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I ■><

"THE RED RIVER REBELLION:"

THE CAUSE OF IT.

IN A SBBIKS OF

LETTEBS TO THE BBtTISH GOTEBNMENT ON THE IBfPOKTANCE OF
OFBNINa THE OVSBLAND BOUTB THBOtJOH BUPEBrS AMEBIGA,
FBOM CANADA TO BBTTISH COLUMBIA, FOB THE INTBODUCTION
OF MEANS FOB THE ADMINISTBATION OF JtTSTICE THEBEIN;
THE FBOMOTION OF EMIGBATIONj AND BAENBST APPEALS TO
STAT BLOODSHED IN THE BED BIVEB SETTLEMENT, BY EX-
TENDING BI0HTE0I7S EULE TO THAT COtJNTET.

.«<••«.

BT THE

REV. G. 0. COEBETT, M.D.,

Authc- of "Notes on Ruptrt^s America" 1868, showing the History, Law, and

Resources of those Regions ; and Author of " A Diary Recording the

Bright Dying Testimony of the Rev^H. A. Simeoe" 1870, drv.

!^(

ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL. »

LONDON:
PRINTED FOB THE AUTHOR BY CASSELL. PETTEB, A GALPIN.

1870.

CofUt may h* had of the Author. Price On« Shilling.
.[ALL BIGHTS EESFRVBD.]

Mt;

"THE RED mm REBELLION:'

T HE C A U S E C) F J ^I\

IN A Sl,l(li;s ol

MOTTEliS TO THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT ON THE IMI'Ol.'TANL'i': (IK
OPENING THE OVERLAND liOlTE THROUGH KUl'Eiri S AMKKICA.
FR03I CANADA TO BRITISH COLUMBIA, FOR THE INTr.ODlCTIOX
OF MEANS FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF JFSTICE THEREIN:
■IHE PROMOTION OF EMIGRATION: AND EAi.NEST APIMOAL'^ T()
STAY BLOODSHED IN THE RED RIVER SETTLEMENT V,Y EX-
TENDING RIGH'rEOUS RTl.E TO THAT COINTRV

14 Y THK

REV. G. 0. COEBETT, M.I).,

Uif/ior of '■'■ N'otcs on Rupert's America,'' l868, s/ioivi'ng the Uiflory, Laze, iuni

!\\:H>ii7res of those Kei^/oiis : and Aittlior of ".7 Diary lu'rcirdini; the

lh-i:^lit Dvin;^ Testimony of the Ra-. If. A. Simeoe," iSjc. e^r.

ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL.

LONDON:
FEINTED FOK THE .\UTHOE BY CASSEI-L, TETTEK. .^ CALPTX.

IS70.

Coynes may he hud of tlie Avihoe. I'rU'c (Jin.- HhiUinri.
[ALL RTUHTS RESERVED.)

METROPOLfTAN

c I , I

CEffi'RAL
LICRARY

History

2JL

JUL 1 WO

INTRODUCTION.

The following Letters are published to throw light
on the discussion in the public papers of what is
designated as "The Red Eiver Rebellion." In the
Daily Telegraph of January 11th, and the Moriiinfj
Standard of January 19th and 20th, we read excellent
articles on the subject. In the Standard oi the 19th
appears a very able letter from A. K. Isbister, Esq.,
barrister, &c., who is quite competent to write on this
question. The comments in the Standard and Ti'le-
graph agree in advising the formation of the Red
River country into a Crown Colony, the Standard
showing that the Red River Settlers aver that,
although the Canadian Government has given (pro-
mised) £300,000 to the Hudson's Bay Company for
certain territories, the people are not included in this
bargain, seeing that they never were an appanage
of the Hudson's Bay Company ; that Canada could
not buy what it was not the Company's to sell ; that,
in any case, they ought not .to be transferred to a

third power without their leave and consent ; that
tiiey decline to be sold as a chattel of the Hudson's
I)ay territory, as the peo]3le of Alaska were to the
I'nited States ; and protest that, if British subjects at
all, they are the sul)jects not of Canada, but of
England ; that they are a colony of England, and not
"a colony of a colony;" that it is a case, in fact, pre-
cisely parallel with that of Xew Zealand, with this
dlflerence only — that there is even a clearer responsi-
bility attaching to the mother country, and a stronger
riglit on the part of the loyal subjects of the Crown to
claim the interference of the (jrovernment ; that either
they are British subjects, or they are not — if they
are, then their allegiance is to England and not to
C^anada ; if they are not, still less right have the
Canadians to annex them by violence — to make war,
in fact, in the Queen's name, against a people not the
(Queen's enemies; that the lied Eiver people have
" ;'. very reasonable grievance ;" that " the matter is
a very serious one," and on it hangs not only the
peace of our North American territory, but the
i'uture of the colonies, &c. ; in short, oj)inions
identical with those contained in the subjoined cor-
respondence.

Since posting my last letter to Earl Granville, I

:ille, I

have seen a letter from Red Eiver to a geutlem.'Mi in
London, giving the information that Captain AVilliani
Hallette and his son were made prisoners by the
French ; that Dr. Schultz had fled from his premises,
and the persons who had guarded his store taken
prisoners, and that others were meditating to flee
from their homes to some place of safety. TL?
French, knowing well the opinions and dissatisfaction
of the English portion of the inhabitants, no doubt,
calculated upon their joining them in this move-
ment ; and now that some of the English half-breeds
are made prisoners this will but exasperate them and
kindle a feeling of intenser dissatisfaction with the
British Government, for, in fact, having brought
about their imprisonment, and all the anxiety, and
peril, and possibly bloodshed yet, by its tardy and
inadequate line of policy pursued. The fault is a
most serious one, and delay will aggravate it, besides
its having already held up the rule of the white man
to rebuke in the estimation of the aborigines of the
soil over all the territory, and lessened the influence
of Christianity among them, when it is the manifest
design of Divine Providence in raising up Great
Britain among the nations to make it the great
instrument for spreading the Christian religion over

the globe, for protecting the weak, removing op-
pression, and fostering civilisation, and especially in
such a fine field for immigration as Rupert's America,
which has been one of the British dependencies for
the last 200 years.

