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 (5>),^> 
 
 
 TZZE 
 
 HiSTOl^iCAii & Scientific Society 
 
 OF MflNITOBn. 
 
 II. W. 0. LIBRARY 
 
 r. 
 
 t 
 
 .'■^ 
 
 TRANSACTION 43. 
 
 SEASON 1891-92. 
 
 \ 
 
 yifi 
 
 ^^ 
 
 x> 
 
 o^ 
 
 1 
 
 * 
 
 All a<!4foiiiit of tli« HftUir <»f .Seven <>Mks; the Circiiiii- 
 NtHiices wliicli led up to it; » (leHcription of the Con- 
 leHiaiits: the KveiilH of the Conflict, including tlie 
 Deatli of Governor 8eni|ile and iiis followerH- and a 
 Iteport of I'rocee<lingHof the gatliering for tlie Un- 
 veiling ol tlie "Seven OaliH Monument," June UMli, 
 
 ALSO 
 
 'If.' 
 
 A I'late of tlie Monuineiit, and a fac-Hiniile of part 
 of the Map UK«>d at the Trials of 1K18, HhowinK the 
 Junction of the Assiniboine and Ked Itiverv, the 
 Site of Fort I>ou|;la!>, and the Situation of "Seven 
 aakH." 
 
 * ^ 
 
 I.: 
 
 
 PRICE 25 CENTS. 
 
 ii 
 
 MANITOBA FKMB PRCSS CO. 
 
 WINNIFMO, MANITOBA. 
 
 V 
 
3tV I 
 
 !: 
 
 
,{^ ) 
 
 *> ' 
 
 •1 
 
 >*■ 
 
 CRCCTCD IN 
 NANITOBA HinORlCAl SOCKTY 
 
 ?niiDuGii THF cutRoetTY wmf 
 ^.■, COUNTESS a> SELKIRK 
 imrMe siTi of stvno»K5i 
 
 '». ,• M WHERE fUL -P^ii 
 COVERMOR MBERT 5ENPLt Mtt> 
 TWEHTY oPMii DFnKllSMcKltN 
 
 JUNE 19.1616. . /^f. 
 
 
 V/ 
 
 fc^^lizz^S 
 
 O'. 
 
 e r a 
 
 Mi^tiiiOiUilM^'Cii.VM'il 
 
 usi 
 
 SEVEN QAKS MONUMENT. 
 
Seven Oaks. 
 
 In ISll the Earl of Selkirk, a Scottish nobleman of great 
 energy and breadth of view, secured a large tract of country 
 from the Hudson's Bay Company, of which he was a promi- 
 nent stockholder, to found a settlement on the Red River, in 
 the heart of North America. The fur traders from Montreal, 
 organized under the name of the " Northwest Fur Company " 
 (See Mackenzie's Voyages 1801, and Vol. I. Masson's " Les 
 Bourgeois de la Compagnie du Nord-Ouest "), had at the time 
 establishments all through the country, from Lake Superior to 
 the Pacific Ocean. The "Nor westers," as they were popularly 
 known, had the prestige of a generation of successful trade, 
 and were led by Canadianized Highlanders of great energy 
 and daring. Lord Selkirk's first settlers arrived, by way of 
 Hudson Bay, at the Red River in 1812, and took up holdings 
 on the Red River, near the site of the present City of Winni- 
 peg. Several parties arrived in the years succeeding by the 
 same route, until the Selkirk settlement in 181 •I' numbered 
 about two hundred souls. In that year a "jauntily -dressed " 
 officer of the Nor'-west Company, named Duncan Cameron, 
 succeeded in inducing about one hundred and fifty of the 
 settlers to desert the Red River and take up their abode in 
 the western part of Upper Canada. (See Ross's " Red River 
 Settlement, 1856," and Bryce's " Manitoba.") Governor Mac- 
 donell had erected buildings within what are now the limits 
 of the City of Winnipeg ; but the Nor'-westers resisted 
 his authority, and even took the Governor prisoner ; and their 
 chiefs, one of whom was Cuthbert Grant, on June 25th, 1815, 
 issued the mandate : " All settlers to retire immediately from 
 the River, and no appearance of a colony to remain." In that 
 year, however, another party of Highland colonists arrived 
 from Britain, making the number up again to about one 
 hundred and fifty. The deserted homesteads were again 
 oc3upied. The colonists' buildings were erected in a more 
 substantial form, a barricade was built around them, and 
 reprisals were even made upon the Nor'-wester establish- 
 
rncnt, Fort Gibraltar, which stood at the junction of the Red 
 and Assiniboino Rivers. (See Bryce's " Five Forta of Winni- 
 peg," 1886.) An officer, Robert Senjple, had been sent out by 
 Lord Selkirk as Governor, and he took up his abode in Fort 
 Douglas (181G). The Nor'-westers now determined to make 
 a great effort, «,nd the events which led to the battle of 
 " Seven Oaks," in which the Governor and his attendants 
 were killed, are given in the following extracts from " Mani- 
 toba: its infancy, growth and present condition," by Dr. 
 Bryce, a life member of this Society. 
 
 The BoiS'^Birules. 
 
 " A lithe, cunning, turbulent, but adventurous and lively 
 race were the Bols-Brul^s of those early times. They were 
 chiefly the descendants of the French voyageurs of the North- 
 west Company, who had taken Indian wives and settled down 
 on the shore of some lake or river in the fur country. Some 
 of the Scotch partners, too, from Montreal, had become 
 enamoured of the country, and had ca.st in their lot with this 
 half-blood race, who now, in 1812, the time of the ariival of 
 the Selkirk settlers, had begun to speak of themselves as the 
 " New Nation." Grant, Mackay, McLeod, McGillivray, and 
 many other Highland names, are found among these hunters 
 and trappers of the westt rn solitudes. 
 
 " By what name they should call themselves seemed to 
 have been a subject of considerable interest among these mixed 
 bloods of the prairies. The name then and now most in favor 
 among them is that of the French word " Metis," of which the 
 word half-breed is a fair translation, and which is now used 
 in Acts of the Canadian Parliament &s the legal title of this 
 race. 
 
 "At the time of which we write, the Metis, or Bois-Brul^s, 
 were almost entirely connected with the North-west Company. 
 The Hudson's Bay Company had up till this time Seen exclu- 
 uively an English comi)any. They had tradtd with the 
 
 bboO! 
 
Indians entirely; and hardly a trace, at least in the interior 
 of their territories, could be found of the admixture of Euro- 
 pean and Indian blood. 
 
 "Since that date there has been a great change. The 
 Hudson's Bay Company employed, subsequently to 1812, a 
 large number of Orkney men in theii service. These, after 
 the manner of the early French voyageurs, intermarried with 
 the Indian women, and founded a race of Scotch half-breeds, 
 also known as English, i.e., English speaking half-breeds. In 
 the year 1869, in which the Hudson's Bay territory was 
 transferred to Canada, these Orkney half- breeds equalled in 
 number those of French extraction, and altogether both 
 summed up at that time 10.000 souls. The English half- 
 breeds are far less volatile and more industrious than their 
 French fellow-countrymen. 
 
 " It is only with those of French origin that we are at 
 present concerned, as the Orkney men had not, to any extent, 
 begun to come to the Red River country previous to the union 
 of the North-west and Hudson's Bay Companies in 1821. 
 
 " How strange the sight of a race sprung up at this early 
 date in tht interior of the continent, combining the character- 
 istics of the French and the Indian. Chateaubriand, who 
 travelled in America, has indeed pointed out a fact, noticed 
 by many other observers, that of all the Europeans, the- 
 French are most in synipathy with the Indians, and this 
 arises from their liveliness, their dashing bravery, their love 
 of the chase, and even of the savage life ; though the Englif^h 
 have far surpassed the French in management of the Indian 
 tribes. There can be no doubt that the French half-breeds 
 are of gieater stature, are more restive under restraint, more 
 inclined to the wandering life of the Indian, and more given 
 to the hunt and to the use of arms, than those of Orkney 
 descent. 
 
 "The Bois-Brul^s, as the French half-breeds were commonly 
 called, were admirably adapted for the purposes of the Nor'- 
 westers, and indeed had a passionate attachment to the Com- 
 pany. The Company, recognising the power it gave them 
 
6 
 
 with the IndiariH to have as agents tbo8e having Indian blood 
 in their veins, encouraged the idea of an autonomy — a 
 nationality among them. 
 
 " One of themselves had r.^scn to be a ruling spirit among 
 them, and though his name would not have betrayed his 
 origin, Cuthbort Grant had all the ascendancy of a chief over 
 this singular people. On him was afterwards conferred the 
 title, of rather vague meaning, of " Warden of the Plains;" 
 and he was evidently one of those men, found in all ages and 
 countries, bom to rule ; and who, in spirit of governments 
 and in the absence of government, under monarchy, republic, 
 or absolutism, give the cue, direction, and force to the ideas o^ 
 the community or mass. Happily, he seems to have been 
 humane. 
 
 "Cuthbert Grant was known far and wide among the 
 hunters and trappers of the North-west ; and regions, hun- 
 dreds of miles apart, on account of the sparse population, were 
 brought into clo.se connection. He had been educated in 
 Montreal, had risen to be one of the most enterprising and 
 energetic agents of the Company, and had been placed in 
 charge of many of their expeditions. , 
 
 » ♦ « 
 
 The fiof'^Westeir AtUtade. 
 
