us fish, which we ate. 
 and after dinner I made them understand, through my 
 interpreter Thomas, how ghid I was to meet them ; 
 that I was in this country to assist tliem in tlieir wars ; 
 and that I wished to go further to see some other 
 captains for the same purpose, at which they were 
 greatly rejoiced, and promised to help me, 
 
 ** They showed me their gardens and fields in which 
 there was Indian corn. Their soil is sandy, and better 
 adapted for hunting than for cultivation. When they 
 wish to make land arable they burn the trees, which 
 is done easily as they are only resinous pines. The 
 woods being burnt, they turn over the land, and plant 
 the corn grain by grain as they do in Florida. It was 
 then about four or five fingers high. 
 
 " Nibachis equipped two canoes to convey me to 
 see another captain named Tessouat, dwelling eight 
 leagues off, on the shore of a great lake, through which 
 passes the river we had left. We crossed the lake 
 to the west-north-west, and having landed, we made 
 a league to the north-east, through a rather fine 
 country, in which are beaten paths, which make 
 travelling easy. We arrived at the shore of the lake 
 (Des Allumettes) where Tessouat lived, and found 
 him with a neighbouring chief, greatly astonished at 
 seeing me, saying that he thought he was dreaming, 
 and that he could not believe his eyes. 
 
 " We crossed to an island, where we saw the cabins 
 of his people, rather badly roofed with the bark of 
 trees. This island is covered with oaks, pines, and 
 elms, and is not subject to inundations like the other 
 islands of the lake. The island is strong in situation, 
 
 ! :: 
 
CANAPTAN FUK-TKAni-RS AND EXTfORKKS. 63 
 
 ;h wc ate. 
 rough my 
 ct tlicm ; 
 icir wars ; 
 )mc other 
 hey were 
 
 in which 
 ind better 
 /hen they 
 2CS, which 
 lies. The 
 and plant 
 1. It was 
 
 ey me to 
 Hnfj eight 
 ugh which 
 i the lake 
 , we made 
 ather fine 
 ich make 
 )f the lake 
 ind found 
 onished at 
 dreaming, 
 
 the cabins 
 
 le bark of 
 
 pines, and 
 
 the other 
 
 situation, 
 
 for at both eiuls of it, and at the place where the river 
 falls into the lake, arc difficult rapids, and the rough- 
 ness (if these makes it almost inaccessible. The 
 Iiulians are lodged there to avoid the trails of 
 their enemies. It has 47° of latitude, as has also 
 the lake, which is seven leagues long, and from 
 three to four wide, with abundance of fish, but poor 
 hunting. 
 
 "On visiting the island I was lost in admiration at 
 the appearance of their burying-grounds. Over their 
 graves they place pieces of wood, crossed at a distance 
 of two or three feet. Along the top of the crosses 
 they place a large piece of wood, and in front they 
 set another upright, on which is carved rudely, as 
 one may suppose, the face of him or her who is 
 there interred. If it is a man, they i)lace a shield, 
 a sword, a hammer, a bow and arrows ; if he is a 
 chief he will have a plume on his head, and some 
 other distinction or ornament ; if a child, he is given 
 a bow and arrows ; if a woman or girl, a caldron, an 
 earthen pot, a wooden spoon, and an oar. Each 
 tomb will have a height of six or seven feet, and a 
 width of three or four. They are painted yellow and 
 red, and some of the carved work is as delicate as 
 scuL ture. The dead is buried in his robe of beaver 
 or other skins, which he used in his life, and his pos- 
 session — such as axes, knives, pots, and awls — arc 
 placed near him, so that he may use them in the 
 country to which he is gone, for they believe in the 
 immortality of the soul. These carved tombs are 
 only accorded to warriors. To the others tliey give 
 no more than to women, regarding them as useless 
 
't^ 
 
 64 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 people ; indeed, very few of their tombs were found 
 amoncr those we saw. 
 
 " After having considered the poverty of the country, 
 I asked them how they could spend their time in 
 cultivating such a poor country, when there was so 
 much better, such as at the Sault St. Louis, that they 
 had left desolate and abandoned ? They replied that 
 they were forced to do so, in order to be in security, 
 that the roughness of their land served them as bul- 
 warks against their enemies ; but that if I wished to 
 make a settlement of French at Sault St. Louis, as I 
 had promised, they would leave their dwellings, and 
 come to lodge near us, being assured that their 
 enemies would do them no harm while we were by. 
 I told them that this year we would prepare wood 
 and stones to build a fort the following year, and 
 that we would also plough the land, whereat they 
 gave a great shout in token of applause. 
 
 " This conference ended, I prayed the chiefs and 
 head men among them to repair next day to the 
 open ground, at the cabin of Tessouat, who wished to 
 have a feast for me. They promised to do this, and 
 sent to invite their neighbours to come also. 
 
 "At this great feast I made known my wishes 
 to proceed further — to the land of the Nebecerini. 
 This they strongly opposed, setting forth the 
 dangers and difficulties of the journey. After 
 listening to all their representations, I said that I 
 had with me a young man (pointing to my impostor) 
 who had been in that country, and had not expe- 
 rienced any of the difficulties they made, nor found 
 the people so bad as they described them. Then 
 
 m 
 
Caxadian Fur-Traders and Explorers. 6':^ 
 
 were found 
 
 he country, 
 Mr time in 
 ere was so 
 s, that they 
 rcpHed that 
 in security, 
 icm as bul- 
 I wished to 
 Louis, as I 
 clHngs, and 
 that their 
 ,ve were by. 
 epare wood 
 • year, and 
 hercat they 
 
 : chiefs and 
 
 day to the 
 
 Lo wished to 
 
 do this, and 
 
 30. 
 
 my wishes 
 
 Nebecerini. 
 
 forth the 
 
 ley. After 
 
 said that I 
 
 ly impostor) 
 
 d not expe- 
 
 :, nor found 
 
 hem. Then 
 
 they began to look at him, especially Tcssouat, the 
 old captain, with whom he had wintered, who, calling 
 him \^y his name, said to him, in his own tongue, 
 ' Nicolas, is what you say about having been in the 
 land of the Nebecerini true.-'' He was a long time 
 silent, then he said to them, in their language, which 
 he had not hitherto professed to speak, * Yes, I have 
 been there.' Immediately they cast angry looks at 
 him ; and, throwing themselves upon him, as if they 
 would cat him or tear him to pieces, uttered loud 
 cries. Then Tessouat said to him, ' Thou art assuredly 
 a liar ; thou knowest well that every evening thou 
 didst lie at my side with my children, and every 
 morning thou didst rise up there, if thou hast been 
 among these people, it must have been in thy sleep. 
 How couldst thou be so impudent as to lead thy 
 chief to believe such lies, and so wicked as to wish 
 to risk his life among so many dangers } Thou art 
 a lost man. He ought to put thee to death more 
 cruelly than we do our enemies. I am not astonished 
 that he importuned us so much for assistance on the 
 assurance of thy words.' 
 
 "At that moment I said to him that he ought to 
 reply to these people ; and since he had been in these 
 countries he ought to give some information that 
 would make me believe it, and bring mc out of the 
 difficulty into which he had led me ; but he remained 
 dumb, and utterly dismayed. Then I took him apart 
 from the Indians, and conjured him to declare the 
 truth of the case ; that if he had seen this sea, I would 
 give him the reward I had promised him, and if he 
 had not seen it he should tell me, without giving me 
 
U !l^ 
 
 'i^ 
 
 66 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 further trouble. Immediately he affirmed all that he 
 had previously said, and that he would show it me if 
 the Indians would give me canoes to go. 
 
 "Just then Thomas, my interpreter, came to inform 
 me that the Indians of the island were sending 
 secretly a canoe to the Nebecerini to give them notice 
 of my arrival ; and, to make use of the occasion, 
 I went to them and said that I had dreamt the night 
 before that they were going to send a canoe to the 
 Nebecerini without informing me, at which I was 
 greatly astonished, as they knew I wished to go there. 
 To this they made reply, saying that I had offended 
 them very much in trusting more to a liar who wished 
 to cause my death, than to so many brave captains 
 who were my friends and who held my life dear. I 
 replied that my man, speakingof De Vignau, had been 
 in that country with one of the relations of Tessouat, 
 and had seen the sea, the wreck and remains of an 
 English vessel on the coast, with eighty scalps that 
 the Indians had taken from the heads of the crev/, and 
 an English boy whom they had kept, and of whom 
 they wished to make me a present. On hearing me 
 speak of the sea, of the vessel, the heads of the Eng- 
 lish and the prisoner, they cried out the more that he 
 was a liar, and clamoured that either he should be put 
 to death, or that he should name the man with whom 
 he had been, and set forth the lakes, rivers, and roads, 
 by which he had travelled ; to which he made reply 
 with effrontery, that he had forgotten the name of the 
 Indian, although he had named him to me a hundred 
 times, and only the day before. As for the features of 
 the land, he had described them in a paper he had 
 
 
'■% 
 
 ill that he 
 \v it me if 
 
 to inform 
 e sending 
 lem notice 
 occasion, 
 the night 
 loe to the 
 ich I was 
 go there, 
 d offended 
 ho wished 
 e captains 
 e dear. I 
 I, had been 
 r Tessouat, 
 ains of an 
 jcalps that 
 2 crew, and 
 d of whom 
 learing me 
 f the Eng- 
 Dre that he 
 5uld be put 
 kvith whom 
 and roads, 
 nade reply 
 ame of the 
 a hundred 
 features of 
 per he had 
 
 V*- 
 
 Canadian Fur-Traders and Explorers. 6j 
 
 given to me. I then showed the chart to the Indians, 
 who questioned him upon it, but he sullenly refused to 
 answer them. 
 
 " Being in uncertainty I withdrew to consider, and 
 representing to myself the consistency of the account 
 the English themselves had given of their voyage 
 with the story told by Dc V^ignau, and how unlikely it 
 was that this boy could have invented the whole thing, 
 the chart and all, I began to think that his ignorance 
 prevented him replying to the Indians. Admitting 
 also the account given by the English of their voyage 
 to be true, the North Sea could not be distant from 
 these lands more than loo leagues of latitude, and 296 
 longitude, but it might be that the difficulty of passing 
 the rapids and the ruggedness of the mountains, was 
 the reason these people had no knowledge of this sea ; 
 indeed, they have always told me that from the country 
 of the Ochataiguins there is only thirty-five or forty 
 days to the sea that they can perceive in three places, 
 but no one has spoken to me of this North Sea but 
 our impostor, who rejoiced me greatly with his account 
 of the shortness of the way. 
 
 " While the canoe was getting ready I had him called 
 up before his companions, represented to him all that 
 had taken place, and said to him that there was uo 
 more question of dissimulation, that he must say if he 
 had seen these things or not, that I wished to take 
 advantage of the opportunity offered ; that I would 
 forget what was past ; but if he allowed me to go 
 further I would have him hanged and strangled with- 
 out mercy. 
 
 " After having thought for a little, he threw himself 
 
 F 2 
 
'% 
 
 
 '■i; 
 
 6S 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 i 
 
 on his knees and asked my pardon, saying that all he 
 had said, as well in France as in this country, touch- 
 ing the sea was false ; that he had never seen it ; that 
 lie had never been further than the village of Tessouat ; 
 and that he had said these things to get back to 
 Canada. Transported with anger, I made him with- 
 draw, being unable to endure his presence — but giving 
 Thomas charge to inquire into everything particularly. 
 To him he further stated his belief that, on account 
 of the dangers, I would not undertake the journey, or 
 that some difficulty would arise to hinder me from 
 going, such as the refusal of the Indians to give mc 
 canoes ; also that the voyage would be put off till 
 another year ; and that being in France, he would get 
 a reward for his discoveries. He also said that if 
 I should leave him in this country, he would go on till 
 he should find it, even if he should die there. These 
 words were reported to me by Thomas, and did not 
 tend to satisfy me, being amazed at such effrontery and 
 wickedness, and being unable to imagine how he had 
 forged this imposture unless he had heard the voyage 
 of the English spoken of, and in the hope of getting 
 some recompense he had had the temerity to bring it 
 forward. 
 
 " It was a great grief to me to hear the Indians speak 
 of the malice of this liar, saying that they were glad 
 he had confessed his guilt, and that if I did not wish 
 to punish him, to give him to them and they would 
 promise that he would lie no more. And because they 
 were persecuting him, and their children more than 
 tbcy, 1 had to restrain them from doing him harm ; 
 saying that I wished to take him to Sault St. Louis, 
 
 .'^'H 
 
Canadian Fur-Traders and Explorers. 69 
 
 at all he 
 
 r, tOUcll- 
 
 i it ; that 
 
 'essouat ; 
 
 back to 
 
 m with- 
 
 ut giving 
 
 ticularly. 
 
 account 
 
 arncy, or 
 
 nie from 
 
 give me 
 
 t off till 
 
 'ould get 
 
 1 that if 
 
 ro on till 
 
 These 
 
 did not 
 
 tcry and 
 
 V he had 
 
 voyage 
 
 getting 
 
 bring it 
 
 ns speak 
 2rc glad 
 not wish 
 y would 
 use they 
 3re than 
 n harm ; 
 t. Louis, 
 
 to bring him before those gentlemen to whom he had 
 promised to bring salt water from the North Sea, and 
 that there I would consult as to what should be done 
 with him. 
 
 " The season being now advanced I was compelled 
 to turn back. Before leaving I set up on an eminence 
 on the shore of the lake a cross of white cedar, and 
 prayed the Indians to preserve it with all the others 
 they should find along the ways by which we had 
 come ; saying that if they broke them evil would 
 happen, but if they preserved them they would not be 
 attacked by their enemies. They promised to do so, 
 and that I should find them safe on returning among 
 them. 
 
 "The next year, having returned to the village of 
 Tessouat, we continued our way by land, passing 
 several lakes, where the Indians carry their canoes, 
 until we entered Lake Nebecerini (N 'pissing), which 
 has an elevation of 46^° of latitude, on the 26th July, 
 161 5, having made, sometimes by land, sometimes by 
 water, twenty-five leagues or thereabout. 
 
 " This done, we arrived at the Indiai ibins, and 
 sojourned two days with them. Th( gave us a 
 good reception and were in considera' le numbers. 
 They are a people who cultivate the land very little. 
 Their dress does not differ much fr r that of the 
 Algoumequins. During the time I was with them the 
 chief of this people and several of the older men among 
 them entertained me at feasts according to their 
 custom, and took the trouble to go hunting and 
 fishing that we might have as many delicacies as 
 possible. These people might be in number from 
 

 70 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 seven to eight hundred souls, who live chiefly on the 
 lake, where there are many pretty islands. 
 
 *' Among others, one six leagues in length, where 
 there are three or four small lakes, and a number of 
 meadows, with fine wood containing plenty of game, 
 frequenting the lakes where the Indians go to take 
 fish. The south coast of the lake is very agreeable. 
 There are fine meadows for feeding cattle, and 
 several small rivers which discharge themselves into 
 tie lake. Their chief fishery is in a lake very 
 abundant in fish, among others a very good one a 
 foot ir length, as also other kinds which they catch 
 for drying to lay up in store. This lake (Nipissing) is 
 in extent eight leagues wide and twenty-five long, and 
 into it flows a river which comes from the north-west, 
 by which they go to trade the merchandize we give 
 them in barter, and return with the skins which they 
 procure from a people dwelling in the North who 
 subsist by hunting and fishing in a country very rich 
 in animals, birds, and fish. 
 
 "After we had rested several days with the chief of 
 the Nebecerini we re-embarked in our canoes and 
 entered a river (French River) whence this lake dis- 
 charges itself, made thirty-five leagues and descended 
 by several small rapids as far as Lake Attigouautan 
 (Huron). This country was more barren than that 
 we had passed through, for I did not see a piece of 
 arable land of the size of ten acres — nothing but 
 rocks and stones, yet not at all mountainous. It is 
 true that near the Lake Attigouautan we found 
 Indian corn, but in small quantity, and here our 
 Indians went to take some pumpkins which seemed 
 
 :ii:') 
 
Canadian Fur-Traders and Explorers. 71 
 
 on the 
 
 h, where 
 
 mber of 
 
 )f game, 
 
 to take 
 
 recablc. 
 
 tie, and 
 
 \^es into 
 
 ikc very 
 
 d one a 
 
 cy catch 
 
 )issini^) is 
 
 long, and 
 
 rth-west, 
 
 I we give 
 
 hich they 
 
 Dith who 
 
 very ricli 
 
 e chief of 
 
 noes and 
 lake dis- 
 escended 
 gouautan 
 han that 
 piece of 
 hing but 
 js. It is 
 ve found 
 here our 
 1 seemed 
 
 to us good, on account of the scarcity of provisions 
 caused by the improvidence of the Indians, who ate 
 too much at the beginning of the journey, leaving too 
 little for the end — only as much as would allow one 
 meal a-day. It is true that blueberries and rasp- 
 berries did not fail us in any way, otherwise we should 
 have been in danger of suffering want. 
 
 " We met 300 men of a nation we called Curled 
 Z^r/'i-, because of their curling, arranging, and comb- 
 ing the hair better than any of our courtiers, and, 
 indeed, there is no comparison, no matter what irons 
 and fashion the latter may bring to bear upon it. This 
 gives them a very fine appearance. They wear no 
 bandage, and are much cut about the body. They 
 paint the visage in diverse colour. ;..iving the nostrils 
 pierced and the ears hung with beads. When they 
 Icci/e their houses they carry a shield. I visited 
 them and became somewhat familiar. On presenting 
 their chief v\ ith an axe, he was as much pleased as if 
 I had given him a rich present. I talked to liim 
 about the extent of his country, and he drew a figure 
 of it with a bit of charcoal on the bark of a tree. He 
 informed me that they had come to that place to dry 
 the fruit called blueberries, which serve them for 
 sustenance in winter when they can find nothing 
 more. They have no arms but the bow r.nd arrow 
 which they usually carry, and a shield made of boiled 
 leather which they get from an animal of the 
 forest. 
 
 "We parted next day, and continued our way along 
 the shore of the Lake Attigouautan, where "here is a 
 great number of islands. It is very large, and has 
 
1 
 
 72 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 nearly 400 leagues in length from east to west, with a 
 width of fifty leagues. On account of its great 
 extent I named it the calm sea. It is very abundant 
 in several kinds of very good fish, principally trout, 
 which are monstrously large ; some pike of similar 
 size and a kind of sturgeon, a very large fish of 
 marvellous goodness. The country that bounds this 
 lake is rugged on the north, and, in some parts, flat 
 and inhabited by Indians. 
 
 " We next crossed a bay which forms one of the ex- 
 tremities of the lake, and made seven leagues when 
 we arrived at the country of the Attigouautan, at a 
 village called Otoiiacha, on the ist day of August. 
 Here we found a great change of country, this being 
 very beautiful and the greater part deserted, with 
 liigh hills and several rivulets which render this place 
 agreeable. I went to visit their Indian corn, which 
 was in a state of advancement considering the season. 
 
 "These places seemed very pleasant after the 
 misjrable countries through which we had come. 
 Next day I Vv^ent to another village called Carmaron, 
 distant a league from Otoiiacha, where we were 
 received very kindly and where they made us a feast 
 of bread, pumpkins, and fish. As for meat it is very 
 rare. 
 
 " The next day I left this village and came to 
 another named Touagouainchain, and to another 
 named Tequenouquiage, the inhabitants of which 
 received us very kindly, making us the best cheer 
 they could Avith their Indian corn in several fashions. 
 This country is so beautiful and good that it is 
 pleasant to travel through it. 
 
Canadian Fur-Traders and Explorers. 73 
 
 t, with a 
 ts great 
 bundant 
 y trout, 
 similar 
 fish of 
 lids this 
 irts, flat 
 
 fthe cx- 
 :s when 
 111, at a 
 Auf^jList. 
 is being- 
 id, with 
 lis place 
 1, which 
 : season, 
 fter the 
 i come, 
 rmaron, 
 ^e were 
 > a feast 
 : is very 
 
 "Thence I was guided to Carhagouha, enclosed with 
 a triple pallisade of wood, of the height of thirty-five 
 feet, for its defence and preservation. Father Joseph 
 was staying at this village, where we were very glad 
 to find him in good health, as he was no less to see 
 us; and on the 12th day of August he celebrated 
 mass, and a cross was erected near a small house 
 which the Indians built whilst I sojourned among 
 them." 
 
 Champlain having reached, as we have seen, Lake 
 Huron, turned his steps southward to the fertile lands 
 now the very centre of the Province of Ontario. 
 Parkman in his accounts of the Jesuit missions in the 
 neighbourhood of Lake Simcoe, gives some correct 
 information of the populous Indian country then 
 south of Lake Huron, which in a few years after the 
 days of Champlain was to be dyed with the blood 
 ^ '" <"he missionaries themselves. But in Champlaln's 
 cc.-tury the westward explorer had crossed Lake 
 Huron, had entered Lake IMIchigan, and founded 
 Michillmacklnac, and still further Sault Ste. Marie. 
 It is from these points that our next explorer may 
 be said to start. His story is full of tragical 
 interest. 
 
 ame to 
 another 
 which 
 t cheer 
 ishlons. 
 It it is 
 
 Verandrye, 1731. 
 
 Great discoverers have seldom had any sufficient 
 recompense. Poverty has almost always been their 
 lot. Itnvy has been their invariable reward, but 
 posthumous glory has sometimes gatiicred round their 
 names. Even this late recompense has hardly been 
 
74 
 
 Maxitoda. 
 
 accorded to the discoverer of Lake Winnipeg, the 
 Saskatchewan river, and the Rocky Mountains. 
 
 He Hved in poverty till his death, and since then 
 many is the historian to whom the name of Gualtier 
 de Varenne, Sieur de la Verandrye, has been a name 
 unknown. Neither his name nor achievements de- 
 served such a fate. 
 
 He began his career as a French officer. In 1697, 
 the year of the Treaty of Ryswick, he was a young 
 cadet. In 1704 he seems to have figured in New 
 France in one of those fierce border raids by which, 
 from the attacks of ruthless men marching hundreds 
 of miles on snow-shoes, the unsuspecting villages 
 along the New England frontier were left in ashes 
 and their inhabitants murdered or taken captive. A 
 year later he is enci^aged in an expedition into New- 
 foundland, and next year, 1706, in the Low Countries, 
 he gained much distinction in the Breton regiment, 
 fighting against the English. Though the war of the 
 Spanish succession brought fresh laurels to the great 
 commanders, Marlborough and Eugene, yet it was 
 only by the bravery of privates and junior officers, 
 both English and French, that these fields became 
 glorious. 
 
 In the battle of Malplaquet, we are informed, 
 Verandrye gained the rank of lieutenant, having 
 received nine wounds, from which he recovered, 
 contrary to every hope, after having been left for 
 dead upon the battle-field. Disabled for a time, the 
 young officer was compelled to go abroad to obtain a 
 livelihood, and, as ensign, was obliged to serve be- 
 
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Caxadtan Fur-Tuadi.rs and Exri.ouKKS. 75 
 
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 nformed, 
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 obtain a 
 erve be- 
 
 neath the rank honourably won by him in battle, in 
 order to earn a humble competence. 
 
 For seventeen years, as Governor of Three Rivers, 
 the place of third importance in the Colony, chafing 
 under his unjust treatment, he sought redress, but was 
 again and again refused the privilege of going home 
 to France to obtain in the court of his sovereign his 
 just rights. His superiors, wearied by his constant 
 appeals, had at last given him the leave desired ; but 
 at this juncture his attention was directed into 
 another channel, and he was induced to go into that 
 great West, ever a land of romance and wonder to the 
 inhabitants of New France, that he might better his 
 fortunes. 
 
 The life of the commander of a fur-trading post 
 was one of great responsibility and, in some cases, of 
 danger. He was the custodian of property where 
 there wore no laws, where he was surrounded by the 
 needy and the hungry: he traded with the Indians, 
 little accustomed to self-control, and only moderated 
 at all in excesses by the fear of death or injury. On 
 the other hand the commandant of the fur-trader's 
 fort became an acute judge of character, learned the 
 ways of the savages, and frequently had great influence 
 over them. 
 
 In such early times as we are describing too, the 
 Indians came from great distances inland where white- 
 men had never trod : aiic L many was the Indian 
 ^legend, descriptive sketch, or rude map got from the 
 savage visiting at the fort. Verandrye was at one of 
 the very outposts of trade ; he had gone to the north- 
 

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 Manitoba. 
 
 side of Lake Superior, leaving^ behind the celebrated 
 posts of Michilimackinac and Sault Ste. Marie ; and 
 was in charge of a new tSrt (Nipigon), a spot now 
 familiar to all tourists along the north shore of the 
 great inland sea. 
 
 Varying, but persistent reports came to him of a 
 river flowing west far in the interior. To us it seems 
 hardly possible to make such blunders as were made 
 by the early American geographers ; but let any one 
 try still to find his way through the delta of such 
 a river as the Red or Mississippi, or to any inlet of a 
 lake unknown to him, and the wonder will cease. A 
 belief had early been entertained that the far western 
 vast Southern Sea, made known by the discoveries of 
 the Spaniards to the south, wa:> to be reached by 
 some great river running through the Continent. 
 Every one will remember that Champlain named the 
 rapids above Montreal Lachine, thinking it the way 
 to China. Early writers took the Chickahominy in 
 Virginia to be this western river. FronLcnac and the 
 Jesuit explorers of his time had the same opinion 
 about the Ohio and Mississippi ; while Lahontan 
 gives an account of a great river he had explored, 
 which he calls the Riviere Longue, based on the 
 same theory, though Charlevoix regards Lahontan's 
 visit to this river as entirely apocryphal. The dis- 
 covery of the grand Western Ocean was the great 
 scheme at Paris under Henry IV., Louis XIII., and 
 Louis XIV., in New France, and among the western 
 explorers. 
 
 The important step had already been taken of 
 establishing a trading-post among the Sioux, with 
 
Canadian Fur-Traders and Explorers, tj 
 
 the hope of gaining knowledge of this western sea. 
 Father Conor, a Jesuit missionary, was returning 
 eastward from this fort, but without having gained 
 the wished-for intelligence, when Verandrye chanced 
 at the same time to visit Michilimackinac. Verandrye 
 and Conor, trader and itinerant, were kindred spirits. 
 Both full of the love of adventure, they were of the 
 same opinion that the great sea, so ardently looked 
 for, was to be found rather by passing through the 
 legendary country of the Assiniboels or Cristinaux 
 (Crees) than by the way of the warlike and treacherous 
 Sioux. And now, in the stockaded enclosure of 
 Michilimackinac, was laid out the scheme that was to 
 add a territory of nearly half a continent to New 
 France, and, by right of later transfer, to the British 
 Empire. 
 
 Memorials were prepared and entrusted to the good 
 father for presentation to the governor. But the 
 spirit of adventure was roused in Verandrye, and he 
 was impatient to penetrate the unbroken wilds and 
 gain a glory like that of La Salle, Marquette, or 
 Hennepin. Report after report came from the west 
 of a great river (Riviere du Couchant) and the master 
 of the Nipigon fort determined to go to Quebec and 
 in person urge upon the governor the exploration of 
 the country on the rivers leading to Lake Ouinipigon. 
 
 Fortunately for New France, the Covernor Charles 
 de Beauharnois cherished dreams of discovery and 
 acquirement of new lands for the mother country. 
 Of high standing in the court of France, he desired 
 to go back and present himself to his sovereign as 
 having borne the fleur-de-lys further than British 
 
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78 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 
 ensigns had penetrated. His brother had been an 
 explorer. 
 
 Moreover, the west was a field of great speculation 
 among the learned, and abundant laurels would be 
 reaped by him who should successfully solve the 
 problem. There were some who held that, far north, 
 America and Asia would be found united into one ; 
 others were of opinion that an uninterrupted plain 
 existed westward as far as Asia ; and as confirming 
 one or other of these theories there were those who 
 saw unmistakable resemblances between the Tartars 
 of Eastern Asia and the Sioux, the plunderers of 
 the West. Beauharnois accordingly gave heed to 
 Verandrye's representations. The latter had the 
 perseverance and capacity for an enterprise of great 
 moment ; and, moreover, had submitted to the governor 
 a map drawn upon birch-bark by an Indian guide 
 named Ochagach, showing the river system of the 
 country north-west of Lake Superior. The usual 
 concession made to great explorers of allowing the 
 fur-trade to pay the expenses was granted to Veran- 
 drye: in other words, he might proceed with his 
 hazardous enterprise so long as it cost the Govern- 
 ment nothing. 
 
 On the 19th of May, 173 1, was signed the agreement 
 between the explorer and certain merchants who 
 advanced him his outfit — a red-letter day in the 
 annals of north-western discovery. With Father 
 Messager, a Jesuit missionary, he left Michili- 
 mackinac, and on the 26th of August he was ready to 
 cross the Grand Portage at a point forty-five miles 
 further along the coast than the present site of Fort 
 
Canadian Fljr-Traders and Explorlks. 79 
 
 William on the Kaministiquia. From this starting- 
 point he was to adventure himself in a region 
 perfectly unknown to Europeans. His goal was 
 Lake Ouinipigon. This was the destination named 
 by the Indian guide, and to this point he was bound 
 in his agreement with the governor to go, but whether 
 it wr.s a hundred or a thousand leagues distant no 
 one could tell. 
 
 The traveller who in late years has passed over the 
 Dawson route can have no difficulty in following the 
 pioneer who opened the way — a way of some 450 
 miles of canoe route and portage, taken, it is said, no 
 less than forty times by the late Sir George Simpson, 
 the energetic governor of the Hudson Bay Company. 
 Rainy Lake was in his time the Lac la Pluie and 
 on it was Fort St. Pierre of Verandrye. In the 
 second year of Verandrye's journey (1732), Lake 
 of the Woods was crossed, bearing then the Indian 
 name Lake Minitie, and receiving the French name, 
 Des Bois. On its shores, in honour of their patron 
 Beauharnois, Fort St. Charles was erected. Now, 
 leaving what is known as the Dawson route, they 
 followed the line taken by the Red River expedition 
 under Colonel Wolseley, in 1870, and descended from 
 Lake of the Woods the difficult but picturesque river 
 Winnipeg, calling it after the French minister 
 Maurepas, until they reached Lake Winnipeg (Ouini- 
 pigon) the " Ultima Thule," even of Indian hear- 
 say. 
 
 And now the rocky region that we have learned in 
 later years to call the Laurentian — extending through 
 from Labrador to Lake Winnipeg — ceases, and the 
 
!(lf 
 
 it 
 
 80 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 explorers ascend from Lake Winnipeg the river of 
 the Assiniboels, now the Red River, the name 
 Assiniboine having been since confined to a branch 
 entering the Red River some forty-five miles distant 
 from Lake Winnipeg at a point where to-day stands 
 the city of Winnipeg. With what look of wonder 
 would the daring Frenchman now stand at Fort 
 Rouge, his rude wooden structure erected, it is said, 
 in a small clearing on the south side of the Assini- 
 boine, in the angle between it and Red River, and 
 gaze upon the city of Winnipeg on the opposite 
 shore, with its smoking manufactories and lofty 
 church steeples. The Assiniboine he named St. 
 Charles, after the governor, who for all the assistance 
 he rendered the persevering explorer seems extra- 
 vagantly rewarded by having any place whatever 
 named in his memory and the traveller will still hear 
 the name of St. Charles used by the Bois-brules, 
 many of whom live on its banks. To a branch of 
 this river, the Souris, now (1882) the favourite loca- 
 tion of new settlers arriving in the north-west, he 
 gave the name of St. Pierre. Ascending this St. 
 Pierre they reached by following its circuitous 
 windings the Coteau de Missouri, and then the 
 country of the Mandans, since so celebrated by 
 Catlin in his Indian sketches. 
 
 Poorly supported by the governor, basely slandered 
 by rivals, pressed by creditors, Sieur Verandrye and 
 his sons did an amazing amount of exploring, and 
 exposed themselves to dangers, not only of the 
 cataract and forest, but of hostile Indian tribes as 
 well. Forming an alliance, and necessarily so, with 
 
Canadian FuR-TuAnT:RS and Explorers. 8r 
 
 by 
 
 the Cristinaux or Crecs, would they journey among 
 them, their enemies must become those of the ex- 
 plorers also. Coming and going along the route to 
 Lake Superior, their base of supplies, they were much 
 exposed on the long journey. In 1736, one of the 
 sons of Verandrye, with a party, among whom was 
 a Jesuit father named Arnaud, were surprised on an 
 island in the Lake of the Woods, their bodies muti- 
 lated and their scalps torn off by a band of those 
 " Tigers of the Plains," the Sioux, who are supposed 
 to have been attracted towards them by the smoke 
 from their encampment. 
 
 One of the greatest exploits of the Verandryes was 
 the expedition in which two of the sons reached the 
 Rocky Mountains by the route we have already indi- 
 cated, ascending the Souris, crossing the Missouri, 
 and seeking its source in 1742-3. Messrs Clark and 
 Lewis have usually been given the credit of first 
 reaching the Rocky Mountains in their famous expe- 
 dition of 1804-6. In his first toilsome and romantic 
 journey the eldest son of Verandrye had reached the 
 Mandans on the Missouri, but could not obtain the 
 necessary guides for his enterprise, and was com- 
 pelled to return to the headquarters of his father. 
 The elder Verandrye, with his usual determination, 
 once more despatched his first-born, accompanied by 
 the younger son, called the Chevalier, and two other 
 Frenchmen — a little band of four to make a journey 
 of hundreds of miles. Passing the villages of the 
 Handsome Men (Indians) and the Pioyas, the nations 
 of the Little Foxes and the Bowmen, they entered 
 into a league with the last named, and were on fire to 
 
 G 
 
 45< 
 
 I:' 
 
 ■« ■ ■• 
 
82 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 
 '1,1 
 
 
 'in ' .■ 
 
 il 
 
 emulate Balboa and Cortcz by gazing upon the great 
 vv'-stern ocean from the tops of the stony mountains 
 chat towered in their pathway. The Snake tribe, a 
 savage race, occupied the mountains, and though the 
 Bowmen were their equals in war, yet, on arriving at 
 the deserted villages of the Snake tribe, the Bowmen 
 feared their enemy had flanked them, and having got 
 in their rear, would fall upon their own villages. 
 Contrary to the advice of their chief, a brave and able 
 man, and to the prayers of the Frenchmen, the Bow- 
 men precipitately returned, and the dream of reaching 
 the summit of the mountains was dispelled. 
 
 These four brave Frenchmen made the discovery 
 of the Rocky Mountains sixty years before the much 
 lauded Americans, Clark and Lewis, who had with 
 them an escort of a hundred men and the power of 
 the United States behind them. With the French 
 characteristic love for conquest, the gallant four took 
 possession of the country of the Upper Missouri, in 
 the name of the French king ; erected a fort, not, we 
 may be sure, of extravagant size ; placed in the earth 
 on the top of a neighbouring cliff, the arms of Louis, 
 and also erected cairns of stones in honour of the 
 Governor of New France. 
 
 It was in the year 1743 that M. de la Verandryc, 
 pursued by the calumnies of jealous rivals, returned 
 to the Chateau St. Louis to confront his enemies 
 before the governor. He had been represented as 
 making an enormous fortune and doing little in 
 return, as though the hardships of an explorer's life 
 traversing the wilds of the interior were a work of 
 no difficulty. The unfortunate adventurer but gave 
 
Canadian Fur-Traders and Explorers. S^ 
 
 the true state of tlic case when he said, "If 40,000 
 livres of debt that I have over my head arc an ad- 
 vantai^e, I can compHinent myself on beinc^ very rich, 
 and I would have been much more so in the end, if 1 
 had continued." 
 
 The governor was a true friend of Verandrye in 
 liis reverses, but the French ministry had had their 
 minds poisoned against the great explorer. They 
 appointed a substitute, but he accomplished nothing, 
 and, at last, when the successor of Ikauharnois, as 
 governor, investigated the matter and reported in 
 Verandrye's favour, tardy justice bestowed on Veran- 
 drye a captaincy, and the decoration of the cross of 
 St. Louis. 
 
 About this time, and previous to 1748, Verandrye 
 had taken the northern route to reach the Rocky 
 ^fountains. Crossing seemingly from Fort de la 
 Reinc on the Assiniboine, they had passed by 
 Dauphin and Swan Lakes, as well as probably '^by 
 Manitoba and Winnipegoosis, to the great Sas- 
 katchewan River. They had ascended it for several 
 hundreds of miles to the Forks, to which [point they 
 gave the name Poskoiac. They had also marked 
 their progress by erecting small forts, one on Lake 
 Dauphin, and another, called Bourbon, at the furthest 
 point of his discoveries. But now, when the intrepid 
 discoverer was about to pass on to the Upper Sas- 
 katchewan and the Rocky Mountains, and to en- 
 deavour to cross them to a lake of which the 
 savages told them, whose waters were too bitter to 
 be tasted, death interposed on the 6th of December 
 1749. 
 
 G 2 
 
84 
 
 Man no HA. 
 
 On Ills sons foil the mantle of their father, and they 
 would fain have carried out the enterprise, but the 
 envy and cupidity of the Intendant liiyot, the cormo- 
 rant who afterwards devoured New France, inter- 
 posed, and the noble work of discovery was given to 
 others. M. Marin was sent to explore the Missis- 
 sippi, and M. St. Pierre the Saskatchewan. Mis- 
 fortune attends fraud. The Crecs were alienated by 
 the new commandant and burnt Fort la Reine. 
 Sickness, fatigue, and disappointment so weakened 
 the expedition that only a few of the meii reached 
 the Rocky Mountains, the goal of the enterprise. 
 They, however, in 1752, established there a small 
 fort — Fort la Jonquiere. 
 
 Thus ended the career of these brave pioneers of 
 the West. A cold-hearted age and a venal government 
 in New France were deaf to the appeals of the 
 Verandryes for pity and recompense. The chevalier 
 — the brave son who with the Bowmen first saw the 
 Rocky Mountains — thus writes, " I, too, am ruined. 
 My returns of this year have been but half gathered ; 
 after a thousand inconveniences my ruin is accom- 
 plished. My father's affairs and mine being settled, 
 I remain'without funds or patrimony. I am simply 
 second ensign. My elder brother holds the same rank 
 as myself, and my younger brother is only a cadette k 
 I'aiguillette. and this is the actual fruit of all that my 
 father, and my brothers, and I have done. My brother 
 who was assassinated some years ago by the Sioux, 
 is not the most unfortunate of us." 
 
 A late Canadian writer has well said, in speaking 
 of their discoveries, " These expeditions were fatal to 
 
 i l-i 
 
Canadian Fur-Tuadeks and Kxi i.okkus. 85 
 
 to 
 
 two of the sons of M. do hi Vcr.inclryc, to liis nephew, 
 and to the Father Arnaud. They cost M. de Li 
 Vcrandrye himself many severe wounds, they over- 
 loaded him as well as his family with debts, nor diil 
 he receive sufficient reco^Miition from the I'rcnch 
 authorities. I^ven down to our day these brave men 
 arc greatly misunderstood, and if the names of the 
 discoverers of the Mississippi are encircled, and justly, 
 with a halo of glory, too much ai the Varennes de 
 la Vcrandrye left in the shade, wIkj deserve quite as 
 much as they, the admiration of i)osterity. It has 
 not even occurred to posterity to attach their name 
 to any important part of the West, in a time when sd 
 many obscure names arc given to places in the 
 countries of which they were the first and the darin.,^ 
 pioneers. When will men consider and repair this 
 act of national ingratitude ?" 
 
 The region opened up by Vcrandrye soon became 
 familiar to the energetic fur merchants of Montreal. 
 Brave men carried on the explorations, and in fifty 
 years after the Varennes set foot on the Grand Port- 
 age there was a still greater west, or now rather north- 
 west, known beyond the limits visited by them. 
 Going far up the Saskatchewan, and crossing the 
 country northward, a mighty river (the Athabasca) is 
 encountered, running from its sources in the Rocky 
 Mountains six or seven hundred miles into the large 
 lake bearing its name, where its waters commingle 
 with other streams. One of the remarkable rivers of 
 this region made famous in Captain Ikitler's "Wild 
 North Land " — remarkable as running through an 
 immense gorge of the Rocky Mountains, rising as it 
 
86 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 M 
 
 docs on the west side of this lofty barrier, and after 
 leaving the mountain ranrjc running; about the same 
 tlistancc as the Athabasca before llieir waters join, is 
 the Peace or Unji;^ah. 
 
 On the lake near the junction of the Athabasca 
 and Peace rivers is phiccd I'ort Chippewyan, plainly 
 one of those natural centres, holding their own amid 
 all the vicissitudes of trade — and in 1882 an important 
 point as it was in 1782 ; for not only docs the com- 
 merce of the two rivers mentioned meet there, but the 
 east of the lake opens up a communication to Hudson's 
 Bay, and the mighty river leading the waters of the 
 lake to the Arctic Sea is an effluent to the north. 
 Starting from this same Fort Chippewyan, the Arctic 
 and Pacific oceans were both reached in the last years 
 of the eighteenth century. \Vc arc now in the com- 
 pany of our third great explorer : 
 
 [-1 
 
 Mackenzie, 1789. 
 
 This adventurer probably surpassed cither of those 
 before described in organizing power, and ability to 
 carry on an expedition in a wild and dangerous 
 country. The rapidity of action, and the success of 
 his plans mark him as a man of genius. Born in the 
 highlands of Scotland, early in life Alexander Mac- 
 kenzie followed many of his countrymen to Canada. 
 While yet a lad he entered the fur-trading service, led 
 to do so by the novelty and excitement belonging to 
 such a life. He was of an inquisitive mind and enter- 
 prising spirit, was possessed of a strong constitution 
 and great powers of endurance, and, moreover, had 
 
 I ■', 
 
Canadian Fur-Tradkus and I^xplokkks. Sj 
 
 the ambition to cross through the continent by some 
 new way, hitherto unexplored by tlie white man. 
 His first years were spent in the Lake Superior region, 
 or in regions furtlicr to the east ; and here he soon 
 rose to the position of leader among the wild spirits 
 of adventure. The wild life he led during these years 
 was more congenial to him than would have been the 
 charms of society in the crowded city. Frequently in 
 the wilds of the West men are met whose chief hap- 
 piness it is to struggle with the difficulties of the 
 voyage and to overcome them. To this class belonged 
 Mackenzie. 
 
 What the trials of such a life are he himself tells us. 
 " I had to encounter perils by land and perils by water ; 
 to watch the savage who was our guide, or to guard 
 against those of his tribe who might meditate our 
 destruction. I had also the passions and fears of 
 others to control and subdue. To-day I had to as- 
 suage the rising discontents, and on the morrow to 
 cheer the fainting spirits of the people who accom- 
 panied me. The toil of our navigators was incessant, 
 and oftentimes extreme ; in our progress over land 
 we had no protection from the severity of the elements, 
 and possessed no accommodations or conveniences 
 but such as could be contained in the burden on our 
 shoulders, which aggravated the toils of our march, 
 and added to the wearisomeness of our way." It was 
 Mackenzie's delight to state '* that he had explored 
 those waters which had never before borne any other 
 vessel than the canoe of the savage, and traversed 
 those deserts where an European had never before 
 presented himself to the eye of its swarthy natives." 
 
 ^r 
 
88 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 14 
 
 . : ■ 
 
 ■i '1 
 
 
 « 
 
 !i! 
 
 ! 
 
 Mackenzie left Fort Chippewyan on his first grand 
 voyage of discovery in June, 1789, in a canoe made of 
 birch-bark. His crew consisted of four French Cana- 
 dians, the wives of two of them, and two young 
 Indians. In his second canoe was an Indian, who 
 bore the sobriquet " EngHsh Chief," his two wives — no 
 doubt taken along to do the heavy work of the canoe 
 — and the canoe carrying besides two young Indians. 
 The third canoe — a small one — carried the devoted 
 Indian letainers of the "English Chief;" while a 
 fourth canoe, in charge of the Nor'-west Company's 
 clerk, and laden with goods, made up the fleet of the 
 discoverer. 
 
 The journey was begun by going northward from 
 Lake Athabasca down the Slave River into the Great 
 Slave Lake ; from this lake the great explorer fol- 
 lowed the vast river which bears his name down to 
 the Frozen Sea. 
 
 The mishaps of the journey were numerous : the 
 scenes met all new : the natives were surprised at the 
 appearance of the bearded stranger ; supplies of game 
 and fish were obtained as required upon the way ; the 
 usual deception and fickleness were displayed by 
 the Indians, only to be overcome by the firmness and 
 tact of Mackenzie ; and about the end of July, the 
 object of search was rewarded in the discovery of the 
 North Sea. Nothing remained for that season but to 
 retrace his steps over his journey of upwards of a 
 thousand miles. Like the hungry steed seeking his 
 own crib, the Indian guides and French voyageurs 
 needed no coaxing on the return voyage, and the 
 destination of Fort Chippewyan was reached in good 
 
 iiili 
 
Canadian Fur-Traders and Explorers. 89 
 
 time, the whole trip having occupied only one hun- 
 dred and two days. 
 
 On his voyage to the Arctic Sea Mackenzie had 
 found himself very much at a loss in determining his 
 whereabouts from day to day. He had not the re- 
 quisite knowledge, nor the appliances for taking the 
 necessary observations. With great determination 
 the explorer resolved to overcome the difficulty. 
 Taking leave of his western haunts, he repaired to 
 London, and there spent a winter in obtaining the 
 mathematical knowledge requisite. Supplied with 
 books and instruments, and a sufficient knowledge of 
 navigation and astronomy, he returned to Athabasca, 
 and made all preparations for a still greater enterprise 
 than reaching the Frozen Sea, viz., visiting the Pacific. 
 
 It must be remembered that yet no explorer north 
 of Mexico had crossed the Rocky Mountains. Nothing 
 could deter Mackenzie, with his former successful 
 voyage still in mind, and his increased knowledge, 
 from undertaking the venture. It has been already 
 mentioned that the Peace River flows eastward towards 
 Lake Athabasca from the west side of the Rocky 
 Mountains. To ascend this river to its source, and 
 then find some river running westerly to the ocean, 
 was the plan of the adventurer. It was determined 
 to ascend the river as far as possible in the latter part 
 of one season, and then with the first days of spring 
 push forward and complete the journey. 
 
 Accordingly, on the loth of October, 1792, the canoe 
 party left Fort Chippewyan. In three days they had 
 reached Peace Point, where years before the Crees and 
 Beaver Indians had settled their disputes, and given the 
 
 S II 
 
ii t 
 
 ^■t 
 
 90 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 name as well to the river which Mackenzie was about 
 to ascend. Journeying constantly up the river, until 
 December gave warning that soon their progress must 
 be stopped, they chose winter-quarters at a place 
 called Deer Mountain, and here in a house erected by 
 themselves passed the winter months. These months 
 of delay were spent profitably in trading with the 
 natives, and before starting on his westward voyage 
 in spring, the explorer despatched to Fort Chippe- 
 wyan six canoes laden with furs. 
 
 His crew for the present voyage was chosen with 
 care from the best materials at his disposal. They 
 were Alexander Mackay, Joseph Landry and Charles 
 Ducette, two voyageurs of the former expedition, 
 Baptist Bisson, Fran9ois Courtois, Jacques Beauchamp, 
 and Fran9ois Beaulieu — the last named of whom died 
 so late as 1872, aged nearly a hundred years, probably 
 the oldest man in the north-west at the time. Two 
 Indians completed the party — one of whom had been 
 so idle a lad that he bore till his dying day the 
 unenviable name of "Cancre" — the crab. 
 
 As soon as all was ready the expedition started 
 westward, and on the 12th of June, 1793, arrived 
 at the head of the south branch, the source of the 
 Peace River. By a short portage of less than half a 
 mile, a lake was reached from which a small stream 
 proceeded to the south-west. It was determined to de- 
 scend this. The Indians of the west side of the Rocky 
 Mountains have always been of a more restive type 
 than those to the east. The reception given Mac- 
 kenzie and his band was by no means cordial ; mis- 
 understandings and threats were very common ; but 
 
Canadian Fur-Traders and Explorers. 91 
 
 ■:i'i 
 
 nis- 
 but 
 
 the skill of the leader always brought his party safely 
 through. 
 
 Hearing, as they descended this river, which was a 
 branch of one of the great rivers to the south, that the 
 ocean could be reached more quickly by an overland 
 route, on the 4th of July they left the stream and 
 took a course a little *north of west. The journey 
 proved one of extraordinary length and difficulty 
 even for such experienced voyageurs, but at last the 
 Pacific Ocean was reached, apparently about the 
 mouth of what is now known as Simpson's River. 
 The natives became exceedingly hostile at this point, 
 making great threats. To protect themselves more 
 effectually, if words should turn to blows, Mackenzie 
 and his party took possession of a high rock on the 
 sea coast, where if it were found necessary they might 
 defend themselves. 
 
 Their destination being now reached the overjoyed 
 travellers determined to commemorate the event ; and 
 having mixed up some vermilion in melted grease, 
 they inscribed in large characters on the face of the 
 rock, ** Alexander Maekejizie from Canada by land, 
 the tiventy-second of fuly^ one thousand sroen Jiundred 
 and ninety-tJireey A few days taken to rest, and the 
 well-repaid explorers began their return journey. It 
 was a toilsome and discouraging ascent, that of the 
 Pacific slope, which has aptly been described by one 
 of the public men of Canada as a '^ sea of mountains," 
 but it was by energy overcome, and the speedy descent 
 of the Peace River then undertaken. Of the descent 
 of this Mackenzie joyfully says, "At length as we 
 rounded a point, and came in view of Fort McLeod, 
 
M 
 
 92 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 III 
 
 wc threw out our flag, and accompanied it with a 
 general discharge of our fire-arms, while the men 
 were in such spirits, and made such an active use of 
 their paddles, that we arrived before the two men 
 whom we left here in the spring could recover their 
 senses to answer us. Thus we, landed at four in the 
 afternoon at the place which we left in the month of 
 May. In another month (24th of August) Fort 
 Chippewyan was reached, where the following winter 
 was spent in pursuit of trade." 
 
 But Mackenzi'" has done more than give us an 
 account of the successful voyages which have given 
 him such fame. To him we arc indebted for a sketch 
 of the growth of that great Fur- Power, the North- 
 west Company, which must bulk very largely in any 
 statement of Lord Selkirk's life. As we have seen in 
 the sketch of Verandrye the wild inland traders were 
 largely dependent on the good-will and support of 
 merchants at the far-off centre Montreal or Quebec. 
 The adventurous men who penetrated the interior 
 soon followed the habits of their " compagnons de 
 voyage," and became noted as that class of wild and 
 daring spirits the *' Coureurs des bois." 
 
 In the old French days half a dozen of these 
 traders would gain a certain credit from the merchants, 
 join their stock together, succeed in filling a birch- 
 bark canoe, and depart for far inland regions, to be 
 absent many months. Working their canoes them- 
 selves over the long, but rather exciting route they 
 would return in a year or fifteen months with a cargo 
 of peltries. Their accounts settled, then a grand 
 debauch for weeks ensued, and left the unfortunate 
 
Canadian Fur-Traders and Explorers. 93 
 
 traders as dependent on the merchant as ever, and 
 soon they must depart for the interior on another 
 expedition of the same nature. 
 
 The poor " runner of the woods " thus worked his 
 year of unceasing toil and watchfulness for the sake 
 of a month or two of gross enjoyment at the capital. 
 Men of this weak moral fibre would, no doubt, be 
 guilty of many excesses among the simple savages of 
 the West. In consequence of the evils thus arising, 
 Jesuit missionaries were commissioned by the French 
 Government to penetrate the wilds with the traders, 
 and strive to ameliorate the unhappy state of affairs. 
 The establishment of military posts along the route 
 tended to give force to the wishes of the government, 
 and restrained the evil passions of the traders. The 
 missionaries, no doubt, succeeded in checking the sale 
 of spirituous liquors to the Indians, under the threat 
 of severe ecclesiastical penalties, though the in- 
 genious traders succeeded at times in evading the 
 ecclesiastical thunders, as they have evaded the civil 
 law so many times since hy giving instead of selling 
 liquor to the Indian. After the year 1759, when the 
 British accomplished the conquest of Canada, the fur- 
 trade up the Ottawa entirely ceased for a number of 
 years. 
 
 In 1766 the English began to thread their way 
 along the former French route, and proceeded as far 
 as the Grand Portage, to the north-west of Lake 
 Superior. One of the English traders, Thom.as 
 Curry, determined to emulate the French in their 
 furthest expeditions. With four canoes, accordingly, 
 fully manned, he crossed by the route of Verandrye, 
 
I'- 
 ll 
 
 
 I: 
 
 '»:' 
 
 I i 
 
 94 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 succeeded in reaching the former Fort Bourbon, and 
 returned next spring with a heavy load of valuable 
 pelts. Another Montrealer, Mr. James Finlay, soon 
 followed the same route, made a safe journey, and 
 returned after reaching the old post, Nepowee, 
 equally successful. 
 
 According to the North-west Company authorities, 
 it was in 1774 that the English traders from Montreal 
 first met with their fellow-countrymen trading from 
 Hudson's Bay, at Fort Cumberland on the Sas- 
 katchewan. This they maintain was the first time 
 when the Hudson's Bay Company penetrated the 
 interior. As we shall sec afterwards this is entirely 
 disputed by that Company. But now in that year, 
 so near the date when the English colonies further 
 south broke off from the mother country, the two 
 rival currents of trade, Canadian and English, met 
 in the far North-west, and for well-nigh fifty years the 
 struggle went unceasingly on ; now in dangerous 
 eddy, then in boiling whirlpool, till at length as one 
 stream they flowed on together in one course. All 
 authorities seem agreed that the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany penetrated inland at this time " on account of 
 their finding the Indians intercepted in their way to 
 the sea coast by the Canadian traders." No doubt 
 year by year, a progress inland had been made ; and 
 the Hudson's Bay Company, going on the rights 
 given them by their charter, " to use and enjoy 
 the whole, entire, and only trade and traffic, and 
 the whole entire and only liberty, use, and privilege 
 of trading to and from the territory, limits, and places 
 aforesaid, and to and with all the natives and people 
 
Canadian Fur-Traders and Explorers. 95 
 
 alege 
 ilaccs 
 iople 
 
 inhabiting, or which shall inhabit within the ter- 
 ritories, limits, and places aforesaid," would look upon 
 the Canadian traders as invaders of the territory 
 whose streams ran into Hudson's Bay. 
 
 The Canadian traders however, just in proportion 
 to the weakness of their right, made up in the strong 
 reiteration of their claim, and from the first, as we 
 shall see, resorted to violence as a means of gaining 
 their ends. The better to carry out their trade the 
 leading merchants from Montreal went in person to 
 the North-west country. Mr. Joseph Frobishcr, in the 
 spring of 1775, intercepted the Indians on their way 
 to Churchill at Trading Portage, so called from this 
 circumstance. On account of their furs being pledged 
 to the merchants at Hudson's Bay, from whom they 
 had obtained advances, the Indians were unwilling to 
 traffic with Frobisher. The Montreal trader, however, 
 not inquiring too closely into their obligations to 
 others induced them to trade, and made a successful 
 trip. This he not only accomplished in a succeeding 
 year, but sent his brother westward to Isle a la 
 Crosse in the same latitude. 
 
 In later years, to defeat the Hudson's Bay traders, 
 who could succeed in underselling those from 
 Montreal, the latter took the unscrupulous means of 
 obtaining control of the Indians by the importation 
 of rum. The most daring and turbulent spirits were 
 now attracted to the Canadian fur-trade ; indeed, the 
 chief qualities sought in those sent out were a love of 
 violence and a thorough hatred of the Hudson's Bay 
 Company. 
 
 One of these, the notorious Peter Pond, was selected 
 
I i 
 
 95 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 
 n^ 
 
 
 Ih 
 
 l!ii 
 
 : 
 
 by the traders on the Saskatchewan to push his way 
 to the English river, the route of the Knisteneaux 
 (Cristinaux) and Chippevvyans to Churchill. Pond, 
 with four canoes reached a point thirty miles from 
 the great Lake Athabasca, upwards of 58° north, and 
 procured twice as many furs as his canoes could 
 carry, compelling him to "cache" one-half of them, 
 which he found perfectly safe in the next year when 
 he returned. 
 
 The introduction of strong drink, as an article of 
 trade, while it gave a temporary supremacy to the 
 traders from Montreal, brought its own retribution 
 with it. The Eagle Hills on the Saskatchewan was 
 the rendezvous of the Montreal traders in 1780. They 
 had in the spring of the year before departing, given 
 a plentiful supply of drink to a large band of Indians, 
 at which time one of the traders had given a dose of 
 laudanum in a glass of spirits to an Indian, who had 
 become troublesome. On the death of the Indian, 
 his tribe were so enraged, that an attack was made 
 by them on the traders. One of the traders was 
 killed, as well as several of the men, and the survivors 
 were compelled to flee, abandoning a large quantity 
 of goods and furs. Not long after this event two 
 posts on the Assiniboine were attacked by the 
 Indians, and a number of traders and Indians were 
 killed. Mackenzie, himself an ardent Montreal trader, 
 says, " Without entering into any further reasonings 
 on the subject, it appears to me incontrovertible that 
 the irregularity pursued in carrying on the trade has 
 brought it into its present forlorn situation." 
 
 in this year took place the shocking occurrence in 
 
Canadian Fur-Traders and Explorers. 97 
 
 the career of Pond, the unscrupulous trader of Atha- 
 basca — already implicated in the murder of a fur- 
 trader named Ross. A Swiss gentleman of most 
 upright character had gone with an outfit to the 
 Grand Portage. His partners and a number of other 
 traders had formed a partnership there, to go to the 
 interior. Pond rep. jscnted a number of the partners, 
 and Wadin, the Swiss, the remainder. Mistrust and ill- 
 will soon showed themselves between the two. About 
 the beginning of the year 1781, Pond and one of his 
 clerks had been entertained by Wadin at dinner. 
 During the night the Swiss trader was shot and, 
 perishing miserably, was buried next morning at 
 eight o'clock. Pond and his clerk were afterwards 
 tried for murder at Montreal, but escaped conviction 
 from the court deciding that it had no jurisdiction in 
 the locality where the murder had been committed. 
 From such incidents may be gathered the character 
 of the Montreal fur-traders of that early time. We 
 shall see that the North-west Fur Company was a 
 worthy successor in deeds of violence of the several 
 traders who made it up. 
 
 It was in 1783-4 that the several merchants of 
 Canada engaged in the fur trade formed a partner- 
 ship. Thus was originated the famous ** North-west 
 Fur Company." The brothers Frobisher and Mr. 
 Simon McTavish were the managersof the enterprise. 
 A meeting was held at the Grand Portage of those 
 interested, but the cupidity of Pond could not be 
 satisfied, and he with another partner, Peter Pangman, 
 came to Montreal to organize a rival concern. Pang- 
 man and Pond in turn could not agree, the latter 
 
 H 
 
 I 
 
98 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 i 
 
 * 
 
 
 t ' I 
 
 f;,' 
 
 • ! 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 
 having proved traitorous ; but the former succeeded in 
 gaining the assistance of the prominent merchants 
 Gregory and Macleod, and a rival Canadian Company 
 was organized. Of this company Alexander Mac- 
 kenzie was a partner. The North-west Company 
 looked on the new company with great dislike, and 
 pursued a hostile policy towards it. Bold and un- 
 scrupulous as was their character, Mackenzie says, 
 " They did no; doubt, from their own superior ex- 
 perience, as well as that of their clerks and men, with 
 their local knowledge of the country and its inhabi- 
 tants, that they should soon compel us to leave the 
 country to them. The event, however, did not justify 
 their expectations, for after the severest struggle ever 
 known in that part of the world, and suffering every 
 oppression which a jealous and rival spirit could in- 
 stigate — after the murder of one of our partners, the 
 laming of another, and the narrow escape of one of 
 our clerks, who received a bullet through his powder- 
 horn in the execution of his duty — they were com- 
 pelled to allow us a share of the trade." 
 
 These rival companies united two years afterwards 
 in 1787. In the year after the union the total 
 amount of the venture was some 40,000/., but by the 
 enterprise of the partners, it was in a decade brought 
 to three times that amount, and surpassed, according 
 to their statement, that of any trading company of 
 the kind in America. The united Company was 
 attended by remarkable success ; but this very suc- 
 cess, as was to have been expected, raised up new 
 rivals, and gave rise to misunderstandings, even 
 in the Company itself. In 1798 a re-organization 
 
Canadian Fur-Traders and Explorers. 99 
 
 took place, and two rival companies again re- 
 sulted. 
 
 The North-west Company in all its changes re- 
 tained its special character of violence. Its officers 
 and representative men at Montreal or London 
 seemed the very soul of honour and dignity ; but the 
 fur country once reached, the spirit of lawlessness 
 seemed to completely master them : they became the 
 Ishmaclitcs of the Plains. We may give one in- 
 stance more — and from one learn all — for though 
 many more are on record and might be cited, it is 
 unpleasant even to read or consider stories of violence, 
 chicanery, or fraud. In the year 1801, Mr. Dominic 
 Rousseau of Montreal, sent a canoe and four or five 
 men, under the charge of Mr. Hervieu, his clerk, to 
 Lake Superior, with an assortment of goods, calcu- 
 lating that he should dispose of them to advantage 
 among the servants of the North-west Company 
 during their annual assemblage at the Grand Portage 
 on Lake Superior. Small as this adventure was, it 
 excited the jealousy of the North-west Company. 
 Hervieu pitched his tent, and opened his shop, at the 
 distance of about a gunshot from their fort or 
 trading-post ; but it was not long before he was 
 accosted by some of the partners, and particularly by 
 Mr. Duncan McGillivray, who peremptorily ordered 
 him to quit the place, telling him that he had no 
 right to come there. Hervieu questioned the right 
 of the North-west Company to the exclusive pos- 
 session of the country, and said that he would not go 
 away unless they showed a legal title to the land. 
 After some altercation, to avoid further disputes, he 
 
 H 2 
 
 ■ I 
 
1'^ 
 
 (.J 
 
 
 mi 
 
 i 
 
 100 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 afjrccd to remove his encampment to another spot 
 which was pointed out to him ; but before he liad 
 time to effect this, Mr. McGiUivray returned with Mr. 
 Archibald Norman McLeod, another of the partners, 
 and ten or a dozen of their inferior clerks and ser- 
 vants, and accosted him in a still more arrogant style 
 than before. McGiUivray adverted to Ilervieu having 
 questioned the title of the North-west Company to the 
 country, told him that he should sec their title, and 
 drawing his dagger, struck it into Ilervicu's tent, and 
 tore it from top to bottom. McLeod then pulled 
 down the tent altogether ; overturned a chest con- 
 taining Hervicu's merchandize ; with the most violent 
 threats ordered him to be gone ; and naming a place 
 a little further in the interior, told him that if he 
 were there he would cut his throat. The same 
 gentleman assaulted one Durang, an interpreter in 
 the Company's service, and took from him a tent 
 which he had purchased for his own use from Hervieu. 
 With all the solemnity of a public execution they 
 cut it in pieces, and after publicly exhibiting it in 
 this state, made a bonfire of it, as a warning to the 
 servants of the Company of the consequence of pur- 
 chasing from the intruder. In consequence of these 
 outrages, M. Hervieu was under the necessity of re- 
 turning to Montreal, a distance of thirteen or four- 
 teen hundred miles, without having disposed of one- 
 fourth part of his goods, for all of which he could have 
 found a ready sale if he had not been so molested. 
 Indeed, ^here was a considerable part of what he had 
 sold which the purchasers refused to pay for, after 
 they saw the manner in which he had been treated 
 
 I ! 
 