*#* A telegram in this day's paper {Telegraph, 24th January) says
that those imprisoned at Red River had arrived at Pembina ; that
the insurgents have started a newspaper, called the New Nation,
conducted by an American lawyer, and declares the authority of the
Hudson's Bay Company to be absolute. This gives confirmation to
recent articles in the Morning Advertiser. But will a section of the
Hudson's Bay Company's agents assume such a basis after getting
the promise of payment for relinquishing their assumed status? I
trow not. Yet some of them are influential Americans. Another
telegram announces that the Hudson's Bay Company at present
recognise this new gavemment of the people. Wherefore ? Carried
before the current ? Or how has such an association come about ?
A telegram just arrived confirms the avowed political purpose of the
Red River insurgents, which is — the establishment of independence,
with a view of ultimate annexation to the United States ; and that
copies of their new organ, the New Nation, have arrived in London.
— Daily Telegraph, Jan. 28th. A special <^elegram also appears in the
Pall Mall Gazette, Jan. 29th, and an important article in the Weekly
Times of the same day, on the " Red River Rebellion."

"THE EED EIVER EEBELLION:"

THE CAUSE OF IT,

The Eectory, Sandy, Bedfordshire,

August 25th, 1868.
May it please your Grace, — I beg leave most
respectfully to enclose and forward, per this day's
post, my Letter and "Notes on Eupert's America,"
addressed to your Grace, in print, in the hope that
in this form they may receive your approval, and
advance the cause at heart.

I have the honour to be,
Your Grace's most obedient and humble servant,

G. 0. CORBETT.

To his Grace the Duke of Buckingham,

Her Majesty's Secretary for the Colonies,
Colonial Office, Downing Street, London.

Colonial Office,

August 27th, 1868.
Eeverend Sir, — I am desired by the Duke of
Buckingham and Chandos to acknowledge, with his
thanks, the receipt of your letter of the 25th instant,
and of a copy of your " Notes on Eupert's America."

Your obedient servant,

H. S. Bryant.
The Eev. G. 0. Corbett.

B 2

Avhwwle(1(jment from the Secretary of State of Canada.

Canada, Ottawa,

Oct. 17tb, 1868.
Reverend Sir, — I am directed by the Honourable
the Secretary of State of Canada to acknowledge, with
his most sincere thanks, the receipt of your "Notes
on Eupert's America, its History and Eer-ources, &c.,"
and to assure you that the subject of this valuable
publication will draw his particular attention.
I have the honour to be, Eeverend Sir,

Your most obedient servant,
E. Pareur,
Under Secretary of State.
The Eev. G. 0. Corbett, M.D., &c.

Penheale Manor, Launceston, Cornwall,

October 2Gth, 18C8.
My Lord Duke, — Since receiving your Grace's
ackno^^^edgment of the 27th August, of the receipt
of my i^T» tes on Eupert's America," the intelligence
ha? b';eu received — of which, perhaps, your Grace is
,iw.»T( - • ji' !li3 reappearance of the grasshoppers at the
Ke'L xiiver Settlement, causing almost a famine out
there, as is shown by the enclosed paper, No. I.
And very likely your Grace is also aware of the
Memorial of the 1st idtimo, signed by several noble-
men and members of Parliament, and presented to
the Prime Minister, on the importance of setting
ai)art Ecserves for the Indians to advance their
Christian Settlement, and secure the jieace of the
fnmtier. At the time I last had the honour of
addressing your Grace, 1 had little expectation of the

afore-mentioned calamity abroad, and knew notliiiij^
of this movement at home ; and your Grace will
scarcely fai- to trace in these and other independent
circumstances the call of Divine Providence to those
in authority, to ameliorate the condition of the
inhabitants of those regions, as already earnestly
appealed for by my " Notes on Euport's America,"
and supported by fresh evidence embodied in the
enclosed papers, Nos. II. and III. Ten years ago
the Select Committee of the House of Commons
recommended that settlements sliould be planted
along the line of route pointed out in my " Notes
on Rupert's America," and indicated in that work
at page 4, Had this been done, there would pro-
bably have existed at this moment flourishing settle-
ments, with supplies at hand to meet the urgent
necessities of the lied River people, without entail-
ing upon them now about 1,000 miles of over-
land travel to a foreign market. And although
very properly subscriptions are solicited from bene-
volent individuals, through the public press, to miti-
gate the evil — and as I have myself travelled in that
vicinity and in Minnesota day by day, over a distance
of 800 miles, which was swarming with grasshoppers,
and on other accounts, I can realise the sadness of
the present case, and with deep emotion plead for a
colony which has been just plunged into great desti-
tution — yet I believe that the really practical su])scrip-
tion called for is the opening of those parts by the
formation of new colonies therein. It is, I think,
evident to your Gryce, tliat any settlement whicli is
isolated some 500 miles from the civilised world may.
at any monunt, from muny causes, have its balance of
supplies destroyed without tlie chance of replenishing

its stock from colonies contiguous thereto, and I
assume it must also be evident, that to keep a
settlement so situated is to retain it feeble for
every useful purpose — feeble to maintain the fron-
tier, feeble to aid in developing the resources of the
country, feeble in affording supplies to outlying
missionary stations or young colonies, and, what is
paramount to every other consideration, thereby per-
])etuating its dependence on the mother country for
tlie sustentation of the ministrations of religion, and
paralysing its energies in spreading Christianity in
the laud.

Surely, your Grace, it would add new lustre to
the Crown and honour to her Majesty's Ministers,
to respond with prompt and benevolent measures to
this call, and discharge the debt so long due to that
territory; and if greater arguments are required to
show either the urgency of this summons, or to
demonstrate the immense commercial advantages
that would accrue to our own country, by instantly
putting forth the energies of our native isle — like
that which was so nobly displayed in carrying for-
ward the recent Abyssinian Expedition — by imme-
diately opening this overland route from Lake
Superior to the Ked Eiver, and thence to the
Rocky Mountains and British Columbia, I beg
most respectfully also to append the enclosed papers,
Nos. IV., v., and VI., for your Grace's information.
I have the honour to be, my Lord Duke,
Your Grace's most obedient and huml)lr servant,

G. 0. CoKHKTT, Clerk, M.lJ.
To his Grace the Duke of Buckingham and

Chandos, K.G., &c., Her IVhijesty's

Secretary of State for the Colonies.

Paper No. I.