 "The Nor'-Wcstors were, from the first, averse to the 
 establishment of Lord Selkirk's Colony. On the 22nd of 
 May, 1811, at the very time the scheme was originating, one 
 of the leading partners of the North-West Company, then in 
 England, stated to Mr. Miles Macdonell, that he was " deter- 
 mined to give all the opposition in his power whatever might 
 be the consequences ;" that " such a settlement struck at the 
 root of the North-West Company, which it was intended to 
 ruiiL" If other people did not clearly see their own interest, 
 he did ; that the settlement " must at all times lie at the 
 mercy of the Indians," who would not be bound by treaties 
 and that " one North-West Company's interpreter would be 
 
able at any time to set the Indians against the settlers to 
 destroy them." 
 
 " It in stated l>y different writers, that no sooner had the 
 settlors arrived than efforts were made to stir up the Indians 
 aj,;ainst the colonists ; and failing in this, the agents of the 
 North-West Company had induced the Metis to disguise 
 themselves as Indians, and, on the way to Pembina, rob one 
 man of the gun his father had carried at Cul'oden, a woman 
 of her marriage-ring, and others of various ornaments and 
 valuable articles. 
 
 " No specially hostile acts were observed during the years 
 1H12 and 1813. 
 
 " We come now to the celebrated proclamation of Governor 
 
 Miles Macdonell, which undoubtedly had .something to tlo 
 
 with hastening the collision. The following is a copy of the 
 
 document itself : — 
 
 " Proclamation." 
 
 "Whereas the Governor and Company of the Hudson's 
 Bay have ceded to the right Honorable Thomas, Earl of Sel- 
 kirk, his heirs and successors for ever »11 that tract of land or 
 territory bounded by a line running as follows, viz : — 
 
 " Beginning on the wojiitem shore of Lake Winnipeg, at a 
 point in 52" and 30' north latitude, and thence running due 
 west, to the Lake Winipiquarish, otherwise called little Win- 
 nipic ; then in a southerly direction through the said lake, so 
 as to strike its western shore in latitude 52" ; then due v/est 
 to the place where the parallel of 52° north latitude intersects 
 the western branch of the Red River, otherwise called the 
 Assiniboin River, ; then due south from that point of inter- 
 section to the height of land which separates the waters run- 
 ning into Hudson's Bay from those of the Mi.ssissippi and 
 Missouri rivers ; then in an easterly directi<.n along the height 
 of land to the source of the River Winnipic (running by such 
 last-named river, the principal branch of the waters which 
 unite the Lake Serginagus), thence along the main stream of 
 the waters, and the middle of the several lakes into which 
 they flow, to the mouth of the Winnipic River, and thence in 
 
f^? 
 
 ''fm. 
 
 a northerly directiuu through the middle of Lake Winnipic to 
 the place of begiDiiing ; which territory is called Assiniboin, 
 and of which I, the undersigned, have been duly appointed 
 governor. 
 
 " And whereas the welfare of the families at present form- 
 ing settlements on the Red River in the said territory, with 
 those on their way to it, passing the winter at York or 
 Churchill Forts in Hudson's Bay, as also those who are ex- 
 pected to arrive nex" autumn, renders it a necessary and in- 
 dispensable part of my duty to provide for their support. In 
 the yet uncultivated state of the country, the ordinary 
 resources derived from the buftalo, and other wild animals 
 hunted within the territory, are not deemed more than ade- 
 quate for the requisite supply ; wherefore, it is hereby order- 
 ed, that no persons trading in furs or provisions within the 
 territory, for the Honorable, the Hudson's Bay Company, the 
 North- West Company, or any individual or unconnected 
 traders or persons whatever, shall take out any provisions, 
 either of flesh, grain, or vegetables, procured or raised within 
 the said territory, by water or land carriage, for one twelve 
 month from the date hereof ; save and except what may be 
 judged necessary for the trading parties at this present time 
 within the territory, to carry them to tiie'r respective desti- 
 nations, and who may on due application to me, obtain license 
 for the same. 
 
 " The provisions procured and raised as above, shall be 
 taken for the use of the colony; and thnt no losses may 
 accrue to the parties concerned, they will be paid fur by 
 British bills at the customary rates. 
 
 " And be it hereby further made known, that whosoever 
 shall be detected in attempting to convey out, or attempting 
 to carry out, any provisions prohibited as above, either bv- 
 land and water, shall be taken in custody and prosecuted as 
 the laws in such cases direct ; and the provisions vso taken as 
 well as any goods or chattels of what nature soever, which 
 may be taken along with them, and also the craft, cattle and 
 carriages, instrumental in conveying away the same, to any 
 
 i 
 
9 
 
 part but the settlement on Red River, shall be forfeited. 
 Given under my hand, at Fort Daer, Pembina, the 8ch of 
 January, 1814. 
 
 " By order of the Governor. 
 
 " (Signed) Miles Macdonell, Governor. 
 "John Spencer, Secretary." 
 
 Here, then, is the loudly denounced and oft-spoken of 
 proclamation. 
 
 " Were the question asked, "Did the Governor act wisely?" 
 subsequent events afford an answer in the negative. No 
 doubt Governor Macdonell. armed with the opinion of the 
 legal gentlemen we have already quoted, regarded himself as 
 fully authorized. No doubt there was need for preventing 
 the starving multitude of settlers being driven away every 
 winter to Pembina. No doubt it was the difficulty, under 
 December and January weather, of their getting sufficient 
 food from the buffalo that urged the Governor to take the 
 strong step he did at Pembina, of obviating the recurrence of 
 the suffering he was then witnessing. Further, it was well 
 known that instructions had been given the Nor'-wester 
 agents, in their western posts (as shown by the evidence of 
 Pritchard, at that time one of their employes), to buy up all 
 the provisions possible and prevent the settlers getting them. 
 
 "All these things can be urged and have great weight; but 
 the fact that the idea of law was yet new, that the feeling of 
 the Nor'- Westers was hostile to a certain extent, and that 
 they had the turbulent Bois-Brul^s thoroughly under their 
 control and ready to carry out any plans of attack, should 
 have caused great caution on the part of the Governor, so 
 newly created in his chair of authority. Further, all laws of 
 non-intercourse, embargo, and the like, are regarded as arbi- 
 trary. 
 
 " Expedience would have dictated a more conciliatory and 
 less drastic policy ; especially when he was not possessed of a 
 force sufficient to carry out his commands. 
 
 "But if the question be transferred to the region of ab- 
 stract right, the case is different. 
 
10 
 
 " The legal opinions given certainly justify the Governor 
 in the steps taken. He proposed, what is usually considered 
 the right of government, to take possession of supplies if life 
 is at stake, and not only so, but to recompei. e in full for the 
 amount taken. But it was a claim of supremacy ; it meant 
 the diminution of Nor'-wester influence over the Bois-Brules 
 and Indians, and must be resisted at all hazards. 
 
 "The council of Nor'- westers that met at Fort William in 
 the summer of 1814, was presided over by the Hon. William 
 McGillivray, the principal partner of the North-west Com- 
 pany. Mr. Pritchard gives evidence that he received direct 
 information from Mackenzie, one of the North-west agents, 
 that the following plan had been devised to accomplish the 
 ruin of the settlement : 
 
 ,^ "The intention of the North-west Company was to seduce 
 and inveigle away as many of the colonists and* settlers at 
 Red River as they could induce to join them ; and after they 
 should thus have diminished their means of defence, to raise 
 the Indians of Lac Rouge, Fond du Lac, and other places, to 
 act and destroy the settlement ; and tlmt it was also their 
 intention to bring the Governor, Miles Macdonell, down to 
 Montreal as a prisoner, by way of degrading the authority 
 under which the colony was established in the eyes of the 
 natives of that country." 
 
 " Who shall say after that that the spirit of the Nor'- 
 westers since the days of Peter Pond had been in any way 
 ameliorated ? 
 
 "Had they a grievance, the courts of England, where they 
 had much influence, were open to them. But no ! Indians 
 and Bois-Brul^s must be stirred up, like the letting out of 
 water, to end no one could tell where ; and the words of 
 Simon McGillivray, a Nor'-wester partner, in writing from 
 London in 1812 : " Lord Selkirk must be driven to abandon 
 the project, for his success would strike at the very existence 
 of our trade," are seen carried out into action. The smoking 
 homesteads of 1815, and the mournful band of three-score 
 persons taking the route down Red River, across Lake Win- 
 
11 
 
 nipeg, and seeking Hudson Bay, as if the broad continent 
 had no room for ever so small a band of peaceful and indus- 
 trious settlers, tell their own tale. 
 
 " Cuthbert Grant again appears upon the scene, and along 
 with him figure also the leading chiefs of the Nor*- westers.* 
 The return of the settlers to their homes in 1815 had filled 
 the minds of their enemies with rage. The contempt of the 
 wild hunters of the plains for the peaceful tillers of the soil 
 can hardly be conceived. They despised them for their 
 manual labor; they named them, by way of reproach, "the 
 workers in gardens ; " and their term " pork-eaters," formerly 
 applied to the voyageurs east of Fort William, was now used 
 in derision to the Scotch settlers. During the whole winter 
 the fiery cross of the Nor'-weaters had been flying; and they 
 looked forward to a grand gathering in the spring at " The 
 Forks," to give ?. final blow to the infant colony. 
 
