THE 
 
 MAKING 
 OF THE 
 CANADIAN 
 WEST 
 
 R.G.MACBETH,* A. 
 
 1885 
 
 [(ANADA 
 
 T-lfc 
 
 1*
 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 
 
 LORD STRATIICONA AND MOUNT ROYAL 
 (Donald A. Smith).
 
 THE MAKING OF THE 
 CANADIAN WEST 
 
 BEING THE 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF AN EYE-WITNESS. 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. R G. MACBETH, M.A., 
 
 Pastor of Augustine Church, Winnipeg ; Author of " The Selkirk Settlers 
 in Real Life," etc. 
 
 ortraits anb Illustrations. 
 
 TORONTO : 
 WILLIAM BRIGGS, 
 
 WESLEY BUILDINGS. 
 MONTREAL: C. W. COAXES. HALIFAX: S. F. HUESTIS. 
 
 1808.
 
 ENTERED according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year 
 one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight, by WILLIAM 
 BRIOGS, at the Department of Agriculture.
 
 F 
 IOL3 
 
 Ml3m 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 WHEN the few short papers on the first 
 colony in the North- West were put into book- 
 form, under the title of " The Selkirk Settlers 
 in Real Life," the book received a welcome far 
 beyond its intrinsic deserts, because it gave 
 some idea of how the early settlers lived in 
 their homes rather than the ordinary history 
 of contemporary events. Letters received from 
 readers far and near, as well as verbal commu- 
 nications, have given me to feel that people are 
 anxious to get glimpses of the moving actors 
 in the human drama as an aid to understanding 
 the events commonly known as the history of 
 the country. 
 
 1174452
 
 iv Preface. 
 
 Hence, many who took deep interest in the 
 simple story of the early colony on the Red 
 River, were anxious that a record of the life 
 succeeding those early days should be written 
 by some one who was an eye-witness of the 
 change from the old life to the new, as well as 
 of the subsequent stirring events in the forma- 
 tive period of Western history. In answer to 
 these requests, and with a desire to preserve a 
 life-story of the land in which I was born and 
 in which I have thus far spent my life, these 
 chapters have been written. I have had neither 
 the time nor the desire to write a compendium 
 of all the events that have transpired in the 
 country, nor to give minute details of all I have 
 mentioned. I have sought rather to dwell upon 
 men and events only so far as a record of them 
 seemed to me to be relevant to my purpose, as 
 expressed in the title of this book. I have 
 simply gone back and lived through the past 
 again, seeing the faces and hearing the voices
 
 Preface. v 
 
 of other days, and what I have seen and heard 
 I have herein written. 
 
 It is hoped that the present work will 
 give a sufficiently succinct account of the pro- 
 gress of the country through its formative 
 stages, and at the same time have enough of 
 personal reminiscence about it to make the 
 dry bones of history more palatable to the 
 taste of the ordinary reader than they might 
 otherwise be. 
 
 Should it appear to some that certain things 
 they deem of importance have been omitted, 
 such will kindly bear in mind the scope this 
 book contemplates, and they can fill out the 
 incompleteness by themselves taking up the pen 
 and traversing fields which this work does not 
 occupy. It is in such way after all that a com- 
 plete history is secured, for every man has his 
 own peculiar point of view, if he has realized 
 the meaning of individuality. The Canadian 
 West has little more than begun a great history.
 
 vi Preface. 
 
 We who have lived here always have but 
 heard by anticipation, 
 
 " . . . the tread of pioneers 
 
 Of nations yet to be, 
 The first low wash of waves where yet 
 Shall roll a human sea " 
 
 and perhaps the present writing by one who 
 was at the very beginning may be of interest. 
 
 R G. MACBETH. 
 
 WINNIPEG, April, 1898.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I. PAGE 
 
 Musings on the Old 11 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 The Pathos and Peril of Change 19 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Armed Rebellion - 32 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 The Plot Thickens - 40 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Some Counter- Efforts and Their Results 55 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Collapse of the Rebellion 73 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Making of a Province - 89
 
 viii Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER Vm. PABB 
 
 Contact with the Outside World ... 115 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 A "Boom" and Another Rebellion - - - - 134 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Campaigning on the Prairies 153 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 Rebellion at an End 177 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 Religious and Educational Development - - 209
 
 PORTRAITS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 LORD STKATHCONA AND MOUNT ROYAL (Donald A. 
 
 Smith) Frontispiece. 
 
 OLD FORT EDMONTON ... 19 
 
 LOUTS RIEL 35 
 
 AMBROISE LEPINE 44 
 
 HON. A. G. B. BANNATYNE - 53 
 
 JAMES Ross ... - 67 
 
 SENATOR SUTHERLAND - 70 
 
 RIEL AND His COUNCIL (1869-70) - - - 73 
 
 LORD WOLSELEY - - - - - - 86 
 
 GROUP OF EARLY GOVERNORS : Hon. A. G. Archibald, 
 Hon. Alex. Morris, Hon. David Laird, and Sir 
 
 John Schultz 89 
 
 HON. DONALD GUNN 100 
 
 HON. JOHN NORQUAY - 102 
 
 F. H. FRANCIS, M.P.P. 108 
 
 HON. JOSEPH MARTIN, Q.C. 110 
 
 REV. GEORGE McDouoALL - - - 114 
 
 LORD DUFFERIN 118
 
 Portraits and Illustrations. 
 
 HON. THOMAS GREENWAY - - - - " - - 134 
 
 HON. EDGAR DEWDNEY 139 
 
 GABRIEL DUMONT 146 
 
 LIEUT. -CoL. OSBORNE SMITH 151 
 
 NORTH-WEST LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY, 1886 - - 153 
 
 CHIEF CROWFOOT 157 
 
 INTERIOR OF HUDSON'S BAY Co.'s FORT AT EDMONTON 164 
 GROUP OF OFFICERS, CANADIAN FORCES, 1885 : General 
 
 Middleton, Major-General Strange, Lieut. -Col. 
 
 Otter, and Major Steele 165 
 INTERIOR OF FORT PITT JUST BEFORE REBELLION OF 
 
 1885 ... - 174 
 
 CHIEF POUNDMAKER ... - 186 
 
 KIEL'S COUNCILLORS IN 1885 187 
 
 TOM HOURIE, SCOUT 188 
 
 HON. HUGH JOHN MACDONALD, Q.C. - 201 
 
 LIEUT. -CoL. WILLIAMS 202 
 
 GROUP OF PIONEER CLERGYMEN : Archbishop Tach, 
 
 Archbishop Machray, Rev. John Black, D.D., 
 
 and Rev. George Young, D. D. - - - 209 
 
 REV. GEORGE BRYCE, LL.D. 216 
 
 HON. CLIFFORD SIFTON - - 221 
 
 HON. F. W. G. HAULTAIN - 223 
 
 D. J. GOGGIN, M.A. 226 
 
 HON. GILBERT McMiCKEN - .... 227
 
 THE MAKING OF THE 
 CANADIAN WEST. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 MUSINGS ON THE OLD. 
 
 IT was not to be expected that the great 
 domain of British America west of the inland 
 sea of Superior would remain for an indefinitely 
 long period under the sway of a fur-trading 
 company, however paternal and beneficent to 
 those under its care that sovereignty might be. 
 Nor was it likely that the westward course 
 of empire, would fail to extend over the vast 
 area which has been aptly described as the 
 very home of the wheat plant, and which has 
 become in its several parts the great producer 
 of the staff of life, the grazing ground for in- 
 numerable herds, as well as the cynosure on 
 which the eyes of the mineral-seeking world 
 are now fixed. I never have had any sym- 
 pathy with the somewhat generally accepted 
 11
 
 12 The Making of the Canadian }Vest. 
 
 view that the Hudson's Bay Company, who 
 since the year 1670 had partially, and from 
 1821 had absolutely, controlled most of this 
 wide region, was the determined and active 
 opponent of its settlement and progress. 
 
 Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal (Donald A. 
 Smith), in his excellent preface to my former 
 book on "The Selkirk Settlers in Real Life," 
 puts the matter in such capital form that I 
 cannot do better than reproduce here his para- 
 graph on the point : "It has been the custom," 
 says His Lordship, " to describe the Hudson's 
 Bay Company as an opponent of individual 
 settlement and of colonization. To enter into 
 a controversy upon this point is not my 
 purpose, but it may be proper to state that the 
 condition of affairs at the time in question in 
 the country between Lake Superior and the 
 Rocky Mountains does not appear to have 
 been sufficiently appreciated. Owing to the 
 difficulty of access and egress, colonization in 
 what is now Manitoba and the North- West 
 Territories could not have taken place to any 
 extent. Of necessity, also, the importation 
 of the commodities required in connection 
 with its agricultural development would have 
 been exceptionally expensive, while, on the 
 other hand, the cost of transportation of its
 
 Musings on the Old. 13 
 
 possible exports must have been so great as to 
 render competition with countries more favor- 
 ably situated at the moment difficult if not 
 impossible. The justice of these contentions 
 will be at once realized when it is remembered 
 that the Red River valley was situated in the 
 centre of the continent, one thousand miles 
 away in any direction from settled districts. 
 . . . Personally, it is my opinion that the 
 acquisition and development of the Hudson 
 Bay Territory was impossible prior to the 
 confederation of the Dominion. No less a body 
 than united Canada could have acquired and 
 administered so large a domain, or have under- 
 taken the construction of railways, without 
 which its development could only have been 
 slow and uncertain. It was not until 1878, 
 eight years after the transfer, that Winnipeg 
 first received railway communication through 
 the United States. Three or four more years 
 elapsed before the completion of the line to 
 Lake Superior, and it was only late in 1885 
 sixteen years after the Hudson's Bay Company 
 relinquished their charter that the Canadian 
 Pacific Railway was completed from ocean to 
 ocean, and Manitoba and the North- West 
 Territories were placed in direct and regular 
 communication with the different parts of the 
 Dominion."
 
 14 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 In addition to what His Lordship thus tells 
 us, in a statement whose form and contents will 
 commend it to every sensible person who is 
 at all cognizant of the conditions referred to 
 therein, it remains to be said, from the stand- 
 point of the people who then lived in the country, 
 that so far as my recollection and information 
 go, they made no active effort to remove what 
 might be called by some the " invidious bar " of 
 their isolation, if we except the action of a few 
 of the adventurer class a class always ready 
 to exploit frontier communities for their own 
 glory. Why should it be reasonably thought 
 that the people of that time, along the banks of 
 the Red and Assiniboine rivers and out on the 
 great plains, would make any special effort to 
 bring in the flood of that larger life which, from 
 the older settled portions of the continent, was 
 beginning to beat up against their borders ? 
 The conditions under which those people lived 
 were for the most part the best they knew, and, 
 speaking generally, they were contented and 
 happy under the regime of the Hudson's Bay 
 Company, especially as that company did not 
 latterly insist on monopoly in trade. The com- 
 munity, before the transfer, might be roughly 
 divided into two classes, if we except those who 
 during the sixties had come from without into 
 their midst.
 
 Musings on the Old. 15 
 
 The Selkirk settlers and those of their class 
 (who composed the one part) would not, so far 
 at least as the older generation was concerned, 
 be eager for more struggles and wrenchings. 
 For years after coming to the country their 
 life had been one of grim and incessant con- 
 flict with all manner of difficulties. Not only 
 were they met again and again by the deadly 
 hostility and persecution of the North- West 
 Fur Company, who were determined to destroy 
 the colony brought out under the care of 
 their rivals in trade ; not only had locust 
 plagues and epidemics assailed them with 
 ruinous force, but the very elements seemed 
 so unfriendly to people unaccustomed to the 
 climatic conditions, that more than ten long 
 years from their first coming had passed before 
 they had any means of livelihood other than 
 the fish or fowl or products of the chase they 
 might ofttimes with great hardship and suffering 
 secure. Even following those ten years they 
 had scarcely got their homes built and their 
 little plots sowed, when, after the " long and 
 cruel winter" of 1826, the raging Red swept 
 everything they owned before its frothing cur- 
 rent into Lake Winnipeg. Is it any wonder 
 that when they got fairly settled, the old men 
 who had come through this magnificent struggle
 
 16 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 felt that now when their sinews had been tamed 
 by age and trouble and their heads frosted with 
 the unmelting snows, they were entitled to that 
 decade of rest that rounds out the threescore 
 years and ten ? 
 
 And so it was that the older of them, while 
 loyal to every British institution that might 
 be set up in their midst, and while anxious to 
 do what was best for their children, waited in 
 the lengthening shadows for the sunset, and 
 neither clamored for changed conditions nor 
 took much active part in them when those 
 conditions began to obtain. The younger people 
 amongst them, it is true many of whom, as I 
 have said in my former volume, had gone to 
 eastern institutions of learning and had come 
 back with some knowledge of life's possibilities 
 under different conditions ; and others of whom 
 had, in freighting expeditions, tapped the 
 arteries of business and got the taste of com- 
 mercial blood were not averse to the incoming 
 of the new life when circumstances would be 
 ripe for its advent. 
 
 The other part of the community was com- 
 posed largely of the bois-brules the adven- 
 turous hunters and traders of the time and 
 these could have no special interest in pressing 
 for the opening of the country to the newer
 
 Musings on the Old. 17 
 
 civilization. From their childhood these men 
 had roamed over this great area with a lordly 
 sense of ownership. Without any let or hind- 
 rance they had followed the buffalo over the 
 trackless prairie; they had trapped the fur- 
 bearing animals in the forest and on the plains ; 
 they had fished in the great lakes and rivers, 
 and in the midst of it all had lived in the enjoy- 
 ment of a satisfying, if rude, abundance. No 
 one who ever saw one of these plain hunters 
 come in to Fort Garry after the season's work 
 on the Saskatchewan, could fail to see that he 
 was a person in exceedingly comfortable ma- 
 terial circumstances. In his train he had any 
 number of carts (with ponies for each and to 
 spare), and these were laden with the choicest 
 viands in the shape of buffalo meat, marrow fat, 
 beaver-tail, etc., while he also had a goodly 
 supply of furs that would bring handsome 
 prices. Besides his ponies, he had several choice 
 horses of the larger breed for buffalo runners ; 
 and camping with his family and following in 
 their cosy tents on the prairie, he was as in- 
 dependent as a feudal baron in the brave days 
 of old. Under such circumstances these men 
 were not likely to be active in securing the 
 advent of conditions that would circumscribe 
 their domain ; but neither they nor any other 
 2
 
 18 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 class of the population were predisposed to put 
 obstacles in the way of any incoming system 
 that would pay due regard to the rights of those 
 who were in the country before its advent. 
 
 Summing up the whole situation, then, it 
 would seem that things had to take their normal 
 course, and that circumstances were shaping 
 so that in the fulness of time the West was 
 to come to its majority and clothe itself in the 
 garments of national citizenship. The number 
 of people from the eastern provinces who began 
 looking westward, and the increase of publica- 
 tions concerning the country by those visiting 
 it, directed the attention of statesmen to its 
 great possibilities, and prepared the way for 
 the movement that secured the " Great Lone 
 Land " as a part of the Dominion of Canada.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 PATHOS AND PERILS OF CHANGE. 
 