See appeals for aid to lessen this calamity in the Tintes^
September 10th and 16th, and in the Star^ September 18th,
19th, and 2oth, and in the Canadian Ncics, September 17th
and 24tli. The extent of it is set forth in the apjxjal in the
Nor'^- Wester of August 7th in these words : — " We have had
the customary fruits of the earth entirely cut off by a plague
of grasshoppers, and, instead of our usual abundance, we shall
reap nothing, absolutely nothing, in the shape of wheat,
barley, rye, or oats." And this statement is <;onfirmed by
letters which appeared in that journal of August 11th, from
the French R. C. Bishop, thus: — " I have to certify that in
your issue of the 4th instant the following statement is not
exaggerated, ' That within the whole colony not one bushel of
any kind of grain will be harvested, and that the potato crop will
be very meagre also.' Yes, everything is destroyed by the grass-
hoppers; neither grain nor vegetables of any kind are to be found
in our gardens or fields. Moreover, the buffalo hunters, instead
of furnishing their large share of provisions and leather, arrived
starving from their usual hunting-grounds. Many, during
their long excursions through the plains, were reduced to eat
their yoke of oxen, or even their horses, and they are now in
our midst without a morsel of food." From Archdeacon
Mac Lean : — " Having visited from La Prairie to the Indian
Settlement, I have seen the sad evidence of the tOv ' ruin of
the crops," &c. From the Rev. J. Black, Presbyterian
Minister : — " There can be no question as to the destruction of
the crops of the settlement by the grasshoppers. I understand
that the buffalo hunt has proved an entire failure, and thus
both the great sources of our food supply are cut off at tiie

same tune.

From tile Kev. (jieor<je

Young,

Wesleyan

Minister: — " I have recently visited La Prairie, and, with the
exception of two or three small patches of peas and a few
late-phuited potatoes, there is nothing growing between that
place and this (sixty miles) on all the beautiful farms, save
grass and reeds."

In tiie Times, October 16th, a letter also appears from
the present Bishop of Rupert's Land, dated from Quebec,

September 30th, wiiicli was written for the express purpose
of confirming the statements respecting the calamity from the
reappearance of the grasshoppers, and of strengthening the
appeal to England for assistance. In the said letter, the
Bishop adds, that tlie settlement is 500 miles from any railway
station, that the Canadian Government will expend some
£3,000 towards opening out a road in that direction, yet it
will be of little service; that a tornado has also passed over the
settlement, unroofing houses and farms, and removing the spire
of St. Andrew's ; and that a hard, long winter is at hand for
that isolated and distressed community.

No. II.

" The policy of the monopolists has been to discourage
settlement, to leave their concession as much as possible to a
state of Mature, to promote hunting and the arts of savage life,
and to frown down any approach to civilised pursuits and all
introduction of enterprise. A mine of wealth lies at their feet
ready to be got, if they had some of the zeal of the earlier
discoverers, and the desire to benefit the human race, as well
as to draw dividends for themselves." — Star, September
9th, 18G8.

No. III.

" The country is like a nobleman's estate in England,
Scotland, or Ireland ; there arc the woods, the groves, the
lakes, and the rivers. When spring comes you can put your
plough to work and plant potatoes under the soil ; then plough
and harrow, and the first rain sow broadcast your turnip seed,
and your beans you can plant by making a hole with your axe,
covering it with your foot. Thus you have it crop the first
autumn you come, with your groiuid ready for wheat, barley,
or oats the next spring, with wood all round you growing for
fencing or for making your houses and stables. What an
advantage over Canada and the Northern States ! There you
have to clear a farm of heavy timber, which takes neirly a liCo-
time, and often j)as.ses through M\;\\\y hands before it is finished.
Our subsoil is clay, with a rich black mould on the surface,
mucli like the land along the banks of the Minnesota River

to Fort Redgway, which produces thh*ty-five to forty busliels
to the acre."

Dated Red River, August 5th, 18G8, and appeared in the
Times, 10th September, 1868.

No. IV.

" The U. S. Pacific Railway. — Whilst the genius of the
great North- West is sitting, like Patience on a monument,
waiting to develop the resources and to rouse her from the
posture of masterly inactivity, our enterprising neighbours at
the South are carrying to a rapid completion, not only the
greatest work of the age, but the greatest of any age. The
pyramids of Egypt are regarded as the most stupendous works
of antiquity, but they dwindle into nothingness, when com-
pared to the American Pacific Railway. During one of the
most terrible civil wars that the world has seen, the American
nation chartered and granted aid towards this great highway,
and it has already been completed through the Rocky
Mountains, and is rapidly pushing on towards the City of the
Saints, Salt Lake. From the Pacific coast the road has been
pushed on with equal vigour, and the Californians have
already passed the Sierra Nevada Mountains, on the way
towards the East, and it is confidently expected that a junc-
tion will be effected during the year 1869. And then the
Americans will bid for a great portion of the commerce of the
world — a route which will become the source of untold riches
and prosperity to Uncle Sam.

" British statesmanship is said to be slow, but sure. Alas ! we
find it so in our case. Slow, slow, and tardy, like the progress of
the Car of Juggernaut. And shall we carry the simile further
by saying that by the dead weight of its inactivity, and, as far as
this country is concerned, its obtuseness of legislation, it is
crushing to the earth a young, and, what might be, a rising
country? We trust the day is far distant when any other than
the meteor flag of England shall remind us of our allegiance ;
but if tliey are determined at home to consider Great Britain
and Ireland the suiiunum bonuni of the whole empire ; if
they are determined to ignore their great colonial responsi-
bility ; they must not be surprised if, within the next decade,

I:'

they shall find their commerce crippled, their colonies en-
feebled, and their prestige decaying. To build a railroad to
the Pacific, the Americans have had to encounter difficulties
that would be unknown in carrying a road through this terri-
tory — a fact admitted bv the most competent engineers of both
nations. We suppose that the British Parliament will take the
matter into consideration some time within the century, but by
that time they will have learned the great danger, there-
fore " &c.

Published at Red River, the Nor'- Wester, July 31st, 18G8.

No. V.