 "We have seen how the refugees retuined to their devas- 
 tated homes. Fortunately the crops sown by them had not 
 all been destroyed ; and under Colin Robertson, and with 
 their new friends from Scotland, they settled down to endure 
 in the following year the fear and uncertainty of continued 
 threatenings, at last to have the ciisis reached in atrocious 
 acts of bloodshed, and to be again driven from their unfortu- 
 nate settlement. 
 
 "The expeditions were both to come from the east and 
 west. Fort Qu'Appelle, some 350 miles west of Red River, 
 was the rendezvous of the force expected from the west. 
 The Bois~Brul6s wherever found during the whole winter 
 throughout the territories, at Ux^ most distant posts, ex- 
 hibited signs of unmistakeable hostility. A party of these 
 warlike Metis were reported as coming from the far-off' Fort 
 des-Prairies, on the Saskatchewan ; while from the east, a 
 leading partner, McLeod, was journeying all the way from 
 Fort William, with a strong band to assist in the complete 
 extinction of the colony. 
 
 "Of the western levies Grant was, as has been alreadysaid, 
 the ruling spirit. He was the leader of the " New Nation." 
 
 / 
 
12 
 
 On the 13th March, 1816, he writes from the River Qu'- 
 Appelle the following letter to one of the partners, showing 
 the intentions for the spring : — 
 
 My Dear Sir, — I received your generous and kind letter 
 'last fall, by the last canoe. I should certainly be an ungrate- 
 ful being, should I not return you my sincerest thanks. Al- 
 though a very bad hand at writing letters, I trust to your 
 generosity. I am yet safe and sound, thank God, foi' I believe 
 y it is more than Colin Robertson or any of his suit dare to 
 offer the least insult to any of the Bois-Brul6s, although 
 Robertson made use of some expressions which I hope he 
 shall swallow in the spring. He shall see that it is neither 
 fifteen, thirty, nor fifty of his 1 »est horsemen, that can make 
 the Bois-Brul^s bow to him. Our people of Fort des Prairies 
 and English River are all to be here in the spring ; it is hoped 
 we shall come off with flying colours, and never to see any of 
 them again in the colonizing way in Red River, in fact, the 
 traders shall pack off with themselves, also for having dis- 
 obeyed our orders last spring, according to our arrangements. 
 We are all to remain at the Forks to pass the summer, for fear 
 they should play us the same trick as last summer, of coming 
 back ; but they shall receive a warm reception. I am loth to 
 enter into any particulars as I am well assured that you will 
 receive more satisfactory information (than I have had) 
 from your other correspondents ; therefore, I shall not pretend 
 to give you any ; at the same time begging you will excuse 
 my short letter, I shall conclude wishing you health and 
 happiness. 
 
 I shall ever remain. 
 Your most obedient, humble servant, 
 
 Cuthbert Grant. 
 " J. D. Cameron, Esq." 
 
 "After the settlers returned in 1815, Colin Robertson had 
 organized the colony on his own authority, there having been 
 no opportunity of communicating with Lord Selkirk; and dur- 
 ing the same year a new governor there came, Robert Semple, 
 seemingly of Pennsylvanian origin, who had gone in early life 
 
18 
 
 to England. He was an author of some note, an officer of exper- 
 ience, and moreover a man of amiable and generous disposi- 
 tion. Too good a man he was for the lawless region to which 
 he was sent. He was appointed by the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany as their governor, and with all the powers conferred by 
 their charter. 
 
 "As soon as spring was open the movement was begun. 
 Governor Semple had dismantled the Nor'-Wester Fort, on 
 account of the alarming rumoui-s heard by him, but inore 
 especially because of definite information obtained from the 
 letters intercepted by Colin Robertson during the winter. 
 We shall allow an eye-witness of the event to tell his own 
 tale as given on oath in Montreal, in 1818. 
 
 "It is the account of a gentleman in the Canadian Voye- 
 geurs — the corps that had so distinguished itself in the war 
 against the United States in 1812-15. At the close of the 
 war he entered the service of the Hudson's Bay Company as 
 a trader. He gives a very clear account of the expedition 
 from Fort Qu'Appelle against the colony. 
 
 Stopy of Ptei»pe Chpysolocjiue Pambfun. 
 
 " I had been for some time under the orders of Mr, 
 Semple, and on the 12th of April, 1816, I left Fort Douglas 
 under his directions, to go to the Hudson's Bay Company's 
 house on River Qu'Appelle. I set out with as much provis- 
 ions as would last us six days, when we would get to Bran- 
 don House, about 120 miles west of Red River. To this place, 
 according to ray instructions, I was to go first, and from 
 thence, if prudent, to the Hudson's Bay fort at Qu'Appelle. 
 On the 1st of May I left Qu'Appelle with five boat-loads of 
 pemican and furs. As we were going down the river on the 
 5th of May, near the Grand Rapids, I made the shore in a 
 boat, and a party of armed Bois-Brul6s inmiediately came and 
 surrounded me, and forced me to give up the boats and furs, 
 and the pemican. The pemican was landed and the boats 
 
14 
 
 taken across the river. I was kept a prisoner five days. 
 Cuthbert Grant, Peter Pangman, Thomas McKay were of the 
 party who made me a prisoner. I was taken back to River 
 Qu'Appelle, to the Northwest Company's post. I was kept 
 there for five days. Mr. Alexander Macdonnell was in rnm- 
 mand at this station, and I asked him why I had been made 
 a prisoner, or by whoso orders I had been arrested ? He said 
 it was by his own. There were about forty or fifty Bois- 
 Brul^s at this fort. Cuthbert Grant frequently said they 
 were going to destroy the settlement, and I was told Mr. 
 Macdonnell said the business of the year before was a trifle 
 to what this should be. Cuthbert Grant frequently talked 
 with Bois-Brules about going, and they sang war-songs as if 
 they were going to battle. 
 
 " On the 12th I left Qu'Appelle. We drifted down to the 
 place where I had before been stopped, and the peraican, 
 which had been landed from our boats, was re-embarked by 
 the North-west people. When we got to the forks of the 
 River Qu'Appelle we encamped. The people who were taken 
 with me had been liberated some time before, and had gone 
 away. I had been left a prisoner. The next morning after 
 we had encamped, that if, the people in the two boats which 
 went with Mr. Macdonnell, a number of Indians who were in 
 camp at some distance were sent for, and they came and 
 went into Mr. Macdonnell's tent, w^ho made a speech to them ; 
 tt party went also on horseback from Fort Qu'Appelle armed, 
 but I was in one of the boats with Mr. Macdonnell. In going 
 down the river they talked freely of breaking up the settle- 
 ment and taking Fort Douglas ; and the people frequently 
 told me that Mr. Macdonnell had said the business of the year 
 before had been nothing to what this would be. Mr. Mac- 
 donnell's speech to the Indians was to this effect : 
 
 " My Friends and Relations, — I address you bashfully, for I 
 have not a pipe of tobacco to give you. All our goods have 
 been taken by the English, but we are now upon a party to 
 drive them away. Those people have been spoiling fair lands 
 which belong to you and the Bois-Brul^s, and to which they 
 
15 
 
 have no right. They have been driving away thfe buffalo. 
 You will soon be poor and miserable if the English stay ; but 
 we will drive them away if the Indians do not, for the North- 
 west Company and the Bois-Brul^s are one. If you (address- 
 ing the chief) and some of your young men will join, I shall 
 be glad." Mr. Macdonnell spoke in French, and Pangman 
 and Primeau interpreted. 
 
 "The chief said, 'That he knew nothing about it, and 
 should not go himself ; if some of the young men went, it was 
 nothing to him. 
 
 " Mr. Macdonnell then said : ' Well, it is no matter, we are 
 determined to drive them away, and if they make any resist- 
 ance, your land shall be drenched with their blood.' 
 
 " The next morning the Indians went away, and the party 
 drifted down the Assiniboine River to the Grand Rapids. 
 From there, about thirty started, among whom was Mr. 
 Macdonnell, Cuthbert Grant, and a number of Bois Bruits. I 
 was left behind and still a prisoner, but in the evening a spare 
 horse was brought by two of them for me, and I accompanied 
 them on horseback to the North-west fort near Brandon 
 Hou.se. When I approached, I saw a crowd assembled about 
 the gate. I suppose there were from forty to fifty persons 
 assembled. Their arms were down by the gate, and as I 
 entered it a number of them presented their guns at me, 
 making use of insulting language. I complained to Mr. 
 Macdonnell of this treatment, and asked him if it was by his 
 orders, and he said he would s))eak to them about it, but I do 
 not think he ever did. I saw at this fort, tobacco, carpenter's 
 tools, a quantity of furs, and other things, which had been 
 brought over from Brandon House — our fort near by. 
 
 " About the 24th or 25th of May the party was separated 
 into smaller divisions, and chiefs appointed. The property 
 was embarked, and the whole set off to go to Portage la 
 Prairie; a part went by water, but the Bois-Brul6s generally 
 went by land on horseback. Having arrived at Portage la 
 Prairie, the whole of the pemican and packs were landed and 
 formed into a sort of breastwork or fortification, having two 
 
16 
 
 Mmall brass swivels there, which the year before had been 
 taken from the stores of the settlement. 
 