 THERE is always a strong element of pathos 
 in the way in which the people who have been 
 in undisputed and absolute possession of a 
 country, realize that limitations are being put 
 upon them by the incoming of new population 
 and new conditions. A few years ago it was 
 my privilege to be present on an island in one 
 of our western lakes when the Indians of the 
 district were assembled for the annual treaty 
 payment and the usual supply of rations. 
 Everyone knows how fairly and honorably 
 the Indians of the West have been treated by 
 the Government, and, for the most part, by 
 their agents, and we all realize how the pro- 
 gress of the world and the good of mankind 
 necessitate the acquisition of the land from 
 those who have not had the training or the 
 opportunity required to fully develop its re- 
 sources ; but, withal, the scene at one of these 
 19
 
 20 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 Indian treaties has its sadness for the thoughtful 
 onlooker. As the men who had once been lords 
 of the isles and lakes sat meekly round in a circle 
 to receive each his handful of flour and piece of 
 bacon for the mid-day meal, one could not help 
 feeling that our duty as a Christian people is 
 not wholly done when we bestow a meal, pay 
 a few dollars and provide a reservation. The 
 children of the wild, upon whose heritage we 
 have entered, must become the wards of the 
 nation and the charge of the Church of Christ, 
 that their declining days may be cheered and 
 brightened in the noblest sense. 
 
 As one of an armed force I have witnessed 
 the surrender of princely Crees and Chip- 
 pewyans beyond the banks of the North 
 Saskatchewan many of them men of magnifi- 
 cent mould and royal bearing who had been 
 incited to rebellion by people who should have 
 known better. When these misguided men laid 
 down their arms and were guarded by our 
 wakeful pickets, thoughts of pity for their 
 unhappy predicament filled the minds of their 
 guards in the watches of the night. These 
 Indians must be taught by force, if need be, 
 the wrong of rebellion against a rightly consti- 
 tuted authority that is disposed to treat them 
 fairly ; and above all, they must be taught the
 
 Pathos and Perils of Change. 21 
 
 sacredness of human life. But seeing that in 
 the interests of progressive civilization we have 
 policed the plains over which they once roamed 
 as " monarchs of all they surveyed," that we 
 have placed limitations upon them to which 
 they were wholly unaccustomed, and which 
 were not provided for in their own dark code 
 of ethics, we ought to be more ready to follow 
 them with the blessings of peace than with the 
 waste of the sword. 
 
 These somewhat extreme examples will serve 
 to illustrate our opening sentence as to the ele- 
 ment of pathos present when people who have 
 had illimitable range begin to find themselves 
 circumscribed, even though this narrowing of 
 the field is for their own ultimate good. They 
 give us to understand how the white settlers by 
 the banks of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, 
 though perfectly ready to acquiesce in the new 
 order of things beginning to obtain amongst 
 them, would feel that a great change was coming 
 over the spirit of their dream. Those who know 
 what the old order had been realize how com- 
 pletely in many ways it was to be reversed, and 
 hence how carefully and judiciously the Govern- 
 ment of Canada, and those who professed to be 
 its agents, should have acted in bringing the 
 change to pass. For those settlers, once they
 
 22 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 had conquered their earlier difficulties, life had 
 been singularly peaceable and uneventful Its 
 central points outside the home, with all its 
 guileless hospitality and simplicity, were the 
 church and school, both of which bulked far 
 more largely with them than some people in 
 these days of complex society seem able to 
 understand. 
 
 They were without the vexation and the 
 heart-burning of active politics, they were 
 ignorant of taxation in any form, while the 
 rivalries that existed were in keeping with 
 their simple life, and had nothing of that fierce 
 element of competition into which the newer 
 civilization was to hurl them. The contests 
 that had been most in evidence were over such 
 matters as the speed of horses, in regard to 
 which the settlement would often be deeply 
 stirred, especially if the horses were owned in 
 different parts of the colony. There was some- 
 times a great deal of strength put into efforts to 
 be first with the seeding, harvest, hay-cutting, 
 hay -hauling or freighting expeditions. It was 
 the ambition of many households always to have 
 breakfast by candle-light, that they might have 
 a good deal done before their more tardy neigh- 
 bors arose. In the matter of hay-hauling we 
 used to get up in the night, and going out to the
 
 Pathos and Perils of Change. 23 
 
 yard, where the oxen had been tied to the carts, 
 grope round in the darkness to get them hitched 
 up, now and then pausing to listen whether we 
 could hear the creaking music that betokened 
 the departure of our neighbor's cart-train to 
 the hay swamps. Friendly contests in feats of 
 physical strength were very common. The 
 number of bags of wheat a man could carry on 
 his back, the quantity of shot-bags he could lift 
 over his head, the weight he could hang to his 
 little finger and then write his name on the wall 
 with a coal, the number of loads of hay he could 
 cut with a scythe in a day, or the number of 
 " stocks " of wheat he could handle with a 
 sickle these were some of the rivalries that 
 gave zest to the simple life of the early days. 
 The school was another field for competition, 
 and on the great days of oral examination the 
 parents and friends were present as eager and 
 interested spectators of the contest which decided 
 who was the best reader, writer, etc., in the dis- 
 trict. 
 
 In the business life of the people there was 
 nothing tumultuous. There were no banks and 
 no promissory notes on the latter of which 
 they would have looked with contempt as on 
 something implying distrust in a man's word 
 of honor. The general stores, either of the
 
 24 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 Hudson's Bay Company or of individual dealers, 
 were not clamorous for business, as there was 
 no compelling force of competition. Frequently 
 on going to one of these stores you had to look 
 up the proprietor, who, leaving the store to take 
 care of itself, was out attending to his horse, 
 or something of that sort. When you went into 
 a store there was no modern clerk to advance 
 with an alluring smile; indeed, the proprietor 
 or clerk might even say that he had not the 
 article asked for, until the customer would 
 wander round and find it for himself. No 
 wrapping paper was used, and you had either 
 to bring a bag with you, buy some cotton, or 
 leave your tea and sugar on the counter. 
 
 Think of a community like that being suddenly 
 confronted with the necessity for political strife, 
 with the prospect of municipal government and 
 taxation, with all the keen and sometimes bitter 
 rivalries of present-day business methods, and 
 with, alas, some adventurers all too ready to 
 take advantage of their simple-heartedness, and 
 no one will wonder if it took the people some 
 little time to gather themselves up and accom- 
 modate their lives to such new conditions. 
 
 But more important in its bearing upon the 
 feeling of the people was the sudden realization 
 of the fact that, after long years of undisputed
 
 Pathos and Perils of Change. 25 
 
 possession of large privileges on the great areas 
 around them, limitations were being put upon 
 their operations by the incoming of strangers, 
 who, driving stakes here and there, barred the 
 old ways and the old fields sometimes unjustly 
 against a people who could only be expected 
 to learn slowly that their domain must some 
 time be curtailed. There was an element of 
 pathos, and yet, withal, of sound reason in all 
 this, in view of which those who were bringing 
 in the new conditions would have done well to 
 exercise a caution and care they did not always 
 manifest. Add to this the fact that ofttimes it 
 was discovered that the persons who, by show of 
 authority, sometimes excluded the settlers from 
 places, had themselves no rightful claim, and 
 one should not be surprised if the settlers under 
 such circumstances were in some unrest as to 
 the future. I remember, for instance, how the 
 hay meadows to which the settlers had come 
 for many years, with the marking out of 
 a "circle" as the only . condition precedent to 
 holding all within it, were closed against them 
 by people who, coming from the village around 
 Fort Garry, desired to hold these meadows for 
 their own profit. If they had just claim it 
 was all right, but if they had not their action 
 was resented. The settlers, however, were
 
 26 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 not slow to seize the situation, and some in- 
 cidents took place which showed, to the disgust 
 of the discomfited, that they could hold their 
 own. The " green knoll swamp," lying between 
 the Kildonan settlers and Stony Mountain, was 
 a favorite source of hay supply, and new-comers, 
 finding this out, often came round with formi- 
 dable papers to frighten the settlers away from 
 their accustomed haunts. A friend of mine still 
 relates with great relish that one day, just as 
 he and the people of his immediate neighborhood 
 were starting into hay-cutting there, an impor- 
 tant-looking stranger with a large retinue of 
 men, mowers, rakes, etc., bore down upon him, 
 and with book in hand asked him in great 
 wrath who the people were who dared to come 
 upon this land, as he wished to have them 
 arrested for trespass. The settler, standing upon 
 his mower, told him that the Gunns, McDonalds, 
 MacBeths, Pritchards, Harpers and Sutherlands 
 were visible. All these names were taken down 
 with tremendous emphasis by the irate gentle- 
 man, who expected that the settler would at 
 once warn his neighbors, and that he and they 
 would " fold their tents like the Arabs, and 
 silently steal away" from the coveted hay- 
 fields. In this, however, the new-comer was 
 mistaken, for the settler coolly went on to say,
 
 Pathos and Perils of Change. 27 
 
 " You have not yet taken me down in your 
 book. My name is Francis Murray," upon which 
 the man " with curses not loud but deep," see- 
 ing that his game was understood, took himself 
 away and was not again heard from. 
 
 Besides all this, some of the new arrivals, 
 who had been hospitably entertained by the 
 settlers with their best, wrote to eastern papers 
 ridiculing the manner of life and the accommo- 
 dation they found amongst them, and made 
 reference to the dark-skinned people under the 
 somewhat contemptuous name of " breeds." 
 The number, of course, who did any of these 
 things was small, but their conduct offended 
 and estranged many who, ignorant of the fact 
 that such people were only the excrescences on 
 the better life of the older provinces, somewhat 
 guardedly awaited further developments. 
 
 In the meantime matters were shaping in the 
 direction of a confederation in Canada, and 
 when that movement^beginning in the Maritime 
 districts, had spread westward, the great states- 
 men of all parties, dropping their minor differ- 
 ences, united nobly in accomplishing it, so that 
 in the year 1867 the older provinces came 
 together into one federation with provincial 
 autonomy in regard to certain matters. This 
 task once finished it would seem as if Canadian
 
 28 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 statesmen looked round for fresh worlds to 
 conquer, and as the great West was beginning 
 to attract attention, steps were taken in the 
 Dominion Parliament to secure through the 
 Imperial Government the surrender by the 
 Hudson's Bay Company of their charter in 
 Rupert's Land. This charter they had held for 
 some three hundred years, and they naturally 
 declined to give it up without compensation 
 for the loss they would sustain by relinquish- 
 ing claim to the vast territory it covered. 
 Instructed by the Dominion Government, Sir 
 George E. Cartier and the Hon. William Mac- 
 dougall proceeded to England, and arrange- 
 ments were concluded for the transfer of the 
 North- West to Canada. The Hudson's Bay 
 Company were to receive 300,000 sterling, cer- 
 tain reservations around their posts, and about 
 one-twentieth of the lands in the territory as 
 thereafter surveyed; and were therefor to sur- 
 render their charter to the Imperial Govern- 
 ment ; the latter were to transfer the territory 
 to the Government of Canada, who in their turn 
 undertook to respect and conserve the rights 
 of the people in the area thus added to the 
 Dominion. This arrangement was concluded 
 in the spring of 1869, and it was then expected 
 that the purchase money would be paid on
 
 Pathos and Perils of Change. 29 
 
 the 1st of October following, and that probably 
 on the 1st day of December the Queen's 
 Proclamation would issue, setting forth these 
 facts and fixing the date of the actual transfer 
 of the North-West to Canada. 
 
 So far all was well. The ideas leading to the 
 acquisition of this great territory were in every 
 sense statesmanlike, and if carefully carried out 
 were calculated to be of the greatest benefit to 
 the people in the new territory and to the 
 Dominion as well. We cannot too thankfully 
 pay tribute unstinted to the men whose ideals 
 were for an ever- widening horizon, and who felt 
 that " no pent-up Utica should confine the 
 powers " of the young nation just beginning to 
 stretch out and exercise its giant limbs. Once 
 the older provinces were brought into a 
 Confederation it was wise to look forward to a 
 Canada extending from ocean to ocean, and to 
 take the necessary legal steps to secure the 
 West as part of the Dominion. But just there, 
 after the negotiations with the Hudson's Bay 
 Company through the Imperial Government 
 were well in hand and were being wisely con- 
 cluded, the Canadian authorities seem to have 
 blundered by overlooking the fact that the new 
 territory had a population of some ten thousand 
 people, who ought at least to have been
 
 30 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 informed in some official way of the bargain 
 that was being made, and of the steps being 
 taken to secure and guard their rights and 
 privileges. 
 
 Rumors of the transaction certainly reached 
 the Red River through unauthoritative sources, 
 only to produce uneasiness there. Before the 
 transfer was completed men were sent out to 
 open roads from the Lake of the Woods into the 
 settlement. Surveying parties entered the new 
 territory and went hither and thither, driving 
 their stakes and erecting their mounds, to the 
 bewilderment of the people, and, to cap all, a 
 governor was despatched to the Red River 
 before the old Government was in any sense 
 superseded and before a Queen's Proclamation, 
 which would have been instantly recognized by 
 all classes of the community, was issued. The 
 Selkirk settlers and other people of that class, 
 however perplexed at the procedure, had the 
 utmost confidence that the Canadian authorities 
 would ultimately do substantial justice in the 
 recognition of all just and lawful claims and 
 privileges enjoyed by the inhabitants of the new 
 territory, and hence awaited patiently, though 
 somewhat anxiously, the developments of time. 
 But the French half-breeds (commonly called 
 "the French" in the Red River Colony) more
 
 Pathos and Perils of Change. 31 
 
 fiery and easily excited, more turbulent of 
 spirit and warlike in disposition, accustomed to 
 passages at arms with any who would cross their 
 path, and withal, as a class, less well-informed 
 on current events than their white brethren- 
 were not satisfied with a course that seemed to 
 them to place their rights in jeopardy, and so 
 they rose up in a revolt that, alas, while possibly 
 accomplishing some of the objects which should 
 have been reached by constitutional means, left 
 its red stream across the page of our history.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ARMED REBELLION. 
 
 "TflE French are off to drive back the 
 Governor ! " These words, somewhat excitedly 
 uttered by one of my brothers, and addressed 
 to my father, made up the first intimation I, a 
 lad of ten summers, had that something serious 
 was on foot ; yet I recall the exact words as 
 distinctly as if they had been spoken yesterday, 
 and most of the acts in the drama of the 
 rebellion whose actual outbreak they announced 
 are indelibly stamped upon my memory. It 
 was in October, 1869, and my brother had just 
 come home from the morning service in Kil- 
 donan church, over which upon that day the 
 shadow of the situation had been cast, perhaps 
 to the serious detriment of devout and undi- 
 vided worship. The fact that the news first 
 came to us in this way throws a curious side- 
 light on the primitive life of the time. The 
 churchyard was the modern representative of 
 32
 
 Armed Rebellion. 33 
 
 the Athenian market-place, so far as the giving 
 and receiving of news was concerned. The 
 settlement had no telegraphic communication 
 with the outside world ; the solitary post-office 
 was miles away, and mails, in any case, were 
 few and far apart. A few of the people sub- 
 scribed for an eastern paper, which was com- 
 paratively old before it reached its destination, 
 and the local paper was doubtless often greatly 
 at a loss for " copy." Moreover, it must be 
 remembered that in certain seasons of the year 
 the settlers were away from home haying, 
 wood-cutting, etc., during the whole week. 
 Saturday evening, however, they were all back. 
 A general brushing-up was in order, and on 
 Sabbath morning, except in cases of sickness or 
 some similar cause, they were all wending their 
 way in good time to the church. 
 