" In the Times of the 6th instant we are told of the com-
merce of China amounting, in 1866, to 101 millions sterling.
England's share reached 88 millions, whilst that of the
United States was under 2 millions. I am sorry to say that
a very different account will be rendered for 1867. In
January of that year a magnificent line of American steamers
was put on between San Francisco, Japan, and China, by
means of which the merchants of New York are now success-
fully competing with those of London for the whole trade, and
with the great disadvantage of transfers, at San Francisco,
Panama, and Aspinwall. If such is the case now, what will
be the effect when the new Pacific Railroad, two years hence,
connects San Francisco and New York, as the lighter produce,
such as tea, &c., must take this route, which will bring New
York within thirty days of Hong Kong, and London about
forty days ? Then, not only will the Shares of the Peninsula
and Oriental Company be a drug in the market, but our
Chinese business must fall into the hands of the Americans,
and New York become the entrepot of that trade which has
cost so much blood and treasure to attach to our shores. The
only means of averting such a loss is to open up a route
of our own through British America, connecting Vancouver's
Island with Montreal and Halifax. This line of country^
through which the British railroad would pass, is far superior
to that over which the American rails are laid; and then^
instead of an emigration of 200,000 souls per annum — a

vast proportion of whom swell the ranks of the evil disposed
to us in the U. S. — might at the same time supply the
necessary labour, settle the country, open an independent
route, add to our resources, and their desires for land
would be gratified to the utmost. In this, that writer adds,
the real solution of the alleged Irish grievance exists," &c.

No. VI.
The rapid progress of the American Pacific Railway. —
" ^Ve wind away down the western slope to Rock Creek,
2,180 miles from Boston and 1,220 miles from San Francisco.
Here our journey ends, but not our wonder. We leave the
car and walk rapidly forward to where they are laying the
track, and a few of us go still further to see the process of
laying the ties. The materials are brought on flat cars by
locomotives to very near the end of the track, and are then
unloaded on the ground. The train is then backed out
of the way. The ties are loaded upon wagons, and carried
to the place vvhere they are to be used, which i^ generally
from half a mile to a mile from the point where they
were first unloaded. The rails, spikes, bolts, &c., are loaded
upon horse cars, which are then driven with the horses upon a
run to the end of the track. As soon as the car stops, a foot
say from the end of the track, six men on each side im-
mediately seize a rail, slide it forward, and drop it in very
near the place where it is to lie, and, without stopping to
drive a single spike, the car is immediately run forward upon
the rails just laid; the same process is repeated. Two more
rails deposited, the car is quickly drawn forward upon them,
two more are laid, and so on until the car is unloaded. It is
then tipped from the track, and a loaded car is drawn forward
to be unloaded in the same way, when the first is put back
upon the track and returns for another load. It must not be
supposed, however, that these rails lie long without being
spiked ; on the contrary, the car has hardly passed over them
before spikers, bolters, &c., are at work upon them, and such
is the force employed that the rails are spiked as fast as they
are laid, so that you have only to see how ftist the men drop
the rails from the car to know the rate at which the track is

being completed. I stood with my watch in my hand, and
saw them lay four rails in a minute, again and again. Some-
times they did a little more than that in a single minute. In
one instance an average of three rails per minute were laid for
five consecutive minutes. This is in excess, however, of their
average work, the progress being from two and a half to four
miles per day. About 450 men are employed in laying ties
and rails. These men are boarded in cars fitted up for the
purpose, and which move forward as the work progresses, so
that they have their home with them constantly. We dined
in one of these cars, and while some of us were still eating,
the long train was run down upon a track that had been laid
since our arrival an hour before.

"The dinner was furnished by the chief of the Messrs.
Casement. General Casement assured us that by the 15th
December next the track will be laid to Salt Lake, about 410
miles from Rock Creek ; and one who has seen the wonderful
process of laying this track over the Rocky Mountains can
believe it." — New York Christian Advocate, quoted in iVbr'-
Wester, July 31st, 1868.

Penlieale Manor, Laimceston, Cornwall.

Nov. 7tb, 1868.
My Lord Duke, — In addition to my letter and
enclosures to your Grace on the 26tli ultimo, I very
respectfully beg leave to transmit the annexed extract,
marked No, VII., and humbly ask that it may receive
the attention it merits, and give weight to the argu-
ments already adduced for the opening and emanci-
pation of llupert's America.

I have the honour to be,
Your Grace's most obedient and humble servant,

G. 0. CouBETT, Clerk, ^I.D.
To his Grace the l)uke of Buckingham and Chandos,
Her Majesty's Secretary of State
for the Colonies, &c.

No. VII.
The circumstances of the case are extremely plain. A
party of nine Indians, headed by one Wolverine, attempted
to break into a store in charge of William A. Salmon, an
American, in the morning of the 28th May, 1868. Young
Salmon undertook to put them out after they had effected an
entrance, and Wolverine deliberately shot him in the breast.
The wounded man was brought down to this town that he
might have medical assistance. He lingered until the 7th ot
June following, when death came to his relief. Remember,
he died in our very midst, in a house then occupied by Mr.
Devlin. But did our Authorities* bestir themselves in the
matter ? Did they hold an inquest as to the probable cause of
his death ? No, no, no. Positively no notice was taken of the
affair by them. About one year afterwards, Mr. Hugh Olone
attempted to bring the matter before the Government,!
and he was asked if he could swear that Wolverine did it.
Mr. 0. could not positively swear, as he was not an eye
witness, but there were plenty of witnesses to be found, and
they can be found now. Look to it, gentlemen, and do not
let it be said that an American can be coolly murdered within
your jurisdiction, and no steps be taken to punish his slayer.
Justice cries among us that the blood of William A. Salmon
is yet unavenged by our criminal laws.t

Downing Street,

Nov. Oth, 1SG8.
Sir, — I am directed by the Duke of Buckingliam
and Chandos to acknowledge the receipt of your letter
of the 2Gth of last mouth, on subjects connected with
the Eed Elver Settlement.

I am, Sir, your most obedient servant,

Frederic ogers.
G. 0. Corbett, Clerk, Esq., M.D.

* The Hudson's Bay Company's Agents. f Idem.

X From the Nof -Wester at Rod River, Sept. 8, 1868.

Downing Street,

Nov. .eO, 18G8.

Sir, — I am directed by the Duke of Buckingham
and Chandos to acknowledge the receipt of your
further letter, of the 7th of this mouth, on the sub-
ject of the murder of an American citizen in the Eed
River Settlement.

