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 ■<?t-, '^^^ 
 
 t- ^ 
 
 THE SELKIRK SEHLEMENT 
 
 AND THE SETTLERS. 
 
 ; ACONCISK HISTORY OF THE RED RIVER COUNTRY 
 
 ■WSiQi'UL ITS -DXeOO^VERTT, 
 
 liicludiiig Information Extracted from Original Documenti^ Lately Discovered 
 
 and Ifotes obtained from 
 
 S:^K.IRK SETTLEMENT COLONISTS. 
 
 I 
 
 By CHARLES N, BELL, F.R.G-.S 
 
 ; 
 
 Honorary Correspondi;!^ Mninher o( the Koyal doottwh <jieo]^ra.pbu;al Society, Hanilltoii AsHOciatioii, CIii<«ifo 
 .\eaa')iiy of Soiunce, Buffalo IliHtorical Society, Historian of Wolseley's Expeditionary 
 
 Force Asaociatioii, etc, etc 
 
 .Author of "Our Northern Waters," "Naviijation of Hudson's Bay and Strait,'' "Some Historical Nanits and 
 
 Hacfcs of Northwest Canada," "Red Kiver Setticnient Hintory,"" Mo.nid Iniiiders in 
 
 Manitoha." "Pr'historio Remains in the Canadian Horthwest,'' 
 
 "With the ilalf-breed Eulfiilo Hvmters," etc., etc. 
 
 WlNNIPKO : 
 VKINTKD AT THII OKFIOK OK " THK COMMEROIAL," ,)AMt".)i 8T. KAST. 
 
 18H7. 
 
1 
 
 Seitlsnisiit d tlis Settlsrs. 
 
 M 
 
 Jh/ ciiAiii.Hs X. 111:1.1., r.h'.t.-.s. 
 
 HISTORY DK KI'U Tl'.ADK. 
 
 AlKHit 173H TaN eram^^t;, a Frcni:h-Can- 
 ailian, establisliod on M)o Red river a 
 trading post, wlvich was certainly tiie tirat 
 occaaioii that wiiite men liad a fixed aiK)de 
 in the lower Red River valley. After 1770 
 the Knglish merchants ami tradei's of 
 Montreal sent fur traders, with assortments 
 of yoods, into the country west of Lake 
 Superior, but it was not until the yeai' 17!Ki 
 that they, with the Hudson's Bay C'o., 
 establiHhed permanent posts on the Ked and 
 Asstinihoinc rivers. It iy not clear, from 
 the available records, why the trade of 
 f.icse districtb was neglected, but it was 
 presumably because the North Saskatch- 
 ewan and Athabasca rivers aftbrded a suih- 
 eiently extensive Held for the force of ad- 
 venturers engaged in the fur trade. Cer- 
 tainly from the year 1796, l)oth thcHudaon's 
 Bay Co. and the Northwest Co. had several 
 regularly iuippUed j^osts on the Red and 
 Asiiitiihojuc! rivers, though some of them 
 were abandoned from time to time, and re 
 built in the inutiodiate neighborhood, as was 
 the case at Pembina and the mouth of the 
 Souris. For instance, at Pembina in 17!)() 
 I'etcr (trant erected a fort on the east bank 
 of the lie I river directly opposite the 
 mouth of the Pembina river. In 1708 the 
 post svas on the south bank of the Pembina 
 at its confluence with the Red and was 
 under the charge of Charles Chabollier. 
 Again in 1801 Alexander Henry built a fort 
 on the norUi .side of the Pembina, a few 
 hundred yards from the ileserteil post on 
 the soutii side. These were all fortw of the 
 Northwest Co. 
 
 Un Sept. "JSth. 1803, Alexander Henry 
 left an a.ss()rtment of tra ling goods with 
 another oHiccr ot the Northwest Company 
 at the Forks, which place was situated at 
 the point between the Red River and the 
 Assiniboine, on the nc th side of the latter. 
 The next spring a lii.'ge return of fur was 
 shipped from this post to Fort William, on 
 Lake Superior. It was not until 180G that 
 a fort of any considerable size was erected 
 at the Forks, when at that date the North- 
 west Company built Fort Cibraltar, which 
 was in aft . r years the centre of very great 
 interest to the Selkirk settlers. 
 
 The Hudson's Bay Company claim that 
 they had a trading post on the Red River 
 as early as 179ta', and there is every reason 
 to conclude that such a fort was in existence 
 at a very early date in the history ot the 
 
 Red River settlement, and stood at the 
 north end of the Slough at what is now 
 known as Kast Selkirk village. Mr. iJonald 
 Murray, one of the Selkirk colonists, in- 
 forms me that he slept at the ruins of 
 such a place in the fall of lf>l."), when 
 arriving in this country. He states 
 that it was an old post of the 
 Hudson's Buy Company, and had been called 
 Ft. William. Tlie cliinmeys still stood, in 
 a ruined condition, in IHlo. Both the rival 
 fur companies also had trading posts at 
 Netley (-'reek, below Selkirk, on the we.st 
 side of the Reil River, 
 
 -A third fur company, called the 
 X y C'ompany, numbering amonu'st 
 its partners .Sir Alexander Mackenzie and 
 Edward Kllice, eomp(te(l in the fur trade 
 on thi; Red and Assimboine rivers, lietween 
 1800 (perhaps a year or two beforehand 
 1804, when an amalgamation took place be- 
 tween it and the Xortinvest Co. 
 
 In ISO-t a large nund)er of "freemen," or 
 discharged employees of the different fur- 
 eouipaniea, found their way to the vicinity 
 of the trading-posts on the Red anil Assini- 
 boine rivers, a small settlement also 
 being made by them on the Pemhina 
 river, at the place where it issues from the 
 Pembina mountains, then called the Hair 
 Hills, These freemen were nearly hU of 
 French extraction, being, either Canadians 
 or the issue of French-Canadian fathers and 
 Indian women. It has bc'U claimed that 
 tiie first white woman who arrived in the 
 Red River country was a P>enchCanadian, 
 Madame Lajimoniere, who came to the 
 Northwest from Three Rivers, (.^luebec, in 
 ISOl). I have found in the unpublished 
 journal of Alexander Henry, an officer of 
 the Northwest Company, a record of the 
 fact that in 1807 an Orkney t,'irl, disguisetl 
 as a boy, who iiad followed her lover out 
 from the Orkney Islamla, gave birth to a 
 child at Pembina, But Henry speaks of 
 the wives of some of the Northwest Coui- 
 pany'a officers residing at the posts on the 
 Red river from 1800 bi ISOti in such terms 
 that it implies that they were not of Indian 
 blood, so that investigation may yet show 
 that white women were here prior to the 
 above-mentioned two. 
 
 After the establishment of Fort Cibrnltar 
 in 1806, it would appear, from the slight 
 amount of data available, that (luite a num- 
 ber of French Canadians and Metis settled 
 on the Red river aud erected dwellings, 
 
 I :^ 
 
I'm ski.kiki* Sktti.kmknt \m> iiih Si n'l.Kiis. 
 
 ^vli«TO th< ii f;niiili«'s ifnidi'il diiriny; Mie win 
 ttirs atui wlii;n tlio i'u;n wlti^ ahsciit in tlio 
 sorvii f i)( ttio N'liithwost I'oiiiiHiiij-. J chu 
 linil iinthii'.g r^•f(al''lill^ tin- >nnrutji»n» «t 
 thi- HikImoh'm IJrty Comj .iiiy i<M liowv 
 ytiUH atttr IHOS, )>iit it in likuly that 
 ihty oontimu:(l to trafic on tin- two ri' fif an 
 tlu.y, liko tho N»rtli\vt'8t tiompany. hud 
 |ioHt« on hotli streaniH wl.tn llw Selkirk 
 ••oloiiiMt'< urri\ kI i;i i'^IU. 
 
 T'lis lemls itrf n\i to Llio <liit" wlaii iiiattor>> 
 ill Kiiglaiiil were shH|tiiu; tin iP'^elveH toinl- 
 nig to tilt fi rmalioii r.i a colony on the 
 lianks of the far-ili'sUint Jlcil river, whioh 
 atUMwaiis rnHult<!(l in a v'ust unioiint of 
 Moiiliit; md uoiisidt ralili' 
 'Jn.' «'('loiiists wtro ul'f'W- 
 <|iiictly to Hgrii iiltutal 
 p«;rniaiicnt ahuik's. 
 
 Idoo'isiuul hffine 
 
 •1 to suttlo iloun 
 
 jnii'iiuil^ iiiil ill 
 
 lifMiMv- niiyioiis that tliiir fa<!n« whoi l<i ♦>«» 
 Mn. (Ill t.o homi; colony of tiio nii»ia'. On 
 Afay 'JHli, 17l">, on tiic death of 'lid father. 
 h'' Miicio 'd( d to the narldotn of Soli .k. Ids 
 six l)rothciH havinjf liid If fore that date, 
 Uio li'Mt in 1707, whi'n he t"ok the title of 
 Lord !>arrmil Shortclei gh. 
 
 From tiu! liino Selkirk viuitod th«; llij^h- 
 Ijin<N to ISO.' ho was Btriving tocuwyout 
 Mumi' sohoine v\ hich would hring relief to 
 the |."a.sn.;iti y thcic. After much corros- 
 jH,u<l< nee with thu British jjovornment re- 
 uarding thf coli-niiinu of a 'arirc tract of 
 land ii'. Hu' islaiiii of St. .John, since nainetl 
 Print e Jvlwiiid Island, he aucceedcd in a 
 pr-icticiil manner in carrying out hi? pro- 
 ject. In Augu.Ht, 1803, SO) selected end- 
 jiiaiitw wen; landed at the colony, where, 
 Mmiu^Ii meeting' with very many 
 
 'riioniii.») iKniglas, lifth Ivirl of Selkirk, 
 Karon Dacr and Shoitclouj^h in rhe Scotch 
 peerage 1 177 1-182U1, was the seventh and 
 youngest son of Dunhfui Kaniilton) Doiisla.'i, 
 the fnnrtli earl. Horn at the family seat in 
 Kirkcudbrightshire, on the -'Oth June, 1771. 
 he wa.i eduratcd at Kdinhuryh nnivrnsity. 
 ji-SHOciiiting tliere with .-yu- Walter Scott, 
 who ill fnturc yearn va^ a .*inn and stoad- 
 fust fiiend. 
 
 As early as 17!l'2 Selkirk interc«ted liin. 
 self in thf state of the Hi;<!hland peasantry, 
 who Mt;ro ircijunitly evicted from thtir 
 homes and fonvd to enu';;ratc. lie 
 found, during a lengthened journey amongst 
 these people, that the cMintry was fast he 
 cotniDw pastoral, and the, conviction was 
 toiced upon him, that emigration was the 
 only hope left to the Higiilanders, and with 
 the true inatilicls of a British subject, he 
 
 ditiicultits, they eventtially sin • 
 cei'dod bi'Vond tlicii mont sanguine 
 ex)ie< tutioTiS, their descendants to-day num- 
 l)ering aiuny thousands of the popidation of 
 the island. 
 
 Lord Selkirk, after personally superin- 
 lemling the placing of the colony, (which 
 he rev ifitcd the following yoa.i undertook 
 an extended tour tlinugh tl)e United States 
 and Cana<la. Letteis are on fyle in the 
 Archives Uepai-tnient at Ottawa which sho^v 
 that he was endeavoring to establish 
 settlements in Upper Canada as f+r west 
 as the Sault St. Marie In 180:? he 
 proposed to the (ioverntuent of Upper 
 (/'anada to construct a wagon ro«<l 
 from his colony of Haldoon, in l\cnt county, 
 to Toronto, at a. cost of over .CiO,tK>0, If the 
 government would give him a grant of cer- 
 tain crown lands at pf.inte along the road; 
 but the government would i»ot at,ree with 
 
 tl 
 
TiiK Ski, KIRK Sktti.kmknt wd tih >*K.m,K.Rs. 
 
 him as to valuation 
 
 riroj»)ct fell through, 
 (tr of workH on " 
 
 of thfi '.anila, iiikI the 
 Selkirk 'vrotf a imni 
 'Tht! tH'*;<M8ity ot a riKiri; 
 
 -l-ar- 
 
 . -.- - .1 
 
 ran through two, and the Inst through tlirct- 
 (^ilitioiiM. 
 
 itivo syHtem of imtioiml .U-foiici!," "I'a 
 fiJtary Kcfoiin," t:to. Hw fiistiiam. 
 
 elTec 
 liaiiu'ittary 
 
 SKI.KIKK TrKN'< HIS ATTKNTION TO TIIK 
 RKIi RIVKR. 
 
 r>iinng Selkiik'B visit to Montreal in; 
 had been received antl entertained hy 
 the resident partners of the North wfftt 
 l*'ur ('o., who took every opportunity "t 
 paying him attention. They atronliMl him 
 a very full insight into the nianagenieiit of 
 their fur trade. It was written in 1817. Iiy 
 Kilward IClliee (who, then a jmrtner of the 
 Northwest Co., aftorwardu l)ecame a di- 
 rector of the Hudson's Bay Co.) that Sel- 
 kirk's enquiries were more extended tlian 
 was usual in the case of foreign visitors, 
 I'Ut that they little expected that their oon- 
 tideiitial communications to a person ex- 
 pressing his aiindration at the result of 
 their exertions, and his sincere friends^iiip 
 and tiiankful acknowledgments to them- 
 scl V OS, should have awakened the 
 spirit of self-interest, which sui)8c(|uently 
 iKicame so apparent, and still less did tliey 
 snppose they were placing meaii.s in tlie 
 luuids of a conmiercial rival, to he applied 
 tirst in opposition to their trade, and after 
 the failure of that experiuient in an at- 
 tempt to efll'ect the ruin of tiieir establish- 
 ment. 
 
 Lord Selkirk went to Knglund and began 
 to arrange for the carrying out of a grand 
 project which would give him a i.ontrol of 
 ^he management of the Hudson's Bay Co'n- 
 pany. Ellice states tlinL Selkirk 
 oommunicated his ideas to a gentle- 
 man "long interested in the Northwest 
 Company, aud to whom the public are 
 indebte(i for a description of tiie country 
 and of his own voyage and discoveries. " 
 This was most probably Sir Alexander 
 Mackenzie, the discoverer of the Macken- 
 zie River. This gentleman went into the 
 scheme without any definite object further 
 than a re-sale of the actjuired stock at an 
 enhanced price, when theii management of 
 the company's affairs had resulted favor- 
 ably. Owing to bad management the stock 
 of the Hudson's Bay Co. had fallen from 
 250 per cent to between 50 anil tiO; and no 
 dividend had l>een paid for years. Large 
 blocks of stock were purchased, but owing 
 to disagreement the two associates partel 
 and Selkirk letained the bulk at least of 
 the acquired stock, if he did not hold it 
 all. Lord Selkirk immediately obtained 
 opinions from some of the highest legal 
 authorities m England as to the powers pos- 
 sessed by the Hudson's Bay Co. under their 
 (•barter of 1670. A full statement of these 
 opinions is contained in the reports on the 
 Ontario boundary (juestion to the (.'anadian 
 House of Commons iu 1880. In a Ixiok 
 
 ni the North - 
 opinions inon' 
 jually eminent 
 
 written and published by ^hn Ttalkett, a 
 relative of .Selkirk, is given a very differ- 
 ent version of this decision by the.><e name 
 legal authoritit'H, and much mori. favoral»U' 
 to the Hudson 8 Bay Co. 'I'lie for nier seeuis 
 to be the most autiientic. These onimons 
 held that tiie company could exclude 
 all persouH from resi.ling on tin lands 
 granted to iheni, and not already settled 
 there. Hut they were of opinion that the 
 company eorld not dicpossess the ( anadians 
 of the jiosts already occupied by them when 
 they had been "JO years in quiet possession. 
 'I'hey could not prevent people from u.siii;.' 
 the navigation of Hudson s Bay or the navig- 
 al)le rivers, or wheie they have been aicus- 
 toiiied to pass for the purpose of transport- 
 ing themselves and their morehaudise, not 
 to prevent travellers from using wood and 
 wat»r, or pitching their tents. I'he com- 
 pany could not maintain aright to an xclu- 
 sive trade. They luul certa'.n powers to act 
 in athninistering justice. 
 
 These t)pini(m.s were given by Sanuud 
 llomilly, (!. S. Hcdroyd, NV. M. Cruise, .). 
 Scarlett and .lolm r>ell, h\n on the other 
 hand the persons interested 
 west (,"oni]iany iecei\ed 
 favorable to them from ei| 
 authorities. 
 
 Having extended his purchases of Hud- 
 .son's Bay (.'ompany stock to the amount ui 
 nearly i'Kl,000 (the w!i(de amount Jit that 
 time being aljout t' 100, 000) lie at once 
 asserted his controlling intluence and re- 
 placed several members of the committee 
 by his relatives and friends. The general 
 c(mduction of the atiairs of the company 
 immediately iiiii)roved, but it was not lor 
 some time apparent what was the linal ob- 
 ject of his lordship. h\ May, 1811, a gen- 
 eral meeting of the shareh(dders was called 
 and those in attendance were informed that 
 the (iovernor and committee considered it 
 bcneticial to their general interests to grant 
 to Lord Selkirk, in fee simple, about 110,- 
 000 square miles of territ.-ry in the Red 
 River valley, on condition that lie should 
 establish a colony on the grant, and furnish, 
 on certain terms, from among the settlers, 
 such laborers as were required liy the com 
 pany in tlieir trade. Several shareholders 
 pr(!8ent (it is asserted liy Kllice that ill of 
 them) protested against this giantto Selkirk, 
 though it is signiticant that not less than 
 two of the dissentients were men v\ ho wne 
 avowed agents of the iN'orthwest Company, 
 and Mr. Hnlkett writes that two of these 
 persons had jiurcha-sed their stock only 
 forty -eight hours before the meeting, their 
 object being to endiarass the Hudson's 
 Bay Company so that the Northwest 
 Company would gain an advantage. 
 
 The boundaries of the district granted to 
 Lork Selkirk under these ( M'cuin.stjuices 
 were as follows: 
 
 "Beginning at the western shores of Like 
 Winnipeg at a point on 'y'l 50 north lati- 
 tude, and thence running west to Lake 
 
ThK SKI.KrUK Sl'.TTt.KMRNT AND TIIK SK.Trr.KUS. 
 
 h 
 
 WinnipegoosiH, otliorwiw) called Littit* 
 \\ iiiiiipog; theiico in u Hctiitlicrly (lir«;cti<ph 
 tlu<)ii><n said lnko, mo im to strikii its w»'8t- 
 orn ahoif in latitiuie ."»'_' ; tlu'iico duo MT8t 
 to the pliuo whcru the piimllol W inter- 
 RiH.tb 1lie western hran'li of the Red river, 
 othorvvim culled Mio A«ninilioiiie river; 
 tlienoe due soutli from tli.it point of inter- 
 Hection to the heights of land vvhieli sejmr 
 ate tlu- NvatepB running int(i the irmlsoiiH 
 IJay fiorn tliose of tlu- Min><ouri and Mihsis- 
 sippi rivers; theiue i.i an i .interly direction 
 alonn the heifijht o' land t«> the aoiiroeH of 
 the Kivcr Winnip' ^, nioannig l>y sm.h last- 
 named ru'cr the principal bra.ijh of the 
 vatcrs M hicii unite in the Lake SaginagaH: 
 thence aloM;,' tlie main Htreani of tliost 
 waters, and the iinddle of the several 
 lake, through which tiny How, to the 
 mouth of the River Winn pe^, am' thence 
 in a northerly direction through the miiKUe 
 of jjake Winnipeg to the p'ace of hcj/in- 
 niii^, which territory is called Asslnilxiia. " 
 
 ( Crtainly this was an e\li naive and \al- 
 iialile free >,'ift, which cost the company, 
 twenty-tivc years latei', sonic L''jr',(M)0 to re- 
 gain posHCHsion of. It must, however, be 
 borne in mind that an enormous outlay of 
 money «a.s mccsHary l.cfore the land would be 
 of any dirtict vain*', though the idea appears 
 to have been entertained by Lonl Selkirk 
 that he could sell the lands in Kt)gland for a 
 lun-.p sum. Tliis in indicated in the tcrTiis 
 of the prospectus which Ik; prepar^ul, and to 
 .some .'xtent lirculated, though the a.^scr- 
 tion has been made that it was not intended 
 for general lirculation, but was composed 
 only for the edification and information of 
 Koinc friends. 
 
 The shareholders who were opposed to 
 the grant, in their protest took strong ex- 
 ccpti(m in detail, on the following general 
 grounds: There was no ade(|uate consider- 
 ation stipulated for between the company 
 and the carl. The land granted comprised 
 7<>,(HM> superficial miles, containing about 
 44,()0(',0fM) acres of the most valuable arable 
 land, and constituted iio inconsiderable 
 portion of the company's capital stock, 
 '.rhat if it was necessary to sell the 
 land it should have been advertised. 
 That the iCarl was not sutticiently bound to 
 settle the grant and that it would be dirti- 
 cult to people "a region '-',000 miles from 
 any seaport, and out of reach of all those 
 aids and comforts which are derived from 
 civil society."' That no reason could be 
 seen for the grant but the endowing of 
 Lord Selkirk's posterity with an immensely 
 valuable landed estate. That private 
 tratbo would ensue between the Indians and 
 the settlers, to the injury of the company'.s 
 interests, and the settlement would become 
 an asylnm for deserters from the traders. 
 
 This protest was signed on the 'MHh May, 
 li<ll,by Wm. Thwaits, Robert Whitehead, 
 John Inglis, John Fish, Edward KUlce and 
 Alex. Mackenzie, but nothing resulted frtm 
 it, and Lord Selkirk proceeded to carry out 
 
 his longcheriHhed anddiiricultundertakingof 
 transporting, to the banks of the Red river, 
 a largo number of men, women and children. 
 The magnitude of the operation would have 
 appalled any lo-»R resolute person than 
 Selkirk, but lie had experience in emigra- 
 tion, ami waH pro\ ided with means to carry 
 on such a forjuidabl*! umlertaking. 
 
 His lordship th< ii issued an advertise 
 ment or prospectus which would, 
 in this ago of laml advertisements, serve as 
 a model. It describes the (|uantity and 
 cheapness of the lands, and points out that 
 if handled by what is in modern days 
 termul a "syndicate,"' they would bring 
 hundreds of thousands of pound-* by retail 
 ing in small lots, at an advance price, to 
 actual settlers, but owing to its remoteness 
 the whole tract is otl'ereil for the lump sum 
 of t'IO,(HH). The titl*- is stoted to be unex- 
 ceptmnable, but the situation such that im- 
 mediate settlement must not be looked for, 
 and that reason is given why the price de- 
 manded is so low. It is proposed, as an 
 alternative, to form a joint stock company, 
 with a <;apital stock of ,t''JO,tH)U, wliich will 
 sell laiid to actual settlers at reasonable lig- 
 ur No Aiaeri( ans are to be accepted as 
 settlers, but special imlucements are ottered 
 to people from the highland of Scotland, 
 and some parts of Ireland, so that they will 
 not be lost to the Kmpire by emigration. 
 Religion is not made the ground of (listjuali- 
 tication, an unreservetl participation in 
 every privilege is to be enjoyed by Pro. 
 testantH and Catholics without distinction, 
 and it is proposed that in every paro<diial 
 division an allotment of land shall be 
 made for the perpetual support 
 of a clergyman of that persuasion widch the 
 majority of tlie inhabitants adhere to. The 
 joint stock company must undertake to pro- 
 vide tjettleis with passage to the colony at 
 moderate rates, i"10 being mentioned as an 
 estimate. Time accomodation is to be 
 allowed to settlers who would likely be 
 asked ten shillings per acre for the land, or 
 a rental of one shilling per annum in per- 
 petuity. The cultivation of hemp will be 
 encouraged as well as the growth of fine 
 wool, the plains affording a tine grass for 
 pasturage, possessed, in a natural state, by 
 no other part of British America. The 
 fleeces f om ten or twelve sheop will pay 
 for the rent of 100 acres. After ten or 
 twelve years the returns to the shareholders 
 may be expected to increase rapidly. ''Tht 
 amount to which the profits may ultimately 
 arise seems almost to batlle imagination up- 
 on any principle of calculation which can 
 reasonably be adopted." 
 
 Agents were sent to Ireland and the 
 Highlands of Scotland to engage a number 
 of servants, some for the Hudson's Bay 
 Company's service, and others to labor in 
 the colony; these were engagei". for a term 
 of three years and to be sent ahead of the 
 settlers to prepare for their reception. 
 They were each to receive, at the expiration 
 
TiiK Ski.kikk Mktti.kmknt ami Tin: Sktti.kks. 
 
 an 
 
 ).e 
 he 
 or 
 
 ami the 
 
 number 
 
 im'-s Buy 
 
 hibor in 
 
 Wr a term 
 
 111 of the 
 
 eeeption. 
 
 < piration 
 
 f 
 
 
 
 of their cuntracta, 1(K) acroH of land free of 
 
 COit. 
 
 Tht' Mu(1m(>ii'h Hay ('oiiii)fn>y appointiMl 
 Mr. MiU'H Miicdoniioll, foriiicrly onptiiiii in 
 the l>ritiHh army, to he governor of the 
 ilistrii't of AHHinihdia, at gotno point in 
 whioh til' settlement wum to lie formed, and 
 l.<jrd Selkirk also nominated that gentleman 
 to direct the Hettlers anfl look after their 
 and hiH intereBtn. 
 
 Jn the summer of ISII the jiarty.numher- 
 hm abuut ^10 persons, of both sexes and all 
 ages, gathtTe<l from Indand and the north 
 ef Seotiand, were waiting at Stornoway, in 
 the Island of Lewih, leady for embarkation 
 on the ships of the Hudson's May (.'ompany, 
 whieh wi-re sent annually to the posts on 
 the shores of Hudson's hay. 
 
 TllK NOinHWKST COMr^NY. 
 
