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 THE LIBRARY 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 THOMAS, 5TH EARL OF SELKIRK 
 
 The Founder of Red River Colony, 1812. 
 From copy of painting by Raeburn, obtained by author from St Mary's Isle, Lord Selkirk's seat.
 
 The Romantic Settlement 
 
 OF 
 
 Lord Selkirk's Colonists 
 
 [The Pioneers of Manitoba] 
 
 BY 
 DR. GEORGE BRYCE 
 
 Of Winnipeg 
 President of the Royal Society of Canada, etc., etc. 
 
 TORONTO 
 
 THE MUSSON BOOK COMPANY 
 
 LIMITED
 
 " Copyrighted Canada, 1909, by The Musson Book 
 Company, Limited, Toronto."
 
 F 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 OC3 
 
 Page. 
 CHAPTER 1. Patriarch 's Story 9 
 
 An Extinct Race. 
 
 The Gay Frenchman. 
 
 The Earlier Peoples. 
 
 The Montreal Merchants and Men. 
 
 The Dusky Riders of the Plain. 
 
 The Stately Hudson's Bay Company. 
 
 CHAPTER 2. A Scottish Duel 33 
 
 CHAPTER 3. Across the Stormy Sea 44 
 
 CHAPTER 4. A Winter of Discontent 58 
 
 CHAPTER 5. First Foot on Bed River Banks 69 
 
 CHAPTER 6. Three Desperate Years 80 
 
 CHAPTER 7. Fight and Flight 95 
 
 CHAPTER 8. No Surrender 107 
 
 CHAPTER 9. Seven Oaks Massacre 117 
 
 CHAPTER 10. Af terclaps 133 
 
 CHAPTER 11. The Silver Chief Arrives 142 
 
 CHAPTER 12. Soldiers and Swiss 152 
 
 CHAPTER 13. English Lion and Canadian Bear Lie Down 
 
 Together . . '. 161 
 
 CHAPTER 14. Satrap Rule 170 
 
 CHAPTER 15. And the Flood Came 178 
 
 CHAPTER 16. The Jolly Governor 185 
 
 CHAPTER 17. The Oligarchy 194 
 
 CHAPTER 18. An Ogre of Justice 202 
 
 CHAPTER 19. A Half-Breed Patriot 210 
 
 CHAPTER 20. Sayer and Liberty 216 
 
 CHAPTER 21. Off to the Buffalo 224 
 
 CHAPTER 22. What the Stargazers Saw 232 
 
 CHAPTER, 23. Apples of Gold .'. 239 
 
 CHAPTER 24. Pictures <of Silver 256 
 
 CHAPTER 25. Eden Invaded 276 
 
 CHAPTER 26. Riel's Rising 284 
 
 CHAPTER 27. Lord Strathcona 's Hand 291 
 
 CHAPTER 28. Wolseley 's Welcome 300 
 
 CHAPTER 29. Manitoba in the Making 307 
 
 CHAPTER 30. The Selkirk Centennial 315 
 
 APPENDIX. . . 320
 
 PREFACE 
 
 THE present work tells the romantic story of 
 the Settlement of Lord Selkirk's Colonists in 
 Manitoba, and is appropriate and timely in view 
 of the Centennial celebration of this event which 
 will be held in Winnipeg in 1912. 
 
 The author was the first, in his earlier books, 
 to take a stand for justice to be done to Lord 
 Selkirk as a Colonizer, and he has had the plea- 
 sure of seeing the current of all reliable history 
 turned in Lord Selkirk's favor. 
 
 Dr. Doughty, the popular Archivist at Ot- 
 tawa, has put at the author's disposal a large 
 amount of Lord Selkirk's correspondence late- 
 ly received by him, so that many new, interest- 
 ing facts about the Settlers ' coming are now 
 published for the first time. 
 
 If we are to celebrate the Selkirk Centennial 
 intelligently, it is essential to know the facts of 
 the trials, oppressions and heartless persecu- 
 tions through which the Settlers' passed, to 
 learn what shameful treatment Lord Selkirk 
 received from his enemies, and to trace the rise
 
 from misery to comfort of the people of the 
 Colony. 
 
 The story is chiefly confined to Bed River Set- 
 tlement as it existed a unique community, 
 which in 1870 became the present Province of 
 Manitoba. It is a sympathetic study of what one 
 writer has called "Britain's One Utopia."
 
 The Romantic Settlement 
 
 OF 
 
 Selkirk's Colonists
 
 Lord Selkirk's Colonists 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE EAELIEB PEOPLE. 
 
 A PATRIARCH'S STORY. 
 
 This is the City of Winnipeg. Its growth 
 has been wonderful. It is the highwater mark 
 of Canadian enterprise. Its chief thorough- 
 fare, with asphalt pavement, as it runs south- 
 ward and approaches the Assiniboine River, 
 has a broad street diverging at right angles 
 from it to the "West. This is Broadway, a most 
 commodious avenue with four boulevards 
 neatly kept, and four lines of fine young Elm 
 trees. It represents to us "Unter den Linden" 
 of Berlin, the German Capital. 
 
 The wide business thoroughfare Main Street, 
 where it reaches the Assiniboine River, looks 
 out upon a stream, so called from the wild As- 
 siniboine tribe whose northern limit it was, and 
 whose name implies the "Sioux" of the Stony 
 Lake. The Assiniboine River is as large as the
 
 10 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 Tiber at Borne, and the color of the water justi- 
 fies its being compared with the " Yellow 
 Tiber." 
 
 The Assiniboine falls into the Bed Biver, a 
 larger stream, also with tawny-colored water. 
 The point of union of these two rivers was 
 long ago called by the French voyageurs "Les 
 Fourches, ' ' which we have translated into ' ' The 
 Forks." 
 
 One morning nearly forty years ago, the 
 writer wandered eastward toward Bed Biver, 
 from Main Street, down what is now called 
 Lombard Street. Here not far from the bank 
 of the Bed Biver, stood a wooden house, then 
 of the better class, but now left far behind 
 by the brick and stone and steel structures of 
 modern Winnipeg. 
 
 The house still stands a stained and battered 
 memorial of a past generation. But on this 
 October morning, of an Indian summer day, the 
 air was so soft, that it seemed to smell woo- 
 ingly here, and through the gentle haze, was 
 to be seen sitting on his verandah, the patri- 
 arch of the village, who was as well the genius 
 of the place. 
 
 The old man had a fine gray head with the 
 locks very thin, and with his form, not tall but 
 broad and comfortable to look upon, he oc- 
 cupied an easy chair. 
 
 The writer was then quite a young man fresh
 
 The Earlier People. 11 
 
 from College, and with a simple introduction, 
 after the easy manner of Western Canada, pro- 
 ceeded to hear the story of old Andrew Mc- 
 Dermott, the patriarch of Winnipeg. 
 
 "Yes, "said Mr. McDermott, "I was among 
 those of the first year of Lord Selkirk's immi- 
 grants. We landed from the Old Country, at 
 York Factory, on Hudson Bay. The first immi- 
 grants reached the banks of the Eed Eiver in 
 the year 1812. 
 
 ''lam a native of Ireland and embarked with 
 Owen Keveny a bright Hibernian a clever 
 writer, and speaker, who, poor fellow, was killed 
 by the rival Fur Company, and whose murderer, 
 De Eeinhard, was tried at Quebec. Of course 
 the greater number of Lord Selkirk's settlers 
 were Scotchmen, but I have always lived with 
 them, known them, and find that they trust me 
 rather more than they at times trust each other. 
 I have been their merchant, contractor, treaty- 
 maker, business manager, counsellor, adviser, 
 and confidential friend." 
 
 "But," said the writer, "as having come to 
 cast in my lot with the people of the Eed 
 Eiver, I should be glad to hear from you about 
 the early times, and especially of the earlier 
 people of this region, who lived their lives, and 
 came and went, before the arrival of Lord Sel- 
 kirk's settlers in 1812." Thus the story-telling 
 began, and patriarch and questioner made out
 
 MOUND BUILDERS' ORNAMENTS, ETC. 
 
 E. String- of beads ot birds' leg bones. 
 Note cross X. 
 
 A. Ornamental gorget of turtle's plast- 
 
 ron. 
 
 B. Gorget of sea-shell (1879). 
 
 C. Gorget of buffalo bone. 
 
 D. Breast or arm ornament of very G. Columella of large sea couch (trop- 
 
 F. One of three polished stones used 
 for gaming. 
 
 hard bone. 
 
 ical, used as sinker for fishing.
 
 The Earlier People. 13 
 
 from one source and another the whole story 
 of the predecessors of the Selkirk Colonists. 
 
 AN EXTINCT EACE. 
 
 ' * Long before the coming of the settler, there 
 lived a race who have now entirely disappeared. 
 Not very far from the Assiniboine River, where 
 Main Street crosses it, is now to be seen," said 
 the narrator, "Fort Garry a fine castellated 
 structure with stone walls and substantial bas- 
 tions. A little north of this you may have no- 
 ticed a round mound, forty feet across. We 
 opened this mound on one occasion, and found 
 it to contain a number of human skeletons and 
 articles of various kinds. The remains are 
 those of a people whom we call "The Mound 
 Builders," who ages ago lived here. Their 
 mounds stood on high places on the river bank 
 and were used for observation. The enemy 
 approaching could from these mounds easily 
 be seen. They are also found in good agricul- 
 tural districts, showing that the race were agri- 
 culturists, and where the fishing is good on the 
 river or lake these mounds occur. The Mound 
 Builders are the first people of whom we have 
 traces here about. The Indians say that these 
 Mound Builders are not their ancestors, but 
 are the "Very Ancient Men." It is thought that 
 the last of them passed away some four hun- 
 dred years ago, just before the coming of the
 
 14 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 white man. At that time a fierce whirlwind of 
 conquest passed over North America, which 
 was seen in the destruction of the Hurons, who 
 lived in Ontario and Quebec. Some of their im- 
 plements found were copper, probably brought 
 from Lake Superior, but stone axes, hammers, 
 and chisels, were commonly used by them. A 
 horn spear, with barbs, and a fine shell sinker, 
 shows that they lived on fish. Strings of beads 
 and fine pearl ornaments are readily found. 
 But the most notable thing about these people 
 is that they were far ahead of the Indians, in 
 that they made pottery, with brightly designed 
 patterns, which showed some taste. Very likely 
 these Mound Builders were peaceful people, 
 who, driven out of Mexico many centuries ago, 
 came up the Mississippi, and from its branches- 
 passing into Bed River, settled all along its 
 banks. We know but little of this vanished 
 race. They have left only a few features of 
 their work behind them. Their name and fame 
 are lost forever. 
 
 "And is this all? an earthen pot, 
 A broken spear, a copper pin 
 Earth's grandest prizes counted in 
 A burial mound ? the common lot. ' ' 
 
 THE GAY FRENCHMAN. 
 
 Then the conversation turned upon the early 
 Frenchmen, who came to the West during the
 
 The Earlier People. 15 
 
 days of French Canada, before Wolfe took Que- 
 bec. ''Oh! I have no doubt they would make 
 a great ado," said the old patriarch, "when 
 they came here. The French, you know, are so 
 fond of pageants. But beyond a few rumors 
 among the old Indians far up the Assiniboine 
 River of their remembrance of the crosses and 
 of the priests, or black robes, as they call them, 
 I have never heard anything; these early ex- 
 plorers themselves left few traces. When they 
 retired from the country, after Canada was 
 taken by Wolfe, the Indians burnt their forts 
 and tried to destroy every vestige of them. You 
 know the Indian is a cunning diplomatist. He 
 very soon sees which is the stronger side and 
 takes it. When the King is dead he is ready to 
 shout, Long live the new King. I have heard 
 that down on the point, on the south side of 
 the Forks of the two rivers, the Frenchmen 
 built a fort, but there wasn't a stick or a stone 
 of it left when the Selkirk Colonists came in 
 1812. But perhaps you know that part of the 
 story better than I do," ventured the old pa- 
 triarch. That is the Story of the French Ex- 
 plorers. 
 
 "Oh! Yes," replied the writer, "you know 
 the world of men and things about you; I 
 know the world of books and journals and let- 
 ters. ' ' 
 
 "Let us hear of that," said the patriarch 
 eagerly.
 
 16 
 
 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 A. Native Copper Drill. 
 
 B. Soapstone Conjurer's 
 tube. 
 
 O. Flint Skinning- Imple- 
 ment. 
 
 D. Horn Fish Spear. 
 
 E. Native Copper Cutting 1 
 Knife. 
 
 F. Cup found in Rainy 
 River Mound by the 
 Author, 1884. 
 
 MOUND BUILDERS REMAINS
 
 The Earlier People. 17 
 
 Well, you know the French Explorers were 
 very venturesome. They went, sometimes to 
 their sorrow, among the wildest tribes of In- 
 dians. 
 
 A French Captain, named Verandrye, who 
 was born in Lower Canada, came up the great 
 lakes to trade for furs of the beaver, mink, and 
 musk-rat. When he reached the shore of Lake 
 Superior, west of where Fort William now 
 stands, an old Indian guide, gave him a birch 
 bark map, which showed all the streams and 
 water courses from Lake Superior to Lake of 
 the Woods, and on to Lake Winnipeg. This 
 was when the " well-beloved" Louis XV. was 
 King of France, and George II. King of Eng- 
 land. It was heroic of Verandrye to face the 
 danger, but he was a soldier who had been 
 twice wounded in battle in Europe, and had the 
 French love of glory. By carrying his canoes 
 over the portages, and running the rapids when 
 possible, he came to the head of Eainy Eiver, 
 went back again with his furs, and after several 
 such journeys, came down the Winnipeg Eiver 
 from Lake of the Woods, to Lake Winnipeg, 
 and after a while made a dash across the 
 stormy Lake Winnipeg and came to the Eed 
 Eiver. The places were all unknown, the In- 
 dians had never seen a white man in their 
 country, and the French Captain, with his of- 
 ficers, his men and a priest, found their way
 
 18 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 to the Forks of the Bed and Assiniboine Rivers. 
 This was nearly three-quarters of a century 
 before the first Selkirk Colonists reached Bed 
 River. The French Captain saw only a few 
 Indian teepees at the Forks, and ascended the 
 Assiniboine. It was a very dry year, and the 
 water in the Assiniboine was so low that it was 
 with difficulty he managed to pull over the St. 
 James rapids, and reached where Portage la 
 Prairie now stands, and sixty miles from the 
 site of Winnipeg claimed the country for his 
 Royal Master. Here he collected the Indians, 
 made them his friends, and proceeded to build 
 a great fort, and named it after Mary of Po- 
 land, the unfortunate Queen of France "Fort 
 de la Reine," or Queen's Fort. But he could 
 not forget "The Forks" the Winnipeg of to- 
 day and so gave instructions to one of his 
 lieutenants to stop with a number of his men 
 at the Forks, cut down trees, and erect a fort 
 for safety in coming and going up the Assini- 
 boine. The Frenchmen worked hard, and on 
 the south side of the junction of the Red River 
 with the Assiniboine, erected Fort Rouge the 
 Red Fort. This fort, built in 1738, was the first 
 occupation of the site of the City of Winnipeg. 
 The French Captain Verandrye, his sons and 
 his men, made further journeys to the far West, 
 even once coming in sight of the Rocky Moun- 
 tains. But French Canada was doomed.
 
 The Earlier People. 19 
 
 In twenty years more Wolfe was to wrench 
 Canada from France and make it British. The 
 whole French force of soldiers, free traders, 
 and voyageurs were needed at Montreal and 
 Quebec. Not a Frenchman seems to have re- 
 mained behind, and for a number of years the 
 way to the West was blocked up. The canoes 
 went to decay, the portages grew up with weeds 
 and underwood, and the Western search for 
 furs from Montreal was suspended. 
 
 THE INDIANS OF THE RED RIVEB. 
 
 No man knew the Indian better than Andrew 
 McDermott. No one knew better how to trade 
 and dicker with the red man of the prairie. 
 He could tell of all the feuds of tribe with 
 tribe, and of the wonderful skill of the Fur 
 Companies in keeping order among the Indian 
 bands. The Red River had not, after the do 
 parture of the French, been visited by trav- 
 ellers for well nigh forty years. No doubt 
 bands of Indians had threaded the waterways, 
 and carried their furs in one year to Pigeon 
 River, on Lake Superior, or to Fort Churchill, 
 or York Factory on Hudson Bay. It was only 
 some ten or fifteen years before the coming 
 of the Selkirk Colonists that the fur traders, 
 though they for forty years had been ascending 
 the Saskatchewan, had visited Red River at all. 
 No missionary had up to the coming of the
 
 20 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 Colonists ever appeared on the banks of the 
 Bed River. Some ten years before the set- 
 tler's advent, the fur traders on the upper Bed 
 Eiver had most bitter rivalries and for two 
 or three years the fire water the Indian's 
 curse flowed like a flood. The danger ap- 
 pealed to the traders, and from a policy of 
 mere self-protection they had decided to give 
 out no strong drink, unless it might be a slight 
 allowance at Christmas and New Year's time. 
 Bed Biver was now the central meeting place 
 of four of the great Indian Nations. The Bed 
 Pipestone Quarry down in the land of the Da- 
 kotas, and the Boches Percees, on the upper 
 Souris Biver, in the land of the wild Assini- 
 boines were sacred shrines. At intervals all 
 the Indian natives met at these spots, buried 
 for the time being their weapons, and lived in 
 peace. But Bed Biver, and the country east- 
 ward to the Lake of the Woods was really the 
 11 marches" where battles and conflicts contin- 
 ually prevailed. Bed Biver, the Miskouesipi, 
 or Blood Bed Biver of the Chippewas and 
 Crees, was said to have thus received its name. 
 Andrew McDermott knew all the Indians as 
 they drew near with curiosity, to see the set- 
 tlers and to speculate upon the object of their 
 coming. The Indian despises the man who uses 
 the hoe, and when the Colonists sought thus to 
 gain a sustenance from the fertile soil of the
 
 The Earlier People. 21 
 
 field, they were laughed at by the Indians who 
 caught the French word ' ' Jardiniers, " or 
 gardeners, and applied it to them. 
 
 The Colonists were certainly a puzzle to the 
 Bed man. To the banks of the Bed Biver and 
 to the east of Lake Winnipeg had come many 
 of the Chippewas. They were known on the 
 Bed Biver as Sauteurs, or Saulteaux, or Bun- 
 gays, because they had come to the West from 
 Sault Ste. Marie, thinking nothing of the hun- 
 dreds of miles of travel along the streams. They 
 were sometimes considered to be the gypsies of 
 the Bed men. It was they coming from the 
 lucid streams emptying into Lake Superior and 
 thence to Lake Winnipeg, who had called the 
 latter by its name "Win," cloudy or muddy, 
 and "nipiy" water. When the Colonists ar- 
 rived, the leading chief of the Chippewas, or 
 Saulteaux, was Peguis. He became at once 
 the friend of the white man, for he was always 
 a peaceful, kindly, old Ogemah, or Chieftain. 
 
 All the Indians were, at first, kindness itself 
 to the new comers, and they showed great will- 
 ingness to supply food to the hungry settlers, 
 and to assist them in transfer and in taking 
 possession of their own homes. 
 
 The Saulteaux Indians while active and help- 
 ful were really intruders among the Crees, a 
 great Indian nation, who in language and blood 
 were their relations. As proof of this the Crees
 
 22 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 at this time used horses on the plains. The 
 horse was an importation brought up the val- 
 leys from the Spaniards of Mexico. Seeing 
 his value as a beast of burden, more fit than 
 the dog which had been formerly used, they 
 coined the word * ' Mis-ta-tim, " or big dog as 
 the name for the horse. Their Chiefs were, 
 with their names translated into pronounceable 
 English, "the Premier," "the Black Robe," 
 "the Black Man," while seemingly Mache 
 Wheskab "the Noisy Man" represented the 
 Assiniboines. The Crees, so well represented 
 by their doughty Chiefs, are a sturdy race. 
 They adapt themselves readily enough to new 
 conditions. While the northern Indian tribes 
 met the Colonists, yet in after days, as had fre- 
 quently taken place in days preceding, bands of 
 Sioux or Dakotas, came on pilgrimages to the 
 Bed Eiver. Long ago when the French Captain 
 Verandrye voyaged to Lake of the Woods, his 
 son and others of his men, were attacked by 
 Sioux warriors, and the whole party of whites 
 was massacred in an Island on the Lake. The 
 writer in a later day, near Winnipeg, met on 
 the highway, a band of Sioux warriors, on 
 horse-back, with their bodies naked to the 
 waist, and painted with high color, in token of 
 the fact that they were on the warpath. On 
 occasion it was the habit of bands of Sioux to 
 find their way to the Bed River Valley, and
 
 The Earlier People. 23 
 
 the people did not feel at all safe, at their 
 hostile attitude, as they bore the name of the 
 "Tigers of the Plains." 
 
 With Saulteaux, Crees, Assiniboines, and 
 Sioux coming freely among them, the settlers 
 had at first a feeling of decided insecurity. 
 
 THE MONTREAL, MERCHANTS AND MEN. 
 
 But the fur trade paid too well to be left 
 alone by the Montrealers who knew of Veran- 
 drye's exploits on the Ottawa and the Upper 
 Lakes. When Canada became British, many 
 daring spirits hastened to it from New York 
 and New Jersey States. Montreal became the 
 home of many young men of Scottish families. 
 Some of their fathers had fled to the Colonies 
 after the Stuart Prince was defeated at Cullo- 
 den, and after the power of the Jacobites was 
 broken. Some of the young men of enterpris- 
 ing spirit were the sons of officers and men who 
 had fought in the Seven Years' War against 
 France and now came to claim their share of 
 the conqueror's spoils. Some men were of 
 Yankee origin, who with their proverbial 
 ability to see a good chance, came to what has 
 always been Canada's greatest city, on the 
 Island of Montreal. It was only half a dozen 
 years after Wolfe's great victory, that a great 
 Montreal trader, Alexander Henry, penetrated 
 the western lakes to Mackinaw the Island of 
 the Turtle, lying between Lakes Huron and
 
 24 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 Michigan. At Sault Ste. Marie, he fell in with 
 a most noted French Canadian, Trader Cadot, 
 who had married a Saulteur wife. He became 
 a power among the Indians. With Scottish 
 shrewdness Henry acquired from the Com- 
 mandant at Mackinaw the exclusive right to 
 trade on Lake Superior. He became a partner 
 of Cadot, and they made a voyage as Canadian 
 Argonauts, to bring back very rich cargoes of 
 fur. They even went up to the Saskatchewan 
 on Lake Winnipeg. After Henry, came an- 
 other Scotchman, Thomas Curry, and made so 
 successful a voyage that he reached the Sas- 
 katchewan River, and came back laden with 
 furs, so that he was now satisfied never to 
 have to go again to the Indian country. Short- 
 ly afterwards James Findlay, another son of 
 the heather, followed up the fur- traders' route, 
 and reached Saskatchewan. Thus the North- 
 west Fur Trade became the almost exclusive 
 possession of the Scottish Merchants of Mon- 
 treal. With the master must go the man. And 
 no man on the rivers of North America ever 
 equalled, in speed, in good temper, and in skill, 
 the French Canadian voyageur. Almost all the 
 Montreal merchants, the Forsythes, the Bich- 
 ardsons, the McTavishes, the Mackenzies, and 
 the McGillivrays, spoke the French as fluently 
 as they did their own language. Thus they 
 became magnetic leaders of the French canoe-
 
 Atalacoup 
 
 Osoup 
 
 Kakawistaha 
 FOUR CREE CHIEFS OF RUPERT'S LAND 
 
 Agent 
 
 Mistawasis
 
 The Earlier People. 25 
 
 men of the rivers. The voyageurs clung to 
 them with all the tenacity of a pointer on the 
 scent. There were Nolins, Falcons, Delormes, 
 Faribaults, Lalondes, Leroux, Trottiers, and 
 hundreds of others, that followed the route 
 until they became almost a part of the West 
 and retired in old age, to take up a spot on 
 some beautiful bay, or promontory, and never 
 to return to "Bas Canada. " Those from Mon- 
 treal to the north of Lake Superior were the 
 pork eaters, because they lived on dried pork, 
 those west of Lake Superior, "Couriers of the 
 Woods," and they fed on pemmican, the dried 
 flesh of the buffalo. They were mighty in 
 strength, daring in spirit, tractable in disposi- 
 tion, eagles in swiftness, but withal had the 
 simplicity of little children. They made short 
 the weary miles on the rivers by their smoking 
 "tabac" the time to smoke a pipe counting 
 a mile and by their merry songs, the "Fairy 
 Ducks" and "La Claire Fontaine," "Mal- 
 brouck has gone to the war," or "This is the 
 beautiful French Girl" ballads that they still 
 retained from the French of Louis XIV. They 
 were a jolly crew, full of superstitions of the 
 woods, and leaving behind them records of 
 daring, their names remain upon the rivers, 
 towns and cities of the Canadian and Ameri- 
 can Northwest. 
 
 Some thirty years before the arrival of the
 
 26 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 Colonists, the Montreal traders found it use- 
 ful to form a Company. This was called the 
 North- West Fur Company of Montreal. Hav- 
 ing taken large amounts out of the fur trade, 
 they became the leaders among the merchants 
 of Montreal. The Company had an energy and 
 ability that made them about the beginning: 
 of the nineteenth century the most influential 
 force in Canadian life. At Fort William and 
 Lachine their convivial meetings did some- 
 thing to make them forget the perils of the 
 rapids and whirlpools of the rivers, and the 
 bitterness of the piercing winds of the north- 
 western stretches. Familiarly they were known 
 as the " Nor '-Westers." Shortly before the be- 
 ginning of the century mentioned, a split took 
 place among the " Nor '-Westers," and as the 
 bales of merchandise of the old Company had 
 upon them the initials "N. W.," the new Com- 
 pany, as it was called, marked their packages 
 "XY," these being the following letters of the 
 alphabet. 
 
 Besides these mentioned there were a number 
 of independent merchants, or free traders. At 
 one time there were at the junction of the 
 Souris and Assiniboine Eivers, five establish- 
 ments, two of them being those of free traders 
 or independents. Among all these Companies 
 the commander of a Fort was called, "The 
 Bourgeois" to suit the French tongue of the
 
 The Earlier People. 27 
 
 men. He was naturally a man of no small 
 importance. 
 
 ''THE DUSKY RIDERS OP THE PLAINS." 
 
 But the conditions, in which both the traders 
 and the voyageurs lived, brought a disturbing 
 shadow over the wide plains of the North- West. 
 Now under British rule, the Fur trade from 
 Montreal became a settled industry. From 
 Curry's time (1766) they began to erect posts 
 or depots at important points to carry on their 
 trade. Around these posts the voyageurs built 
 a few cabins and this new centre of trade af- 
 forded a spot for the encampment near by of 
 the Indian teepees made of tanned skins. The 
 meeting of the savage and the civilized is ever 
 a contact of peril. Among the traders or of- 
 ficers of the Fur trade a custom grew up not 
 sanctioned by the decalogue but somewhat like 
 the German Morganatic marriage. It was called 
 "Marriage of the Country." By this in many 
 cases the trader married the Indian wife; she 
 bore children to him, and afterwards when he 
 retired from the country, she was given in real 
 marriage to some other voyageur, or other em- 
 ployee, or pensioned off. It is worthy of note 
 that many of these Indian women became most 
 true and affectionate spouses. With the voy- 
 ageurs and laborers the conditions were dif- 
 ferent. They could not leave the country, they
 
 28 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 had become a part of it, and their marriages 
 with the Indian women were bona fide. Thus 
 it was that during the space from the time of 
 Curry until the arrival of the Selkirk Colonists 
 upwards of forty years had elapsed, and around 
 the wide spread posts of the Fur Trading Com- 
 panies, especially around those of the prairie, 
 there had grown up families, which were half 
 French and half Indian, or half English and 
 half Indian. When it could be afforded these 
 children were sent for a time to Montreal, to 
 be educated, and came back to their native wilds. 
 On the plain between the Assiniboine and the 
 Saskatchewan, a half-breed community had 
 sprung up. From their dusky faces they took 
 the name " Bois-Brules, " or " Charcoal Faces," 
 or referring to their mixed blood, of " Metis," 
 or as exhibiting their importance, they sought 
 to be called "The New Nation." The blend of 
 French and Indian was in many respects a 
 natural one. Both are stalwart, active, mus- 
 cular; both are excitable, imaginative, ambi- 
 tious ; both are easily amused and devout. The 
 "Bois-Brules" growing up among the Indians 
 on the plains naturally possessed many of the 
 features of the Indian life.' The pursuit of 
 their fur-bearing animals was the only industry 
 of the country. The Bois-Brules from child- 
 hood were familiar with the Indian pony, knew 
 all his tricks and habits, began to ride with all
 
 The Earlier People. 29 
 
 the skill of a desert ranger, were familiar with 
 fire-arms, took part in the chase of the buffalo 
 on the plains, and were already trained to make 
 the attack as cavalry on buffalo herds, after 
 the Indian fashion, in the famous half-circle, 
 where they were to be so successful in their 
 later troubles, of which we shall speak. Such 
 men as the Grants, Findlays, Lapointes, Bel- 
 legardes, and Falcons were equally skilled in 
 managing the swift canoe, or scouring the 
 plains on the Indian ponies. We shall see the 
 part which this new element were to play in 
 the social life and even in the public concerns 
 of the prairies. 
 
 THE STATELY HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY. 
 
 The last of the elements to come into the val- 
 ley of the Bed River and to precede the Col- 
 onists, was the Hudson's Bay Company even 
 then, dating back its history almost a century 
 and a half. They were a dignified and wealthy 
 Company, reaching back to the times of easy- 
 going Charles II., who gave them their charter. 
 For a hundred years they lived in self-confi- 
 dence and prudence in their forts of Churchill 
 and York, on the shore of Hudson Bay. They 
 were even at times so inhospitable as to deal 
 with the Indians through an open window of 
 the fort. This was in striking contrast to the
 
 30 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 "Nor '-Wester" who trusted the Indians and 
 lived among them with the freest intercourse. 
 For the one hundred years spoken of, the In- 
 dians from the Eed River Country, the Sas- 
 katchewan, the Red River and Lake Winnipeg, 
 found their way by the water courses to the 
 shores of the Hudson Bay. But the enterprise 
 of the Montreal merchants in leaving their forts 
 and trading in the open with the Indians, pre- 
 vented the great fleets of canoes, from going 
 down with their furs, as they had once done 
 to Churchill and York. The English Company 
 felt the necessity of starting into the interior, 
 and so within six years of the time of the expe- 
 dition of Thomas Curry, appeared five hundred 
 miles inland from the Bay, and erected a fort 
 Fort Cumberland a few hundred yards from 
 the "Nor '-Westers' " Trading House, on the 
 Saskatchewan River. By degrees before the 
 end of the century almost every place of any 
 importance, in the fur-producing country, saw 
 the two rival forts built within a mile or two 
 of each other. Shortly before the end of the 
 18th Century, the "Nor '-Westers" came into 
 the Red River Valley and built one or two forts 
 near the 49th parallel, N. lat. the U. S. bound- 
 ary of to-day. But four years after the new 
 Century began, the "Nor '-Westers" decided to 
 occupy the "Forks" of the Red and Assiniboine 
 River, near where Verandrye 's Fort Rouge had
 
 The Earlier People. 31 
 
 been built some sixty years before. Evidently 
 both companies felt the conflict to be on, in 
 their eff orts to cover all importants parts, for 
 they called this Trading House Fort Gibral- 
 tar, whose name has a decided ring of the war- 
 like about it. It is not clear exactly where the 
 Hudson's Bay post was built, but it is said to 
 have rather faced the Assiniboine than the Bed 
 River, perhaps near where Notre Dame Avenue 
 East, or the Hudson's Bay stores is to-day. It 
 was probably built a few years after Fort Gib- 
 raltar, and was called "Fidler's Fort." By this 
 time, however, the Hudson's Bay Company, 
 working from their first post of Cumberland 
 House, pushed on to the Rocky Mountains to 
 engage in the Titanic struggle which they saw 
 lay ahead of them. One of their most active 
 agents, in occupying the Red River Valley, was 
 the Englishman Peter Fidler, who was the sur- 
 veyor of this district, the master of several 
 forts, and a man who ended his eventful career 
 by a will made providing that all of his funds 
 should be kept at interest until 1962, when 
 they should be divided, as his last chimerical 
 plan should direct. It thus came about that 
 when the Colonists arrived there were two Trad- 
 ers ' Houses, on the site of the City of Winnipeg 
 of to-day, within a mile of one another, one 
 representing a New World, and the other an 
 Old World type of mercantile life. It was plain
 
 32 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 that on the Plains of Eupert's Land there would 
 come a struggle for the possession of power, 
 if not for very existence.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 <4 A SCOTTISH DUEL." 
 
 Inasmuch as this tale is chiefly one of Scot- 
 tish and of Colonial life, the story of the move- 
 ment from Old Kildonan, on the German Ocean, 
 to New Kildonan, on the Western Prairies we 
 may be very sure, that it did not take place with- 
 out irritation and opposition and conflict. The 
 Scottish race, while possessing intense earnest- 
 ness and energy, often gains its ends by the 
 most thoroughgoing animosity. In this great 
 emigration movement, there were great new 
 world interests involved, and champions of the 
 rival parties concerned were two stalwart chief- 
 tains, of Scotland's best blood, both with great 
 powers of leadership and both backed up with 
 abundant means and strongest influence. It 
 was a duel indeed a fight, as old Sir Walter 
 Scott would say, "a 1'outrance" to the bitter 
 end. That the struggle was between two chief- 
 tains one a Lowlander, the other a Highlander, 
 did not count for much, for the Lowlander spoke 
 the Gaelic tongue and he was championing 
 the interest of Highland men.
 
 34 ' Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 i 
 
 The two men of mark were the Earl of Sel- 
 kirk and Sir Alexander Mackenzie. Before 
 showing the origin of the quarrel, it may be 
 well to take a glance at each of the men. 
 
 Thomas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, was the young- 
 est of seven sons, and was born in 1771. Though 
 he belonged to one of the oldest noble families, 
 of Scotland, yet when he went to Edinburgh, as 
 a fellow student of Sir Walter Scott, Clerk of 
 Eldon, and David Douglas, afterward Lord 
 Reston, it was with a view of making his own 
 way in the world, for there were older brothers 
 between him and the Earldom. He was a 
 young man of intense earnestness, capable of 
 living in an atmosphere of enthusiasm always 
 rather given indeed to take up and advocate 
 new schemes. There was in him the spirit of 
 service of his Douglas ancestors, of being un- 
 willing to "rust unburnished, " and he was 
 strong in will, "to strive, to seek, to find." 
 This gave the young Douglas a seeming rest- 
 lessness, and so he visited the Highlands and 
 learned the Gaelic tongue. He went to France 
 in the days of the French Revolution, and took 
 great interest in the Jacobin dreams of pro- 
 gress. The minor title of the House of Sel- 
 kirk was Daer, and so the young collegian saw 
 one Daer depart, then another, until at last he 
 held the title, becoming in 1799 Earl of Sel- 
 kirk and was confirmed as the master of the
 
 "A Scottish Duel" 35 
 
 beautiful St. Mary's Isle, near the mouth of 
 the Dee, on Solway Frith. On his visits to the 
 Highlands, it was not alone the Highland 
 straths and mountains, nor the Highland 
 Chieftain's absolute mastership of his clan, nor 
 was it the picturesque dress the" Garb of old 
 Gaul" which attracted him. The Earl of Sel- 
 kirk has been charged by those who knew little 
 of him with being a man of feudal instincts. 
 His temper was the exact opposite of this. 
 When he saw his Scottish fellow-countrymen 
 being driven out of their homes in Sutherland- 
 shire, and sent elsewhere to give way for sheep 
 farmers, and forest runs, and deer stalking, 
 it touched his heart, and his three Emigration 
 Movements, the last culminating in the Kil- 
 donan Colonists, showed not only what title and 
 means could do, but showed a kindly and com- 
 passionate heart beating under the starry 
 badge of Earldom. 
 
 Rather it was the case that the fur trading 
 oligarchy ensconced in the plains of the West, 
 could not understand the heart of a philan- 
 thropist of a man who could work for mere 
 humanity. Up till a few years ago it was the 
 fashion for even historians, being unable to 
 understand his motive and disposition, to speak 
 of him as a "kind hearted, but eccentric Scot- 
 tish nobleman." 
 
 Lord Selkirk's active mind led him into va-
 
 36 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 rious different spheres of human life. He 
 visited France and studied the problem of the 
 French Eevolution, and while sympathizing 
 with the struggle for liberty, was alienated as 
 were Wordsworth and hundreds of other 
 British writers and philanthropists, by the ex- 
 cesses of Eobespierre and his French compa- 
 triots. When the Napoleonic wars were at their 
 height, like a true patriot, Lord Selkirk wrote 
 a small work on the " System of National De- 
 fence," anticipating the Volunteer System of 
 the present day. But his keen mind sought 
 lines of activity as well as of theory. Seeing 
 his fellow-countrymen, as well as their Irish 
 neighbors, in distress and also desiring to keep 
 them under the British flag, he planned at his 
 own expense to carry out the Colonists to Amer- 
 ica. Even before this effort, reading Alexander 
 Mackenzie's great book of voyages detailing the 
 discoveries of the Mackenzie Eiver in its course 
 to the Arctic Sea, and also the first crossing 
 in northern latitudes of the mountains to the 
 Pacific Ocean he had applied (1802), to the 
 Imperial Government, for permission to take 
 a colony to the western extremity of Canada 
 upon the waters which fall into Lake Winni- 
 peg." This spot, "fertile and having a salu- 
 brious climate," he could reach by way of the 
 Nelson Eiver, running into Hudson Bay. The 
 British Government refused him the permis-
 
 "A Scottish Duel" 37 
 
 sion necessary. Lord Selkirk's first visit to 
 Canada was in the year 1803, in which his col- 
 ony was placed in Prince Edward Island. 
 Canada was a country very sparsely settled, 
 but it was then turning its eyes toward Britain, 
 with the hope of receiving more settlers, for it 
 had just seen settled in Upper Canada a 
 band of Glengarry Highlanders. Lord Selkirk 
 visited Canada by way of New York. To a 
 man of his imaginative disposition, the fur 
 trade appealed irresistibly. The picturesque 
 brigades of the voyageurs hieing away for the 
 summer up the Ottawa toward the land of which 
 Mackenzie had written, "the Nor '-Wester" 
 garb of capote and moccassin and snowshoe, 
 and the influence plainly given by this the only 
 renumerative industry of Montreal, caught his 
 fancy. Then as a British peer and a Scottish 
 Nobleman, the fun-loving but hard-headed 
 Scottish traders of Montreal took him to their 
 hearts. He met them at their convivial gath- 
 erings, he heard the chanson sung by voyageurs, 
 and the "habitant" caught his fancy. He was 
 only a little past thirty, and that Canadian 
 picture could never be effaced from his mind. 
 In after days, these "Lords of the North" 
 abused Lord Selkirk for spying out their trade, 
 for catching the secrets of their business which 
 were in the wind, and for making an undue use 
 of what they had disclosed to him. In this there
 
 38 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 was nothing. His schemes were afire in his own 
 mind long before, his Montreal experiences but 
 fanned the flame, and led him to send a few 
 Colonists to Upper Canada to the Settlement 
 to Baldoon. This settlement was, however, of 
 small account. 
 
 In 1808 though inactive he showed his bent by 
 buying up Hudson's Bay Company stock. Dur- 
 ing this time projects in agriculture, the condi- 
 tion of the poor, the safety of the country, and 
 the spread of civilization constantly occupied 
 his active mind. The Napoleonic war cut off the 
 vast cornfields of America from England, and 
 as a great historian shows was followed by a 
 terrible pauperization of the laboring classes. 
 
 There is no trace of a desire for aggrandize- 
 ment, for engaging in the fur trade, or for go- 
 ing a-field on plans of speculation in the mind 
 of Lord Selkirk. The feuds of the two branches 
 of the Montreal Fur traders the Old North- 
 west and the New Northwest which were ap- 
 parently healed in the year after the Coloniza- 
 tion of Prince Edward Island, were not ended 
 between the two factions of the united com- 
 pany led by McTavish called the Premier on 
 the one hand and Sir Alexander Mackenzie on 
 the other. 
 
 During these ten years of the century, the 
 Hudson's Bay Company had also established 
 rival posts all over the country. -The competi-
 
 "A Scottish Duel." 39 
 
 tion at times reached bloodshed, and financial 
 ruin was staring all branches of the fur trade 
 in the face. 
 
 It was the depressed condition of the fur 
 trade and the consequent drop in Hudson's 
 Bay Company shares that appealed to Lord Sel- 
 kirk, the man of many dreams and imaginations 
 and he saw the opportunity of finding a home 
 under the prairie skies for his hapless country- 
 men. It requires no detail here of how Lord 
 Selkirk bought a controlling interest in the 
 Hudson's Bay Company's stock, made out his 
 plans of Emigration, and took steps to send out 
 his hoped-for thousands or tens of thousands 
 of Highland crofters, or Irish peasants, who- 
 ever they might be, if they sought freedom 
 though bound up with hardship, hope instead 
 of a pauper's grave, the prospect of indepen- 
 dence of life and station in the new world in- 
 stead of penury and misery under impossible 
 conditions of life at home. Nor is it a matter 
 of moment to us, how the struggle began until 
 we have brought before our minds the stalwart 
 figure of Sir Alexander Mackenzie Lord Sel- 
 kirk's great protagonist. Like many a distin- 
 guished man who has made his mark in the 
 new world, and notably our great Lord Strath- 
 cona, who came as a mere lad to Canada, 
 Alexander Mackenzie, a stripling of sixteen, 
 arrived in Montreal to make his fortune. He
 
 40 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 was born as the Scottish people say of 
 "kenn't" of "well-to-do" folk in Stornoway, in 
 the Hebrides. He received a fair education and 
 as a boy had a liking for the sea. Two part- 
 ners, Gregory and McLeod, were fighting at 
 Montreal in opposition to the dominant firm of 
 McTavish and Frobisher. Young Alexander 
 Mackenzie joined this opposition. So great 
 was his aptitude, that boy as he was, he was 
 despatched West to lead an expedition to De- 
 troit. Soon he was pushed on to be a bourgeois, 
 and was appointed at the age of twenty-two to 
 go to the far West fur country of Athabasca, 
 the vast Northern country which was to be the 
 area of his discoveries and his fame. His en- 
 ergy and skill were amazing, although like 
 many of his class, he had to battle against 
 the envy of rivals. After completely planning 
 his expedition, he made a dash for the Arctic 
 Sea, by way of Mackenzie River, which he 
 first of white men descended, and which bears 
 his name. Finding his astronomical knowledge 
 defective, he took a year off, and in his native 
 land learned the use of the instruments needed 
 in exploration. After his return he ascended 
 the Peace Eiver, crossed the Eocky Mountains, 
 and on a rock on the shore of the Pacific Ocean 
 in British Columbia, inscribed with vermillion 
 and grease, in large letters, "Alexander Mac- 
 kenzie, from Canada, by land, the Twenty-
 
 "A Scottish Duel" 41 
 
 second of July, One Thousand Seven Hundred 
 and Nine ty- three. " That was his record as the 
 the first white man to cross North America, 
 north of Mexico. A few years afterwards he 
 received the honor of knighthood for his dis- 
 coveries. He gained much distinction as a 
 leader, though the great McTavish in his Com- 
 pany was never very friendly to him. At length 
 he retired, became a representative in the leg- 
 islature of Lower Canada, and was for a time 
 a travelling companion of the Duke of Kent. 
 With a desire for loftier station, he settled in 
 his native land, married the beautiful and 
 gifted daughter of the House of Seaforth, and 
 from her enjoyed the property of Avoch, near 
 Inverness. 
 
 Three years before the starting of Lord Sel- 
 kirk's Colonists and before his marriage with 
 Geddes Mackenzie, Sir Alexander took up his 
 abode in Scotland. He was the guardian of the 
 rights of the North- West Company and man- 
 fully he stood for them. 
 
 Mackenzie was startled when he heard in 
 1810 of Lord Selkirk's scheme to send his Col- 
 onists to Eed Eiver. This he thought to be 
 a plan of the Hudson's Bay Company, to re- 
 gain their failing prestige and to strike a blow 
 at the Nor '-Wester trade. To the fur trader 
 or the rancher, the incoming of the farmer is 
 ever obnoxious, The beaver and the mink de-
 
 42 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 sert the streams whenever the plowshare dis- 
 turbs the soil. The deer flee to their coverts, 
 the wolf and the fox are exterminated, and 
 even the nmskrat has a troubled existence when 
 the dog and cat, the domestic animals, make 
 their appearance. The proposed settlement is to 
 be opposed, and Lord Selkirk's plans thwarted 
 at any cost. Lord Selkirk had in the eyes of 
 the Nor '-Westers much presumption, indeed 
 nothing less than to buy out the great Hud- 
 son's Bay Company, which for a century and 
 a half had controlled nearly one-half of North 
 America. The Nor '-Westers Alexander Mac- 
 kenize, Inglis and Ellice made sport of the 
 thing as a dream. But the " eccentric Lord" 
 was buying up stock and majorities rule in 
 Companies as in the nation. Contempt and 
 abuse gave place to settled anxiety and in des- 
 peration at last the trio of opponents, two days 
 before the meeting, purchased 2,500 of stock, 
 not enough to appreciably affect the vote, but 
 enough to give them a footing in the Hudson's 
 Bay Company, and to secure information of 
 value to them. 
 
 The mill of destiny goes slowly round, and 
 Lord Selkirk and his friends are triumphant. 
 He purchases an enormous tract of land, 116,000 
 square miles, one-half in what is now the Por- 
 vince of Manitoba, the other at present included 
 in the States of Minnesota and North Dakota,
 
 "A Scottish Duel" 43 
 
 on the south side of the boundary line between 
 Canada and the United States. The Nor'- 
 Westers are frantic; but the fates are against 
 them. The duel has begun I Who will win? 
 Cunning and misrepresentation are to be em- 
 ployed to check the success of the Colony, and 
 also local opposition on the other side of the 
 Atlantic, should the scheme ever come to any- 
 thing. At present their hope is that it may 
 fall to pieces of its own weight. 
 
 Lord Selkirk's scheme is dazzling almost be- 
 yond belief. A territory is his, purchased out 
 and out, from the Hudson's Bay Company, 
 about four times the area of Scotland, his native 
 land, and the greater part of it fertile, with 
 the finest natural soil in the world, waiting for 
 the farmer to give a return in a single year af- 
 ter his arrival. A territory, not possessed by a 
 foreign people, but under the British flag! A 
 country yet to be the home of millions! It is 
 worth living to be able to plant such a tree, 
 which will shelter and bless future generations 
 of mankind. Financial loss he might have ; but 
 he would have fame as his reward.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 "ACROSS THE STORMY SEA." 
 