I am. Sir, your most obedient servant,

Frederic Eogers.
G. 0. Corbett, Clerk, Esq., M.D.

Penheale Manor, Launceston, Cornwall.

Feb. 2nd, 1869.
Sir, — I lately sent you a copy of my " Notes on
Eupert's America" (a pamphlet which I had trans-
mitted to the Colonial Office), and other papers
bearing on the same subject, a short time prior to
your accession to the office as the Prime Minister
of Her Majesty's Government. I was all the more
prompted in sending this work to you because of
your having paid some attention to the subject; for
I remember your sitting: in the Select Committee of
the House of Commons on the affairs of the Hudson's
Bay Territory, in 1857, when I was examined thereon
b}-- the said Committee as a witness. And I do now
herein most respectfully and earnestly appeal to you
to investigate and redress the wrongs, and carry out
the measures which are imperatively called for in
behalf of those vast regions ; and I can only add

that I shall be happy if I caa in any way facilitate
these projects.

I remain, Sir,
Your most obedient and humble servant,
G. 0. CoRBETT, Clerk, M.D.
To the Eight Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P.,

Her Majesty's Prime Minister of State, &c. &c.

10, Downing Street, Whitehall,

Feb. 9th, 1869.
Sir, — I am directed by Mr. Gladstone to thank you
for the copy of jouy " Notes on Rupert's America."
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

Algernon West.
Rev. G. 0. Corbett.

Penheale Manor, Launceston, Cornwall.

April 6th, 1869.

My Lord, — It is reported in the newspapers that
Her Majesty's Government is on the eve of offering
to pay over to the Hudson's Bay Company a large
sum of money for their alleged rights, and at the
same time to guarantee certain important reservations ;
in reference to which I most respectfully beg leave to
inquire whether your Lordship is aware of the fact
that the late Governor from abroad of this Company
is defendant in an action now pending in the Courts
of Westminster, which brings up for judicial inquiry
the assumed status of that body ?

I scarcely believe that the British Government
or Parliament would take any step which would
interfere with the freedom of the courts of the realm,
or in the least sway or suspend the decisions of the

judges until the cause shall be legally settled ; or
that it would for a moment, in any degree, in effect,
pay a large sum of money over to the defendant or
his colleagues, or those he represents, without at the
same time providing satisfaction for the plaintiif also.
I have the honour to be, my Lord,
Your Lordship's obedient and humble servant,

G. 0. CoRBETT, Clerk.
To the Eight Hon. Earl Granville, M.P., &c..

Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies,
Colonial Office, 14, Downing Street, Lo don.

Downing Street,

April 20th, 1869.
Sir, — I am directed by Earl Granville to acknow-
ledge the receipt of your letter of the Gth instant,
and to inform you in reply that his Lordship does not
find in it any reason for altering the course adopted
by Gove nment in relation to the Hudson's Bay
Company.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

D. MONSELL.

G. O. Corbett, Clerk, Esq., M.D.

Penheale House, Launceston, Cornwall.

May 7th, 1868.
My Lord, — In reference to your Lordship's letter
of the 26th ultimo, I most respectfully beg leave to
state that I have no wish "for altering the course
adopted by Government in relation to the Hudson's
Bay Company," but rather herein express my deep
thankfulness for the energy and decision with w^hich
Her Majesty's Government appears to be taking up

e^ 1.

tlie question, as I understand it, to place all matters
relating to that great territory on a proper foundation.
And, with, the view of assisting your Lordship in
executing and perfecting all the arrangements respect-
ing that country upon an equitable footing in regard
to all parties interested, I would herein respectfully
recapitulate, and submit further information. In my
" Notes on Rupert's America," forwarded to the
Colonial Office August 25th, 1868, and acknowledged
by his Grace the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos
on August 27th, 1868, I believe that, among other
things of moment, it is very clearly . shown in that
pamphlet that the Hudson's Bay Company have no
territorial rights in the North- West or Hudson's Bay
regions, and that the Government and Parliament can
at any time enter into that territory, and erect its
own buildings, and appoint its own Government,
judges, and other officers, and establish colonies, and
open roads for communication irrespective of the
aforesaid trading firm ; and that said Company's
posts, and the houses of the settlers, and the posts
of the various trading firms out there, and, in short,
all the inhabitants, would be at once subject to such
Government. And, if one or more posts or forts of
the Hudson's Bay Company, or one or more posts
of the other traders, Canadian or American therein,
or one or more buildings of any of the settlers, were
required for Government purposes, the same might
be purchased at its worth from the respective owners
thereof. But it is hardly probable that any such
purchase would have to be made, because the space
of unoccupied country is so great that the Govern-
ment might at any moment occupy the choicest sites
without any hindrance, and erect its own indepi3-ident

works ; for the case is much tlie same as if there w ere
only three tradiii<^ posts in the whole of the United
Kingdom, with a mere sprinkling of an aboriginal
population — itay one post in England, another in
Sf'otland, and a third in Ireland, with here and there
in addition a i)ost or two of other traders, or a settler's
farm — one and all of them on a like footing, inas-
much as the last and only status of the Hudson's
Bay Company merely existed on a limited and con-
ditional licence, which the Crown refused to renew
at its expiry in 1850. And, my Lord, such resump-
tion of rights and entrance therein by the Government
or Parliament has already been done, to wit, in Van-
couver's Island and the regions west of the Eocky
Mountains; where, in like manner, the Hudson's Bay
Compary's status was simply on the basis of a
licensed trading firm, and where, just as in Bupert's
Anierica, their shares might be held and their trade
carried on with full prosperity, and without let or
hindrance or any real detriment to the shareholders,
just as well after such assertion and entrance therein
by the Crown as before. Were the Government,
indeed, to purchase the stock and trading posts of
tlie Hudson's Bay Com])any, that would be quite
another thing, and a ground of payment to that body.
But I am not aware that there is at present any such
proposition before your Lordship, nor any intention
otherwise to interfere witli their trade than, as T
should hope, to regulate fairly all such trade, and to
brii.g all traders under a just licence, imposing suit-
able conditions, and a moderate payment, on a scale
proportionate to the ca])ital employed, wlu^ther by
firms or by individuals of whatever name, for the
good and security uf the poor Indians, and for a

