Yale University Library

39002003532232

SELKIRK'S
COLONISTS
ROMANTIC SETTLEMENT
OF THE PIONEERS OF
JvlANITOBA

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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY /^
DISCOVERY AND
SETTLEMENT OF
WESTERN
^Iffl NORTH AMERICA
COLLECTION OF
WILLIAM
ROBERTSON COE

THOMAS, 5TH EARL OF SELKIRK
The Founder of Red River Colony, i8[2.
From copy ot painting by Raeburn, obtained by author from St Mary's Isle, Lord Selkirk's seat

Lord Selkirk's Colonists
THE ROMANTIC SETTLEMENT OF
THE PIONEERS OF MANITOBA

BY
DR. GEORGE BRYCE
Of Winnipeg
President of the Royal Society of Canada, etc., etc.

LONDON
SAMPSON LOW. MARSTON & CO., LTD.

4-^ A

CONTENTS

Chapter 1. Patriarch 's Story  9
An Extinct Eaee.
The Gay Frenchman.
The Earlier Peoples.
The Montreal Merchants and Men.
The Dusky Eiders of the Plain.
The Stately Hudson's Bay Company.
Chapter 2. A Scottish Duel  __  3,3
Chapter 3. Across the Stormy Sea  44
Chapter 4. A Winter of Discontent  58
Chapter 5. First Foot on Bed Eiver Banks  69
Chapter 6. Three Desperate Years  80
Chapter 7. Fight and Flight  9.5
Chapter 8. No Surrender  107
Chapter 9. Seven Oaks Massacre  117
Chapter 10. Afterolaps  133
Chapter 11. The Silver Chief Arrives  142
Chapter 12. Soldiers and Swiss  irr2
Chapter 13. English Lion and Canadian Bear Lie Down
Together  161
Chapter 14. Satrap Eule  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. Eiel's Eising  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 Eed Eiver 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,
Lord Selkirk's Colonists

Lord Selkirk's Colonists

CHAPTEE I.
THE EAELIEE PEOPLE.
A PATEIAECH'S STOEY.
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 Eiver,
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 Eiver, 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 Eiver is as large as the

10 Lord Selkirk's Colonists.
Tiber at Eome, and the color of the water justi
fies its being compared with the "Yellow
Tiber." The Assiniboine falls into the Eed Eiver, 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
Pourches," which we have translated into "The
Forks." One morning nearly forty years ago, the
writer wandered eastward toward Eed Eiver,
from Main Street, down what is now called
Lombard Street. Here not far from the bank
of the Eed Eiver, 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, wg^
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,
"I am 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.
A. Ornamental gorget of turtle's plast- E. String of beads of birds' leg- bones.
ron. Note cross X.
B. Gorget of sea-shell ( 1879). F. One of three polished stones used
C. Gorget of buffalo bone. for gaming.
D. Breast or arm ornament of very G. Columella of large sea couch (trop-
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 Eiver, 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 Eed Eiver, 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 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
Eiver 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 I 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.

'I'l ..!'..'.' ^

lyV/iili'iniJ Ml »^

V.

A. Native Copper Drill.

B. Soapstone Conjurer's
tube.

O. Flint Skinning Imple
ment.

D. Horn Fish Spear.

E. Native Copper Cutting
Knife.

F. Cup found in Rainy
River Mound by the
Author, 1884.

• e

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 Eed and Assiniboine Elvers.
This was nearly three-quarters of a century
before the first Selkirk Colonists reached Eed
Eiver. 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 difiiculty 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
Eoyal 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 Eeine," 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 Eed Eiver
with the Assiniboine, erected Fort Eouge — the
Eed 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 Eocky 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 EED KIVEB.
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 Eed Eiver had not, after the de
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
Eiver, 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 Eed Eiver at all.
No missionary had up to the coming of the

20 Lord Selkirk's Colonists.
Colonists ever appeared on the banks of the
Eed Eiver. Some ten years before the set
tler's advent, the fur traders on the upper Eed
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.
Eed Eiver was now the central meeting place
of four of the great Indian Nations. The Eed
Pipestone Quarry down in the land of the Da-
kotas, and the Eoches Percees, on the upper
Souris Eiver, 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 Eed Eiver, and the country — east
ward to the Lake of the Woods — was really the
"marches" where battles and conflicts contin
ually prevailed. Eed Eiver, the Miskouesipi,
or Blood Eed Eiver 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
Eed man. To the banks of the Eed Eiver and
to the east of Lake Winnipeg had come many
of the Chippewas. They were known on the
Eed Eiver 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 Eed 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
Enghsh, "the Premier," "the Black Eobe,"
"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
Eed 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 Eed Eiver 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 MONTEEALi MEBCHANTS 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 Eiver, and came back laden with
furs, so that he was now satisfied never to
have to go again to the Indiaii country. Short
ly afterwards James Findlay, another son of
the heather J 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 Eich-
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-

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The Earlier People. 2-5
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.

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 Eed Eiver 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 theni with the freest intercourse.
For the one hundred years spoken of, the In
dians from the Eed Eiver Country, the Sas
katchewan, the Eed Eiver 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 Eiver. 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 Eed Eiver 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 Eed and Assiniboine
Eiver, near where Verandrye 's Fort Eouge had

The Earlier People. 31
been built some sixty years before. Evidently
both companies felt the conflict to' be on, in
their efforts 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 Eed
Eiver, 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 Eocky Mountains, to
engage in the Titanic struggle which they saw
lay ahead of them. One of their most active
agents, in occupying the Eed Eiver 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.

CHAPTEE II.

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 I'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.
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
Eeston, 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 Eevolution, 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.
Eather 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." 89
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 Eiver, 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 Ninety-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 muskrat 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 1 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 I 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.

CHAPTEE III.