Canadian Fuk-Tradeks and Explorers, ioi 
 
 by their employers. Mr. Rousseau brouj^ht an action 
 against Mr. McGillivray in tiic court at Montreal, and 
 recovered damages, which were assessed at 500/. — a 
 sum which, in all probability, was barely sufficient, 
 if sufficient, to compensate for tiie direct pecu- 
 niary loss which he had sustained. It could not 
 possibly indemnify him for the profit which he had 
 reason to exi)cct, and was a mere trifle to the North- 
 west Company, in comparison with the benefit of 
 maintaining their monopoly and of deterring others 
 from attempting a siinilar interference. 
 
 In the }'ear 1806, Mr. Rousseau again attempted 
 a trading adventure to the Indian country. He en- 
 tered into partnership witii a Mr. Delormc, whom he 
 despatched from Montreal with two canoes loaded 
 with goods for the interior. Mr. Delorme proceeded 
 as far as Lake Superior, and, in order to avoid colli- 
 sion, he there took the old route by the Grand Portage 
 which the North-west Company had then abandoned 
 for the Fort William route. When he had advanced 
 a few days' journey through the intricate and difficult 
 country beyond Lake Superior, he was overtaken by 
 Mr. Alexander McKay, a partner of the North-west 
 Company, with a number of men, who went forward 
 along the route by which Mr. Delormc was to advance, 
 and proceeded to fell trees across the road, at the 
 portages, and on all the narrow creeks by which they 
 were to pass. They so accomplished such a complete 
 obstruction, that Mr. Delormc with his small party 
 found it impossible to open a passage for his loaded 
 canoes. His adventure being thus entirely frustrated, 
 he left his goods, and made his retreat with his men 
 
I i 
 
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 t 
 
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 rU 
 
 
 f] 
 
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 102 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 only. On his arrival at Fort William, the trading- 
 post of the North-west Company, he found Mr. 
 McGillivray, by whose direction these obstructions had 
 been made. To him Delorme presented the keys of 
 the packages which he had left, and remonstrated on 
 the unjustifiable manner in which he had been treated ; 
 but his appeal was fruitless. Finding that no redress 
 could otherwise be obtained, Mr. Rousseau brought 
 an action of damages against the Company ; but the 
 case did not come to a trial — a compromise having 
 been offered and accepted. Of the North-west part- 
 ners figuring in this disgraceful manner it may be 
 stated that Mr. McLeod was not only a leading 
 partner but was also a Justice of the Peace for the 
 Indian territories : and also, that Mr. McGillivray was 
 the nephew of the honourable gentleman, the head 
 of the North-west Company, and took the lead at 
 the general meeting of the wintering partners as the 
 acknowledged agent of the Company. 
 
 The offshoot of the North-west Company in 1805, 
 was called by the name of the " X Y Company," and 
 included among its partners two such influential men 
 as Sir Alexander Mackenzie and Hon. Edward Ellice. 
 The fur trade had now become a great over-shadowing 
 power in Canada, and being so influential and deter- 
 mined, had far too much to say in the Government and 
 internal economy of the country for the country's good. 
 
 The Hon. Mr. Ellice, in his evidence before the Com- 
 mittee of the Imperial P.irliament in 1857, said of 
 Canada, at the period in its history of which we are 
 speaking, and at which Lord Selkirk appears upon 
 the scene : — 
 
Canadian Fur-Traders and Explorers. 103 
 
 " The whole of the Canadian Society, every person 
 of eminence and of consequence there, was then 
 engaged in the fur trade, it being the only trade of 
 importance in the country. The trade was carried on 
 with countries that are now (1857) civilized regions, 
 and where large cities are established. It was carried 
 on upon the lakes — Lake Ontario, Lake Erie — through 
 the Michigan Territory, upon the Ohio, tiie Missouri, 
 the Mississippi, and in all the countries to the north 
 of Canada. I was perfectly acquainted with the 
 details of that trade in 1803, and with the persons 
 interested in it." 
 
■ ! i 
 
 'I. 
 
 ( I r 
 
 1 ' \ 
 
 104 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE ADVENTURERS TO HUDSON'S BAY. 
 
 I v; 
 
 f' l\U 
 
 J 
 
 11 
 
 !■ 
 
 It was no wonder that the eyes of Lord Selkirk 
 should be turned to the route by Hudson's Bay as a 
 means of reaching the spot he had selected for his 
 colonists : Hudson's Bay and the North-west passage 
 were familiar to the British mind. To the spirit of 
 adventure and discovery spread abroad in Europe by 
 the revival of letters and philosophy in the fifteenth 
 and sixteenth centuries, as well as to the restless dis- 
 position of the Anglo-Saxon race inherited from a 
 Norse and Danish ancestry, are we indebted for the 
 discovery of Hudson's Bay. 
 
 To gain the Indies and Cathay by a western course 
 was the dream of Columbus; and when that was 
 shown to be impracticable, then to reach the same 
 goal by a north-west track, through iceberg and 
 glacier, was the fond hope cherished by a rare suc- 
 cession of brilliant imaginations, and pursued with 
 ceaseless energy by many of the most daring seamen 
 that the British sea-coast has reared. A most ro- 
 mantic series of voyages with countless scenes of 
 adventure await the patient historian of the north- 
 
The Adventurers to Hudson's Bay. 105 
 
 west passage ; and no more thrilling work could 
 be written than one recounting the adventures of the 
 hardy men who imperilled life — yes, and very often 
 lost it — in pursuing the phantom of a north-west 
 passage. It is not our present purpose to give any 
 complete account of this train of interesting voyages. 
 Suffice it to say, that though there is no north-west 
 passage, that though impassable barriers of ice ob- 
 struct the course of the mariner, yet results of great 
 importance, as incidental features of these voyages, 
 have been obtained. 
 
 It is to one of these simply that we now refer, viz., 
 the discovery of the inland sea that bears the name of 
 the unfortunate navigator, Henry Hudson. When 
 Sebastian Cabot had, after trial, come to the conclusion 
 that there was no north-west passage, and become in 
 consequence the Governor of the ''Russia" Company 
 to seek a north-east passage ; when Martin Frobisher 
 had discovered the land named by Queen Elizabeth 
 " Meta Incognita," received from his Royal patroness 
 a chain of gold, and startled the world by bringing 
 home hundreds of tons of worthless sand, supposing 
 it to contain precious gold ; when John Davis com- 
 manding the two barks, the Sunshine and the 
 MoonsJihic, had found the straits that bear his name; 
 when Sir Humphrey Gilbert had written a very judi- 
 cious discourse on the subject, and Captain Lancaster 
 of the East India service ventured the strange pro- 
 phecy or haphazard prediction that in 62'^ 30' N. 
 would be found the north-west passage ; and the 
 expedition of the "Russia" and "Turkey" Companies 
 under Captain Weymouth, had gone and come, and the 
 
! I 
 
 1 
 
 i- 4 M- 
 
 1 06 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 looked-for passage seemed as little known as ever, 
 Hudson was employed by a Company of merchants 
 determined to reach the Indies "whether by the north, 
 the North-east, or the north-west." 
 
 No company of the time seem so persistently to 
 have pushed their projects as this under which Hudson 
 served. He tried all the three directions mentioned, 
 and though great sums of money were lavished on the 
 voyages by the enthusiastic projectors, the names of the 
 individuals of the Company are not known — all that we 
 know being that Hudson's patrons and employers 
 were some " worshipful merchants of London." 
 
 His third voyage, undertaken in 16 10, was that in 
 which he sought the north-west after going in the 
 other directions named. His journal was somewhat 
 as follows : — 
 
 April 17th. Left Blackwall. 
 
 June 1st. Sailed from Iceland. 
 
 15th. Sighted Davis's " Desolation Land." 
 24th. Began entering Straits afterwards bear- 
 ing his own name. 
 
 July 8th. Lat. 60° N. Land south of Straits named 
 ** Desire Provoked." 
 
 July nth. Among islands, named by him "Isles 
 of God's Mercy." Called cape on his left hand "Cape 
 Diggs." 
 
 After this date Hudson sailed down to the bottom 
 of the bay, and very carefully searched the west side, 
 on which he spent the time till towards the beginning 
 of September. In the beginning of November he 
 found a wintering-place on the south-west coast, and 
 there drew his vessel ashore and prepared for passing 
 
 i> 
 
 » 
 
The Adventurers to Hudson's Bay. 107 
 
 the winter. The first winterers seemed to have en- 
 dured great hardships, but chiefly from being un- 
 prepared. The supply of food was short : in spring 
 they sought for natives along the coast to obtain pro- 
 visions but found none. On the failure of this 
 search Hudson divided up the provisions on hand 
 among the whole party, and gave certificates en- 
 titling the men to their wages should he not survive. 
 Foreseeing the straits to which they would be re- 
 duced, the unfortunate commander remarked, in an 
 unguarded moment, that on account of the scarcity 
 of provisions he feared a part of the crew might of 
 necessity be left behind. The strong man, it is said, 
 wept at contemplating the miseries of his starving 
 crew ; but a number of the men, alarmed at his 
 remark about dividing the company, conspired against 
 their captain and determined to leave him behind. 
 They remorselessly placed their kind-hearted com- 
 mander, his son, John Hudson, Mr. Woodhouse, a 
 gentleman volunteer of a mathematical turn of mind, 
 who had accompanied them, the ship's carpenter and 
 five men in the shallop, badly provisioned and badly 
 armed, and left them to their fate. 
 
 On their return home the mutineers sought to put 
 the best face possible on the affair. Abbacuc Pricket, 
 the chronicler of Hudson's voyage, maintained that 
 the ship had been aground at Diggs' Island, and that 
 a strong eastward current had set them free, and that 
 no doubt Hudson would yet be found. The Com- 
 pany, full of regret for their faithful servant, were en- 
 couraged by the statement of Pricket as to an 
 eastward current in thinking that not only would 
 

 m 
 
 I-': .i 
 
 1 08 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 
 Hudson yet be rescued, but that the current spoken 
 of betokened a north-west passage. 
 
 They accordingly despatched a famous navigator, 
 Captain Thomas Button, who sailed in May, 161 2. 
 Button was provided with two staunch vessels — the 
 Resobition and the Discovery. Some time in the 
 month of July he had entered the bay, and shortly 
 after discovered the land which runs as a peninsula 
 from the very north of the bay southward, giving it 
 the name " Gary's Swan's Nest." Supposing that 
 the opening for which he sought was near, he sailed 
 south of west, but met with land again, to which he 
 gave the significant name '' Hopes Checked." A 
 great storm had caught him in the open bay, and so 
 injured his ships that he was compelled to seek a 
 harbour that he might repair the damage done. 
 
 By the middle of August he entered the Nelson 
 river, which he named from the master of one of his 
 ships, who died there — and in a creek running into 
 the Nelson Button found the shelter he sought. 
 Having determined to winter in this haven, he barri- 
 caded his vessels and wintered on board his ship, in 
 which he kept three fires. During the winter the 
 crew were successful in capturing large numbers of 
 wild fowl, which gave a large supply of food ; it is 
 stated not less than 1800 dozen white partridge and 
 other fowls were caught. The River Nelson was not 
 entirely frozen over till the i6th of February, and 
 began to clear of ice on the 21st of April. At 
 length liberated from his ice-bound inlet, which he 
 called Button's Bay, he explored the west coast more 
 fully, and gave to the country about Nelson river the 
 
 nc 
 
 in 
 
spoken 
 
 igator, 
 , 1612. 
 s— the 
 in the 
 shortly 
 ninsula 
 ving it 
 g that 
 sailed 
 lich he 
 d." A 
 and so 
 seek a 
 
 Nelson 
 
 of his 
 
 into 
 
 sought. 
 
 barri- 
 
 nip, in 
 
 er the 
 
 Ders of 
 
 ; it is 
 
 ^e and 
 
 as not 
 
 y, and 
 
 il. At 
 
 ich he 
 
 t more 
 
 i^er the 
 
 fcg 
 
 The Adventurers to Hudson's Bay. 109 
 
 name New Wales, Button was even after his return 
 perfectly satisfied that a north-west passage existed, 
 but he certainly had not succeeded in finding it. 
 
 London and Bristol were at this time the com- 
 petitors in the race of discovery. Accordingly, in the 
 year 1631, two expeditions to Hudson's Bay were 
 fitted out — one from each of these points. The ex- 
 pedition from London was placed under the command 
 of Captain Luke Fox. Captain Fox was introduced 
 to King Charles L, and received along with a chart 
 containing the record of all former discoveries a letter 
 to the Emperor of Japan from his Britannic Majesty, 
 which he was to deliver on his reaching Japan by 
 way of the north-west passage, the hoped for object 
 of search. 
 
 Fox reached Hudson's Bay in good season, having 
 entered Hudson's Straits on the 22nd of June. On 
 entering the bay fine clear weather greeted the ex- 
 plorers, as well as an open sea free from ice, no snow 
 on the land, but a bold ragged coast, like headlands 
 on the ocean, with tangle and rockweed, and great 
 plenty of fish. Fox spent the summer in visiting the 
 west coast of the bay, but found not the longed for 
 passage, and in consequence had not the pleasure of 
 presenting his letter to the august monarch of the 
 Isles of the Pacific. Not desiring to winter in the bay 
 he journeyed homeward, re-passed Hudson's Straits 
 in the beginning of October, and on the last of that 
 month arrived safely in England. 
 
 The Bristol merchants put their expedition under 
 command of Captain James, a good mathematician, 
 but seemingly an inexperienced sailor. He left 
 
no 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 it 
 
 I i: ! 
 
 III! .; 
 
 
 H! 
 
 England in the same year and same month as Fox, 
 likewise armed with the letter to his Highness of 
 Japan. The design seems to have been that James 
 should explore one coast of the bay and Fox the 
 other, Fox taking the west and north, and James the 
 south and east. The Hudson's Straits were entered 
 about the middle of June, and considerable embarrass- 
 ment ensued from meeting with ice. A terrible storm 
 overtook the timid mariner and his crew on the 4th of 
 September, and their distress is described as " most 
 miserable in this so unknown a place." Severe weather 
 now overtook them, the rigging froze during the night, 
 the deck was nightly covered by half a foot of snow, 
 they despaired of ever finding a way home again, 
 and to use their own words " they began to prepare 
 to make a good end of this miserable, tormented life." 
 The sheltering bay of a coast island to the south of 
 Hudson's Bay afforded them partial protection at 
 last, and they determined to winter in this island 
 found in 52° N., called by them Charlton Island. 
 
 We have seen that Sir Thomas Button wintered in 
 the mouth of the Nelson, but he held to his ships 
 all the winter through ; the first residence on the 
 shores of Hudson's Bay : the first edifice erected, how- 
 ever rude, the first hold taken upon the territory by 
 the authorized agents of any European power, so far 
 as we know, was by Captain James, in the winter of 
 163 1. Ill prepared for the weather as to clothing, 
 food, or shelter, the wonder is that any of the 
 company survived to tell the tale. The winterers set 
 to work to build places of shelter for themselves in 
 October. They erected a store-house for their goods, 
 
The Adventurers to Hudson's Ray. hi 
 
 a cook-house for their food, a central main building 
 for their own shelter, and thus existed. A dreary 
 winter half passed away brought on the dread of all 
 northern travellers — the scurvy, though it is stated that 
 the sea did not freeze in close to the island till the 
 middle of December. The description given of their 
 circumstances and sufferings is sufficiently graphic to 
 bear reproduction. 
 
 "At the end of February the dreadful forerunners 
 of scurvy appeared : aching joints, loose teeth, and 
 difficulty of eating ; and two-thirds of the crew were 
 soon under the surgeon's care. These symptoms 
 became constantly more severe and general, yet the 
 men were under the painful necessity of going some 
 distance for fuel. The lumberers were sometimes 
 obliged to crawl a mile through the snow on all fours 
 till they came to a tree^ then to set fire to the trunk 
 before they could cut it down, and afterwards drag it 
 to the house. In going to the ship the cold was 
 found still more intolerable. The surgeon, who was 
 a sweet-conditioned man, every morning cleaned their 
 teeth, picked the putrid flesh from their gums, bathed 
 their benumbed limbs in water boiled with plants, 
 after which they could endure the fatigue and exposure 
 though they returned as ill as ever. Their house was 
 hung with icicles, the clothes and beds were covered 
 with hoar-frost ; the cook's tubs during the night 
 were frozen to the bottom ; and when one side was 
 warm the ice on the other was an inch thick. The 
 smoke from the green wood was often intolerable, and 
 made them look like chimney-sweepers. 
 
 " But by the end of May a plentiful supply of green 
 
112 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 i 
 i 
 
 i\ ,1 
 
 vetches had grown on the island, and the use of these 
 cured the scurvy in a few days. The warmth of 
 spring, we are told, brought clouds of ' bloodthirsty 
 mosquitoes, causing a torturo which appeared to 
 them often worse than the cold.' On the 29th of 
 April it rained all day. On the 1st of July James's 
 party took a last view of the island, their wintering- 
 place, and after various mishaps and a continuation 
 of the misfortunes seeming constantly to follow them, 
 about the end of August left the bay and reached 
 Bristol on the 22nd October." 
 
 James seems to have been thoroughtly prejudiced 
 by his sufferings against Hudson's Bay, and continued 
 ever after an earnest opponent of the schemes for 
 finding a north-west passage. Everything about 
 James's expedition seems marked by childishness 
 and cowardice. But James had gained a claim for 
 his country by his winter residence upon the coast ; 
 he had, like William the Conqueror, when he fell 
 upon the shore at Hastings, " taken seisin of the 
 land " for England ; so that now Hudson, Button, 
 Fox, and James retain the honour of having dis- 
 covered, named, dv/elt upon, and claimed for England 
 the territory around Hudson's Bay from a quarter to 
 half a century before even the spurious claim that 
 was put forth by the Governor of New France on 
 behalf of his royal master. 
 
 The contest for supremacy on the American con- 
 tinent, waged between the French and English during 
 the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, was most 
 intense. To be the first to visit any region, to claim it 
 in the name of his sovereign, to write a description of 
 
The Adventurers to Hudson's Bay. 113 
 
 it, and if possible build a fort and remain in posses- 
 sion for a time, was the aim of the early explorer, 
 whether French or English. Accordingly, in a vast 
 region such as North America, it was quite possible 
 for mendacious explorers and greedy governors to 
 concoct accounts of discoveries out of the materials 
 obtained from the enterprise of their rivals. The 
 reports of the period forming the latter half of the 
 seventeenth century are so evidently spurious in a 
 number of instances, that the truth-seeker of nowadays 
 finds himself on slippery ground at every step. 
 
 The accounts of the time seem somehow to re- 
 volve around two French adventurers, by name Gros- 
 seliers and Radisson, who were first in the French 
 service, became treacherous to France, went into the 
 service of England, and deserted the English service, 
 going back to the French. The truth seems to have 
 been almost lost in the fickleness and chamelion- 
 like adaptability of these men. Monsieur de la 
 Potherie, historian of New France, seems to exceed 
 all other writers of the time in his manufacture of 
 history to establish the claims of France to the dis- 
 covery of Hudson's Bay. Not only does he represent 
 the two adventurers named as acting in a way seem- 
 ingly opposed to the facts, but he originates a myth 
 as to one Jean Bourdon, a Frenchman, having entered 
 Hudson's Bay in 1656. Monsieur Jeremic, afterwards 
 Governor of the French forts on Hudson's 15ay, gives 
 an account equally untrustworthy of Grosseliers hav- 
 ing first visited Hudson's Bay under French auspices, 
 and captured some Englishmen. Having been badly 
 treated by his employers in New France, the explorer, 
 
 I 
 
i 
 
 114 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 t 
 
 < ) k 
 
 iii.''^! 
 
 •I ! 
 
 he says, entered the Iin^lisli service to be rcvcntjed. 
 The peculiar merit of M. Jercmie's story is, that it 
 differs entirely from that of De la Pothcric, though 
 orifjinated for the same purpose of claiminfj the 
 territory around Hudson's Hay for the French king. 
 
 So far as we can unravel the matter it seems to be 
 that Grosseliers and Radisson had been French 
 Ilurruenot traders in Lake Superior, had heard the 
 Indians tell on coming from the interior of a great 
 salt lake, and possibly of some of the English cap- 
 tains having visited it, as we have seen, that they 
 identified it with the discoveries of Hudson, IJutton, 
 Fox, and James, which had been heard of in Europe — 
 just as we have seen that Champlain,in 1613, knew of 
 the voyage of Hudson of only three years before — 
 that the two Huguenots returned from Lake Superior 
 by the ordinary canoe route to Quebec, never hav- 
 ing seen Hudson's Bay, but knowing it from Indian 
 hearsay ; that they were uiiable to obtain assistance 
 from the Government of Is • France at Quebec: 
 that they went Lo Boston in Massachusetts, then to 
 London, and by this means, through the assistance 
 of wealthy merchants in England, the small vessel, 
 the Nonsuch, was fitted out in 1668 under the com- 
 mand of Zachariah Gillam, a New England captain, 
 and that Grosseliers and Radisson accompanied this 
 expedition to Hudson's Bay. 
 
 As to Gillam's connexion with the two Huguenot 
 adventurers there is no conflict of statement. Gillam 
 started in the year 1668 from Gravesend, but the 
 facts of his voyage are a subject of dispute. The 
 truth seems to be that he sailed on the 4th of June, saw 
 
 W 
 
 ii 
 
 !' 
 
The Adveni'urers to Hudson's Bay. 115 
 
 Resolution Isle 011 the 4th of August, by the 19th 
 pot to Dig{:js's Island, and on the 29th of September 
 reached the River Nemisco, called by them Rupert's 
 river, in which they wintered. On the 9th of Decem- 
 ber the river was frozen ui), and the ship's company 
 crossed on the ice to a small island full of poplars, 
 all the other trees being s[)ruce. In April, 1O69, the 
 cold was almost over, and the Indians came down to 
 them. They saw no grain there, but many goose- 
 berries, strawberries, and Dewotter berries. The 
 Indians about that river are simpler than those of 
 Canada. Here, ami at this time, the first Eni^lish 
 settlevietit was made (51° 20' N., and 78° W.) by 
 building a little stone fortress^ to which Captain Gillant 
 gave the title of Fort Charles. 
 
 The expedition of Zachariah Gillam returned to 
 Britain in 1669. The adventurers then gained the 
 assistance of Prince Rupert, the patron of all such 
 enterprises, and also that of many of the leaders in 
 public affairs in Britain. Upon the ground of dis- 
 covery and of their stone fortress at the mouth of 
 Rupert's river they made their claim for organiza- 
 tion, and their chartei was obtained as the " Hudson's 
 Bay Company" on the 2nd of May, 1670. 
 
 Among this company of adventurers to whom 
 King Charles II. granted the charter was, as we have 
 said, the fiery Prince Rupert, who is acknowledged 
 as ** our dear and entirely beloved cousin, Count 
 Palatine of the Rhine," &c., and to him, already 
 noted for his adventurous life in the West Indies, and 
 for exploits of a more patriotic kind against the 
 Dutch, was given the honour of having his name 
 
 I 2 
 
 
ii6 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 lii " 
 
 1 ; . 
 
 
 I;'' 
 
 I,: 
 
 Iht. 
 
 M 
 
 
 ' i! ill 
 
 f;, 
 
 
 ll 1!'. 
 
 li ll! 
 
 il 111 
 
 affixed for 200 years to the vast territory of Rupert's 
 Land. Charles's old friend, the Duke of Albemarle, 
 familiar to the reader of English history as the brave 
 and reticent restorer of the king, General Monk, 
 died in the year of the granting of the charter ; and 
 his son Christopher stands second on the list of those 
 to whom was given the sole use of the country lying 
 within the " entrance of the straits commonly known 
 as Hudson's Straits, together with all the lands, 
 countries, and territories upon the coasts and con- 
 fines of the seas, straits, bays, lakes, rivers, creeks, 
 and sounds aforesaid, which are not now actually 
 possessed by any of our subjects, or by the subjects 
 of any other Christian prince or state." 
 
 It is not at all strange to read of *' old George, the 
 kingmaker," who had filled almost every office, mili- 
 tary and civil, leaving his heir with instructions to 
 prosecute so adventurous an enterprise as the trade 
 with Hudson's Bay. Nor does it surprise us to see 
 the ruling spirit of King Charles's reign, Dryden's 
 Achitophel, Lord Ashley, the ancestor of our good 
 Earl of Shaftesbury, among the incorporators, and 
 taking part in this quest of the " Golden Fleece," 
 since he was 
 
 " A man, so various that he seemed to be 
 Not one, but all mankind's epitome." 
 
 Lord Arlington, another of the members of the cele- 
 brated " Cabal," is found among the traders, and 
 with fourteen others — nobles, knights, esquires, and 
 citizens — completed the corporation organized under 
 Prince Rupert, the first governor. 
 The pleasure-loving king deserves well of us, when 
 
The Adventurers to Hudson's Bay. 117 
 
 we look at his wise and generous policy of encou- 
 raging the trader and the voyager, giving up to them 
 the fisheries of " whales, sturgeons, and all other 
 royal fishes,^' and even the " gold, silver, gems, and 
 precious stones," requiring only yearly to himself and 
 successors, as often as they should enter the terri- 
 tories, the payment of '* two elks and two black 
 beavers/* 
 
 For 200 years since that time the Company has sent 
 out its ships to Hudson's Bay and engaged in an 
 enormous trade. Charles Bayly, Esq., was the first 
 governor sent over to begin the trade. This was in 
 1670, the year of the founding, and in fifteen years after- 
 wards they had five factories, as they were called, viz. at 
 Albany, Hayes, Rupert, Nelson, and Severn. Shortly 
 after, in the struggles between France and England, 
 Hudson's Bay became the theatre of war, and in 
 these struggles the young Company received its share 
 of trials ; its forts were occupied, its trade interrupted, 
 and its energies weakened time after time, until the 
 peace of Ryswick put an end to the difficulties that 
 beset the traders Yet, during all this period ,taking 
 full account of losses, the proprietors comforted them- 
 selves every few years with a dividend of fifty per cent. 
 
 The trade was for many years chiefly carried on 
 upon the sea-coast. Without leaving tlieir factories 
 on Hudson's Bay, they could obtain for a trifle of 
 goods, or some paltry weapon 01 trinket, the most 
 valuable furs ; and Fort Churchill and the shores of 
 the inland sea of the north became the centre of 
 attraction for the many bands of the Crees and 
 Algonquins of the south and east, as well as of the 
 
ii8 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 IS! '.: 
 
 i'Bi 
 
 
 1!; 
 
 Chippcwyan nations of the far North-west. There is a 
 grim humour in the motto of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany "Pro pelle cutem " (skin for skin), adopted as 
 embodying the results of a thousand successful trans- 
 actions. Yet there was evinced on the whole a 
 sagacity and tact in dealing with the savage, even in 
 these early days of the Company, that has been seldom 
 equalled. 
 
 For two centuries the Hudson's Bay Company has 
 gone on in its successful career ; it has seen the other 
 great company of somewhat its own age, the East 
 India Company, long since pass away; it has had 
 rivals in different parts of 'he vast territory in British 
 North America, but has outlived them all, having 
 absorbed some, and seen others fade away before it. 
 From the Arctic Sea to 49" parallel it has had sway, 
 and even further south ; its posts have extended from 
 the Upper Ottawa to the mouths of the Columbia 
 Fraser Rivers ; its power was felt at the far distant 
 Fort Yukon on the borders of Rusoicin America ; and 
 from 1670 to within a year of 1870, it held the sceptre 
 of Government, and laid it down to become at the 
 present time an energetic trading and fur company, 
 and one of the largest landed proprietors in the world, 
 having one-twentieth of the land of a vast region of 
 North America. 
 
 We have not space to enter into the interesting 
 history of those two centuries, but would write a few 
 lines in answer to two very important questions that 
 have been propounded. 
 
 I. Did the English or French explorers first ex- 
 plore the Winnipeg country } 
 
 li !i III 
 
 nliil 
 
The Adventurers to Hudsoj/s Bay. 119 
 
 2. Can Hudson's Bay afford a commercial route 
 to the Canadian North-west ? 
 
 The Canadian traders from Montreal it will be 
 remembered, as stated in a previous chapter, claimed 
 that they were the first to traverse the country north 
 and west of Lake Superior, and that the Hudson's 
 Bay Company only reached Fort Cumberland on the 
 Saskatchewan at the late date of 1774. This state- 
 ment does not agree with that made by the Hudson's 
 Bay Company it«clf. That Company has always had 
 opponents, and it has probably been for its advantage 
 that from time to time its affairs have undergone the 
 scrutiny of Parliamentary Committees. In 1749 cer- 
 tain merchants of Great Britain petitioned the House 
 of Commons to inquire into all matters connected 
 with the Hudson's Bay Company's trade. Parliament 
 accordingly required the Company to lay certain 
 books and papers before them, and particularly to 
 inform them what encouragement they had given for 
 the making discoveries of the country up the rivers 
 about the bay, and what discoveries had been made. 
 The Company laid a large amount of information 
 before the committee, of which we have selected an 
 interesting portion suited to our purpose. 
 
 In 1690 a young man, Henry Kelsey, was sent on a 
 journey with the Indians, and it will be noticed that 
 the people to whom he was sent — the Assinipoctsand 
 Naywatamecpoets (the same as the Nardowassis or 
 Sioux) — are those belonging to the plain country west 
 and south of Lake Winnipeg. Henry Kelsey after- 
 wards rose to be a captain, and even Deputy-Governor 
 of the Company at York Factory. 
 
120 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 » J 
 
 I " i 
 
 
 [IW 
 
 Si , );l 
 Si ;. i .i 
 
 lifi r 
 
 if 
 ii'i! 
 
 Hi 
 
 •i 
 
 i !i :'5 
 
 The explorer states in his journal that he got his 
 supplies July 5th, 1691, sent the Stone Indians 
 (Assini is the Indian word for stone) ten days before 
 him, and set out from Deering's Point (where the 
 Indians assemble when they go down to the coast to 
 trade) to seek the Stone Indians ; and after overtaking 
 them travelled with them and the Nayhaythaway 
 Indians to the country of the Naywatameepoets, and 
 was fifty-nine days in his journey, including the 
 resting days. He went first by water seventy-one 
 miles from Deering's Point, and then laid up his 
 canoes and went by land 316 miles through a woody 
 country, and then forty-six through a plain, open 
 country, having seen only one river in his journey, 
 shallow but 100 yards over ; and after crossing ponds, 
 woods, and champaign lands for eighty-one miles 
 more which abounded with buffaloes and beavers, he 
 returned back fifty-four miles, where he met the Nay- 
 watameepoets. 
 
 The young explorer seems to have been well 
 adapted for the rough life of the voyage and to have 
 met with many adventures. On his return from this 
 his first expedition, he came back with a party of 
 Indians, dressed after their manner, and with his 
 Indian wife, whom he had got on his journey. Kelsey 
 sought to bring his wife with him into the Factory : 
 to this the governor was opposed, but on the explorer 
 telling him in English that he would not enter the 
 fort unless his Indian wife was admitted with him, he 
 was allowed to enter. Many stories of him were told. 
 Once the Indians in the Interior left him asleep. 
 While he was asleep the fire burned the moss on 
 
The Adventurers to Hudson's Bay. 121 
 
 ■^il 
 
 which he was lying, set fire to his gun, burning the 
 stock, which he was compelled to replace with his knife. 
 
 On one occasion he and an Indian were surprised 
 by two grizzly bears, when the Indian escaped to a 
 tree, and Kelsey, cut off in his retreat, could only 
 secrete himself in a clump of high willows. The 
 bears, eyeing the Indian on the tree, made directly for 
 it, when Kelsey, seeing them from his retreat, fired 
 and killed one of the pursuers ; the remaining bear 
 ran towards the place from which the shot proceeded, 
 but not finding its hiding enemy, returned to the tree, 
 when it was brought down by Kelsey's second shot. 
 This action obtained him the name among the Indians 
 of Miss-top-ashish or Little Giant. 
 
 From the details given it will be seen that Kelsey, 
 forty years before Verandryc began his journey from 
 Lake Superior, had threaded the watery way from 
 Hudson's Bay, crossed the Assiniboine and Sioux 
 country, seen the buffaloes which are peculiar to the 
 plains, been attacked by grizzly bears which belong 
 to the far West, and discovered under English auspices 
 the country so strongly claimed by the North-westers 
 as theirs by discovery ; that, moreover, Kelsey had in 
 behalf of the Hudson's Bay Company taken posses- 
 sion of it, interposed as a peacemaker between its 
 band of hostile Indians, and secured their traffic for 
 his masters, to whom by charter the territory and its 
 trade belonged. 
 
 In striking confirmation of this claim of the Hud- 
 son's Bay Company, we have given in our map of 
 the Dominion of Canada a fac-simile of a portion of a 
 map published in London in 1748, accompanying 
 
 
122 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 iinsi 
 
 
 ,; .ill i '•?; 
 
 :: if 
 
 '' il'jij 
 
 k 
 
 Ellis's voyage to Hudson's Bay, in which the com- 
 munication between the Interior and Hudson's Bay, 
 Lake Oninipigon, Lake of the Woods, Red Lake, 
 and so on, is marked, but indicating no knowledge of 
 a route between Lake Superior and Lake of the 
 Woods. This map was published only fifteen years 
 after Verandrye began his north-west journey from 
 Lake Superior, and is conclusive evidence of a some- 
 what intimate knowledge of the Interior by way of 
 Hudson's Bay, and of their having penetrated these 
 great wilds before the French ever crossed them. 
 
 It is only just that credit should here be given to the 
 energy with which Samuel Hearne, a most successful 
 explorer, penetrated to the Interior from Hudson's 
 Bay, under the direction of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany, in 1769 and following years. Hearne has been 
 called the North American Park, and his large quarto 
 volume contains a most absorbing story. He discovered 
 the Coppermine River, and not only was the first white 
 man who saw the Arctic Ocean, but the account of his 
 discovery of it is said to have stimulated Mackenzie 
 to go on his voyage of 1789. Through having lost 
 his instruments, the discoverer of the Northern Sea 
 placed the mouth of the Coppermine some four 
 degrees too far to the north, but otherwise his account 
 seems thoroughly reliable. It was this same intrepid 
 adventurer who penetrated to the Saskatchewan in 
 1774, as referred to in our account of the North-west 
 Company, and founded Cumberland House. 
 
 It but remains to speak of Hudson's Bay as a means 
 of access for commercial purposes to the Interior. The 
 importance of the matter may be seen at a glance. 
 Between Winnipeg and York Factory, at the mouth 
 
The Adventurers to Hudson's Bay. 123 
 
 of Nelson River on the west coast of Hudson's Bay, 
 is but some 550 miles, and a country chiefly, of a level 
 character. Strange as it may seem this York Factory 
 is several miles nearer to Liverpool than New York. 
 Should Hudson's Bay prove navigable for any con- 
 siderable portion of the summer months, the advantage 
 thus obtained for the fertile plains of Manitoba and 
 the Saskatchewan country would be immense. The 
 Canadian Government has for several years past been 
 directing the attention of its explorers to this route, 
 and will no doubt in due time be able to give sufficient 
 data on the matter. 
 
 To us the facts given in the earlier part of this 
 chapter seem to hold out strong hopes. When the 
 voyages of two centuries ago were made, sailing-vessels 
 could alone be used ; then there was no special object 
 in getting to the bay at the earliest possible time, nor 
 in leaving it at the latest date possible, and yet what 
 do these voyages show ? 
 
 Captains. 
 
 Entered Hudson's Straits. 
 
 Left Hudson's Straits. 
 
 Hudson. 1610 
 
 June 24th 
 
 
 Button, 1612 
 
 July . . . 
 
 
 Fox, 1 63 1 
 
 June 22nd . 
 
 October ist. 
 
 James, 1631 
 
 Middle of June 
 f Aug. 4th (Straits) 
 
 August (end). 
 
 Gillam, 1668 
 
 < Aug 19th entered 
 1 Bay . 
 
 — 
 
 Bylot (ist voyage), 
 
 May 27th . 
 
 — 
 
 1615 
 
 
 
 Do. (2nd voyage), 
 
 Entered Davis 
 
 
 1616 
 
 Straits, May 14th 
 
 
 Hudson's Bay Co.'s 
 
 Sepiember 26th . 
 
 — 
 
 ship, 181 1 
 
 
 
 Chappell, 1 8 14 . 
 
 — ~ 
 
 October 6th. 
 
 i ■ 
 
 :'-V. 
 
124 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 ■I: 
 
 They show that so early as May in two successive 
 years Bylot entered Davis Straits, the part that must 
 ever contain the floating ice from the north ; that in 
 June, Hudson, Fox, and James, all entered Hudson's 
 Straits : that Gillam entered in August, and made 
 with a sailing-vessel the whole length of Hudson's 
 Straits in fifteen days. Most of these explorers 
 wintered in the bay, and having a second season to 
 return to Britain, would not test the lateness of the 
 season. Fox, however, made the journey to Hudson's 
 Bay, and returned in 1631, and left the Straits so late 
 as October. It would seem then altogether probable 
 that from the middle of June till the middle of 
 October, a season of four months might safely be 
 counted on, with the possibility of another half-month 
 at the beginning of the season. 
 
 It has been proposed that the strong sealing-vessels 
 of Labrador, whose work in the fishing-grounds is 
 over early, should be employed during the months of 
 jummer when they are often laid up ; and should a 
 season of four and a half months be found available, 
 the trade between the mother country and this, in one 
 sense, oldest colonial trading spot would assume pro- 
 portions never dreamt of by adventurous Zachariah 
 Gillam, who in the old colony days took the Non- 
 such ketch on her important mission. 
 
 ? ; 
 
I2S 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE EARL OF SELKIRK — IN HIS WRITINGS. 
 
 The colonizer, who undertook to settle a colony- 
 going to its destination by the Hudson's Bay route, 
 and to conduct it inland from the coasts of the bay 
 five or six hundred miles, and this seventy years 
 ago, when the means of transport were so imperfect, 
 must have been a man of determination and strong 
 hope. 
 
 It is worth our while to know more of such a man. 
 Through a strange combination of circumstances, the 
 name of Lord Selkirk, even in the New World, where 
 he took so active a part in colonization, is little more 
 than a name. The most ordinary facts about his life, 
 and even about the work he did, are unknown by the 
 people. There is no life of him extant ; there is no 
 detailed account of his colonization schemes ; the 
 few allusions made to him in passing are often 
 erroneous. 
 
 The chief reason for all this is, that in the year 
 after his death the two great fur-trading companies 
 agreed to unite, and it was their interest that nothing 
 should be said of the past, The policy so wonder- 
 
 
126 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 ': ;ii 
 
 fully successful in keeping in this century a vast 
 fertile region so perfectly unknown, that Captain 
 Butler in 1870 could write of it as the " Great Lone 
 Land," did not find it difficult in the interests of 
 trade to well-nigh extinguish the memory of the 
 great founder of the colony in Rupert's Land. 
 
 To show how thorough were the steps taken, 
 see the following instance. The writer has in his 
 hands two volumes of the proof of a work dated 
 London, 1820, the year of Lord Selkirk's death, 
 throwing much light on the troublous period of four 
 or five years preceding that time. So far as known, 
 this is the only set that escaped the " besom of 
 destruction." 
 
 Lord Selkirk and his life-work did not deserve 
 such a fate. Not only was he a man of action, 
 but his literary remains show him to have been a 
 man of thought. He wrote on a variety of sub- 
 jects, and a survey of his writings proves that, far 
 from deserving the abuse that his name has re- 
 ceived in Canada whenever occasion arose for refer- 
 ence to be made to it, the colonizer of Red River 
 was a man of generous culture, kind heart, and up- 
 right character. 
 
 The clue to his life is found in his work published 
 in 1805 on " Emigration and the State of the High- 
 lands." That book lies before us. It is a well- 
 written, well-reasoned book of 280 pages. It shows 
 clearly the condition of the Highland peasantry. It 
 is an evidence of remarkable sympathy on the part 
 of a British peer of oldest family with the poor, 
 helpless cottar, that is delightful in a world where 
 
The Earl of Ski-kirk— in his Writings. 127 
 
 landlord and tenant seem too often to have opposing 
 interests. 
 
 Lord Selkirk, as vvc have seen, was a landlord of 
 Scotland's most south-westward county, but was so 
 ardent in his devotion to the Highlanders, that he 
 incurred great risks in promoting their interests and 
 planning for their happiness. As wc peruse his 
 volume we find that he was no mere sentimentalist — 
 the very opposite. He traces the transition of the 
 Highland people from a state of clanship to one, at 
 the time he wrote, of complete disintegration. The 
 suppression of the rebellion of 1745, broke down the 
 feudal and patriarchal condition of the Highlands. 
 
 Before this date the chief was the Augustus, Nero, 
 and Justinian — all in one, of his clan. When he 
 journeyed over the hills on a visit of ceremony, there 
 must be his henchman, the bard, the bladier or 
 spokesman, a gillie to carry his claymore, another 
 to carry him when on foot across the fords, another 
 to lead his horse over rugged byways, another to 
 keep his baggage, that man of great renown, the 
 piper, and the piper's gillie to assist in the honour- 
 able drudgery of carrying the pipes, a few gentlemen 
 of equal social position with himself, and a crowd of 
 what would be called elsev^here camp-followers. Dr. 
 Johnson, who saw so little to admire in Scotland, in 
 describing a chief of the island of Col, says, " Wherever 
 we roved we were pleased to see the reverence with 
 which his subjects regarded him. He did not endeavour 
 to dazzle them by any magnificence of dress ; his only 
 distinction was a feather in his bonnet, but as soon 
 as he appeared, they forsook their work and clustered 
 
128 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 hii 
 
 he took them by th< 
 
 id they 
 
 
 1 iii'i 
 
 about 
 
 seemed mutu.iUy delighted." The destruction of 
 
 Jacobitism ended clanship in Scotland. 
 
 The wars of Ikitain drew off to perish on the 
 battle-fields of Spain and the Low Countries the 
 most martial both of chiefs and gillies ; and othe-s 
 found their way to Canada to engaj^e in the fur trade 
 from Montreal. When the pride of a Highland chief 
 was broken by having to acknowledge that George 
 was king ; and when the centralization of Government 
 took away the absolute power of the chief over his 
 clansmen, he lost his motive for maintaining a lordly 
 retinue. Lord Selkirk traces with great clearness the 
 inevitable sequence of events, and shows, with much 
 of the crushing, logical force of Adam Smith, that 
 increased rents must follow ; that these could not be 
 raised but by a system of large farms ; that fewer 
 persons would be needed, and fewer would be able 
 to subsist on the same area ; that removal must ensue, 
 not from any capricious will of the landlord, but from 
 changed conditions. " Now," says Lord Selkirk, " it 
 is our duty to befriend the people ; let us direct their 
 emigration ; let them be led abroad to new possessions ; 
 give them homes under our own flag, and they will 
 strengthen the empire." 
 
 The reader will observe the time when this bold 
 and noble policy was promulgated. It was before 
 the abolition of negro slavery in the West India 
 Islands ; it was before the Emancipation Act ; and 
 a quarter of a century before the Reform Bill had 
 passed. It marked a man of acute observation, of 
 clear reasoning power ; a man having the courage of 
 
 ill 
 
TiiK Earl of Selkirk— in his Writin-gs. 129 
 
 bold 
 efore 
 ;ndia 
 and 
 had 
 in, of 
 geof 
 
 his convictions. Lord Selkirk set to work to fjive 
 assistance to the homeless I Highlanders. As a people 
 of stronj^ attachments, their aversion to leave their 
 native heat.: the senseless opposition of certain short- 
 si^dited pro[)rI'^tors who were unwilling, and, indeed, 
 unable to ^Jve a fair livelihood to the peasant, and 
 yet averse to havincj their dependents lessened in 
 number, increased thv- difficulty. 
 
 Lord Selkirk himself says, " It is, therefore, indis- 
 pensable that, to overcome these motives, some pretty 
 strong inducements should be held out to the first 
 party who will settle in the situation offered to them. 
 To detached individuals it would be difficult to offer 
 any advantage sufficiently strong to counter-balance 
 the pleasure of being seti.ed among friends, as well 
 as the assistance they might expect from relatives. 
 But if means can be found of influencing a consider- 
 able body of people, connected by the ties of blood 
 and friendship, they may have less aversion to try a 
 new situation ; and, if such a settlement be once 
 conducted through its first difficulties, till the adven- 
 turers feel a confidence in their resources and acquire 
 some attachment to the country, the object may be 
 considered as almost entirely accomplished. All these 
 circumstances, which operate against the first proposal 
 of change, will serve to confirm it when it is brought 
 to this stage of advancement ; and no peculiar en- 
 couragement will any longer be necessary." 
 
 And in looking at his life it is wonderful the com- 
 prehension shown by our author of the circumstances 
 of the exile in his new home, and the sympathy ex- 
 tended to him. " Though," says he, " his mental 
 
 K 
 
 M 
 
 I. 
 
 11; 
 
130 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 energy should remain unimpaired, the practical diffi- 
 culties that await him are sufficient to discourage the 
 most hardy. In every work he has to perform he is 
 unpractised, and has pJI the awkwardness of a novice. 
 The settler who begins on new lands has little access 
 to the assistance of professed artificers. He must 
 build his own house, construct his own cart, make 
 almost all his own implements. Amidst the variety 
 of these operations, it is well if he be not often totally 
 at a loss and unable to proceed. Winter may over- 
 take him with his house unfinished or, when com- 
 pleted, he may find it insufficient to resist the rigours 
 of the season, and to preserve him from the loss of 
 health. If illness attack him in his solitary residence, 
 remote from medical assistance, his deplorable situa- 
 tion may easily be imagined. His awkwardness, too, 
 exposes him to many accidents : the falling of the 
 trees, which an experienced axeman regulates with 
 almost mathematical precision, often takes a novice 
 by surprise ; and it is no rare occurrence that 
 he is severely wounded in the course of his 
 work." 
 
 These, and many other drawbacks of the first 
 settler. Lord Selkirk realized and met to as great an 
 extent as possible ; and of the Prince Edward 
 colonists taken out by him, he says, — 
 
 " I will not assert that the people I have taken out 
 there have escaped all difficulties and discouragements, 
 but the arrangements made for their accommodation 
 have had so much success, that few, perhaps, in their 
 situation have suffered less or have seen their diffi- 
 culties so soon at an end." 
 
 iijij' 
 
 li' 
 
The Earl of Selkirk— in his Writings. 131 
 
 ■3 
 
 "Ai 
 
 The description oT the settlement on Prince Edward 
 Island is very interesting. 
 
 Three ships, in 1803, carried the 800 sad-hearted 
 Highland colonists — the majority from the islands of 
 Skye and Uist, and a number from Ross, Argyle, 
 and Inverness. Lord Selkirk, hoping to have pre- 
 ceded them, wa.^ disappointed in arriving shortly 
 after the first ship. He found the people in tem- 
 porary wigwams, covered with spruce branches. An 
 old Acadian village had stood on the place of their 
 choice. Many thickets of young trees had sprung up 
 in the cleared fields, but some spots were still ready 
 for the inexperienced colonists. The settlement was 
 picturesque in appearance. Heaps of baggage were 
 lying on the shore, and at night the camp-fires lit up 
 the woods. The old days of chief and clan seemed 
 restored ; it was difficult to get all placed on their 
 own lots ; and even along that lovely shore there 
 came the pest of the emigrant, the officious marplot, 
 whose only service, under the guise of sympathy, 
 seems to be to make the settler more unhappy. As 
 in many another colony fever, too, bioke out in the 
 settlement. His lordship, with thoughtful ness, had 
 provided a medical man, through whose assistance 
 the disease was soon checked. Provisions were 
 procured by an agent of Lord Selkirk, and though 
 difficulties arose here ?.lso, they were trifling compared 
 with those of thousands of other settlers in other 
 lands and later days, who have been driven to live 
 on potatoes alone, or to dig up esculent roots after 
 the manner of the Indians. 
 
 The zeal of the settlers was remarkable. A father 
 
 K 2 
 
 'r ' 
 
 
132 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 and three sons occupied one lot ; the father, sixty- 
 years of age, insisted on becoming an axeman ; the 
 sons had no resource but to hide the axe, and the 
 aged woodman spared the tree for the best of reasons. 
 An elderly widow and her two sons had taken a 
 claim ; the young men being absent from home, the 
 octogenarian matron had seized the axe and under- 
 taken to fell a tree ; the return of her sons stopped 
 her well-meant efforts in time to prevent the tumbling 
 monarch of the forest from crushing to the earth 
 their humble dwelling. 
 
 The settlement continued to thiive ; the people 
 gained courage ; they began to love their new home ; 
 and two years after their arrival our author says, 
 speaking of the general improvement, " One of very 
 moderate property, who had a small possession in the 
 Isle of Skye, traces his lineage to a family which had 
 once possessed an estate in Ross-shire, but had lost it 
 in the turbulence of the feudal times. He has given 
 to his new property the name of the ancient seat of 
 his family, has selected a situation with more taste 
 than might have been expected from a mere peasant; 
 and to render the house of Auchtertyre worthy of 
 its name, is doing more than would otherwise have 
 been expected from a man of his station." 
 
 In the new world the poverty-stricken settler has 
 many a time since regained his ancestral competence ; 
 and thousands have reaped rewards undreamt of by 
 their forefathers. 
 
 Such a man was Lord Selkirk, as seen from this 
 work — a man of reasoning power, not a weakling : a 
 man of knowledge of details, no mere theorist : a man 
 
this 
 a 
 lan 
 
 The Earl of Selkirk— in his Writings. 133 
 
 of deep sympathy, not a man embarking in these 
 enterprises for the sake of improper gain : a lover of 
 his countrymen, and with a remarkable faculty for 
 organizing and carrying out a scheme of large pro- 
 portions. 
 
 Another work of Lord Selkirk, of considerable 
 importance, is lying side by side with the one now 
 described. It is, "On the Necessity of a more 
 Effectual System of National Defence." The book 
 is a reprint in i860 of the original published in 1808. 
 The editor's note in republishing contains a remark 
 that will frequently be impressed on the reader as the 
 life of Lord Selkirk is followed out. His lord- 
 ship is described as " a remarkable man, who had the 
 misfortune tr live before his time." Half a century 
 after its first -.ppearance his work on Defence seemed 
 worthy of being brought to notice again. It will be 
 remembered that it was immediately after the first 
 issue of this work that the Earl was made Fellow of 
 the Royal Society. In it he shows, in a most fervid 
 appeal, the danger in which England was at that time. 
 " A successful invasion of England," says he, " would 
 not be more remote from the course of ordinary events, 
 than many of those which the history of the last 
 three tremendous years (1805-8) will have to record. 
 Four years ago, Napoleon must have staked both his 
 power and his personal safety on the success of the 
 enterprise : his situation is now such, that the failure 
 of an attempt at invasion would endanger neither. 
 We are engaged with an enemy whose implacable 
 rancour can only be equalled by his formidable power 
 and the singular ability with which all his enterprises 
 
134 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 
 m 
 
 are concerted. The dangers which, in former times, 
 may have deterred men less bent on their purpose, 
 will now be little regarded. We may be certain that 
 no sacrifices will be deemed too great, if they can 
 purchase our destruction ; that the lives of 100,000 
 men will be counted as nothing ; and if our enemy 
 be thus determined to despise even hazard, there is 
 no enterprise, however desperate, in which a con- 
 currence of fortunate accidents may not open the 
 road to success.'^ 
 
 Lord Selkirk manifests here the same love of 
 country as we have seen him show in his sympathy 
 for his unfortunate countrymen. He had, the year 
 before writing the foregoing, in his place in the House 
 of Lords, given the germ of his plan of providing for 
 the defence of the empire from the despot who was 
 then threatening it. This was, " Every young man 
 between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five, through- 
 out Great Britain, should be enrolled and completely 
 trained to military discipline." He estimated that 
 of the population of Britain, then put down as about 
 11,000,000, upwards of 600,000 were between the 
 ages named, and eligible for this purpose. The train- 
 ing would proceed in a continual succession. For 
 three months officers would train one-fourth of those 
 within their districts ; so on with the second quarter, 
 till all would have secured twelve weeks of drill in 
 the year. Once a year a general assemblage would 
 take place at a fixed time, and the trained men be kept 
 in form by the drill required. With due regard to the 
 interests of the agriculturists, the beginning of summer 
 would be selected as the time of general assemblage. 
 
The Earl of Selkirk— in his Writings. 135 
 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 He enters into the question of organization with a 
 minuteness of detail and a clearness of statement quite 
 remarkable in an amateur soldier, and showing that 
 rare grasp and foresight that were his special qualities. 
 When we look at the amazing German system of 
 Kaiser Wilhelm, of united Germany, in his invincible 
 Landzvehr, we see simply Lord Selkirk's plan in 
 practice. The reserve force in Canada is a like body 
 which, though hitherto not called on, unlc^o to a 
 certain extent in the war of 1812, has in it the possi- 
 bilities of greatest usefulness. The scheme well re- 
 flects the fertility of resource, the power of organiza- 
 tion, possessed by the noble writer. 
 
 It is not only interesting to notice the part taken 
 by great men in times of national exigence, but also 
 taken by them in the interior economy of the 
 country in the politics of the time. Blind adherence 
 to party is ever a mark of narrowness of vision or 
 of obstinacy of disposition. No political party can 
 look back on an unclouded history ; no party but is 
 driven at one time or other to take up untenable 
 ground, by the force of circumstances. We speak 
 not of ideal politics but of existing realities. The 
 force of any popular movement cannot always be 
 confined within the bounds of reason, or of wise 
 expediency. Accordingly, individuals are continually 
 being called upon to reconsider from time to time 
 the conditions of their political allegiance. It marks 
 the honest man, the brave man, the patriot, who is 
 able to exercise his individual opinions, and, should 
 necessity require it, who is able to throw off the 
 trammels of party. We are by no means saying on 
 
 liJ 
 
 
136 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 the other hand that, in any particular case, the party 
 may not be right and the individual wrong. 
 
 We have lying before us a pamphlet marking one 
 of these crises in the life of Lord Selkirk. The 
 family of Lord Selkirk had been a Whig family. This 
 might have been inferred from the views enunciated 
 by him in the work on " Emigration," of which we 
 have already spoken. To advocate emigration, as a 
 movement to be encouraged by the government in 
 1802, marked an independent mind far ahead of his 
 time. Liberal principles, at the beginning of the 
 present century, had received a terrible shock from 
 the excesses of the French Revolution of the previous 
 decade. It was useless for the Liberal leaders to show 
 the want of connexion between the principles of 
 equality and the frightful lawlessness of the Paris 
 mob. The English mind did connect them ; and 
 then, as the outcome of these events, to see a 
 mighty despotism like that of Napoleon rising and 
 threatening Europe, was almost enough to raise a 
 cry for the return of the exiled House of Stuart to 
 Britain. 
 
 Besides, Lord Selkirk had, in 1803, visited the 
 United States. The first generation of the Republic 
 had passed away ; the enthusiasm of a new-born 
 nation was dying out, and the rancour of political 
 parties was heard on every side : the cry of discontent 
 of a senseless democracy was loud in America, and 
 at this very time Lord Selkirk had published a pam- 
 phlet on "Parliamentary Reform/' in 1809, addressed 
 to the chairman of the committee at the " Crown and 
 Anchor." In it he states his father and brother to 
 
 
ij 
 
 The Earl of Selkirk— in his Writings. 137 
 
 have been zealous friends of a Parliamentary Reform, 
 and that all his early impressions were in favour of 
 such a measure. " He had thought," he said, *' that if 
 the representation were equalized, the right of 
 suffrage extended, the duration of parliaments 
 shortened, bribery could scarcely be applied with 
 effect." With his family he had held such ideas. 
 "But," says he, "I have had an opportunity, which they 
 never had, of seeing the political application of those 
 principles from which we expected consequences so 
 beneficial. With grief and mortification I perceived 
 that no such advantages had resulted as from them 
 I had been led to anticipate." He concludes his 
 letter, " I am no alarmist, but as I firmly believe that 
 amidst violent changes there is more probability of 
 making our government worse than better, I deprecate 
 the discussion to which you wish me to lend my 
 name, as calculated to divide the friends of sub- 
 stantial reformation, and to defeat every valuable, 
 safe, and attainable improvement in the manage- 
 ment of our public affairs." Lord Selkirk went 
 further still, and ever since that time his family have 
 belonged to what is now called the " Conserva- 
 tive" party. Whatever different opinions may be 
 entertained as to the course taken, and they will be 
 different, one thing is abundantly plain, that Lord 
 Selkirk was earnest in his desire for the good of his 
 country, and likewise that, far from being the 
 doctrinaire some would have us regard him, he was 
 capable of modifying his theories by the facts of the 
 case. 
 
 The philanthropic side of our author we have 
 
^•^^ 
 
 138 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 I '■:■ 
 
 already seen in his bearing towards the expatriated 
 Highlanders. He had also a warm side to the 
 Indians of the North-west. Two anonymous pam- 
 phlets, entitled " On the Civilization of the Indians 
 in British America," and *' Observations on a Pro- 
 posal for forming a Society for the Civilization and 
 Improvement of the North American Indians within 
 the British Boundary," contain so plainly sentiments 
 similar to those expressed in his work published in 
 1816, "Sketch of the British Fur Trade," that we 
 are safe in attributing these opinions to Lord Selkirk. 
 The former of these pamphlets is without date, the 
 latter appeared in 1807. 
 
 They consist of a plea for the education and 
 Christianization of the Indian. The author is of 
 opinion that the mere proclamation of the Gospel 
 without instruction in the simpler arts of life, is not 
 enough ; and in this it is beginning to be felt by 
 all, after many years of experience, that for wandering 
 tribes like the North American Indians, settlement 
 in one place and instruction in simple agriculture 
 ought to go hand-in-hand with religious teaching. 
 
 The author of the pamphlet would begin schools in 
 which young Indians might be instructed, not only in 
 ordinary branches, but which would be what he calls 
 " Schools of Industry." He would have certain 
 portions of the country set apart for the Indians 
 alone, he would have the " Legislature applied to for 
 an Act to authorize the Governor of Canada to fix 
 by proclamation the limits of the country reserved 
 for the use of the Indian nations," and he would 
 secure the total suppression of the liquor traffic, 
 
The Earl of Selkirk — in his Writings. 139 
 
 )ols in 
 )nly in 
 ic calls 
 ;ertain 
 Indians 
 to for 
 to fix 
 tserved 
 would 
 traffic, 
 
 whose ravages among the Indians he describes in 
 startling colours. We ask the intelligent reader to 
 reflect that during the last ten years in which the 
 dominion of Canada has been in possession of the 
 vast North-west territories, the Canadian Parliament 
 has passed an A.ct totally prohibiting intoxicating 
 liquor in those territories ; has set aside reserves for 
 many thousand Indians, and not more than three 
 years ago sent out instructors in agriculture to assist 
 the missionaries in the fuller instruction of the Indian 
 tribes. Interested persons declared Lord Selkirk's 
 Indian plans Utopian before 1820; they are all in 
 actual operation in 1881. 
 
 So much for the man as seen in his writings. In 
 consequence of the conflict in which he was engaged 
 subsequent to 18 12, the works then coming from his 
 pen are more of a specific kind, and do not come 
 within the scope of our present chapter. They were 
 somewhat numerous, and were all written with much 
 force and ability. No one can fail to see in Lord Sel- 
 kirk a man of thought and of deep sympathy for the 
 sufferings of the civilized and the savage alike, 
 of courageous and venturesome disposition, and of 
 patriotic spirit, a man of great mental activity, and 
 well versed in the affairs of his times. 
 
 In the year before Lord Selkirk's death, and when 
 his health was greatly reduced by his troubles, his 
 sister, Lady Katherine Halkett, wrote to Sir Walter 
 Scott, already mentioned as one of the companions 
 of Selkirk's youth and a fast friend of the family, 
 requesting him to lend his aid in placing fairly before 
 the world the misrepresentations of Lord Selkirk's 
 
 .;'U!iM«SattA»-~ 
 
rsr-as 
 
 ^J«1M^ ' \^n , 
 
 140 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 ili 
 ill! 
 
 11 
 
 enemies. The chivalrous Sir Walter was suffering 
 acutely at the time, and was unable to comply with 
 her ladyship's wish. His letter in reply has not 
 been published till now. We give so much of it as 
 bears upon our subject, as a fitting conclusion of the 
 present chapter. 
 
 " My dear Lady Katherine, — I was most ex- 
 ceedingly indisposed when your ladyship's very kind 
 letter reached me. . . . The bad news your favour 
 conveyed with respect to my dear and esteemed 
 friends, Lord and Lady Selkirk, did not greatly tend 
 to raioc my spirits, lowered as they are by complete 
 exhaustion. ... I am afraid I havr. already said 
 enough to satisfy your ladyship how ill-qualified I 
 am, especially at this moment, to undertake a thing 
 of such consequence to Lord Selkirk as a publication 
 of his case. ... It is most painful to m*^ in these 
 circumstances, my dear Lady Katherine, to feel that 
 I should be attempting an impossibility in the wish 
 to make myself master of the very unpleasant train 
 of difficulties and embarrassments in which Lord 
 Selkirk has been engaged. . . . Most devoutly do I 
 hope that these unpleasant transactions will terminate 
 as favourably as Lord Selkirk's ardent wish to do 
 good, and the sound policy of his colonizing scheme 
 deserve ; for, as I never knew in my life a man of a 
 more generous and disinterested disposition, or whose 
 talents and perseverance were better qualified to bring 
 great and national schemes to conclusion, I have 
 only to regret in common with his other friends, the 
 impediments that have been thrown in his way by 
 the rapacious avarice of this great Company. 
 
 
The Earl of Selkirk— in his Writings. 141 
 
 " I have been three days in writing this scrawl. I 
 
 cannot tell your ladyship how anxious I am about 
 
 Lord and Lady Selkirk. 
 
 " I beg my best compliments to Mr. Halkett, and 
 
 am always, with most sincere respect and regard, 
 
 " Your ladyship's most obedient 
 
 " And faithful servant, 
 
 " Walter Scott. 
 ''Edinburgh, lOth June, 18 19." 
 
 ^. 
 
142 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 SELKIRK SETTLEMENT. 
 
 So early as the year 1802, Lord Selkirk foresaw the 
 fertile valley of the Red River of the North, and its 
 tributaries, as the home of contented thousands. He 
 had satisfied himself of the natuial advantages of the 
 soil, of the satisfactory character of the climate for a 
 successful agricultural settlement, and was not to be 
 deterred by tho long and difficult approach to it from 
 Hudson's Bay. To this region he saw the possibility 
 of taking a large body of the discontented and unfor- 
 tunate population of Scotland and Ireland. 
 
 On the 4th of April, 1802, he addressed to Lord 
 Pelham, Secretary of State for the Home Depart- 
 ment, a letter and memorial, detailing the practicability 
 of promoting emigration to the locality named in 
 the centre of Rupert's Land. Through the kindness 
 of the Earl of Kimberley, Colonial Secretary (1881) 
 a copy of this letter and memorial lies before us. In 
 these Lord Selkirk says, " No large tract of land 
 remains unoccupied on the sea-coast of British 
 America, except barren and frozen deserts. To find 
 a sufficient extent of good soil in a temperate climate 
 
Selkirk Settlement. 
 