source of I'evenue towards opening unci fmproviu*^
the country. And here, my Lord, need I remark
on the necessity of means for properly openini^ that
territory ? And now grant me permission to inquire
why the money now proposed to be paid to the
Hudson's Bay Company should not be reserved for
the benefit and development of those regions, not
only on account of the urgent call for an outlay
therein (and, for the reasons above named, that said
Company have really no territorial rights there), but
also because their alleged status is this moment
challenged before the courts of the realm? And, in
further illustration, and for the careful scrutiny of
your Lordship into the gravity of the subject, I would
respectfully cite the fact of the incompetence of the
Hudson's Bay Company to give legal title-deeds for
the conveyance of land to any person in that country
and to ^he settlers at the Ited lUver Settlement.
There are hundreds and hundreds of settlers out there
who this moment have no title to their land save
that they occupy and farm their respective lots.
I'^liey have not, and cannot get, legal land deeds.
Tliere is one class of settlers who have ])aid down
more or less money to the Hudson's Bay Comj)any's
agents there, and hold a ri'ceipt for the amount ; and
there is another class of settlers who have paid
nothing at all, and who refuse to pay anything until
the rightful party sliall come forward and legally
assign the hinds to them. The former chiss some
time tigo declined the acceptance oi" the sort of title-
deed which the Hudson's Jiay Com])any's agents
proposed ; but the said class gave ])re Terence even
to an unstamped ri'ceipt from the said agents as
evidence of the amount })aid, and prayed meanwhile

c 2

for the Government's interference; whilst the latter
class deemed it best to wait absolutely until the
imperial Parliament should set the whole matter
right. And j^erhaps it will not be out of place for
me to add at this stage that I myself might be
ranked with the former class of the community,
because I have land under cultivation out there,
and have paid a certain sum of money thereon to
the agents of the Hudson's Bay Company, for
wliich I hold the receipt, but for which I hold
no title-deed, and I have been advised that the
Hudson's Bay Company cannot give me a legal deed,
and that it is useless to accept any instrument short
of thiit. And my own case does but represent the
situation of several thousand inhabitants at Bed
Biver, and in respect to which your Lordship will
allow me to ask — Will Her Majesty's Government
make such arrangements with the Hudson's Bay
Company as shall ignore the rights of the settlers
at Bed Biver, and persons in other parts of the
territory — rights acquired in most cases by occupa-
tion and improvement, and in many instances by
l)a\Tnent also ? Will the Government guarantee
payment to the Hudson's Bay Company for their
alleged territorial claims, and allow them to keep
the money which they have also already received
from the settlers? or thus sanction a double pay-
ment — that is to say, from the Government and the
settlers, and for that also for which they have no
legal right? And will the Government so tie up
the present arrangements as practically to throw the
burthen on the struggling settler, to recover his
rights as he may best be able through the courts
of law — an undertaking next to impossible against

such a body, and removed, as lie is at Red Eiver,
several hundred miles from the Courts of Canada,
which, in truth, are the nearest legal courts ^o him
for redress ? Moreover, my Lord, I very respectfully
beg leave also to state frankly that, by virtue of a
suit at present pending in the Courts of West-
minster, the Hudson's Bay Company's jurisdiction
is necessarily involved for judicial inquiry, and that
the cause assumes large proportions, and unavoidably
comprises the standing and interests of many indi-
viduals. The writ commencing this suit was served
on the defendant, a chief agent of the Hudson's Bay
Company, early in December, 1804, by Messrs. Ashley
and Tee, 1a, Frederick's Place, Old Jewr}'-, Cheapside,
London, and said firm hrne continued to instruct
counsel in the unremitting pursuance of the cause
to the present day; and such counsel as Mr. John
MacNabb, of Upper Canada, Mr. W. M. James,
Q.C.,* Mr. Philbrick, Mr. Atkinson, and Mr. Francis
Tunier, of London, have been engaged in points con-
nected with the case ; and Mr. Francis Turner still
has the conduct of it, under the instructions of the
aforesaid firm of solicitors ; and the belief is enter-
tained that every ellbrt has been made by defendant's
side to delay the proceedings, and, if possible, prevent
the cause from being heard, and that the final judg-
ment of the Coui't is sought to be warded oil' until
alter the Imperial Government shall have arranged
to pay over to the aforesaid Conipany the present
large sum of money asked for ; but, as the cause is
now so far advanced as to be set down for trial, it is
evident that the judgment of the Court on an im-
portant constitutional (juestion, which unavoidably
* Since raised to the rank of a Judge in tho Superior Courts.

comes up through this action, must soon be given,
and therefore I most respectfully submit, whether Her
Majesty's Government ought not, at the very least,
to suspend payment of any money to the Hudson's
Bay Company, or making arrangements therefor,
until after the aforesaid judgment shall have been
delivered in the usual place, or the matter satis-
factorily settled,

I have the honour to be, my Lord,
Your Lordship's most obedient and humble servant,
Gr. 0. CoRBETT, Clerk in Holy Orders.
To Earl Granville, M.P., &c.,

Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies,
Colonial Office, Downing Street, London.

Downing Street,

May 21st, 1809.
Sir, — I am directed by Earl Granville to acknow-
ledge the receipt of your letter of the 7th instant, on
matters connected with the transfer to the Crown of
the territories of the Hudson's Bay Company, in
British North America.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

F. R. Sandford.
The Rev. G. 0. Corbett.

Wolford Lodge,

Honiton, Devon,

July 14tli, 1809.

My Lord, — I respectfully beg leave to subjoin a

c()})y of a summons served on a respectable British

subject at Red River by the agent of the Hudson's

Bay Compan}', and to state that said subject was

Plei-

east,
5011 's
■efoi',
been
atis-

imprisoned by the said Company's officers, notwitli-
standing his protest against its illegahty.

May I inquire whether tlie Colonial Department
will accord to things being done abroad in the name
of "the Public" instead of that of our most gracious
Queen, and whether a British subject is to be dragged
from his family to prison in such an illegal manner,
where he is situated, as I pointed out in my last
communication, so far from every legal officer or
legal court as to be practically without redress, and
whether your Lordship can pass by silently, whilst
upholding and acting in the name of the Queen, such
proceedings any longer ?

I remain, my Lord,
Your Lordship's obedient servant,

G. 0. CORBETT.

To Earl Granville, M.P., &c.,

Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies.