Oh dreadful war I 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. Eags I 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 Eevolution, 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 Eoyal Eegiment 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 Eed Eiver
and whose Journal had no doubt fallen into the
hands of his brother Miles. He had written:
"From the Forks of the Assiniboine and Eed
Eivers the plains are quite near the banks, and
so extensive that a man may travel to the
Eocky Mountains without passing a wood, a
mile long. The soil on the Eed Eiver and tlie
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 tiiat
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 Eoderick 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 Eobertson.
He had seen the whole western fur country, and
the fact that he had a grievance made him very
willing tc 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 Eobertson was
a ' ' Bourgeois ' ' in charge of a station. A quarrel
between the two men resulted in Colin Eobert
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 Eob
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 Eobertson, 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 ia to be saLim-fapt.
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 Colomsts.
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
"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
Eevenue 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
Bj"itish 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.

CHAPTEE IV.
A WINTBB 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 Eiver, 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 Eob-
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
Eed Eiver.
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. 63
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 difficult 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 Eed Eiver.
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 Eiver
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 tlieir 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 Eed 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 Eivers, 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 Eedden, 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 BED EIVEB 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 Eiver, 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
Eed Eiver, 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 "Eock" — the
rapids of the Hill Eiver which here falls into
Hayes Eiver. 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 Eiver enters the
Hayes is seen a wide, deep, rapid stream run-

First Foot on Ued Eiver 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 Eiver,
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 Bed 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
oame 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 Bed Biver 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 Eeal 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 Eobinson 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 Eiver, 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
Eiver. ' ' 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 Eed Eiver, 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 Eubicon
is crossed. Thirty-seven portages lie between

First Foot on Bed Biver 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 ease 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 Eed Eiver- — was reached.
Now they were within forty or forty-five miles
of their destination. At this time the banks
of the Eed Eiver 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 Eapids,
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 bed letteb day of theib 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 Eupert Street is marked in the
City of Winnipeg. A stone's throw further
north along the bank of Eed Eiver, Fort Doug
las was afterwards built, -around which circles
much of this Eomantic Settlement Story.
This spot was the centre of the First Settle
ment of Eupert'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 Bed Biver 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.

CHAPTEE VL
"tHBEE DESPERATE YEABS."
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 Eed
Eiver 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 "Eouse'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 Eed Eiver
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 Eed Eiver 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 CuUoden,
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,
dusty 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 Eiver
at its juncture with the Eed 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 fiagstaff 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
"Eubaboo, " or "Eowschow," 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

88

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 Eed
Eiver were scarce in this year, so that even

HON. DONALD GUNN
Schoolmaster, Naturalist and Legislator.
York Factory, 1813 ; Red River, 1833; Died at Little Britain, 18

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 Eiver 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 Eed
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 flred, both by
the opposition of Sir Alexander Mackenzie
and by the successful arrival of his two bands
of Colonists at the Eed Eiver, 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 Appendi>c.
After remaining a month at York Factory, on
the 27th of May, this heroic band went on their
way to Eed Eiver, and reached their destina
tion in time to plant potatoes for themselves
and others. Comrades left behind at Church
ill found their way to Eed Eiver. Lots along
Eed Eiver 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.

CHAPTEE VIL
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 Olber'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 epocli-
marking battle of Waterloo in June of this
year was sufficiently near the picture of blood
painted in the Eevelation to satisfy the
credulous. But in a remote corner of Eupert'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 Eupert'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
Eed Eiver 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 infiuence
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 Eed Eiver 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 Eed Eiver against
Selkirk tyranny. He pictured to them their
wrongs, the broken promises of the founder,
and the unde sir ability 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.
panics 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 Eed Eiver. 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 Eed 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.
He 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^ag 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 Eed Eiver embarked and drifted
down the river on their long canoe voyage

Fight and FUght. 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 Eiver,
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 undjr 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 Eed Eiver. 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 Eed
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 Eed Eiver. 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 Eed
Eiver, and no trace of a settlement to remain. ' '
(Signed) Cuthbert Grant, etc.
Two days after the notice was served the be-
leagTiered 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 Eed
Eiver with Lake Winnipeg and Jack Eiver

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.

CHAPTEE VIII.
NO SUBBENDEB.
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 Eed
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 Eed Eiver, he planned a fort
and proceeded at once to build a portion of it.
Fortunately across the Eed Eiver 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 Eed Eiver 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 Eobertson, 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 Eed Eiver settlement to help his Colonists.
That the real state of things was not known
to Eobertson, or the founder, appears in the
fact that Eobertson coming from the East
with twenty Canadians, passed up the Eed Eiv
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 Eiver, found them very much discour
aged but persuaded them to return again to
the banks of the Eed Eiver. 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 Eobert 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 Eed Eiver set
tlement unless there had also been obtained a
number of settlers to flll 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 Eed
Eiver. The names of Matheson, Bannerman,

No Surrender. Ill
Sutherland, Poison, Gunn and the like show the
sturdy character of this band whose d^jcan-
d^Lts_are Jaking-lheir Jull. part in the^ a-ffairs
of the Province of M^?titQb_a_Qf..torday. Gov
ernor Semple accompanied this party of about
one hundred settlers, and. by way of the Hud
son Bay route reached the Eed Eiver Settle
ment in the same year in which they started.
They joined the restored settlers, whom Colin
Eobertson 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
th^JljjhtJi-Tight t'^ qpi'/g "Fnrt GiT'''^f'1tqJ^-fvn^ 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.

Si.
&3

O

FORT DOUGLAS
From copy of pencil sketch made by Lord Selkirk and obtained by the author
at St, Mar3-'s Isle, Lord Selkirk's seat.

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 Eob
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 Eobertson
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 Eupert'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 Eobert
son had gone to conduct Cameron to York Fac
tory the Governor and Eobertson had discussed
the advisability of dismantling Fort Gibraltar.
To this course Eobertson, 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 Eobertson 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 Eed Eiver 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 Eobertson 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 Eed Eiver 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.