 After the conquest of C'unadji, in 17 il, 
 the fur countries to the w<jst of Lake 
 Superior attructed the attention of Montrtjal 
 merchants, and traders, in a few years, 
 bcjfan to penetrate into the almost unknown 
 wilds of the western forests, prairies and 
 lakes. From the ilays of the intrepid pio- 
 neer I^ Verandrye, the fur trade had been 
 'farmeil out" by the h'reneh authorities, 
 but with the departed rule vanished the re- 
 striotions to the fur trade. Many of the 
 voyageurs and employeen of the persons 
 tradinj; in the interior under the Krench 
 licenses, remained on the plains ol the Red 
 and .Saskatchuw.in rivers, in the distiiets 
 where the trading post.s hail been situated, 
 having become so accustomed to the wild 
 savage life, and attached to the Indian 
 M'omen with whom they lived, that they 
 preferred to adopt the cjistoms and pursuits 
 of the Indians to returningtotheirold hom"Ps 
 o\i the St. Lawrence. . McKena;ie informs 
 us that for some years after the comjuest 
 the Indians west of Lake Superior were 
 compelled to go down to the posts of the 
 Hudson 8 }k.y Co. at the P.ay to obtain 
 their supplies of manufactured goods, the 
 trade from Canada being suspended. It 
 was not until 1766 that the first trader, un- 
 der the new order of afTairs, arrived at the 
 Kaministiquia river. The next year Thomas 
 Curry pushed into the interior, witii four 
 canoes laden with goods intended for the 
 Indian trade, and managed to reach the 
 .Saskatchewan, from whence he returned 
 the following spring with a large quantity 
 of fine furs. Within a few years a number 
 of trailers were (Jon)peting for tht- furs se- 
 cured by the Indians of the Saskatchewan 
 and Athabasca, which trade had, for some 
 yearsWpreviously, been carried to York 
 Factory on the Hudson Bay. The Hudson's 
 Bay Co. were compelled to take action, and 
 for the first time since their arrival in the 
 Bay, in 1670. after securing their charter, 
 they established a post in the interior. 
 On their account in 1774, Samuel 
 Heame, who afterward explored 
 north from Churchill to the 
 
 Arctic Ocean, erc'ted a fort at Sturgeon 
 Lake, an expansion of the ."^askutehewan, 
 wliero over since tlie < ompany has main- 
 tained an establishment. When the Mon- 
 treal traders shortly after this time visited 
 the Ked and Assindxiine rivers, they found 
 many Frt^nch half breeds, who claimed that 
 the country belonged to them as successorH 
 of their Indian mothers. The trader.'* were 
 < ompi.'lled to [lay tribute before they were 
 allowed to bnrter. In 17H1 souk! traders at 
 I'ortngc la Prairie, while preparing their 
 wintering honses, were nttaiked by the 
 ( rees and Assiniboincs, i»ut with the loss of 
 three men they drove oft' the Indians, kill- 
 ing fifteen warriors and wounding many 
 others. The post was hiistily abandoned. 
 The year before the Indians, during a 
 drunken scjualible with the tiade'-s, as- 
 sembled at tlie Kagle Hills, on the Sas- 
 katchewan, h.id forced the whites to fly, 
 after several on both sides had been killed. 
 The RMiallfiov appe.iied in I7H1 amongst the 
 Indians all over the Northwest, and 
 tliousands of the natives perished during 
 that and the succeeding year, completely 
 ruining the fur trade, and tlunigh they had 
 been reduced to two parties the traders suf- 
 fered L'reat loss. In 1 77S a trader named 
 I'eter I'ond represented a joitit stock com- 
 pany and traded in th.- Athaljasea country 
 with sucli success that he could tinl trans- 
 
 f)ort to Lake Superior for oidy one-half of 
 lis furs the foHowiiiL' sjirini:, but relying 
 on the honesty of the e.itiv. ^ he left the 
 balance stored in hi~ winii rinji house, 
 where, on his return the next, season, he 
 found thetn intact. His siuress led, in 
 l7s;?-4, to the formation of the original 
 Northwest Company, the inei chants in- 
 etrested <lividing tlie .stock into sixteen 
 shares. Some traders, not sitistieil with 
 tiieir allotment, formed another company, 
 in which was interested Alexander Macken- 
 zie. These two intfMests competed for the 
 trade, and rivalry led to such hostile con- 
 duct that the result was muidcr and vio- 
 lence, which terminated in the union 
 of the companies in July, 1787. 
 The gross venture in 1788 amounted 
 to t;4(),0(H), covered by 22 shares. 
 In 171)8, a new arrangement was entered 
 into, the number of shares being increased 
 to 42, but some of the old partners were 
 dissatisfied and formed a new company 
 called the X V, of which Sir Alexander 
 McKenzie and Kdward i^'lHce wvig the chief 
 members. The rivalry between these 
 companies, from 175)8 to 180L was very 
 great, especially on the Red and Assiniboine 
 rivers, but in tJie latter year an amalgama- 
 tion was effected. Alexamler Henry, in 
 his unpublished journal, on the Ist January, 
 180.5, writes at I'embina, where he was the 
 resident agent of the Northwest company, 
 "It was high tiipe for amalgamation, as 
 every Indian on the river was a chief, and 
 goods were given gratis, except silver 
 works, strouds, and blankets. All the 
 
 I 
 
TlIK Ski.KIRK SKTTI.KMr.NT AJ<T» THr SkTTI KUS, 
 
 Iiiiliunit worn •oarlft coati* niul hnd 
 koiTH aiul tlnhkti. " 
 
 A iimiiUHcript inventory of the Northwcmt 
 Cntnpany, now in tli« arc-hivoH of tlu; Man- 
 Itolwi ifiitoric'iil Society, «liowh that the 
 coiMpany liud fur prinoipiil postM, in tliu 
 yvar I7!KS, thnmglmii! tlio country west of 
 i<ak«' Mi[>cri(>r, tli*> foilowint^' Hituatioiiii: 
 
 (irand I'ortnue il^ke Supericr), Fort 
 Charlotte (<.» miles west of (irantl l*ortii«e) 
 I'eniliinH Hivir, htiiiny I.tikc, Knjs'lish River, 
 Upptr Fort Den I'riiirieH, i-'ort St. Louis, 
 Cinnherlantl House (the thrtf last on tlie 
 Safki^tihewnii), Fort Dauphin, Swnii River, 
 Athahasea, (.'hurcliill River, KimI liiver, 
 f^ke W itmipeg. Slave I^ukf,, and ae\eral 
 postH in wliat is now Minni;nota. Tlio total 
 uiiKuint of the inventorioH iunountcd to 
 .t'-14,.S!!». 
 
 It itt to lie noticed that the AsHinihoine, 
 though called ho hy the Indiana from AsHinc 
 (stone) and lioine, or poille (Sioux Indian^ 
 was known to the early French tradero as 
 the St. (.^hnrlcH. and to the Hu'ison'.s Hay 
 (-'ompany and Northwest ('ompanv tMoployes , 
 as the I'pper Red River. The Selkirk 
 settlers refer to the river as the Osnaboinc. 
 'I'here were a huge nnnilier of tradini{ posts 
 on the Assinihoinc sit the hcginning of tl.i; 
 present < ontuiy - many more tlian on the 
 Red River. 
 
 This, then, was the condition of atFairs on 
 the Rod River. The >*r)rthwest Comi-any 
 had a numlier of posts, their employifS Iteiiig 
 principally French Canadians jind French 
 half-breeds, and were opposed in the fur 
 trade by the Hudson s IJay Company, who, 
 in the words of Henry, always followed 
 and never led them. Tlieir traders wen 
 scattered over the Northwest from Luke 
 .Superior to the Pacific whore the ads en- 
 turous McKen/ie hail led them. They, fol 
 lowing in the footsteps of their FVench pre- 
 decessors ajid extending their territories, 
 claimed by right of discovery, the privi- 
 lege of trading in the land that had re- 
 mained for lonK yens in their undisputed 
 possession. The Hudson's Hay Co. while 
 claiming the whole of the lands to the head 
 waters of the streams flowing through any 
 connections into Hudson Bay, had never 
 ventured to make good their claim by es- 
 tablishing trading stutioos in this vast 
 country. At tiie date the Hudson's liay Co. 
 sent Sir. Hearne to build Cumberland 
 House, their first inland post, the Montreal 
 traders were in full possession of the interior 
 trade, while a period of forty years lia(( 
 elapsed since the French Canadians under 
 Iji\'erandrye had planted their torts on 
 l-Ake Winnipeg and its tributary streams. 
 Though rivals in trade the officers and men 
 of the two companies were on good terms: 
 in many cases, on tie Saskatchewan, one 
 enclosure surrounding the buildings 
 of both, only a fence or wall 
 separating the portion assigned to each. 
 Dances and other iollilicutiotia were given 
 by the presiding otiicer in either division of 
 
 large the fort, and the amuse uient* w*ire P<»'t'/-*'- 
 
 the fort, and the amuse uient* w*ire P<»'t'/-*'- 
 pated in by the united population. To give 
 some idea "of the nundier of peisons houi«e<l 
 within the Malls of such a fort aH I have 
 des. ribed I extract from Menrv's journal 
 that at the White Mud River House, on the 
 North Saskatchewan, in ISIO, tho North- 
 west ("ompany had '2H men, :i."> women and 
 7'2 children, I ;»."> in all, whih' their neigh- 
 bors of the Huilson's Buy Company nundier- 
 ed S.'i souls. It is interesting to note that 
 amongst tlie above-mentiomd Noithwest 
 people wt re to be found the names of Le 
 I'ierric, ('ardin.ille, Succier. Dumout, Des 
 Noyer, Nadeau, hesclwinips and Purenteau. 
 I beli« v« all tlicsc nanies are to be found 
 anmngst tiic French .Metis of to day. 
 
 When Lord Selkirk began to arrange for 
 the planting of a settlement on the l>anks 
 of the Red River, the partners jf the 
 Northwest Company, resident in Fngland, 
 protested against sucii a course, ami 
 placed every obstacle in their power in 
 the way of his Ltndship, to prevent the 
 carrying out ol his scheme. 'J'hey acknow- 
 ledged that they had puridiased Hudson's 
 Ray Company sto<;k within forty eight bonis 
 of the gejMMal nie«;ting at which the governor 
 and committee announced the bestowal of 
 the land grant of Assiniboia to Lord Sel- 
 kirk, and admit it was done as a means to 
 give them an opportunity to protest against 
 the grant. They claimed that Lord Selkirk's 
 object in forming such a colony on the Red 
 River was to break up their fur trade and 
 intercept them in their passage from Canada 
 to the .\thabasca and Pacific coast. They 
 denieil the rights of exclusive trade ad- 
 vanced by the Hudson's Bay Company, and 
 the legality of the charter of 1(570, holding 
 that the I'rench had possessed the country 
 before the concjuest, and that after 1761 
 all Rritish subjects came into possession of 
 the privileges enjoyed by theF"rench traders. 
 Thoy then, after obtaining legal opinions, 
 like Selkirk, from eminent British 
 authorities, informed both the British 
 (Jovernment and the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany that they were determined to 
 maintain their rights and possessions, 
 while they did not acknowledge the power 
 of jurisdiction or exclusive rights claimed 
 by the Hudson's liay Co., and would not do 
 .so, until they received from the government 
 "a distinct intimation that these rights 
 were recognized and adiidtted by govern- 
 ment, and they would resist any attempts 
 to sei/.e their property or persons, or to dis- 
 possess them of their trade. un<ler these 
 pretences."' 
 
 This was the position assumed by the 
 Northwest (Jo. when the first party of the 
 Selkirk settlers gathered at Stornoway, in 
 July, 1811. 
 
 TIIK cr01,ONV <!OVERNOn. 
 
 Documents published by the Canadian 
 archives office, inform us that Miles Mac- 
 donell, who was appointed by Lord Selkirk 
 
TlIK Ski. KIRK MKTri,l,MK>T VNU TIIK SuTTI.KRM. 
 
 tM Unvernor of tlic lutuny, whm liorii in In 
 virni'M, S,'otlttHd, in I7H7. H" in ufUtr 
 yt<ari« (01 \(<t iiM iMitii^ii in Anu'iicu in tliu 
 King I* itoyal Krgnnciit ol Now York, n- 
 tiunin;; to Sciitlaml in 17HH, wiiert! lie iniii- 
 ticil. in I7U4 Ih: wiiri HppninUvl lit-utcnant 
 in the Mooond l>attnli(in ot' H'*yHl (.'ttnadinn 
 V i>liuitcor«, to v^hit'h Iiih tHthur, John Mac- 
 (loni'll, MiMMikor ot the Astjomldy of rpiwr 
 Ctuiadu, niid Ix'ttii ga/*Hte(i a-i oapUiin. 1 wo 
 yi'UTH later he receivo<l hin oonwnisHion »■« 
 ■ aptaiii, and from IHO() to IMOJ was «; i 
 tiuiKMl at Kort (ieorge (Niiif^ani). On the 
 reduction of the force \w liv«'il in (iluiij^arry, 
 jiart of his corresoondoico lieing dauxl at 
 (Cornwall. Some of hirt grandchildriii art 
 now rt'siiling at Urockviilc, Oot. lie died 
 at I'oint Kortiuie on the Ottawa in IS'JJ. 
 'I'hid wiM the man ulioHon Ity Loul Selkirk 
 to undertake the ditticult Ui^k of Huperin- 
 tending thr removal of the coloni»t« to the 
 prainoH of the Hod Hiver N'allcy, liis* ex- 
 perience in the wiltln of (Janada served him 
 m goo«i atead latur on. 
 
 I-ord Selkirk, in ISIO, wrote to Canada 
 urging him to proceed t<i London, v\here he 
 would give him an appointouMit, the luittire 
 of which he could lot then coiumunicate. 
 C'apt. Mttcdonell weu.' to join his lordship 
 and wail immodiately placed in ch.irgc of 
 ihe expedition. 
 
 TIIK COLONISTS KM HARK. 
 
 The ctdony Hervants and eniploycH had 
 at.scml)led at Stornoway to the numl)ei of 
 I'-'.'i. having been engaged in Ireland, the 
 lli^jhlamls of Scotland, tin; Orkneys*, ( Hart- 
 go w and Jiondon. Most of tliCHC persona 
 were engaged aa clerks end mechanics for 
 Lortl Selkirk and tlu; Hudson « Hay (,'o. h 
 service, and it must be understood that, as 
 a rule in the after pi-ocecdings tiie Com- 
 pany's Ituainesa matti rs and those of Sel- 
 kirk's colony WKVti kept entirely distinct 
 from each other. 
 
 The followinginforinatit n isextractcd from 
 letters of (.'apt. Macdonell to lA)rd Selkirk, 
 •>\ hich have only been made publii' within 
 this month. 
 
 A great deal of diHioulty was experienced 
 in getting the people on board the ships, 
 which were the I'rince of Wales, the Kdiiy- 
 stone, and the Edward and Anne. Mac- 
 lonell had to apply to the captain of 
 the convoy for a party of marines, and it 
 was necessary to go tiirough the ceremony 
 of having some impressed and put on board 
 that man-of-wor, which was to accompany 
 them, to Hudson's Hay. One man ha«i en 
 listed with a military recruiting party, but 
 he was taken from the soldiers and shipped. 
 I'lve abecouded, and were not recovered. 
 While the captain of the Edward and Anne 
 was on shore making his clearance from the 
 custom house, a Captain McKonzie, who 
 had been agsnt for Ijhe Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany atStorhoway the year before, boarded 
 the vessel with a recruiting party nnd gu.ve 
 ealiibiu^ in).idy to soau of t.io ui3u, bus h'3 
 
 and till' soldiers were ejected from thu 
 ship without the rccruita. McKen/.iu then 
 await«i>l the arrival of (he etdltctor of cus- 
 toin.i and claimed mu,. the men, but, was 
 
 not allowe 1 to take them. On thin ve^sel 
 wen* iiii'ii from (ilasgow, Ireland, aiid a few 
 from Orkney, numburiiig in all 7H. After 
 mustering the passengers the colle(;toi ot 
 cuHti'ins (whose wife was an aunt of Sir 
 Alexander McKcnzie) read the idause of 
 the Emigration Act regulating thu provi- 
 sions for paHsengers, and a public declara- 
 tion made, that if any were unwilling to go 
 abioad they might go to the shore. Several 
 said they were m)t willing many wout 
 over the ship's side into Mrlvenzie's boat - 
 oiii p.irty ran away vs ith the ship's boat, 
 but was lir(,ught back— one man jumped 
 into tlio sea and swam for it until he was 
 picked up by the recruiting boat. The 
 revenue cutter's boat was likewise engaged 
 in taking tiie unwilling, an<l to ca[i the 
 troubles of Macdonell, the collector took 
 ashore a number in his own boat. Mao- 
 donell <ould not see clearly if the fact of 
 the men b lug iiulentiired servants exclude<l 
 theiu from the action of emigration act, and 
 so refrained fr>»m following them to compel 
 them to reship. He blamed Mr. Keid, tiie 
 colli'ctor, for all the trouble, and clai:ned 
 that person was inthK-nced in bis conduct 
 by Sir Aiexmi ler McKen/.ic icud oMiei in- 
 terested peisuns ot tiio Northwest conipany 
 resident in England. 
 
 .^UKIVAI, AT VORK KAirroUV, 
 
 At length on the "itith.luly the ships set 
 sai! for ^'ork factory, Hudson lijiy, with 
 10,1 |)(MMoii8 eugagctl for colony work and 
 for tiie fur trade of the Hudson's IJ.iy Co., 
 !tO oi whom were woikmer. and I') clerk.- 
 Some of the Irishmen were tur- 
 bulent during the early part of the 
 voyage, itittlie m>n from (ilasgow gave 
 the iioht tiouble ot all. The voyage cov- 
 ered It I days and Macdonell writes tliat it 
 was the longe.-<t ever known, sif>rmy 
 weather on the ocean Iteing followed by tine 
 mild wyathcr with moderate winds when 
 the bay was entered. The ships' captains 
 were incompetent, and the Edward and 
 Anno was wretchetUy fitted for the voyage. 
 The colonists experienced fairly good health 
 and were drilkii with arm.-, few of tiiam 
 knowing how to Kre ofV a gun. The ctt'ec /^ 
 of the deserters at iStonioway wi.iro auc- 
 tioned ofl, and brought £2~ sterling. 
 
 Messrs. Auld (superintendent) and Cook 
 (governor at York Factory) afforded ho 
 party every as.^istancc on their arrival and 
 informed Macdonell that i great number of 
 the Hudson s Bay Company's othcera and 
 men were interested in t'.ie success of the 
 colony, and were looking foi ward to joining 
 it on their retirement 'rom the service. 
 Orders had been sent to Red River to se- 
 cure provisions for the yeople on their arri- 
 val there in the following spring, the season 
 being too far advanced to allow of their go- 
 
'I'm. Ski.kikk SkTTI-KMKNT ani> tiik Sktti.f,r«!. 
 
 V. 
 
 ii)g oil that aiitimin. Maoilonell hail foreseen 
 this delay. News iiail l)oen received that 
 the Red River had overllnwed its hanks in 
 the spring, a circuinatance said to be a new 
 experience iu that country. 
 
 AKTll.LKHY. 
 
 Two old iron swivel guns iiad been taken 
 from the stores of iiOrd Seaforth at 
 Stornoway, but Capt. Miicdonald, not 
 satisfied with them, asked for some "sound 
 brass pieces," H-pounders, witli cairiages, 
 etc., coinplets. Without doubt these guns 
 were sent, and trant<ported to Ked river, for 
 carriages in a state of decay and bearing 
 tliat date are still to In; seen about the old 
 
 buildings of Fort Carry. A few years after, 
 the Nortiiwest Company took possession of 
 nine ciinnon stoied iu the warehouseof 
 Lord Selkirk at what was termed the 
 "(lorernmcnt House,' which a few months 
 later became Fort Douglas. These cannon 
 played a very prominent part in the history 
 of the Selkirk settlement from 1811 to as 
 late a date as bSTO. wlien Riel, as President 
 of tlie I'rovisional (Jovernment, comniandecl 
 tiie situation largely through being iu poK- 
 session of them. "J'hey are now scattered, 
 most of tlicm being iu the custody of private 
 individuals who use them to adorn their 
 lawns, or have consigned them to the 
 lumber heaps of their back yards. 
 
 
 i" 4 •''■■!*'"'''tr- ; ■ -V^'.-' '^A\V*.''* — ^^133^ ^ _^' 
 
 -Kl.KIKK tiKlNI)STOM;s. 
 
 TUi; FIRST (.KI.ST MIl.l-. 
 
 The stores intended for the settlement 
 were placed in the York Factory warehou.se, 
 and mention is made by Maedonell of the 
 grindstones, some of which had, Ijy an 
 error, been left on board the ships. It is 
 very probable, hewever, that the old- 
 fashioned grindstone now in possession 
 of the Manitoba Historical society, a cut of 
 which is herewith shown, was one of the 
 identical stock landed that yt;ar. Kacli half is 
 about two feet in diameter and an inch and 
 a half thick. One stoiuj being placed on the 
 other, the primitive handle was grasped by 
 the operator and the upper stone turned 
 round smartly, as the grain was poured into 
 the hole iu the centre about tlie pivot pin, 
 the flour produced gradually working out- 
 ward between the stones. While a slow 
 and laborious process, in comparison with 
 the roller system of this day, many a busliel 
 of wiieat was, by the exercise of patience 
 and muscle, run through this old-fashionej 
 mill, and furnished a strong and wholesome 
 food to the colonists. 
 
 WI.VTEKl.M. AT YORK KAtToRV. 
 
 This first party of colonists was sent from 
 York Factory over to the Nelson River, 
 near Flamboro Head, where huts weie 
 erected for their accommodation, and a riew 
 winter road cut out, reducing the distance 
 from 28 to 23 miles. The rations issued 
 daily comprised from one to two pounds of 
 venison, when obtainable, and a pint of 
 oatmeal, witli an occasional allowance of 
 pease, barley and molasses. Hacon appears 
 on the re(juisitions drawn on the York 
 htorehouse, but it wa.s not used where 
 fresh meat was procurable. Scurvy soon 
 appeared, and on the '2 lat January, 18)2, 
 2.'i men were down with it, 1)ut the exten- 
 sive use of spruce juico almost entirely re- 
 moved the evil. 
 
 By the 26tli October the people moved 
 into tlie houses, which Mere built of logs, 
 with clay and moss-covered roofs. Plenty 
 of boards were obtained from an abandoned 
 house of the company on the opposite or 
 southern side of the Nelson River, not far 
 from Flamboro Head, so that comfortable 
 
 m. 
 
'rill'. SkLKIUK SkTTI.KMKST ASIi tllK SKTTl,KkS. 
 
 bunks and floors were constructed. Two 
 fences were erected, for a couple of miles in 
 extent, on each side of the river, with snares 
 placed in them for tlie purpose of catching 
 (leer, which, however, did not arrive that 
 tall as was usual, but in March and April 
 a very large number were captured in the 
 snares, thousands crossing the river in the 
 early part of May. Supplies of provisions 
 were hauled on sleds from York Factory 
 each week, and, though the weather at 
 times was most severe, no accidents from 
 freezing happened. Macdonnell had hired 
 a man named Will Kinlay at York in the 
 autunui, he being a discharged company's 
 servant. This man gave a great deal of 
 trouble to Macdonnell, for he instigated 
 some of the turbulent ones to resist all 
 authority and to refuse to do any work. 
 
 On New Y' ear's day some of the Irishmen 
 made a violent attack on the Orkney men, 
 three of whom were so brutally hoaton that 
 their lives were despaired of for a month 
 afterward. The trouble a^oso from the fact 
 that a pint of rum had been served out to 
 each individual with which to celebrate the 
 day. 
 
 In February Finlay, who would not ol)cy 
 orders and refused to do any work, was 
 removed to a hut built for the purpose 
 of confining hirn in, but on the first ni^'ht he 
 occupied it thirteen men of tlio party as- 
 sembled aud burnt the hut to the ground 
 atnidst wild shouts of defiance. 
 
 The insurgents were summoned to appear 
 before Mr. Hillier, a magistrate who accom- 
 panied the colonists, aud Capt. Maudoiuiell. 
 Nine of these people were (ilasgow luen and 
 the remaining four were young ( )rkney lads 
 wlio had been induced to join thtm. At 
 the examination tliey refused to suljuiit to 
 the authority of the magistrates and con- 
 temptuously walked away, claiming that 
 they were not being treated according to the 
 promises made them l)y the agent at the 
 time of engaging. Tliese malcontents were 
 given the choice between starving and haul- 
 ing their ^own provisions from York Fac- 
 tory, and were notified that they woutd lie 
 sent back to 8(;otland for trial. In the 
 spring they obtained possession oi firearms, 
 hut Mr. Auld, the superintendent of the 
 Huilson's Bay Company ejected them from 
 the fort, and refused to give them any pro- 
 visions until they surrendered their arms 
 and submiited, which they did shortly after, 
 and being ireparated went to work, and it 
 was decided not to return them to Scotland, 
 as their rep«t'>.s vvoulti have the etfect of 
 preventing the enlisting of men for the ser- 
 vice. 
 
 Kour new boats were built at York during 
 the winter, after tiie batteau pattern, 
 though imich difficulty was experienced in 
 getting the (/ompany's people to depart 
 from tiieir regular models, which Macdonnell 
 claimed were not nearly so good, being only 
 22 feet iu the keel, while his were '2B feet 
 long. 
 
 An Irish priest from Killala named 
 Bourke was the only clergyman with the 
 party, but he returned to Ireland, from 
 York, after spending the winter with Capt. 
 Macdonnell, who considered that while he 
 might make a good recruiting agent Tor the 
 colony in Ireland, did not think "he would 
 ever make a convert to the Catholic reli- 
 gion. " Macdonnell was anxious to have a 
 priest sent out, who would be well recom- 
 mended, but makes no allusion to supplying 
 a Presbyterian minister for the people of 
 that denomination, and who were expected 
 to be in the great majority in the future 
 colony. 
 
 In writing Selkirk from York, Macdon- 
 nell presses on His Lordship the necessity of 
 having martial law ebtablished in Assini- 
 boia, for, "within the tract all trailers must 
 take out a license, which may answer a 
 good purpose with the Northwest Co." He 
 proposed to oiganizc a company of fifty 
 men at the first outset, the troops to be 
 mounted .so as to act as infantry or cavalry 
 as the service might re(iuire. 
 
 It is probable that the number of this 
 first party under Macdonnell has heretofore 
 been over-estimated by histoiians, for_whilc 
 most writers on the subject mention 70 a-s 
 the number, it is stated by Macdonnell in a 
 letter to Jiord Selkirk, dated 4th -luly, ISll', 
 at York Factory, " '2'2 is my portion out of 
 4!), all that are effective of last year's im- 
 portjition. The people are so fiuctuating 
 that 1 cannot yet send a list of my party. 
 A man of one ation is prejudiced against 
 going w ith ont of another. I shall go on 
 v\ith any number, take possession of the 
 tract and hoi.st the ^;Ulndard." He left on 
 the 5th July tor the Red River, 
 
 .\HKI\ Al- AT KKI) KlVKK. 
 
 it was about August or Sept., 1. SI "2, that 
 these pioneers arrived at the Red River and 
 Ijegan the erection of dwtlMngs and store- 
 houses on the west bank, about tbrce- 
 tjuarters of a mile north of the iiiouth 
 of the Assiniboine; previous to wliich, 
 howexer, Oovernor Macdonnell ordered 
 all his people to assemble, and read his com- 
 mission as Lord Selkirk's reprcsentiitive and 
 governor. lUlice writeh ttiat a salute wats 
 fired at the Hudson's Bay fort in the neigh 
 borhood, the Indians assendiicd looking on 
 in silent wonder. 
 
 Though every exertion w as put forth to 
 prepare for the approaching winter, it ap 
 pears that some of the party were compelled 
 to live with the freemen in tlie neighbor- 
 hood, and the North-West Coini)any'8 em- 
 ployees rendered great assistance to them, 
 furnishing goods and provisions for their 
 support. In the spring of ISlIi (iovernor 
 Macdonnell also procured from the North- 
 westers, potatoes, barley, oats, garden 
 seeds, four cows, a bull, pigs, fowls, etc., 
 articles which the traders could ill afford to 
 spare, tiiough at each of their posts on the 
 Red river a quantity of vegetables were 
 raised for their own use. 
 
to 
 
 TiiK ski-kikk Si:tti,i;mknt aM) thk SKm.Kks. 
 
 A Hiiiall party of 'lohtnists arriveil at 
 York Factory ill the autuiiin of I8l'2, ami 
 worked tliroiigh to the settlement tlie next 
 year. There was a strong spirit of intiub- 
 ordination exhibited by these people 
 on the voyage to York Factory and a eon 
 spiracy was entered into to seize the vessel 
 rind sell her in some foreign i;ountry. The 
 captain armed his men and witli the assist- 
 ance of some cannon loaded with grape shot 
 subdued the uprising. Most of tlicse emi- 
 grants were enga^od as laborers and ser- 
 vants, and came from Scotland and Ireland, 
 Several families were in the party. 
 
 I'"inding, on their arrival at the settlement 
 on the lied river, that it woidd be impossi- 
 ble to provide provisions foi' them during 
 tlie following winter, the colonists were sent 
 u|) the Red river to the mouth of the I'em- 
 bina, where, on the south side, they erected 
 huts and enclosed them with palisades. 
 This place was named Fort Daer, after Lord 
 Selkirk, who wa^i Baron Daer. Here they 
 had their head([Uarters, though many of 
 them were forced to Join with the plain 
 hunters engaged in killing bufl'alo to supply 
 the trading posts. The hardships endured 
 by some were evtrenie, and at> they were not 
 provided with Iiorses the stalking ot buHialo 
 for their subsistenee was a dangerous and 
 l)recarious mode of hunting. 
 
 The journals of the Northwesters, at the 
 various posts, contain many notes of the 
 supplies and assistance affordt-d to even the 
 tinployee!- cl the Hud.son's Kay Company in 
 the early days of this country, and it maj' 
 well be imagined that the colonists, unac- 
 customed to the lile and climate and not 
 properly clad in suitable garments, suflered 
 intensely. In reviewing fairly the events 
 that succeeded this generous eonduct of the 
 .Northwesters, it will add to one's percep- 
 tion of the ti ne situation, if these acts are 
 not lost si^ht of, for many outrageous 
 charges liavc been preferred against the 
 people ot the Northwest company. 
 
 The colonists who wintered ut Pembina 
 returned to the <;olony in the spring and 
 continued their efforts t<j cultivate the 
 eleari.':g8 near the • ank of the river. Mi.ch 
 of what is nuw open land or prairie, was at 
 that date covered with timber or scrubby 
 flushes. There seems to be no doubt 
 that Lord Selkirk, or his managers, wero 
 somewhat uagligent in not providing liorses 
 for the settlers to work their f«rins. Horses 
 were to be had in plenty from the Assini- 
 bome and other Indians, for the North 
 westers for fifteen years previous had 
 obtiiinetl and regularly used horses at their 
 estiitlishinents, and the free hunteis were 
 ecpiitUy well ,su])plied. The colonists were 
 compelled to break the ground with hoes 
 and clear »way tlie ycrub as best they 
 eouh'. 
 