COPY OF SUMMONS.

Middle District Court.
To James Stewart.
I hereby order you to appear in the Court of this
district the lOtli day of April, to answer the Public
for selling spirits without a licence.

A. G. Bannatyne,
II. R. S., April 13th, 1801).

Downing Street,

August lird, 18(19.
Sir, — I am directed by Earl Granville to acknow-
ledge the receipt of your letter of the 14th ultimo,

respecting a summons alleged to have been served
on a Britisli subject in territory belonging to the
Hudson's Bay Company, for selling spirits without
a licence.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

F. E. Sandford.

8, Harewood Street, Harewood Square,
Marylebone, N.W., Nov. 27th, 1869.

My Lord, — I beg leave to submit to your Lord-
ship's notice the subjoined extracts from the Daily
Telegraph of the 18th and 24th instant : — " The
French residents in the Eed Kiver country have
armed and banded themselves together to resist the
cession of their territory to Canada. They forcibly
compelled the Governor, Mr. M'Dougall, to cross
into the Dakotah territory, where he now awaits
armed assistance or instructions from the Canadian
Government." " The Red River insurgents of Win-
nipeg territory, 600 strong, have seized Fort
Garry," &c.

Both in my "Notes on Rupert's America," in
1868, and in my letters since addressed to the
Colonial Office, I have been pointing out that such
uprisings would likely take place, unless Her
Majesty's Government made such arrangements as
would establish that colony on a satisfactory basis.

From several years' acquaintance with the people
out there, I know tliat they have constantly felt
utterly disgusted with the way in which justice
lias been administered ; that the} consider they
ought to have a share in electoral privileges, like
other colonies; that they have landed claims which

have been ignored ; and that the transaction which
the British Grovernment has recently made with the
Hudson's Bay Company in regard to that country
practically involves the admission of perpetuating
the old one-sided policy, and of compensating not
merely one party, hut also the party who has no
right to such compensation, and hence the revolu-
tion now transpiring in those regions.

May I remind your Lordship that the Eed Eiver
people hold the key to the heart of that continent
along the frontier, midway from ocean to ocean ;
that they are composed in part of the American
people flowing over the border, and largely com-
posed of those who are related by blood and united
by one common interest to the Indian chiefs and
tribes over the whole territory ; and that, therefore,
complexity on the question of the International
Boundary Line on the one hand, and a great
Indian war on the other, may now follow ?

Had justice been granted to that people in accord-
ance with the pleadings of every true friend of that
country, the present risk of life and property, and the
ijrave errors in the administration of our colonial
department, would ha\ e been prevented.

As it is, if Her Majesty's Government decide on
sending out troops to Bed Eiver, by which route will
they be transported ? There are but two now gene-
rally used : one by Hudson's Bay, which will not
be open for navigation till next summer; and the
other is through the United States of America, for
which much time might be consumed in obtaining
permission, which, in a time of war with that country,
could not be secured. This, again, points to the
imjoortance of opening the overland route, embracing

what one writer* designates " The Great Wheat
Belt;" a fact, laid such stress upon by the Con-
vention of Delegates for British Columbia in their
meeting at Y'ale, that they made it a sine qua non
that, ere their country should be united to the
dominion of Canada, this overland route should be
completed as soon as possible, f

My Lord, I again most respectfully urge, on
behalf of the honour of our own countrj^, and on
behalf of the people of those parts, that Her Majesty's
Government will sta}- bloodshed, and root out deep-
seated dissatisfaction, by extending justice to them,
and acting on the principle of the Koyal Law of
Heaven, that we should do unto others as we would
be done by ourselves.

I remain, my Lord,
Your Lordship's humble and obedient servant,
G. 0. CoRBETT, Clerk, M.D.
To the Eight Hon. Earl Granville, M.P., &c.,

Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies,

Downing Street, W.

8, Titchfield Terrace, Eegent's Park Road,

Dec. :2Sth, 1809.

My Lord, — Since my letter to your Lordship on
the 27th ultimo, I find the newspapers repeat that
the Bed Biver people are still in arms ; that Governor
M'Dougall was organising a force of Indians on the
UniLed States' territory against this attitude ; and
that the Bed Biver people are determined to resist,
and have issued a declaration of independence, and

* Mr. Greeley.

t '^or-WtsttiV, Sept. 7th, 1809.

heat

heir

Tion

the

assert that their own Provincial Government is the
only lawful authority in the country.*

It is not unlikely that, as the lied Eiver people
believe that the present Prime Minister has mani-
fested heretofore an intimate acquaintance witli and
interest in the condition of that territory, and that
the present Government engages to side liberally with
the voice of the people — that these have tended to
aggravate the evil and intensify their indignation,
seeing that their own voice and petitions have been
so completely set aside.

In concluding this stage of my communications
to your Lordship's department (during the last twelve
years I have been pressing the British Government
to accord righteous rule to that country), I respect-
fully ask your Lordship whether there is any objec-
tion to m}'' publishing the correspondence which has
passed between me and the Colonial Office on the
subject ?

I remain, my Lord,
Your Lordship's obedient and humble servant,

G. 0. CORCETT, M.D.

To the Right Hon. Earl Granville, K.G., &c. &c.,
Her Majesty's Chief Secretary of State
for the Colonies, &c.

Downing Street,

Jan. 15th, 1S70.
Sir, — 1 am directed by Earl Granville to acknow-
ledge the receipt of your letter of the 2Sth ultimo,
and to inform you that his Lordship has not the

* Daihj Tekymplt, Dec. i27Lh, 1869.

slightest objection to your publishing your corre-
spondence with this department.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

Frederic Rogers.
The Rev. G. 0. Corbett.

8, Titchfield Terrace, Regent's Park, N.W.

Jan. 18th, 1870.