CHAPTEE IX.
SEVEN OAKS MASSACEE.
Semple 's course is on trial. Self-assertion
and dictation bring their own penalty with
them. That so experienced a leader as Colin
Eobertson, 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
" 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 Eed Eiver. ' '
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 Eeinhard
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 Eed Eiver.
As the spring of 1815 opened, all eyes were
looking to the action of the "New Nation" on
the Qu'Appelle Eiver 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 Eolations, — "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 Eoad 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 Eed Eiver, 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 Eed Eiver 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 Eupert'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. Plaving 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 by
WAY of L.WINNIPEe"
,*-,..;;---¦  ,_c,
,tv
K-..V

/

/

: —  StVEN-fc ' vAi , o
¦fa""-'-  ""0-AKs/; '""-T.'Vi »¦

FnOM ASSINIBOINE AND
Qu' APPELLE

f,SS\N

LF-BREEDS E

DEMEURON SOLDIER
j| SETTLEMENT

RED RIVER SETTLEMENT
Fac-simile of section of Map (1818).

A — Seven Oaks, where Semple fell.
B — Creek where Metis left Atsiniboine.
C — Frog Plain (-lince 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.
J— 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.
' ' 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,
'What do you want? What do you want?' Gov
ernor Semple answered, 'What do you want?'
To which Boucher answered, 'We want our
Fort.' The Governor said, 'Well, go to your
Port.' 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 Govemor
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 ihade. A fire was kept up for
several minutes after the first shot, and I saw
a number wounded; indeed, in a few minute?
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 Eodgers getting
up again, but not observing any of our. people
standing, I called out to him, 'Eodgers, for
God's sake give yourself up I Give yourself up I'
Captain Eodgers 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- brules 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
Eodgers 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 Eed Eiver 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."

CHAPTEE X.
AFTERCLAPS.
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 coUison, 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, chiefiy 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 Eed 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, fortoaerly
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, lie 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 muich 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.

Afterclaps. 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 Eed Eiver and
Lake Winnipeg, in the very path which the flee
ing Colonists had gone, but they would turn to
ward the "Grand Eapids" 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
Eed Eiver. 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: PIEEBE 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.
Pushing 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,
Eushing 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.

CHAPTEE XI.
THE SILVBB CHIEF AEKIVBS.
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 Eevolution-
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 Eed Eiver 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 Eed Eiver.
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 Eed Eiver 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 fromjwitzer-
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 Eed Eiver. 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 Eiyer
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 Eed Eiver.
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
Eiver 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 Eed Eiver 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 Colomsts.
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."
"Eobe 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 Eiver 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 Colomsts.
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 Eed Eiver, 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 Pan, 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. ' '
' ' 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 darken 'd lives resplendent
With such gleams of inward lustre. ' '

CHAPTEE XIL
SOLDIEES 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 Eangers, 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
Eed 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 bello-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, arid 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 c^me. 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 Eiver for hundreds of miles the flat
boats constructed for the purpose were pain
fully propelled, and passing through the branch
known as the Minnesota Eiver the Stony Lake
was reached. This lake is the source of the
Minnesota and Eed 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
Eed Eiver was reached by the fearless adven
turers who brought the "corn out of Egypt."
They did not, however, reach the Eed Eiver
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 ,CQatXi_ord.„ Selkirk
upwards of a thousand pounds sterling. In the
following year the grasshoppers again visited
the Eed Eiver 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 Eed -Eiver
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 Eed Eiver 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
Eocky 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 Eed 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.

CHAPTEE XIII.
ENGLISH LION AND CANADIAN BEAE LIE DOWN
TOGETHEE.
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 Eed Eiver 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

English Lion and Canadian Bear. 163
with sudden illness on his 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 Eed Eiver
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 flrst
message from the executors was one of courage,
and the announcement was made that their first

SEVEN OAKS MONUMENT
On Kildonan Road near Winnipegf.

aim would be to send six hundred new settlers
to the banks of Eed Eiver.
The angry passions which had been roused

166 Lord Selkirk's Colonists.
led the English directors to take the very wise
step of sending out 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 Eed Eiver 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 Eiver. AH 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 settler^ are
very vague, an occasional name flitting across
the page of history.- One family still found on
Eed Eiver banks, gains celebrity as possessing
the first white woman who came to Eupert'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 Eed Eiver 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 Eed Eiver to Montreal, delivered
them personally to Lord Selkirk in 1815.
The Lajimonieres received with great delight
in 1818 the first Eoman Catholic missionaries
who reached^^BeE- -Eiver. ^ese were sent.
through Lord Selkirk's influence,~and the large
gift of land known as the Seigniory lying east

168 Lord Selkirk's Colomsts.
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,
Eev. John West was appointed to cojue^^as
chaplainlo~the Colonists and the uther-Erotestr
ants of Eed Eiver. 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 Eoman 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.
"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.

CHAPTEE XIV.
SATEAP EULE.
"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 oi
a Kingdom or Principality whose ruler is a hire
ling. The Eoman 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 Eule is to-day an organized system of
extortion and oppression by unscrupulous
Satraps. Lord Selkirk's two governors. Miles
Macdonell and Eobert 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 Bide. 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 Eed
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 Eoss says of him, "The officials he
kept about him resembled the court of an East
ern Nabob, with its warriors, serfs, and variety,
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 Eed Eiver
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 Bute. 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 Eed Eiver was the "talk of
the town," in London.
On the banks of Eed Eiver the scheme took
like wild-fire. All Eed Eiver 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
Eed Eiver 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 Eed Eiver 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 a
laughing stock in England, and failure and mis
ery followed its collapse in the Coloiiy.
At this time the French-Canadiaij settlement
at Pembina was induced to remove to St.
Boniface on the Eed Eiver, 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 Havfield farm on
the north bank of the Assiniboine Eiver, 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«i
and stab^e^. Importations were made of well-
bred cattle and horses. Several years of mis-

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 Eed 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 "Eed Eiver 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 Bule. 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. Eoss 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.