 Oh dreadful war 1 It is not only in the deadly 
 horror of battle, and in the pain and anguish 
 of men strong and hearty, done to death by 
 human hands. It is not only in the rotting 
 heap of horses and men, torn to pieces by 
 bullets and shell, and thrust together within 
 huge pits in one red burial blent. It is not only 
 in the helpless widow and her brood of dazed 
 and desolate children weeping over the news 
 that comes from the battlefield, that war be- 
 come so hideous. It is always, as it was in 
 the time of the Europe- shadowing Napoleon 
 when for twenty years the wheels of industry 
 in Britain were stopped. It is always the de- 
 rangement of business, the increased price of 
 food for the poor, the decay of trade, the cut- 
 ting off of supplies, and the stopping of works 
 of improvement that brings conditions which 
 make poverty so terrible. Rags! A bed of 
 straw; a crust of bread; the shattered roof; 
 the naked floor ; a deal table ; a broken chair ! A 
 writer whose boyhood saw the terror, and want,
 
 "Across the Stormy Sea." 45 
 
 and despair of the last decade of the Napoleonic 
 War, puts into the mouth of the victim of pov- 
 erty this terrible wail: 
 
 "But why do I talk of death! 
 
 That phantom of grizzly bone ; 
 I hardly fear his terrible shape 
 
 It seems so like my own; 
 It seems so like my own, 
 
 Because of the fasts I keep; 
 Oh God, that bread should be so dear 
 
 And flesh and blood so cheap ! ' ' 
 
 To the philanthropist or the benevolent sym- 
 pathiser like Lord Selkirk, who aims at bene- 
 fiting suffering humanity, it is not the trouble, 
 the self-sacrifice, or the spending of money in 
 relief that is the worry, but it is the bitterness, 
 the suspicion, the unworkableness, and the self- 
 ishness of the poverty-stricken themselves that 
 disturbs and distresses the benefactor's heart. 
 It is often too the heartlessness and prejudice 
 of those who oppose the benefactor's plans 
 that causes the generous man anxiety and even 
 at times despair. Poverty in its worst form 
 is a gaunt and ravenous beast, that bites the 
 hand of friend or foe that is stretched out to- 
 ward it. So Lord Selkirk found it, when he 
 undertook to help the poverty-stricken Celts of 
 the Scottish Highlands and of the West of 
 Ireland. He had the sympathising heart; he
 
 46 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 had the true vision; and he had as few others 
 of his time had, the power to plan, the inven- 
 tion to suggest, and the skill and pluck to over- 
 come difficulties, but the carrying out of his in- 
 tent brought him infinite trouble and sorrow. 
 His prospectus, offering the means to the pov- 
 erty-stricken people of reaching what he be- 
 lieved to be a home of ultimate plenty on the 
 banks of the Eed Eiver, was an entirely worthy 
 document. His first point is, that his Colonists 
 will be freemen. No religious tenet will be con- 
 sidered in their selection. This was even freer 
 that was that of Lord Baltimore's much- 
 vaunted Colony, on the Atlantic Coast, for Bal- 
 timore required that every Colonist should be- 
 lieve in the doctrine of the Trinity. Then, the 
 offer was to the landless and the penniless men. 
 Employment was to be supplied; work in the 
 employ of the Hudson's Bay Company, or free 
 grants of land to actual settlers, or even a sale 
 in fee simple of land for a mere nominal sum ; 
 free passages for the poor, reduced passages 
 for those who had small means, food provided 
 on the voyage, and the prospect of new world 
 advantages to all. 
 
 But the poor are timid, and they love even 
 their straw-thatched cottages, and it needs ac- 
 tive and decided men to press upon them the 
 advantages which are offered them. The Emi- 
 gration Agent is a necessity.
 
 "Across the Stormy Sea." 47 
 
 The fur traders' country was at this time well 
 known to many of the partners. It was by em- 
 ploying or consulting with some of these fur 
 traders that Lord Selkirk obtained a knowledge 
 of the Western land which he was to acquire. 
 Years before the Colony began Lord Selkirk 
 had been in correspondence with an officer who 
 belonged to a well known Catholic family of 
 Highlanders, the Macdonells, who had gone to 
 the Mohawk district in the United States before 
 the American Revolution, and had afterwards 
 come to Canada as U. E. Loyalists. One of 
 these, a man of standing and of executive ability 
 was Miles Macdonell. He had been an officer 
 of the King's Royal Regiment of New York, 
 and held the rank of Captain of the Canadian 
 Militia. This officer had a brother in the 
 North- West Fur Company, John Macdonell, 
 who, more than ten years before, had been 
 in the service of his Company on Red River 
 and whose Journal had no doubt fallen into the 
 hands of his brother Miles. He had written: 
 "From the Forks of the Assiniboine and Red 
 Rivers the plains are quite near the banks, and 
 so extensive that a man may travel to the 
 Rocky Mountains without passing a wood, a 
 mile long. The soil on the Red River and the 
 Assiniboine is generally a good soil, susceptible 
 of culture, and capable of bearing rich crops." 
 
 He goes on to state, "that the buffalo comes
 
 48 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 to the fords of the Assinboil, besides in these 
 rivers are plenty of sturgeon, catfish, goldeye*, 
 pike and whitefish the latter so common tin-it 
 men have been seen to catch thirty or forty 'a 
 piece while they smoked their pipes. ' ' To reach 
 this land of plenty, which his brother knew so 
 well, Miles Macdonell became the leader of 
 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. He arrived in Great 
 Britain in the year for the starting of the Col- 
 ony, and immediately as being a Eoman Cath- 
 olic in religion went to the West of Ireland 
 to recommend the Emigration scheme, obtain 
 subscriptions of stock, and to engage workmen 
 as Colonists. Glasgow was then, as now, the 
 centre of Scottish industry, and it is to Glas- 
 gow that the penniless Highlanders flock in 
 large numbers for work and residence. Here 
 was a suitable field for the Emigration Agent, 
 and accordingly one of their countrymen, Cap- 
 tain Roderick McDonald, was sent thither. The 
 way to Canada was long, the country unknown, 
 and it required all his persuasion and the power 
 of the Gaelic tongue an open Sesame to an 
 Highlander's heart to persuade many to join 
 the Colonists' bank. It required more. The 
 Highlander is a bargainer, as the Tourist in 
 the Scottish Highlands knows to this day. Cap- 
 tain Eoderick McDonald was compelled to 
 promise larger wages to clerks and laborers to 
 induce them to join. He secured less than half
 
 "Across the Stormy Sea." 49 
 
 an hundred men at Stornoway the trysting 
 place and the promises he had made of higher 
 wages were a bone of contention through the 
 whole voyage. 
 
 Perhaps the most effective agent obtained 
 by Lord Selkirk was a returned trader of the 
 Montreal merchants named Colin Robertson. 
 He had seen the whole western fur country, and 
 the fact that he had a grievance made him very 
 willing to join Lord Selkirk in his enterprise. 
 
 One of the Nor '-Westers in Saskatchewan a 
 few years before the beginning of Lord Sel- 
 kirk's Colony, was "Bras Croche," or crooked- 
 arm McDonald. He was of gentle Scottish 
 birth, but his own acquaintances declared that 
 he was of a "quarrelsome and pugnacious dis- 
 position." In his district Colin Robertson was 
 a * ' Bourgeois ' ' in charge of a station. A quarrel 
 between the two men resulted in Colin Robert- 
 son losing his position, and as we shall see he 
 became one of the most active and serviceable 
 men in the history of the Colony. Colin Rob- 
 ertson went among his countrymen in the Island 
 of Lewis and elsewhere. 
 
 And now as the time draws nigh for gather- 
 ing together at .a common port, the Stromness 
 (Orkney), the Glasgow, the Sligo and the Lewis 
 contingents to face the stormy sea and seek a 
 new untried home, a fierce storm breaks out 
 upon the land. Evidence accumulates that the
 
 50 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 heat and opposition of the "Nor '-West" part- 
 ners Sir Alexander Mackenzie, Inglis and El- 
 lice shown at the general meeting of the Com- 
 pany, were to break out in numberless hidden 
 and irritating efforts to stop and perhaps ren- 
 der impossible the whole Colonizing project. 
 
 Just as the active agents, Miles Macdonell, 
 Capt. McDonald and Colin Robertson, had set 
 the heather on fire on behalf of Lord Selkirk's 
 project, so the aid of the press was used to 
 throw doubt upon the enterprise. Inverness is 
 the Capital of the Highlanders, and so the "In- 
 verness Journal, ' ' containing an effusion signed 
 by "Highlander," was spread broadcast 
 through the Highlands, the Islands, and the 
 Orkneys, picturing the dangers of their jour- 
 ney, the hardships of the country, the deceitful- 
 ness of the agents, and the mercenary aims of 
 the noble promoter. 
 
 Before Miles Macdonell had cleared the coast 
 of England, he wrote to Lord Selkirk : ' ' Sir A. 
 (Mackenzie) has pledged himself as so decid- 
 edly opposed to this project that he will try 
 every means in his power to thwart it. Besides, 
 I am convinced he was no friend to your Lord- 
 ship before this came upon the carpet." 
 
 No doubt Miles Macdonell was correct, and 
 the two Scottish antagonists were face to face 
 in the conflict. We shall see the means supplied 
 by which the expedition will be harassed.
 
 " Across the Stormy Sea." 51 
 
 And now the enterprise is to be set on foot. 
 
 For nearly a century and a half the Hudson's 
 Bay Company ships have sailed yearly from the 
 Thames, and taken the goods of the London 
 merchants to the posts and forts of Hudson 
 Bay, carrying back rich returns of furs. Some- 
 times more than one a year has gone. In 1811 
 there was the Commodore's ship the "Prince 
 of Wales, ' ' with cabin accommodation and such 
 comforts as ships of that period supplied. A 
 second ship, the ' ' Eddystone, " chartered for 
 special service, accompanied her. These two 
 were intended to carry out employees and men 
 for the fur trade, as well as the goods. 
 
 It must not be forgotten that there was some 
 want of confidence between the trading side of 
 the Hudson's Bay Company and that which 
 Lord Selkirk represented, in the Colonizing en- 
 terprise. Also at this time the laws in regard to 
 the safety of vessels, the comfort of passengers, 
 or precautions for health were very lax. While 
 the records of emigration experiences of Brit- 
 ish settlers to Canada and the United States 
 are being recited by men and women yet living 
 in Canada, the want of resource and the neglect 
 of life and property by Governments and offi- 
 cials up until half a century ago are heart-sick- 
 ening. So the third ship of the fleet that was to 
 carry the first human freight of Manitoba 
 pioneers was the "Edward and Ann." She
 
 52 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 was a sorry craft, with old sails, ropes, etc., and 
 very badly manned. She had as a crew only 
 sixteen, including the captain, mates and three 
 small boys. It was a surprise to Miles Mac- 
 donell that the Company would charter and 
 send her out in such a state. The officers came 
 down to Gravesend from London and joined 
 their ships, and somewhere about the 25th of 
 June, 1811, they set sail from Sheerness on 
 their mission, which was to become historic 
 not so historic, perhaps, as the Mayflower but 
 still sufficiently important to deserve a centen- 
 nial celebration. 
 
 The fleet was, however, to take up its pas- 
 sengers after it had passed Duncansby Head, 
 on the north of Scotland. But the elements on 
 the North Sea were unpropitious. Sheerness 
 left behind, the trio of vessels had not passed 
 the coast of Norfolk before they were driven 
 into Yarmouth Harbor, and there for days they 
 lay held in by adverse winds. On July 2nd 
 they again started northward, when they were 
 compelled to return to Yarmouth. 
 
 In company they succeeded in reaching 
 Stromness, in the Orkney Isles, in about ten 
 days. Here the "Prince of Wales" remained 
 and her two companions sailed down to Storno- 
 way on the 17th. 
 
 And now, with the storms of the German 
 Ocean left behind, began the opposition of the
 
 "Across the Stormy Sea." 53 
 
 1 ' Nor '-Westers." The "Prince of Wales" 
 brought her contingent from the Orkneys, and 
 on July 25th Miles Macdonell writes that after 
 all the efforts put forth at all the points he had 
 125 Colonists and employees, and these were in 
 a most unsettled state of mind. 
 
 Some dispute the wages offered them. One 
 party from Galway had not arrived. Some are 
 irritated at not being in the quarter of the ship 
 which they desired, and some anxiety is evident 
 on the part of Miles Macdonell because large 
 advances of money have been given to a num- 
 ber and he fears that they may desert. The ex- 
 penses of assembling the settlers have been 
 very heavy, and now opposition appears. Sir 
 Alexander's party are doing their work. Mr. 
 Eeed, Collector of Customs at Stornoway, was 
 married to a niece of Sir Alexander Mackenzie, 
 and as collector he throws every obstacle in the 
 way of Macdonell. He has also taken pains to 
 stir up discontent in the minds of the Colonists 
 and to advise them not to embark. 
 
 Further trouble was caused by a Captain 
 Mackenzie called "a mean fellow" who 
 proved to be a son-in-law of the Collector of 
 Customs Eeed, and who went on board the 
 " Edward and Ann," recruited as soldiers some 
 of the settlers, himself handing them the en- 
 listing money and then seeking to compel them 
 to leave the ship with him. Afterwards, Cap-
 
 54 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 tain Mackenzie came on board the ' * Edward and 
 Ann" and claimed the new recruits, as desert- 
 ers from the army. The Customs officials also 
 boarded the emigrant ship and most officiously 
 proclaimed that if any emigrants were not sat- 
 isfied, or were not going of their own free will 
 then they might go ashore, and the scene as 
 described by Miles Macdonell may be imagined. 
 "Several said they were not willing, and many 
 went over the ship's side into Captain Mac- 
 kenzie's boat. One party ran away with the 
 ship's boat, but were brought back. One man 
 jumped into the sea, and swam for it until he 
 was picked up by the recruiting boat." The 
 Revenue Cutter's boat was likewise very active 
 in taking men away, and the collector took some 
 ashore in his boat with himself. A prominent 
 employee of the promoters of the expedition, 
 Mr. Moncrieff Blair, who posed as a gentleman, 
 deserted on July 25th, the day before the sail- 
 ing of the vessel. 
 
 No wonder that Miles Macdonell should write : 
 "My Lord, this is a most unfortunate business 
 * * * I condole with your Lordship on all these 
 cross accidents." 
 
 Thus amid annoyance, opposition, and dis- 
 couragement did the little fleet set sail, on July 
 26th, 1811. 
 
 But this time of Napoleonism in Europe af- 
 fected even the high seas. French cruisers
 
 "Across the Stormy Sea." 55 
 
 might seize the valuable cargoes being sent out 
 to York Factory. Accordingly a man-of-war 
 had been detailed to lead the way. This had 
 caused a part of the delay on the East Coast 
 of England, and when fairly away from the 
 British Isles and some four hundred miles 
 northwest of Ireland, the protecting ship 
 turned back, but the sea was so wild that not 
 even a letter could be handed to the Captain to 
 carry in a message to the promoter. 
 
 The journey continued to be boisterous, but 
 once within Hudson straits the weather turned 
 mild, and the great walls of rock reminded the 
 Highlanders of their Sutherlandshire West 
 Coast. 
 
 They saw no living being as they went 
 through the Strait. Their studies of human 
 nature were among themselves. Miles Mac- 
 donell reports that exclusive of the officers and 
 crews who embarked at Gravesend, there were 
 of laborers and writers one hundred and five 
 persons. 
 
 Of these there were fifty- three on the " Ed- 
 ward and Ann." Two men of especial note, 
 representing the clerical and medical profes- 
 sions were on board the Emigrant Ship. Father 
 Burke, a Eoman Catholic priest, who had come 
 away without the permission of his Bishop 
 was one. 
 
 Miles Macdonell did not like .him, but he
 
 56 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 seems to have been a hearty supporter of the 
 Emigration Scheme and promised to do great 
 things in Ireland on his return. 
 
 When he reached York Factory, Burke did 
 not leave the shore to follow the Colonists to 
 their homes on the banks of Eed Eiver. He 
 married two Scotch Presbyterians, and while 
 somewhat merry at times had amused the pas- 
 sengers on their dreary ocean journey. More 
 useful, however, to the passengers was Mr. 
 Edwards, the ship's doctor. 
 
 He had much opportunity for practising his 
 art, both among the Colonists and the em- 
 ployees. 
 
 At times Miles Macdonell endeavored on ship- 
 board to drill his future servants and settlers, 
 but he found them a very awkward squad not 
 one had ever handled a gun or musket. The 
 sea seemed generally too tempestuous in mood 
 for their evolutions. As the ships approached 
 York Factory the interest increased. The "Ed- 
 dystone" was detailed to sail to "Fort Church- 
 ill," but was unable to reach it and found her 
 way in the wake of the other vessels to York 
 Factory. It seemed as if the sea-divinities all 
 combined to fight against the Colonists, for 
 they did not reach York Factory, the winter 
 destination, until the 24th of September, hav- 
 ing taken sixty-one days on the voyage from 
 Stornoway, which was declared by the Hud-
 
 "Across the Stormy Sea." 57 
 
 son's Bay Company officers to be the longest 
 and latest passage ever known on Hudson Bay. 
 Then settlers and employees were all landed 
 on the point, near York Factory, and were shel- 
 tered meantime in tents, and as they stood on 
 the shore they saw on October 5th, the ships 
 that had brought them safely across the stormy 
 sea pass through a considerable amount of float- 
 ing ice on their homeward journey to London. 
 
 For one season at least the settlers will face 
 the rigor of this Northern Clime.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 A WINTER OF DISCONTENT. 
 
 The Emigrant ship has landed its living 
 freight at Fort Factory, upon the Coast of 
 Hudson Bay a shore unoccupied for hundreds 
 of miles except by a few Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany forts such as those at the mouth of the 
 Nelson Eiver, and of Fort Churchill, a hundred 
 miles or more farther north. It was now the 
 end of the season, and it will not do to trifle 
 with the nip of cold "Boreas" on the shore 
 of Hudson Bay. The icy winter is at hand, 
 and all know that they will face such tempera- 
 tures as they never had seen even among the 
 stormy Hebrides, or in the Northward Ork- 
 neys. Lord Selkirk's dreams are now to be 
 tested. Is the story of the Colony to be an epic 
 or a drama? 
 
 It was by no means the first experiment of 
 facing in an unprepared way the rigors of a 
 North American winter. 
 
 In the fourth year of the Seventeenth Cen- 
 tury De Monts, a French Colonizer, had a band 
 of his countrymen on Douchet's Island, in the
 
 A Winter of Discontent. 59 
 
 Ste. Croix River, on the borders of New Bruns- 
 wick. Though fairly well provided in some 
 ways yet the winter proved so trying that out 
 of the number of less than eighty, nearly one- 
 half died. The winter was so long, weary and 
 deadly, that in the spring the survivors of the 
 Colony were moved to Port Eoyal in Acadia 
 and the Ste. Croix was given up. This was 
 surely dramatic; this was tragic indeed. But 
 in the fourth year of this Century, the Tercen- 
 tenary of this event was celebrated in Anna- 
 polis and St. John, as the writer himself be- 
 held, and the shouts and applause of gathered 
 thousands made a great and patriotic epic. 
 
 Again four years after De Monts, when 
 knowledge of climate and conditions had be- 
 come known to the French pioneers, Samuel 
 de Champlain wintered with his crew and a 
 few settlers on the site of Old Quebec, on the 
 St. Lawrence. Discontent and dissension led 
 to rebellion, and blood was shed in the execution 
 of the plotters. Hunger, suffering and the 
 dreadful scurvy attacked the founder's party 
 of less than thirty, of whom only ten survived, 
 and yet in July of 1908, the writer witnessed 
 the grand Tercentenary celebration of Cham- 
 plain's settlement of Quebec, and with the 
 presence of the Prince of Wales, General Rob- 
 erts, the idol of the British Army, a joint fleet, 
 of eleven English, French and American first-
 
 60 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 class Men-of War, with pageantry and music, 
 the Epic of Champlain was sung at the foot of 
 the great statue erected to his memory. 
 
 In the Twentieth year of the Seventeenth 
 Century, a company of very sober folk, came 
 to the shore of the Atlantic Ocean in a trifling 
 little vessel the " Mayflower," and brought 
 about one hundred Immigrants from the British 
 Isles to Plymouth Eock to build up a refuge 
 and a home. What a mighty song of patriotism 
 will burst out when in a few years the United 
 States hold their Tercentenary of the landing 
 of the Pilgrim Fathers. 
 
 And so we see the first Selkirk Colonists 
 landed on the Hudson Bay numbering at the 
 outside seventy, a number not greatly different 
 from the French and Pilgrim Fathers and called 
 on to pass through similar trials in the severe 
 winter of Hudson Bay. Their experience has 
 been less tragic than that of the other parties 
 spoken of, but in it the same elements of dis- 
 comfort, dissension and disease certainly 
 present themselves. However distressing their 
 winter was, the dramatic conditions passed 
 away, in a short time we shall be engaged 
 in commemorating the patience and the hero- 
 ism of these settlers, and in 1912 we shall sing 
 a new song the epic of the Lord Selkirk 
 Colonists. 
 
 But to be true we must look more closely at
 
 A Winter of Discontent. 61 
 
 the trials, and sufferings of the untried, and 
 somewhat turbulent band, on their way to the 
 Red River. 
 
 York Factory as being the port of entry for 
 the southern prairie country was a place of some 
 importance. As in the largest number of cases, 
 other than a few huts for workmen, and a few 
 Indian families, the Fort was the only centre 
 of life in the whole region. Two rivers, the Nel- 
 son and the Hayes, enter the Hudson Bay at 
 this point the Nelson being the more northerly 
 of the two. Between the two rivers is really 
 a delta or low swampy tongue of land. On the 
 Nelson's north bank, the land near the Bay 
 is low, while inland there is a rising height. 
 Five or six different sites of forts are pointed 
 out at this point. These have been built on dur- 
 ing the history of the Company, which dates 
 back to 1670. In Lord Selkirk's time the fac- 
 tory was more than half a mile from the Bay 
 and lay between the two rivers. Miles Mac- 
 donell states that it was on "low, miry ground 
 without a ditch. ' ' The stagnant water by which 
 the post was surrounded would be productive 
 of much ill-health, were there a longer sum- 
 mer." The buildings of the Factory were also 
 badly planned, and badly constructed, so that 
 the Fort was unsuitable for quartering the Col- 
 onists. Besides this, Messrs. Cook and Auld, 
 the former Governor of York Factory, and the
 
 62 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 latter chief officer of Fort Churchill, having 
 the old Hudson's Bay Company's spirit of dis- 
 like of Colonists, decided that the new settlers, 
 being an innovation and an evil, should have 
 separate quarters built for them at a distance 
 from the Fort. 
 
 Poor Colonists! Miles Macdonell is wearied 
 with them in their complaining spirit, berates 
 them for indolence, and finds fault with their 
 awkwardness as workmen. To Macdonell, who 
 was a Canadian, accustomed as a soldier and 
 frontiersman to dealing with canoes, boats, and 
 every means of land transport, the sturdy, 
 steady going Orkneyman was slow and clumsy. 
 
 The inexperienced new settler thus gets 
 rather brusque treatment from the Colonial, 
 more a good deal than he deserves. 
 
 Accordingly it was decided to erect log dwel- 
 lings for the workmen and the settlers on the 
 higher ground north of the Nelson Eiver. Sev- 
 eral miles distant from the Factory itself, 
 Spruce trees of considerable size grew along 
 the river, and so all hands were put to work to 
 have huts or shanties erected to protect the Col- 
 onists from the severe cold of winter, which 
 would soon be upon them, although on October 
 5th Miles Macdonell wrote home to Lord Sel- 
 kirk: "The weather has been mild and pleas- 
 ant for some days past." 
 
 The erection of suitable houses, that is home-
 
 A Winter of Discontent. G3 
 
 ly on the exterior, but warm in the coldest wea- 
 ther, was superintended by Miles Macdonell 
 himself a Colonial and one aware of the pre- 
 cautions needing to be taken. 
 
 Amid all the troubles and complaints of the 
 winter there were none against the suitable- 
 ness of the log dwellings which were erected 
 on the chosen site to which was given the name, 
 "Nelson Encampment." Winter, however, came 
 in fiercely enough in November, although again 
 on the 29th of November, Macdonell writes to 
 Cook, Governor of the Factory: "A mild day 
 enables us to send a boat across the Nelson with 
 the Express. ' ' It was open water on the river. 
 
 Macdonell knew well that with the recent ar- 
 rivals from the Old Land, one of the greatest 
 dangers would be the weakening and dangerous 
 disease of scurvy. He had sought for supplies 
 of "Essence of Malt" and "Crystalized Salts of 
 Lemon," and at the beginning of December as 
 the people were living chiefly on salt provisions 
 and a short allowance of oatmeal the scurvy 
 made its appearance. Medical care was given 
 by Mr. Edwards and the disease was at once 
 met. However within a month one-third of 
 the Immigrants were thus afflicted and the fear 
 was that the malady would go through the 
 whole Encampment. But the remedy that 
 Champlain found so effective at Quebec the 
 juice of the Spruce tree, which grew in abun-
 
 64 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 dance around the Encampment checked the 
 disease, wherever the obstinacy of the settlers 
 did not prevent its use, for says Macdonell, 
 "It is not an easy matter to get the Orkney- 
 men to drink it, particularly the old hands." 
 A smouldering fire of discontent that had been 
 detected on board the ship on crossing the 
 ocean now broke out into a flame. The Irish 
 and the Orkneymen could not agree. In Feb- 
 ruary the vigilant leader Macdonell writes: 
 "The Irish displayed their native propensity 
 and prowess on the first night of the year, by 
 unmercifully beating some Orkneymen. Too 
 much strong drink was the chief incitement." 
 This antipathy continued to be a difficulty even 
 until the party arrived at Eed Eiver. 
 
 There are signs in his letters, of the con- 
 stant strain on Miles Macdonell arising from 
 the difficulties of his position and the wayward- 
 ness of the Immigrants. At times he consults 
 with the Hudson's Bay Company's officer, Mr. 
 Hillier, and at others thus unbosoms himself to 
 Messrs. Cook and Auld. "In this wild, deso- 
 late and (I may add) barren region, excluded 
 at present from all communication with the 
 civilized world, intelligence of a local kind can 
 alone be expected. Could we join in the sent- 
 inel's cry of ' All is well,' although not affording 
 great changes, it might yet be satisfactory in 
 our isolated condition. "We have as great variety
 
 A Winter of Discontent. 65 
 
 as generally happens in this sublunary world, 
 of which we here form a true epitome, being 
 composed of men of all countries, religions and 
 tongues." 
 
 Plainly Governor Macdonell feels his bur- 
 dens! However, the culmination of this of- 
 ficer's troubles did not reach him until a seri- 
 ous rebellion occurred among his subjects so 
 mixed and various. 
 
 A workman William Finlay presumably 
 an Orkneyman, who had been regularly em- 
 ployed by Miles Macdonell when the scurvy 
 was bad in Mr. Hillier's camp, refused to obey 
 the health regulations, his one objection being 
 to drink this spruce decoction. He was imme- 
 diately dropped from work. A few days af- 
 terward supposing the matter had blown over, 
 Macdonell ordered him to work again. Finlay 
 declined, whereupon, though under engagement 
 he refused to further obey Macdonell. The 
 Governor then brought him before Mr. Hillier, 
 who like himself, had been made a magistrate. 
 His breach of law in this, as in other matters 
 being brought against Finlay he was sentenced 
 to confinement. There being no prison at 
 York Factory it seemed dim cult to carry out 
 the sentence by his being simply confined with 
 his other companions in the men's quarters. 
 Accordingly the Governor ordered a single log 
 hut to be constructed, and this being done, in
 
 66 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 it the prisoner was confined. Not a day had 
 entirely passed when a rebellion arose among 
 some of his compatriots the Scottish contin- 
 gent from Orkney and Glasgow and a band 
 of thirteen of them surrounded the newly built 
 hut, set it on fire and as it went up in smoke 
 rescued the prisoner. 
 
 The men were arrested and were brought be- 
 fore Macdonell and Hillier, sitting as magis- 
 trates. This was about the end of February. 
 The rebels, however, defied the authorities, de- 
 parted carrying Finlay with them and get- 
 ting possession of a house took it defiantly for 
 their own use. During their remaining so- 
 journ at York Factory they subsisted on pro- 
 visions obtained at the Factory itself and car- 
 ried by themselves from the post to the encamp- 
 ment. Governor Macdonell, meantime, decided 
 to send these rebellious spirits home to Britain 
 for punishment, and not allow them to go on 
 to Bed River. 
 
 The possession by the rioters of some five or 
 six stand of firearms, was felt to be a menace 
 to the peace of the encampment. An effort 
 was made to obtain them by Macdonell, but 
 "the insurgents," as they were called, secreted 
 the arms and thus kept possession of them. In 
 June on the rebels being very bold and being 
 unable to get back across the Nelson River 
 from the Factory for a number of days, they
 
 A Winter of Discontent. 67 
 
 were forced by Mr. Auld, then at York Factory, 
 to give up their arms and submit or else have 
 their supplies from the Factory stopped. They 
 were thus compelled to submit and on the re- 
 ceipt of a note from Mr. Auld to Macdonell, 
 the latter wrote a joyful letter to Lord Sel- 
 kirk to the effect thaat the insurgents had at 
 length come to terms, acknowledged their guilt 
 and thrown themselves upon the mercy of the 
 Hudson's Bay Committee. 
 
 This surrender made it unnecessary to send 
 the body of rioters back to England for trial. 
 
 During the months of later winter Governor 
 Miles Macdonell was specially employed in 
 building boats for the journey up to Bed Eiver. 
 He introduced a style of boat used on the rivers 
 of New York, his native State. These, how- 
 ever, he complains, were very badly constructed 
 through the clumsiness and lack of skill of the 
 Colonists and Company employees, whom he 
 had ordered to build them. 
 
 Now on July fourth, 1812, Governor Mac- 
 donell, his Colonists, and the Hudson's Bay 
 officials Cook and Auld are all gazing wist- 
 fully up the Nelson and Hayes Rivers, and we 
 have the postscript to the last letter as found 
 in Miles Macdonell letter book, sent to Lord 
 Selkirk, reading, "Four Irishmen are to be 
 sent home ; Higgins and Hart, for the felonious 
 attack on the Orkneymen; William Gray, non-
 
 68 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 effective, and Hugh Redden, who lost his arm 
 by the bursting of a gun given him to fire off 
 by Mr. Brown, one of the Glasgow clerks." 
 (Signed) H. MacD. 
 
 The expedition left York Factory for the in- 
 terior on the 6th of July, 1812.
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 FIBST FOOT ON RED RIVER BANKS. 
 
 The weary winter passing at Nelson En- 
 campment had its bright spots. Miles Mac- 
 donell in the building erected for himself, on 
 the south side of the Nelson River, kept up 
 his mess, having with him Mr. Hillier, Priest 
 Bourke, Doctor Edwards, and Messrs. John 
 McLeod, Whitford and Michael Macdonell, of- 
 ficers and clerks. Those Immigrants who took 
 no part in the rebellion fared well. True, the 
 scurvy seized several of them, but proved 
 harmless to those who obeyed the orders and 
 took plentiful potations of spruce beer. With 
 the opening year a fair supply of fresh and 
 dried venison was supplied by the Indians. In 
 April upwards of thirty deer were snared or 
 shot by the settlers. Some three thousand deer 
 of several different kinds crossed the Nelson 
 Eiver within a month. ' ' Fresh venison, ' ' writes 
 Macdonell, "was so plenty that our men would 
 not taste salt meat. We have all got better since 
 we came to Hudson Bay." 
 
 But as in all far northern climates the heat
 
 70 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 was great in the months of May and June, and 
 Governor and Colonists became alike restless 
 to start on the inland journey. 
 
 The passing out of the ice in north-flowing 
 rivers is always wearisome for those who are 
 waiting to ascend. Beginning to melt farther 
 south, the ice at the mouth is always last to 
 move. Besides, the arrival was anxiously 
 awaited of Bird, Sinclair and House. By con- 
 tinuous urging of the dull and inefficient work- 
 men to greater effort, Miles Macdonell had suc- 
 ceeded in securing four boats none too well 
 built but commodious enough to carry his boat- 
 crews, workmen, and Colonists. 
 
 Though Macdonell sought for the selection of 
 the workmen who were to accompany him to 
 Red River, he was not able to move the Hud- 
 son's Bay Company officials. Two days, how- 
 ever, after arrival of the Company magnates 
 from the interior his men were secured to him, 
 and he was fully occupied in transporting his 
 stores up the river as far as the "Rock" the 
 rapids of the Hill River which here falls into 
 Hayes River. For a long distance up the river 
 there is a broad stream, one-quarter of a mile 
 wide, running at the rate of two miles an hour 
 through low banks. The boatmen have a good 
 steady pull up the river for some sixty miles, 
 and here where the Steel River enters the 
 Hayes is seen a wide, deep, rapid stream run-
 
 First Foot on Ked River Banks. 71 
 
 ning about three miles an hour. The banks of 
 this river are of clay and rising from fifty 
 to one hundred feet, the clay of the banks is so 
 smooth and white that a traveller has compared 
 them in color to the white, chalk cliffs of Dover. 
 Thus far though it has required exertion on the 
 part of the boatmen, a good stretch of a hun- 
 dred miles from the Factory has been passed 
 without any obstruction or delay. Now the seri- 
 ous work of the journey begins. The Hill River, 
 as this part of the river is called, is a series 
 of rapids and portages where the cargo and 
 boat have both to be carried around a rapid ; of 
 decharges where the cargo has thus to be car- 
 ried, and of semi-decharges where a portion 
 of the cargo only needs to be removed. 
 
 At times waterfalls require to be circuited 
 with great effort. A high mountain or elevated 
 table-land seen from this river shows the rough 
 country of which these cascades and rapids are 
 the proof. Here are the White-Mud Falls and 
 other smaller cataracts. To the expert voy- 
 ageur such a river has no terrors, but to the 
 raw-hand the management of such boats is a 
 most toilsome work. The birch-bark canoe is 
 a mere trifle on the portage, but the heavy 
 York boat capable of carrying three or four tons 
 is a clumsy lugger. The cargo must be moved, 
 the non-effectives such as the women and chil- 
 dren and the old men must trudge the weary
 
 72 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 path, varying from a few hundred yards to sev- 
 eral miles along a rocky, steep and rugged way. 
 When the portage is made the whole force of 
 boatmen and able-bodied passengers are re- 
 quired to stand by each boat, pull it out of the 
 water, and then skid or drag or cajole it along 
 till it is thrust into its native element again. 
 To the willing crofter or Orkney boatmen this 
 was not a great task, but to the Glasgow immi- 
 grant, or the lazy waiter on fortune this was 
 hard work. Many were the oaths of the of- 
 ficers and the complaints and objections of the 
 men when they were required to grapple with 
 the foaming cascades, the fearful rapids and the 
 difficult portages of Hill Eiver. Mossy Portage 
 being now past the landing on a rocky island 
 at the head of the river showed that the first 
 ''Hill Difficulty" had been overcome. 
 
 Swampy lake for ten miles gives a compara 
 tive rest to the toiling crews, but at the end of 
 it a short portage passed takes the beleagured 
 party into the mouth of the Jack Tent Eiver, 
 Day after day with sound sleep when the mos- 
 quitoes would permit, the unwilling voyageurs 
 continued their journey. Ten portages have to 
 be faced and overcome as the brigade ascends 
 the rapid Jack Tent Eiver, covering a stretch 
 of seventy miles. The party now find them- 
 selves on the surface of Knee Lake, a consider- 
 able sheet of water, but a comparative rest after
 
 First Foot on Red River Banks. 73 
 
 the trials of Jack Tent Eiver. The lake is fifty- 
 six miles long and at times widens to ten miles 
 across. 
 
 But there is trouble just ahead. 
 
 The travellers have now come to the cele- 
 brated Fall Portage. It is short but deterrent. 
 The height and ruggedness of the rocks over 
 which cargo and boats have to be dragged are 
 unusually forbidding. The only consolation to 
 the contemplative soul, who does not have to 
 portage, is that "The stream is turbulent and 
 unfriendly in the extreme, but in romantic va- 
 riety, and in natural beauty nothing can exceed 
 this picture." High rocks are seen, beetling 
 over the rapids like towers, and are rent into 
 the most diversified forms, gay with various col- 
 ored masses, or shaded by overhanging hills 
 now there is a tranquil pool lying like a sheet 
 of silver now the dash and foam of a cataract 
 these are but parts of this picturesque and 
 striking scene. 
 
 But Fall Portage was only a culmination, in 
 this fiercely rushing Trout Eiver, for above it 
 a dozen rapids are to be passed with toilsome 
 energy. After this the party is rewarded with 
 beautiful islets, and the lake for a length of 
 thirty-five miles lies in a fertile tract of country. 
 It was formerly appropriately called Holy Lake, 
 and as a summit lake suggests to the traveller 
 abiding restfulness. To the traders on their
 
 74 
 
 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 route whether passing up or down the water 
 courses, it was always so. After the long and 
 tedious voyaging it was their Elysium. Not 
 only are the sweet surroundings of the lake 
 
 ANDREW MCDERMOTT, ESQ. 
 
 Greatest Merchant of the Red River Settlement. 
 Came to Red River Settlement in 1813. Died in Winnipeg in 1881. 
 
 most charming, but the Indians of the neighbor- 
 hood have always been noted for their good 
 character, their docility and their industry. 
 A short delay at Oxford House led to the con-
 
 First Foot on Red River Banks. 75 
 
 tinuation of the journey over what was now the 
 roughest, most desolate, and most trying part of 
 the voyage. On this rough passage, perhaps 
 the most distressing spot was " Windy Lake," 
 a small but tempestuous sheet. The voyageurs 
 declare that they never cross "Lac de Vent" 
 without encountering high winds and very often 
 dangerous storms. Again "the Keal Hill 
 Difficulty" is encountered above the lake at the 
 "Big Hill" portage and rapids one of the sud- 
 den descents of this alarming stream. Those 
 coming toward Oxford Lake run it at the very 
 risk of their lives, but the painful portages im- 
 press themselves on all going up the ' * Height of 
 Land," which is reached after passing through 
 a narrow gorge between hills and mountains 
 of rocks, the stream dashing headlong down 
 from the mile-long Robinson Portage. 
 
 This region is an elevated, rugged waste, with 
 no signs of animal life about it. It is the terror 
 of the voyageurs. This eerie tract culminates 
 in the ascending "Haute de Terre," as the 
 French call it the dividing ridge between the 
 waters running eastward to Hudson Bay and 
 those running westward and descending to meet 
 the Nelson River, on its headlong way to Hud- 
 son Bay as well. The obstacle known as the 
 "Painted Stone" being passed the Colonists' 
 brigade was now on its way to the inland plain 
 of the Continent.
 
 76 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 The portage led from this string of five 
 small lakes to the head waters of a trifling, but 
 very interesting stream called the "Echimamish 
 River. ' ' A doubtful but curious explanation has 
 been given of the name. On the stream are 
 ten beaver dams ; which ever of these filled first 
 gave the voyageur the opportunity to launch 
 in his canoe or boat and go down the little run- 
 way to Black Water Creek. It was said that in 
 consequence it was called "Each-a-Man's" 
 brook, according as each voyageur took the wa- 
 ter with his craft first. The way was now clear, 
 down stream until shortly was seen the dash- 
 ing Nelson Eiver, or as it is here called, "The 
 Sea Eiver." When this was accomplished the 
 Immigrants had only to pull stoutly up stream 
 for forty miles or more until Norway House, the 
 great Hudson's Bay Fort at the north end of 
 Lake Winnipeg was reached. 
 
 The weary journey 430 miles from York 
 Factory was thus over and the worn out, wea- 
 ther beaten, ragged, and foot-sore travellers had 
 come to the lake, whose name, other than that 
 of Red River, was the only inland word they 
 had ever heard of before starting on their 
 journey. 
 
 It was the first standing place in the country, 
 which was now to have them as its pioneers. 
 
 There is no turning back now. The Rubicon 
 is crossed. Thirty-seven portages lie between
 
 First Foot on Red River Banks. 77 
 
 them and the dissociable sea. For better or for 
 worse they will now complete their journey, go- 
 ing on to found the Settlement which has be- 
 come so famous. 
 
 The appearance of Norway House with its 
 fine site and evidences of trade cheered the Col- 
 onists, and the sight of a body of water like 
 Lake Winnipeg, which can be as boisterous as 
 the ocean, brought back the loud resounding 
 sea by whose swishing waves most of the set- 
 tlers, for all their lives, had been lulled to sleep. 
 It is a great stormy and dangerous lake Lake 
 Winnipeg. But for boats to creep along^ its 
 shore with the liberty of landing on its sloping 
 banks in case of need it is safe enough. The 
 season was well past, and haste was needed, 
 but in due time the mouth of the river 
 the delta of Bed River was reached. 
 Now they were within forty or forty-five miles 
 of their destination. At this time the banks 
 of the Red River were well wooded, though 
 there was open grassy plains lying be- 
 hind these belts of forest. There was only one 
 obstruction on their way up the river. This 
 was the "Deer," now St. Andrew's Rapids, 
 but after their experiences this was nothing, for 
 these rapids were easily overcome by track- 
 ing, that is, by dragging the boats by a line 
 up the bank. 
 
 Up the river they came and rounded what
 
 78 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 we now call Point Douglas, in the City of Win- 
 nipeg, a name afterwards given to mark Lord 
 Selkirk's family name. They had completed a 
 journey of seven hundred and twenty-eight 
 miles, from York Factory to the site of Winni- 
 peg and they had done this in fifty-five days. 
 Now they landed. 
 
 THE RED LETTEE DAY OF THEIR LANDING WAS AUGUST 
 30TH, 1812. 
 
 At York Factory the Colonists had met a 
 Hudson's Bay Company officer Peter Fidler 
 on his way to England. He was the' surveyor 
 of the Company and a map of the Colony of 
 which a copy is given by us marks the Colony 
 Gardens, where Governor Miles Macdonell 
 lived. This spot they chose, and the locality 
 at the foot of Rupert Street is marked in the 
 City of Winnipeg. A stone's throw further 
 north along the bank of Bed River, Fort Doug- 
 las was afterwards built, around which circles 
 much of this Romantic Settlement Story. 
 
 This spot was the centre of the First Settle- 
 ment of Rupert's Land and to this first party 
 peculiar interest attaches. 
 
 There can only be one Columbus among all 
 the navigators who crossed from Europe to 
 America ; there can only be one Watt among all 
 the inventors and improvers of the steam en- 
 gine; only one Newton among those who dis-
 
 First Foot on Red River Banks. 79 
 
 cuss the great discovery of the basal law of 
 gravitation. 
 
 There can be only one first party of those who 
 laid the foundation of collective family life in 
 what is now the Province of Manitoba and 
 what is wider in the great Western Canada of 
 to-day. There may have been not many wise 
 men, not many mighty, not many noble among 
 them, but the long and stormy voyage which 
 they made, the dangers they endured on the sea, 
 the marvellous land journey they accomplished, 
 and their taking "seisin of the land," to use 
 William the Conqueror's phrase, entitles them 
 to recognition and to respectful memory.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Pioneering to-day is not so serious a matter 
 as it once was. To the frontiers' man now it 
 involves little risk, and little thought, to dispose 
 of his holding, and make a dash further West 
 for two or three hundreds of miles across the 
 plains. When he wishes more land for his 
 growing sons, he " sells out," fits up his com- 
 modious covered wagon, called "the prairie 
 schooner," and with implements, supplies, cat- 
 tle and horses, starts on the Western "trail." 
 His wife and children are in high spirits. When 
 a running stream or spring is reached on the 
 way he stops and camps. His journey taken 
 when the weather is fine and when the mosqui- 
 toes are gone is a diversion. The writer has 
 seen a family which went through this gypsy- 
 like "moving" no less than four times. At 
 length the settler finds his location, has it reg- 
 istered in the nearest Land Office and calls it 
 his. With ready axes the farmer and his sons 
 cut down the logs which are to make their dwel- 
 ling. The children explore the new farm lying
 
 "Three Desperate Years." 81 
 
 covered with its velvet sod, as it has done for 
 centuries ; they gather its flowers, pluck its wild 
 fruits, chase its wild ducks or grouse or go- 
 phers. Health and homely fare make life en- 
 joyable. Subject to the incidents and interrup- 
 tions of every day, which follow humanity, it 
 seems to them a continual picnic. 
 
 But how different was the fate of the worn- 
 out Selkirk Colonists. The memory of a 
 wretched sea voyage, of a long and dreary win- 
 ter at Nelson Encampment, and of a fifty-five 
 days' journey of constant hardship along the 
 fur traders' route were impressed upon their 
 minds. The thought of fierce rivers and the 
 dangers of portage and cascade still haunted 
 them, and now everything on the banks of Red 
 River was strange. On their arrival the flowers 
 were blooming, but they were prairie flowers, 
 and unknown to them. The small Colony houses 
 which they were to occupy would be uncomfor- 
 table. The very sun in the sky seemed alien to 
 them, for the Highland drizzle was seen no 
 more. The days were bright, the weather warm, 
 the nights cool, and there was an occasional 
 August thunderstorm, or hailstorm which 
 alarmed them. The traders, the Indians, the 
 half-breed trappers, and runners were all new 
 to them. Their Gaelic language, which they 
 claimed as that of Eden, was of little value to 
 them except where an occasional company-ser-
 
 82 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 vant chanced to be a countryman of their own. 
 They were without money, they were dependent 
 upon Lord Selkirk's agents for shelter and 
 rations. The land which they hoped to possess 
 was there awaiting them, but they had no means 
 for purchasing implements, nor were the farm- 
 ing requisites to be found in the country. Horses 
 there were, but there were only two or three in- 
 dividual cattle within five hundred miles of 
 them. 
 
 If they had sung on their sorrowful leaving, 
 "Lochaber no more," the words were now 
 turned by their depressed Highland natures 
 into a wail, and they sang in the words of their 
 old Psalms of "Rouse's" version: 
 
 "By Babel's streams we sat and wept, 
 When Zion we thought on. ' ' 
 
 They thought of their crofts and clachans, 
 where if the land was stingy, the gift of the 
 sea was at hand to supply abundant food. 
 
 But this was no time for sighs or regrets. 
 
 The Hudson's Bay traders from Brandon 
 House were waiting for expected goods, and 
 Messrs. Hillier and Heney, who were the Hud- 
 son's Bay Company officers for the East Win- 
 nipeg District, had arduous duties ahead of 
 them. But though the orders to prepare for 
 the Colonists had been sent on in good time,
 
 "Three Desperate Years." 83 
 
 there was not a single bag of pemmican or any 
 other article of provision awaiting the hapless 
 settlers. The few French people who were free- 
 men, lived in what is now the St. Boniface side 
 of the river, were only living from hand to 
 mouth, and the Company's people were little 
 better provided. The river was the only 
 resource, and from the scarceness of hooks the 
 supply of fish obtainable was rather scanty. 
 
 As the Colonists and their leader were 
 strangers they desired leisure to select a suit- 
 able location for their buildings. For the time 
 being their camp was at the Forks, on the east 
 side of the river, a little north of the mouth of 
 the Assiniboine. 
 
 The Governor, Miles Macdonell, on the 4th 
 of September, summoned three of the North- 
 West Company gentlemen, the free Canadians 
 beside whom they were encamped, and a number 
 of the Indians to a spectacle similar to that 
 enacted by St. Lawson, at Sault Ste. Marie, 
 nearly a hundred and fifty years before. The 
 Nor '-Westers had not permitted their em- 
 ployees to cross the river. Facing, as he did, 
 Fort Gibraltar, across the river, the Governor 
 directed the patent of Lord Selkirk to his vast 
 concession to be read, "delivering and seizin 
 were formally taken," and Mr. Heney trans- 
 lated some part of the Patent into French for
 
 84 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 the information of the French Canadians. 
 There was an officers ' guard under arms ; colors 
 were flying and after the reading of the Patent 
 all the artillery belonging to Lord Selkirk, as 
 well as that of the Hudson's Bay Company, 
 under Mr. Hillier, consisting of six swivel 
 guns, were discharged in a grand salute. 
 