 " What's the latest news ? " was a question 
 requently heard, and the men often gathered in 
 knots in the churchyard before the service that 
 they might get abreast of the times. Some 
 stay-at-home man, perhaps the school-teacher, 
 who was always looked upon as a species of 
 encyclopaedia, or someone who was in touch 
 with the inhabitants of Fort Garry, " held the 
 floor," and gave what information he could as to 
 current events. The Sabbatarian ideas of these 
 3
 
 34 The Making of the Canadian Wext. 
 
 people were, for the most part, strict enough ; 
 but I suppose they looked on this parliament as 
 a sort of family gathering to talk over family 
 affairs, and as a general thing the news imparted 
 was not startling enough to disturb that air of 
 devoutness which they sought to cultivate when 
 they entered the portals of the place of worship. 
 But on the day just mentioned the intelligence 
 was of unusual moment, and, perchance, may 
 have deepened the earnestness with which they 
 joined in the prayer for the preservation of 
 peace to Him " who breaketh the bow in sunder 
 and bumeth the chariot in the fire." 
 
 "The French are off to drive back the 
 Governor ! " repeated my brother, fresh from the 
 churchyard conclave, and though it was the 
 first I recall hearing of active trouble, doubtless 
 the announcement was not wholly unexpected 
 by my father. It seemed that for some weeks 
 previous to this Louis Kiel, who was to have 
 the " bad eminence " of leading two rebellions, 
 had been holding meetings amongst the French 
 half-breeds, and, doubtless, moved by others far 
 and near, had been delivering fiery orations in 
 regard to the rumored changes which he claimed 
 were to put in jeopardy all the rights they held 
 dear. It may as well be admitted that the 
 situation, as they saw it, gave him some
 
 Armed Rebellion. 
 
 35 
 
 plausible ground on which to work. The diffi- 
 culty of conveying reliable information from 
 the outside world to the settlement must not be 
 overlooked ; but we repeat that it now seems 
 passing strange that the Government of Canada 
 did not in some way get official word to the 
 
 LOUIS KIEL. 
 
 settlers before sending forward a governor, and 
 letting loose in the territory some not over- 
 prudent persons who claimed to be the agents 
 of the Dominion. Had some man as widely 
 known and respected in the country as Donald 
 A. Smith, who, coming afterwards, even when 
 the revolt was at white heat, did so much to
 
 36 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 secure peace had such a man been sent at 
 that stage, the face of our history might have 
 been changed. 
 
 But these are large provisos; and, in the 
 absence of any such precautions, the signal 
 fires for rebellion were lit on the banks of 
 the Red River, and called sympathizers from 
 out on the great plains. Add to the situation 
 as it was the fact that Riel had commanding 
 
 o 
 
 influence over those French half-breeds, and we 
 find additional explanation for the uprising. 
 His father, who lived many years in St. 
 Boniface, and was sometimes called " the Miller 
 of the Seine," from his having a mill on that 
 little tributary to the Red, had been an idolized 
 leader amongst them, and the son inherited 
 
 O 
 
 much of his immense energy and eloquence. 
 Moreover, it must be remembered that Riel's 
 fiery speeches fell upon very inflammable 
 material. These men were naturally of stormy 
 spirit daring rough-riders of the plains, who 
 brooked no interference from anyone, and who 
 had passed through many a conflict with their 
 darker brethren on the wild wastes of the West. 
 Once get men of that sort to feel that they are 
 fighting for their homes and the rights of their 
 families, put modern weapons into their hands, 
 and in their own kind of warfare they are
 
 Armed Rebellion. 37 
 
 dangerous men to attack. Being of that stamp, 
 and being made to feel that they were to be 
 trodden upon, they rose in armed insurrection ; 
 and, as a first step, went on the errand noted in 
 the opening words of this chapter. No one can 
 defend an act such as theirs, even had it not 
 led to some of the deplorable events which 
 followed. Though many can see extenuating 
 circumstances, armed rebellion is a serious busi- 
 ness ; and if there is a place for it in the present 
 state of the world, it is when all constitutional 
 means have been exhausted, and people accom- 
 plish a revolution in the face of some iniquitous 
 and tyrannous government. Tubal Cain's offen- 
 sive weapon is an instrument of last resort, only 
 to be taken up when every other arbitrament 
 has failed ; and this we say, though we agree 
 
 " That while Oppression lifts its head, 
 
 Or a tyrant would be lord, 
 While we may thank him for the plough, 
 We won't forget the sword. " 
 
 But the case before us was far short of that. 
 At best Kiel and his men were starting to fight 
 the shadows of events which might never come, 
 even though those shadows seemed to their 
 kindled imaginations to be portents of dire 
 disasters heading in their direction. No threat
 
 38 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 had been made against these people, and they 
 should have known that no act of robbery or of 
 deprivation of rights had ever been permitted 
 ultimately by the flag under whose folds they 
 were to be governed. Besides, they had no 
 right to assume to speak for the whole country 
 before consulting with others who lived in it. 
 Why did they not take counsel with the Selkirk 
 settlers and men of that class who, being of less 
 nomadic habits, had larger settled interests in 
 the territory, and who, moreover, had always 
 been better informed as to events that were 
 transpiring ? Why did they not see whether 
 some concerted and peaceful action on the part 
 of the whole population could not be planned 
 to attain the ends in view and conserve the 
 rights of the inhabitants which seemed to be 
 threatened '( And yet, though we ask these 
 questions, we cannot be justly bitter towards the 
 mass of the rebels at that stage. They were 
 easily imposed upon and led by many who 
 should have counselled peace, and notably by 
 the ill-starred man who, twenty-five years after- 
 wards, selfishly offered to give up the struggle 
 for alleged popular rights in exchange for a sum 
 of money for himself. Whether Louis Riel had 
 all his senses or not God only knoweth, and now
 
 Armed Rebellion. 39 
 
 that he has gone beyond the bar of human judg- 
 ment, we pronounce not whether in our opinion 
 he was knave or lunatic, or partly both. We 
 give some of the facts concerning him in the 
 following pages, and let the reader bring in a 
 verdict if he chooses so to do.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE PLOT THICKENS. 
 
 THE first overt act of rebellion was committed 
 when an armed and organized force, on the 21st 
 of October, 1869, took possession of the high- 
 way near the Salle River, between Fort Garry 
 and the international boundary. By this route 
 the Hon. Wm. Macdougall and his staff would 
 have entered the territory in the normal course 
 of things, but the rebels put an effectual stop 
 to the programme by interposing on the one 
 great roadway an obstacle which the Governor's 
 aide is reported as having somewhat irrever- 
 ently designated "a blawsted fence." A fence 
 extending only a few yards each way across a 
 roadway in a prairie district that can be travelled 
 in almost any direction need not necessarily pre- 
 vent people from traversing the country, but 
 this one erected upon that highway was in 
 tangible form a declaration that the armed men 
 who erected it had made up their minds to 
 
 40
 
 The Plot Thickens. 41 
 
 oppose the entrance of the new regime into the 
 territory. At this primitive barricade a large 
 body of men were camped, with horses at hand 
 for service at any moment, and they let down 
 or put up the bars according as they viewed 
 with approval or otherwise the passing of any 
 who came that way. 
 
 It was the regular travelled route of the 
 freighters from the United States to Fort Garry, 
 and the force at the fence examined all the cart 
 and waggon trains. The commissariat had to 
 be supplied, and while dry goods were allowed 
 to pass without much detention, the articles of 
 moister texture and of edible description were 
 quite freely confiscated to the use of the camp. 
 The mail-bags they also diligently examined in 
 search of documents that might furnish plausible 
 excuse for the uprising, and to prevent any 
 communications with whose contents they were 
 unacquainted reaching the friends of the new 
 regime in the settlement. The new governor, of 
 course, was the especial object of their search, 
 and every equipage about which a governor 
 could be concealed was scrutinized by them as 
 keenly as the cars are explored by lynx-eyed 
 trainmen in the season when tramps are steal- 
 ing free rides across the country. One of the 
 Kildonan settlers found this out one day, some-
 
 42 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 what to his alarm, when he tried to play a 
 harmless joke after the elephantine manner 
 supposed to be characteristic of us Scotchmen. 
 It appears that the settler was bringing in 
 from St. Cloud a Presbyterian missionary who 
 was coming out for the first time to take part 
 in the church work of the West, and upon 
 their arrival at the fence they were stopped 
 and interrogated in the customary way. The 
 missionary being a somewhat magisterial-look- 
 ing man, it occurred to the settler that the 
 obstructionists were eyeing him with consider- 
 
 v O 
 
 able suspicion, and so thinking to have some 
 diversion he waited for the question, " Whom 
 have you here ?" " Our governor," he replied. 
 The words were scarcely out -of his mouth before 
 there was such a " mustering in hot haste," and 
 such a threatening display of fire-arms that the 
 settler thought the joke had gone about far 
 enough, and so, without much loss of time, said : 
 " Perhaps I had better explain for fear we mis- 
 understand each other. If you are looking for 
 the new governor of the country I haven't got 
 him, but this gentleman here is a governor in 
 our church." After a little parley the settler, 
 who was quite well known to some of the party, 
 was allowed to pass through with the man of 
 peace, the latter, perhaps, more thankful than
 
 The Plot Thickens. 43 
 
 ever before that he held a commission from 
 higher authority than that of earthly potentates. 
 
 Every effort short of force was being used by 
 the local authorities, the Governor of the Hud- 
 son's Bay Company, and his Council, to secure 
 a peaceable solution of the difficulties impend- 
 ing, but to all these the rebels turned a deaf ear, 
 and a few days after the erection of the barricade 
 a mounted troop of them, under command of 
 Ambroise Lepine, rode to the place where Gov- 
 ernor Macdougall had come upon British terri- 
 tory, and warned him to leave before nine o'clock 
 next morning. They returned the following day 
 at eight to see this programme carried out, 
 and the Governor, having no other recourse in 
 the presence of arms than to obey, recrossed 
 the boundary line to Pembina, in the State of 
 Dakota. 
 
 A striking figure was this Ambroise Lepine, as 
 I remember seeing him in Fort Garry in the 
 heyday of his power (and even as I saw him at 
 the market-place in Winnipeg a few days ago, 
 unbroken by the weight of sixty years or more) 
 a man of magnificent physique, standing fully 
 six feet three and built in splendid proportion, 
 straight as an arrow, with hair of raven black- 
 ness, large aquiline nose and eyes of piercing 
 brilliance ; a man of prodigious strength, a skilled
 
 44 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 rough rider and, withal, a dangerous subject to 
 meet in conflict. He had great influence amongst 
 his compatriots, and by reason, doubtless, of his 
 physical prowess and striking military appear- 
 ance, soon obtained control of their armed 
 movements. No excuse can be made for his 
 
 AMBROISE LEPINK. 
 
 complicity in some of the events that transpired 
 later, but of all the leaders of the rebellion he 
 was the only one who manifested anything like 
 manliness after it was over, by refusing to stay 
 abroad and by submitting to arrest, saying that 
 the law could take its course with him seeing 
 he had only done what he thought was his duty. 
 Speaking of that arrest by anticipation, it is
 
 The Plot Thickens. 45 
 
 told that when the two men who were entrusted 
 with the duty of executing the warrant went 
 to his house in the night, Lepine took a look at 
 them, and remarking that he could knock their 
 heads together if he wished, nevertheless got 
 ready and went unresistingly along with them.* 
 To revert to the barricade again, we are not 
 surprised to find that, as winter was coming on, 
 the rebels began to look around for more com- 
 fortable quarters, and that accordingly, on the 
 3rd of November, they rode down to Fort Garry, 
 and in spite of the protest of the Hudson's Bay 
 officer in charge, entered upon possession of it, 
 with all its stores and abundant supplies. It is 
 quite well known that some (amongst them 
 certain old pensioners from regiments formerly 
 in the country) had expressed opinion that such 
 a movement as this would take place, and had 
 offered to garrison the fort, but there being 
 difference of mind upon the point, nothing was 
 done. Kiel accordingly entered without forcible 
 opposition, and proceeded to make himself com- 
 fortable by utilizing the furniture intended for 
 Governor Macdougall; and as the provision of the 
 fort was ample, the rebel chief and his followers 
 
 * Lepine was tried and sentenced to death, but the sentence 
 was commuted by Lord Dufferin to two years' imprisonment 
 and permanent forfeiture of his civic rights.
 
 46 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 wore fine linen, the best of cloth capots, silk- 
 worked moccasins, etc., and fared sumptuously 
 every day. 
 
 It has been fashionable, in some quarters, 
 to accuse the Hudson's Bay Company of con- 
 niving at this seizure and at the rebellion 
 generally, but the utter absurdity of assertions 
 like these is apparent to anyone who thinks 
 upon the subject. The company had parted 
 with their control of the country, which indeed 
 was, in the nature of things, getting beyond 
 their domination. They had nothing to gain 
 and everything to lose by having the whole 
 territory in a state of unrest, to the serious 
 detriment of their trade, and were certainly to 
 suffer a loss, that could not well be appraised, by 
 having Kiel and his following quartered upon 
 them for nearly a year. Besides this, Governor 
 McTavish, the head of the company in the 
 country, on the 16th of November, in view of the 
 fact that Kiel had called a convention from all 
 parts of the settlement, issued a proclamation 
 denouncing in the strongest terms the insurrec- 
 tionary movement, calling upon those engaged 
 in it to disperse to their homes, and with all the 
 weight of his authority asking the convention 
 to employ, in any movement in which they 
 might engage to secure their rights, only such
 
 The Plot Thickens. 47 
 
 means as were " lawful, constitutional, rational 
 and safe." I remember, too, hearing my father, 
 who visited Governor McTavish in his sick- 
 room about this time, say that he never witnessed 
 anything more pathetic than the way in which 
 the Governor referred to the fact that the 
 insurgents had hauled down the Union Jack 
 and hoisted an ensign of their own device with 
 fleur-de-lis and shamrock, and how he said, 
 " As I saw, through my window, the hoisting of 
 their rag on our old flagstaff, I almost choked 
 with mortification and shame." Add to these 
 things, also, the fact that Kiel, in the general 
 convention held in February, after his entry 
 into Fort Garry, made, according to the report 
 in his own paper, the Neiv Nation, a most 
 bitter attack upon the Hudson's Bay Company, 
 saying, amongst other things, that instead of 
 having the prefix " honorable " they should have 
 the title " shameful," consider all this and the 
 theory as to collusion between them becomes 
 exceedingly chimerical. 
 
 One of the first acts of Kiel was to issue, 
 under duress, from the Nor -Wester office, a 
 circular addressed to the people of the country, 
 asking them to a convention to consider the 
 situation of affairs ; but in regard to this and 
 any later convention called, if we can judge
 
 48 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 from his conduct as reported in his own organ, 
 it seems as if he wished to give the outside 
 world the impression that all the people of the 
 country were in sympathy with him, while at 
 the same time he was determined to have his 
 own way, whatever the others advised. 
 