CHAPTEE 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 NoUn, 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

A?id 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 Eoss, 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 Eiver
at Brantford and the Fraser at its delta, but
the rarity of the Eed 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 Eiver 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
a.id whites alike were alarmed. The water
overflowed its banks, and still continued to rise
at Fort Garry. The Governor and his family
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 Cam/e. 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 Eupert'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 Eiver. 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 Bale 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.

CHAPTEE XVI.
THE JOLLY GOVEENOB.
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 Eiver
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 Eocky 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 Eed Eiver,
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, 1821-60.
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 Eupert'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-Painneau 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 Eed
Eiver 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 eYQYj
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 Eed Eiver 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 Eed Eiver. 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 Eed

192 Lord Selkirk's Colonists.
Eiver 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 Eupert's Land.
Sir George's experience in introducing farm
ing into Eed 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 Eiver, as an agricultural region.
Mr. Eoebuck 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 Eed
Eiver 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 his sway,
as well as for the fimancial advancement of his
company.

CHAPTEE XVII.
THE OLIGAEOHY.
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 Ee-
form Bill of 1832 should reach even the remote
banks of Eed Eiver. 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 Eed Eiver
Settlement the existence of a Company store —
a monopoly — couuld never prove satisfactory
to a community_of_JBritislLJilflod. Had the
Colony^shoplBeen 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 Eiver
as it had done in the first ten years of the Col
ony, but just because the people were bccora
ing better housed, better cla4, and better fed,
were they becoming jnore__independent. The
unwillingness to be controlled was showing it
self very distinctiy 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
policy 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 Eoss 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 Eed Eiver 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^-^natrges,_jgere al-
ways held to the Company's interest. At
Christmas, these worlnneifreceived'^ porEioh 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 indul-

The Sisters The Ferry The Forks Fort Garry
Pontoon Bridge French Half-breeds with Ox-carts
RED AND ASSINIBOINE RIVERS
FORT GARRY
(From Oil painting ot Mr. W. Frank Lynn made in 1S72, now in possession ofthe Author.

Site of Fort Gibraltar

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, Eobert Logan and
Alexander Eoss, 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

icms_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 hefound it easier to supply the vola
tile French-Canadian liuntersy frharr'tlle'hard-
headed peopte 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 Eoss, 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 Eoss, 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 Eed Eiver
Community. Its most distressing failures were in those
things which are very essential. (1) Being a
compromise body it had no_pqwer 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
fa2lurfi_Qf.its4udicial system. Executive power
it had none, as seen in the cases where jail-deliv-
ry took place again and again by the friends of

•*• f ^ t^'

T^^^mimm^^T\

¦-f-

SOUTH AND EAST FACES, 184O
From sketch by wife of Governor Finlayson.

'^\

!'

^

'ic'- id»^i>'' •

-

i ¦ l\
¦¦l'"" '*'¦
+
'"*?
'K'H- Y* 0*
^-
"~
¦^ ~
'. ' (':-->
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.

CHAPTEE XVIII.
THE OGEE OF JUSTICE.
The wild life of the prairie or mountain iJuL^
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 wiH 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
Eed 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^nd was fairly advanced to comple
tion by'i 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 Eed
Eiver there became evident the dreadful pre
sence of the law in the person of Adam Thom,
first Eecorder of Eupert's Land, who7a^~com-
pared with the humble incomes of the people of
Eed Eiver, 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

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 Thom 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 Eed
Eiver 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 Thom, was that he
had come to uphold the Company's pretensions
and to restrict their liberties. According to
Eoss, the Colonists reasoned that "a man placed
in Eecorder Thom'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 Eecorder.
In the year after the arrival of Eecorder
Thom, a most startling and mysterious event —
which indeed has never been solved to the pres
ent day, happeneci 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 Simpsou, 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 iever 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 Eoss gives an inci
dent worth repeating as to how even the Eng
lish half-breeds became rebellious. He says:
"One of the Company's officers, residing at a
distance, had j)laced two of JiisjiaugMers 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 Eiver, 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 eommunity 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, Eecorder Thom
has a thorny path to tread.

CHAPTEE XIX.
A HALF-BEEED PATRIOT.
Canada looks with patriotic dehght not only
on heFsoWwho remain at Jiome..to-work out-the
problems of her developing life,, but follows with
keenest interest those Canadians who have gone
abroad and made a name ToxltllSmselves, and
their country in other parts of the Empire or
the world. Some of these are^udge Halibur-
ton. Satirist ; Eoberts and Bliss Carman, Poets ;
Gilbert Parker, Grant Allen and Barr, Novel
ists; Eomanes 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 Eed
Eiver Settlement has also its sons who have
gone abroad to do distinguished service and
bring honor to their place of birth. One of ihern^
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 hisjoaiiv^e-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. Ee-
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 Eecorder Thom's leadership, in Eed
Eiver 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 Garriochj) 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, Vmnging t.hfl SArimi.g phfTg'^« a ga-ij3.gt-4Iu?
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 G(ym-
pany , to be at the same time ^ the Government
of a country and to be equitable and hign-
minded. TheTTudsbn 's Bay Company answeretf
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 Eed Eiver. Alexander
Eoss 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 Eed Eiver Settlement. The impatience
of the people of all classes in Eed Eiver 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 Euslish-speakingI^bple-Q£
Eed Eiver 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
Eed Eiver 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, Eoebuck
and other friends of liberty, took part. It,
ho.wevfir, took a quarter of a century to bring
about the union of Eupert's Laiidjwith Can
ada^ although, as we shall see, in less than ^e
years, a measure of amelioration came to the
oppressed and indi^ajit^ettlfirs of Eed Eiver.
Pov this the people of Eed Eiver 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