 At the close of the ceremony the gentlemen 
 were invited to the Governor's tent, and a keg 
 of spirits was turned out for the people. 
 
 Having made such disposition as we shall 
 see of the people, Governor Macdonell went 
 with a boat's crew down the river to make a 
 choice of a place of settlement for the Colonists. 
 A bull and cow and winter wheat had been 
 brought with the party, and these were taken 
 to a spot selected after a three days' thorough 
 investigation of both banks of the river for 
 some miles below the Forks. The place found 
 most eligible was "an extensive point of land 
 through which fire had run and destroyed the 
 wood, there being only burnt wood and weeds 
 left." This was afterwards called Point 
 Douglas. 
 
 He had, as we shall see, dispatched the set- 
 tlers to their wintering place up the Bed River 
 on the 6th of September, and set some half- 
 dozen men, who were to stay at the Forks, to 
 work clearing the ground for sowing winter
 
 "Three Desperate Years." 85 
 
 wheat. An officer was left with the men to 
 trade with Indians for fish and meat for the 
 support of the workers. 
 
 The winter, which is sharp, crisp and decided 
 in all of Eupert's Land, was approaching, so 
 that their situation began to be desperate. 
 
 Governor Macdonell's chief care was for the 
 safety and comfort during the winter of his 
 helpless Colonists. 
 
 Sixty miles up the Bed River from the Forks 
 was a settlement of native people chiefly 
 French half-breeds and to this place called 
 Pembina came in the buffaloes, or if not they 
 were easily reached from this settlement. But 
 the poor Scottish settlers had no means of tran- 
 sport, and the way seemed long and desolate 
 to them to venture upon, unaccompanied and 
 unhelped. Governor Macdonell did his best for 
 them, and succeeded in inducing the Saulteaux 
 Indians, who seemed friendly, to guide and pro- 
 tect them as they sought Pembina for winter 
 quarters. 
 
 The Indians had a few ponies and mounted 
 on these they undertook to conduct the settlers 
 to their destination. The caravan was gro- 
 tesquely comical as it departed southward. The 
 Indians upon their "Shaganappi ponies," as 
 they are called, like mounted guards protecting 
 the men, women and children of the Colony who 
 trudged wearily on foot. The Indians were kind
 
 86 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 to their charge, but the Eedman loves a joke, 
 and often indulges in " horse-play. " The de- 
 mure Highlander looked unmoved upon the In- 
 dian pranks. The Indians also hold everything 
 they possess on a loose tenure. The Highlander 
 who was forced to surrender the gun, which his 
 father had carried at the battle of Culloden, 
 failed to see the humour of the affair, and the 
 Highland woman who was compelled to give up 
 her gold marriage ring, because some prairie 
 brave wanted it, was unable to see the ethics of 
 the Saulteaux guide who robbed her. The wo- 
 men became very weary of their journey, but 
 their mounted guardians only laughed, because 
 they were in the habit on their long marches of 
 treating their own squaws in the same manner. 
 To Pembina at length they came worn out, 
 dusly and despondent. Here they erected tents 
 or built huts. The settlers reached Pembina 
 on the llth of September, and Macdonell and 
 an escort of three men, all on horseback, arrived 
 on the 12th. Arrived at Pembina Macdonell 
 examined the ground carefully, and selected the 
 point on the south side of the Pembina River 
 at its juncture with the Bed Eiver as a site for 
 a fort. His men immediately camped here. 
 Great quantities of buffalo meat were brought 
 in by the French Canadians and Indians. Some 
 of this was sent down to the Forks to the party 
 which had remained to built a hut at that point
 
 "Three Desperate Years." 87 
 
 for stores. At Pembina a storehouse was built 
 immediately, and having given directions to 
 erect several other buildings, the Governor 
 returned by boat to the Forks. On the 27th of 
 October Owen Keveny, in charge of the second 
 detachment of Colonists, arrived with his party, 
 largely of Irishmen. These men were taken on 
 to Pembina. After great activity the buildings 
 were ready by the 21st of November to house 
 the whole of the two parties now united in one 
 band of Colonists. The Governor and officers' 
 quarters were finished on December 27th. 
 Macdonell reports to Lord Selkirk that "as 
 soon as the place at Pembina took some form 
 and a decent flagstaff was erected on it, it was 
 called Fort Daer. " It is said that in most years 
 the buffaloes were very numerous and so tame 
 that they came to the Trader's Fort and rubbed 
 their backs upon its stockaded enclosure. 
 There was this year plenty of buffalo meat and 
 the Scotch women soon learned to cook it into 
 * ' Kubaboo, " or ' ' Rowschow, ' ' after the manner 
 of the French half-breeds. Toward spring food 
 was scarcer. 
 
 In May the winterers of Pembina returned to 
 their settlement at the Colony. They sought 
 to begin the cultivation of their farms, but they 
 were helpless. The tough prairie sod had to 
 be broken up and worked over, but the only im- 
 plement which the Colonist had to use was a
 
 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 simple hoe, the one harrow being incomplete. 
 The crofters were poor farmers, for they 
 were rather fishermen. But the fish in Red 
 River were scarce in this year, so that even 
 
 HON. DONALD GUNN 
 
 Schoolmaster, Naturalist and Legislator. 
 York Factory, 1813 ; Red River, 1823 ; Died at Little Britain, 1878. 
 
 the fisher's art which they knew was of lit- 
 tle avail to them. The summer of 1813 was 
 thus what the old settlers would call an "Off- 
 Year," for even the small fruits on the plains
 
 "Three Desperate Years." 89 
 
 were far from abundant. These being scarce, 
 the chief food of the settlers for all that sum- 
 mer through was the ''Prairie turnip." This 
 is a variety of the pea family, known as the As- 
 tragalus esculenta, which with its large tap- 
 root grows quite abundantly on the dry plains. 
 An old-time trader, who was lost for forty days 
 and only able to get the Prairie turnip, prac- 
 tically subsisted in this way. Along with this 
 the settlers gathered quantities of a very succu- 
 lent weed known as "fat-hen," and so were 
 kept alive. The Colonists knowing now what 
 the soil could produce obtained small quanti- 
 ties of grain and even with their defective means 
 of cultivation, in the next year demonstrated 
 the fertility of the soil of the country. 
 
 It was somewhat distressing to the Colonists 
 again in 1813 to make the journey of sixty miles 
 to Pembina, trudging along the prairie trail, 
 but there was no other resource. The treatment 
 of the Colonists by the "Nor '-Westers" had not 
 thus far been unfriendly and the Canadian trad- 
 ers had even imported a few cattle, pigs, and 
 poultry for the use of the settlers, and for these 
 favors Governor Macdonell expressed his 
 hearty thanks to the Montreal Company. The 
 fatigues and mishaps of the journey to Pem- 
 bina were, however, only the beginning of 
 trouble for the winter. The reception by the 
 French half-breed residents of Pembina was
 
 90 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 not now so friendly as that of the previous 
 winter. At first the Nor '-Wester feeling had 
 been one of contempt for the Colonists and 
 pity for them in their hunger and miseries. 
 The building of Fort Daer was an evidence of 
 occupation that caused the jealous Canadian 
 pioneers to pause. The reception of the second 
 season was thus decidedly cool. The strug- 
 gling settlers found before the winter was over 
 that troubles come in troops. Very heavy 
 snows fell in the winter of 1813-14. This brought 
 two difficulties. It prevented the buffaloes com- 
 ing freely from the open plains into the rivers 
 and sheltered spots. The buffalo being a heavy 
 animal is helpless in the snow. The other dif- 
 ficulty was that the settlers could not go on the 
 chase with freedom. Unfortunately the Col- 
 onists were not able to use the snowshoe as 
 could the lively Metis. The settlers well nigh 
 perished in seeking the camp whither the na- 
 tive hunters had gone to follow the buffalo. In- 
 deed the Colonists had the conviction that a 
 plot to murder two of their most active leaders 
 was laid by the French half-breeds whose sym- 
 pathies were all with the " Nor '-Westers." 
 
 The climax of feeling was reached when Gov- 
 ernor Macdonell, who was with the Colonists 
 at Pembina, issued a most unwise proclamation, 
 which to the Nor '-Westers seemed an illegality 
 if not an impertinence. Dependent as the set-
 
 "Three Desperate Years." 91 
 
 tiers were on the older Company for supplies 
 and assistance this was nothing less than an 
 act of madness. 
 
 By proclamation, on the 8th of January, 1814, 
 Macdonell forbade any traders of "The Hon- 
 orable Hudson's Bay Company, the North- 
 West Company, or any individual or uncon- 
 nected trader whatever to take out any pro- 
 visions, either of flesh, grain or vegetables, 
 from the country. 
 
 The embargo was complete. 
 
 In Governor Macdonell 's defence it should 
 be said that he offered to pay by British bills 
 for all the provisions taken, at customary rates. 
 
 This assertion of sovereignty set on fire the 
 Nor '-Westers and their sympathizers. 
 
 Not only was this extreme step taken, but 
 John Spencer, a subordinate of Macdonell was 
 sent west to Brandon House, found an en- 
 trance into the North-West Fort at the mouth 
 of the Souris River and seizing some twenty- 
 five tons of dry buffalo meat took it into his 
 own fort. 
 
 It is quite true that Governor Macdonell ex- 
 pected new bands of Colonists and thus justi- 
 fied himself in his seizure. It is to the credit 
 of the Nor '-Westers that they restrained them- 
 selves and avoided a general conflict, but evi- 
 dently they only bided their time. 
 
 No breach of the peace occurred however,
 
 92 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 before the return of the Colonists from Pem- 
 bina to the Colony Houses. The settlers oc- 
 cupied their homes in the best of spirits, and 
 began to sow their wheat, but they were still 
 greatly checked by the absence of the common- 
 est implements of farm culture. Had Lord 
 Selkirk known the true state of things on Bed 
 Eiver, he would never have continued to send 
 new bands of Colonists so imperfectly fitted 
 for dealing with the cultivation of the soil. 
 
 The founder's mind had been fired, both by 
 the opposition of Sir Alexander Mackenzie 
 and by the successful arrival of his two bands 
 of Colonists at the Bed Biver, to make greater 
 efforts than ever. 
 
 This he did by sending out a third party in 
 all nearly a hundred strong, under the leader- 
 ship of a very capable man Archibald Mac- 
 donald. This band of settlers in 1813 were 
 bound on the ship Prince of Wales for York 
 Factory. A very serious attack of ship fever 
 filled the whole ship's crew with alarm. Sev- 
 eral well-known Colonists died. The Captain, 
 alarmed, refused to go on to his destination, 
 but ran the ship into Fort Churchill and there 
 disembarked them. Further deaths took place 
 at this point. In the spring there was no 
 resource but to trudge over the rocky ledges 
 and forbidding desolation of more than a hun- 
 dred miles between the Fort Churchill and
 
 "Three Desperate Years." 93 
 
 York Factory. Only the stronger men and 
 women were selected for the journey. On the 
 6th of April, 1814, a party of twenty-one males 
 and twenty females started on this now cele- 
 brated tramp. At first the party began to 
 march in single file, but finding this inconven- 
 ient changed to six abreast. Unaccustomed to 
 snowshoes and sleds the Colonists found the 
 snowy walk very distressing. Three fell by the 
 way and were carried on by the stronger men. 
 The weather was very cold. A supply of part- 
 ridges was given them on starting, and the 
 party was met by hunters sent from York Fac- 
 tory to meet them, who brought two hundred 
 partridges, killed by the way. York Factory 
 was reached on the 13th of April. This band 
 of Colonists were superior to any who had 
 come in the former parties. Many of them, as 
 we shall see, did not remain in the Colony. A 
 list of this party may be found in the Appendix. 
 After remaining a month at York Factory, on 
 the 27th of May, this heroic band went on their 
 way to Red River, and reached their destina- 
 tion in time to plant potatoes for themselves 
 and others. Comrades left behind at Church- 
 ill found their way to Red River. Lots along 
 Red River were now being taken up by the 
 settlers, and here they sought to found homes 
 under a northern sky. Old and new settlers 
 were now hopeful, but their hopes of peace
 
 94 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 and happiness were soon to be dashed to 
 pieces. 
 
 The arrival of the third year's Colonists pro- 
 voked still greater opposition. Feeling had 
 been gradually rising against the new settlers 
 at every new arrival. The excellence of the 
 later immigrants but led their opponents to be 
 irritated.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 FIGHT AND FLIGHT. 
 
 The year 1815 was a year of world-wide dis- 
 aster. Napoleon's Europe- shadowing wings 
 had for years been over that continent and he 
 like a ravenous bird had left marks of his rav- 
 ages among the most prominent European na- 
 tions. The world had a breathing spell for 
 a short time with Napoleon a virtual prisoner 
 in Elba, but now in March of this year he broke 
 from the perch where he had been tethered and 
 all Europe was again in terror. The nations 
 were thunderstruck ; the alarm was deepened by 
 the appearance of Giber's great comet, and in 
 their superstition the ignorant were panic- 
 stricken, while the more religious and informed 
 saw in these terrible events the scenes pictured 
 in the Apocalypse and maintained that the bat- 
 tle of Armageddon was at hand. The epoch- 
 marking battle of Waterloo in June of this 
 year was sufficiently near the picture of blood 
 painted in the Revelation to satisfy the 
 credulous. 
 
 But in a remote corner of Rupert's Land,
 
 96 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 where the number of the combatants was small 
 and the conditions exceedingly primitive the 
 comet was alarming enough. The action of 
 Governor Miles Macdonell in the beginning 
 of 1814, in forbidding the export of food 
 from Rupert's Land and in interfering with the 
 liberty of the traders, Indians and half-breeds, 
 who had regarded themselves as outside of law, 
 and as free as the wind of their wild prairies, 
 produced an open and out-spoken dissent from 
 every class. 
 
 The Nor '-Westers took time to consider the 
 grave step of interrupting trade which Gov- 
 ernor Miles Macdonell had taken. Immediate 
 action was impossible. It was four hundred 
 miles and more from the Colony to the great 
 emporium of the fur trade on Lake Superior. 
 The annual gathering of the Nor '-Westers was 
 held at Grand Portage, the terminus of a road 
 nine miles long, built to avoid the rapids of 
 the Pigeon Eiver which flows into Lake Su- 
 perior some thirty or forty miles southwest 
 of where Fort William now stands. This con- 
 course was a notable affair. From distant 
 Athabasca, from the Saskatchewan, from the 
 Red River and from Lake Winnipeg, the trad- 
 ers gathered in their gaily decked canoes, to 
 meet the gentlemen from Montreal, who came 
 to count the gains of the year, and lay out 
 plans for the future. Indians gathered outside
 
 Fight and Flight. 97 
 
 of Grand Portage Fort. The Highland Chief- 
 tains were now transformed into factors and 
 traders, and for days they met in counsel to- 
 gether. Their evenings were spent in the 
 great dining room of the Fort in revelry. 
 Songs of the voyage were sung and as the ex- 
 citement grew more intense the partners would 
 take seats on the floor of the room and each 
 armed with a sword or poker or pair of tongs 
 unite in the paddle song of "A la Claire Fon- 
 taine, ' ' and make merry till far on in the morn- 
 ing. The days were laboriously given to busi- 
 ness and accounts. When the great MacTavish 
 the head of the Nor '-Westers was there he 
 was often opposed by the younger men, yet he 
 ended the strife with his tyrannical will and 
 silenced all opposition. 
 
 The Nor '-Westers at their meeting, July, 
 1814, under Honorable William McGillivray, 
 after whom Fort William was named, decided 
 to oppose the Colony and sent two of their most 
 aggressive men to meet force with force, and 
 to give Miles Macdonell, the new Dictator, 
 either by arms or by craft, the reward for his 
 tyranny, as they regarded it. 
 
 The whole body of the traders were in- 
 censed against Lord Selkirk, for had not one 
 of the chief Nor '-Wester partners written two 
 years before from London saying, "Lord Sel- 
 kirk must be driven to abandon his project,
 
 98 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 for his success would strike at the very exist- 
 ence of our trade." 
 
 The two men chosen at the gathering in 
 Grand Portage were well fitted for their work. 
 Most forward was Alexander Macdonell. On 
 his journey writing to a friend he said: ''Much 
 is expected of us .... So here is at them 
 with all my heart and energy." But the mas- 
 ter-mind was his companion Duncan Cameron 
 who, as a leader, stands out in the conflicts 
 of the times as a determined man, of great 
 executive ability, but of fierce and over-bear- 
 ing disposition. The Nor '-Westers, having 
 planned bloodshed, all agreed that Duncan 
 Cameron was well chosen. He had been a lead- 
 ing explorer and trader in the Lake Superior 
 district and knew the fur traders ' route as few 
 others did. His well-nigh thirty years of ser- 
 vice made him a man of outstanding influence 
 in the Company. Moreover, he could be bland 
 and jovial. He had the Celtic adroitness. He 
 knew how to ingratiate himself with every class 
 and possessed all the devices of an envoy. His 
 appearance and dress at Red River were not- 
 able. Having had some rank as a U. E. Loy- 
 alist leader in the war of 1812, he came to the 
 Forks dressed in a scarlet military coat with all 
 the accoutrements of a Captain in the Army. 
 He even made display of his Captain's Com- 
 mission by posting it at the gate of Fort Gib-
 
 Fight and Flight. 99 
 
 raltar. Of the Fort itself he took possession 
 as Bourgeois or master and laid his plans in 
 August, 1814, for the destruction of the Selkirk 
 Colony. Cameron then began a systematic 
 course of ingratiating himself with the Colon- 
 ists. Speaking, as he did the Gaelic language, 
 he appealed with much success to his country- 
 men. He represented himself as their friend 
 and stirred up the people of Bed River against 
 Selkirk tyranny. He pictured to them their 
 wrongs, the broken promises of the founder, 
 and the undesirability of remaining in the 
 Colony. He brought the settlers freely to his 
 table, treating them openly to the beverage of 
 their native country, and completely captured 
 the hearts of a number of them. Those, friends 
 of his, he made use of to carry out his deep 
 plans. On the very day of the issue of the ra- 
 tions, he induced some of the Colonists to de- 
 mand the nine small cannon in the Colony 
 store houses. The request was refused by 
 Archibald Macdonald, the acting Governor. The 
 settlers then went forward, broke open the 
 store housees and removed the cannon. Mac- 
 donald now arrested the leading settler, who 
 had taken the field pieces, whereupon Cameron, 
 like a small Napoleon, incited his clerks and 
 men, to invade the Governor's house and re- 
 lease the prisoner. This was done, and now it 
 may be said that war between the rival Com-
 
 100 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 panies was declared. On the return of Miles 
 Macdonald, Cameron ordered his arrest. Mac- 
 donell refused to acknowledge the lawfulness 
 of this action. The oily Nor '-Wester High- 
 lander then threatened the people that if the 
 Governor would not submit to the law, the 
 whole body of settlers would be dispossessed of 
 their farms and driven away from the banks 
 of Bed River. As if to make this threat seem 
 more real, several loyal settlers were fired at 
 by unseen marksmen. 
 
 Once having begun, Cameron was not the 
 man to hesitate. Another Nor '-Wester plan 
 was put into effect. 
 
 Cameron's comrade, Alexander Macdonell, 
 now arrived from the Western plains leading 
 it was said, a band of Cree Indians. The Crees 
 are stubborn and determined warriors, but 
 they are also crafty. The proposal by Alex- 
 ander Macdonell ("Yellow Head as he was 
 called" to distinguish him), was gravely con- 
 sidered by the Indians. The Indians respect 
 authority and in this case they were not very 
 sure who had the authority. The Indians de- 
 clined the offer, and the report proved untrue. 
 
 The Nor '-Westers were, however, strong in 
 their influence over the Chippewas of Red Lake 
 in Minnesota. Similar propositions were made 
 to the Sand Lake band of this tribe. Though 
 offered a large reward to go on this expedition
 
 Fight and Flight. 101 
 
 against the Selkirk settlers, the chief refused 
 the bribe, and the tribe declined to undertake 
 the enterprise. 
 
 Cameron however, knew the importance of 
 keeping up the war-like spirit of his following, 
 and early in June himself took part in an at- 
 tack upon the Colony houses. The affray took 
 place on the edge of the wood near the Gov- 
 ernor's residence. Surgeon White and Burke 
 the store-keeper, narrowly escaped being killed 
 by the shots fired and four of the servants 
 were actually wounded. Cameron like a real 
 operator effusively thanked his followers for 
 their grand attack. This state of constant hos- 
 tility, ostensibly on account of the refusal of 
 Governor Macdonell to respect the legal sum- 
 mons served upon him, was ended by the sur- 
 render of Miles Macdonell, who was taken as 
 a prisoner to Montreal, though he was never 
 brought up for trial. 
 
 Thus far Cameron had succeeded in his plans. 
 Pie was an artful plotter. His capture of Miles 
 Macdonell gave him great prestige. Besides, 
 he had roused feelings of serious discontent in 
 the minds of nearly all of the Selkirk Colon- 
 ists. His apparent sincerity and kindness to 
 them had also won their hearts. He was now 
 to make the greatest move in the game. This 
 was nothing less than a tempting offer to trans- 
 fer the whole of them to the fertile townships
 
 102 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 of Upper Canada. He provided all the means 
 of transport, he promised them free lands in 
 the neighborhood of market towns two hun- 
 dred acres to each family. Any wages due to 
 them by Lord Selkirk he would pay and should 
 three-quarters of the Colony accept his offer 
 they would have provisions provided for a year 
 free of cost. When the poor Colonists thought 
 of the bleak, uncultivated country in which 
 they were, of the inevitable hardships which 
 lay before them, and saw the dangerous, unset- 
 tled state of the Selkirk settlement, they could 
 not well resist the offer. Furthermore, the 
 schemer did not stop here. As was after- 
 ward found out, George Campbell, the arch- 
 agitator and leader among the disaffected set- 
 tlers received a promise of 100, and others 
 of 20 and the like. Further to allay their fears 
 it was urged that they were going where the 
 British flag was flying and where the truest 
 loyalty prevailed. It was pointed out that it 
 had been to prevent any obstacles being raised 
 against their going, that the nine guns had 
 been seized and were in the custody of the 
 Nor '-Westers. Accordingly full arrangements 
 were made. A supply of canoes was obtained 
 and on the 15th of June, 1815, no less than 
 one hundred and forty of the two hundred 
 Colonists on Red Eiver embarked and drifted 
 down the river on their long canoe voyage
 
 Fight and Flight. 103 
 
 of more than a thousand miles. By the 
 end of July they had gone over the dangerous 
 Fur traders' route and passing over four or 
 five hundred miles reached Fort William, near 
 Lake Superior. But their journey was not one- 
 half over. Along the base of the rugged shores 
 of Lake Superior, through the St. Mary's River, 
 down the foaming Sault and then along the 
 shores of Georgian Bay, they paddled their 
 way to Penetanguishene. From this point they 
 crossed southward to Holland Landing, which 
 is forty miles north of Toronto, and arrived 
 at their destination on the 5th of September. 
 
 It is hard to find a parallel for such a jour- 
 ney. They were a large body, made up of men, 
 women, and children, continuously journeying 
 for eighty-two days, through an unsettled and 
 barren country, running dangerous rapids, and 
 exposed to storms with a poorly organized com- 
 missariat, and under fear of pursuit by the 
 agents of Lord Selkirk, to whom many of them 
 were personally bound. In the township of 
 West Gwillinbury, north of Toronto, near Lon- 
 don, and in the Talbot settlement, near St. 
 Thomas all in Upper Canada they received 
 their lands. Half a century later, in one of 
 the townships north of Toronto, the writer had 
 pointed out to him a man named MacBeth 
 weighing two hundred and fifty pounds, of 
 whom it was humourously told that he had
 
 104 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 been carried all the way from Ked River. The 
 explanation of course was, that he had been 
 brought as an infant on this famous Hegira 
 of the Selkirk Colonists. 
 
 The finishing of Cameron's work on the Bed 
 Eiver, was handed over to Alexander Macdon- 
 ell. The plan was nothing less than that the 
 settlers remaining should be driven by force 
 from the banks of Bed Biver. The party led 
 'by Macdonell was made up of Bois-Brules, un- 
 der dashing young Cuthbert Grant. On their 
 agile ponies they appeared like scourging Huns, 
 to drive out the discouraged remnant of 
 Colonists. 
 
 Each remaining settler was on the 25th of 
 June served with a notice signed by four Nor'- 
 Westers, thus: 
 
 "All settlers to retire immediately from Bed 
 Biver, and no trace of a settlement to remain. ' ' 
 (Signed) Cuthbert Grant, etc. 
 
 Two days after the notice was served the be- 
 leaguered settlers, made up of some thirteen 
 families in all from forty to sixty persons, 
 who had remained true to Lord Selkirk and 
 the Colony went forth from their homes 
 as sadly as the Acadian refugees from 
 Grand Pre. They were allowed to take with 
 them such belongings as they had, and in boats 
 and other craft went pensively down Bed 
 Biver with Lake Winnipeg and Jack Biver
 
 Fight and Flight. 105 
 
 in view as their destination. The house of the 
 Governor, the mill, and the buildings which the 
 settlers had begun to build upon their lots were 
 all set on fire and destroyed. 
 
 The U. E. Loyalists of Upper Canada and 
 Nova Scotia draw upon our sympathies in their 
 sufferings of hunger and hardship, but they 
 afford no parallel to the discouragement, dan- 
 gers, and dismay of the Selkirk Colonists. 
 
 Alexander Macdonell's party of seventy or 
 eighty mounted men easily carried out this work 
 of destruction. There was one fly in the oint- 
 ment for them. The small Hudson's Bay 
 House built by Fidler still remained. Here a 
 daring Celt, John McLeod, was in charge. See- 
 ing the temper of Macdonell's levy McLeod 
 determined to fortify his rude castle. Beside 
 the trading house of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany stood the blacksmith's shop. Hurriedly 
 McLeod, with a cart, carried thither the three- 
 pounder cannon in his possession, then cut up 
 lengths of chain to be his shot and shell, used 
 with care his small supply of powder and with 
 three or four men, his only garrison, stood to 
 his gun and awaited the attack of the Bois- 
 Brules. Being on horseback his assailants 
 could not long face his one piece of artillery. 
 It is not known to what extent the assailants 
 suffered in the skirmish, but John Warren, a 
 gentleman of the Hudson's Bay Company, was
 
 106 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 killed in the encounter. The siege of Mc- 
 Leod's improvised fort continued for several 
 days, but the defence was successful, and Mc- 
 Leod saved for the Company 1,000 worth of 
 goods.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 NO SURRENDER. 
 
 The crisis has come. The Colony seems to 
 be blotted out. The affair may appear small, 
 being nothing more than the defence of the 
 smithy, with one gun and the most primitive 
 contrivances, yet as Mercutio says of his 
 wound: " 'Tis not so deep as a well, nor so 
 wide as a church door ; but it is enough. ' ' 
 
 The plucky McLeod, with three men held his 
 fort and though the dusky Bois-brules on their 
 prairie ponies for a time hovered about yet 
 they did not dare to approach the spiteful lit- 
 tle field piece. The Metis soon betook them- 
 selves westward to their own district of Qu'- 
 Appelle. 
 
 The danger being over for the present, John 
 McLeod began to restore the Colony buildings 
 and even to aim at greater things than had been 
 before. 
 
 One of the most discouraging things in con- 
 nection with the Selkirk Colony was the long 
 sea voyage and the difficult land- journey neces- 
 sary, not only to gain assistance, but even to 
 receive information from the founder in
 
 108 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 Britain for the guidance of the officers in Bed 
 Eiver settlement. This being the case McLeod 
 could not wait for orders and so as being tem- 
 porarily in charge of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany district at Bed Biver, he planned a fort 
 and proceeded at once to build a portion of it. 
 Fortunately across the Bed Biver in what is 
 now the town of St. Boniface, he found the 
 freemen who were willing to help him. He im- 
 mediately hired a number of these and began 
 work on the new fort. 
 
 Somewhat lower down the Bed Biver than 
 the Colony gardens he selected a site on the 
 river banks, now partially fallen in, where 
 George Street at the present days ends. Here 
 McLeod began to erect a Governor's House, 
 having confidence that the founder would not 
 desert his Colony. Along with this important 
 project, expecting that the Colonists would 
 return, he turned his men upon the fields of 
 grain small, but to them very precious. The 
 yield in this year was good. He also erected 
 new fences and cured for the settlers quanti- 
 ties of hay from the swamp lands. 
 
 McLeod states in his diary of which a copy 
 of the original is in the Provincial Library in 
 Winnipeg that Fort Douglas was on the south 
 side of Point Douglas, so called from Lord Sel- 
 kirk 's family name, and which McLeod has 
 some claim to have so christened.
 
 No Surrender. 109 
 
 Meanwhile the Colonists had taken their lone- 
 ly way by boat or canoe, to the foot of Lake 
 Winnipeg not expecting a speedy delivery. 
 They reached their rendezvous in July. Lord 
 Selkirk knew in a general way that his Colony 
 was in danger and so had given orders to his 
 faithful officer Colin Robertson, who had done 
 yeoman service in collecting his first party in 
 Scotland, but who was now in Canada to en- 
 gage a number of men and with them proceed 
 to Red Kiver settlement to help his Colonists. 
 That the real state of things was not known 
 to Robertson, or the founder, appears in the 
 fact that Robertson coming from the East 
 with twenty Canadians, passed up the Red Riv- 
 er to the Forks to get the first news of the dis- 
 persing of the Colonists. With his usual dash 
 their rescuer immediately followed the settlers 
 to Jack River, found them very much discour- 
 aged but persuaded them to return again to 
 the banks of the Red River. The work of re- 
 building other houses which McLeod had not 
 been able to overtake now went on, and there 
 was the greatest anxiety to hear of Lord Sel- 
 kirk's plans. 
 
 The Earl of Selkirk had not become in the 
 slightest degree discouraged. Opposition and 
 failure seemed but to inspire him the more. 
 On the return of Miles Macdonell as a pris- 
 oner to Montreal in the hands of the Nor'-
 
 110 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 Wester emmissaries, the founder immediately 
 sought for a competent successor to Macdo- 
 nell, and determined to send out the best and 
 strongest party of settlers that had yet been 
 gathered. 
 
 He appointed, backed by all the influence of 
 the Hudson's Bay Company, a retired officer, 
 Captain Robert Semple. The new Governor 
 was of American origin, born in Philadelphia, 
 but had been in the British army. He was a 
 distinctly high-class man, though Masson's es- 
 timate is probably true * * A man not very con- 
 ciliatory, it is true, but intelligent, honorable 
 and a man of integrity." He was an author 
 of some note, but as it proved, too good or too 
 inexperienced a man for the lawless region to 
 which he was sent. 
 
 It would have been almost useless to de- 
 spatch a new Governor to the Bed Eiver set- 
 tlement unless there had also been obtained a 
 number of settlers to fill the place of those so 
 skillfully led away by Duncan Cameron. Lord 
 Selkirk now secured the best band of Emi- 
 grants attainable. These were from a rural 
 parish on the East Coast of Sutherlandshire in 
 Scotland. They were from Helmsdale and 
 from the parish of Kildonan and the noble 
 founder afterwards conferred this name on 
 their new parish on the banks of the Bed 
 Biver. The names of Matheson, Bannerman,
 
 No Surrender. Ill 
 
 Sutherland, Poison, Gunn and the like show the 
 sturdy character of this band whose descen- 
 dents are taking their full part in the affairs 
 of the Province of Manitoba of to-day. Gov- 
 ernor Semple accompanied this party of about 
 one hundred settlers, and by way of the Hud- 
 son Bay route reached the Bed River Settle- 
 ment in the same year in which they started. 
 They joined the restored settlers, whom Colin 
 Robertson had placed upon their lands again. 
 With Governor Semple 's contingent came 
 James Sutherland, an elder of the Church of 
 Scotland, who was authorized to baptize and 
 marry. He was the first ordained man who 
 reached the Selkirk Colony. The influx of new 
 and old settlers to the Colony, and the imper- 
 fect preparations made for their shelter and 
 sustenance led to the whole Company betaking 
 itself for the winter to Pembina, where at Fort 
 Daer they might be within reach of the buffalo 
 herds. Governor Semple accompanied the set- 
 tlers to Pembina, though Alexander Macdonell 
 had charge for the winter. In October of 
 1815, as the settlers were preparing for their 
 winter quarters, the authorities of the Colony 
 thought it right to seize Fort Gibraltar, and to 
 retake the field pieces and other property of 
 the Colony, which the " Nor '-Westers" had 
 captured. This was done and Duncan Cameron 
 who had returned was also taken prisoner.
 
 112 
 
 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 5S'- 
 
 T; 
 
 in 
 
 f- ~ "] - 
 vlr 
 Iff * ' '
 
 No Surrender. 113 
 
 Cameron, on his promising to keep the peace 
 was almost immediately restored to his lib- 
 erty and to the command of his fort. The feel- 
 ing, however, all over the country where there 
 were rival Forts was not a happy one and gave 
 anxiety to both parties as to the future. After 
 New Year, 1816, Governor Semple returned 
 from Pembina and counselled with Colin Rob- 
 ertson, as to the disturbed state of things. They 
 came to the conclusion that the only safe course 
 was to again capture Fort Gibraltar. This they 
 did about April, 1816, and again held Cameron 
 as a prisoner. Duncan Cameron was however 
 a dangerous prisoner. His ingenuity, courage, 
 and force of character were so great that at 
 any time he might be the centre of a movement 
 among the Metis. It was in consequence de- 
 cided that Duncan Cameron should be taken 
 as a captive to England by way of York Fac- 
 tory and be tried across seas. Colin Robertson 
 was instructed to conduct him to York Factory. 
 No doubt this was a reprisal for the arrest and 
 banishment meted out to Miles Macdonell. Cam- 
 eron was delayed at York Factory on his way 
 to England for more than a year and after a 
 short stay in Britain returned to Canada. He 
 afterwards obtained damages of 3,000 for his 
 illegal detention. 
 
 But there was future trouble brewing all 
 through the West.
 
 114 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 The new Governor, however, unaware of the 
 real state of matters in Rupert's Land and prob- 
 ably ignorant of the claim of Canada to the 
 West, and of the force of a customary occupa- 
 tion of the land, procured with high-handed 
 zeal a further reprisal. Before Colin Robert- 
 son had gone to conduct Cameron to York Fac- 
 tory the Governor and Robertson had discussed 
 the advisability of dismantling Fort Gibraltar. 
 To this course Robertson, knowing the irrita- 
 tion which this would cause to the Nor '-West- 
 ers strongly objected. For the time the pro- 
 posal was dropped, but when Robertson had 
 gone, then the Governor proceeded with a force 
 of thirty men to pull down Gibraltar, which was 
 done in a week. The stockade was taken down, 
 carried to the Red River and made into a 
 raft. Upon this was piled the material of the 
 buildings, and the whole was floated to the site 
 of Fort Douglas and used in erecting a new 
 structure and fully completing the Fort which 
 John McLeod had begun. The same aggressive 
 course was pursued under orders from the Gov- 
 ernor in regard to Pembina House which was 
 captured, its occupants sent as prisoners to 
 Fort Douglas, and its stores confiscated for the 
 use of the Colony. The spirit shown by Gov- 
 ernor Semple, it is suggested, had something of 
 the same treatment as that given to the Colon- 
 ists by the official classes in England against
 
 No Surrender. 115 
 
 which Edmund Burke burst out with such ve- 
 hemence in his great orations. 
 
 Governor Semple 's course would not satisfy 
 Colin Robertson nor would it have been ap- 
 proved by Lord Selkirk. The course was his 
 own and fully did he afterwards pay the price 
 for his aggressions. 
 
 The last acts of Governor Semple as the re- 
 port of them was carried westward and re- 
 peated over the camp fires of the Nor '-Westers 
 and their Bois-brules horsemen and voyageurs 
 caused the most violent excitement. The Metis 
 claimed a right in the soil from their Indian 
 mothers. The Indian title had never been ex- 
 tinguished and afterwards Lord Selkirk found 
 it necessary to make a treaty and satisfy the 
 Indian claim. The Nor '-Westers were also by 
 a good number of years the first occupants of 
 the Bed Biver district. The Canadian discov- 
 ery of the West by French traders, the daring 
 occupation by Findlay, the Frobishers, Thomp- 
 son, and Sir Alexander Mackenzie all from 
 Montreal even to the Arctic and Pacific Oceans, 
 seemed strong to Canadians as against the un- 
 defined and shadowy claim to the soil of Lord 
 Selkirk and his officers. 
 
 Certain signs of coming trouble might have 
 pressed themselves upon Governor Semple. He 
 had eyes but he saw not. 
 
 The Indians, it is true, with their reverence
 
 116 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 for King George III., and showing their silver 
 medals with the old King's face upon them, 
 were disposed to take sides with the British 
 Company. This may have confirmed Semple 
 in the tyrannical course he had followed, but 
 had he studied the action of the free traders 
 it might have opened his eyes. Just as certain 
 animals of the prairie exposed to enemies have 
 an instinctive feeling of coming danger, so these 
 denizens of the plains felt the approach of trou- 
 ble, and with their wives and half-breed chil- 
 dren betook themselves bag and baggage to 
 the far Western plains where the buffalo runs, 
 and remained there to let the storm blow past, 
 to return to the "Forks" in more peaceful 
 times. 
 
 Lord Selkirk, Lady Selkirk, with his Lord- 
 ship's son and two daughers, were on the other 
 hand drawing nearer to the scene of conflict, as 
 they came to Montreal in the summer of 1815. 
 In the spring Lord Selkirk started westward 
 to see the vast estate which he possessed, but 
 alas ! only to see it in the throes of division, of 
 excited passion and of bloody conflict, and to 
 face one of the greatest catastrophes of new 
 world Colonization.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 SEVEN OAKS MASSACRE. 
 
 Semple 's course is on trial. Self-assertion 
 and dictation bring their own penalty with 
 them. That so experienced a leader as Colin 
 Robertson, who had been in both Companies, 
 who knew the native element, and was ac- 
 quainted with the daring and recklessness of 
 the Nor '-Wester leaders, hesitated about de- 
 molishing Fort Gibraltar should have given 
 Governor Semple pause. Ignorance and inex- 
 perience sometimes give men rare courage. But 
 while Semple was self-confident he could not be 
 exonerated from paying the price of his 
 rashness. 
 
 Undoubtedly the Governor knew that the 
 1 'Nor '-Westers" after their aggressiveness dur- 
 ing the year 1815 were planning an attack upon 
 Fort Douglas and upon the Colonists. Letters 
 intercepted by the Governor acquainted him 
 with the fact that an expedition was coming 
 from Fort William in the East to fall upon the 
 devoted Colony; also a letter from Qu'Appelle 
 written by Cuthbert Grant, the young Bois-
 
 118 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 brules leader, to John Dugald Cameron, stated 
 that the native horsemen were coming in the 
 spring from the Saskatchewan forts to join 
 those of Qu'Appelle, and says the writer, "It 
 is hoped we shall come off with flying colors, 
 and never to see any of them again in the Col- 
 onizing way in Bed River." 
 
 The evidence in hand was clear enough to the 
 Governor. He expected the attack, and as a 
 soldier he took action from the military stand- 
 point in destroying the enemy's base in level- 
 ling their Fort Gibraltar. But on the other 
 hand there was no open war. The forms of law 
 were being followed by the Nor '-Westers, whose 
 officers were magistrates, and who held that by 
 the authorization of the British Parliament the 
 administration of justice in the Western Ter- 
 ritories was given over to Canada. The de- 
 cision afterwards given in the De Reinhard 
 case in Quebec seems against this theory, but 
 this was the popular opinion. 
 
 Thus it came about that among the Hudson's 
 Bay Company fur traders, who were somewhat 
 doubtful about Lord Selkirk's movement, and 
 certainly among all the "Nor '-Westers," who 
 included the French Canadian voyageur popula- 
 tion, Governor Semple 's action was looked upon 
 as illegal and unjust in destroying Fort Gib- 
 raltar and appropriating its materials for build- 
 ing up the Colony Headquarters Fort Douglas.
 
 Seven Oaks Massacre. 119 
 
 As the spring opened the wildest rumours of 
 approaching conflict spread through the whole 
 fifteen hundred miles of country from Fort Wil- 
 liam on Lake Superior, to the Prairie Fort, 
 where Edmonton now stands on the North Sas- 
 katchewan. The excitement was especially high 
 in the Qu 'Appelle district, some three hundred 
 miles west of Red River. 
 
 As the spring of 1815 opened, all eyes were 
 looking to the action of the "New Nation" on 
 the Qu' Appelle River as the Bois-brules under 
 Cuthbert Grant called themselves. As the whole 
 of these events were afterwards investigated 
 by the law courts of Upper Canada, there is 
 substantial agreement about the facts. The 
 first violence of the season is described by 
 Lieutenant Pambrun, a most accurate writer. 
 He had served in the war of 1812 and gained 
 distinction. On entering the Hudson's Bay 
 Company service he was sent to Qu' Appelle 
 district. In order to supply food at Fort Doug- 
 las Pambrun started down the river to reach 
 the Fort by descending the Assiniboine with 
 five boat loads of pemmican and furs. At a 
 landing place in the river Pambrun 's convoy 
 was surrounded and his goods seized by Cuth- 
 bert Grant, Pambrun himself being kept for five 
 days as a prisoner. While in custody Pambrun 
 saw every evidence of war-like intentions on the 
 part of the half-breeds. Cuthbert Grant fre-
 
 120 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 quently announced their determination to de- 
 stroy the Selkirk Settlement; in boastful lan- 
 guage it was declared that the Bois-brules 
 would bow to no authority in Eupert's Land; 
 in their gatherings they sang 'French war-songs 
 to keep up the spirit of their corps. There was 
 a ring of growing nationality in all their ut- 
 terances. 
 
 A start was made late in May for the scene 
 of action. Their prisoner Lieutenant Pambrun 
 was taken with them and the captured pemmi- 
 can was carried along as supplies for the 
 journey. 
 
 On the way an episode of some moment oc- 
 curred. On the river bank a band of Cree In- 
 dians was encamped. 
 
 Commander Macdonell addressed the redmen 
 through an interpreter to incite them to action. 
 A portion of his address was : 
 
 My Friends and Belations, "I address you 
 bashfully, for I have not a pipe of tobacco to 
 give you. . . . The English have been spoiling 
 the fair lands which belonged to you and the 
 Bois-brules 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 In- 
 dian does not, for the "Nor '-West" Company 
 and the Bois-brules are one. If you (turning
 
 Seven Oaks Massacre. 121 
 
 to the chief) and some of your young men will 
 join I shall be glad." 
 
 But the taciturn Indian Chief coldly declined 
 the polite proposal. As the party passed Bran- 
 don House Pambrun saw in the North-West 
 Fort near by, tobacco, tools and furs, which had 
 been captured by the Nor '-Westers from the 
 Hudson's Bay Company fort. When Portage 
 la Prairie was reached about sixty miles from 
 "The Forks" the Bois-brules calvalcade was 
 organized. 
 
 The half-breeds were mounted on their prairie 
 steeds and formed a company of sixty men un- 
 der command of Cuthbert Grant. Dressed in 
 their blue capotes and encircled by red sashes 
 the men of this irregular cavalry had an impos- 
 ing effect, especially as they were provided with 
 every variety of arms from muskets and pistols 
 down to bows and arrows. They were all ex- 
 pert riders and could equal in their feats on 
 horseback the fabled Centaurs. 
 
 Down the Portage road which is a prolonga- 
 tion of the great business street of Winnipeg 
 running to the West, they came. On the 19th 
 of June, 1816, they had arrived within four 
 miles of the Colony headquarters Fort Doug- 
 las. Here at Boggy Creek, called also Cat-Fsh 
 Creek, a Council of War was held. Some im- 
 portance has been attached to their action at 
 this point, as showing their motive. That they
 
 122 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 did not intend to attack Fort Douglas has been 
 maintained, else they would not have turned off 
 the Portage Road and have crossed the prairie 
 to the Northeast. There is nothing in this con- 
 tention. The plan of campaign was that the 
 Fort William expedition and they were to meet 
 at some point on the banks of Bed River, before 
 they took further action. Showing how well 
 both parties had timed their movements, at this 
 very moment those coming from the East under 
 Trader Alexander McLeod, had reached a small 
 tributary of Red River some forty miles from 
 Fort Douglas. That they at present wished to 
 avoid Fort Douglas is certainly true. Governor 
 Semple and his garrison were on the look-out, 
 and the alarm being given, the party from the 
 Fort sallied forth. Was it to parley? or to 
 fight? 
 
 The events which followed are well told in 
 the evidence given by Mr. John Pritchard, who 
 afterwards acted as Lord Selkirk's secretary. 
 Mr. Pritchard was the grandfather of the pre- 
 sent Archbishop Matheson of Rupert's Land. 
 His evidence has been in almost every respect 
 corroborated by other eye-witnesses of this 
 bloody event: 
 
 "On the evening of the 19th of June, 1816, 
 I had been upstairs in my own room, in Fort 
 Douglas, and about six o'clock I heard the boy 
 at the watch house give the alarm that the
 
 Seven Oaks Massacre. 123 
 
 Bois-brules were coming. A few of us, among 
 whom was Governor Semple there were per- 
 haps six altogether looked through a spy- 
 glass, from a place that had been used as a 
 stable, and we distinctly saw armed persons go- 
 ing along the plains. Shortly after, I heard the 
 same boy call out, that the party on horse- 
 back were making to the settlers. ' ' 
 
 "About twenty of us, in obedience to the 
 Governor," who said, '"We must go and see 
 what these people are, ' took our arms. He could 
 only let about twenty go, at least he told about 
 twenty 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 to- 
 wards the settlement, we saw, behind a point 
 of wood which goes down to the river, that the 
 party increased very much. Mr. Semple, there- 
 fore, sent one of the people (Mr. Burke) to the 
 Fort for a piece of cannon and as many men as 
 Mr. Miles Macdonell could spare. Mr. Burke, 
 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 Bois-brules returning to- 
 wards 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
 
 124 
 
 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 MONTREAL^ 
 EXPRESS b) 
 WAY of L.WINNIPEG' 
 
 /U 
 
 / 
 
 OM ASSINIBOINE 
 
 AND 
 QU' APPELLE 
 
 DE HEURON 
 SOLDIER 
 SETTLEMBNT 
 
 *t 
 
 RED RIVER SETTLEMENT 
 
 Fac-simile of section of Map (1818). 
 
 A Seven Oaks, where Semple fell. 
 B Creek where Metis left Aisiniboine. 
 C Frog Plain (since Kildonan church). 
 E to F De Meuron Settlers on Seine. 
 G Half-breeds (St. Boniface of to-day). 
 
 H Fort Douglas (1815). 
 
 I Colony Gardens. 
 
 I Fort Gibraltar (N.W. Co.) 
 
 K Road followed by Metis. 
 