 143 
 
 Lord 
 part- 
 ibility 
 ed in 
 dness 
 1881) 
 , In 
 land 
 ritish 
 o find 
 imate 
 
 we must fjo far inland. This inconvenience is not, 
 however, an unsurmountable obstacle to the pro- 
 sperity of a colony, and appears to be amply compen- 
 sated by other advantai;es that arc to be found in 
 some remote parts of the British territory. At the 
 western extremity of Canada, upon the waters which 
 fall into Lake Winnipeg, and uniting in the great 
 river of Port Nelson discharge themselves into 
 Hudson's Bay, is a country which the Indian traders 
 represent as fertile, and of a climate far more tem- 
 perate than the shores of the Atlantic under the same 
 parallel, and not more severe than that of Germany 
 or Poland. Here, therefore, the colonists may, with 
 a moderate exertion of industry, be certain of a com- 
 fortable subsistence ; and they may also raise some 
 valuable objects of exportation. . . . Some of the 
 British traders have extended their discoveries into a 
 climate which appears well adapted even for the vine, 
 the successful cultivation of which would save immense 
 sums that go every year from this kingdom into the 
 hands of its enemies. To a colony in these terri- 
 tories the channel of trade must be the river of Port 
 Nelson." 
 
 The matter was referred to Lord Buckinghamshire, 
 Colonial Secretary, but the plan failed for the time, 
 not because of any unsuitableness of the country, but 
 " because the prejudices of the British people were so 
 strong against emigration." During the next year^ 
 1803, as we have seen, a considerable colony of High- 
 landers, despite all obstacles, were led by Lord Selkirk 
 to the New World ; and through the wishes of the 
 Government he was under the necessity of taking 
 
144 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 them not to the Lake Winnipeg, but to Prince 
 Edward Island. After seeing his colonists safe in 
 Prince Edward Island, he went to Canada and the 
 United States. It was always a ruling motive with 
 Lord Selkirk to preserve to Britain her people who 
 were going in large numbers to the United States, 
 On visiting the United States he found numbers of 
 "families from Scotland and Wales now in New 
 England and the State of New York," who were 
 willing to remove to Upper Canada, if favourable 
 terms could be obtained. At this time choice land in 
 Upper Canada could be had at about seven pence 
 per acre. 
 
 A most interesting bundle of documents lies before 
 us, as to this repatriation movement from the United 
 States begun by his lordship, during the portions of 
 the years 1803 and 1804 spent by him in the New 
 World. A few families of the Prince Edward Colony, 
 some twenty in number, had come on to a settlement 
 begun by an agent in behalf of his lordship in Upper 
 Canada, so early as 1802 or 1S03. This settlement 
 was in the townships of Dover and Chatham, in the 
 extreme west of the province, and lay above Detroit 
 between Lake St. Clair and the River Thames. To 
 this settlement was given the name " Baldoon," taken 
 from a portion of the estates of his lordship in the 
 south of Scotland. 
 
 During the year 1 804 Lord Selkirk was in frequent 
 correspondence with the Executive of Upper Canada 
 as to plans for the settlement and advancement of 
 Upper Canada. As any one knows who is at all 
 conversant with the early history of that province, one 
 
 I i 
 
Selkirk Settlement. 
 
 145 
 
 fequent 
 
 lanada 
 
 mt of 
 
 at all 
 
 :e, one 
 
 of the great obstacles to its settlement was the want 
 of roads, by which new districts might be readied. 
 So greatly was this felt that his lordship, as a man 
 of means, was induced to make a proposition to the 
 government for the carrying out of an excellent scheme 
 for connecting his settlement as well as other western 
 settlements with York (Toronto) by means of a good 
 waggon-road. 
 
 His proposal is made on the 30th of August, 1804, 
 to General Hunter, at that time Governor of Upper 
 Canada. He proposes to build the road from the 
 Grand River to Amherstburgh, which he estimates to 
 cost about 20,000/. ; or should the government prefer 
 it the whole distance from York to Amherstburgh, 
 which would cost about 40,000/., not being much less 
 than three hundred miles. For this, as the colony was 
 poor and unable to raise money, he offers to accept a 
 payment of wild lands on each side of the road to be 
 built. This would have undoubtedly been a great 
 boon to the province, but the executive counci.', esti- 
 mating the land at a figure far above the market 
 price, considered the terms offered by Lord Selkirk 
 too high, and missed the rare opportunity of having 
 the highway through the province made. 
 
 In the year 1805 a proposal was made by Lord Sel- 
 kirk from Loiidon to take and settle one of the Mo- 
 hawk townships on the Grand River in Upper Canada, 
 and the government seem to have acquiesced in the 
 proposal ; but the troubled state of Europe appears to 
 have directed attention for a time from the scheme. 
 The swampy character of the soil in the Baldoon 
 settlement was found to render the region anything 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 but healthful, and the colony at that place cainot be 
 said to have succeeded. 
 
 But Selkirk, undeterred by the difficulties of colo- 
 nizing, turned his eyes to the very spot he had first 
 brought before the British Government — the region of 
 Lake Winnipeg — and there he would found a new 
 province — a Selkirk colony — where life under new 
 circumstances would be worked out. A grand con- 
 ception, surely ! 
 
 " Visionary ! " say the selfish, timid, ease-loving 
 critics, full of sordid, common-place ideas. God be 
 praised that there are men whom such worms of the 
 dust call visionary! 
 
 Columbus was such a visionary — " he would be lost 
 in an unknown sea." Penn was visionary — "his colonists 
 must inevitably perish from the Indians unless they 
 used sword and gun to protect themselves." Morse 
 was visionary — " to dream of transmitting thought 
 along a slender wire ! " And so with scores of earth's 
 greatest minds. " Monomaniacs," ** lunatics," " bores," 
 " narrow," " peculiar," " impracticable," a whole host of 
 like expressions are hurled at the heads of projectors of 
 new things, the propounders of great ideas, the choice 
 minds that can grasp the ideal. But America was 
 discovered ; Pennsylvania was founded ; the telegraph 
 does work : yes, and Lord Selkirk's state is rising in 
 Manitoba, and the Hudson's Bay route is claiming 
 great attention to-day. 
 
 Unable to obtain the co-operation of the British 
 Government in his scheme of North-west settlement, 
 Lord Selkirk now formed the bold project of obtaininr^ 
 through the agency of the Hudson's Bay Company 
 
Selkirk Settlement. 
 
 147 
 
 iming 
 
 the requisite territory. About the year 1 8 1 o, he began 
 to turn his attention in earnest to the matter. His 
 plan was to become possessed from the Company of a 
 considerable territory, where he might implant his 
 colony, and carry out his grand experiment. The first 
 thing was to find out whether the Hudson's Bay 
 Company had any right or title to the immense pos- 
 sessions claimed by them. Lord Selkirk submitted 
 the Hudson's Bay Company's charter to the highest 
 legal authorities in London at the time. 
 
 Their opinion is given in full. 
 
 " We are of opinion that the grant of the soil con- 
 tained in the charter is good, and that it will include 
 all the country, the waters of which run into Hudson's 
 Bay, as ascertained by geographical observations. 
 
 " We are of opinion that an individual, holding from 
 the Hudson's Bay Company a lease, or grant in fee 
 simple of any part of their territory, will be entitled 
 to all the ordinary rights of landed property in England, 
 and will be entitled to prevent other persons from 
 occupying any part of the lands, from cutting down 
 timber, and fishing in the adjoining waters (being 
 such as a private right of fishing may subsist in), and 
 may (if he can peaceably or otherwise by due course 
 of law) dispossess them of any buildings which they 
 have recently erected within the limits of their 
 property. 
 
 "We are of opinion that the grant of the civil and 
 criminal jurisdiction is valid, but it is not granted to 
 the Company, but to the Government and Council at 
 their respective establishments : but we cannot recom- 
 mend it to be exercised so as to affect the lives or 
 
 L 2 
 
148 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 limbs of criminals. It is to be exercised by the 
 governor and council as judges, who are to proceed 
 according to the law of England. 
 
 " The Company may appoint a sheriff to execute 
 judgments, and to do his duty as in England. 
 
 "We are of opinion that the sheriff, in case of 
 resistance to his authority, may collect the population 
 to his assistance, and may put arms into the hands of 
 his servants for defence against attack, and to assist 
 in enforcing the judgments of the court ; but such 
 powers cannot be exercised with too much circum- 
 spection. 
 
 " We are of opinion that all persons will be subject 
 to the jurisdiction of the court, who reside, or are 
 found within the territories over which it extends. 
 
 "We do not think the Canada Jurisdiction Act 
 (43 Geo. III.) gives jurisdiction within the territories 
 of the Hudson's Bay Company, the same being within 
 the jurisdiction of their own governors and council. 
 
 *' We are of opinion that the governor (in Hudson's 
 Bay) might, under the authority of the Company, 
 appoint constables and other officers for the preser- 
 vation of the peace, and that the officers so appointed 
 would have the same duties and privileges as the 
 same officers in England, so far as these duties and 
 privileges may be applicable to their situation in the 
 territories of the Company. 
 
 " Signed, Samuel Romilly. 
 
 G. S. HOLROYD (afterwards Mr. Justice). 
 W. M. Cruise. 
 J. Scarlett. 
 John Bell." 
 
 j> 
 
 )j 
 
Selkirk Settlement. 
 
 149 
 
 ice). 
 
 This opinion deserves much consideration. Pro- 
 nounced as it is, by most eminent counsel, not to 
 extricate a client from difficulties, but given at the 
 beginning of an enterprise, from which great con- 
 sequences were to follow, its force is greatly stronger 
 than it would have been in other circumstances. In 
 the midst of the troubles that afterwards arose on the 
 founding of Lord Selkirk's Colony, the Nor'-westers 
 obtained a legal opinion, in 18 16, from Sir Arthur 
 Pigott, Mr. Spankic, and Mr. Brougham, adverse in 
 tone to the one above cited. After reading it through, it 
 must be said that it does nothing more than suggest 
 possible doubts as to the legality of the exclusive 
 privileges conferred on the Company, of the grant to 
 Lord Selkirk, he being a member of the Hudson's 
 Bay Company, and as to the right of exercising juris- 
 diction — but these are of the most cautious and non- 
 committal character. It is very significant that the 
 North-west Company never ventured to bring its case 
 before the courts of law. 
 
 Fortified, one would have said beyond all doubt, by 
 the confident legal opinion given, Lord Selkirk pro- 
 ceeded to purchase a large quantity of the stock of 
 the Hudson's Bay Company. Up to May, 181 1, he 
 or his relatives had acquired some 35,000/. out of 
 a total capital variously stated as from 105,00c/. to 
 180,000/. Having finally and legally purchased so 
 large a portion of the stock, a general court of pro- 
 prietors was called to consider his proposition to settle, 
 within a limited time, a large colony — assuming the 
 expense of transport, of outlay for the settlers, of 
 Government, of protection, and of quieting the Indian 
 
-"»r)t'>ittHilit»i'iiii!i>tiiiiiMi» mtSim 
 
 150 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 title ; truly a large rcspc risibility should the grant be 
 made. The fur trade was largely destroyed in the Red 
 River valley, and no longer should there be any ob- 
 stacle to the settlement of so fertile and inviting a spot. 
 The North-western agents in London were thrown 
 into a state of consternation. The starving thousands 
 of Britain, and the fact that an immense region existed 
 fit to sustain them all in comfort, was nothing to them. 
 The empire of wolves and foxes was more congenial. 
 They sought to check the project by buying up the 
 Hudson's Bay Company stock, a thing represented as 
 monstrous on the part of Lord Selki'k, but quite defen- 
 sible when done for their purpose. Six proprietors — 
 William Thwaits, Robert Whitehead, John Fish, and 
 three avowed Nor'-westers, two of whom had only 
 bought Hudson's Bay Company stock within forty- 
 eight hours of the meeting — protested strongly against 
 the grant. Among other reasons of opposition, it is 
 amusing to see that they objected because the emi- 
 grant settlers would be placed "out of the reach of all 
 those aids and comforts which are derived from civil 
 society." Suffice it to say, that while there was this 
 opposition and protest, a great majority of the Pro- 
 prietors, and the Committee of Directors unanimously, 
 approved of the grant. The district thus disposed of 
 was called Assiniboia. It took its name undoubtedly 
 from the Assiniboel tribe ; though an enthusiastic 
 highlander of the time — as seen in " Chappell's Voy- 
 ages "• -maintains it to be derived from two Gaelic 
 words, " Osni " and " boia," the house of Ossian. It 
 is variously estimated to have been from 75,000 to 
 1 16,000 square miles in extent. It included the valleys 
 
 1 
 
Selkirk Settlement. 
 
 151 
 
 of the Red River and Asslniboine, and is undoubtedly- 
 one of the most fertile districts of North America. 
 
 Lord Sell^irk then issued the advertisement and 
 prospectus of the New Colony. The document holds 
 forth the advantages to be derived from joining the 
 colony. It is thoroughly in the line of the views 
 expressed in his work on " Emigration." We quote 
 one paragraph as showing the broad and generous 
 character of the proposal at a time when, it will 
 be remembered, British legislation was far from doing 
 equal justice to all the people. 
 
 " The settlement is to be formed in a territory where 
 religion is not the ground of any disqualification, an 
 unreserved participation in every privilege will there- 
 fore be enjoyed by Protestant and Catholic without 
 distinction," 
 
 In the spirit of the legal opinion given, provision 
 was made for the maintenance of peace and order in 
 the New Colony, and Mr. Miles Macdonell, formerly 
 Captain of the Queen's Rangers, was appointed Go- 
 vernor by the Hudson's Bay Company, and nominated 
 to the charge of his colony by Lord Selkirk. 
 
 In 181 1 the party, gathered from the North of 
 Scotland and West of Ireland, embarked, as we 
 have seen, some seventy of Highland cottars from 
 Sutherland and fifteen or twenty Irish people from 
 Sligo. This band of eighty or ninety persons arrived 
 at York Factory, on Hudson's Bay, too late in the 
 season to proceed further. 
 
 Settlers arriving on the shores of Hudson's Bay in 
 the latter part of summer, and having insufficient 
 clothing, could not but suffer, as thousands of settlers 
 
152 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 have done in Canada in like circumstances. Rations 
 were issued to them by the Hudson's Bay Company, 
 and all done that could be for their protection. In 
 1812, the party reached Red River, a number b(-\ng 
 laboun s, sr- .ciallj" engaged under a three years' con- 
 tract to a.^s!3i ■ 1 the erection of houses and to prepare 
 for the ari ' ■ xl O'. subsequent settlers. 
 
 During the year i3i2, very few persons were allowed 
 to go from Scotland by Lord Selkirk, although a large 
 number of applications were made. Not more than 
 fifteen or twenty went out, and those all of the class 
 that could be useful in preparing the way for others. 
 These arrived at Red River in 181 3, so that by the 
 close of that year, about 100 in all constituted the 
 colony. 
 
 The reception given to these early settlers was not 
 distinctly hostile. It was, however, far from cordial. 
 The North-west traders were the controlling power in 
 the country. The French Bois-brilles, a race whom 
 we shall afterwards describe, were in their employ ; 
 and the Indians were silent spectators, not knowing 
 how to act in the circumstances, but, on the whole, 
 friendly to the new-comers. 
 
 The two winters of 1 812-13 ^^^^ 181 3-14, as well as 
 several subsequent winters, were spent at Pembina, a 
 point about sixty miles further up Red River than the 
 settlement, and just at the 49° parallel N., the boun- 
 dary-line between British possessions and the United 
 States, but not at that time defined. North of this 
 line the country is more wooded and sheltered, and 
 to this day forms one of the advantages possessed by 
 Manitoba over the territory of Dakota, to the south of 
 
 
Selkirk Settlement. 
 
 153 
 
 1 as 
 a, a 
 the 
 Dun- 
 ited 
 this 
 and 
 dby 
 :hof 
 
 it. But this very peculiarity prevented the vast herds 
 of buffalo which frequent the exposed plains from 
 approaching the settlement ; accordincjly, it was neces- 
 sary that the settlers, to obtain a sufficient supply of 
 food, should go to the more exposed locality. 
 
 Under Governor Macdonell's direction, a fort had 
 been erected at Pembina, Fort Daer, bearing as its 
 name one of Lord Selkirk's titles. This aff ' ^'\ shelter 
 and protection to the settlers. But the?" iifc , oven at 
 this point, was a hard one. As to spc-L-, the buffalo 
 will distance a fleet horse, and the Selknk' -'•vonists had 
 not a horse among them. Their only mode of getting 
 an occasional buffalo was to creep noi, i> ssly through 
 the snow, among the scanty bushes, and approach the 
 wild herd by stealth. Even this was rendered difficult 
 by threats from the Nor'-westers, who never were 
 guilty, at this time, of open outrages, but who inspired 
 the Bois-brCdes, and the Indians — o-, it is said, dis- 
 guised themselves as Indians — to accomplish acts of 
 violence. They are even accused of having driven 
 away the buffalo out of reach of the settlement. 
 When at Red River in summer fish and buffalo meat 
 were not obtainable, the settlers were at times driven 
 to live upon the roots of a species of wild parsnip and 
 upon other herbs. 
 
 During the spring of 18 14 they succeeded in sowing 
 a small quantity of wheat, which they had secured at 
 Fort Alexander, a port on the east shore of Lake 
 Winnipeg. Neither horse nor ox had the settlers 
 wherewith to till the soil, but there were no trees 
 requiring to be cut down, and they did the best they 
 could with hoes to prepare the ground. 
 
 
 \'j 
 

 .£.tfSig^<i^->'»l^^)IW«*«fe4.#»aiwriSiiMMB^ 
 
 
 
 154 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 It was at this juncture that the third brigade or 
 party, the largest yet, arrived in the settlement. They 
 had left the Orkneys in the Prince of JVa/es, sail- 
 ing-vessel, in June, 1813. The party was made up at 
 starting of ninety-three persons, and was under the 
 command of Mr. Archibald Macdonald, who has 
 written, in a concise and remarkably clear pamphlet, 
 an account of the voyage. Mr. Macdonald remained 
 during the winter with his company at Churchill ; and 
 early in April, 1 8 14, after having all the season sup- 
 plied the people with provisions, went with fifty-one 
 persons to York Factory, no doubt the stronger of them, 
 who it was very important should reach Red River early 
 enough in the season to obtain a crop. They reached 
 Red River on the 22nd of June, and were immediately 
 supplied with thirty or forty bushels of potatoes for 
 planting. The company was in excellent health and 
 spirits. They were favourably impressed with the 
 country, and wrote numerous letters to their friends 
 in Scotland, urging them to join them in their new 
 homes. 
 
 Immediately on their arrival steps were taken 
 to give the settlers land, and by the 12th of July 
 each family was put in possession of a hundred acres. 
 Being thoroughly satisfied, they proceeded to build 
 houses, and on the 25th of July, the Governor, Miles 
 Macdonell, started northward, bearing the letters 
 referred to, and intending to bring the remainder of the 
 party from Churchill ; while Archibald Macdonald and 
 Peter Fidler were left in charge of the colony, at that 
 time consisting of about 1 50 souls. Later in the season 
 the remainder of Alexander Macdonald's party ar- 
 
Selkirk Settlement. 
 
 155 
 
 res. 
 uild 
 
 ilea 
 ters 
 
 the 
 and 
 that 
 
 LSOll 
 
 ar- 
 
 
 rived, and now the population of the colony numbered 
 about 200. 
 
 But this year, 18 14, was one of the eventful years 
 of the colony. The attitude of the North-west Com- 
 pany became decidedly hostile, and there could no 
 longer be any doubt as to their intentions. We shall 
 be compelled, in another chapter, to enter more fully 
 into the actions of the North-west Company; suffice it 
 to mention here, as necessary to our narrative, that in 
 January of the year 18 14, Governor Miles Macdonell 
 took a step, which was laid hold of to justify open 
 hostility on the part of the North-west Company. The 
 governor issued a proclamation that, on account of 
 the demands of the settlers and the necessity for 
 preparing for others arriving, no provisions should be 
 exported from the country, but that payment would 
 be made by him for all provisions brought to him. 
 Steps were likewise taken to see that the proclama- 
 tion was not disregarded. 
 
 It was after the month of August of this year that 
 a man appeared upon the scene, who figured largely 
 in the events of that and the following year — Duncan 
 Cameron by name. He was put in charge of the North- 
 western Fort, known as Fort Gibraltar, half a mile 
 nearer the Forks than Fort Douglas. He appeared 
 at Red River, sporting a suit of military uniform, 
 gave himself out as a captain in his Majesty^s service, 
 and acting by the king's authority vested in him by 
 Sir George Prevost,, took every way of ingratiating 
 himself into the good graces of the colonists. He 
 spoke their language — always a recommendation to 
 every well-conditioned highlander — he entertained the 
 
156 
 
 Manitoha. 
 
 settlers at his table, and sympathized with thctn in 
 their trials, greatly blaming Lord Selkirk for their 
 troubles. He spoke of the dangers from the Indians 
 and of the great attractions of the new lands of 
 Canada, offering cattle, implements, a free passage, 
 and other inducements, should the settlers leave Red 
 River and accept his assistance in making new homes 
 in the East. By representing the danger and suffer- 
 ing of their present situation, and painting in glowing 
 colours the advantages of Canada, a majority of the 
 settlers were gained over. Several arrests had been 
 made by the Nor'-westers, notably that of the Sheriff 
 Spencer. In 1815, the Nor'-westers robbed Fort 
 Douglas whilst the governor was absent at Fort Daer. 
 Cannon, fire-arms, tools, &c., were carried off, and the 
 settlers were more than ever impressed by the power 
 of the North-west Company. 
 
 In June three-fourths of the settlers left the country. 
 Cameron had succeeded well. These numbered about 
 140, and their descendants may be found in West 
 Gwillimbury, Zorra, and the counties of Elgin and 
 Middlesex, in Ontario. 
 
 Three-fourths of the band having thus been led 
 away by guile, force was now resorted to by the Nor'- 
 westers to rid themselves of the remainder. A docu- 
 ment was served on them to the following effect : — 
 
 "All settlers to retire immediately from the Red 
 River, and no trace of a settlement to remain. 
 
 "CuTHBERT Grant, 
 
 " BOSTONAIS PaNGMAN, 
 
 " William Shaw, 
 
 " BOxNiiOMME Montour. 
 
 " Junei^th, I Sis." 
 
 \ 
 
Selkirk Settllmlnt. 
 
 157 
 
 i 
 
 .ed 
 
 Tlicsc were scrv.ints of the Nortli-wcstcrs. Of 
 Cuthbcrt Grant wc shall hear af:jain. 
 
 On the 27th June, the belea^^uered settlers, some 
 thirteen families, in all from forty to sixty persons, 
 who remained true to Lord Selkirk and the cohmy.were 
 driven from their homes like the Acadian refu<^ees, 
 and journeyed northward to Norway House (Jack 
 River) on the way to Hudson's l^ay. They had been 
 there but a very short time when Colin Robertson 
 and some twenty clerks and servants arrived at Jack 
 River, coming from Canada, and with him they 
 returned, more fortunate than the refugees of Grand 
 Pre, and re-occupied the houses remaining — for most 
 of their homes had been ruthlessly burnt by the 
 North-western banditti. Robertson had been sent 
 by Lord Selkirk to assist the colony, and had arrived 
 with his attendants at Red River to find the settle- 
 ment destroyed and the settlers dispersed. It was 
 then that he had followed the refugees, and finding 
 them at Jack River, he led them back to the blackened 
 sites of their former homes on 19th of August, 1815. 
 
 The colony now consisted of about one-fourth of 
 its original number, but it was soon recruited again. 
 In the month of October of the same year the largest 
 part^ that had yet arrived at one time landed at Red 
 River, and swelled the numbers up to about three- 
 fourths of the population of the colony before 
 Cameron commenced his insidious arts. With great 
 diligence and hopefulness the settlers now prepared 
 for the future. The desertion of a large party .)f them 
 tended to make the remainder more deterriii'ied, and 
 the new arrivals were cheered by hearing of the return 
 
 i2 
 
 I 
 
158 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 of the exiles a short time before them, and with the 
 prospects of a time of peace on the broad lands of 
 their generous patron. 
 
 The winter over at Pembina, the settlers, cheered 
 by the genial spring, were looking forward to a season 
 of work and progress. Rumours had, it is true, 
 reached them of hostile intentions on the part of the 
 Bois-brules and Nor'-westers, but these they had 
 hoped would turn out empty threats. The crops had 
 been sown, the green grain was in the fields, and the 
 grass was on the plains, when the' threatened attack 
 came. A horde of Bois-brtiles appeared, and before 
 the sun had set a hostile attack had been made on the 
 governor and his body-guard. Governor Semple, 
 who was at that time over the settlement, and twenty 
 men were brutally murdered on the plain, a number 
 of the settlers taken prisoners by the banditti, and 
 again the notice was served upon them in June, iSi6, 
 to desert their new homes and seek their native land. 
 What evil genius follows the refugees of Sutherland- 
 shire that neither in old world nor in new can they find 
 rest for the soles of their feet ! Almost better to have 
 perished in the sea than, having faced the dangers of 
 the loig and toilsome journey, be exposed to the 
 tendc!' mercies of the wild race of reckless fur-traders. 
 Wofully they betake themselves to their boats and hie 
 away to the resort of Norway House, at the northern 
 extremity of Lake Winnipeg, to wait for news from 
 their patron and powerful friend, who, we shall see, 
 was not forgetful of them in their distress. 
 
 Such was the stormy period of five years spent by 
 the Selkirk settlers on their journeyings, or on the 
 
 I 
 
Selkirk Settlement. 
 
 159 
 
 4 
 
 \ 
 
 banks of Red River. It was a struggle for existence 
 in the fullest sense. Hunger, fear, threatcnings, 
 deceit, poverty, bloodshed, were the constant features 
 of their lives. Their brethren who deserted the settle- 
 ment, taught by the double-faced Cameron, have 
 spoken many an ill thing of Lord Selkirk, their bene- 
 factor ; some of them with ill-disguised hatred lent 
 themselves as instruments in the hands of his enemies 
 in the legal prosecution that took place in subsequent 
 years ; but it is the unanimous testimony of the 
 Selkirk colonists who remained, and their descendants, 
 that no man was ever a truer friend to the settler 
 than the founder of the colony of Red River. 
 
 As it is always interesting to get the statements of 
 those who are eye-witnesses, the account of one of the 
 original Selkirk settlers, still living, is subjoined, taken 
 down last year (1881) from the lips of the narrator, 
 who was a lad when he came to Red River from 
 Sutherlandshire in 18 15, and who gives his account 
 in his own way. 
 
 .^ 
 
 see, 
 
 by 
 the 
 
 Story of John Polson, Farmer. 
 
 " The early settlement extended from where the City 
 of Winnipeg begins northward to the Frog Plain. 
 There was no settlement across the river on the cast 
 side until a good while after 181 5. The Gunns and 
 the Mathesons were the first who began on that 
 side. We came out in the fall of 18 15, though some 
 came previously in 181 1 and 18 13. We started, I 
 believe, in the month of June, and came through here 
 in one season. We came by way of Hudson's Bay 
 to York Factory, and did not go to Churchill at all. 
 
i6o 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 Wc were ten weeks on the sea. The journey from 
 York Factory here took something over a month. I 
 only know of this from having been told it. There 
 were very old persons and very young persons in the 
 party. 
 
 " I icmcmber where Fort Douglas stood. It stood 
 just on the north side of the creek, this side north of 
 Alexander Logan's house, in the city of Winnipeg. 
 A large windmill stood there for many years after- 
 wards, though it was not in existence at that time. 
 The fort was near the bank of Red River; a good deal of 
 the land on which it stood has broken away and fallen 
 into the river. Some Indians were buried just there, at 
 Point Douglas, the graves having been sunk very deep. 
 I remember seeing years afterwards the ends of the 
 coffins protruding out of the bank. I do not know 
 that all the ground on which the fort stood is now 
 under water in the river, but a good deal of it has 
 fallen. 
 
 " I remember old Fort Gibraltar, the North-west 
 Company's fort. It stood between the old Fort 
 Garr}^ and the Upper Ferry, about where the immi- 
 grant sheds now are, I think. The Hudson's Bay 
 Company had also a fort there alongside Fort Gib- 
 raltar, for Fort Douglas was the colonists' fort. The 
 present fine fort was built where it now stands, in 
 Governor Christie's time, about 1835, I think. The 
 first house built in it (the old store) stands there still, 
 but they have covered it over again. Governor 
 Christie was a stout Scotchman. He was a long 
 time governor. 
 
 " Not only was there this settlement in Kildonan 
 
Selkirk Settlement. 
 
 i6r 
 
 when we came, but the French were on the other 
 side of the river above the fort ; also on this side as 
 far down as Fort Douglas, and where the railway 
 bridge now is. The year we arrived the Selkirk 
 settlers had largely left and gone to Canada ; those 
 who did not go had been driven away, but came 
 back before we arrived. There were not many of 
 them. Senator Sutherland's mother was one of those 
 who stayed ; her name was Catherine McPherson. 
 She met us here, and lived and died here. She re- 
 sided at Point Douglas near where the new bridge is 
 when I mind (remember) her. A few of the sc.'-.tlers 
 who came when we did went to Canada also. 
 
 " I knew the old catechist Sutherland, who came 
 with the settlers instead of Mr. Sa^e, a minister who 
 was to have come with us, but who remained behind 
 because he wanted to have another year finishing his 
 studies. The catechist was invested with the authority 
 to marry and baptize. He had a family. A son of 
 his from Canada came to visit us a few years ago. 
 Mr. Sutherland, the catechist, was a ver :ie man, and 
 a very good man in the opinion of the ttlers. 
 
 " There were hard times among the ' v settlers who 
 remained. That was after the mure or of Governor 
 Semple, which took place, I believe the next spring 
 after we cam.e. The Bois-brulcs camped where the 
 old water-mill was, at the creek, at (the present) 
 Sheriff Inkster's — that was where the rirst shots were 
 fired. I must have seen Governor Semple, but I 
 mind nothing about him. VVe went with the rest of 
 the people who were sent off to Norway house in 
 1816, and we passed a winter there. The next winter 
 
 M 
 
 4 
 
l62 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 we went to Pembina. There had been no crop ex- 
 cept, perhaps, a little that had been put down with 
 the hoc, but nothing to keep us. I can just mind a 
 little of the place at Pembina, it was on the far-off 
 side of the little river (the Pembina). The fort was 
 on the south side, I do not remember that it was 
 called P'ort Daer. There was a north-western fort 
 on the other side. The vicinity was a large plain, 
 and I have seen it dark with buffalo. That was some 
 time about the New Year. I would go up on the 
 top of oni; of our little shanties and I could not see 
 an openirg in the great black mass of moving crea- 
 tures. One would just have thc^ught that it was a 
 flock of sheep standing together. The men used to 
 ciawl after them, that was iheir way of hunting. 
 
 " In the summer w^e came down by boat, and began 
 a, little farming by the hoe. Here, at Kildonan, it 
 was a wooded place ; it was so from the river out to 
 the main road when we came here. The next winter 
 we went again to Pembina ; but after that we raised 
 so much that we could do without going. The 
 Indians were harmless, and the people were not afraid 
 of them ; they had no reason to be so. The Indians 
 gave all of us white men the name of ' Shagenash.' 
 I do not remember that they used to us the names 
 * jardiniers,' or * tillers of the soil.' It would be the 
 Bois-brules who would call us by that name. 
 
 "I remember wel! i^ord Selkirk, I do not mind about 
 seeing him at starting. He came with a band of 
 men from Canada ; I cannot now describe to you 
 the appearance of the man. When he came with his 
 soldiers, I believe they had hard times. I remember 
 
 t 
 
J 
 
 i1 
 
 t 
 
 i 
 
 ■t ■ 
 
 Selkirk Settlement. 
 
 163 
 
 seeing his soldiers, but they had not nfiilitary clothes. 
 Kaufman (one who became a settler) was one of them. 
 He was a smart little man ; he married a McKay, one 
 of our people. There were after this a few of these 
 Germans who settled about the little river (the Seine) 
 that empties into the Red River at St. Boniface. We 
 have always called the stream German Creek, after 
 them. There w^ere also some Swiss who came to the 
 country ; they came out by Hudson's Bay, by the 
 same route taken by us. Land was given out to them 
 in small lots, and they settled near German Creek. 
 All these left the country after a great flood we had 
 in 1826. 
 
 " Coming back to our fori i^Douglas) old Mr. 
 (Thomas) Logan bought the whole place where the 
 c^elkirk Fort, then called the Colony Fort, stood. The 
 fort was built of standing wood, the lower ends 
 driven into the ground, and was composed of good- 
 sized logs, twelve or fifteen feet high, as palisades. I 
 think it was as large as the old part of the present 
 Fort Garry. There was a store inside of it, also a 
 forge, a carpenter's shop, the master's house, and a 
 great many other buildings. I cannot say how 
 many. The nearest house to it from the end of the 
 settlement was where Neil McDonald^s place was. 
 
 " As to whether there were any Irish people in the 
 early settlement, I do not mind of any in the ship 
 with us. Bourke (Irish) was here before us, I think. 
 The first I mind of him, he lived across the river a 
 little this side of where the new bridge now is. He 
 married a Sioux half-breed woman. She was half 
 Scotch ; I cannot recollect her name. I think I mind 
 
 M 2 
 
1 64 
 
 Manitoi^a. 
 
 Andrew McDcrmott (died 1881) about as early as I 
 mind anything else. He was an Irishman, and 
 came out with the first colonists. The first I mind 
 of him is that he used to go buffalo-hunting. He 
 was a big trader with the Indians. The father of the 
 Bourkes, of whom I have spoken, went to the plains 
 also to hunt. These two were here when I came ; I 
 cannot mind of any other Irishman who was here 
 before us. It is likely that there were others, but I 
 cannot say. 
 
 " I have heard of Duncan Cameron, the man that 
 coaxed away a lot of the Selkirk settlers to Canada. 
 The North-west Company offered to give a free 
 passage to Canada to any settlers who would go. I 
 don't remember who was governor of the North-west 
 Fort, when we came here. I remember Cuthbert 
 Grant ; he was a very stout, heavy man, but not 
 iil'ort. I cannot say who was his first wife, but the 
 last was a McGill ; she was half Scotch. He had 
 sons and daughters by his second wife. Charles 
 Grant is the only son whom I remember. He went 
 out somewhere to the Pembina Mountain country. 
 Cuthbert Gr.int himself was half Scotch. The first 
 that I knew of him here was at the time of the 
 troubles. He came with the Bois-brules' brigade. I 
 think the settlers have to thank him that things went 
 so easily as they did. He did not go at all by his 
 orders, which were much worse. Though he was 
 opposed to the settlers he was their best friend. I 
 honestly believe Lord Selkirk was a good man, and 
 wished to do good. He could not help the hard 
 times we had here. 
 
 1 
 
 \ 
 
Selkirk Settlement. 
 
 165 
 
 I 
 
 md 
 ird 
 
 " Do you want to know what some of these were ? 
 The last spring that we came from Pembina we were 
 beginning to do a little here. Our family had a little 
 shanty on this same road by the river. There was a 
 fire that started just this side of Fort Douglas. It 
 happened to be a time of drought, and the fire burnt 
 everything before it. The people gathered, and were 
 crossing the r.ver away from the fire in a little boat ; 
 but the boat had got full, and we had to stop there 
 by the water's edge until the fire passed. When we 
 came back the house was gone, and we had nothing 
 in the world. We were left without a morsel of food, 
 but we got something given us for dinner, and there 
 never was a time when we could not procure some- 
 thing to eat. 
 
 ** The first crop we put down there was eaten up by 
 grasshoppers, which came very, very thick. We had 
 
 patch of barley which was about ripe. There was 
 also some wheat which was not yet ripe. The grass- 
 hoppers totally destroyed the wheat and cut off the 
 barley just below the heads, so that these fell to the 
 ground. We gathered thirteen bushels of the heads. 
 The grasshoppers did not eat the grain, as it was so 
 nearly ripe. 
 
 *T. mind when the Red River was very much narrower 
 than it is now. A man that would throw a little 
 stone well could throw it across the river down at the 
 point." (It is now upwards of 200 yards where the rail- 
 way bridge spans it. — Ed.) " I dof}'t think it was more 
 than half the width it is now. I have heard of tv/o 
 trees that had fallen in from opposite sides, whose 
 tops met, and on which people rould cross. Tliat 
 
i66 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 was opposite Kildonan church, but I don't mind 
 about it. The river was quite small tlicn, perhaps 
 that accounted for the floods we had. But by-and- 
 by our troubles ended— war and famine and flood and 
 poverty, all passed away, and now we think there is 
 no such place to be found as the valley of the Red 
 River." 
 
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 167 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE INDIANS OF SELKIRK COLONY. 
 
 The picture of the Indians of the continent since 
 the Europeans landed upon American shores, is one 
 marked with colours most lurid and dismal. The 
 historian has generally represented the colonists as 
 the peaceful and industrious victims, while the Indians 
 figure as silent midnight marauders, as cruel and 
 vindictive avengers, and as the diabolical torturers of 
 even women and children taken prisoners by them 
 ill war. It is true the Indian is fierce in nature, jealous 
 in disposition, and long in forgetting injuries, but it 
 is also true that he is firm in friendship, and most 
 generous with all that he possesses. 
 
 What could exceed the tenderness of the Sioux 
 mother, of whom mention is made by Jonathan 
 Carver, an early traveller on the western prairies ? 
 " While I remained among them," says Carver, " a 
 couple, whose tent was adjacent to mine, lost a son 
 of about four years of age. The parents were so 
 much affected at the death of their child, that they 
 pursued the usual testimonies of grief with such un- 
 
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 Manitoba. 
 
 common rigour as, through the weight of sorrow and 
 loss of blood, to occasion the death of the father. 
 The woman, who had been hitherto inconsolable, no 
 sooner saw her husband expire, than she dried up 
 her tears, and appeared cheerful and resigned. As 
 I knew not how to account for so extraordinary a 
 transition, I took an opportunity to ask her the reason 
 of it ; telling her, at the same time, that I should 
 have imagined the loss of her husband would rather 
 have occasioned an increase of grief than such a 
 sudden diminution of it. She informed me, that as 
 the child was so young when it died, and unable to 
 support itself in the country of spirits, both she and 
 her husband had been apprehensive that its situation 
 would be far from happy ; but no sooner did she 
 behold its father depart for the same place, who not 
 only loved the child with the tenderest affection but 
 was a good hunter, and would be able to provide 
 plentifully for its support, than she ceased to mourn. 
 She added, that she now saw no reason to continue 
 her tears, as the child, on whom she doted, was happy 
 under the care and protection of a fond father ; and 
 she had only one wish that remained ungratified, 
 which was that of being herself with them." 
 
 Or ^what nobler example of self-restraint need we 
 than that related by Charlevoix of a Huron chief, 
 who was one day insulted and struck by a youth ? 
 Those who witnessed this were upon the point of 
 instantly punishing the offender for his audacity. 
 "Let him alone," said the chief; "did you perceive 
 the earth tremble } The youth is sufficiently conscious 
 of his folly." 
 
 ■i 
 
 11 
 
 
The Indians of Selkirk Colony. 169 
 
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 ve 
 
 us 
 
 Few instances can be pointed out in the history of 
 America in which the Indian nations have been the 
 aggressors ; and the woes and sufferings of the poor 
 Indian, brought upon him by the white man's avarice 
 and injustice, would be a story long to tell. The 
 " Indian Question " is a question entirely of the 
 white man's making, for invariably when the European 
 on first acquaintance has come, bearing the olive 
 branch, the Indian has gone cheerfully forth to meet 
 him. But to rob the savage of his best land, to limit 
 him to some rocky or sandy reserve, to destroy his 
 reason with intoxicating drink, to pledge faith with 
 him, and then when the coal-mine, or gold, or silver 
 is found upon the territory allotted to him, to drive 
 him from it under the plea that the white man needs 
 it ; to pursue this policy for generations and then to 
 be surprised that the Indian resents, that he sulks 
 and is revengeful, is the height of unreasonableness. 
 
 The theory that the savage man has no rights in 
 the territory over which he wanders because the 
 civilized man can employ it better, is one that will 
 not bear discussion. I have a garden that, with my 
 rude taste and imperfect methods of cultivation, pro- 
 duces enough for my family, and gives me pleasure ; 
 but a more skilled gardener finds me out, and because 
 he can make beautiful roses bloom where I can only 
 produce humble columbines, because through art the 
 luscious peach can be made to take the place of my 
 gnarled old crab-tree, the new-comer must needs dis- 
 possess me, must drive me from the garden of my 
 youth, and send me to unknown regions for my 
 pleasure and support. This may be a form of the 
 
170 
 
 IVlANITOBA. 
 
 new gospel of culture, but one, we venture to think, 
 that will not be a gospel of peace. A Sioux chief 
 once, on being reproached for the cruelties shown by 
 the Indians, went to the root of the matter, when he 
 said, "Among white people, nobody ever take your 
 wife — take your children — take your mother — cut off 
 nose — cut eyes out — burn to death? No! Thcn^ou 
 no cut off nose — }'ou no cut out eyes— you no burn to 
 death — very good." 
 
 Lord Selkirk's colony had been threatened with 
 dangers from the Indians too numerous and terrible 
 to be mentioned in detail, by the North-westers in 
 London and Montreal, and yet the red man from the 
 first was far more disposed to befriend than to oppose 
 the incoming settler. It is true suggestions were 
 made, as was ascertained afterwards, to almost every 
 Indian band, urging them to destroy the colonists, 
 as invaders of the soil ; but the Indian sagamores took 
 time to consider the matter, and their verdict was one 
 entirely favourable to the settlers. The settlement 
 afforded them the means of livelihood, gave them 
 shelter in the severest weather, and held out the hope 
 of better returns for all that the chase could supply 
 to them. 
 
 When Lord Selkirk obtained possession from the 
 Hudson's Bay Company of his territory of Assiniboia, 
 there were portions of at least three great Indian 
 nations within its limits. These were the Ojibeways, 
 Crees, and Sioux. The Ojibeways seem to be generi- 
 cally one with the Crees. The Ojibeway nation 
 seems for a long time to have exhibited a tendency 
 to migrate westward. The Indians found to the north 
 
 u 
 
 J 
 
The Indians of Selkirk Colony. 
 
 171 
 
 the 
 
 ays, 
 neri- 
 tion 
 
 of Lakes Huron and Superior, as far west and north 
 as Lake Nipic^on, represent the stock race. But as 
 the movement westward took place, the outi^^oing ad- 
 venturers passed t:^radually through the streams and 
 lakes of the rocky region extendini^ to Lake Winnipeg', 
 left the regionof wood and rock, and souc:jhtthe fertile 
 plains of the Saskatchewan district, and from being 
 entirely fishing and wood-hunting Indians, were hunters 
 on the plains as well. These altered somewhat in 
 habits and language became a separate nation, known 
 as the Knisteneaux or Crees. Though their habits 
 have much changed to meet the new conditions of 
 their lives, the large bones, coarse features, and un- 
 wieldy forms of the Crees, mark them out as Ojibeways 
 wherever found. Some of the nation who remained 
 in the low-lying district immediately surrounding Lake 
 Winnipeg, became known as the Swampy Crees or 
 Swampies, and by the Bois-brules are called the 
 Muskegons, or "dwellers in the Muskeg," the common 
 Indian word for swamp. More recent migrations still 
 have taken place from the Rocky Ojibeway Fatherland. 
 Ever since the French occupation of the country about 
 Lake Huron,|Lake Michigan, and the St. Mary River, 
 from 1608 to 1650, this westward movement has been 
 manifesting itself. 
 
 The early Jesuit missionaries relate that they met 
 thousands of Ojibeways at Saiilt Ste. Marie. There 
 seems good reason for receiving some of the state- 
 ments with caution, but there was plainly a very 
 much larger number of Indians in that district than 
 at the present time, when their numbers are very 
 small. But as showing the movement westward 
 
172 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 that had been made, a considerable number of the 
 Indians in the Lake Winnipeg district in the time of 
 Lord Selkirk bore, and their descendants still retain, 
 the name Saulteaux, or people from the Sault. 
 
 As to mode of life the Ojibeways live largely on 
 fish, and on the smaller game of the rivers and streams. 
 They arc not distinguished for ferocity, but are deter- 
 mined in their wars. They have, on the whole, been 
 peaceful Indians, though more eager to adopt the 
 vices than the virtues of the white man. They are 
 divided into numerous bands, which seem chiefly large 
 famili , and make up together a village of larger or 
 smaller size. The lodges, of which their villages are 
 composed, are made of firm ribs of hard wood, covered 
 over with birch-bark sections closely sewed together. 
 These, which are known as " teepees," are somewhat 
 of the shape of an inverted cauldron, and are about 
 five or six feet in height. The fire in the centre of 
 each teepee secures ample fumigation for all articles 
 of dress, and blind Indians and those with sore eyes 
 are common among this tribe, probably from the acrid 
 principles carried in the smoke, which is often that of 
 the willow so common in their country. In summer 
 the fires are outside the dwellings, and serve not only 
 to cook, but also to keep in check the plague of the 
 swamp country — the mosquito. It is an amusing fact 
 that the inevitable mosquito of the forest wilds, and 
 low prairie as well, exhibits a much more kindly dis- 
 position to the Indian, or the Canadian and American 
 native-born inhabitant, than he does to the full-blooded, 
 and well-conditioned European foreigner, at least till 
 the new comer becomes acclimated. The Indian camp 
 
 1 ; 
 
,TiiE Indians of Sfxkirk Colony. 173 
 
 is pitched ill some sheltered spot on the bank of 
 the pleasant fish-bcarin^i; stream, and often at the 
 rapids or shallows, where the fish are more easily 
 caught. Dogs and uncouth children form one of the 
 chief features of an Ojibeway camp. 
 
 The Ojibeway nation being one largely given to 
 interior navigation, has, as would be expected, the most 
 perfect means of transport found among the savage 
 nations of America. This is the birch- b:\rk canoe. 
 It consists of a light and strong frame made of tough 
 wood, after a beautiful model, and covered over, as are 
 their teepees, with thin, but supple and close-grained 
 bark. The joints are made secure with pitch, and the 
 canoe thus made is of so great importance in the 
 every-day life of these dwellers on the streams, that 
 they attribute its invention to the great spirit himself 
 The navigation of a birch-bark canoe requires much 
 skill, and the uninitiated white man looks with envy 
 at the dexterity with which some repulsive-looking 
 squaw wields her paddle, and propels the fickle vehicle 
 which has precipitated him, without warning, into the 
 dangerous current. The lightness of these boats is 
 their great recommendation, as so many portages from 
 stream to stream, or to avoid dangerous rapids, must 
 be made by the O jibe ways on their voyages. The 
 canoe is carried with perfect ease by the Indian or, 
 more frequently, by his burden-bearing squaw, to whom 
 this hero of men relc<7ates such matters of detail as the 
 transfer of canoe, household goods and the papoose, 
 and the oversight of the other helpless children. 
 
 As the bands pass on their journey they distinguish 
 many of their resting-places by rude delineations on 
 
174 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 1 = '!^ 
 
 the rocks, on trees, or on any object convenient. 
 Carver has fjiven us an account of a most useful 
 adaptatior ot Indian art in his travels. As he was ap- 
 proaching^ from the south-west towards Lake Superior, 
 the Ojibeway chief, who at that time was actiufj as his 
 guide, was afraid lest their small party might be per- 
 ceived and followed b}' some warlike band of their 
 hereditary enemies — the Sioux or Nardowassis, with 
 whom the Ojibeways were constantly at war. The 
 chief accordingly stripped some of the bark from a tree 
 at a conspicuous spot near the mouth of the Chippewa 
 River, which they had reached, and having mixed up 
 some charcoal with bear's grease, drew, in a rough 
 style, on the stem of the tree first, the town of the 
 Ottogamies, then a man dressed in skins, intended to 
 represent a Sioux, with a line drawn from his mouth 
 to that of a deer — the symbol of the Chippewas. He 
 then painted a canoe as proceeding up the river, and 
 a man sitting in it with his hat on ; this was to re- 
 present an Englishman (Carver); and another man 
 was described with a handkerchief tied around his 
 head, paddling the canoe, viz. the French canoe-man 
 by whom Carver was accompanied. He then added 
 some other significant emblems, among which was the 
 pipe of peace at the prow of the canoe. The mean- 
 ing, the writer says, which he intended thus to convey 
 to the Nardowassis — and which, I doubt not, appeared 
 perfectly intelligible to them — was, that one of the 
 Chippewa chiefs had received a speech from some 
 Nardowassi chiefs at the town of the Ottogamies, 
 desiring him to conduct the Englishmen who had 
 lately been among them, up the river, and that they 
 
The Indians of Selkirk Colony. 175 
 
 required that the Chippewa, notwithstanch'n;^ he was 
 an avowed enemy, sliould not be molested by them 
 in his passage, as he had tlic care of a person whom 
 they esteemed as one of their own nation. 
 
 There seems to be nothinjj^ of the nature of a system 
 of hieroglyphic writing amongst the Indians. The 
 picture-writing above referred to, and that figured 
 upon their robes is, however, a system of symbolism 
 universally found amongst thenr. ICach family or 
 individual has a mark or sign, usually the rude repre- 
 sentation of a bird, beast, or reptile, or even of a 
 heavenly body, which is quite distinctive. These 
 signs generally represent exploits of their military 
 lives, or of deeds of daring in the chase. The symbol 
 adopted by the individual is called his totem. 
 
 The American Indians have like most nations — 
 civilized or savage — the habit of celebrating all im- 
 portant events in life by feasts or grand ceremonies 
 in which wild dancing and revelry are the chief in- 
 gredients. The Indian dance is performed by a 
 greater or smaller number of the warriors of the tribe 
 according to circumstances. It is a wild, irregular 
 series of jumps, in which the dancers succeed each 
 other in a circle. It proceeds by two or three, seem- 
 ingly by an inspiration, beginning the wild motion in 
 a half-bent attitude, with the body limp and supple ; 
 the head is bent downward, the face turned outward 
 in the circle. The face, head, and neck are often 
 covered with paint, and other distinctive objects, such 
 as buffalo horns, bear heads, foxes' tails, elk antlers, 
 according to the fancy of the wearer, surmount the 
 head. A loud, disagreeable, monotonous sound is 
 
176 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 produced by two or three players sitting either in the 
 midst of the circle, or near cnou'^Mi to be well heard. 
 These musicians are provided with instruments made 
 of a hoop of wood covered tightly over with tanned 
 deer-skin after the manner of a tambourine. The 
 player beats his instrument with a pair of knobbed 
 sticks, and the dancers arc kept in such unison as 
 their sweet wills desire by the beating of the " tom- 
 toms." As the dance proceeds the dancers sing in a 
 low guttural tone something like the following : — 
 "Hc-he-yc-heyah-ye-he-heyah," &c., interspersing 
 their deep-toned, grunting pa:an with cries seemingly 
 in imitation of the yelp of the wolf, the growl of the 
 bear, the bark of the dog, or what ever comes to mind. 
 The general effect sometimes suggests the drone com- 
 mingled with the loud skirl of the bagpipes. As the 
 fun advances, others, one by one, as if by a spreading 
 infection, enter the circle and follow it round, one 
 warrior as he does so brandishing his tomahawk, 
 another his bow, and still another his club, until all 
 are careering wildly about like howling dervishes, 
 making night or day hideous with their cries. When 
 the brave has worked himself up to a sufficient state 
 of frenzy and perspiration, he unceremoniously leaves 
 the ring, and flings himself down upon the ground 
 outside the circle with a considerable amount of vigour, 
 and a most emphatic Ugh ! 
 
 These dances are carried on in connexion with 
 war, with hunting, with the opening of the seasons, 
 with love, with religion, and most successfully when 
 in the beggar's dance they amuse the whites in their 
 settlements, and obtain provisions in return. One of 
 
Tin: Indians of Ski, kirk Colony. 177 
 
 ""to 
 
 one 
 
 awk, 
 
 1 all 
 
 [shcs, 
 
 hen 
 
 ;tate 
 
 aves 
 
 lund 
 
 pur, 
 
 Lvith 
 Ions, 
 'hen 
 Ihcir 
 of 
 
 the most striking of tlic Ojibeway ceremonies is that 
 known as the snow-shoe dance. His snow-shoes are 
 to the Indian in winter what his canoe is in summer. 
 They consist of two li^dit oval frames, two and a half 
 feet or more in lenj^th, each covered over with a net- 
 work of thouLjs of bucUskin. In the centre of each of 
 these he places a foot, and thoui,di the novice will fmd 
 the muscles of the k\i^ very sore when he walks far in 
 snow-shoes, and will become afflicted by an ii lamma- 
 tion of the part known by the French voyai^eurs as 
 vial-dc-raqnct, yet the expert using the snow-shoe can 
 cross mile after mile over the soft and yield in<^ snow, 
 when the heavy animal, such as the moose or buffalo, 
 which is beiuL^ pursued, so cuts through, and is hin- 
 dered in its flight, that the hunter, thus shod, easily 
 overtakes and destroys his prey. Accordingly, as his 
 snow-shoes are his means of livelihood, the Ojibeway 
 celebrates the " Snow-shoe dance," and it is one of 
 the heartiest and most beautiful of his performances. 
 Dressed in leggings of fur, and with snow-shoes on, 
 the braves career about the object placed in the 
 centre of the dancing circle, which is two erect poles 
 with a pair of snow-shoes fastened upon the top of 
 them. The sight of the soft snow falling down in- 
 flames their imagination, they see the hopes of tracing 
 Bruin to his lair, or snaring the rabbit, and even of 
 overtaking with little exertion the worn-out buck 
 struggling through the snow-drifts, and the dance 
 grows fast and furious as visions of plenty flit before 
 the dancer's mind. 
 
 The religion of the Northern Indian tribes affords 
 many features of interest. The belief in two ex- 
 
 N 
 
 J 
 
 • * 1 
 
178 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 istcnccs or governing powers, in opposition to one 
 another, but botli havinj^ control over the elements, 
 carries one away to the Asiatic nations, who, while 
 believers in a governing spirit of good, yet make 
 their lives so largely dependent on the workings of a 
 heartless Manicheeism. The Indian tribes give adora- 
 tion to the great Spirit, Gitche-IVIanitou, but fear the 
 machinations of the Matche-Manitou, and one would 
 say regard the latter as rather more deserving of 
 consideration than the former. The scarcity of the 
 buffalo, the untimely storm, the severity of the winter, 
 and the parched and barren condition of the plains in 
 summer, are alike attributed to the bad intentions of 
 the Malign divinity. The balmy approach of spring, 
 the plentiful supply of fish and game, preservation 
 from danger in war, or deliverance from exposed and 
 threatening circumstances, the birth of children, and 
 the receipt of many gifts, are proofs of the favour of 
 the Gitche-Manitou. In consequence of this there is 
 the fear of offending the Great Spirit, and calamity is 
 traced to disobedience to his wishes as well as to the 
 baneful influence of the Spirit of Evil. 
 
 An Indian, spoken of by a French missionary, had 
 lost his wife and child. He often visited their graves ; 
 and, upon one of these occasions, he was heard in the 
 depth of his sorrow to utter aloud, " O ! Great Spirit, 
 who governcst the sun and the moon, who created 
 the elk, the otter, and the beaver, be appeased, and 
 do not any longer continue enraged against me. Be 
 content with the misfortunes I have suffered. I had 
 a wife — Thou hast taken her from me. I had a child 
 whom I loved as myself: it is gone, for so was Thy 
 
 \ 
 
 ♦ 
 
The Indians of Sklkirk Colony. 179 
 
 f. 
 
 ^ 
 
 pleasure. Is that not cnouj;li ? Jiestowon mc hence- 
 forward as much j^ood as I now experience evil ; or, 
 if Thou art not satisfied with what I now suffer, make 
 me die, for in this state I can live no lon.cjer." 
 
 Closely connected with their reliction is their belief 
 
 d 
 
 m a species ot magic, winch is wide spread among 
 the Indian tribes. Some invcstiL^ators of Indian 
 customs have stated that they found amongf the 
 Indians no trace of a priesthood ; but unless we 
 ffreatly nn'stakc the matter the " Medicine-Man" of 
 the Indian tribe is a full embodiment of the very 
 features which such observers rcL^ard as so objec- 
 tionable in a fully-orc^anized priesthood. The medi- 
 cine-man is the custodian of the icLrends of his tribe : 
 the possession of knowledge is with him, as among 
 men everywhere, a leverage of immense power. His 
 stories of the mighty deeds of their ancestors, of the 
 Gitche Ogemahs, or great chiefs of the past, of the 
 severe famines, earthquakes, and heavenly appear- 
 ances, of apparitions, pestilences, and destructive 
 wars, are the weapons by which he compels the 
 obedience, and appeals to the fear of the young 
 brave as well as of the old woman of the tribe. 
 
 Mystery is the atmosphere in which he lives. His 
 charms, his incantations, his medicine-bags, all i)lay 
 their part in giving him and his family a controlling in- 
 fluence in the affairs of the tribe. Disaster is frequently 
 attributed to the malicious and insidious influence of 
 medicine-men of other tribes, and the most superstitious 
 feeling prevails in the mind of great chief and little 
 child alike in regard to the evil mysterious influence 
 of the *' bad medicine" of even a passing stranger. 
 
 N 2 
 
^1 
 
 
 \\ 
 
 ■■■:.■. 5 ' 
 
 'S* ■ ■ S ' 
 
 i8o 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 Catlin, the delineator of Indian character and 
 customs of forty years ago, who did much with 
 pencil and brush to present the features of Indian 
 life from the Gulf of Mexico to Lake Superior, gives 
 a remarkable instance of the fear of *' bad medicine " 
 which was connected with a melancholy tragedy in 
 the country of the Sioux, on his visit to them and to 
 the red pipestone quarry. According to his usual 
 custom the traveller made with his pencil or brush 
 pictures of all the leading chiefs of the various tribes 
 whom he visited. The Indians universally doubted 
 the wisdom of allowing the artist to take their por- 
 traits. Tlicy were of opinion that having the portrait 
 taken took away so much from the strength of the 
 person delineated. On the occasion referred to 
 Catlin had succeeded in inducing the leading chiefs 
 to allow him to exercise his art upon tnem. " Little 
 Bear," a fine, noble fellow, a leading chief, was being 
 painted, and the view taken of him was that of 
 almost a profile of his face, throwing a part of it into 
 shadow. The picture was nearly finished, when an 
 ill-natured and unpopular chief, named " The Dog," 
 came into the wigwam, and sitting upon the floor 
 opposite the sitter, and where he could see the picture, 
 exclaimed, with surly contempt, " ' The Little Bear ' is 
 but half a man !" The chiefs sitting around the room 
 darted glances back and forward, not knowing what 
 results might follow. ** Little Bear" exhibited no 
 excitement, except that his lips became slightly 
 curved, as he said in a low and determined tone, 
 " Who says that?" "'The Dog' says it," was the 
 reply, " and he can prove it." After this " Little 
 
The Indians of Selkirk Colony. 
 
 i8i 
 
 ittle 
 cing 
 t of 
 into 
 in an 
 
 og." 
 floor 
 
 ture, 
 
 frr is 
 
 ooin 
 
 what 
 
 no 
 
 htly 
 
 tone, 
 
 5 the 
 
 ittle 
 
 Bear" became more and more agitated, his eyes 
 glanced fiercely, his brows lowered with threatening, 
 while fixing his eyes steadfastly on his insulter, he 
 asked, " Why does ' The Dog ' say it ? " " Ask the 
 painter," was the reply, " he can tell you, he knows 
 you are but half a man, he has painted but one-half 
 of your face, and knows the other half is good for 
 nothing." A warm discussion ensued, angry gibes 
 were thrown back and forward between the two, 
 which ended by the man who had been first attacked 
 saying, " * Little l^ear ' can look at any one ; and he is 
 now looking at an old woman and a coward." Stung 
 to the quick "The Dog" left the wigwam, having the 
 laugh of all the chiefs upon him. 
 
 The picture taken, " Little Bear" went to his tent, 
 but was intercer^ed there by his antagonist, who 
 asked, " What meant * Little Bear ' by the last words 
 that he spoke to ' The Dog ' ?" " 'Little Bear 'said it," 
 was the reply, " and ' The Dog ' is not a fool — that is 
 enough." Both chiefs hastened to their respective 
 tents. " Little Bear " loaded his gun, and threw himself 
 on the ground to supplicate the " Great Spirit" His 
 wife, seeing his agitation and fearing trouble, silently 
 withdrew the bullet from the gun. At this time the 
 voice of the opponent was heard, " If * Little I5ear ' be 
 a 7u/iole man, let him come out and prove it : it is 
 * The Dog ' that calls him." The wife screamed ; but 
 it was too late, the gun was in his hand, and he 
 sprang out of the door to fall, while his antagonist 
 escaped. Strange to say, that side of his face was 
 shot away which had been left out in the picture. 
 The friends of the murdered chief pursued the pro- 
 
s I 
 
 [ 
 
 182 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 voker of the quarrel, who fled from them, wounded ; 
 and the whole village was in a state of excitement : 
 the painter was looked upon with suspicion, and the 
 feeling may be judged of by the spirit of a young 
 Oncapapa chief in their council, who said, " The blood 
 of two chiefs has just sunk into the ground, and a 
 hundred bows are bent, which are ready to shed 
 more. On whom shall we bend them } I am a friend 
 to the white man ; but here is one whose * medicine * 
 is too great — he is a great * medicine-man ! ' His 
 
 * medicine ' is too great ! He was the death of the 
 
 * Little Bear ' ! He made only one side of his face ! 
 He would not make the other — the side that he made 
 was alive ; the other was dead, and ' The Dog ' shot 
 it off! How is this ? Who is to die ? " The painter, 
 fearing the cloudy appearance of things, bade the tribe 
 a hasty farewell, and did not feel entirely at ease until 
 he heard that " The Dog " had been overtaken and 
 killed near the Black Hills. 
 
 These are some of the salient features of the Ojibe- 
 ways, Crees, and Sioux with whom Lord Selkirk met 
 and made treaties. Under the influence of North- 
 wester advisers, the wonder is, that tribes so full of 
 suspicion and fear were not induced by misrepresenta- 
 tion to put a speedy end to the defenceless colony. 
 That they acted otherwise will ever redound to the 
 credit of the Indian nations. 
 
 IL 
 
 The Mound Builders. 
 
 In the midst of the territory of Assiniboia acquired 
 by Lord Selkirk, are the remains of a prehistoric race. 
 
 i 
 
 
 *j 
 
 ) 
 
) 
 
 13 
 
 A. 
 
 1 
 
 The Indians of Selkirk Colony. 
 
 183 
 
 It is true that the Mound Builders and their mounds 
 have no part in the story of the founder and his colony, 
 but as the presence of these mounds is usually a mark 
 of a country selected by this early race as suitable for 
 comfortable settlement, a short notice may be taken 
 of them. 
 
 In the city of Winnipeg, near Fort Garry, there was 
 formerly to be seen a circular mound. Another exists 
 on the second river-terrace, on the banks of Red 
 River, some twelve miles to the north of the fore^^oing. 
 About two miles above the village of Selkirk, on the 
 east bank of the river, a third mound has been 
 observed, while two miles from Winnipeg, on the 
 banks of the Assiniboine, another could at one time 
 be seen. A group of most interesting mounds are to 
 be found about 250 miles from Winnipeg toward 
 Lake Superior, on what we have already spoken of as 
 the Grand Portage route on the Rainy River. The 
 mound which we shall describe is situated on the west 
 bank of the Red River, about seventeen miles north 
 of Winnipeg. 
 