CHAPTEE XX.
SAYEB AND LIBBBTY.
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 — di-gaity — of — de
meanor, but the conviction had taken hold of
the people of Eed Eiver, 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 Eed Eiver
Settlement, a new surprise came upon French
and Enghsh alike. This was immediately af
ter the terrible visitation ofj^^plagu^ which had
cut down one-sixteenth of the whole population.
It was the arrival of ajparty oltha-Sixth Eoyal
Eegiment of Foot, along with artillery and en
gineers, amounting in all to' five huhdred^souls.
The breath of the people was taken away by
this demonstration of force, and a chronicler

Sayer and Liierty. 217
of the time says : "From tho moment thoy ar-
rived the high tone ofjawless definnce flnd Jn-
ternal^ disaffection raised by our people again&t
the laws and the~authorities of the place were
reduced to silencer" Colonel CroTtonTmTcom^
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 ^n_a_career_of_govern-
ment by force, it would not do to let it drop.
Hence the authorities~eirlisLed inlBritaijra 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 Jiseless for _ the jE)urpose_j£or
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 Liierty. 219
half-breeds from buying and selling furs with
the Indians was being carried out by Judge
Thom, 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_^rrested. This
violent resistance was but an example of the
bitter and dangerous spirit that v/^as 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, aL-fi^Ice_and
noisy -reyplQtioiiist, ready for any extremity. He
was a French half-breed, was owner of a small
flour mill on the Seine Eiver, 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
ishes. 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," m:\de 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 Eiel obtained a
veritable triumph on that occasion, and long
and loud the hurrahs were repeated by the
echoes of the Eed Eiver."
And now, under Eiel's direction, by a con
certed action, movement of the whole body
was made to cross the Eed Eiver 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-

Fence

Court Hbust

Weeefyird]

\Stai/es

.J u-.-J

n r"

Byrf

¦--o^JD 
Outf'dejSate

7fia,in O&te

I tVork Shifi^ Yten's/fc]

PLAN OF FORT GARRY
South portion with stone wall and bastions built in 1835.
North portion witn wooden wall and stone north grate 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, Eecorder

222 Lord Selkit-k's Colonists.
Thom, 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, Eecorder, 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 Jip,-and-mad.e„

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 Thom, under instructions
frpm Governor Simpson, never acted as Ee
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.

CHAPTEE XXL
OFF TO THE BUFFALO.
Alexander Eoss was a Scottish Highlander,
who came to Glengarry in Canada, quite a
century ago, joined Aster'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 Eocky Mountains,
and was given by Sir George Simpson a free
gift of a farm, where Eoss and James Streets
are now found in Winnipeg. This land is to
day worth many millions of dollars. Eoss was
also fond of hunting the buffalo, and we are
fortunate in having his spirited story of 1840.
BUFFALO HUNTING.
Ill the leafy month of June carts were seen
to emerge from every nook and corner of the
Settlement bound for the plains^^As TEey 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_lfiav:e the Setilem:ent
it^njoys that reliefwhich a person feels on re-
covering from a long and painful sickness.
HereT^n a level plain7the 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
'.s the order in all dangerous plaa?s; l.iut when

226 Lord Selkirk's Colonists.
no danger is feared, the animals are kept on
the outside. Thus, the carts formed a 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 ani
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 21st of June, after the priest had per
formed mass, for many were Eoman Cathohcs,
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 4tli 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 Eed Eiver, bringing
about £00 lbs. 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 Eed Eiver Settlement for
another year.

CHAPTEE xxn.
WHAT THE STARGAZEES SAW.
The writer remembers meeting in Boston, a
good many years ago, a scientific explorer, whi
along with two companuais, one of whom is the
greatest astronomer in the United States, as an
astronomical party in 1860, made a visit
through Eed 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 Eed Eiver Settlement in 1860 is a vivid
picture. " What jin extraordinary Settlement I Here is
a Colony of about ten thousand souls scattered
among plantations for thirty miles along the
Eed and half as many along the Assiniboine
Eiver, 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 Eed 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 Kin.^'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 9, log-cabi^j like all of this class
(some far better ones hav^ 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 Jiarvest.
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^jmdjheir lot
in life"^i5YiaFseein""toThem~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 wi the outskirts of ^he^olqny^
Further and further they have been compelled
to go, until at our visit no buffalo could be foimd
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 j-ude shelters^ formed of the carts
themselves, placed back to back, and the sides
secured by hides.
These carts illustrate, well--tbe^primitive„jLa::.
ture and the isolation qf^thej^lolony. They are
the vehicles in umversal 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.
EyeigtboiiyLmaJfes Jor MmselLwhat he wishes
in this jindifferentiated 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 Eed Eiver.
The caravan by which we and a number of
others were carried back to civilization was a
stylish enough turnout for Eed Eiver. It was
supplied by McKinney, the host of the Eoyal
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 Eed Eiver
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, whenjthey declare their connection
with the world again complete, after ah~a5sence
of about three months, during which they had
travelled thirty-five hundred miles.

CHAPTEE XXIII.
APPLES OP 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 theplains. 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 Larned 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 Eed Eiver Set
tlement, in which he, for more than a genera
tion, dwelt. BBITAIN'S one UTOPIA  SELKIEKIA.
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 Colonists.
tin, — in his chambers in the City of London,
over three centuries ago — his 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 tim£,:=±lis
earlier half of the present century, amid^same
severity of climate, and under conditions with-
out precedent, and incapable of j-epetitioiv—
to evolve a community in the heart of thereon-.
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 Eed Eiver Settlement, 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, ' ' 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
,'luse3l>ll 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 onTmports~
attending its admihTstration one practically un-
feltl 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 Eed 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 i8j6.

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-
flliations 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 neces.saxy-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 OP 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 whoni 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-
cady? Early and univer&aLjiiaxriage-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 os
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— Ite
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 to daily tempt them
astray their supplies of spirits were nearly al
ways for festive occasions. "Eegales" 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 everything 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 1 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 I
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 SUMMEB 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. i
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.