 " On the morning of the 17th of June, being at Portage la 
 Prairie still, which is about sixty miles from the settlement, 
 the Bois-Brul6s mounted their horses and sot off for it ; they 
 were armed with guns, pistols, lances, and bows and arrows. 
 Cuthbert Grant was with them, and a number of his race. I 
 remained behind, so did Mr. Alexander Macdonneli and others; 
 about thirty or forty men stayed to help guard the pemican. 
 The object of this expedition was to take Fort Douglas and 
 break up the settlement. If the settlers took to the fort for 
 protection, then the whole were to be starved out. The fort 
 was to be watched strictly at all times, and if any of them 
 went out to tish or to get water, they were to be shot if they 
 could not be taken prisoners. I certainly had, from all I 
 heard, very serious apprehensions for my friends. I do not 
 remember that Cuthbert Grant said anything particular on 
 the morning he went away." 
 
 * ♦ « 
 
 The Affaif of Seven Oaks. 
 
 f » 
 
 The following account of the affair of " Seven Oaks " is 
 taken from " The Selkirk Settlement and Settlers " by Mr. C. 
 N. Bell, F. R. G. S., a member of the Society. 
 
 " On Governor Semple's return to Fort Douglas from visit- 
 ing the inland posts of the Hudson's Bay Co., in June, 1816, 
 he again assumed direction cf affairs, which had been tempor- 
 arily managed by Colin Robertson. That he did not al- 
 together approve of the management during his absence is 
 learned from the testimony of an eye-witness, yet living, in 
 the person of Donald Murray, who informs me that Robertson 
 was in great disfavor with the Settlement and Hudson's Bay 
 Co. ofHcials, and when, on hearing of the probability of an 
 attack by the Northwesters, he started for York Factory in 
 a boat, taking Duncan Cameron, a prisoner, he insultingly 
 hoisted a pemican sack as an ensign instead of the British 
 
re had been 
 
 ^■^B. .^.^^ 
 
 RED RIVER SETTLEMEKT. 
 
 Kac-simile of section of Map (i8iS). 
 
 A— Seven Oaks, where Semple fell. 
 R— Cret k where Metis left Assiniboine. 
 C— Frojf Plain (since Kildonaii church) 
 K to F— De Meuron Settlers on Seine. 
 G— Half-brevds (St. Boniface <if today). 
 
 H— Fort Douglas (iSij). 
 
 I— Colony Gardens. 
 
 J— Fort Gibraltar (N. W. Co.) 
 
 K — Road followed by Metis. 
 
 L— Drv Cart trail west of Settlers' lots. 
 

 I 
 
17 
 
 flog which was the usual one used on such occasions. Word 
 was received at the settlement that the Northwesters were 
 determined to destroy both it and the settlers. On the I7th 
 June, Pe^is, chief of the Swampy Indians, residing in the 
 district about the mouth of the Red River, waited on Gover- 
 nor Semple to offer the services of his men, some seventy in 
 number to assist in protecting the colonists. This proffered 
 assistance was declined with thanks by Semple, who did not 
 foresee the occurrences of the succeeding two days. Alex. 
 Macdonnell sent a party of about sixty Canadians and half- 
 breeds with a few Indians, mounted on horseback and bearing 
 some provisions, across by land from the Assiniboine to the 
 Red River, the route followed taking them along the edge of 
 the swamps, about two miles out on the prairie from Fort 
 Douglas, and from that point gradually drawing nearer to the 
 main highway, which is now the northern continuation of 
 Winnipeg's Main street, until it joined the latter at a spot 
 known as " Seven Oaks," on account of the seven oak trees 
 growing there, within a hundred yards or so south of a small 
 coolie, now called Inkster's creek. One half of the Metis had 
 arrived at the coolie and passed on to Frog Plain (KiMonan 
 church prairie), taking two or three settlers prisoners to pre- 
 vent their giving the alarm, when the remainder were dis- 
 covered by a sentinel, placed in the watch tower of Fort 
 Douglas, with a telescope. He immediately gave an alarm, 
 and Governor Semple left the fort with a small party of 
 company's servants to intercept the Metis, whom he met at 
 Seven Oaks as thej' arrived at the highway. Semple had by 
 this time been joined by some of his servants and officials, so 
 that he arrived on the scene with about 28 companions. 
 
 It is difficult to get at the exact truth of what followed 
 this meeting of the rival traders. A host of affidavits are on 
 record made by men on both sides, who, while agreeing in 
 the main particulars, disagree as to details. However, here- 
 with is given a version of the affair emanating from each side. 
 
 TWO ACCOUNTS. 
 
 The first is an affidavit made by John Pritchard, who had 
 
18 
 
 been in the sorvico of both the X Y and Northwest compan- 
 ies, but in 1810 wan a resident of the Selkirk settlement. He 
 was the father of the Rev. 8. Pritchard, and grandfather of 
 Rev. Canon Matlieeon, of this city. 
 
 " On the afternoon of the 19th of June, 1816, a roan in the 
 watch-houNe called out that the half-breeds were coming. 
 The governor, some other gentlemen and myself looked 
 through H|>y-glasKc>s, and I distinctly saw some armed people 
 un horiEoback passing along the plains. A man then called 
 out : 'They (meaning the half-breeds) are making for the 
 settlers,' on which the governor said : We must go out and 
 meet those people ; let twenty men follow me.' We proceeded 
 down the old road leading down the settlement. As we were 
 going along we met many of the settlers running to the foit, 
 crying, ' The half-breeds ! the half-breeds !' When we were 
 advance<l about three-quarters of a mile along the settlement 
 we saw some people on horseback behind a point of woods. 
 On our nearer approach the party seemed to be more num- 
 ei-ous, on which the governor made a halt and sent for a Held 
 piece, which, delaying to arrive, he ordered us to advance. 
 We had not proceeded far before the half-breeds, with their 
 faces painted in the most hideous manner, and in the dresses 
 of Indian warriors, came forward and surrounded us in the 
 form of a half moon. W^e then extended our line and moved 
 more into the open plain, and as they advanced we retreated 
 a few steps backward, and then saw a Canadian named 
 Boucher ride up to us waving his hand and calling out, "what 
 do you want ?" The governor replied, "what do you want ?" 
 To which Boucher answered, "we want our fort." The gover- 
 nor said, " Go to your fort." They were by this time near 
 each other, and consequently spoke too low for me to hear. 
 Being at some little distance to the right of the governor, I 
 saw him take hold of Boucher's gun, and almost immediately 
 a general discharge of lire arms took place, but whether it 
 began on our side or that of the enemy, it was impossible to 
 distinguish. My attention was then directed to my personal 
 defence. In a few minutes almost all our people were 
 
10 
 
 i 
 
 EITHER KILLED OK WOUNDED. 
 
 Captain Rogers, having fallen, ro.se up and camo towards me, 
 when, not seeing one of our party who WJis not either killed 
 or dlsahled, I called out to him, ' For 0(m1'h sake give yourself 
 up !' Ho ran towards the enemy for that purpose, myself 
 following him. He raised up his hands and, and in English 
 and broken French, called for mercy. A half-breed (son of 
 Col. William McKay) shot him through, the head, and another 
 cut open his belly with a knife with the most horrid impreca- 
 tions. Fortunately for me, a Canadian (named Lavignc), 
 joining his entreaties to mine, saved me (though with the 
 greatest difficulty) from sharing the fate of my friend al that 
 moment. After this 1 was restirved from death, in the most 
 providential manner, no less than six ditferent times on my 
 way to and at the Frog Plain (the headquarters of the.se cruel 
 murderers). I there saw Alexander Murray and his wife, 
 two of William Bannerman's children and Alexander Suther- 
 land, settlers, and likewise Antony McDonnell, a servant, 
 were prisoners, having been taken before the action took 
 place. With the exception of myself, no quarter was given to 
 any of us. The knife, axe or ball, put a period to the exist- 
 ence of the wounded ; and on the bodies of the dead were 
 practised all those barbarities which characterize the inhuman 
 heart of the savage. The amiable and mild Mr. Semple, lying 
 on his side (his thigh having been broken) and supporting 
 his head upon his hand, addressed the commander of our 
 enemies, by inquiring if he was Mr. Grant; an! being 
 answered in the affirmative, ' I am not mortally wounded,' 
 said Mr. Semple ; ' and if you get me conveyed to the fort, I 
 think I should live.' Grant promised he would do so, and 
 immediately left him in the care of a Canadian, who after- 
 wards told that an Indian of their party came up and shot 
 Mr. Semple in the breast. I entreated Grant to procure me 
 the watoh, or even the seals, of Mr. Semple, for the purpose 
 of transmitting them to his friend.s, but I did not succeed. 
 Our force amounted to twenty-eight persons, of whom twenty- 
 one were killed and one wounded. The governor, Captain 
 
^0 
 Rogers, Mr. James White, surgeon, Mr. Alexander McLean, 
 settler, Mr. Wilkinson, private secretary to the governor, and 
 Lieut. Holt, of the Swedish navy, and fifteen servants were 
 killed. Mr. J. P. Bourke, storekeeper, was wounded, but 
 saved himself by flight. The enemy, I am told, were sixty- 
 two persons, the greater part of whom were the contracted 
 servants and clerks of the Northwest company. They had 
 one man killed and one wounded. The chiefs who headed 
 the party of our enemy were Messrs. Grant and Fraser, A.ntoine 
 Hoole and Bourassa ; the two former clerks and the two lat- 
 ter interpreters, in the service of the Northwest company." 
 