 L Dry Cart trail west of Settlers' lots.
 
 Seven Oaks Massacre. 125 
 
 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 disguised in the most hideous man- 
 ner; upon this, as they were retreating, a 
 Frenchman named Boucher advanced, waving 
 his hand, riding up to us, and calling out in 
 broken English, 'What do you want? What 
 do you want?' Governor Semple said. 'What 
 do you want?' Mr. Burke not coming on with 
 the cannon as soon as he was expected, the Gov- 
 ernor directed the party to proceed onwards; 
 we had not gone far before we saw the Bois- 
 brules returning upon us. 
 
 1 1 Upon observing that they were so numerous, 
 we had extended our line, 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, 
 1 What do you want ? What do you want ? ' Gov- 
 ernor Semple 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
 
 126 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 Governor putting his hand on Boucher's gun. 
 Expecting an attack to be made instantly, I had 
 not been looking at Governor Semple and 
 Boucher for some time; but just then I hap- 
 pened to turn my head that way, and imme- 
 diately 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 were shot. He was on the 
 ground. On their approach, as I have said, we 
 had extended our line on the plain, by each tak- 
 ing 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 hearing the first shot, I turned and saw 
 Lieut. Holte struggling." (Several persons 
 present at the affair, such as a blacksmith named 
 Heden, and McKay, a settler, distinctly state 
 that the first shot fired was from the Bois- 
 brules and that by it Lieut. Holte 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 
 rascal 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
 
 Seven Oaks Massacre. 127 
 
 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 Rodgers getting 
 up again, but not observing any of our people 
 standing, I called out to him, 'Rodgers, for 
 God's sake give yourself up ! Give yourself up !' 
 Captain Rodgers ran toward them, calling out 
 in English and in broken French, that he sur- 
 rendered, and that he gave himself up, and pray- 
 ing them to save his life. Thomas McKay, a 
 Bois-brules, shot him through the head, and an- 
 other Bois- brulcs 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 
 Rodgers fall, I expected to share his fate. As 
 there was a French-Canadian among those who 
 surrounded me, 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. ' Mc- 
 Kay, who was among this party, and who knew 
 me, said, 'You little toad, what do you do here?'
 
 128 Lord Selkirk's Colonists 
 
 He spoke in French, and called me 'un petit 
 crapaud,' and asked what I did here! I fully 
 expected then to lose my Ife. I again appealed 
 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 recollect my 
 former kindness to him at Qu'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. 
 
 "Then I went to Frog Plain (Kildonan), in 
 charge of Boucher. In going to the plain I 
 was 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 have 
 hunted the Colonists like buffaloes. He also 
 told me they expected to have got round 
 unperceived, and at night would have sur-
 
 Seven Oaks Massacre. 129 
 
 rounded the Fort and have shot everyone 
 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 Governor Semple was 
 not mortally wounded by the shot he received, 
 but that his thigh was broken. He said 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 some- 
 thing else to do, but that he would send some 
 person to convey him on whom he might depend, 
 and that he left him in charge of a French-Cana- 
 dian 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 
 disguise themselves, were on this occasion 
 painted as I have been accustomed to see the In- 
 dians at their war-dance; they were very much 
 painted, and disguised in a hideous manner. 
 They gave the war-whoop when they met Gov- 
 ernor Semple and his party ; they made a hide- 
 ous noise and shouting. I know from Grant,
 
 130 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 as well as from other Bois-brules, and other set- 
 tlers, 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 sup- 
 posed that they had passed the Fort un- 
 observed. 
 
 ' * 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 instant- 
 ly and without resistance, man, women and child 
 will be put to death. ' He said the attack would 
 be made upon it that night, and if a single shot 
 were fired, that would be a signal for the in- 
 discriminate 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 represented 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 country-women and in his 
 deceased father's name, I begged him to take 
 pity and compassion on them and spare them.
 
 Seven Oaks Massacre. 131 
 
 At last he said, if all the arms and public 
 property were given up, we should be allowed to 
 go away. After inducing the Bois-brules to al- 
 low me to go to Fort Douglas, I met our peo- 
 ple ; they were long unwilling to give up, but at 
 last our Mr. Macdonell, who was now in charge 
 consented. We went together to the Frog Plain, 
 and 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 agri- 
 cultural pursuits, in attending to their farms, 
 and the servants of the Hudson's Bay Company 
 in their ordinary avocations. They lived in 
 tents or in huts. In 1816 at Red River there was 
 but one residence, the Governor's which was 
 in Fort Douglas. The settlers had lived in 
 houses previous to 1815, but in that year these 
 had been burnt in the attack that had been made 
 upon them. The settlers were employed during 
 the day time 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
 
 132 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 Bois-brules victory being now complete, the mes- 
 senger was despatched Westward to tell the 
 news far and near."
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 AFTEBCLAPS. 
 
 The Seven Oaks affair was the most shocking 
 episode that ever occurred in North- Western 
 history. The standing of the victims, including 
 a Governor appointed by the Hudson's Bay 
 Company, his staff men of position, the unex- 
 pectedness of the collison, the suddenness of 
 the attack, the destruction of life, the cruelty 
 and injustice of the killing, and the barbarous 
 treatment of the bodies of the dead, by the Bois- 
 brules war party, fill one with horror, and re- 
 mind one of scenes of butchery in dark Africa 
 or the isles of the South Sea. 
 
 This is the more remarkable when it is con- 
 sidered that so far as known in the whole two 
 hundred years and more of the career of the 
 Hudson's Bay and Nor '-Wester Companies not 
 so many officers and clerks of these two Com- 
 panies have altogether perished by violence as 
 in this unfortunate Seven Oaks disaster. No 
 sooner was the massacre over than the Bois- 
 brules took possession of Fort Douglas and 
 were under the command meantime of Cuth-
 
 134 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 bert Grant. There was the greatest hilarity 
 among the Metis. This New Nation had been 
 vindicated. About forty-five men under arms 
 held possession of the Fort. The dead left up- 
 on the field were still exposed there days after 
 the fight and were torn to pieces by the wild 
 birds and beasts. The body of Governor Semple 
 was carried to the Fort. 
 
 Word was meanwhile sent to Alexander Mac- 
 donell the partner who had brought with 
 him the Qu'Appelle contingent and had waited 
 at Portage la Prairie while Cuthbert Grant 
 with his followers, chiefly disguised as Indians, 
 had gone on their bloody work. Macdonell on 
 receiving the news showed great satisfaction. 
 He announced to those about him that Gov- 
 ernor Semple and five of his officers had been 
 killed ; and becoming more enthusiastic shouted 
 with an oath in French that twenty-two of the 
 English were slain. His company shouted with 
 joy at his announcement. Macdonell then went 
 to Fort Douglas and took command of it. But 
 what had become of the Eastern Company 
 from Fort William? Of this a discharged non- 
 commissioned officer, Huerter, of one of the 
 mercenary regiments which had fought for 
 Britain against the Americans in the War of 
 1812 was with them, and gives a good account 
 of the journey. We need only deal with the 
 ending of the expedition. Coming from Lake
 
 Afterclaps. 135 
 
 Winnipeg they reached Nettly Creek two days 
 after the fight at Seven Oaks, expecting there 
 to get news from the Western levy and Alex- 
 ander Macdonell. But no news of that Com- 
 pany having reached them they started in boats 
 up the Bed Eiver to reach the rendezvous 
 agreed on at "Frog Plain,'* the spot where 
 Kildonan church stands to-day. From this 
 point they expected to meet with their Western 
 reinforcement, and to move upon Fort Doug- 
 las and capture it, as Governor Semple had 
 done with Fort Gibraltar. Their commander 
 Archibald Norman McLeod was the senior of- 
 ficer and would later take command. 
 
 They had on the 23rd of June gone but a 
 little way when they were surprised to meet 
 seven or eight boats laden with men, women 
 and children. These were the fragment of the 
 Colony which had refused to go with Duncan 
 Cameron down to Upper Canada. They had 
 been sheltered in the Fort during the time of 
 the fight and now were rudely driven away 
 from the settlement, according to the announce- 
 ment of Cuthbert Grant. 
 
 McLeod ordered the convoy of boats to stop 
 and the Colonists to disembark. Their boxes 
 and packages were opened, including the late 
 Governor Semple 's trunks, and examined for 
 papers or letters which might give important 
 information to the captors. The Western levy
 
 136 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 now joined them, and gave them full news of 
 what had happened. 
 
 The Colonists were then ordered to re-em- 
 bark and to proceed upon their journey to 
 their lonely place of banishment whither they 
 had gone the previous year Jack Eiver, near 
 Norway House. One of the Bois-brules fol- 
 lowed after them to make sure that they went 
 upon their long voyage. McLeod 's party then 
 pushed on with great glee to Fort Douglas 
 and were received with discharges of artillery 
 and firearms. McLeod now took command of 
 the captured Fort. 
 
 Huerter, the discharged soldier, formerly 
 mentioned, went to the field of Seven Oaks 
 about a week after the fight and confirmed Pam- 
 brun's account. 
 
 A. N. McLeod now became the superior of- 
 ficer in the Fort and made preparation for de- 
 fending it. He himself occupied the late Gov- 
 ernor Semple's quarters and passed out com- 
 pliments to white and native alike, praising 
 them for their daring, their adroitness and 
 their success. A great meeting was then gath- 
 ered in the Governor's apartments and a levee 
 was held at which all of the servants and em- 
 ployees of the Company were present, and in 
 a speech McLeod told the audience that the 
 English had no right to build upon their lands 
 without their permission a new doctrine 
 surely.
 
 Afterclaps. 137 
 
 Leaving Fort Douglas McLeod with his of- 
 ficers and the Bois-brules all mounted, made an 
 imposing procession up to the site of old Fort 
 Gibraltar. Here Peguis, now the chief of the 
 Saulteaux who had shown such kindness to the 
 settlers was camped, and to him and his follow- 
 ers McLeod showed his great displeasure. The 
 Indian always loved the British-man, whom on 
 the west coast he called, "King Shautshman," 
 or King George's man. 
 
 The Indian is taciturn, unemotional, and cau- 
 tious. He knew that the Bois-brules had as- 
 sumed their garb and committed the outrage 
 of Seven Oaks, and therefore the tribe were un- 
 willing to be under the stigma being thrown 
 upon them. When McLeod had failed in his 
 appeal, he laid many sins to their charge. They 
 had allowed the English to carry away Duncan 
 Cameron to Hudson Bay, they were a band of 
 dogs, and he would count them always as his 
 enemies if they should hold to their English 
 friends. Peguis, who was a master diplomat, 
 looked on with attention and held his peace. 
 
 It was now about a week from the time of 
 the massacre. Huerter, the discharged solider 
 spoken of, rode down with a party from the 
 Fort to the field of Seven Oaks. He saw a 
 number of human bodies scattered on the plain, 
 and in most cases the flesh had been torn off 
 to the bone, evidently by dogs and wolves.
 
 138 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 Far from discouraging the talkative half- 
 breeds, whose blood was up with the sights of 
 carnage, McLeod and his fellow-officers ex- 
 pressed their approbation of the deeds done, 
 and the Bois-brules became boisterous in detail- 
 ing their victories. The worst of the whole, 
 old Deschamps, a French-Canadian, who mur- 
 dered the disabled even when they cried for 
 quarter, drew forth as he detailed his valorous 
 actions to Alexander Macdonell, the exclama- 
 tion, "What a fine, vigorous old man he is!" 
 On the evening of this Eed-letter day of the 
 visit to the Indian encampment and to Seven 
 Oaks, a wild and heathenish orgy took place. 
 The Bois-brules bedecked their naked bodies 
 with Indian trinkets and executed the dance of 
 victory, as had done their savage ancestors. The 
 effect of these dances is marvellous. By a con- 
 tagious shout they excite each other. They reach 
 a frenzy which communicates itself with hyp- 
 notic effect to the whole dancing circle. At 
 times men tear their hair, cut their flesh or 
 even mutilate their limbs for life. The "tom- 
 tom," or Indian drum, adds to the power of 
 monotonous rhythm and to the spirit of excite- 
 ment and frenzy. 
 
 To the partners McLeod and the others, how- 
 ever much in earnest the actors might be, it 
 afforded much amusement, and gave hope of a 
 strength and enthusiasm that would bind them 
 fast to the "Nor '-Wester" side.
 
 Afterdaps. 139 
 
 The struggle over and the battle won, while 
 leaving the garrison sufficient to hold the fort, 
 ten days after the fight the partners and those 
 forming the Northern brigade, who were to 
 penetrate to the wilds to Athabasca, departed. 
 They were following down the Red Eiver and 
 Lake Winnipeg, in the very path which the flee- 
 ing Colonists had gone, but they would turn to- 
 ward the " Grand Rapids" at the spot where 
 the great river of the West pours into Lake 
 Winnipeg, and by this way speed themselves 
 to the great hunting fields of the North. The 
 departure of what was called the Grand Bri- 
 gade was signalized by an artillery salute from 
 Fort Douglas, which resounded through the 
 wretched ruins of the houses burnt the pre- 
 vious year, and over the fields deserted by the 
 Colonists and left to the chattering blackbird 
 and the howling wolf. Almost every race of 
 people however small has its bard. Among 
 the Bois-brules was the son of old Pierre Fal- 
 con, a French-Canadian, of some influence 
 among the natives. This young poet was a 
 character. He had the French vivacity, the 
 prejudice of race, the devotion to the Scotch 
 Fur Company and a considerable rhyming tal- 
 ent. Many years after Pierre Falcon won the 
 admiration of the buffalo hunter and was the 
 friend of all the dusky maidens who followed his 
 song of love or war alike. He it was who sang
 
 140 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 the song of his race and helped to keep up the 
 love of fun among the French people of the 
 Bed River. It was reminiscent of victory and 
 also a forecast of future influence and power. 
 Various versions of Pierre Falcon's song 
 have come down to us celebrating the victory of 
 Seven Oaks. We give a simple translation of 
 the bard's effusion: 
 
 PIERRE FALCON'S SONG. 
 
 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 looked upon their army, 
 They are motionless and downcast; 
 So, as honor would incline us 
 We desire with them to parley. 
 
 But their leader, moved with anger, 
 Gives the word to fire upon us ; 
 And imperiously repeats it, 
 Bushing on to this destruction.
 
 Afterclaps. 141 
 
 Having seen us pass his stronghold, 
 He had thought to strike with terror 
 The Bois-brules ; ah ! mistaken, 
 Many of his soldiers perish. 
 
 But a few escaped the slaughter, 
 Bushing 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 had composed it, 
 That the praise of these Bois-brules 
 Might be evermore recorded.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE SILVER CHIEF ARRIVES. 
 
 The scene changes to the home of the founder 
 of the Colony. The Earl of Selkirk is living 
 at his interesting seat St. Mary's Isle, and 
 letter after letter arrives which has taken many 
 weeks on the road, coming down through track- 
 less prairie, across the middle and Eastern 
 States of America and reaching him via New 
 York. These letters continue to increase in 
 being more and more terrible until his island 
 home seems to be in a state of siege. 
 
 St. Mary's Isle lies at the mouth of the Dee 
 on Solway Frith, opposite the town of Kirk- 
 cudbright. Here in 1778 Paul Jones, the so- 
 called pirate in the employ of the Revolution- 
 ary Government in America, had landed, in- 
 vested the dwelling with his men, and carried 
 away all the plate and jewels of the House 
 of Selkirk. The Old Manor House of St. 
 Mary's Isle, with its very thick stone wall on 
 one side, evidently had been a keep or castle. It 
 was at one time given to the church and be- 
 came a monastery, then it was enlarged and im-
 
 The Silver Chief Arrives. 143 
 
 proved to become the dwelling of the family 
 of the Douglasses, which it is to this day. 
 
 But now the far cry from Bed Biver rever- 
 berated across the Atlantic. The startling suc- 
 cession of events of 1815 reached the Earl one 
 after another. It was late in the year when 
 he made up his mind, but taking his Countess, 
 his two daughters and his only son, Dunbar, 
 a mere boy, and crossing the ocean he heard, 
 on his arrival in New York, of the complete 
 destruction by flight and expulsion of the peo- 
 ple of his Colony. About the end of October 
 he reached Montreal, but winter was too near 
 to allow him to travel up the lakes and through 
 the wilds to Bed Biver. 
 
 The winter in Montreal was long, but the at- 
 mosphere of opposition to Lord Selkirk in that 
 city, the home of the Nor '-Westers, was more 
 trying to him than the frost and snow. His 
 every movement was watched. Even the ave- 
 nues of Government power seemed by influen- 
 tial Nor '-Westers to be closed against him. An 
 appeal to Sir Gordon Drummond, the Governor- 
 General, could obtain no more than a promise 
 of a Sergeant and six men to protect him per- 
 sonally should he go to the far West, and the 
 appointment of himself as a Justice of the 
 Peace in Upper Canada and the Indian Terri- 
 tory was grudgingly given. 
 
 The active mind of his Lordship occupied the
 
 144 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 time of winter well. He planned nothing less 
 than introducing to the banks of Bed Biver a 
 body of men as settlers, who could, like the re- 
 turned exiles to Jerusalem, work with sword in 
 one hand and a tool of industry in the other. 
 The man of resource finds his material ready 
 made. Two mercenary regiments from Switzer- 
 land which had been fighting England's battles 
 in America had just been disbanded, and Lord 
 Selkirk at once engaged them to go as settlers, 
 under his pay, to Bed Biver. From the com- 
 manding officer of the larger regiment these 
 have always been .called the "De Meurons." 
 From these two regiments one at Montreal 
 and the other at Kingston he engaged an hun- 
 dred men, each provided with a musket, and 
 with rather more than that number of expert 
 voyageurs started in June 16th, 1816, for the 
 North- West. The route followed by him was up 
 Lake Ontario to Toronto, then across country 
 to Georgian Bay and through it to Ste. Sault 
 Marie. At Drummond Island, being the last 
 British garrison toward the West, he got from 
 the Indians news of the efforts of the Nor 'West- 
 ers to involve them in the wars of the whites. 
 The Indians had, however, resisted all their 
 temptations. Lord Selkirk again overtook his 
 party and passed through the St. Mary's Biver 
 into Lake Superior. 
 
 Here a new grief awaited him.
 
 The Silver Chief Arrives. 145 
 
 Two canoes coming from Fort William 
 brought him the sad news about Governor 
 Semple and his party being killed at Seven 
 Oaks, as it did also of the second expulsion of 
 the Colonists. Lord Selkirk had been intending 
 to go west to where Duluth now stands and then 
 overland to the Red River. 
 
 He now changed his plans and with true Scot- 
 tish pluck headed directly to Fort William. 
 Here assaults, arrests and imprisonments took 
 place. It is needless for us to give the de- 
 tails of this unfortunate affair, except to say 
 that the seizure of the Fort brought much trou- 
 ble afterwards to the founder. 
 
 Moving some miles up the Kaministiquia 
 River Lord Selkirk made his military encamp- 
 ment, which bore the name of "Pointe De 
 Meuron." 
 
 Plans were soon made for the spring attack 
 on Fort Douglas. 
 
 In March, steathily crossing the silent path- 
 ways for upwards of four hundred miles and 
 striking the Red River some where near the in- 
 ternational boundary line, the De Meurons came 
 northward and made a circuit towards Silver 
 Heights. There, having constructed ladders, 
 they next made a night attack on Fort Douglas, 
 and being trained soldiers easily captured it, 
 and restored it to its rightful owner, Lord 
 Selkirk.
 
 146 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 On May day, 1817, Lord Selkirk,- with his 
 body guard, left Fort William and following the 
 water-courses arrived at his own Fort in the 
 last week of June. Fort Douglas was the cen- 
 tre of his Colony, and there he was at once 
 the chief figure of the picture. 
 
 None of the Selkirk Settlers' descendants who 
 are living to-day saw him in Fort Douglas, but 
 a number who have passed away have told the 
 writer that they remembered him well. He was 
 tall in stature, thin and refined in appearance. 
 He had a benignant face, his manner was easy 
 and polite. To the Indians he was especially 
 interesting. They caught the idea that being a 
 man of title he was in some way closely con- 
 nected with their Great Father the King. Be- 
 cause of his generosity to them in making a 
 treaty, they called him "The Silver Chief." He 
 was the source of their treaty money. 
 
 It is said that some of the last party to reach 
 his Colony had seen him at Kildonan in Scot- 
 land, where he had visited them, and encouraged 
 them in their departure for the Colony. 
 
 His first duties were to the unfortunate set- 
 tlers, who had been brought back from Jack 
 Eiver. 
 
 Lord Selkirk gathered the Colonists on the 
 spot where the church and burial ground of St. 
 John's are still found. "The Parish," said he, 
 "shall be Kildonan. Here you shall build your
 
 The Silver Chief Arrives. 147 
 
 church, and that lot," he said, pointing to 
 the lot across the little stream called Parsonage 
 Creek, ''is for a school." He was thus planning 
 to carry out the devout imagination of the 
 greatest religious leader of his nation, John 
 Knox: "A church and a school for every 
 parish. ' ' 
 
 Perhaps the most interesting episode in Lord 
 Selkirk's visit was his treaty-making with the 
 Indians. The plan of securing a strip of land 
 on each side of the river was said to have been 
 decided to be as much as could be seen by look- 
 ing under the belly of a horse out upon the 
 prairie. This was about two miles. Hence the 
 river lots were generally about two miles long. 
 
 His meeting with the Indians was after the 
 manner of a great "Pow-wow." The Indians 
 are fluent and eloquent speakers, though they 
 indulge in endless repetitions. 
 
 Peguis, the Saulteaux chief, befriended the 
 white man from the beginning. He denounced 
 the Bois-brules. He said, "We do not acknowl- 
 edge these men as an independent tribe." 
 
 "L'Homme Noir," the Assiniboine chief, 
 among other things, said : * ' We have often been 
 told you were our enemy, but we hear from your 
 own mouth the words of a true friend." 
 
 "Robe Noire," the Chippewa, tried in 
 lofty style to declare: "Clouds have over-
 
 148 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 whelmed me. I was a long time in doubt and 
 difficulty, but now I begin to see clearly." 
 
 While Lord Selkirk was still in his Colony, 
 the very serious state of things on the banks 
 of Eed River and the pressure of the British 
 Government led to the appointment, by the Gov- 
 ernor-General of Canada, of a most clear- 
 minded and peace-loving man as Commissioner. 
 This appointment was all the more pleasing on 
 account of Mr. W. B. Coltman being a resident 
 Canadian of Quebec. Coltman was one man 
 among a thousand. He was patient and kind 
 and just. Though he had come to the Colony 
 prejudiced against Lord Selkirk, he found his 
 Lordship so fair and reasonable that he became 
 much attached to the man represented in Mon- 
 treal and the far East as a destructive ogre. 
 
 The Commissioner's report covered one hun- 
 dred pages, and it was in all respects a model. 
 He thoroughly understood the motives of both 
 parties, and his decisions led to a perfect era 
 of peace, and moreover in the end to the union 
 of the Hudson's Bay and Nor '-West Companies. 
 
 Lord Selkirk's coming was like a ray of sun- 
 shine to the Colonists of Eed Eiver. Being 
 of an intensely religious disposition, the peo- 
 ple reminded him that the elder who came out 
 in 1815, who was able to baptize and marry, had 
 been carried away by main force by the Nor'- 
 Westers to Canada in 1818, so that they were
 
 The Silver Chief Arrives. 149 
 
 without religious services. They always con- 
 tinued to have prayer meetings and to keep up 
 the pious customs of their fathers. This prac- 
 tise long survived among them. In repeating 
 his promise of a clergyman, Lord Selkirk as- 
 serted to them: " Selkirk never forfeited his 
 word. ' ' 
 
 His work done among his Colonists, he left 
 them never to see them again. He went south 
 from Fort Douglas to the United States, visited, 
 it is said, St. Louis, came to the Eastern States, 
 and rejoined in Montreal his Countess and chil- 
 dren who had in his absence lived in great 
 anxiety. One of his daughters, afterwards Lady 
 Isabella Hope, told the writer nearly thirty 
 years ago that she as a girl remembered seeing 
 Lord Selkirk as he returned from this long jour- 
 ney, coming around the Island into Montreal 
 Harbor paddled by French voyageurs in swift 
 canoes to his destination. His attention was 
 immediately given to law suits and actions 
 brought against him in the courts of Upper 
 Canada. These legal conflicts originated from 
 the troubles about the two centres Fort Doug- 
 las and Fort William where the collisions had 
 taken place. The influence of the Nor '-Westers 
 in Montreal was so great that the U. E. Loy- 
 alists of Upper Canada sympathised with them 
 against the noble philanthropist. Justice was 
 undoubtedly perverted in Upper Canada in the
 
 150 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 most shameless way. Weak in body at the best, 
 Lord Selkirk by his misfortunes, losses and 
 legal persecution began to fail in health. With 
 the sense of having been unjustly defeated, and 
 anxious about his Colonists in Red River, he 
 returned with his family to Britain to his be- 
 loved St. Mary's Isle. He sought for justice 
 from the British Parliament, but could there 
 get no movement in his favor. A copy of a let- 
 ter to him from Sir Walter Scott, his old friend, 
 is in the hands of the writer, but Sir Walter 
 was himself too ill at the time to lend him aid 
 in presenting his case before the British public. 
 Heart-broken, he gave up the struggle. With 
 the Countess and his family he went to the 
 South of France and died on April 8th, 1820, 
 at Pau, and his bones lie in the Protestant Ceme- 
 tery of Orthes. 
 
 He had not fought in vain. He had broken 
 down single-handed a system of organized ter- 
 rorism in the heart of North America, for the 
 Nor '-Westers never rose to strength again. 
 They united in a few years with the Hudson's 
 Bay Company. He established a Colony that 
 has thriven; he cherished a lofty vision; he 
 made mistakes in action, in judgment, and in a 
 too great optimism, but if we understand him 
 aright he bore an untainted and resolute soul.
 
 The Silver Chief Arrives. 151 
 
 ''Only those are crown 'd and sainted 
 Who with grief have been acquainted 
 Making Nations nobler, freer. ' ' 
 
 1 1 In their feverish exultations, 
 In their triumph and their yearning, 
 In their pasionate pulsations, 
 In their words among the nations 
 The Promethean fire is burning." 
 
 ' ' But the glories so transcendent 
 That around their memories cluster, 
 And on all their steps attendant, 
 Make their darkened lives resplendent 
 With such gleams-of inward lustre."
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 SOLDIERS AND SWISS. 
 
 Many Canadian Settlements have had a mili- 
 tary origin. It was considered a wise, strategic 
 move in the game of national defence when 
 Colonel Butler and his Rangers, after the 
 Treaty of Paris, were settled along the Niagara 
 frontier, and when Captain Grass and other 
 United Empire Loyalists took up their holdings 
 at Kingston and other points on the boundary 
 line along the St. Lawrence. The town of Perth 
 was the headquarters of a military settlement in 
 Central Canada. Traces of military occupation 
 can still be found in such Highland districts of 
 Canada as Pictou, Glengarry and Zorra, in 
 which last named township the enthusiastic 
 Celt in 1866 declared that perhaps the Fenians 
 would take Canada, but they could never take 
 Zorra. Numerous examples can be found all 
 through Canada where there is an aroma of 
 valor and patriotism surrounding the old army 
 officer or the families of the veterans of the 
 Napoleonic or Crimean wars. 
 
 The settlement of the De Meuron soldiers
 
 Soldiers and Swiss. 153 
 
 opposite Fort Douglas gave some promise of a 
 military flavor to Selkirk Settlement. But as 
 we shall see it was an ill-advised attempt at 
 colonization. It was a mistake to settle some 
 hundred or more single men as these soldiers 
 were without a woman among them, as Lord 
 Selkirk was compelled to do. To these soldier- 
 colonists he gave lands along the small winding 
 river now called the Seine, which empties into 
 Red Eiver opposite Point Douglas. Many of 
 the De Meurons spoke German, and hence for 
 several years the little stream on which they 
 lived was called German Creek. The writings 
 of the time are full of rather severe criticism 
 of these hello-agricultural settlers. Of course 
 no one expects an old soldier to be of much use 
 to a new country. He is usually a lazy settler. 
 His habits of life are formed in another mould 
 from that of the farm. He is apt to despise the 
 hoe and the harrow and many even of the half- 
 pay officers who came to hew out a home in the 
 Canadian forest, never learned to cut down a 
 tree or to hold a plough, though it may be ad- 
 mitted that they lived a useful life in their sons 
 and daughters, while the culture and decision of 
 character of the old officer or sturdy veteran 
 were an asset of great value to the locality in 
 which he settled. 
 
 But the De Meurons were not only bachelors, 
 but they came from the peasantry of Austria
 
 154 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 and Italy, they had not fought for home and 
 country, and their life of mercenary soldiering 
 had made them selfish and deceitful. A writer 
 of the time speaks, and evidently with much 
 prejudice, against the De Meurons. "They 
 were," he says, "a medley of almost all nations 
 Germans, French, Italians, Swiss and others. 
 They were bad farmers and withal very bad 
 subjects; quarrelsome, slothful, famous bottle 
 companions and ready for any enterprise how- 
 ever lawless and tyrannical." A few years 
 later we find it stated that they made free with 
 the cattle of their neighbors, and the chronicler 
 does not hesitate to say that the herds of the 
 De Meurons grew in number in exactly the 
 same ratio as those of the Scottish settlers de- 
 creased. 
 
 Some four years after the settlement of the 
 De Meurons a sunburst came upon them quite 
 unexpectedly. 
 
 Lord Selkirk in the very last years of his life 
 planned to bring a band of Protestant settlers 
 from Switzerland. A Colonel May, late of an- 
 other of the mercenary regiments, accepted the 
 duty of going to Switzerland, issuing a very 
 attractive invitation to settlers, and succeeded 
 in shipping a considerable number of Swiss 
 families to his so-called Eed Eiver paradise. 
 
 This band of Colonists, consisting as they did 
 of "watch and clock-makers, pastry cooks and
 
 Soldiers and Swiss. 155 
 
 musicians, ' ' were quite unfit for the rough work 
 of the Selkirk Colony. In 1821 they were 
 brought by way of Hudson Bay, over the same 
 rocky way as the earlier Colonists came. They 
 were utterly poverty stricken, though honest, 
 and well-behaved. Their only possession of 
 value was a plenty of handsome daughters. The 
 Swiss families on arrival were placed under 
 tents nearby Fort Douglas. As soon as possible 
 many of the Swiss settlers were placed along- 
 side the De Meurons on German Creek. Good 
 Mr. West, who had just been sent out as chap- 
 lain by the Hudson's Bay Company, in place of 
 the minister of their own faith promised to the 
 Scottish settlers, did a great stroke of work in 
 marrying the young Swiss girls to the De Meu- 
 ron bachelors of German Creek. The descrip- 
 tion of the way in which the De Meurons in- 
 vited families having young women in them to 
 the wifeless cabins is ludicrous. A modern 
 "Sabine raid" was made upon the young 
 damsels, who were actually carried away to the 
 De Meuron homesteads. The Swiss families 
 which had the misfortune to have no daughters 
 in them were left to languish in their comfort- 
 less tents. The afflictions of the earlier Selkirk 
 settlers were increased by the arrival of these 
 settlers. With the Selkirk settlers in their 
 first decade the first consideration was always 
 food. Till that question is settled no Colony
 
 156 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 can advance. Probably the most alarming and 
 hopeless feature of their new colonial life was 
 the appearance of vast flights of locusts or 
 grasshoppers, which devoured every blade of 
 wheat and grass in the country. To those who 
 have never seen this plague it is inconceivable. 
 Some thirty-five years ago in Manitoba the 
 writer witnessed the utter devastation of the 
 country by these pests. Some thirteen years 
 before the coming of the first Colonists this 
 plague prevailed. About the end of July, 1818, 
 these riders of the air made their at- 
 tack. In this year the Selkirk Colonists 
 were greatly discouraged by the capture and 
 removal to Canada, by the Nor '-Westers, of 
 Mr. James Sutherland, their spiritual 
 guide. But their labors now seem likely to be 
 rewarded by a good harvest. The oats and 
 barley were in ear, when suddenly the invasion 
 came. The vast clouds of grasshoppers sailing 
 northward from the great Utah desert in the 
 United States, alighted late in the afternoon of 
 one day and in the morning fields of grain, 
 gardens with their promise, and every herb in 
 the Settlement were gone, and a waste like a 
 blasted hearth remained behind. The event was 
 more than a loss of their crops, it seemed a 
 heaven-struck blow upon their community, and 
 it is said they lifted up their eyes to heaven, 
 weeping and despairing. The sole return of
 
 Soldiers and Swiss. 157 
 
 their labors for the season was a few ears of 
 half-ripened barley which the women saved and 
 carried home in their aprons. There was no 
 help for it but to retire to Pembina, although 
 there was less fear than formerly for as a 
 writer of the day says: "The settlers had now 
 become good hunters; they could kill the 
 buffalo ; walk on snowshoes ; had trains of dogs 
 trimmed with ribbons, bells and feathers, in 
 true Indian style; and in other respects were, 
 making rapid steps in the arts of a savage life." 
 
 The complete loss of their crops left the set- 
 tlers even without the seed-wheat necessary to 
 sow their fields. The nearest point of supply 
 of this necessity was an agricultural settlement 
 in the State of Minnesota, upwards of five hun- 
 dred miles away. Here was a mighty task to 
 undertake to cross the plains in winter and to 
 bring back in time for the seeding time in spring 
 the wheat which was necessary. But the High- 
 lander is not to be deterred by rocky crag or 
 dashing river, or heavy snow in his own land 
 and he was ready to face this and more in the 
 new world. And so a daring party went off 
 on snowshoes, and taking three months for their 
 trip, reached the land of plenty and secured 
 some hundred bushels at the price of ten shil- 
 lings a bushel. 
 
 The question now was how to transport the 
 wheat through a trackless wilderness. Up the
 
 158 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 Mississippi River for hundreds of miles the flat 
 boats constructed for the purpose were pain- 
 fully propelled, and passing through the branch 
 known as the Minnesota River the Stony Lake 
 was reached. This lake is the source of the 
 Minnesota and Red rivers, and being at high 
 water in the spring it was possible to go 
 through the narrow lake from one river to the 
 other with the rough boats constructed. The 
 Red River was reached by the fearless adven- 
 turers who brought the "corn out of Egypt." 
 They did not, however, reach the Red River 
 with their treasure till about the end of June, 
 1820, and while the wheat grew well it was sown 
 too late to ripen well, although it gave the set- 
 tlers grain enough to sow the fields of the com- 
 ing year. This expedition cost Lord Selkirk 
 upwards of a thousand pounds sterling. In the 
 following year the grasshoppers again visited 
 the Red River fields, but by a sudden movement 
 which, by some of the good Colonists was inter- 
 preted to be a direct interference of Providence 
 on their behalf, the swarms of intruders passed 
 away never to appear again in the Red River 
 for half a century. 
 
 The presence of the grasshoppers upon the 
 Canadian prairies is one of interest. It is 
 known that they appeared throughout the ter- 
 ritory of Red River a dozen years or so before 
 the coming of the Selkirk Colonists, also during
 
 Soldiers and Swiss. 159 
 
 the period we have been describing, and then 
 not till the period from 1868 to 1875. During the 
 latter half of this period the writer saw their 
 devastations in Manitoba. The occurrence of 
 the grasshopper at times in all agricultural dis- 
 tricts in America is very different from the 
 grasshopper or locust plague which we are de- 
 scribing. The red-legged Caloptenus or the 
 Rocky Mountain locust are provided for lofty 
 flight and pass in myriads over the prairies, 
 lighting whenever a cloud obscures the sun. 
 At one time the writer saw them in such hordes 
 that they were found from Winnipeg to Ed- 
 monton, over a region about one thousand miles 
 in breadth. In that year they devoured not only 
 crops and garden products but almost com- 
 pletely ate up the grass on the prairie to such 
 an extent as to make it useless for hay. In the 
 year 1875 they appeared, in the main, for the 
 last time in Manitoba, and in that year their 
 disappearance was as sudden as in the former 
 case of 1821. Under the wing upon the body of 
 each grasshopper was to be found one or more 
 scarlet red parasites which drew all the juices 
 from the body of the insect and produced death. 
 For a third of a century they have been almost 
 unknown, and the area of cultivated ground in 
 the States of North and South Dakota, where 
 they may supply their hunger renders it likely 
 that Manitoba will know them no more. It
 
 160 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 cannot be wondered at that such continuous 
 disasters made the settler whether Scottish,' 
 De Meuron, or Swiss, extremely discontented. 
 During the period of the scourge, the only re- 
 source was to winter at Pembina in reasonable 
 distance from the buffalo-herds. In one of 
 these years a number of the Selkirk Colonists 
 did not return to their farms but emigrated to 
 the United States. As we shall see in a few 
 years after the grasshopper scourge the flood 
 of the Bed Eiver took place, when the De 
 Meurons and Swiss, with one or two exceptions, 
 disappeared from the Colony and became citi- 
 zens of the United States.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ENGLISH LION AND CANADIAN BEAR LIE DOWN 
 TOGETHER. 
 
 That such violence and bloodshed as that 
 about Fort Douglas, should be seen by British 
 subjects under the flag which stands for justice 
 and equal rights made sober-minded Britons 
 blush. While Lord Selkirk's agents on the 
 banks of the Bed River may have been ag- 
 gressive in pushing their rights, yet to the 
 Canadians was chargeable the greater part of 
 the bloodshed. This was but natural. To the 
 hunter, the trapper, and the frontiersman the 
 use of firearms is familiar. The fur trader pro- 
 tects himself thus from the bear and the pan- 
 ther. The hot blood of the Metis as he careered 
 over the prairie on his steed boiled up at the 
 least provocation. 
 
 But the disheartening law suits through 
 which Lord Selkirk passed in Sandwich, To- 
 ronto, and Montreal, reflected more dishonor on 
 the Canadians than did even the bloody vio- 
 lence of the Bois-Brules. The chicanery em- 
 ployed by the Canadian courts, the procuring
 
 162 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 of special legislation to adapt the law to Lord 
 Selkirk's case, and the invocation of the highest 
 social and even clerical influence in Upper 
 Canada for the purpose of injuring his Lord- 
 ship will ever remain a blot on earlier Cana- 
 dian jurisprudence. Fortunately the rights of 
 man, whether native or foreigner, are now bet- 
 ter understood and more fully protected in 
 Canada than they were in the second decade of 
 the nineteenth century. Col. Coltman's report, 
 as already stated, was a model of truthfulness, 
 fair play and freedom from prejudice, and 
 Coltman was a Canadian appointee. 
 
 So grave, however, were the rumours of these 
 events happening on the plains of Eupert's 
 Land, as they reached Britain that the House 
 of Commons named a committee to enquire into 
 the troubles. This committee sat in 1819, and 
 the result is a blue-book of considerable size 
 which exposes the injustice most fully. The 
 violence and bloodshed which the fur traders 
 now heard of far and near paralyzed the fur 
 trade carried on by both fur companies, and 
 brought the financial affairs of both companies 
 to the verge of destruction. Two startling 
 events of the next year produced a great shock. 
 These were sudden and untimely deaths of the 
 two great opponents Lord Selkirk at an early 
 age in France, and Sir Alexander Mackenzie, 
 at his estate in Scotland, he having been seized
 
 Englisli Lion and Canadian Bear. 163 
 
 with sudden illness on Ms way from London. 
 The two men died within a month of one an- 
 other in the spring of 1820. Their pass- 
 ing away was surely impressive. It seemed 
 like an offering to the god of peace in order 
 that the vast region with its scattered and 
 thunderstruck inhabitants from Lake Superior 
 to the Pacific Ocean might be saved from the 
 horrors of a cruel war of brother against 
 brother, and a war which might involve even 
 the cautious but hot-blooded Indian tribes. 
 
 Though the two parties were made up of 
 daring and head-strong men, yet adversity is a 
 hard but effective teacher. 
 
 The Hudson's Bay Company was represented 
 by Andrew Colville, a warm friend of the house 
 of Selkirk, the opponents by Edward Ellice, a 
 Nor '-Wester. It seemed, indeed, the very 
 irony of fate that Ellice should be a negotiator 
 for peace. He and his sons the writer heard 
 spoken of by the late Earl of Selkirk the son 
 of the founder as the bear and cubs. On the 
 other hand the burly directors of the Hudson's 
 Bay Company possessed with all the confidence 
 of the British Lion, and with their motto of 
 "Skin for skin" were only brought to a state 
 of peace by the loss of dividends. Much cor- 
 respondence passed between the offices of 
 Leadenhall Street and Suffolk Lane in London, 
 which the two companies occupied, but articles
 
 164 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 of agreement were not sufficient to make a 
 union. 
 
 All such coalitions to be successful must 
 circle around a single man. 
 
 This man was a young Scottish clerk, who 
 had spent a year only in -the far Athabasca 
 district. He had not depended on birth or 
 influence for his advancement, was not yet 
 wholly immersed in the traditions or preju- 
 dices of either company, and had consequent- 
 ly nothing to unlearn. Montreal became the 
 Canadian headquarters of the company, but 
 now the annual meeting of the traders where 
 he as Governor presided, was held at Norway 
 House. The offices in London were united, and 
 thus the affairs of the fur trade were provided 
 for and outward peace at least was guaranteed. 
 We are, however, chiefly dealing with the affairs 
 of Assiniboia as Lord Selkirk called it, or with 
 what was more commonly called Red River 
 Settlement. This belonged to Lord Selkirk's 
 heirs. The executors were, of course, Hudson 's 
 Bay Company grandees. They were Sir James 
 Montgomery, Mr. Halkett, Andrew Colville, 
 and his brother the Solicitor-General of Scot- 
 land. When the news came of the death of 
 Lord Selkirk, the mishaps and disturbances of 
 the Colony had been so many, that Hudson's 
 Bay Company, Nor '-Westers, Settlers, and 
 Freemen all said, "That will end the Colony
 
 English Lion and Canadian Bear. 
 
 165 
 
 now!" To the surprise of everyone the first 
 message from the executors was one of courage, 
 and the announcement was made that their first 
 
 SEVEN OAKS MONUMENT 
 On Kildonan Road near Winnipeg. 
 
 aim would be to send six hundred new settlers 
 to the banks of Bed River. 
 
 The angry passions which had been roused
 
 166 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 led the English directors to take the very wise 
 step of sordini? on* two representatives one 
 from each, of the old companies to rearrange 
 all matters and settle all disputes. The two 
 delegates were Nicholas Garry, the Vice- 
 Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, and 
 Simon McGillivray, who bore one of the most 
 influential names of the Nor '-Wester traders. 
 They were not, however, equally well liked. 
 Garry was a courteous, fair, and kindly gentle- 
 man. He won golden opinions among officers 
 and settlers alike. McGillivray was suspicious 
 and selfish, so the records of the time state. 
 They came to the Ked River in 1821, and Garry 
 entered particularly into the arrangement of 
 the Forts at the Forks. The old Fort Douglas 
 was retained as Colony Fort, and the small 
 Hudson's Bay Company trading house as well 
 as Fort Gibraltar were absorbed into the new 
 fort which was erected on the banks of the 
 Assiniboine between Main Street and the bank 
 of the Eed River. All the letters and documents 
 of the time speak of Governor Garry's visits 
 as carrying a gleam of sunshine wherever he 
 went and it was appropriate that the new fort 
 built in the following year should bear the name 
 Fort Garry. This was the wooden fort, which 
 still remained in existence though superseded 
 as a fort in 1850. 
 At the time of Governor Garry's visit the
 
 English Lion and Canadian Bear. 167 
 
 population of the settlement may be considered 
 to have been about five hundred. These were 
 made up of somewhat less than two hundred 
 Selkirk Colonists, about one hundred De 
 Meurons, a considerable number of French 
 Voyageurs and Freemen, Swiss Colonists per- 
 haps eighty, and the remainder Orkney, em- 
 ployees of the Hudson's Bay Company. The 
 Colony was, however, beginning to organize 
 itself. The accounts of the French settlers are 
 very vague, an occasional name flitting across 
 the page of history. One family still found on 
 Red River banks, gains celebrity as possessing 
 the first white woman who came to Rupert's 
 Land. With her husband she had gone to Ed- 
 monton in - , and had wandered over the 
 prairies. In 1811, with her husband, she first saw 
 the Forks of Red River and wintered in 1811-12 
 at Pembina, the winter which the first band of 
 Colonists spent at York Factory. Lajimoniere 
 became a fast adherent of Lord Selkirk, and 
 made a famous and most dangerous winter 
 journey through the wilds alone, carrying let- 
 ters from Red River to Montreal, delivered 
 them personally to Lord Selkirk in 1815. 
 
 The Lajimonieres received with great delight 
 in 1818 the first Roman Catholic missionaries 
 who reached Red River. These were sent 
 through Lord Selkirk's influence, and the large 
 gift of land known as the Seigniory lying east
 
 168 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 of St. Boniface was the reward given to the 
 early pioneer missionaries Provencher and 
 Dumoulin, men of great stature and manly bear- 
 ing. In the year of their arrival James Suth- 
 erland, the Presbyterian chaplain of the Sel- 
 kirk Colonists, was taken by the Nor '-Westers 
 to Upper Canada, whither his son, Haman 
 Sutherland, had gone in 1815 with Duncan 
 Cameron. The Earl of Selkirk had promised 
 to send to his Scottish Colonists a minister of 
 their own faith. On his death in France his 
 agent in London was Mr. John Pritchard. 
 Seventeen days after the death of Lord Selkirk, 
 Rev. John West was appointed to come as 
 chaplain to the Colonists and the other Protest- 
 ants of Bed River. Pritchard arrived by Hud- 
 son's Bay ship at York Factory 15 Aug., 1820, 
 having Mr. West in company with him. 
 
 And now Colville wrote to Alexander Mac- 
 donell, the Governor of the Settlement: "Mr. 
 West goes out and takes with him persons ac- 
 quainted with making bricks and pottery." 
 Macdonell was a Roman Catholic, but Colville 
 wrote : "I trust also that by your example and 
 advice you will encourage all the Protestants, 
 Presbyterians as well as others to attend di- 
 vine service as performed by Mr. West. He 
 will also open schools." As to Mr. West's sup- 
 port a curiosity occurs in one of Mr. West's 
 letters written in the following year from York
 
 English Lion and Canadian Bear. 169 
 
 Factory. He speaks of an agreement between 
 Lord Selkirk and the Selkirk Settlers. 
 
 1 'That the Settlers will use their endeavours 
 for the benefit and support of the clergyman 
 and shall be chargeable therewith as follows 
 (that is to say) : each settler shall employ him- 
 self, his servants, his horses, cattle, carts, car- 
 riages and other things necessary to the pur- 
 pose on every day and at every place to be 
 appointed by the clergyman to whom, or whose 
 flock he shall belong, not exceeding at and 
 after the rate of three days in the spring and 
 three days in the autumn of each year." 
 
 This is a gem of ecclesiasticism. 
 
 Mr. West says: "I find that it is impracti- 
 cable to carry the same into effect. This is at- 
 tributable to the distance of most of the settlers 
 and the reluctance of the Scotch Settlers." 
 
 Mr. West had made mention of this to 
 Governor Garry.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 SATRAP BULB. 
 