 Most of those mentioned have the following 
 features : — 
 
 1. On a prominent point along the river system of 
 the country. 
 
 2. Circular. 
 
 3. Range from 50 to 150 feet in diameter. 
 
 4. Generally some five or six feet in depth at the 
 deepest part : those at Rainy River are said to be 
 of twice that depth. 
 
 Much speculation is naturally rife as to the origin, 
 date of construction, and object of these mounds. 
 The mounds found in America farther south, such as 
 
I' , 
 
 ■i- r 
 
 184 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 those on the Ohio river, and built in the form of a 
 serpent, a bird or a fox, and hundreds of yards in 
 length, liave plainly been for defence in time of war. 
 The general current of opinion in regard to the cir- 
 cular mound is, that sepulture was its jnirpose. The 
 hope of finding something as to the social condition, 
 habits and life of the aborigines of the country, draws 
 many of an inquiring disposition to take an interest in 
 searching these mounds. The archaeologist, too, finds 
 a subject of study in the mound, inasmuch as it speaks 
 to him of a race having the building faculty — a 
 faculty which seems to be seldom found among the 
 Indians of the continent in the present day. The 
 tuviuliis may thus speak of a race now extinct ; if 
 this be so, perhaps of a people unconnected with the 
 present Indian population of the continent ; perhaps 
 of a people of greater civilization than the present 
 race, who had found their way from that seed-bed of 
 the nations of Europe — its north-west coast. 
 
 In October, 1879, the officers and members of the 
 Historical Society of Manitoba entered upon the work 
 of examining the mound, to which reference has been 
 made. It is worthy of note that a certain amount of 
 superstition fills the minds of the Indians and half- 
 bloods in the neighbourhood of these mounds, as to 
 any disturbance of them, a proof that they regard 
 them as burial-mounds. In the case of one of the 
 mounds mentioned, a native intending to erect a small 
 farm-building upon it, having excavated a cellar, came 
 upon human bones in doing so, when he religiously 
 re-interred them, and erected his building elsewhere. 
 Before opening the present mound, the native owners 
 
 \ 
 
 h 
 
 \ _ it> 
 
The Indians of Selkirk Colony. 185 
 
 1 of 
 
 tof 
 alf- 
 to 
 ard 
 the 
 tiall 
 
 :re. 
 lers 
 
 i 
 
 of the property were consulted, and consented some- 
 what unwillint^ly, one in giving his consent saying he 
 did not think it right to open it all. 
 
 Members of the society gathered from some of the 
 old native women living in the vicinity 
 
 The Legend of the Mound. 
 
 " Many years ago," said one of the old women born 
 about the beginning of the century, "her people told her 
 their tribe was living at Nettly Creek (a creek running 
 into Lake Winnipeg, some fifteen or twenty miles 
 away), and the mound was inhabited by people calling 
 themselves * Mandrills.' They were cav^e-dvvellers, 
 and belonged to a race then very few in number. 
 They had been visited by one of her tribe, and were 
 found to be dying with small-pox ; the Indian was 
 alarmed, dreading the scourge of the red man, and 
 avoiding the place went over to the east side of the 
 river, on his hunt for several days, and hunting along 
 the small streams running into Red River from the 
 east. On his return he passed the mound dwelling, 
 when he found that it had fallen in and there was 
 no trace of a Mandrill left. The Indians had never 
 known any of this race in the country since.'"' 
 
 This is plainly an unsophisticated story, and as wc 
 shall see afterwards is a strange misinterpretation of 
 a few simple facts. The society having procured the 
 assistance of a strong force of excavators, went care- 
 fully to work to make a thorough examination. The 
 mound, at one time a short distance from the bank of 
 the river, has now, by the falling in of the soft alluvial 
 
.-a 
 
 8?—- ■ 
 
 
 \ '1 
 
 
 \;-\ 
 
 
 1 \ 1 
 
 
 ; 
 
 1 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 J 
 
 t' 
 
 
 1' 
 
 
 
 1 , 
 
 
 
 '' 
 
 ; 
 
 
 ' [ 
 
 
 
 ' i 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ; 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ! 
 
 
 ■ t, 
 
 
 .■ 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 l! 
 
 1 86 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 soil of which the bank is composed, only about half 
 the superficial extent it once had. The part now left 
 is nearly semi-circular, and its radius about forty feet. 
 During the present generation, it is stated that bones 
 have been seen projecting from its river-ward face, 
 and have been found in the debris at the bottom of 
 the bank. The earth of which the mound is composed 
 is that of the black surface mould found surrounding 
 it. The situation of the mound is where a low, flattish 
 ridge runs into the river from the plain, and from the 
 gently rising crest of this ridge, the earth for the 
 mound was probably taken. The mound is plainly of 
 artificial origin, though no trace of excavation is to be 
 seen. 
 
 Another fact is worthy of notice, viz. that several 
 excavations had been already made in the mound, 
 some of these by observers for the Smithsonian Insti- 
 tution, some from mere curiosity, and one by two young 
 medical students, seeking bones for the purposes of 
 study. The workmen, under the direction of officers 
 of the society, began at the brink and dug away the 
 earth as deep as the original soil, throwing what they 
 removed down the bank. They thus cleared all before 
 them, and the earth was carefully observed as it was 
 removed. 
 
 Before proceeding very far it was plain that unless 
 care were taken to see the part of the mound from 
 which the remains came there might be such a con- 
 fusion as would render all results valueless. Indeed, 
 not only does the observer need a good eye, but a 
 reasoning faculty as well to bring up the various dis- 
 turbing elements that may enter in. For instance, 
 
 
I 
 
 The Indians of Selkirk Colony 
 
 187 
 
 was 
 
 inless 
 from 
 con- 
 
 Ideed, 
 
 Ibut a 
 dis- 
 
 lance, 
 
 1 - 
 
 the possibility arose that supposing the mound to 
 have been one of early sepulture, later interments 
 might have taken place in it. When the body of a 
 sailor is found thrown up on the sea shore after a 
 storm, the coastmen will bury it beside a stone or 
 near a spot marked by some striking object ; so the 
 Indian finding a burial-mound of earlier times, may 
 be disposed to bury his dead upon it. With this 
 thought in the mind of the writer, a close watch was 
 kept to distinguish the original from later and super- 
 ficial interments. 
 
 As expected, a large number of bones was found 
 near the surface of the mound, about a foot beneath 
 it. It may be well to describe these first. The re- 
 mains did not consist of skeletons in regular order, 
 but seemingly of skulls laid around in a circular 
 form ; of a dozen or two of thigh bones placed to- 
 gether, then of other bones of the same part, a new lot 
 of skulls, and so on. From actual count there were 
 enough of skulls to represent upwards of thirty dis- 
 tinct skeletons. The bones seemed to be those of 
 warriors ; for in the case of one skull lying face down- 
 ward, drawn out with care by the writer, there was in 
 the cast of the face, which remained distinctly 
 marked in the soil, the deep red colour evidently re- 
 tained from the red ochre which had been used to 
 daub the face of the brave going on the war-path. 
 Another skull had on the back of it a deep dinge, 
 with the bone cracked and driven inward, such as 
 would have resulted from a heavy blow from the 
 weighty stone hammer-like weapon, which, swung by 
 the thick leathern handle, is known to have been used 
 
,1 
 
 i 
 
 i88 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 in Indian warfare. Further, this did not seem the 
 original place of burial of the bones, for not only 
 were they arranged, as we have said, in series of the 
 same kind of bones from different individuals, but in 
 one or two instances the eye-sockets in the skulls 
 were filled with a whitish clay entirely different from 
 the soil of the mound. The presumption would seem 
 to be that the remains v/ere those of braves, for they 
 seemed to be of full-grown persons, brought from a 
 distance, perhaps gathered from a battlefield, and the 
 dismembered bones interred in groups. The 
 "femur" bones were in some cases curved, in- 
 dicating that the Indians thus buried when alive 
 had been plain Indians, and accustomed to ride on 
 horses. 
 
 With these bones were buried certain articles 
 showing the state of advancement of the Indians. 
 There were lumps of red ochre, plainly for purposes 
 of painting ; there were likewise bits of charcoal 
 mingled with the bones, but no trace of burning was 
 observable on the bones examined. Pieces of broken 
 pottery were also found with the usual markings. 
 These seem to have belonged to pots or vessels used 
 in cookery. The stage of art was rude ; the soft 
 clay had evidently been marked with little skill or 
 care, and the work done by hand. Probably, the 
 most interesting objects found among these bones 
 were two tubes, the one about six inches long, the 
 other two, and of about half an inch in diameter. 
 These tapered s'ightly, and are made of a soft, dark 
 grey, or blackish stone. Their object is not very 
 evident. At one end of each there are raised rings, 
 
i 
 
 ised 
 Isoft 
 
 or 
 
 the 
 
 [nes 
 
 the 
 
 Iter. 
 
 irk 
 lery 
 
 irr« 
 
 The Indians of Ski.kirk Colonv. 189 
 
 and on one, between the rin^^s, the tube is evidently 
 much worn by teeth, the tooth-marks being quite per- 
 ceptible. They could not have been used as smoking 
 pipes, being straight. Schoolcraft, an authority on 
 Indian customs, asserts instruments of this kind to 
 have been used by the Sag' mores for looking at the 
 stars, but the presence of tooth-marks renders it 
 unlikely that these were used for that purpose. Other 
 Indian authorities state that tubes of various kinds 
 were used by the "medicine-men" in removing disease. 
 The conjurer placed the tube on the diseased member, 
 and seizing the end of the tube adapted fi^r the mouth 
 in his teeth, proceeded to suck away the disease. The 
 size and appearance of these tubes would agree very 
 well with such a use. 
 
 Leaving this part of the mound with its superficial 
 interments, some of the workmen had a few feet further 
 to the north struck upon a number of flat stones, lying 
 in an imbricated manner in three layers, the uppermost 
 being a foot or more below the surface of the mound. 
 These heavy stones were each two feet square and 
 four or five inches in depth. They were of the Silu- 
 rian limestone found at the foot of the river bank, 
 where, since, quarries have been opened. The work- 
 men were directed to clear off the earth, and leave 
 the stones undisturbed. This done, a surface some 
 thirty square feet in extent was exposed. Some of 
 the observers, with the legend in mind, suggested that 
 the stones were very much in the position they would 
 have been had the stone chimney of a dwelling been 
 toppled over and covered in the falling ruins of a 
 cave. This, however, was, on closer observation, seen 
 
♦t 
 
 - 
 
 190 
 
 MANITOnA. 
 
 to be pure nonsense, as so many of the guesses are 
 of hasty disciples of science. 
 
 The stones were next removed, and under the 
 centre of them, two feet below them, and some four 
 feet and a half from the surface of the mound an ex- 
 cavator struck directly on the top of a skull. The earth 
 was carefully removed from about it and this proved to 
 be a skeleton in an erect sitting posture, the arm-bones 
 on each side of the skull, and the bones of the legs 
 drawn up, and the knees nearly on a level with the 
 face. The skeleton had plainly never been disturbed, 
 a matter secured by the thirty flat stones lying like 
 a solid cover above the tomb. No traces of swathing 
 around were found, the bones being imbedded in the 
 soil of the mound. The erect, well-postured skeleton, 
 so carefully protected by the flat stone covering, 
 dispelled any suggestion of the skeleton having been 
 entombed by accident. The skull was taken out 
 with great care, but was in a very different state of 
 preservation from those found in the upper inter- 
 ments. It was of a brownish colour, loose in texture, 
 breaking at the touch, and was long and narrow in 
 shape. The skeleton was perfect so far as the larger 
 bones are concerned. The only relics or objects of 
 interest were found on the right side of the skeleton, 
 and on the floor of the burying-place. These con- 
 sisted of a simple ornament of shell, apparently that 
 of a common unio, somewhat squared and pierced by 
 two circular holes placed symmetrically ; and some 
 fifteen small round shells three-quarters of an inch in 
 diameter, seemingly of a species of haliotis. The 
 ornament was plainly a necklace. The bones seemed 
 
 > 
 
 IP 
 
 '\:V 
 
 HI' ■ 
 
ts of 
 
 ^ton, 
 Icon- 
 Ithat 
 by 
 lome 
 [h in 
 The 
 Imed 
 
 .1 
 
 ^ 
 
 The Indians of Selkirk Colony. xqi 
 
 to be those of a female, and the presence of the orna- 
 ment with the absence of all weapons confirmed this 
 view. 
 
 There had sat in loneliness, for how many centuries 
 who can say, and of what race or nation who can 
 tell, the tenant of the mound, undisturbed by the 
 ravenous beast unable to penetrate the stony cover- 
 ing, untouched by the ruthless hands of the mere 
 curiosity-hunter, till the votaries of science, with reve- 
 rent spirit and seeking for knowledge, had come to 
 discover the secrets of the tomb. 
 
 Nearer to the brink than the skeleton just described 
 so securely protected by the layers of stone, another 
 skeleton had been found on the low level of the base 
 of the mound. It was lying near the line of excava- 
 tion made by these persons referred to who, from mere 
 curiosity, had cut into the mound. Stones of the 
 same kind as those covering the upright skeleton 
 were found with this. The remains were seemingly 
 in a sitting posture, but a portion of one leg was 
 wanting, and this near the excavation mentioned. 
 The skull had been twisted out of its original position 
 by the weight of stone lying against it. A second 
 small skeleton, apparently that of a child, was found 
 close beside this, but the confusion produced either 
 by previous diggers or by the pressure of the stones 
 made it impossible to come to any reliable conclusion, 
 except that the flat stones were chiefly above and 
 around the skeletons. These seemed of similar age 
 to the erect skeleton. 
 
 No implements, pottery, paint, nor charcoal were 
 found accompanying these remains. The only thing 
 
192 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 ii 
 
 found was wli.'it had possibly been a shell for 
 ornament similar to that tlescribed, but it was much 
 broken. It will be remembered that half the mound 
 was ^onc, so that there may have been other, what 
 wc may call base interments in the lost parts of the 
 mound. 
 
 Ilavincj j^ivcn a description of the objects found, it 
 now remains toj,nvc a theory which may satisfact^Tily 
 include the facts. In doing so, whatever is said is 
 in a spirit of hesitation. The whole subject of the 
 mound builders is involved in mystery, though a 
 good deal of attention has been paid to it by a 
 number of observers in the United States. 
 
 First, then, who were the people who made the 
 earlier interments rcprc.>cntcd by the two full-grown 
 skeletons and that of the child ? The erect skeleton 
 was buried facing the east. This has been taken by 
 archaeologists, in discussing Scandinavian and Celtic 
 remains, to indicate a difference between Christian 
 and pagan times. As, however, the eastern view 
 was that towards the river, it would not be wise to 
 make much of this. The other skeletons were in so 
 confused a state that nothing could be inferred from 
 their posture. The absence of all utensils of cookery 
 or means of livelihood, such as are found in the 
 graves of pagan Indians even to the present day, 
 would indicate to some a higher faith than that of 
 the savage who thinks he is but transferred to 
 another hunting-ground when death overtakes him. 
 
 The presence of the heavy shells of haliotis in the 
 necklace would point out travellers from the sea. 
 The construction of the mound is very similar to that 
 
 > 
 
for 
 
 inch 
 )Uiul 
 A'h.'it 
 ■ the 
 
 id, it 
 f-rily 
 lid is 
 f the 
 -h a 
 by a 
 
 c the 
 ^rown 
 jlcton 
 >n by 
 iCcltic 
 
 istian 
 
 view 
 isc to 
 
 in so 
 from 
 
 okery 
 
 n the 
 day, 
 
 lat of 
 
 ed to 
 
 Ihim. 
 
 in the 
 sea. 
 
 o that 
 
 Tiir: Indians or Sklkiuk Colony. i<j^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 of those found in the north of ICurupc, aiul the fewness 
 of the bodies buried would seem to indicate citlicr a 
 people in course of transit, or a people dyin^c,' out, if 
 it be not fjranted that distiiij^uishcd individuals were 
 thus buried. In any case, a vast amount of labour 
 must have been spent in these early times even in 
 throwin^^ up one mound. Would it be too much to 
 hazard the suggestion that the remains may have been 
 those of wandering bands of sea-faring adventurers, 
 of whom we are beginning to learn more, as having 
 some six or eight centuries ago visited the shores, and 
 even penetrated the interior of the North American 
 continent ^ Perhaps the route of Lord Selkirk's 
 colonists by Hudson's l^ay had been centuries before 
 opened up by the sea-king voyageurs. 
 
 Leaving in the meantime this question, it may be 
 well to look at that of the later remains found in the 
 superficial interments. It would naturally be in con- 
 nexion with these that the legend given would be told. 
 What are the main points of the story } That the 
 Mandrills lived in the mound as a cave dwelling. 
 Now the cave-dwellers of the ]\IIssouri met by 
 Catlin were called the Mandans. They are a tribe 
 now nearly extinct. The Red River country was 
 visited by Missouri Indians, and the Missouri country 
 by Northern Indians, by means of the prairie trail, 
 still known as the Missouri trail. Carver, in speaking 
 of Fort La Rcinc, on the Assiniboine, says, "To this 
 place the Mahahs, who inhabit a country 250 miles 
 south-west, come also to trade with them ; and bring 
 great quantities of Indian corn to exchange for knives, 
 tomahawks, and other articles.'^ We have seen that 
 
 O 
 
; I 
 
 i I 
 
 T94 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 the early c :plorcrs readied llic s:unc Missouri 
 country by asccndinc^ a branch of tlic Assinibolnc. 
 
 The name Mandrill, as also Mahah, is plainly a cor- 
 ruption of the word Mandan. Strani^c to say, the bulk 
 of the Mandans, who were a dwindlin^^, peaceful race, 
 unable to cope with the wild Sioux, but by far the most 
 advanced of the North American Indians in the arts 
 of buildinr:^ and ai^riculture, actually perished on the 
 Missouri, within the last half-century, by the small- 
 pox. What more probable than that some outlyincj 
 colony of Mandans, bringini^ their customs from the 
 Missouri, had made earth-houses for themselves in 
 the Red River country, and had used the mound as 
 a place of burial } As to the part of the lei^cnd 
 referring to the small-pox, it would be most natural 
 to have it attached by association of ideas to the 
 mound, although the deaths by this pestilence may 
 have occurred long after the use of the mound as a 
 burial-place by the Mandans. 
 
 As to the mound being inhabited by cave-dwellers, 
 the facts brought out by the excavation entirely 
 disprove such a hypothesis. Sepulture was plainly 
 its purpose. That the connecting of small-pox with 
 the mound is a recent notion, is shown by the pre- 
 sence in the surface of the mound of painted faces, 
 broken skull?, indicating a violent death and not one 
 by the pestilence, while the well-known fear of the 
 Indians for this terrible disease forbids the thouci-ht 
 of their laying the bones in systematic order in which 
 they were found. Another question arising is, why 
 may not these superficial interments be those of 
 Sioux, Ojibcways, or Crecs, buried in the mound ? 
 
 ;!l 
 ill 
 
The Indians of Selkirk Colony. 
 
 195 
 
 ssoun 
 nc. 
 
 a cor- 
 c bulk 
 il race, 
 c most 
 ic arts 
 on tlic 
 small- 
 Litlyin,f^ 
 Din the 
 Ivcs in 
 unci as 
 legend 
 natural 
 to the 
 :e may 
 id as a 
 
 |\vellcrs, 
 ntirely 
 plainly 
 X with 
 he pre- 
 |I faces, 
 lot one 
 of the 
 houcrht 
 
 which 
 is, why 
 lose of 
 
 ound ? 
 
 The answer is, that these nations have their own 
 distinctive modes of burial, all diffcrini^ from that of 
 the mound. They either bury their dead by expos- 
 ing them on raised platforms, or en the branches of 
 trees, or in the case of the Ojibeways, by burial in 
 separate graves dug in the earth, and covered over 
 with sticks some two feet in length, placed together in 
 the form of a roof. 
 
 The Mandans would seem to have regarded these 
 mounds as the tombs of their ancestors. Nothing 
 could be more fitting than that their heroes slain in 
 battle should receive an honourable burial in these 
 " sacred spots " of their race. If the Mandans be taken 
 as having a peculiar connexion with these mounds, it 
 may be well to notice some interesting facts regarding 
 them mentioned by Catlin and others. The Mandans 
 were not only far advanced as to living in fixed 
 abodes, in having fortified villages, in cultivating the 
 soil, in the manufacture of pottery — an art said by 
 Catlin to have been confined to them among the 
 North American Indians during this century — and in 
 the practice of religious rites of a more elaborate 
 kind than the other Indian tribes, but many of the 
 tribe had light, whitish hair, and blue and grey eyes. 
 A few Mandans are still said to survive on the upper 
 Missouri, and they bear the name "White Beards." 
 To one acquainted with the Indian nations, it is well- 
 known that a full-blooded Indian, unless a monster, 
 can have only black hair and a dark eye. 
 
 The Mandans have been traced, by their mounds for 
 fortification, for burial, for sacrifice, and for observation, 
 along the Ohio, and far up the Missouri. The point at 
 
 O 2 
 
■ ' 
 
 :J^ 
 
 \ ! 
 
 :. 
 
 
 196 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 which the nation dwelt on tlie Missouri, in 1838, when 
 they were so ahnost completely destroyed by small- 
 pox, was reached by the Missouri trail from the Red 
 River country. Their possession of the arts mentioned, 
 and more especially the recurrence among them of 
 numerous cases of light complexion, would seem to 
 indicate the mixture of an element of Caucasion 
 ancestry in the tribe. Up to this century they were 
 unknown to the present white population of the 
 continent. A considerable number of writers have, 
 in consequence, considered them the descendants of 
 early European adventurers, absorbed in an Indian 
 alliance. 
 
 It is remarkable that many writers on the early 
 history of the American continent have referred to 
 the early expedition of Prince Madoc, of North Wales, 
 with ten ships to the new world, in the twelfth 
 century. Powell, a writer, dating back to 1620, gives 
 an account of this. Hakluyt and others have con- 
 tinued the story, although Woodward, in his "History 
 of Wales," regards it as purely mythical. Whoever 
 may be right, it is well to know what has been said. 
 The Magdawys, or followers of Madoc, have been 
 identified as to name with the Mandans : the canoes 
 peculiar to the Mandans among the Indian nations, 
 which were made of the skins of buffaloes stretched 
 over frames of willows and round in shape like a tub, 
 are said to be exactly the Welsh coracle. Many 
 Mandan words are given resembling the Welsh, 
 among the most remarkable being that for the Deity, 
 in Mandan, MaJio pencta ; in Welsh, ]\lawr pcnact/iir. 
 We are sceptical as to this Welsh-Mandan alliance. 
 
1 
 
 when 
 5mall- 
 2 Red 
 ioned, 
 cm of 
 ;em to 
 casion 
 / were 
 Df the 
 have, 
 Lilts of 
 Indian 
 
 : early- 
 red to 
 Wales, 
 twelfth 
 gives 
 con- 
 istory 
 loever 
 n said, 
 been 
 canoes 
 ations, 
 etched 
 a tub, 
 Many 
 Welsh, 
 Deity, 
 lactldr. 
 liance. 
 
 The Indians of Selkirk Colony. 197 
 
 We see, then, that a theory, somewhat as follows, 
 meets fairly well the facts of the case. That the 
 original mound builders were the people of another 
 continent, carrying with them the custom of mound 
 building, perhaps from some northern European 
 country : that they extended along the Red River 
 valley and that of the Missouri, as well as up the 
 Ohio : that they used their mounds for burial after 
 the manner of the European nations : that the super- 
 ficial burials in the mounds are those of a race ex- 
 tending to our own time, who may be descendants 
 of the earlier mound-building race absorbed by an 
 Indian nation, but retaining mental and physical 
 traces of a foreign ancestry : that this race is the 
 tribe of ]\Iandans, who have become almost extinct 
 during the present century from small-pox. 
 
 This theory, it will be observed, gives a fair ex- 
 planation of the oft-repeated claim of a considerable 
 European emigration to America centuries before 
 Columbus ; it accounts for the possession of higher 
 features of civilization by savage nations in the very 
 interior of America ; it agrees with the various facts 
 revealed by the opened burial-mound, and explains 
 the main points of the legend given by the Saulteaux 
 half-breeds of the Red river. We leave it with our 
 readers. We do not pin our faith to it. To any one 
 who questions it, it is fair to say, advance a theory 
 better explaining the facts, and we shall gladly with- 
 draw the one offered. 
 
 ^ 
 
 i 
 
Ill 
 
 I 
 
 : I 
 
 198 
 
 Manitoi^a. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 BOIS-BRULtS AND NOR'-WESTERS. 
 
 .1 
 
 
 
 A LITHE, cunning', turbulent, but adventurous and 
 lively race were the Bois-brules of those early times. 
 They were chiefly the descendants of the French 
 voyageurs of the North-west Company, who had taken 
 Indian wives and settled down on the shore of some 
 lake or river in the Fur country. Some of the Scotch 
 partners, too, from Montreal, had become enamoured 
 of the country, and had cast in their lot with this 
 half-blood race, who now, in 18 12, the time of the 
 arrival of the Selkirk settlers, had begun to speak of 
 themselves as the "New Nation." Grant, McKay, 
 McLeod, McGillivray, and many other Highland 
 names, are found among these hunters and trappers 
 of the western solitudes. By what name they should 
 call themselves seemed to have been a subject of 
 considerable interest among these mixed bloods of 
 the prairies. The name then and now most in favour 
 among them, is that of the French word " Metis," of 
 which the word half-breed is a fair translation, and is 
 now used in Acts of the Canadian Parliament as the 
 legal title of this race. 
 
 • 
 
 
 
Bois-r,RULi':s and NoR'-wrsTF.Rs. 
 
 199 
 
 < 
 
 At the time of which \vc write, the ]\Ietis or Bois- 
 brules, wcreahiiost entirely connected with the North- 
 west Company. The Hudson's Bay' Company had, 
 up till this time, been exclusively an English Company. 
 They had traded with the Indians entirely; and hardly 
 a tracCj at least in the interior of their territories, 
 could be found of admixture of European and Indian 
 blood. Since that date there has been a great change. 
 The Hudson^s Bay Company employed, subsequently 
 to 1 82 1, a large number of Orkney men in their service. 
 These, after the manner of the early Erench voyageurs, 
 intermarried with the Indian women, and founded a 
 race of Scotch half-breeds, also known as luiglish, 
 i.e. English speaking half-breeds. In the year 1869, 
 in which the Hudson's Bay territory was transferred 
 to Canada, these Orkney half-breeds equalled in 
 number those of French extraction, and together they 
 summed up at that time 10,000 souls. The English 
 half-breeds are far less volatile and more industrious 
 than their French fellow-countrymen. 
 
 It is only with those of French origin that we are 
 at present concerned, as the Orkney men had not, to 
 any extent, begun to come to the Red River country 
 previous to the union of the North-west and Hudson 
 Bay Companies in 1821. 
 
 How strange the sight of a race sprung up at this 
 early date in the Interior of the continent, combining 
 the characteristics of the French and the Indian. 
 Chateaubriand, who travelled in Am.crica, has in- 
 deed pointed out a fact noticed by many other ob- 
 servers, that of all the Europeans the French are 
 most in sympathy with the Indians, and this arises 
 
H' 
 
 1.1 
 
 
 
 I'.' i 
 
 ; ' 
 
 200 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 from their liveliness, their dashing bravery, their love 
 of the chase, and even of the savage life, though the 
 English have far surpassed the French in management 
 of the Indian tribes. There can be no doubt that the 
 French half-breeds are of greater stature, are more 
 restive under restraint, more inclined to the wandering 
 life of the Indian, and more given to the hunt and to 
 the use of arms than those of Orkney descent. 
 
 The Bois-brulcs, as the French half-breeds were 
 commonly called, were admirably adapted for the 
 purposes of the Nor'- Westers, and indeed had a pas- 
 sionate attachment to the Company. The Company, 
 recognizing the power it gave them with the Indians, 
 to have as agents those having Indian blood in their 
 veins, encouraged the idea of an autonomy — a nation- 
 ality among them. 
 
 One of themselves had risen to be a ruling spirit 
 among them, and though his name would not have 
 betrayed his origin, Cuthbert Grant had all the as- 
 cendency of a chief over this singular people. On 
 him was afterwards conferred the title, of rather vague 
 meaning, of "Warden of the Plains;" and he was 
 evidently one of those men, found in all ages and 
 countries, born to rule, and who, in spite of govern- 
 ments and in the absence of government, under 
 monarchy, republic, or absolutism, give the cue, direc- 
 tion, and force to the ideas of the community or mass. 
 Happily, he seems to have been humane. 
 
 Cuthbert Grant was known far and wide among 
 the hunters and trappers of the north-west ; and 
 regions, hundreds of miles apart, were then, on account 
 of the sparse population, brought into close connexion. 
 
 } 
 
 . 
 
 J* * 
 
 ' li i 
 
was 
 and 
 vern- 
 inder 
 irec- 
 nass. 
 
 \ 
 
 / 
 
 
 I 
 
 BOIS-BRljLtS AND NOR'-WESTERS. 
 
 201 
 
 He had been educated in Montreal, had risen to be 
 one of the most enterprising and energetic agents of 
 the Company, and had been placed in charge of many 
 of their expeditions. 
 
 At that time, as we have seen in the account of 
 the Selkirk settlement, herds of buffalo came east to 
 the Red River at Pembina. On the high plains within 
 fifty miles of Red River, the writer has seen the horned 
 skulls of buffalo lying scattered here and there along 
 the route of the traveller. The pursuit of the buffalo 
 was one of the savage sports most congenial to the 
 plain hunter, and one of which indeed, he was passion- 
 ately fond ; and a description of one of their hunting 
 expeditions might be here aptly introduced as illus- 
 trative of the manner of life of those children of the 
 prairies. In these excursions the hunter is usually 
 accompanied by his wife and children, to assist in the 
 skinning of the buffalo when taken, in cutting up 
 the meat and drying it into pemican. The family, 
 with its camp equipment, travels in a vehicle, which 
 goes by the name of a Red River cart, composed en- 
 tirely of wood — not a scrap of iron about wheel or 
 axle. This primitive conveyance is drawn by a pony 
 or single ox, and the perpetual creaking or rather 
 screaming sound produced by the large wooden wheels 
 as a train of these carts proceeds slowly over the 
 trail to the hunting-grounds, would be exquisite torture 
 to the cultivated musical ear, or to the nervous system 
 that has not been accustomed to it from childhood. 
 
 On arriving at the hunting-ground the hunter pro- 
 ceeds to select a good horse — an indispensable re- 
 quisite in the buffalo chase. The breed of native 
 
IgB- 
 
 .!■ 
 
 \i 
 
 !■;:' ) 
 
 ri i 
 
 , .( i 
 
 i. f 
 
 202 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 horses found in Red River is evidently the same as 
 that introduced into America by the Spaniards, herds 
 of which arc found in the pampas of South America, 
 in Mexico and Texas, and in the plains of the Mis- 
 sissippi. In the plains of the West herds of these 
 wild horses roam, and many of them attain the age 
 of ten or twelve years without ever having been 
 housed or lassoed. 
 
 At the date of which we write (1812) these horses 
 were not very numerous in the Red River valley, but 
 there were enough to serve the purpose of the half- 
 breed in running the buffalo hunt. The hunter, 
 having mounted his horse, on which is tightly girthed 
 a saddle, after the Mexican model, seeks out the 
 herd, peacefully grazing on one or other of the plains, 
 which are thirty or forty miles in extent, without a 
 tree or any obstruction. Having approached unseen 
 as closely as possible, the party put their horses to 
 full speed, and soon succeed in overtaking the furious 
 mass of escaping fugitives. The horse is as full of 
 the spirit of the chase as his rider. 
 
 The hunter grasps the reins in one hand, and in 
 the hurry of the attack often gives rein altogether to 
 his steed, who is well aware that the whole require- 
 ment is to follow close on the heels of the flying 
 herd amidst the clouds of dust thrown up by the 
 hurrying feet. In the hand that is free the horseman 
 grasps his gun, his powder-flask is swung to his belt, 
 and the bullets used are taken out of his bag, eight 
 or ten at a time, and make a familiar mouthful for 
 the fierce hunter. 
 
 The herd reached, he singles out a fat buffalo, fires 
 
 ■ 
 
Bois-BRtJLi:;s AND Nor'-wf.sters. 
 
 203 
 
 at full speed, and rarely fails to hit in front of the 
 flank, and lay low his victim. lie docs not stop to 
 secure his prey ; but leavin^L^ the carcase lying where 
 it fell, in the meantime ureses his horse forward, re- 
 loads at the gallop, fires again, and so on till six or 
 eight buffaloes are secured by each one of the party. 
 Each hunter then traces his way back, and claims his 
 own, very few mistakes or disputes ever occurring, so 
 keen is the eye of these children of the prairie. 
 
 The camp is then moved forward to the scene of 
 the chase. The women and children encracrc in their 
 part of the work, and in an incredibly short time all 
 is secured. Occasional instances are told of more 
 being slain than are needed, or than can be carried 
 away, and in such a case the skin is taken off, the 
 tongue, always regarded as a delicacy, is cut out, 
 and the remainder left a prey to the wolves ; but the 
 sentiment of the Indian and the half-breed alike is 
 decidedly averse to such dealing with the bounty of 
 the Gitche Manltou. The hunt over, the bufialo 
 skins (which have always been a great export com- 
 modity of the West) secured, and the meat di ied and 
 put into skin bags as pemican, the hunter's expedi- 
 tion returns. The motley cavalcade, with its spoil, 
 journeys over many miles, like the caravans of Eastern 
 merchants, till they reach their simple homes, where 
 each family is eagerly welcomed by the members that 
 have been left behind, who receive with joy a share 
 of the pemican, or a vwrccau of buffalo tongue, and 
 regard with beaming dark eye the display of buffalo 
 skins, which are to contribute not so much to their 
 material comfort as to their luxury and finery. 
 
N 
 
 
 I ; 
 
 204 
 
 UlAXITOnA. 
 
 Such is a phase of half-brccd life in a period tliat 
 will soon be spoken of anion;^ them as the "i^ood 
 old times," for almost every nation under heaven is 
 sending to the Far West its complement of settlers, 
 who, with their more peaceful habits, are fast en- 
 croaching on the realm of the plain hunter. Ikit 
 it may easily be imagined how the pursuit of the 
 buffalo, familiarity with the chase on horseback, and 
 meeting the wild Indian on the plains in their expe- 
 ditions, tended to keep alive the fierce, martial, and 
 barbarous disposition of the Bois-brules. 
 
 But like all semi-savage races, the l^ois-brules are 
 fickle. They must be appealed to by flattery, by 
 threats, or by working upon their animosities or 
 well-known dislikes, would they be led in any par- 
 ticular direction. The Nor'-westers, like all colonists 
 who are in the habit of dealing with partially civi- 
 lized nations, v/ere well aware of their weaknesses 
 and of the best mode of dealing with them. When not 
 impelled by any strong motive, or excited in any enter- 
 prise, the indolent habit of the Indian subdues their 
 changeable natures. In fact, improvidence is a charac- 
 teristic of even the best among these unique people. 
 
 Sheriff Ross has given a most graphic picture of 
 the more shiftless and unreliable class of the Metis, 
 which the writer can verify in its leading features as 
 a true representation. It is an account of the doings 
 of one Baptiste I'Esprit, and is of a time somewhat 
 later than the early days of the settlement. Baptiste 
 would represent the barnacle of more highly-organized 
 society. 
 
 On the approach of spring Baptiste, poor fellow, 
 
 I 
 
od that 
 " good 
 lavcii is 
 settlers, 
 fast eii- 
 :r. Ikit 
 : of the 
 Lck, and 
 r cxpe- 
 :ial, and 
 
 Ciles are 
 
 ery, by 
 
 lities or 
 
 iny par- 
 
 ;olonists 
 
 y civi- 
 
 cnesses 
 
 len not 
 
 y cntcr- 
 
 es their 
 
 charac- 
 
 cople. 
 
 :ture of 
 
 IMetis, 
 
 lures as 
 
 doings 
 
 lewhat 
 
 iaptlste 
 
 ^anized 
 
 fellow, 
 
 I?OIS-lJRLLl':S AM) NOR'-WKSTERS. 
 
 205 
 
 tired of the settlement, and fond of change, wishes 
 to see the plains — wishes still moro to sec the buffalo, 
 but is in want of everything — has nc thing of his own. 
 Unfortunately for I'aptiste his character is known ; it 
 is no easy task for him to get the needed outfit on 
 trust. lie fails in one case, but still confident in his 
 own cause tries another ; and at last, by dint of asking 
 and of fair promises, he gets a horse to hire from one, 
 a cart from another. Baptiste has to pay a high price 
 in proportion to the risk. A man of means gets a 
 horse and cart for 2/. a trip, but Baptistc promises 
 4/. But he is still in want of ammunition ; and this, 
 and his axe and knife, some necessary clothing, and 
 some food, he must get from some merchant by going 
 into debt for them. After a month's preparation, and 
 before Baptistc is half ready, the time for starting 
 arrives. The others arc off; Baptistc must start too — 
 ready or not ready. 
 
 A day after the rest off goes Baptistc, helter-skelter 
 with his horse and part of his family ; but if no horse, 
 as frequently happens, they tramp it on foot, for to 
 the buffalo they must get, cost what it will. Fifteen 
 days' anxious travel, and 180 miles behind him, our 
 hero gets to the buffalo. Glorious sight ! But here 
 all is bustle — no one idle but himself. What is he to 
 do ? No runner, no hunter himself. Baptistc goes to 
 one ; goes to another ; waits many days ; asks, begs, 
 lingers about, but shows no disposition to assist any 
 one ; he cannot work. 
 
 "^ * Ve summer 
 
 Jays pa^ 
 
 pass, 
 
 passes; Bapti 
 
 eats, sleeps, smokes, and all is right ; but no load — 
 nothing to pay the hire of his horse and cart. At 
 
w. 
 
 Ill 
 
 il 
 
 1 i 
 
 i: < 
 
 
 206 
 
 MAMT0T!A. 
 
 last, .1 move is made for home : Baptlstc is roused 
 from his apatliy ; his cart is still cmi)ty. lie now 
 becomes perfectly irresistible in his demands ; he 
 t^ocs now to this one, then to that other, and so on. 
 They upbraid him and denounce him. The prairie is 
 a place of activity and perseverance. The half-breeds 
 arc generous; but Baptiste is no favourite; never- 
 theless, he could sine;" a good song; tell a good story; 
 some pity his family ; charity stretches forth her 
 hand, and now the cart is loaded in a trice : Baptiste, 
 the while, as proud as if he had done all himself, 
 quite satisfied, happy as happy can be. After a six 
 weeks' jaunt, the last to start, the last to camp, yet 
 Baptistc, fat as a seal, and sleek as an Esquimaux, 
 arrives to resume the delicious enjoyment of indolence 
 again. And so on, from hand to mouth, Baptiste lives 
 like his Indian ancestors, and dies much the same, 
 only that the sign of the cross is made over him. 
 
 Such were the half-breeds with whom the North- 
 west traders had to do: some daring, "')me lazy, 
 some vacillating, all poor, and all ready for any rash 
 enterprise if that magnet were used to encourage 
 their backwardness — the rum-cask of the trader. 
 
 The Nor'-westers were, from the first, averse to the 
 establishment of Lord Selkirk's colony. On the 22nd 
 of May, 181 1, at the very time the scheme was origi- 
 nating, one of the leading partners of the North-west 
 Company then in England, stated to Mr. Miles 
 Macdonell, that he was " determined to give all the 
 opposition in his power, whatever might be the con- 
 sequences;" that "such a settlement struck at the 
 root of the North-west Company, which it was in- 
 
13ois-i;uCli'.s and Nor'-\vi:sti;us. 
 
 •07 
 
 tended to ruin." If other people did not clearly sec 
 their own interest, he did ; that the settlement " must 
 at all times lie at the mercy of the Indians," who 
 would not be bound by treaties, and that "one North- 
 west Company's interpreter would be able at any 
 time to set the Indians against the settlers to destroy 
 them." 
 
 It is stated by different writers, that no sooner had 
 the settlers arrived than efforts were made to stir up 
 the Indians aj^ainst the colonists ; and, failiiv^ in this, 
 the agents of the North-west Company had induced 
 the Metis to disguise themselves as Indians, and, on 
 the way to Pembina, rob one man of the gun his 
 father had carried at Culloden, a worran of her 
 marriage-ring, and others of various ornaments and 
 valuable articles. 
 
 No specially hostile acts were observed during ihc 
 years 1812 and 181 3. 
 
 We come now to the celebrated proclamation of 
 Governor Miles Macdoncll, which undoubtedly had 
 something to do with hastening a collision. 
 
 The following is a copy of the document itself: — 
 
 " Proclamation. 
 
 " Whereas the Governor and Company of the Hud- 
 son's Bay have ceded to the Right Honourable 
 Thomas, Earl of Selkirk, his heirs and successors for 
 ever, all that tract of land or territory bounded by a 
 line running as follows, viz. : — 
 
 *' Beginning on the western shore of Lake Winipic, 
 at a point in 52° and 30' north latitude, and thence 
 running due west to the lake Winipiquarish, otherwise 
 
. I 
 I'l 
 
 ■ H 
 t 
 
 208 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 !i 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 I <■ 
 
 ' ' ! . 
 
 li 
 
 called little Winipic ; then in a southerly direction 
 through the said lake, so as to strike its western shore 
 in latitude 52° ; then due west to the place where the 
 parallel of 52° north latitude intersects the western 
 branch of the Red River, otherwise called the Assini- 
 boini River ; then due south from that point of inter- 
 section to the height of land which separates the 
 waters running into Hudson's Bay from those of the 
 Mississippi and Missouri rivers ; then in an easterly 
 direction along the height of land to the source of the 
 River Winipic (running by such last-named river, the 
 principal branch of the waters which unite the Lake 
 Serginagus), thence along the main stream of the 
 waters, and the middle of the several lakes into which 
 they flow, to the mouth of the Winipic River, and 
 thence in a northerly direction through the middle of 
 Lake Winipic to the place of beginning ; which 
 territory is called Assiniboin, and of which I, the un- 
 dersigned, have been duly appointed governor : 
 
 " And whereas the welfare of the families at present 
 forming settlements on the Red River, within the 
 said territory, with those on their way to it, passing 
 the winter at York or Churchill Forts in Hudson's 
 Bay, as also those who are expected to arrive next 
 autumn, renders it a necessary and indispensable 
 part of my duty to provide for their support. In 
 the yet uncultivated state of the country, the ordinary 
 resources derived from the buffalo, and other wild 
 animals hunted within the territory, are not deemed 
 more than adequate for the requisite supply ; where- 
 fore, it is hereby ordered, that no persons trading in 
 furs or provisions within the territory, for the honour- 
 
BOIS-LRULtS AND NOR' -WESTERS. 
 
 2C9 
 
 lirection 
 rn shore 
 here the 
 western 
 3 Assini- 
 of inter- 
 ates the 
 5e of the 
 easterly 
 •ce of the 
 river, the 
 ;he Lake 
 m of the 
 ito which 
 iver, and 
 middle of 
 r • which 
 [, the un- 
 or : 
 
 Lt present 
 ithin the 
 
 passing 
 iHudson's 
 ive next 
 jpensable 
 [port. In 
 ordinary 
 :her wild 
 deemed 
 ; where - 
 Irading in 
 honour- 
 
 able the Hudson's Bay Company, the North-west 
 Company, or any individual or unconnected traders 
 or persons whatever, shall take out any provisions, 
 cither of flesh, grain, or vegetables, procured or raised 
 within the said territory, by water or land-carriage, 
 for one twelvemonth from the date hereof ; save and 
 except what may be judged necessary for the trading 
 parties at this present time within the tcrr'tory, to 
 carry them to their respective destinations, and who 
 may, on due application to me, obtain licence for the 
 same. The provisions procured and raised as above, 
 shall be taken for the use of the colony ; and that 
 no losses may accrue to the parties concerned, they 
 will be paid for by British bills at the customary 
 rates. 
 
 " And be it hereby further made known, that who- 
 soever shall be detected in attempting to convey out, 
 or attempting to carry out, any provisions prohibited 
 as above, cither by land or water, shall be taken into 
 custody and prosecuted as the laws in such cases 
 direct ; and the provisions so taken, as well as any 
 goods or chattels of what nature soever, which may 
 be taken along with them, and also the craft, cattle, 
 and carriages, instrumental in conveying away the 
 same, to any part but the settlement on Red Fiver, 
 shall be forfeited. Given under my hand, at Fort 
 Daer, Pembina, the 8th of January, 1814. 
 
 "By order of the Governor. 
 
 " (Signed) Miles Macdonell, Governor. 
 " John Spencer, Secretary." 
 
 Here, then, Is the loudly denounced and oft-spoken 
 of proclamation. 
 
 P 
 
210 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 II 
 
 
 
 (B* 
 
 i-1 1-. 
 
 I -I? : 
 
 in 
 
 rr 
 
 Were the question asked, " Did the c^overnor act 
 wisely ? " subsequent events afford an answer in the 
 negative. It is, of course, easy to criticize after the 
 event. No doubt Governor Macdonell, armed with 
 the opinion of the legal gentlemen we have already 
 quoted, regarded himself as fully authorized. No doubt 
 there was need for preventing the starving multitude 
 of settlers being driven av/ay every winter to Pem- 
 bina. No doubt it was the difficulty under December 
 and January weather of their getting sufiRcient food 
 from the buftalo that urged the governor to take the 
 strong step he did at Pembina, of obviating the re- 
 currence of the suffering he was ^hen witnessing. 
 Further, it was well-known that instructions had 
 been given the Nor'-wester agents, in their western 
 posts (as shown by the evidence of Pritchard, at 
 that time one of their employes) to buy up all the 
 provisions possible and prevent the settlers getting 
 them. 
 
 All these things can be urged and ha^^*^ great 
 weight, but the fact that the idea of law was yet new, 
 that the feeling of the Nor'-westers was hostile to 
 a certain extent, and that they had the turbulent 
 Bois-brul^s thoroughly under their control and ready 
 to carry out any plans of attack, should have caused 
 great caution on the part of the governor, so newly 
 created in his chair of authority. Further, all laws 
 of non-intercourse, embargo, and the like, are regarded 
 as arbitrary. Expedience would have dictated a 
 more conciliatory and less drastic policy ; especially 
 when he was not possessed of a force sufficient to 
 carry out his commands. 
 
BOIS-LRL'LI-S AND NOR'-WESTK RS. 
 
 21 I 
 
 But if the question be transferred to the region of 
 abstract right, the case is different. 
 
 The legal opinions given certainly justify the 
 governor in the steps taken. He proposed what is 
 usually considered the right of government, to take 
 possession of supplies if life is at stake, and not only 
 so but to recompense in full for the amount taken. 
 But it was a claim of supremacy ; it meant the dimi- 
 nution of Nor'-wester influence over the Bois-brules 
 and Indians, and must be resisted at all hazards. 
 
 The Council of Nor'-westcrs that met at Fort 
 William in the summer of 1814, was presided over 
 by the Hon. William IMcGillivray, the principal part- 
 ner of the North-west Company. Mr. Pritchard 
 gives evidence that he received direct information 
 from Mackenzie, one of the North-west agents, that 
 the following plan had been devised to accomplish 
 the ruin of the settlement : 
 
 " The intention of the North-west Company was to 
 seduce and inveigle away as many of the colonists 
 and settlers at Red River as they could induce to join 
 them ; and after they should thus have diminished 
 their means of defence, to raise the Indians of Lac 
 Rouge, Fond du Lac, and other places, to act and 
 destroy the settlement ; and that it was also their 
 intention to bring the Governor, Miles ]\Iacdonell, 
 down to Montreal as a prisoner, by way of degrading 
 the authority under which the colony was established 
 in the eyes of the natives of that country." 
 
 Who shall say after that, that the spirit of the 
 Nor'-westers since the days of Peter Pond, had been 
 in any way ameliorated ? Had they a grievance, thj 
 
 P 2 
 
a ',1 
 
 212 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 ?'. 
 
 !■ 
 
 lip' f 
 
 t^ 
 
 W^ 
 
 
 hS. 
 
 ■U 
 
 ;! Si! 
 
 ll! 
 
 i I *> 
 
 ^. 
 
 courts of England, where they had much influence, 
 were open to them. But no ! Indian and Bois-brCilc'S 
 must be stirred up, like the letting out of water, to 
 end no one could tell where ; and the words of Simon 
 McGillivray, a Nor'-wester partner, in writing from 
 London in 1812, "Lord Selkirk must be driven to 
 abandon the project, for his success would strike at 
 the very existence of our trade," arc seen carried out 
 into .action. The smoking homesteads of 181 5, and 
 the mournful band of threescore persons taking the 
 route down Red River, across Lake Winnipeg, and 
 seeking Hudson's Bay, as if the broad continent 
 had no room for even so small a band of peaceful 
 and industrious settlers, tell their own tale. 
 
 We have seen how the refugees returned to their de- 
 vastated hom.es. Fortunately the crops sown by them 
 had not all been destroyed ; and under Colin Robert- 
 son, and with their new friends from Scotland, they 
 settled down to endure in the following year, as wc 
 have mentioned, the fear and uncertainty of continual 
 threatenings, at last to have the crisis reached in 
 atrocious acts of bloodshed, and to be again driven 
 from their unfortunate settlement. 
 
13 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 BLOODSHED IN lSl6. 
 
 ar. as \vc 
 
 CUTIIBERT Grant again appears upon the scene : and 
 along with him figure also the leading chiefs of the 
 Nor'-westers. The return of the settlers to their 
 homes, in 1815, had filled the minds of their enemies 
 with rage. The contempt of the wild hunters of the 
 plains for the peaceful tillers of the soil can hardly 
 be conceived. They despised them for their manual 
 labour ; they named them by way of reproach, " the 
 workers in gardens ;" and their term " pork-eaters," 
 formerly applied to the voyageurs east of Fort William, 
 was now used in derision to the Scotch settlers. 
 During the whole winter the fiery cross of the Nor'- 
 westers had been fl}'ing ; and they looked forward to 
 a grand gathering in the spring at " The Forks," to 
 give a final blow to the infant colony. 
 
 The expeditions were to come both from east and 
 west. Fort Ou'Appellc, some 350 miles west of Red 
 River, was the rendezvous of the force expected from 
 the west. The Bois-brules wherever found during 
 the whole winter throughout the territories, at the 
 
214 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 11 h 
 
 ^ i^ 
 
 fW ( 
 
 ff 
 
 most distant 'posts, exhibited si^j^ns of unmistakable 
 hostility. A party of these warlike Metis were re- 
 ported as coming from the far-off Fort des Pi'airies, 
 on the Saskatchewan ; while from the east, a leading 
 partner, McLeod, was cominc^ all the way from Fort 
 William, with a stronc^ band to assist in the complete 
 extinction of the colony. 
 
 Of the western levies Grant was, as has been 
 already said, the ruling spirit. He was the leader of 
 the "new nation." On the 13th ]\Iarch, 1816, he 
 writes from the River Qu'Appelle the following letter 
 to one of the partners, showing the intentions for the 
 spring : — 
 
 ** My dear Sir, — I received your generous and 
 kind letter last fall, by the last canoe. I should cer- 
 tainly be an ungrateful being, should I not return you 
 my sincerest thanks. Although a very bad hand at 
 writing letters, I trust to your generosity. I am yet 
 safe and sound, thank God, for I believe it is more 
 than Colin Robertson or any of his suite dare to offer 
 the least insult to any of the Bois-brulcs, although 
 Robertson made use of some expressions which I 
 hope he shall swallow in the spring. He shall see 
 that it is neither fifteen, thirty, nor fifty of his best 
 horsemen, that can make the Bois-brClles bow to him. 
 Our people of Fort des Prairies and English River are 
 all to be herein the spring ; it is hoped we shall come 
 off with flying colours, and never to see any of them 
 again in the colonizing luay in Red River ; in fact, the 
 tr- ders shall pack off with themselves also, for having 
 disobeyed our orders last spring, according to our 
 arrangements. We arc all to remain at the Forks to 
 
 
Bloodshed in i8i6. 
 
 215 
 
 stakablc 
 ycrc rc- 
 Prairics, 
 , leading 
 )ni Fort 
 lompletc 
 
 as been 
 eader of 
 1816, he 
 ng letter 
 s for the 
 
 •ous and 
 ould ccr- 
 turn you 
 hand at 
 [ am yet 
 is more 
 to offer 
 though 
 which I 
 shall see 
 lis best 
 to him. 
 ivcr are 
 all come 
 of tJicui 
 fact, the 
 having 
 to our 
 Forks to 
 
 pass the summer, for fear they should play us the 
 same trick as last summer, of coming back ; but they 
 shall receive a warm reception. I am loth to enter 
 into any particulars as I am well-assured that you will 
 receive a more satisfactory information (than I have 
 had) from your other correspondents ; therefore, I 
 shall not pretend to give you any ; at the same time 
 begging you will excuse my short letter, I shall con- 
 clude wishing you health and happiness. 
 " I shall ever remain, 
 
 "Your most obedient, humble servant, 
 "CUTII13ERT Grant. 
 " J. D. Cameron, Esq." 
 
 After the settlers had returned in 1815, Colin 
 Robertson had organized the colony on his own 
 authority, there having been no opportunity of com- 
 municating with Lord Selkirk ; and during the same 
 year a new governor, Robert Semple, had arrived. 
 Governor Semple, seemingly of Pennsylvanian origin, 
 had gone in early life to England. He was an author 
 of some note, an officer of experience, and moreover 
 a man of amiable and generous disposition. Too 
 good a man he was for the lawless region to which 
 he was sent. He was appointed by the Hudson's 
 Bay Company as their governor, and with all the 
 powers conferred by their charter. 
 
 And now, as soon as spring is open, the movement 
 is begun. Governor Semple had dismantled the 
 Nor'-wester Fort, on account of the alarming rumours 
 heard by him, but more especially because of definite 
 information obtained from the leUers intercepted by 
 Colin Robertson during the winter. 
 
 We shall allow 
 
2l6 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 *i 
 
 if' -' 
 
 cyc-witncsscs of the events to tell their own talc, 
 given as they arc with greatest accuracy at IMontrcal, 
 in i8iS. 
 
 The first is the account of a gentleman who had 
 been a lieutenant in the Canadian Voltigcurs — the 
 corps that had so distinguished itself in the war 
 against the United States in 1812-15. At the close 
 of the war he entered the service of the Hudson's 
 Bay Company as a trader. lie gives a very clear 
 account of the expedition coming from Fort Ou'Ap- 
 pelle against the colony. 
 
 Story of Pierre Ciirysologue rA:\iBRUN. 
 
 «i 
 
 rt 
 
 lk\"i 
 
 "I had been for some time under the orders of Mr. 
 Semple, and on the 12th of April, 18 16, I left Fort 
 Douglas under his directions, to go to the Hudson's 
 Bay Company's house on River Ou'Appelle. I set out 
 with as much provision as would last us six days, 
 when we world get to Brandon House, about 120 
 miles west of Red River. To this place, according to 
 my instructions, I was to go first, and from thence, if 
 prudent, to the Hudson's Bay fort at Ou'Appelle. 
 On the 1st of May I left Qu'Appelle with five boat- 
 loads of pemican and furs. As we were going down 
 the river on the 5th of May, near the Grand Rapids, 
 I made the shore in a boat, and a party of armed 
 Bois-brules immediately came and surrounded me, 
 and forced me to give up the boats and the furs, and 
 the pemican. The pemican was landed, and the boats 
 taken across the river. I was kept a prisoner for five 
 days. Cuthbert Grant, Peter Pangman, Thomas 
 
 1 f,i. |i 
 
Bloodshed tx iSi6. 
 
 217 
 
 McKay were of the party who made nic a prisoner. 
 I was taken back to River Qu'Appclle, to the North- 
 west Company's post. I was kept there five days. 
 Mr. Alexander Macdonell was in command at this 
 station, and I asked him why I had been made a 
 prisoner, or by whose orders I had been arrested ? 
 He said it was by his own. There were about forty 
 or fifty Bois-brules at this fort. Cuthbert Grant fre- 
 quently said tliey were going to destroy the settlement, 
 and I was told I\Ir. IMacdonell said the business of 
 the year before was a trifle to what this should be. 
 Cuthbert Grant frequently talked with the Bois-brCdds 
 about going, and they sang war-songs, as if they were 
 going to battle. 
 
 "On the 1 2th I left Qu'Appelle. We drifted down 
 to the place where I had before been stopped, and 
 the pemican, which had been landed from our boats, 
 was re-embarked by the North-west people. When 
 we get to the forks of the River Qu'Appelle we en- 
 camped. The people who were taken with me had 
 been hberated some time before, and had gone away. 
 I had been left a prisoner. The next morning after 
 we had encamped, that is, the people in the two boats 
 which went with Mr. IMacdonell, a number of Indians 
 who were in camp at some distance were sent for, 
 and they came and went into Mr. Macdonell's tent, 
 who made a speech to them ; a party went also on 
 horseback from Fort Qu^Appclle armed, but I was 
 in one of the boats with ]\Ir. IMacdonell. In going 
 down the river, they talked freely of breaking up the 
 settlement and taking Fort Douglas ; and the people 
 frequently told me that Mr. IMacdonell had said the 
 
 
2l8 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 is 
 
 ^:: 
 
 i '. 
 
 i :.- 
 
 'Mi 
 
 i! f 
 
 :n 
 
 
 n. 
 
 business of the year before had been nothinir to what 
 this would be. Mr. Macdoncll's speech to the Indians 
 was to this effect : — 
 
 "•My Friends and Relations, — I address you 
 bashfully, for I have not a pipe of tobacco to give you. 
 All our goods have been taken by the I'^nglish, but wc 
 are now upon a party to drive them away. Those 
 people have been spoiling fair lands which belong 
 to 'you and the Bois-brulcs, and to which they have 
 no right. They have been driving away the buffalo. 
 You will soon be poor and miserable if the English 
 stay ; but we will drive them away if the Indians do 
 not, for the North-west Company and the Bois-brules 
 are one. If you ' (addressing the chief) * and some of 
 your young men will join, I shall be glad.' ]\lr. Mac- 
 doncU spoke in French, and Pangman and Primeau 
 interpreted. 
 
 " The chief said, ' That he knew nothing about it, and 
 should not go himself; if some of the young men 
 went, it was nothing to him.' Mr. ^]\Iacdonell then 
 said, * Well, it is no matter, we are determined to drive 
 them away, and if they make any resistance, your 
 land shall be drenched with their blood.' 
 
 " The next morning the Indians went away, and the 
 party drifted down the Assiniboine River to the Grand 
 Rapids. P>om there, about thirty started, among 
 whom was Mr. Macdonell, Cuthbert Grant, and a 
 number of Bois-brules. I was left behind and still 
 a prisoner, but in the evening a spare horse was 
 brought by two of them for me, and I accompanied 
 them on horseback to the North-west Fort near 
 Brandon House. When I approached, I saw a crowd 
 
I)L00I)S1IKD IX lSi6. 
 
 219 
 
 assembled about the gate. I suppose tliere were from 
 forty to fifty persons assembled. Their arms were 
 down by th'" gate, and as I entered it, a number of 
 them presented their guns at me, making use of in- 
 sulting language. I complained to Mr. INIacdonell 
 of this treatment, and asked him if it was by his 
 orders ; and he said he would speak to them about 
 it, but I do not think he ever did. I saw at this fort, 
 tobacco, carpenter's tools, a quantity of furs, and other 
 things, which had been brought over from Brandon 
 House — our fort near by. 
 
 " About the 24th or 25th of May, the party was sepa- 
 rated into smaller divisions, and chiefs appointed. The 
 ])roperty v/as embarked, and the whole set off to go 
 to Portage La Prairie ; a part went by water, but the 
 Pois-brCdes generally went by land on horseback. 
 Having arrived at Portage La Prairie, the whole of 
 the pemican and packs were landed, and formed 
 into a sort of breastwork or fortification, having two 
 small brass swivels there, which the year before had 
 been taken from the stores of the settlement. 
 
 "On the morning of the 17th of June, being at Por- 
 tage La Prairie still, which is about sixty miles from 
 the settlement, the Bois-brules mounted their horses 
 and set off for it ; they were armed wii.h guns, pistols, 
 lances, and bows and arrows : Cuthbert Grant was with 
 them, and a number of his race. I remained behind, 
 so did Mr. Alexander Macdonell, and others ; about 
 thirty or forty men stayed to help guard the pemican. 
 The object of this expedition was to take P^ort 
 Douglas, and break up the settlement. If the settlers 
 took to the fort for protection, then the whole were 
 
§> 
 
 tl 
 
 f! 
 
 220 
 
 MAXITOnA. 
 
 to be starved cnit. The furt was to be watclied 
 strictly at all times ; and if any of them went out to 
 fish, or to j^et water, they were to be shot, if they could 
 not be taken prisoners. I certainly had, from all I 
 heard, very serious apprehensions for my friends. I 
 do not remember that Cuthbert Grant said anything 
 particular on the morning he went away." 
 
 i* 
 
 "Seven Oaks." 
 
 One of the persons who figured largely in the events 
 subsecjuent to the year 1816 is Mr. John Pritchard. 
 An Englishman, he had been in the employ of the 
 North-west Company, but he had left that service 
 and become a settler at Red River. He was conse- 
 quently well-acquainted with the inner workings of 
 both Companies at this most eventful time. His 
 account of the '^ affair of Seven Oaks" is given with 
 the same fidelity as the former, and bears the marks 
 of being true and dispassionate. 
 
 n 
 
 John Pritciiard's Narrative. 
 
 "In May, 1S16, I was living at Red River, and in 
 that month and long before, from the Indians and 
 free men who lived in our neighbourhood, I heard of 
 its being intended to attack us. I heard this as early 
 as March, and in May and June the report became 
 general. In consequence of this information, we were 
 constantly upon the look-out ; day and night a 
 watch was kept for the express purpose of giving the 
 earliest notice of their approach. On the evening of 
 the 19th of June, I had been upstairs in my own room 
 
 i; 
 
lU.noDsiirn in iSi^. 
 
 221 
 
 /n room 
 
 in Fort Douc^das, and about six o'clock I heard the boy 
 at the ^vatch-housc give the alarm that the liois- 
 brules were comii^i;. \ few of us, amon^c; \\ horn was 
 Governor Scmple — there were perhaps six altoi;cther 
 — looked thn)Ufj;h a spy-glass, from a place that had 
 been used as a stable, and ^.'C distinctly saw armed 
 persons going along the plains. Shortly after, I 
 heard the same boy call out, ■ that the party on 
 horseback were making to the settlers.* 
 
 "About twenty of us, in obedience to the governor, 
 who said, ' We must go and sec what these people 
 are,* took our arms. He could only let about twenty 
 go, at least he told about tw< nty to follow him, to 
 come with him ; there was, however, some confusion 
 at the time, and I believe a few more than twenty 
 accompanied us. Having proceeded about half a 
 mile towards the settlement, wc saw, behind a point of 
 wood which goes down to the river, that the party in- 
 creased very much. I\Ir. Semple, therefore, sent one 
 of the people (Mr. Bourke) to the fort for a piece of 
 cannon, and as many men as Mr. IMiles ]\Iacdonell 
 could spare. ]\Ir. Bourkc, however, not returning 
 soon, Governor Semple said, * Gentlemen, we had 
 better go on,* and we accordingly proceeded. We 
 had not gone far before we saw the liois-brules re- 
 turning towards us, and they divided into two parties, 
 and surrounded us in the shape of a half-moon or half- 
 circle. On our way, we met a number of the settlers 
 crying, and speaking in the Gaelic language, which I 
 do not understand, and they went on to the fort. 
 