My Lord, — I had not intended to write your
Lordship so soon again, but the gravity of the con-
tents of a letter which I have just received from Red
River presses on me to do so, which informs me that
a body of 600 of the French, in arms, guarded the
road between Red River and Pembina, who sent word
to Governor M'Dougall that if he attempted to come
in he would be shot ; that the mail was stopped and
opened, private property taken possession of, and all
parties and goods coming in were seiz d and opened;
and after this they marched down and took possession
of Fort Garry, with the ammunition and guns, and
are still there in large numbers ; that the Rapids
people took possession of the Stone Fort ; that a large
force of Sioux Indians were at the Portage ; and that
every preparation was going forward for fighting ;
and, after expressing fears of detailing more in case
this letter should be opened, the wncer concludes :
" If war comiiiences here, God only knows how it
will end ; for most of the French are half- Indians,
and, Indian fashion, may revenge on the women and
children. We may be all killed before any troops
can reach us from Canada. The French have no
design to injure the English, but they demand certain
privileges."

vre-

In the Dail^ Telegraph tins morning I read this
tele<i^rarn : " Advices from Pembina to the 3rd inst.
received at Chicago state that a large band of Sioux
Indians was near Fort Garry, and it was apprehended
that they would attack the insurgents or commit
depredations on the frontier of the Red River Settle-
ment ; and it is reported that the insurgents have
seized £200,000 belonging to the Hudson's Bay
Company."

My Lord, I believe that the grievance shared in
by the great body of the people is one in common.
The French, naturally quick, rise in arms in intense
anger at the arrangement made by the British
Government, and defy the carrying out of such
terms, and take the reins of government into their
own hands ; whilst the English side of the com-
munity, in truth not less indignant, but naturally
slower, resolve on waiting before abandoning the
British flag, and for the time repudiate the French
way of manifesting their anger; and hence some of
the English side are either taken prisoners or threat-
ened. But this cool and loyal attitude on the part
of the English and Scotch half-breeds should not be
construed into indifference ; for the very men who
have been taken prisoners or threatened have ever
recorded their abhorrence of the old system, and
written and petitioned for the recognition of their
rights and the introduction of a just form of govern-
ment. For example, such men as Mr. James Stewart,
a Scotchman, who has been dragged from his family
and made a prisoner by the French ; and Captain
William Hallette, an English half-breed, whose name
is a tower of strength, who has been at the head
of a hundred battles, and who is very influential on

both sides and with tlie Indians, threatens (which he
woukl certainly carry out) to shoot the first man
who woukl interfere with his freedom — botli of whom
abide by tlie Hritish flag. But tiiis hjyal feelin*^
and coolness on the one side, and cjuickness on the
other (I believe in heart most of the French are loyal,
only their natural vivacity and anj^or precipitate them
into instant hostilities) is not to be trifled with. In
the main, tlie people out there believe that certain
Acts of Parliament so defined their status as to
remove all power from the Hudson's Bay Company
to hold any courts of law; that that body had no
proprietary rights in the soil; that it was reduced,
or it was made clear by said Acts of Parliament, to
the mere footing of a company of traders under a
licence ; that in virtue of ihe Act enabling the Crown
to issue such licence, it might also issue licences to
fifty or a hundred other companies ; that the Hudson's
Bay Company received such licence on conditions, one
of which was that they came under a penal bond of
£5,000 restricting them from trying causes and
prisoners, and limiting such proceedings to the courts
of Canada or Westminster ; that such condition the
Company has violated, and thereby ruined indi-
viduals and families ; that the Britisli Government
has allowed these things to go on ; that the time
came for the expiration of their licence, when they
stood as an unlicenced body of traders, like the rest
in the country; that the people and their children
and the natives solely have rights in the soil, and
have constantly repudiated the claims of the Hudson's
Bay Company thereto ; that the judgments recorded
in Canadian courts of law and the history of that
country have ever been declarative against the preten-

slous of the Hudson's Bay Company ; but that in the
face of all this the Canadian Government consents
to pay the Hudson's Bay Company £300,000 in
money and to their having reserves in land, and the
Imperial Government gives a guarantee for it — the
Canadian Government thus reversing the policy in-
corporated with the past history of Canada, and
relinquishing the ground occupied by its ancient
inhabitants, and ignoring the legal status which both
the Acts of the Imperial Parliament and the past
judges of the courts of Canada alike maintained.
May I ask your Lordship, is it, then, any wonder
that the people should rise in arms at Red Kiver, and
drive back Governor M'Dougall, who was deputed
thither by the Canadian Government, and who had
come to England previously as one of the two Cana-
dian statesmen, and consented to such an arrange-
ment ?

My Lord, the people out there believe that the
Hudson's Bay Company is not entitled to one penny,
for thei/ hace parted with nothing ; that if any party
is entitled to anything it is themselves ; and that any
money payments or privileges concurred in by the
Canadian or British Governments, beyond acknow-
ledging the rights of the people and the natives,
should be laid out in opening up and improving the
country.

Now that the storm has burst, it may gather
other elements in its course ; but, from a long
acquaintance with that country, I believe I have
stated the pith of the case.

My Lord, I believe that the British Government
should at once firmly occupy lied River, and grant
the peo2->le title-deeds to the lands they occupy, and

establish a proper form of government ; that it slioul J
plant settlements between lied liiver and Canada —
for instance, at Kainy lliver ; and that it should form
a colony in the Saskatchewan Valley, and thus con-
nect British Columbia with this line of settlements
(of increased importance, as it is now petitioning for
union with the United States), and open the overland
route on British soil. I read in Cassell's " Illustrated
''i' ;'vels" for this month that by the Pacific Eailroad
'• i\ierchant came across the continent of North Arne-
I'oa, from ocean to ocean, in six days, seventeen hours,
and twenty-three minutes,* and a report of a meeting
of the Royal Colonial Society, registered in this day's
paper, adds further confirmation to the facilities which
exist for such a road across from Upper Canada to
Red Ri\er, and thence to the Valley of the Sas-
katchewan and British Columbia.

I have the honour to be, my Lord,
Your Jjordship's most obedient and humble servant,

G. 0. CORBETT.

To the Right Hon. Earl Granville, K.G., &c. &c.,
Her Majesty's Secretary of State
for the Colonies, &c. &c.

* Diblanco — 3,300 mile^>.

Luudou : CaMicll, I'tittur, aud aulpln, D^lk baiivugo Woi kn, Ludtrikto lilU, E.G.

it slioukl
/anada —
lid form
liiis con-
;tlemeiits
mmg for
overland
lustrated
Eailroad
'th Ame-
eu hours,
1, meeting
;liis day's
ies which
auada to
the Sas-

•■ • M

e servant,

[IBETT.

. &c.,

mil. E.c.