 "Woe to the Nation," says a high authority, 
 "whose King is a child," but far worse than 
 even having a child-ruler is the fate ol 
 a Kingdom or Principality whose ruler is a hire- 
 ling. The Roman Empire was ruled in the dif- 
 ferent provinces by selfish and dishonest adven- 
 turers, who tyrannized over the people, farmed 
 out the revenues, bribed their favorites and de- 
 frauded their masters. Turkish Government or 
 Persian Rule is to-day an organized system of 
 extortion and oppression by unscrupulous 
 Satraps. Lord Selkirk's two governors, Miles 
 Macdonell and Robert Semple, had been re- 
 moved, the former by capture, the latter by 
 death. Alexander Macdonell in 1816 became 
 acting governor and was confirmed in office 
 for five or six years afterward. In his re- 
 gime the Grasshoppers came and did their de- 
 structive work, but the French people nick- 
 named him "Governor Sauterelle," Grasshop- 
 per Governor, for, says the historian of this de- 
 cade he was so called, "because he proved as
 
 Satrap Rule. 171 
 
 great a destroyer within doors as the grass- 
 hoppers in the fields." 
 
 Lord Selkirk had been a most generous and 
 sympathetic founder to his Scottish Colony. 
 He was not only proprietor of the whole Bed 
 Eiver Valley, but he felt himself responsible for 
 the support and comfort of his Colonists. He 
 had to begin with supplying food, clothing, im- 
 plements, arms and ammunition to his settlers. 
 He had erected buildings for shelter and a store 
 house and fort for the protection of them and 
 their goods. He had supplied, in a Colony shop, 
 provisions and all requisites to be purchased by 
 his settlers and on account of their poverty to 
 be charged to their individual accounts. 
 
 George Simpson, who was the new Governor 
 of the United Hudson 's Bay Company, was for 
 two years Macdonell's contemporary, and he in 
 one of his letters says: "Macdonell is, I am 
 concerned to say, extremely unpopular, despised 
 and held in contempt by every person connected 
 with the place, he is accused of partiality, dis- 
 honesty, untruth and drunkenness, in short, 
 by a disrespect of every moral and elevated 
 feeling. ' ' 
 
 Alexander Boss says of him, "The officials he 
 kept about him resembled the court of an East- 
 ern Nabob, with its warriors, serfs, and varlets, 
 and the names they bore were hardly less pom- 
 pous, for here were secretaries, assistant secre-
 
 172 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 taries, accountants, orderlies, grooms, cooks and 
 butlers. ' ' 
 
 Satrap Macdonell held high revels in his time. 
 ''From the time the puncheons of rum reached 
 the colony in the fall, till they were all drunk 
 dry, nothing was to be seen or heard about 
 Fort Douglas but balling, dancing, rioting and 
 drunkenness in the barbarous sport of those dis- 
 orderly times." Macdonell's method of reck- 
 oning accounts was unique. "In place of hav- 
 ing recourse to the tedious process of pen and 
 ink the heel of a bottle was filled with wheat and 
 set on the cask. This contrivance was called 
 the "hour glass," and for every flagon drawn 
 off, a grain of wheat was taken out of the hour 
 glass, and put aside till the bouse was over." 
 
 As was to be expected this disgraceful state 
 of things led to grave frauds in the dealings 
 with the Colonists, and when Halkett, one of 
 Lord Selkirk's executors, arrived on Bed Kiver 
 to investigate the complaints, a thorough sys- 
 tem of "false entries, erroneous statements and 
 over-charges ' ' was found, and the discontent of 
 the settlers was removed, though they were all 
 heavily in debt to the Estate. 
 
 It had been the object of Lord Selkirk from 
 the beginning of his enterprise to give employ- 
 ment to his needy Colonists. Various enter- 
 prises were begun with this end in view, but 
 they were all mere bubbles which soon burst.
 
 Satrap Rule. 173 
 
 John Pritchard, whom Lord Selkirk had taken 
 as his secretary to London, was largely instru- 
 mental in floating the ill-starred scheme known 
 as the "Buffalo Wool Company." Just as 
 on the shores of the Mediterranean, shawls 
 were made from the long wool of the goats, so 
 it was thought that shawls could be made of 
 the hair or wool of the buffalo. A voluminous 
 correspondence given in many letters of Prit- 
 chard 's to Lady Selkirk and other ladies of 
 high station and to an English firm of manu- 
 facturers exploiting this project is before us. 
 Sample squares of the cloth made of buffalo 
 wool were distributed and in certain circles the 
 novelty from the Bed River was the "talk of 
 the town," in London. 
 
 On the banks of Red River the scheme took 
 like wild-fire. All Red River people were to 
 make fortunes. There were to be high wages 
 and work for everybody. Wages were in- 
 creased, and men were receiving nearly four 
 dollars a day. Money became plentiful and 
 provisions became dear and also scarce. The 
 employees, higher and lower, became intoxi- 
 cated with their success, as they now also be- 
 came really intoxicated and fell into reckless 
 habits. The work was neglected, and the enter- 
 prize collapsed. This was the earliest boom on 
 Red River banks. Failure was sure to follow 
 so mad a scheme. The buffalo wool cloth which
 
 174 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 it cost some twelve dollars and a half to manu- 
 facture, partly in Red River Settlement and 
 partly in England, was sold for little more than 
 one dollar a yard. The 2,000 of capital was all 
 swallowed up, 4,500 of debt to the Hudson 's Bay 
 Company was never paid, the scheme became * 
 laughing stock in England, and failure and mis- 
 ery followed its collapse in the Colony. 
 
 At this time the French-Canadian settlement 
 at Pembina was induced to remove to St. 
 Boniface on the Red River, where they gath- 
 ered around their new priest, Provencher, to 
 whom they became much attached. 
 
 The Selkirk Trustees, in every way, contin- 
 ued ungrudgingly to advance the interests of 
 the Colony, but their plans, though often mere 
 theories failed more from extravagance and 
 want of good men to execute them than from 
 any other cause. 
 
 Believing that farming was the thing need- 
 ing cultivation in a country with so rich a 
 soil, the Colonizers began the Hayfield farm on 
 the north bank of the Assiniboine River, near 
 what is now the outskirts of the City of "Win- 
 nipeg, a little above the present Agricultural 
 College buildings. Beginning with an expen- 
 sive salary for Manager Laidlaw, the promo- 
 ters erected ample farm buildings, barns, yard* 
 and stab 1 e -5 Importations were made of weli- 
 bred cattle and horses Several years of UUP-
 
 Satrap Rule. 175 
 
 management and helplessness resulted from this 
 trial of a model farm, and it was given up at a 
 total loss to the proprietors of 3,500. The 
 Assiniboine Wool Company was next started, 
 but failed before the first payment of stock 
 took place, without damage to anyone, so that, 
 as was remarked, there was "much cry and lit- 
 tle wool. ' ' The Flax and Hemp Company was 
 the next unfortunate enterprise. This failed 
 on account of there being no market, so that 
 farmers never reaped the successful crops 
 which they had grown. An expedition was 
 made to Missouri, under Messrs. Burke and 
 Campbell, to introduce sheep into the settle- 
 ment. As the fifteen hundred sheep purchased 
 had to be driven 1,500 miles to their destina- 
 tion on Red Eiver, only two hundred and fifty 
 of the whole flock survived. Failure after 
 failure taking place did not prevent the forma- 
 tion of a Tallow Company, which resulted in 
 the loss of 600 to 1,000, and a considerable 
 sum was spent also in an abortive attempt to 
 open up a road to Hudson's Bay, a scheme 
 which Lord Selkirk's letters show, he had in 
 view from the very beginning of the life of the 
 Colony. The courage and generosity of the 
 executors of Lord Selkirk shown to all these en- 
 terprises reflects the greatest credit upon them. 
 True, the concession of so wide an area of fer- 
 tile land was worth it, and the pledges made to
 
 176 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 the Selkirk settlers demanded it, but as in 
 hundreds of other enterprises undertaken by 
 British capitalists on the American continent, 
 the choice of men foreign to the country and 
 its conditions, the lack of conscience and 
 economy on the part of the agents sent out, the 
 dissension and jealousy aroused by every such 
 attempt, as well as the absence of the means of 
 transport by land and sea through the methods 
 supplied by science to-day, resulted in a series 
 of dismal failures, which placed an undeserved 
 stigma upon the character of the soil, climate, 
 and resources of Assiniboia. It took more 
 than fifty years of subsequent effort to re- 
 move this impression. .. 
 
 These experiences took place under those 
 governors who succeeded Alexander Macdonell 
 the Grasshopper Governor. The first of 
 them was Captain Bulger, an unfortunate mar- 
 tinet, though a man of good conscience and 
 high ideals. He had a most uncompromising 
 manner. He quarreled with the Hudson's Bay 
 Company officer at Fort Garry on the one hand, 
 and with old Indian Chief Peguis on the other. 
 A whole crop of suggestions made by the Cap- 
 tain on the improvement of the Colony remain 
 in his "Red River Papers." Bulger's succes- 
 sor was Governor Pelly, a relative of the cele- 
 brated Governor of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany. The new Governor lacked nerve and de-
 
 Satrap Rule. 177 
 
 cision, and was quite unfitted for his position. 
 His method of dealing with an Indian mur- 
 derer was long repeated on Eed Eiver as a 
 subject for humor, when he instructed the in- 
 terpreter to announce to the criminal: "that 
 he had manifested a disposition subversive of 
 all order, and if he should not be punished in 
 this world, he would be sure to be punished 
 in the next." The hopelessness of carrying on 
 the affairs of the Colony apart from those of 
 the general affairs of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany, was now seen, and on the suggestion 
 of Governor Simpson, the management was 
 placed in the hands of governors immediately 
 responsible to the company. This change led 
 to the appointment as Governor of Donald Mc- 
 Kenzie. This old trader had taken part in the 
 formation of the Astor Fur Company, and was 
 in charge of one of the famous parties, which 
 in 1811 crossed the continent, as described by 
 Washington Irving. Boss Cox says of this be- 
 leaguered party: "Their concave cheeks, pro- 
 tuberant bones, and tattered garments indi- 
 cated the dreadful extent of their privations. 
 The old trader thus case-hardened faced brave- 
 ly for eight years the worries of the Colony.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 AND THE FLOOD CAME. 
 
 With fire and flood some of the greatest catas- 
 trophies of the world have been closely con- 
 nected. The tradition of the Noachian deluge 
 has been found among almost all peoples. Hor- 
 ace speaks of the mild little Tiber becoming so 
 unruly that the fishes swam among the tops of 
 the trees upon its banks. Tidal waves devastated 
 the shores of England and France on several oc- 
 casions. It is most natural that prairie rivers 
 should exceed their banks and spread over wide 
 areas of the land. Old Trader Nolin, one of the 
 first on the prairies, states that a worse flood 
 than that seen by the Selkirk Settlers took place 
 fifty years before, and there were two other 
 floods between these two. Each year, accord- 
 ing to the tale of the old settlers, the rivers of 
 the prairies have been becoming wider by de- 
 nudation, so that each flood tends to be less. 
 Several conditions seem to be necessary for a 
 flood upon these prairie rivers. These are a 
 very heavy snowfall during the prairie winter, 
 a late spring in which the river ice retains its
 
 And the Flood Came. 179 
 
 hold, and a sudden period in the springtime 
 of very hot weather, these being modified as 
 the years go on by the ever-widening river 
 channel. 
 
 The winter of 1825-6 was one of the most 
 terrific ever known in the history of the Sel- 
 kirk Settlement. Just before Christmas the 
 first woe occurred. The snow drove the herds 
 of buffaloes far out upon the prairies from the 
 river encampments and the wooded shelter. 
 The horses in bands were scattered and lost, 
 dying as they floundered in the deep snows. 
 Even the hunters were cut off from one 
 another, the hunters' families were driven 
 hither and thither, and in many cases separated 
 on the wide snowy plains. Sheriff Boss, who 
 was a visitor from the Settlement to Pembina 
 in the dreary winter there, describes the scene 
 of horror. "Families here and families there 
 despairing of life, huddled themselves together 
 for warmth, and in too many cases, their shelter 
 proved their grave. At first, the heat of their 
 bodies melted the snow; they became wet, and 
 being without food or fuel, the cold soon pene- 
 trated, and in several instances froze the whole 
 into a body of solid ice. Some again, were 
 found in a state of wild delirium, frantic, mad ; 
 while others were picked up, one here, and one 
 there, overcome in their fruitless attempts to 
 reach Pembina some half-way, some more,
 
 180 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 some less; one woman was found with an in- 
 fant on her back, within a quarter of a mile of 
 Pembina. This poor creature must have tra- 
 velled, at least, one hundred and twenty-five 
 miles, in three days and nights, till she sunk at 
 last in the too unequal struggle for life. ' * Such 
 scenes might be expected in the valleys of the 
 Highlands of Scotland, or amid the heavy 
 snows of New Brunswick or Quebec, but they 
 were a surprise upon the open prairie. Some 
 of the settlers had devoured their dogs, raw 
 hides, leather and their very shoes. The loss 
 of thirty-three lives cast a gloom over the whole 
 settlement. 
 
 Anxiety had been aroused throughout the 
 whole Colony. The St. Lawrence often over- 
 flows its banks at Montreal, the Grand River 
 at Brantford and the Fraser at its delta, but 
 the rarity of the Bed Eiver overflows led 
 the people, after their winter disaster, to hope 
 that they would escape a flood. 
 
 This was not to be. 
 
 As the Eed River flows northward, the first 
 thaw of spring is usually south of the Ameri- 
 can International Boundary line at the head 
 waters of the river which divides Minnesota 
 and Dakota. In these States the floods are al- 
 ways, in consequence, greater than they are in 
 Manitoba. In this year the ice held very firm 
 up to the end of April. On the second of May,
 
 And the Flood Came. 181 
 
 the waters from above rose and lifted the ice 
 which still held in a mass together some nine 
 feet above the level of the day before. Indians 
 and whites alike were alarmed. The water 
 overflowed its banks, and still continued to rise 
 at Fort Garry. The Governor and his famliy 
 were driven to the upper story of their resi- 
 dence in the fort, with the water ten feet deep 
 below that. 
 
 The whole river bank for miles was a scene 
 of confusion and terror. Every home was an 
 alarming scene as the flood reached it. The 
 first thought was to save life. Amid the cry- 
 ing of children, the lowing of cattle and the 
 howling of dogs, parents sought out all their 
 children to see them safely removed. Parents 
 and grown men and women fled in fright from 
 their houses, and in many cases without any 
 other garments than their working clothes. 
 The only hope was to seek out somewhat higher 
 spots more and more removed from the river. 
 And with them went their cattle and horses. 
 
 To those in boats the stronger and more 
 venturesome men the task now came of re- 
 moving the wheat and oats, what little furni- 
 ture they possessed and the necessary cooking 
 utensils. 
 
 Blessed, on such occasions, are those who 
 possess little for they shall have no loss. 
 
 As the waters rose, the lake became wider,
 
 182 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 and the wind blew the waves to a dangerous 
 height. The ice broke up and the current in- 
 creasing dashed this against the buildings, 
 which at length gave way and all went floating 
 down across the points ice, log houses with 
 dogs and cats frantic on their roofs. One eye- 
 witness says: "The most singular spectacle 
 was a house in flames, drifting along in the 
 night, its one half immersed in water and the 
 remainder furiously burning." 
 
 As the flood of waters widened into a great 
 expanse it became plain that it would be some 
 time, if indeed less than several months, be- 
 fore the waters would begin to abate, and in 
 the absence of an Ararat on which to rest, the 
 setters occupied the rock-bared elevations, 
 the highest Stony Mount, only eighty feet above 
 the level, with the middle bluff, little Stony 
 Mountain and Bird's Hill, east of the river. It 
 is interesting to know that Silver Heights and 
 the banks of the Sturgeon Creek near its 
 mouth, were not submerged and at their var- 
 ious points the Colonists pitched their tents 
 and sojourned. 
 
 In seventeen days from the first rise, the wa- 
 ter reached its height, and hope began immedi- 
 ately to return. On the 22nd of May the wa- 
 ters commenced to assuage, and twenty days 
 afterward the Settlers were able with diffi- 
 culty to reach their homes again.
 
 And the Flood Came. 183 
 
 But every disaster has its side of advantage. 
 During the escape of the Settlers to the heights, 
 the De Meurons, losing all sense of restraint, 
 stole the cattle of the Settlers and actually sold 
 them meat from their own slaughtered cattle. 
 So intense was the feeling of the Scottish Set- 
 tlers against the De Meurons that the Selkirk 
 Colonists chose another situation and moved 
 to it. 
 
 Now that the flood was over, the De Meurons 
 and Swiss became more restless than ever. They 
 decided to move to the United States. The 
 Selkirk Colonists were glad to see them go, and 
 furnished them, free of cost, sufficient supplies 
 for their journey. They departed on the 24th 
 of June, their band numbering 243, and the 
 sturdy pioneers who held to their land shed no 
 tears of sorrow at their going. 
 
 With remarkable courage and hope the Set- 
 tlers returned after what was to some of them, 
 their fourth Hegira, and immediately planted 
 potatoes and small quantities of wheat and 
 barley. This grew well and supplied food for 
 them, and in the next two or three years no 
 less than two hundred and four houses were 
 built. The Settlement, now freed from dissen- 
 sion, had not gone through its fiery ordeal in 
 vain. The news of a home for themselves and 
 their dusky wives and half-breed children, had 
 spread over the whole of Rupert's Land, and
 
 184 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 now began, what Lieutenant-Governor Archi- 
 bald, the first Governor of Manitoba, after- 
 ward spoke of as the floating down the rivers 
 with their wives and children of the Hudson's 
 Bay Company officers and men to the paradise 
 of Eed River. The great majority of the em- 
 ployees of the Company were Orkneymen. 
 They gradually took up the most of the Eed 
 Eiver lots surveyed, lying below Kildonan, and 
 forming the Parishes of St. Paul's and St. An- 
 drew's on Eed Eiver, down to St. Peter's In- 
 dian Eeserve and St. James' and Headingly up 
 the Assiniboine. The French half-breeds who 
 removed from Pembina and different parts of 
 Eupert's Land, made the great French par- 
 ishes of St. Boniface, St. Norbert, St. Vital on 
 the Eed Eiver, with St. Charles, St. Francois 
 Xavier and Baie St. Paul on the Assiniboine. 
 And now of Scottish Settlers with French and 
 English half-breeds, the population of Eed 
 Eiver Settlement had reached the number of 
 1,500 souls.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE JOLLY GOVERNOR. 
 
 Great crises in the world's history generally 
 produce the men who solve them. Cromwell, 
 Washington, Garibaldi each of them was the 
 movement itself. A wider philosophy may see 
 that the age or the Community evolves the man, 
 but as Carlyle shows, it is the man who reacts 
 upon the community, becomes the embodiment 
 of its ideal, and is the mouthpiece and the 
 right hand of the age which produces him. 
 
 That Andrew Colville, a brother-in-law of 
 Lord Selkirk, should select a young clerk in 
 London and send him out to Athabasca to see 
 the great fur-region of the Mackenzie River 
 District, is not a wonderful thing,' but that af- 
 ter one year of active service this young man 
 should be chosen to guide the destinies of the 
 great united fur company, made up of the 
 Hudson's Bay and Nor '-Wester Companies is 
 a wonder. 
 
 This was the case with George Simpson, a 
 Scottish youth, who was the illegitimate son of 
 the maternal uncle of Thomas Simpson, the
 
 186 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 famous Arctic explorer, who is known as hav- 
 ing followed out a portion of the coast line of 
 the Arctic Sea. 
 
 Anyone can see that from the proverbial en- 
 ergy that is developed in those of inferior birth, 
 there was here one of Nature's commanding 
 spirits, who would bring order out of chaos. 
 
 Moreover, the fact of his short service in a 
 distant part of the fur country, left him free 
 from prejudice, gave him an open mind, and 
 permitted him to serve as a young man when 
 he was yet plastic and adaptable all this was 
 in his favor. 
 
 Governor Simpson was short of stature, but 
 possessed of great energy and endurance. He 
 was keen in mind and observing in his facul- 
 ties. Active and determined, he might at times 
 seem a martinet and a tyrant, but he had at the 
 same time an easy and pleasant manner that 
 enabled him to attract to himself his servants 
 and subordinates, but especially the savages 
 with whom he had constantly to have dealings. 
 His ardent Highland nature led him to rejoice 
 in the picturesque and the showy, and he was 
 fond of music and of society. Given to change, 
 Simpson became a great traveller and made a 
 voyage around the world before the days of 
 steam or railway. 
 
 One of the first gatherings of the fur traders, 
 in which the young Governor gained golden
 
 The Jolly Governor. 187 
 
 opinions, was held at Norway House, the old 
 resting place of the Selkirk Settlers. This 
 meeting took place in June, 1823; the minutes 
 of this meeting have been preserved and are 
 interesting. Such items as, that Bow Eiver 
 Fort at the foot of the Bocky Mountains was 
 abandoned; that because of prairie fires the 
 buffaloes were far beyond Pembina; that the, 
 Assiniboine Indians had moved to the Saskat- 
 chewan for food; that trouble with the French 
 traders had arisen on account of their deter- 
 mination to trade in furs ; that the French half- 
 breeds had largely moved from Pembina to St. 
 Boniface; that the trade should be withdrawn 
 from beyond the American Boundary line ; that 
 the Sioux Indians should be discouraged from 
 coming to the Forts to trade ; and that the com- 
 pany intended to take over the Colony from 
 Lord Selkirk's trustees, all came up for con- 
 sideration. 
 
 These were all important and difficult prob- 
 lems, but the young Governor acted with such 
 shrewdness and skill, that he completely car- 
 ried the Council with him, and was given power 
 to act for the Council during the Intervals be- 
 tween its meetings a thing most unusual. 
 
 The Governor was ubiquitous. 
 
 Now at Moose Factory, then at York ; now at 
 Norway House, but every year at Bed Biver, 
 the Governor saw for himself the needs of the
 
 188 
 
 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 country, and the opportunities for advancing 
 the interests of the Hudson's Bay Company. 
 Forty times, that is, nearly every year of his 
 Governorship, it is said he travelled the route 
 between Montreal and Fort Garry, and this by 
 
 SIR GEORGE SIMPSON 
 Governor of Rupert's Land, 1811-60. 
 
 canoe. He drove his men, who were chiefly 
 French-Canadians, with irritating haste, and it 
 is a story prevalent among the old Selkirk 
 Settlers, that a stalwart French voyageur, who 
 was a favorite of the Governor, was once, in
 
 The Jolly Governor. 189 
 
 crossing the Lake of the Woods, so infuriated 
 with his master's urging that he seized the tor- 
 mentor who was small in stature, by the shoul- 
 ders, and with a plentiful use of ' ' sacres, ' ' dip- 
 ped him into the lake, and then replaced him in 
 the bottom of the canoe. 
 
 It does not fall within the scope of our story 
 to tell of Simpson's journeys through Bupert's 
 Land, nor of his famous voyage around the 
 world, but there is extant an account of his 
 methods of appealing to the interest of the In- 
 dians and servants of the company in his no- 
 table progresses through the wilds. Some 
 seven years after his appointment Governor 
 Simpson made a voyage from Hudson Bay, 
 across country to the Pacific Ocean, namely, 
 from York Factory to Fort Vancouver on the 
 Columbia Eiver. Fourteen chief officers, factors 
 and traders, and as many more clerks had gath- 
 ered to see the chieftain depart. Taking with 
 him a lieutenant Macdonald, a doctor and two 
 canoe crews, of nine men each, the jolly Gov- 
 ernor with dashing speed ascended the Hayes 
 Eiver, up which the Selkirk Colonists had la- 
 boriously come, receiving as he left the Fac- 
 tory, loud cheers from all the people gathered, 
 and a salute of seven guns from the garrison. 
 The French-Canadian voyageurs struck up 
 their boating songs with glee, and with dash- 
 ing paddles left the bay behind.
 
 190 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 The expedition was well provided with sup- 
 plies, including wine for the gentlemen and 
 spirits for the men. 
 
 The arrival at Norway House was a fete. 
 
 Before reaching the Fort the party landed on 
 the shore, and paying much attention to their 
 toilets, put themselves in proper trim. In full 
 career the canoes dashed through the deep 
 rocky gorge leading to the Fort, the Governor 's 
 canoe, had on its high prow, conspicuous the 
 French guide, who for the time gave com- 
 mands. The Governor always took his High- 
 land piper with him, and now there pealed forth 
 from the canoe the strident strains of the bag- 
 pipes, while from the second canoe sounded the 
 shrill call of the chief factor's bugle. As the 
 party approached the Fort they saw the Union 
 Jack with its magic letters H. B. C. floating 
 from the tall flag-staff of Norway pine erected 
 on Signal Hill. Bands of Indians from all di- 
 rections were assembled to meet the great chief 
 or "Kitche Okema," as they called him. Ceas- 
 ing the pipes and bugle, the voyageurs sang 
 with lively spirit one of their boat songs, to the 
 great delight of their old friends, the Indians. 
 
 The Governor was in 1839, at a time when 
 Canada was much disturbed in both Provinces 
 by the Mackenzie-Papineau rebellion, rewarded 
 for the loyalty of his Company by having knight- 
 hood conferred upon him.
 
 The Jolly Governor. 191 
 
 Sir George Simpson's annual visits to Bed 
 River Settlement were the bright spots in the 
 life of the Colony. Never did a Governor get 
 so near the people as did Sir George. Old 
 settlers tell how when Sir George arrived every 
 grievance, disaster, suspicion, or bit of gossip 
 was faithfully carried to him, and his patience 
 and ingenuity were freely exercised in "jolly- 
 ing" the people and giving them condescending 
 attention. 
 
 Sir George married in time, and on oc- 
 casion brought Lady Simpson, who was a na- 
 tive of the country, to visit the Red River Set- 
 tlement. Her presence was taken as a compli- 
 ment by the people. Sir George Simpson, like 
 many of the Hudson's Bay Company, had 
 among all his business engagements the taste 
 for literature. He encouraged the formation 
 of libraries at the several trading posts, and 
 in his letters throws in a remark about Sir 
 Walter Scott, or Blackwood's last magazine, or 
 other living topic, although the means of com- 
 munication made literature often months late 
 even on the banks of the Red River. His own 
 effort in producing a book gave rise to a con- 
 siderable amount of amusement. After his 
 great journey around the world, he published 
 an account of his travels in two considerable 
 volumes. It is now no secret that these were 
 prepared for him by a well-known judge of Red
 
 192 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 River Settlement, of whom we speak more ful- 
 ly in a later chapter. This double authorship 
 became decidedly inconvenient to Sir George 
 on the celebrated occasion when he was cited 
 in 1857 to give evidence before the Committee 
 of the House of Commons as to Rupert's Land. 
 Sir George's experience in introducing farm- 
 ing into Bed Eiver Settlement had been so 
 troublesome, and expensive as well, that he 
 really believed agriculture would be a failure 
 in the West, and so he gave his evidence. Un- 
 fortunately for him his editor had indulged m 
 his book, in a pictorial and fulsome description 
 of the Eainy River, as an agricultural region. 
 Mr. Roebuck quoted this passage and Sir 
 George was in a serious dilemma. If he ad- 
 mitted it his evidence would seem untrue, if lie 
 denied it then he must deny his authorship. He 
 admitted that the book was somewhat too flat- 
 tering in its description. 
 
 But, take him all in all, Sir George really 
 stood for his duty and his people. He lifted the 
 fur trade out of a slough of despond, he was 
 kind and charitable to the people of the Red 
 River Settlement, he was a good administrator 
 and a patriot Briton, and though as his book 
 tells and local tradition confirms it, he could 
 not escape from what is called "the witchery 
 of a pretty face," yet he rose to the position on 
 the whole as a man who sought for the higher
 
 The Jolly Governor. 193 
 
 interests of the vast territory under Lis sway, 
 as well as for the financial advancement of his 
 company.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE OLIGAEGHY. 
 
 The struggle has always been between the 
 masses and the classes. Privilege always 
 strives to confine itself to a few. It could not 
 be but that the echoes of the great British Re- 
 form Bill of 1832 should reach even the remote 
 banks of Red River. The struggle for con- 
 stitutional freedom was also going on in Upper 
 Canada, as well as in Lower Canada where the 
 French-Canadians were fighting bitterly for 
 their rights. Besides all this in the Red River 
 Settlement the existence of a Company store 
 a monopoly couuld never prove satisfactory 
 to a community of British blood. Had the 
 Colony shop been ever so justly and honestly 
 conducted it could not be popular, how much 
 less so must it have been in the hands of Alex- 
 ander Macdonell, the peculator and deceiver. 
 
 It is true the Company store, of which we 
 speak, was not that of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany proper, but rather the possession of Lord 
 Selkirk's heirs.
 
 The Oligarchy. 195 
 
 Gradually the rulership was coming under 
 the direction of Governor Simpson, though 
 there was the local Governor who was nom- 
 inally independent. 
 
 Even when Governor Simpson was invoked, 
 it is to be remembered that he and his com- 
 pany were the embodiment of privilege. But 
 the Governor was a surprisingly shrewd man. 
 He saw the aspiration after freedom, of both 
 Scottish and French Settlers. True, gaunt pov- 
 erty did not stalk along the banks of Eed River 
 as it had done in the first ten years of the Col- 
 ony, but just because the. people wen* bccom 
 ing better housed, better clad, and better fed, 
 were they becoming more independent. The 
 unwillingness to be controlled was showing it- 
 self very distinctly among the French half- 
 breeds as they grew in numbers and dashed 
 over the prairies on their fiery steeds. They 
 were hunters, accustomed to the use of fire- 
 arms and were, therefore, difficult to restrain. 
 
 The Governor's policy clearly defined in his 
 own mind became, for the next ten years, the 
 Volk-y of the Company. We have seen that the 
 Governor built Lower Fort Garry, and he re- 
 garded this as his residence, nearly twenty 
 miles down the river from the Forks, which was 
 the centre of French influence. Even before 
 doing this in 1831 he had, in the year preced- 
 ing this, as Ross tells us, built a small powder
 
 196 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 magazine at Upper Fort Garry, and it goes 
 without saying that rulers do not build pow- 
 der magazines for the purpose of ornament. 
 
 In 1834, as we learn from Hon. Donald Gunn, 
 who was then a resident of Red River Settle- 
 ment, and who has left us his views in the man- 
 uscript afterward published coming up to 1835, 
 a most serious revolt took place among the 
 Metis. Gunn's account is vivid and interesting. 
 
 The French half-breeds were entirely de- 
 pendent upon hunting, trapping or voyaging. 
 One hundred or one hundred and fifty men 
 were required- to transfer goods, furs, etc., 
 from the boats during the time of open water. 
 Generally they received advances from the Fur 
 Company at the beginning of summer, for they 
 were always in debt to the company. On the 
 close of the open season they were paid the 
 balance due them. After a few days of idle- 
 ness and gossip the money would be spent and 
 want would begin to press them. A new 
 engagement with an advance would fol- 
 low. The agreement was signed, and so like 
 an endless chain, the natives were al- 
 ways held to the Company's interest. At 
 Christmas, these workmen received a portion of 
 their advance, and as is well known, the com 
 pany relaxed somewhat its rules as to liquor 
 selling at this season. At this Christmas time 
 of 1834 payments were being made and indu!-
 
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 The Oligarchy. 197 
 
 gence was supreme, when a French half-breed 
 named Larocque entered the office of the ac- 
 countant, Thomas Simpson, a relative of Sir 
 George, and demanded his pay in a disrespectful 
 way. Simpson replied somewhat roughly, which 
 led Larocque to insult the officer of the company. 
 Simpson seized the fire poker and striking La- 
 rocque's head made an ugly wound on his 
 scalp. 
 
 Larocque 's companions retired without vio- 
 lence, but on returning home, gathered the vio- 
 lent spirits together, came back to Fort Garry 
 and demanded that Thomas Simpson should 
 be given up to them for punishment, with the 
 threat that if this were not granted, they would 
 destroy the Fort, and take Simpson by violence. 
 This being refused them, the Metis returned to 
 their homes to prepare themselves for action, 
 and began the war songs and war dances of their 
 savage ancestors in true Indian style. Gov- 
 ernor Christie, the local authority, took with 
 him Chief Factor Cameron, Robert Logan and 
 Alexander Ross, chief men of the Settlement, 
 and visited the gathering of the Metis. One 
 of the deputation writes that "they resembled 
 a troop of furies more than human beings." 
 For some time the mob refused the approaches 
 of the officers of the Company. At length the 
 quarrel was settled by the Company agreeing 
 to pay the voyageur's wages in full, and that
 
 198 
 
 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 he should be allowed to remain at home. Pro- 
 bably, however, the most acceptable part of the 
 concession, was the gift by the Company of a 
 "ten-gallon keg of rum and tobacco." 
 
 Next spring another demonstration was made 
 by the Metis for other demands, but these were 
 refused. 
 
 Then, from every direction came the imper- 
 
 EXTERIOR VIEW OF FORT GARRY 
 
 ious suggestion that some more effective form 
 of government should be adopted. This was 
 granted. True, Governor Simpson did not suc- 
 ceed in satisfying all the Settlers, though in this 
 respect he found it easier to supply the vola- 
 tile French-Canadian hunters, than the hard- 
 headed people of British origin. The method 
 of Governor Simpson, along with the London
 
 The Oligarchy. 199 
 
 / 
 
 Board of the Hudson's Bay Company choosing 
 the Council of Assiniboia, certainly did smack 
 of the age of Henry VIII. or Charles I. in Eng- 
 lish history. 
 
 The Council consisted of fifteen members, 
 viz. : the Governor-in-Chief Simpson, the Local 
 Governor Christie, the Eoman Catholic Bishop, 
 two Church of England clergymen, three re- 
 tired Hudson's Bay Company officers, the lead- 
 ing doctor of the Colony, Sheriff Boss, Coroner 
 McCallum, and three leading business men, viz. : 
 Pritchard, Logan and McDermott. It is no- 
 ticeable that though the French element num- 
 bered about one-half of the people, that only 
 one Councillor besides the Bishop was given 
 them, and this was Cuthbert Grant, now settled 
 down from the period of his Bois-brules impul- 
 siveness to be the Warden of the Plains, with 
 an influence over the Metis, that can only be 
 described as magical. 
 
 Judged by the methods of representative 
 government the Council was rather a burlesque. 
 
 Sheriff Alexander Koss, though a member 
 of the Council, says: "To guard against fool- 
 ish and oppressive acts, the sooner the people 
 have a share in their own affairs the better. It 
 is only fair that those that have to obey the 
 laws should have a voice in making them." 
 
 Hon. Donald Gunn, who was not on the Coun- 
 cil, says: "The majority of the Council thus
 
 200 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 appointed were, no doubt, the wealthiest men 
 in the Colony and generally well-informed, and 
 yet their appointment was far from being ac- 
 ceptable to the people who knew that they were 
 either sinecurists or salaried servants of the 
 Hudson's Bay Company, and consequently 
 were not the fittest men to legislate for people 
 who retained some faint recollection of the 
 manner in which the popular branch of the leg- 
 islature in their native land was appointed, 
 and who never ceased to inveigh against the ar- 
 bitrary manner in which the Governor-in-chief 
 chose the legislators/' 
 
 Notwithstanding the writer's perfect sym- 
 pathy with both of these opinions, it is but fair 
 to state that the Council of Assiniboia did in 
 ordinary times do many things which were 
 most beneficial and helpful to the Bed River 
 Community. 
 
 Its most distressing failures were in those 
 things which are very essential. (1) Being a 
 compromise body it had no power of progres- 
 sive development, and in the whole generation 
 of its existence it did practically nothing to ad- 
 vance the public, intellectual, or moral interests 
 of the people. (2) Perhaps its most serious 
 breakdown took place, as we shall see, in the 
 failure of its judicial system. Executive power 
 it had none, as seen in the cases where jail-deliv- 
 ry took place again and again by the friends of
 
 SOUTH AND EAST FACES, 1840 
 From sketch by wife of Governor Finlayson. 
 
 EAST FACE IN 1882, WHEN FORT WAS DISMANTLED 
 
 (From painting in author's possession.) 
 
 x Spot where Scott was Executed. 
 
 FORT GARRY WINTER SCENES
 
 > 
 
 The Oligarchy. 201 
 
 the prisoners boldly extricating whom they 
 would. (3) But most alarming and miserable 
 was its failure to act in its moribund days, 
 when it allowed, as we shall see, a mob to seize 
 Fort Garry and bring in an era of disorder 
 which made every self-respecting British sub- 
 ject blush with shame.
 
 CHAPTER XVIH. 
 
 THE OGEE OF JUSTICE. 
 
 The wild life of the prairie or mountain cul- 
 tivates a spirit of freedom. When individuals 
 must become a law unto themselves, when the 
 absence of steamers, railways, electric power, 
 work-shops, and mills, throws men on their own 
 resources, they find it irksome to obey the law. 
 They regard its restrictions as tyrannical. The 
 prairie horse becomes free. He must be caught 
 with the lasso, he needs to be hobbled near the 
 camp, it is necessary to curb him in his temper, 
 but in his wild state he can provide for him- 
 self. He knows the best pasture and seeks it, 
 he is acquainted with the water courses and 
 finds them, he returns or not to his stable or 
 covert at his own sweet will, he fights the wolf 
 or the bear and protects the colts from the wild 
 beasts. 
 
 As is the prairie steed, so to a large extent is 
 his master. He is apt to despise civilization, 
 prefers his buckskin coat and fringed leggings, 
 and loves the moccasin rather than the stiff 
 leather shoe.
 
 The Ogre of Justice. 203 
 
 With him the idea of sub-division of pro- 
 perty is not developed. There are no local game 
 laws. He shoots large or small game, moose 
 or prairie chicken, whenever he can find them. 
 He traps on whatever stream he chooses. His 
 idea of personal property is very liberal. He 
 is large-hearted and bountiful, divides his find 
 of game with his neighbors, and his shanty has, 
 as he says, "a latch hanging outside the door," 
 for any wanderer or passing stranger. 
 
 This many-sided notion of freedom belongs 
 to all primitive peoples and societies. Of the 
 Red Eiver Community the French half-breed 
 was of the most unsubdued and restive type, 
 for he followed the ways of the Indians, while 
 the Selkirk Colonists and their descendants al- 
 ways professed to be farmers, and hunting was 
 only their diversion. Moreover, being of Scot- 
 tish blood, they had been taught to fear God 
 and honor the King. 
 
 We have seen that Governor Simpson had a 
 plan in his mind for gaining control and pre- 
 serving order in his own kingdom. His idea 
 of building fortified stone forts is chiefly seen 
 in the cases of Upper and Lower Forts Garry. 
 Fort Garry was, as we have seen, well on the 
 way to completion by the time of the French 
 outbreak in connection with Larocque. And 
 Governor Christie was authorized to go on and 
 construct a still more elaborate fort at the
 
 204 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 Forks to replace the wooden Fort Garry built 
 shortly after the union of the Companies. Thus, 
 a large Fort with numerous buildings, suitable 
 for trade and residence, was begun in 1835, and 
 around it a substantial stone wall was built. 
 The dimensions from east to west were 280 feet, 
 and from north to south 240 feet. The fort 
 faced the Assiniboine Eiver, and each of its cor- 
 ners showed a large and well-built bastion. The 
 bastions were provided with port holes, and all 
 about the structure suggested the possibiity 
 of an armed struggle. This was begun in the 
 same year as the formation of the Council of 
 Assiniboia, and was fairly advanced to comple- 
 tion by 1839. Laws for the government of the 
 people, and the administration of justice were 
 passed by the Council, in accordance with the 
 opening address of Governor Simpson, when he 
 said: "The time is at length arrived, when it 
 becomes necessary to put the administration of 
 justice on a more firm and regular footing than 
 heretofore." 
 
 And now, in 1839, in this Arcadia of Bed 
 Eiver there became evident the dreadful pre- 
 sence of the law in the person of Adam Thorn, 
 first Recorder of Rupert's Land, who, as com- 
 pared with the humble incomes of the people of 
 Red River, had the enormous salary of 700 a 
 year bestowed upon him by the Hudson's Bay 
 Company. The plan was a very real one in
 
 CX Cxt-O^WV^ C/ ^x 
 
 ADAM THOM, LL.D. 
 Recorder and Author. Lived in Red River Settlement 1839-1854.
 
 \ The Ogre of Justice. 205 
 
 Governor Simpson's mind when he took a step 
 so decided. 
 
 And the man who had been chosen for this 
 post was no man of putty. He was a Scotchman 
 of commanding presence, decided opinions and 
 strong will. He was a man of rather aggres- 
 sive and combative disposition. The writer 
 met him in London long after he had retired 
 and this was some thirty years ago, and 
 though the judge was then upwards of three 
 score and ten, he was yet a man of force and 
 decision. A graduate of Aberdeen University, 
 Adam Thorn had come to Montreal as a lawyer, 
 and was for a time on Lord Durham's staff. He 
 had taken high ground against Papineau's re- 
 bellion, and was known as one of the strongest 
 newspaper controversialists of the time. He 
 was a determined opponent of the French- 
 Canadian rebellion, as he was of rebellion in 
 any form whatever. Evidently, Governor 
 Simpson chose a man ' ' after his own heart ' ' for 
 the difficult task, of introducing law and order 
 among the turbulent Nor '-Westers. 
 
 The arrival of the new Judge in the Red 
 River Settlement gave rise to much comment. 
 The spirit of discontent had strengthened, as 
 we have seen among the Colonists and Eng- 
 lish-speaking half-breeds. The Hudson's Bay 
 Company had now re-bought the land of As- 
 siniboia from Lord Selkirk's heirs. Hitherto
 
 206 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 it was difficult to find out precisely who their op- 
 pressor was. Now, though Governor Simpson 
 sought by diplomacy to evade the responsibil- 
 ity, yet the explanation given by the Colonists 
 of the arrival of Eecorder Thorn, was that he 
 had come to uphold the Company's pretensions 
 and to restrict their liberties. According to 
 Boss, the Colonists reasoned that ' ' a man placed 
 in Recorder Thorn 's position, liable to be turned 
 out of office at the Company's pleasure, natur- 
 ally provokes the doubt whether he could at 
 all times be proof against the sin of partiality. 
 Is it likely," they said, "that he could always 
 take the impartial view of a case that might in- 
 volve in its results his own interests or deprive 
 him of his daily bread?" 
 
 Likewise, on the part of the French half- 
 breeds, there was the same distrust in regard 
 to the limiting of the privileges which they en- 
 joyed, while along with this it had been noised 
 about that during the Papineau trouble in Can- 
 ada, the Judge was no favorite of the French. 
 The French half-breeds, accordingly, became 
 strongly prejudiced against the new Recorder. 
 
 In the year after the arrival of Recorder 
 Thorn, a most startling and mysterious event 
 which indeed has never been solved to the pres- 
 ent day, happened in the case of Thomas Simp- 
 son, who it will be remembered had roused by 
 his crushing blow on the head of Larocque, the
 
 The Ogre of Justice. 207 
 
 rage of the whole French half-breed community. 
 The case was that Thomas Simpson, with a 
 .party of natives, had been going southward 
 through Minnesota, ahead of the main body of 
 sojourners. In a state of frenzy he had shot two 
 of his four companions. The other two returned 
 to the main body, and got assistance. He was 
 seen to be alive as they approached him, a shot 
 was heard, and then shots were fired in his direc- 
 tion by those observing him. Whether he com- 
 mitted suicide or was killed by those approach- 
 ing, some of whom were French, will never be 
 known. The fact that he had quarreled with 
 the French half-breeds, five years before this 
 event, was used to throw suspicion. The body 
 of Simpson was carried back to St. John's 
 Cemetery in Winnipeg, and it is said was bur- 
 ied along the wall in token of the belief that he 
 had committed suicide. 
 
 What the body of the people had feared in the 
 tightening of the legal restrictions by the new 
 laws and new officials, did actually take place. 
 The French half-breeds were, as we have seen, 
 chiefly given to hunting. In theory, the Hud- 
 son's Bay Company possessed all hunting rghts 
 under their charter. A French-Canadian, La- 
 rant, and another half-breed also, had the furs, 
 which they had hunted for, forcibly taken from 
 them by legal authority, while in a third case an 
 offender against the game laws had been actually
 
 208 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 deported to York Factory. Alarm was now 
 general among the French half-breeds. Hith- 
 erto the English half-breeds had been loyal to 
 the Company. Alexander Ross gives an inci- 
 dent worth repeating as to how even the Eng- 
 lish half-breeds became rebellioi^s. He says: 
 "One of the Company's officers, residing at a 
 distance, had placed two of his daughters at the 
 boarding-school in the Settlement. An Eng- 
 lish half-breed, a comely well-behaved young 
 man, of respectable connections, was paying his 
 addresses to one of these young ladies, and had 
 asked her in marriage. The young lady had an- 
 other suitor in the person of a Scotch lad, but 
 her affections were in favor of the former, while 
 her guardian, the chief officer in Eed River, pre- 
 ferred the latter. In his zeal to succeed in the 
 choice he had made for the young lady, this gen- 
 tleman sent for the half-breed and reprimanded 
 him for aspiring to the hand of a lady, accus- 
 tomed, as he expressed it, to the first society. 
 The young man, without saying a word, put on 
 his hat and walked out of the room; but being 
 the leading man among his countrymen, the 
 whole community took fire at the insult. ' ' This 
 is the way," said they, "that we half-breeds are 
 despised and treated." From that time they 
 clubbed together in high dudgeon and joined 
 the French Malcontents against their rulers. 
 The French half-breeds made a flag for use on
 
 The Ogre of Justice. 209 
 
 the plains called "The Papineau Standard." It 
 is plain that rightly or wrongly, Recorder Thorn 
 has a thorny path to tread.
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 A HALF-BREED PATRIOT. 
 
 Canada looks with patriotic delight not only 
 on her sons who remain at home to work out the 
 problems of her developing life, but follows with 
 keenest interest those Canadians who have gone 
 abroad and made a name for themselves, and 
 their country in other parts of the Empire or 
 the world. Some of these are Judge Halibur- 
 ton, Satirist ; Roberts and Bliss Carman, Poets ; 
 Gilbert Parker, Grant Allen and Barr, Novel- 
 ists; Romanes and Newcombe, Scientists; Gir- 
 ouard, Kennedy and Scott in the Army, and 
 many others who have won laurels in the several 
 walks of life. But Manitoba, or rather Red 
 River Settlement has also its sons who have 
 gone abroad to do distinguished service and 
 bring honor to their place of birth. One of them 
 was Alexander K. Isbister, most commonly 
 known as the donor of upwards of $80,000, given 
 as a Scholarship Fund to the University of 
 Manitoba, but really more celebrated still, for 
 the service he rendered his native land. A little 
 less than thirty years ago the writer met Mr.
 
 A Half-Breed Patriot. 211 
 
 Isbister in London and enjoyed his hospital- 
 ity. Isbister was a tall and handsome man, 
 showing distinctly by his color and high cheek- 
 bones that he had Indian blood in his veins. Re- 
 ceiving his early education in St. John's School, 
 he had gone home to England, taken his de- 
 grees, become a lawyer, and afterward had 
 gone into educational work. He was, at the 
 time of the visit spoken of, Dean of the College 
 of Preceptors in London, and had much reputa- 
 tion as an educationalist. But the service he 
 rendered to his native land out-topped all his 
 other achievements. We have already shown 
 the tendency toward restriction being developed 
 under Recorder Thorn's leadership, in Red 
 River Settlement. James Sinclair, a member 
 of a most respectable Scotch half-breed family, 
 had obtained the privilege from the Company 
 to export tallow, the product of the buffalo, by 
 way of York Factory to England. The venture 
 succeeded, but a second shipment was held at 
 York Factory for nearly two years, and thus 
 Sinclair was virtually compelled to sell it to the 
 Company. 
 