 "The party on horseback had got pretty near to us, 
 so that we could discover that they were painted and 
 
«aiwi.ia>i;a..9iin___,_,. 
 
 I- i 
 
 f t 
 
 I fi 
 
 I r 
 
 J,, 
 
 : 
 
 
 
 p' 
 
 
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 ■1 
 
 St . ' 
 
 v^- 
 
 
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 li! 
 
 f; 
 
 i HiM 
 
 
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 3' 
 
 
 m^ 
 
 1 
 
 J^ ,i 
 
 ■k 
 
 jk. 
 
 
 '5'>'> 
 
 ]\lANITOr,A. 
 
 s, as 
 
 disc^uised in the most hideous manner ; upon thi 
 we were retreatincf, a Frenchman named I^oiich.cr 
 advanced, wavinj^ his hand, riding up to us, and calHng 
 out in broken EngHsh, * What do you want ? What 
 do you want ? ' Governor Sempie said, * What do;w/ 
 want?' Mr. Bourke not cominc^ on with the cannon 
 as soon as he was expected, the governor directed 
 the party to proceed onwards ; we had not gone far 
 before we saw the Bois-brulcs returning upon us. 
 Upon observing tiiat they were so numerous, we 
 had extended our h'ne, and got more into the open 
 plain ; as they advanced, we retreated ; but they 
 divided themselves into two parties, and surrounded us 
 again in the shape of a half-moon. 
 
 •* Boucher then came out of the ranks of his party, 
 and advanced towards us (he was on horseback), 
 calling out in broken English, 'What do you want.-* 
 What do you want.?' Governor Sempie answered, 
 'What do you want 1 * To which Boucher answered, 
 * We want our fort.' The governor said, * Well, go 
 to your fort.' After that I did not hear anything 
 that passed, as they were close together. I saw the 
 governor putting his hand on Boucher's gun. Ex- 
 pecting an attack to be made instantly, I had not 
 been looking at Governor Sem.ple and Boucher for 
 some time ; but just then I happened to turn my 
 head that way, and immediately I heard a shot, and 
 directly afterwards a general firing. I turned round 
 upon hearing the shot, and saw Mr. Holte, one of 
 our officers, struggling as if he was shot. He was on 
 the ground. On their approach, as I have said, we 
 had extended our line on the plain, by each taking 
 
Bloodshed in iSi6. 
 
 22 ^ 
 
 us, as 
 luch.cr 
 allincj 
 What 
 lIo yoit 
 annon 
 rcctcd 
 nc far 
 on us. 
 
 .IS, wc 
 
 :; open 
 t they 
 dcd us 
 
 party, 
 :back), 
 want ? 
 kvcrcd, 
 ;\vered, 
 11, go 
 ything 
 law the 
 Ex- 
 ,d not 
 or for 
 jrn my 
 t, and 
 round 
 lone of 
 kvas on 
 id, we 
 [taking 
 
 a place at a greater distance from the other. This 
 had been done by the governor's orders, and we each 
 took such places as best suited our individual safety. 
 
 " From not seeing the firing begin, I cannot say 
 from whom it first came ; but immediately upon hear- 
 ing the first shut, I turned and saw Lieutenant Ilolte 
 struggling." (Several persons present at the affair, 
 such as a blacksmith named Hedcn, and McKay, 
 a settler, distinctly state that the first shot fired was 
 from the Bois-brules, and that by it Lieutenant 
 Ilolte fell.) " As to our attacking our assailants, one 
 of our people, Bruin, I believe, did propose that we 
 should keep them off; and the governor turned round 
 and asked who could be such a lascal as to make 
 such a proposition ? and that he should hear no 
 word of that kind again. The governor was very 
 much displeased indeed at the suggestion made. A 
 fire was kept up for several minutes, after the first 
 shot, and I saw a number wounded ; indeed, in a 
 few minutes, almost all our people were either killed 
 or wounded. I saw Sinclair and Bruin fall, either 
 wounded or killed ; and a Mr. McLean, a little in 
 front, defending himself, but by a second shot I saw 
 him fall. 
 
 "At this time I saw Captain Rogers getting up 
 again, but not observing any of our people standing, 
 I called out to him, * Rogers, for God's sake give 
 yourself up ! give yourself up ! ' Captain Rogers ran 
 towards them, calling out in English and in broken 
 French, that he surrendered, and that he gave him- 
 self up, and praying them to save his life. Thomas 
 McKay, a Bois-brule shot him through the head, 
 
1 I 
 
 '■■I 
 
 224 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 it;. 
 
 II 
 
 * 
 
 i'i 
 
 ii 
 
 U 
 
 ?l 
 
 and another, Bois-brule dashed upon him with a 
 knife, using the most horrid imprecations to him. I 
 did not see the governor fall. I saw his corpse the 
 next day at the fort. When I saw Captain Rogers 
 fall, I expected to share his fate. As there was a 
 French Canadian among those who surrounded me, 
 and who had just made an end of my friend, I said, 
 * Lavigne, you are a Frenchman, you are a man, you 
 are a Christian. For God's sake save my life ! for 
 God's sake try and save it ! I give myself up ; I am 
 your prisoner.' McKay, who was among this party, 
 and who knew me, said, ' You little toad, what do 
 you do here ? " He spoke in French, and called me 
 ' un petit crapaud,' and asked what I did here } I 
 fully expected then to lose my life. I again ap- 
 pealed to Lavigne, and he joined in entreating them 
 to spare me. I told them over and over again that 
 I was their prisoner, and I had something to tell 
 them. They, however, seemed determined to take 
 my life. They struck at me with their guns, and 
 Lavigne caught some of the blows, and joined me 
 in entreating for my safety. He told them of my 
 kindness on different occasions. I remonstrated that 
 I had thrown down my arms and was at their mercy. 
 One Primeau wished to shoot me ; he said I had 
 formerly killed his brother. I begged him to recol- 
 lect my former kindness to him at Ou'Appelle. At 
 length they spared me, telling me I was a little dog, 
 and had not long to live, and that he (Primeau) 
 would find me when he came back. 
 
 " I then went to Frog Plains (Kildonan) in charge 
 of Boucher. In going to the plains, I was again 
 
Bloodshed in i8i6. 
 
 225 
 
 with a 
 
 lim. I 
 
 •pse the 
 
 Rogers 
 
 2 was a 
 led me, 
 I, I said, 
 lan, you 
 iife! for 
 
 3 ; I am 
 is party, 
 ,vhat do 
 tiled me 
 ere ? I 
 
 rain ap- 
 n^ them 
 ^ain that 
 to tell 
 to take 
 ms, and 
 ined me 
 1 of my 
 itcd that 
 r mercy. 
 1 I had 
 to recol- 
 iWe. At 
 ttle dog, 
 'rimeau) 
 
 charge 
 is again 
 
 threatened by one of the party, and saved by Boucher, 
 who conducted me safely to Frog Plain. I there 
 saw Cuthbert Grant, who told me that they did not 
 expect to have met us on the plain, but that their 
 intention was to have surprised the colony, and that 
 they would hav^e hunted the colonists like buffalo. 
 He also told me they expected to have got round 
 unperceivcd, and at night would have surrounded the 
 fort, and have shot every one who left it ; but being 
 seen, their scheme had been destroyed or frustrated. 
 They were all painted and disfigured, so that I did 
 not know many. I should not have known that 
 Cuthbert Grant was there, though I knew him well, 
 had he not spoken to me. 
 
 " Grant told me that Gov^ernor Semple was not 
 mortally wounded by the hot he received, but that 
 his thigh was broken. He jaid that he spoke to the 
 governor after he was wounded, and had been asked 
 by him to have him taken to the fort, and as he was 
 not mortally wounded, he thought he might perhaps 
 live. Grant said he could not take him himself, as 
 he had something else to do, but that he would send 
 some person to convey him on whom he might de- 
 pend, and that he left him in charge of a French- 
 Canadian and went away ; but that almost directly 
 after he had left him, an Indian, who, he said, was 
 the only rascal they had, came up and shot him in 
 the breast, and killed him on the spot. 
 
 "The Bois-brules, who very seldom paint or dis- 
 guise themselves, were on this occasion painted as I 
 have been accustomed to see the Indians at their 
 war-dance ; they were very much painted, and dis- 
 
226 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 '• ,« 
 
 il. if 
 
 guiscd in a hideous manner. They gave the war- 
 whoop when they met Governor Semplc and his 
 party: they made a hideous noise and shouting. I 
 know from Grant, as well as from other Bois-brules 
 and the settlers, that some of the colonists had been 
 taken prisoners. Grant told me that they were taken 
 to weaken the colony, and prevent its being known 
 that they were there — they having supposed that they 
 had passed the fort unobserved. 
 
 " Their intention clearly was to pass the fort. I saw 
 no carts, though I heard they had carts with them. 
 I saw about five of the settlers prisoners in the camp 
 at Frog Plain. Grant said to me further, 'You see 
 we have had but one of our people killed, and how 
 little quarter we have given you. Now, if Fort Douglas 
 is not given up, with all the public property, instantly 
 and without resistance, man, woman, and child shall 
 be put to death.' Me said the attack would be made 
 upon it that night, and if a single shot were fired, that 
 would be a sicrnal for the indiscriminate destruction of 
 every soul. I was completely satisfied myself, that 
 the whole would be destroyed, and I besought Grant, 
 whom I knew, to suggest, or let them try and devise 
 some means to save the women and children. I re- 
 presented to him that they could have done no harm 
 to anybody, whatever he or his party might think the 
 men had. I entreated him to take compassion on 
 them, I reminded him that they were his father's 
 countrywomen ; and in his deceased father's name, I 
 begged him to take pity and compassion on them, 
 and spare them. 
 
 " At last he said, if all the arms and public property 
 
Bloodshed in iSi6. 
 
 2.?7 
 
 le war- 
 md his 
 :ing. I 
 s-brules 
 id been 
 re taken 
 known 
 lat they 
 
 . I saw 
 ;h them, 
 le camp 
 You see 
 md how 
 Douglas 
 instantly 
 ild shall 
 be made 
 red, that 
 uction of 
 5elf, that 
 ^t Grant, 
 id devise 
 I re- 
 no harm 
 hink the 
 ssion on 
 father's 
 name, I 
 iDn them, 
 
 11 
 
 property 
 
 wcr£ given up, we should be allowed to go away. 
 After inducing the Bois-brCdes to allow me to go to 
 Fort Douglas, I met our people ; they were long un- 
 willing to give up, but at last our Mr. Macdonell, who 
 was now in charge, consented. We went together to 
 the Frog Plain, an inventory of the property was 
 taken when we had returned to the fort, the fort was 
 delivered over to Cuthbert Grant, who gave receipts 
 on each sheet of the inventory, signed Cuthbert Grant, 
 acting for the North-west Company. I remained at 
 Fort Douglas till the evening of the 22nd, when all 
 proceeded down the river — the settlers, a second 
 time on their journey into exile. 
 
 " The colonists, it is true, had little now to leave. 
 They were generally employed in agricultural pursuits, 
 in attending to their farms and the servants of the 
 Hudson's Bay Company in their ordinary av^ocations. 
 They lived in tents generally and in huts. In 18 16 at 
 Red River there was but one residence^ the governor's, 
 which was in Fort Douglas. The settlers had lived 
 in houses previous to 18 15, but in that year they had 
 been burnt down in the attack that had been made 
 upon them. The settlers were employed during the 
 daytime on their land, and used to come up to the 
 fort to sleep in some of the buildings in the enclosure. 
 All was now left behind. The Bois-brules' victory 
 being now complete, a messenger was despatched 
 westward to tell the news far and near." 
 
 Pambrun resumes and concludes his Story. 
 
 " On the 20th June a messenger arrived at Portage 
 La Prairie from Cuthbert Grant. When Mr. Alexander 
 
 Q 2 
 
 ' 'V, 
 
228 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 M 
 
 W (I ^ 
 
 1 i 
 
 1 ,: il 
 
 
 t1 ^ 
 
 i '. 
 
 >1! 
 
 MacdoncU saw him approaching Portage La Prairie, h>- 
 went out and spoke with him, and presently gave three 
 cheers. Upon this the other gentlemen asked * what the 
 news was?' Mr.Macdonell said in French, 'It was good. 
 Twenty-two English are killed, and among them 
 Semple and five of his officers.' He then announced it 
 to the people, and said in French, ' Sacre nom de Dieu, 
 bonnes nouvelles, vingt-deux Anglais de tues.' The 
 gentlemen present all shouted with joy, especially 
 Lamarre, Macdonell, and Sieveright. Pangman, com- 
 monly called Bostonais, inquired whether there were 
 any killed on their side .'* but was answered, that one 
 had been ; and on hearing who it was, said it was his 
 cousin ; and then exclaimed, ' My cousin is killed, and 
 I will be revenged. The affair shall not end here. 
 They shall all be killed ; for so long as these English 
 are let go out of the river, they always will be coming 
 back, as they did last year ; and so sure as they return, 
 they will always cause a disturbance and mischief.' 
 
 " Upon this, two men, Latour and Montour, were 
 ordered to get horses, and immediately despatched on 
 horseback to the Red River, with directions to detain 
 all the settlers till Alexander Macdonell should arrive. 
 We then pursued our journey by land, towards Fort 
 Douglas, to within about thirty miles of it ; the re- 
 mainder of the way I went by water. 
 
 " When I arrived at Fort Douglas, I found all our 
 people were gone, I met none of them there at all ; 
 the fort and property were in possession of the Bois- 
 brul(fs, the same Bois-brCilcs as I had before seen 
 leave Portage La Prairie for Fort Douglas. 
 
 " Cuthbert Grant was there, and a number I have 
 
Bloodshed in i8i6. 
 
 229 
 
 before mentioned. There wijre altot^ether about forty- 
 five in the fort : there were none in the settlement. 
 
 " I ask-ed Mv. Alexander Macdonell to let me goto 
 the spot where the accident had occurred, which he 
 did, and I went by myself. The limbs of the persons 
 who had been killed were out of the c^round, and 
 many of their bodies in a mangled condition. After 
 this, I heard Grant say that he had fired upon Gover- 
 nor Semple and upon McLean. The general account 
 of the Bois-brules was, * that Grant was a brave 
 man, and had conducted himself well in the engage- 
 ment.' They did not seem to be sorry for, or to hide 
 what they had done. After these events I was 
 sent to Fort William." 
 
 The Eastern Levy. 
 
 To sec the full intention of the Nor'-westers to 
 utterly destroy the Colony, It will be well to give in 
 the words of an eye-witness an account of the Expe- 
 dition organized at Fort William to proceed to the 
 destruction of the Red River Settlement, and for the 
 purpose of meeting the force from the w^st, intending 
 to reach the rendezvous at Frog Plain, and thence to 
 attack Fort Douglas. It will be remembered that 
 Cuthbcrt Grant's expedition endeavoured to pass the 
 fort unseen, but on being discovered, were led on to 
 the attack by Governor Semple's unfortunate appear- 
 ance on the plain, with so small a body of attendants. 
 Their intention plainly was to wait till the force from 
 Fort William had arrived, and then to make the 
 attack. As it happened they had the opportunity of 
 accomplishing the work alone, and it was not until 
 
i 
 
 ! 
 
 ■ i i. ■ 
 
 r li ' 
 
 H 
 
 ! 1: 
 
 230 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 three or four diiys later that they were joined by the 
 war-party from Lake Superior, an account of whose 
 journey is now given in the words of a narrator well 
 able to give it, as having been a non-commissioned 
 officer in the disbanded De Meuron Regiment, to which 
 further reference will be made. 
 
 Circumstantial account of Frederick Damien 
 
 HUERTER. 
 
 "A short time before our regiment was reduced, I 
 obtained my discharge by order of Lieutcnant-Gcncral 
 Sir Gordon Drummond, and engaged myself at 
 Montreal, in April, 18 16, for three years, as a clerk in 
 the service of the North-west Company, at the yearly 
 salary of 100/. Before I left that place, I was told 
 by Mr. Archibald Norman McLeod, a partner of the 
 said Company, that I must by all means take with 
 me to the Indian country the regimentals that I had, 
 saying, ' We shall have occasion to show a little 
 military practice in the interior.' I embarked at 
 Lachine, the 2nd of May, with Alexander ]\Iackenzie, 
 commonly called the Emperor, and other clerks of 
 the North-west Company ; there was also with us 
 Charles Reinhard, late a sergeant in Dc Meuron's 
 regiment, and who had engaged himself a clerk with 
 the North-west Company at 80/. a year. We embarked 
 in three large canoes, navigated by fourteen men 
 each. At Coteau du Lac Mr. McLeod embarked in 
 the canoes with Lieutenants Missani and Brumby of 
 De Meuron's regiment, and their servants, who were 
 privates of the same regiment. 
 
 "On the 31st of May I arrived at Fort William, 
 
BLOonsiii'i) IX i8i6. 
 
 231 
 
 where I remained three days, and was desired along^ 
 with Rcinhard, to go into a store to choose arms for 
 ourselves, which wc accordingly did. At Fort William 
 the large canoes were changed for five North canoes, 
 and I set out before the rest in a loaded canoe, and 
 was overtaken by the brigade next day, when I joined 
 them. 7\t a portage about three days' journey from 
 Fort William, wc came up with a loaded canoe, navi- 
 gated by two Iroquois and two I'^-ench Canadians, 
 one of whom, named Laverdure, was a man between 
 sixty and seventy years of age, who was too weak to 
 work as hard as the others, and to carry o\-er the 
 portages. Our commander, AIcLeod, asked him why 
 he did not carry over the portages ? and when the 
 man complained of being too old and infirm, knocked 
 him down and kicked him severely, calling him at 
 the same time abusive names. Lieutenant IMissani 
 at length took McLeod by the arm and spoke to him. 
 ** At the portage near the fort, near Rainy Lake, the 
 gentlemen stopped a little while to dress, when 
 Lieutenant IMissani came to me and told me that it 
 was ]\IcLeod's desire Rcinhard aiid myself should 
 put on our regimentals, which we accordingly did. 
 After we were dressed McLeod said to me, * The 
 fort at Rainy Lake is a great place of resort for 
 Lidians, and it is important that }'ou all appear in 
 regimentals to show them that you belong to the 
 king.' At the fort ]\IcLeod made a speech to a 
 great assemblage of Indians. I understood that he 
 ordered the Indians to follow him to Red River. I 
 saw two large kegs of liquor and some tobacco, which 
 were given to the Indians on the occasion. LTpwards 
 
j 
 
 ^^1 ^^i 
 
 232 
 
 Maxitoua. 
 
 1 1 
 
 of twenty Indians followed us. Goinp^ down River 
 Winnipeg, we arrived at the entrance of the river into 
 Lake Winnipeg on the i8th of June. 
 
 " I lerc wc were ordered to make ball-cartridge, which 
 wc did. I again here put on my regimentals at the 
 request of the officers. At this point there were two 
 brass guns, three-pounders ; these and a number of 
 muskets were put in order. Wc were ordered to drill 
 the voyageurs. A French Canadian, Forciei, positively 
 refused to take a gun, and most of the men were 
 very reluctant, saying they had been engaged as 
 voyageurs, not as soldiers. We took the guns with 
 us, and our canoes being delayed by weeds and other- 
 wise, we reached Nctlcy Creek on the Red River, about 
 forty miles from the settlement, on the 21st. We 
 were here assured that a party of forty from Swan 
 River, and about eighty Bois-brules from Qu'Appelle, 
 would meet us, and then the first attack would be 
 made. 
 
 " We started on the 23rd of June for the colony, i. e. 
 four days after the attack upon Governor Semple's 
 party, though yet we knew nothing of this. 
 
 " On that day we had gone but a short distance, 
 when we met seven or eight boats conveying a number 
 of men, women, and children, who, as I soon heard, 
 were the settlers and others driven from the colony, 
 under the charge of the sheriff of the colony. Wc 
 at once prepared for action. The colonists were 
 ordered by our commander to stop. I then first heard 
 of the rencontre in which Governor Sample and twenty 
 of his people had lost their lives. The whole party 
 were stopped and ordered ashore. McLeod then 
 
l?LOODSIli:i) IX 1816. 
 
 ^33 
 
 River 
 :r into 
 
 which 
 at the 
 re two 
 ber of 
 ;o drill 
 itively 
 1 were 
 jccl as 
 IS with 
 ot^ier- 
 , about 
 :. We 
 Swan 
 ppellc, 
 iild be 
 
 ly, /. e. 
 mplc's 
 
 stance, 
 umber 
 heard, 
 :olony, 
 •. We 
 ; were 
 heard 
 wenty 
 party 
 then 
 
 ordered mc and others to make a strict search for 
 papers among the baggage belonging to the colonists, 
 to open all trunks, boxes, and packages, and to take 
 possession of all letters, papers, or account-books 
 whatsoever. No key being found for the trunks of 
 the late Governor Semple, McLcod ordered them to 
 be broken open, which was accordingly done with an 
 axe. On the 24th, the expected brigade arrived from 
 Swan River. On the same day the settlers were 
 liberated, and allowed to proceed on their way down 
 Lake Winnipeg. Charles Grant was sent after them 
 to see that they had actually gone on their journey. 
 
 " On the 26th I went up the river to Fort Douglas. 
 There were many of the partners of the North-west 
 Company with us. At Fort Douglas the brigade was 
 received with discharges of artillery and fire-arms. 
 The fort was under My. Alexander Macdoncll, and 
 there was there a great gathering of Bois-brides, 
 clerks, and interpreters, as well as partners of the 
 Company. On our arrival Archibald Norman McLeod, 
 our leader, took the m.anagement and direction of the 
 fort, and all made whatever use they chose of the 
 property it contained. TheBois-brules were entirely 
 under the orders and control of McLeod and the 
 partners. McLeod occupied the apartments lately 
 belonging to Governor Semple. After my arrival, I 
 saw all the Bois-brules assembled in a large outer 
 room, which had served as a mess-room for the officers 
 of the colony. 
 
 " At this time such of the Bois-brules as were not 
 actually at table with the partners were called into 
 the governor's apartments, where I saw McLeod 
 
234 
 
 MANITOnA. 
 
 
 ;ill ■■.! 
 
 it' 
 
 ] ■ 
 
 
 ^^ 
 
 i . I. ! 
 
 ! iiii 
 
 1 
 
 shake tlicin heartily by tlic liand, <^ivc tlicni each a 
 dram, express the hap[)incss he felt at seeiiiLj them, 
 and thank them (ov what they had done, and for 
 their attachment to the North-west Company. The 
 next day all the servants and cviployi^s of the Com- 
 pany were assembled behind the principal buildinfr in 
 Fort Douf^las, where IMcLcod made a speech, in wliicii 
 he told the Jiois-brules and others who had been cn- 
 f^ac^ed in the affair of the 19th of June, that he was 
 very happy to sec them assembled there, that they 
 had defended themselves and their land well, that 
 the English had no rii^dit whatever to build upon 
 their land without their permission. After his speech 
 McLeod said to mc, ' What do you think of these 
 fellows, Mr. Huerter .-' Do you think his lordship)* (Lord 
 Selkirk) * will ever get the better of them ? ' McLeod 
 went, accompanied by Alexander McKenzic and all 
 the partners, and the Bois-brules and others, on 
 horseback a short distance up the river to the Forks, 
 where he made a speech through an interpreter 
 named Primeau, to two Saulteaux chiefs, named 
 Peguis and L'Homme Noir, and their bands, in which 
 I heard him reproach them for having refused to take 
 up arms against the colony when called on to do so, 
 and for having allowed the English to take Duncan 
 Cameron, and send him away a prisoner. He called 
 them a band of dogs, and threatened to punish them 
 very severely if they ever dared to befriend the 
 English again. 
 
 " I rode the same day to the field of * Seven Oaks,' 
 \vhere Governor Semple and so many of his people 
 had lately lost their lives, in company with a number 
 
c.'icli a 
 them, 
 lid for 
 The 
 Com- 
 Hnrr in 
 1 which 
 ;cn cn- 
 iic was 
 it they 
 .1, that 
 upon 
 speech 
 f these 
 ' (Lord 
 cLeod 
 nd all 
 :rs, on 
 Forks, 
 rpretcr 
 named 
 which 
 o take 
 do so, 
 )uncan 
 called 
 them 
 id the 
 
 1 
 
 Oaks,' 
 people 
 lumber 
 
 l^l-OODSni'D IN iSi6. 
 
 235 
 
 of those who had been employed on that occasion- 
 all Oil horseback. At this period, scarcely a week 
 after the iQtli of June, I saw a number of human 
 bodies scattered about the plain, and nearly reduced 
 to skeletons, there beinc^ then \'cry little flesh ad- 
 herin^i; to the bones ; and I was informed on the spot 
 that many of the bodies had been partly devoured 
 by do^s and wolves. This spectacle, at which I was 
 greatly shocked, was viewed with every mark of 
 satisfaction, and even of exultation, by the persons 
 by whom I was accompanied on this occasion. All 
 were laughinLj heartily at the jests which each strove 
 to pass. The Bois-brules were eagerly contending 
 to point out to the approbation of their masters their 
 particular feats on the 19th of June, which were lis- 
 tened to with pleasure ; but I particularly remarked 
 that the approbation of McLeod, McKenzie, and 
 Macdonell seemed to be the principal object of the 
 desire of the I'ois-brules and others, and was lavishly 
 bestowed on such as pointed out to them the deeds 
 of cruelty by which they claimed distinction. Fran- 
 cois Deschamps, an old French-Canadian, was praised 
 by the partners as a person who had distinguished 
 himself by his zeal in their service. This Deschamps 
 is generally reputed and believed to have committed 
 acts of cruelty in murdering the v/ounded, who 
 were calling for quarter. In recounting the deeds of 
 this man to his partners, Mr. Alexander Macdonell 
 remarked, ' What a fine, vigorous old man he is.' 
 
 " There was a scene of great rejoicing the same 
 evening at the fort, the Bois-brules being painted and 
 dancing naked, after the manner of savages, to the 
 
 1 
 
 'i 
 
 . I.: 
 
236 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 
 n 
 
 
 
 
 ,-y. .>•-'. 
 
 
 liivl 
 
 
 ; ^.^f 
 
 i 
 
 ■1 
 
 
 s. ■: 
 
 .1.' 
 
 |: './.^ 
 
 great amusement of their masters. On the 29th 
 of June most of the partners and the Northern 
 Brigade set off for the Rapids at the mouth of the 
 Saskatchewan. The departure of the Grand Brigade 
 was signaHzed by the discharge of artillery from Fort 
 Douglas." 
 
 The TRiUMni. 
 
 The Bois-brules to this day celebrate their victory 
 at " Seven Oaks/' on the 19th of June, 1816. We give 
 their song of triumph as a specimen of Bois-briiles' 
 literature, and with it a translation for the benefit of 
 the English reader. The bad French and grandilo- 
 quent strains make it something of a curiosity. 
 
 1,1 
 
 
 ki 
 
 vt 
 
 ni\ 
 
 i'i 
 
 ;i 
 
 lb 
 
 1 
 
 CHANSON ECRITE PAR PIERRE FALCON. 
 
 Voulcz-vous dcouter chanter un chanson dc vcritd : 
 
 Le dix-ncuf dc Juin, Ics IJois-biules sont arrives 
 
 Commc dcs braves guerriers, 
 
 Ont arrivons a la grcnouiUiere, 
 
 Nous avons fait trois prisonniers 
 
 Des Orcanais ! lis sont ici pour piller notrc pays. 
 
 Etant sur Ic point de dcbarqucr, 
 
 Deux d" nos gens sc sont ccries, 
 
 Voila I'Anglais qui vicnt nous attaquer ! 
 
 Tous aussitot nous nous sommes devirds 
 
 Pour aller les rencontrer. 
 
 J'avons cerne la bande de grenadiers, 
 
 lis sont immobiles ! ils sont demontes ! 
 
 J'avons agi comme des gens d'honneur, 
 
 Nous envoyames un amljassadeur. 
 
 Gouverneur ! voulcz-vous arrctcr un petit moment, 
 
 Nous voulons vous parler. 
 
 Le gouverneur qui est enragd, 
 II dit a ses soldats— " Tircz !" 
 
Bloodshed in i8i6. 
 
 237 
 
 c 29th 
 )rthern 
 of the 
 brigade 
 m Fort 
 
 victory 
 ^e give 
 -brules' 
 nefit of 
 andilo- 
 
 N. 
 d: 
 
 Le premier coup I'Anglais le tire, 
 
 L'Ambassadciir a presque manqud d'etre tud 
 
 Le gouverneur se croyant I'Empcrcur, 
 
 II agit avcc rigueur, 
 
 Le gouverneur se croyant I'Empereur 
 
 A son malheur agit avec trop de rigueur. 
 
 Ayant vu passe les llois-brulcs, 
 II a parti pour nous epouvanter 
 liltant parti pour nous epouvanter 
 II s'est trompe ; il s'est bien fait tud 
 Quantitd de ses grenadiers. 
 
 J'avons tud presque toute son armde 
 
 De la bande quatre ou cinq se sent sauvds, 
 
 Si vous avicz vu les Anglais 
 
 Et tous les Bois-brules apres ! 
 
 De butte en butte les Anglais culbutaient 
 
 Les Bois-brulds jetaient des oris de joie ! 
 
 Qui en a coniposd la chanson ? 
 
 C'est Pierre Falcon ! Le bon garden ! 
 
 Elle a etc faite et composec 
 
 Sur la victoirc que nous avons gagnd ! 
 
 Elle a cte faite et composee 
 
 Chantons la gloire de tous ces Bois-briilds. 
 
 t, 
 
 SONG WRITTEN BY PIERRE FALCON. 
 
 Come listen to this song of truth ! 
 A song of the brave Bois-brules, 
 Who at Frog Plain took three captives, 
 Strangers come to rob our country. 
 
 When dismounting there to rest us, 
 A cry is raised — the English ! 
 They are coming to attack us, 
 So we hasten forth to meet them. 
 
 I look'd upon their army, 
 They are motionless and downcast ; 
 So, as honour would incline us, 
 We desire with them to parley. 
 
 % 
 
238 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 If' 
 
 But their leader, mov^ed with anger, 
 Gives the word to fire upon us ; 
 And imperiously repeats it, 
 Rushing on to his destruction. 
 
 Having seen us pass his stronghold, 
 He had thought to strike with terror 
 The Bois-brulos : Ah ! mistaken, 
 Many of his soldiers perish. 
 
 But a few escaped the slaughter. 
 Rushing from the field of battle ; 
 Oh, to see the English fleeing ! 
 Oh, the shouts of their pursuers ! 
 
 Who has sung this song of triumph ? 
 The good Pierre Falcon has composed it, 
 That the praise of these Bois-brulds 
 Might be evermore recorded. 
 
 A Reflection. 
 
 The joy of the Bois-brulcs was but the froth of the 
 seething cauldron of plot and threat, and stratagem 
 and malice, that the Nor'-vvesters had been preparing 
 for months. Poor, simple beings ! pushed forward to 
 do the dangerous woVk, while the leaders kept at a 
 safe distance, and then praised and rewarded them. 
 
 Dressed in the garb, and ornamented after the 
 manner of Indians, the better to hide the plot and to 
 cast the blame upon the simple savages, the Bois- 
 brules had their imaginations fired to emulate the 
 deeds of cruelty attributed to their savage ancestry, 
 while the Indians themselves remained silent spec- 
 tators of the violence. . 
 
 However much the partners at Montreal, or the 
 wintering partners in the country, sought to escape 
 the responsibility, a perusal of the narratives of 
 
 
 1,1 
 
Bloodshed in 1819. 
 
 239 
 
 t, 
 
 th of the 
 ;ratagem 
 )repanng 
 rward to 
 ept at a 
 them, 
 after the 
 )t and to 
 ;he Bois- 
 late the 
 ancestry, 
 :nt spec- 
 
 Pambrun, Pritchard, and Hucrter, can leave no doubt 
 as to the fact that the destruction of the colony was 
 a well-considered and deliberately executed plan. 
 From west, and east, and north, the North-west part- 
 ners came with thrcatenings of destruction, and 
 accompanied by their Bois-brules. In every case 
 efforts were made to enlist the Indians in the enter- 
 prise. The most perfect understanding is seen to 
 exist as to the time of meeting, as to the place of 
 rendezvous, and as to the mode of attack. 
 
 It is true the rencontre before Fort Douglas took 
 place a little sooner than was expected, but it is the 
 weakest justification possible to represent the affray, 
 so far as the Nor' -westers are concerned, as acci- 
 dental, or to spend time in discussing who fired the 
 first shot. The upright conduct of those in charge of 
 the Selkirk colony, their close adhesion to the law, 
 and their avoidance of everything, except the plainest 
 measures of self-defence, that might irritate their 
 opponents, contrast strongly with the lawless, violent, 
 and vindictive conduct of the Bois-brules, and with 
 the unscrupulous measures of the Nor'-wester 
 partners, whose behests the Bois-brulus so well 
 executed. Surely a Nemesis must pursue such craft 
 and such cruelty ! 
 
 , or the 
 escape 
 itives of 
 
240 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 LORD SELKIRK TO THE RESCUE ! 
 
 The sad story of the beleaguered and excited 
 colonists reached the ears of Lord Selkirk through 
 his agents. The trouble, threatening his settlers 
 determined the energetic founder to visit Canada 
 himself, and, if possible, the infant colony. Accord- 
 ingly, late in the year 1815, in company with his 
 family — consisting of the countess, his son, and two 
 daughter — he reached Montreal. The news of the 
 first dispersion of the colonists, their flight to 
 Norway House, and the further threatenings of the 
 Bois-brCilds, arrived about the time of their coming to 
 Nev/ York. Lord Selkirk hastened on to Montreal, 
 but it was too late in the season, being about the end 
 of October, to penetrate to the interior. 
 
 He must winter in Montreal. He was here in the 
 very midst of the enemy. With energy, characteristic 
 of the man, he brought the matter of the protection 
 of his colony urgently before the Government of 
 Lower Canada. In a British colony surely the rights 
 of property of a British subject would be protected, 
 and surely the safety of hundreds of loyal people 
 
l.oRi) Selkirk to the Rescue. 
 
 241 
 
 excited 
 hrough 
 settlers 
 Canada 
 \ccord- 
 dth his 
 nd two 
 
 of the 
 ?ht to 
 
 of the 
 ning to 
 ontreal, 
 the end 
 
 2 in the 
 :teristic 
 )tection 
 nent of 
 e rights 
 Dtected, 
 people 
 
 could not be trifled with. As we shall see in a later 
 chapter, the high-minded nobleman counted without 
 his host ; he had but to live a few years in the new 
 world of that day to find how skilfully the forms of 
 law can be adapted to carry out illegal objects and 
 shield law-breakers. 
 
 So early as February of that year (18 15), dreading 
 the thrcatcnings even tL<::n made by the Nor'-westers, 
 he had represented to Lord Bathur i, the British 
 Secretary of State, the urgent necessity of an armed 
 force, not necessarily very numerous, being sent to the 
 Red River settlement to maintain order in the colony. 
 Now, after the outrageous proceedings of the summer 
 of 18 1 5, and the arrival of the dreary intelligence 
 from Red River, Lord Selkirk again brings the 
 matter before the authorities, this time before Sir 
 Gordon Drummond, Governor of Lower Canada, on 
 the nth of November, and encloses a full account of 
 the facts as to the expulsion of the settlers from their 
 homes in 1815, and of the many acts of violence per- 
 petrated at Red River. 
 
 Nothing being gained in this way, his lordship 
 determined to undertake an expedition himself, as 
 soon as it could be organized, and carry assistance to 
 his persecuted people, who he knew had been gathered 
 together by Colin Robertson, and to whom he had 
 sent as governor, Mr. Scmple, in whom he reposed 
 great confidence. We have seen that during the 
 winter of 1 81 5-16, peace and a certain degree of con- 
 fidence prevailed among the settlers, more than half 
 of whom were spending their first winter in the 
 country. Fort Douglas was regarded as 
 
 R 
 
 t 
 
 strong 
 
•w 
 
 
 1 
 
 &<•■ 
 
 i 
 
 
 242 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 enoui^h to resist a considerable force, and the presence 
 of Governor Semple, a military office ■, was thought a 
 guarantee for the protection of the people. During 
 the winter, however. Lord Selkirk learned enough to 
 assure him that the danger was not over — that, in- 
 deed, a more determined attack than ever would be 
 made as soon as the season of 18 16 should open. He 
 had been sworn in as a Justice of the Peace in Upper 
 Canada and for the Indian territories ; he had 
 obtained for his personal protection from the gover- 
 nor, the promise of a sergeant and six men of the 
 British army stationed in Canada, but this was not 
 sufficient. 
 
 He undertook a plan of placing upon his own land 
 in the colony a number of persons as settlers, who 
 could be called upon in case of emergency, as had 
 been the intention in the case of the Highland 
 colonists^ to whom muskets had been furnished. The 
 close of the Napoleonic wars had left a large number 
 of the soldiers engaged in these wars out of employ- 
 ment, the British Government having been compelled 
 to reduce the size of the army. Among the brave 
 regiments which had rendered Britain so famous on 
 her continental battlefields, were several enlisted for 
 her service in Switzerland. Two of these regiments, 
 one named " De Meuron," and the other "Watte- 
 ville," had been sent to Canada to assist in the war 
 against the United States. This war being now over 
 also, orders came to Sir Gordon Drummond to dis- 
 band the two regiments in May, 18 16. The former 
 of the regiments was at the time stationed at 
 Montreal, the latter at Kingston. 
 
Lord Selkirk to the Rescue. 
 
 243 
 
 2sencc 
 
 .ight a 
 
 )uring 
 
 Ligli to 
 
 lat, in- 
 
 ulcl be 
 
 1. He 
 
 Upper 
 
 c had 
 gover- 
 of the 
 
 /as not 
 
 vn land 
 irs, who 
 as had 
 ghland 
 tl. The 
 number 
 mploy- 
 pelled 
 brave 
 nous on 
 Isted for 
 imcnts, 
 Watte- 
 Ithc war 
 )W over 
 to dis- 
 former 
 ined at 
 
 From these bodies of men Lord Selkirk undertook 
 to provide his colony with settlers willing to defend 
 it. The enemies of Lord Selkirk have been very free in 
 their expression of opinion as to the worthlessness of 
 these soldiers, and their unfitness as settlers. It is 
 worthy of notice, however, that the Nor-westers did 
 not scruple to use Messrs. Missani and Brumby, as 
 well as Reinhard and Huertcr, of these same corps, 
 to carry out their own purposes. The following 
 order, given by Sir John Cope Sherbrooke, however, 
 effectually disposes of such a calumny : — 
 
 '' Quebec, July 26t/i, 18 16. 
 
 "In parting with the regiments * De IMeuron' and 
 'Watteville,' both of which corps his Excellency 
 has had the good fortune of having under his com- 
 mand in other parts of the world. Sir John Sher- 
 brooke desires Lieutenant-Colonel De IMeuron and 
 Lieutenant-Colonel iMay, and the officers and men of 
 these corps, will accept his congratulations on having, 
 by their conduct in the Canadas, maintained the re- 
 putation which they have deservedly acquired by 
 their former services. His Excellency can have no 
 hesitation in saying that his Majesty's service in 
 these provinces has derived important advantages 
 during the late war from the steadiness, discipline, 
 and efficiency of these corps. 
 
 "J. Harvey, Lieut.-Colonel, D.A.G." 
 
 Testimony to the same effect is given by the officer 
 in command of the garrison of Malta, on their leaving 
 that island in 1813 to come to Canada. 
 
 These men offered the material for Lord Selkirk's 
 purpose, viz. to till the soil and protect the colony. 
 
 R 2 
 
244 
 
 ]\I.\Nrroi;A. 
 
 W 
 
 Like a wise man, however, he made character the 
 ([ground of engagement in the case of all whom he took. 
 To those who came to terms with him, he agreed to 
 give a sufficient portion of land, agricultural imple- 
 ments, and as wag • for -or '.ing the boats on the 
 voyage, eight dollar; ,: m,. ith. It was further agreed 
 that should any choose ' ' : -e Red River on reaching 
 it, they should be taken back ■ / his lordship free of 
 expense. Early in June, 1816, four officers and about 
 eighty men of the " De Meurons " left Montreal in Lord 
 Selkirk's employ, and proceeded westward to Kingston. 
 Here twenty more of the " Watteville" regiment joined 
 their company. Thence the expedition, made up by 
 the addition of one hundred and thirty canoe-men, 
 pushed on to York (Toronto), and from York north- 
 ward to Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay. 
 
 Across this bay and Lake Huron they passeci 
 rapidly on to Sault Ste. Marie, Lord Selkirk leaving 
 the expedition before reaching that place to go to 
 Drummond's Island, which was the last British 
 garrison in Upper Canada, and at which point he was 
 to receive the sergeant and six men granteoior his 
 personal protection by the Governor of Canada. At 
 Drummond's Island a council was held with Kaw- 
 tawabetay, an Ojibeway chief, by the Indian Depart- 
 ment, Lieut.-Colonel ]\Iaulc, of the 104th regiment, 
 presiding. Kawtawabetay there informed the council 
 that in the spring of 181 5, two North-west traders, 
 McKenzie and Morrison, told him that they would 
 
 give him and his people all the goods or merchandise 
 and rum that^they had at Fort William, Leach Lake, 
 and Sand Lake, if he, the said Kawtawabetay and his 
 
cr the 
 e took, 
 •ced to 
 implc- 
 on the 
 agreed 
 laching 
 free of 
 1 about 
 n Lord 
 ngston. 
 t joined 
 : up by 
 De-men, 
 north- 
 passed 
 leaving 
 
 go to 
 British 
 he was 
 tor his 
 a. At 
 
 Kaw- 
 Depart- 
 giment, 
 council 
 traders, 
 ■ would 
 handisc 
 h Lake, 
 and his 
 
 Lord Selkirk to the Rescue. 
 
 245 
 
 people, would make and declare war against the 
 settlers in Red River. On being asked by the chief, 
 whether this was at the request of the '' Great chiefs" 
 at Montreal or Quebec, McKcnzie and Morrison 
 replied, it was solely from the North-west Com[)any's 
 agents, who wished the settlement destro}-ed, as it 
 was an annoyance to them. The chief further stated 
 that the last spring (1816), whilst at I'^ond du Lac 
 Superior, a Nor'-wester agent (Grant) offered him two 
 kegs of rum, and two carrots tobacco, if he woukl 
 send some of his young men in search of certai.; 
 persons employed in taking despatches to the R .a 
 River, pillage these bearers of despatches of the letters 
 '^nd papers, and kill them should they make j ;•,' 
 resistance. The chief stated he had refused to have 
 anything to do with these offers. On being asked in 
 the council by Lord Selkirk, who was present, as to 
 the feelings of the Indians towards the settlers at Red 
 River he said, that at the commencement of the Red 
 River settlement, some of the Indi:.ns did not like it, 
 but at present they are all glad of its being settled. 
 
 Lord Selkirk soon hastened on, and overtook his 
 expedition at Sault Ste. IMarie, now consisting of 
 about two hundred and fifty men all told, and these 
 being maintained at his private expense. They im- 
 mediately proceeded westward, intending to have gone 
 to the extreme point of Lake Superior, near where 
 the town of Duluth now stands, and where the name 
 Fond du Lac is still retained. The expedition would 
 then have crone north-westward throucrii what is now 
 Minnesota to Red Lake, from which point a descent 
 could have been made by boat, through Red Lake 
 
 i 
 
I 
 
 rt 
 
 246 
 
 IManitoda. 
 
 River and Red River to the very settlement itself. 
 Tliis route would hav^e avoided the Nor'-wcstcrs 
 altoprcthcr. 
 
 Westward bound, the party had little more than left 
 Sault Ste. IMarie, durin^^ the last week of July, when 
 they were met on Lake Superior by two canoes, in 
 one of which was IVIiles Macdonell, driven forth from 
 Red River, and who brout^dit the sad intelligence of 
 the second destruction of the colony, and of the 
 murder of Governor Semple and his attendants. His 
 lordship was thrown into the deepest despair. The 
 thought of his governor killed, wholesale murder com- 
 mitted, the poor settlers led by him from Highland 
 homes, where life at least was safe, to endure such fear 
 and privations, was indeed a sore trial. To any one 
 less moved by the spirit of philanthropy, it must have 
 Ijeen a serious disappointment, but to one feeling so 
 thorough a sympathy for the suffering, and who was 
 himself the very soul of honour, it was a crushing 
 blow. 
 
 lie resolved to change his course, and to go to Fort 
 William, the headquarters of the Nor'-westers. He 
 now determined to act in his office as magistrate, 
 and sought to induce two gentlemen of Sault Ste. 
 Marie, IMessrs. Ermatinger and Askin, both magis- 
 trates, to accompany him in that capacity. They were 
 unable to go. Compelled to proceed alone, he writes 
 from Sault Ste. Marie, on 29th July, to Sir J. C. Sher- 
 brooke, and after speaking of his failure to induce the 
 two gentlemen mentioned by him to go, says, *' I 
 am therefore reduced to the alternative of acting alone, 
 or of allowing an audacious crime to pass unpunished. 
 
 
Lord Ski-kikk to tiii: Rkscuk. 
 
 247 
 
 
 ihing 
 
 
 In these circumstances I cannot doubt that it is my 
 duty to act, thouL;h I am not without ap[)rehcnsion 
 that the law may be openly resisted by a set of people 
 who have been accustomed to consider force as the 
 only true criterion of rij:jht." 
 
 One would have said, on looking at the matter dis- 
 passionatel}', that the Governor-General, with a military 
 force so far west as Drummond Isle in Georgian Bay, 
 would have taken immediate steps to bring to justice 
 the offendtirs. 
 
 Governor Sherbrooke seems to have felt himself 
 powerless, for he says in a despatch to Lord IJathurst, 
 " I beg leave to call your lordship's serious attention 
 to the forcible and, I fear, too just description given 
 by the Earl of Selkirk, of the state of the Red River 
 Territory. I leave your lordship to judge, whether 
 a banditti, such as he describes, will yield to the in- 
 fluence, or be intimidated by the menaces of distant 
 authority." It may be well afterwards to contrast 
 this statement of the governor's with subsequent 
 despatches. It must not be forgotten that while " the 
 banditti " was pursuing its course of violence in the 
 far-off territory, and as we have seen thoroughly under 
 the direction and encouragement of the North-west 
 Company partners, the leading members of this Com- 
 pany, who held, many of them, high places in society 
 and in the government in IMontreal, were posing as 
 the lovers of peace and order, and were lamenting over 
 the excesses of the Indians and Bois-briiles. Ily this 
 course they were enabled to thwart any really effective 
 measures towards ['restoring peace at the far-away 
 " seat of war." 
 
 ;* 
 
24S 
 
 IMAXITOr.A. 
 
 The clui)llclty of the North-west Conipaii)' ni.'iy 
 be judc^cd from the followIiiLj extracts from .i letter 
 of the Hon. John Richardson, one of the partners, and 
 likewise a niembcr of the Executive Council of Lower 
 Canada, addressed to Governor Sherbrooke. I le says, 
 on the 17th of Au^'ust, 1S16, " It is with much concern I 
 have to mention that blood has been shed at the Red 
 River, to an extent ^M-eatly to be deplored : but it is 
 consolatory to those interested in the North-west 
 Company to find, that none of their traders or i^eople 
 were concerned, or at the time within a hundred miles 
 of the scene of contest." V/hat a commentarv on such 
 a statement are the stories of Pambrun and Iluerter 
 given in a previous chapter ! What a cold-blooded 
 statement after all the plottinprs and schemes of the 
 whole winter before the attack I What a heartless 
 falsehood as regards the Indians, who, under so great 
 temptations, refused to be partners in so bloody an 
 enterprise ! 
 
 The resolution of Lord Selkirk to go to Fort 
 William in the capacity of a magistrate, and as the 
 only magistrate, was one involving, as he well knew, 
 many perils. He was not, however, the man to 
 shrink from a daring enterprise having once under- 
 taken it. It may be well to have a fuller account 
 of the character and strength of Fort William, as it 
 was in these eventful days. The tourist of the 
 present day, who, sailing out of Thunder Ikiy, enters 
 the mouth of the Kaminestiquia River, near the spot 
 where stands the terminus of the Canadian Pacific 
 Railway, now being built from that point to Red 
 River, sees a few buildings gathered together, and the 
 
L(iKi) Selkirk to tiik Rlscui:. 
 
 249 
 
 chief arc surmounted b)' an Union Jack, witii the hirfjc 
 letters II. K C. across it. That is I'ort William : but 
 how unlike the T'ort William of other days ! 
 
 Wc are fortunate in having a most grai)hic dcscri[)- 
 tion of the fort at the period with which we are dealing. 
 It is given by a French trader, named I'ranchere, who, 
 in 1 8 10, left New York in the cmjiloy of the Astor Fur 
 Company, rounded the cape, and came up the Pacific 
 Coast to seek for peltries. On his return journey 
 he crossed the Rocky Mountains, floated down the 
 Saskatchewan, crossed Lake Winnipeg, and passed 
 homeward by way of Lake Superior in 1S14. He in- 
 forms us that Fort William was built in 1805, when the 
 North-west and XY Companies united, and was so 
 named in honour of the Hon. William McGillivray, 
 head of the North-west Company. Fort William, he 
 says, has really the appearance of a fort, from its 
 palisades fifteen feet high, and also that of a pretty 
 village from the number of buildings it encloses. In 
 the middle of a spacious square stands a large build- 
 ing elegantly built, though of wood, the middle door 
 of which is raised five feet above the ground-plot, and 
 in front of which runs a long gallery. In the centre 
 of this building is a room about sixty feet long and 
 thirty wide, dccc" ited with several paintings, and 
 some portraits in crayon of a number of the partners 
 of the Company. It is in this room that the agents, 
 the clerks, and the interpreters take their meals at 
 different tables. At each extremity of the room arc 
 two small apartments for the partners. 
 
 The back part of the house is occupied by the 
 kitchen and sleeping-apartments of the domestics. 
 
 ■1^1 
 
 iii 
 
' r^-^ 
 
 250 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 On each side of tliis building there is another of the 
 same size, but lower ; these are divided lengthwise 
 by a corridor, and contain each twelve pretty sleeping- 
 rooms. One of these !iouses is intended for the part- 
 ners, the other for the clerks. On the east side of the 
 fort there is another house intended for the same pur- 
 pose ; and a large building in which furs are examined, 
 and where they are put up in tight bales by means 
 of a press. Behind, and still on the same side, arc 
 found the lodges of the guides, another building for 
 furs, and a powder-magazine. This last building is of 
 grey stone, and roofed in with tin. In the corner 
 stands a kind of bastion or point of observation. 
 
 On the west side is seen a range of buildings, some 
 of which serve for stores and others for shops. There 
 is one for dressing out the anploycs ; one for fitting 
 out canoes, one in which merchandise is retailed, 
 another where strong drink, bread, lard, butter, &c., 
 are sold, and where refreshments are given out to 
 arriving voyageurs. This refreshment consists of a 
 white loaf, a half-pound of butter, and a quart of rum. 
 The voyageurs give to this liquor-store the name 
 '' cantine salope." 
 
 Behind is found still another row of buildings, one 
 of which is used ao an office or counting-house — a 
 pretty square building well-lighted : another serves as 
 a store ; and a third as a prison. The voyageurs give 
 to this last the name '' pot au beurre." At the south- 
 east corner is a stone shed roofed with tin. Further 
 back are the workshops of the carpenters, tin- 
 smiths, blacksmiths, and their spacious courts or 
 sheds for sheltering the canoes, repairing them, and 
 
 ;! . 
 
of the 
 hwise 
 
 part- 
 ofthe 
 c pur- 
 nincd, 
 means 
 \c, are 
 ng for 
 ig is of 
 corner 
 I. 
 
 , some 
 There 
 fitting 
 ^tailed, 
 r, &c., 
 out to 
 of a 
 rum. 
 name 
 
 s, one 
 luse — a 
 vesas 
 :s give 
 south- 
 urther 
 s, tin- 
 ts or 
 1, and 
 
 Lord Selkirk to the Rescue. 
 
 25 T 
 
 
 constructincf new ones. Near the crate of the fort, 
 which is to the south, arc the dweUing-houses of the 
 surgeon and resident- clerk. Over the entrance-gate a 
 kind of guard-house has been built. As the river is 
 deep enough at its entrance, the Company has had 
 quays built along the fort, as a landing-place for the 
 schooners kept on Lake Superior for transporting 
 peltries, merchandise, and provisions from Fort 
 William to Sault Ste. Marie, and 7'icr 7'crsd. 
 
 There are also on the other side of the river a num- 
 ber of houses, all inhabited by old French Canadian 
 voyageurs, worn out in tlic service of the North-west 
 Company without having become richer by it. Fort 
 William is the principal factory of the North-west 
 Company in the interior, and a general rendezvous of 
 the partners. The agents of Montreal and the pro- 
 prietors wintering in the north nearly all assemble 
 there every summer and receive the returns, form ex- 
 peditions, and discuss the interests of their commerce. 
 Most of them were there at the time we arrived.^ 
 
 The employes wintering in the north spend also a 
 portion of the summer at Fort William. They form a 
 great encampment to the west, outside the palisades. 
 Those who are only engaged at Montreal to go to 
 Fort William or to Rainy Lake, and who do not 
 winter in the north, occupy another space on the east 
 side. The former give to the latter the name, 
 '' Mangeurs de lard.'^ A remarkable difference is 
 observed between the two camps, which are composed 
 
 ^ It was at this meeting, in 1814, that tlic plans were laid for 
 scnding Cameron to Red River, and destroying the Colony by 
 " fair means or foul." 
 
!52 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 I ' 
 
 of three or four hundred men each. That of the 
 *' Mangcurs de lard " is always very dirty, and that 
 of the winterers neat and clean. 
 
 To this place, then, with the prospect of meeting 
 several hundreds of the desperate men of the North- 
 west Company, Lord Selkirk made his way. So 
 confident was he in the rectitude of his purpose, and 
 in the justice of his cause, that he pushed forward, and 
 without the slightest hesitation encamped upon the 
 Kaministiquia, on the south side of the river, in sight 
 of Fort William. The expedition arrived on the I2th 
 of August. A demand was at once made on the 
 officers of the North-west Company for the release 
 of a number of persons who had been captured at 
 Red River after the destruction of the colony, and been 
 brought to Fort William. The Nor'-westers denied 
 having arrested these persons ; and to give colour to 
 this assertion, immediately sent them over to Lord 
 Selkirk's encampment. 
 
 On the 13th and following days of the month of 
 August, the depositions of a number of these persons 
 were taken before his lordship as a J'lstice of the 
 Peace. The depositions related to the guilt of the 
 several Nor'-wester partners, their destroying the 
 settlement, entc "ing and removing property from Fort 
 Douglas, and the like ; and were made by Pambrun, 
 Lavigne, Nolin, Blondcau, Brisbois, and others. It 
 was made so clear to Lord Selkirk that the partners 
 were guilty of inciting the attacks on the colony, and 
 of approving the outrages committed, that he deter- 
 mined to arrest a number of the leaders. This was 
 done by regular legal process — by warrants served 
 
Lord Selkirk to the Rescue. 
 
 253 
 
 of the 
 d that 
 
 iceting 
 North, 
 y. So 
 sc, and 
 .rd, and 
 )on the 
 n sight 
 \e 1 2th 
 on the 
 release 
 Lired at 
 id been 
 denied 
 )lour to 
 Lord 
 
 Dnth of 
 
 persons 
 
 of the 
 
 of the 
 
 ng the 
 
 m Fort 
 
 mbrun, 
 
 ers. It 
 
 )artners 
 
 ny, and 
 
 ) deter- 
 
 lis was 
 
 served 
 
 on Mr. McGillivray, Kenneth McKcnzie, Simon Fraser, 
 and others, and the arrests effected, but the prisoners 
 were allowed to remain in Fort William. 
 
 In one case, that of a partner named John McDonald, 
 resistance having been offered, the constables called 
 for the aid of a party of the De Meurons, who had 
 crossed over from the encampment with ''hem in their 
 boats. The leaving of the prisoners with their liberty 
 in Fort William, however, gave the opportunity for 
 conspiracy ; and it was represented to Lord Selkirk, 
 that Fort William would be used for the purposes of 
 resistance, and that the prisoners arrested would be 
 released. The facts leading to this belief were, that 
 a canoe, laden with arms, had left the fort at night ; 
 that eight barrels of gunpowder had been secreted in 
 a thicket, and that these had been taken from the 
 magazine; while some fifty stand of arms, fresh-loaded, 
 had been found in a barn among some hay. These 
 indications proved that an attempt was about to be 
 made to resist the execution of the law, and accord- 
 ingly the prisoners were placed in one building and 
 closely guarded, while Lord Selkirk's encampment 
 was removed across the river, and pitched in front of 
 the fort to prevent any surprise. 
 
 A further examination of the prisoners took place, 
 and their criminality being so evident, they were sent 
 under an escort to York, Upper Canada. Three 
 canoes, well-manned and containing the prisoners, left 
 the fort on the iSth of August, under the charge of 
 Lieutenant Fauche, one of the De Meuron officers. 
 The journey down the lakes was marred by a most 
 unfortunate accident. One of the canoes was upset 
 
254 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 some fifteen miles from Sault Ste. Marie. This was 
 caused by the sudden rise of the wind. The affair 
 was purely accidental, and there were drowned one 
 of the prisoners, named McKenzie, a sergeant and 
 man of the De Meurons, and six Indians. The 
 prisoners were taken to Montreal and admitted to 
 bail. The course taken by Lord Selkirk at Fort 
 William has been severely criticized, and became, 
 indeed, the subject of subsequent legal proceedings. 
 One of the Nor'-wester apologists stated to Governor 
 Sherbrooke, "That the mode of proceeding under 
 Lord Selkirk's orders resembled nothing British, and 
 exceeded even the military despotism of the French 
 in Holland." 
 
 No doubt it would have been better had Lord 
 Selkirk obtained other magistrates to take part in 
 the proceedings at Fort William, but we have seen 
 he did try this and failed. Had it been possible to 
 have had the arrests effected without the appearance 
 of force m.ade by the De Meurons, it would have 
 been more agreeable to our ideas of ordinary legal 
 proceedings ; but it must be remembered he was deal- 
 ing with those, called by a high authority, " a banditti." 
 Could Fort William have been left in the hands of 
 its possessors, it would have been better ; but then 
 there was clear evidence that the Nor'-westers intended 
 violence. To have left Fort William in their possession 
 woi'id have been suicidal. It would probably have 
 been bcii.r that Selkirk should not have stopped the 
 canoes going into the interior with North-west mer- 
 ch'uid'SC, but to b^ve allov/ed them to proceed was 
 'aiv(- .Assisted his enemies — the enemies, more- 
 
 only 
 
Lord Set.kirk to the Rescue. 
 
 255 
 
 legal 
 
 over, of law and order. Thousands of pounds' worth 
 of his property stolen from P^ort Douglas by the 
 agents .,.f the North-west Company, and the fullest 
 evidence in the depositions made before him that 
 this was in pursuance of a plan devised by the Com- 
 pany and deliberately carried out ; several hundreds 
 of lawless voyageurs and imscrupulous partners ready 
 to use violence in the wild region of Lake Superior, 
 where, during fifty years before, they had committed 
 numerous acts of bloodshed, and had never been called 
 to account ; the worrying reflection that homeless 
 settlers, and helpless women and children were cry- 
 ing, in some region then unknown to him, for his 
 assistance, after their 'vanton dispersion by their 
 enemies from their homes on the banks of Red River : 
 all these things were sufficient to nerve to action 
 one of far less generous impulses than Lord Selkirk. 
 
 Is it at all surprising that his lordship did not act 
 with all the calmness and scrupulous care of a judg'j 
 on the Bench, strong in his consciousness of safety, 
 supported by the myriad officers of the law, and sur- 
 rounded by the insignia of justice? The justification 
 of his course, even if it be interpreted adversely, is, 
 that in a state of violence, to preserve the person is a 
 preliminary to the settlement of other questions of 
 personal right. One thing at least is to Lord Selkirk , 
 credit that, as soon as possible, he handed over the 
 law-breakers to be dealt with by the Canadian courts, 
 where, however, unfortunately, another divinity pre- 
 sided than the blind goddess of justice. 
 
 Let us now see where we are in our story. Lord 
 Selkirk is at Fort William. The Nor'-wester partners 
 
 1 ■*'■ 
 
 ■ '.^ 
 ■"I 
 
256 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 have been sent to the East. It is near tlic end of August, 
 and the state of affairs at Fort WilHam does not allow 
 the founder to pass on to his colony for the winter. 
 He is surrounded by his Dc Meuron settlers. Durinc^ 
 the months of autumn the expedition is engaged in 
 laying in su])pHes for the approaching winter, and in 
 opening up roads toward the Red River country. The 
 winter was passed in the usual manner of the Lake 
 Superior country, shutout from the rest of the world. 
 The winter over, Lord Selkirk started on the 1st of 
 Mi\y, 1817, for Red River, accompanied by his body- 
 guard. The Dc Meirons had preceded him in the 
 month of March, and, reaching the interior, restored 
 order. 
 
 The colonizer arrived at his colony in the last week 
 of June, and saw, for the first time, tl •. land of his 
 dreams for the preceding fifteen years. In order to 
 restore peace, he endeavoured to carry out the terms 
 of the proclamation issued by the Government of 
 Canada, that all property taken during the troubles 
 should be restored to its original owners. This resti- 
 tution was made to a certain extent, though much 
 that had been taken from Fort Douglas was never re- 
 covered. The settlers were brought back from their 
 refuge at Norway House, and the settlement was 
 again organized. The colonists wh? survive still 
 relate, with great satisfaction, how Lord Selkirk 
 cheered them by his presence. After their return to 
 their despoiled homesteads a gathering of the settlers 
 took place, and a full consideration of all their affairs 
 was had in their patron's presence. 
 
 This gathering was at the spot where the church and 
 
Lord Selkirk to the Rescue. 
 
 257 
 
 Uigust, 
 t allow 
 winter. 
 Durincj 
 •gcd in 
 and in 
 •. The 
 2 Lake 
 world. 
 1st of 
 > body- 
 in the 
 ^storcd 
 
 >t week 
 . of his 
 rder to 
 c terms 
 lent of 
 roubles 
 s rcsti- 
 i much 
 
 ver rc- 
 n their 
 nt was 
 vc still 
 Selkirk 
 turn to 
 settlers 
 
 affairs 
 
 rch and 
 
 burying-ground of St. John's are now found. " Here," 
 said his lordship, pointing to lot number four, on 
 which they stood, " here you shall build your church ; 
 and that lot," said he, pointing to lot number three 
 across the little stream called Parsonage Creek, "is 'for 
 a school,' " The people then reminded his lordship 
 that he had promised them a minister, who should 
 follow them to their adopted country. This he at 
 once acknowledged, saying, " Selkirk never forfeited 
 his word ;" while he promised to give the matter 
 attention as soon as practicable. In addition. Lord 
 Selkirk gave a document stating that, "in considera- 
 tion of the hardships which the settlers had suffered, 
 in consequence of the lawless conduct of the North- 
 west Company, his intention was to grant gratuii /j ly 
 the twenty-four lots which had been occupied, to those 
 of the settlers wLo had made improvements on their 
 lands before they were driven away from them in the 
 previous year." 
 