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 Eed Eiver 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. ' '

CHAPTEE XXIV.
PICTURES OF SILVEE.
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 Eoman 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. Bef oreJhia_thfi^-edu cati on
and elfivatioii-Qf Jthe peqpje was represented by
a few schools cjiigfly maintained by privaJ;g_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
Eed Eiver. 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 Eed Eiver 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.)
"Lord Selkirk before his departure had made
the Catholic colony on the Eed Eiver 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 Eed
Eiver 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 Eed Eiver
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 Eeine, 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 tliis 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 begin 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."
HAEGBAVe'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 Eed Eiver
Settlement. "As we have seen, the Eev. John
West came from England to Eed Eiver 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 Eev. 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 Eupert'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
Eapids, 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. Eobert Burns, of Toronto, who
was further urged to action by Governor Bal-
lenden, of Fort Garry. In August, 1857, the
Eev. John Black, then newly ordained, was sent
on by Dr. Burns to Eed Eiver. He was for
tunate in becoming attached to a military ex
pedition led by Governor Eamsey, of Minne
sota, going northwest for nearly four hundred
miles, from St. Paul to Pembina.
Leaving the military escort behind, in com-
l^any with Mr. Bond, who wrote an account of
the trip, Mr. Black floated down Eed Eiver 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 RED RIVER 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 Eoman 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 Eoss, 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 Eed
Eiver Colony was far from being an illiterate
community. The presence of the officersjjfjhe
Hudson's Bay Company,- the coming of the
clergy of the different churches,j^ho established
schools, andTheTeisure for reading books sup
plied by the Eed Eiverjjibrary 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 WOEK.
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 amongi 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

268 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. Eoder
ick Eoss 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 Eed Eiver library had its headquarters
in St. Andrew's parish, and was for circulation
in the Eed Eiver 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 Eed Eiver 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 Eed
Eiver. The Selkirk settlers had now (1821)
gained a footing in the land and the banks of
the Eed Eiver 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 Eev. John West, the first Episcopal mis
sionary who arrived, in 1820, and his successors,
the Eev. 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 Eed 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 Eupert'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 Eupert'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 Eev. David Jones,
the missionary of Eed Eiver, 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
husbajid, 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 Eed Eiver, 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
callum 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 Eed Eiver 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 Eed Eiver
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 Eed 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 Eed Eiver 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 Eev. 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 Eev. 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.
GIELS' 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 was
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.

CHAPTEE XXV.
EDEl* INVADED^

,E^

The conception of Eed 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 Eed Eiver 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. TJie time for opening up-Bupert'a Land was
approaching. The agitation _of_the__people
themselvesj^ 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 Eupert'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 Ealliser^Hgc-
tor-ExRedition to Eupert'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 CanadiaiL-Govem.-
ment dispatghed-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 Eed Eiver Colony, and es-tab-
lighedthat organ for good or evil, the newspa-
p^\II5Ma-_fiiit3)aper wai^called^'T^hB^
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 Eed Eiver 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
Thom and his policy of repression. Mr. Buck
ingham did not remain long in Eed Eiver 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 Eoss, son of Sheriff Alexander Eoss,
was in control, but it may be said that in gen-
.gral its policy was hostile to that of the Com^
panj\ 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 Bufid— Biver
Settlement, and to speak of communication be
tween the Settlement and the outside world.
The demand for transport Ied_a company! to
lmngTnrar;steaTEler,The35iDn Noxthrupj, after
wards called-i' The Pioneer.,.' \ to break_jthe_Eed
Eiver solitude witL.her, screajii. The steamer
International was built to run on the river in
J^S8^, 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 Eupert's land.
Until this time of arrivals there had been no
village of Winnipeg. The first building back
from the McDermott, Eoss and Logan build
ings on the bank of Eed Eiver, 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 Eail-
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

THE ANSON NORTHRUP
,. T V"' machinery was broug-ht from tho Mississippi to Red River. The name was changed to Pioneer in t86o.
International, largrer boat of similar pattern, was built by the Hudson's Bay Company in i86j. These
steamers ran on the Red River.

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 modem 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 Eed Eiver Settlement from its
beginning nearly to its end. This was William
Eobert 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

CHAPTEE XXVI.
eiel's bising. .which we have de
scribed" in "EeiTEiver Settlement, and the ef-
forts of Canada to introduce Eupert's Landjnto
the nTewly-f ofme'd ndimrnoif oFTTanada had, af
ter much effort, and the overcoming of many
hindrances, resulted in the British Govemment
agreeing to transfer this Western territory tp
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.

Biel's Bising. 285
2. The rebellious character of the Metis,
now" irritated ahewn5y the" actions of the
surveyors. 3. The inexplicable blundering and ne
glect of the Dominion Government at Ot-
tawa. 4. A dangerous elementin__Uie_JJnited
States^TaKd especially onThe borders of
Minnesota inciting and supporting a dis
loyal band of Americans in Pembina and
Winnipeg. 5. A cunning plot tolieep Governor Mc
Tavish from acting as he should have done,
and to incite the Metis under Eiel to oi)cn
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 Eupert'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 Eiel, 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 aU 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 towar.is
Fort Garry, and finding the obstruction, one of
them gave command, "Eemove that blawgte^
fence," but the half-breeds refused to obey.
The half-breeds seized the mails and all freigKT
coming along the road coming into the country.
THE scene shifts TO FORT GARRY.
It is rumored that Eiel 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 Eiel and a hundred of his
Metis followers took possesion of Fort Garry,
and without opposition.
Eiel now issued a proclamation with the air
of Dictator or Deliverer, calling on the English
parishes to elect twelve representatives to meet

Biel's Bising. 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 Eiel, 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 Eiel wished the
formation of a provisional government, of
which he should be head.
At the adjourned meeting, Eiel 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 Pem-

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 Eiel'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. Eiel was aware of all the stex>=
being taken by the Government, and so ho and
the Metis laughed at the proclamation. Mc
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 Eiel,
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 McDougall's proclamation

Biel's Bising. 289
left the loyal Canadians in Winnipeg in a most
awkward situation. One hundred of themliad
arms in their hands, and they were naturally
looked upon by Eiel 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, Eiel coolly
broke his truce, while the Metis celebrated their
early victory by numerous potations of rum,
fromthe Hudson's Bay Company Stores, and,
of course at the Company's expense.
Encouraged by his victory and the possession
of his prisoners, Eiel, 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 Eiel'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 Eed 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 Eiel.
He was to them as great a "puzzle as Tie was to
the English. It was a gloomy Christmas time
in Eed Eiver, and the gloom was increased by
the suspense of not knowing what the Govern
ment at Ottawa would do in the circumstances.