 In the early part of this year (1814) a 
 large number of emigrants sent out by Lord 
 Selki'k the previous summer, arrived at 
 the Red River settlement. They had been 
 
 pio- 
 
 to be drawn by 
 
 snowshoes be- 
 
 At York 
 
 sufiering ter- 
 
 U 
 
 landed at Churchill on the i.'lth August 
 after an eventful voyage, during wliich 
 fever raged ou board. They were sent 
 up the Churchill River about fifteen 
 miles, whore log houses were erected 
 and to tliia place (Turing the winter their 
 rations were drawn on flat sleds from the 
 fort. Owing to some disagreement about 
 hunting grous«,which were abundant during 
 the winter, Mr. Auld, the ollicer ot the 
 Hudson's Bay Compauy, demanded and ob- 
 tained the locks from the (Jiuns owned by 
 the colonists, and they were unable to lay 
 in stores of these birds. 
 
 After a severe winter the larger portion 
 of the party were sent to York Factory, 
 leaving Churchill in April. All their 
 visions and baggage had 
 themselves on sleds, 
 ing in general use. 
 they arrived, after 
 ribly, and were then established in huts, 
 after which time, the spiing opening, they 
 obtained an abundance of fresh venison and 
 feathered game,upon which they principally 
 subsisted until they started on the voyage 
 up the rivers to Lake Winnipeg and on to 
 the colony settlement, after having been 
 joined by the remainder of the party, con- 
 sisting chiefly of elderly persons who had 
 been carried by Iwats from Churchill to 
 York later in the spring. 
 
 The population of the settlement 
 was now about two hundred, and 
 anothet addition was made to it 
 the next year (1815), the circumstances 
 relating to which will be dealt with later 
 on, as it is here necessary to notice the 
 first occasion tm which the Northwest Co. 
 and (jiovernor Macdonnell can.c into con- 
 flict. 
 
 On the 8th of January, 1814, iMacdonncll 
 issued a proclamation, which, after reciting 
 the fact that the Hudson's Bay Co. had 
 ceded to Lord Selkirk the territory of 
 Assiniboia, and that his Lordship had duly 
 appointed Miles Maedonnell to be goY- 
 ornoi of ■ the same, continued as 
 follows; "And whereas, the welfare 
 of the families at present forming 
 settlements on the Red River within 
 the said territory, with those on 
 their vtay to it, passing the winter at York 
 or Churchill Forts, in Hudson's Bay, us 
 also those who are expected to arrive next 
 autuitm, renders it a necessary and indis- 
 pensable part of my duty to provide for 
 their support. In the yet uncultivated 
 state ot tlie country, the ordinary resources 
 derived from the buffalo an<l other wild ani- 
 mals hunted within the said territory, are 
 not deemed more than adequate foe the 
 leipiisite supply; wherefore it is hereby or- 
 dered that no person trading in furs or 
 provisions within the territory for the 
 Honourable Hudson's Bay Com- 
 
 pany, the North-NYeat, Company, 
 or any individual or unconnected traders or 
 persons whatever, shall take out any pro- 
 
 ,Jii ^k- 
 
TlIK SEI-KIBK SkTTI<KMKNT and TIIK SKTTLhniS. 
 
 II 
 
 viflioiiB, either of tlcAti, dried meat, grain or 
 vegetables, procured or raised witliin the 
 said territory, by laud or water carriage, for 
 one twelve months from the date hereof, 
 save and except what may be judged neces- 
 sary for the trading parties at this preseut 
 within the t«iritory to carry them to their 
 respective dtatinations, and who may on 
 due application to me obtain a licenHO for 
 the same. The provisions procured and 
 raised as above shall be taken for the use of 
 the colony, and that no loss ma^ accrue to 
 the parties concerned they will be paid 
 for by liritish bills at the customary rates. 
 And Ite it hereby further made known, that 
 whosoever shall be detected in attempting 
 to convey out, or Hhall aid or assist in con- 
 veying out, or attempting to carry out, any 
 provisions prohibited as above, either by 
 land or water carriage, shall be taken into 
 cuatody and prosecuted as the laws in such 
 cases direct, and the provisions so taken, as 
 well as any goods or chattels of what 
 nature soever, which may be taken along 
 with them, and also the craft, carriages anrl 
 cattle, instrumental in conveying away the 
 same, to any part but the settlement on Red 
 River, shall be forfeited. 
 
 (liven under my hand at Fort Daer, 
 (Pembina), the 8th day of January, 1841. 
 
 [Signed.] Milks Macdonnell, 
 
 (Jovernor, 
 By order of the Governor. 
 [Signed. | .Tons Sikncek, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 To understand what would be the effect 
 of the carrying out of the terms of this 
 proclamation to the Northwest company, 
 it is necessary to be aware of the fact that a 
 large number of hunters were kept at their 
 Red River and Assiuiboine posts, to capture 
 bufl'alo and make the dried 
 
 meat and pemican which was shipped to 
 liake \\'innipeg to provision the army of 
 iKwitmeii engaged in carrying out to Lake 
 Superior the produce of the winter's trade 
 throughout the whole vast country west and 
 north, extending even to the Pacific ocean, 
 and also to return the incoming crews in the 
 autumn to tlie upper stations. This supply 
 of provisions once out off the fur trade of 
 the Northwest Company would be destroyed 
 or carried on only at and immenseau ruinous 
 expenditure of capital. 
 
 (Jovernor Macdonnell took immediate 
 steps to follow up his proclamation by seiz- 
 ing provision stores of the Northwest Com- 
 pauj , and trouble ensued which led to open 
 anUigonism between the rival interests. 
 
 THK TROnHI.ES COMMENCE. 
 
 The proclamation of (lovernor Macdonnell 
 waa posted throughout the district and air i 
 notices of it served on the officers in charge 
 of the posts of the Northwest Company. 
 
 On the 15th March, 1814, a party of men 
 at tlie Selkirk establishment was detailed 
 to enforce the provisions of the proclama- 
 tion. Arms were served out by John 
 
 Spencer, who had l)een appointed sheriff by 
 (iovei-nor Macdonnell, and tlie detachment 
 was sent to tlie plain south oi Pembina, 
 near Turtle Rivir, where a band 
 of Freemen had aceuiDulated a 
 <|uantity of pemican and dried meat. 
 When this armed Ijody arrived on the scene 
 (it will be noticed tiiat nf) attention was 
 paid to the fact that tliih place waa in the 
 United States) the Freemen were disposing 
 of these provinions to souic traders in the 
 Hcrvice of tne Northwest Co. A Mr. War- 
 ren and Micliael Macdonnell had charge of 
 the Selkirk people, and they at once order- 
 ed tlieir men to fix bayonets and load their 
 muskets with ball cartridge. This done 
 tliey by force seized the provisions and took 
 them to the Selkirk Settlement. 
 
 Again (Sn the 5th of June Sheriff Spencer, 
 with an armed force, proceedetl to 
 Brandon House, an establishment of 
 the Northwest (>., and after cutting 
 down .some palisades entered the fort, broke 
 open the doors of the warehouse and seized 
 605 packages of pemican and other provis- 
 ions, the product of the past season s hunt, 
 which it was intended to transport to Lake 
 Winnipeg and elsewhere to feed the voya- 
 geurs from the vast inland diHtriota en route 
 to Fort William. 
 
 It was foi' these acts of violence, the first 
 which occurred in the district, that (iov. 
 Miles Macdonnelland his sheriff, John Spen- 
 cer, were afterwards arrested and «ent down 
 toCanada for trial under a waiTiint issued by 
 A. X. McLeod, a justice of the peace for 
 the Indian Territory, and a partner of the 
 Northwest Company. 
 
 A few weeks after the seizure of the pro- 
 visions, the trader.s of the Northwest Com- 
 pany began to amvc* fvom the detached 
 posts, only to find tliat no rations remained 
 to accompany their brigades of boats to F'ort 
 William. Instead of asserting theii- su- 
 periority by force of arms, they (juitely 
 conferred with (iovernor Macdonnell, and 
 agreed to return d\iring the next winter any 
 •luantity of pruvisions he woul4 then give 
 them to enable them to proceer to T^ake 
 Superior. Macdonnell accordingly handed 
 over some of their own pemican, and 
 they went on their journey to the 
 great gathering of the Northwest Company, 
 which took place annually at Fort William. 
 Certainly the Northwesterns resti-ained 
 their natural feelings in a womierful man- 
 ner in acting so moderately as they diil 
 under the circumstances. 
 
 TlllO NORTHWESTERS DKTERMINK TO RESIST. 
 
 At tiie annual meeting of tlie partners at 
 Fort William, it was djcided to resist all 
 future attempts of (4ov. Macdonnell in inter- 
 rupting the traile of the Northwest Com- 
 pany, and. evidently they also arranged a 
 scheme which, if successfully carried out, 
 would break up the Selkirk colony by 
 depopulating it. Duncan ('ameron was 
 sent to take charge of the Northwest Co's 
 
1*2 
 
 'I'm; Sk.i.kikk Sk.ttt,kmknt am. tiii. SKTrr.KRM. 
 
 interests at Ft. (Jibraltar, on the Hod River, 
 and Alexaniler McDonell was (It'spatchcd in 
 a like capacity to IJrandon Brandon Houhc 
 and the Qu'Appelle river eBtablisliinenta. 
 
 Arriving in August, ISI I, at tlieir posts 
 they learned that in dune, (tov 
 enKir Maodonnell iiad Htnt a parly 
 of '2.') men, armed with nmsketK 
 and bayonets, up the A;isinil)oinc river, one 
 day's jonrney from the colony, where, in 
 expectation that the Northwest Co. would 
 send down provisions by boats, they camped 
 and planted a loaded cannon on the bank 
 to force a surrender of the stores. They 
 8U( ceeded a few days afterwards in seizing 
 }»(J sacks of pendcan. the property of the 
 North Westers, imd in capturing some em- 
 ployees, wlio were taken a.^ prisoners to the 
 settlement, but soon released. On this oc 
 casion some of the Selkirk people refused to 
 
 strange that from the moment 
 they arrived at York Fa(;tory this tale of 
 the Indians attacking them had been dinned 
 into their earn, first by the servants of the 
 Hudson 9 Hay Co. 'as written l-y (iovernor 
 Macdonnell himself), and at this time by the 
 Northwest people. The trutli is, that the 
 Indians weie almost fu.m the tiist extremely 
 friendly to the settlers, hunting for them and 
 later on offering to fight for them if neces- 
 sary. 
 
 COVKKNOR MACIiONNBl.L IS^I'KS J'KO<'I,.\MA- 
 TIO.NS. 
 
 Hut Cameron was not allowed to thus 
 entice away the colonists w ithout resistance 
 fi'om (iovernoi Macdonnell, who closely 
 guaided the interests of his noble patron. 
 On the 2l8t of (Jctober. 1814, two months 
 aftei Cameron's arrival, Ma( donnell issued 
 anil served the following notice: 
 
 SK.I.KIKK -^IKNK, ill KAWIIIIIK, HiK rl.KAMNi; WHI'.AT 
 
 
 'V 
 
 act as constiibles, giving as a reason that 
 the North \\ < sters had saved them from 
 starving after their arrival at the settlement, 
 and they were not going to make such a 
 poor return. 
 
 m'NCAN e'AMERON. 
 
 Dnncaa Cameron was, as I am informed 
 by a Selkirk settler still living, "a fine old 
 gentleman," much liked by the settlers. 
 Tie at once afcer his arrival ingratiated him- 
 self with tlie vSelkirk settlers, invited them 
 to dine with him, and during the winter, by 
 promises of lands and einpluyment for them 
 in Canada, he succeeded in inducing a 
 number w consent to abandon the colony, 
 and accept the otter made by the Northwest 
 Co., of a free passage. It is alleged that he 
 also frightened the settlers by pretending 
 that he had information that the Indians 
 would attack them during the next summer 
 it they remained. It was a hard 
 trial for tlie settlers, and it is 
 
 "DisTHicT (iK A.'^srsinoiA. 
 "To Duncan Cameron, acting for tiie North- 
 west company at the forks of the Red 
 river ; 
 
 "Take notice that by the authority and on 
 the behalf of your landlord, the Right Hon. 
 Thomas, Earl of Selkirk, I do hereby warn 
 you, and all your associates of theNorthwest 
 company, to (piit the post and premises you 
 now occupy at the forks of the Red river 
 within six calendar months from the date 
 hereof." 
 
 Similar notices were served an the other 
 Northwest Company's oflicors in charge of 
 posts, and a very bitter feeling engcHdered in 
 consequence. Towards spring several col- 
 lisions took place between the men of the 
 two companies, each side claiming to be 
 innocent of the charges made by the other. 
 
 THE SKTTLERS HKIZE HEI.KIRK'.S OAN.VON. 
 
 Duncan Cameron had arrested Sheriff 
 
TUK SK.LKfKK SkTTI.LMKNT .\NI» IIIK. SkTTI-KKS. 
 
 13 
 
 Spencer in the autumn and sent him down to 
 Rainy Lake, and on the Srd April, ISIo, 
 during the tentporary absence of Milea Mao- 
 donnell from the settlement, he notified 
 Archibald McDonald, who was acting for 
 tile governor, to hand over to tlie settlcia 
 the cannon "which hiwl already been em 
 
 t)loyed to dis^turb the peace of his Majesty's 
 uyal subjects in tliis quarter," not with a 
 view of making any hostile use of them, liut 
 to place them out of harm's way. He liad 
 by this time seduced tlio majority of the 
 settlers from Gov. Ma(;d((unell, and on 
 leaving this matter to them, tlie next morn- 
 ing they broke open the Selkirk warehouse 
 and forcibly took possession of the nine 
 cannon stored there, and drew them on 
 sleds to Fort (Jibraltfir. On C-ov. Macdon- 
 nell's return, which was shortly after the 
 sei/Aire of the caimon, he issued a warrant 
 to search for and recover tiie stolen pro- 
 pertj', bnt Cameron would only permit 
 
 em C'anada, where many of their descend- 
 ants may now be found, residinj^ principally 
 in the counties of K't,'in and Mifldlesex. 
 
 After their depaiture the Northwesters 
 so worked on tiie tears of the remaining 
 settlers, numberin;,' about fifty, that they 
 became discoiuaged. Lord Selkirk's 
 friends have stated that their horses were 
 stolen, cattle driven away and their persons 
 threatened with violence, so that about the 
 '2r)th of June (ISl.'i) most of them embarked 
 in their boats and proceeded down the Red 
 Rivet anl aeross Lake Winnipeg to Jack 
 Fish River \now Norway Ho^tsc;) where they 
 remained until August, wlicn tliey were 
 joined by Colin Robertson and twenty voy- 
 ageurs sent by Lord Selkirk from Montreal 
 to assist the colonists. 
 
 SOME COLOXISTS UKTHRN'. 
 
 Tiicy returned to their oM home on the 
 19th August, wlien tliey found that most of 
 
 I'OUT DOrcil.AS. 
 
 four of the searching party to enter 
 Fort Gibraltar and then refused to allow a 
 search to be made, enforcing his refusal by 
 arming his men to resist. Then a large 
 number of the Selkirk colonists deserted the 
 settlement and went over to the Northwest 
 fort, and when one of their nuTnber was ar- 
 rested by the Governor's warrant, the 
 deserters, with the Northwest servants, 
 rescued him by force. 
 
 GOVERNOR M.\CDONNELL ARRESTED. 
 
 A series of petty hostilities were engaged 
 in during the next month, and Governor 
 Maodonnell was finally arrasted under the 
 wan ant issued by A. N. McLeod the 
 autumn previous, and carried down to 
 Montreal for trial, but on his arrival there 
 tlie partners of the Northwest Co. decided 
 not to prosecute him and he was liberated. 
 
 SELKIRK t'DLONISTS Al'.ANDON THE SETTLE- 
 MENT. 
 
 In June 140 ot the Selkirk colonists 
 packed up and were transported by the 
 Northwest Company free oi charge to West- 
 
 been destroyed. They 
 remaining dwcllini^s 
 
 their houses liad 
 rcoccupied the 
 
 and exerted themselves to build 
 anew as well as gather in the 
 crops left standing, which luckily 
 had been preserved by tlie Hudson's 
 Bay C/"o. 's men, who remained on the spot to 
 look after the trading interests of the Com- 
 pany. Over loOO bushels of wheat, some 
 otfier grain, and a large stock of potatoes 
 were housed. It was at this time that the 
 site of the residence of the Selkirk governor, 
 with the buildings about it, was named 
 I'"ort Douglas, after his lordship. 
 
 THE lOCRTM PARTY OK EMKJRANTS, 
 
 Lord Selkirk's agents were working in 
 Sutherlandshire, Scotland, and in the spring 
 ot 1815 a large party of emigrants had been 
 secured, the inajority of them hailing from 
 the Parish of K ildonan. Some of these people 
 had sufficient ready money to pay over to 
 his lordship the sum of £10 for passage to 
 the Red river. Others, not so fortunate, 
 agreed to engage as servants for the colony 
 
14 
 
 Thk Sklkikk Skttlkmknt and thk .Skttlkiw. 
 
 
 Hv, 
 
 ""''«.v.Siro, 
 
 ■CI. 
 
 'Vco,,, 
 
 """ ^'ioe, 
 
 K RY. 
 1 . Fort Rouge — buiit by LaVeia.ndi ye about 
 17.H6. 
 The ForkH— built by Northweat Company 
 
 about 1803. 
 Foit Gibraltar — built by Northwest Com- 
 pany about 1806. 
 
 Ikatroyed by Lord Selkirk's 
 agents in 181f), Rebuilt by 
 Northwest Company about 
 1817; occupied by 11. IJ. Co. 
 after amalgamation with 
 Northwfst Conipany in 18'21 
 and on April 18th, 18'22, its 
 name was charged by Sir Geo. 
 Simpson, the H. B. Co. gover- 
 nor, to Fort (iarry. 
 Fort (Jarry, a new tort built by 
 (jovernor Felly, but destroyed 
 by the great Hood of 1826. It 
 was rebuilt by (xoverner Felly 
 in 1826, and afterwards wea 
 used as buildings for a model 
 tavn>. 
 
 iM, 
 
 2. H. B. Go's store, or^ perhaps fort. In 
 
 use prior to arrival of Selkirk colon- 
 ists in 1812. 
 
 3. Oovernrnent House of the Selkirk Col- 
 
 ony, afterwards (in the fall of 1815) 
 it was named Fort Douglas. 1812- 
 1826. 
 
 4. The last Fort Carry built by Governor 
 
 Ciiristie in ISSii 36. 
 r>. Stables bailt for model farm about 1840. 
 
 6. Grove of trees beside present residence of 
 
 Ex Mayor Logan, where Governor 
 Semple and his party were buried 
 after the .Seven Oakes tragedy in 
 June, 1816. 
 
 7. tludson's Bay Comj)any'8 fort [partly 
 
 built by Peter Fidler in 1817,aud fin- 
 iahed by .James Sutherland in 1819. 
 it was situated between McDermot 
 and Notre Dame street oast, a few 
 hundred yards back from the bank of 
 the Red River. It was in use cer- 
 tainly in 1821, Joseph Bird being the 
 chief factor in charge. 
 
TnK Sfc;j,KlUK SkTTI.KMKNT AVI' TIIK .SKTTl.liRS. 
 
 15 
 
 I 
 
 ui.Ul ttuc'ii tiiiu; .tJi they ooulil pay otl" tlioii 
 imlehte<hieHa on tl is score. About seventy 
 two ptrsona emiMirkeil at Stroniiiees oy 
 liuanl tlu! Hod low, wlnjh set sail uu .Juno 
 17, 1815, in company witli two"*!!!})! of tin! 
 Hiiilsons JJay Oo., all tlu- vt-sselti hti'.ng 
 under the cate of a sloop of war Ut prot<!ct 
 Uiem from the French privateers. Tli.5 
 L'oIonistB wore acounipnuied by James 
 •Sutherland, who, picvious to their 
 itfjparture, Im'l l>oe\i an elder in 
 the Estahlisheii Church of Scotland, 
 an(i had been duly licensed t*i marry, bap- 
 tiao, and perferm the duties of a preacher 
 and spiritual guide to the colonists. He 
 rrmaioed at the settlement for two or three 
 ytuira and removed to T'anada. Landing at 
 York Factory on the LSth August, they 
 inimefliatcly after Het out on tlio arduous 
 voyaac of some 700 miles to the colony, 
 which place they reached on the Sth of 
 November. 
 
 r.'JVKKNOK SEMPLK. 
 
 With this lu.st mentioned party of settlors 
 < <inio Roliert Semple. who had, uuvler a new 
 M lani^'iiueut for fronduetim? their buai- 
 .'■es.t ju the territories, been ap- 
 ['■v.ntod gc\ernor in chief V>y 
 
 i.li'- Kudson's r>uy Co. He was from all 
 ".'.H\)iint8 a most amiable mon and a warm 
 fncn.i of the colonists, whose iutero.;tn he 
 I'loUed after to the bid. of his ability under 
 lii'' dibVre^sing '.jrounstance that provisions 
 vore acarco and ditheidt to obtiiin. TliC 
 oolotiistB were again conTf>ellcd to proceed tf» 
 I'Vit Daer (Pembina) to winter, and on tiunr 
 arri'al there found that the I>uifalo were f:ir 
 distnit. Matiy of them proceeded on over 
 ■\ hf.iidred miles dvi-ing the ejirl^' winter to 
 tt'.e lo'-'fllity where the Freemen and indiansi 
 vviM'.' hunting rhe liufFalo. A miserable 
 vinler was passed by the poor peoplo, w ho, 
 oi ' ourac, were of little service in their new 
 o'vupi'.tion of runr.ing the bison. Once 
 ID' re t*io Metis and Indian extended their 
 i'ospitality to the eutVering colouists. 
 
 CoUn Rohertion had been selected by 
 i- 'id Selkirk to organixo an exi)bdition to 
 the Athaljasca in 1815, and that t<entl«mau 
 proceeded to Montreal ao'i secured a large 
 , lumber of voyaueura to acoornpany !iim to 
 that remote district, which wa« outside the 
 bounds of the territory claiuicd by tlie 
 Hudson's Hay C'ompai^y as their exclusive 
 preserve. Tho) object of this move was to 
 cnuipete witl\tho Noithwcst Co. in the tur 
 trade of tliose regions, and if possible ruiu 
 them. This once gained, the fur trade of 
 the whole Northwest would practically be 
 liift iu their hand.'*. Colin Robertson, nmj^ 
 '•vftr, only accompanied hi.> lirigade asH| 
 i,alce Winnipeg, where be met the SelkSR 
 colonists evicted by Duncan Cameron and 
 his men. He at once returned to the Red 
 liiver with the oolonists, us niea^ioned 
 .tbove, 1«^vinj^ »\y, Athaiiasca cxp^'ditiou to 
 pioceo'i on \fc8 Wfty. Oi this ill iated e-x- 
 peditiou it is only nec<!«Sttry t.o tiay here 
 that no preparation having been 
 
 made tor tiieir reception .it Athabasca, 
 they ver«-. n dui.ed to the utaif/st extremity 
 for food, and while »«*archin>.; for provisions 
 seventeen out vf u pivrty of eJght'en 
 starverl to deatii. The survivors of the, 
 main body, in manj ciises, osvcd their lives 
 to a.'isi«tanco rendered by the North 
 Westers. 
 
 SEIZITKK OK IH'NCUS (.AMKHoN. 
 
 Colin Robertson took an active part in 
 tlie scenes enat^ted in the sott'ement durin(s' 
 the winter of lHl,j-i6. 
 
 In October Kobortson 'fude a prison.ir of 
 
 Cameron and fc^jok him I" 
 the same time t^iking pohM 
 rultar. The chari'c laid 
 was that ot haviu^ 
 the colouists in thi 
 the summer. Havinu 
 
 Ft. Pi iitjiass, at 
 
 -ssiou ut Ft. (tU)- 
 
 ■Ajtrainst Cameron 
 
 tiiticed away 
 
 early part of 
 
 detained him 
 
 as a prisoner for 8>me days, and searched 
 his fort for the cannon and arms taken by 
 the colonists from Fort I'ouglap. the pre- 
 vious spring, he was sst at liberty, (runn, 
 in his history of Manitoba, i'.itoimy us that 
 on this oecasion Came'"on wjis horse- 
 whipped while a loaded pi itol v<*s, held to 
 his head. 
 
 In the early part of Mavob. 1S16, Covenor 
 Semple left the eattlemeot on a tour of in 
 apection of the posts of iLi- Hudson's Bay 
 Co., situated in the intfei-K— »nd did 
 not return until some time in -/ .lue. 
 
 CAl'TrRE OF FORTS lIIBKALr.Vli AM* '"K.M. 
 UINA, 
 
 As soon as (Governor SonipU. dr>;*ppeared, 
 Colin Robertson, as actins; p;o- '^rnor, beinn 
 to work mischief. On th. ii^^t '.■■i th* ITtii 
 of March, ISlb, he headed .in cvmed paii.,> 
 from Fort Douglas, ami brcM into Fcrt 
 <;ihraltar, where, on entering the maater's 
 house, he found Duncan < lunorou and his 
 •derks. Making prisoner.'i oT f .lem ail, liob 
 crtfcon proct edejl to rtmoN ' > v •rytinuj:; in 
 the ,esta!)li3hment down ri J''.»ri Douglas, 
 the furs afterward heiDgj*='rjfc to York Fac- 
 tory. On the 19th of ilan-h hiovvj meu and 
 camou were "i^ced in the Northwest 
 fort, and, the winter siipress from 
 the iiiterior ^wsts trrivnig, it was 
 •w-iaed and the letters opiijed !)y Robertson. 
 Finding it to be too mucli trouble to guard 
 HO m my prisoners, the Selkirk people lib- 
 erated most of the Northw»:'3t Co. sscrvantK. 
 wlio, at this most inclenient season, had to 
 seek out friends amongst the Freemen on 
 the plains to secure a liviii;. 
 
 Three days after this aaf'uult at Fort (Jib 
 raltar, another armed body of the Selkirk 
 people captured Fort Fembini, taking about 
 ten prisoners and a very urge (juan'ity 
 of provision?, A.t l*eu.l>iua quaiitities 
 of iK)tatoe8 and other field vegctcbles 
 were cultivated yearly by the Northwest 
 Co. for the use of thoi* posts, th'iir fields 
 having been firdt cultivated in IS<H, Tiio 
 prisoners taken here were sent in bondw to 
 Fort Douglas. 
 
 Later on, iti April, an attack was nmde 
 
1 
 
 ,4'; 
 
 •I 
 
 S 
 
 I 
 
 ' ■' ft* 
 
 I 
 
 f 
 
 u 
 
 ThK SkLkIUK ^Kl'TLK.MENT AM' tllK ^KTTLKIiS. 
 
 uii tliu Northwebt Ci)tiipiUi>Si foit at tlie 
 (^tii'Appt'.lle River, but Alexamler McUoiiel, 
 who was ih uharg^j, guv« the bewoigers such 
 a liot reception that they retne.l in bad 
 order. 
 
 Tliough the Northestura liail uU'erml no 
 violence during these aggravated attacks 
 of Robertson, AlexanUer McDonel, 
 always known in tliu country as "White 
 sent woni appealing to 
 urging tlie Noithwesters 
 to come to his aMsistmce. He was aware 
 tiiat the ^uns ol t'ort Douglas con»nianded 
 the Hcd River and his ultimate capture, 
 
 lleadeil McDonol 
 the distant pouts, 
 
 at Nork Cameron was placeil on board ship 
 for Kngliind. but owing to the liiteness of 
 the :4eai't)n had to be takci< back to Janicq 
 Ray, wliere the i.revv wintered, but proceed- 
 ed to l^indon in the next summer ( I.SI7), 
 wliere he was .set at liberty, withuut trial, 
 neither party desiring to take tbc case into 
 an KngKsh court on account of the poaitiou 
 of ad'airs at that time. Cameron afterwards 
 returned to Canada. 
 
 DK.'-rKl'tTION OK KORT (ilHKALTAK. 
 