 Twenty leading half-breeds then appealed to 
 the Hudson's Bay Company to be allowed to 
 export tallow at a reasonable rate. In 1844 two 
 proclamations were issued, that before the Com- 
 pany would carry goods for any settler, a de- 
 claration from such settler, and the examination
 
 212 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 of his correspondence in regard to his dealing 
 in furs would first be necessary. The native 
 people determined to oppose them. They 
 claimed as having Indian blood, that they were 
 entitled to aboriginal rights. Twenty leading 
 English-speaking half-breeds, among them such 
 respectable names as Sinclair, Dease, Vincent, 
 Bird and Garrioch, demanded from Governor 
 Christie a definite answer as to their position 
 and rights. The Governor answered with sweet 
 words, but the policy of " thorough" was stead- 
 ily pushed forward, and a new land deed was 
 devised by which the land would be forfeited 
 should the settlers interfere in the fur trade. 
 Next, heavy freights were put on goods going 
 to England by way of Hudson Bay, and Sin- 
 clair, as an agitator, was refused the privilege 
 of having his freight carried at any price. The 
 spirits of the English-speaking half-breeds 
 were raised to a pitch of discontent, quite equal 
 to that of the French half-breeds, although the 
 latter were more noisy and demonstrative. 
 James Sinclair became the "village Hamp- 
 den" who stood for his rights and those of his 
 compeers. 
 
 It was at this juncture that the valuable aid 
 of Isbister came to his countrymen. In 1847 
 Isbister, with his educated mind, social stand- 
 ing, and valiant spirit led the way for his peo- 
 ple, and with five other half-breeds of Eed
 
 A Half -Breed Patriot. 213 
 
 Eiver forwarded a long and able memorial to 
 Earl Grey, the Secretary of State for the Col- 
 onies, bringing the serious charges against the 
 Company, of neglecting the native people, op- 
 pressing all the settlers, and taking from them 
 their natural rights. A perusal of this docu- 
 ment leads us to the opinion that the charges 
 were exaggerated, but nevertheless they showed 
 how impossible it was, for a Trading Com- 
 pany, to be at the same time the Government 
 of a country and to be equitable and hign- 
 minded. The Hudson 's Bay Company answereu 
 this document sent them by the Imperial Gov- 
 ernment, and so far relieved themselves of 
 some of the charges. But the storm raised 
 could not be quieted. Isbister obtained new 
 evidence and attacked the validity of the Com- 
 pany's Charter. Lord Elgin, the fair-minded 
 Governor of Canada, claimed that he, in Can- 
 ada, was too far away from the scene of dis- 
 pute to give an authoritative answer, but on the 
 whole he favored the Company. Lord Elgin, 
 however, based his reply too much upon the 
 statement of Colonel Crofton, a military officer, 
 who had been sent to Red River. Alexander 
 Ross said of Crofton, on the other hand, that he 
 was a man "who never studied the art of gov- 
 erning a people." 
 
 But the agitation still gained head. 
 
 The mercurial French half-breeds now joined
 
 214 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 in the struggle. They forwarded a petition to 
 Her Majesty the Queen, couched in excellent 
 terms, in the French language, in the main ask- 
 ing that their right to enjoy the liberty of com- 
 merce be given them. This petition was signed 
 by nine hundred and seventy-seven persons, and 
 virtually represented the whole French half- 
 breed adult population. 
 
 An important episode soon took place among 
 the French, usually known as the "Sayer Af- 
 fair." Of this we shall speak in another chap- 
 ter. The movement, headed by Isbister, still 
 continued, and led to the serious consideration 
 by the British Government of the whole situa- 
 tion in Bed Eiver Settlement. The impatience 
 of the people of all classes in Bed Biver led to 
 a new plan of attack. Not being able to influ- 
 ence sufficiently the British authorities, they 
 forwarded a petition, signed by five hun- 
 dred and seventy English-speaking people of 
 Bed Biver Settlement, to the Legislative As- 
 sembly of Canada. The grievances of the peo- 
 ple were given in detail. The reason suggested 
 for the deaf ear which had been given them by 
 the British Parliament were stated to be "the 
 chicanery of the Hudson's Bay Company, and 
 its false representations." 
 
 Isbister, in all his efforts, gained the unfail- 
 ing respect and gratitude, not only of his own 
 race, but very generally of the people of the
 
 A Half-Breed Patriot. 215 
 
 Bed River Settlement. Ten years after the pe- 
 tition of Isbister and his friends had been pre- 
 sented to Earl Grey, a committee of the House 
 of Commons was sitting to investigate the af- 
 fairs of the Hudson's Bay Company. It was 
 a sifting inquiry, in which Gladstone, Roebuck 
 and other friends of liberty, took part. It, 
 however, took a quarter of a century to bring 
 about the union of Rupert's Land with Can- 
 ada, although, as we shall see, in less than five 
 years, a measure of amelioration came to the 
 oppressed and indignant settlers of Red River. 
 For this the people of Red River Settlement 
 were largely indebted to the self-denying and 
 persistent efforts of Alexander Isbister. The old 
 settlers of Kildonan, the French and English 
 half-breeds of the several parishes, and their de- 
 scendants as well as the University of Mani- 
 toba and all friends of education ought to keep 
 his memory green for what he did for them, for 
 as a writer of his own time says, ' ' He gained for 
 himself a name that will live in days yet to 
 come."
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 SAYEB AND LIBERTY. 
 
 Stone forts and ermined judges were not, to 
 the mind of the unbridled and ungovernable 
 Metis. True, the French mind has a love for 
 show and circumstance and dignity of de- 
 meanor, but the conviction had taken hold of 
 the people of Bed River, and especially of the 
 French half-breeds, that these meant curtail- 
 ment of their freedom. They felt the dice were 
 loaded against them. 
 
 But, now, in the year after Sinclair and his 
 friends had shown such a firm front to Gover- 
 nor Christie, and when something like a feudal 
 system was being introduced into the Red River 
 Settlement, a new surprise came upon French 
 and English alike. This was immediately af- 
 ter the terrible visitation of a plague, which had 
 cut down one-sixteenth of the whole population. 
 It was the arrival of a party of the Sixth Royal 
 Regiment of Foot, along with artillery and en- 
 gineers, amounting in all to five hundred souls. 
 The breath of the people was taken away by 
 this demonstration of force, and a chronicler
 
 Sayer and Liberty. 217 
 
 of the time says: "From the moment tliey ar- 
 rived the high tone of lawless defiance and in- 
 ternal disaffection raised by our people against 
 the laws and the authorities of the place were 
 reduced to silence." Colonel Crofton, in com- 
 mand of the troops, was appointed Governor 
 of the Settlement, and he proved a wise and 
 honorable administrator. The regiment gained 
 golden opinions from the people, and as they 
 spent during their short stay of two years, a 
 sum of 15,000 in supplies, it was, indeed, a 
 golden age for the hard-working Colonists. The 
 leaving of the regiment was regretted by the 
 Colony. 
 
 Having now entered on a career of govern- 
 ment by force, it would not do to let it drop. 
 Hence the authorities enlisted in Britain a num- 
 ber of old pensioners, and under command of 
 Major Caldwell, who was also to act as Gov- 
 ernor of the Settlement, sent out, in each of two 
 successive years, some seventy of these dis- 
 charged soldiers to act as guardians of the 
 peace. It was pretty well agreed that these men, 
 to whom were given holdings of small pieces of 
 land to the west of Fort Garry, now in the St. 
 James District of Winnipeg, were simply imi- 
 tators in conduct and disposition of the De- 
 Meurons, who had so vexed the Colonists. 
 Major Caldwell, too, by his lack of business 
 habits and his selfishness, alienated all the
 
 218 
 
 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 leading men of the Colony, so that they refused 
 to sit with him in Council. It was the common 
 opinion that the turbulence and violence of the 
 pensioners was so great that, as one of the Com- 
 pany said, "We have more trouble with the 
 pensioners than with all the rest of the Settle- 
 ment put together." The pensioners were cer- 
 
 PLAN OF FORT GARRY 
 
 tainly absolutely useless for the purpose for 
 which they had been sent, that is to preserve 
 order in the country. The Metis, at any rate, 
 spoke of them with derision. 
 
 In the year following the removal of the 
 troops the policy of preventing the French
 
 Sayer and Liberty. 219 
 
 half-breeds from buying and selling furs with 
 the Indians was being carried out by Judge 
 Thorn, the relentless ogre of the law. Four 
 men of the Metis had been arrested ; of these the 
 leader was William Sayer. He was the half- 
 breed son of an old French bourgeois of the 
 Northwest Company. He had been liberated 
 on bail, and was to come up for trial in May. 
 The charge against him was of buying goods 
 with which to go on a trading expedition to 
 Lake Manitoba. 
 
 Possibly the case would be easily disposed of, 
 and most likely dismissed with a trifling fine, 
 although it was true that Sayer had made a 
 stiff resistance on his being arrested. This 
 violent resistance was but an example of the 
 bitter and dangerous spirit that was develop- 
 ing among the Metis. 
 
 A brave and restless man was now growing 
 to have a dominating influence over the French 
 half-breeds. This was Louis Eiel, a fierce and 
 noisy revolutionist, ready for any extremity. He 
 was a French half-breed, was owner of a small 
 flour mill on the Seine River, and he was the 
 father of the rebel chief of later years. The 
 day fixed for the Sayer trial by the legal au- 
 thorities was a most unfortunate one. It was 
 on May 17th, which on that year was Ascension 
 Day, a day of obligation among the Catholic 
 people of the Settlement. It was noticeable
 
 220 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 that there was much ferment in the French par- 
 iJies. Louis Eiel, who was a violent, but ef- 
 fective speaker, of French, Irish and Indian de- 
 scent, busied himself in stirring up resistance. 
 The fact that it was a Church day for the Metis 
 made it easy for them to gather together. This 
 they did by hundreds in front of the St. Boni- 
 face Cathedral, where, piling up their guns, 
 with which all the men were armed, at the 
 Church door, they then entered and performed 
 their sacred duties. At the close of the ser- 
 vice, Eiel, "the miller of the Seine," made a 
 fiery oration, advocating the rescue of their 
 compatriot Sayer, who was to be held for trial 
 at the Court House. A French sympathizer said 
 of this public meeting: "Louis Biel obtained a 
 veritable triumph on that occasion, and long 
 and loud the hurrahs were repeated by the 
 echoes of the Red River." 
 
 And now, under Eiel's direction, by a con- 
 certed action, movement of the whole body 
 was made to cross the Bed River and march to 
 the Court House, which stood beside the wall of 
 Fort Garry. To allow the five hundred men to 
 cross easily, Point Douglas was selected, and 
 here by ferry boats, said to have been provided 
 by James Sinclair, the English half-breed leader 
 of whom we have spoken, the party crossed, and 
 worked up to the highest pitch of excitement, 
 stalked up the mile or two to the Court House.
 
 Sayer and Liberty. 
 
 221 
 
 Though somewhat anxious, the Governor and 
 Court officials passed through the excited crowd 
 which surrounded the Court House. It was ex- 
 
 &4&'on 
 
 PLAN OF FORT GARRY 
 
 South portion with stone wall 'and bastions built in 1835. 
 North portion with wooden wall and stone north gate still standing, built in 1850, 
 
 pected that the Governor would order out a 
 guard of pensioners to protect the Court, but 
 he had dispensed with this, and so he, Recorder
 
 222 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 Thorn, and the Magistrate, took their seats upon 
 the elevated platform of Justice precisely at 
 eleven o 'clock. Sayer 's case was called first, but 
 he was held by the Metis outside of the Court 
 room. Other unimportant business was then 
 taken up until one o'clock. An Irish relative 
 of old Andrew McDermott, named McLaughlin, 
 attempted to interfere, but was instantly sup- 
 pressed. The Court then sent a suggestion to 
 the Metis that they should appoint a leader with 
 a deputation to enter the Court room with Sayer 
 and state their case. This proposal was ac- 
 cepted, and James Sinclair, the English half- 
 breed leader, undertook the duty. Sayer was 
 then brought in, guarded by twenty of his com- 
 patriots, fully armed, while fifty Metis guards 
 stood at the gates of the Court House enclosure. 
 An attempt was then made to select a jury, but 
 it was fruitless. Sayer next confessed that he 
 had traded for furs with an Indian. The Court 
 then gave a verdict of guilty, whereupon Sayer 
 proved that a Hudson 's Bay officer named Har- 
 riott, had given him authority to trade. The 
 other three cases against the Metis were not 
 proceeded with, and Governor, Recorder, offi- 
 cials and spectators all left the Court room, the 
 mob being of the impression that the prisoners 
 had been acquitted, and that trading for furs 
 was no longer illegal. Though this was not the 
 decision yet the crowd so took it up, and made
 
 Sayer and Liberty. 223 
 
 the welkin ring with shouts (Le Commerce est 
 libre, vive la liberte) "Commerce is free, long 
 live liberty. ' ' 
 
 The Metis then crossed the river to St. Boni- 
 face, and after much cheering, fired several sa- 
 lutes with their guns. It was their victory, but 
 it was one in which the vast mass of the Eng- 
 lish-speaking rejoiced for the bands of tyranny 
 were broken. Judge Thorn, under instructions 
 from Governor Simpson, never acted as Re- 
 corder again, but was simply Secretary of the 
 Court, and another reigned in his stead. After 
 this the Court was largely without authority, 
 and as has been said the rescue of prisoners 
 was not an infrequent occurrence in the future 
 life of the Settlement.
 
 . CHAPTER XXL 
 
 OFF TO THE BUFFALO. 
 
 Alexander Eoss was a Scottish Highlander, 
 who came to Glengarry in Canada, quite a 
 century ago, joined Astor's expedition, went 
 around Cape Horn and in British Columbia 
 rose to be an officer in the Northwest Company. 
 He married the daughter of an Indian Chief at 
 Okanagan, came over the Rocky Mountains, 
 and was given by Sir George Simpson a free 
 gift of a farm, where Ross and James Streets 
 are now found in Winnipeg. This land is to- 
 day worth many millions of dollars. Ross was 
 also fond of hunting the buffalo, and we are 
 fortunate in having his spirited story of 1840. 
 
 BUFFALO HUNTING. 
 
 In the leafy month of June carts were seen 
 to emerge from every nook and corner of the 
 Settlement bound for the plains. As ihey pass- 
 ed us, many things were discovered to be still 
 wanting, to supply which a halt had to be made 
 at Fort Garry shop ; one wanted this thing, an- 
 other that, but all on credit. The day of pay- 
 ment was yet to come ; but payment was prom- 
 ised. Many on the present occasion were sup-
 
 Off to the Buffalo. 225 
 
 plied, many were not; they got and grumbled, 
 and grumbled and got, till they could get no 
 more ; and at last went off, still grumbling and 
 discontented. 
 
 From Fort Garry the cavalcade and camp- 
 followers were crowding on the public road, 
 and thence, stretching from point to point, till 
 the third day in the evening, when they reached 
 Pembina, the great rendezvous of such occa- 
 sions. When the hunters leave the Settlement 
 it enjoys that relief which a person feels on re- 
 covering from a long and painful sickness. 
 Here, on a level plain, the whole patriarchal 
 camp squatted down like pilgrims on a jour- 
 ney to the Holy Land, in ancient days: only 
 not so devout, for neither scrip nor staff were 
 consecrated for the occasion. Here the roll 
 was called, and general muster taken, when 
 they numbered on the occasion 1,630 souls : and 
 here the rules and regulations for the journey 
 were finally settled. The officials for the trip 
 were named and installed into their office, and 
 all without the aid of writing materials. 
 
 The camp occupied as much ground as a 
 modern city, and was formed in a circle: all 
 the carts were placed side by side, the trams 
 outward. Within this line, the tents were 
 placed in double, treble rows, at one end; the 
 animals at the other in front of the tents. This 
 is the order in all dangerous plar^s: but when
 
 226 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 no danger is feared, the animals are kept on 
 the outside. Thus, the carts formed i strong 
 barrier, not only for securing the people and 
 the beasts of burden within, but as a place of 
 shelter and defence against an attack of the 
 enemy without. 
 
 There is, however, another appendage be- 
 longing to the expedition, and to every expe- 
 dition of the kind ; and you may be assured they 
 are not the least noisy. We allude to the dogs 
 or camp followers. On the present occasion 
 they numbered no fewer than 542 ; sufficient of 
 themselves to consume no small number of ar.i- 
 mals a day, for, like their masters, they dearly 
 relish a bit of buffalo meat. 
 
 These animals are kept in summer as they 
 are, about the establishments of the fur trad- 
 ers, for their services in the winter. In deep 
 snows, when horses cannot conveniently be used, 
 dogs are very serviceable to the hunters in these 
 parts. The half-breed, dressed in his wolf cos- 
 tume, tackles two or three sturdy curs into a flat 
 sled, throws himself on it at full length, and gets 
 among the buffalo unperceived. Here the bow 
 and arrow play their part to prevent noise; and 
 here the skillful hunter kills as many as he 
 pleases, and returns to camp without disturb- 
 ing the band. 
 
 But now to our camp again the largest of its 
 kind perhaps in the world. A council was held
 
 Off to the Buffalo. 227 
 
 for the nomination of chiefs or officers for con- 
 ducting the expedition. Two captains were 
 named, the senior on this occasion being Jean 
 Baptiste Wilkie, an English half-breed brought 
 up among the French, a man of good sound 
 sense and long experience, and withal a bold- 
 looking and discreet fellow, a second Nimrod in 
 his way. Besides being captain, in common with 
 others, he was styled the great war chief or head 
 of the camp, and on all public occasions he oc- 
 cupied the place of president. 
 
 The hoisting of the flag every morning is the 
 signal for raising camp. Half an hour is the 
 full time allowed to prepare for the march, but 
 if anyone is sick, or their animals have strayed, 
 notice is sent to the guide, who halts until all is 
 made right. From the time the flag is hoisted 
 however, till the hour of camping arrives, it is 
 never taken down. The flag taken down is a sig- 
 nal for encamping, while it is up the guide is 
 chief of the expedition, captains are subject to 
 him, and the soldiers of the day are his messen- 
 gers, he commands all. The moment the flag is 
 lowered his functions cease and the captains and 
 soldiers' duties commence. They point out the 
 order of the camp, and every cart as it arrives 
 moves to its appointed place. This business usu- 
 ally occupies about the same time as raising 
 camp in the morning, for everything moves with 
 the regularity of clockwork.
 
 228 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 The captains and other chiefs have agreed on 
 rules to govern the expedition, such as, that no 
 buffaloes are to be run on Sunday, no party is 
 to lag behind or to go before, no one may run 
 a buffalo without a general order, etc. The 
 punishment for breaking the laws are for a first 
 offence : the offender had his saddle and bridle 
 cut up : for the second, to have the coat taken off 
 his back and cut up : for the third, the offender 
 was flogged. Any theft was punished by the 
 offender being three times proclaimed 
 " THIEF," in the middle of the camp. 
 
 On the 21 st of June, after the priest had per- 
 formed mass, for many were Eoman Catholics, 
 the flag was unfurled at about six or seven 
 o'clock and the picturesque line was formed 
 over the prairie, extending some five or six 
 miles towards the southwest. It was the ninth 
 was gained. This was a journey of about 150 
 day from Pembina before the Cheyenne Eiver 
 miles, and on the nineteenth day, at a distance 
 of 250 miles, the destined hunting grounds were 
 reached. On the 4th of July, since the encamp- 
 ment was in the United States, the compliment 
 was paid of having the first buffalo race. 
 
 No less than 400 huntsmen, all mounted and 
 anxiously waiting for the word "Start," took 
 up their position in a line at one end of the 
 camp, while Captain Wilkie issued his orders.
 
 Off to the Buffalo. 229 
 
 At eight o'clock the whole cavalcade broke 
 ground, and made for the buffaloes. When the 
 horsemen started the buffaloes were about a 
 mile and a half distant, but when they ap- 
 proached to about four or five hundred yards, 
 the bulls curled their tails or pawed the ground. 
 In a moment more the herd took flight, and 
 horse and rider are presently seen bursting up- 
 on them, shots are heard, and all is smoke, dust 
 and hurry, and in less time than we have occu- 
 pied with a description a thousand carcasses 
 strew the plain. 
 
 When the rush was made, the earth seemed to 
 tremble as the horses started, but when the ani- 
 mals fled, it was like the shock of an earthquake. 
 The air was darkened, the rapid firing, at first, 
 soon became more and more faint, and at last 
 died away in the distance. 
 
 In such a run, a good horse and experienced 
 rider will select and kill from ten to twelve buf- 
 faloes at one heat, but in the case before us, the 
 surface was rocky and full of badger holes. 
 Twenty-three horses and riders were at one 
 moment all sprawling on the ground, one horse 
 gored by a bull, was killed on the spot, two more 
 were disabled by the fall. One rider broke his 
 shoulder blade, another burst his gun, and lost 
 three fingers by the accident, another was struck 
 on the knee by an exhausted bull. In the even- 
 ing no less than 1,375 tongues were brought into
 
 230 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 camp. When the run is over the hunter's work 
 is now retrograde. The last animal killed is the 
 first skinned, and night not unfrequently, sur- 
 prises the runner at his work. What then re- 
 mains is lost and falls to the wolves. Hundreds 
 of dead buffaloes are often abandoned, for even 
 a thunderstorm, in one hour, will render the 
 meat useless. 
 
 The day of a race is as fatiguing on the hunter 
 as on the horse, but the meat well in the camp, 
 he enjoys the very luxury of idleness. 
 
 Then the task of the women begins, who do 
 all the rest, and what with skins, and meat and 
 fat, their duty is a most laborious one. 
 
 It is to be regretted that much of the meat is 
 wasted. Our expedition killed not less than 2,- 
 500 buffaloes, and out of all these made 375 bags 
 of pemmican, and 240 bales of dried meat; 750 
 animals should have made that amount, so that 
 a great quantity was wasted. Of course, the 
 buffalo skins were saved and had their value. 
 
 Our party were now on the Missouri and en- 
 camped there. A few traders went to the near- 
 est American fort, and bartered furs for ar- 
 ticles they needed. 
 
 After passing a week on the banks of the Mis- 
 souri we turned to the West, when we had a few 
 races with various success. We were afterwards 
 led backwards and forwards at the pleasure of 
 the buffalo herds. They crossed and recrossed
 
 Off to the Buffalo. 231 
 
 our path until we had travelled to almost every 
 point of the compass. 
 
 Having had various altercations with the In- 
 dians, the party reached Red Eiver, bringing 
 about 900 Ibs. of buffalo meat in each cart, mak- 
 ing more than one million pounds in all. The 
 Hudson's Bay Company took a considerable 
 amount of this, and the remainder went to sup- 
 ply the wants of the Red River Settlement for 
 another year.
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 WHAT THE STAEGAZEES SAW. 
 
 The writer remembers meeting in Boston, a 
 good many years ago, a scientific explorer, win 
 along with two companions, one of whom is tlie 
 greatest astronomer in the United States, as an 
 astronomical party in 1860, made a visit 
 through Bed Eiver Settlement, on their way to 
 the North Saskatchewan to observe an 
 eclipse. The disappointment of the party was 
 very great, for, after travelling three thousand 
 miles, their fate was ''to sit in a marsh and view 
 the eclipse through the clouds, so heavy was the 
 rain. ' ' 
 
 The three astronomers have given their ac- 
 count under assumed names in a little book, of 
 which there are few copies in Canada. Their 
 view of Bed Eiver Settlement in 1860 is a vivid 
 picture. 
 
 "What an extraordinary Settlement! Here is 
 a Colony of about ten thousand souls scattered 
 among plantations for thirty miles along the 
 Bed and half as many along the Assiniboine 
 Biver, almost wholly dependent for intelligence
 
 What the Star Gazers Saw. 233 
 
 from the outer world on one stern-wheeled 
 steamer. That breaks down; and before word 
 can be sent of their complete isolation, weeks 
 must pass before the old and painful canoe- 
 route by way of Lake of the Woods can be op- 
 ened, or the wagon make its tedious journey to 
 the headwaters of the Bed and back, improvis- 
 ing on the way its own ferries over the swift and 
 deep streams which feed it. 
 
 Finding haste of no avail, and despatching 
 our luggage on carts to the Upper Fort and cen- 
 tre of the Settlement, twenty miles away, we 
 start there on foot the next day to view the land 
 and its inhabitants. The road, "the Kind's 
 road," is a mere cart-track in the deep loam, 
 taking its independent course on either side of 
 the houses, all of which front the river in a 
 single wavering line; for the country is given 
 up absolutely to farming, for which the rich 
 mould, said to be three or four feet deep, emin- 
 ently fits it; and the lots each with a narrow 
 frontage at the bank of the river, extends back 
 two miles into the prairie. All is at a dead level. 
 John Omand had asked us to dine at his house ; 
 but accidentally passing it without recognizing 
 it from his description, we select a fair repre- 
 sentative of the common class of houses, and ask 
 for dinner. It is a log-cabin, like all of this class 
 (some far better ones have walls of stone) with 
 a thatched roof and a rough stone and mortar
 
 234 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 chimney planted against one wall. Inside is but 
 a single room, well whitewashed, as is indeed 
 the outside and exceptionally tidy; a bed oc- 
 cupies one corner, a sort of couch another, a 
 rung ladder leads up to loose boards overhead 
 which form an attic, a trap door in the middle of 
 the room opens to a small hole in the ground 
 where milk and butter are kept cool; from the 
 beam is suspended a hammock, used as a cradle 
 for the baby; shelves singularly hung held a 
 scanty stock of plates, knives and forks; two 
 windows on either side, covered with mosquito 
 netting, admit the light, and a modicum of air ; 
 chests and boxes supply the place of seats, with 
 here and there a keg by way of easy-chair. An 
 open fireplace of whitewashed clay gives sign 
 of cheer and warmth in the long winter, and a 
 half-dozen books for library complete the scene. 
 
 Our hosts feel so " highly honored to have 
 such gentlemen enter the house" these are 
 their very words that it is with the greatest 
 difficulty they are forced to take any compensa- 
 tion for the excellent meal of bread, butter, and 
 rich cream which they set before us, and to 
 which we do ample justice. 
 
 This was not the only interior we saw ; we had 
 before called on the single scientific man of the 
 Settlement, Donald Gunn, and later in the day 
 are forced by a thunderstorm to seek shelter in 
 the nearest house; where we are also warmly
 
 What the Star Gazers Saw. 235 
 
 welcomed, and the rain continuing, are glad to 
 accept the cordial invitations of its inhabitants 
 to pass the night. This is a larger house, but 
 only the father of the family and his buxom 
 daughter, Susie, a lively girl of eighteen or nine- 
 teen, are at home, the others being off at the 
 other end of their small farm, where they have 
 temporary shelter during the harvest. 
 
 We have each a chamber to ourselves in the 
 garret, reached in the same primitive method 
 as before mentioned and are shown with a dip 
 of buffalo-tallow to our rooms. The furniture of 
 these consists of a sort of couch, with buffalo 
 skins for mattress and wolf skins for sheets and 
 coverlet, a chest for a seat, a punch-bowl of wa- 
 ter on a broken chair for a washstand, and a torn 
 bit of rag for towel ; while a barrel covered with 
 a white cloth serves as a centre-table, and is be- 
 sprinkled with antique books. Among those in 
 his chamber our naturalist discovers one which 
 appears to be a catechism of human knowledge 
 containing, among other entertaining and in- 
 structive information as an answer to the ques- 
 tion, "What is a shark?" the highly satisfactory 
 reply that it is ' ' An animal having eighty-eight 
 teeth." 
 
 The wants of the Colony were few, the 
 peasantry simple and industrious, and their lot 
 in life did not seem to them hard. The earth 
 yielded bountifully, and in time of temporary
 
 236 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 disaster fishing and hunting stood them in good 
 stead. When they hunt, they go accompanied by 
 Indians, who live on the outskirts of the Colony. 
 Further and further they have been compelled 
 to go, until at our visit no buffalo could be found 
 within a hundred miles at nearest. 
 
 The hunt is just over as we reach the Settle- 
 ment, and every day carts come in laden with 
 the buffalo meat, hides, and pemmican. The 
 prairie, back from the river, by Fort Garry, is 
 dotted with carts, lodges and tents. Many are 
 living in rude shelters formed of the carts 
 themselves, placed back to back, and the sides 
 secured by hides. 
 
 These carts illustrate well the primitive na- 
 ture and the isolation of the Colony. They are 
 the vehicles in universal use, and are built on 
 the general pattern of our one-horse tip-carts, 
 though they do not tip, and not a scrap of iron 
 enters into them. They are without springs, of 
 course, and rawhide and wooden pins serve to 
 keep together the pieces out of which they are 
 constructed. As they have no tires, and the sec- 
 tion of the wheel part or crowd together, ac- 
 cording to the moisture, a train of these carts 
 bringing in the products of the hunt is a strange 
 sight. Each cart has its own peculiar creak, 
 hoarse and grating, and waggles its own indi- 
 vidual waggle, graceless and shaky, on the un- 
 even ground. To add to its oddity, the shafts
 
 What the Star Gazers Saw. 237 
 
 are heavy, straight beams, between which is 
 harnessed an ox, the harness of rawhide 
 (shaga-nappi) without buckles. 
 
 Everybody makes for himself what he wishes 
 in this undiiferentiated Settlement. We return 
 in tatters. Not a tailor, nor anything approach- 
 ing the description of one, exists here, and a 
 week's search is needed to discover such a being 
 as a shoemaker. A single store in the Hudson's 
 Bay post at each of the two forts, twenty miles 
 apart, supplies the goods of the outside world, 
 and the purchaser must furnish the receptacle 
 for carriage. For small goods this invariably 
 consists, as far as we can see, of a red ban- 
 danna handkerchief, so that purchases have to 
 be small and frequent ; not all of one sort, how- 
 ever, for the native can readily tie up his tea in 
 one corner, his sugar and buttons in two others, 
 and still have one left for normal uses. How 
 many handkerchiefs a day are put to use may 
 be judged from the fact that the average sale of 
 tea at Upper Fort Garry is four large boxes 
 daily all, be it remembered, brought by ship to 
 Hudson Bay, and thence by batteaux and por- 
 tage to the Bed Eiver. 
 
 The caravan by which we and a number of 
 others were carried back to civilization was a 
 stylish enough turnout for Red Eiver. It was 
 supplied by McKinney, the host of the Royal 
 Hotel of the village of Winnipeg. Three large
 
 238 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 emigrant wagons, with canvas coverings of the 
 most approved pattern, but of very different 
 hues, drawn each by a yoke of oxen, convey the 
 patrons of the party, with the exception of a 
 miner, who rides his horse. The astronomers 
 take the lead under a brown canvas ; a theologi- 
 cal student for Toronto University, a gentle- 
 man for St. Paul, and others follow under a 
 black canvas full of holes ; and the third wagon 
 with a cover of spotless purity, conveys the la- 
 dies of the party and a clergyman. Behind 
 them follow not only half a dozen Red Kiver 
 carts, with a most promiscuous assortment of 
 baggage, peltry, and squeak, but also a stray ox 
 and a pony or two; a number of armed horse- 
 men, and for the first day a cavalcade of friends 
 giving a Scotch convoy to those who were de- 
 parting. The astronomers at length reached 
 St. Paul, when they declare their connection 
 with the world again complete, after an absence 
 of about three months, during which they had 
 travelled thirty-five hundred miles.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 APPLES OF GOLD. 
 
 Shakespeare's play of "As You Like It" is 
 an eulogy of the flight from the highly formal 
 life of city life to the simplicity of the forest and 
 the retirement of the plains. Even in the ban- 
 ished Duke, there is a strain of oddity and 
 quaintness. Not many years after the middle 
 of last century, a Detroit lawyer fled from the 
 troubles of society and city life to the peaceful 
 plains of secluded Assiniboia. Marrying, after 
 his arrival, a daughter of one of our best na- 
 tive families, and on her death, a pure Indian 
 woman, he reared a large family. The poetic 
 spirit of Frank Lamed was never repressed, 
 and we give, with some changes, to suit our pur- 
 pose, and at times some divergence from the 
 views expressed, scenes of the Red River Set- 
 tlement, in which he, for more than a genera- 
 tion, dwelt. 
 
 BRITAIN'S ONE UTOPIA SELKIBKIA. 
 
 That brave old Englishman, Thomas More 
 afterwards, unhappily for his head Lord High 
 Chancellor of England wrote out, in fair La-
 
 240 Lord Selkirk's Colonies. 
 
 tin, in his chambers in the City of London, 
 over three centuries ago Ms idea of an Utopia. 
 This, modest as are its requirements, has yet 
 found no practical illustration, even among the 
 many seats of the great colonizing race of man- 
 kind. 
 
 The primitive history of all the colonies that 
 faced the Atlantic when the new-found con- 
 tinent first felt the abiding foot of the stranger 
 from Oglethorpe to Acadia, reveals, alas! no 
 Utopia. It remained for a later time, the 
 earlier half of the present century, amid some 
 severity of climate, and under conditions with- 
 out precedent, and incapable of repetition, 
 to evolve a community in the heart of the con- 
 tinent, shut away from intercourse with civi- 
 lized mankind that slowly crystalized into a 
 form beyond the ideal of the dreamers a com- 
 munity, in the past, known but slightly to the 
 outer world as the Bed Eiver Sett]ement, which 
 is but the bygone name for the one Utopia of 
 Britain the clear-cut impress of an exceptional 
 people living under conditions of excellence un- 
 thought of by themselves until they had passed 
 away. 
 
 THE UTOPIAN COLONY. 
 
 A people, whose name in the vast domain, was 
 in days by gone, sought out and coveted by all. 
 Unknown races had rested here and gone away,
 
 Apples of Gold. 241 
 
 leaving only their careful graves behind them. 
 The "Mandans" the brave, the fair, the beau- 
 tiful, and the * ' Cheyennes, " pressed by the 
 " Nay-he-owuk, " and the "Assin-a-pau-tuk," 
 had quitted their earthen forts on the banks of 
 the streams and urged their way to the broader 
 tide of the Missouri. More fatal to the conquer- 
 ors came afterward, the white man, ' l Nemesis ' ' 
 of all Indian life, spying with the instinct of his 
 race, a spot of abounding fertility, where the 
 great water-reaches stretched from the moun- 
 tains to the sea, and southward touched almost 
 the beginning of the great Eiver of the Gulf. 
 
 Quick changing his errant camp for barter 
 into a stronghold for the trade, making the 
 "Niste-y-ak" of the "Crees" his settled home, 
 the white man's grasp of the fair domain but 
 grew with years. From the seas of the far 
 north came with the men, fair-haired, blue-eyed 
 women and children. The glamour of the spot, 
 the teeming soil, the great and lesser game, that 
 swam past, or wandered by their doors soon 
 drew to this Mecca of the Plains and Waters 
 the roving, scattered children of the trade 
 Bourgeois and voyageur alike heading their 
 lithe and dusky broods. Here touched and 
 fused all habitudes of life, the blended races, 
 knit by ties conserving every divergence of pur- 
 suit, all forms of faith and thought, free from 
 assail or taint begotten of contact with aught
 
 242 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 other than themselves. A people whose un- 
 checked primal freedom was afterward 
 strengthened by the light hand of laws that con- 
 served what they most desired ; whose personal 
 relations with their rulers were of such primi- 
 tive character as to make the Government in 
 every sense paternal; the petty tax on imports 
 attending its administration one practically un- 
 felt! 
 
 A people whose land was dotted with schools 
 and churches, to whose maintenance their con- 
 tributions were so slight as to be unworthy of 
 mention. The three separate religious denom- 
 inations, holding widely different tenets else- 
 where the cause of bitter sectarian feeling, 
 was with them so unthought of as to give 
 where all topics were eagerly sought no room 
 for even fireside discussion. Side by side, " up- 
 on the voyage," as they termed their lake or 
 inland trips the Catholic and the Protestant 
 knelt and offered up their devotions following 
 the ways of their fathers, no more to be made 
 a subject of dispute than a difference in color or 
 height. 
 
 The cursings and obscenities that taint the air 
 and brutalize life elsewhere, were in this quaint 
 old settlement unknown. Sweet thought, pure 
 speech, went hand in hand, clad in nervous, 
 pithy old English, or a "patois" of the French, 
 mellowed and enlarged by their constant use of
 
 Apples of Gold. 243 
 
 the liquid Indian tongues, flowing like soft- 
 sounding waters about them, their daily talk 
 came ever welcome to the ear. 
 
 AN ABCADIA. 
 
 Where locks for doors were unknown, or, 
 known, unused, where a man's word, even in 
 the transfer of land, was held as his bond hon- 
 esty became a necessity. Lawyers were none. 
 Law was held to be a danger. Still the im- 
 portance attached by simple minds to an ap- 
 pearance in public, the amusing belief cherished 
 by some, that, if permitted to plead his own 
 case, exert his unsuspected powers, there could 
 be but one result, brought some honest souls to 
 the Bed Eiver forum, with matter of much mo- 
 ment, "the like never heard before." None 
 can read the quaint, minutely-detailed record of 
 these "causes celebres" that shook the little 
 households as with a great wind, without a 
 smile, or resist the conviction that no scheme of 
 an English Utopia can safely be pronounced 
 perfect without some such modest tribunal to 
 afford vent for that ever-germinating desire 
 for battle inherent in the race. 
 
 Their manners were natural, cordial, and full 
 of a lightsome heartness that robed accost with 
 sunshine, a quietude withal that rare quality 
 that irked them not at all one gathered from 
 their Indian kin-folk. Their knowledge of each
 
 244 
 
 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 other was simply universal their kin ties al- 
 most as general. These ties were brightened 
 and friendships reknit in the holiday season of 
 the year, the leisure of the long winters, when 
 
 ALEXANDER ROSS 
 
 Sheriff and Author. 
 Came to Red River Settlement in 1825 from British Columbia. Died in 1856. 
 
 the far-scattered hewn log houses small to the 
 eye were ever found large enough to hold the 
 welcome arrivals, greeted with a kiss that said,
 
 Apples of Gold. 245 
 
 "I am of your blood." These widespread af- 
 filiations broke down aught like " caste." 
 Wealth or official position were practically un- 
 heeded by a people in no fear of want and un- 
 accustomed to luxuries, who sought their 
 kinswoman and her brood for themselves, not 
 for what they had in store. The children and 
 grandchildren of men, however assured in for- 
 tune or position, wove anew equalizing ties, 
 seeking out their mates as they came to hand; 
 hence a genial, not a downward level, putting 
 to shame fine-spun theories of democracy in 
 other lands spun, not worn. 
 
 This satisfaction of station as said grew 
 out of the slight exertion necessary for all the 
 wants of life, with unlimited choice of the fin- 
 est land on the continent; the waters alive with 
 fish and aquatic fowl; rabbits and prairie fowl 
 at times by actual cart-load; elk not far, and 
 countless buffalo behind, furnishing meat, 
 bedding, clothing and shoes to any who could 
 muster a cart or go in search; the woods and 
 plains in season, ripe with delicious wild fruit, 
 for present use or dried for winter, the whole 
 backed by abundant breadstuffs. The quota of 
 the farmers along the rivers, whose fertile 
 banks were dotted by windmills, whose great 
 arms stayed the inconstant winds, and yoked 
 the fickle couriers to the great car of general 
 plenty.
 
 246 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 A LAND OF PEACE. 
 
 Poverty in one sense certainly existed; age 
 and improvidence are always with us, but it was 
 not obtrusive, made apparent only towards the 
 close of the long winter, when some old veteran 
 of the canoe or saddle would make a "grand 
 promenade" through the Settlement, with his 
 ox and sled, making known his wants, incident- 
 ally, at his different camps among his old 
 friends, finding always before he left his sled 
 made the heavier by the women's hands. This 
 was simply done; few in the wild country but 
 had met with sudden exigencies in supply, knew 
 well the need at times of one man to another, 
 and, when asked for aid, gave willingly. Or it 
 may be that some large-hearted, jovial son of 
 the chase had overrated his winter store, or un- 
 derrated the assiduity of his friends. His re- 
 course in such case being the more carefully es- 
 timated stock of some neighbor, who could in 
 no wise suffer the reproach to lie at his door, 
 that he had turned his back, in such emergence, 
 upon his good-natured, if injudicious country- 
 man. 
 
 This practical communism borrowed from 
 the Indians, among whom it was inviolable 
 was, in the matter of hospitality, the rule of all, 
 a reciprocation of good offices, in the absence 
 of all houses of public entertainment, becoming
 
 Apples of Gold. 247 
 
 a social necessity. The manner of its exercise 
 hearty, a knitting of the people together, no 
 one was at a loss for a winter camp when travel- 
 ling. Every house he saw was his own, the 
 bustling wife, with welcome in her eyes, eager 
 to assure your comfort. The supper being laid 
 and dealt sturdily with, the good man's pipe 
 and your own alight and breathing satisfaction, 
 a neighbor soul drops in to swell the gale of 
 talk, that rocks you at last into a restful sleep. 
 How now, my masters ! Smacks not this of Ar- 
 cadyf 
 
 Early and universal marriage was the rule. 
 Here you received the blessings of home in the 
 married life, and the care of offspring. There 
 were thus no defrauded women called, by a 
 cruel irony, "old maids"; no isolated, mistaken 
 men, cheated out of themselves, and robbed of 
 the best training possible for man. This vital 
 fact was fraught with every good. 
 
 On the young birds leaving the parent nest, 
 they only exchanged it for one near at hand 
 land for the taking; a house to be built, a wife 
 to be got a share of the stock, some tools and 
 simple furniture, and the outfit was complete. 
 The youngest son remained at home to care for 
 the old father and mother, and to him came the 
 homestead when they were laid away. The 
 conditions were all faithful, home life dear in- 
 deed.
 
 248 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 To the Hunters accepting their fall in the 
 chase no wilder thought could scarce be 
 broached than that of solicitude as to the future 
 of their young. Boys who sat a horse almost as 
 soon as they could walk, whose earliest play- 
 thing was a bow and arrows; girls as apt in 
 other ways, happy; sustained in their environ- 
 ment with a faith truly simple and reverent. 
 
 With so large an infusion of Norse blood and 
 certain traditions anent "usquebae" and " bar- 
 ley bree ' ' it would with so large a liberty be 
 naturally expected, a liberal proportion of 
 drouthy souls, but with an abundance of what 
 cheers and distinctly inebriates in their midst 
 they were a temperate people in its best sense, 
 with no tippling houses tp daily tempt them, 
 astray their supplies of spirits were nearly al- 
 ways for festive occasions. "Begales" after a 
 voyage or weddings that lasted for days, and 
 these at times under such guard as may be im- 
 agined from the presence of a custodian of the 
 bottle, who exercised with what skill he might 
 his certainly arduous task of determining in- 
 stantly when hilarity grew into excess. 
 
 This novel feature applies, however, almost 
 entirely to the English-speaking part of the 
 people. The Gallic and Indian blood of the 
 Hunters disdained such poor toying with a sin- 
 gle cherry and drank and danced and drank and 
 danced again with an abandon, an ardor and
 
 Apples of Gold. 249 
 
 full surrender to the hour characteristic alike of 
 the strength of the heads, the lightness of their 
 heels and the contempt of any restraint what- 
 ever. 
 
 These were, however, but the occasional and 
 generous symposiums of health and vigor that 
 rejects of itself continued indulgence. Our 
 Utopia would be cold and pallid indeed lacking 
 such expression of redundant strength, and joy- 
 ful vigor. 
 
 Certainly the greatest negative blessing that 
 this exceptional people enjoyed, was that they 
 had no politics, no vote. The imagination of the 
 average "party man" sinks to conceive a thing 
 like to this ; yet, if an astounding fact to others, 
 no more gracious one can be conceived for them 
 selves. In the unbroken peace in which they 
 lived politics would be but throwing the apple 
 of discord in their midst, an innoculation of dis- 
 ease that they might in the delirium that marked 
 its progress vehemently discuss remedies to al- 
 lay it. 
 
 Another great negative advantage was the 
 peculiar and admirable intelligence of the great 
 body of the population. The small circulating 
 collection of books in their midst attracting lit- 
 tle or no attention, their own limited to a Bible 
 or prayer book, many not these. With their 
 minds in this normal healthy state, unharassed 
 by the sordid assail of care, undepressed by any
 
 250 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 sense whatever of inferiority, unfrayed by the 
 trituration of the average book, their powers of 
 apprehension singularly clear had full scope 
 to appropriate and resolve the world about 
 them, which they did to such purpose as to mas- 
 ter every exigence of their lives. Seizing upon 
 the minutest detail affecting them they mastered 
 as if by intuition all difficult handiwork, making 
 with but few tools every thing they required from 
 a windmill to a horseshoe. 
 
 Their real education was in scenes of travel 
 or adventure in the great unbroken regions 
 sought out by the fur trade, their retentive 
 memories reproducing by the winter fireside or 
 summer camp pictures so graphic as to com- 
 mend themselves to every ear. 
 
 The tender heart and true of the brave old 
 knight, Sir Thomas More, put a ban upon hunt- 
 ing in his Utopia. Alas and alack for the way- 
 ward proclivities of our Utopians, predaceous 
 creatures all, hunting was to them as the 
 breath of their nostrils, for to them, unlike the 
 sons of Adam, it was given with their brothers 
 resting upon the tranquil river to lay upon the 
 altar of their homes alike the fruits of the earth 
 and the spoils of the chase. 
 
 THE BUFFALO HUNT. 
 
 What pen can paint the life of the "Chas- 
 seurs of the Great Plains," tell of the gathering
 
 Apples of Gold. 251 
 
 of the mighty Halfbreed clan going forth each 
 spring and fall in a tumult of carts and horse- 
 men to their boundless preserves, the home of 
 the buffaloes, whose outrangers were the grizzly 
 bear, the branching elk, the flying antelope that 
 skirted the great columns, the last relieving the 
 heavy rolling gait of the herds by a speed and 
 airy flight that mocked the eye to follow them, 
 scouting the dull trot of the prowling wolves 
 attent upon the motions of their best purveyor 
 man. 
 
 What a going forth was theirs ! this array of 
 Hunters, with their wives and little ones; this 
 new tribe clad in semi-savage garniture, 
 streaming across the plains with cries of glee 
 and joyance; the riders in their "travoie" of 
 arms and horse equipment the vast "brigade" 
 of carts and bands of following horses, kept to 
 the cavalcade by those reckless jubilants the 
 boys seeming a part of the creatures they be- 
 strode. The sunshine and the flying fleecy clouds, 
 emulous in motion with the troop below: what 
 life was in it all; what freedom and what 
 breadth ! 
 
 And as the sun sank apace and the guides and 
 Headmen rode apart on some o'er-looking 
 height and reined their cattle in, the closing up 
 of the flying squadron for the evening camp, the 
 great circular camp of these our Scythians 
 proof against sudden raid crowning the land-
 
 252 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 scape far and wide, seen, yet seeing every foe, 
 whose subtle coming through the short-lived 
 night was watched by eyes as keen as were their 
 own. 
 