 If it be asked how it was that the other 
 inhabitants of the country did not rise up and 
 put the rebellion down at that stage or later, 
 various answers might be given in the presence 
 of some abortive efforts made by certain well- 
 meaning people so to do. It is quite safe to say 
 that the white settlers, at first, never dreamed 
 that the movement would be carried as far as it 
 was eventually, and we are equally safe in 
 asserting that the leaders of the movement 
 themselves went far beyond their original 
 intention as they became the more intoxicated 
 with power and success. It must be borne in 
 mind that to these settlers Canada was practi- 
 cally an unknown quantity, and that they 
 looked upon the quarrel as riot theirs to settle 
 in view of the circumstances that brought it 
 about. 
 
 In the report of Colonel Dennis, chief of the 
 staff of surveyors, and Governor Macdougall's 
 deputy in the new territory, the matter is put 
 in concise and very intelligible shape. The
 
 The Plot Thickens. 49 
 
 Colonel had gone along the Red River to raise 
 a force to escort the new Governor in, and he 
 gives the following as the general expression of 
 feeling : " We (the English-speaking settlers) 
 feel confidence in the future administration of 
 the government of this country under Canadian 
 rule ; at the same time we have not been con- 
 sulted in any way as a people on entering into 
 the Dominion. The character of the new 
 government has been settled in Canada without 
 our being consulted. We are prepared to accept 
 it respectfully, obey the laws and become good 
 subjects ; but when you present to us the issue 
 of a conflict with the French party, with whom 
 we have hitherto lived in friendship, backed up 
 as they would be by the Roman Catholic 
 Church (which seems probable by the course 
 taken by the priests), in which conflict it is 
 almost certain the aid of the Indians would be 
 invoked, and perhaps obtained by that party, 
 we feel disinclined to enter upon it, and think 
 that the Dominion should assume the responsi- 
 bility of establishing amongst us what it and it 
 alone has decided upon." 
 
 Who is there whose calm common-sense will 
 
 not say that this position was a reasonable one 
 
 to take ? As to the references made in the 
 
 statement, that concerning the part taken by 
 
 4
 
 50 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 the priests had ground in the fact that the 
 blockading party at the Salle River were 
 quartered in part at Pere Richot's house, 
 that seditious meetings had been held on Sun- 
 days almost, if not altogether, in connection 
 with the church services, and that O'Donoghue, 
 perhaps the deepest and most dangerous of 
 all the rebel leaders, was studying for the 
 priesthood in St. Boniface. The reference to 
 the probability of Indian aid being invoked 
 and obtained is shown to have been reasonable 
 by the fact that such aid was invoked and 
 obtained with terrible effect under much less 
 favorable circumstances, and against heavier 
 odds, by practically the same parties, some 
 fifteen years later, in the second rebellion. 
 
 So much in explanation of the position taken 
 by the settlers other than the French at the 
 outset. Later on, when the temper and attitude 
 of Riel and his followers were such as to estrange 
 from them any sympathy they might otherwise 
 have had, the settlement was utterly unable to 
 make any successful move against them, how- 
 ever much the people may have desired so to do. 
 The rebels held a stone-wajled and bastioned 
 fort, built for defence ; they held all the military 
 stores of the country in Enfield rifles and can- 
 non, and, as the New Nation said in one of its
 
 The Plot Thickens. 51 
 
 February numbers, they had all the powder in 
 the territory except a small and damaged lot at 
 Lower Fort Garry. With all the Hudson's Bay 
 stores in their power, a siege against the rebels 
 would have been hopeless, even though the set- 
 tlers could have left their homes in the dead of 
 winter and camped around the fort, while to 
 have attempted an assault with shotguns and 
 scant ammunition would have been absurd. 
 
 As an example of the kind of arms some of 
 the loyalist settlers were provided with, I 
 myself saw more than one man at the rendez- 
 vous afterwards in Kildonan armed only with 
 a bludgeon weighted with lead. We give due 
 credit for good intention and even for valor 
 to those who carried them, but to suggest an 
 attack upon a fully-garrisoned fort such as 
 we remember Fort Garry to have been at 
 the time, with such weapons, was certainly 
 giving small evidence of possessing that dis- 
 cretion which is valor's better part. And yet 
 there were attempts made against the rebels, 
 as we have already implied, but although 
 the men who engaged in them doubtless meant 
 well, it has scarcely required the after-light of 
 twenty -five years to show that these attempts 
 did more harm than good. They certainly 
 led to the death of two excellent young men
 
 52 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 the one of the older, the other of the newer 
 settlers and to the intense suffering of many 
 more ; to the exasperation of the whole situa- 
 tion, and to the creation of a race and creed 
 cleavage from which we have not yet wholly 
 recovered. 
 
 There had been a time when a large portion 
 of the French population did not follow Kiel 
 in his resort to arms, though they, in com- 
 mon with nearly all the people of the country, 
 felt somewhat keenly anxious as to their rights 
 under the incoming Government. On looking 
 up records I find that my father, then a 
 magistrate and a member of the Council of 
 Assiniboia (the governing body in Hudson's 
 Bay Company days), seconded, with the Hon. 
 A. G. B. Bannatyne as mover, the following 
 resolution : " That Messrs. Dease and Goulet 
 be appointed to collect as many of the more 
 respectable of the French community as pos- 
 sible, and with them proceed to the camp of 
 the party who intend to intercept Hon. Mr. 
 Macdougall, and endeavor to procure their 
 peaceable dispersion." That the men sent failed 
 in their mission does not disprove the fact that 
 they had large loyal support amongst their own 
 people. Moreover, we find that after Riel had 
 seized Fort Garry he was at one time on the
 
 The Plot Thickens. 53 
 
 point of consenting to the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany continuing in authority till a committee 
 of French and English could treat with Mr. 
 Macdougall or with the Dominion direct, when a 
 rumor that the Canadians around were about to 
 move on Fort Garry put an end to the matter. 
 
 HON. A. G. B. BANNATYNE. 
 
 Besides all this, there was a time, even after 
 the rebellion had gone some length, when, 
 through the intervention of Mr. Bannatyne, three 
 well-known French half-breeds, Francois Nolin, 
 Augustin Nolin, and one Perreault, agreed to 
 have a meeting of English and French to discuss 
 their rights and send a statement of these to
 
 54 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 Mr. Macdougall, whom, if he granted them, they 
 would bring into the country in spite of Kiel. 
 It is said on good authority that these men with 
 others were actually in council on the matter 
 when a report reached them that the Canadians, 
 together with the English-speaking settlers, were 
 combining ta attack the French. This seemed 
 to the friendly half-breeds to mean that the 
 French element was to be coerced without 
 regard to their rights, and hence, though some of 
 the French half-breeds never joined Kiel, the 
 opposition offered by these movements against 
 him practically solidified the great body of 
 them in sympathy with his position, and led 
 to serious consequences. 
 
 These movements, however, though in some 
 cases irresponsibly organized, were doubtless 
 entered upon with the best intention on the part 
 of those engaged in them, and we shall give 
 a few reminiscent sketches of them in the next 
 chapter.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 SOME COUNTER-EFFORTS AND THEIR 
 RESULTS. 
 
 LARGE " ifs " always stand stiffly in the way, 
 and therefore we gain little now by saying that 
 if the Hon. William Macdougall had returned to 
 Ottawa, instead of remaining on the frontier, 
 and if his deputies and agents within the new 
 territory had been more discreet, we might have 
 been spared some of the deplorable scenes that 
 followed. The Governor on the frontier was an 
 irritant to the rebels, and the agents or alleged 
 agents within were a ferment in the midst of 
 the elements composing the population. Both 
 parties were doubtless actuated by the very 
 best motives and most loyal intentions, but the 
 retirement of the one and the silence of the 
 other would have left the incensed and (in 
 their own view) wronged rebels without any 
 excuse for openly assailing the residents of 
 the community and depriving some of their 
 liberty and others, alas, of their lives. The 
 55
 
 56 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 Governor was ill-advised by friends in the 
 territory, "on no account to leave Pembina," 
 and by communication between them the 
 unreasonable idea of some forcible effort to put 
 down the rebellion was kept alive, with the 
 irritating results already noticed. On the 1st 
 day of December it was expected that the new 
 territory would have been formally transferred 
 to Canada, and so upon that day Governor Mac- 
 dougall issued what purported to be a Queen's 
 Proclamation appointing him as Governor of the 
 territory, and another proclamation, signed by 
 himself as Governor, appointing Col. Dennis his 
 Deputy within the territory, with power to raise 
 and equip a force wherewith to overcome the 
 rebellious element. No one feels disposed to 
 impugn Mr. Macdougall's good faith and good 
 intention in taking this course, but it turned out 
 to have been taken without due authority, and 
 for the unwarrantable use made of the Queen's 
 name he was severely censured by the Canadian 
 Government. 
 
 When it was discovered that what was 
 called the Queen's Proclamation was not so 
 in reality, the situation became more chaotic 
 than ever ; but in the meantime Col. Dennis 
 thought he was justified in raising an armed 
 force to overturn the rebel power, and with the
 
 Some Counter- Efforts and Their Results. 57 
 
 aid of others proceeded so to do. One of the 
 first results was the gathering of some forty- 
 five men in the house of Dr. Schultz, in the 
 village near Fort Garry, to protect some Gov- 
 ernment supplies; but this handful was practi- 
 cally nothing against the rebel force in Fort 
 Garry. Accordingly, when, a few days later, 
 a force of some three hundred rebels, well 
 armed and with several pieces of artillery, 
 came towards the flimsy building, the poorly 
 equipped little garrison did the only sensible 
 thing under the circumstances and surrendered 
 without resistance. They were disarmed and 
 imprisoned in Fort Garry, some, amongst them 
 Schultz himself, being placed in solitary confine- 
 ment. 
 
 Schultz was a man his captors feared with a 
 wholesome dread. For a number of years he 
 had been active in the affairs of the country, 
 especially in connection with the agitation for 
 free trade and for closer connection with the 
 Empire, and was known as a man very impa- 
 tient of restraint and in many ways difficult to 
 handle. Physically he was of giant stature and 
 possessed of almost incredible strength, as some 
 who attempted his arrest in connection with 
 the free-trade and other squabbles in the 
 country had found to their cost. I remember
 
 58 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 when a boy running beside him, as with power- 
 ful stride he walked from our home to the river 
 on an occasion when I was sent to direct him to 
 a house which he was to visit on a medical con- 
 sultation, and I can yet see the oars bending 
 like willows in his strong hands as he propelled 
 the rough boat against the waves. I recall, too, 
 hearing how once at a meeting in the town a 
 riot was feared, and how Schultz, who was 
 seated on a great home-made oaken chair, rose, 
 and putting his foot on one of the bars, wrenched 
 the chair asunder as if it had been made of pipe- 
 stems, after seeing which the crowd decided that 
 if they were going to do any rioting they would 
 leave him unmolested at any rate. A man of 
 that physical stamp and, withal, of somewhat 
 inflammatory cast of mind, the rebels thought 
 they had better keep apart and well guarded ; 
 hence they placed him alone, and, as afterwards 
 appeared, they fully intended to put a sudden 
 end to his career. 
 
 But they were to be baulked of their prey. 
 Certain delicacies from friends were allowed 
 him, and it is said that in a pudding one day a 
 knife and a gimlet were concealed. With the 
 knife he cut into strips the buffalo robe he 
 slept upon and such clothing as he could spare, 
 and having with the aid of the gimlet fastened
 
 Some Counter- Efforts and Their Results. 59 
 
 the line thus made to the wall, he let himself 
 out of the window on the night of the 23rd 
 of January. His ponderous weight was too 
 much for the slender rope, and while yet quite 
 a distance from the ground the line broke 
 and the escaping prisoner came to the earth 
 with great force, injuring his leg somewhat 
 seriously. A less determined man would have 
 given up, as there was still the high stone wall 
 to scale, but in some way he managed it and in 
 due time was on the outside of the fort. The 
 night was dark and stormy, with cold wind and 
 whirling snow, and Schultz, somewhat dazed by 
 the fall, missed his bearings, only realizing his 
 whereabouts when he came on landmarks which 
 told him he was making for St. Boniface. That 
 was not very satisfactory, so he -turned and 
 nearly ran up against a sentry at one of the 
 fort gates ! But by this he had found his lati- 
 tude and as rapidly as he could walk and run 
 he made his way to my father's house in Kildo- 
 nan, about six miles away from the place of his 
 captivity. 
 
 I have heard it said on good authority lately 
 (though I have no personal knowledge of the 
 fact), that up to that time the relations subsist- 
 ing between Schultz and my father were not 
 the most cordial, perhaps because the former
 
 60 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 was bitterly opposed to the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany, while my father would not allow anything 
 said against the Company in his presence. If 
 any such coldness did exist between them 
 previous to that night, the coining of Schultz 
 for refuge to my father's house was but another 
 instance of that shrewd, far-sighted knowledge 
 of human nature for which he was always 
 noted. Apart altogether from my father's well- 
 known contempt for the alleged government of 
 Kiel, he was too much of a Highlander to close 
 his door against even an enemy when he was 
 wearied and hard-hunted, or else he would have 
 been unworthy of the name that has become 
 synonymous with hospitality, and has been im- 
 mortalized by Scott in the famous meeting of 
 Fitz-James and Roderick Dhu. 
 
 I remember well the arrival of Schultz at 
 our house. It was in the grey dawn, and a 
 cold morning at that, when a knocking came 
 at the door, which my father rose and opened. 
 I can recall his surprised exclamation, " Bless 
 me, doctor, is this really you ? " Then I can 
 see the fugitive enter, thinly clad, tall, hag- 
 gard and gaunt, and as soon as he had 
 assured himself that there were no servants 
 in the house who might betray him, he told 
 the story of his escape as we have just related
 
 Some Counter- Efforts and Their Results, 61 
 
 it. My father escorted his guest upstairs, 
 watched over him while he slept, and all that 
 afternoon the two remained there, conversing 
 only in whispers so that their voices would not 
 be heard by any who might come into the 
 house. Again and again that day Kiel's scouts, 
 on their red-blanketed horses, passed by the 
 door looking for their escaped prisoner, con- 
 cerning whom Kiel said to the Rev. George 
 Young, " The guards are out looking for him, 
 and they have order's to shoot him on sight." 
 
 Meanwhile my brother Alexander had gone 
 into town and secured from his friends a pair 
 or two of pistols, which were duly brought and 
 handed upstairs, where a new programme was 
 made out. Schultz was determined that he 
 would never be taken alive, hence he decided 
 that if the scouts entered the house he would 
 sell his life as dearly as possible and neither give 
 nor take quarter. For two days he remained 
 there, and on the second night my father's 
 favorite horse, " Barney," was hitched up, and 
 the brother above mentioned drove the hunted 
 man, by an unfrequented road, to the Indian 
 settlement near Selkirk, whence, accompanied 
 by the faithful Joseph Monkman, he made 
 that terrible mid-winter journey on foot to 
 eastern Canada. Afterwards we heard that
 
 62 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 some of the scouts had located him when in our 
 house, but that either out of respect to my 
 father, who had doubtless befriended many of 
 them, or from dread of the desperate man they 
 were hunting, they concluded not to enter. 
 