 In thi early part of April the 
 authonlies razed Fort Ciibraltar 
 
 Selkirk 
 to the 
 
 
 A SEI-KIKK CANNON. MNCK UK.Mi'l N TKU. 
 
 with that of all his provisions and furs, 
 would follow an attempt to descend the 
 Assiriboine from Q'uAppelle, and perceived 
 that it was only by procuring a large force 
 of men to assist him that he could carry his 
 produce through to Fort William in the 
 spring. After gathering a party 
 together he turned the tables 
 on Robertson by capturing some 
 Hudson's Ray Co.'s boats, laden with furs 
 and pendcan, as they descended the Assini- 
 boine. Messengers carried news of this 
 event to Fort 1 )ouglafl and Colin Robertson 
 started for York Factory in a boat, taking 
 with him, as prisoner, Duncan Cameron. It 
 may be here mentioned that on their arrival 
 
 ground, carrying uway the timbers to Fort 
 Douglas to t<treugthen tliat establishment, 
 and fire was set to the remains. To-day, 
 in the river bank, at the point l)etwoen the 
 Red and Assiniboine ri\ers, where Fort 
 Cibraltar stood, may be seen the charred 
 wood, ashes and debris of the burnt fort. 
 In April, also, the colonists returned by 
 Of from Pembina, and began the cultiva- 
 tion of their patches of cleared land. It 
 has been freiiuently referred to that while 
 the colonists were Imt poorly supplied with 
 agricultural tools, usinir vlie hoe instead of 
 the plow , that care bad been taken by .Sel- 
 kirk to send along cannon and muitkets in 
 abundance. 
 
 I' 
 
TlIK SKr.MUk Sktimmkn I \.M» 
 
 IIIK S|-;i"l'l,KI!'^. 
 
 Tiris wiiH the Mtivto of atFaiiH up to the 
 lui. Idle of .lime, iSKi, wlu'.ii a most fluploi- 
 iMf ttii'l fitro lioiiH lift WU-. coiiimittud, 
 vsliifli a^niii Itroke up tlu; coloiiy aiiil nuui u 
 St oil' of men to tlieir graviis. 
 
 I'liK Kii.i.lNi; riK i:o\. xr.Mi-i.K \ni' tn^ k.nt\ 
 
 M K \ . 
 
 Oil (ioveruoi Sempk-'H rotuiii lo !■ oi t 
 M'jii;^la.s, from visiting the iiilaml pohts of 
 till' ".it'.ion's Hav Co., in .liiin!, ISKi, In; 
 Hiiniu assumed the tlirectioii uf iitlaii'M, wliiuh 
 liiid ln't'ii temporaiily tiiaiia^'ctl Ijv Colin 
 llol»fitfloii. Tiiat he ilid not alto^'i'ther ap- 
 prove of the inuiiajiciiifnt iliiriiij^ his 
 aliseiiee is learneil fioni the tosti- 
 iii'iiiy of ail eye-witness, yet liv- 
 ing', ill tiio persou of Uon.ild Murray, wiio 
 intoiius uie tl I Rolieitrtou was in ^reut 
 ■ listiivor vvitii tile Settlement and HudHoii's 
 r>iiy Co. otiicials, anil wlieii, 'Hi lieariny of 
 the [>rol)al)ility of an attaeU \>y the Xoith- 
 westers, he started for ^ urk Factory in a 
 Ixjiit, taking Duneaii Cameron, a prisoner, 
 III' insultingly hoisted a pemican saek as an 
 ensign instead of the Uritish tlag. which 
 was the usual one used on such occasions. 
 
 \\ Ord was received at the settlement that 
 the Northwostera were determined to de- 
 stroy both if and the settlers. On tiie ITth 
 I'f .hiiie, Teguis, chief of the Swampy In- 
 ili;ins, residinfi' in the district about the 
 iiii^uth of the Red river, waited en dovernor 
 >einple to offer the services of his men, 
 <niiie seventy in number, to assist in 
 [liotecting the coloniats. This pi'otfered 
 i^sistance was declined \\itli thanks by 
 ■^I'liUjIe, who did not foresee the occurrences 
 of the succeeding two days. 
 
 Ale.x. McDonel sent a party of about sixty 
 < >iiiailians and half-breeds with a few 
 i.idians, mounted on horseback and beat mil' 
 sDine provisions, across by land from tlie 
 Assinihoine, to the Red river, the route 
 followed taking them along the edge of the 
 iWiiuijis, aboil two miles ',>ut on the piairie 
 Uoiii Fort Douglas, and from tliat point 
 .,'vadually diawing nearer to the mam high- 
 way, which is now the nortln-'in continua- 
 tion of Winnipegs Main striet, until it 
 i')ined the latter at a spot known as "Seven 
 <),iks, ■ on account of seven oak trees grow- 
 ing tliere, within a hundred yards or .-<o 
 lulli of a small eoolie, now called Inkstei 's 
 leek. One half of the Metis had arrived 
 at the coolie and passed on to Frog Plain 
 ' Kildouan church prairie), taking two or 
 :'iiee settler.s prisoners to prevent their 
 -M ing the alarm, when the remainder were 
 'li;.eo\ored by a sentinel, placed in the 
 v*'atch tow er of Fort Douglas, with a tele- 
 ^"'pe. He immediately gave an alarm, and 
 ' iuv crnor Seniple left the fort with a small 
 )Mity of company's servants tu intercept 
 'IP. Metis, whom he met at Seven Oaks as 
 'hf.y arrived at the highway. Semple had 
 '■y this time, been joined by some of his 
 ■*':rvant8 and officials, so that he arrived on 
 the scene with about 28 companions. 
 
 It is ditKeult to get at the exact truth of 
 what followed this iiu^eting of the rival 
 traders. A host of utiidavits are on record 
 made by men on both Hid(!H, who, while 
 agreeing in the main particulars, disagree as 
 to details. However, lierewith is given a 
 \ersionof tlieafl'air emanating fioin luichside. 
 'I'lie first is an allidavit nuule by John 
 I'ntchaid, w lio luid been in the service of 
 buili the \ ^ and Nortiiwest companies, 
 but in KSHiwasa resident of the Selkirk 
 settlement. Ifc was the father of the Rev. 
 .'^. I'rilchiud, and grandfather of the Rev. 
 Canon Matiieson. of this city. 
 
 "()u tlie afternoon of the liltli of -liine, 
 IMti, a man in the svatch house called oiiC 
 that tlie half-breeds were coming. The 
 governor, some other gentlemen and myself 
 looked through spy-glasses, and I distinctly 
 saw some armed people on horseback pass- 
 iii'.,' along the plainr. A man then called 
 out. 'They (meaning the iialf lireeds) are 
 making for the .settlers,' on which the gov- 
 ernor said, 'We must go out aii'.l meet these 
 people; let twenty men follow me.' We 
 proceeded (.own the f'ld road loading down 
 tile setlloment. As wc were going along we 
 met many of the settlers running to the fort, 
 crying, 'The half-breeds' the lialf lireeds !' 
 When we were advanced about three-quar- 
 ters of a mile along the settlement, we saw 
 some people on liorsebaek beliind a point of 
 woods. On our nearer approach the party 
 seenn.'d more numerous, on whii^h the gov- 
 ernor made a halt jind sent for a field piece, 
 which, (li.'laying to arrive, he ordered us to 
 advance. We had not proceeded far before 
 the half-breeds, on horseback, 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. We then e.xtended 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 
 IJoucher ride up to us waving his hand and 
 calling out, "What do you want"'' The 
 governor replied, 'What do i/on want?" To 
 whicii Tiouoher answered, 'We want our 
 fort.' The governor said, '(io to your 
 fort.' They were by this time near each 
 other, and conseijuently spoke too low for 
 me to hear. Iking at some little distance 
 to the right of the governor, I .-^aw him take 
 hold of Boucher's gun, and almost immedi- 
 ately a general discharge <if fire arms took 
 place, but whether it began on our side, or 
 that of the enemy, it was impossi- 
 lile to di%tingai.^h. My attention was then 
 directed towards my personal defence. 
 In a few minutes almost all our people were 
 either killed or wounded. Captain Rogers, 
 having fallen, rose up again and came to- 
 wards me' when, not seeing one of our party 
 who was net either killed or disabled, I 
 called out to him, 'For God's sake give 
 yourself up !" He ran towards the enemy for 
 that purpose, myself followina; him. He 
 raised up his hands, and, in English, and 
 
IN 
 
 TlIK SH.MIIK SkTTI.KMKM' \Mi Till: SKTTI.Mts. 
 
 of 
 
 I 
 
 \'\,l 
 
 broken Fiviioh, tiilletl foi- incroy. A half- 
 hrcoil (8f)ii of (Jol. \\ illiiim Mi^Kay) olioi 
 him tliroiij^h the lutiul. and unotliur cut open 
 hiH ludly with ii knife with the most horri<l 
 imprecations. Fortunately for me, a ('ana 
 iMki) (iiameil Lavigne). ioinin^; lis etitrcatien 
 to mine, 9<i\e(l me (thoU).'h with tlu! greatest 
 (litHiiilty) from sharing the fate of my friend 
 at that moment, .\fter this I was reserved 
 from death, in the most pro\ idontial man 
 ner, no lesh ♦han six ditFerent times on my 
 way to and at the Kroy IMain (the lieacl- 
 (|uarterH of tiiese < ruid murderers), 1 then^ 
 saw .Mexander Murray and Ids wife, two 
 of William Hannermnn'a ehildren ami Ale\- 
 under Sutherland, settlers, and likewise 
 .Antony Mrl>onnell, a servant, were prison- 
 ers, ha\ inif Itrcn taken hefon; the action 
 took placi'. With the exception of myself. 
 n< (juartcr was uiven to any of us. 
 The knife, uxe or hall, put a period to the 
 existence of the wounded; and on the bodies 
 of the dead were practiced all those harhar 
 ities which tharacteri/.e the inhuman heart 
 of the savHge. The amiable and nuld Mr. 
 Seinple, lying on his side (his thigh having 
 been lirokeni and supporting his head upon 
 his hand, addressed the commander of our 
 enemies, l)y iu(|uiring if he was Mr. (irant; 
 and being answered in the afliiinative, 'J 
 am not mortally woiimled," said Mr. Sem- 
 pie; 'and if you get me conveyed to the 
 fort, I think I should live.' (irant promised 
 he would do so, and immediately left him 
 in the care of a (Canadian, who afterwards 
 told that an Indian of tlxdr party came up 
 and shot Mr. Si-mple in the bre.iet. I en- 
 treated (Irant to procure me the watch, <ir 
 even the seals, of Mr. Seniple, for the pur- 
 pose of transmitting them to his friends, 
 i»nt I did not succeed, (hii force amounted 
 to twenty-eight persons, of whom twenty- 
 one were killed and oiif wounded, the 
 governor, Captain Rogers, Mr. .lames 
 "'rite, surgeon, Mr. Alexander McLean, 
 settler, Mr. Wilkinson, private secretary to 
 the governor, and f^ieutenant HoLt, of the 
 Swedish navv, and fifteen servants were 
 killed. Mr. J. I*, liourke, storekeeper, was 
 wounJ.id, but saved liimself by llight. 
 The enemy. 1 am told, were t-ixty-two 
 persons, the greater part of whom were the 
 contracted seivants and clerks of the North 
 west comjiany. Tlif.y iiad one man killed, 
 and one wounded. The chiefs, who luadcd 
 the party of ovir enemy, were .Messrs. <Jrant 
 and Kraser, Antome Fioole and Hnui lassa: 
 the two former clerks and the two lattn 
 interpreters, in the service of the Northwest 
 company." 
 
 The above declaration and the following 
 are published in a book entitled "Stiite- 
 nient respecting the Ear! of Selkirk's set 
 tlemout, etc.," written by Selkirk's rela- 
 tive, a Mr. Halkett, a director of the Hud- 
 son's P^y Co. committee, and it is from this 
 source that most historians have drawn 
 their information relating to the Selkirk 
 side of the case. 
 
 The mm named IVnicher. m»»ntioned l)j 
 I'riti hard in his atlidavit, mum taken as a 
 prisoner to Montreal, and uliile there made 
 the follovsiiig ilcdaratioH. on the "JiHli Aug., 
 |M|(i, befoic a justice of the pe;iee; 
 
 "N'olnntiiiy deiduiaiion of Francois Fir- 
 iiiin K(uicher, ik liused on oath of liaving, on 
 the l!)th of hkst 'lune, killcl at the colony 
 td the Ked Hiver, twenty otn' men. amonL' 
 whom was tiov. .Semnle, says: ' That he 
 tlid not kill any person whatever; that he 
 «r,s sent, tour days l)tdore the death of (io,' 
 einor Scmple. by one of the partners of the 
 Xorthwest C.)mpaiiy, Mr. Alexander Mi- 
 DomU, from I'ortiige la I'rairie, to carry 
 nrovisions to l-'iog Plain, altout three leagues 
 lower than the fort at the Forks of Red 
 Ki\ei'. That lie and ids companions, to 
 avoid being seen by the Hudson s l>ay set 
 tiers, i>a88ed at a distance from the Hud 
 son's liay fort. That, with a view of 
 weakening the Hudson's Bay party, the 
 Hois Hi utew wa»it«Ml to .jai ry away some of 
 the Hudson's Hay S( ttlers -and, assisted by 
 the deponent tu interpret for them in Kng 
 lish, they went and carried one oil. That, 
 as they proce(!ded towards Frog i'lain, they 
 observe.! a group of Hudson's iSiy people 
 u|ir)n wiiieh a ((rtain number of the men in 
 the service of the Xorthwest (.'r)mpany, 
 called Hois-Hrules, joined the deponent and 
 his comj>anions. That theso, thinking tin; 
 Hudson's liay people meant them harm, (In.- 
 cause they ailvanced with their musketh in 
 their hands) the liois-lkules wanted to fire 
 oil them; but the deponent opjiosed their 
 doing so. That at last he advanceil alone 
 to the Hudson's liay party to speak to 
 tliem, and came so near (Jovernor Semple, 
 that the latter took hold of the butt end of 
 tlie deponent's gun, a"d oidered his 
 people to advance; that they, not 
 obeying him, and the deponent saying 
 that if they tired tliey were all dead men. 
 (iovernor Semple sai. I that they must not 
 h<.'. afraid, that this was not a time for it. 
 and that they must tire. Immediately the 
 deponent heard the reports of two muskets 
 tired by the Hudson's Hay people. That Mt 
 this moments the de))onent threw himscll 
 from his horse, still holding the mane, and 
 that the horse being afraid, dragged Idm in 
 tiiis manner a'jout the distance of a gun 
 siiot, wher(! he remained. That, from th< 
 moment when ho was tiius carried away by 
 his horse, the tiring became general between 
 the people of the S'o-thwest and 1,he Hud- 
 son's Hay. That the tire was begun by 
 those of the Hudson's Hay. That the men 
 in the service of the Northwest Com]tany 
 were about sixty-four in numbei (of w horn 
 thirty were at the beginning of the tiring,) 
 assembled for the purj'f>se of taking the 
 Hudson's Bay fort by famine. He is un- 
 certain, by whose orders, but sufvposes it 
 was by the c'niefs, that is, Mr. McUonell, 
 Mr. (trant, Autonie Oulle and Michael 
 Bourassa. Vhat he heard Mr. McDonell 
 enjoin them to avoid a meeting with the 
 
 ? ' ^ ' Vi!-J3.Mm wai ■ 
 
Thk Ski. kirk Sktti.kmkvt .\m» thk Mriti.km'*. 
 
 IH 
 
 Hu iHonii Way people. That aftor the firinj,' 
 HUM over he ^naw a I'.ois Untie naiuet' \'a« 
 soul' near (toMiitior Semplt!, then woiiinleil 
 ill the knee and the arm, who 
 v\as taking care of him, and 
 who, notwithHtuiiding, liad taken his belt or 
 "ii^h, liiH pJHtolH and hit watch, and aftei' 
 vsards tarrietl them away. That he him 
 ittlt liHil ut the moment uaved one I'lituharl 
 from iM'int; killed, and aUo F'ranuoia Den 
 cliuinps iind several other Itniles wanted to 
 kill him.' 
 
 Many of the .^ettlert* are of the opinion 
 tlut the tirht allot tired was liy Lieut. Holt. 
 vvlio»e gun went oH' hy accident, thu.'* pre 
 ' i|>itatinm the oontliet. 
 
 in idl 'J I per.»<c)nti were killed, the remain- 
 .III,; eight e.scapiiii,' into the woods, whieh at 
 ihnt tune extended from the hij{hway to 
 tiio river bank, and making the.r way t<j 
 I'ort DoiiglaM, one or two Hwimming tlie 
 lull River and iiasHiii]^ up the east side 
 until opposite the fort. It is to he noticed 
 ttiat only one actual settler was 
 Ivillea. 
 
 .At the fort all was confusion, the settlers 
 -men, wuineii and children— crowding 
 into the liouses within its walls. Mr. 
 Boiirke managed to regain the fort with the 
 t!iinnon and a small remnant of the men he 
 took nut, and the tale tiiey told .xtrnck 
 terror into the hearts of all, who expected 
 iin attack would he made immediately by 
 tli'J .Northwesters. ai\ anxious night wa.s 
 p«s^^e^i. liut no attack came, the Bois lirules 
 iiaving a wliolesome dread of the cannon 
 pdHs.ssed by the colonists. 
 
 •lulin I'ritchard had been taken as a pris- 
 oner to tiie camp ground of the main body 
 ot tile Metis, wiiicli was situated where the 
 Kildonan ferry landin<4 now is, J am in- 
 formed by Mr. l>onald Murray, whose 
 parents had also been taken prisoners on 
 their farm, two lota above that point, on 
 the morning of the tragedy. He begged 
 of (!uthbert (irant, the leader, to be allowed 
 lo go to Fort Douglas. After ol)tainlng 
 |>ermission from (irant, lie met with a re- 
 fusal from the rest of the party; but after 
 giving a promise to return, and agreeing to 
 liear a message to the fort i)eople that they 
 must leave the next day for f.Ake Winni 
 peg, he was allowed to depart. (Jrant ac- 
 companied 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. 
 
 Arriving at Fort Dougla.^, he infoimed 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 isafe escort to the 
 people and allow them to take all their per- 
 sonal efFects. Two other parties of North- 
 westers were daily expected to arrive in the 
 Ked River, one coming from the Saskatche- 
 wan anil the other from Lake Superior, and 
 it would be necessary to send some of the 
 
 Bois-BrulpH with them to explain the pout- 
 tion of affairs. 
 
 The I'olonistH at first refused to agrne to 
 the terms of oapitnlation, and Sheritt" Mc- 
 honell, who was in charge ot the settle- 
 ment, 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 con.siileretl then Bitiiatioii, tiie settlera 
 loncliided to depart, and after several visits 
 of the sheriH to the Metis camp an arrange- 
 ment wua agreed on. 
 
 now THK INUIANS A<TKI). 
 
 A number of Indians under Peguis were 
 camped on the ea«t side of the river and 
 took no pare in the troubles, but their sym 
 pathies were plainly with the colonists. 
 I'hey went out the morning after the en 
 gagement 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, aa 
 wounded men had crawled into 
 thi'ikets and tiiere died. Mrs. Kauf- 
 mull, who yet lives in Kildonan east, in- 
 forms me that she saw the Indians bring in 
 the .lead bodies tr Fort l>ouglas with carta, 
 and that < ioverno; Semple and the doctor 
 were buried in l>< anl coHins, and the otheis 
 wr.ipped up in blankets, the whole number 
 being interred ir one large grave in a giove 
 of trees on th- south side of the creek 
 southwest of tin.' fort, and i{uite near the 
 spot whereon now stands the residence of 
 ex-Mayor Logan. She says the l»ody of one 
 man was naked, the clothes Iiaving been 
 stolon before the Indians found it. Mr. 
 Donald Murmy also informs me that when 
 the burial took place, Chief I'egins stood 
 near by, with the tear.s streaming down liis 
 face, and he repeatedly expressed hisgieat 
 sorrow at the sad occurrences tnking place. 
 Donald Murray states positively that all 
 these bodies were removed, some yeais 
 after, to St. John's church graveyard, but 
 he is not now able to locate the site of their 
 reinterment. He remembers distinctly that 
 on the morning the settlers handed. over the 
 fort to the metis, all the ammunition for 
 the cannon was carried down to the river 
 and thrown into the water from the end of 
 a boat moored in the stream. 
 
 lOKT DOrULA.S CAI'ITITI.ATKS AM) THK COI,. 
 O.NISTS UKl'AKT. 
 
 An inventory of the iludson's Bay Co. s 
 property being taken, Cuthbert <irant gave 
 a receipt on each page, v/orded as follows; 
 "Received on account of the Northwest 
 company by me, Cuthliert (irant. clerk for 
 the Northwest company, acting for the N. 
 W. company." 
 
 In two days all. was ready, nnd the col- 
 onists, to the nutnber of nearly two hun- 
 dred, embarked in thftir boats and once 
 more started for ,Iackfi3h Housf, at the 
 north end of Lake Winnipeg. It would ap 
 pear that more or leps plundering of the 
 
•Jt) 
 
 TlIK MKI.KinK SKrn.EMKNT AND TIIK St'lTTI.r.llM. 
 
 ftf'eutii of the nettlen took plut c l>efort> thpir 
 ilei'Uiiiire. 
 
 On leacliint; tiio nei^hhurlKKHl of Nutivy 
 (.'rook, the cxilcM iind their cMcort if Metis 
 iin't .i^Kxit one liuixirvil \<Htltwe»iterH, undtir 
 thf oointiiand «>f A. N. .Mil.t'oil, u partner 
 of the Northwest Coiiipmiy, wlio ha<l just 
 arrived in a nuinlKM' of oanoofi 
 from It. Willian) to iiHuist l>unuan 
 CainL-ron am] .\l<-xantl<r Mclioni'l, 
 the evithuit intention IxMng to letiiliato for 
 the takii'K of the Northwest forts during 
 th« pJeviout* winter, ami to evict the i-olon- 
 iHtH and tU'Stroy the nettlenient. M'I.eod 
 wiiM a justioe of the peace for the Indian 
 territories and had also heen ){a/etted a 
 niujor ill the liritiHli army in IN14, when 
 comniandini( n oorpn of voyagenn rained by 
 the Northwest Company during the Anx-ri- 
 eun war. He inHued svarrants ami Nuhpniiuti 
 tor rritclmnl, liourkc and three otherH, all 
 i»f whom were taken down t<> Kort WilliHm. 
 (iunn JH authority foi the statement that 
 the Northwest piirtneis spoke kindly to the 
 cohmiatH ami urged tliem to go to Canada, 
 olluring theoi a free passage, i)ut tiie major 
 ity of the "lisheartened 'etthis had resolved 
 to return to Seotland ami (j\errnl<!d the de- 
 sire of a minority to accept tin- proposition 
 of the Northwesters. After a sliort deten- 
 tion at N'etley creek the colonists re- 
 • lobarked and proceeded on to dacktish 
 ri\ er ' Niirway House), w hei'c tiiey airived 
 safely, remaining there until the winter, 
 when, after Lord Selkirk's .succchses at Fort 
 William in IHKi imd the capture of I'ort 
 Hoiiglas by his people in the spi'ing of 1M7. 
 they returned once more to the Ked river. 
 
 iiCavin^ the posts on the Ked mid Assiui 
 boliie rivers in tlie hands of their people the 
 partners of the Northwest Coiupany started 
 on tlieir return to Kort William, 
 and on their way down the Red river 
 met the partmM>i and briglides fi-om vjlic 
 iioith. These people hail it-aelied l,;j I'as 
 de la Riviere (Kort Alexander) only to tiud 
 that no pro\ isioiiM had arrived from i*em- 
 I'ina or Brandon House, and they at once 
 startril for the Red river to discover the 
 cause. 
 
 Lord Selkirk had not been idle this 
 spring, and at an eveii date with the de- 
 struction of the >olony, was taking active 
 steps, in Canada, to reinforiif his people in 
 the Red River (totintry, but his movenit-nts 
 must be described at length. 
 
 I.IIKI) .SKLKIRK (Wl'TI'llKS HOir WIl.Ll.Wl. 
 
 In the autumn of IS I.") Lord Selkirk and 
 Ilia family arrived in Montreal, where he 
 was placed in full possession of information 
 concerning the dispersion of his colonists 
 at Red Ri\er during the }>revious siiniim i . 
 when numaii Cameron had induced 1^0 of 
 them to accept a free passage to Canada and 
 driven the remaining 40 to .lai'ktish Rivei . 
 After bringing the matter before Sir Cordon 
 l.>rummon<l, the governor of Lower Canada, 
 and urging him to interfere with the North - 
 
 weMtora without any more HiieueMB than the 
 Knglish partiins of the Northwest Co. hud 
 met with from the liritish government 
 when they had p< titi )ned agaitiHt the ae- 
 tioM of l>o"nl Selkirk in the Red River coun- 
 try, his lorilship proceeded to raisi- n fore«< 
 of men, traineil to arniH, which he intended 
 to con\;#'y to Assiniboia. At lliis time sev- 
 eral r« giinents of mercennneB, w hich had 
 l>een recruited in Cennany and 
 other continental countiii'M, were being dis 
 banded in Canada, the Ainericun war being 
 closed, and there taking place r large re- 
 duction in the number of troops serving in 
 Canada. Lord Selkirk enlisted in his own 
 ser\ ice at Montieal 4 ofiiceiH itiid M> men 
 of the [>e Meuron regiment, and at Kings- 
 ton 'JO men of the Watteville regiment. 'I'hene 
 men, fully armed and clotlied in the iini- 
 forms of the Hritish army, were reinfrirced 
 iiy more than an e<|iial number of voya 
 geurs. 
 
 i.,ord Selkirk was appointed a justice ot 
 the peace both tor Upper Catiiula ami the 
 Indian Territories, am! a bodyguard of u 
 sergeant and some soldieis of the ."tTth 
 Regiment was allowed him liy the (Governor 
 aft(M' a statement that he expected an at- 
 tempt would be made lo assassinate him. 
 That doubts were entertained by the 
 authorities as to the use his lordship intcn 
 doil to make of this detachmtnt. may be 
 learned by an e.vamination of the oidei,'> 
 given to the soldiers, rme pait of whi.h 
 nads as follows: "Voii are particularly 
 ordered not to engage yourself, or the party 
 under your command, in any dispute 
 which may occui between the Karl of Sel- 
 kirk, his engagees and employees, and those 
 (d the Northwest company, or to take any 
 part or share in any atFray which may arise 
 out of such disputes. IJy such interference 
 jii youi [)art you would notrinly be disobey- 
 ing your insti'uctions, but atrting in direct 
 opposition to the wishes and instructions of 
 the government, to the countenance, sup- 
 port and protection of which each party has 
 an ei|ual claim. The Karl of Selkirk has 
 engaged to furnish the party under your 
 command with provisions during the. time 
 of y(mr absence. Vou are on no occasion 
 to separate from your party, but to return 
 with his lordship, and on no account to 
 suffer yourself or any of your detachment to 
 be left at any settlenmnt or post in the 
 Indian eountry." 
 
 .\11 being in readiness, this formidable 
 body started cia Toronto, l.,ake Simcoe ami 
 Ceorgian bay for the Red River settlement 
 .some time in dune. ISlti. 
 
 A montli before this date Miles Macdon-- 
 nell, the ex -governor of Assiidboia, who had, 
 as a prisoner, been .sent down to 
 Montreal by the Northwest partners 
 in the summer of IHlo, had preceded 
 Lord Selkirk, with several canoes belonging 
 to the Huilson's Ray Company, and pushed 
 through to the interior, arriving at l^ke 
 Winnipeg shortly after the Semple tragedy. 
 
 ?•-' A 
 
Tiir Hri.KiRK Hktti.k.mkst s^n the SK.rri.KitH. 
 
 •t 
 
 f," • « 
 
 "'■'^Tr 
 
 
 ,?"?»(. .I«ihn'« (•iitlie<lr*l. V^ .\V- 
 
 SCKVK IIKTIIK Sh.V I.N (>\K-< I'H.tlT. 
 
 VjOy/^^^^iy^^ 
 
 i^r^y^ry^^^ 
 
 . — J 
 
 [AUTOOllAPHS from Orlgrinal Documents Now in Mr. Belln PossesBion.] 
 
O.) 
 