 "When reached, their bellowing, countless 
 quarry : the plain alive and trembling with their 
 tumult, what tournament of mail-clad knights 
 but was as a stilted play to this rude shock of 
 man and beast carrying in a cloud of dust that 
 hid alike the chaser and the .chased, till done 
 their work the frightened herds swept onward 
 and away, leaving the sward flecked with the 
 huge forms that made the hunters ' wealth ! And 
 now ! on : fall prosaic from the wild charge, the 
 danger of the fierce melee! drifting from the 
 camp the carts appear piled red in a trice with 
 bosses, tongues, back fat and juicy haunch, a 
 feast unknown to hapless kings. 
 
 "We but glance at this great feature, that fed 
 so fat our Utopia, leaving to imagination the re- 
 turn, the trade, the feasting and the fiddle when 
 lusty legs embossed by "quills" or beads kept 
 up the dance. 
 
 The outcome of the "Plain Hunt" was not 
 only a wide spread plenty among the Hunters 
 on reaching the quiet farmer folk upon the riv- 
 ers, but also the diffusion of a sunshine, a tone 
 of generous serenity that sat well on the chiv- 
 alry of the chase the bold riders of the Plain.
 
 Apples of Gold. 253 
 
 THE SUMMER PEAIBIES. 
 
 Beneficent nature nowhere makes her compen- 
 sations more gratefully felt than in the summer 
 season of our Utopia of the north, where the 
 purest and most vivifying of atmospheres hues 
 with a wealth of sunshine the great reaching 
 spaces of verdure covered with flowers in a pro- 
 fusion rivaling their exquisite beauty. Green 
 waving copses dot the level sward, and rob the 
 sky line of its sea-like sweep. The winding riv- 
 ers, signalled by their wooded banks, upon 
 which rest the comfortable homes of the dwell- 
 ers in the "hidden land" guarding their little 
 fields close by where the ranked grain standing 
 awaits the sickle, turning from green to gold 
 and so unhurried resting. The shining cattle 
 couched outside in ruminant content or cropping 
 lazily the succulent feast spread wide before 
 them ; the horses wary of approach, just seen in 
 compact bands upon the verge; the patriarchal 
 windmills at wide spaces signalling to each 
 other their peaceful task; the little groups of 
 horsemen coming adown the winding road, or 
 stopping to greet some good wife and her gos- 
 sip going abroad in a high-railed cart in quest 
 of trade, or friendly call. And as the day 
 wanes, the sleek cows, with considered careful 
 walk and placid mien, wend their way home- 
 ward, bearing their heavy udders to the house-
 
 254 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 mother, who, pail in hand awaiting their ap- 
 proach, pauses for a moment to mark the feath- 
 ered boaster at her feet, as he makes his part- 
 ing vaunt of a day well spent and summons 
 "Partlet" to her vesper perch hard by. 
 
 O'er all the scene there rests a brooding 
 peace, bespeaking tranquil lives, repose trim- 
 med with the hush of night, and effort health- 
 ful and cool as the freshening airs of morn. 
 
 . L 'ENVOI. 
 
 Longfellow moving all hearts to pity has 
 painted in "Evangeline" the enforced disper- 
 sion of the French in "Acadia." Who shall 
 tell the homesick pain, the vain regrets, the look- 
 ing back of those who peopled our "Acadia"? 
 No voice bids them away; they melt before the 
 fervor of the time ; hasten lest they be 'whelmed 
 by the great wave of life now rolling towards 
 them. Vain retreat, the waters are out and 
 may not be stayed. It is fate! it is right, but 
 the travail is sore, the face of the mother is wet 
 with tears. 
 
 This outline sketch proposed is at an end ; we 
 have striven to be faithful to the true lines. 
 There is no obligation to perpetuate unworthy 
 "minutiae." Joy is immortal! sorrow dies! the 
 petty features are absorbed in the broad ones ; 
 those capable only of conveying truth. 
 
 The Bed River Settlement in the days ad-
 
 Apples of Gold. 255 
 
 verted to is an idyl simple and pure : a nomadic 
 pastoral, inwrought with Indian traits and 
 color ; our one acted poem in the great national 
 prosaic life. When the vast country in the far 
 future is teeming with wealth and luxury, this 
 light rescued and defined will shine adown the 
 fullness of the time with hues all its own. The 
 story that it tells will be as a sweet refresh- 
 ment: a dream made possible, called by those 
 who shared in its great calm, "Britain's One 
 Utopia Selkirkia. ' '
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 PICTURES OF SILVER. 
 
 Lord Selkirk's Colonists never had, as we 
 have seen, a bed of roses. Adversity had dogged 
 their steps from the time that they put the first 
 foot forward toward the new world and Stor- 
 noway, Fort Churchill, York Factory, Norway 
 House, Pembina and Fort Douglas start, as 
 we speak of them, a train of bitter memories. 
 Flood and famine, attack and bloodshed, toil 
 and anxiety were the constant atmosphere, in 
 which for a generation they existed. Higher 
 civilization is impossible when the struggle for 
 shelter and bread is too strenuous. Though the 
 ministrations of religion were supplied within a 
 few years of the beginning of the Colony, yet 
 the Colonists were not satisfied in this respect 
 till forty years had passed. It was a genera- 
 tion before the Roman Catholic Church had a 
 Bishop, who held the See of St. Boniface in- 
 stead of the title "in the parts of the heathen." 
 It was not before the year 1849 that a Church 
 of England Bishop arrived, and it was two 
 years after that date when the first Presbyter-
 
 Pictures of Silver. 257 
 
 ian minister came to be the spiritual head of the 
 Selkirk Colonists. Before this the education 
 and elevation of the people was represented by 
 a few schools chiefly maintained by private or 
 church effort. The writer intends to bring out, 
 from selected quotations from different sources, 
 the few bright spots in the gloom the pic- 
 tures of silver on a rather dark background. 
 
 ABBE DUGAS' STORY. 
 
 The good Father's story circles around the 
 first Canadian woman known to have reached 
 Bed River. This was Marie Gaboury, wife 
 of J. Baptiste Lajimoniere, who reached the 
 Forks in 1811 in the very year when the Col- 
 onists were lying at York Factory. The Laji- 
 monieres spent the winter in Pembina. It was 
 the brave husband of Marie Gaboury who made 
 the long and lonely journey from Bed Biver to 
 Montreal. The Abbe says: "J. B. Lajimo- 
 niere was engaged by the Governor of Fort 
 Douglas to carry letters to Lord Selkirk, who 
 was then in Montreal. Lajimoniere said he 
 could go alone to Montreal, and that he would 
 make every effort to put the letters confided to 
 his care into Lord Selkirk 's hands. Being alone, 
 Madame Lajimoniere left the hut on the banks 
 of the Assiniboine to become an inmate of Fort 
 Douglas. Lajimoniere is reported to have 
 urged upon Lord Selkirk in Montreal to send as
 
 258 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 part of his recompense for his long journey, a 
 priest to be the guide of himself and family. 
 Father Dugas says: (See printed page 2.) 
 
 1 1 Lord Selkirk before his departure had made 
 the Catholic colony on the Red River sign a pe- 
 tition asking the Bishop of Quebec to send mis- 
 sionaries to evangelize the country. He pre- 
 sented this petition himself and employed all his 
 influence to have it granted. 
 
 " Though a Protestant Lord Selkirk knew 
 that to found a permanent colony on the Red 
 River he required the encouragement of reli- 
 gion. Should his application succeed the mis- 
 sionaries would come with the voyageurs in the 
 following spring and would arrive in Red River 
 towards the month of July. This thought alone 
 made Madame Lajimoniere forget her eleven 
 years of loneliness and sorrow . 
 
 "Before July the news had spread that the 
 missionaries were coming that very summer, but 
 as yet the exact date of their arrival was not 
 known. Telegraphs had not reached this region 
 and moreover the voyageurs were often exposed 
 to delays. 
 
 "After waiting patiently, one beautiful morn- 
 ing on the 16th of July, the day of Our Lady of 
 Mount Carmel, a man came from the foot of 
 the river to warn Fort Douglas and the neigh- 
 borhood that two canoes bringing the mission- 
 aries were coming up the river, and that all the
 
 Pictures of Silver. 259 
 
 people ought to be at the Fort to receive them 
 on their arrival. 
 
 " Scarcely was the news made known when 
 men, women and children hurried to the Fort. 
 Those who had never seen the priests were 
 anxious to contemplate these men of God of 
 whom they had heard so much. Madame Laji- 
 moniere was not the last to hasten to the place 
 where the missionaries would land. She took 
 all her little ones with her, the eldest of whom 
 was Reine, then eleven years old. 
 
 " Towards the hour of noon on a beautiful 
 clear day more than one hundred and fifty per- 
 sons were gathered on the river bank in front 
 of Fort Douglas. Every eye was on the turn 
 of the river at the point. It was who should 
 first see the voyageurs. Suddenly two canoes 
 bearing the Company's flag came in sight. 
 There was a general shout of joy. The trader 
 of the Fort, Mr. A. McDonald, was a Catholic, 
 and he had everything prepared to give them a 
 solemn reception. Many shed tears of joy. The 
 memory of their native land was recalled to the 
 old Canadians who had left their homes many 
 years before. These old voyageurs who had been 
 constantly called upon to face death had been 
 deprived of all religious succour during the long 
 years, but they had not been held by a spirit of 
 impiety. The missionaries were to them the 
 messengers of God.
 
 260 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 "The canoes landed in front of Fort Douglas, 
 M. Provencher and his companion both invested 
 in their cassocks stepped on shore and were wel- 
 comed with outstretched hands by this family, 
 which was henceforth to be theirs. 
 
 "They were admired for their manly figures 
 as much as for the novelty of their costumes. M. 
 Provencher and his companion, M. Severe Du- 
 moulin, were both men of great stature and both 
 had a majestic carriage. They stood at the top 
 of the bank and after making the women and 
 children sit down around them M. Provencher 
 addressed some words to this multitude gath- 
 ered about him. He spoke very simply and in a 
 fatherly manner. Madame Lajimoniere who 
 had not listened to the voice of a priest for 
 twelve years could hardly contain herself for 
 joy. She cried with happiness and forgetting 
 all her hardships, fancied herself for a moment 
 in the dear parish of Maskinonge where she had 
 spent such happy peaceful years. 
 
 The missionaries arrived on Thursday, July 
 16th. M. Provencher having made known to his 
 new family the aim of his mission wished imme- 
 diately to begin teaching them the lessons of 
 Christianity and to bring into the fold the sheep 
 which were outside. 
 
 "While waiting till a house could be built for 
 the missionaries, M. Provencher and his com- 
 panion were hospitably entertained at the Fort
 
 Pictures of Silver. 261 
 
 of the Colony. A large room in one of the 
 buildings of the Fort had been set apart for 
 them, and it was there that they held divine 
 service. M. Provencher invited all the mothers 
 of families to bring their children who were un- 
 der six years of age to the Fort on the following 
 Saturday when they would receive the happi- 
 ness of being baptised. All persons above that 
 age who were not Christians could not receive 
 that sacrament until after being instructed in 
 the truths of Christianity. 
 
 "When M. Provencher had finished speaking 
 the Governor conducted him with M. Dumoulin 
 into the Fort. Canadians, Metis and Indians 
 feeling very happy retired to return three days 
 afterwards. 
 
 ' * There were four children in the Lajimoniere 
 family, but only two of them could be baptised, 
 the others being nine and eleven years of age. 
 On the following Saturday Madame Lajimo- 
 niere with all the other women came to the Fort. 
 The number of children, including Indians and 
 Metis, amounted to a hundred and Madame La- 
 jimoniere being the only Christian woman stood 
 Godmother to them all. For a long time all the 
 children in the colony called her ' Marraine. ' 
 
 "M. Provencher announced that from the 
 next day the missionaries would be.gin their 
 work and that the settlers ought to begin at the
 
 262 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 same time to work at the erection of a home 
 for them. 
 
 M. Lajimoniere was one of the first to meet at 
 the place selected and to commence preparing 
 the materials for the building. The work pro- 
 gressed so rapidly that the house was ready for 
 occupation by the end of October. 
 
 "Madame Lajimoniere rendered every as- 
 sistance in her power to the missionaries." 
 
 HARGRAVE'S TALE. 
 
 With a few changes we shall allow an old 
 friend of the writer, J. J. Hargrave, long an 
 official of the Hudson's Bay Company, to give 
 the tale of the Church of England in Red River 
 Settlement. "As we have seen, the Rev. John 
 West came from England to Red River as 
 chaplain of the Hudson's Bay Company. One 
 of his first works was the erection of a rude 
 school-house, and the systematic education of a 
 few children. Chief among the names of the 
 clergymen, who came out from England in the 
 early days of the Settlement, after Mr. West's 
 return, were Rev. Messrs. Jones, Cochran, 
 Cowley, McCallum, Smedhurst, James and 
 Hunter. William Cochran is universally re- 
 garded in the Colony as the founder of the 
 English Church in Rupert's Land, and from 
 the date of his arrival till 1849 all the principal 
 ecclesiastical business done may be said to
 
 Pictures of Silver. 263 
 
 have received its impetus from his personal 
 energy. The church in which he began his 
 ministrations was replaced by the present 
 Cathedral of St. John's. Mr. Cochran then 
 built the first church in St. Andrew's, at the 
 Rapids, and besides gathered the Indians to- 
 gether and erected their church at St. Peter's/' 
 
 In 1849 arrived Bishop David Anderson, an 
 Oxford man. He settled at St. John's, now in 
 the City of Winnipeg, and occupied "Bishop's 
 Court." After occupying the See for fifteen 
 years, he retired, and was succeeded by Bishop 
 Machray, whose commanding figure was known 
 to all early settlers in Winnipeg. He revived 
 St. John's College and gained fame as an edu- 
 cationalist. 
 
 The peculiarly situated nature of the Settle- 
 ment, extending in a long line of isolated houses 
 along the banks of the river, and in no place 
 stretching back any distance on the prairies, 
 render a succession of churches necessary to 
 bring the opportunity of attending within the 
 reach of the people. Ten Church of England 
 places of worship exist (1870) on the bank of 
 the river. Of these, eight are within the legally 
 defined limits of the Colony. 
 
 About the middle of December, 1866, Arch- 
 deacon John McLean commenced the celebra- 
 tion of the Church of England service in the 
 village of Winnipeg. The services were for a
 
 264 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 time held in the Court House at Fort Garry, 
 and in the autumn of 1868 Holy Trinity Church 
 was opened in Winnipeg. 
 
 A SELF-DENYING APOSTLE. 
 
 After many disappointments the cry of the 
 Selkirk Colonists for a minister of their own 
 faith reached Scotland, and their case was re- 
 ferred to Dr. Robert Burns, of Toronto, who 
 was further urged to action by Governor Bal- 
 lenden, of Fort Garry. In August, 1857, the 
 Rev. John Black, then newly ordained, was sent 
 on by Dr. Burns to Red River. He was for- 
 tunate in becoming attached to a military ex- 
 pedition led by Governor Ramsey, of Minne- 
 sota, going northwest for nearly four hundred 
 miles, from St. Paul to Pembina. 
 
 Leaving the military escort behind, in com- 
 pany with Mr. Bond, who wrote an account of 
 the trip, Mr. Black floated down Red River in 
 a birch canoe, and in a three-days ' journey they 
 reached the Marion's House in St. Boniface. It 
 is said that it was from Bond's description of 
 this voyage that the Poet Whittier obtained the 
 information for the well-known poem. 
 
 THE BED EIVEB VOYAGEUR. 
 
 Out and in the river is winding 
 The banks of its long red chain, 
 
 Through belts of dusky pine land 
 And gusty leagues of plain.
 
 Pictures of Silver. 265 
 
 Only at times a smoky wreath 
 With the drifting cloud-rack joins 
 
 The smoke of the hunting lodges 
 Of the wild Assiniboines. 
 
 Drearily blows the north wind, 
 From the land of ice and snow; 
 
 The eyes that look are uneasy, 
 And heavy the hands that row. 
 
 And with one foot on the water, 
 
 And one upon the shore, 
 The Angel's shadow gives warning 
 
 That day shall be no more. 
 
 Is it the clang of wild geese? 
 
 Is it the Indians' yell, 
 That lends to the voice of the North wind 
 
 The tones of a far-off bell? 
 
 The Voyageur smiles as he listens 
 To the sound that grows apace; 
 
 Well he knows the vesper ringing 
 Of the bells of St. Boniface. 
 
 The bells of the Roman Mission 
 That call from their turrets twain ; 
 
 To the boatmen on the river, 
 To the hunter on the plain.
 
 266 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 Even so on our mortal journey 
 
 The bitter north winds blow; 
 And thus upon Life's Eed Eiver 
 
 Our hearts, as oarsmen, row. 
 
 Happy is he who heareth 
 
 The signal of his release 
 In the bells of the Holy City- 
 
 The chimes of Eternal peace. 
 
 In the afternoon of the day of their arrival 
 the party crossed from St. Boniface to Fort 
 Garry, and the missionary well known as 
 as Eev. Dr. Black, went to the hospitable shel- 
 ter of Alexander Ross, whose daughter he af- 
 terward married. Three hundred of the Sel 
 kirk Colonists and their children immediately 
 gathered around Mr. Black, and though inter- 
 rupted for a year by the great flood which we 
 have described, erected in the following year, 
 the stone Church of Kildonan, on the highway 
 some five miles from Winnipeg. "With the help 
 of a small grant from the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany, the Selkirk Colonists erected, free from 
 debt, their church which still remains. Two 
 other churches were erected by the Presbyter- 
 ians, and beside each a school. For several years 
 before the old Colony ceased Mr. Black con- 
 ducted service in the Court House near Fort 
 Garry, and in 1868, with the assistance of Cana-
 
 Pictures of Silver. 267 
 
 dian friends, erected the small Knox Church 
 on Portage Avenue, in Winnipeg. This build- 
 ing, though used, was not completed till after 
 the arrival of the Canadian troops in 1870. 
 
 EARLY RED RIVEB CULTURE. 
 
 Strange as it may seem, the isolated Bed 
 River Colony was far from being an illiterate 
 community. The presence of the officers of the 
 Hudson's Bay Company, the coming of the 
 clergy of the different churches, who established 
 schools, and the leisure for reading books sup- 
 plied by the Red River Library produced a peo- 
 ple whose speech was generally correct, and 
 whose diction was largely modeled on standard 
 books of literature. Mrs. Marion Bryce has 
 made a sympathetic study of this subject, and 
 we quote a number of her passages : 
 
 SCIENTIFIC WORK. 
 
 The duty laid upon the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany officers and clerks of keeping for the bene- 
 fit of their employers a diary recording every- 
 thing at their posts that might make one day dif- 
 fer from another, or indeed that often made ev- 
 ery day alike, cultivated among the officers of 
 the fur trade the powers of observation that 
 were frequently turned to scientific account, and 
 we find some of them acting as corresponding 
 members of the Smithsonian Institution in
 
 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 Washington. Valuable collections in natural 
 history have been forwarded to the institution 
 by such observers as the late Hon. Donald Gunn, 
 the late Mr. Joseph Fortescue, and Mr. Roder- 
 ick Ross Macfarlane. 
 
 Mr. William Barnston, a son of the Mr. Barn- 
 ston, already mentioned, and a chief factor at 
 Norway House, about 1854, was very fond of the 
 cultivation of flowers and the study of botany, 
 and some very valuable specimens of natural 
 history in the British museum are said to have 
 been of his procuring. 
 
 LIBBABIES. 
 
 Collections of books were a great means of 
 providing knowledge and contributing to 
 amusement in the isolated northern trading 
 posts. 
 
 The Red River library had its headquarters 
 in St. Andrew's parish, and was for circulation 
 in the Red River Settlement. It seems to have 
 been chiefly maintained by donations of books 
 by retired Hudson's Bay Company officers and 
 other settlers. The Council of Assiniboia once 
 gave a donation of 50 sterling for the purchase 
 of books to be added to the library. There was 
 one characteristic of this library that it con- 
 tained in its catalogue very few works of fiction.
 
 Pictures of Silver. 269 
 
 LITEEABY CLUBS. 
 
 In addition to libraries we find that at a later 
 date in the history of the Settlement, literary 
 clubs were formed. Bishop Anderson and his 
 sister, who arrived in Bed River in 1849, were 
 instrumental in forming a reading club for mu- 
 tual improvement, for which the leading maga- 
 zines were ordered. 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 But we must now speak of more decided or- 
 ganization for the promotion of culture in Bed 
 River. The Selkirk settlers had now (1821) 
 gained a footing in the land and the banks of 
 the Red River had become the paradise of re- 
 tired officers of the fur-trading companies. 
 Happy families were growing up in the homes 
 of the Settlement and education was necessary. 
 A settled community made it possible for the 
 churches and church societies in the homeland 
 to do Christian work, both among the Indians 
 and the white people, and to these institutions 
 the Settlement was indebted for the first educa- 
 tional efforts made. 
 
 COMMON SCHOOLS. 
 
 The Rev. John West, the first Episcopal mis- 
 sionary who arrived, in 1820, and his successors, 
 the Rev. David Jones and Archdeacon Coch- 
 rane, as far as they could, organized common
 
 270 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 schools on the parochial system. A visitor to 
 the Settlement in 1854, John Eyerson, says that 
 there were then eight common schools in the 
 country five of them wholly, or in part, sup- 
 ported by the Church Missionary Society, two 
 of them depending on the bishop's individual 
 bounty, and one only, that attached to the Pres- 
 byterian congregation, depending on the fees of 
 the pupils for support. The Governor and 
 Council of Assiniboia had, a few years before 
 made an appropriation of 130 sterling in aid 
 of public schools. The Hudson's Bay Company 
 may be said to have given aid to these schools 
 indirectly by making an annual grant to each 
 missionary of an amount varying according to 
 circumstances from 150 to 50 sterling. The 
 Catholics had similar schools for the French 
 population along the banks of the Bed and As- 
 siniboine rivers, and the writer already quoted 
 says that there were seminaries at St. Boniface, 
 one for boys and one for girls, under the Grey 
 Nuns from Montreal. 
 
 Bishop Anderson, the first bishop of Rupert's 
 Land, was not specially an educationalist. He 
 turned his attention more to the evangelical 
 work of the church. Bishop Machray, who came 
 to the country in 1865, has, on the contrary, 
 whilst not neglecting the duties of a bishop of 
 the church of Christ, always given great atten- 
 tion to education, and the country is greatly in-
 
 Pictures of Silver. 271 
 
 debted to him for the foundations laid. It was 
 his endeavor after entering on his bishopric to 
 have a parish school wherever there was a mis- 
 sionary of the Church of England, and in the 
 year 1869 there were 16 schools of this kind in 
 the different parishes of Rupert's Land. This 
 is bringing us very near the time of the transfer 
 when our public school system was inaugurated. 
 
 Mrs. Jones, the wife of Rev. David Jones, 
 the missionary of Red River, joined her hus- 
 band in 1829. She very soon saw the need there 
 was for a boarding and day school for the sons 
 and daughters of Hudson's Bay Company fac- 
 tors and other settlers in the Northwest. A 
 school of this kind was opened and in addition 
 to the mission work in which she assisted her 
 husband, Mrs. Jones devoted herself to the 
 training of the young people committed to her 
 charge until her death, which occurred some- 
 what suddenly in 1836. Mr. and Mrs. Jones 
 were assisted by a governess and tutor from 
 England and the Church Missionary Society 
 gave financial assistance. 
 
 Mr. John Macallum, who was afterwards or- 
 dained at Red River, arrived from England in 
 1836, as assistant to Mr. Jones. He took charge 
 of the school for young ladies and also the clas- 
 sical school for the sons of Hudson's Bay fac- 
 tors and traders. He was assisted by Mrs. Ma- 
 onllum and also had teachers brought out from
 
 272 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 England. He had two daughters who were pu- 
 pils in the school, one of whom still survives in 
 British Columbia. 
 
 One of the Ked River ladies who attended that 
 school when a very little girl says that the build- 
 ing occupied by it stood near the site of Dean 
 O'Meara's present residence. The enclosure 
 took in the pretty ravine formed by a creek in 
 the neighborhood the ravine that is now 
 bridged by one of our public streets. It con- 
 sisted of two large wings, one for the boys and 
 one for the girls, joined together by a dining 
 hall used by the boys. There were also two 
 pretty gardens in which the boys and girls could 
 disport themselves separately. The large trees 
 that surrounded the building have long since 
 disappeared. The young girl spoken of as a 
 pupil seems to have had her youthful mind cap- 
 tivated by the beauty of the site, and indeed no- 
 where could the love of nature be better culti- 
 vated than along the bends of the Bed Kiver 
 near St. John's, where groves of majestic trees 
 succeed each other, where the wild flowers flour- 
 ish in the sheltered nooks and the fire-flies 
 glance among the greenery at the close of day 
 and where for sound we have the whip-poor-will 
 lashing the woods as if impatient of the si- 
 lence. 
 
 Among other schools was one commenced in 
 the early thirties by Mr. John Pritchard, at one
 
 Pictures of Silver. 273 
 
 time agent of Lord Selkirk, at a place called 
 ' ' The Elms, ' ' on the east side of Red Eiver, op- 
 posite Kildonan Church. Mr. Pritchard was en- 
 trusted with the education of the sons of gen- 
 tlemen sent all the way from British Columbia 
 and from Washington and Oregon territories, 
 besides a number belonging to prominent fami- 
 lies of Red River and the Northwest. The Gov- 
 ernor and Council of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany granted to Mr. Pritchard a life annuity of 
 20 on account of his services in the interests of 
 religion and education. 
 
 On coming to the diocese in 1865 Bishop 
 Machray reorganized the boys' classical school, 
 and it was opened as a high school in 1866. The 
 bishop gave instruction in a number of branches 
 himself, paying special attention to mathe- 
 matics. Archdeacon McLean had charge of 
 classics and the Rev. Samuel Pritchard con- 
 ducted the English branches in what was now 
 called St. John's College. 
 
 In connection with the parish school of Kil- 
 donan the Rev. John Black, who was, as we all 
 know, a scholarly man, gave instructions in 
 classics to a number of young men, who were 
 thus enabled to take their places in Toronto 
 University and in Knox College, Toronto. 
 
 In addition to these schools, Mr. Gunn, of St. 
 Andrew's, afterwards Hon. Donald Gunn, had 
 for a time a commercial school at his
 
 274 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 home for the sons of Hudson's Bay Company 
 factors and traders, so that they might be fit- 
 ted for the company's business in which they 
 were to succeed their fathers. 
 
 GIRLS' SCHOOLS. 
 
 From the death of Mr. Macallum, 1849, there 
 was a vacancy in the school for girls until 1851, 
 when Mrs. Mills and her two daughters came 
 from England to assume its charge. A new 
 building was erected for this school a little fur- 
 ther down the river to which was given the name 
 of St. Cross. This was the same building en- 
 larged with which we were familiar a few years 
 ago as St. John's Boys' College, and which has 
 lately been taken down. Mrs. Mills is said to 
 have been very thorough in her instruction and 
 management. The young ladies were trained in 
 all the social etiquette of the day in addition to 
 the more solid education imparted. Miss Mills 
 assisted her mother with the music and mod- 
 ern languages. Miss Harriet Mills, being 
 younger, was more of a companion to the 
 girls, and accompanied them on walks, in win- 
 ter on the frozen river, in summer towards the 
 plain, and unless her maturer years belie the 
 record of her girlhood we may imagine she w,as 
 a very lively and agreeable companion. In 
 addition to her regular school duties Mrs. Mills 
 had a class for girls who were beyond school
 
 Pictures of Silver. 275 
 
 age. She also gave assistance in Sunday school 
 work. 
 
 The pianos used in these school had to be 
 brought by sea, river and portage by way of 
 Hudson Bay; one of them is still in possession 
 of Miss Lewis, St. James. The teachers from 
 England had to traverse the same somewhat 
 discouraging route in coming into the Settle- 
 ment. Miss Mills, who came alone a little later 
 than her mother and sister, traveled from York 
 Factory under the care of Mr. Thomas Sinclair. 
 She always manifested the highest appreciation 
 of his kindness to her during the way, making 
 his men cut down and pile up branches around 
 her to protect her from the cold when his party 
 had to camp out for the night.
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 EDEN INVADED. 
 
 The conception of Bed Eiver Settlement be- 
 ing an Idyllic Paradise was not confined to the 
 writer, whose picture we have described as "Ap- 
 ples of Gold." It was a self-contained spot, 
 distant from St. Anthony Falls (now Minne- 
 apolis) some four or five hundred miles, and 
 this was its nearest neighbor of importance. 
 Our astronomers thus describe it as an orb in 
 space, and the celebrated Milton and Cheadle 
 Expedition of 1862 looked upon it as an 
 ' ' oasis. ' ' It was often represented as being en- 
 closed behind the Chinese wall of Hudson's 
 Bay Company exclusiveness, and thus as hope- 
 lessly retired. The writer remembers well, 
 when entering Manitoba, in the year after it 
 ceased to be Bed Biver Settlement, as he called 
 upon the pioneer of his faith, who, for twenty 
 years, had held his post, the old man said, when 
 youthful plans of progress were being advanced 
 to him, oh, rest! rest! there are creatures that 
 prefer lying quietly at the bottom of the pool 
 rather than to be always plunging through the
 
 Eden Invaded. 277 
 
 troublous waters. Certainly, to the old people, 
 there was a feeling of freedom from care, as of 
 its being a lotus-eater's land an Utopia; an 
 Eden, before sin entered, and before " man's 
 disobedience brought death into the world and 
 all our woe.'* 
 
 We are not disposed to press Milton's meta- 
 phor any further in regard to the disturbers 
 who came in upon Frank Larned's peaceful 
 scene. 
 
 The time for opening up Rupert's Land was 
 approaching. The agitation of the people 
 themselves, the constant petitions to Great 
 Britain and Canada called for it. The set time 
 had come ; 1857 was a red letter year in this ad- 
 vance. In that year the British Parliament 
 appointed a large and powerful committee to 
 investigate all phases of Rupert's Land, its 
 history; government; geological, climatic, phy- 
 sical, agricultural, social, and religious condi- 
 tions. The blue book of that year is a marvel 
 of intelligent work. In this same year the 
 British Government sent out the Palliser-Hec- 
 tor Expedition to Rupert's Land to obtain ex- 
 pert evidence in regard to all these points be- 
 ing considered by the Parliamentary Commit- 
 tee. Also in this year the Canadian Govern- 
 ment dispatched the Dawson-Hind Expedition 
 to obtain detailed information as to the physi- 
 cal and soil conditions of the prairie region,
 
 278 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 and it is said that the report of this party of 
 explorers is one of the most accurate, sane, 
 and useful accounts ever given of this prairie 
 country. 
 
 With all this attention being paid to the 
 country and with the press of Canada awakened 
 to see the possibility of extending Canada in 
 this direction, it is not to be wondered at, that 
 adventurous spirits found out this Eden and 
 sought in it for the tree of life, perchance often 
 finding in it the tree of evil as well as that of 
 good. 
 
 Of course, to the modern philosopher the dis- 
 turbances of these peaceful seats is simply the 
 symptom of progress and the struggle that is 
 bound to take place in all development. 
 
 But to the Hudson's Bay Company pessi- 
 mist, or to the grey-headed sage, the greatest 
 disturbers of this Eden were two Englishmen, 
 Messrs. Buckingham and Coldwell, who, in 
 1859, entered Bed River Colony, and estab- 
 lished that organ for good or evil, the newspa- 
 per. This first paper was called "The Nor'- 
 Wester." It is amusing to read the comments 
 upon its entrance made by Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany writers, both English and French. The 
 constitution and conduct of the Council of As- 
 siniboia was certainly the weak point in the 
 Hudson's Bay regime, and the Nor '-Wester 
 kept this point so constantly before the people
 
 Eden Invaded. 279 
 
 that it was really a thorn in the side of the 
 Company. The Nor '-Wester, itself, was surely 
 not free from troubles. The Red River Com- 
 munity was very small, so that it could not very 
 well supply a constituency. Comparatively few 
 of the people could read, many felt no need of 
 newspapers, and the Company certainly did not 
 encourage its distribution. It would have been 
 a subject of constant amusement had the Nor'- 
 Wester been in operation in the days of Judge 
 Thorn and his policy of repression. Mr. Buck- 
 ingham did not remain long in Red River Set- 
 tlement. Mr. Coldwell became the dean of 
 newspaperdom in the Canadian West. The 
 great antagonist of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany, Dr. John Schultz, a Western Canadian, 
 came to the Settlement in the same year as The 
 Nor '-Wester a medical man, he became also a 
 merchant, a land-owner, a politician, and in this 
 last sphere held many offices. At times he suc- 
 ceeded in controlling The Nor '-Wester, at other 
 times the Hudson's Bay Company were able to 
 direct The Nor '-Wester policy; sometimes Mr. 
 James Ross, son of Sheriff Alexander Ross, 
 was in control, but it may be said that in gen- 
 eral its policy was hostile to that of the Com- 
 pany. About this time of beginnings came 
 along a number of Americans, or Canadians, 
 who had been in the United States, and these 
 congregated in the little village, which began to
 
 280 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 form at what is now the junction of Main 
 Street and Portage Avenue, in Winnipeg. Cer- 
 tain Canadians in St. Paul, such as Messrs. 
 N. W. Kittson, and J. J. Hill, began at this time 
 to take an interest in the trade of Bed River 
 Settlement, and to speak of communication be- 
 tween the Settlement and the outside world. 
 The demand for transport led a company to 
 bring in a steamer, the Anson Northrup, after- 
 wards called "The Pioneer," to break the Red 
 Eiver solitude with her scream. The steamer 
 International was built to run on the river in 
 1862, and thus the Hudson's Bay Company was 
 unwittingly joining with The Nor '-Wester in 
 opening up the country to the world, and sound- 
 ing the death-knell of the Company's hopes of 
 maintaining supremacy in Rupert's land. 
 
 Until this time of arrivals there had been no 
 village of Winnipeg. The first building back 
 from the McDermott, Ross and Logan build- 
 ings on the bank of Red River, was on the 
 corner of Main and Portage Avenue. Here 
 gathered those, who may be spoken of as free 
 traders, being rivals of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany Store at Fort Garry. Another village 
 began a few years after at Point Douglas on 
 Main Street, near the Canadian Pacific Rail- 
 way Station of to-day, while at St. John's, on 
 Main Street, was another nucleus. These were 
 in existence when the old order passed away
 
 CUc 
 
 l 
 
 a 
 
 s 
 
 V u O 
 
 K g 
 
 gll 
 H S rt 
 
 "
 
 282 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 in 1870, but they are all absorbed into the City 
 of Winnipeg of to-day. The Hudson's Bay 
 Company, while long attached to its ancient 
 customs, brought over from the seventeenth 
 century, has fully and heartily adopted the new 
 order of things. Glorying in the old, it has 
 embraced the new, and has become thoroughly 
 modern in all its enterprises. It has been a 
 safe and solvent institution in its whole history. 
 That it has been able to do this is no doubt, 
 largely due to the enterprise and modern spirit 
 of its great London Governor, who for years 
 watched over its time of transition in "Winnipeg 
 Donald A. Smith Lord Strathcona of to- 
 day. 
 
 When the regime of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany is recalled old timers delight to think of 
 a figure of that time who was an embodiment of 
 the life of the Bed Eiver Settlement from its 
 beginning nearly to its end. This was William 
 Robert Smith, a blue-coat boy from London, 
 who came out in the Company's service in 1813, 
 served for a number of years as a clerk, and 
 settled down in Lower Fort Garry District in 
 1824. Farming, teaching, catechising for the 
 church, acting precentor, a local encyclopaedia 
 and collector of customs, he passed his versatile 
 life, till in the year before the Sayer affair, 
 1848, he became clerk of Court, which place, 
 with slight interruption, he held for twenty
 
 Eden Invaded. 283 
 
 years. One who knew him says: "From his 
 long residence in the Settlement, he has seen 
 Governors, Judges, Bishops, and Clergymen, 
 not to mention such birds of passage as the 
 Company's local officers, come and go, him- 
 self remaining to record their doings to their 
 successors."
 
 CHAPTEE XXVI. 
 
 MEL'S RISING. 
 
 The agitation for freedom which we have de- 
 scribed in Bed Eiver Settlement, and the ef- 
 forts of Canada to introduce Rupert's Land into 
 the newly-formed Dominion of Canada had, af- 
 ter much effort, and the overcoming of many 
 hindrances, resulted in the British Government 
 agreeing to transfer this Western territory to 
 Canada, and in the Hudson's Bay Company ac- 
 cepting a subsidy in full payment of their claim 
 to the country. This payment was to be paid 
 by Canada. Somewhat careless of the feelings 
 of the Hudson's Bay Company officers, and also 
 of the views of the old settlers of the Colony 
 especially of the French-speaking section the 
 Dominion Government sent a reckless body of 
 men to survey the lands near the French set- 
 tlements and to rouse animosity in the minds 
 of the Metis. 
 
 Now came the Eiel Eising. 
 Five causes may be stated as leading up to it. 
 1. The weakness of the Government of 
 Assiniboia and the sickness and helpless- 
 ness of Governor McTavish, whose duty it 
 was to act.
 
 Riel's Rising. 285 
 
 2. The rebellious character of the Metis, 
 now irritated anew by the actions of the 
 surveyors. 
 
 3. The inexplicable blundering and ne- 
 glect of the Dominion Government at Ot- 
 tawa. 
 
 4. A dangerous element in the United 
 States, and especially on the borders of 
 Minnesota inciting and supporting a dis- 
 loyal band of Americans in Pembina and 
 Winnipeg. 
 
 5. A cunning plot to keep Governor M> 
 Tavish from acting as he should have done, 
 and to incite the Metis under Eiel to open 
 revolt. 
 
 The drama opened with the appointment of 
 Hon. William McDougall as Lieutenant-Gover- 
 nor of the Northwest Territories in September, 
 1869, and his arrival at Pembina in October. Mr. 
 McDougall was to be appointed Governor by 
 the Dominion Government as soon as the trans- 
 fer to Canada of Rupert's Land could be made. 
 McDougall, on his arrival at the boundary of 
 Minnesota, was served with a notice by the 
 French half-breeds, not to enter the Territories. 
 
 Meanwhile, Louis Biel, son of the old miller 
 of the Seine, and a true son of his father but 
 vain and assertive, having the ambition to be a 
 Caesar or Napoleon, took the lead. He suc- 
 ceeded in October in getting a few of the Metis
 
 286 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 to seize the highway at St. Noebert, some nine 
 miles south of Fort Garry, and in the true style 
 of a Paris revolt, erected a barricade or bar- 
 rier to stop all passers-by. It was here that 
 Governor McTavish failed. He was immedi- 
 ately informed of this illegal act, but did noth- 
 ing. Hearing of the obstacle on the highway, 
 two of McDougall's officers came on towards 
 Fort Garry, and finding the obstruction, one of 
 them gave command, "Remove that blawsted 
 fence," but the half-breeds refused to obey. 
 The half-breeds seized the mails and all freight 
 coming along the road coming into the country. 
 
 THE SCENE SHIFTS TO FORT GARRY. 
 
 It is rumored that Riel was thinking of seizing 
 Fort Garry; an affidavit of the Chief of Police 
 under the Dominion shows that he urged the 
 master of Fort Garry to meet the danger, and 
 asked leave to call out special police to pro- 
 tect the Fort, but no Governor spoke; no one 
 even closed the gate of the Fort as a precau- 
 tion; its gates stood wide open to its enemies 
 who seemed to be the friends of its officers. 
 
 On November 2nd Riel and a hundred of his 
 Metis followers took possesion of Fort Garry, 
 and without opposition. 
 
 Riel now issued a proclamation with the air 
 of Dictator or Deliverer, calling on the English 
 parishes to elect twelve representatives to meet
 
 Riel's Rising. 287 
 
 the President and representatives of the French- 
 speaking population. He likewise summoned 
 them to assemble in twelve days. 
 
 McDougall, prospective Governor, on hearing 
 of these things, wrote to Governor McTavish, 
 calling on him to make proclamation that the 
 rebels should disperse, and a number of the loy- 
 al inhabitants made the same request. The sick 
 and helpless Governor fourteen days after the 
 seizure of the Fort, and twenty-three days after 
 the date of the affidavit of the rising, issued a 
 tardy proclamation, condemning the rebels and 
 calling upon them to disperse. 
 
 The convention summoned by Biel, met on 
 November 16th, the English parishes having 
 been induced to choose delegates. The conven- 
 tion at this meeting could reach no result and 
 agreed to adjourn to December 1st. The Eng- 
 lish members saw plainly that Biel wished the 
 formation of a provisional government, of 
 which he should be head. 
 
 At the adjourned meeting, Biel and his fel- 
 lows insisted on ruling the meeting and passed 
 a bill of rights of fifteen clauses. The English 
 representatives refused to accept the bill of 
 rights, and after vainly trying to make arrange- 
 ments for the entrance to the country of Gov- 
 ernor McDougall, returned home, ashamed and 
 discouraged. 
 
 Turn now to the condition of things in Pern-
 
 288 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 bina, from which prospective Governor Mc- 
 Dougall is all this while viewing the promised 
 land. He and his family are badly housed in 
 Pembina, and he is of a haughty and imperious 
 disposition. 
 
 December 1st was the day on which the trans- 
 fer being made of the country to Canada, his 
 proclamation as Governor would come into 
 force. But it so happened on account of the 
 breaking out of Kiel's revolt, the transfer had 
 not been made. 
 
 Now came about a thing utterly inexplicable, 
 that Mr. McDougall, a lawyer, a privy council- 
 lor, and an experienced parliamentarian, should, 
 on a mere supposition, issue his proclamation 
 as Governor. Kiel was aware of all the step 5 
 being taken by the Government, and so ho anl 
 the Metis laughed at the proclamation. Me 
 Dougall was an object of pity to his Loyalist 
 friends, and he became a laughing stock for the 
 whole world. 
 
 His proclamation, authorizing Col. Dennis to 
 raise a force in the settlement to oppose Kiel, 
 was of no value, and prevented Col. Dennis from 
 obtaining a loyal force of any strength, which 
 under ordinary circumstances he would have 
 done. 
 
 As all Canada looked at it, the whole thing 
 was a miserable fiasco. 
 
 The illegality of McDougalPs proclamation
 
 Riel's Rising. 289 
 
 left the loyal Canadians in Winnipeg in a most 
 awkward situation. One hundred of them had 
 arms in their hands, and they were naturally 
 looked upon by Kiel as dangerous, and as his 
 enemies. 
 
 Eiel now acted most deceitfully to them. He 
 promised them their freedom, and that he would 
 negotiate with McDougall and try to settle the 
 whole matter. 
 
 On the 7th of December the Canadians sur- 
 rendered, but with some of them in the Fort 
 and others in the prison outside the wall, where 
 the Sayer episode had taken place, Biel coolly 
 broke his truce, while the Metis celebrated their 
 early victory by numerous potations of rum, 
 from the Hudson 's Bay Company Stores, and, 
 of course at the Company's expense. 
 
 Encouraged by his victory and the possession 
 of his prisoners, Kiel, now in Napoleonic fash- 
 ion, issued a proclamation which it is said was 
 written for him by a petty American lawyer at 
 Pembina, who was hostile to Britain and 
 Canada. 
 
 An evidence of Kiel's disloyalty and want of 
 sense was shown by his superseding the Union 
 Jack and hoisting in its place a new flag not 
 even the French tri-color, but one with a fleur- 
 de-lis and shamrocks upon it, no doubt the 
 flag of the old French regime with ad- 
 ditions. He also took possession of Hud-
 
 290 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 son's Bay Company funds with the coolness 
 of a buccaneer, and his manner in refusing per- 
 sonal liberty to people whom he dared not ar- 
 rest was overbearing and impertinent. 
 
 The inaccessibility of Bed Eiver Settlement 
 in winter added much to the anxiety. No tele- 
 graphic connection nearer than St. Paul, some 
 four or five hundred miles, was possible, even 
 the regular conveyance of the mails could not 
 be relied on. Meanwhile the Canadian people 
 were in a state of the greatest excitement, and 
 the Government at Ottawa, well-knowing 
 its mismanagement of the whole affair, 
 was in desperate straits. To make the sit- 
 uation more serious the only man who could 
 deal with Eiel and could remedy the situation, 
 Bishop Tache, of St. Boniface, was absent at 
 the great conclave of that year in Eome. The 
 more intelligent French people had no confi- 
 dence in the sanity and reasonableness of Biel. 
 He was to them as great a puzzle as he was to 
 the English. It was a gloomy Christmas time 
 in Red River, and the gloom was increased by 
 the suspense of not knowing what the Govern- 
 ment at Ottawa would do in the circumstances.
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 LORD STRATHCONA'S HAND. 
 
 On Christmas Day, 1870, John Bruce, who 
 was but a figurehead, resigned his office of Pre- 
 sident of the so-called Provisional Government 
 of Bed Eiver Settlement, and the ambitious 
 Louis Kiel was chosen in his stead. The Dom- 
 inion Government had at length, been awak- 
 ened to the danger. Divided counsels still pre- 
 vailed. Two Commissioners, Grand Vicar Thi- 
 bault and Col. De Salaberry, arrived at Fort 
 Garry, but they were safely quartered at the 
 Bishop's palace at St. Boniface, and as they 
 professed to have no authority, Riel cavalierly 
 set them aside. At this time the American ele- 
 ment in the hamlet of Winnipeg became very 
 offensive. Kiel's official organ, "The New Na- 
 tion," was edited by an American, Major Eob- 
 inson. This journal was filled with articles hav- 
 ing such head-lines as "Confederation," "The 
 British- American Provinces," "Proposed An- 
 nexation to the United States," etc., etc. Or, 
 again, "Annexation," "British Columbia De- 
 fying the Dominion," "Annexation our Mani-
 
 292 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 
 
 fest Destiny." All this was very disagreeable 
 to the English-speaking people, and highly com- 
 promising to Eiel. 
 
 But the real negociator was at hand, and he 
 not only had the authority to speak for Canada, 
 but had Scottish prudence and diplomacy, as 
 well as real influence in the country, from hold- 
 ing the highest position in Canada of any of the 
 officers of the Hudson's Bay Company. This 
 chief factor was Donald A. Smith, whom we 
 have since learned to know so well as Lord 
 Strathcona. He, with his secretary, Hardisty, ar- 
 rived on December 27th, and went immediately 
 to Fort Garry. Kiel demanded of Mr. Smith, 
 the object of his visit, but received no satisfac- 
 tion. On being asked for his credentials, Mr. 
 Smith replied that he had left them at Pembina. 
 Being a high Hudson's Bay Company officer, he 
 was quartered in Government House, Fort 
 Garry. The larger portion of the building was 
 occupied by Governor McTavish, the smaller or 
 official portion became .the Commissioner's 
 apartments. Here he was able to observe 
 events, meet a number of the old settlers, and 
 obtain his information at first hand. On the 
 15th of January Riel again demanded the Com- 
 missioner's papers; he, indeed, offered to send 
 to Pembina for them, but Mr. Smith declined 
 the offer. In the meantime the Commissioner 
 had learned that the Dauphinais Settlement, ly-
 
 Lord Strathcona's Hand. 293 
 
 ing between Pembina and Fort Garry was 
 loyal. Accordingly, with a guard, Hardisty 
 started to bring the papers. Eiel learned of 
 this, and taking a body guard with him, went 
 to the Dauphinais house, intending to seize the 
 credentials. Hardisty arrived with his precious 
 documents. Meanwhile, the Loyalists had made 
 Kiel's men prisoners, and when Eiel attempted 
 to interfere, Pierre Laveiller, a loyal French 
 half-breed, put his loaded pistol to the Dicta- 
 tor's head, and threatened his life. Sixty or 
 seventy of the Loyalists escorted Hardisty and 
 his papers to Mr. Smith in Fort Garry. 
 