 Before the dispersion of this public gathering of the 
 people, the founder gave the name, at the request of 
 the colonists, to their settlement. The name given 
 by him to this the first parish in Rupert's Land, was 
 that of Kt/da/itiu, from their old home in the valley of 
 the Helmsdale, in Sutherlandshire, Scotland. In more 
 fully organizing the colony, his lordship ordered a 
 complete survey to be made of the land, and steps to 
 be taken towards laying out roads, building bridges, 
 erecting mills, &c. 
 
 It will be remembered, as already stated, that at the 
 inception of the Colony scheme to Red River, in 181 1, 
 the Nor'-westers had threatened the hostility of the 
 
2$S 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 !*,,'■ 
 
 Indians. It may be mentioned as a stranc^e fact that, 
 to this day, it is a trick of the Bois-briilcs, taking 
 their cue from the Nor'-vvesters, when making any 
 demand, to threaten Government with the wrath of 
 the Indians, over whom they profess to exercise a 
 control. We have already seen that the Nor'-westers* 
 boac * ig as to their influence over the Indians was 
 empty. In the publications of the Nor'-westers of 
 1816-20 a speech is sometimes set forth, of an Indian 
 chief, "GrandesOreilles," breathing forth threatenings 
 against the infant settlement. It is worthy of notice 
 that even this resource is swept away by the author of 
 the speech, a Nor'-wester trader, confessing that he 
 had manufactured the speech, and " Grandes Oreilles " 
 had never spoken it. 
 
 Within three weeks of his arrival at Red River, Lord 
 Selkirk carried out his promise of making a treaty 
 with the Indians. This all the Indians were most 
 willing to do, ;, s on many occasions during the troubles, 
 they had, by giving early information as to the move- 
 ments of the Nor'-westers, and by other means, shown 
 their sympathy and good feeling toward the settlers. 
 The object of the treaty was simply to do what has 
 since been done all over the North-west Territories — 
 to extinguish the Indian title. The treaty is signed 
 alike by Ojibeway, Cree, and Assiniboine chiefs. The 
 Assiniboines are a tribe generally considered to belong 
 to the Sioux stock. Lord Selkirk afterwards made 
 a treaty, on leaving the Red River, with the other 
 Sioux nations inhabiting his territory. The chiefs 
 met at Red Riv^er by his lordsJup. and those whose 
 names arc attached to the treaty, are, giving their 
 
 
 H 
 
 f 
 
 : ::P 
 
Lord Selkirk to the Rescue. 
 
 259 
 
 French names in some cases as shorter than the 
 Indian, Le Sonent, Robe Noire, PcL^uis, L'llommc 
 Noir, and Grandes Oreilles. His lordship seems to 
 have had a most conciliatory and attractive manner. 
 It is worth while closing this chapter by givinc^ ex- 
 tracts from the speeches of these Indian chiefs, taken 
 down at the grand council at which Lord Selkirk 
 smoked the pipe of peace with the assembled warriors. 
 
 Peguis, the Saulteaux chief, always the fast friend 
 of the colonists, said, "When the ICnglish settlers first 
 came here we received them with joy. It was not our 
 fault if even the stumps of the brushwood were too 
 rough for their feet ; but misfortunes have since over- 
 taken them. Evil-disposed men came here, calling 
 themselves great chiefs, sent from our Great Father 
 across the big lake. But we believe they were only 
 traders, pretending to be great chiefs on purpose to 
 deceive us. "^hey misled the young men who are 
 near us (a snic ^arty of Bois-brules encamped in the 
 neighbourhood), and employed them to shed the 
 blood of your children, and to drive away the settlers 
 from this river. We do not acknowledge these men 
 as an independent tribe. Tiiey have sprung up here 
 and there like mushrooms, and we know them not. 
 
 " At the first arrival of the settlers, we were fre- 
 quently solicited by the North-west Company to 
 frighten them away ; but we were pleased to see that 
 our great Father had sent some of his wlu'te children 
 to live among us, and we refused to do or say anything 
 against them. The traders even demanded our CaJjL^- 
 mets, and desired to commit our sentiments to papcf*. 
 that they might send them to our great Father ; but 
 
 S 2 
 
26o 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 ^ \ 
 
 M 
 
 i'l 
 
 we refused to acknowlcdf^c the spceclies which they 
 wished to put into our mouths. We are informed 
 that they have told a tale that it was the Indians who 
 drove away and murdered the children of our great 
 Father, but it is a falsehood. 
 
 "As soon as I saw the mischief that happened I went 
 to Lake Winnipeg with a few friends to wait for news 
 from the English, but I could meet none. We have 
 reasons to be friends of the colony. When there were 
 only traders here, we could not get a blanket, or 
 a I'iece of cloth, without furs to give in exchange. 
 Our country is now almost destitute of furs, so that 
 we were often in great want. From the people of the 
 colony we get blankets and cloth for the meat we 
 procure them. The country abounds with meat, 
 which we can obtain, but to procure furs is diffi- 
 cult." 
 
 Next, L* Homme Noir, a chief of the Assiniboines, 
 who had come from a long distance, addressing Lord 
 Selkirk, particularly declared, " We were often 
 harassed with solicitations to assist the Bois-brules 
 in what they have done against your children, but we 
 always refused. We are sure you must have had 
 much trouble to come here. We have often been 
 told you were our enemy ; but we have to-day the 
 happiness to hear from your own mouth the words of 
 a true friend. We receive the present you give us 
 with great pleasure and thankfulness." 
 
 After this, Robe Noire, an Ojibeway chief, spoke in 
 like terms ; when the veritable Grandes Oreilles, to 
 whose spurious war-speech we have already referred, 
 said as follows : — 
 
 B 
 
 i 
 
Lord Ski. kirk to tiik.Rkscuk. 
 
 261 
 
 1 they 
 brmcd 
 IS who 
 r great 
 
 1 went 
 r news 
 
 2 have 
 c were 
 <ct, or 
 hancre. 
 
 that 
 of the 
 
 cat we 
 meat, 
 
 3 diffi- 
 
 boines, 
 
 1 Lord 
 often 
 
 brules 
 but we 
 re had 
 1 been 
 ay the 
 Drds of 
 
 ive us 
 
 loke in 
 les, to 
 ferred, 
 
 I 
 
 r 
 
 ' I am hai)[)y to see here our own father. Clouds 
 have overwhelmed me. I was a loner time in doubt 
 and difficulty, but now I beijiu to see clearly. 
 
 " We have reason to be happy this da\'. NVe know 
 the danjT^ers you must have encountered to come so 
 far. The truth you have si)oken pleases us. We 
 thank you for the present you give us. There seems 
 an end to our distress, and it is you who have 
 relieved us. 
 
 " When our young men are drunk they are mad ; 
 they know not what they say or what they do ; but 
 this must not be attended to ; they mean no liarm." 
 
 Long after, Selkirk was remembered and beloved 
 by these Indian tribes, who spoke of him as the 
 "Silver Chief." 
 
 So much for the founder^s work in his colony in 
 18 17. His affairs urgently required his attention 
 elsewhere. In the language of a writer on the period, 
 " Having thus restored order, infused confidence in 
 the people, and given a certain aim to their activity, 
 Lord Selkirk took his final leave of the colony." 
 With a guide and a few attendants he journeyed 
 southward, passing through the country of the war- 
 like Sioux, with whom he made peace. 
 
 There is treasured up still a small note-book^ with, 
 in his own writing, an itinerary of his journey from 
 the Red River colony. Familiar names, such as 
 Riviere Sale, Riviere Aux Gratias, Pembina, and 
 the like, appear with their distances in leagues. 
 Among other memoranda is one *' lost on the 
 prairie," and the distance in leagues estimated as 
 lost by the misadventure. Every traveller over the 
 

 IMAGE EVALUATION 
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 (716) 873-4503 
 
 
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 Manitoba. 
 
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 Manitoba prairie will take a feeling interest in that 
 entry. Passing through the Mississippi country he 
 seems to have proceeded eastward to Washington ; 
 he next appears in Albany, and hastens back to 
 Upper Canada, without even visiting his family in 
 Montreal, though having been absent from them for 
 upwards of a year. In Upper Canada his presence is 
 urgently needed to meet the artful machinations of 
 his enemies. 
 
 ' 
 
 i 
 
263 
 
 in that 
 itry he 
 ngton ; 
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 Tiily in 
 lem for 
 lence is 
 ions of 
 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 JUSTICE WITH EYES UNBANDAGED. 
 
 It is the privilege of British subjects in the present 
 day, and Canadians among the rest, to boast of the 
 uprightness and incorruptibility of the Bench, gua- 
 ranteeing free and fair treatment to all classes of the 
 people. Few things are more essential to the ex- 
 istence of our system of free government than this. 
 It need make neither Briton nor Canadian blush to 
 admit that it has not always been so in our history. 
 To understand the ordeal through which Lord 
 Selkirk was compelled to pass it will be necessary to 
 notice briefly the political and social condition of Upper 
 and Lower Canada at the time, and the various in- 
 fluences bearing upon the administration of justice 
 in the country. Representative government was a 
 thing unknown in either of the provinces. 
 
 In Lower Canada the peculiar events of the con- 
 quest of 1759 must be taken into account. A people 
 foreign in law, language, and customs, had been con- 
 quered by Britain. It is true the revolution in France 
 had cut them off historically from the French of 
 Europe. Moreover, the voice of religion sought to 
 warn against any connexion with the social or 
 
264 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 M 
 
 * w 
 
 il 
 
 national life of old France which had become 
 Atheistic. Undoubtedly this influence tended to 
 make the task of governing the French people by- 
 British authority an easier one than it would other- 
 wise have been. But early in this century the lesson 
 had not yet been learned of giving colonial self- 
 government. The remarkable spectacle was accord- 
 ingly seen in Lower Canada of a British governor 
 and council selected from the chief British residents 
 of Quebec and Montreal. It was a sort of British 
 garrison in a neutral country. The inevitable re- 
 sult was to create a strong class feeling among the 
 British residents. As each adventurer rose, became 
 a merchant of some standing, and regarded himself 
 as one of the governing class, he was admitted as 
 one of the confraternity, whose special duty it was to 
 govern the French people and retain the province for 
 Britain. For their very self-preservation it was 
 necessary that this governing body should hold firmly 
 together in business, in society, and in opinion. 
 
 In a small colony the existence of a trade such as 
 that carried on by the North-west Company, whose 
 headquarters were at Montreal, was the greatest 
 feature of commerce. In a country where money 
 was scarce, where avenues to wealth were few, the 
 large returns of the fur traders gave them power 
 over the people practically unlimited. Men who 
 were actively engaged in the fur trade were appointed 
 members of the Executive Council ; judges on the 
 bench were related by marriage to leading partners ; 
 officers of the law saw the only hope of preferment 
 for their sons in the Fur Company. 
 
 If|*il 'I 
 
Justice with Eyes Unrandaged. 265 
 
 It has been already noticed, as said by Hon. Edward 
 Ellice, that the government was largely influenced by 
 the North-West Company ; and this was not so much 
 from any deep designs of that Company to obtain a 
 control as from the social and political conditions of 
 the country. In large numbers consists the safety of 
 a people ; a cabal can hardly be made if a million 
 people have an equal voice ; but the handful who 
 led Lower Canada, socially and politically, were an 
 oligarchy of necessity. 
 
 The state of things in Upper Canada was different, 
 though, as we shall see, various causes led to a some- 
 what similar result. It was not yet thirty years 
 since a beginning of settlement had been made in 
 Upper Canada. The story of its occupation is one 
 of great interest. The loyalists who left the United 
 States had settled in large numbers in different parts 
 of the province. A considerable number of officers 
 who had served with distinction in the revolutionary 
 war were given grants of land in Upper Canada. No 
 effort had been made to give the people a free 
 government, and the war of 181 2 had tended to 
 throw the administration into the hands of an execu- 
 tive in York ; and the system was already being 
 inaugurated which, within thirty years, forced an 
 uprising of the people to tear off the bands of tyranny 
 which were being more and more firmly woven round 
 them. 
 
 At York an official class were grasping power as 
 they best could. The Robinsons, Powells, Boultons, 
 Sherwoods, Smalls, and other well-known names — 
 names undoubtedly connected in many ways with 
 
266 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 
 the best interests of Upper Canada — were exhibiting 
 that remarkable tendency of human nature expressed 
 in the proverb : " Nous avons Tavantage, profitons 
 nous." 
 
 There was one active brain then in York that did 
 more of the planning than any other to bring about 
 the consolidation of a strong governing class in Upper 
 Canada. It was under the cassock of a minister of 
 religion that the active heart was beating, and in a 
 head destined to wear a bishop's hat, that the working 
 brain was found. No figure is a more prominent one 
 f^*- thirty years after the war in Upper Canada than 
 John Strachan, rector, then Archdeacon of York, and 
 afterwards first bishop of Toronto. 
 
 To begin higher education in Upper Canada, a 
 choice had been made in Scotland, under the direc- 
 tion of the Governor of Upper Canada, of a young 
 man, just through his college studies, to undertake 
 the work. The choice hesitated for a time upon one 
 who afterwards rose to the loftiest height in his 
 native country, Thomas Chalmers ; but, at last, for 
 better or for worse, John Strachan was selected. Some 
 time after his arrival he joined the Church of Eng- 
 land in Canada, and became, as we have said, one of 
 the ruling spirits of the Western province. 
 
 At this time the Governor of Upper Canada was 
 subject to the Governor of Lower Canada, who was 
 also Governor-General. Accordingly, the governing 
 bodies of the two provinces were brought into hearty 
 sympathy. They regarded each other as joint- 
 upholders of British principles in the face of the 
 seething democracy on the south, and the war had 
 
Justice with Eves Unhandaged. 267 
 
 led to .1 unity of action which tended to combine 
 them in fcch'ng. 
 
 The North-west Company was, through its retired 
 agents and its extensive commercial operations in 
 Upper Canada, an important element even then, 
 though it will be noticed that this influence was 
 confined more to York, Kingston, and the eastern 
 part of the province than to the more wester!/ 
 districts. 
 
 Under such influence — that of a strong governing 
 class — all things social and judicial fell in Upper 
 and Lower Canada. When affairs arc carried on to 
 further the interests of individuals or classes, cabalry 
 and combination are inevitable ; it is only when the 
 broad principles of justice are laid down that life and 
 liberty are safe, and that even-handed justice is dealt 
 out. When the law becomes inefficient to carry out 
 the purposes of the cabal, a parliament made up of 
 place-men may be relied on to supply the deficiency, 
 whatever it may be. 
 
 It is a dreary path upon which we enter, that of 
 the legal persecution by which Lord Selkirk was 
 followed for several years after the unfortunate events 
 of 18 16, at Red River, by these coteries in Montreal 
 and York. We have already seen the determined 
 character of the opposition of the Nor'-westers to 
 Selkirk's scheme, from the very first. It was im- 
 portant for the interests of the Nor'-westers that 
 public feeling in Canada should be strongly turned 
 against Lord Selkirk, inasmuch as, for convenience 
 sake, all matters requiring legal adjustment in the 
 Indian territories or in the North-western part of 
 
 i m 
 
268 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 \p M ' 
 
 1 
 
 * 
 
 : !| : 
 
 % 
 
 
 i 
 
 y. 
 
 i 
 
 Upper Canada, had been placed by Imperial statute 
 under the jurisdiction of the courts in Upper and 
 Lower Canada. 
 
 One of the first to sound the trumpet of alarm as 
 to the danjjcr to the privileged oligarchy, was the 
 energetic rector of whom we have made mention. 
 In a pamphlet of some extent apd much heat, pub- 
 lished by John Strachan, D.D., Rector of York 
 Upper Canada, 1816, a most determined attack was 
 made on Lord Selkirk. It is most remarkable to 
 see a colonist, interested, we would have said, in the 
 increase of the population of his adopted province, 
 stating his objection to the scheme of emigration 
 proposed by Lord Selkirk, in his work of 1805, and 
 showing that some means of interior improvement 
 might be tried for the relief of the Highlands to 
 prevent their people emigrating to America. After 
 accusing Lord Selkirk of designs of the most grasping 
 and heartless character, he proceeds in true Nor'-wester 
 style to show the objections to the Red River 
 settlement. He raises, of course, the bugbear of 
 the Indians ; states the imminent danger from their 
 attacks, though, as the evidence we have adduced 
 shows, they were continually friendly ; he then gives 
 the oft-repeated cry of the sterility of the country and 
 its unsuitability for settlement ; and to cap all, this 
 advocate of British connexion says, "If the Red 
 River colony succeed, it must ultimately belong to 
 the American Republic." Subsequent events have 
 shown that the Selkirk colony has preserved to 
 Britain the present North-west, considered so valuable 
 to the Dominion of Canada. The pamphlet is the 
 
Justice with Eyes Unbandaged. 269 
 
 work of the special pleader ; and tlic Rector of York 
 has given another ground for the unsatisfactory re- 
 membrance in later times of his many actions in the 
 interests of that unjust and tyrannical system of 
 government which toppled to its fall in 1837, and 
 fell before the breath of an incensed people. 
 
 The very unjust letter of Dr. Strachan naturally 
 drew forth a rejoinder. A strong appeal had been 
 made to the public by the publication of a number 
 of affidavits made by the dissatisfied colonists, lured 
 away, as we have seen, by Duncan Cameron, for the 
 North-West Company. These men were partisans, 
 and the inevitable trials and hardships of new settlers 
 were painted in highest colours. 
 
 Archibald McDonald, whose interesting narrative 
 has already been noticed, wrote a series cf letters, 
 showing the mis-statements of the doctor's pen. In 
 answer to Mr. McDonald four letters appeared in the 
 Montreal Herald, over the signature " Adam Mc- 
 Adam," reiterating and intensifying the statements of 
 the redoubtable doctor, in fact, very much in the same 
 tone of thought and expression. An animated news- 
 paper war was waged in the columns of the Herald, 
 beginning in May, 1816, and continuing till November 
 of that year, in which an anonymous writer, named 
 " Manlius," was the champion of Lord Selkirk. And 
 after the McAdam letters ceased, a series written by 
 " Mercator," appeared, dealing with the legal claims 
 madebyLord Selkirk, and making his lordship respon- 
 sible for the outrages taking place in the North-west. 
 
 The letters of " McAdam " and " Mercator " abound 
 with the most incendiary appeals ; and his lordship, 
 
270 
 
 Manitora. 
 
 
 
 instead of bcinp the philanthropic promoter of settle- 
 ment at Red River, was represented as the greedy, 
 vindictive and unscrupulous invader of the ri^dits of 
 that meek and docile flock — the North-west Trading 
 Company. 
 
 It was among a people stirred up to such a pitch 
 of excitement that Lord Selkirk found himself thrown, 
 in the year in which he arrived from liritain in Mon- 
 treal, on his way, as we have seen, to Red River. 
 
 In the next season, after the arrest at Fort William 
 of the lion. William McGillivray and the other traders, 
 and their despatch to York by Lord Selkirk, North- 
 west fury was at its height. A plan was determined 
 on by which they could secure the arrest of Lord 
 Selkirk, who still remained at Fort William. The 
 solitude of the Upper Lakes in those early days must 
 have been something oppressive, and the great dis- 
 tances gave easy opportunities for fraud. The Nor'- 
 westers sent a messenger to Drummond Island, who, 
 failing to get a warrant for Lord Selkirk before a 
 respectable magistrate, there got a drunken doctor, 
 named Mitchell, to issue the missive. This was com- 
 mitted to the care of one Robinson, and to a Nor'- 
 wester dependent named McRobb. It was duly 
 served along with another legal document upon Lord 
 Selkirk and upon several others of his party, early in 
 November, at P^ort William. 
 
 His lordship took no notice of the affair, and on 
 this has been founded probably the only charge of 
 any importance in the whole matter. For a peer 
 of the realm to refuse to acknowledge the majesty of 
 the law was surely a great crime. We are fortunate in 
 
 |#i!| 
 
JUSTICK WITH KYKS UNUANDAGED. 2/1 
 
 havin^^ before us a letter of Lord Selkirk to Governor 
 Gore, never before, so far as we know, publisluHl, and 
 in not containing which, the official blue-book of 
 1819 docs a great injustice to Lord Selkirk. 
 
 The letter gives a candid explanation of his conduct. 
 '^ Fort William^ \2tl1 November, 1816. 
 
 " Sir, — A few days ago a canoe arrived here, bring- 
 ing two clerks of the North-west Company, accom- 
 panied by a man who gave himself out as a constable 
 charged with the arrest of several gen' .-men liere, 
 and myself among the rest. On examining his war- 
 rant, I observed it to be in several respects irregular, 
 and founded on the recital of an affidavit full of the 
 grossest perjuries. It was signed by Dr. Mitchell, of 
 Drummond's Island, whose notorious habits of intem- 
 perance made it in the highest degree probable that 
 his signature had been obtained surreptitiously. The 
 constable when asked whether he had any letters 
 or credentials of any kind, could produce none : 
 which confirmed the idea of his being an impostor. 
 
 "I could not suppose that after the information which 
 had been transmitted to your Excellency, you would 
 have sanctioned so strong a measure as the arrest 
 of a magistrate (Governor Gore had not seen the 
 warrant. — Ed.) without some direct statement of your 
 disapprobation ; and that, at all cvents^a person sent by 
 competent authority on such a mission would have had 
 some document to show that he acted by orders from 
 Government. We (Lord Selkirk and eight of his party 
 named in the warrant) were particularly struck with 
 the circumstance that, though the warrant was issued 
 in Drummond's Island, the Commandant of the 
 
272 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 H 
 
 garrison tlicrc had sent no orders on the subject to 
 the military j^uard wliich had been detached frpm 
 thence to accompany me, and who would certainly 
 have been instructed to support the execution of the 
 warrant, if it had not been improperly obtained. Under 
 these circumstances I trust it will not be ascribed 
 to any disposition to resist the regular execution 
 of the law if the gentlemen concerned did not think 
 fit to go 500 miles across such waters as Lake Superior, 
 at this season of the year, in compliance with a form 
 of process which there was every reason to believe 
 irregular and surreptitious. 
 
 " I have, &c., 
 
 "Selkirk." 
 
 This would seem a reasonable view, the more that 
 a short time before Lord Selkirk had taken the depo- 
 sition of a constable Reinhard, in the employ of the 
 North-west Comi)any, in which the man had confessed 
 to having murdered a prisoner, Keveny, who had been 
 placed in his charge, on his way from Red River. It 
 is worthy of notice, howevc/, that afterwards, when 
 this matter of resisting arrest was brought before the 
 courts of Upper Canada, and the constable himself 
 examined, the grand jury threw out the bill against 
 Lord Selkirk. 
 
 This case withal afforded the North-west Company 
 an excellent opportunity of influencing Governor 
 Sherbrooke and the Colonial Secretary against Lord 
 Selkirk. The governor had, it will be remembered, 
 spoken of the Nor'-westers as " a banditti ;" but the 
 charge against Lord Selkirk of resisting arrest gave the 
 opportunity to Lord Selkirk's enemies of representing 
 
 K 
 
JrsTirr, witfi ICvr.s U\ii.\Nn\f;i i». 2;} 
 
 jjcct to 
 
 cl frpni 
 
 LTtaiiily 
 
 1 of the 
 
 Under 
 
 ISC ri bed 
 
 ecution 
 
 )t think 
 
 uperior, 
 
 a form 
 
 believe 
 
 IKK." 
 ore that 
 le depo- 
 / of the 
 )nfessed 
 ad been 
 ver. It 
 when 
 fore the 
 himself 
 against 
 
 )mpany 
 overnor 
 ;t Lord 
 nbered, 
 but the 
 ave the 
 senting 
 
 to Lord Tlathurst the enormity of the colonizer'f^ 
 crimes witliout givin;^ hitn tiie privilege of reply. 
 
 Presuming the anTulavit to be true, knowing nothing 
 of the history of the warrant, and urged on b)- his 
 Executive Council under Nor'-wester influence, Go- 
 vernor Sherbr(M)ke crave a one-sideil version of the facts 
 to Lord Hathurst. The Colonial Secretary seems to 
 have been perfectly unaware of the difference that 
 inight be between a legal document issued in a lawless 
 portion of Upper Canada, by a magistrate, dispos- 
 sessed of his faculties, and a warrant issued in luig- 
 lancl, hedged in by every precaution to protect the 
 liberty of the subject. With remarkable zeal this 
 same official who had provided arms and ammunition, 
 at Lord Selkirk's rccjuest for the protection of the 
 Red River settlers, now orders " the necessary and 
 usual measures for arresting his lordship ; and should 
 these usual methods be unsuccessful you will not fail," 
 he says, "to communicate to me the result of these 
 measures, in order that I may in so extraordinary a 
 contingency submit to the consideration of Parliament, 
 whether the urgency of the case does not require the 
 adoption of some special measure of severity with 
 respect to his lordship." So comi^letely had the 
 Colonial conspirators hood-winked both the Governor- 
 General and the Colonial Secretary. 
 
 Look for a moment at the two pictures at this 
 time. On the one hand, Lord Selkirk, who hated 
 bloodshed, quietly resting at Fort William, having sent 
 down to the courts of Canada the Nor'-westers 
 arrested, and calmly awaiting the spring that he 
 might carry succour to his scattered colonists. On 
 
 T 
 
m 
 
 "■■'*»i 
 
 i-ti'. 
 
 I-' 
 
 
 274 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 the other, the North-west Company, bringing every 
 agency to bear upon the government to prejudice the 
 colonizer to deceive the Governor-General and Colonial 
 Secretary, and planning further means of injuring and, 
 if possible, ruining their enemy. 
 
 It was now urgently represented to the government 
 by the Nor'-westers that the interior was in a state of 
 violent agitation, and that steps should be taken to 
 restore order. This was the preliminary to the further 
 step of sending a commission to deal with the matter. 
 Having so great an influence over the executive of 
 Lower Canada, and Lord Selkirk not being present 
 to claim his rights, they well knew that a commission 
 favourable to their interests could be obtained. 
 
 That Governor Sherbrooke and Governor Gore 
 both saw the shameful bent of their intentions appears 
 in the correspondence as to the selection of proper 
 commissioners, who would do justly by all parties. 
 Governor Sherbrooke writes to Governor Gore at 
 York, asking him to nominate two commissioners, 
 and says, " The extensive influence and connexions 
 of the North-west Company pervading almost the 
 whole society here, I find it extremely difficult to 
 select two persons impartial enough to be intrusted 
 with such an important mission, and I, therefore, with 
 the fullest confidence, leave the selection of them to 
 your Excellency, in the hope that the same causes 
 may not operate in your government to embarrass 
 your Excellency's choice." 
 
 Governor Gore in reply states, — 
 
 " I lament extremely to be obliged to state to your 
 Excellency that, although I have given the subject a 
 
Justice with Eyes Unbandaged. 275 
 
 most serious consideration, I cannot propose any two 
 persons of Upper Canada, as fit to be intrusted with 
 the important mission referred to in your Excellency's 
 despatch." 
 
 Accordingly, urged on by his executive council, 
 whose members distinctly saw their advantage. Go- 
 vernor Sherbrooke, instead of obtaining imperial 
 officers, as he should have done, deliberately handed 
 over Lord Selkirk's interests to men whom his own 
 words show he could not trust. 
 
 The North-west Company had now everything 
 according to its liking. The commissions of all 
 magistrates, that of Lord Selkirk, and those of 
 Hudson's Bay Company and North-west Company 
 officers alike, were immediately revoked, and great 
 powers conferred upon Hon. Mr. Coltman, a member 
 of the Executive Council of Lower Canada, and his 
 fellow-commissioner, Mr. Fletcher, the legal adviser 
 of the commission. 
 
 The proceedings of this commission may be briefly 
 noticed ; for, while the farce is being played, it is worth 
 while to see the attempt to give a sober appearance 
 to its proceedings. 
 
 It was late in the season (ist of November), but the 
 commissioners started on their journey. They wore 
 carried from Montreal to York in a canoe belonging 
 to the North-west Company, while one of the partners 
 and a clerk of the Company accompanied them to give 
 assistance and advice. Thu commission journeyed 
 North from York to the Nottawasaga River ; but it was 
 the 23rd of November before they reached that 
 distance, and the ice had set in. They now met 
 
 . t: ' 
 
 M 
 
 T 2 
 
fl 
 
 T I 
 
 276 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 persons, however, who might have been useful to 
 them. Mr. John Pritchard, whose very clear state- 
 ment of the murder of Governor Semple we have 
 given, was here on his way, in charge of three 
 prisoners, two Nor'-wester partners, and a man named 
 Perrault concerned in the Semple affair. The com- 
 missioners took full advice from Pritchard as to the 
 impr.acticability of their proceeding further that 
 season ; but though he had actually been present at 
 the affair of Seven Oaks took no deposition from him, 
 and never asked a question upon the subject. On the 
 contrary, deposition after deposition was taken from 
 the mouths of faithful Nor'-westers. Further still, 
 Grant, one of the Nor'-westers referred to, a prisoner 
 under a charge of felony, was given bail at York, and 
 actually sent out with the official documents of the 
 commission, along with a clerk, one of the principal 
 witnesses against Pritchard's prisoners, to be con- 
 veniently absent when the courts sat. What justice 
 would be meted out by a commission beginning its 
 operations thus may well be imagined. 
 
 As soon as practicable, in 18 17, the commissioners 
 proceeded to the interior. Mr. Coltman, being a 
 merchant of Quebec, had, as his legal adviser, Major 
 Fletcher to deal with such emergencies as might 
 arise. An emergency scon arose. About one 
 hundred settlers for Lord Selkirk's colony, under the 
 command of Mr. Archibald Macdonald, about half of 
 them belonging to the disbanded De Meuron regi- 
 ment, arrived shortly after at Sault Ste. Marie on 
 their way to the Red River. Fletcher seized several 
 cases of arms in their possession, and delayed the pas- 
 
Justice with Evks Unijandackd. 277 
 
 sage of the settlers in so liic^h-handed a manner, that 
 he was, after a short time, disrcc^arded in his office as 
 commissioner, even by the Government. 
 
 Coltman hastened on his journey, hopin^cf to over- 
 take Lord Selkirk. The latter had left orders that 
 Fort William should be turned over to the North- 
 west Company, which was accordincjly done, and the 
 guns and other stores were all found in good order. 
 Colonel Coltman arrived July 5th, at Red River. 
 He had met near Fort William the man 15ourke, one 
 of those among Semple's party at Seven Oaks. His 
 information, however, was not sought any more than 
 was that of Pritchard, at Nottawasaga. 
 
 At Red River the De Meurons had, under Captain 
 D'Orsonnens, as wc have noticed, pushed on in the 
 dead of winter and captured Fort Douglas ; and Lord 
 Selkirk on his arrival had gathered his scattered 
 settlers to their homes again. It was before the 
 departure of Lord Selkirk, of which we have pre- 
 viously spoken, that several high-handed actions of 
 Commissioner Coltman took place. He met at the 
 mouth of River Winnipeg, McLeod and Alexander 
 McDonell, who we have seen were chiefly responsible 
 for the expedition of June. He did not issue his 
 warrant against them for many week.s after, and then 
 he laments to the governor that the one had escaped 
 into the interior and the other to Europe. 
 
 Another witness, Huerter, whose story we have given 
 in a previous chapter, presented himself before Com- 
 missioner Coltman, but his deposition was refused. 
 
 Colonel Coltman showed his remarkable zeal for 
 his party also in the recognizances demanded for 
 
r-^- — ' 
 
 
 i 
 
 278 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 appearance before the courts in Montreal. Several 
 partners of the North-west Company, charged as 
 accessories to murder, were given bail in the amount 
 of 500/. ; but from Lord Selkirk, accused simply of 
 an offence amounting to misdemeanour, the enormous 
 bail of 6000/., besides two sureties of 3000/. each, 
 in all 12,000/., was required and given. The ille- 
 gality of this was pointed out to Mr. Coltman by 
 Mr. Gale, Lord Selkirk's legal adviser, but all to no 
 purpose. 
 
 So much for the proceedings of the so-called im- 
 partial commission so ingeniously planned by the 
 executive of Lower Canada. Commissioner Coltman's 
 report is an elaborate document, and chiefly remark- 
 able as an excellent example of special pleading. 
 
 The Earl of Selkirk having left the Red River 
 country in the summer of 18 17, came, as we have 
 seen, through the country of the Sioux, and eastward 
 from the Mississippi, and reached Albany in the 
 State of New York. From this part he hastened to 
 Sandwich, in Western Canada, the circuit town for the 
 western districts. Here he found four accusations 
 made against him by the North-west Company : — 
 
 1. Having stolen eighty-three muskets at Fort 
 William. 
 
 2. Having riotously entered Fort William, August 
 13th, 1816. 
 
 3. Assault and false imprisonment of Deputy- 
 Sheriff Smith. 
 
 4. Resistance to legal arrest. 
 
 The first charge was so contradictory that the 
 magistrates dismissed it ; but the other three could 
 
Justice with Eyes Unbandaged. 279 
 
 Fort 
 
 not be dealt with on account of the absence of 
 witnesses, and so bail was accepted from him of 
 350/. for his appearance. Colonel Coltman's bail, 
 amounting in all to 12,000/., was to present himself 
 at Montreal. At Montreal the court admitted it had 
 no jurisdiction, but, with singular high-handedness, 
 bound Lord Selkirk to appear in Upper Canada for 
 the same amount, 12,000/. ; as was remarked by one 
 at the time, he must " appear in a separate and 
 distinct colony, at an indefinite time, an indefinite 
 place, and before an indefinite court," under this 
 immense penalty. It will be noted that one of the 
 judges sitting at the time of this renewal was brother- 
 in-law of a prominent Nor'-wester partner. 
 
 The trials then proceeded in Upper Canada, at 
 Sandwich, in September, 18 18, in which the charge 
 was brought against his lordship and others, of "a 
 conspiracy to ruin the trade of the North-west Com- 
 pany." In this charge was included Mr. John 
 Pritchard, who had been brought a prisoner by the 
 North-west Company to Fort William, but who was 
 mentioned in the indictment evidently to prevent 
 his being a witness. The Attorney-General, John 
 Beverly Robinson, insisted on his right to attend the 
 Grand Jury to marshal and examine witnesses. To 
 this the Grand Jury objected ; but they were over- 
 ruled by Chief-Justice Powell. Day after day the 
 Grand Jury refused to give an answer to the Ch'ef- 
 Justice. The Chief- Justice, in a most summary 
 manner, adjourned the court ; the Attorney-General 
 entered the grand jury-room and carried off the bill of 
 indictment. 
 

 
 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
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 y 
 
 
 £ 
 
 
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 t 
 
 I," 
 
 
 
 
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 ^i 
 
 
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 s^S 
 
 H '. . .t 
 
 280 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 Whatever be the real explanation — and different 
 ones have been given — it is very plain that Chief- 
 Justice and Attorney-General had not the confidence 
 of the somewhat independent Grand Jury of Sand- 
 wich. The Earl of Selkirk, supposing the trials over, 
 allowed his witnesses to return to the Interior, and 
 went to England. 
 
 Immediately after this trial, and in the month of 
 October, a Bill was introduced into the legislature to 
 allow the transfer of any cause from one district to 
 another. Chief-Justice Powell was also speaker of 
 the Legislative Council ; the Bill was introduced 
 under his auspices, and, as originally framed, shame- 
 lessly provided that offences heretofore committed 
 should be under the operation of the Act. This word 
 " heretofore " was struck out, and the Chief-Justice 
 and Attorney-General afterwards, however, gained 
 their end equally well by interpreting the Act to 
 have a retrospective force. After this a Bill was 
 preferred before the Grand Jur}-, in York, of the 
 same purport as that which had failed in Sandwich. 
 The chief Nor'-wester agent and partner was admitted 
 as interpreter before the Grand Jury, and a Bill 
 found. 
 
 Subservient juries were empanelled in York, and 
 before them Deputy-Sheriff Smith obtained a verdict 
 against Lord Selkirk of 500/. for resistance to arrest, 
 and McKenzie, a North-west partner, a verdict of 
 1500/. for false imprisonment at Fort William. It is 
 possible that Lord Selkirk in these cases over- 
 stepped his authority at Fort William. But, as has 
 been well said by an advocate of Lord Selkirk, 
 
Justice with Eyes UNUANDAr.ED. 281 
 
 " Resistance to legal process is an offence which 
 requires to be punished, and particularly if committed 
 by a person of Lord Selkirk's rank and influence ; but 
 resistance to legal process is, with all its aggravations, 
 a trivial offence when compared with the robberies 
 and murders which were perpetrated in Red River ; 
 and surely when the Colonial Secretary was explicit 
 about the minor offence he cannot be less so about 
 these more heinous offences." 
 
 This might well suffice to show the unequal odds 
 against which Lord Selkirk struggled to get justice. 
 But in the efforts to bring to justice those who had 
 teen engaged in the destruction of his colony the 
 same adverse power everywhere manifested itself. 
 Bills of indictment were found in Montreal against 
 no fewer than forty or fifty partners, clerks, and ser- 
 vants of the North-west Company for murder, robbery, 
 arson, and other capital crimes ; and yet not more 
 than eight or nine cases could be brought to trial, 
 and these, among the least concerned. They were 
 sent away to distant courts, or the indicted managed 
 to escape arrest. Then obstructions were caused by 
 the removal of the trials, involving enormous expense 
 of witnesses, &c. 
 
 Some were sent to Quebec, 200 miles below Mon- 
 treal ; others to York, upwards of 300 miles west ; while 
 the same witnesses were required for both places. 
 These rem.ovals were made under earnest protest of 
 Lord Selkirk's counsel. His lordship objected to 
 York as being a place where the jury could not know 
 French, but his objections were disregarded. The 
 Attorney-General assisted in prosecuting, preventing 
 
282 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 Lord Selkirk's lawyer, who was cognizant of all the 
 circumstances, from interfering ; and thus a half- 
 hearted prosecution was secured, and the offer of 
 Lord Selkirk's counsel thrown aside. It is almost 
 incredible, the success of the North-west Company, 
 in securing the escape from the hands of law of 
 its partisans. Cuthbert Grant and others, charged 
 with the most serious crimes, were shamefully allowed 
 to leave prison in Montreal upon entering into small 
 
 recognizances. 
 
 A most shameful case of conspiracy is that of 
 George Campbell. He had been concerned in the 
 Seven Oak's massacre. The Grand Jury at Montreal 
 had found him guilty of robbery, arson, and malicious 
 shooting of the settlers. His case was thought too 
 bad to admit of being bailed. He pretended to be 
 sick, and was removed to the hospital, though no 
 certificate from the regular surgeon was got. A Nor'- 
 wester medical man signed the necessary document, 
 purporting that Campbell was in a dangerous fever. 
 The two puisne judges — one having a son in the Nor'- 
 wester service, the other married to a sister of a 
 partner — went to the gaol, and signed an order for 
 Campbell's removal ; while, according to law, no one 
 but the Chief-Justice of Lower Canada could sign 
 such an order. Campbell was taken to the hospital 
 carefully wrapped in a blanket : on the second day he 
 obtained leave from his sick-nurse to walk out and 
 see his wife : he escaped, and betook himself to the 
 United States. 
 
 The chief criminals being thus secured from danger 
 of arrest, or the cases removed by legal process to 
 
 1 1 
 
 1 1 
 
Justice with Eyes Unbandaged. 283 
 
 f all the 
 a half- 
 offer of 
 almost 
 ompany, 
 law of 
 charged 
 allowed 
 :o small 
 
 that of 
 in the 
 lontreal 
 lalicious 
 ght too 
 sd to be 
 )ugh no 
 A Nor'- 
 cument, 
 [s fever, 
 le Nor'- 
 Jr of a 
 der for 
 
 no one 
 Id sign 
 lospital 
 day he 
 )ut and 
 
 to the 
 
 danger 
 cess to 
 
 
 
 a convenient distance, a number of trials took place 
 in York, during the month of October, 18 18, his 
 lordship, the Chief-Justice of Upper Canada, with 
 others on the bench. The evidence was taken and 
 was printed by both sides, with notes and comments. 
 The events of the death of Semple were clearly 
 brought out, but the jury failed to find a verdict of 
 guilty against the prisoners. We shall follow no 
 further this dismal train of events. 
 
 These years, from 18 16 to 18 19, of this terrible 
 ordeal through which Lord Selkirk passed, may well 
 deter philanthropic souls from prosecuting enterprises 
 of benevolence for their fellow- man. It is true his 
 opponents found him a most determined and skilful 
 antagonist. Had he been a man of less force of 
 character, the first year's operations in 181 5, when his 
 colony was destroyed, would probably have left the 
 country to the hands of the enemy ; but the blood of 
 heroes of yore was in his veins, and he must conquer 
 or perish. 
 
 That the Nor'-westers saw their defeat was plain 
 from the proposals made by Mr. Coltman, on his 
 return, to Lord Selkirk. His lordship was led to 
 believe by proposals twice repeated, that should he 
 consent to a compromise, even a financial settlement 
 might be aimed at, by which the great expense at 
 which he had been would be made good. But his 
 mind revolted from a course, in "which" as he saw, 
 "he would be binding himself to throw a veil of ob- 
 scurity over a tissue of unparalleled crimes ; in which 
 he should be assisting to procure impunity for incen- 
 diaries and murderers ; in which he would become the 
 
 
284 
 
 MANITOnA. 
 
 I t 
 
 I 
 
 
 ii 
 
 instrument of establishing the right of the strongest, 
 as the only law of all the Northern territories of the 
 continent, fencing them out as beyond the pale of 
 legal protection, and destined to remain for ever a 
 haunt of banditti." As a noble-minded and consistent 
 man, Lord Selkirk shrank from "a line of conduct" 
 which could not fail to be interpreted as an admission, 
 that he had brought forward charges destitute of 
 foundation, and had been actuated by corrupt motives, 
 to abuse his authority as a magistrate. 
 
 It is an inspiring thing to see a man, wearied out 
 by several years of turmoil, with the proposal made 
 by which peace would be restored and the rights 
 of his colony secured, still so full of rectitude and 
 honour, as to spurn the offers that looked towards 
 bringing him to the level of the crooked policy of his 
 adversaries. Posterity will not willingly let die such 
 examples of coherence to truth. 
 
 It is with a real wail of sorrow that Lord Selkirk 
 makes his complaint in October, 1818, to the Duke of 
 Richmond, the new Governor-General of Canada. 
 *' To contend alone and unsupported, not only against 
 a powerful association of individuals, but also against 
 all those whose official duty it should have been to 
 arrest them in the prosecution of their crimes, was at 
 the best an arduous task ; and however confident one 
 might be of the intrinsic strength of his cause, it was 
 impossible to feel a very sanguine expectation, that 
 this alone would be sufficient to bear him up against 
 the swollen tide of corruption, which threatened to 
 overwhelm him ; he knew that in persevering under 
 the existing circumstances, he must necessarily submit 
 
JUSTICK WITH EVI'.S Un FSANDACF.D. 285 
 
 Jtronjrest, 
 cs of the 
 r pale of 
 )r ever a 
 onsistent 
 :onduct " 
 i mission, 
 titutc of 
 motives, 
 
 ried out 
 al made 
 le rights 
 ude and 
 towards 
 cy of his 
 die such 
 
 Selkirk 
 Duke of 
 Canada. 
 ' against 
 
 against 
 been to 
 , was at 
 lent one 
 , it was 
 3n, that 
 against 
 3ned to 
 J" under 
 
 submit 
 
 to a heavy sacrifice of personal comfort, incur an 
 expense of ruinous amount, and possibly render him- 
 self the object of harassing and relentless persecution." 
 No wonder that years of such distressing labour 
 brought his lordship to an early, though, as we have 
 seen, not dishonoured grave. 
 
 We bring this melancholy chapter to a close. It 
 may well make a lover of truth heart-sick to follow 
 the devious ways of those in power in Canada at the 
 time. A dishonourable justiciary, partisan ICxecutive 
 Council, and a pliant governor, make the Canadian 
 of to-day hang his head with shame. To the present 
 generation of Canadians the shameful events of this 
 time are but little known ; they are, however, only of 
 the same sort as, in that later period, ending with 
 1 84 1, were meted out to all who became obnoxious 
 to the self-constituted rulers of Upper Canada, who 
 are still looked upon with mingled feelings of derision 
 and contempt as the " Family Compact." Happy the 
 country that has escaped from such a yoke. 
 
 !,1. 
 
11 
 
 286 
 
 Manitoiia. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 !:■■ ::: 
 
 FIFTY YEARS OF PEACE. 
 
 1820 — 1870. 
 
 On Lord Selkirk's return to Britain in 18 18, the 
 sound of the batt'-; still followed him ; and in June, 
 1819, a friend of his, Sir James Montgomery, brought 
 the matter before the House of Commons, moving 
 for all the official papers in the case. This motion 
 was carried, and the Blue Book of 18 19 was pub- 
 lished with a vast amount of information on the 
 subject. 
 
 The letter of Sir Walter Scott, of June, 1819, re- 
 fers to the very poor health of Lord Selkirk, and 
 his enforced stay upon the continent. Worn out by 
 the troubles through which he had passed, his lord- 
 ship did not rally, but died at Pau, in the south of 
 France, 8th of April, 1820, attended by his devoted 
 countess, and his young daughters. The Gentlcmaiis 
 Magazine of that year gives a sketch of his life, 
 evidently penned by the hand of a loving friend. 
 
 "The mortal remains of this excellent man were 
 interred at Orthes, in the Protestant cemetery. Few 
 
Fifty Ykars of Peace. 
 
 28: 
 
 1 8, the 
 n June, 
 wrought 
 moving 
 motion 
 IS pub- 
 on the 
 
 5 1 9, re- 
 rk, and 
 out by 
 s lord- 
 )uth of 
 levoted 
 lematis 
 is life, 
 I. 
 
 1 were 
 Few 
 
 
 men were possessed of hii^her powers of mind, or 
 were more capable of applying them with more in- 
 defatigable perseverance. His treatise on emigration 
 has long been considered a standard work, and as 
 having exhausted one of the most difficult subjects in 
 the science of political economy. His lordship is also 
 advantageously known to the public as the author of 
 some other literary productions, all of them remark- 
 able for the enlargement and liberality of their views, 
 the luminous perspicuity of their statements, and that 
 severe and patient spirit of induction, which delight: 
 in the pursuit, and is generally successful in the dis- 
 covery of truth." 
 
 "To his friends the death of this beloved and 
 eminent person is a loss which nothing can rept^ir. 
 His gentle and condescending manners wound them- 
 selves round the hearts of those admitted to his 
 society, and conciliated an attachment which every 
 fresh interview served to confirm. With those con- 
 nected with him by the ties of kindred and the sweet 
 relations of domestic society, his lordship lived on 
 terms of the most affectionate endearment ; indeed, 
 seldom has there existed a family the members of 
 which were more tenderly attached to each other 
 than that of which his lordship was the head, and few 
 families have experienced a more severe succession 
 of those trials, by which the Almighty chastens the 
 heart and disciplines the virtues of His creatures. His 
 lordship was eminently exemplary in the discharge 
 of every social and private duty. He was a con- 
 siderate and indulgent landlord, a kind and gracious 
 master; to the poor a generous benefactor, and of 
 
288 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 
 ! 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 : 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 ^: 
 
 
 L.' 
 
 i! 
 
 
 ^^^^^^K ^*' 
 
 « "■ •' 
 
 
 every public improvement a judicious and liberal 
 patron." 
 
 The latter years of the life of this lamented noble- 
 man were employed in the establishment of an exten- 
 sive colony in the western parts of British America. 
 In the prosecution of this favourite object he had 
 encountered obstacles of the most unexpected and 
 formidable cliaracter. With these, however, he was 
 admirably qualified to contend ; as to the counsels of 
 an enlii^htened philosophy and an unmovable firmness 
 of purpose, he added the most complete habits of 
 business and a perfect knowledge of affairs. The 
 obstructions he met with served only to stimulate 
 him to increased exertion ; and after an arduous 
 struggle with a powerful confederacy, which had 
 arrayed itself against him, and which would, long ere 
 now, have subdued any other adversary, he had the 
 satisfaction to know that he had finally succeeded in 
 founding an industrious and thriving community. It 
 has now struck deep root in the soil, and is com- 
 petent, from its own internal resources, to perpetuate 
 itself and to extend the blessings of civilization to 
 those remote and boundless regions." We add 
 nothing. These are fitting words with which tenderly 
 to leave the foreign grave of the founder of the Red 
 River colony. 
 
 The colony lived and grew for fifty years with 
 varying fortunes, but, on the whole, in a state of peace, 
 though the turbulence of the Bois-brules was a thing 
 always to be counted upon, and which on several 
 occasions broke out into a flame. The Hudson's Bay 
 Company and the North-west Company had been re- 
 
I-'IFTV VKAKS ok rKACK. 
 
 289 
 
 . liberal 
 
 d noblc- 
 n cxtcn- 
 Vmcrica. 
 he bad 
 ted .and 
 he was 
 insels of 
 firmness 
 abits of 
 s. The 
 timulate 
 arduous 
 ich had 
 lonfT ere 
 had the 
 ^eded in 
 lity. It 
 is com- 
 'petuatc 
 ition to 
 Vc add 
 enderly 
 the Red 
 
 rs with 
 f peace, 
 a thing 
 several 
 n's Bay 
 Deen re- 
 
 duced to the verge of ruin by the troubles of tlic pre- 
 vious years, and now, in March, 1821, largely throu;^'h 
 the intervention of the Hon. luhvard Rllice, an under- 
 standing was reached by the two Companies, by which 
 not only were hostilities ended, but a union secured 
 under the name of the Hudson's Bay Company, 'i'he 
 heirs of Lord Selkirk still maintained his rights; and 
 in 1821, Mr. Ilalkctt, a relative and one of his execu- 
 tors, visited the settlement and set in order many of 
 its affairs. I'^or several years afterwards the colony was 
 still supported by the heirs of the founder, purchasing 
 what was required and supplying the colonists. 
 
 About 1824 this system was changed, and the 
 colony was then thrown completely upon itself. An 
 incident of the former time shows how cumbrous and 
 expensive an enterprise it would have been to con- 
 tinue. In 1820 an expedition was fitted out to 
 bring seed-wheat for the colonists from the Mississippi 
 River and Prairie du Chien in Illinois, being at that 
 time the nearest depot. The journey was accom- 
 plished in boats, there being only one portage where 
 the head-waters of the Red and Mississippi rivers join. 
 This expedition cost Lord Selkirk 1040/. sterling. 
 
 It was not, however, until the }'ear 1835 that 
 Lord Selkirk's heirs gave up their control to the Hud- 
 son's Bay Company. The expenses incurred by Lord 
 Selkirk in his expeditions in supporting the colony, 
 and in his harassing law-suits, were estimated at a 
 considerable amount, and this sum was assumed by the 
 Hudson^s Bay Company on condition of the territorial 
 claim of Lord Selkirk being surrendered to them. 
 
 During the earlier years of the colony, various 
 schemes of a tentative kind were begun by the 
 
 U 
 
!■:>: 
 
 -im 
 
 
 I 
 
 |,:i 
 
 I - f ' 
 
 
 M 
 
 J. 
 
 mm 
 
 290 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 )f the col( 
 
 of 
 
 managers 01 tne coiony. Some of these were 
 nature to have succeeded, others were thoroughly- 
 visionary, but all were unsuccessful from being 
 intrusted to men unable to carry them out. 
 
 Mr. John Pritchard, of whom we have already 
 heard, was manager of one of these — the " Buffalo 
 Wool Company." This Company Bubble rose for a 
 while, but soon burst, leaving the partners in debt 
 4500/., and their capital gone. 
 
 Another enterprise was the " Hay-field Farm,"under 
 a Scotchman named Laidlaw. This, too, failed, cost- 
 ing the promoters 2000/. Another project was 
 entered on by the Hudson's Bay Company, that of 
 the Experimental Farm, to teach the people the art 
 of farming. An inexperienced manager was ap- 
 pointed, and, as before, in six years the dead loss to 
 the Company was 3500/. 
 
 While this experiment was being tried by the Com- 
 pany, the settlers combined in a new enterprise — the 
 " Assiniboine Wool Company." This was abandoned 
 in favour of a plan of the Company to raise flax and 
 hemp. Premiums were given for the best crops of 
 flax. An excellent yield was obtained, and the pre- 
 miums awarded ; but the settlers worked for no higher 
 end, and the flax was left to rot in the fields. The 
 same result followed with the growing of hemp. 
 
 These failures go to show at least one thing, that 
 the policy of the Hudson's Bay Company was to 
 encourage the colony, and to assist the settlers. That 
 so many schemes failed may perhaps account for the 
 opinion so steadily held by a class of the old Hudson's 
 Bay Company people that the country was useless. 
 The waving wheat-fields, thriving cattle, and progres- 
 
M'e of a 
 ) rough ly 
 
 1 being 
 
 already 
 ' Buffalo 
 )se for a 
 
 in debt 
 
 [i,"under 
 
 ed, cost- 
 
 ect was 
 
 that of 
 
 2 the art 
 was ap- 
 i loss to 
 
 he Corn- 
 rise — the 
 andoned 
 flax and 
 crops of 
 the pre- 
 10 higher 
 ds. The 
 np. 
 
 ing, that 
 Y was to 
 rs. That 
 it for the 
 Hudson's 
 ,s useless. 
 i progres- 
 
 . I, 
 
 r -I 
 
 I*. 
 
11! 
 
 'I' 
 
 ! I 
 
 
 SIR GEORGE SIMI'SON, GOVERNOR, HUDSON'S BAY CO., 1821-57. 
 
 Pa^e 291. 
 
Fifty Years of Peace. 
 
 291 
 
 sive state of the province at the present time show 
 that Lord Selkirk's original conception of the country- 
 was the true one, and that the opinions of the hair- 
 brained theorists on the one hand, or of the broken- 
 down and discouraged victims of these schemes on the 
 other, were unreliable. 
 
 On a union of the two Companies in 182 1, a young 
 Scotchman, a clerk from the London Office of the 
 Hudson Bay Company, was selected to fill the impor- 
 tant part of Governor. It was a great responsibility 
 for this young and inexperienced man, George Simp- 
 son, to undertake the management of so great a con- 
 cern ; to reconcile men who had been in arms 
 against one another, and to bring their trade from 
 the brink of ruin to a successful issue. That for some 
 forty years he should have remained at the head of 
 the Company, and should have received the honour of 
 knighthood from his sovereign, speaks volumes for his 
 executive ability and success. He was the virtual 
 ruler of about half of North America, and, though 
 an autocrat, held the reins of power to the last with 
 unslackening grasp. 
 
 With the self-possession of an emperor, surrounded 
 by his voyageurs and clerks, he hastened along the old 
 Ottawa and Lake Route, through the Grand Portage, 
 or by Fort William and Lake of the Woods. It is stated 
 that he traversed this difficult and tedious route at least 
 once a year during his career. Small in stature he 
 was of indomitable perseverance, though somewhat 
 impatient in temper. 
 
 It is related that on one occasion, while passing 
 through Lake of the Woods, and urging his crew too 
 much, a powerful French voyageur, his right-hand 
 
 U 2 
 
292 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 man, became so incensed at his unreasoning demands, 
 that he seized him by the neck, pkmged him over the 
 side of the boat into the water, and then drew him 
 dripping in again, to be for that voyage a more con- 
 siderate and reticent master. 
 
 During his whole career, however, the management 
 of the Red River Colony was the one thorn in his 
 side. In 1835 a council was selected from the Red 
 River residents, of which Governor Simpson was pre- 
 sident. On his visit once a year all cases of difficulty 
 had to be brought up, and it is presumed that it would 
 have been considered a sad day for the colony had 
 there been no complaints to make or grievances to 
 redress. Indeed, the right of private audience with 
 the governor on the most trivial concerns was one 
 apparently highly valued by every settler. Governor 
 Simpson was admirably adapted for this primitive 
 state of society. In one case a little sympathy was 
 all that was required, in another, sternness ; now he 
 must have the skill to see through a cunningly devised 
 story, and again a slight douceur from the Company 
 bound with unbreakable chains some colonist to its 
 wheels. A respectful reception must be given to some 
 rising agitator among the people ; and a grant of unoc- 
 cupied land, freely bestowed when sought, on which the 
 faithful pastor might build a church for his struggling 
 flock. Hard enough is the task of those in authority 
 under constitutional government, but it would require 
 as much skill to govern successfully without law 
 5000 mixed Highlanders, Bois-brules, English half- 
 breeds, Hudson's Bay Company retired officials, the 
 population of the Colony in 1835, as to control half a 
 million where government is fully established. 
 
 filr 
 
 
Fifty Years of Peace. 
 
 293 
 
 emands, 
 Dver the 
 rew him 
 )rc con- 
 
 igement 
 1 in his 
 the Red 
 vas pre- 
 lifficulty 
 it would 
 my had 
 inces to 
 ice with 
 ivas one 
 rovernor 
 rimitive 
 thy was 
 now he 
 devised 
 Dmpany 
 t to its 
 
 some 
 )f unoc- 
 lich the 
 uggling 
 ithority 
 
 require 
 )ut law 
 
 h half- 
 ials, the 
 
 1 half a 
 
 The Hudson's Bay Company did all in its power 
 to preserve order, her Majesty's Government was 
 induced to send out some 300 men of the 6th regi- 
 ment of foot, in 1846. On their withdrawal, upwards 
 of fifty pensioners were sent out in 1848, who were 
 settled within easy call of Fort Garry. Mr. Adam 
 Thorn, a man of high legal qualifications, wasappointed 
 Recorder, and continued in office from 1839 to 1854. 
 
 It is not worth our while to consider whether the 
 governor and Assiniboia Council over-stepped the 
 bounds of their authority, or whether the people were 
 unreasonable in their demands. It would not have 
 been surprising during these fifty year's if both parties 
 had been found wanting in these respects. In the 
 opinion of the writer some simple form of muni- 
 cipal self-government at an early period would have 
 been beneficial. Government without representation 
 should last as short a time as possible in the history 
 of a young province ; and scarcely any example in 
 the British colonies can be pointed out where the plan 
 of throwing the responsibility of self-government on 
 the people themselves has been a failure. 
 
 In a former chapter reference was made to the 
 presence in the colony of a Highland Catcchist, James 
 Sutherland, commissioned to marry and baptize for 
 the settlers, and for some years the only religious 
 teacher in the wide extent of Rupert's Land. He 
 seems to have been a man generally respected and 
 useful, and the colonists greatly regretted his removal, 
 in 1818, through North-west influence. To the people 
 from Sutlicrlandshire, the want of a minister and the 
 absence of a school were a constant cause of dissatis- 
 faction. Intensely attached to their native land, as all 
 
294 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 the Highlanders are, the trials of leaving home seemed 
 all the harder to bear, that they had not the consola- 
 tions of religion nor the means of education for their 
 children to which they had been accustomed. 
 
 Lord Selkirk had given the promise that one of 
 their own ministers should follow them in 1817. The 
 troubles of the times had prevented the fulfilment of 
 this promise, and it was not surprising that they 
 should urge the matter on the attention of Lord 
 Selkirk, as we have seen they did on his visit to the 
 colony. His legal difficulties in Canada no doubt 
 further delayed the matter. It is generally thought 
 that to Mr. John Pritchard, who entered his service 
 and was largely concerned as a witness both in 
 Canada and in England, had been intrusted the duty 
 by his lordship of carrying out the promise. 
 
 After the colony had been for about two years 
 deprived of the services of Mr. Sutherland^ a clergy- 
 man, the Rev. Mr. West, arrived in the year 1821. 
 He had been appointed by the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany after Lord Selkirk's departure for France on his 
 last illness. His appointment took place in October 
 13th, 1 8 19, at a salary of 100/. per annum, and it is 
 stated by Mr. John Halkett that he was also com- 
 missioned by the Church Missionary Society. He 
 seems to have been a man of most amiable and 
 generous disposition, but he could not speak the 
 language of the people of Sutherlandshire, nor did 
 he belong to the Church of their fathers. With their 
 decided views this became a great disappointment, 
 indeed, and much discontent prevailed. 
 
 The settlers had already begun the erection of a 
 temporary place of worship, and on the arrival of Mr. 
 
 ■; % 
 
Fii'TY Years of Pi:a( i:. 
 
 ^95 
 
 West this was completed, though without that chcer- 
 fuhiess which would have been desirable. The first 
 Protestant church erected in Rupert's Land seems to 
 have been finished somewhere about 1823. Mr. West, 
 findinc^some unwillingness to accept his services, paid 
 visits which were highly appreciated by the Indian 
 tribes up the Assiniboine. About 1823, after Mr. 
 West had returned to his native country, a devoted 
 missionary, the Rev. David Jones, came to the Red 
 River settlement. He found the settlers in the same 
 spirit of sullenness. They maintained in their houses 
 the form of worship handed down by their fathers, 
 and thus preserved among their children an adhesion 
 to their ancestral faith. 
 
 To those acquainted with the Highland character it 
 is not surprising that they assumed so firm an attitude 
 with regard to religious concerns. His religion is the 
 atmosphere of his every-day life to the Scottish peasant. 
 If his sky be clear and unclouded in this lespect, he 
 is happy and contented even in poverty. If clouds 
 overshadow him, he is discontented and impracticable 
 in everything. The Rev. Mr. Jones, with much wis- 
 dom, made the best of a difficult case. He adapted 
 the service of the Church of England to the ideas of 
 the settlers ; made use of the rugged version of the 
 Psalms to which they were accustomed, and so sought 
 to win their affections. This he did to a considerable 
 extent, and accomplished much good by his labours. 
 
 The people with remarkable tenacity, however, 
 continually petitioned the Hudson's Bay Company 
 to give them a clergyman according to their own 
 ideas. So persevering were they that even twenty- 
 five years after, in 1845, they state in an affidavit, 
 
296 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 { 1 
 
 1 
 
 : 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 ^. 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 , 
 
 
 
 . , ; 
 
 
 t M 
 
 
 1 lii!l 
 
 I 'n 
 
 ■ ! 
 
 ■•-•^tlf ■ 
 
 •' Over and over again have wc applied to every 
 governor in the colony since its commencement ; to 
 Mr. Halkett, also his lordship's kinsman, and to the 
 Governor-in-Chief of Rupert's Land ; and time after 
 time petitioned the men in power among us ; but all 
 to no effect." 
 
 No doubt the Hudson's Bay Company, being 
 traders, were hard to move in this matter, which 
 appeared to them of far less moment than it did to 
 the settlers concerned. At length, in 185 1, their 
 church in Canada became interested in the colony, 
 and by a sort of poetic justice, the country whose 
 people had so strongly opposed the formation of the 
 settlement, became the means of supplying them with 
 the institutions of religion. 
 
 An earnest young man, a native of Dumfriesshire, 
 Scotland, who had received his education at Toronto, 
 undertook the work of founding the Presbyterian 
 cause in the Red River district. This self-denying 
 man, now the Rev. John Black, D.U., of Kildonan, 
 journeyed forth, taking some eight weeks on the 
 journey from Canada, and through the fortunate 
 assistance of Governor Ramsay, of Minnesota, 
 reached his destination in safety. 
 