 ■|in: .SKI.KIIlK SkTTI.K'MKNT AV1> I'IIK SMTI.KRS, 
 
 ii 
 
 He iniinediately returnetl to Lake Superior, 
 and in tho latter part of July inet Lord 
 Sflkirk with liis force neti' S;>ult Sle. Marif.. 
 fiis l^ord.ship at ouce (lei;i(l«:il tn ])U8li on to 
 Fort \\ illiani, ti\t- st-ited original intention 
 having bei;n to reacli Assiuihoia via Fond 
 (111 Ijac lUulrth,) Ked Laki^i and down tiie 
 ■'ed River, a route frequi/ntly followed liy 
 ine Northwesters in tlie early days of tiic 
 fur trade, hut tiiis would have lieen impos- 
 ^■il)le witii the boat..-' passed liy Loid Sel- 
 kirk, and it IS most pi'ohahlt! that he had 
 always intended to .seize Fort William, and 
 the present position of atVairs ilFonled an 
 excellent pretext. 
 
 Before leavinjf Siuilt Ste. Marie his lonl 
 ship wrote Sji- John Sherlronke that he in- 
 tended to interfere as a justice of the peace, 
 and arrest the perpetrators of the outratre. 
 if he had hoard of the action of his own 
 j.)eople in tlie Red River country during the 
 preceding spring, when they destroyed the 
 forts of the N'orthwesters, seized tlieir per- 
 sons and provisions, and erected batteries 
 of oajinon on the banks of the rivers to pre- 
 vent tlie passage of their boats, he eure- 
 fully ondts any mention of them in his <()ni- 
 niuniei'tions to the (,'anadian autlioiities, 
 
 'J'he Northwesters at Furt U'illiam, in th'' 
 early spring, had received intelligence nl 
 the seizure of their provisions and destruc- 
 tion of foi'ts ( iibraltar- and I'einbina, and 
 A. N. McLcod was despatrhed with about 
 (iO men in light canoes t<^ piotcot their in 
 terests in that (piarter aiid cari-y in provis- 
 ions to supply the brigatles from the north. 
 As before related, this party arrived immedi- 
 ately after the ivillinu of Semple and his 
 men. McLeod evidently sympatliized with 
 Cuthbert (Irant in the way he iuid managed 
 atl'airs, for he made piesents to the Metis 
 who liad Ijeen engaged in the tight. 
 
 On the ]'2th August (ISKn liord Selkiik 
 arrived at the Kaininisti(iuia and passing up 
 the river lie encamped on the east ;-^idc iialf 
 a nule above Fort \Villiam. 
 
 The Noi'th westers were busily engaged 
 ill making ready for the interior the outfits 
 of goods intended for the winter's trade. 
 The Northwesters claim to have had 
 fully 500 men eolleeted there at that 
 date, the post being the great meeting 
 point where the biiaades arriving from 
 Montreal landed their merchandise and re 
 ceived in return the b.iles of furs brought 
 down from the interior posts, whicli were 
 strung along in lines reaching to 
 the I'acihc. Fort William itself eon 
 sisted of a sere of well 
 
 constructed houses used as otheers', clerk.s'. 
 and men's quarters, messrooins, stores, pow- 
 der maguz.ne, workshops, etc., etc.. trie 
 whole being surrounded by a palisaje fully 
 if) ft. in height witii a watcli tower over the 
 gate, [t was built in ISO.S, when the com- 
 pany moved their headipiarteis from (irand 
 Portage, whicli place was in the Fnite ! 
 States south of tlie international boundai \ , 
 It waB named after William Mo(4illivray, a 
 
 ohief partner of the Northwest ("ompauy. 
 
 Lord Selkirk had no sooner encamped 
 than cannon wen laiideil and pointed at 
 Fort William, while a demand was made 
 on Win. Mc(;illivray, who was in charge, 
 for the release of John Pritchard and others 
 of the Hudson's Hay Co. 's people the.ii in 
 the fort. These were immediately allowed 
 to depart, MciJillivray stating tliat he did 
 iKjt iiolil them as prisoners, but tiiat two 
 other p»u-sons whou.lie had arre-sted were on 
 their way to Montreal for trial. 
 
 From I'ritehard, Nolin and others of his 
 rescued people his lordship procured the 
 details of the events wliich happened 
 at the settlement, and he issued a warrant 
 for the arrest of Wm. McCJillivray. 
 
 SKI, K IKK .U<HKSTS TIIK .NORTH WKST I'.^RT- 
 .VKRS. 
 
 This warrant was served the next day on 
 Mr. Mc*iillivray in the fort, and witiiout 
 hesitation he went over to the Selkirk 
 camp, accompanied by K. MoKenzie, 
 aiKJther partner, and Donald McLaughlin, 
 the party being received at the Fori Wil- 
 liam landing liy a guard of '20 soldiers, and 
 on their arrival at the Selkirk landing they 
 >vere met by the soldiers of tJie MTth Regi- 
 miMit under arms, who conducted them to 
 Lord Selkirk. When one remembers the 
 instructions given to the men of the .STth 
 Regiment, it seems that tins was a very ir- 
 regular proceeding; but Selkirk's object 
 clearly was to impress on the Northwesters- 
 tlie idea 'hat he was acting witli the assent 
 of the Canadian < Jovernor. 
 
 Mcliillivray s friends ottered bail, but 
 were informed that they also were pri.soners 
 charged, like all the partners of the North- 
 west (\)mpany present at the annual meet- 
 ing of 1S14. with being responsible for tlie 
 troubles at Red River. Warrants were 
 i.ssued for the arrest of other Northwest 
 oliicials, the mode of executing wliieh are 
 best descriited by two othters of the Ue 
 Meuron regiment, who had left Montreal in 
 May on leave of absence with .MeLcod and 
 other partners of the Northwest Company, 
 to witness the occurrences that would fob' 
 h)w Lord Selkirk's advent witli his armed 
 force, •so that the authorities would receive 
 an impartial account from disinteiested p(3i . 
 sons. 
 
 .AS .McorNT r,v w itm;ssi.,>. 
 
 "Cliarles Brmnby, lieutenant in His Maj 
 esty's llegimei.t de Meuron, and John Theo- 
 dore Misani, also lieutenant in the same 
 regiment, respectfully depose and .say: Tliat 
 m the beginning of May last, they left 
 .Mrmtiea), in company with Messrs. "Alex- 
 ander McKenzie, Archibald Norman Me- 
 Leod, and Robert Henry, on a journey f) 
 the Indian Territories in North America, 
 that beintr arrived at the distance of about 
 htty miles from the forks of the Red river, 
 in the Indian Territories, on the 23rd «if 
 June last, in the morning, they met a num- 
 ber of persons coming from that place 
 
 
IlK .>KI,KIUIv .SK'ITl.KMKNI' ANI> I'lIK SkTTIKKS. 
 
 •23 
 
 iiiniiiy whom were several of the (lolonints 
 • )t the settk'inent of Lord Selkirk, ulio iii- 
 fiirinoil llieia that a battle had been fought 
 hi't»\(;en tlie coloiiists ami the lialflirecd 
 In jaiis, at the distance of a irdle and a iialf 
 l)(!l()\» tiie foit on the place of nsidenee (if 
 Rdhert Seniple, Esquire, agent of the Hud- 
 .sdii's Bay Company (ea.led by them. Gover- 
 nor Semple). at the forks of the R<d river, 
 and they under.stood tlii^ Ivittle \vas< fouylit 
 III the liKli of tile said month; that the de- 
 ponents proceeded until they reached 
 the plaoe where they understood that 
 the said Robert Semple hat! a post 
 or establishment, and there miw a nundjei' 
 of Iiidiati.s (called ha'fbreeds) and othei' 
 Indiana a8send)led thete; and tliat the de- 
 l".ineiits remained tlu;re but a few hours, 
 ■mil retnrneil to Kivierc iiu.x Morts (\etley 
 'reek. I'M. I, situaterl at the diatance of 
 iiiiout .'it miles frnm the said forks of the 
 Ked River, on their way back to Fort Wil- 
 liaui, that tiw their arrival .at Riviere an\ 
 Morts they .saw John McDonald, who was 
 iirrivin;^ from his wintering ^'rounds, and 
 also Simon Kra/.tM', wlio arrned in canoes: 
 that these twu persons could not have been 
 coiiiini,' from Red River, if they had come 
 by water from thai quarter; and that the 
 said John .McDonald gave thesn deponents 
 iliri'itions to take som*; of his provisions on 
 their return to I'ort Willi. im, at a place he 
 pointed out to them; that they also met at 
 the sauje place John McLaughlin, whom 
 they had left at Fort William when they 
 pashed it: tliat they met John Mcdillivray 
 ill l.aki! Miiupic (Winnipeg. Kd.) on the 
 •27th day of the said month, as they were 
 going to Fort William, coming, as it ap 
 jieared to these deponents, and as 
 lie informed them, from his winter- 
 ing (juarters that the several 
 persons above - named appeared to 
 he entirely ignorant of what had 
 taken place at the forks of the Red River 
 on the Htth of June, and these deponents 
 verily l)elieve that they weve not, and could 
 not have been at that [dace at the time; 
 that these dt'ponents were informed that 
 tile persons concerned in the North wesit 
 trade generally received tlieir provisions at 
 a place called La baa de la Riviere, that is, 
 the entry of the River Winipie, and that 
 the reason of se\eral .)f them going up tlu.i 
 liver a.«i far as the Riviere au.\ Morts was 
 tlicir disapjK)intment in not receiving their 
 provisions at the usual place; that when 
 Hie«e deponents left Montreal, on tlie Ist or 
 -lid of May last, they saw Mr. William 
 Mc(JiHivray at that place, and they found 
 him at Fort William on their return from 
 Red river, where they arrived on the 10th 
 of July last; that on the l.'Uh day of 
 .\ugu8t the deponents, being at Fort Wil- 
 liam, saw two of the boats that had come 
 the preoediug day with a party of men 
 under the Earl of .Selkirk; that these two 
 boats were full of soldiers; that D'Orson- 
 nens was in the rirst boat and Lieut. Fauche 
 
 in the second : that on their landing near 
 the gate of the fort a person of the name of 
 McNa' b a id another person of the name of 
 Allen, liotli of whom had come in tlie said 
 boats, appioached the gate of the fort with 
 ('apt. DOrsonnens, who was armed with a 
 sword and pist<d. and then- spoke to .seve"al 
 of tlie partncrt; of the Northwest Company, 
 who stood at the gate; that some words 
 jias.sed between them, and tliesv depoijints 
 heard some oi the \orthwest Company say; 
 "Yes, but we cannot .admit so many people 
 in the fort at omcc." That one half ot the 
 gafe was then shut partly. Tliat immedi- 
 ately on utteiing the above mentioned 
 words Capt. D'Orsonnens called to tlu' men 
 in the boats, "en evant, aux ttinies, vitcsl" 
 upon which the men in the boats jumped 
 out, and, with muskets and fixed bayonets, 
 rusiied into the fort, a bugle at the same 
 time sounding the adsance: that a number 
 of the men (voyageiirs) in the service of the 
 Northwest Co., who stood near the gate, 
 ran towards their encampment: that these 
 deponents obsei\ed several of the soldiers 
 dragging Mi. .lohii McDonald towards the 
 boats, swearing at him, and u.^ing violence, 
 and heard him cry out, "don t murder me." 
 That these deponents entered the fort, 
 where they saw .Mr. Allen, and asked liini 
 the cause of sut'h proceedings, who ans.\ pi • 
 ed that all would be .soon explained, and 
 that the person who had ordered these 
 measures would answer tor the conse- 
 (juences, or words to that eHect; that a lew 
 minutes afterwards, Capt. Matthej arrived 
 with a reinforcement of soldiers, wiiich the 
 deponents eon(!eived to have been called for 
 by the sound of the bugle; thr.t there were 
 two pieces of cannon in the fort, \xhich the 
 soldiers planted in the square, and pointed 
 at the gate, and this armed 
 party was immcdjately in possession 
 of the fort, as no resistance whatever was 
 oHered them; that the dejionents did not see 
 any of the persons in the fort armed at the 
 time it was so taken possession of by the 
 said armed party; that on tlie same day the 
 partners of the Nortliwest Company who 
 were in the fort, nine in number, were ar- 
 rested, and the deponents saw several of 
 them conducted as prisoners out of the tort 
 with a guard, and they returned about 
 eight o'clock in the evening, and tlv next 
 day tliev were put in close c(Uitiiieuient, 
 \\ith sentries over them; that on the e\en- 
 iiig of the KUh the troops marched out of 
 the fort, after lia\ ing been assembled in the 
 stjuarc by the sound of the bugle, witii the 
 exception of ^(t men under the command of 
 Lieutenant W. (irallenreid, who remained 
 in the fort as a guard for the night; that 
 8entrie,« were posted in several places, and 
 the place had the ap?>^arance of a military 
 post; that the nt.\t morning ('aptain 
 Matthey returned to the tort with a number 
 of armed soldiers, and told Mr. W m. Mc- 
 Cillivray on his anival that he had brought 
 a reinforcement, as they understood that 
 
 
•J4 
 
 Till-: Ski.kiuk s ki i k m i> i' aM' 'iiik Sktii-kks. 
 
 the gentlemen w ho liiul been arrested tlie 
 pree-ediii;^' tlay, insteatl of confining tlieni- 
 seivefi t" their own rooms, liail liecn jioing 
 aljout, iind tliat arms had been piepfaringjOr 
 wordH to that elTeet; that a short 
 time after the I^krl of Sel 
 kirk appeared to take command ; 
 antl some days after, he took Ids (piarters in 
 a house formerly occupied by the gentle- 
 men of the N'orthuesl (^o., and some of his 
 people were also quartered in other apart- 
 ments and buildings within the fort. That 
 the deponents also understdod that on the 
 following days the Iwoks and papers of the 
 Nortiiwest (Jo. had been seized and searched, 
 iind saw at one time, Mr, Allen, Mr. Mo- 
 ,\abb, Mr. McPiierson and (apt. I)'()rson- 
 nens, searching fo\" papers and sealing up 
 trunks in diflereiit rooms. The deponents 
 also saw .some of the suldieis employed in 
 making gun carriages in a workshop, form- 
 erly U83d by the carpenters and men of the 
 Northwest Co. That on the 'J'Jnd of .-Aug- 
 ust a canoe ariived from Montreal with dis- 
 paUhes, that the papers or despatches the 
 men brought Mere taken away from them, 
 and tne canoe searched; that some of the 
 things in it were placed in (-barge of a 
 soldier of tin .STth regiment, one of the 
 luxlyguaid of the said Karl of Selkirk: that 
 it appears to 'Jie.^e deponents, that from the 
 taking of the fort, as above mentioned, un- 
 til the time the deponents left it, the trade 
 and l>uaint.'.ss of the Northwest Co. was en- 
 tirely stopped: that the deponents under- 
 stood the Northwest (o. were not allowed 
 to send any goods or furs out of the fort, 
 nor could they employ the men in their ser- 
 vice, some of whome were destined to go 
 into the interior of the country with goods 
 and ammunition for the natives, ami to sup- 
 ply their diflFerent trading posts; others to 
 go down to Montreal with tura and other 
 articles for exportation, as the deponents 
 understood," 
 
 (Signedi (Jiiarlks BKrMiiv, Lieut. 
 ThkodoukMisani, Lieut. 
 
 Sworn at Montreal the itith of Sept., 
 ISIO. 
 
 Lieut. Fauche, one of Selkirk's l)eMeu- 
 ron otlicers who returned from Ft. William, 
 and which came under his notice, entirely 
 agri'i^s w itl) that given above. 
 
 riU; NORTMWK.sTKKS I'ViOTKs'r. 
 
 The partners of the .Northwest company 
 being coufiued as prisoners, signed a solemn 
 protest to the acts committed by Selkirk 
 and his armed associates, tiie persons sign- 
 ing l)eing AVm. .McOiUivray, Kenneth 
 Mackenzie, John Maodonell, John Mc- 
 Laughlin, Hugh Mc(iillis, an<l Daniel 
 Mackenzie, it is needless to say that no 
 attention was paid to this protest. Lord 
 Selkirk took possession of all the stores and 
 nierchandisp of the Nortiiwest company as 
 a means to destroy their business which he 
 now had the meaus of doing, the chiefs 
 of the company being in his 
 
 bands. N'o outfits were allow- 
 ed to I'c taken into the 
 interior. Two clerks were nominated by 
 the Northwest partners to look after their 
 interests: but Selkirk gave them no sitis- 
 faction, and finally refused to confer with 
 them. One of these clerks, named Vanders- 
 luys, afterwards made atlidaviti of what 
 transpired, and I am informed by an old 
 settler that ^onie years after he came into 
 collision with Mr. Halkett. brother-in-law 
 of Selkirk, who wimnded him with a pistol 
 in Montreal. 
 
 Lord Selkirk's friends have written a 
 great deal in attempting to prove that, he 
 was most careful in keeping within the law 
 in all his proccH'dings, l>ut no e\planatioii 
 is given of the use he made of the soldiers 
 of the .STth Regiment who bad ro(^ei\ed 
 such strict oiders to remain neutral at all 
 times and in all -iluations. 
 
 NOKTIIW KSTKIl.s SK^T A.« I'KISOSKKS TO 
 MONTKKAl,. 
 
 On th» ISth of August l^ord Selkirk 
 placed the prisoners in charge o! Lieut. 
 Fauche and shipped them ofi to (Canada. 
 Unfortunately, when neariny Sault Ste. 
 Marie, one of their boats was swamped in a 
 s(iual!, and nine persons, out of the twunty- 
 one it contaiiieil, were drowned, K. Mc- 
 Ken/ie being one of the lost. Arriving at 
 York (Toronto), the (lovernor (iirecte<l that 
 the prisoners should b»' taken to Kingston, 
 where the .\ttorney-(Teneral and judges were 
 then on circuit. At Kingston the jinigts 
 directed them to be taken to Montreal, and 
 on arriving there they were all released on 
 bail. 'J'ho crimes charged against them 
 were no less than high treason, conspiracy 
 and murder. 
 
 Lord Selkirk, after the departure of the 
 partners, tittetl out canoes belonging to the 
 Noi'th westers with jiroperty found in the 
 fort, and having seduced some em])loyf!8 and 
 coerced others, scut them inland to the 
 Hudson's Bay Company's posts. 
 
 WAltKANTS ISSIKI) FOR AKKKST OK sKl.KlKK. 
 
 NVin. Mc(Ullivray, after his release on 
 bail, secured warrants for the arrest of Sel 
 kirk, ('apt. Matthey, and some others, tor 
 their high-handed acts in seizing the North- 
 west Company's property in Upj)er (Canada 
 (Fort William being within (Janada and far 
 cast of the Indian territories.) A ilopaty 
 sheritf with a pos.se was sent up to Fort 
 W illiaui, and arrested Selkirk and the other 
 persons named in the warrants, but they 
 called in the over-ready De Meurona, who, 
 with fixed bayonets, turned the tables by 
 making the law officers prisoners, and after- 
 wards ejeciud them from the fort. Selkirk 
 refused to recogni/e the warrants, and went 
 on sei/.ing ail the establishments of the 
 Northwesters about Ivake Superior, and 
 went ao far as to take possession of the 
 goods and furs stored in tlie post at Fond 
 du liac (Duluth), which being on American 
 soil, had paid the U, S. customs dutins. 
 
 tht 
 
TjiK SELKrUK f?ETTI.EMENT AND TlIK SETTLERS. 
 
 25 
 
 Hwo, also, priaonera were made and taken 
 U) I'ort Willium. 
 
 SKIZl'UE OF RAINY LAKE POST. 
 
 One party of Selkirk'a men, under com 
 iiiaii<l of Pidlor wont inland to Rainy Lake 
 to the Northwest Co. 'a post tliere (now Fort 
 KniDcia) and demanded its surrender, hut 
 Dcase, who was* in eharge, drove then. oil. 
 Si ikirk then sent an oHioer and band of De 
 Meurons with two cannon to invest the 
 plaoe. tiic otiioer inforniing Uease that if he 
 (lid not surrender he could not he answer- 
 able for the con<luct of his soldiers. Run 
 II ing short of provisions Dease had to cap- 
 ituiate and his post was turned into an 
 estuhlislunent of Lonl Selkirk, who removed 
 Miuie of the buildings acrnaa the river to tlie 
 r. S. siic, apparently not f -ding safe on 
 the Canadian side, which was the territory 
 of Upper Canada. This fort was tlie key to 
 the whole Northwest Territories and its 
 possession fully deprived the Northwesters 
 of any chance of carrying on their trade 
 from Jiake Superior. 
 
 Tins state of affairs continued dnriiio; the 
 >viiiter. Loid Selkirk remained about Lake 
 "Superior, the Northwesters held Fort iJoug- 
 las and the K,ed ris'er posts, and the Selkirk 
 •olrjuists wintered at .lack F'ish River at 
 tl>e north end of l^ake Winnipeg, l)ut in the 
 .iarly spring a genera! actnity was niani- 
 hsted l)y all parties. 
 
 TUI: UK MKl HON S ADVANCE. 
 
 In February (1817) Lord Selkirk, from 
 Ills head(iuarters in the Niuthwcst com- 
 iiaiiy's Fort William, despatclu'd Capt. 
 i'Orsonnens with a large band of his sol- 
 •liers fully armed an<l equipped, to the 
 Red River, the expedition going by \\ay of 
 the Rainy River, Lake of the Woods, and 
 from the Northwest Angle striking across 
 the country by land in the direction of what 
 is now known as the Dawson road, but ar 
 riving at a point on the Red River some 
 distance south of the entrance of the ^\s- 
 siniboine. Following down the Red River 
 the party diverged to the west and came 
 to the Assiniboine in the neighborhood of 
 St. James' parish, where tliey made scalmg 
 ladders and prepared to assault Fort I'oug- 
 las, then occupied by the Northwesters. 
 Taking advantage of a wild stormy nigiit, 
 the leader, guided l)y friendly Indians and 
 \\hites, Uiarched to the fort and .juietly 
 placing the ladders in position scaled 
 the walls and tjuiekly overpowered 
 the occupants. All the princi- 
 pal inhabitants' wore made prisoners 
 aiui the others were turned out to shift for 
 themselves, which tliey did by going to the 
 ten*^s of their frien<ls, the freemen, living 
 along the bauka of the Red and Assiniboine 
 rivers. 
 
 The foit taken, news was dispatched in 
 all directions, and the exiled (jolonists at 
 •Jacktish river were informed that they 
 nuglit rc'turn to their hoineateada, when 
 
 they would bo protected by the DeMeuron 
 soldiers. A few colouiata started at ouce on 
 snowahoes for Fort Doi.glaa, and arrived 
 before the warm spring sun broke up the 
 ice on the rivers and lakes, but it was not 
 until .June that the main party arrived on 
 the site of their former homes, when they 
 were joined by Lord Selkirk and his men 
 from Fort William. 
 
 TIMES OK SCARCITY. 
 
 To rind food for such a large number of 
 people taxed the energetic Selkirk, and the 
 river was largely drawn on for the fish it 
 contaiiMjd, and from all aceounta the poor 
 colonists had a very hard time of it until 
 the small quantity of seed they planted in 
 the spring brought forth a harvest, which 
 this year was an enormouG one for the acte- 
 age under crop. But the demand 
 ex^ceeded the supply and in the 
 autunni the settlerfj weie again 
 compelled to leave the settlement and pro- 
 ceed to their old time winter (juartera at 
 Pembina, in order to be within reach of the 
 buffalo. During the winter many of them 
 were forced to travel on foot to the Mis- 
 souri Coteau in search of food, the buffalo 
 having disappeared from the country bor- 
 lering on the Red River. 
 
 AT r.AsT THE I'.KITISII GOVERNMENT INTER- 
 
 KEHES. 
 
 Notwithstanding the frequent appeals 
 made to it in Kngland by the partner.^ of 
 the Nortiiwest Company, and in Canada by 
 Lord Selkirk, the British (government had 
 invariably remained passive, and seemingly 
 declined to interfere between the rival in- 
 terests, or declare the legality or illegality 
 of the claims of either party. The North- 
 westers notified the Government that they 
 held the claims of Lord Selkirk as illegal, 
 and would resist to the utmost, by force if 
 necessary, any attempt of his lordship to 
 interfere with their trading operations. 
 
 After cdhnly reviewing the whole circum- 
 stances of the proceedings at Red River, 
 cue must arris'e at the conclusion that 
 neither party can be wholly blamed for the 
 dire results of the actions of the chief 
 officials (m either aide. (Jovernor 
 Mdes Macdonnell, assuredly acting uiuler 
 the instructions of Lord Selkirk, annoyed 
 the Northwesters in their trade, and fol- 
 lowed it up by acts of violence to the per- 
 sons and propcity of people employed by 
 the Northwest Co. The Nortbwestera re- 
 senting this, rebdiated. The crowning act 
 of the whole disturbance, the killing of 
 Cov. Seinple and his men, without doubt 
 was the result of chance. 'J'he North- 
 wDsters were under orders to pass at a dia- 
 taiuie from Fort Douglas, and were doing so 
 when Semple foolishly went out with a 
 party inferior as to jwint of numbers, and 
 rashly brought on the conflict. Semple 
 evidently belieyed he was in the right and 
 that the Northwesters were interlopers id 
 
 i ;■ 
 
20 
 
 The Sklkibk Settlkmf.nt wh tiii. Skttlkrm. 
 
 I 
 
 Is 
 
 i 
 
 the country, while on the othor hand tlie 
 Northweatera had occupied tho country and 
 had spent great sums of money in exploring 
 unil opeiiing up the tur countries, reaciiiiig 
 to the shor* 8 of the Arctic and Pacific, 
 years before the Hudson's Kay Co. .it- 
 tenipted to follow them, as tiio Cana- 
 dians had followed in the footstepa of the 
 Freneli, who, to certain distances iiml pene- 
 trate<l forty years before the Hudson's Bay 
 Co. had ventured to estahiish a single post 
 inland from the shores of the Bay. The 
 Company laid claitn hy a lately-discovered 
 interpretation of a royal charter a hundred 
 and fifty years old, while the North- 
 westers held by riL'ht of 
 discovery and occupation. At last the Iin- 
 perial (Government were forced to recognize 
 the situation, and on February (i, 1817, 
 at the very date when Selkirk was sending? 
 his armed forces from Fort William to Fort 
 Douglas the I iovei'uor ( ieneral of Canada was 
 instructed in the following terms: 
 
 "Voii will also reijuiie under similar pen 
 alties the restitution of all forts, buildings 
 or trading stations, with the property which 
 they contain, winch may have been seized 
 or taken possession of by either party, to the 
 party wlio originally establi8he(l the same, 
 and who were in possession of them pre- 
 vious to the recent disputes between the 
 two companies. Vou will re(|uire also the 
 removal of any blockade or in.pcdiment by 
 which any party may have atteuipted to 
 previ'iit the free passage of tiailers or others 
 of His Majesty's su'ojects or tiie natives of 
 the country with their mercliandise, furs, 
 provisions and other eiiects, throughout the 
 lakes, rivers, roa<l3 an<l every otiier usual 
 route or communication iieretofore used for 
 the purpose of the fur trade in the interior 
 of North America, and tlie full and free 
 permission of all persona to pursue their 
 usual and accustomed trade without liind- 
 rance or molestation." 
 
 (^O.HMIHSIONKKS AUK SKNT TO IIKI) RIVKK. 
 
 Col, Coltman and Major Fletcher were 
 appointed by the (Jovernor-tiencral of (Can- 
 ada to proceed to the fur countries to see 
 that these instructions were carried out and 
 isecure full information regarding the acts of 
 both parties. 
 
 On arriving at Fort William in the early 
 summei the Comnussionors found tliat the 
 sheriff, who had been arrested and impris- 
 oned by Lord Selkirk when he attempted to 
 serve a warrant on him, hail, on the depart- 
 ture of his Lordship for Red River, secured 
 his release and otlicially taken possession of 
 the place and returned it to the jNorthwest 
 Co. This .iherilf afterwards sued Selkirk 
 for damages and was awarded t.jOO dam- 
 ages. Arrived at the Reil River they inr 
 mediately executed their commission by 
 compelling each party to restore to the 
 other the property and forts taken by force 
 ■ during the (listurbances. After collecting 
 info'-nuition and taking depositions from 
 
 many persons they returned to Canada and 
 made an exhaustive leport. 
 
 SKLKIKK lATlNUtTlSlIKs TlIK INIH.W TITI.K. 
 