 BOUCHER'S STORY. 
 
 The above declaration and the following are published in 
 a book entitled " Statements Respecting the Earl of Selkirk's 
 Settlement, etc.," written by Selkirk's relative, a Mr Halkett, 
 a director of the Hudson's Bay Company committee, and it is 
 from this source that most historians have drawn their infor- 
 mation relating to the Selkirk side of the case. 
 
 The man named Boucher, mentioned by Pritchard in his 
 affidavit, was taken as a pi isoner to Monti*eal, and while there 
 made the following declaration, on the 29th of August, 1816, 
 before a justice of the peace : 
 
 " Voluntary declaration of Francois Firmin Boucher, 
 accused on oath of having, on the 19th of last June, killed at 
 the colony of the Red River, twenty-one men, among whom 
 was Governor Semple, says : ' That he did not kill any person 
 whatever; that he was sent, four days before the death of 
 Governor Semple, by one of the partners of the North-west 
 Company, Mr. Alexander McDonell, from Portage la Prairie, 
 to carry provisions to Frog Plain, about three leagues lower 
 than the fort at the Forks of Red River. That he and his 
 companions, to avoid being seen by the Hudson's Bay settlers, 
 passed at a distance from the Hudson's Bay fort. That, with 
 a view of weakening the Hudson's Bay party, the Bois-Brules 
 wanted to carry away some of the Hudson's Bay settlers — 
 and, assisted by the deponent to interpret for them in English, 
 they went and carried one off. That, as they proceeded 
 
towards Frog Plain, they observed a group of Hudson's Bay 
 people — upon which a certain number of the men in the 
 service of the North-west Company, called Bois-Brules, joined 
 the deponent and his companions. That these, thinking the 
 Hudson's Bay people meant them harm, because they ad- 
 vanced with their muskets in their hands, the Bois-BruT^s 
 wanted to fire on them ; but the deponent opposed their 
 doinor so. That at last he advanced alone to the Hudsor . 
 Bay party to speak to them, and came so near Governor 
 Semple, that the latter took hold of the butt end of the depo- 
 nent's gun, and ordered his people to advance ; that they, not 
 obeying him, and the deponent saying that if they tired they 
 were all dead men, Governor Semple said that they must not 
 be afraid, that this was not a time for it, and that they must 
 fire. Immediately the deponent heard the reports of two 
 muskets fired by the Hudson's Bay people. That at this 
 moment the deponent threw himself from his horse, still 
 holding the mane, and that the horse being afraid, dragged 
 him in this manner about the distance of a gun shot, where 
 he remained. That, from the moment when he was thus 
 cari'ied away by his hor.se, the firing became general between 
 the people of the North-west and the Hudson's Bay. That 
 the fire was begun by those of the Hudson's Bay. That the 
 men in the service of the North-west Company were about 
 sixty-four in number (of whom thirty weie at the beginning 
 of the firing), assembled for the purpose of taking the Hud- 
 son's Bay fort by famine. He is uncertain by whose orders, 
 but supposes it was by the chiefs, that is, Mr. McDonnell, Mr. 
 Grant, Antoine Hoolle, and Michael Bourassa. That he heard 
 Mr. McLean enjoin them to avoid a meeting with the Hud- 
 son's Bay people. That after the firing was over he .saw a 
 Bois-Brule named Vasseur near Govei-nor Sempie, then 
 wounded in the knee and arm, who was taking care of him, 
 and who, notwithstanding, had taken his belt or sash, his 
 pistol and his watch, aud afterwards carried them away. 
 That he himself had at the moment saved one Pritchard from 
 
22 
 
 being killed, and also Francois Deschamps and several other 
 Bruits wanted to kill him." 
 
 AFTER THE FIGHT. 
 
 '' Many of the settlers are of the opinion that the first shot 
 fired was by Lieutenant Holt, whose gun went off' by accident, 
 thus [)recipitatiug the conflict. In all, twenty-one persons were 
 killed, the remaining eight escaping iuto the woods, which at 
 that time extended fiom the highway to the river bank, and 
 making their way to Fort Douglas, one or two swimming the 
 Red River and passing up the east side until opposite the 
 fort. It is to be noticed that only one actual settler was 
 killed. 
 
 " At the fort all was confusion, the settlers — men, women 
 and children — crowding into the houses within its walls. Mr. 
 Bourke managed to regain the fort vvith the cannon and a 
 small remnant of the men he took out, and the tale they told 
 struck terror into the hearts of all, who expected an attack 
 would be made immediately by the North-westers. An 
 anxious night was passed, but no attack came, the Bois-Brul^s 
 having a wholesome dread of the cannon possessed by the 
 colonists. 
 
 "John Pritchard had been taken as a prisoner to the camp 
 ground of the main body of the Metis, which was situated 
 where the Kildonan ferry landing now is, I am informed by 
 Mr. Donald Murray, whose parents had also been taken pri- 
 soners on their farm, two lots above that point, on the morn- 
 ing of the tragedy. He begged of Cuthbert Grant, the leader, 
 to be allowed to go to Fort Douglas. After obtaining per- 
 mission from Grant, he met with a refusal from the rest of 
 the party ; but after giving a promise to return, and agreeing 
 to bear a message to the fort people that they must leave the 
 next day for Lake Winnipeg, he was allowed to depart. 
 Grant accompanied him as far as " Seven Oaks," where the 
 bodies of the killed lay upon the ground, but as it was after 
 nightfall when he passed there, he was spared the sight of the 
 horrible scene. 
 
 i& 
 
 i 
 
23 
 
 "Arriving at Fort Douglas, he informed the settlers that 
 the Metis demanded that the colonists should depart, and had 
 promised that if all public property was given up to them, 
 they would give a safe escort to the people and allow them to 
 take all their pei'sonal effects. Two other parties of North- 
 westers were daily expected to arrive in the Red River, one 
 coming fijm the Saskatchewan and the other from Lake 
 Superior, and it would be necessary to send some of the Bois- 
 Brul^s with them to explain the position of affairs. 
 
 "The colonists at first refused to agree to the terms of 
 capitulation, and Sheriff McDonnell, who was in charge of the 
 settlement, decided to hold to the fort as long as the men were 
 inclined to protect it. In the morning, however, after they 
 had more fully considered their situation, the settlers con- 
 cluded to depart, and after several visits of the sheriff to the 
 Metis camp an arrangement was agreed on. 
 
 HOW THE INDIANS ACTED. 
 
 " A number of Indians under Peguis were camped on the 
 east side of the river and took no part in the troubles, but 
 their sympathies were plainly with the colonists. They went 
 out the morning after the engagement and brought in the 
 bodies of the killed, or as many as could then be found, for a 
 small number, I am informed by eye-witnesses, were concealed 
 in the heavy brush in the vicinity, as wounded men had 
 crawled into thickets and there died. Mrs. Kaufman, who yet 
 lives in Kildonan east (since died, 1 892), informs me that she 
 saw the Indians bring in the dead bodies to Fort Douglas with 
 carts, and that Governor Semple and the doctor were buried in 
 board coffins, and the others wrapped up in blankets, the 
 whole number being interred in a grove of trees on the south 
 side of the creek southwest of the fort, and quite near the spot 
 whereon now stands the residence of ex-Mayor Logan. She 
 says the body of one man was naked, the clothes having been 
 stolen before the Indians found it. Mr. Donald Murray also 
 informs me that when the burial took place, Chief Peguis 
 stood near by, with the tears streaming down his face, and he 
 
24 
 
 repeatedly expressed his great sorrow at the sad occurrences 
 taking place. Donald Murray states positively that all these 
 bodies were removed some years after to St. John's Church 
 graveyard, but he is not now able to locate the site of their 
 re-interment. He remembers distinctly that on the morning 
 the settlers handed over the fort to the Metis, all the ammu- 
 nition for the cannon was carried down to the river and 
 thrown into the water from the end of a boat moored in the 
 
 stream. 
 
 » ♦ « 
 
 The ** Se^/en Oaks** Monument. 
 
 The Manitoba Historical and Scientific Society, in pur- 
 suance of its aim of marking the historic spots within their 
 territory with suitable monuments, had in view the erection 
 of a stone on the site of the affair of " Seven Oaks," a spot 
 near the highway, which is a continuation through Kildonan 
 of Main Street, Winnipeg. In 1890 the Countess of Selkirk, 
 the widow of the last Earl of Selkirk, who was the son of the 
 founder of the colony, visited Winnipeg, and offered to erect, 
 under the auspices of the Society, a monument of the 
 battle. This generous oflfer was gladly accepted, and a site 
 was given by Miss Inkster, sister of Sheriff Inkster, for the 
 purposes of the Society. In 1801 the monument, prepared by 
 Mr. Samuel Hoopei, of Winnipeg, was placed in position, and 
 the Society, with a large company, proceeded to the unveiling 
 of the monument on the 19th of June, the anniversary of the 
 
 battle. 
 
 » ♦ » 
 
 V .. The Unveiling. 
 