CHAPTEE 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 Eed Eiver Settlement, and the ambitious
Louis Eiel 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, Eiel cavalierly
set them aside. At this time the American ele
ment in the hamlet of Winnipeg became very
offensiEe_-Eiel'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. Eiel 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 Eiel 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-

c rt

^ X

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
Eiel'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 Eed Eiver and
the Northwest." The Coihmissioner 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 be 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.
Tt was then moved by Eiel, seconded by Mr.
Bannatyre, and carried unaiiimously^ that
twenty representatives should be elected by tlie
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 JaestJ or
the welfare of the country^ Speeches were made
¦by the Bishop of Eupert's Land, and Father
Eichot and Eiel closed the meeting by saying:
"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,
bnt all the rights we are entitled to."
Begg, an eye-witnss, says: "Immediately af
ter the rheeting 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. Eiel
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." Eiel
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 Eichot, 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 ofthe 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 Port 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 Headingly, 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 Bul
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 wa_s
a_ c_old:ibloiide.d^ cruelly-executed and revolting
scene — it-wa.s-4h:e-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
ied by Major Bulton. The conflict of opinion
was transferred to Ottawa, and the act consti
tuting the Province of Manitoba was passed.

CHAPTEE 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 Penian intruders. The
French people in Quebec, however, had strong
sympathies for their race in the Eed Eiver Set
tlement. No one in Canada believed that any
injustice could be done to either the English or
French elements on the banks of Eed Eiver, 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 Eed Eiver, 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 Eed Eiver Expedi
tion, should be appointed Governor of the new
province of Manitoba, but tl is was sturdily op
posed by the French-Canacdan 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 Eiver. In this they were successful;
in all this worry from mosquitoes, black flies
and deer flies in millions, the tro,ops 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 Eiver was reached, and
at Fort Frances Colonel Wolseley met Captain
Butler, who had acted as intelligence officer,
having adroitly passed under Eiel's shadow,
and being able now to give the news required.
It was still the statement and belief of Eiel that
"Wolseley would never reach Fort Garry."
Crossing Lake of the Woods the regular troops
were pushed ahead, and on descending Winni
peg Eiver 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 Eed Eiver, ascended it,
and cautiously approached Fort Garry. It was
still uncertain whether Eiel 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, Eiel,
Lepine, and O'Donoghue alone, were left of the
Metis levy, and as the 60th Eifles 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 Eiver. 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
Eiel 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 Eed
Eiver, through the United States. Shortly af
terward, on September 2nd, Lieutenant-Gover
nor Archibald arrived by the Winnipeg Eiver
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.

CHAPTEE 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 mgmbers
to the Legislative Assembly were made to the
numbeiTof-tweBty^Tlr^tweive-- 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 Eed-.Eiver_.Settleme.nt-rhajijGan-
ceded to it the right of local self-government.
In the year of the firsfparTiaiheht of Mani
toba it was the fortune of the writer td 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 Eed Eiver
cart, and the shaganappi pony are things of
the past, and several railways with richly fur
nished traina. 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
\irhat 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 Eocky Mountain ranges, rising a mile
above the sea, have been crossed by the Cana
dian Pacific Eailway. The giddy heights of
the Fraser Eiver Canyon are traversed, and
this is but the beginning, for three other great
corporations are bending their strength to
pierce the passes of the Eocky Mountains to
the Pacific Ocean. We. see to-day scenes more

after the manner of the Arabian Nights En-
tertainmeiltg than of~the Humble dream that
Lord Selkirk dreamt one hundred years ago.

The towns and'cities'orMamtoba 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 1S71 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 Eed Eiver
and the Assiniboine is generally a good soil, sus
ceptible of culture and capable of bearing rich
crops." Lord Selkirk's dre^m is fnlfillprl^ for
his lan^ 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 J^ook_with. -aston-i-shBient-at
the horses now taken away by hundreds^ to sup
ply with chargers the crack^cayalry regimi^its
of the Jltnpire, 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 Colomsts.
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 E'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 Eed and
Assiniboine Eivers, 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

"BSdWs/;

r'

n..i*^^

ALEXANDER ISBISTER, LL.B.
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 Eed Eiver. The sturdy stand for
principle which the Selkirk Colonists maSXpre-
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 Ju
that righteousness which exalteth a nation.

CHAPTEE XXX.
How strange and wimderful 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 plumtile, 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_liu-
manity J;rari^sp1aTTtftd to another enviroji.ment
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
presSj 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 1 ' '
while he himself saw a dream of sunshine when
he visited his Colonists on Eed Eiver, 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.