 Before S.jkirk left the settlement he held 
 a meeting with his colonists, wlicn he gave 
 as free grants the lands which 
 had been improved by the settlers.. 
 He also settled his De Meurons 
 in the ncigldjorhood of I'oint Douglas, ami 
 so disponed them that on an alarm being 
 given they i ould lie assembled for oirensive 
 and defensive purposes. 
 
 Promises were nuide to the colonists, 
 some of which were never kept, but whether 
 through the neglect of Lord Selkirk or his 
 inaliility to carry thein out is not very clear. 
 One grievence long held by some of the set- 
 tlers was the l>rcaking of his promise that a 
 Pre8i>ytenan i:!ergymun shovUd be sent out 
 to them. His lordship had never, it ap- 
 pears, taken any steps to extinguish the In- 
 dian title to the lamis he had aecjuired from 
 the Hudson's Piay company, and now, 
 ciiiefly through the inlluence of Chief I'e- 
 guis, he managed to collci t together tlie 
 head men of several petty bands of Indians, 
 who claimed the lantls along the Assini- 
 boine aiul Red Hiver as their hunting 
 giounds. Though some of these «ere coi)i- 
 paratively newcomers, for their residence 
 was of but a few years' date, tiieir claim to 
 tlie land was untloubtedly good by right of 
 conquest and occupation. On the I!"'th of 
 July, KSIT, the Indians assembled and con- 
 veyed to his lordship "ail that tract of lanil 
 adjacent to Red River and Assiniboine 
 river, beginning at the mouth of the Red 
 river and extending along tlie same as far 
 as the (Jreat Fork^, at the mouth of Red 
 Lake river, and along the Assiniboine liver 
 as far as Muskrat river, otherwise called 
 Riviere des Chanii)ignons. and extending to 
 the distance of six miles from Fort Douglas 
 on every side, and likewise from Fort Daer, 
 (at I'embina) and also from theCJreat Forks, 
 and in othej- parts extending in breadth to 
 the distance of two English statute miles 
 back from the banks of the said rivers, on 
 each side," the consideration bein|^ that 
 Selkirk shouhl deliver annually, <m the 10th 
 October, to the Saulteau and ("ree Indians 
 at The Forks of the Assiniboine and at 
 Portage la Prairie, respectively, one hun- 
 dred poumls of good tobacco. This deed 
 was signed by five Indians, Lo'-d Selkirk, 
 Miles Slacdonnell, Thomas Tlioinas. ,lames 
 Linl and five others. 
 
 This business attended to, his lordship 
 took Ids departure tor Canada via Minne- 
 sota and overland. 
 
 IN THE CANADIAN COI'RTS. 
 
 Much discussion had taken place in 
 Canada over the troubles in the fur coun- 
 tries during LSI 6- 1 7, the Montreal papers 
 being the common medium through which 
 writers ventilated their vievvs on the situa- 
 tion. On Selkirk's arrival in Upper Canada 
 from the Red Rivei country in 1H17 he 
 
I'lii Si:i,KiKK Skttlkmknt ANU T'.IK SKrn.KKS. 
 
 TITI.K. 
 
 .■ held 
 ; gav.! 
 v\ liicli 
 ttlors.. 
 euvons 
 ami 
 
 iisivo 
 
 foiiii'l awaiting him four fhaixes, made 
 »i;ainst him by the paitiuTS of tho Norlli- 
 west Company. 'riieac were for having'; 
 ■ tolen (.'ighty-threo muHkets at i''ort Wil- 
 liam; the forcible takiiii; posaesaioii of Fort 
 William in KSKi; an awsault ami false im- 
 pnsfmmcnt of the «1( puty shcriH; resistani!e 
 to K'gal arrest. The niagistratcs dismisyed 
 tlie first charge and ac()e)»ti'il bail for liis ap- 
 pearance to answer f;)r tho otiiers. Com- 
 missioner CJoltman had taken bail fr.'m Sel- 
 kirk to appear at Montreal, but the courts 
 tliere changetl the trial to Upper Canada. 
 
 Ill September, l8bS, his lordship was tried 
 ;tt Sandwich on a charge of "a con- 
 .spiracy to ruin tlie traile of tlie 
 Northwest Company," on which occasion 
 a disagreement arose between the grand 
 jury and the Attorney-<Jenoral, John Bev- 
 erley l\obinson, on the latter's cdaitn of a 
 riL'ht to attend tlie grand jury ar\d examine 
 the witnesses. The trial never came oil' 
 and Selkirk left for England. After his 
 dcpartuie a tru'^ bill was found at York and 
 verdicts were given against iiim of £500 for 
 the impri.-ionmfcnt of J»eputy-Sheritf Smith, 
 and t,'l')(K) for th.e false arrest and imprison- 
 ment of McKenzie, one of the Northwest 
 Co. ^s j)artner8, at Fort William. It is 
 probable that the Northwesters broU!:;ht 
 t;i(!ar. iutluenoe to bear on ti'e authorities in 
 (,'aiiada to prevent the trial of some of 
 their employetjs, l)ut several of those 
 cliar4;ed with crimes were actually tried by 
 j\ny before Chief Justice Powell, at Yoik, 
 111 October, 1818, but verdicts of "not 
 t^uilty" were rendered. 
 
 SK.I,KtKK's I»K..\TH, 
 
 On his return to Kngland, in 181S, Lord 
 Selkirk seems to Invo become broken down 
 in health, and crossed over to the 
 continent in search of rest, and 
 a milder climate than Kngland 
 allords, but he never reeovere<l from the 
 etlect of the troubles encountered in Amer- 
 ica. He died on the Stlj April,- !8-_'0, at 
 I'lui. in the south of France, .-uirrounded by 
 Ins wife and daughters. 
 
 V\\ AL OI'KKATIONS ON LAKK WINMIM-;!;. 
 
 Kvon after the trials in Canada in 1818, 
 the Northwesters were aviested by force in 
 the fur Country. In 1818 William Williams 
 vvab sent out from Kngland to lied River as 
 an othcial of the Hudson's Bay ('o., winter- 
 ing that year at Cumberland House, ou the 
 SaskJitehewan. The next summer he ap- 
 plied his knowledge of naval operations (he 
 iiad been a sailor) to the litting out of ;i 
 small s( hooner for service on Lake Winni- 
 peg; Arming the vessel with cannon, and 
 manning it with the ever ready DeMeuron 
 soldiers, left by Selkirk as p«iacoabio tillers 
 of the soil, the new governor proceeded to 
 (irand Portage, at the mouth of the Sas- 
 katchewan river, which he took possession 
 nt, so as to seize the brigades of the North- 
 west C"o., as they arrived from the interior, 
 en route to Fort William. 
 
 Unaware of the surprise that awaited 
 them, the \ortli westers arriveil at the port- 
 age and made preparations to cross over 
 it. The, soldier'^ then thade prisoners of tive 
 partners of ilie Northwest ("ompauy, be- 
 sides .'. large lumber of the junior oiticials 
 and VMyageura. The officers were Angus 
 ■^haw, J ('. MoTavi«h, ,). I). Campbell, 
 u'lii. Mol^tosh and Mr. Frobishcr. The 
 tirsl tiv.. were s'.^nt to Kngland; (.'an>pbell 
 was forwarded via Moose Factory and the 
 (.)ttawa River and Montreal, while Fro- 
 bisher and some of his men were kept in 
 confinement at York Factory until October, 
 when they managed to escape, and finding 
 an Indian canoe, started for the interior, 
 reacliing Lake Witiiiipeg in safety, but 
 without arms or provisions. They suffered 
 so dreadfully frou) exposure an<l hunger 
 that poor Frobisher died in misery in No- 
 vember. The remainder of the party, leav- 
 ing the body unburied, after a few days' 
 travel, reached a Northwester's fort at 
 Moose Lake. 
 
 rRO(iRK.S.S OF TilK SETTLEMENT. 
 
 The Northwesters' F'ort Cibraltar could 
 not be restored to them ihe commission- 
 ers, for the simple i ...ison that it had 
 been totally destroyed, in 18l(), 
 by Selkirk's men, but aftar 
 
 the (Governor - CJeneral's proclamation 
 was enforced the Northwesters went to 
 work anil speedily erected a new fort bear- 
 ing the old name and occupied it until the 
 coalition of the companies in 1821. 
 
 At Fort Douglas, and lower down the 
 Red River, the Selkirk colonists began to 
 till the ground and erect new dwellings. 
 Many of the De Meurons crossing the river 
 to take land on its east side. 
 
 In 1818, when there was every prospect 
 of a bountiful harvest, the grasshoppers ap- 
 peared and destroyed the crops, leaving the 
 colonists in a state of despondency, which 
 was not lessened by the arrival of some 
 Fiench families from Lower Cai.ada, ac- 
 companied by two piiests, as the more per- 
 sons there would be to feed the greater the 
 diHiculty in obtaining provisions. Once 
 again, in the autumn, the people made their 
 way to Pembina, in search of tliat never- 
 failing resource to them -the buffalo. By 
 this time the colonists were more versed in 
 the manner of chasing the "wild cattle of 
 the plains," and in consefpience of the near 
 approach of the animals to Pembina an 
 abundance of food was obtained. 
 
 In 1819 the Canadians settled at Pembina, 
 while the colonists returned to the 
 settlement at the Forks, where, though 
 they sowed and planted, they reaped not, 
 for the tfrasshoppere bred early and soon 
 devoured all the green herbage, so that no 
 alternative offered but to travel up to 
 Pembina, as they had so often done before. 
 Almost in despair they settled for the 
 winter on the banks of tho Pembina, but 
 during the etfsuing winter they secured 
 
•>H 
 
 THK SKLKIKK .Sl/nlJ-.MKNT A.Ni) Till. SKTTI.KKS 
 
 ' i 
 
 ■ ■• t*- 
 
 ! plenty of provisions, Having enough to take 
 )ack a aupply of pemican for Lonsuinption 
 dnring the seeding time at the settlement 
 in 1820. Bnt the plague of locusts still was 
 upon them, and during the winters of IS'JO- 
 •J I, and 1 8'_''J-'2.'}, they were forced hack to 
 Pembina. The last senfon, however, they 
 saved part of their crops. 
 
 • 'OALITIUN OP THK RIVAL t'OMTANIKS. 
 
 in 1821, chiefly through the f:lfoit« of 
 Kdward Kllice, (afterwards the Rt, Tluii.i, 
 the Hudson's Hay and Northwest Com- 
 panies consolidated their interests under 
 the title of the first named, securint' from 
 the Ikitish government, on tith Decemlitr, 
 1821, certain exclusive privileges or trading 
 rights, in the Indian Territories, wliicii 
 inchulcd all tlie lands to the 
 
 tion the loiitc to Canada was abandoned fur 
 the transport <^f goods, all the business of 
 the company licing done by way of Hudson's 
 }>ay. and ho it was, that the Canadians. 
 40 years after, knew little or nothing of the 
 Red Jiivcr onuntry or its people. The con)- 
 pany practically ruled the Northwest under 
 Sir Ceorgt Simpson, until his <leath alxuit 
 bSHO— though in IS.'},") a council was chosen 
 from the people resident in the .settlement. 
 He was a man of great tact, and managed 
 admirably the affairs of a colony, con)pos»!d 
 as it was of Knglish, Scotch, Irish, French, 
 Metis and Indians, with their conflicting in 
 terests. He annually made the voyage to 
 Red river from Montreal in a bark canoe 
 propelled by the paddies of a large crew of 
 trained and hardy voyageurs, an<l on one 
 occasion continued his journey by passing 
 
 SIR GEORGE SIMPSON. 
 
 f.:if 
 
 north and west of the Hudson's Bay 
 territories in ISritish Notth America, for a 
 tern) of 20 years. It may here be said that 
 before the expiration of this period, namely 
 in 18;i8, this license way superseded by one 
 for a further term of 21 years, dating from 
 1838, It was when the second license was 
 ar)out to expire, and a renewal was asked 
 for, that the Canadian govern)nent pressed 
 a claim for the Hudson's Bay Territories, 
 and contested the legality of the company's 
 charter, sending representatives to England 
 for that purpose, the agitation being kept 
 up from 1857 to 1869, when the transfer 
 took place. 
 
 In 1821 the means of both companies were 
 nearly exhausted through competition and 
 extravagance, and both parties welcomed a 
 termination of the strife, After the coali- 
 
 ovei- till: great prairies of thf Northwest 
 and the Rocky Nlountains, aci-oss Bchring's 
 strait, tliiough Kus«ia in Asia and Europe, 
 and on to I'aigland, from whence he sailed 
 back to Montreal — the tirKt man to. pa.s8 
 around tlic woild north of tlie equator. 
 
 SWISS IMMKJRANTS. 
 
 In the autumn of 1821 a paity ot immi- 
 grants fi'om Switzerliuivl arrived at York 
 Factory. They were induced to leave Eu- 
 rope in the hope that they would make 
 (|uiet, steady and peacualile settlers, but on 
 their arrival in the colony, in the early 
 winter, after a very arduous journey at an 
 inclement season, it was found that "most of 
 them were rather of the artizan class tiian 
 agriculturists. On the flyleaf of a church 
 register kept by the Rev". John West, and 
 
I'm Sl.l.KIKK Sl,lll,I.MI.ST AM' TIIK SkTTI-KKS. 
 
 20 
 
 u iw on clepohif in tli»! llnglihli C'lmivli ur- 
 oliivi-H, is a trKiniorariiliini lluit 171 coloiiiatH 
 left Kiirop« for the Hi'ttloiiu.iit in 1S2I, uml 
 six fhiltlicn w.Vki liorn on the voyagts lc.'i\'- 
 inK fi total uf I 77. \t'.\t your v'\n\\t of tlu'si 
 I''lt fur (.'iiMfida ui' tiic I'niteil Statics, /inii 
 ("Urteen weio dorid. Nearly all tlu'Mt: peo 
 |iio left tlio country four years later. 
 
 A NKVV ^.^^\ Kl.Noi;. 
 
 From tin- date of Seniplo'ci death in 
 IslO, to IS-J'J, .\le.\aiidor MoDonell wa.-,, 
 V lieu circnniHtaiioes permitted, acting as 
 t,"\i rnor of th(^ colony. In iS'22 Captain 
 Hidijer entered on the duti»;a of the ^'nver- 
 iior'n otilr(-, (;eoru;e Simpson (afterw arda Sir 
 fieurjj'e) Ijeing the governor-in-chiif. 
 
 Mtrncted, occupied Fort (;i)>raltar. and it 
 will he interesting to notice here that the 
 marriage register of the Kev. .John Went, 
 uniler date of Apiil IS, I.Sl.'2, eontain.s an 
 entry of the solenmi/ation of a marrujge, 
 (ieoige Simp.son attesting as witneRs, at 
 Forf (HhniUni , the next six entries made 
 l)eing of marriages tit l''nrt (idj^ii/, one 
 ot which wiiH witnes.seil hy Simpson, while a 
 star is placed opposite the* first entry, 
 diawinj' attentii»n to a foot note, 
 whitii reads that Fort Gibraltar 
 is "now named Fort (iarry," Without 
 douht, on that date Simp8i>ri changed the 
 mime to remove any feeling of resentnient 
 still existinu amongst tlu. Northwestern 
 element at the occupation ol it hy the new 
 company. 
 
 Intkkiur Fukt(;akrv, 187'). 
 
 In 1S22 Mr. Ilalket, a relative and execu- 
 tor of Lord Selkirk, visited the colony and 
 eni'eavored to arrange its affairs, hut the 
 continual trouble experienced by the settlers 
 made this an almost hopeless task. He, 
 however, managed to ameliorate their con- 
 dition somewhat by throwing off one-fifth of 
 their debts. An arrangement was made 
 whereby goods were sold at the following 
 advance on invoice cost ; First 3.S ', was 
 added, then this value was increased by .")8 
 per cent., to make the retail cost to the con- 
 sumer, 
 
 KORT carry's origin. 
 
 The Hudson's Bay Company, as recon- 
 
 Nicholas (iarry, a niendier of the }lud- 
 son's Hay Company's Council, visited the 
 country about this date, his name appear- 
 ijig, with that of .Simpson, as witness tf)the 
 marriage of Thomas isbestcr witli Mary 
 KenuOdv at Nui wav House on the 12th of 
 August,' 1821. 
 
 lU^KI-ALO WOOL rOMPANY. 
 
 While Gov. liulgor acted as governor of 
 the colony many schemes were entered into 
 liy the settlers, such as the formation of the 
 ' 'Buffalo Wool Company. " The wool of the 
 butTalo was to be utilized foi domestic pur- 
 poses and export, while the hides of the 
 
 I 
 
:M) 
 
 TlIK SKI.KIKK SKTTl-KMIiNT AND IHI. >KH KKUS. 
 
 »!•' 
 
 animals won* to be taniie<I. It is autlicicut 
 to say that it wa« a taiiiu e, the (luncei n 
 winding up, witli a loss of over §r2,0()0, in 
 the yeiu IS'-T). 
 
 Kvcn in 1S'2.S but tew plows were in use, 
 the hue beiiif^ tlie common itiiplo>rnMit used 
 in fiiiMviug operations, (!(>v. Bulger, re- 
 preHentiuj,' th'- Selkirk heirs, met with some 
 opposition from the fur-triidiny; authorities 
 of th( Hiidsrtn H IJiiy (.'o., v lio prevcnttd 
 the seti.lers from tvadinu hoisi's, leather and 
 provisions from the freemen, !)ut on a pro- 
 per representation being sent to MiiLdand 
 these restrictions were removed, thoiij^h 
 trading in furs was considoreil a speeies of 
 hiifh treason, when indulgid in by tln' 
 colonists. 
 
 (iov. Kulu( 
 sucoeedeil \i\ 
 
 (iOV. CKI.LV. 
 
 resigned in \S'2'^ and 
 tht 
 
 was 
 
 fur 
 
 I )onald 
 
 Capt. K. I' reliy. 
 inttM'ests 'h ing watched over liy 
 M'jKenzie. 
 
 The couipany now i.ssuetl, as a circula- 
 tory medium, nt/tes of the value of one 
 [)Ound, live shillings and one shilling. It 
 may be '^aid that silver c.oin.s were unknown 
 in the country until troojis arrived in I84b. 
 
 Soon after Capt. I'elly's advent a large 
 l)and of cattle was binu.;ht into the court- 
 try and sold to the colonists. An experi- 
 mental farm was started at Hayticdd on the 
 east side of the Red River, about three 
 miles ai)ove the eiitrani-e of th" Assiinboine, 
 but, like the Hutlalo \\'ool company affair, 
 gross misinanagv.'ment oicurred, and it 
 proved an utter failure after a sinkage of 
 .•>] 0.000 was made. 
 
 TlIK K1H>T KK.I) KIVKK (ART. 
 
 At this time the famous Ked River cart 
 was in oommon use. 1 tind in an unpub- 
 lished journal of a fur trader that the first 
 i:art ever used on tlu; Ked Kner plains was 
 made in the Xortiiweslers' fort at Pembina 
 in 1801, when the wheel was a solid l)lock 
 of wood, about tiiree feet in diameter. 
 
 The ne.xt year an improvement was made 
 in the whetds, as announced in the following 
 paragraph 1 have extracted from the manu- 
 s<.'ript referred to: "They (the carts) are 
 about four feet high and perfectly straight, 
 the spokes being placed })erpendicularly 
 v/ithout the least bending outwards, and 
 only fnu in ea(;h wlieel; the carts will carry 
 about live pienes (4.")0 pound -.i, and are 
 drawn i>y oik horse." Little in.provement 
 Mas afterwards maiie in the.se piiniitive car- 
 riages, and even to-day an occasional eart, 
 drawn by an ox or a horse, may be seen 
 parading the main businoc^ street of the 
 capital of the Canadian NortJiwest. 
 
 Cunn infonna us that in IS'J,! iron was 
 worth four shillings a pound in the settle- 
 ment, and it cost ,t't sterling to get the iron- 
 work of a plow. 
 
 THK (.KKAT Kl.OOl). 
 
 la the spring of ISiH the Red river over 
 flowed its banks, and spread over the oouu 
 try for a great distance. The ^ettlerg were 
 
 compelled to Hy in hn«te to the 
 Little Stony Monnlaiii. Tlieir 
 
 houses, which were almost invariably 
 erecteii on the tiistor lower bank of tiio Red 
 river, were wa><lied away. Tin previous 
 winter liad been a very severe one, the free 
 men residing about l'eird)ina losing many ot 
 their people by expo.ture and starvation, 
 notwitiistanding the etlbrts of the cohjnists 
 to supply theni with ood, umler the <lirec- 
 tion of "Donald M'Kenzie, the head olbcer 
 of the Hudson's Hay Co. Now it was the 
 turn of the colonists to sullVr. as had often 
 been the ease l>ef()re. Not until the Hood 
 reached to sixteen feet over usual high 
 water mark did the niging waters show any 
 sign of abating, ami tlioiigh the torrent Hrst 
 surged over the river banks on tlie 2nd of 
 .May, it was not until th< mid lie of Line 
 that the waters reccilei' to below the level 
 of the bank.'^ xf the stream. Nearlv every 
 possession was scattered and ruinid, and the 
 wretched people met ro (onsidcr v,hat('onrse 
 tliey should pursut'. Finally tlie Scotch and 
 French deciiled to begin anew the erection 
 of houses, with the intention of remaining 
 in tlie country, but the DeMeurons ami 
 Swis.s, alnio.-<t to the la.nt iiidi\ 'di.il, deter- 
 mined to leave the setllenuMit On the 
 •J.Srd J line, assisted by tht^ Hudson's Riiy 
 company's otliciala with provisions, 'JbS 
 j)ersons siarted for Fort .Snelling in the 
 neighliorhood of wheie now stands St. I'anl. 
 Minnesota. Thcv arrived in sabty at theii 
 J nirney',s end, after passing throtigli the 
 lands of the warlike Sioux, and many ot 
 their de8<;eudants are today among the 
 most prominent and prosperous <jf tlie \\"est 
 orn States. 
 
 The colcnist.s wiio remained set to work 
 with a will, and, while .some erected new 
 dwellings, on the highest bank of the Ived 
 River, others sowed what little f.eed had 
 been jireserved. The harvest was a gener 
 ous one, II nd the following winter was 
 passed by the people in enjoyment of an 
 abundance of provisions. 
 
 THK rolNCII. Ol ASSINIIIOI.^. 
 
 For some years after matters in the colony 
 were very ipiict, the harvests being goo«l 
 and provisions in ydcnty. It was in IS.'i'i 
 that Sir (ieorgc Simpson became the presi- 
 dent of an exeeutisu body known an the 
 government oi council ot .\Hsiiii- 
 boia. This council was lomposed 
 
 originally of the governor of llnpert's I..and, 
 tiie irovernor of the .Selkirk (olony (who 
 was also a chief facUir in the Hudson's liay 
 Co.), the Roman t'atholic bishop, two 
 i;!ergymi'n of the Knglish < hiircl.>. several 
 retired otii>'ers of the company, and a few 
 residents of the colony. 
 
 MISSIONAKIKS, 
 
 In IS-JO the Rev. John West arrived 
 the setileniei t from England t<! ';;"'*-'u a^ 
 chapkin for the Hudson's Hay Cou.;>w».,, 
 and inimedialely visited the company 8 
 posts throughovit the country, marrying and 
 
 '..*.? 1 
 
TiTR •<Kt,KrHK .SKTTI.rMr.VT AMi TITK HKTTr.KHS. 
 
 At 
 
 liivpti/ing tlio j)(!opl«'. The first intry in 
 the liuptistn reuiMtei, wliii'li is still in ixis- 
 U!uc, in (lated iSuptciitlicr (», IN'JO, l)'!ii)^ 
 that of William, mom of TliomuH an<l i'lni'iii. 
 HiMin. He iiilinifUBton;(l tliw titt^ of l)apti!*n» 
 (III '2'M occaaions luifore the clwse of JH'J'J, 
 iukI (luring that time inarriod .'A ounplos. 
 ill.' clergyman H fees w'ere, for mam igo«, ;) 
 »liiiliuj(8; for burials, 'J Hhillin^'s and ('• pent-e, 
 nii'l for oertiiicatcH, '2 shillings ami (i peiic«'. 
 ill tho autumn of 1823 the Rev. 1). .Jones 
 i.pliiced Mr. West, with the title of ashist- 
 iiiit (hoplain, hut after iVugust IS, 1,S"J.">, he 
 assmiied the title of chaplain. The re^if^ters 
 .(.nlain entrieH made hy (ieoige Harhidge, 
 iniasionary schoolmaster. In 18'25 the Kev. 
 W. Cockran arrived in the Hettlenicnt, and 
 sliortly after settled at the rapids, in St. 
 AiiiircwB parish, Mr. .Fones at the time re- 
 Hidini,' at what is now known as St. John's, 
 tliduglj it then formed a part of Kildonan. 
 It was not until the 28th of Uctoher, l.S;");<, 
 
 Rettler-*. Besides a!i experimental farm, one 
 of these wan the growth of tlax, hi't while 
 the plant grew well, and abandant harvests 
 were f^ntheie»l, tho result of tlm ventiire 
 was n failure, on account of scarcity of 
 laitorcis and absence of skilh'd workmen. 
 The next undertaking was the formation 
 of "The Talluw Company" inl.s.S2. Nearly 
 ')00 head of cattle were secured in the set 
 tlcnient and placed under tho care of h(?rd- 
 era who were inexperienced and incompetent, 
 w ith the result that 1 1 I animals were lost 
 during the lirst year. Though the investors 
 had been promised great ijrolits from th»! 
 hide and tallow export trude, none apjuared, 
 and the company was broken U|) in IS.'U. 
 
 In is;i.'i a joint stock hciiling com|)any 
 was formed with a capital of 11, 200. Two 
 men were 8ei»t to Missouris lor sheep to 
 start a ranche, but owing to personal dis- 
 agreement between them tliey pushed on to 
 Kentucky to make their purchase. Some 
 
 th.'it .St. .Injurs I'liiucli was .oiisecrated by 
 that name. . Kiom l.S2i to 1S;}0 a largi; 
 iuiinber of retired oHiciala and servants of 
 tile company iiecani*! rej<i(ltnts of tiie settle- 
 iiiciit, most (if them taking up land north of 
 I'liit (larry along the Red river. Owing to 
 ilic attituiic >f th( Krciu'h Metis to the 
 HiidstMi's Hay Company, fiovcriKir .Simp.son 
 111 l.SHi .'ii (M-eoted, in th( heart (if the KlJg- 
 lisli settlement, tlie establisliinent ever since 
 known as the Lower or Stone Fort. 
 
 .\ Srb'CII.ATKiN \l\M.\ I'KKSAII.S. 
 
 The S(dkiik .settlers were greatly in debt to 
 the Selkirk heirs, and as the market for 
 farm produce was extremely limited, they 
 were unable to pay tiff the existing indel)t- 
 t^liiess. Several sdiemes were entered into 
 in the hope that the export of farm produce 
 u<n»ld increase the direct revenu*- of the 
 
 VN ( ii: KCii. 
 
 I.-JT-'f sheep were purchased at f'.ju; five to 
 seven shillings each, a*::' c.'ie drove started 
 for lied River. Overdriven and illu.sed by 
 the carelessness of those in charge only 271 1 
 were surviviuL;at the end of the journey. 
 
 Having gone through this experience of 
 sheep r;<,ising, something else must 
 be undei taken, so, in IS.S7 Cap- 
 tain Cary was biought out 'rom 
 Kngland by the H. 1}. Company with 
 a full stafT uf lervants, and outfits of the 
 nmst impiovcd farming implements. The 
 buildings of vdd Fort (iarry were utilized as 
 farm houstjs inul barns, tiie farm itself being 
 situated on tlie lands adjoining, or what are 
 to-day known as the Hudson's Bay Flats. 
 From 1S.S7 to 1847 the farm flourished to a 
 small extent, but old settlers inform me 
 that the employees engaged there ate the 
 bulk of the pnjduce raised, and that the 
 
M 
 
 I UK Ski, KIRK Sk.TTI.KMKNT ANT" IMIK .SKTTl,hR>*. 
 
 * 
 
 & i. 
 
 c'OBtly exjMniiioiit <'ii'lt<l in the lirenkiiig up 
 of thi' tatiii, after grt-at lous to tlu; Hudson 8 
 Hay (loiiipuny. 
 