 Their minister is to the Highlanders of later times 
 the chief of the clan ; and now, with all the instincts 
 of clanship, the Highland colonists gathered round 
 their new leader, and with surprising fidelity and self- 
 sacrifice undertook his support. Their new minister 
 could not speak their native tongue, but thirty years 
 had sufficed to make Gaelic less necessary. It is 
 worthy of notice that Mr. Black, the pioneer mis- 
 sionary to the Highland colony, as well as Lord 
 
Fifty Years of Peacl:. 
 
 297 
 
 every 
 
 being 
 
 years 
 It is 
 
 Selkirk, its founder, were both men from the extreme 
 south of the Scottish Lowhinds. Ever since the day 
 of his arrival their devoted minister has, in many par- 
 ticulars, come up to the standard of Goldsmith's 
 picture of the faithful pastor, while he has an honour- 
 able reputation as an accurate scholar and a man of 
 excellent parts. A stone church and a manse were 
 erected on the site at Frog Plain, given by the Hud- 
 son's ]?ay Company, in lieu of the one bestowed 
 by Lord Selkirk for that purpose, but on which the 
 Rev. Mr. Jones had erected the church at St. John's. 
 
 Dr. Black, the pastor of the Selkirk settlers, has, 
 since his coming, now thirty years ago, " borne his 
 faculties so meek," that all classes regard him with 
 respect, for he did much to soothe what might have 
 led to feelings of the greatest bitterness, so that the 
 Hudson's Bay Company, from being averse to the 
 wish of the settlers to have a minister of their own, 
 afterwards cheerfully made an annual grant for his 
 support. School and manse, and church in the midst 
 of the parish of Kildonan, are now the cynosure to the 
 eyes of the Kildonan settlers and their descendants, 
 scattered as they have become east and west of this 
 cradle of their people. 
 
 A strange picture has it been, indeed, to the 
 traveller from Canada of the last few years to come 
 to the new province of Manitoba and find a people 
 with a separate history, separate traditions, and a 
 separate life, even from the native population around 
 them. This feeling of the colony of being a different 
 people from the natives of the country has never been 
 lost ; and though there are representatives of four 
 generations of people living, yet the people of 
 
298 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 ^ I 
 
 
 Nit'i 
 
 Kildonan, in 1870, were almost as thoroughly the 
 pure Selkirk settlers in blood, as when they crossed 
 the ocean to Hudson's Hay. 
 
 Visitors to St. Paul, Minnesota, the former depot 
 from which the Selkirk Settlement was supplied, give 
 descriptions during the half-century of which we 
 speak, of this strange people, coming to St. Paul with 
 their scores of Red River carts, speaking a dialect of 
 their own, with many distinctive customs, but withal 
 possessing much greater intelligence than the pioneers 
 of the border States, appearing once a year, each to 
 bring a load of fur from the north, and to take back his 
 quota of freight. They had their own history, could 
 tell of how in the spring times of 1826, 1852, 1861, 
 the Red River broke over its bounds, as the St. Law- 
 rence so often does at Montreal, or the Missouri, or 
 the Mississippi, or most American rivers do. They 
 could tell of how they had suffered from clouds 
 of grasshoppers coming over from F^nsas, Iowa, and 
 Dakota to devour their crops. It was unavailing 
 to tell them the Red River having widened so much 
 was not likely to act badly again, and that grass- 
 hoppers disappear before settlement. They seemed 
 careless about new settlers coming to Red River, and 
 rather gloried in reciting their misfortunes than their 
 blessings. Yet during this period, they were prospe- 
 rous : the Highland refugees had found happy homes : 
 the settlement was thrifty, well-doing, and contented. 
 
 The dream of Lord Selkirk is fulfilled ; and, as we 
 shall see in the remaining chapters, his vision of the 
 future is opening up in vistas grander than any of the 
 Selkirk colony other than himself ever conceived. 
 
 
Illy the 
 crossed 
 
 299 
 
 r depot 
 cd, give 
 lich wc 
 aul with 
 alect of 
 t withal 
 )ioneers 
 each to 
 back his 
 y, could 
 2, 1861, 
 )t. Law- 
 ;ouri, or 
 
 They 
 clouds 
 wa, and 
 availing 
 o much 
 t grass- 
 seemed 
 v^er, and 
 an their 
 prospe- 
 homes : 
 itented. 
 d, as we 
 
 of the 
 y of the 
 vcd. 
 
 
 CHAPTKR XIII. 
 
 TEN YEARS OF rROGRESS. 
 
 i8;i — 1881. 
 
 It has been a common subject of surprise to those 
 visiting Manitoba that the knowledge of its fertile soil 
 and many advantages should have so long remained a 
 sealed book to the people of the Eastern provinces and 
 the mother country. In the opinion of the writer this 
 did not entirely arise from the long and wearisome 
 route by which it must be reached. The coalition 
 of the Hudson's Bay Company and the North-west 
 Company was a peace concluded in the interests 
 of the fur trade. The sufferings incurred by Lord 
 Selkirk and his colonists warned others from attempt- 
 ing colonization ; and it seems to have been a tacit 
 understanding in the newly-organized Hudson's Bay 
 Company that the colony was a difficulty to be dealt 
 with as best could be done, but not to be increased. 
 
 It is surprising the extent to which the policy of a 
 company comes to be impressed on its employes. 
 The officers of the Hudson's Bay Company have 
 always been a remarkably honourable and capable 
 
300 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 li 
 
 class of men. Few organizations of modern times 
 can show an equal record in this respect ; but the 
 thorough belief that the North-west was unfit for 
 extensive settlement, was received by them without 
 thought or investigation. 
 
 It is perfectly astounding to read the evidence 
 given before the British House of Commons* Com- 
 mittee, in 1857, by Sir George Simpson and others, 
 as regards the agricultural capabilities of the North- 
 west. So greatly are we the creatures of hearsay, 
 especially when the traditions we receive further our 
 interests ! 
 
 Sir George Simpson had, in 1847, published a large 
 two-volume work, entitled, "A Journey Round the 
 World." In this work he gives an account of the 
 country from Lake Superior to the Rocky Mountains, 
 as he had passed over it in 1841. He seems at that 
 time to have expressed a favourable opinion of many 
 parts of it. Yet, when called before the Committee of 
 the House of Commons, in 1857, his answers form an 
 amusing contrast with his previous statements. We 
 may well ask, " Under which king, Bezonian?" Mr. 
 Roebuck, with keenness, began the colloquy : — 
 
 Q. I have a book in my hand, published by you, I 
 think, in 1847 •'' 
 
 A. Very possibly. 
 
 Q. Hov/ long had you then been governor of that 
 country } 
 
 A. Twenty-seven years. 
 
 O. And I suppose that in those twenty-seven years 
 you had acquired a good deal of experience ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 J 
 
 I il- 
 
Ten Years of Progress. 
 
 501 
 
 n-n times 
 
 ; but the 
 
 unfit for 
 
 1 without 
 
 evidence 
 ns' Com- 
 d others, 
 le North- 
 hearsay, 
 irther our 
 
 id a large 
 ound the 
 nt of the 
 'ountains, 
 IS at that 
 of many 
 mittce of 
 5 form an 
 tits. We 
 1?" Mr. 
 
 jy you, I 
 
 r of that 
 
 /en years 
 
 O. Are we to take this book as the result of your 
 experience of twenty-seven years } 
 
 A. I think you may. 
 
 O. And all you state there was your view after 
 twenty-seven years' experience of that country ? 
 
 A. I think so. 
 
 Q. So that if you had died at that moment, which 
 I am very happy to see that you did not, we might 
 have taken this book as your view of that country ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 O. Has anything happened since that time to alter 
 your view of that country? 
 
 A. No ; I do not know that I have materially 
 altered my view in regard to it. 
 
 Q. I know that this passage has been read to you 
 before, but its matter has struck me very much, 
 from its poetry as well as otherwise, and I will read 
 it again, and ask you why, if you have changed your 
 opinion, you have changed it .'* " The river which 
 empties Lac la Pluie into the Lake of the Woods is, 
 in more than one respect, decidedly the finest stream 
 in the whole route. From Fort Frances downwards, 
 a stretch of nearly lOO miles, it is not interrupted by 
 a single impediment, while yet the current is not 
 strong enough materially to retard an ascending 
 traveller ; nor are the banks less favourable to 
 agriculture than the waters themselves to naviga- 
 tion, resembling, in some measure, iliose of the 
 Thames, near Richmond. From the very bank of 
 the river there rises a gentle slope of green sward, 
 crowned in many places with a plentiful growth of 
 birch, poplar, beech, elm, and oak. Is it too much 
 
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 302 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 
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 for the eye of philanthropy to discern, through the 
 vista of futurity, this noble stream, connecting, as it 
 does, the fertile shores of two spacious lakes, with 
 crowded steam-boats on its bosom, and populous 
 towns on its borders ?" 
 
 A. I speak of the bank of the river there. 
 
 Q. The land was very fertile then, you say? 
 
 A. The right bank of the river, which I speak of : 
 indeed, both banks, the lip of the river. 
 
 Q. You say, " Nor are the banks less favourable." 
 You allude to both banks 1 
 
 A. Yes ; I confine myself to the banks : the 
 back country is one deep n .)rass, extending for 
 miles. 
 
 Q. So anybody reading that passage would have 
 very much mistaken the nature of the country, if he 
 had thought that that was the description of it ? 
 
 A. Not as regards the banks : I confine myself to 
 the banks. 
 
 Q. Does a traveller usually give such descriptions 
 of d country as that .? 
 
 A. Yes ; I, as a travellci, did so. 
 
 Q. Then we may take that as a specimen of your 
 view of the country > 
 
 A. You may. 
 
 Being questioned on the same subject by Mr. 
 Gordon, a member of the committee, the following 
 were the question and reply : — 
 
 Q. Do you see any reason to alter the opinion 
 which you have thus expressed ? 
 
 A. I do see that I have overrated the importance 
 of the country as a country for settlement. 
 
Ten Years of Progress. 
 
 303 
 
 igh the 
 ig, as it 
 ;s, with 
 opulous 
 
 )eak of : 
 
 urable." 
 
 s : the 
 ling for 
 
 Id have 
 y, if he 
 t? 
 yself to 
 
 ;riptions 
 of your 
 
 by Mr. 
 
 )llowing 
 
 opinion 
 )ortance 
 
 Chairman. — It is too glowing a description, you 
 think ? 
 
 A. Exactly so. 
 
 But more remarkable still are the two sides of the 
 shield presented in regard to the Red River settlement. 
 
 Mr. Roebuck again returns to the charge : — 
 
 Q. Supposing it were erected into a territory, 
 do you suppose that that country could be self- 
 supporting ? 
 
 A. I think not. 
 
 Q. Why ? 
 
 A. On account of the poverty of the soil. Along 
 the banks of the river I have no question that a set- 
 tlement might be self-supporting: a population thinly 
 scattered along the banks of the river might support 
 themselves, but a dense population could not live in 
 that country : the country would not afford the means 
 of subsistence. 
 
 Q. You are here to tell us that the country is very 
 barren, and could not support a population } 
 
 A. It could not support a large population, and 
 moreover, there is no fuel : the fuel of the country 
 would be exhausted in the course of a few years. 
 
 Q. Why is there no fuel ? are there no woods ? 
 
 A. No woods ! all that prairie country is bare of 
 woods. 
 
 Q. And yet I sec the country upon this map marked 
 green, and they tell me that that signifies the woody 
 country ? 
 
 A. Yes, that is the woody country. 
 
 Now read another part of Sir George's unfortunate 
 journal. The witness, 1.1 the midst of his difficulties 
 
304 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 I 
 
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 on that score, might well have said, oh that iftjy enemy 
 would write a book ! 
 
 Mr. Gordon again began : — 
 
 Q. Will you allow me to remind you of one other 
 sentence in your interesting work ? It is at page 5 5 of 
 vol. i. "The soil of Red River settlement is a black 
 mould of considerable depth, which when first tilled 
 produces extraordinary crops, as much, on some 
 occasions, as forty returns of wheat ; and even after 
 twenty successive years of cultivation, without the 
 relief of manure or fallow, or of green crop, it still 
 yields from fifteen to twenty-five bushels an acre. 
 The wheat produced is plump and heavy ; there are 
 also large quantities of grain of all kinds, besides beef, 
 mutton, pork, butter, cheese, and wool in abundance. 
 
 Mr. Bell, a member of committee further brought 
 up the unwelcome book. 
 
 Q. I find that in your journal of a journey from the 
 Red River settlement across the Rocky Mountains 
 you constantly describe the country in this way : 
 " Picturesque country, lakes with gently sloping banks, 
 the greensward crowned with thick woods ;" then you 
 say, " Beautiful country, lofty hills, long valley, sylvan 
 lakes, bright green, uninterrupted profusion of roses 
 and blue-bells, softest vales, panorama of hanging 
 copses." 
 
 A. Yes, there were a great many flowering shrubs. 
 
 Q. Then you say that within a day's march of 
 Carlton, on the Saskatchewan, in lat. 53°, there were 
 large gardens and fields, and an abundance of pota- 
 toes and other vegetables ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
/ enemy 
 
 le other 
 ge55 of 
 a black 
 St tilled 
 n some 
 en after 
 out the 
 , it still 
 an acre. 
 here are 
 3es beef, 
 ndance. 
 brought 
 
 from the 
 Duntains 
 is way : 
 5 banks, 
 len you 
 , sylvan 
 of roses 
 hanging 
 
 shrubs, 
 larch of 
 re were 
 of pota- 
 
 Ten Years of Progress. 
 
 30s 
 
 Q. About Edmonton, as to the pasturage, your 
 remark is that it is luxuriant, and that the barley is 
 very productive .-* 
 
 A. Yes, it is very good. 
 
 Who can wonder that hundreds of honourable men 
 honestly believed the country unfit for settlement 
 when Governor Simpson, who had visited the Red 
 River settlement some forty times, could give such 
 evidence, though as we have seen he could contradict 
 himself with a most charming naivett^? But it is to 
 be said in behalf of Sir George himself, that having 
 visited the country for well-nigh thirty years, and 
 seen advancement so slow, he may have doubted the 
 country coming to anything; and as we have seen, 
 he was probably blinded by his interests as a fur- 
 trader. 
 
 The writer, on going to Red River settlement ten 
 years ago, was informed by the farmers with painful 
 iteration that settlement back from the rivers was 
 an impossibility : there are now not less than 50,000 
 settlers in Manitoba living on the plains and prosper- 
 ing. It is the somewhat Chinese fashion of living in 
 the flowery land of self-interest, and contending that 
 all the world beyond is a wilderness. 
 
 But during these fifty years, while the Chinese wall 
 of prejudice was being built higher and higher around 
 the North-west, in Canada a dream of empire was 
 moving the bosoms of her statesmen ; the scattered 
 provinces, which a later writer has contemptuously 
 called a fringe along the north of the American 
 Republic, were seeking to be united, and the project 
 included the union of British North America in one 
 
■*:: ■* 
 
 306 
 
 Manitoea. 
 
 Il 
 
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 $ . ;■ 
 
 It i'-' 
 
 If 
 
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 great state. The project would have been a weak one, 
 indeed, without the North-west. Claims of the most 
 extravagant kind were now put forth by Canadian 
 statesmen. They revived the old Nor'-wester con- 
 tention which had been consigned for half a century 
 to the "tomb of all the Capulets" by claiming that 
 Canada possessed to the foot of the Rocky Mountains. 
 " The wish," was probably "the father to the thought." 
 Deputations from Canada brought the matter before 
 the Imperial Government. These urged that the 
 Hudson's Bay Company had no legal right to the 
 territory they had held for well-nigh 200 years ; they, 
 in fact, gave forth all the arguments of '' Mercator " in 
 his celebrated letters of 18 17. 
 
 The Hudson's Bay Company, confident of its rights, 
 was, however, beginning to feel that the govern- 
 ment of this troublesome colony would become more 
 and more difficult, and so at length came to terms 
 with the Canadian Government, agreeing to surrender 
 the territory to Canada on the payment of a stipu- 
 lated sum of money, being allowed the retention of 
 certain other privileges. In 1869 the country was 
 transferred to Canada. The transfer was managed 
 with a singular want of skill. Some one had blun- 
 dered ! The intemperate boastings of a few Canadians, 
 who had already made the Red River settlement their 
 home — they were about fifty in number all told — 
 roused the old spirit of turbulence of the Bois-brules, 
 who had grown from being some 200 in number in 
 1S16, to 5000 at the time of which we speak. They 
 were stirred up by their leaders to resist the Canadian 
 occupation, just as they had been roused against the 
 
cak one, 
 he most 
 lanacliaii 
 tcr con- 
 century 
 ing that 
 )untains. 
 hought." 
 cr before 
 that the 
 t to the 
 rs ; they, 
 :ator" in 
 
 its rights, 
 : govern - 
 me more 
 to terms 
 surrender 
 a stipu- 
 ention of 
 ntry was 
 managed 
 ad blun- 
 anadians, 
 lent their 
 11 told— 
 is-brules, 
 umber in 
 <. They 
 Canadian 
 ainst the 
 
 Tkn Years of Progress. 
 
 307 
 
 
 settlers of former days. The false plea used was that 
 their land was to be taken from them by the Canadian 
 Government. This spirit of Pierre Falcon's " chanson" 
 was alive again, and Fort Garry was seized by these 
 wild children of the prairies. 
 
 The Selkirk colonists were passive as in 181 5 and 
 18 16. The luiglish half-breeds showed a strong wish 
 to resist ; and the (cw Canadians were boiling over 
 with rage. The Canadians were arrested by the Bois- 
 brCdcs, who, having the fort, controlled the guns, and 
 the prisoners were closely confined in the fort under 
 armed guards. The prison discipline seems to have 
 been of a rather severe character. The neutrality of the 
 Selkirk colony and the English half-breeds was equally 
 annoying to the handful of Canadians, on the one 
 hand, who denounced them for their inactivity, and 
 to the Bois-brulcs on the other, who were most 
 anxious to gain their assistance in making common 
 cause against the intruders. 
 
 With the object apparently of aweing the other 
 inhabitants into submission, a Canadian, named Scott 
 was barbarously shot by the Bois-brulcs, under the 
 guise of a public execution. But how greatly do men 
 miscalculate the effects of their actions ! The people 
 were awed, it is true, but when the news reached 
 Canada, the hearts of the Canadians were set on fire. 
 The martial spirit which had taken so strong a hold 
 of Canada, during the Fenian attacks, was revived, 
 and the whole volunteer force of the country was 
 ready to follow in the track of the Dc Meurons of 
 upwards of fifty years before, to avenge the wrong. 
 Only a few regiments were required, however, and 
 
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 308 
 
 l^lANITOHA. 
 
 they succeeded in doing their wc.k fortunately with- 
 out bloodshed. 
 
 The Scott murder, and the Red River expedition 
 of 1870, under that distinguished officer, now General 
 Wolseley, did more than all other agencies for the 
 filling-up of the Canadian North-west. The country 
 was brought vividly before the imagination of the 
 Canadian people. 
 
 It is not our purpose to give a full account of the 
 marvellous progress that has taken place during this 
 eventful decade. To the writer the past ten years 
 seem like a dream. In the rapidity of change there 
 has hardly been the time for anything to seem real. 
 The conclusions of one year as to the country have 
 had to be abandoned the next as development took 
 place. The vast extent of the region grows on the 
 mind by degrees. One's idea of distance changes ; 
 it seems no more to overtake a hundred miles than 
 it formerly did to go twenty. The most fondly 
 cherished delusions of the unfitness for settlement of 
 certain opening regions have to be abandoned as 
 flourishing settlements rise ; and the railway is 
 making such a transformation as to make the " oldest 
 inhabitant " wonder whether he may not be in an 
 enchanted land. 
 
 Where Forts Douglas and Gibraltar were, now 
 stands the city of Winnipeg. An unsightly Indian 
 village of log houses, of not more than 300 people 
 in 1 87 1, is replaced by a busy city of 12,000 or 14,000 
 inhabitants, and the street of log hovels has become 
 the chief business street of the rising city, and been 
 built up with handsome brick buildings. 
 
 ' mIIHi! 
 
Ten Years of rRocRKss. 
 
 309 
 
 ly with- 
 
 pcdition 
 General 
 for the 
 country 
 1 of the 
 
 it of the 
 •ing this 
 en years 
 ige there 
 icm real, 
 itry have 
 ent took 
 rs on the 
 :hanges ; 
 lies than 
 t fondly 
 ement of 
 oned as 
 way is 
 I " oldest 
 3e in an 
 
 ere, now 
 y Indian 
 people 
 or 14,000 
 become 
 md been 
 
 
 The tide of population has rolled westward. 
 Portage La Prairie, from which Alexander Mac- 
 doncll sent on his band of desperadoes to destroy 
 the settlement, is a thriving town upon the Canadian 
 Pacific Railway, now of 2000 people. Three or four 
 miles down Red River, from Fort Dacr, at Pembina, 
 but on the cast side of the river, stands ICmcrson, of 
 nearly equal size. Not many miles from the old 
 Brandon House, of which Pritchard speaks in his 
 narrative, is the new town of Brandon, wliere the 
 Canadian Pacific Railway crosses the Assiniboine. 
 This place is only a few months old, but seems to 
 promise to be of some importance. Settlement is 
 now rushing on more than 250 miles west of Win- 
 nipeg, and the advance-guard will soon have reached 
 Qu'Appelle, the rendezvous of the Bois-bri\lcs in 
 1816. 
 
 The Bois-brules' supremacy is past ; the peaceful arts 
 of civilization will now be allowed to flourish. The 
 boundless plains so long left to the wandering 
 buffaloes are now everywhere being covered with 
 thriving settlements. Upwards of 70,000 people 
 have entered Manitoba during these ten years, and 
 this in face of the fact that it is only about two years 
 since the advent of the railway made access to the 
 country easy. Agriculture and cattle raising arc 
 the staple occupation of the incoming population. 
 Wheat, it has been demonstrated, can be profitably 
 raised and exported, even with the railway facilities 
 hitherto enjoyed. The Selkirk colonists have not 
 been slow to avail themselves of the opportunities 
 afforded by the development of the country. Their 
 
310 
 
 Manitoha. 
 
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 I 
 
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 younj^ men and women have, in many cases, inter- 
 married with tlie incoming Canadians, and many of 
 the most enterprising have left the old home in 
 Kildonan, and settled in the new townships opening 
 up east and west of them. It is a fact worth noting 
 also that a number of the grandchildren of the band 
 of colonists, led away from Red River by Duncan 
 Cameron, in 1815, have come as settlers, of their own 
 accord to the land deserted by their fathers. 
 
 The new settlements rise with extraordinary 
 rapidity, and within a very few years the church and 
 the school-house dot the plain where formerly 
 nothing but a sea of waving grass was to be seen. 
 At present not less than 200 places over the wide 
 plains have the regular ordinances of religion — the 
 settlement and the religious advantages being all the 
 growth of these ten years. Nor are these settlements 
 left to lawlessness, and to the preying of the strong 
 upon the weak. The establishment of law has been 
 one of the most marked changes in the country. 
 This was the weak point of the otherwise beneficent 
 rule of the Hudson Bay Company regime for the 
 previous fifty years. During that time the noisy and 
 the turbulent had their own way ; perhaps, in some 
 cases, they may have had right upon their side, but 
 rescues from prison had been made, and the so-called 
 law of the country was paralyzed in the face of mob- 
 law. All that has ceased. The arm of the law is 
 omnipotent now. The celebrated trial before the 
 present Chief-Justice of ]\Ianitoba, of two leaders of 
 the Bois-brules' rebellion of 1869; their being found 
 guilty by a jury of their countrymen of murde*-, and 
 
Tknt Ykars of Trogress. 
 
 311 
 
 s, intcr- 
 many of 
 lome in 
 opening 
 I noting 
 he band 
 Duncan 
 icir own 
 
 ordinary 
 arch and 
 formerly 
 be seen. 
 ;he wide 
 ion — the 
 (J all the 
 tlemcnts 
 le strong 
 las been 
 country, 
 eneficcnt 
 for the 
 oisy and 
 in some 
 side, but 
 50-called 
 of mob- 
 le law is 
 fore the 
 waders of 
 ig found 
 dc-, and 
 
 >!-;■ 
 
 
 their imprisonment or banishment, was the turninj 
 point in the state of the country. Crime had been 
 called by its true name ; public confidence restored ; 
 and the law seen to be strong enough to vindicate itself. 
 And during the last ten years a vast advance has 
 taken place in the condition of the Indian tribes of 
 the whole North-west. When the writer went to the 
 country there was still uncertainty as to them : bands 
 of surveyors were stopped as trespassers by them, but 
 now treaties have been made with the Indians over 
 the whole extent to the foot of the Rocky Mountains, 
 and settlers are as safe 500 miles west of Winnipeg 
 as in the centre of the Selkirk settlement. The 
 Indian now, as he always did, respects the great 
 mother (Queen Victoria) : all causes of disagreement 
 with the whites are removed. The Scotch bonnet of 
 the Hudson's Bay Company employe is a means of 
 access to the most secluded Indian encampment, and 
 Canada^s faith is held in high esteem by the Indian 
 natives, in marked contrast to their feeling towards 
 the Government of the United States. 
 
 At Humboldt, a telegraph-station of the Canadian 
 telegraph, some 500 miles west of Winnipeg, in the 
 open prairie, and 100 miles from the nearest settle- 
 ment, two young women ha/e in perfect safety kept 
 the office for the past two years. Gathered in re- 
 servations, the Indians are at many points being 
 instructed in agriculture, and have in a number of 
 instances already raised good crops. It is a penal 
 offence to give liquor to an Indian, and could the 
 writer of the Indian pamphlets of 1807 sec the 
 progress made, his heart would be satisfied. 
 
312 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 ml 
 
 i\i'^ 
 
 m 
 
 S 111 
 
 
 M 
 
 P'! 
 
 :1 I! 
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 L ' M 
 
 The local legislature of Manitoba has paid its best 
 attention to public schools for the education of the 
 people. It was found impossible to induce the 
 Roman Catholics to unite in a fjcneral system of 
 public education. They were given separate schools, 
 but as they have not increased to so great an extent 
 by immigration, and now constitute not more than 
 one-tenth of the population, and moreover have 
 chiefly settled together, in groups, there is virtually, 
 for the whole province, a General School System now 
 connected with the excellent municipal code intro- 
 duced some two years ago. To-day lOO school- 
 houses arc dotting the plains where five years ago 
 there were not ten, and this is but the beginning. 
 
 The Province of Manitoba has built up during these 
 past years a comely structure of higher education. 
 The origin of the three colleges of the country, indeed, 
 dates back into the former period of Hudson's Bay 
 Company rule. The three colleges have grown out 
 of the three elements constituting the settlement 
 during that time — the Selkirk settlers, the English 
 half-breeds, and the Bois-brul^'s. 
 
 The Roman Catholic Church was begun in the 
 country so early as 1818, when Lord Selkirk was the 
 means of having sent from Montreal a priest as 
 chaplain to his Roman Catholic Colonists. But this 
 clement being small, especially after the departure of 
 the De Meurons, since 1826, the Roman Catholic 
 Church has paid much attention to the people who 
 have figured so prominently in our story — the Bois- 
 brul<is. The influence of religion and education were 
 surely much needed among them, and by patient 
 
Ten Yi<:ars of Progrkss. 
 
 313 
 
 effort they liav'c been much iinprovcl. St. J^onifacc 
 Collc^^c — the name of the German saint, St. Boniface, 
 bcinc,^ in mc-nory of the German De Meurons — lias 
 continued to Improve, and during; the past year a 
 handsome buildii"*^ lias been erected, which will 
 enable the church ^o mal:e the most of this element 
 of the native population, and also of the French 
 Canadian immigration, ainountint,' to some thousands, 
 that has come in. 
 
 The Church of England, when the Selkirk colonists 
 refused to receive its ministrations, devoted its atten- 
 tion to the English half-breed population, who had 
 become as numerous as the Bois-brCdes. The English 
 half-breeds proved lar more tractable than the wild 
 plain-hunters, subsisting moi fron* agriculture ; and 
 the work done by the Church of England among 
 them has been of a most excellent kind. Handsome 
 churches, in many cases stone, have been erected for 
 them by money from I'2ngland, and clergymen main- 
 tained, and school teachers paid largely by friends 
 from the same source. It was to meet the wants of 
 this part of the population, and also to give education 
 to Indian lads and others from the interior, that St. 
 John's College was begun. The advantages reaped 
 by the better class of the English half-breed popula- 
 tion from St. John's College have been very great, 
 and it still continues to be largely availed of by 
 them as well as by others. 
 
 Manitoba College, of which the writer is the Head, 
 was begun in 1871, in the heart of the Selkirk settle- 
 ment. For four years it was carried on at Kildonan, 
 engaged in educating the descendants of the Selkirk 
 
 Ml 
 'if 
 
314 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 (.••.;li 
 
 I 'I 
 
 'hii.1 
 
 ii' : 
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 colonists, but the increasing flood of Canadian and 
 British population coming to the province, made it 
 necessary to extend its advantages to them. Accord- 
 ingly the college was, in 1874, moved to the city of 
 Winnipeg, four miles from its first position, into a 
 central point for the country, and having all the 
 advantages of the rising city. It has since done a 
 good work, not only in educating the young men of 
 the Selkirk colony, but is doing the large part of 
 the work in Higher Education for the incoming 
 English-speaking element. It is this year e acting a 
 building at a cost of 8000/., to be a part of a whole 
 when complete to cost 25,000/. A strong effort is 
 being made to endow its chairs : and opening as it 
 does its doors to tho::c of every creed and class, a 
 long vista of usefulness is opening up before it. The 
 vigorous people of the Selkirk colony, as well as 
 others coming to make the North-west their home, 
 will turn their eyes to Manitoba College. These three 
 colleges are working together in the utmost harmony. 
 
 At a public meeting of Manitoba College, held in 
 the year 1875, in Winnipeg, it was urged by different 
 speakers that efforts should be made to combine the 
 three colleges in one University organization. The 
 idea was welcomed by all, and in 1877 an Act was 
 passed in the Legislature constituting a Provincial 
 University for Manitoba, and giving the three colleges 
 equal representation in the University Council. The 
 University Council is thus made up of Bishops and 
 Presbyterian Elders, priests and presbyters blended 
 together in the most unique manner. 
 
 The course for the B.A. degree, :'s now fully orga- 
 
 
Ten Years of Progress. 
 
 315 
 
 ian and 
 
 made it 
 
 i\ccord- 
 
 city of 
 
 into a 
 
 all the 
 
 done a 
 
 men of 
 
 part of 
 
 icominfT 
 
 acting a 
 a whole 
 effort is 
 ig as it 
 class, a 
 t. The 
 well as 
 r home, 
 se three 
 irmonv. 
 held in 
 ifferent 
 line the 
 
 The 
 ^ct was 
 ovincial 
 :olleges 
 
 The 
 Dps and 
 Dlended 
 
 y orga- 
 
 nized both for the Honour and Ordinary degree. 
 The colleges do all the instruction in their own halls, 
 the University holds its Annual Examination, at 
 which all the students appear in the distinctive cos- 
 tume of their several colleges. The Fourth Exami- 
 nation was held in May of last year, 1881, when thirty- 
 two students in all, educated by the several colleges, 
 presented themselves at the several University Exa- 
 minations. Seven students passed the final examina- 
 tion for, and received the degree of B.A. Each of 
 the colleges also has a separate faculty in Theology, 
 in which good work is being done in sending out 
 missionaries well adapted to the country and fitted 
 to endure the hardships lo which missionaries in a new 
 country must be exposed. 
 
 Nor has the material advancement of the province 
 been less gratifying. An enterprise of the greatest 
 magnitude, the Canadian Pacific Railway, has, during 
 the past year, been placed on a sound footing for com- 
 pleting the iron band across the continent. Of this 
 line 600 or 700 miles in the North-west have been 
 already built. The bold schem.e of connecting the 
 Atlantic with the Pacific by a trans-continental rail- 
 way on British soil, was one that long staggered the 
 bravest of Canadian politicians ; but the energy and 
 skill shown during this year by the powerful com- 
 pany that has undertaken it has produced a feeling of 
 strong confidence. A point, upwards of 200 miles 
 west of Winnipeg, has now been reached by the rail- 
 way ; and less than three years, it is told us, will see it 
 at the foot of the RockyMountains, nearly 1000 miles 
 further west. 
 
 I. 
 
3i6 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 'it 
 
 ,-^ ■■} 
 
 vr 
 
 
 !' 1 < 
 
 The Canadian Pacii : Railway Company, instead 
 of pursuing the fur-traders' policy of exclusion, is 
 most anxious to encourage settlers along its line. 
 Had good Dr. Strachan, or incredulous Sir George 
 Simpson, survived to see the developments of to-day, 
 as men of energy, they would have been the first to 
 withdraw their confident statements as to the unsuit- 
 ableness of the country for extensive settlement. 
 
 Hitherto the largest element of the incoming set- 
 tlers has been from the provinces of Ontario and 
 Nova Scotia, though all the other provinces of the 
 dominion are represented. Two large settlements, 
 numbering thousands of Russian Mennonites, have 
 settled in communities, and form a most industrious 
 and inoffensive portion of the population. Several 
 thousands of repatriated French Canadians, as already 
 noted, who had left the province of Quebec to seek 
 their fortunes in the United States, have left that 
 country, and are now settled in Manitoba. Several 
 thousands of the old Danish colony of Iceland, whose 
 fathers were really the pioneers of western enterprise, 
 1000 years ago, have left their rocky island, and are 
 now comfortably settled in Manitoba ; and reports 
 are, that on account of volcanic action, the whole 
 island of Iceland must be deserted by its inhabitants, 
 and that their eyes are turned towards the broad 
 acres of the North-west. A large number of people 
 from England and Scotland have found their way to 
 the North-west. The writer has had the opportunity of 
 meeting a large number of such in search of new homes. 
 
 In all parts of Manitoba at present can Scotch and 
 English settlers be found, who came there three or 
 
 
Ten Years of Progress. 
 
 317 
 
 
 four years ago, or less, with very scanty means, who 
 are to-day possessors in fee-simple of large farms, and 
 are on the highway to affluence. 
 
 One remarkable feature of settlement in the North- 
 west is the large number of those "well-connected," 
 who are making Manitoba a home. Persons con- 
 nected with the British nobility, relatives of princi- 
 pals and professors of college, sons of Canadian 
 cabinet ministers, sons of wealthy capitalists, country 
 gentlemen from Britain, who have been compelled by 
 adverse circumstances to seek the New World, officers 
 of the army and navy, all come up to the mind of 
 the writer, as having been seen by him engaged in 
 farming in his visits to different parts of the country ; 
 and a settler of three years' standing, one compelled 
 to emigrate by '.'■^, failure of the City of Glasgow 
 Bank, has lately been chosen a member of the Pro- 
 vincial Legislature. In one settlement, 100 miles 
 west of Winnipeg, are no less than four or five retired 
 clergymen, of different churches, who have been 
 unsuccessful in spiritual husbandry, and have become 
 tillers of the soil. 
 
 Entering settlers' houses the passing visitor will see 
 pieces of furniture of value, silver plate, and articles 
 of luxury, hidden away in a corner, or upon a rude 
 shelf, supported by the bare logs of the settler's 
 dwelling. These are treasured remains of former 
 ease. The man accustomed in London or Glasgow, 
 as teller, to pay out money, or keep the ponderous 
 ledger in a counting-house, now becomes an adept in 
 holding the plough, or driving the reaper as he mows 
 down his acres of golden wheat. Many young men 
 
 ^li 
 
3i8 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 ::t 
 
 in:l- t:|^': 
 
 M 
 
 '! II 
 
 i ! 
 
 y:'; 
 
 li 
 
 I. ; 
 
 of capital have invested in land, and have gained 
 immense returns for their money, by the rapid increase 
 in value incident to the opening up of the country. 
 For poor man, and for capitalist alike, Lord Selkirk's 
 Utopia is becoming the means of comfort and ad- 
 vancement. 
 
 Our good friend, the historiographer, who has a 
 mind for details, insists on supplying a fuller account 
 of the city of Winnipeg, which he calls " the Canadian 
 Chicago." As we heartily approve of his description, 
 we insert it with pleasure. 
 
 The Historiographer's Account of Winnipeg. 
 
 " To the traveller coming by way of Chicago and 
 St. Paul, through the United States, to visit Win- 
 nipeg, the St. Paul and Manitoba Railway, running 
 from St. Paul, conducts directly to the desired des- 
 tination. As the journey northward is made in 
 some sixteen hours, the boundary-line of the British 
 possessions is crossed at Emerson. A run of a little 
 more than three hours brings the train to St. Boni- 
 face, from which, by the fine iron bridge at Point 
 Douglas, the traveller is in a few minutes deposited 
 at Main Street Station, Winnipeg. The journey 
 from St. Paul to Winnipeg is accomplished without 
 change of carriage. To one coming up by Lake 
 Superior the course hitherto has been to leave the Lake 
 steamer at Duluth, take the Northern Pacific Railway 
 to Glyndon— a small station on the before-mentioned 
 St. Paul and Manitoba Railway— from which the same 
 route as above described conducts to Winnipeg. 
 
 •' The probabilities are that during the present sum- 
 
: sum- 
 
 
 
 izrrzzz^r^ 
 
 :ji ji "H 
 
 ]r~]nnnnnnL:][i]i\\ 
 
 
 
 iLzDtTitiHDSJL^JL iL.^ir|x. ^ ^ 
 
 !IlLm]r^-id[ 
 
 
 /<u3jfrfin(i' 
 
 o 
 
 M 
 
 oo 
 
 o 
 
 S5 
 

 
 1 
 
 
 #1 
 
 
 
 H ; 
 
 1 1. 
 
 [•I 
 
 ^ir'*f^'T:!|ii| 
 
 !' 
 
 -It I, 
 
 
 
 > i|j|| 
 
Ten Years of Progress. 
 
 319 
 
 mer a third route will be opened up, and that by 
 leaving the Lake steamer at Fort William, and taking^ 
 the Canadian Pacific Railway, which is hastenincj to 
 completion between P^ort William and Winnipeg", the 
 latter point may be gained entirely through Cana- 
 dian territory. To the visitor who wishes to go west 
 of Winnipeg, the Canadian Pacific Railway is now 
 running to the newest districts some 150 miles, and 
 by the end of the present season (1882) several hun- 
 dred miles further will, no doubt, be completed. Any 
 one desirous of visiting the south-west of Manitoba, 
 will be able during this season by either one of two 
 lines which are being built, to leave Winnipeg and go 
 in the direction sought. The sight-seer about Winni- 
 peg may now crors the Assiniboine to Fort Rouge or 
 Winnipeg South, by a fine iron bridge, completed 
 last year ; and a bridge being built from the city to 
 St. Boniface will soon supersede the ferry at present 
 used to cross Red River. The city reached, it will 
 surprise the stranger to look upon a place which ten 
 years ago had only 300 people, which now contains a 
 population of from 12,000 to 14,000, and which some 
 of its shrewdest inhabitants forecast as likely to reach 
 100,000 in the next ten years. That this should be 
 so is but an index-finger, pointing out the fact that 
 there lies tributary to Winnipeg a country of great 
 resources and ' illimitable possibilities.' 
 
 " The name Winnipeg, given to the place in the 
 year of its incorporation, 1873, had been borne by the 
 cluster of houses half a mile, or thereabout, north of 
 Fort Garry, for several years previous to that time. 
 Little love was lost in those days between the youth- 
 
m 
 
 320 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 »n ,1 
 
 
 i«i 
 
 , ill 
 'I IB 
 
 i|^ is 
 
 fi 
 'mi 
 
 illi 
 
 ful village of Winnipeg and the matronly Fort Garry ; 
 so that when the Act of Incorporation was sought, 
 including both Fort Garry and Winnipeg in one 
 place, the name ' Assiniboia,' was first inserted in 
 the Bill of the Local 'Legislature, but the irate in- 
 habitants of the ambitious village would have nothing 
 but 'Winnipeg,' and so it has since been. A City 
 Charter was given to the young city of 2200 people, 
 for the people then were sanguine as to its future, 
 and would leap over the intervening grades of 
 ' village' and town, as unworthy of notice. 
 
 "As to situation, Winnipeg lies on a perfectly level 
 plain, at the junction of its two rivers, but sufficiently 
 above the river-beds to give fair drainage: its level above 
 the sea, of which the nearest point is at Hudson's Bay, is 
 between 600 and 700 feet. Winnipeg is irregular in 
 its plans of streets, r^nd thus differs from the series of 
 endless square blocks which Europeans regard as so 
 monotonous in cities of the New World. The cause of 
 the irregularity dates back to the early survey in Lord 
 Selkirk's time. It was important that the settlers should 
 be close together, and enjoy a river frontage. Accord- 
 ingly, narrow strips of land, from 132 to 220 yards in 
 width, were laid out. The lines bounding these were 
 as nearly as possible at right angles to the river. In 
 consequence of this, where the river takes a circuit, as 
 it does at Winnipeg, the boundary-lines converge to 
 a centre, like the spokes of a wheel — no two being 
 parallel. When the city was spoken of, each pro- 
 prietor followed his own * sweet will ' as to laying out 
 his property, and as a result, too many of the streets 
 follow the devious windings of the river, while blocks 
 
 i\ I 
 
 '.1 
 
 I 
 
Ten Ykars of Progress. 
 
 3-1 
 
 of buildings seem as if pitched about by the young 
 Titans in their rough play. A laborious City 
 Council has attempted, with patriotic spirit, to make 
 some of the ' crooked places straight,' so that from 
 north to south, two long streets serve as arteries — 
 Main and Princess — with numerous short streets 
 parallel to them. Main Street is 132 feet wide. 
 The plan of streets from east to west is, on the 
 whole, good ; and Broadway, Portage Avenue, Notre 
 Dame, and Logan Streets, are most deserving of 
 notice. Connoisseurs from the Old World profess to 
 prefer our * irregularities ' to the ' Dutch Garden ' 
 system so constantly found in new cities of the West. 
 Along Main Street, from north to south, a large main 
 sewer runs, with branches, in several directions, and 
 emptying into Red River. 
 
 " Main Street, built up for about a mile — and the 
 central or chief business portion of it for, say half a 
 mile — contains many fine brick buildings, and good 
 fronts, comparing favourably with those of Chicago 
 and Toronto. Where these best portions of the 
 street are, sites are sold at as high a rate as 200/. per 
 lineal foot of frontage. In all directions, even south 
 of the Assiniboine, buildings are rising rapidly, and 
 a resident, absent for a few months in summer, sees 
 at the end of the season several new streets built 
 up, which only existed on paper at the beginning 
 of the year. New streets are in constant course of 
 construction, crossings being made, and wooden pave- 
 ments built along them in rapid succession. i^The 
 streets are not sufficiently improved to resist heavy 
 rains, but Main Street is to be dealt with this year, 
 
 Y 
 
322 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 jft^ 
 
 1* * 
 
 ^!l 
 
 though there is some difficulty in dccidincr whether 
 stone blocks, gravel, or wooden blocks, will best suit 
 the climate and the resources of the city. 
 
 ** The city buildings are commodious, and faced with 
 stone, though built of brick, the chief material avail- 
 able at present for the better class of buildings. 
 They consist of City Hall, city offices, police-offices 
 and cells, market and Fire Hall. Protection from 
 fire is secured for the city by two stoam fire-engines, 
 with the usual brigades for rescue and salvage. The 
 fire-engines are supplied from large tanks, sunk at con- 
 venient distances througho it the city, but this re- 
 source will be superseded by the waterworks, now 
 being put down, which are to get their water-supply 
 from the Assiniboine. At present. Main Street is the 
 only thoroughfare that is lighted, and that with petro- 
 leum lamps, but the pipes are now being laid for gas, 
 and soon the city will present a more metropolitan 
 appearance. The wonder is, that the city aldermen 
 have been able to keep up so well with the demand 
 for every improvement pressing on the heels of its 
 forerunner. The means for city improvements are 
 obtained by a levy on the municipality. The city has 
 also borrowed some 90,000/. for permanent improve- 
 ments. The total amount of property as assessed 
 within the city limits for 1881 was between 1,800,000/. 
 and 2,000,000/. No doubt districts now outside the 
 bounds of the city, such as St. John's, St. Boniface, 
 St. James', and Fort Rouge, will soon be included 
 within the limits. Property two miles from the 
 business centre is now selling at 100/ per acre. 
 
 "As to business, Winnipeg presents many features 
 
ivhcthcr 
 est suit 
 
 ;cd with 
 il avail- 
 jildings. 
 c-officcs 
 Dn from 
 engines, 
 ;c. The 
 k at con- 
 
 this re- 
 -ks, now 
 :r-supply 
 ;et is the 
 th petro- 
 
 for gas, 
 •opoHtan 
 ildcrmen 
 
 demand 
 Is of its 
 lents are 
 
 city has 
 improve- 
 
 assessed 
 ,800,000/. 
 
 tside the 
 
 Boniface, 
 
 included 
 
 rom the 
 
 re. 
 features 
 
 Tl'N VKARS or rROGRKSS. 
 
 3:53 
 
 of interest. It is the distributing-point for districts 
 1000 miles west — 400 miles north — and 250 cast. 
 The writer has met business men, from the points 
 thus divergent, in the course of an afternoon's walk, 
 on the streets of Winnipeg. Traders' outfits, settlers' 
 waggons and their multifarious contents. Red River 
 carts laden with freight for the merchants in the 
 interior, agricultural implements, such as threshing 
 machines, reapers, ploughs, &c., vast quantities of 
 lumber, railway stores ; supplies for railway con- 
 tractors, surveying parties, sportsmen, t!;c mounted 
 police, travellers, land-seekers and settlers, may be 
 seen going in all directions by railway, steamer and 
 ordinary road from Winnipeg. The trade of Winnipeg 
 raises it to the fifth place among the cities of the 
 dominion of Canada. 
 
 *' Steamers run from its piers southward past the 
 villages and towns on Red River to the boundary-line, 
 northward to the Lake Winnipeg lumber districts, to 
 the Icelandic settlements and Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany posts, and to connect at the mouth of the Sas- 
 katchewan with the steamers which run a 1000 miles 
 up that mighty river — while a large trade is done by 
 the steamers on the Assiniboine, which run 250 or 
 300 miles westward from Winnipeg. 
 
 *' The North-west Territories' mail, starting once in 
 three weeks, is made up at Winnipeg, and consists of 
 a great waggon-load of crowded mail-bags, carrying 
 the news to the scattered population of the interior — 
 who, like Siberian exiles, are pining for its tardy arrival. 
 This will soon cease as the railway is expected to 
 reach the Rocky Mountains in 1882 or 1883. 
 
 Y 2 
 
m 
 
 324 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 
 : 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 
 1% 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 t 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 ¥t 
 
 } ' 
 
 t:| 
 
 I ill! 
 
 Winnipeg, as being the centre of the commercial 
 life of the country, has the Merchants', Ontario, Mon- 
 treal, and Imperial banks, and numerous exchange 
 offices and private banks. It is likewise the scat 
 of the Dominion Savings* Bank and head of the Post- 
 office department for the North-west, possesses as 
 well the Dominion Lands' office, Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany land office, Canadian Pacific Land offices, and 
 numerous real estate agencies. These attract large 
 numbersofinvestorsof money and capitalists, and also 
 of those in possession of land. One of the leading 
 features of Winnipeg at present, as a land-market, is 
 the land sales, 
 
 " Is a new town or ' city ' begun — it may be at any 
 spot on the railway, or off the railway — on the top of 
 a mountain or surrounded by swamp — on the banks of 
 a river or in the midst of an unsettled prairie — in fact 
 'anywhere,' the usual thing to do is to come to Win- 
 nipeg, employ the real-estate agent, who has an 
 elaborate plan of the new town mapped out, highly 
 coloured, with numerous parks, squares, city buildings, 
 &c., marked upon it. This plan is exposed on the 
 street, or even carried up and down Main Street, 
 during the whole afternoon, with the fact proclaimed 
 in large letters that ' To-night, the last opportunity 
 will be afforded, &c., &c.' Night come, a crowd is 
 gathered together, an auctioneer mounts his rostrum, 
 and lots, corner lots and other lots — 25 feet x 120 feet, 
 or twice that size at most, are sold at from 10/. to 30/. 
 in places hitherto unknown, and 100/. to 150/. in places 
 better known. The result of this is that real estate 
 agencies multiply, business is by them a constant sue- 
 
Ten Years of Progress. 
 
 325 
 
 mcrcial 
 3, Mon- 
 :changc 
 lie scat 
 10 Post- 
 tsses as 
 y Com- 
 :cs, and 
 :t large 
 ind also 
 leading 
 irket, is 
 
 : at any 
 c top of 
 )anks of 
 -in fact 
 to Win- 
 has an 
 highly 
 ildings, 
 on the 
 Street, 
 claimed 
 )rtunity 
 rowd is 
 ostrum, 
 20 feet, 
 to 30/. 
 places 
 estate 
 nt suc- 
 
 cession of surprises and startling incidents ; and large 
 sums of money are made by simply turning over pro- 
 perty. It is useless to advise caution, to speak of 
 inflation, to point to a future time of reckoning. 
 'For several years,' is the reply, 'we shall have rail- 
 way construction, an influx of settlers, and develop- 
 ment of the country. We have sufficiently discounted 
 the future.' 
 
 " All the modern appliances of business are found in 
 this busy centre, including a widely extended tele- 
 phone Exchange. The ranks of ordinary business 
 are fully recru'ted, by business men from all the 
 eastern towns and cities, and a lively competition 
 goes on of which the general public gains the benefit. 
 The * prices of the Indian country ' are a thing of the 
 past, and business is here as elsewhere in danger of 
 being overdone. 
 
 " Lawyers arc ' thick as leaves in Vallombrosa.' 
 They do a large business, but with a commendable 
 desire to protect the community from being utterly 
 overrun, they require lawyers from other provinces or 
 parts of the Empire to serve a year before being 
 admitted to the privileges of the profession. The 
 medical profession is also decidedly over done. There 
 are said to be between twenty and thirty doctors in 
 actual practice. 
 
 "The city has some forty hotels, and these have not 
 been found too many for the vast flock of visitors and 
 immigrants during the past year. The hotel accom- 
 modation has not hitherto given general satisfaction — 
 no doubt from the great number of travellers seeking 
 attention ; but better buildings are being erected, and 
 
I: '1 .1 
 
 326 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 ::l i 
 
 i t 
 
 m 
 
 ii 
 
 improvement will no doubt be observable during the 
 present season. 
 
 " Taking into account the age of Winnipeg, and the 
 mixed class of people going to a new country, the 
 social advantages of the city are of no mean character. 
 Winnipeg is the seat of government for the province 
 of Manitoba. Here live the Lieutenant-Governor of 
 the province, his ministry, many of the members of 
 the local legislature, the judicial, customs', land, emi- 
 gration and financial officials of the Dominion Govern- 
 ment, and many persons in different departments of 
 life, who have been accustomed to the advantages and 
 refinements of the capitals of the British Islands, and 
 of the several provinces of the dominion. The open- 
 ing of Parliament is a notable social event, when 
 a large number of the prominent people turn out 
 to view the spectacle. His honour, the Lieutenant- 
 Governor, in Windsor uniform, has his passage to the 
 House heralded by salutes of artillery ; he is received 
 by a body of local military : he enters, preceded by 
 the mace, supported by a brilliant staff, and delivers 
 the speech in behalf of her Majesty : parliament is 
 opened. It is a part of the Lieutenant-Gov^ernor's 
 duties to set the example in things social, and that a 
 large number avail themselves of his receptions and 
 entertainments is noticeable. Concerts, lectures, and 
 even the stage afford amusement to the population 
 during the year. It was observable that the enter- 
 tainments given in connexion with his Excellency, 
 the Governor-General's visit during the past summer 
 were such as would scarcely have been looked for 
 out of the old centres of society and population. 
 
Ten Years of Progress. 
 
 327 
 
 ing the 
 
 and tlic 
 try, the 
 aractcr. 
 )rovince 
 ernor of 
 ibcrs of 
 id, cmi- 
 jovcrn- 
 ncnts of 
 igcs and 
 ids, and 
 ic opcn- 
 t, when 
 urn out 
 itenant- 
 2 to the 
 •eceived 
 :ded by- 
 delivers 
 Tient is 
 vernor's 
 that a 
 )ns and 
 res, and 
 Dulation 
 t enter- 
 ellency, 
 summer 
 ked for 
 n. 
 
 
 "As a rendezvous for gentlemen, the Manitoba Club, 
 which has during the past year erected very fine pre- 
 mises, is largely used ; and many strangers look back 
 with pleasure to its hospitable amenities. 
 
 "As in the other cities of the Dominion, so in 
 Winnipeg, national, benevolent, commercial and 
 reformatory, and athletic societies flourish. The St. 
 Andrew's Society is the strongest and most prosperous 
 national society, but the St. George's, St. Patrick's, 
 Orange, and St. Jean Baptiste Societies are vigorously 
 maintained. The Masonic Lodges are numerous and 
 strong ; the Oddfellows and Foresters are also found. 
 The Temperance and Bible Societies, and the Sunday- 
 School Association, all non-sectarian organizations, 
 have always held a prominent place in Winnipeg 
 affairs, while the Board of Trade, Sanitary Associa- 
 tion, Rifle Association, Curling Club, Lacrosse and 
 Snow-Shoeing and Cricket Clubs have all of them 
 ardent supporters. The Arts and Industrial Associa- 
 tion is an organization that has done much good work 
 in collecting and exhibiting the products o^' the 
 country. A large sum in premiums is annually given 
 to exhibitors. 
 
 ** One of the most generally supported Institutions 
 of Winnipeg is the General Hospital. This has 
 existed for the last ten years in one form or another. 
 It is supported by voluntary contributions, and by a 
 government and city grant. During the past year 
 the insufficiency of its buildings was felt so pressingiy 
 that a movement was begun for the erection of a new 
 building. A few of the directors carried on a 
 vigorous canvass, and between 4000/. and 5000/. was 
 
 ■'■4 
 
32S 
 
 Manitoua. 
 
 Ill 
 
 subscribed in a short time. Plans have been called 
 for, and the building — a fine and commodious edifice 
 — will be erected during the present summer. 
 Another hospital under Roman Catholic control, and 
 receiving annually a grant from the government, is 
 situated in the suburb of Winnipeg across Red River — 
 St. Boniface. Once a year a collection is taken up 
 in the churches throughout the province, in behalf of 
 the General Hospital, on some day agreed on as 
 ' Hospital Sunday,* and very considerable amounts 
 are thus obtained. 
 
 " As to education Winnipeg is fortunate. The 
 University of Manitoba, to which the several colleges 
 are affiliated, is under the patronage of the provincial 
 government. It receives a small grant from the 
 Government, and holds its council meetings, exami- 
 nations, and other gatherings in the education offices 
 or City Hall. It has at yet no buildings of its own, 
 but the time cannot be long delayed when it will be 
 provided by the government with buildings of its 
 own, not unlikely on the block of land on which the 
 new government buildings are being erected near 
 Colony Creek. Manitoba College is the only college 
 within the city limits, but St. John and St. Boniface 
 Colleges are in the neighbourhood of the city, in the 
 suburbs bearing their respective names. The three 
 colleges work together harmoniously under the 
 protecting segis of the Provincial University. 
 
 " A system of secondary schools is being organized. 
 The public or primary schools of the city are on an 
 excellent plan. 
 
 " The following table exhibits their standing, — 
 
Ten Years of Progress. 
 
 329 
 
 . called 
 edifice 
 jmmer. 
 ol, and 
 nent, is 
 liver — 
 ken up 
 half of 
 on as 
 iiounts 
 
 . The 
 
 olleges 
 )vincial 
 >m the 
 exami- 
 
 offices 
 
 s own, 
 will be 
 
 of its 
 ch the 
 near 
 :ollege 
 )niface 
 
 in the 
 i three 
 
 r the 
 
 inized. 
 on an 
 
 
 Name. 
 
 No. of Teachers. 
 
 No. on Roll, 
 
 1881. 
 
 Census of Children 
 between 5 and 16. 
 
 Central 
 
 Carlton Street . 
 
 (Junior school) 
 Louise Street 
 
 (Junior school) 
 Argyle Street . 
 
 (Junior school) 
 Dufferin Street . 
 
 (Junior school) 
 
 10 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 2 
 
 Being 
 
 503 
 125 
 
 44 
 
 135 
 built. 
 
 In 1880. 
 1084 
 
 In 1881. 
 1617 
 
 For 1882 six 
 
 additional 
 
 teachers aie to 
 
 be employed. 
 
 
 I 5 
 
 807 
 
 
 
 " The whole system of city schools is consolidated 
 under one inspector, who devotes his whole time 
 under the direction of the City Board of twelve 
 members to organizing and improving the schools. 
 Besides these schools there is a Roman Catholic Boys' 
 School, and St. Mary's Academy — a seminary for 
 girls. 
 
 "Among the newer and higher means of improve- 
 ment that have sprung up with such rapidity in the 
 North-west is the Historical and Scientific Society of 
 Manitoba. It is an incorporated association, receiving 
 a small government grant, and devoting itself to the 
 development of historical interest in the region 
 * north and west of Lake Superior.' It has a good 
 membership, and has begun a Public Library with 
 some 3000 volumes. It is maintained by members' 
 dues, voluntary subscription, and a city grant also. 
 
330 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 
 
 1 4' 
 
 The newspapers and periodicals of the day are kept, 
 and a secretary is always in attendance. 
 
 "Few new countries have received so much attention 
 as to their religious interests as Manitoba. Winnipeg 
 may be called the religious centre of the country. 
 Near it live the Roman Catholic Archbishop, the 
 Church of England Bishop ; it is the seat of the 
 Presbytery of Manitoba and of the district meetings 
 of the Canada Methodist Church. On Sunday its 
 streets present as quiet and orderly an appearance as 
 the best cities that can be named. It has a large 
 church-going population. It has eleven places of 
 worship within the city limits, with an aggregate 
 accommodation for some 6600 persons. These are well 
 attended. They are one Roman Catholic, two Church 
 of England, two Presbyterian, two Canada Methodist, 
 one Methodist Episcopal, one Baptist, one Congrega- 
 tionalist, and one Icelandic Lutheran. There are 
 also St. Boniface Cathedral, St. John's Cathedral, and 
 Kildonan Presbyterian Church outside the limits, to 
 which a number of city people go on account of old 
 associations. These contain accommodation for 2000 
 persons. All churches are on the same footing in the 
 eye of the law, and receive no government aid. 
 
 " A very vigorous Young Men's Christian Associa- 
 tion is carried on with a paid secretary. This society 
 has cheerful rooms, well lighted and heated, has 
 newspapers and books, and is of great use to strangers 
 in finding them employment, and supplying reliable 
 friends. Meetings for young men are held frequently, 
 and services maintained, in the General Hospital, 
 Gaol, Immigrant buildings, &c. 
 
 
Ten Years of Progress. 
 
 331 
 
 * It would, no doubt, be an unpardonable omission 
 were no account given of the Fourth Estate — the 
 Press. The newspaper first found a * local habitation * 
 in Red River settlement in 1859. Two enterprising 
 young Englishmen in that year began the Nor- 
 wcstcr. Its name was significant : its infant days 
 were troublous : in fact, its raison d'etre seemed to be 
 to change tiie existing order of things. It was, how- 
 ever, the only means of Cv^mmunication among the 
 people, and was on the whole a benefit. It reached 
 the end of its first stormy decade to face the bad 
 days of the rebellion of 1869. The rebellion brought 
 more sorrow, and its material was seized and made 
 use of to issue rebel sheets : the Neivslcttcrdind another 
 with the suggestive Bois-brule name, AVzc Nation. 
 These were short-lived, as was the rebellion, and in 
 the early days of Manitoba's Provincial existence the 
 Manitoba and the Liberal were the represen- 
 tatives of two fiery shades of opinion, which though 
 now things of the past, kept their partisans constantly 
 up to fever heat. The Aletis, a French sheet, was also 
 in existence then, and still lives. Various unsuccess- 
 ful newspaper ventures have been made in the city ; 
 but now the Free Press, v/eekly and daily, has 
 nearly reached a ten-years' existence, and the Times, 
 weekly and daily, passed a two-years' course. They 
 are both good papers : the former * Liberal ' the 
 latter ' Conservative,' and any one desiring a full 
 acquaintance with the country could hardly obtain it 
 better than by enclosing los. to either of them at Win- 
 nipeg, and obtaining the weekly edition for a year." 
 
 Thus ends the sketch. 
 
332 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE ATTRACTIONS OF MANITOBA. 
 
 It must be remembered that Manitoba is yet in the 
 years of its youth. It is to be what the willing hands 
 and fertile brains of thousands, who are not yet its 
 inhabitants, shall make it. It is a land not com- 
 pleted ; but it is waiting to afford comfortable homes 
 to hundreds of thousands of people who may seek 
 it out and settle in it. Its resources have not been 
 developed. Some would call it a land crude, un- 
 settled, unfinished. That is precisely what it is. 
 
 But it is its being this that makes it a field where 
 thousands of the industrious of other lands, and 
 more eastern portions of the American continent, 
 who cannot find room at home, can have full scope. 
 It is a land for the young, who laugh at difficulties, 
 and despise hardships. Its hardships, it is true, are not 
 to be compared with those of regions where the forest 
 must be hewn down before a haivest can be reaped ; 
 they are as nothing to those endured by our fore- 
 fathers, when there was no railway to convey in what 
 was needed, or carry out the surplus product of the 
 soil. 
 
 Its hardships are simply those of settling in a new 
 
The Attractions of Manitoba. 333 
 
 home, away from the associations of early youth, 
 with dear friends hundreds or thousands of miles 
 away, with a dwelling for a time necessarily small, 
 rough, and inconvenient, and with a hundred things 
 to be done on account of the newness of settlement, 
 that having been done at home, escaped our notice. 
 In a new country there is need for resource, for 
 activity of mind, and activity of body : but where 
 there is youth there is hopefulness, and where we are 
 called on to "lay the foundations" of everything 
 our sympathies are enlisted and powers drawn out, 
 as they would not be in an old country. In all this 
 there is satisfaction. 
 
 In going to a new country you must give up 
 society ; but then you may assist in building up a 
 new society, in which you may form a more im- 
 portant factor than in the one you have left. 
 
 The youth, who with good parts finds no "opening'^ 
 in the old world, and in the disappointment of his 
 heart and the largeness of his ambition begins to 
 think himself " de trop " as a member of the human 
 family, finds his services sought for, and his abilities 
 appreciated in a new community, if he have but the 
 sense to do the thing that community needs and for 
 which he is fitted. It is not maintained that every 
 new country, held up before the world as open for 
 settlement, may justify statements like the foregoing. 
 Greenland, for example, which its early discoverer 
 called by that name, saying it was well to give a new 
 land a good name in order to attract settlement, will 
 remain a long time — till indeed the world is much 
 fuller than it is at present— before it will attract 
 colonists. While South America is constantly sending 
 
w 
 
 334 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 ■^' 
 
 back the cry |of disappointed settlers. But in Manitoba 
 we believe the conditions are present for the indus- 
 trious obtaining success in life. What these conditions 
 are may well form a conclusion for this book, dealing 
 with the fulfilment of Lord Selkirk's vision of nearly 
 eighty ye ^^ ar 
 
 TLRTiLE Soil. 
 