T/ie 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 M_anitoba. tn-day, it
j-S the fruitage of allthat 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 .m. 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 Eiver 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._m.or©
suffering and discouragement than even _tlie_
first settlers of Eed Eiver endured to prjeserye
our British connection which the Hudson 's Ba.y__.
Company, loyal as it was, with its Union Jacfe--
floating on every fort, could not have preserved
to us any more than it did in Oregon and
Washington. It was the Eed Eiver 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
s|st^;::^nati5n_in4he^I}^ipip^ the_ West .not .
been savjad4o 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,
Eupert '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 o'pening up jof
the West^is rQaking_ Canada complete. Ajid,_ 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 Eed Eiver, 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

Author's Note. — The fact that the agents sent out by Lord
Selkirk engaged (1) Labourers for the Company, (2) Settlers
for the Red Biver 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. WTience.
1 Colin Campbell  21 Argyle
2 John McKay  22 Eossshire
3 John McLennan  23 Bossshire
4 Beth Bethune  19 Rossshire
5 Donald McKay  17 Eossshire
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. MelCim  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 Bed Biver
October 27th, 1812:
1 Andrew McDermott, became the famous Eed Eiver 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 Mc Vicar.
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 Eed
Biver 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 Archnrgle 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 KUdonan
11 Jean, his wife, C-Y  Kildonan
12 Alexander Gunn, C-Y . . 50 Kildonan
13 Christine, his wife  50 Kildonan, died 20th Sept.,
Churchill
14 William, 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, C-Y . . . .
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  S'O
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 Bobert 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

Parish of Clyve
Parish of Kildonan
Died

Kenacoil. Settled in Upper
Canada in West Gwilliin-
bury. He and his sister
were children of James
Sutherland, catechist
Cain Authbreakachy
Kildonan Dackabury, Kildonan

Dackabury, Kildonan
Died January, 1814, from
consumption
Died January, of consump
tion

77 Isabella, his sister, C-Y. 16
78 John McPherson, C-Y... 18 Callable
79 Catherine, his sister, C-Y. 26
80 Hector McLeod, C-Y. . . 19
81 George Sutherland, C-Y. 18 Borobal
82 Adam, his brother, O-Y. 16
83 John Murray, C-Y  21 Sirsgill
84 Alex., his brother, C-Y. 19
85 Helen Kennedy  Sligo
86 Malcolm McEachern  Skibbo, Isla (deserted)
87 Mary, his wife  Skibbo, Isla (deserted)
88 James McDonald, C-Y . . . . Inverness, to Fort Augustus
89 Hugh McDonald  To Fort William, died 3rd of
August, at sea
90 Samuel Lamont, C-Y  Boromore, Isla
91 Alex. Matheson, C-Y  Kildonan
92 John Matheson, C-Y  Overseer
93 John Mclntyre, C-Y. To Fort William
(entered service of H.
B. Co., July, 1814).. ..
94 And. Smith  Son of No. 31, Isla
95 Edward Shell  Balyshannon
96 Joseph Kerrigan  Balyshannon
Mr. P. La Serre  Surgeon, died at sea

324 Appendix. D.
List of settlers who came with Duncan Cameron from Bed
Biver to Canada, 1815. List prepared by Wm. McGillivray, of
Kingston, August 15th, 1815. About one hundred and forty,
probably forty or fifty families, and some single men, arrived
at Holland Eiver, 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.
IL SETTLEBS.
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.
Bobert Sutherland and wife.
William Bannerman aud 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 MARBIED.
John Murray.
Alexander Murray.

Appendix. 325
William Gunn.
Hugh Bannerman.
Hector McLeod.
George Gunn.
Charles McBeath.
Angus Sutherland.
Thomas Sutherland.
Alex. Matheson.
John McPherson.
Bobert Gunn.
George Sutherland.
VI. MENTIONED IN ABCHIVES, OTTAWA.
Miles Livingston.
James McKay.
Angus Sutherland.
John Cooper.
Mary Bannerman (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. B.
List of passengers, chiefly from Old Kildonan, landed at
York Factory, August 26th, 1815. Beached Bed Biver Settle
ment in same year.
Names. Age. Bemarks.
1 James Sutherland  47 An elder who was authorized
2 Mary Poison  48 by the Church of Scotland
3 James Sutherland  12 to baptize and marry
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 At school
5 Donald Sutherland  7 At school
6 Helen Sutherland  12 At school
1 Widow Matheson  60
2 John Matheson  18 School master
3 Helen Matheson  21
1 Angus Matheson  30

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 Eoderick McKay  19
4 Robert McKay  11 At school
5 Eoberty 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 Bobert 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 Eoderick McBeth  12
5 Eobert 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 passenger3
2 Ann Mathewson  84
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
4 John Poison  5
5 Donald Poison  1
6 Anne Poison  7
1 William McKay  44
2 Barbara Sutherland  35
3 Betty McKay  10
4 Dorothy McKay  4
5 Janet McKay  2
1 Joseph Adams  25
2 Mary Adams  23
1 Beginald Green  31
2 George Adams  19
3 Henry Hilliard  19
4 Edward Simmons  20
5 Christian Bannerman.... 22
6 John Matheson  22
7 Alexander Sutherland... 25
8 John McDonald  22
Total— 84

At school
At school

Brought out millstones, em
barked at Stromness
At school

Embarked at Gravesend
Sergeant of passengers

Sergeant of passengers

THE HONOUB BOLL.
In Martin 's ' ' H. B. Co. Land Tenures ' ' is found a petition
to the Prince Begent, 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 Bed
Biver 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 Boss
Alexander Murray, lot 23
James Murray
John Farquharson
John McLean
John Bannerman
George McKay
Alexander Poison
Hugh Poison
Eobert McBeath

Alexander McLean
George Adams
Martin Jordon
Bobert McKay
Wm. McKay
Alex. Matheson
John McBeath
John Sutherland
Alex. McBeath, an old soldier,
73rd Bgt., 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
Eobert MacKay
William Bannerman, Jr.
Eoderick 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 Eed Biver 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 Eouge; 2, Fort Doug
las; 3, Fort Gibraltar; 4, Fidler 's Fort; 5, First
Fort Garry; 6, Fort Garry.
Page 264.— Line 10; 1857 should be 1851.
Page 297 and following pages. — "Major Bulton" should be
"Major Boulton."
Appendix. — Words "Author's Note" should be, "The author
notes the fact, etc. ' '

YALE UNIVERSITY

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