 S(»!i>(i tiiiiH ln.foit!, during' tin; existeiinc of 
 the expt'iiuiciital Mianiu, tlir < 'ninpany itn- 
 ported lioiii Ktigluiid, viu Mudsou Hay, tins 
 cflrbnitid 'itttUiou Kin-uway, v\ hurt*- du- 
 sceudiuitM are still highly prized by the Uvd 
 Kivfw pooplc 
 
 111 IsM.'i tlic HudHoii'a Hay Coinpany pur- 
 chaHod from the Selkirk lieirH all tfi"ir rights 
 in thp colony, with the lumlw inelnded in 
 the grant made to Lord Sidkirk in Ihll, 
 tiie price paid being variously stated at 
 from L:ffi,(K)(t to U^i.OOO. 
 
 LAW MAKING. 
 
 In the same year (l.SM.'n the council of As- 
 Hiniboia was (.ailed together, when Sir (ieo. 
 Simpson explained that the timi; had arriv- 
 ed wlien It was neeesHary make laws for the 
 government f>f the popiiltition, \«hiuh iiad 
 risen to aliout o.OOO souIh. Aecordinsly, 
 the territory was divid.-il into four (H.^triets, 
 in eaeh of wliii'ii i|Marterly courts, presided 
 over l)y a iDa^istrate, were est.iblislied. 
 These couits iiad power to pronounce liiial 
 judgments in civil cas(;H whei'e the delit 
 or damage claimed did not exceed five 
 pounds. Appeals might be allowd at the 
 discretion f»f the magistrate to ii huproinc 
 court, which was the council of As- 
 sinibcjia itself. In cases imolvin,' 
 claims uf more than ten pounds, and in 
 all cri'"inal cases, a jury vvas tn dct iilc 
 b} its venlict the facts in dispute. 
 
 Th«' council alsm levietl an import duty of 
 8e\en and one half per cent, on all ,'i>nd.s 
 brought into the countiy, and while guiird 
 ing tiie l\ir-trading interest.si, tliey also 
 placed an export duty on provisii'iis and live 
 stock, the growth or pn dui-.; of the colony. 
 A gaol was constructed immediately utter 
 the passing of these lawh, the si;iii of f.'UlU 
 having been given as a gift to the colony by 
 the fur-trading branch of the Hudson's Uav 
 Co. 
 
 On the '2Hth April, I SMI), the first trial by 
 jury took place, when one Louis St. I>cniii> 
 was convicted of theft and scntence<' to be 
 tloyged in public. Tlie sent<'iice was.it nuce 
 carried into eHcct, to the imiigiiatioi. of the 
 assembled crowd, who expressed th<. it feel- 
 ing by thiovving sti>n(\'< at the (logger. 
 
 TKADK SVITII TliK I'MTFJ) '-TATKS. 
 
 About this date the Ked liiNer pc ople 
 were ix^ginning to open uji ;i trallic witii 
 ';he American settleiiienis im the Misuiss- 
 ippi, ami several men had c.-i'ablished stoio.s 
 on tiu:ir own account. Andrew M.'L'er.not 
 an 1 Kobert Logan, who names are botiu by 
 estates and street in the city of Winnipeg 
 of to day, were among the most prominent. 
 Trading in furs was, howevei-, stiictiy pro- 
 hibited. The French were, as a rule, the 
 tiunters of the f;oi)ntry, gathering in great 
 camps for the purpose of proceeditig to the 
 buttalocountry, situated towards thcMissoiiii 
 river. The camps wcrc^ regulated by cet tain 
 
 "nwritton laws, eallofl for by the necessities 
 "f the situation, ('hiefs were electcil wlio 
 Hternly enforced the rulcH agreed to by ttll 
 who eiijuyed the protection attoi«!ed by the 
 piesence, in the Si(*u\ country, «.f a semi 
 iiiilitaiy force, t'uthbert (irant, th<' old 
 .N'nrtiiw ester, was ilenominated the 
 "Warden of the plains." Many an en 
 counter took place between the Metis and 
 the Indians, but almost inxariably the 
 latter were beaten with great loss, and they 
 linally sued for peace with the mixed 
 bloods. Much trouble arose at times be- 
 tween the Company and the Metis on 
 account of the fur trading proclivities of 
 the latter. 
 
 The Knglish and .Scotch settlers, while 
 perhaps indulging to a limited extent in 
 budalo hunting, were the agriculturists of 
 the colony and bowed to the dictum of the 
 legal authorities inoie reatlily than their 
 l''ieiich ntdghbors and friends. 
 
 In IS;(!I A<lani '1 horn appeared in the 
 ststtlement as recorder of Rupert's Laml. 
 He acted as a judge in the colony and was 
 paid by the company until the ^ear 1S,'")1, 
 when he departed. 
 
 THO.V.A8 SI.MI'SON, TIIK AKCTIC KM'LORKIt. 
 
 'I'he next year TiioriiasSimp-iOu, who bad, 
 witii Mr. Doase, made most valuable ex 
 ploiatioiis from the n.outli ot the .\b;Ken/ie 
 river, eas>,ward along the coa.stline nf the 
 .Arctic ocean, when pr(>ceeding across the 
 jilains south of IVmbina, en route to luig- 
 land to make hi;-, report, was either kiUcd 
 by Ins companions or eoinmitted suicide, 
 (the actual facts base never yet been 
 re\cjiled.) His liody was brought 
 
 back to the settlement and 
 
 some degree of obscnuty sunounds 
 the circumstances attending his burial. It 
 IS idaimed tiiat owing to the strong preju- 
 dices of the >Scot«'b on H(;count of his sup- 
 posed suicide, the remains were not given 
 t.'firi.stian burial, Having .searched the 
 burial register of the St. .Joiui's oiuncli, I 
 tind tlierein an entry signed by Wm. Cock- 
 ran, the resident Anglican clergyman, to 
 the following ellcct: "Tlioinas Siuipson, 
 ( hii-f rr.idei-, Mud.son's H.iy Co.'s .service. 
 Oct. loth, bS-H. About ;V_> \ears."" It was 
 iiiiposaible for the clergynutn to have made 
 tlie entry without perfoiining the duties of 
 his ollice. 
 
 AN INDIAN HUM.. 
 
 Tile tir.st execution ii; Assiniboia took 
 place on the .')th Septemher, IS4.3, when a 
 Sauiteau Indian killed a Sioux, who was 
 visiting Kort (iany, by shooting him, the 
 ' ullet, after passing through the Sioux's 
 body entered that f a Saulteau, who alsq 
 fell dead. The murderer »vas hung from a 
 scatl'cild erected over the gaol gate, whicli 
 building stood a little to the northwest of 
 Kort (iarry. 
 
 HiaTl.SlI TROOI'S, 
 
 N'arions reasons have been given for the 
 necessity for the presence of Hritisli troops 
 
'I'lIK Ski.KIKK SK'PTI.KMKNT Attn THK Mktti.kkn. 
 
 Ill A.ioiniboia. It in Iik«ly that tlie ooinpli- 
 i.-ation* »iriiiin({ out of the Hotfl<'ineiit of tli«' 
 (tri'«oi( Ixiiiiiflarv linf iiitliK'fMi tho l>iiti-<li 
 ^fUMiiriifti to <!es[i.itoli, viu York l''actory, 
 thti titli Royal rovioii lit CUT men) iitidtT 
 (Jul. < roftoii, in IS Hi. though it is pKsaihU,' 
 tli.it the in.st" iirity nt tiie Hudson's \Uy Co. 
 ill thoir oxclusivf! fur tia'lnii^ privileges 
 crtHM'iI the oonipany to reprcsont 8tionjjly 
 t(i the jjoverument tln! imtessity fur the 
 prcscrioo of troopH. T.'.i (itli re^iiinMit du- 
 jiarted in . IStS, and were sue- 
 I't'ijilod hy a loreo of 70 pei)- 
 Hioiiers the Karneyear.areinforcenient eominj; 
 (lilt the following reason, 'i'lieso pensioners 
 w«re conitiiiiiide'l l)y a Major (juhivvell, who 
 aJMO acted ati governor. 
 
 MONOI'dl.V IN' H It.S IIISVI'l'KAKS. 
 
 In the spring of 184il a attrionn di.stnrh 
 ance loo'j place on th<.' ooc.iHion of the trial 
 nf a Freiuli hiilf-lii'ied named Win. Sayre, 
 on the ciiarge of illegally tradinu for furs 
 (vith tiie Iiulians, contrary to the laws of 
 
 thf lani\ founded on the terms ot the Hnd 
 
 KIIUONAN ClII'nCH 
 
 Min's Bay Company charter of ItJTO. On 
 the 17th May, when the trial took place, 
 the Mi,ti» gathered in force. They were 
 ar.ued, and plainly avowed their intention 
 of resisting the piinisdinent of the prisoner 
 if he was found guilty of the charge. No 
 violence was ottered to any person by the 
 crowd, but the authorities recognized that 
 they would be unable to enforce the de- 
 cision of the court if it should pro^ e un- 
 favorable to the prisoner, and, although he 
 pleaded guilty, he was allowed to depart, on 
 Si line quibble of his claim to having received 
 permission from an official to trade. The 
 verdict was received by the waiting crowd 
 as an adniisaion by the company that the 
 monopoly in the fur trade was broken, and 
 with loud cries they tired salutes from their 
 
 guuH and congratulated themaeives on their 
 victory. 
 
 .*MKIU('AS,-l rrRCHASK ivorAV r.ANliS, 
 The XiiicricanH extingui.shcil the Inilian 
 title to the laiids along Mie upper lied river 
 in iS.'il. (lovenior Kainsay of St. I'aul, 
 Miniiesor (. iisiting reiuhina for that pur- 
 poNc. M ,i. h disappointment wa.i cxpeiiencod 
 hy tlinso a-ttlers of the colony who idaimed 
 land on the American side of the boundary 
 on the grounds of gi|iiiitteiH' rights when 
 they failed to g<'t their claims recognized. 
 
 THK Kl.oni) OK IS.'i'i. 
 
 A tlood, almost as CAtensivc as that whic 
 ruined the .settlers in IS'Jti, was experience 
 in KS.'i'J, the damage ensuin!^ being n^uch 
 greater than on the former occasion, as the 
 colonists j)088esBed riKue deKtiiictiblc pro- 
 perty and the population was vastly larger. 
 Every assistunce was rendered to the suner- 
 ers by the governor and the bishop of 
 Rupert'.s i.,an<l, the clergy guneia'ly doini; 
 all in their power to encourage and help the 
 people. Tiie Kev. John Black had arrived 
 
 •%. 
 
 
 * 
 
 s 
 
 <^i^^' 
 
 / 
 
 'V. ,IOHN BLACK. 
 
 the previous year to become pastor to the 
 Presbyterians, and he labored faithfully 
 then as he did until his death in KSS'2. 
 
 (lOITRT .Fr:D(iKS. 
 
 Ill 18.">4 .Ml'. Thorn was succeeded as ( leik 
 to the court (the position of recorder having 
 been abolirshed) by Judge .lohnson, who 
 held the otiice until iSoS, when Or. lUuin 
 was installed, attending to the duties until 
 his death in I8H1. Covfriior Wm. Mc- 
 Tavish then tilled the position for a year, 
 until John Black took over the office. 
 
 I'Ol'tTLAR AdlTATION.s. 
 
 As ttie jiopulation of the settlement in- 
 creased, in like ratio did the difficulties of 
 administering the laws. The most of the 
 people becumt' disaatistied with the form oi 
 
•M 
 
 THK SKI.MKK SKrn.KMKNT AM" THK Sk m.l'KM. 
 
 1:1 
 
 ( 
 
 1 k_: 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 govorniiitiiit exir.tiii^', wliicli whm pmotioally 
 the . ruatioii of tho lliid.-ioii h ll.'V Comptuiy. 
 liv tlif >•«»'' '>**''''7 * coimiilenvlilc trailo wan 
 rtiriiid On luttwten tlm colony and tlie 
 llnitoil Sttitt!^, wilt If till! iit!<>j)l(i, in their 
 luinuul trips to St. I'aiil. had i>i«"sontoil to 
 tlioni till' fviilencou (tf tin: vM-Htwurd i.inrcli 
 of civili/atmn iind Huttltincnt in the West- 
 ern Stnt«s >»t the I'nion. 
 
 (•KflTIONS Tt» CANAIM. 
 
 l'«titiotiH wT'i-e Mt'nt in |S.)7 to th<: lo^'isla- 
 Livt; aH9oinl)l.v of Canadii, pniyinsi thut the 
 ('iUia'lian ( xivornint'iit would tikf HtepH to 
 ()|ic;n up idinmuniuation hctwenn Upper 
 ( anailii an.l tiie Red Rivor, via Rake Su 
 pt'rior. and oxt^nd to tin- Bt;ttli;rH tht; pro- 
 tootion of ( anailian laws and institutiona. 
 Tlio t 'anadian Assenddy took inun'.'<liute 
 action in tin: prondsus, and, aw the Hudson's 
 Ray ('onipaiiy were then asking from the 
 Imperial (Sovernmeiit an exti'nsion of their 
 lioenae for exclnsivc trading; pri\ ile^^es in 
 the Indian territories, they protected the 
 elaiins of the company ami anktul that the 
 Red River eonntry he iianded over to Can- 
 ada. I'itipresentatives were sent hy ("anaila 
 to KnghiOvt and negotiationH were entered 
 into with the Imperial (i')vernmeat. An 
 immense iiiaas of eorrespondenee on thi.n 
 matter has heeu puljlished by Loth the 
 l)oininion (lovernnient and that of Ontario 
 in conneetioii with the aettleniei.t of the 
 western 1)011 lary of Ontario. It was not 
 nntil lH*in that an ainieahlc settlement of 
 the question was arrived at. 
 
 I'.VSADA TAKKS POSsKSsloN. 
 
 TlieHud.son's Ray and Indian territories 
 l»eoame part of Canada and tlie Hudson's 
 IJay Company received as an equivalent 
 €300, (XX), ami extensive land grants. 
 
 Troops were sent to Ked River i; 'V»7, 
 the Rojal Canadian ItilKs tarnishing the 
 detac'hnient, whieh eonsi-ited of IJO men. 
 'i'his foree left Red River in iStil, via \'ovk 
 l''ai:tory. 
 
 rilK KlRsT .STKAMItOAT. 
 
 An event oi'.cnrred in lS(y2 which oreated 
 yreat excitomeut isi the settlement. A steam 
 boat of the tlat bottomed buiUi, which had 
 l)een ei instructed on the Upper Red River 
 made its appearance at Fort (larry, bearing 
 .sfvera! passengers of note and a goodly as- 
 sortment of fruignt. The delight of the 
 settlers was ahnost unbounded as they 
 viewed the good ship An.sou Northnp, the 
 first steam-jiropi lied craft to ply the waters 
 of the Ked River, 
 
 .Siorx MASSACRE I.V MINNESOTA. 
 
 In J 862 the Sioux Indians in Minnesota, 
 taking advantage of the American civil war, 
 took to the war path and massacred many 
 of the settlers in tiie State. Great feara 
 were entertai'ied by the Red River settle- 
 ment people that an attack would be made 
 on them, but the Sioux were too wily 
 to take such a step, and had arranged 
 to retreat acrosis the International 
 
 lin') when hard pr«'ii»ed by the C S. troopn 
 On the HUiiprcHHion ot the uprising laiu' 
 numbeiH i)f these IndiaiiH . rossetl into .\i- 
 »iniboia, and <>n tin: tth .March, |.S(W, Mujn 
 Hatch, the otlicer eomnuinding tho Ann i 
 lean troops htationed at I'enddna formally 
 appli'd to Mr. iniUu«. who wan governor i.' 
 the Red Riser Sfttlcmn.t, for jtcrndstiion to 
 cross with his holdicis tor thi; purpose of a' 
 tacking the refugee Sioux on lhiti»h aoH 
 (iov DaMan, within tv^entv four houii, 
 granted ptrmisbion, only stipulating tli.a 
 no l)lood .ihonld b^ shed in the houses <■> 
 enclosures of the Hctthrs, but Major Hat. 
 novur ttvaile<l hiniHelf of the opportunif, 
 Many .Aiuericyu wiitcrs have falKn 
 into the error of Btutiiit 
 
 that (Jovernof Dallas r« fused Hatcli .- 
 reiiuest, but the writer has in lii> 
 pOHsesKion copies of the correBpondeiH r 
 whieh passeed between the gentlemen t. 
 the above eU'ect. The truth appears to 1h 
 that Major Hat( h forwanled the corrt:- 
 pon<lence to WaHhington, ami was imnu-i^ 
 ately ordered to rcl'iain trom crossing th' 
 boundary line. During the Indian troubl(«. 
 lommuni-atitm between St. Paul and I'ort 
 
 SKNATHK SCHrLTZ. 
 
 <iarry was almost entirely cut otl'. Dr 
 Schultz, in a speecdi delivered in the Cana 
 dian House of tJommons, described a jour 
 ney made by him -from St. Paul to the settle 
 uient, when on encountering bands of the 
 Sioux, the explanation that he was a British 
 8u))ject acted as a certificate for free pas- 
 sage. Many of the Sioux who crossed to 
 the north of the line never returned to the 
 Unitt d States, though they have never been 
 recognized by government as other than 
 foreign Indians. 
 
 NK\V-(!OMER.S ON THE SCENE, 
 
 In 186H a change was made in the affairs 
 of the Hudson's Bay Co., by the sale to a 
 
 « 
 
 : i 
 
Tiir. SK/,KUiK Skuxi'.m«nt and thk Mrtti.kjim, 
 
 m 
 
 Pf-w tjomj^any of all the propnrty and 
 privilt ^«rt of tlio old (.oncorii. 
 
 CaiKidiatiM and Amcriciuia liad arrived in 
 th»' «tll«Mnniit, priN(*i)>Aliv itftcr KS.')?, whoii 
 tlie nui\t'yii uiid rxplointioii.s ooudiu-ted l)y 
 otiicialh of tlx' (iiinadiiin ^"^''^'""lotit dn-w 
 uttt'iition to tlu) oouiitry. Xiiiiii.Toue ox- 
 |ili>rint{ txpt^ditiniiH liad poPHtd tlirougli the 
 Niirtliw»'Ht on route to tliu fur north from 
 till' tiiiiit Sir Joliti FUchardHoti doHUundi'd 
 till! McK^n/.io rivttr. liiK'k, SimpHoii und 
 |)>-UHt', Lutroy liiul othorH Imd mud*- more or 
 luliH v> tended uxplorutions in tiie 
 i;( 01(1 ntihi«al and scii-ntifii' tields, ro that 
 ;Ta.liiiiliy inrormatlon wan reaching the 
 outni'l'' world of the land that waw soon to 
 !■»■ ttirown op»fi for st'ttluiuent under the 
 Hlieltiring oaru of tho Dominion of Cana<la. 
 
 A SlIoKT-l-rVKb (iOVKKVMKNT. 
 
 Ill l!S(i7 n provisional govtM-nment waa or- 
 k'liiiii.ud liv Mr. 'I tiomaH Sponce, the terri- 
 t iry end)!')!! ed in tlu Hohoino being that 
 litation of t!u' pn'.s»>nt proviinjo of Manitoba 
 Hitiiatid aliout I'ortiK'' la I'rairio, but when 
 riif ori^inalOLs Hcnt home a petition asking 
 tor ri'c^ignitioii by the Imperial Ciovern- 
 incut, they were inl(>rni;.(l that the whole. 
 proiuicdinv' waa illej/'jl, and the scheme fell 
 u> tlie >;rouiid. I'lc district mentioned waa 
 i)utnitle the tirrittny inoluded within tho 
 liiuiuds of As!»iniboia. No norious attontion 
 has ever luien paid to this movement, tlie 
 whole matter l>oinx now treated aa a huge 
 I'okti. 
 
 lilSTKKSS IN THK COLONY. 
 
 A grasshopper visitation took place in 
 !si)S und the people were much distressed 
 I'll- jiiovisions. A oonunittee was formed 
 ail i subscriptions poured in from (Jrcat 
 Britain, Canada and the United States to 
 pay for the wheat and other provisions de- 
 spatclied o^i'erland from Minnesota to Fort 
 dairy. The Canadian government prooecd- 
 id to eonstruet a road from Fort (iarry to 
 the Lake of tlie Woods as a means to alFord 
 relief and eiii[iloyment to the settlers, but 
 tr^juble occurred between the French 
 Metis and the officials in charge of the 
 work. 
 
 A CANADIAN (JOVERNOR. 
 
 In lH(!n the arrangements for a transfer 
 of the Hudson's Bay Territories to Canada 
 were concluded and it was announced 
 tiiat the Hon. William Macdougall had 
 'iten appointed as the first governor to tho 
 province about to bo formed by Canada. 
 Hf proceeded to Pembina with a numerous 
 retinue, having great stores of furniture, 
 tirttarnia, ammukitiou, etc., and on his 
 arrival there found that many of the resi- 
 dents of the settlement, and especially the 
 French, opposed to his entry, the latter 
 being very much annoyed that surveys were 
 being made by Canadian officials, while the 
 people of the settlement had never been 
 e'jnimunicated with by either the Imperial 
 or Canadian governmenta or the Hudson's 
 Bay Company regarding the transfer. Mr. 
 
 Macdougall announced himself ah governor, 
 and isaued |>roclaniationH, t(' which no at 
 tention was paid. 
 
 TUK KIKI. l.O\ hhNMKN r. 
 
 Meetings wore held at Fort (Ian 
 
 TV 
 
 an 
 
 elsewhere, guard* went placed by the !• renoJi 
 U) prevent (fovernor Macdougall and hU 
 people from coming into the country, aiw! 
 then the French took possession of For 
 (tarry, Louis Kiel acting as their ihief. 
 M</re meetings were lield, somt <if them at- 
 tended by rcpre8entativ»-n of thi; Knglish 
 spi.'aking people, but the final result was 
 tfiac Louis Kill formed a provisional govern- 
 nient anil ruled the land until the cud of 
 Auguit, 1870, when (Seneral Widseley 
 ousted him from the tort on the arrisal of 
 the regulars and volunteers sent from Kast- 
 ern Canada, via Lake Superior, for that 
 purpose. 
 
 It is beyond the scope of this paper to re- 
 fer in dobiil to tiio proceedings of the Kiel 
 government, it only being necessary 
 to :iay that the Selkirk settlers, in all cir- 
 cumstances, remained loyal to the British 
 crown. 
 
 After 1870 the tide of emigration turned 
 toward Manitoba, and while tho country is 
 grailually becoming dotted over with the 
 new settlers, none of tliem art- more res- 
 pected than the old .Selkirk settlers and 
 their ilescendants, and none of them have 
 sutlered the trials and hardships endured by 
 the pioneers. 
 
 SKI.KI'cK .SKrrLKMKNT iSl'KV I V;U><. 
 
 The writer has (;ome into contact with 
 many of the original settlers who lame out 
 with the various parties via N ork Faiitory 
 to take up lands on the Red River under 
 the auspices of Lord Selkirk, and has se- 
 cuifjd much information of a general nature 
 regarding life in the Sidkirk settlement in 
 the days of its infaiicv- I>uiing tliis sum- 
 mer I have personally intervieved the last 
 survivors of the original colony wliu were 
 old enough on the date of their 
 arrival to remember the events 
 that transpired in connection with 
 tlu. trouble bi tween Lord Selkirk and the 
 Northwest Fur company. Herewith 1 give 
 the sulistance of the information obtained 
 from these old people at, in cafics, many 
 conversations held with -them, and wherever 
 possible I use their own words. In the case 
 of Mr. Murray, who is ;/ wonderfully clear- 
 minded and physic ally active old gentleman, 
 the information, as regards dates and 
 occurrences given by him, have 
 been compared with original docu- 
 ments in my possession, and with such 
 data as is contained in the official church 
 registers of St. John's church. In every 
 case his memory has been proved to be 
 singularly perfect, even the most minute 
 details of bis evidence being borne out by 
 the records. It is then safe to accept his 
 statements where contemporary written 
 records are wanting, and it is particularly 
 
If^ f= 
 
 ;«i 
 
 'I'lIK .SKI.KIKK SKTTI-KMKNT ANr> IIIK Si;TTt,KKS. 
 
 y. 
 
TiJfc SKI.KIKK SktTLEMKNT and TIIK JSKTTI.KliS, 
 
 noticeable that the other aurvivora of tlie 
 tirst; settlement, whom I have coiiversetl 
 with', have referred me to Mr. Murray as 
 thv one who is the best authority living. 
 Canon Matheson, of St. John's colUgo, 
 kindly procuretl for mo from hia father, 
 Mr. John Matheson, the particulars 
 uiven by hiiu regarding certain points <jf 
 history in dispute, or not before recordcil, in 
 eoiuiection with the history of the settle- 
 ment. 
 
 
 
 liOyALD MPRKAV, OF KlUiON'AN, MANITOIiA. 
 
 My name is Donald Murray; I was boin 
 at Kildonan, Sutherlandshire, vScotlaud, in 
 or about the year 1801. I came to this 
 plaee in 1815, witli Lord Selkirk's fourth 
 party of colonists, and J have lived here 
 ever since. I remember perfectly well Lord 
 >^elkirk'3 being here in ISlT, but J was tlien 
 too young to be now able to recall anytiung 
 in particular about him personally. 
 I employed for many years after 
 Michael Lambert, the bugler of the 
 party of DeMeurous that came 
 up with his lordship. 1 remember, how- 
 ever, that Lord Selkirk held a grea., meet 
 ing with the colonists close to the "pot 
 where the Kildonan ferry now is, by thf 
 church lot. This was after we turned 
 from Jack Fish River, now called Norway 
 House, where we had taken refuge after the 
 destruction of the settlement by the North- 
 west men irr 181 »\ At this meeting now 
 arrangements were made with all the set- 
 tlers as to tiieir lands. Before leaving 
 Scotland the agreement was that we should 
 pay five shillings an acre for our lands-, but 
 at this meeting Lord Selkirk gave them to 
 us free of charge. Some of tiie arrange- 
 nients made at this meeting were, however, 
 never carried out. His lordship 
 left us in August, going down 
 
 by land through the United States. 
 When tJovernor Miles Mac^donald fiually 
 left the colony for Canada, [He was pres- 
 ent an late as 1S17, wht-n ho signed the In- 
 dian treaty with Selkirk.— Ku. 1 where be 
 afterwards died, a >oung settler and I went 
 to him and sanl, "Now, Uovernor, y(m 
 know you have in your posiession many 
 papers relating ti I Lord Selkirk's grants of 
 land and otiier matters, which are of great 
 value to US colonists. Will you not give 
 them to us before you leave?" "No, 
 Donald," says he, "they were given into 
 my char!,'e, and I must keep them." [The 
 paperH !ef?rrod to are likely those now 
 filed ill the Dominion archives office at Ot- 
 tawa. — Ei).] 
 
 1 remember Governor Semple well. He 
 was a very line man, one of the best that 
 ever came to the settlement. He was a 
 portly gentleman, rather stout and short. 
 He arrived here in the autumn, and during 
 the winter went west to visit the rarious 
 posts in the interior, returning in the 
 spring, soon after which he was killed. 
 Whilst at the colony he always lived at 
 Fort Douglas. The Seven Oaks massacre 
 took place near the bridge which is close to 
 where Sheriff Inkater'a house stands. The 
 halfl)reeds were coming on purpose to des- 
 troy the settlement and kill the settlers. 
 They uad been sent by "White-Headed 
 McDonel," ai; Alexander McDonel was 
 invariably called. After Lord Selkirk 
 arrived McDonel tied to the States 
 and we never heard of him again. 
 I knew Cuthbert tirant, the leatler 
 of the half - breeds at the time 
 of the ma.ssacre, well in after years, indeed, 
 he was ([uite a friend of nune, and after my 
 marriage often came to visit me at my 
 house. He always spoke quite freely of the 
 intention of the half-breeds to destroy the 
 colony. Had he acted accord-ng to his in- 
 tention we should cei taiuly all have been 
 killed, but after the massacre of Semple 
 and his party, he acted very kindly towards 
 us, allowing us to take away all our pro- 
 perty, or as much as we conveniently could. 
 
 The day after the massacre, the Indian 
 Pegu is obtained leave to bring in all the 
 bodies in his carts and bury them, which 
 he dill. Governor Semple and 19 others 
 were buried near th«i fort on I'oiut Douglas, 
 close to where Alexander Logan's house 
 now stands. Pegius was very sorry for the 
 death of Gov. Semple. I myself saw him 
 cry like a child as he lowered the body into 
 the grave. This was certainly the mori^ing 
 of the day after tiie fight. The statement 
 that the bodies were allowed to lie out on 
 the prairie for a fortnight, and that they 
 were mutilated and partially eaten by the 
 wolves, ia false. Between the years 1820 
 and 18;{0 the remains of tiiose killed were 
 taken up and removed to Sf John's church- 
 yard, but no stone was erected over them 
 and I could not now point out the spot 
 where they were re interred. 
 