 In after years when I heard Sir John Schultz 
 say that he " had still the shattered remnants of 
 a good constitution," I used to account for the 
 " shattering " by thinking of the desperate leap 
 from the prison, the running with maimed limb 
 and scanty clothing six miles in an arctic atmos- 
 phere, and then the fearful journey on foot 
 across the rocky shores and wind-swept bays 
 of Lake Superior to the cities of the East. 
 Whether he and my father were warm friends 
 before or not, they certainly were after that 
 experience in the "City of Refuge;" and born 
 orator as Sir John was, he never v made a more 
 graceful allusion in spoken words than he did 
 when, at the unveiling of the Seven Oaks 
 monument, he spoke of the man who at great 
 personal risk opened the door of welcome to 
 him in his extremity. 
 
 Meanwhile, the other prisoners were detained 
 in Fort Garry, Kiel was taking steps to form 
 a provisional government, and Mr. Donald A. 
 Smith (now Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal) 
 had arrived from the East as a special com-
 
 Some Counter-Efforts and Their Results. 63 
 
 missioner from the Dominion Government to 
 settle the existing difficulties. By reason of his 
 long experience in the country and the great 
 respect in which he was held by all classes, Mr. 
 Smith's arrival was hailed with pleasure. Ex- 
 ercising rare skill and tact, he secured from Kiel 
 the calling of an assemblage of all the settlers 
 on the 19th of January, for the purpose of hear- 
 ing the commission read as to the purpose and 
 scope of Mr. Smith's mission. About ten days 
 before this Kiel had caused to be published the 
 slate of the so-called Provisional Government, 
 the principal part of which consisted in the 
 declaration of himself as President, O'Donoghue 
 as Secretary- Treasurer, and Ambroise Lepine as 
 Adjutant-General. 
 
 Many racy incidents are related by those 
 who were present at the Assembly on the 19th 
 of January to hear Mr. Smith's commission. 
 Probably a thousand or more had gathered, 
 so the meeting had to be held in the open 
 air. An open-air meeting with the ther- 
 mometer over twenty degrees below zero 
 could hardly be called a deliberative assembly, 
 as the conditions were not favorable to ab- 
 sorption in the subject. Mr. Smith is said 
 to have refused to read his papers under the 
 hybrid ensign of the rebel government, and so
 
 64 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 the Union Jack had to be displayed. Then 
 Kiel, who was becoming more and more of a 
 "megalomaniac," wished to prevent the papers 
 being read at all, on which a well-known settler 
 caught the redoubtable President by the back of 
 the collar and pulled him down the steps on 
 which he was standing. Kiel immediately 
 threw off his coat (which in falling struck my 
 father, to whom Kiel, true to his French polite- 
 ness, even in his rage, said ''Pardon, monsieur"), 
 and called out the guard. The gates were closed 
 and things generally looked ugly, but finally 
 quiet was restored and the papers read. At the 
 close of the reading, on motion of Kiel himself, 
 seconded by Mr. A. G. B. Bannatyne, it was 
 resolved that a convention consisting of twenty 
 men from the English and twenty from the 
 French side be called for the 25th of January to 
 consider the whole matter of Mr. Smith's mission, 
 and to formulate such a programme as seemed 
 best for the country. 
 
 This meeting on the 19th January was the 
 first direct blow given to Kiel's position; or, 
 changing the figure, it was the first real under- 
 mining of his authority, and Mr. Smith, 
 as Commissioner from a Government which 
 now showed every anxiety to do what was 
 fair to all classes, scored a most decided and
 
 Some Counter-Efforts and Their Results. 65 
 
 influential victory. One cannot help feeling 
 now that had counter-movements against Riel 
 (which could not possibly succeed under the cir- 
 cumstances) ceased, there would have been a 
 bloodless settlement of the whole business ; but 
 the irritation caused by military movements 
 against him, coupled with the fact that his star 
 was on the wane, led doubtless to the horrible 
 murder he shortly afterwards committed in the 
 vain hope of establishing his authority beyond 
 dispute. 
 
 The convention of forty French and English 
 representatives met as called on the 25th of 
 January, and continued from day to day 
 till the llth of February. The best exist- 
 ing report of that convention is found in the 
 New Nation, Kiel's organ, which is in the 
 possession of Mr. J. P. Robertson, in the Pro- 
 vincial Library of Manitoba. The file, which 
 was purchased from Mr. Wm. Coldwell, the 
 ablest newspaper man of his time, tells an 
 eloquent tale even in its appearance. The first 
 page of it is called The Red River Pioneer, Vol. 
 L, No. I.; the next page is blank, and on the 
 following one we read, The New Nation, Vol. 
 I., No. I. The explanation is that Mr. Coldwell 
 was just beginning the publication of the 
 Pioneer when Riel came down upon him, and 
 5
 
 66 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 vi et annis nipped it iu the bud and estab- 
 lished with its plant the New Nation, under 
 control of one of his own following. Whoever 
 reported the proceedings of the Convention of 
 Forty for the New Nation did it well, not only 
 as wielding a facile pen, but wielding it impar- 
 tially, since several things not at all flattering to 
 Kiel are preserved, We have, too, the record of 
 some hot passages-at-arras in which Kiel was 
 distinctly worsted. 
 
 The chairman of the convention was Judge 
 Black, head of the law courts in the territory, 
 a man of commanding intellect, of great forensic 
 ability, and such noble bent of character that 
 he had the utmost confidence of the whole com- 
 munity. During the convention we find he 
 made several speeches of considerable length, 
 in which occur passages of lofty and impas- 
 sioned eloquence. Next to Judge Black, whose 
 official position gave him prominence, the most 
 influential and distinctively directing spirit was 
 James Ross, a man of singular ability, deep 
 learning and rare fluency of utterance. He was 
 a son of Sheriff Ross, who had been famous as 
 a leading man and an historian in the early 
 days of the country. James Ross, who was a 
 native of Red River, had graduated with high 
 honors from Toronto University, had been a
 
 Some Counter-Efforts and Their Results. 67 
 
 leading writer on the Globe there, and was an 
 able lawyer. Despite the slanders of adven- 
 turers, he is remembered as one who had at heart 
 the highest good of the country in which he was 
 born. His legal accomplishments and intimate 
 knowledge of the Canadian constitution made 
 
 JAMES BOSS. 
 
 him a most indispensable member of the con- 
 vention, and to his opinions the greatest defer- 
 ence was paid. Amongst the other members 
 were several who afterwards became prominent 
 in the history of the country, and who even 
 then showed remarkable acquaintance with 
 public questions. 
 
 This convention was of great importance, and
 
 68 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 hence the full list of members selected for it is 
 here given, with the sections of the country they 
 represented. 
 
 FRENCH REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 St. Paul's St. Norbert 
 
 Pierre Thibert. Pierre Paranteau. 
 
 Alex. Page. Norbert Laronce. 
 
 Magnus Birston. B. Teuton. 
 
 St. Francois Xavier 
 
 . . _, , or. JJoniface 
 
 Xavier Page. 
 
 * W. B. O'Doiioghue. 
 
 Pierre Poitras. 
 
 Ambroise Lepme. 
 
 St. Charles Joseph Genton. 
 
 Baptiste Beauchemin. Louis Schmidt. 
 
 St. Vital 
 
 T T> i Oak Point 
 
 .Louis Kiel. 
 
 A , r T> i Thomas Harrison. 
 
 Andre Beauchemin. 
 
 Charles Nolin. 
 Point Coupee 
 
 Louis Lacerte. Point a Grouette 
 
 Pierre Delorme. George Klyne. 
 
 ENGLISH REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 St. Peter's Kildonan 
 
 Rev. Henry Cochrane. John Fraser. 
 
 Thomas Spence. John Sutherland. 
 
 St. Clement's St. James' 
 
 Thomas Bunn. George Flett. 
 
 Alex. McKenzie. Robert Tait.
 
 Some Counter- Efforts and Their Results. 69 
 
 St. Andrew's Headingly 
 
 Judge Black. John Taylor. 
 
 Donald Gunn, sen. Wm. Londsdale. 
 
 Alfred Boyd. ^ Margaret s- 
 St. Paul's Wm. Cummings. 
 
 Dr.C.J.Bird. St . Anne's- 
 St. John's George Gunn. 
 
 James Ross. D. Spence. 
 
 St. Mary's Winnipeg 
 
 Kenneth McKenzie. Alfred H. Scott. 
 
 As there are some people even to this day 
 who claim that Kiel was loyal to British inter- 
 ests, though anxious about the privileges and 
 rights of his countrymen, it may be worth while 
 to give a few extracts from the report in his 
 own paper: " For my part I would like to see 
 the power of Canada limited in this country ; 
 that's what I want." " England chose to neglect 
 us for one or two centuries back, and I do not 
 suppose we are under any very great obliga- 
 tions to keep her laws." " For my part I do not 
 want to be more British than I can help." 
 
 Amongst the incidents of the convention we 
 notice in the report an attempt on the part of 
 Kiel to rebuke Mr. John (afterwards Senator) 
 Sutherland, of Kildonan, who hotly replied that 
 he had been giving his time all winter without 
 fee or reward to efforts for the good of the
 
 70 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 country, that he was there to speak for the 
 people who sent him, and did not propose to be 
 taught his duty by Louis Kiel. At another 
 point three of the French half-breed representa- 
 tives, Nolin, Klyne and Harrison, incurred the 
 displeasure of Kiel by voting against a motion 
 
 SENATOR SUTHERLAND. 
 
 he had submitted suggesting that the Hudson's 
 Bay Company be ignored in all bargains made 
 as to the transfer of the country. Nolin replied 
 defiantly, which so angered Kiel that he made a 
 number of unaccountable arrests during the few 
 following days, and even started out after Nolin, 
 whose relatives, however, were so numerous,
 
 Some Counter-Efforts and Their Results. 71 
 
 powerful and determined that Kiel desisted in 
 time to save himself from annihilation. 
 
 In the convention every phase of the country's 
 future was discussed, and every question from 
 railroad construction to a standing army was 
 canvassed. A very elaborate Bill of Rights was 
 framed and submitted to Commissioner Smith, 
 who replied on behalf of the Dominion Govern- 
 ment as far as he was able within the scope of 
 his commission, after which he invited the con- 
 vention to send delegates to confer with the 
 authorities at Ottawa. This invitation was 
 accepted, and thus an important stage of pro- 
 gress was reached. One cannot study closely 
 this portion of our country's history without 
 feeling what a lasting debt the country owes 
 to the courage, tact and patience of Mr. Donald 
 A. Smith, who has been so deservedly raised to 
 the peerage for his eminent services to the 
 Empire. 
 
 It was not within the province of the conven- 
 tion, nor was it contemplated in the summons 
 calling it, to take any steps towards confirming 
 or approving the Provisional Government that 
 Kiel had already formed, but the opportunity 
 was too good a one to be lost, and so he intro- 
 duced the question when the other business was 
 concluded. Most of the English delegates at
 
 72 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 once took the position that they had no instruc- 
 tions from their constituents on that point, and 
 that therefore they could take no action upon it 
 that would bind those who sent them to the con- 
 vention ; but Kiel was anxious to have the matter 
 pressed so that he would seem to have the appro- 
 val of the country. The representatives from 
 Kildonan, John Fraser and John Sutherland, 
 declined to be parties to it till it seemed in the 
 interests of present peace. They, having no 
 time to consult their constituents, went to see 
 Governor McTavish, and he, wearied with the 
 protracted strife, said : " Form a government of 
 some kind and restore peace and order in the 
 settlement." And so with that end in view the 
 delegates, without professing to bind their con- 
 stituents, consented to the formation of a Pro- 
 visional Government, whose personnel as to the 
 chief officers was as stated above, though there 
 was some hot feeling in the convention over 
 continuing Kiel in the presidency.
 
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 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 COLLAPSE OF THE REBELLION. 
 
 WHEN the Convention of the Forty adjourned 
 they left such organization as undertook to carry 
 on the government of the country, and from that 
 time President Kiel and his Council became the 
 bod} r that alleged to have the right to make and 
 administer law in the community. Concurrently 
 with the adjournment of the convention nearly 
 all the remaining prisoners were released. The 
 question as to why the English-speaking mem- 
 bers of the convention did not refuse to sit 
 except on the condition that they would all 
 be released occurs most naturally here, and the 
 only possible reply that can be given is that 
 they had agreed to meet with the French and 
 discuss the political situation, and that if they 
 had withdrawn the latter would have remained 
 and given the business whatever turn seemed 
 pleasing to themselves, regardless of the views 
 and wishes of any other portion of the com- 
 munity. But on the close of the convention 
 73
 
 74 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 the majority of the prisoners were released, 
 and in all probability there would have been 
 a general gaol delivery had not some develop- 
 ments taken place outside. Another warlike 
 expedition began up the Assiniboine River, in 
 Portage la Prairie, High Bluff, Poplar Point, 
 White Horse Plains and Headingly, and a body 
 of men numbering seventy -five or eighty, poorly 
 enough armed, started on the march, intending 
 to rendezvous at Kildonan and enlist the settlers 
 along the Red River in the movement. The 
 occasion of this was probably the delay in 
 releasing the balance of the prisoners, and, on 
 the part of the leaders, a certain amount of 
 impatience with existing conditions. On the 
 way down several of the houses were searched 
 for Riel, who sometimes visited them, and though 
 certain of those engaged in the search claimed 
 that they only intended to hold him as a hostage 
 for the release of the remaining prisoners, others 
 openly said they would have made an end of 
 him. 
 
 When this was reported to Riel he was once 
 more at white heat. Many of his men had gone 
 to their homes, but runners were quickly sent 
 out, and until the counter-movements ceased 
 Fort Garry was garrisoned by between six 
 and seven hundred well-armed men a force
 
 Collapse of the Rebellion. 75 
 
 so great as to render attack by their poorly 
 armed opponents on the stone-walled, bastioned 
 and artilleried redoubt utterly futile. Never- 
 theless the body of men above referred to 
 came on to Kildonan, where the most of them 
 bivouacked in the historic church and school. I 
 remember well when they arrived at the school, 
 the morning of, I think, the 14th of February. 
 The younger fry amongst us thought the 
 whole thing a splendid idea, on the same 
 principle that actuated the boy who fiercely 
 rejoiced at the burning of his school because 
 he did not know the geography lesson. 
 
 To the older people, doubtless, the situation 
 was much more serious, and large numbers of 
 men, not only from Kildonan, but also from 
 St. Paul's, St Andrew's and St. Peter's, gath- 
 ered together to discuss it. The consensus of 
 opinion amongst them seems to have been 
 that any movement of the kind contemplated 
 would not only be futile, for the reasons 
 above given, and likely to end in a useless 
 shedding of blood, but that it was also inop- 
 portune, inasmuch as the species of union 
 effected between the opposing parties by the 
 convention just held would be the most certain 
 means of preserving peace until the Dominion 
 Government, with whom the delegates from
 
 76 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 that convention were treating, would take the 
 whole matter in hand. In the meantime, those 
 assembled at the rendezvous received every 
 hospitality from the people of Kildonan, who 
 entertained as many as they could in their 
 homes, and provided food for those quartered 
 in the church and school. 
 