 The ceremony of the unveiling of the " Seven Oaks " 
 monument in Kildonan took place on the afternoon of June 
 19th, and was well attended by old settlers of that vicinity 
 and also by citizens of Winnipeg. Lieutenant-Governor 
 Schultz and party drove down in four carriages. With His 
 
 f BWWWtWWW" "^*^^ 
 
25 
 
 Honor were Mr. tfohn MacBeth, President of the H)s^r|p£^l 
 Society ; Col. Villiers and Col. Howard. In another carriage 
 were Mr. C. N. Bell, Corresponding Seo*etary of the Society, 
 Lieutenant Williams, and Mr. Ernest Phair, His Honor's 
 private secretary. The ladies of the party were Mrs. Schultz, 
 Mrs. Chief Justice Taylor, Mrs. Howard, Mrs. MacBeth, Mrs. 
 W. J. Tupper, Mrs. Jelly man, of Chicago, Miss McDonald, and 
 Miss Mair. The old families of the Red River settlement 
 were represented by Messrs. Archibald Pritchard, sr., Wm. 
 Fraser, Norman Matheson, Hector Sutherland, Dimald Suther- 
 land, Robert Sutherland, Angus Poison, Geo. Munroe, Jno. 
 Bruce, Robert MacBeth, Sheriff Inkster. Miss Inkster, who 
 gave the site for the monument, was among the ladies present. 
 On the platform were the Lieutenant-Governor, Messrs. John 
 MacBeth, C. N. Bell, Chief Justice Taylor, Mr. Justice Dubuc, 
 U. S. Consul Taylor, Canon Matheson, Col. Villiers, and Col. 
 Howard. Among the others noticed on the grounds were 
 Messrs. G. F. Carruthers, C. P. Brown and Mrs. Brown, James 
 Porter, W. D. Russell, T. C. Keenleyside, Dr. Phillips, Prof. 
 Laiid, J. T. Huggard, Archer Martin, and W. F. Henderson. 
 
 The proceedings were opened with r.n address by the 
 President of the Historical Society, Mr. John MacBeth, who 
 spoke as follows : — 
 
 THE president's ADDRESS. 
 
 Your Honor, Ladies and Gentlemen, — We have met 
 together to- day to unveil a monument, to mark one of the 
 historic spots in our country. Before proceeding further, I, 
 as President of the Manitoba Historical and Scientific Society, 
 wish to tender to the council and members of that body my 
 grateful thanks for doing me the honor of electing me to the 
 honorable position of president. No one more fully appre- 
 ciates the fact than I do, that my election to preside over a 
 society composed of so many learned and scientific gentlemen 
 as is the one I have just referred to, was not made on account 
 of my fitness for this honorable position, but entirely intended 
 as a delicate compliment to the old settlers of this country by 
 my colleagues. I would be indeed ungrateful if I did not 
 
26 
 
 here publicly tender my thanks to the members of the Mani- 
 toba HiMtorical and Scientific Society, for thus honoring the 
 old Selkirk settlers, by electing one of their number, humble 
 and incapable though he may be, to preside on this occasion. 
 Ou the 19th of June, 1816, just 75 years ago, an unfortunate 
 conflict took place between the rival trading companies, the 
 Hudson's Bay and North-west, in which Governor Semple 
 and twenty men fell. Without entering into the causes which 
 led to this lamentable affair, the Manitoba Historical and 
 Scientific Society are simply erecting this monument to mark, 
 OS I said before, a historic spot. I wish here publicly to ex. 
 pi'ess the thanks of this Society to her Ladyship the Countess 
 of Selkirk, who, many of you will remember, visited this 
 countiy and this spot a short time ago, for generously fur- 
 nishing us with the necessary funds for erecting this monu- 
 ment. I also wish to tender, on behalf of the Society, our 
 grateful thanks to Miss Inkster, who kindly donated to us 
 the land on M'hich this monument stands. I wish also, on 
 behalf of the Society, to thank His Honor the Lieutenant- 
 Governor for his kindness in consenting to unveil this monu- 
 ment ; and for myself, as president, to thank him for his kind 
 attention and assistance on this occasion. I uaunot conclude 
 these few remarks without expressing the thanks of the 
 Society to the Messrs. Hooper, who made and erected this 
 monument, for their promptness in the execution of their 
 contract. Before proceeding to the unveiling ceremonies, Mr. 
 0. N. Bell, our energetic and capable corresponding secretary, 
 and ex-president, will read a brief sketch of the events 
 commemorated by the monument. 
 
 A HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 Mr. C. N. Bell was next called upon. He read the follow- 
 ing account of the event commemorated by the monument : — 
 
 THE BATTLE OF THE "SEVEN OAKS." 
 
 Ladies h,nd gentlemen, — I have been requested by the 
 Manitoba Historical and Scientific Society to read a short 
 sketch of the incidents that have made the spot we now stand 
 
^7 
 
 upon ftn historic one in the annals of the Canadian North- 
 west. Without entering into the merits of the diHpute that 
 ; led to the unfortunate affray which took place here, it will he 
 [necessary for me to state a few facts in connection with the 
 [occurrence, which are established by historical documents and 
 [sv/arn evidence offered in the courts of law in Canada. 
 
 Prior to the first years of the present century, the Hud- 
 son's Bay Company (speaking in general terms) had not 
 established themselves on the hanks of the Red River in any 
 permanent posts. The North-west Company, composed mostly 
 of Montreal merchants, with headquarters at Fort William, on 
 Lake Superior, had a large number of employes engaged in 
 the several branches of the fur trade, and occupied in their 
 trapping pursuits the country extending from Lake Superior 
 to Lake Winnipeg, and the lands adjacent to the Red. Assini- 
 boine, Saskatchewan, ^ thabasca and McKenzie Rivers. The 
 North-westers claimed a full right to trade in this country by 
 virtue of exploration and occupation. The Hudson's Bay 
 Company claimed exclusive trading privileges in this same 
 district, as part of the territory described in their charter of 
 1670. 
 
 In 1811 Lord Selkirk gained a controlling voice in the 
 affairs of the Hudson's Bay Company in England, and ob- 
 tained from the Company a grant in fee simple of 116,000 
 square miles of territory in the Red River Valley, on the 
 condition that he founded a colony on the ground, and fur- 
 nished from among the settlers, on certain terms, such laborers 
 as were required by the Company in their trading operations. 
 Lord Selkirk immediately after this date made arrangements 
 for establishing a colony, and brought out by way of York 
 Factory a number of settlers, mainly from Scotland. These 
 landed on the bank of the Red River, in the vicinity of Point 
 Douglas, in the autumn of 1812, Captain Miles Macdonnell 
 being placed in charge of the colony as resident governor. 
 The colonists were in succeeding years joined by other parties 
 from the British Isles. 
 
 During the tint year or two, the officers of the Hudson's 
 
28 
 
 Bay Company and the North-west Company lived on amicable 
 terms ; the North-westers having their Fort Gibraltar on the 
 north bank of the Assiniboine, where that stream joins the 
 Red River. The colonists had their Fori Douglas, on the 
 poini just north of the small coulee, which enters the Red 
 River south of George Street, within the present City of 
 Winnipeg. (The building known as " The Bungalow " is on 
 the site.) Soon, however, disputes arose between the chief 
 officers of the two companies a^ to the rights for trading for 
 f ura and provisions, which terminated in a number of attacks 
 on each others posts, under the guise of legal actions. Gover- 
 nor Miles Macdonnell claimed authority as governor of th^ 
 colony and by direction of Lord Selkirk ; and the Wintering 
 Partner of the North-west Company, who was in charge at 
 Fort Gibraltar, was a justice of the peace for the Indian terri- 
 tory, holding his authority under the commission of the 
 Governor-General of Canada. 
 
 In November, 1815, Governor Robert Scmple assumed 
 control of Lord Selkirk's territory. On the 19th of June, 
 1816, after a winter passed amidst alarming rumors as to 
 what cither party would do in the spring, a mounted band of 
 some sixty North-westers, when proceeding from the western 
 plains with provisions, left the bank of the Assiniboine about 
 Silver Heights, and struck across the prairie just outside the 
 present city limits, heading for th^ banks of the Red River in 
 Kildonan. They were conveying provisions for the crews of 
 boats arriving from the inland districts and Fort William, 
 who received supplies at Lake Winnipeg, for use both coming 
 in and going out. As the party travelled towards Kildonan, 
 the lookout men stationed in the watch tower at Fort Douglas 
 noticed the cavalcade, and hastily issued an alarm to the 
 inhabitants of the settlement, who, owing to the alarming 
 rumors current, had for the most part congregated within the 
 fort. Governor Semple, calling on his servants and a few 
 settlers, for some reason never satisfactorily explained, ad- 
 vanced with twenty-seven others, fully armed, across Point 
 Douglas towards what is now known as Inkster's Creek, with 
 