:w 
 
 rtiK .'Sklkikk Skttlkmr.vt \sv thk .Skttlerh, 
 
 I came out in 1815 with my parenfcB. Two 
 brothers of mine had come out a uouple of 
 years before ua, but they had been soj't clown 
 to Canada by the North west Co. people 
 before our arrival in the settlement. We 
 had a fine voyage out and no sickness among 
 the people. We left Thurso, as near as I 
 can recollect, early in June, and landed at 
 York Factory, as I clearly remember, on 
 August the 17th. We arrived at the settle- 
 ment I suppose about the end of (.'ctober. 
 It was a very ctdd, snowy fall, and wo had a 
 hard and stormy journey up from York. 
 
 The morning after the ISeniple murder my 
 father and mother were taken prisoners l)y 
 the French, as tiiey were working in their 
 field (now lot 'Jo, Kildonan). They had 
 come down from Fort Douglas that niovning 
 to work, having been at the fort for some 
 days on account of the reports cir- 
 culating that the French were coming to 
 attack the settlement. They were living in 
 a house which was one of the two erected 
 by my brotherg, who had gone to Canada 
 with the settlers led away by Duncan Cam- 
 eron. My parents were kept as prisoners 
 until the iiext day. 
 
 I think John Mati\e.son (living at Grass- 
 mere now), (ieorge Bannerman, John Poison 
 and myself are the only tour mule.s Jve now 
 of the original color ists; but I think there 
 are several females yet surviving, One is 
 Mrs. Kaufman, who lives in Kildonan. on 
 the east side of the river. [Adaiii McHeth, 
 of Qu'Appelle, and liis brother, both living 
 yet, were infants when they arrived, but 
 should be mentioned as original settlers, and 
 there may be a few similar cases. -Ki>, J 
 
 Fort Douglas was carried away by the 
 Hood of IS'26. it stood on the northeast 
 side of the little creek tiiat empties into the 
 Ked River near where Mr. Logan's house 
 now stands on Point Douglas, but its site is 
 now a long way out in ti e river, or at lea^t 
 from the preserit high bank. 
 
 The Northwest Co.'s fort was called (Jib- 
 raltar, and stood on the Assiniboine poiijt, 
 at the mouth of that river, but it has now 
 all gone into the river a good many years, 
 I think. I do not know of £\nv tract^s of 
 any earlier fort, known as Fort Kongo, 
 standing near its site. Tiie Hudson's l>i>y 
 Co., however, iiad a fort winch stood close 
 to where Notre Dame street east is 
 now. This was the fort which 
 Dr. Bryce was unable to locate when he 
 wrote his book aVwut the old forts. This 
 fort was built by Peter Fidler about 181 7- IS, 
 but he went to Hiandon House in the latter 
 year, and it was first occupied by one James 
 Sutherland, who finished it in 1810. .\9 
 nearly as I can locate its position, it was 
 situated between wliat is no^v McDermott 
 and Notre Dame streets east, but perhaps 
 nearer Notre Dame than the other. It was 
 near the rise in the ground and a few hun- 
 dred yards from the Red nver. It was 
 about square, the principal entrance facing 
 exactly to the point between the two rivers. 
 
 At the farther end, opposite to this gate, 
 stood the master's house, which was 
 larger than the others, ranged down 
 each side of the pallifadded enclosure, about 
 four ou each side, but 1 do not remember 
 e.\actly how many there were. There was 
 a walk behind, between them and the pal- 
 isades, and an open court-yard in the 
 centre. I think there was also a small 
 powder magazine behind the master's 
 house. I often slept iif this fort, and in 
 1818, when I went to Brandon House, J 
 
 a 
 
 ■[] 
 
 FIDLER'S FORT. 
 
 IMastcr's House. 
 
 Hou.ses on southwest side. 
 
 Houses on northeast side. 
 
 I'owder Magazine. 
 
 Main Gate, facing Assiniboine Point. 
 
 started from it. I do not recollect that it 
 had any particular name other than "the 
 company's fort." It was ((uite distinct from 
 Fort <Tarry, and stood at the same time as 
 I'orts Douglas and (Gibraltar. I forget just 
 when it disappeared, . but it probably stood 
 till the Hood of 182G, and was then swept 
 away, like tiie remains of Fort Douglas, then 
 owned by Mr. Logan. If you doubt that 
 this foit was there, just find out about a 
 mairiage ceremony I was at in it, I was 
 the only guest from the colony invited when* 
 the following persons were married by the 
 Rev. John VYest ; James Bird, the chief 
 factor, to a daughter of' Tliomas Thomas; 
 Thomas Thomas, a retired chief factor, to 
 Miss Monture; and Joseph IJird, a son of 
 James, to a swampy Cree woman. (Rev, 
 John West's mai riage register, now in St, 
 John's Cliurch, siiows these entries, and are 
 dated at Red River Colon v--Kd.)Ialsoremem- 
 ber Joseph Bird, a half brother of the late 
 Dr. C. J. Bird, who was r.peaker in the 
 Manitoba parliament in 187f, built three 
 York 'ooats there in 1819, and those boats, 
 witli one made by a boat-builder who was 
 here then and whose name I cannot at this 
 moment call to mind, were taken to York 
 for freight. Just as.t old John Matheson if 
 he does not remeniL",r that iiis father 
 worked on that fort for Peter Fidler, I re- 
 member seeing him. [See testimony of 
 Jno. Matheson. — Kd. I 
 
 Fort (iarry was built by (iovernor Pelly 
 .n 182r), but was washed away the year 
 
'I'HK SKf.KIKK Si:TTI,KMKNT A.NJ) TIIK SK'I'I l-KliS. 
 
 :Mi 
 
 gate, 
 was 
 down 
 about 
 3mber 
 c was 
 pal- 
 the 
 sma'l 
 aattir'a 
 and ill 
 se, I 
 
 [] 
 
 after by the Hood. It was a fine fort, and 
 .stood in'ar old r'ort (Gibraltar. Directly 
 iflcr tlie flood tl"" Company built houses on 
 the As-siiiilioini; west of (Ubraltar, and it 
 WHH aftfuwaids palisaded. A French Can- 
 a<liiiii named Ili.sil, or Jacko Laurence, took 
 the contract for the stockade, which was a 
 vfiy Hue one. 
 
 After the la.st Fort (iarry (part of which 
 yet remains) was built by Governor Christie 
 in lS.S.>;{(i, the old fort on the point 
 was used as the farm buildings, 
 and some stables were erected by Captain 
 Cary nortli of tiiem, near where the Broad- 
 way bridge now is, at least they were be- 
 tween the point and that place. (Cellar 
 holos and burnt plaster may be seen to-day 
 at this place. -Kd.) Capt. Cary had the 
 ( c'.i.brated stallion Fireaway there in charge 
 for the Hudson's Bay Co., and when he left 
 the settlement he took Fireaway with him 
 to the States, having purchased him from 
 the coiiipany. much to our sorrow, 1 
 fr<;igbted to Yoik for Capt. Cary during 
 two or three years after 1844. 
 
 Kurtfiany for years was only called 
 "The Company's fort" by the settlers, and 
 it was not until the last fort was erected 
 th.it it wa" regularly called Fort Garry, 
 thuugh, of course, that was its proper name 
 for y..-ars before. 
 
 The Hudson's Bay Company used an old 
 building, that stood about 200 or .SOO 
 yards north of Fort (iibraltar. as a stable. 
 That was after the companies joined. I do 
 not know if they ever had a fort there be- 
 fore, but they used that old building as a 
 stable when they moved up and occupied 
 the Northwest Company's fort about 1821. 
 
 Before wo came to the country the Hud 
 son's Bay Company had a store on the east 
 bank of tlie Red nver, opposite to the 
 mouth of the As.siniboine, I think on the 
 property where Mr. N.W.Kittson afterwards 
 had his trading store. The Company mny 
 have had a fort there, but 1 only know for 
 a fact that they had some kind of a store. 
 
 The abandoned Huflson's Bay Company's 
 fort at Selkirk in 1815 was on the east 
 side of the Red river, at the end of the big 
 island at the swamp. The chimneys then 
 stood about six feet high. It was called 
 Kort William. There was also a small post 
 four miles south of Netley creek. 
 
 In 1818 I saw the company's Brandon 
 House post, wiiich was perhaps a mile or 
 inon^ west of the mouth of Souria river, to 
 which place I walked one day, and it was 
 on the south side of the Assiniboine. The 
 Northwest fort was directly acnss Jio 
 A«siniboine from it, on the north side. 
 
 The country about the Lower Fort Garry 
 was called the Red Deer plain. [Called the 
 same in Henry's journal of 1800, the St. An- 
 drew's Rapids also being termed the Red 
 Deer Rapids.— Eu. J 
 
 When Governor 8emple left Fort Doug- 
 las to meet the French lie had with him 
 (;nly a few men, but the settlers, coming 
 
 into the fort and hearing of his departure, 
 took their guns and went after him. Some 
 joined him, but others were only half way 
 when the fighting began. Mr. Bourke was 
 on horseback going after the governor, but 
 when he h<.nr(l the shots he turned back for 
 a cannon, which i.e took out, and saved 
 some of the people who esciii)cd the massa- 
 cre. Chief Peguis, who had 70 warriors, 
 shortly before the massacre otiered his ser- 
 vices to the governor for tiie defence of the 
 colony, but the governor declined., not 
 thinking there was any danger. The 
 morning after the massacre, before 
 Fort Douglas was given up to the French, 
 we took all the ammunition for the cannons 
 and threw it into the river, from the end of 
 a boat which was tied to the shore. The 
 cannon balls must now be in the mud at 
 the bottom of the river, quite a long way 
 from the present bank, as the river is much 
 wider now than t was then. An Irishman, 
 named Paddy Clabby, saveii a fine sword, 
 which may have been Governor Seinple's, 
 by carrying it down from the fort to tho 
 river and sinking it in the water, attached 
 to a line, the other end of which was tied to 
 one of the boats we started for Jackfish 
 river in. In this way the sword was towed 
 along unperceived by the French, until it 
 could wiuh safety be taken aboard. 
 
 Plenty of muskets came out with 
 the first settlers, but I never 
 heard of them being served out 
 to the colonists. They were stored in Fort 
 Douglas, and one day, in Governor Bul^'cr's 
 time, when I was a constable, I and my 
 companion had them all out in the court 
 yard and cleaned them, I have never lieard 
 of the colonists being drilUtl to arms. Two 
 brass field pieces came out with some of the 
 settlers. One time wlien Mr. Halket, a 
 relative of Lord Selkirk, and a member of 
 the Hudson's Bay Company's Committee, 
 was out here, he took the wheels of one of 
 the gun carriages, which were of English 
 oak, iron bound, and very strong, to trans- 
 port his boat to Lake Manitoba, which lay 
 in the route of the trip he was taking. 
 These wheels were left at the mouth of the 
 "White Mud River, where they rotted away. 
 
 Lord Selkirk was a tall, slender man, 
 probably six feet in height. He had never 
 before been in the Red River coi'.ntry when 
 1 su-v him in 1817. 
 
 I do not remember ever having heard of 
 Lord Selkirk's sencdng out any reindeer 
 from Norway, but he did send out a herd of 
 Orkney cattle. 
 
 I remembf" Duncan Cameron of the 
 Northwest Company, who was a fine old 
 gentleman, much liked by the people, also 
 his brother Reynold, who died at Pembina. 
 
 In 1816, Colin Robertson did not agrrte 
 well with the officials in the settlement. 
 They did not like him, neither did the 
 settlers. As he started off with a boat con- 
 taining fur for Lake Winnipeg, in derision 
 he hoisted a pemican sack in- 
 
4(» 
 
 'I'm; Ski.mkk Sktti.kmk'.nt am> thk SK'ri'LKKs. 
 
 stead of a Uritish flag m was usual. 
 This was before the Semple affair. 
 After the inansacre the North westers occu- 
 pied Fort l)()Ui;la9, hut erected new houses 
 at Fort Gibraltar in 1817-18 after Co). Colt- 
 
 was a ba k gate on the north side by which 
 wood was takou in. The fort stood twenty 
 or thirty ^ards back from the rivers, which 
 at that tiTnc were much narrower than now. 
 Lord Selkirk pave a free grant of fifty 
 
 man, the commiesioner, canie here. Fort 
 Gibraltar was positively situated on the 
 very point of land between the rivers, 
 although the Tliain face and principal gate- 
 way overlooked the Assiniboine, There 
 
 acies to au old French half breed named 
 Joseph Plant, near my place. Plant was 
 frozen to death near Pembina, iu the winter 
 of 182B, when a lot of the French, who 
 were starving on the plains beyond Peni' 
 
'I'm: MIKTK SCTl'I.KMKN I' \M« THi: SkTIILIJ^, 
 
 (I 
 
 liina. stavterl fof tin; suttltintiit. It was 
 liiilil at tir.^t, Itut ln-j^aii to laiii. Tlie wind 
 (hanging its (Hicctioii hioiight .>iu)w and 
 hift, so tliat they lost the trail. All per- 
 islieil there except a 8on of I'lant, who ran 
 idn.'iid to itrande I'ointe, some miles donth 
 if l'einl)ina. Though he managed to start 
 a tire, ids clothes being wet and he ex- 
 hausted, he was overcome and died beside 
 thi' fire, his body beiug afterwanls found 
 near tiie remains of the small fire. Anothei' 
 xiH of Plant, who had not been with the 
 party, later on sold the property to Jobu 
 Siitiierland, from whom, a fe\v years ago, I 
 piU'.hased it. Old I'lant was much liked 
 iiv tiie settlers, to whom he was always a 
 viTV good friend. 
 
 Of course I remember Sir (ieorge Simp- 
 son well. After I married and had a house, 
 he often called upon me, and was very kind 
 and friendly, though, perhaps, I am the 
 niily man wiio ever defied his authority, 
 'iliis took place one time at York Factory 
 when lie was walking arm in arm with Sir 
 •lolia Franklin. I wanted a gallon of 
 whisky which had lieen promised to me, but 
 u hich he refu.sed to give me. He ordered 
 inf to go with the boats for the settlement, 
 which 1 refused to do until 1 got my 
 v.hisky. telling him that Iwas a colonist and 
 not one of the Company's servants. We 
 wen;, however, very good friends afterwards, 
 I think the seasons have changed greatly. 
 I can assure you we have had seasons when 
 the strawberries were ripe by dune ]. Now 
 tli(y are never ripe before July I. 1 think 
 we then had far more birds than now, 
 especially wild fowl and pigeons. I remem 
 her wlieu I used to see flocks of pigeons fol- 
 lowing the course of the river, which were 
 so large that the front of each flock was out 
 of sight in the north, while the tail was out of 
 sight in the south; but they neyei come now. 
 I In 187 J, standing on the spot where now is 
 the junction of Main and Lombard streets, 
 i tired into great flocks of pigeons passing 
 overhead and killed numbers of them. —Ed. ] 
 
 I have killed liuftalo at l'end)ina with a 
 knife, havinij no gun to shoot them. Those 
 were hard days for us. 
 
 I commenced freighting to York in 1844. 
 
 I was appointed a magistrate in 185'J, 
 and acted as such tor 18 years, w hen t 
 retired on account of my deafness. 
 
 I remember perfectly the ease of the 
 Orkney girl you have written about, who is 
 mentioned, yon tell me, in Alexandoi' 
 Henry's journal. Of course I was not in 
 this country in 1807 when the affair oc- 
 curred, but I knew well the man Scart, 
 who was connected with it, and the story 
 was oommon talk for many a year after we 
 arrived in the country. I will tell you 
 what I kno>v about it. The girl came out 
 from Orkney to James Bay in the 
 service of the Hudson's Bay Company, and 
 was dressed in man's clothes. For yeais 
 her sex was not discovered by any of the 
 
 jieople who associated with liei. When she 
 wuNat a post of the company, at James 
 lijiy, she was for two years at the Partridge 
 House, with a man named John Scart, who 
 used to find her, on his return from hunt- 
 ing, sitting by the tire ciying: and she did 
 very little work, appearing to be much 
 troubled in mind. After that she and Scart 
 were sent inland to Brandon Uou.se post, on 
 the Assiniboine River, where they occupied 
 the same cabin in the fort, for in those days 
 a log hut was usually given to each two 
 men. Scart was the right-hand man of 
 Mr. (ioodwin, the master at Bran- 
 don House for the Hudson's Bay 
 Company, and the latter fretjuently 
 asked Scart to his house of an evening to 
 take a dram ol grog and consult with him. 
 I Henry's unpublished journal contains entry, 
 on l!»th of Aiiftust, ISUO, that Robt. Good- 
 win was in charge of the Hudson s Bay 
 Company's boats for Assiniboine river points. 
 --K1..I 
 
 ( >ne night Scart had been ft the master's 
 house until lute at night, and on his return 
 to the cabin discovered the true sex of his 
 partner. He at once told the frightened 
 wuinan that he would go to Mr, Coodwin 
 with the news, but she fell on her knees 
 and Ijegged him not to reveal her identity. 
 After much persuasion he consented to keep 
 the secret, and they continued to live to- 
 gether uiider the same conditions as liefore, 
 and it was not for a long time after that she 
 lost her honor. She was finally separated 
 from Scart by being sent to Pem- 
 bina to act as cook for the master 
 there, who went by the name of "Mad Mc- 
 Kay. ' It was when there that she made a 
 discovery as to her condition, and went 
 over to Mr. Henry at the Northwest fort, 
 and was the next morning delivered of a 
 child, to the great surprise of all the people 
 in the country, who had never s"'^p'^" ted 
 that she was a woman. [Henry's journal 
 contains a note that on the lath December, 
 1807, a young Orkney girl, who had 
 passed as a boy in the H. B. Co.'s 
 service, went to Henry and gave birth to a 
 child. She had followed her lover out from 
 Orkney and he Mas then at Grand Forks. — 
 El..] 
 
 The girl was sent back to Orkney with 
 her child. Scart, who always acknowledged 
 the above facts, lived for many years after 
 wards, 'lying finally at the Image Plain, 
 below Kildonan. The story was current 
 amongst the early settlers, who 
 knew Scart and Mad McKay, and 
 this was undoubtedly the tirst 
 white woman who lived in the Red River 
 country. I knew both Baptiste Lajimonieie 
 and his wife, but I never before heard that 
 it was claimed that she was the first white 
 woman in this country. I have often won- 
 tlered why some person did not write about 
 the Orkney girl, and am glad you are doing 
 so. 
 
'7 
 
 i: '■} 
 
 4-2 
 
 'I'lir. Sll.MllK SKTTI.IMrN'l \N'i TIIK '^IITI'I.KRS. 
 
 
 (JKOKiiK UANNKRMAX, KILDONAN, 
 MAN. 
 
 I was Ixini in the Scotlaml llij;;Jilanil8 
 about 1S0."», iuid cuinc td Hetl Ri.iT nitli my 
 jiaiiintH ill LSI'). 
 
 1 nMiieinhur the tiiiic (Jovtjnior Soiiiple 
 anil liis people wen; killi il by tfie French. 
 'I'lio b<((lii,w were Imrii.'il near Fort boii^,'la.s 
 the clay afct-r they were Idlleil. 'I ln'y were 
 l)iu i<-(l in one giave niuir some ti'<y!is, hut J 
 novel heaicl tiiat the remains were taken 
 away from there. I remember (-'nthbert 
 <<rarit, who treatt il us settlers well, hut 
 my memory is not as good as that 
 <'f Donald Murray, who can give 
 you iiiorct information than I can. 
 
 The tirat bricks were made by a man 
 Hamed Hed^'iv, in tlie rtutt; lietween Uroad- 
 WiiV and the fort. 
 
 I'hcre was a amail Inilian mound in the 
 vicinity oV .Seven OakH. otitside the old road. 
 
 'I'he tif-t mission Idiildin^'s erected Ij}- tiie 
 Rev. .lohn \Ve.tt \n ore situated junt where 
 tlie old .school house now .standH, !)etueen 
 the Itrewery and the college creek. 
 
 A per.-'on L'oinjr to Fort <lony would say 
 he was t'oing to the Forks, but thiiik.s it was 
 a L'-nera! firm applied to all the distrii-t 
 near the mouth of the Assiniboine. 
 
 
 n 
 
 Pl^j 
 
 i .. 
 
 • U)liX MAriil'NOX, OF (;UAs>.\!KKi';, 
 M.\N. 
 
 The t'oll.iwiug particulars were obtained 
 Irom his --ou, the Rev. Cmon Matheson, of 
 St. .lohnV college: 
 
 •John .Mai.heson \\as burn f>n (Tr'tobei !,"j, 
 1^14, in the purish )f Kildonan, -iutherlaiid- 
 .■■hire. Scothinil. lie sailed with his pare' ts 
 for Viirk Factory in .lune. ISI,'), ami arrived 
 at I'ort l>ouc|a.s on Christmas day, of the 
 same year. He wa.s ton young to be aware, 
 frdui personal knowledge, but can speak 
 dorinitely on tlie fcdiowing points: 
 
 His (biceased l^rothcr was ])!e.sent twice 
 at the Vmryiug of (otveinor Semple, the last 
 time being wh-Mi the bodies were removed 
 fioni beside Fort Douglas to St. John s 
 churchyard. 
 
 I'eter Fidler did buHd a fort noarei- the 
 main river thiin the present one, in the 
 vicinity of Broadway, before IS'JH, ami he 
 kimws his father worked for Fidlei 
 
 THE LATE ROBERT MACBETH. 
 
 Mr. Roliert Macbeth was born in Sutlier- 
 laudaiiiri!, Scotland, iji ISOI. He came out 
 to the Red River with his parents about 
 1SI,">, as coloni.sts to the Selkirk settlement. 
 He was a suceesstul trader, and foi' many 
 years a member ot the Cou'icil of .\ssini- 
 boine under the Hudson's Bay Company's 
 administration, as well as a magistrate. He 
 was married to Mary Mach'an, whom he 
 survived 'i.*? years. He died on the 'JOth 
 AugUi^t, 1S(S(">, leavintr a family of eight to 
 morn his ileatb ; Adam, Alexander, Rob- 
 ert, lohn arid RoiUrick, iind Mrs. Angus 
 Henderfsou, Mrs. .iohn McKay and Mrs. 
 Augustus Mills. 
 
I'lIK Sl.l.KIKU M.ITI.I'MKN'l' \M) IIIK SkTTI.HJS. 
 
 V.i 
 
 20th 
 
 •DUN' I'OI.SO.V, OF KI'i.DOXAX, MAX. 
 1 was born in IS 10 oi tlioreaWoutrt, in 
 Kil.loiian, ScotLind, aiul cuiiiie out uith 
 j.onl Si;lkirk's aottltM-s in ISI.'t. 
 .^I n iiicir.Wei' well the .sovcmi oak trees 
 wliioh n&yr the naiiit.' to tho locality, -vht'ic^ 
 (iiivnriior Seniple antl hiH inon wort.' Uiileil 
 l]j the luilf bruc'ilH, in lS|(i, and have many 
 
 wore buried in one largo i^ravt;, on the 
 afterwards roniovod to St. .John's ohinvli- 
 yard. One body, of u man that was killed 
 then, was buriftd on McT'onald's lot. in St. 
 .iohns, and the gnnc was • ared for a long 
 ^\iiilf, but 18 now plowed ovor and tlie .site 
 lo>fc .siglit of. 
 
 Thero was an Inilian burial mound on the 
 
 southwest side of what is now called Logan's 
 ciook, and on the property today owned 
 l>y e\-.M;iyor Logan. There wa.s a cUimp of 
 trees at the spot when tlie ijrave was dug. 
 1 ilo not I'eniembiu" that their bodies were 
 ii time shot pheasants (grouse j from their 
 i>ranchei.^ 
 'iovernor Seniple and some of his people 
 
 south side of Seven Oaks creek, iKjar the 
 trsnl, but it, also, has been jilowed over. 
 When people spoke of the Forks, in old 
 times, they referred to the point of laiul 
 on till noi'tli side of the Assiniboine, wliere 
 that stream flows into the Red. 1 never 
 heard the south side called the Forks. I 
 have always lived on this lot, and have 
 
44 
 
 THK Sit.KIIlK M iri.lMKM- AM> llll. .>KT:r.».K>. 
 
 i 
 
 never been fartlier away tliuii I'ortagfc la 
 Prairie or f'cmV>ina siiKH' tlie troublex 
 in 1811). 
 
 I renifiiilKT Kurt liihrultur well, 
 it faced tlie KkI Kiv.ruml thr AHsiniboiiu'. 
 'I'lie rivers were far imriower than they an 
 now. I think 1 couhl liave thrown a htont 
 acrosti the Red Hivi I liere then. I renit'in- 
 l>er that l)riok.s were inado at St. o'ohn'f* by 
 a man who came out with the Kev. Mr. 
 West. 
 
 MUS, KAUFMAN, KILDOXAX KAST. 
 MAN. 
 
 I was l)orn in Caithness, .Scotland, in 
 IHOU, and came ut liere in 181."i with my 
 fiareuts, who weie Selkirk colon:. its. My 
 name was Klizabeth (Hetty) McKay before I 
 nmnied U'ollrich Kaufman, a l.)eMeurcii 
 soldiei , who came up with ijord Selkirk in 
 1S17. Winnipej^ was always a great camp- 
 ing ground for the Inrlian.s. 
 
 1 .saw <iovernor Scmple and his <iead 
 companionK buried in one urave on tlu' 
 south aide <>f the creek near i'ort l»ouglay. 
 where a giove of trees stood. The gos er- 
 nor and the doctor were buried in coHins, 
 and the otiiera wrapped up in blankets, the 
 day after the mabsacre. Mr. 8utherlan<l b 
 body was stripjted (|aite naked, but it is 
 not true that they all lay out on the prairie 
 for .some days. 
 
 I remember that Lord Selkirk came here 
 
 and held a meeting ot the .'<fctthr8. He Mas 
 tall and straiglit, very lord!> in appearance, 
 but not strong looking. Before we b-ft 
 Scotland Hit* I/ordship pronused us a cow 
 eacli, and a plow between two, but after 
 warcls we had to nay for all these things. 
 
 My Iwother, Selkirk McKay, was* born on 
 tlie 'way trom York Factory, at I'uinttd 
 Stone, being the first white chilil born in 
 tliat colony. He was called a iter Lord 
 .Selkirk. 
 
 I knew (.'c.thbert <irant veiy mcH, for In 
 was very kind to n.s .settlers. 
 
 I rememl>er tl>« stockade fort honald 
 Murray speaks of. It was between Fort 
 l>ouglas and the N'orthweafc fort, I canuni 
 now tell you where it was, for the ground i^ 
 all covered with bou.ses, but I think it was 
 near tin high i{roun<l l)etween the forts. 
 'rhJH fort was existing at the same time as tiie 
 (•olony fort and the Northwest Company's 
 place. 
 
 Co t<i Oonald Murray, he can tell yo\i tar 
 more tlian any of us about these thinijs. 
 
 I Father Dugast, (. f St. Boniface, lia.s writ- 
 ten most inliiestint^ notes of tlic histoi'y ut 
 Mnu. Lajimoniere, a French Canadian 
 woman who arrived at I'enibina, from Mon 
 treat, in KSOO, and it has been stated by 
 se\i'ral writers that slie was the lirst white 
 woman in the Red liiver country. The 
 abc've evidence proves these statements to 
 lie not founded on fact, and thouj^h they 
 have been made in good faitli.it is well tiny 
 should be de'red. — Kn.l 
 
 THK LAST OK I OR" CARKV. 
 
 r i 
 
 M 
 
[(• \\i\f 
 iaiK'«', 
 .e l.-fi 
 a cow 
 , aftt'f 
 
 orii (HI 
 
 iUlltt'l 
 
 orn ill 
 I' L(ii<l 
 
 for In 
 
 honaM 
 » Koit 
 (jaimut 
 DUll'l is 
 
 it Wii- 
 ; forts. 
 e. as tlu; 
 
 you tar 
 KS. 
 
 lis writ- 
 ■itor> of 
 iiiadiuii 
 III Mon- 
 tetl liy 
 it wliit*- 
 y. Tlu 
 iieiits to 
 «li tliey 
 oil tlity