 On the second day after the arrival of the 
 party a very distressing incident took place 
 in the shooting of one of the most prom- 
 ising young men in the parish. I remember 
 as it were yesterday how one of the neighbor 
 boys rushed into our house, exclaiming, 
 "John Hugh Sutherland is shot!" and how 
 the news fell upon us like lead. It ap- 
 peared that on the night before a young 
 French half-breed named Parisien, suspected 
 of being one of Kiel's spies, was taken prisoner 
 by the men in the school-house, and the next 
 day, when out with a guard, he made a dash 
 for liberty, snatching a double barrelled gun 
 from one of the sleighs as he went. He ran 
 swiftly down the river-bank, and there met 
 young Sutherland, who was riding on horse- 
 back toward the school. Parisien either feared 
 that he would be intercepted, or perhaps he 
 hoped to get the horse and so escape : but 
 at any rate, he shot at Sutherland full in the
 
 Collapse of the Rebellion. 77 
 
 breast. The horse swerved and the rider fell, 
 but Parisien continued on. Looking back, he 
 saw Sutherland rising to his feet, when, 
 without stopping, he swung the gun over his 
 shoulder (such was the deadly skill of these 
 men) and discharged the second barrel, the 
 contents entering the back of the unfortunate 
 youth, who staggered and fell upon his face. 
 Strong hands raised him and bore him to the 
 hospitable manse of the Rev. John Black, near 
 at hand, and on Sutherland's recovering con- 
 sciousness and seeing the venerable face of his 
 old minister, his first words were, " Pray for me." 
 He lingered on into the night, and then one of 
 the brightest lives of his time went out into the 
 unseen with the prayer upon his lips, not for 
 vengeance upon his murderer, but for mercy 
 upon all. Meanwhile the horse, with empty 
 and blood-stained saddle, had run back home 
 to carry the tale to the parents ; while the 
 desperate spy, narrowly escaping lynching, 
 lingered on to die from natural causes a few 
 months afterwards. The effect of this lamen- 
 table affair was sobering in the extreme, and 
 revealed, as by a startling providence,- what 
 might be the fate of others and what untold 
 sorrow might come upon many homes without 
 adequate cause and without commensurate 
 results.
 
 78 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 Some messages passed between Kiel and the 
 assembled force, and it seemed to be understood 
 that the latter had liberty to return to their 
 homes without any let or hindrance, and that the 
 prisoners still held would be released. Accord- 
 ingly, those gathered at Kildonan dispersed 
 quietly to different parts of the parishes north- 
 ward, but those from up the Assiniboine, who 
 had begun the movement, did not fare so well. 
 I have heard it said that Kiel was angered at 
 their exhibiting distrust of his word by making 
 a detour to avoid passing Fort Garry, instead of 
 going home by the usual travelled Highway, but 
 I think the story extremely improbable. It is 
 more likely that he was enraged because some 
 of those in the party were for the second time 
 engaged in effort against him, and because, as 
 referred to above, he had a lively idea of what 
 might have befallen him had he been found by 
 them on the way to the rendezvous. Whatever 
 the reason may have been, the upshot was that 
 as this handful of men were making their way to 
 their homes across the deep snow of the prairie, 
 they were intercepted by a large force of Kiel's 
 men, mounted and well armed. No resistance 
 was made, as it was represented to them that 
 Kiel wished to see them at the fort, and they 
 never dreamed of imprisonment. In any case,
 
 Collapse of the Rebellion. 79 
 
 neither in numbers nor equipment would they 
 have been any match for the rebels ; but from 
 personal acquaintance with many of those men, 
 I feel sure that if they had known the indigni- 
 ties they were all to suffer, and if they could 
 have seen the causeless and cruel murder of one 
 of their number, they would have made then 
 and there a last desperate stand against the 
 enemy. As it was they went quietly to the 
 fort, where to their surprise they were " thrust 
 into the inner prison," and several of them 
 Boulton, Scott. Powers, McLeod, Alexander and 
 George Parker were specially singled out and 
 the sentence of death by shooting suspended 
 over their heads. 
 
 Kiel was exceedingly desirous of securing the 
 recognition of the Provisional Government by 
 the English-speaking settlers, and took this 
 method of forcing their hand, promising to 
 spare the lives of these men if all the settle- 
 ment would fall into line and send repre- 
 sentatives to his " parliament." This, for the 
 sake of peace, Special Commissioner Smith, 
 aided by the clergy of various denominations, 
 persuaded the people to do, and but for this it is 
 exceedingly probable that Kiel would have begun 
 a series of murders whose end no one could 
 foretell. Concerning Boulton (who was to do
 
 80 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 signal service in the field against his captor 
 fifteen years later), Kiel remained obdurate, and 
 indeed decided that he should be shot on the 
 night of the 19th of February, as having been 
 the chief military director of the counter-move- 
 ment. It has not been generally known, but the 
 fact is that Boulton's life was finally spared at 
 the intercession of Mr. (now Senator) and Mrs. 
 Sutherland, of Kildonan, who had known Kiel 
 from his childhood, and who had come almost 
 direct from the grave of their slain son to plead 
 for the life of the condemned man. Kiel was by 
 no means without heart, and when he saw the 
 earnestness as well as the grief of the parents, 
 who had been so recently bereaved but who in 
 their sorrow were thinking of others, he said, 
 placing his hand upon the shoulder of the 
 mother, " It is enough he ought to die, but I 
 will give you his life for the life of the son you 
 have lost through these troubles." 
 
 And still the clouds had not all lifted. Kiel's 
 "parliament" met on the 26th of February, and to 
 this, in the interests of peace, the English-speak- 
 ing settlers, true to the promises they had made 
 Commissioner Smith, sent representatives, who 
 began forthwith to enact such legislation as the 
 requirements of the time demanded. But there 
 was withal a sullen feeling of unrest in the
 
 Collapse of the Rebellion. 81 
 
 country, and a growing, even though unex- 
 pressed, discontent with the continued domin- 
 ance and arbitrary methods of the so-called 
 President, who played fast and loose with 
 pledges and had such utterly un-British views 
 as to the liberty of the subject. Doubtless 
 Kiel felt this atmosphere and tried a desperate 
 remedy to change it, when on the 4th of March 
 he caused the wanton murder of Thomas Scott, 
 one of the prisoners. 
 
 I recall the first announcement of this tragedy 
 made at a meeting in the Kildonan school by 
 one who had come from Fort Garry that day 
 " There's been a man shot at the fort." That 
 was all, until questioning drew from him such 
 information as he had been able to gather ; and 
 that Kiel had taken a mistaken means of 
 impressing the settlers with his absolute 
 authority was evidenced by the imprecations 
 invoked upon his arrogant insolence. It is 
 true that no means of taking steps to put an 
 end to his lease of power were at hand, and as 
 the best means in their judgment of keeping 
 a madman quiet, the representatives of the 
 settlers continued to sit in Council with the 
 Provisional Government; but from that time 
 the sympathy of the English-speaking people 
 was completely estranged, and many of Kiel's
 
 82 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 own class openly repudiated complicity with 
 him in the killing of Scott. 
 
 Kiel's paper, the New Nation, styled the 
 murder of the young man a "military execu- 
 tion," and " regretted its necessity," which was 
 said to be on account of Scott's alleged quarrel- 
 some spirit which led him to insult the guard 
 and even defy the President himself. There is 
 no need now to canonize Scott, nor to claim 
 that he possessed all the virtues and none of 
 the vices of life ; but so far as we can gather 
 from those who knew him well, he was a young 
 man of rather quiet habits, indisposed, as most 
 men of Irish blood are, to be trodden upon, but 
 not given to aggressive and unprovoked offend- 
 ing. Perhaps it was more by what we call 
 chance than otherwise that he instead of 
 Parker, or some of the others, was singled out 
 for slaughter by the man who hoped through 
 his death to strike terror into the community. 
 It seems almost incredible now that after a 
 mock trial, without any specified charges 
 against the prisoner, without any opportunity 
 for defence either in person or by counsel, 
 against the protest and pleadings of the Rev. 
 George Young, Commissioner Smith and others, 
 a British subject in a British country should 
 have been condemned to death and shot in the
 
 Collapse of the Rebellion. 83 
 
 most brutal and bungling way at a few hours' 
 notice. 
 
 However peacefully inclined one may be, he 
 cannot picture the scene of the shooting and 
 see this young man led out blindfolded to the 
 shambles without feeling his blood move in 
 fiercer thrills, and without adapting to the 
 situation the sentiment of a verse written long 
 ago in another connection : 
 
 " Had I been there with sword in hand 
 
 And fifty Camerons by, 
 That day through high Dunedin's streets 
 Had pealed the slogan cry. 
 
 ' ' Not all their troops of trampling horse 
 
 Nor might of mailed men, 
 Not all the rebels in the South 
 Had borne us backward then. 
 
 ' ' Once more his foot on Highland heath 
 
 Had trod as free as air, 
 Or I, and all that I led on, 
 Been laid around him there." 
 
 Certain it is, as we have said, that from that 
 hour the majority of people, however much 
 they felt themselves obliged to remain passive, 
 utterly disapproved of Kiel's course ; and some 
 there were who told him to his face that for
 
 84 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 that and other reasons they would have noth- 
 ing to do with him. Of this latter number was 
 my father, as I recall from an incident that took 
 place on the Queen's birthday, 1870. On the 
 20th of May, as appears from the files of the 
 New Nation, he, with one or two others, was 
 appointed by the Provisional Government a 
 magistrate for the Fort Garry District. On 
 May 24th the Queen's birthday was celebrated 
 near Fort Garry with the usual sports, though it 
 had been extensively reported that Kiel was to 
 seize the horses brought there for the races that 
 he might have the best mounts for his cavalry. 
 In the afternoon of that day I remember stand- 
 ing with my father on the roadside (now Main 
 Street, Winnipeg) opposite the post-office, then 
 kept by Mr. Bannatyne. It was quite custom- 
 ary in those days of limited correspondence and 
 primitive postal facilities for the postmaster or 
 his assistant to go out with a letter after anyone 
 to whom it was addressed, as otherwise it might 
 remain there uncalled for during many days. 
 On this occasion Mr. Dan. Devlin, the assistant, 
 seeing my father across the road, came over and 
 handed him a large official envelope which had 
 been recently dropped in the office. My father 
 opened it, read the contents, and said to me, 
 " We will go up to the fort." The envelope
 
 Collapse of the Rebellion. 85 
 
 contained his commission from the Provisional 
 Government as magistrate. He said little to 
 me about it, as I was of but few years at the 
 time ; but I remember that, as we drove in 
 through the gateway of Fort Garry, the guards 
 were very polite to him, and one was detailed 
 to hold his horse. My father went straight to 
 the council-room, where Riel was found, and 
 laid the commission down before the President. 
 
 " What is wrong with that ? " asked Riel. 
 " Isn't it properly signed and sealed ? It is 
 intended for you." 
 
 "I suppose it is properly signed," said my 
 father, " but I do not wish to keep it. The fact 
 is, Mr. Riel, I do not recognize your government 
 as having any right or authority to make 
 appointments like this. I am already a justice 
 of the peace by the Queen's appointment through 
 the Hudson's Bay Company, and so do not desire 
 to keep this document, which has to me no 
 value." 
 
 Riel seemed rather nettled, but brushed the 
 paper aside with a " Very well, please yourself ! " 
 and then began to talk on other matters. 
 Amongst other things, he said : " We had a 
 Council meeting last night, and were talking 
 about the soldiers who are coming from Canada. 
 Poor fellows! they will have a hard time of it.
 
 86 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 They will not reach here till the winter, and 
 we were thinking of sending a party of men 
 out to meet them with snowshoes." At this 
 stage my father remarked that this would be 
 needless trouble, as he thought they would be 
 here sooner than some people wished. This did 
 
 LORD WOLSELEY. 
 
 not seem to improve matters much, and so 
 shortly afterwards a somewhat ceremonious 
 good-bye was said, and we drove away, the 
 guards with much civility turning the horse 
 and leading him out through the gates. 
 
 The summer wore on without much excite- 
 ment, the prisoners having been all released, 
 and the settlers going on with their usual work,
 
 Collapse of the Rebellion. 87 
 
 while all the time looking eagerly for the 
 troops. The first detachment of these, under 
 x Col. Wolseley (now Commander-in- Chief of the 
 British army), arrived in the district on the 
 24th of August, when they came up the river 
 and camped near Kildonan on their way to 
 the fort. Many of the settlers went down to 
 see them, but once they got within the picket 
 lines they stayed there, much to their surprise, 
 all night. Col. Wolseley, so far as he knew, was 
 in the enemy's country, and was not going to 
 run any risks from possible spies ; hence every 
 man that came within reach was held and ex- 
 amined by him. Of course, the people who were 
 satisfied as to their own loyalty and knew noth- 
 ing of military rules were considerably incensed, 
 and one of the older men of the Selkirk settlers 
 is said to have waxed perilously near the pro- 
 fane as he wrathfully assured the gallant 
 Colonel that he was just as loyal as that com- 
 mander himself. Wolseley, however, remained 
 provokingly unmoved, and so quite a number 
 of the settlers remained in " corral " till next 
 morning, when he moved on to Fort Garry. I 
 remember the day as one of drenching rain, when 
 partly by boats on the river and partly by land 
 as mounted scouts, the soldiers proceeded to the 
 rebel stronghold. A goodly number of the
 
 88 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 settlers followed in their wake, expecting to see 
 a " clash at arms," but they were all doomed to 
 disappointment on that score, for when Wolse- 
 ley's men reached the fort they found that 
 Kiel, O'Donoghue, Lepine and the rest had 
 vacated in favor of the new-comers the very 
 comfortable quarters they had occupied for so 
 many months.
 
 Hon. A. G. Archibald. 
 Sir John Schultz. 
 
 Hon. Alex. Morris. 
 Hon. David Laird. 
 
 EARLY GOVERNORS OF THE WEST.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE MAKING OF A PROVINCE. 
 
 WITH the leading historical facts concerning 
 the formative period immediately succeeding the 
 first rebellion most of our readers will be more 
 or less familiar, but they are only the centre of 
 a great deal in the life that was unique and 
 peculiar. On taking possession of Fort Garry 
 Col. Wolseley very wisely refrained from assum- 
 ing a military dictatorship, but called upon Mr. 
 Donald A. Smith to act as the administrator of 
 Government until the arrival and installation of 
 the Hon. Adams G. Archibald, the first actual 
 governor of the country under Canadian rule. 
 The interregnum was not altogether devoid of 
 excitement, nor were indeed many of the suc- 
 ceeding days commonplace or monotonously 
 quiet. 
 
 For the maintenance of law and order a 
 mounted police force was organized under com- 
 mand of Capt. Villiers, of the Quebec Rifles, 
 and as this was the first regular police force 
 89
 
 90 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 in the West, and as some of the members in 
 after years became prominent and wealthy men, 
 we give the list in full : W. F. Alloway, James 
 Cross, William Montgomery, Timothy Carroll, 
 Edwin Doidge, Elijah Ketts, George Kerr, John 
 Melarison, John Stevenson, Leon Hivet, George 
 Nicol, H. Montgomery, Eobert Power, Maxime 
 Villebrun, W. Miller, John Paterson, Andrew 
 Persy, Neil McCarthy, Michael Fox. These 
 policemen had no sinecure, as may easily be 
 imagined when the condition of things is 
 considered. 
 