29 
 the intention of interviewing the Nortli -westers. On Governor 
 Semple reaching this place where wo now stand, and which 
 derives its name from the fact that seven large oak trees stood 
 here at that time, the North-westers, who had crossed the 
 creek, returned, meeting the governor's party on the south 
 side, when a conversation took place between the governor 
 and one of the North- westers regarding the purpose of each 
 others presence. What immediately then took place is prac- 
 tically as follows : According to sworn evidence afterwards 
 given, a gun was accidentally discharged, and both parties 
 thinking that the other had begun the attack, fired into each 
 other. The North-westers (it has been claimed 30 only were 
 at the moment present), being mounted, spread themselves 
 out in a half circle around the settlers, who wei-e grouped 
 together and received the full effect of their opponents' fire, 
 so that in a few minutes twenty -one of the Semple party and 
 one North-wester lay dead upon the field. The remaining 
 seven or eight escaped to the woods, which here stretched to 
 the banks of the Red River. Governor Semple, Lieutenant 
 Holt, Capt. Rogers, Dr. James White, and Dr. Wilkinson, 
 private secretary to the Governor, were among the dead. 
 The survivors, hastily returning to the fort, announced the 
 sad intelligence, and all was confusion. Closely following 
 upon this event, a demand was made by the chiefs of the 
 North-westers that the settlers should immediately embark 
 and abandon the settlement, under pain, if they remained, of 
 having the fort destroyed and meeting with death. After 
 some negotiations, the settlers agreed to do this ultimatum, 
 and entering their boats, with such family goods as they could 
 hastily gather together, passed down the Red River and Lake 
 Winnipeg to Norway House, then known as Jack Fish House, 
 where they remained during that winter, returning to the 
 settlement in the following spring, after the arrival of Lord 
 Selkirk, with an armed force, which ensured their protection. 
 Notwithstanding the petitions of the rival companies, the 
 Imperial Government had, up to this time, declined to inter- 
 fere between the claims of the two rival companies. The 
 
90 
 
 Qovernment were now compelled to interfere, and sent to the 
 Red River settlement as commiBsitmer, Col. W. B. Coltman, a 
 prominent citizen of Lower Canada, who journeyed through 
 to the Red River Settlement in 1817, and issued pfoclania- 
 tiorts in the King's name, commanding a cessation of hostili- 
 ties. Col. Coltman held conferences in the Red River settle- 
 ment and arranged with Lord Selkirk and the representatives 
 of the North-west company that the peace should not again be 
 disturbed, after which he again returned to Montreal and 
 sent in his report (which appears as an Imperial Blue Book 
 1819), while Lord Selkirk departed via the United States. 
 From this date to 1820-1821 the settlers were not disturbed 
 by any act of violence, and during the years named such 
 pressure was brought to bear on the two rival companies that 
 they amalgamated under the name of the Hudson's Eay com- 
 pany, and have since enjoyed the privileges granted under 
 their charter of 1670. 
 
 Thus while the unfortunate affray which here took place 
 caused much suiiering and affliction at the time, it was the 
 last of the troubles which had for some years harrassed and 
 disturbed the settlement, and this monument is erected by 
 the Manitoba Historical Society, by means of the generous 
 aid granted by the present Lady Selkirk, to mark the spot on 
 which was enacted a tragedy, which forms one of the most 
 salient points in the history of the Red River Settlement, for 
 the unfortunate occurrence led to the peaceful solution of all 
 the artificial ills that distressed the lirst agriculturists, who 
 first proved to the world the fertility of the lands of the Red 
 River Valley of the North. 
 
 The Historical Society have long desired, and had in view, 
 the tnarking of several historical sites, such as the Seven 
 Oaks, Fort Douglas and Fort Gibralter, and have been enabled 
 through the kindness of Lady Selkirk to make this beginning. 
 The w^ork of the Society, in this direction however, will not 
 be completed until a suicable tribute is paid to the intelligence, 
 energy and patriotism of La Verandrye, and the self-sacrificing 
 French-Canadian discoverer and explorer of this province, by 
 
81 
 
 the erection of a stately and handBorae monument, bearing on 
 its face some record of his life's work. 
 
 Cha8. N. Bell, 
 Correspontling Secretary, 
 
 THE OOVERNQR'S SPEECH. 
 
 The Lieutenant-Qovernor was then asked to address the 
 assembly and unveil the monument. He said : — 
 
 Mr. President and Members of the Historical Society, 
 Ladies and Gentlemen : 
 
 You have heard from authoritative sources to-day all that 
 relates to the monument V)eforc us, and upon that subject I 
 need not touch ; but the present seems to me to be an occasion 
 when we sliould all acknowledge the value of the services 
 which have been rendered to the people of this province and 
 and of the Dominion by the Historical Society of Manitola 
 and it is to their great credit that what we see to-day is only 
 one of the many instance s I might refer to, where their aid 
 has been of the greatest value in giving permanency to those 
 portions of the history of this country which, already dimmed 
 by time in the memories of living men, are in danger of pass- 
 ing into the realm of vague tradition, or of being wholly lost. 
 
 I have been requested by the President and Council of 
 this Society, on the anniversary of the event, to unveil the 
 monument which commemorates it ; and while there may be 
 differences of opinion as to the causes which led to the combat 
 and loss of life these stones record, yet everyone present who 
 is familiar with the early hi.story of this country will agree 
 with me that, even apart entirely from these events, this 
 monument stands upon historic ground, and the Society, in 
 determining the site to mark the battle of Seven Oaks, which 
 extended from the grove which gave it its name to near Fort 
 Douglas, was wise, I think, in placing it near this great high- 
 way, which traversing as it does this province from north to 
 south and east to west, is but the enlargement of the trail 
 which connected the great northern waters and woods, the 
 home of the Chippewyan and Cree, with the vast p^-airies of 
 
as 
 
 the south and woHt, where dwelt, differing in languaj^e only, 
 the divisionH of that groat and warlilce nation, the Dakotaha. 
 I have aaid tliat this road, whether an Indian trail or KingH 
 highway, in old or more recent times, is indeed historic. 
 Over it, in the dim past which antedates even Indian tradi- 
 tion, must have passed those aboriginal inhabitants whose 
 interesting sepulchral remains near St. Andrew's Rapids and 
 elsewhere, excite wonder and stimulate conjecture, and shew 
 them to have been a race superior in many respects to those 
 which succeeded them. Over this road and near this spot 
 must have passed the war parties of the Assiniboines in their 
 futile effort to oppose with ariow, tomahawk, and spear, the 
 invading noi thorn and eastern Cree, who had doubtless when 
 similarly armed envied in vain the warlike " Stony " his pos- 
 session of what was later known as the Imago and White 
 Horse Plains, with their countless herds of Bison ; and when 
 the earlier possession of tire-arms gave the Cree the ascen- 
 dancy he sought, and that dread scourage, the small-pox, had 
 thinned the Assiniboine ranks, it must have been along this 
 great trail they retreated towards the blue hills of Brandon 
 and o the upper watera of the river which still bears their 
 name. I^a Verandrye, the first whice man who looked on this 
 fair land, must have seen this spot and passed by this trail, 
 and while it was yet a bridle path or cart track, and long 
 before it was known, as it afterwards became, the King's 
 Highway, men who were great in their day and gencratioip 
 and are deservedly still remembered for their important dis- 
 coveries and their administrative abilities have trodden the 
 l)ath which lies at our feet. Over it has passed discoverer, 
 courier, missionary, Arctic voyager, chief, warrior and medi- 
 cineman, governor, factor, judge, councillor and commander ; 
 along it have been carried wampum and tomahawk, message 
 of peace and war. It has heard the rumble of artillery and 
 the steady march of the Sixth of the Line, the Royal Cana- 
 dian and 60th Rifles ; and along its course the hard-pressed 
 founders of the Selkirk Settlement alternately struggled 
 southwards in search of food or hurried northward for safety 
 
33 
 with steps of fear. Over it have travelled the pioneer priests, 
 mini8t«r and bishops of the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Presby- 
 terian and Wesloyan churches. The governors of tho Hudson's 
 Bay company have, as well as the lieutenants of the governors 
 of the Dominion of Canada, all passed this way. Truly this is 
 an historic place ; and from the spot where I now stand could 
 once have been seen nearly all of the old historic strongholds 
 of the Hudson's Bay, the North-west, and the X Y Com- 
 panies. From it may still bo seen places made memorable by 
 the good works of the Rev. Mr. West, Bishops Anderson and 
 Provencher, the Rev. John Black, and other devoted men ; 
 within view are the reHidences of Hon. John Inkster, the 
 father of our worthy sheriff, a member of tho old Council of 
 Assiniboia, and that of my brave and valued old friend, Hon. 
 Robert McBeth, also a member, and the father of the Presi- 
 dent of our Historical Society, whose instincts of hospitality 
 were not to be thwarted by the knowledge that confiHcation 
 and worse might follow his shelter of a hard-hunted friend ; 
 and I see all around mo here worthy children of such worthy 
 sires, the descendants of those pioneer Selkirk settlers whose 
 tale of sorrow, suffering and danger always evokes sympathy 
 and wonder. Mr. President, we are, if T mistake not, near the 
 place where the first plow turned the first furrow— :-presage of 
 peace, plenty and prosperity — on the eastern verge of that 
 vast prairie which extends to the Rocky Mountains; and 
 having suitably marked the scene of battle, let us bury with 
 the foundation of this monument the feuds, jealousies and 
 strifes of the past which it recalls, and remembering that 
 English and Irisn, Scandinavian, German and the defcendants 
 of the gallant Gauls and Gaels, as well as those of mixed 
 . blood, who have figured so prominently in the annals of this 
 country, are now, by the mandate of our Queen, of one 
 country and one people ; and while still heirs of the unsullied 
 patriotism and the invincible couiage of our colonial and pro- 
 vincial ancestry, and proud of the heroic past, wherein English 
 vied with French in the defence of their common country, we 
 are Canadians all, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and we 
 