 Countries ' ' .> bi o^land, Norway, the New England 
 States, or such a pio\ ince as Quebec, may be good 
 schools for the cultivation of frugality and economy ; 
 but their soil is sterile, and to gain a livelihood is 
 difficult. As has been remarked, it is well these and 
 other similar countries were settled before the rich 
 prairies of the west were discovered, else they would 
 have been left to the owl and the pelican. The geolo- 
 gists tell us no country, such as the above, lying on 
 the primary rocks can be noted for agriculture, and 
 it is to Manitoba and the North-west with its rich 
 alluvial land, on a clay subsoil lying on rocks of the 
 Silurian and later limestones, that the farmers of the 
 British Isles are now looking for scope. 
 
 It is the future wheat-field of the world. All parts 
 of it are not of equal fertility, by any means, for it ex- 
 tends over an area 1200 miles from east to west, and 
 several hundred miles from north to south. There is 
 an immense parallelogram of rich land — five times the 
 size of England and Wales together — still to be pos- 
 sessed by the enterprising settler. Some of this land is 
 light and useful for grazing purposes, other portions 
 are wet and swampy but available for growing grass 
 for hay, while great stretches, one would say roughly 
 more than half of it, are fit for agriculture. 
 
 The waving fields of grain through which the writer 
 
The Attractions of Maxitoua. 335 
 
 lanitoba 
 e indus- 
 •nditions 
 , dcalinfj 
 )f nearly 
 
 England 
 be good 
 :onomy ; 
 ihood is 
 lese and 
 the rich 
 ;y would 
 le geolo- 
 lying on 
 ure, and 
 its rich 
 s of the 
 of the 
 
 Ml parts 
 or it ex- 
 est, and 
 There is 
 mes the 
 be pos- 
 3 land is 
 portions 
 ig grass 
 roughly 
 
 le writer 
 
 
 has gone remained impressed on the memory. From 
 forty to a hundred acres of yellow wheat, seemingly 
 as dense as it can be, waving slowly back and forward 
 on a summer's day, is a most beautiful sight. The 
 yield is large, not less than from thirty to fifty bushels 
 per acre as a rule, and the excellence of the grain 
 should be noticed. It is a full, hard kernel. The 
 wheat from the Red River valley commands a 
 higher price at the mills in Minnesota thr that of 
 any part of the United States. It is, in fpci, u d to 
 "tone up" flour manufactured from o'.v.r i.-ijeat. 
 The oat crop is a most plentiful and p. ^n'-G-le one. 
 Barley grows to great perfection, and in a region 
 1500 miles north-west of Winnipeg Proi .1 Maconn 
 saw it at its best. At the exhibitions of agricultural 
 products held in 1879-80 in the eastern cities of the 
 Dominion, the specimens of roots and vegetables, 
 especially of potatoes, were looked upon with wonder 
 by even the dwellers in Ontario. 
 
 Not only so, but the potato matures at Fort 
 Churchill, nearly 600 miles due north from Winnipeg 
 on Hudson's Bay. It is related that it was formerly 
 believed at Churchill that potatoes would not ripen. 
 A Hudson Bay Company officer with an Irish wife 
 found his way to Churchill. The dame must have 
 her potatoes. She obtained a few for seed, and 
 planting these in pots succeeded in ripening a small 
 crop under glass. Encouraged by the success, in the 
 next year she started the potatoes under glass, and 
 transplanting them to the open air was equally 
 successful ; when in the third year, becoming more 
 confident, she planted them as in her native Ireland, 
 and also succeeded, since which time Churchill has 
 
33^ 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 IS 
 
 -1:1 
 ^■1 1 
 
 no longer the reproach of being unable to grow pota- 
 toes. This incident is a good example of the manner 
 in which popular fallacies of the most authorized kind 
 are dispelled by accident or experiment. 
 
 The great depth of the prairie mould of Manitoba, 
 as well as the level nature of the country, are explained 
 by the theory that a great inland lake or sea till a 
 comparatively recent day covered the land, and that 
 a vegetable mould has been there accumulating for 
 centuries. Whatever the cause, it is a fact that, in 
 many places a black vegetable mould, three or four 
 feet in thickness, awaits the labour of the agriculturist. 
 In the Selkirk settlement, farms have been almost 
 continually cropped for threescore years without the 
 use of manure. 
 
 Free Land. 
 
 The vast extent of land, and the desire to have it 
 utilized, has induced the Canadian Government to 
 make most liberal terms with actual settlers. The 
 country is surveyed into square blocks, a mile on each 
 side, and with a road completely round each block. 
 The square, which is called a " section,^' is divided 
 into four equal parts each half a mile square. One of 
 these smaller blocks, called a quarter-section, and 
 containing i6o acres, is given to each head of a family, 
 or youth above eighteen years of age. It becomes 
 his own, in absolute possession, on his paying the 
 entry money of 2/. and living upon and improving as 
 he is able the place for three years. Now this is the 
 land as it comes, and the settler has his choice of any 
 not previously taken up, one-half being in the posses- 
 sion of the Railway Company. 
 
 The advantage to the settler may be seen at a 
 
TiiK Attractions ok Manitoba. 
 
 337 
 
 ovv pota- 
 c manner 
 izcd kind 
 
 /lanltoba, 
 explained 
 sea till a 
 and that 
 ating for 
 t that, in 
 e or four 
 iculturist. 
 n almost 
 thout the 
 
 o have it 
 iment to 
 rs. The 
 on each 
 ch block, 
 divided 
 One of 
 ion, and 
 a family, 
 becomes 
 ylng the 
 oving as 
 is is the 
 e of any 
 ; posseS' 
 
 en at a 
 
 ghmcc. I To has no rent to pay, no improvements 
 such as manuring, rotation of crops, or anything of the 
 nature of a restriction. Whatever he can obtain froni 
 the land is all his own. If he wants more land than 
 his 1 60 acres, he can purchase it at los. an acre. 
 The cheapness of land enables large families to settle 
 down together ; and it is no uncommon thing to find a 
 family of three or four grown up sons, and as many 
 married daughters, living side by side, and occupying 
 an eighth or a sixteenth of a township, possessing 
 among them several thousands of acres. 
 
 One of the encouraging features of the country is 
 the rapidity with which landed property increases in 
 value. The land obtained as a homestead may in 
 five years increase to the value of 2/. an acre, and if 
 near where a town or village rises may be worth twice 
 or thrice that amount. The settler is wise to select 
 land along the line of railway, or of a projected rail- 
 way. Free access to the fish of the rivers and the 
 game of the prairie is the settler's privilege, and many 
 a savoury meal docs the new colonist obtain from the 
 duck or prairie chicken shot within half a mile of his 
 own door, or from the gold-eye, pike, or sturgeon 
 should he settle near a stream. 
 
 Easy Settlement. 
 
 The family that has determined to adventure itself 
 in the North-west should have at the least 100/. on 
 arriving in the province. It is true many of those 
 who are to-day in possession of comfortable homes 
 in Manitoba came to it without 10/. No doubt 
 many more will come and succeed by close economy 
 and willingness to work just as those who have come 
 
Illf 
 
 t.^ 
 
 \Jtf^ 
 
 I'i 
 
 ' ^;1': 
 
 i'/\ 
 
 33^ 
 
 Manitoda. 
 
 before. But it is easy to sec that certain implements 
 arc needed to begin farming, and food must be had 
 till a crop has been obtained from the soil. A family 
 with lOo/. or 200/. will be able to take immediate 
 possession of land, provide the means of tilling the 
 soil, erect at once a dwelling, and procure supplies 
 for a year. Sometimes, it is true, by extraordinary 
 energy a man may break up and sow a small piece of 
 ground in his first summer, from which half a crop may 
 be obtained. It is not advisable to be cumbered with 
 too much household stuff, as carriage is expensive, and 
 much furniture useless in a primitive prairie house. 
 
 Those who succeed best arrive in Manitoba about 
 the end of April, and as soon as possible select land. 
 By the time this is done the weather is suitable for 
 camping, and a tent is procured, which is pitched 
 upon the new homestead. The settler first of all breaks 
 up the soil, say ten acres, z. e. with a pair of oxen or 
 horses and a plough turning over a broad but very 
 thin furrow, that the June rains and summer sun may 
 reduce and loosen the sod of the prairie. As soon as 
 this is done, with the help of his neighbours, whom he 
 helps in return, a house is erected from logs obtained 
 in the nearest bluff or wood, and this is covered with 
 long grass cut from some swamp, used as thatch. Pro- 
 bably before he has his house completed it is neces- 
 sary for him to stop, and proceed to cut the hay for 
 his oxen and the cow or two he has acquired, to keep 
 them through the winter. And indeed, when his own 
 house is being erected, he must not forget a log 
 enclosure for these faithful servants, on whom he so 
 much depends. If he has been able to obtain a 
 mower his hay will be soon cut and cured, and ready 
 
TlIK AlTKACTIONS OF JVlANITOnA. 
 
 339 
 
 plemcnts 
 t be had 
 A family 
 n mediate 
 illin^ the 
 suppUcs 
 lordinary 
 1 piece of 
 crop may 
 (crcd with 
 isive, and 
 I house. 
 >ba about 
 Icct land, 
 litable for 
 s pitched 
 all breaks 
 f oxen or 
 but very 
 ' sun may 
 Ls soon as 
 , whom he 
 I obtained 
 rcred with 
 ;ch. Pro- 
 is neces- 
 le hay for 
 d, to keep 
 n his own 
 get a log 
 lom he so 
 obtain a 
 and ready 
 
 for winter use — and this from grass already grown 
 for him in Nature's meadow. It is not unlikely that 
 November will have come before the farmer has 
 all things fairly completed ; but he will have time, if 
 industrious and moderately skilful, to have family and 
 cattle safely housed, and ready for the first winter. 
 
 Of course, if he have money to obtain assistance, he 
 may lighten his work, though in a country where it is 
 so easy for each man to have a fLirm of his own, labour 
 is scarce. If the settler have means, his house may be 
 as much better and as much more commodious as he 
 may choose to have it. 
 
 Clear Skies. 
 
 During the summer, if the settler have time to 
 observe the sky, he will notice the extraordinary 
 amount of sunshine he enjoys. The month of May 
 is usually pleasant, the month of June wet — not unlike 
 the rainy seasons of the tropics — but in July the dry, 
 warm weather sets in, and the growth is a thing enor- 
 mous. The days are long, there seeming to be only 
 two or three hours of darkness, so that if regions 
 farther south have a longer summer, their days being 
 shorter they have no more sunshine. During the 
 month of June the rain, for which Colorado and 
 other western states vvhere irrigation is necessary would 
 give untold treasures, is attended by thunderstorms 
 and ligi tning. The cause of this is not far to seek. 
 The largo mass of heated air full of vapour is sud- 
 denly acted on by other masses, currents of different 
 temperatures and the like, and the breadth of suriace 
 is so wide that the crash is correspondingly great. 
 But so long as no damage is done — and accidents by 
 .stroke of lightning do not seem more numerous than 
 
 z 2 
 
340 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 ; hi 'J 
 
 1 ^'l 
 
 in other countries — the grandeur of the scene may 
 be looked on without fear. 
 
 Durint^ the dry season in July and August the 
 growing griin might at times seem to need showers 
 of rain, but the want is supplied by the copious dews 
 that are characteristic of the country. By some 
 these are attributed to the gradual coming out of the 
 ground of the frost of winter, which had frozen 
 the earth to a depth of several feet, and now in 
 slowly coming out as the heat of summer advances 
 proves a boon to the growing vegetation. To this 
 cause, also, is probably attributable the fact that the 
 nights in Manitoba are usually cool, however warm 
 the day may have been, and thus conducive to the 
 comfort of the sleeper. 
 
 In the day likewise there is in the air a strength 
 and stimulation noticed by all visitors, producing an 
 elasticity of step quite wanting in some of the more 
 damp and sultry climates. It is a fact well vouched 
 for, that in the western buffalo-country the buffalo 
 meat is cut from the carcase in strips and hung out in 
 the sun, where, instead of rotting as in moister climates, 
 it dries up and is preserved without a particle of salt. 
 The writer has seen the same, in the case of strips 
 or slices, of sturgeon, drying in the sun in front of the 
 houses of the Bois-brulds. If sunshine be an element 
 of happiness, surely Manitoba need have few weeping 
 Niobes. 
 
 Bracing Climate. 
 
 On tl.e American continent there maybe said to 
 be three varieties of climate chiefly prevalent. There 
 is the southern,*which in winter is balmy, has roses 
 in bloom, and to a visitor seems that of a garden of 
 
:nc may 
 
 gust the 
 showers 
 Diis dews 
 ^y some 
 It of the 
 I frozen 
 
 now in 
 advances 
 
 To this 
 that the 
 ^er warm 
 e to the 
 
 strencfth 
 ncing an 
 he more 
 vouched 
 buffalo 
 ig' out in 
 chmates.. 
 e of salt, 
 of strips 
 nt of the 
 element 
 weeping 
 
 said to 
 There 
 as roses 
 irden of 
 
 TiiR Attractions of MANrmr.A. 
 
 341 
 
 delights. But then there is the greater part of the 
 year in which the heat becomes intense, in which 
 fever-breeding miasmata make life a precarious 
 thing, and when poisonous reptiles and myriads of 
 noxious insects render the south undesirable. To us, 
 who belong to northern climes, these things seem 
 intolerable, and we flee away from even Florida or 
 Texas, or Missouri or Colorado. 
 
 There is next the middle climate. This is the 
 border-land, where alternations of heat and cold are 
 frequent, where even in summer there may be days 
 hot and cool alternating, where winter is not steady 
 or continuous, but of great variety. One day may 
 be cold, the snow abounding, and the country seem 
 ice-bound ; the next may be wet, the ground muddy, 
 the streets sloppy. To this climate would belong 
 New York, Western Ontario, Illinois, and so on. 
 
 The third climate is the northern, found in Quebec, 
 Minnesota, and Manitoba. In this there is a distinctly 
 marked summer, and an equally well-marked winter. 
 The summer is naturally much less warm than farther 
 south, being almost always endurable. There is no 
 need of giving up out-door labour in the middle of 
 the day, the spring and fall seasons are shorter, and 
 free from the trying weather found in these seasons 
 further south, while the winter is steady. It is not 
 denied that a part of the winter is severe. During 
 the month of December low degrees of temperature 
 are frequent, but there is this difference between it 
 and the other extreme of heat found in the south. 
 Comfortable houses and warm clothing can defy the 
 cold, while the heat must simply be endured where 
 the atmosphere is a vapour bath. 
 
 % 
 
342 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 ).r 
 
 Every climate, as we have seen, will have its draw- 
 back, but the freedom from change of the Manitoba 
 winter is the great compensation for the severity of 
 the climate. The winter season freezes the earth and 
 the rivers, gives the agriculturist a rest from the 
 severe toil of summer, covers the earth with a coating 
 of snow not more than enough to make good sleigh- 
 ing, being about a foot and a foot and a half on an 
 average, and gives the opportunity for enjoying his 
 leisure with the hilarity and enthusiasm caused by the 
 clear sparkling weather and the dry state of the air. 
 The sleighing, moreover, enables the farmer to do 
 with ease much of his work, such as disposing of his 
 grain, obtaining materials for building and fencing, 
 and laying in his year's supply of firewood. His 
 cattle are housed in winter, and the winter so keeps 
 up their tone and general health, that while cattle 
 hitherto have been allowed to be exported from 
 Canada to Britain as not liable to disease, those from 
 the southern regions, as in the United States, are 
 excluded, being more subject to plcuro-pneumcnia 
 and the numberless other ailments found where the 
 climate is relaxing. 
 
 For man and for beast there is a necessity for a 
 part of the year being spent in a less enervating 
 climate than that of the middle and Southern States, 
 and hence it is that the immense exodus takes place 
 from these regions to the Canadian Lakes, the St. 
 Lawrence, Lake Champlain, and the White Moun- 
 tains, in the summer season. 
 
 The dryness of the winter climate in Manitoba is 
 well illustrated by the fact, that the air is so sur- 
 charged with electricity that on touching a metallic 
 
The Attractions of Manitoba. 
 
 343 
 
 its draw- 
 Manitoba 
 cvcrity of 
 earth and 
 from the 
 a coating 
 od sleigh- 
 lalf on an 
 oying his 
 ;cd by the 
 if the air. 
 ler to do 
 ng of his 
 I fencing, 
 >od. His 
 so keeps 
 ile cattle 
 ted from 
 ose from 
 :ates, are 
 leumcnia 
 /here the 
 
 sity for a 
 lervating 
 n States, 
 :cs place 
 the St. 
 e Moun- 
 
 nitoba is 
 
 5 so sur- 
 
 metallic 
 
 object with the finger a distinct spark may be seen, 
 and a sh'ght shock experienced. This peculiarity of 
 the Manitoba air is no doubt the quality that makes 
 the North-west a suitable place for those affected by 
 throat and lung diseases. The drying and restorative 
 nature of the air has brought about recovery in 
 numerous cases of the kind , cferred to. 
 
 The health of the people is a marked feature of the 
 Canadian North-west, and while in the month of 
 August there may exist a tendency towards a slug- 
 gish state of the liver, that this is so slight in com- 
 parison with the prairies of Kansas, and, indeed, of all 
 the Western States where fever prevails, is no doubt the 
 result of the bracing northern air enjoyed by Manitoba. 
 
 It is no new thing for the northern nations to 
 possess strong frames and vigorous health. It was 
 only when the robust nations of Germany and 
 Scythia spread with the prowess gained from their 
 northern clime over southern Europe, that they were 
 destroyed by effeminacy and by the enervating effects 
 of a relaxing climate. 
 
 The winter may be said as a general thing to set in 
 in Manitoba about the middle of November, and to be 
 over about the end of March. During that time the 
 snow is so dry and crisp, that the Indian or Bois- 
 brule may go without wetting his moccasins, which 
 are made of the softest and most porous deer-skin. 
 Occasionally a season may come when the winter is 
 softer, but this is its usual character. Snow-shoeing, 
 taboganing, skating, and curling, are pursued to the 
 full durincf the Manitoba winter, while the jincrle of 
 the sleigh-bells of scores of handsome turn-outs on a 
 pleasant afternoon in the winter months on the chief 
 
344 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 i 
 
 \m 
 
 \tm^ 
 
 m 
 
 streets of Winnipeg, speaks of a scene of great joy 
 and picturesqueness. 
 
 Fuel and Water. 
 
 In a climate where winter is a reality, fuel is an 
 object of prime importance. To the person who has 
 Manitoba in his mind as a prairie country — and to 
 whom one of its principal advantages is continually 
 represented as its being a prairie — it is natural the 
 question of fuel should be one of anxiety. It is well 
 to say that anything like the state of things in Iowa 
 or Dakota, in some parts of which farmers have been 
 compelled to burn Indian corn as fuel, is a thing un- 
 known. Manitoba fringes on a timber region to the 
 east, has a vv'oodcd region to the north, and has its 
 railway system about to be pushed in less than three 
 years to the vast forests of the Rocky Mountains. 
 
 Moreover, bordering on these wooded regions, it is 
 natural that what we may call "outliers" or detached 
 portions of wood, what the ]3ois-bruIes call " wood 
 islands," should here and there dot the prairies. The 
 tops and flanks of ridges, the banks of rivers, low- 
 lying tracts of country, and, indeed, wherever natural 
 obstacles or bodies of water prevent the ravages of 
 prairie fires, arc covered with trees — mostly oaks or 
 poplars. From these, wood lots which are usually 
 surveyed into blocks, and given or sold at a trifle to 
 real settlers, the farmer obtains the wood for his house 
 and also his fuel. In few cases docs the settler 
 require to go six or eight miles for wood, while in 
 mary cases it is at his door. Wood, in large quan- 
 nt-ies, is brought into Winnipeg by railway from the 
 east, ar:l sold at a cost of i6s. to 2Cjs. per cord of 128 
 cubic feet. On a vast plain are settled the Mennonites, 
 
The Attractions of Manitoba. 
 
 345 
 
 great joy 
 
 "ucl is an 
 : who has 
 ' — and to 
 ntinually 
 tiiral the 
 It is well 
 ; ill Iowa 
 ave been 
 hing un- 
 )n to the 
 I has its 
 an three 
 ains. 
 
 ons, it is 
 letached 
 I " wood 
 s. The 
 rs, low- 
 natural 
 ages of 
 oaks or 
 usually 
 trifle to 
 s house 
 
 settler 
 hile in 
 
 quan- 
 
 3m the 
 
 of 128 
 
 onites. 
 
 who brought with them from the steppes of Russia a 
 fashion of manufacturing fuel from a mixture of earth, 
 straw, and farmyard manure. Though they to some ex- 
 tent adhere to this class of fuel, yet the substantial oak 
 trees of the Pembina IMountains, not too far away, offer 
 them a more substantial substitute, of which they have 
 not been slow to avail themselves. No doubt coal 
 will become the chief fuel on the prairies as the woods 
 disappear, and it is a matter of satisfaction that two 
 railways, the Canadian Pacific and Manitoba South- 
 western, are approaching the Lignite coal-beds of 
 the Souris, where a fuel can be obtained from seams 
 several feet in thickness, and of illimitable extent, and 
 exposed on the banks of the Souris River. At 
 Edmonton, on the Saskatchewan River, large ex- 
 posures of excellent coal have been found, and mining 
 to a considerable extent has taken place during the 
 past summer. It is a matter of interest likewise, that 
 to the east of Winnipeg large beds of peat have been 
 found that may be worked if it be found advisable. 
 
 Having now dealt with three of the so-called 
 elements of the ancient philosophers, 1 th, Air, 
 and F'ire, there remains that one in spensable 
 to man, Water. In almost every pan of Mani- 
 toba and the North-west, springs o' water are 
 obtained by digging wells from 15 to "o feet deep. 
 With a familiar acquaintance with all parts of 
 Manitoba, the writer can only recall one plain, and 
 that some half-dozen miles across, where any difficulty 
 has been found in obtaining a plentiful supply of 
 water. This water is invariably clear, cold, and 
 wholesome. In some places it has been found that 
 after a few months the water in some wells has a 
 
34^ 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 ^1 
 
 K Ji 
 
 fe..,r 
 
 metallic or slightly smoky taste. This is got by 
 allowing the drainage through the surrounding soil 
 to enter the well. Small quantities of magnesium- 
 chloride, magnesium-sulphate, and simiLr salts arc 
 distributed through the soil, probably showing a salt- 
 water origin to the prairie levels. If surface washings 
 be allowed to run into the wells the water will contain 
 the slightly saline taste. That this is the cause is 
 shown by phenomena seen in the wells of Winnipeg. 
 
 Se\ eral wells in Winnipeg have been found that are 
 flowing wells. They arc really Artesian wells, got 
 by digging some 70 feet to the rock. The water of 
 these wells is excellent. The cause of this is that the 
 constant outflow prevents the admixture of saline 
 elements from the soil. The simple remedy for wells 
 becoming "salt," is the use f the ''Abyssinian tube," 
 or some similar method, by which the water, pure at 
 itr. source, may be retained in a state of purity. 
 There is no such thing known in Manitoba as water 
 poisoned by the presence of decaying organic matter. 
 The water of the rivers, when filtered to free it from 
 the mud, which is an invariable feature of prairie rivers, 
 is swee^ and wholesome. Waterworks obtaining 
 their supply from the Assiniboine River are, during the 
 present year, being built, and pipes laid for the City 
 of Winnipeg. 
 
 Building Material. 
 
 Very much of the comfort, and certainly much of 
 the attractiveness, of a country depends on the means 
 afforded for the construction of buildings. The 
 most easily worked material for temporary houses to 
 be erected, by those of limited capital, is wood or sawn 
 timber. Average " lumber " is obtained at Winnipeg at 
 
The Attractions of Manitoba. 
 
 347 
 
 is got by 
 iding- soil 
 igncsium- 
 salts arc 
 ing a salt- 
 wash in trs 
 II contain 
 '■ cause is 
 Winnipeg. 
 J that arc 
 vvclls, got 
 J water of 
 s that the 
 of saline 
 ■ for wells 
 an tube," 
 , pure at 
 f purity, 
 as water 
 c matter. 
 - it from 
 rie rivers, 
 btaining 
 J ring the 
 the City 
 
 much of 
 e means 
 5. The 
 ouses to 
 or sawn 
 nipeg at 
 
 the rate of 6/. per thousand feet of superficial measure- 
 ment. No doubt this price will be reduced so soon 
 as the Canadian Pacific Railway is open to Lake 
 Superior, which will be in 1882. As soon as towns 
 grow past their infancy of two or three years a demand 
 rises for better buildings. 
 
 Brick is brought into requisition. Excellent brick, 
 of whitish colour, is obtainable, not unlike the cream- 
 coloured brick of Milwaukee, in Winnipeg, at from 
 2/. to 3/. per thousand. The brick dwelling is fine in 
 appearance, dry and warm, and becomes a favourite 
 so soon as capital sufficient is brought into the country 
 to erect a better class of buildings. As an amusing 
 instance of popular fallacies beinr- » ompletely de- 
 stroyed, the writer remembers the d«y when sapient 
 inhabitants of the country maintained vehemently 
 that the clay of Manitoba would not make brick. 
 To-day all who examine it admit the Winnipeg brick 
 to be surpassed for hardness and beauty by that of 
 few places on the continent. 
 
 Lime of the best quality is obtained by burning 
 the Silurian limestone, found in many parts of the 
 country. Sand is got from the hills in all parts of 
 the province. The boulders of granite distributed 
 over the ridges of the country work in well as a 
 building stone, especially for foundations, and many 
 buildings in Winnipeg are now being faced by the 
 native limestone, which works very readily. 
 
 The native cut-stone being used in the facings for 
 the new Manitoba College, was much admired by 
 the Governor-General on the occasion of his laj-ing 
 the corner-stone of the college. Over such a vast 
 area as the Canadian North-west there will 
 
1 I* 
 
 1 1' ' 
 
 m 
 
 M 
 
 IM' 
 
 348 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 doubtless be discovered new quarries, containing 
 as the country does a wide geologic range. The 
 rapidity with which the towns — first of canvas-covered 
 houses, then of wood, and these to be replaced by 
 brick and stone — grow up in the North-west is 
 amazing. Let no man despise thy youth, may well 
 be said to the shabby little village of temporary 
 houses, as it dubs itself with the ambitious name of 
 city, and within a decade rises to deserve the name. 
 
 Business Activity. 
 
 It was long a reproach to Canada that her com- 
 mercial men lacked the energy and business talent of 
 their cousins across the borders. It was no wonder 
 that Canadians should have contracted ideas. Till 
 ten or fifteen years ago the British Provinces were 
 isolated : their trade was necessarily on a small scale : 
 a " pent-up Utica " bounded their vision. But now 
 Canada is half a continent. Her business men have 
 scope, and she has a country wide enough to hold 
 millions of the people of Europe. Accordingly, since 
 confederation a new variety of Canadian has arisen. 
 The business man of Winnipeg is entirely different 
 from the Halifax or Quebec merchant. 
 
 He is rapid, enterprising, confident. A new type 
 of Canadian is said by those who visit the North-west 
 to be arising there, with the " push " of the American, 
 and the conservative tastes and customs of the British 
 people. Capital is flowing with great rapidity into the 
 North-west. Two years ago money could be invested 
 at twelve per cent, on good security. Now money is 
 plentiful at eight per cent. Every variety of company, 
 business, and institution is springing into life. 
 
TiiK Attractions of IManttoha. 349 
 
 :ontaininji 
 ige. The 
 is-covcrcd 
 placed by 
 ;h-\vest is 
 may well 
 cmporary 
 s name of 
 le name. 
 
 her com- 
 > talent of 
 10 wondcr 
 eas. Till 
 ices were 
 all scale : 
 
 But now 
 nen have 
 to hold 
 gly, since 
 IS arisen. 
 
 different 
 
 new type 
 )rth-wcst 
 merican, 
 e British 
 ' into the 
 invested 
 noney is 
 ompany, 
 
 The Hudson's Bay Company, like a slccpinj^ frjant 
 with unbounded resources, is rising' to the contest, in 
 maintaining its own against strong competitors in 
 trade. The building of railways and the influx of 
 capital are producing great competition in rival 
 business centres, and have stimulated to an enormous 
 extent the value of real estate. No doubt this is but 
 the feverish excitement of early youth, and that a 
 more sedate age will follow soon — perhaps too soon for 
 some who have forgotten that grey hairs sometimes 
 come prematurely — may be safely asserted. It is, 
 however, an agreeable thing to live in an active pgc, 
 and to take part, with enthusiasm even, in the activities 
 of life. 
 
 Railway Facilities. 
 
 The railway is the pioneer of settlement. Regions 
 where settlers have preceded the railway are dull and 
 lifeless, when no means of carrying off the produce 
 of -^ soil exist. There is plenty of wheat, but no 
 money. The settler who is compelled to drag his 
 load of grain 100 miles over the prairie to a market- 
 town, finds in the time wasted, the actual expenses 
 of living on the road, and the deterioration of beasts 
 of burden and vehicle, that he has absolutely nothing 
 when he returns home. 200 miles from a market- 
 town, his case is hopeless. In some instances the 
 influx of new settlers creates a market ; but the rail- 
 way gives new life to a community so soon as it 
 reaches it, and if it be built in advance of settlement, 
 is a most powerful instrument in settling up the country. 
 
 It is accordingly a wise thing tb get a railway, 
 even if a large price has to be paid in obtaining it. 
 The North-west will soon be a net-work of railways 
 
350 
 
 Manitoha. 
 
 !■! 
 
 11 
 
 I '•-I 
 
 '""ii 
 
 \4i 
 
 h 
 
 I r 
 
 In this is its hope. The railway, if properly built, 
 will find the snow-fall of the North-west, which, as 
 already noticed, is much less than that of eastern pro- 
 vinces of a moister climate, no obstacle. The railway, 
 from Winnipeg to the boundary of the province on 
 the south, of sixty miles, has never had the slightest 
 difficulty with snow at times when trains were blocked 
 by snow all the way from Montreal to Chicago. 
 
 Even Dakota and Minnesota, being higher up at 
 the sources of the Red River, seem to have more 
 snow than Manitoba, and much amusement was 
 depicted on the faces of a body of immigrants from 
 Ontario to Manitoba, who, having been in a snow 
 blockade in Minnesota last year for a day or two, 
 when they arrived at Winnipeg found that no snow 
 had as yet fallen. The railway can be built with 
 great rapidity and cheapness on the prairie ; and with 
 the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, so strong 
 financially, Manitoba and the North-west territories 
 will no doubt be " gridironed" with railways by the 
 end of the century, if not before. 
 
 Good Markets. 
 
 Business energy and railway facilities naturally 
 produce good markets. The cheapening of freights, 
 however, must be the means of giving the farmer the 
 highest prices for his produce. For years to come, 
 no doubt, with the immense immigration flowing into 
 the North-west a large home-market will be found. 
 The prices of all classes of produce are but now adjust- 
 ing themselves, for it is plain that competition in buying 
 i.e. among the middle men, is needed before the 
 farmer will get his own. Railways have been only 
 two years in active operation, and yet it is surprising 
 
The Attractions of Manitoha. 
 
 351 
 
 criy built, 
 wliich, as 
 stern pro- 
 e railway, 
 ovincc on 
 J slightest 
 'c blocked 
 igo. 
 
 licr up at 
 avc more 
 ncnt was 
 ants from 
 n a snow 
 Y or two, 
 no snow 
 )uilt with 
 ; and with 
 ;o strong 
 territories 
 's by the 
 
 naturally 
 freights, 
 rmer the 
 to come, 
 wing into 
 )e found, 
 w adjust- 
 in buying 
 }fore the 
 een only 
 urprising^ 
 
 the rapidity with which business centres are being 
 opened, and produce of every description purchased. 
 The Winnipeg market is as well stocked and well 
 conducted a market as need be, though nothing like 
 what it may be expected to become. The opening up 
 of the Lake Superior branch of the Canadian Tacific 
 Railway, and the connexions expected with Lake 
 Superior by two eastern competing lines — the one by 
 the Duluth Railway projected, the other by the South- 
 western and Northern Pacific — will secure to the 
 farmer the highest price for whatever he may obtain 
 from the soil. As already pointed out, the Hudson's 
 Bay route will in time claim the attention which its 
 shortness deserves, and connect the Saskatchewan 
 farmer very intimately with the markets of Europe. 
 
 Religious Advantages. 
 
 Lord Selkirk's scheme of perfect religious equality 
 and toleration is that still subsisting in Manitoba, 
 One of the results of this is a friendly feeling sub- 
 sisting between the different churches. Denomi- 
 national rancour is one of the greatest hindrances to 
 progress in a new country. It is satisfactory that 
 there is no bone of contention to disturb the pre- 
 vailing harmony. No church is given any place of 
 precedence, except what its own energy and use- 
 fulness to the community at large secures for it. 
 
 There is thus a great incentive to the different 
 religious bodies to overtake the religious instruction 
 of the people. From present appearances the chief 
 work in the evangelization of the North-west is to be 
 done by the three great Protestant bodies — the Church 
 of England, the Presbyterian and Methodist churches. 
 

 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 A 
 
 
 
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 1.0 [rl^ I 
 
 25 
 
 I.I 
 
 1^1 
 
 1-25 IIIIII.4 
 
 Photographic 
 
 Sciences 
 Corporation 
 
 22 
 2.0 
 
 1.6 
 
 73 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 
 
 (716) 872-4503 
 
 fV 
 
 ^V 
 
 :1>^ 
 
 'v> ^' 
 
 ry^^ 
 
 4s_ <L 
 
 
 i 
 
! !i"lJ 
 
 352 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 i 
 
 I m 
 
 ■Jm 
 
 II 
 
 1 i; 9 
 
 1 1 
 
 ■ [ '*' 
 
 The Roman Catholic Church would have a considerable 
 field should there be an increase in the immigration 
 from Ireland or from the province of Quebec. At 
 present, indications of a large immigration from 
 either of these points are not bright, though a 
 province to relieve the distress of Ireland, carved out 
 of the North-west, is proposed, which, strange to say, 
 was the remedy for the relief of Ireland suggested by 
 Lord Selkirk to the British Government in 1802. 
 
 The Church of England in Manitoba holds 
 strongly still to its connexion with England, not 
 having affiliated itself with the Church of England 
 in Canada. It is chiefly of the Low Church or evan- 
 gelical type, and has adopted the popular form of 
 government of having a Synod made up of repre- 
 sentatives from all its churches. There is not only 
 a Bishop at Winnipeg, but also a Missionary Bishop 
 at Prince Albert on the Saskatchewan, and another 
 in the far distant Mackenzie River. The Church 
 Missionary Society has done, and is still doing, a good 
 work among the Indians, but finds the unsettled 
 habits of the tribes a great hindrance to permanent 
 good. The English half-breeds of Red River are 
 principally connected with the Church of England. 
 Her w^ork has been most beneficial among these 
 people, and most of them are able to read and write, 
 while many of them have a good education. 
 
 The Presbyterian Church is in hearty connexion 
 with the church in Canada, which is a union of the 
 three Presbyterian bodies found in the Scottish 
 Fatherland. The ministers of this church are chiefly 
 natives of Canada, educated in the theological schools 
 of Canada, and thoroughly in sympathy with the 
 
Tun Attractions of Manitoba. 
 
 353 
 
 nsidcrablc 
 imigratioii 
 ebcc. At 
 ;ion from 
 thouj^h a 
 arved out 
 gc to say, 
 fgcstcd by 
 
 1802. 
 
 ba holds 
 jland, not 
 ' England 
 h or cvan- 
 r form of 
 
 of rcprc- 
 
 not only 
 ry Bishop 
 d another 
 Church 
 ng, a good 
 
 unsettled 
 »ermanent 
 River are 
 
 England. 
 Dng these 
 
 nd write, 
 
 onnexion 
 
 Dn of the 
 
 Scottish 
 
 e chiefly 
 
 l1 schools 
 
 with the 
 
 ideas of the Canadian people in obtaining the North- 
 west The Canadian IVesbytcrian Church con- 
 tributes about 3000/. annually towards the spread of 
 religion in the North-west. While it is strong in 
 Winnipeg, it is thoroughly aggressive, and aims at 
 having its pioneer missionary first on the ground in 
 every new settlement. Tlie Selkirk settlers, and a large 
 part of the incoming population from Canada, Scot- 
 land, and the North of Ireland, belong to this church. 
 
 The Methodist Church here, as elsewhere, is active 
 and devoted. Its first work in the North-west was 
 among the Indian tribes both at the foot of Lake 
 Winnipeg and in the far West on the Saskatchewan. 
 For upwards of thirty years these Indian Missions 
 have been in active operation. It was not till about 
 the time of the transfer of the country to Canada 
 that this church began operations in the Red River 
 country. Since that time it has vigorously carried 
 on its work, and is indefatigable in following the 
 settler to the most distant points. The Baptist and 
 Congregational Churches have also made a beginning 
 in the country ; the Icelanders are Lutherans, while 
 the Mennonites have a form of religion of their own. 
 
 The religious condition of Manitoba forms a 
 pleasing contrast to that of many of the W'estcrn 
 States. In the great West of the United States 
 population outstripped the efforts of the churches. 
 Many communities were there for years without a 
 religious service being held in them. In ^lanitoba 
 such is not the case. In many cases the Christian 
 Missionary is on the ground the same season in 
 which the settlement is begun. To the families 
 emigrating to Manitoba it will be a consolation to 
 
 A a 
 
 
354 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 ■ i 
 
 I it 
 
 ;»^f 
 
 know that their children will be brought up amongst 
 Christian influences, and that they do not leave all 
 good behind when they adventure themselves in so 
 new a land. 
 
 Free Schools. 
 
 The want of the means of education often deters — 
 and very reasonably so — families from seeking homes 
 in new countries. In order to meet the educational 
 wants of so new a province as Manitoba, a very 
 flexible school system is required. The wisdom of 
 the Legislature has fortunately provided this. So 
 soon as a group of settlers in any part of Manitoba 
 have among them enough of children to make an 
 average of ten, they may, on petition to the Educa- 
 tional Bureau, be recognized as a school district. 
 This done they obtain a grant from the Government 
 for their school : they have likewise the power under 
 the Education Act to tax the district for such amount 
 as is needed to maintain the school. They elect 
 three trustees from among themselves, who have power 
 to erect the school-house at such expense as the rate- 
 payers choose, to engage a teacher, and obtain school 
 requisites. 
 
 Regular licensed teachers, chiefly those who have 
 come from the older provinces of Canada, where there 
 is a surplus, can be obtained at a cost of about 80/. a 
 year. In the cities and towns powers are given for 
 carrying on whatever number of schools may be 
 needed ; and in Winnipeg the system of central and 
 ward schools, regularly graded, is very good. The 
 elements of an excellent English education can be 
 obtained free of cost. When the province of Manitoba 
 was set apart, one-eighteenth of all the land was 
 
The Attractions of Manitoba. 
 
 355 
 
 ) amongst 
 : leave all 
 lives in so 
 
 n deters — 
 
 ing homes 
 
 ducational 
 
 a, a very 
 
 ivisdom of 
 
 this. So 
 
 Manitoba 
 
 make an 
 
 le Educa- 
 
 )1 district. 
 
 )vernment 
 
 kver under 
 
 ch amount 
 
 'hey elect 
 
 ave power 
 
 the rate- 
 
 ain school 
 
 who have 
 lere there 
 out 80/. a 
 given for 
 may be 
 ntral and 
 )od. The 
 n can be 
 Manitoba 
 land was 
 
 reserved as an educational endowment ; so that the 
 educational future of the province is thus amply 
 secured. A magnificent fund will at length be created 
 as the land, increased in value, is sold and devoted to 
 the support of this priceless boon. 
 
 The time has now come when in the towns a system 
 of secondary education must be organized. Winnipeg, 
 Portage La Prairie, and Emerson, may well be pro- 
 vided with this class of higher education. This will 
 be a means of preparing for the colleges which, as we 
 have seen, are affiliated to the Provincial University. 
 It seems to be the desire of all who have to do with 
 the educational system of Manitoba to say with the 
 Laureate : — 
 
 " Let knowledge grow from more to more. " 
 
 Free Electorate. 
 
 The possession of a liberal franchise is one of the 
 safeguards of modern society. Power placed in the 
 hands of men gives a sense of responsibility. The 
 laws of Manitoba wisely give a very wide extension 
 of political privileges. The whole province is divided 
 into municipalities, each of which elects a warden 
 and six councillors annually. To this Council is 
 given the power of taxation for local improvements, 
 certain duties connected with schools, the care of the 
 poor, bonuses to railways and public improvements, 
 though in regard to these last the voice of the rate- 
 payers must be taken. The care of public morals, 
 the public health, taxation of wild land, the improve- 
 ment of the highways, and many other matters, are 
 under the jurisdiction of the Municipal Councils. The 
 cities and towns have a municipal organization of their 
 
 A a 2 
 
356 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 T I 
 
 ill 
 
 i!: ' 
 
 j' '} 
 
 ' ^ 
 
 1 1 
 
 H||i 
 
 ? 11 
 
 ii| i{ 
 
 
 ^'i' 
 
 I . 
 
 m 
 
 own. There is likewise a Local House of Parliament 
 holding its sittings at Winnipeg, consisting of thirty- 
 one members, having power to legislate in provincial 
 matters. 
 
 Responsible to this house is a cabinet of five 
 ministers ; and the Lieutenant-Governor, who is resi- 
 dent at Winnipeg, opens the house after the British 
 form. The house is presided over by a speaker, who 
 is preceded by the mace ; and the other parliamentary 
 usages of the British Houses are in vogue. The 
 elections for the municipalities and the Local Legis- 
 lature are conducted by open vote — those for the 
 Dominion by ballot. Manitoba, as a province of the 
 Dominion of Canada, likewise has the right of sending 
 four representatives to the Canadian House of Com- 
 mons meeting at Ottawa, and has also two appointed 
 representatives in the Canadian Senate. 
 
 As the population of Manitoba increases, her repre- 
 sentation at Ottawa will increase. The system of 
 universal suffrage pursued in the United States does 
 not prevail in Manitoba, but the property qualification 
 required is so low that no one of industrious habits 
 need be excluded. Any British subject resident for a 
 year in the province is entitled to all the privileges of 
 the native born Canadian. The restriction in the 
 franchise is for the purpose of protecting the country 
 from a floating population, who have no responsibility, 
 and would care nothing for the safety of the country. 
 In the United States many of the wisest citizens 
 would prefer the Canadian system, as protecting the 
 community from the " rascal " element more or leis 
 prevalent everywhere. All representative positions 
 are open to all classes of the community irrespective 
 
 :l: 
 
The Attractions of Manitoba. 
 
 357 
 
 Parliament 
 of thirty- 
 provincial 
 
 st of five 
 ho is resi- 
 he British 
 aker, who 
 iamentary 
 Tue. The 
 cal Legis- 
 se for the 
 nee of the 
 of sending 
 i of Corn- 
 appointed 
 
 her repre- 
 
 system of 
 
 ates does 
 
 alification 
 
 >us habits 
 
 dent for a 
 
 vi leges of 
 
 On in the 
 
 e country 
 
 Dnsibility, 
 
 : country. 
 
 citizens 
 
 acting the 
 
 e or leis 
 
 positions 
 
 espective 
 
 of creed or any other limitation. A law similar to 
 that in Britain prevails in regard to the purity of 
 elections. 
 
 Pure Justiciary. 
 
 One of the great advantages of the province over 
 the neighbouring States is in the administration of 
 justice. In the United States the judges are elected 
 by the people directly. Accordingly, if the judge be 
 elected by the Republicans, he is expected to deal 
 out hard measure to the Democrats, and vice vcrsA. 
 The result of this is simply frightful. Such a thing 
 as gaining fair play from a judge of adverse political 
 opinions is not counted on in many parts of the 
 United States. This gives rise to a vast amount of 
 trickery and collusion in business. 
 
 The judges in the Manitoba courts are appointed 
 by the Government of Canada, and the Canadian of 
 the present day looks with great pleasure on the 
 high character and impartiality of the bench of 
 Canada. It is the English law which prevails. The 
 dignity of the court is maintained by the use of a 
 suitable costume, and the authority of the bench is 
 paramount. The appearance of American courts, 
 where the lawyers appear in grey clothing if they 
 choose, and assume the most "free and easy" man- 
 ners, is absolutely distressing. It is related to have 
 occurred in Kansas that a court-crier, in adjourning 
 the court, did so in the following words, " O yes ! 
 O yes ! O yes ! This whole outfit will adjourn 
 till to-morrow morning." It has only been by 
 aiming at the high ideal maintained by British 
 statesmen in appointments to the English bench, that 
 our Canadian leaders have so changed the state of 
 
 
■< if 
 
 358 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 Ill 
 
 
 affairs, which we have seen to have existed in the 
 days of Lord Selkirk's troubles. 
 
 British Customs. 
 
 The traveller, on crossing the line at Emerson, as 
 he enters Manitoba from Minnesota, is reminded not 
 only by the appearance uf the Union Jack that he is 
 again on British soil, but by many other things as 
 well. The dress of the people is more English, their 
 manners and customs, and their speech. It is true, 
 living in such constant intercourse with the people of 
 the United States, the inhabitants of Manitoba have 
 no easy task in keeping to that " well of English 
 undefiled," in which they rejoice. But there is easily 
 observable a great divergence in tone and language 
 between those who use what they themselves call the 
 " American language," and the people of Manitoba, 
 who speak the English tongue. 
 
 While true to their Canadian nationality, the strong 
 attachment for British institutions among the people 
 of Canada's youngest province, is seen in the vigorous, 
 maintenance of their national societies. The most 
 active of these is the St. Andrew's Society. This is 
 maintained to assist their indigent fellow-countrymen, 
 and cultivate Scottish literature and customs, not 
 only by Scotchmen, but as the constitution provides, 
 by the *' sons of Scotchmen " as well. Burns' Anni- 
 versary, the Caledonian games, and St. Andrew's 
 Day Festival, are ma'ntained with the perfervidum 
 ingefiium characteristic of the nation. 
 
 Nor is the St. George's Society to be outdone in 
 its celebration of the customs of " Merry England." 
 Much kindness has been shown by this society to the 
 
TiiK Attractions of Manitoha. 
 
 359 
 
 ed in the 
 
 ncrson, as 
 
 linded not 
 
 that he is 
 
 things as 
 
 :h*sh, their 
 
 It is true, 
 
 people of 
 
 :oba have 
 
 f English 
 
 is easily 
 
 language 
 
 1 call the 
 
 Manitoba, 
 
 :he strong 
 he people 
 vigorous, 
 rhe most 
 This is 
 intrymen, 
 :oms, not 
 provides, 
 is' Anni- 
 Andrew's 
 fervidiim 
 
 tdone in 
 England." 
 ty to the 
 
 large number of English immigrants who have in the 
 last few years found their way to the North-west. 
 The St. Patrick's Society and the Oranco Society 
 both flourish, notwithstanding the chilly winds 3f 
 the Northern prairies ; but it is a matter of great 
 moment that they arc on friendly terms with one 
 another, and can see each other on their respective 
 days flaunt their characteristic colours without any 
 propensity to reduce each other to the unfortunate 
 condition of the " Kilkenny cats." 
 
 The Selkirk settlers undoubtedly had much to do 
 with the continuance of British ideas in the country, 
 while the Hudson's Bay Company, in its constant 
 importation of English goods, Scottish employes 
 from the Orkneys, and officers from all parts of 
 the British Isles, did an immense service to the 
 British crown and people. So late as 1870 business 
 was carried on in the North-west in sterling cur- 
 rency, and British merchants had agents doing 
 business among the Selkirk colonists and half-brccd 
 population. In no part of the British empire will a 
 more hearty " (jod save the Queen " be heard at the 
 close of a public meeting than in Winnipeg or Portage 
 La Prairie. 
 
 Temperance Legislation. 
 
 The immense saving to the resources of a country 
 that would be made were the extended use of in- 
 toxicants given up, is demanding the attention of all 
 statesmen of the present day. A nation spending 
 its millions on strong drink is heavily handicapped in 
 competing with a nation where liquor is not used. It 
 is true there may seem to be an apparent stringency 
 in compelling the exclusion of liquors, and restricting 
 
 
■X il 
 
 360 
 
 Manitora. 
 
 |:| 
 
 ;l'- 
 
 I !, 
 
 : itf ■ ^ 
 
 1 1 
 'ii ' 
 
 ■ ' '! 
 k; 
 
 ill 
 
 individual liberty in this respect. Wc do not touch 
 on the abstract question. Wc have no time to ari,^ue it. 
 
 }^ut in the North-west territories a law prohibit- 
 ing the importation of intoxicants is in force. In 
 two counties of Manitoba — Marquette and Lisj^Mr — a 
 local option law has been passed, prohibiting the sale 
 but not the use of intoxicants ; while in another 
 portion of Manitoba, added during the past year and 
 comprising some five-sixths of the province, the same 
 law as is found in the North-west territories prevails. 
 
 It is well to state, that some ten thousand people 
 who had lived in the territory under the Prohibitory 
 Liquor Law, were so well pleased, that they with 
 remarkable unanimity refused to be included in 
 Manitoba unless the Prohibitory Liquor Law was 
 retained. The people of Marquette and Lisgar 
 adopted by popular vote what is known as the 
 " Canada Temperance Act " in these counties ; and 
 it is well-known that there are hundreds of instances 
 of men who have been addicted to the use of strong 
 drink who are now living sober, industrious lives in 
 these districts of Manitoba. The city of Winnipeg, 
 and the two counties of Selkirk and Provenchcr in 
 Manitoba are the only three places in the whole Cana- 
 dian North-west where liquor is allowed to be sold. 
 
 To the young seeking new homes this is a great 
 safeguard, and many a father and mother are found 
 willing to give up even a preference in favour of 
 strong drink for their children's good. As said an 
 Englishman in the county of Marquette, when voting 
 for the Prohibitory Act, " I can't go to Winnipeg 
 without becoming a slave to strong drink, but I want 
 to be protected here, and to keep my children from 
 
The Attractions of IManitoha. 
 
 361 
 
 not touch 
 
 ariruc it. 
 prohibit- 
 
 forcc. In 
 Lis^MT — a 
 g the sale 
 II another 
 
 year and 
 , the same 
 
 prevails, 
 id people 
 rohibitory 
 they with 
 luded in 
 Law was 
 id Lisf^ar 
 
 1 as the 
 ties ; and 
 instances 
 of strong 
 s lives in 
 Winnipeg, 
 encher in 
 Die Cana- 
 e sold. 
 
 s a great 
 re found 
 wour of 
 said an 
 n voting 
 /innipeg 
 t I want 
 en from 
 
 following my bad example." The law m.ikcs pro- 
 vision for exceptions of liquor used for religious, 
 medicinal, or mechanical purposes. New lands have 
 the opportunity of adopting social as well as material 
 improvements unhampered by the shackles of custom. 
 
 Last Words. 
 
 Surely with all the room, and the resources 
 detailed, the Canadian North-west can maintain in 
 comfort many millions of people. It is to be hoped 
 that the religious, educational, and social develop- 
 ment of this region will keep pace with the growth 
 in population. It will be an immense advantage for 
 the country if the means of improvement are afforded 
 to the people as they fill up this vast territory. 
 
 It would need a philanthropist with as large a 
 heart as Lord Selkirk, to plan for the retention of the 
 blessings of civilization to as great an extent as 
 possible to these pioneers of civilization on the 
 prairies. For years, at first, the settler will have his 
 energies fully taxed in building his house, in breaking 
 up his land, and in obtaining a livelihood. It will 
 require all the assistance of large-hearted philanthropy 
 to prevent him and his children becoming utterly 
 materialized. The writer has too often seen this 
 process going on in the case of men and families of 
 education, good morals, and social cultivation. 
 
 To prevent this, the church, the school, and the 
 college, are the means lying most ready to hand. 
 Self-governing communities have the lesson very 
 soon impressed upon them that they must become 
 self-supporting in all respects ; but the overwhelming 
 tide of settlement pouring into the Canadian North- 
 
362 
 
 Manitoha. 
 
 M 
 
 west makes a powerful appeal to the lover of his kind 
 to endow a college or a chair, to erect a school or build 
 a church, according to his taste, or even to do some less 
 great but no less deserving thing should his resources 
 be limited, to provide these strangers in a distant land 
 with the means of culture left behind them when 
 they ventured forth to secure new homes for them- 
 selves. 
 
 Would that there were more of the class of men 
 like Lord Selkirk, of large-hearted sympathy, to 
 assist the settlers in a new land with the means of 
 comfort and enlightenment. As to Lord Selkirk, 
 numerous statements may be found in the works of 
 his friends, that he lived before his time—lived fifty 
 years too soon. From this we dissent entirely. There 
 can be no true philosophy of history which could sup- 
 pose that Lord Selkirk's work was without its effect. 
 To us it seems as clear as noonday, that his colony, 
 founded with the greatest difficulty, passing through 
 a baptism of blood in its earlier years, subject to 
 privations of the severest description, was the means 
 of retaining for Canada a heritage of greatest value — 
 in fact, of keeping open for her the only means of 
 national development. 
 
 The one thing that will prevent the absorption of 
 Canada, by the omnivorous American Republic, is the 
 possession of a vast territory where her surplus 
 population may find a home, and build up a British 
 American State — as free in all respects, and more 
 wisely conservative in many ways, than the United 
 States. When it is considered that up to the time 
 of the acquisition of the North-west by Canada, there 
 had gone of the surplus population of Canada to the 
 
 — ) 
 
The Attractions of Mamtofja. 
 
 3^3 
 
 r of his kind 
 ool or build 
 do some less 
 is resources 
 listant land 
 them when 
 s for them- 
 
 lass of men 
 mpathy, to 
 e means of 
 rd Selkirk, 
 ic works of 
 —lived fifty 
 cly. There 
 \ could sup- 
 it its effect, 
 his colony, 
 ig through 
 subject to 
 the means 
 est value — 
 means of 
 
 sorption of 
 jblic, is the 
 er surplus 
 p a British 
 and more 
 he United 
 the time 
 lada, there 
 ada to the 
 
 one state of Minnesota 50,000 people, the rlangcr 
 that was threatening us may be seen — but that is now 
 past. 
 
 The Selkirk colony had remained thoroughly 
 British. The Indian races are warmly attached 
 to the British crown, and are so because the wise 
 policy recommended by Lord Selkirk has prevailed. 
 The Hudson's Bay Company, after its union with the 
 North-west Company, did not pursue the rum-selling 
 policy to the Indian previously followed by the latter 
 Company. It exercised a wise and paternal system 
 of rule over the Indian tribes ; and the Canadian 
 Government has fallen heir to a just and conciliatory 
 method of treating its Indian subjects. Lord 
 Selkirk's policy of emigration, as a relief for the over- 
 populated Highlands and western districts of Ireland, 
 as well as of other parts of the British Isles, though so 
 unpopular early in the century, has now been received 
 by all ; and well it might have been, for despite all 
 prophecies as to the decay of Britain and iier 
 dreaded depopulation, Britain has never known a half- 
 century of such development as the last has been. 
 
 She is now the banker, manufacturer, and trader 
 of the world : one of the European confederacy of 
 nations, and so engaged in trade, that she cannot 
 keep a vast standing army after the manner of the 
 other great European nations ; nevertheless, by a 
 system of citizen-soldiery, supplementing her stand- 
 ing army, she retains her island safely, is the most 
 influential nation in all parts of the world, while she 
 is now as always the friend of the weak and the 
 unfortunate. No man need be commiserated as 
 having lived before his time, when every scheme and 
 
 w 
 
364 
 
 Manitoba. 
 
 imi^ 
 
 
 iiiii 
 
 i i !ii 'f 
 
 I 
 
 project advocated by him has seen a successful fulfil- 
 ment within a century of his death. 
 
 No ! not fifty years too soon ! It is true he 
 suffered a wearisome persecution. It is true he may 
 have had heartburnings at the baseless charges 
 hurled at him before the British public, whose opinion 
 he valued as a high-minded and sensitive man ; but 
 that he broke down single-handed a system of 
 organized terrorism in the heart of North America ; 
 that he established a thriving colony ; the good he 
 did • the vision he cherished ; and the untainted 
 
 and resolute soul he bore ; — these are his reward. 
 
 Only those are crown'd and sainted, 
 Who with grief have been acquainted, 
 Making nations nobler, freer. 
 
 In their feverish exultations, 
 in their triumph and their yearning, 
 In their passionate pulsations, 
 In their words among the nations, 
 The Promethean fire is burning. 
 
 Shall it then be unavailing 
 
 All this toil for human culture ? 
 
 Through the cloud-rack, dark and trailing, 
 
 Must they see above them sailing. 
 
 O'er life's barren edge, the vulture ? 
 
 Such a fate as this was Dante's, 
 By defeat and exile madden'd ; 
 Thus were Milton and Cervantes, 
 Nature's priests and Corybantes 
 By affliction touch'd and sadden'd. 
 
 But the glories so transcendent, 
 That around their memories cluster. 
 And, on all their steps attendant. 
 Make their darken'd lives resplendent 
 With such gleams of inward lustre. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 '^i:|U ! i 
 
 
essful fulfil- 
 
 ls true he 
 :rue he may 
 :ss charges 
 ose opinion 
 ) man ; but 
 system of 
 h America ; 
 le good he 
 ; untainted 
 eward. 
 
 ng, 
 
 LIST OF WORKS CONSULTED BY THE AUTHOR 
 
 Anonymous. 
 
 in Advocates' Library, 
 
 London, 
 
 Lon- 
 
 Lord Selkirk's Settlement in North America 
 
 London, 1817. 
 Highland Clearances, Pamphlets 
 
 Edinburgh. 
 Sketch of the British Fur Trade. Earl of Selkirk 
 
 1816. 
 Pamphlet against Lord Selkirk. John Strachan, D.D. 
 
 don, 1 816. (In Parliamentary Library, Ottawa.) 
 Red River Settlement. Alexander Ross. London (Smith, 
 
 Elder, and Co.). 
 Gunn's History. 1881. 
 Neill's History of Minnesota. 
 Debrett's Peerage. 
 Gazetteer of Scotland. 
 
 Life of Sir Walter Scott. J. G. Lockhart, 2 vols. 1853. 
 Burns' Poems, Annotated Edition. 
 Edinburgh Review. October, 1805. 
 Life of Paul Jones. 2 vols. (Harper's Library.) 
 Peasant Ballad. 
 Narrative of Occurrences in North America. Anonymous. 
 
 London, 181 7. 
 Personal Observations and Conversations by the Author, at 
 
 Ste. Anne, St. Andrew's, Ottawa, Sault Ste. Marie, Fort 
 
 William, Lake of the Woods, and Winnipeg district. 
 Moore's Poems. London, 1859. State M. to have gone down 
 
 the St. Lawrence from Kingston to Montreal. 
 Canadiens de I'Ouest. 2 vols, Canada. 
 Lahontan's Voyages. Amsterdam, 1705. 
 History by Charlevoix. 6 vols. Paris, 1744. 
 
I I 
 
 ii ^'Ihi ill 
 
 I 
 
 
 5i ! 
 
 
 dl ti 
 
 I -'"I 
 
 366 List of Works consulted by the Author. 
 
 Champlain's Works. 4 vols. Canada. (Extract translated by 
 Mrs. Bryce.) 
 
 M. Margry on Verandrye. Canadian Antiquarian. 
 
 Voyages in North America. Sir Alexander Mackenzie. Lon- 
 don, 1 80 1. 
 
 Discussion respecting Northern and Western boundaries of 
 Ontario. Provincial Goverament, Toronto, 1878. 
 
 Voyage to Hudson's Bay. Henry Ellis. London, 1748. 
 
 Six Years' Residence in Hudson's Bay. Joseph Robson. Lon- 
 don, 1759. 
 
 Present State of Hudson's Bay Company and Fur Trade. 
 Edward Umfreville London, 1790. 
 
 Blue Book, ImperL.l House of Commons. 1857. 
 
 Journey from Hudson's Bay to the Northern Ocean. Samuel 
 Hearne. London, 1795. 
 
 Histoire de I'Am^rique Septentrionale. M. De Bacqueville de 
 la Potherie. 
 
 Chappelle's Voyages. George Street Library, Edinburgh. 
 
 General Works of the Earl of Selkirk : — 
 
 Highland Emigration. 1805. 
 
 Necessity of a more effectual System of National Defence. 
 
 Republished i860. 
 Letter on Parliamentary Reform. 1809. 
 Letter to the Peers of Scotland. 1807. 
 
 Civilization of the Indians in North America. Anonymous. 
 
 Proposal to form Society for Improving the Indians. Anony- 
 mous. London, 1807. 
 
 Copy of the Original Letter of Sir Walter Scott. 
 
 Strictures on " Highland Emigration.'' Robert Brown. Edin- 
 burgh, 1806. 
 
 Narrative of Destruction of Settlement on Red River in 181 5. 
 Archibald Macdonald. London, 1816. 
 
 Copy of Letter of Lord Selkirk, obtained from British Archives 
 by kindness of Lord Kimberley (1881). 
 
 Private Papers and Answers from Government of Upper 
 Canada. 1804-5. 
 
 Royal Charter of Hudson's Bay Company. Printed, London, 
 1819. 
 
 HI1 
 
 '\ k \ 
 'i 
 . ,. . _ I! 
 
 lllMlit 
 
thor. 
 
 translated by 
 
 cenzie. Lon- 
 
 oundaries of 
 378. 
 1748. 
 abson. Lon- 
 
 Fur Trade. 
 
 'an. Samuel 
 acqueville de 
 iburgh. 
 
 lal Defence. 
 
 
 nymous. 
 ns. Anony- 
 
 )wn. Edin- 
 ^er in 1815. 
 sh Archives 
 of Upper 
 id, London, 
 
 List of Works consulted by the Author. ^6y 
 
 North American Indians. Catlin. 2 vols. London, 1866. 
 
 The Indians. John Halkett. London, 1825. 
 
 Travels. Jonathan Carver. London, 1778. 
 
 Personal Observations of Author among Sioux, Ojibeways, and 
 
 Crees. 
 Articles on Mound-Builders in Smithsonian Publications. 
 
 Washington, D.C. 
 History of Wales. Woodward. 
 
 Hudson's Bay Territory. John Ryerson. Toronto, 1855. 
 Blue Book on Red River Settlement of Imperial House of 
 
 Commons. 18 19. 
 Report of Canadian Trials relative to destruction of Red River 
 
 Settlement. A. Amos. London, 1820. 
 Ditto. Anonymous, Montreal. 
 Red River. J. J. Hargrave. 1871. 
 
 Memoir of Bishop Strachan. Bishop Bethune. London, 1870. 
 Speech of Sir James Montgomery, Bart. London, 1820. 
 The Rainbow of the North. London, 1858. 
 Letter to Earl of Liverpool. Earl of Selkirk. 1819. 
 Memorial to Duke of Richmond. Earl of Selkirk. Montreal, 
 
 18(9. 
 U. E. Loyalists. By Dr. Ryerson. 1881. 
 Franchdre's Narrative. (Old copy in French. Also translated 
 
 and published more recently in New York.) 
 Observations upon the Papers laid before the House of Com- 
 mons relating to Red River Settlement. Proof copy 308 
 
 pp., stops incomplete. London, 1820. 
 Note-book of Sketches. Of date 1803 to 1817. 
 Letters of "Adam McAdam." Montreal, 1816. 
 Letters of " Mercator." Montreal. 
 A Journey Round the World in 1841, &c. Sir George Simpson. 
 
 London, 1847. 
 Books on Manitoba. Alexander Begg. Montreal. 
 
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 An Eventful Ride. 
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