 The soldiers, released from the struggle of 
 the half-military, half-voyageur life they had 
 led for the past few months, were more or less 
 disposed to take advantage of any opportunities 
 that offered themselves for the somewhat fast 
 and furious pace allowed by the codeless life of 
 a frontier, and as they looked with some bitter- 
 ness upon the half-breed population, as on those 
 whose compatriots had imprisoned many and 
 murdered one of their countrymen, conflicts 
 more or less sharp were not infrequent on the 
 streets of the straggling village. In one case 
 a French half-breed, who had hot words with 
 some of them in a saloon, was chased by an 
 excited crowd to the river, and was there 
 drowned in efforts to escape from them, though
 
 The Making of a Province. 91 
 
 it was not likely they would have done him any 
 serious injury. On another occasion a huge 
 drummer had a pitched battle on the street with 
 a French half-breed of colossal size and strength, 
 who, however, having never been trained in the 
 " manly art, " succumbed to the superior skill of 
 the new-comer. 
 
 One of the results of this latter encounter was 
 that the aforesaid drummer established a noto- 
 riety as a fighter, thereby coming into demand 
 for the stormy political meetings of that primi- 
 tive time, and more than once have I seen him 
 alert and ready to ply his pugilism at the 
 signal of his political leader. Meetings of the 
 kind indicated were not infrequent, as nearly 
 every aspirant for political leadership was 
 accompanied on his stumping tours by a " bully" 
 with such help as he could gather, and I 
 remember once seeing a meeting pass off 
 peaceably, owing to the presence of the big 
 drummer on the one side and an equally 
 redoubtable champion on the other, each fear- 
 ing to provoke active hostilities. 
 
 The beginnings of political life were crude 
 enough. Governor Archibald simply chose a 
 small " Cabinet " somewhat representative of 
 the English and French elements in the com- 
 munity, then a census of the new province was
 
 92 J*he Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 rapidly taken, a distribution into constituencies 
 was made, and the first election to the Local 
 Legislature held. The Province was named 
 Manitoba after the lake bearing that name, the 
 word being derived from two Indian words, 
 meaning together " the straits or narrows of the 
 Great Spirit, " and though usage has placed the 
 accent on the third syllable, it should properly 
 be pronounced with the accent on the last. 
 
 As "first things" are always of interest in 
 later days, it might be well to say that the 
 census in 1870 showed a population of 11,963 
 in the new province of whom 1,565 were 
 whites, 578 Indians, 5,757 French half-breeds, 
 and 4.083 English half-breeds. There were 
 6,247 Catholics, 5,716 Protestants, and the 
 nationalities of the whites were as follows : 747 
 born in the North- West, 294 in eastern Canada, 
 69 in the United States, 125 in England, 240 in 
 Scotland, 47 in Ireland, 15 in France, and 28 in 
 other countries. The first local election was 
 held on the 30th December, 1870, and the 
 following is a list of the members elected to the 
 first Legislative Assembly of the Province of 
 Manitoba, with the constituencies they repre- 
 sented : 
 
 Baie St. Paid Joseph Dubuc. 
 
 Headingly John Taylor.
 
 The Making of a Province. 93 
 
 High Bluff John Norquay. 
 
 Kildonan John Sutherland. 
 
 Lake Manitoba Angus McKay. 
 
 Poplar Point David Spence. 
 
 Portage la Prairie F. Bird. 
 
 St. Agathe George Klyne. 
 
 St. Andrew's North Alfred Boyd. 
 
 St. Andrew's South E. H. G. G. Hay. 
 
 St. Anne J. H. McTavish. 
 
 St. Boniface East M. A. Girard. 
 
 St. Boniface West Louis Schmidt. 
 
 St. Charles Henry J. Clarke. 
 
 St. Clement's Thomas Bunn. 
 
 St. Francois Xavier East . Pascal Breland. 
 
 St. Francois Xavier West . Joseph Royal. 
 
 St. James' E. Burke. 
 
 St. Norbert North Joseph Lemay. 
 
 St. Norbert South Pierre Delorme. 
 
 St. Paul's Dr. C. J. Bird. 
 
 St. Peter's Thomas Howard. 
 
 St. Vital A. Beauchemin. 
 
 Winnipeg Donald A. Smith. 
 
 The first regularly constituted Government 
 consisted of the following members : 
 
 Hon. Henry J. Clarke, Q.C., Attorney-General. 
 Hon. Marc Amable Girard, Treasurer. 
 Hon. Thomas Howard, Secretary. 
 Hon. Alfred Boyd, Public Works and Agri- 
 culture. 
 
 Hon. James McKay, without portfolio.
 
 94 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 It was some years before party politics could 
 be developed, and hence, during the meetings 
 above referred to, the questions discussed were 
 of a very local character, and in the end the 
 candidate who had the largest family connec- 
 tion in the neighborhood was generally elected. 
 For some time rebellion echoes were heard at 
 all the meetings, like the war issues in United 
 States politics, and in the English-speaking 
 constituencies any suspected complicity in the 
 misdeeds of the past and any heresy as to the 
 amnesty of the rebel leaders would contribute 
 powerfully to the overthrow of the suspected 
 party. These meetings were not without their 
 humorous side, and ofttimes somewhat peculiar 
 situations arose out of the unfamiliarity of the 
 settlers with the methods and expressions of 
 parliamentary debate. I recollect once when a 
 school-teacher had framed a motion and made a 
 speech as to the leniency with which we should 
 view those who, as mere dupes, had been drawn 
 into the rebellion, that the reporter gave out 
 that he had made a motion as to the brutes who 
 had gone into the rebellion. The chagrin of the 
 school-teacher may be imagined. I also recall 
 seeing a man who had occupied the chair during 
 a meeting leaving it in high dudgeon on a motion 
 to vacate, which he was not aware was made
 
 The Making of a Province. 95 
 
 preparatory to moving him a vote of thanks. 
 On another occasion one embryo statesman, who 
 was holding before his audience the hope of 
 some change in governmental methods, and who 
 sought to clinch his speech by the use of a 
 proverb, got the two sayings, " Every dog has 
 his day " and " It's a long lane that has no 
 turning" slightly mixed, and vehemently assured 
 the people that " It was a long dog that had no 
 turning." 
 
 The voting was all done openly, and hence it 
 was not surprising that in the older settled 
 districts an election threw apples of discord into 
 regions where formerly the inhabitants had lived 
 in peace and quietness, while the ties which 
 frequently occurred during the polling-day sent 
 the pulse of the community up to fever pitch. 
 Canvassing was of the most personal kind, and as 
 we then had no legislation in regard to corrupt 
 practices to reveal the sin, it was considered a 
 sign of meanness on the part of a candidate not 
 to provide a somewhat elaborate meal at every 
 committee meeting, and ample refreshments 
 in some house near the polling-place on elec- 
 tion day. Riots were not altogether unknown 
 and at the first election in Winnipeg wagon- 
 spokes were freely used, the Chief of Police was 
 rendered hors de combat, a printing office was
 
 96 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 wrecked, and finally the military had to be 
 called out to overawe the noisy multitude. 
 
 When the first legislature met, it could not 
 reasonably be expected that the same dignity 
 and decorum, the same acquaintance with par- 
 liamentary methods or the same breadth of 
 statesmanship would be manifested as in older 
 lands. The appearance of the early House was 
 peculiar and characteristic of a transition stage. 
 I recall seeing in the old legislative chamber 
 men clothed in the faultless Prince Albert black 
 beside men in a curious compound of the old 
 and the new, having the long curled hair of 
 raven hue, wearing the moccasins to which they 
 had always been accustomed and which cer- 
 tainly had the advantage of silence over creaky 
 boots : coats open, displaying the colored flannel 
 shirt without a collar, and across the waist, 
 picturesquely slashed, the French belt or sash 
 commonly worn on the prairies. The literary 
 education of some of these men had been of the 
 scantiest, and when one day a member sent a 
 note across the floor asking a member of the 
 Government to move the House into a " com- 
 mitty of the hole," it was taken jocularly as a 
 deep-laid plot to entrap the Executive unawares. 
 In a case under my own observation a newly- 
 elected member, whose sudden elevation had
 
 The Making of a Province. 97 
 
 induced the too free use of stimulants, was 
 making himself so obnoxious that he had to 
 be sharply called to order by the Speaker with 
 threats of expulsion from the precincts. The 
 member, unabashed, told the Speaker, in effect, 
 that he ought to remember the primitive con- 
 dition of things in the country ; and desiring 
 to impress the Speaker with the fact that 
 though he (the member) was not a finished 
 statesman, he was fairly representative of, if 
 not superior to, his constituents in attainments, 
 said : " You may think I am a fool, Mr. Speaker, 
 but I am not such a fool as the people who sent 
 me here ; " in which saying the member builded 
 better than he knew, and aptly described what 
 has been witnessed frequently enough in political 
 life. 
 
 That early House, too, had, in the person of a 
 member of great avoirdupois, an inveterate 
 joker, who, being something of an artist, used to 
 sketch his fellow-members in their various 
 attitudes and confront them with the pictures 
 that they might see themselves as others 
 saw them. Notwithstanding these peculiarities 
 much solid work was done and many a thrilling 
 speech made. The foundations were laid in 
 much good legislation, and special attention 
 was given to the religious, educational and 
 7
 
 98 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 benevolent projects of the time. Back there 
 the enactments that gave rise to the famous 
 School Question were passed, though it is no 
 secret now that the House had no intention of 
 committing the young province to the dual 
 system of schools abolished by the famous 
 statutes of 1890. Proceedings were conducted 
 in the Legislature, the courts, etc., in both 
 English and French for many years, and one of 
 the most impassioned and eloquent speeches of 
 the time was made by a Frenchman on behalf 
 of retaining his mother tongue in public and 
 official use ; albeit that same speech was made 
 in English, and the absurdity of wasting time 
 and money in using two languages in a British 
 country, where all who took an intelligent in- 
 terest in affairs spoke English, soon became 
 apparent. Moreover, it was found that while 
 the appropriation was duly made, there were 
 cases in which the French printing of the pro- 
 ceedings was not done for years after the sessions 
 of the House. There was, too, a somewhat ridi- 
 culous side to the matter. Speeches from the 
 throne were always read in both languages. 
 Some of the governors could read in both ; 
 others, who only read English, had the good 
 sense to hand the speech for reading to the 
 French clerk ; but when English-speaking gov-
 
 The Making of a Province. 99 
 
 ernors, for fear of shattering the Constitution, 
 persisted in reading the French speech with 
 English pronunciation, the effect was so distress- 
 ing that the French themselves were doubtless 
 glad when their beautiful language could no 
 longer be mangled so heartlessly before the 
 public. 
 
 Changes other than the abolition of the dual 
 
 O 
 
 language system were also made at an early 
 date. " Dualities " have had a hard time in the 
 West, for shortly after the beginning of our his- 
 tory dual representation in local and Dominion 
 Houses had to succumb. Next in order the 
 " Upper House " was forced to go. 
 
 The Legislative Council (as our " Upper 
 House " was called) had come into existence on 
 the 10th March, 1871, and was composed of the 
 following gentlemen appointed by the Lieuten- 
 ant-Governor in Council : Hons. Donald Gunn, 
 Francois Dauphinais, Solomon Hamelin, Colin 
 Inkster, Dr. J. H. O'Donnell, Francis Ogletree 
 and James McKay, the latter being Speaker 
 of the House. This institution, intended, I 
 suppose, as " a check on hasty legislation," was 
 not easily annihilated, for the members in full 
 enjoyment of its titles and emoluments were 
 not likely to approve any bill for their own 
 decapitation ; but after some new appointments
 
 100 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 the body finally lapsed out of existence by the 
 casting vote of the Speaker. It was only by 
 degrees that the party element came into 
 western politics. The natives of the country 
 had no hereditary tendencies in that direction, 
 but gradually the presence of Federal differ- 
 ences began to be felt in local circles, and under 
 
 HON. DONALD GUNN. 
 
 that pressure men were soon found arrayed in 
 opposing lines of battle. Amongst the politicians 
 of the early years were many who had won 
 their spurs in the older provinces, and whose 
 names will be in memory there; but of those 
 indigenous to the soil of Manitoba were several 
 who took a prominent part in shaping the
 
 The Making of a Province. 101 
 
 destinies of their native land, and around these 
 more especially interest for our present purpose 
 centres. 
 
 In this number by far the most prominent 
 and powerful figure was that of John Norquay, 
 a man who made his influence felt far beyond 
 provincial bounds. He was what was called a 
 Scotch half-breed, uniting in himself the strain 
 of the Orkneys with a mixture of Indian blood 
 which he was always proud to own. He was 
 educated wholly at the Anglican school and 
 college at St. John's, through the benevolence 
 of the Church, became a school-teacher in early 
 life, and at the first local election became a 
 member of the Local Legislature, and so re- 
 mained till his death in 1891. For some seven- 
 teen years he was a member of the Government, 
 and during nearly all that time he was First 
 Minister of his native province. Physically, he 
 was a man of tremendous size and strength, 
 standing some six feet three in height, and 
 broad and strong in proportion. As an indica- 
 tion of his physique, I recall seeing him at a 
 political meeting, when a fight was imminent, 
 thrust himself between the combatants, who 
 found themselves as much apart as if a rock 
 had dropped between them. He must have 
 been a diligent student to secure the complete
 
 102 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 mastery of English he manifested in his public 
 addresses, as well as the thorough acquaintance 
 with public questions that gave his speeches 
 authority. As a speaker he was at his best. 
 He had a voice of clear and resonant force, and 
 a fluency which carried everything before it 
 without degenerating into wordiness, while his 
 vocabulary was that of one who had gained it 
 by wide reading and keen study. I heard him 
 speak on almost every kind of theme, on a great 
 variety of platforms, and never knew him to 
 disappoint the expectations of his listeners. 
 Wherever he spoke in the native parishes he 
 would naturally have a specially sympathetic 
 audience ; but as an example of his influence 
 on other audiences, I remember hearing him 
 speak with great effect in an immense hall 
 in St. Paul, Minnesota, on the occasion of a 
 concert given there during an ice carnival 
 by the St. George's Snowshoe Club, of Win- 
 nipeg. He was on his way home from 
 Ottawa to Winnipeg when we secured him 
 at St. Paul, knowing that his presence would 
 redeem our concert from possible failure. The 
 gathering of several thousands was representa- 
 tive of many parts of the United States, that 
 nation of public speakers, and they looked with 
 somewhat critical gaze upon our burly Premier
 
 HON. JOHN NORQUAY.
 
 The Making of a Province.' 103 
 
 when he was introduced as an extra on the 
 programme. He had no special text given him, 
 but dwelt chiefly upon the friendly relations 
 and close connection which had always subsisted 
 between the Red River colonists and the cities 
 of the western States, whence he passed to the 
 wider questions of international fellowship, 
 evoking rounds of applause by the rolling 
 periods of his eloquence. 
 