:1«.^ 
 
 34 
 may look forward with that hope which is justified by the 
 immensity and value of our resources, by the law-abiding, 
 moral and religious character of our people. If we be true to 
 our G . and ourselves in the great trust He has imposed 
 upon us, endeavoring to avoid those strifes of race and creed 
 which it was a great part of the life work of the great 
 Canadian who now, amid the sorrow of the nation, sleeps with 
 his fathers at Cataraqui, to reconcile, we may be the buildei-s 
 of a nation forming part of an empire greater than any the 
 world has yet seen ; and upon this continent to be a Canadian 
 citizen may be even a proudei boast than was that of the 
 citizen of an ancient empire, less great than is ours now, 
 "Civis Romanus sum." Mr. President, I have spoken too 
 long, and will now proceed to execute the duty with which 
 your council has entrusted to me ; and in the name of the 
 contributors to this memorial, in the name of the president, 
 officers and members of the Historical Society of Manitoba, I 
 unveil this monument, which marks the scene of the battle of 
 Seven Oaks, in the hope that when these rocks are seen from 
 the historic path near which it is placed, and from the railway 
 which passes close by, types in themselves of the change from 
 the old to the new, it will be remembered that as nature has 
 clothed with verdure this spot, once wet with blood, so should 
 we, except as matters of historic interest and record, clothe 
 with forgetfulness all animosities, jealousies, bitternesses and 
 strifes, and turning to the fair prospects before us as an united 
 people and nation, thank Almighty God that the sad past is 
 indeed past, and implore His blessing upon our efforts for a 
 brighter future. 
 
 At the close of his remarks His Honor unveiled the monu- 
 ni^^nt, the act being greeted with general applause. The 
 monument is of native Selkirk stone, and the workmanship a 
 credit to the designer, Mr. S. Hooper. It stands nine feet six 
 inches in height, and its size is four feet at the base. On the 
 top is carved a wreath of flowers. The inscription is on the 
 west side, facing Main street. On the upper portion are 
 carved the words, " Seven Oaks," and beneath is the inscrip- 
 
ip. 
 
 35 
 tion: "Erected in 1891 by the Manitoba Historical Society, 
 through the generosity of the Countess of Selkirk, on the site 
 of Seven Oaks, where fell Governor Robert Semple and twenty 
 of his officers and men, June 19th, 1816." 
 
 The ceremony of the unveiling was followed by several 
 short addresses. 
 
 Rev. Canon Matheson spoke as follows : As a native of 
 Manitoba, and one born within a few rods of this historic 
 spot, I have been asked to say a few words on the occasion of 
 the unveiling of this monument. Three-quarters of a century 
 ago to-day my grandfather took part in the unfortunate con- 
 flict which occurred on the banks of this ravine, and was one 
 of the few who survived that sad and fatal day in the annals 
 of the Red River colony. He owed his life to the clemency 
 and intercession of a friendly French-Canadian, and his record 
 of the affair, known as Pritchard's narrative, is perhaps the 
 most accurate which we possess to-day. As the adopted son 
 in the home of that grandfather, I well remember what a 
 close friendship was cherished and maintained to the relatives 
 of that French Canadian for his kind deed to the head of our 
 family in this land. Being, then, one of the direct descendants 
 of a family so intimately connected with the history of the 
 event which we mark to-day, my nature would be impervious 
 to all sentiment were there not sometbing stirred up in my 
 breast by the ceremony of this afternoon. My feeling is one 
 of thankfulness, and that thankfulneas is of a three-fold 
 nature. I am thankful, first of all, that we natives can claim 
 such close kinship with the distant past of a country which is 
 destined to have such a glorious future. I am thankful, in 
 the scond place, that a wise Providence overruled the disunion 
 of that past, and so soon welded the discordant and oppress- 
 ing elements of those early days in a community of a happy, 
 contented and self-reliant people. It was well, perhaps, that 
 our colony was thus at its inception baptized in struggle. It 
 tended to make those pioneer forefathers of ours staunch men, 
 staunch nnd true to lay broad and deep the foundations of 
 that God-fearing little community in which it was our privi- 
 
86 
 lege to be nurtured. Our present is a consequence of that 
 past. We live to-day under the grateful shade of the tiee 
 which nur forefathers planted. We reap in peace to-day the 
 harvest, the seeds of which they sowed in toil and blood. 
 
 In the third place I would thank the members of the 
 Historical Society and the Countess of Selkirk; I would 
 thank them on behalf of the natives of the country, if I might 
 be permitted to do so, for rearing this monument to perpetu- 
 ate the memory of an event in our country's history. This is 
 indeed a pleasing evidence of their interest in and of their 
 close identification with the history of their adopted country. 
 I will say no more, as there are other representatives of those 
 connected with the event we commemorate who may wish to 
 say a word or two. As I look around me, however, a thought 
 comes to me. This monument erected in the parish in which 
 it is my privilege to minister, and standing in my pathway as 
 I go around with the message of peace which passes all 
 understanding, will be a constant reminder to me of what we 
 owe to the God of our fathers who has spoken His peace to 
 this land, which was once the warpath of the plumed and 
 painted savage of our plains. " Seven Oaks," once the scene 
 of a battle bitter in its cruel intent, is now the scene of a 
 battle benign in its benevolence, the scene of a contest in the 
 civilities of a cultured life, the arena for the display of thase 
 amenities of social life which make it the meeting place, not 
 of hostile factions but of hospitality's friends, the rendezvous 
 where old times keep ever green the memories and friendship 
 of the past, and where new-comers receive a warm welcome to 
 the land of their adoption. 
 
 U. S. Consul Taj'^lor remarked that he attended this 
 interesti/^g occasion with the assurance that he should enjo^ 
 the luxury of being a listener to President McBeth, Governor 
 Schultz and Secretary Bell, and not a haunted man, oppressed 
 by an engagement or a call to speak. Still he would endea- 
 vor to second what has been so well said of two Selkirk ladies. 
 Firstly, he referred to Cicely Louisa, Countess of Selkirk, and 
 the last of the title he regretted to add, whose visit to the 
 
scene 
 
 i this 
 
 vernor 
 ressed 
 endea- 
 ladies. 
 k, and 
 to the 
 
 87 
 
 Selkirk Settlement, now Manitoba, in 1889 was a most inter- 
 esting event. The consul was present on two occasions, a 
 Sunday service at Kildonan church and a garden party on 
 the site of Fort Douglas, now the residence of ex- Mayor 
 Logan, and when the representatives of the colonists of 1812- 
 16, (actual colonists in the instances of Matheson, and a Ban- 
 ncruian, and a Poison) were presented to her Ladyship her 
 personal knowledge of every family was most wonderful. It 
 was his privilege to be present with Mr. and Mrs. John 
 Fraser at the anniversary of their marriage fifty years before, 
 it being the first union of children bom in the colony on 
 the Red River. The Historical Society owes to her Ladyship 
 the suggestion and tha fact of the present memorial of 
 Fort Douglas, and its site is the approf)riate donation of 
 Miss Mary Inkster of " Seven Oaks," a descendant of the 
 sterling Norse element of the Orkney Islands — that invalu- 
 able portion of the population of Central Canada which is 
 native to the soil in the names of Bannatyne, Norquay, 
 Inkster, Clouston, Poison and others equally and honorably 
 memorable. Yesterday — 18th of June — was marked by n, 
 Norse demonstration — a kindred event in the ethnology of 
 Manitoba. The Icelandic element of the Province, 5,000 
 strong, assisted by influential deputations from Minnesota 
 and Dakota, including two representatives in the Leglislature 
 of North Dakota, celebrated by an imposing procession and 
 exercises the inauguration of self-government in Iceland, 1,017 
 years ago. The oldest historic Scandinavian stock has 
 found its new home in the great prairie ocean of Northwest 
 America, and so is destined to be repeated in this new world 
 the story of the bold Northmen of yore — the sons of Thor — 
 who rolled the conquests of the Teuton to the gates of Im- 
 perial Rome and gave new and wholesome life to the civiliza- 
 tion of Europe. So mote it be on the American continent. 
 
 Judge Dubuc spoke of himself as being, not a descendant 
 of the old settlers, but one of the pioneer settlers of the new 
 generation, he having come here twenty years ago in the 
 month of June. He had been glad to find a very fine country 
 
38 
 and the people very hospitable. He said he had been glad to 
 hear the references to the first white man who had come to 
 this country, and referred to the fact that the foundation of a 
 monument to La Verandrye had been commenced in St. Boni- 
 face. 
 
 Col. Villiers and Col. Howard were called upon to speak, 
 and in a few words they expressed their pleasure at being 
 present, and congratulated tb Society on the completion of 
 its enterprise. 
 
 Cheers were then given uccessively for the Queen, the 
 Governor-General, the Lieutenant-Governor, and (at the call 
 of his Honor) for the Historical Society and Lady Selkirk. 
 
^lad to 
 
 ine to 
 
 m of a 
 
 Boni- 
 
 speak, 
 
 being 
 
 ion of 
 
 in, the 
 le call 
 rk.