 Now in possession of his documents, the Com- 
 missioner called a general meeting of the peo- 
 ple for January 19th, and one thousand men ap- 
 peared on that day in the Court Yard of the 
 Fort. As there was no building in which they 
 could assemble, the meeting was held in the 
 open air, with the temperature 20 below zero. 
 The people stood for hours and listened to the 
 proceedings. Commissioner Smith then read 
 the letter of his appointment, and also a letter 
 from the Governor- General, which announced 
 to the people that the Imperial Government 
 would see that " perfect good faith would be 
 kept with the inhabitants of the Bed Eiver and 
 the Northwest." The Commissioner then de- 
 manded that Vicar Thibault's commission, 
 which Eiel had seized should be read. Eiel re-
 
 294 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 fused it, but Mr. Smith stood firm. At length 
 the Queen's message to the people was pro- 
 claimed. One John Burke then demanded that 
 the prisoners he released and a promise was 
 given. On the second day the people again as- 
 sembled, and Mr. Smith then read authoritative 
 letters, one from the Governor-General to Gov- 
 ernor McTavish, and another to Mr. McDougall. 
 It was then moved by Kiel, seconded by Mr. 
 Bannatyre, and carried unanimously, that 
 twenty representatives should be elected by the 
 English Parishes and twenty by the French, 
 and that these should meet on January 25th to 
 consider the subjects of Commissioner Smith's 
 communications, and decide what was best for 
 the welfare of the country. Speeches were made 
 by the Bishop of Rupert's Land, and Father 
 Ricliot and Kiel closed the meeting by saying: 
 1 i I came here with fear . . . we are not enemies 
 but we came very near being so .... we all 
 have rights. We claim no half rights, mind you, 
 but all the rights we are entitled to." 
 
 Begg, an eye-witnss, says: "Immediately af- 
 ter the meeting the utmost good feeling pre- 
 vailed. French and English shook hands, and 
 for the first time in many months a spirit of 
 unity between the two classes of settlers, ap- 
 peared. The elections took place in due time, 
 but in Winnipeg Mr. Bannatyne, the best citi- 
 zen of the place, was beaten by Mr. A. H. Scott,
 
 Lord Strathcona's Hand. 295 
 
 and the greatest annoyance was felt at this by 
 the better citizens on account of his being an 
 American, and because of the "New Nation" 
 continuing to advocate annexation. 
 
 On the 25th of January the forty delegates 
 assembled. Much excitement had been caused 
 at this time among the French by the escape of 
 Dr. Schultz, their great opponent. Commis- 
 sioner Smith addressed the Convention. Riel 
 wished him to accept the original Bill of 
 Eights, but Mr. Smith refused to do this. A 
 proposal was then brought up by the French 
 Deputies that the proposal made by 
 the Imperial Government to the Hud- 
 son's Bay Company to take over their lands be 
 null and void. This was voted down by 22 to 
 17. Eiel rose in rage and said: "The devil 
 take it; we must win. The vote may go as it 
 likes, but the motion must be carried." Biel 
 raged like a madman. That night, in his fury, 
 he went to the bedside of Governor McTavish, 
 sick as he was, and it is said, threatened to 
 have him shot at once. Dr. Cowan, the master 
 of the fort, was arrested, and so was Mr. Ban- 
 natyne, the chief merchant, as well as Charles 
 Nolan, a loyal French delegate. 
 
 On the 7th of February the delegates again 
 met, and at this meeting Commissioner Smith, 
 having the power given him by the Dominion 
 Government, invited the Convention to send
 
 296 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 delegates to Canada to meet the Government 
 at Ottawa. Two English delegates, Messrs. 
 Sutherland and Fraser, not quite sure on this 
 point, visited Governor McTavish for his ad- 
 vise. "Form a Government, for God's sake," 
 said the Governor, "and restore peace and or- 
 der in the Settlement. ' ' Being asked, if in such 
 case, he would delegate his authority to anyone, 
 he hastily replied, "I am dying, I will not dele- 
 gate my authority to anyone." 
 
 The Convention then proceeded to elect a pro- 
 visional government. Most of the officers were 
 English, they being better educated and more 
 prominent than the French members. But 
 when it came to the election of a President, to 
 their disgust Eiel was chosen. Immediately af- 
 ter this, Governor McTavish, Dr. Cowan, and 
 Mr. Bannatyne were released as prisoners, but 
 Commissioner Smith was a virtual prisoner in 
 his quarters in the fort, though his influence 
 was still felt at every turn. , 
 
 Among the earliest acts of the new provi- 
 sional government was on February llth, the 
 confiscation of Dr. Schultz's property, and of 
 the office of The Norwester newspaper. The 
 type of The Norwester was said to have been 
 melted into bar lead and bullets. Judge Black, 
 Father Bichot, and A. H. Scott were chosen as 
 delegates to Ottawa, though the appointment 
 of the last of these, the "American delegate,"
 
 LORD STRATHCONA AND MOUNT ROYAL. 
 Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company
 
 Lord Strathcona's Hand. 297 
 
 was very distasteful to the English-speaking 
 people. The success of Eiel led him to dismiss 
 about a quarter of the prisoners in Fort Garry. 
 The fact that he seemed to hold the remainder 
 as hostages stirred up the English people liv- 
 ing along the Assiniboine. 
 
 What is usually called the "Portage la 
 Prairie" Expedition was now organized, to se- 
 cure the release of the remaining prisoners. A 
 body, varying from sixty to one hundred, 
 marched down to Headiugly, and were there 
 joined by a number of English-speaking Cana- 
 dians and others. They then pushed on to Kil- 
 donan Church, where they were increased by a 
 number of English half-breeds from St. An- 
 drew's and adjoining parishes. The proposal 
 was to attack the fort and set free the prison- 
 ers. Alarmed at the movement, Eiel released 
 all the prisoners in the fort. Their object being 
 gained, the men of the Kildonan Church camp, 
 who had grown to be six hundred strong, dis- 
 solved, and were proceeding to their homes, 
 when Eiel, by an unheard of act of treachery, 
 arrested some fifty of the Assiniboine party. 
 Among them was Major Bulton, a former of- 
 ficer of the 100th Eegiment. Eiel again sought 
 out a victim for revenge, and intended to exe- 
 cute this prominent man. It was only on the 
 persistent request of Commissioner Smith and 
 the urgency of Mrs. John Sutherland, whose
 
 298 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 son had been killed by an escaping French pris- 
 oner at the Kildonan Church camp, that Bui- 
 ton's life was spared. 
 
 Eiel, however, seemed to feel that power was 
 slipping from his hands. He was criticised on 
 all hands for his treachery and for his arro- 
 gance. It is said his followers were dropping 
 off from him, notwithstanding the luxurious 
 lives they had been living on the Company's 
 supplies in Fort Garry. 
 
 He determined, though with a divided Coun- 
 cil, to make an example, and despite the solici- 
 tations of Commissioner Smith, the Eev. George 
 Young, and others, publicly executed, on the 
 4th of March, outside of Fort Garry, a young 
 Irish-Canadian named Thomas Scott. It was 
 a cold-blooded, cruelly-executed and revolting 
 scene it was the act of a mad man. 
 
 "Whom the Gods destroy they first make 
 mad." The execution of Scott was the death- 
 knell of Eiel's hopes as a ruler. Canada was 
 roused to its centre. Determined to have no 
 further communication with Eiel, and feeling 
 that he had done all that he could do, Commis- 
 sioner Smith, on the 18th of March, returned 
 to Canada. On the 8th of March, Bishop Tache 
 returned from Eome. A few days after Chief 
 Factor Smith's departure, he was followed to 
 Canada by Father Eichot and Mr. Scott, and 
 they shortly after by Judge Black, accompan-
 
 Lord Strathcona's Hand. 299 
 
 led by Major Bulton. The conflict of opinion 
 was transferred to Ottawa, and the act consti- 
 tuting the Province of Manitoba was passed.
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 WOLSELEY'S WELCOME. 
 
 Canada's military experience, ever since the 
 excitement of the "Trent Affair," had been in 
 dealing with a persistent band of Irishmen, pos- 
 ing as Fenians, and egged on by sympathizers 
 in the United States. Now there was trouble, 
 as we have seen, in her own borders, and though 
 here again, American influence of a hostile na- 
 ture played its part, yet it was those connected 
 with one of the two races in Canada who were 
 now giving trouble in the Northwestern 
 prairies. Such an outbreak was more danger- 
 ous than Fenianism, for to the credit of the 
 Irish in Canada, it should be said that they gave 
 no countenance to the Fenian intruders. The 
 French people in Quebec, however, had strong 
 sympathies for their race in the Red River Set- 
 tlement. No one in Canada believed that any 
 injustice could be done to either the English or 
 French elements on the banks of Red River, but 
 Sir George Cartier fought strongly for his own, 
 and was very unwilling to allow an expedition 
 to go out to Manitoba with hostile intent. Of
 
 Wolseley's Welcome. 
 
 301 
 
 the two battalions of volunteers that went out 
 to Red River, one was from Quebec, but one mil- 
 itary authority states that there were not fifty 
 French-Canadians all told in the Quebec bat- 
 talion. It had been proposed that Col. Wolseley, 
 who was to command the Red River Expedi- 
 tion, should be appointed Governor of the new 
 province of Manitoba, but tl is was sturdily op- 
 posed by the French-Canadian section of the 
 
 WINNIPEG IN 1871 
 
 Cabinet, and Hon. Adams Q . Archibald, a Nova 
 Scotian, was appointed to tl e post of Governor. 
 Hampered thus, in so far as exercising any civil 
 functions were concerned, Col. Garnet Wolseley 
 was chosen by the British officer in command in 
 Canada General Lindsay to organize this ex- 
 pedition. Wolseley was very popular, having 
 served in Burmah, India, the Crimea and China.
 
 302 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 The Ontario battalion soon had to refuse ap- 
 plications, and from Ontario the complement of 
 the Quebec battalion was filled up. It was de- 
 cided also that a battalion of regulars, with 
 small bodies of artillery and engineers 
 should take the lead in the expedition. Thus, 
 a force of 1,200 men was speedily gathered to- 
 gether and put at the disposal of Colonel Wolse- 
 ley. Two hundred boats, each some 25 to 30 
 feet long, carrying four tons as well as fourteen 
 men as a crew, were built; the voyageurs num- 
 bered some four hundred men. No sooner did 
 the Fenians in the United States hear of this 
 expedition than they threatened Lower Canada, 
 and spoke of interrupting the troops as they 
 passed Sault Ste. Marie. The United States 
 also refused to allow soldiers or munitions of 
 war to pass up their Sault Canal. The rallying 
 began in May, and though the troops were com- 
 pelled to debark themselves and their stores at 
 Sault Ste. Marie, portage them around the Sault 
 and replace them in the steamers again, yet all 
 the troops were landed at Port Arthur on Lake 
 Superior by the 21st of June, their officers de- 
 claring "our mission is one of peace, and the 
 sole object of it is to secure Her Majesty's Sov- 
 ereign authority." Some time was lost in en- 
 deavoring to use land carriage up from Port 
 Arthur as far as Lake Shebandowan. The dif- 
 ficulties were so great that the scouts were led
 
 Wolseley's Welcome. 303 
 
 to find another route for the boats up the Kam- 
 inistiquia River. In this they were successful; 
 in all this worry from mosquitoes, black flies 
 and deer flies in millions, the troops preserved 
 their good temper, and Col. Wolseley said, "I 
 have never been with any body of men in the 
 field so well fed as this has been. ' ' (July 10th.) 
 The real start of the expedition was from Lake 
 Shebandowan. The three brigades of boats 
 A. B. and C. seventeen in all, got off from She- 
 bandowan shore on the evening of July 16th ; by 
 the 4th of August Eainy River was reached, and 
 at Fort Frances Colonel Wolseley met Captain 
 Butler, who had acted as intelligence officer, 
 having adroitly passed under Riel's shadow, 
 and being able now to give the news required. 
 It was still the statement and belief of Riel that 
 "Wolseley would never reach Fort Garry." 
 Crossing Lake of the Woods the regular troops 
 were pushed ahead, and on descending Winni- 
 peg River they reached Fort Alexander and 
 Lake Winnipeg on August 20th. Here Com- 
 missioner Donald A. Smith, having come 
 through in a light canoe, met Colonel Wolseley. 
 After a short delay Colonel Wolseley's com- 
 mand hastened to the Red River, ascended it, 
 and cautiously approached Fort Garry. It was 
 still uncertain whether Riel was to oppose the 
 expedition or not. The troops formed for what 
 emergency might arise, and two small guns were
 
 304 
 
 Lord Selkirk's Colonists.
 
 Wolseley's Welcome. 305 
 
 in readiness should they be required. When 
 Fort Garry was sighted, its guns were mounted, 
 and everything seemed ready for defence. The 
 officers of the expedition, as they approached it 
 were quite ready for a shot to be fired from the 
 battlements, but there was no movement, Kiel, 
 Lepine, and 'Donoghue alone, were left of the 
 Metis levy, and as the 60th Rifles drew near the 
 Fort the three were seen to escape from the 
 river gate and to flee across the bridge of boats 
 on the Assiniboine River. Capt. Huyshe states 
 that the troops took possession of the fort with a 
 bloodless victory, the Union Jack was hoisted, 
 three cheers were given for the Queen and the 
 Riel regime was at an end. The militia regi- 
 ments arrived on the 27th of August, and two 
 days afterwards the Imperial troops started 
 back to their headquarters in Ontario. Captain 
 Buller, who afterward became so celebrated in 
 South Africa, took his company down the Daw- 
 son road to the northwest angle of the Lake of 
 the Woods, and thus returned eastward, while 
 Colonel McNeil left the country by way of Red 
 River, through the United States. Shortly af- 
 terward, on September 2nd, Lieutenant- Gover- 
 nor Archibald arrived by the Winnipeg River 
 route, and began his work. 
 
 The joy of all classes of the people was un- 
 bounded. The English halfbreeds had been loyal 
 through the whole of the disturbances. Kildonan
 
 306 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 Church had been the headquarters of the Loyal- 
 ists in their attempted rally, and after the exe- 
 cution of Scott, the French half-breeds had 
 gradually dropped off from Eiel, until he and 
 his two companions formed a helpless trio shorn 
 of all power.
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 MANITOBA IN THE MAKING. 
 
 Close in the wake of Wolseley's Expedition, 
 there arrived on the 2nd of September, Adams 
 G. Archibald, the newly-appointed Governor of 
 the new Province of Manitoba. His arrival was 
 greeted with joy, for he was a man of high char- 
 acter, and of much experience in his native 
 Province of Nova Scotia. The two volunteer 
 regiments, the Quebec and Ontario battalions, 
 were quartered for the winter, the former in 
 Lower Fort Garry, the latter in Fort Garry. 
 The new Governor took up his abode in Fort 
 Garry, in the residence with which our story 
 is so familiar. The organization of his gov- 
 ernment began at once. The first Government 
 Building stood back from the street in Win- 
 nipeg on the corner of Main Street and Mc- 
 Dermott Avenue East, of the present-day. The 
 Legislative Council a miniature House of 
 Lords of seven members, was appointed, and 
 electoral divisions for the election of members 
 to the Legislative Assembly were made to the 
 number of twenty-four twelve French and
 
 308 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 twelve English. The time for the opening of 
 Parliament was the spring of 1871. It was 
 a notable day, for the citizens were much in- 
 terested in scrutinizing those who were to be 
 their future rulers. The opening passed off 
 with eclat. During the first session certain ele- 
 mentary legislation was passed including a 
 short school act. There was yet no division of 
 parties, and a sufficient cabinet was chosen by 
 the Governor. Thus, institutions after the 
 model of the mother of Parliaments at West- 
 minster were evolved and Manitoba the suc- 
 cessor of our Bed Eiver Settlement had con- 
 ceded to it the right of local self-government. 
 
 In the year of the first parliament of Mani- 
 toba it was the fortune of the writer to take up 
 his abode here. Winnipeg, a village of less than 
 three hundred inhabitants was in that year, still 
 four hundred miles distant from a railway. 
 From the railway terminus in Minnesota, the 
 stage coach drawn by four horses with relays 
 every twenty miles, sped rapidly over prairies, 
 smooth as a lawn to the site of the future city 
 of the plains. 
 
 Since that time well-nigh forty years has 
 passed away. The stage coach, the Bed Biver 
 cart, and the shaganappi pony are things of 
 the past, and several railways with richly fur- 
 nished trains connect St. Paul and Minneapo- 
 lis with the City of Winnipeg. More import-
 
 Manitoba in the Making. 309 
 
 ant, the skill of the engineer has surpassed 
 what we then. even dreamt of in his blasting of 
 rock cuttings and tunnels through the Archaean 
 rocks to Fort William, and this has been done 
 by three main trunk lines of railway. The old 
 amphibious route of the fur traders and of 
 Wolseley's Expedition has been superseded, the 
 tremendous cliffs of the north shore of Lake 
 Superior have been levelled and the chasm 
 bridged. To the west the whole wide prairie 
 land has been gridironed by railways all tribu- 
 tary to Winnipeg, the enormous ascent of the 
 four Rocky Mountain ranges, rising a mile 
 above the sea, have been crossed by the Cana- 
 dian Pacific Railway. The giddy heights of 
 the Fraser River Canyon are traversed, and 
 this is but the beginning, for three other great 
 corporations are bending their strength to 
 pierce the passes of the Rocky Mountains to 
 the Pacific Ocean. We see to-day scenes more 
 after the manner of the Arabian Nights En- 
 tertainments than of the humble dream that 
 Lord Selkirk dreamt one hundred years ago. 
 
 The towns and cities of Manitoba have sprung 
 up on every hand where the railway has gone 
 and these are but the centres of business of 
 twenty thousand farms whose owners have 
 come to this land, many of them empty-handed, 
 and are now blessed with competence and in 
 many cases wealth. What a vindication of
 
 310 
 
 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 HON. JOHN NORQUAY 
 
 A native of Red River Settlement. 
 Became Cabinet Minister in 1871 afterward Premier of Manitoba.
 
 Manitoba in the Making. 311 
 
 Lord Selkirk's prospectus of a hundred years 
 ago when he said : * ' The soil on the Bed River 
 and the Assiniboine is generally a good soil, sus- 
 ceptible of culture and capable of bearing rich 
 crops." Lord Selkirk's dream is fulfilled, for 
 his land is fast becoming the grainary of the 
 world. As the traveller of to-day passes along 
 the railways in the last days of August or early 
 in September, he beholds the sight of a life-time, 
 in the rattling reapers, each drawn by four great 
 horses, turning off the golden sheaves of wheat 
 and other cereals. A little later the giant thresh- 
 ers, driven by steam power, pour forth the pre- 
 cious grain, which is hurried off to the high ele- 
 vators for storage, till the railways can carry it 
 to the markets of the world to feed earth's 
 hungry millions. When the historian recalls 
 the statement that the few cattle of the early 
 settlers had degenerated in size on account of 
 the climatic conditions, that the shaganappi pony 
 could never do the work of the stalwart Clydes- 
 dale, and that nothing could result from the 
 straggling flock of foot-sore and dying sheep, 
 driven by Burke and Campbell from far-dis- 
 tant Missouri, we look with astonishment at 
 the horses now taken away by hundreds to sup- 
 ply with chargers the crack cavalry regiments 
 of the Empire, at the vast consignments of cat- 
 tle passing through Winnipeg every day to feed 
 the hungry, and flocks of sheep supplying wool 
 for Eastern manufacturers to clothe the naked.
 
 312 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 One of the greatest trials of the early Sel- 
 kirk Settlers was to get schools sufficient to give 
 the children scattered along the river belt, even 
 the three B's of education. Kildonan parish 
 manfully raised by subscription the means, un- 
 aided by Government help, to give some oppor- 
 tunity to their children. It is a notable fact 
 which emerged in the great School Contention 
 of twenty years ago in Manitoba, that not a dol- 
 lar had been given to schools as aid by the old 
 Government of Assiniboia. To-day the glory of 
 Manitoba is its school system. For school 
 buildings, school organization, attainments of 
 the teachers, and efficient school management, 
 the schools of Winnipeg are probably unsur- 
 passed in any country, and the same is true of 
 many other places in the Province. Two Win- 
 nipeg schools bear the names of Selkirk and Is- 
 bister. The University of Manitoba, with its 
 seven affiliated colleges and twelve hundred and 
 forty candidates in 1909 for its several exam- 
 inations has its seat at the forks of the Red and 
 Assiniboine Rivers, and one of the colleges is 
 on the very lot where Lord Selkirk stood and 
 divided up their lands to the Colonists. 
 
 One of the most continued and aggressive 
 struggles which Lord Selkirk's Colonists main- 
 tained was seen in the efforts put forth to 
 worship God according to the dictates of their 
 own consciences, and after the manner of their
 
 Manitoba in the Making. 
 
 313 
 
 fathers. Their perseverance which showed itself 
 in the erection of old Kildonan Church in the 
 year immediately after the destructive flood of 
 
 ALEXANDER ISBISTER, I.I.. U. 
 Red River Patriot and Benefactor of University ot Manitoba. 
 
 1852, bore fruit in succeeding years. They were 
 always a religious people. No one can even esti- 
 mate what their religious disposition did in a
 
 314 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 miscellaneous gathering of people who had, be- 
 ing scattered over the posts of the fur traders, 
 been in most cases, without any religious op- 
 opportunities whatever, before their coming to 
 settle on Bed Eiver. The sturdy stand for 
 principle which the Selkirk Colonists made cre- 
 ated an atmosphere which has remained until 
 this day. The well-nigh forty years of religious 
 life of Manitoba has been marked by a good 
 understanding among the several churches, by 
 an energetic zeal in carrying church services in 
 the very first year of their settlement to hun- 
 dreds of new communities. The generosity of 
 the people in erecting churches for themselves 
 in maintaining among themselves their cher- 
 ished beliefs, is in striking contrast to the new 
 settlements of the United States. In the new 
 Western States the religious movements fell be- 
 hind the Western march of the immigrant. In 
 the Canadian West from the very day that old 
 Verandrye took his priest with him, from the 
 time when the first Colonists brought a devout 
 layman as their religious teacher with them, 
 from the hour when the stalwart Provencher 
 came, from the era when the self-denying West 
 visited the Indian camps and Settlers' camp 
 alike, from the time when the saintly Black came 
 as the natural leader of the Selkirk Colonists, 
 and during the forty years of the development 
 of Manitoba, the foundations have been laid ,u 
 that righteousness which exalteth a nation.
 
 / SELKIRK \ 
 
 VCENTENNIAL / 
 WINNIPEG. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 How strange and wonderful is the web of des- 
 tiny, which is being woven in our national, pro- 
 vincial and family life, which we poor mor- 
 tals are simply the individual strands. 
 
 How marvellous it is to look into the seeds of 
 time yes, and these may be small as mustard 
 seeds which are the smallest of all seeds and 
 see the bursting of the husks, the peering out of 
 the plumule, the feeding of the sprout, the 
 struggle through the clods, the fight with frost 
 and hail and broiling sun, and canker worm 
 and blight, the growth of the strengthening 
 stem, and then the leaf and blossoms and fruit ! 
 We say it has survived, it becomes a great tree 
 under whose leaves and under whose branches 
 the fowls of Heaven find shelter. How pass- 
 ing strange it was to see the seed-thought rise in
 
 316 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 the mind of Lord Selkirk, that suffering hu- 
 manity transplanted to another environment 
 might grow out of poverty, into happiness and 
 content. See his sorrow as he meets with un- 
 deserved opposition from rival traders, from 
 slanderous agents, from bitter articles in the 
 press, from Government officials and even po- 
 lice officers who strive to break up his immi- 
 grant parties. Eecall the troubles of the Nel- 
 son Encampment as they reach him in letters 
 and reports. Think of the misery of knowing 
 thousands of miles away that his Colonists were 
 starving, were being imprisoned, banished, se- 
 duced from their allegiance, and in one notable 
 case that men of honor, education and standing 
 to the number of twenty, were massacred, while 
 he, in St. Mary's Isle, in Montreal, or in Fort 
 William, fretted his soul because he could not 
 reach them with deliverance. 
 
 The world looked coldly on and said, "A 
 visionary Scottish nobleman! a dreamer a hun- 
 dred years before his time ! Is it worth while ! ' ' 
 while he himself saw a dream of sunshine when 
 he visited his Colonists on Red River, when he 
 made allocations for their separate homes for 
 them, when he pledged his honor and estate 
 that the settlers might in time be independent, 
 and when he made religious provision for both 
 his Protestant and Catholic settlers, yet think 
 of the unexampled ferocity with which he was
 
 MARBLE BUST OF EARL OF SELKIRK, THE FOUNDER 
 By Chantrey, obtained by author from St. Mary's Isle, Lord Selkirk's seat.
 
 The Selkirk Centennial. 317 
 
 attacked upon his return to Upper Canada, in 
 law suits, and illegal processes, so that his es- 
 tates became heavily encumbered, so that he 
 went to France to pine away and die. The 
 world failed to see any glamour in him, and care- 
 lessly said, what does it profit? Folly has its 
 reward. 
 
 Yet the answer. Here is Manitoba to-day, it 
 is the fruitage of all that bitter sowing time. 
 Next year Manitoba will be in the fortieth year 
 of its history. Its people have seen pain, strife 
 and defeat, they have gone through excitement 
 and anxiety and patient waiting, and at times 
 have almost given up the strife. But the pro- 
 vince and its great city, Winnipeg, are the 
 meeting place of the East and West, the pivotal 
 point of the Dominion. The national life of 
 Canada throbs here with a steadier beat and a 
 more normal pulse than it does in any other 
 part of Canada, its dominating Canadian spirit 
 is so hearty and so sprightly, that it is taking 
 possession of the scores of different nations 
 coming to us and they feel that we are their 
 friends and brothers. This, while it may not 
 be the noisy and blatant type of loyalty is a 
 practical patriotism which is making a united, 
 sane and abiding type of national character. 
 
 Again we answer: Three years from now 
 will be the hundredth year since the landing on 
 the banks of Eed River of the first band of
 
 318 Lord Selkirk's Colonists. 
 
 Selkirk Colonists. It was as we have seen a 
 struggle of an extraordinarily bitter type. To 
 us it seems that no other American Colony 
 ever had such a continuous distressing and ter- 
 rific struggle for existence as had these Scot- 
 tish Settlers, but we say it was worth while, 
 judging by the loss to Canada of the northern 
 portions of the tier of states of Minnesota, 
 North Dakota, Montana and Washington, which 
 a line from Fond du Lac (Duluth) to the mouth 
 of the Columbia would have given to us, and 
 which should have been ours. We say that had 
 it not been for the Selkirk Colonists we would 
 have stood to lose our Canadian West. It was 
 a settlement nearly a hundred years ago of fam- 
 ilies of men and women, and children that gave 
 us the firm claim to what is now the three great 
 provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Al- 
 berta. Was it not worth while? Was it not 
 worth ten, yes, worth a hundred times more 
 suffering and discouragement than even the 
 first settlers of Bed Eiver endured to preserve 
 our British connection which the Hudson's Bay 
 Company, loyal as it was, with its Union Jack 
 floating on every fort, could not have preserved 
 to us any more than it did in Oregon and 
 Washington. It was the Red River Settlement 
 that held it for us. 
 
 We are beginning to see to-day that Canada 
 could not have become a great and powerful
 
 The Selkirk Centennial. 319 
 
 sister nation in the Empire had the West not 
 been saved to her. The line of possible settle- 
 ment has been moving steadily northward in 
 Canada since the days when the French King 
 showed his contempt for it by calling it ' ' a few 
 arpents of snow." The St. Lawrence route 
 was regarded as a doubtful line for steamships, 
 Rupert 's Land was called a Siberia, but all this 
 is changing with our Transcontinental and 
 Hudson's Bay railways in prospect. In terri- 
 tory, resources, and influence the opening up of 
 the West is making Canada complete. And, if 
 so, we owe it to Lord Selkirk and to Selkirk 
 Settlers, who stood true to their flag and na- 
 tionality. Very willingly will we observe the 
 Selkirk Centennial in 1912. "Many a time and 
 oft" it looked in their case to be one long, con- 
 tinued and alarming drama, but on the 30th day 
 of August, the day of their landing on the 
 banks of the Red River, shall we recite the epic 
 of Lord Selkirk's Colonists, and it will be of the 
 temper of Browning's couplet: 
 
 God's in His Heaven, 
 All's right with the world.
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 AUTHOB'S NOTE. The fact that the agents sent out by Lord 
 Selkirk engaged (1) Labourers for the Company, (2) Settlers 
 for the Red River Settlement. On this account in the lists given 
 in the archives and other official documents, the labourers were 
 often sent to the Posts of the Company, and after serving sev- 
 eral years often became settlers. (List given in Manitoba His- 
 torical Society Transactions, 33.) 
 
 A. 
 
 List of men who arrived at Hudson Bay in 1811 and left 
 York Factory for the interior in July, 1812: 
 
 Names. Age. Whence. 
 1 Colin Campbell 21 Argyle 
 
 2 John McKay 22 Rossshire 
 
 3 John McLennan 23 Rossshire 
 
 4 Beth Bethune 19 Rossshire 
 
 5 Donald McKay 17 Rossshire 
 
 6 William Wallace 21 Ayr 
 
 7 John Cooper 26 Orkney, came to Upper Can- 
 
 ada. 
 
 8 Nichol Harper 34 Orkney 
 
 9 Magnus Isbister 21 Orkney, probably father of 
 
 A. K. Isbister 
 
 10 George Gibbon 50 Orkney 
 
 11 Thos. McKim 38 Sligo 
 
 12 Pat Corcoran 24 Crosmalina 
 
 13 John Green 21 Sligo 
 
 14 Pat Quinn 21 Killala 
 
 15 Martin Jordan 16 Killala 
 
 16 John O'Rourke 20 Killala 
 
 17 Anthony McDonnell 23 Killala 
 
 18 James Toomey 20 Killala 
 
 The Author is not aware of the existence of any list of the 
 first settlers other than these. 
 
 B. 
 
 Owen Keveny's party (list found in Archives, Ottawa). The 
 total list of seventy-one was engaged by Keveny in Mull, 
 Broan, Sligo, etc. The following are known to have come. 
 They reached York Factory 1812, and arrived at Red River 
 October 27th, 1812: 
 
 1 Andrew McDermott, became the famous Red River merchant. 
 
 2 John Bourke, a useful man.
 
 Appendix. 
 
 321 
 
 3 James Warren, died of wounds in 1815. 
 
 4 Chas. Sweeny. 
 
 5 James Heron. 
 
 6 Hugh Swords. 
 
 7 John Cunningham. 
 
 8 Michael Hayden Smith, evidently Michael Heden, blacksmith. 
 
 9 George Holmes. 
 
 10 Robert McVicar. 
 
 11 Ed. Castelo. 
 
 12 Francis Heron. 
 
 13 James Bruin. 
 
 14 John Mclntyre. 
 
 15 James Pinkham. 
 
 16 Donald McDonald. 
 
 17 Hugh McLean. 
 
 C. 
 
 The Churchill party, which landed from "Prince of Wales" 
 ship convoyed by H.M.S "Brazen," at Churchill in August, 
 1813, and some, marked C-Y., who walked overland on snow- 
 shoes to York Factory in April 14th, 1814, and reached Bed 
 Eiver Settlement in 1814. This whole list is from Manitoba 
 Historical Society Transactions, 33. Those marked C.-Y.' are. 
 from Archives, Ottawa. 
 
 Names. Age. Whence. 
 
 1 George Campbell 25 Archurgle Parish, Creech, 
 
 Scotland 
 
 2 Helen, his wife 20 Archurgle 
 
 3 Bell, his daughter 1 Archurgle 
 
 4 John Sutherland 50 Kildonan, died 2nd Sept., at 
 
 Churchill (a very respect- 
 able man) 
 
 5 Catherine, his wife, C-Y. 46 Kildonan 
 
 6 George, his son, C-Y. .. 18 Kildonan 
 
 7 Donald, his son 16 Kildonan 
 
 8 Alexander, his son 9 Kildonan 
 
 9 Jannet, his daughter, 
 
 C-Y 14 Kildonan 
 
 10 Angus McKay, C-Y 24 Kildonan 
 
 11 Jean, his wife, C-Y Kildonan 
 
 12 Alexander Gunn, C-Y.. 50 Kildonan 
 
 13 Christine, his wife 50 Kildonan, died 20th Sept., 
 
 Churchill 
 H Will'am, his son, C-Y.. 18 
 
 15 Donald Bannerman 50 Died 24th Sept., Churchill 
 
 16 Christine, his wife 44 
 
 17 William, his son, C-Y.. 18 
 
 18 Donald, his son 8
 
 322 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 19 Christine, his daughter, 
 
 C-Y 16 
 
 20 George McDonald 48 Died 1st Sept., 1813, Churchill 
 
 21 Jannet, his wife 50 
 
 22 Betty Grey 17 
 
 23 Catherine Grey 23 
 
 24 Barbara McBeath, widow 45 Borobal 
 
 25 Charles, her son 16 
 
 26 Jenny, her daughter. ... 23 
 
 27 Andrew McBeath, C-Y.. 10 
 
 28 Jannet, his wife, OY.. .. 
 
 29 William Sutherland 23 Borobal 
 
 30 Margaret, his wife 15 
 
 31 Christian, his sister. ... 24 
 
 32 Donald Gunn '. . 65 Borobal 
 
 33 Jannet, his wife 50 
 
 34 Transferred to Eddy- 
 
 stone, H. B. Co 
 
 35 George Gunn, son of 
 
 Donald, C-Y 16 Borobal, Parish Kildonan 
 
 36 Esther, his sister, C-Y. 24 
 
 37 Catherine, his sister. ... 20 Died 29th August 
 
 38 Christian, his sister.... 10 
 
 39 Angus Gunn 21 
 
 40 Jannet, his wife 
 
 41 Robert Sutherland, broth- 
 
 er of William, C-Y . . 17 Borobal 
 
 42 Elizabeth Frazer, C-Y.. 30 
 
 43 Angus Sutherland 20 Auchraich 
 
 44 Elizabeth, his mother . . 60 
 
 45 Betsy, his sister 18 Died of consumption, Oct. 
 
 26th 
 
 46 Donald Stewart Parish of Appin, died 20th 
 
 August, 1813, Churchill 
 
 47 Catherine, his wife 30 
 
 48 Margaret, his daughter. 8 
 
 49 Mary, his daughter. ... 5 
 
 50 Ann, his daughter 2 
 
 51 John Smith Kildonan 
 
 52 Mary, his wife 
 
 53 John, his son 
 
 54 Jean, his daughter, C-Y. . . 
 
 55 Mary, his daughter 
 
 56 Alexander Gunn 58 Kildonan, Sutherlandshire 
 
 57 Elizabeth McKay, his 
 
 niece, C-Y 
 
 58 Betsy McKay, his niece. . . 
 
 59 George Bannerman, C-Y.. 22
 
 Appendix. 
 
 323 
 
 60 John Bruce 60 
 
 61 Alex. Sutherland, C-Y. . 24 
 
 62 William, his brother 19 
 
 63 Kate Sutherland, his 
 
 sister 20 
 
 64 Haman Sutherland, C-Y. 18 
 
 65 Barbara, his sister, C-Y. 20 
 
 66 James McKay, C-Y 19 
 
 67 Ann, his sister, C-Y 21 
 
 68 John Matheson 22 
 
 69 Eobert Gunn (piper), 
 
 C-Y 
 
 70 Mary, his sister, C-Y 
 
 71 Hugh Bannerman, C-Y. 18 
 
 72 Elizabeth, his sister, C-Y. 20 
 
 73 Mary Bannerman, C-Y.. .. 
 
 74 Alex. Bannerman, C-Y.. 19 
 
 75 Christian, his sister, C-Y. . . 
 
 76 John Bannerman 19 
 
 77 Isabella, his sister, C-Y. 16 
 
 78 John McPherson, C-Y... 18 
 
 79 Catherine, his sister, C-Y. 26 
 
 80 Hector McLeod, C-Y. . . 19 
 
 81 George Sutherland, C-Y. 18 
 
 82 Adam, his brother, C-Y. 16 
 
 83 John Murray, C-Y 21 
 
 84 Alex., his brother, C-Y. 19 
 
 85 Helen Kennedy 
 
 86 Malcolm McEachern 
 
 87 Mary, his wife 
 
 88 James McDonald, C-Y.. .. 
 
 89 Hugh McDonald 
 
 90 Samuel Lament, C-Y 
 
 91 Alex. Matheson, C-Y 
 
 92 John Matheson, C-Y .... 
 
 93 John Mclntyre, C-Y. 
 
 (entered service of H. 
 B. Co., July, 1814).. 
 
 94 And. Smith 
 
 95 Edward Shell 
 
 96 Joseph Kerrigan 
 
 Mr. P. La Serre. . 
 
 Parish of Clyve 
 Parish of Kildonan 
 Died 
 
 Kenacoil. Settled in Upper 
 Canada in West Gwillim- 
 bury. He and his sister 
 were children of James 
 Sutherland, catechist 
 
 Cain 
 
 Authbreakachy 
 Kildonan 
 Dackabury, KilJonan 
 
 Dackabury, Kildonan 
 
 Died January, 1814, from 
 consumption 
 
 Died January, of consump- 
 tion 
 
 Callable 
 
 Borobal 
 Sirsgill 
 
 Sligo 
 
 Skibbo, Isla (deserted) 
 Skibbo, Isla (deserted) 
 Inverness, to Fort Augustus 
 To Fort William, died 3rd of 
 
 August, at sea 
 Boromore, Isla 
 Kildonan 
 Overseer 
 To Fort William 
 
 Son of No. 31, Isla 
 Balyshannon 
 Balyshannon 
 Surgeon, died at sea
 
 324 Appendix. 
 
 D. 
 
 List of settlers who came with Duncan Cameron from Red 
 River to Canada, 1815. List prepared by Wm. McGillivray, of 
 Kingston, August 15th, 1815. About one hundred and forty, 
 probably forty or fifty families, and same single men, arrived 
 at Holland River, September 6th, 1815. 
 
 Made at York (Toronto), September 22nd, 1815. 
 
 I. OLD MEN. 
 
 Donald Gunn, wife and daughter. 
 Alexander Gunn and wife. 
 Angus McDonell, wife and two children. 
 Neil McKinnon, wife and two boys. 
 
 II. SETTLERS. 
 
 Miles Livingston, wife and two children. 
 Angus McKay, wife and one child. 
 John Matheson, wife and one child. 
 John Matheson, Jr., and wife. 
 George Bannerman and wife. 
 Andrew McBeath, wife and one child. 
 William Sutherland, wife and one child. 
 Angus Gunn, wife and one child. 
 Alexander Bannerman and wife. 
 Robert Sutherland and wife. 
 William Bannerman and wife. 
 James McKay and wife. 
 
 III. WIDOWS. 
 
 Mrs. Barbara McBeath. 
 
 Mrs. Jeannet Sutherland and two boys. 
 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Sutherland. 
 
 Mrs. Christy Bannerman. 
 
 Mrs. Jeannet McDonell. 
 
 IV. YOUNG WOMEN, UNMARRIED. 
 
 Jane Gray. 
 Elizabeth Gray. 
 Esther Bannerman. 
 Elspeth Gunn. 
 Jannet Sutherland. 
 Isabella McKinnon. 
 
 McKinnon. 
 
 Catta McDonell. 
 Elizabeth McKay. 
 
 V. YOUNG MEN, NOT MARRIED. 
 
 John Murray. 
 Alexander Murray.
 
 Appendix. 
 
 325 
 
 William Gunn. 
 Hugh Banner-man. 
 Hector McLeod. 
 George Gunn. 
 Charles McBeath. 
 Angus Sutherland. 
 Thomas Sutherland. 
 Alex. Matheson. 
 John McPherson. 
 Eobert Gunn. 
 George Sutherland. 
 
 VI. MENTIONED 
 
 IN ARCHIVES, OTTAWA. 
 
 Miles Livingston. 
 
 James McKay. 
 
 Angus Sutherland. 
 
 John Cooper. 
 
 Mary Bannerinan (wife of John McLean). 
 
 Haman Sutherland. 
 
 John Maburry. 
 
 Alex. McLellan. 
 
 Young people capable of labour generally employed between 
 York and Newmarket. The old people are stationed at New- 
 market for the present. Some of the settlers who have gone to 
 Montreal not included. 
 
 E. 
 
 List of passengers, chiefly from Old Kildonan, landed at 
 York Factory, August 26th, 1815. Reached Red River Settle- 
 ment in same year. 
 
 Names. Age. 
 
 1 James Sutherland 47 
 
 2 Mary Poison 48 
 
 3 James Sutherland 12 
 
 4 Janet Sutherland 16 
 
 5 Catherine Sutherland. ... 14 
 
 6 Isabella Sutherland 13 
 
 1 Wm. Sutherland 54 
 
 2 Isabell Sutherland 50 
 
 3 Jeremiah Sutherland .... 15 
 
 4 Ebenezer Sutherland.... 11 
 
 5 Donald Sutherland 7 
 
 6 Helen Sutherland 12 
 
 1 Widow Matheson 60 
 
 2 John Matheson 18 
 
 3 Helen Matheson 21 
 
 1 Angus Matheson 30 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 An elder who was authorized 
 by the Church of Scotland 
 to baptize and marry 
 
 At school 
 At school 
 At school 
 
 School master
 
 326 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 2 Christian Matheson 18 
 
 1 Alex. Murray 52 
 
 2 Ebz. Murray 54 
 
 3 James Murray 16 
 
 4 Donald Murray 13 
 
 5 Catherine Murray 27 
 
 6 Christian Murray 25 
 
 7 Isabella Murray 18 
 
 1 George McKay 50 
 
 2 Isabella Matheson 50 
 
 3 Roderick McKay 19 
 
 4 Robert McKay 11 At school 
 
 5 Roberty McKay 16 
 
 1 Donald McKay 31 
 
 2 John McKay 1 
 
 3 Catherine Bruce 33 
 
 1 Barbara Gunn 50 
 
 2 Wm. Bannerman 55 
 
 3 Wm. Bannerman 16 
 
 4 Alexander Bannerman. . . 14 
 
 5 Donald Bannerman 8 At school 
 
 6 George Bannerman 7 At school 
 
 7 Ann Bannerman 19 
 
 1 Widow Gunn 40 
 
 2 Alex. McKay 16 
 
 3 Adam McKay 13 
 
 4 Robert McKay '. . . . 12 
 
 5 Christian McKay 19 
 
 1 John Bannerman 55 
 
 2 Catherine McKay 28 
 
 3 Alexander Bannerman. . . 1 
 
 1 Alex. McBeth 35 
 
 2 Christian Gunn 50 
 
 3 George McBeth 16 
 
 4 Roderick McBeth 12 
 
 5 Robert McBeth 10 
 
 6 Adam McBeth 6 
 
 7 Morrison McBeth 4 
 
 8 Margaret McBeth 18 
 
 9 Molly McBeth 18 
 
 10 Christian McBeth 14 
 
 1 Alexander Mathewson... 34 Sergeant of the passengers; 
 
 2 Ann Mathewson 34 
 
 3 Hugh Mathewson 10 At school 
 
 4 Angus Mathewson 6 
 
 5 John Mathewson 1 
 
 6 Cathern Mathewson 2 
 
 1 Alexander Poison. . . 30
 
 Appendix. 
 
 327 
 
 6 Catherine Mathewson. ... 2 
 
 3 Hugh Poison 10 At school 
 
 4 John Poison 5 At school 
 
 5 Donald Poison 1 
 
 6 Anne Poison 7 
 
 1 William McKay 44 Brought out millstones, em- 
 
 barked at Stromness 
 
 2 Barbara Sutherland 35 
 
 3 Betty McKay 10 At school 
 
 4 Dorothy McKay 4 
 
 5 Janet McKay 2 
 
 1 Joseph Adams 25 Embarked at Gravesend 
 
 2 Mary Adams 23 
 
 1 Reginald Green 31 Sergeant of passengers 
 
 2 George Adams 19 
 
 3 Henry Billiard 19 
 
 4 Edward Simmons 20 
 
 5 Christian Bannerman 22 
 
 6 John Matheson 22 
 
 7 Alexander Sutherland ... 25 Sergeant of passengers 
 
 8 John McDonald 22 . 
 
 Total 84 
 
 F. 
 THE HONOUR BOLL. 
 
 In Martin 'a ' ' H. B. Co. Land Tenures ' ' is found a petition 
 to the Prince Regent, alter the troubles of 1816, asking for 
 troops and steps to be taken for their preservation. As these 
 are those, from all the different parties, who held fast to Red 
 River Settlement, they are worthy of highest honour. These 
 were the real Kildonan settlers whom Lord Selkirk saw on 
 his visit in 1817. 
 
 Donald Livingston 
 
 George McBeath 
 
 Angus Matheson 
 
 Alex. Sutherland 
 
 George Ross 
 
 Alexander Murray, lot 23 
 
 James Murray 
 
 John Farquharson 
 
 John McLean 
 
 John Bannerman 
 
 George McKay 
 
 Alexander Poison 
 
 Hugh Poison 
 
 Robert McBeath 
 
 Alexander McLean 
 
 George Adams 
 
 Martin Jordon 
 
 Robert McKay 
 
 Wm. McKay 
 
 Alex. Matheson 
 
 John McBeath 
 
 John Sutherland 
 
 Alex. McBeath, an old soldier, 
 
 73rd Rgt., lot No. 3 
 Christian Gunn (widow) 
 Alex. McKay 
 William Sutherland 
 Alex. Sutherland, Sr.
 
 328 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 James Sutherland 
 James Sutherland 
 William Bannerman, father 
 
 of lot 21 
 Donald McKay 
 John Flett 
 John Bruce 
 Robert MacKay 
 William Bannerman, Jr. 
 Roderick McKay 
 
 Ebenezer Sutherland 
 Donald Bannerman 
 Hugh McLean 
 George Bannerman 
 Donald Sutherland 
 Beth Beathen 
 John Matheson 
 George Sutherland 
 Margaret McLean (widow) 
 
 ADDENDA AND ERRATA 
 
 Page 74. Andrew McDermott arrived at Red River Settle- 
 Settlement in 1812. 
 
 Page 148. Fourth line from the bottom, after the word ' ' him ' ' 
 insert "afterwards." 
 
 Page 218. Add to the title of the cut "and of the other forts 
 of Winnipeg." 1. Fort Rouge; 2, Fort Doug- 
 las; 3, Fort Gibraltar; 4, Fidler's Fort; 5, First 
 Fort Garry; 6, Fort Garry. 
 Line 10; 1857 should be 1851. 
 and following pages. "Major Bulton" should be 
 "Major Boulton." 
 
 Appendix. Words "Author's Note" should be, "The author 
 notes the fact, etc."
 
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