 In his home life, John Norquay was a lov- 
 able man, and I have more than once seen him 
 lay aside the cares of state and play like a 
 school-boy with his children, who clambered 
 delightedly upon his stalwart person. His 
 tenure of political power closed in 1889, when, 
 weakened from without by conflicts with the 
 Federal authorities on questions of provincial 
 rights as to railway advantages and other 
 matters, and from within by the overcrowd- 
 ing of government departments by men to 
 whom he was too good-natured to say "no," 
 he resigned the premiership into the charge 
 of Dr. Harrison, who shortly afterwards 
 met defeat at the hands of the Greenway- 
 Martin forces. At the next session, Mr. Nor- 
 quay returned to the House as leader of a 
 " corporal's guard " in Opposition. His speech 
 in self-defence, as he stood almost alone like
 
 104 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 a wounded stag at bay, remains as the one 
 passage of genuine and lofty eloquence that has 
 echoed in the halls of our Legislature. In that 
 speech he reviewed his long tenure of office, 
 without claiming infallibility, but showing how, 
 with abundant opportunity for enriching him- 
 self, he had surrendered in comparative poverty 
 the seals of office, and declaring how he was 
 satisfied in being able to hand down an unsul- 
 lied name to his children. During the delivery 
 of his speech a member thoughtlessly taunted 
 him with his Indian blood, and few will forget 
 
 o 
 
 the thrillingly dramatic effect of Mr. Xorquay's 
 action as he threw up his hand to reveal the 
 dark skin of which he said he was proud, and 
 how he sent back with stunning force a rebuke 
 for the unhappy sneer. 
 
 Not many months after that Mr. Norquay 
 died of a sudden inflammation. The recol- 
 lection is yet vivid of how the news sped to 
 the startled hearts of the people, and of the 
 way in which, regardless of party, they united 
 in mourning for one who had done signal 
 service to the Province in which he was born. 
 The Greenway Government gave him a state 
 funeraL and friends all over Canada contrib- 
 uted to the erection of the handsome monu- 
 ment which stands over his dust in the old
 
 The Making of a Province. 105 
 
 graveyard at St. John's. No claim is made by 
 anyone that he was a faultless man, nor even 
 that he could have taken the highest place in 
 the highest sphere, but considering his oppor- 
 tunities and the lateness of the hour in his life 
 when he came, without any experience what- 
 soever, into the new career of politics, John 
 Norquay's name stands as that of one of the 
 most remarkable men we have yet seen in 
 Canada. 
 
 Beside Mr. Norquay for some years in public 
 life stood another of the native-born, the Hon. 
 A. M. Sutherland, a brother of the young man 
 who was shot by one of Kiel's spies during the 
 first rebellion, as already recorded. One of my 
 first recollections of Sutherland goes back to a 
 day at the Kildonan school in 1870, when a boy 
 came over to the icy play -ground and said, 
 " Aleck Sutherland has come to attend school." 
 When the bell rang and the school assembled 
 we saw, with the admiring gaze of small boys, 
 a powerfully built, broad-shouldered, athletic 
 and handsome man, who had come back to 
 school after years of absence with the view 
 of receiving higher education and going on to 
 the legal profession. And so in that school, in 
 Manitoba College and in Toronto University he 
 pursued his studies to graduation, and in due
 
 106 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 time was admitted to the practice of law in 
 Winnipeg. During his law studies he ran for 
 the Local Legislature in Kildonan, his birth- 
 place, was elected and re-elected, holding the 
 seat till his death in 1884, and in the meantime 
 occupying the posts of Attorney-General and 
 Provincial Secretary with marked success. His 
 most outstanding characteristic was a manly 
 straightforwardness which made him a universal 
 favorite, a fair, if forcible opponent, and a factor 
 in a political contest that no one could ignore. 
 His untimely death cut short what would doubt- 
 less have been a notable career, and the letters 
 from all quarters that poured in upon his sor- 
 rowing parents, to the size of a small volume, 
 were an index of the esteem in which he was 
 held far and wide. 
 
 At the time of the death of Mr. Sutherland, 
 John MacBeth, an almost inseparable personal 
 friend, held the position of Clerk of the Execu- 
 tive Council, which he unselfishly resigned at 
 the call of his leader, Mr. Norquay, to contest 
 the constituency of Kildonan, he being also a 
 native of that parish. He was elected for the 
 unexpired term, and returned again at the 
 following election, holding the seat till a redis- 
 tribution took place, when he, with equal loyalty 
 and unselfishness, retired in favor of Mr.
 
 The Making of a Province. 107 
 
 Norquay, who contested the new division. His 
 warmth of heart completely disarmed the per- 
 sonal enmity of his bitterest political opponents, 
 so that when the news of his death, which took 
 place in October, 1897, reached Manitoba, there 
 were found amongst his most sincere mourners 
 many to whom he had stood diametrically 
 opposed on many a hotly contested political 
 battlefield. 
 
 In the history of every country there are 
 found the names of some who have apparently 
 taken but a small part in public affairs, and are 
 soon forgotten in the rush of events, but who, 
 nevertheless, formed an important link in the 
 chain of the country's progress ; and as I look 
 back over the death-roll of Manitoba, the some- 
 what obscure name of F. H. Francis appears as 
 one occupying this unique place. Mr. Francis 
 was an Englishman by birth, an educated and 
 cultured man, and a fluent speaker as far as 
 delicate health permitted. When Mr. Norquay 
 resigned the premiership in favor of his 
 colleague, Dr. Harrison, the latter took into his 
 Cabinet as representative of the French element, 
 Mr. Burk, a merchant at St. Charles, who 
 offered himself for re-election in the constitu- 
 ency of St. Francois Xavier. To oppose him 
 with all the Government prestige and patronage
 
 108 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 at his back seemed a forlorn hope, but the then 
 Opposition persuaded Mr. Francis to make the 
 effort. It was in Mr. Francis' favor that he was 
 equally at home in speaking English or French, 
 and that as a merchant within the constituency 
 he personally knew nearly all the electors. It is 
 
 HON. F. H. FRANCIS. 
 
 almost certain that he was the only man at that 
 time who could gain sufficient support from the 
 different elements to defeat Mr. Burk, as he did, 
 to the great surprise of the Government. 
 
 By that defeat the Harrison Government was 
 overturned, the present Greenway administra- 
 tion took office, and ere long the famous school
 
 The Making of a Province. 109 
 
 question, which changed the political face of 
 all Canada, came into being. I have had many 
 conversations with people who took part in that 
 election, but there seems to be a great diverg- 
 ence of opinion as to what actually took place 
 in regard to this special matter. It appears 
 certain that for some reason or other the 
 Harrison party assured the electors that if the 
 Greenway party succeeded the French Roman 
 Catholic Separate Schools would be abolished, 
 and as to what the Greenway party said in reply 
 there is remarkable lack of unanimity. What 
 really took place during the election is matter 
 of controversy, but not many days elapsed 
 thereafter before Mr. Joseph Martin, the 
 Attorney-General in the new administration, 
 announced the intention of the Government 
 to abolish Separate Schools and inaugurate 
 a national system, which was accordingly done 
 by the now famous Act of 1890. The St. 
 Francois Xavier election, which was won by 
 Mr. Francis, was the pivotal point in the whole 
 matter. 
 
 Another of Mr. Francis's achievements was 
 the building of the Deaf and Dumb Institute, 
 now one of the best equipped institutions in 
 the Province. At an early stage in the session 
 he secured a commission to take a census of
 
 110 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 the deaf and dumb in the Province, and there- 
 after, even at his own expense, secured rooms 
 and a teacher, but lived to see this work for 
 the unfortunate on which he had set his heart 
 an accomplished and successful fact. And so 
 with only a few months of political life, for 
 
 HON. JOSEPH MARTIN, Q.C. 
 
 which he had no special love, Mr. Francis was 
 able to bring about changes with results of 
 extraordinarily far-reaching character. Other 
 names of those who took part in the formative 
 period of our history readily occur, but of these 
 I have little personal reminiscence, while any 
 detailed sketches of our living statesmen on 
 both sides of politics are omitted for . obvious 
 reasons.
 
 The Making of a Province. Ill 
 
 Amongst the Dominion statesmen who have 
 gone from us the name of the late Sir John 
 Schultz survives with the foremost by reason of 
 his commanding ability and his close connection 
 with the most stirring events of our history. 
 What we have already written in regard to him 
 will give some idea of his striking appearance, 
 his loyalty, his indomitable will and courage. 
 But we would be giving an imperfect portrait 
 of him did we not cause him to stand out in the 
 memory of the country he loved as a man of 
 culture and refinement as well as of courage and 
 strength. As a public speaker he excelled by 
 reason of his perfect coolness, his musical, well- 
 modulated voice, his choice language and clear- 
 headed statesmanship. As a member of the 
 House of Commons he exerted great influence 
 on all legislation affecting this country, and did 
 much to direct the attention of Canada to the 
 great domain now being opened up in the far 
 North- West. The knighthood conferred upon 
 him was a fitting recognition of the perils and 
 -sufferings he had undergone in the country's ser- 
 vice, to the complete ruin of a once splendid 
 constitution. While Lieutenant-Governor of 
 Manitoba he did signal service in the way of 
 inculcating lessons of patriotism amongst the 
 school children of the Province, as well as by 
 throwing the full weight of his influence on the
 
 112 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 side of temperance and other moral reforms. 
 In private life he was courtly and graceful, 
 considerate of the comfort and feeHngs of those 
 he met, and from an abundant store of informa- 
 tion always a ready and interesting conver- 
 sationalist. From intimate intercourse with him 
 in the closing years of his life I was given to 
 feel that he was realizing to the full the earnest- 
 
 o 
 
 ness of life with all its opportunities, and the 
 solemnity of being called upon to exert an 
 influence on one's day and generation. 
 
 Back somewhat farther in the history of the 
 West we find the name of the late Hon. James 
 McKay, of Silver Heights, as one who, in the 
 interests of Canada, wielded a marked influence 
 on the country when it was passing from the 
 old to the new. He was what we call a Scotch 
 half-breed, his father a Scotchman who had 
 taken a share in one of the Sir John Franklin 
 expeditions, and his mother having the blood 
 of the French and the Cree in her veins. As I 
 remember James McKay, in the last decade of 
 his life, he was a man of immense size and 
 weight, but his width of shoulder and general 
 strength were so extraordinary that he seemed 
 to carry himself lightly enough. From early 
 custom on the plains he always wore moccasins, 
 and I have seen somewhere a note by a traveller 
 who met him in the corridor of a hotel, and
 
 The Making of a Province. 113 
 
 who could not help contrasting the soft footfall 
 of the magnificently massive man with the 
 noisy step of some fussy little body who passed 
 with creaking boots at the same time. McKay 
 was a member of some of the early Cabinets, 
 and afterwards Speaker of the Legislative 
 Council in Manitoba, but his contribution to the 
 national history was not made so much in legis- 
 lative halls as out on his native prairies in 
 connection with the treaties arranged between 
 the Government and the Indians all over the 
 West. He knew the Indians and they knew 
 him, hence he became a medium of communica- 
 tion, ensuring the conclusion of treaties wise, 
 humane and lasting. The Dominion will never 
 wholly realize how much of the comparative 
 peace she has enjoyed on the vast plains of the 
 West she owes to the statesmanship of Gov- 
 ernors Morris and Laird, aided by such men as 
 James McKay, the Revs. John McKay, George 
 McDougall, Father Lacombe, and others whom 
 the Indians loved and trusted. The last time I 
 recall seeing James McKay was during Lord 
 Dufferin's visit to this country in 1877, when in 
 Deer Park, near his own place, McKay was 
 master of ceremonies in a reception to the 
 Governor -General which took the form of a 
 wild-west entertainment. McKay had a buffalo
 
 114 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 herd there, with broncho-breakers from the 
 frontier, and as the massive man drove his 
 famous cream horse here and there to regulate 
 matters, the Governor-General perhaps realized 
 the peculiar value of having such men to stand 
 between the old life and the new a fact to 
 
 REV. GEORGE M 'DOUG ALL. 
 
 which he made reference afterwards in many a 
 public address. Through the action of a limited 
 number of them, many people think of the 
 name " half-breed " only in connection with 
 western rebellions, whereas the real history 
 shows that the presence of men with Indian 
 blood in their veins has been a most important 
 factor in the peaceful making of the West into 
 a part of Canada.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 CONTACT WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD. 
 
 FROM the earliest times the question of com- 
 munication with the outside world had been a 
 burning problem. The first settlers, who had 
 begun their isolation by failing to hear of 
 Waterloo for long months after that famous 
 battle took place, had become more or less 
 reconciled to living "far from the madding 
 crowd's ignoble strife." These pioneers grew 
 content with the bi-annual trip to York Factory 
 for merchandise and mail, and with the commerce 
 and communication that percolated through the 
 western States. They were not quite so solitary 
 as the Hudson's Bay Company's officer at a 
 remote point, who received his copies of the 
 London Times once a year with the annual 
 packet, and who began always at the farthest 
 back number and read right through to get 
 abreast of events, though even then he left off 
 about a year behind. But while the condition 
 115
 
 116 The Malting of the Canadian West. 
 
 of the first settlers was, soon after their arrival, 
 a little better than his, it was not wholly 
 satisfactory to the growing colony on the Red 
 River, and especially was it unsatisfactory to 
 those who in the sixties began to come more 
 rapidly into the settlement. Hence, as soon as 
 the rebellion had quieted down, people began 
 to look around for inlets for population and 
 merchandise and outlets for produce. The old 
 steamboat, flat-bottomed and stern- wheeled, was 
 one of the prized institutions of the time. It 
 ran from near the " head waters " in the western 
 States down the Red River to Fort Garry, and 
 on rare occasions down past the lower settlement 
 to Lower Fort Garry. These latter occasions 
 were red-letter days for the community : schools 
 were dismissed while the boat was passing, and 
 grown-up people gathered on the banks, greet- 
 ing her with shotgun salutes, and eliciting 
 responses from the boat whistle, to the half- 
 terror, half-delight of the children. When 
 merchants began to open stores in some num- 
 bers on the present site of Winnipeg, the 
 advent of " the first boat " after the long winter 
 was the goal to which the hopes and the long- 
 ings of people most turned. The merchant of 
 to-day who has "just sold out," but assures the 
 customer that he has some of the desired goods
 
 Contact with the Outside World. 117 
 
 " on the way," is distinctly of the same genus 
 as the ancient and veracious merchants of 
 Winnipeg, who invariably asserted concerning 
 everything that they did not have on hand, 
 that " it would be in on the first boat." Some 
 mathematical genius, who perhaps desired to 
 keep his mind engaged in arithmetical gym- 
 nastics during the long winter, made much 
 inquiry for goods, keeping note of the stereo- 
 typed reply, and towards spring gave in miles 
 what he considered the dimensions of " the first 
 boat" would be if the promises of the merchants 
 had any tangible foundation. 
 
 One of the first indications we had of swifter 
 communication with the outside world was the 
 erection of telegraph poles and lines across our 
 farms in the early seventies. The proceedings 
 were more or less shrouded with that mystery 
 and occultness which provokes the inquiry of 
 boys ; and like the man who, seeing the electric 
 light for the first time, wondered " how they 
 could get such light from a hairpin in a bottle," 
 we used to wonder how men sent messages on 
 those wires twisted round a " bottle " at intervals. 
 We tried to examine as far as possible, and 
 although warned as to the danger of meddling 
 with the strange machinery, some boy of sure 
 eye and hand would knock one of the " bottles "
 
 118 The Making of the Canadian tfest. 
 
 off occasionally ; but it refused to yield up the 
 secret of telegraphy, and replacing it, we would 
 take our seats upon the fence and watch whether 
 any of the daring birds that took their places 
 on the wires would be " shot " by the passing 
 telegrams. 
 
 LORD DUFFERIN. 
 
 By degrees railroads pushed their way west- 
 ward through the States to the boundary line, 
 and the Pembina branch of the Canadian Pacific 
 Railway was built to connect with Winnipeg in 
 1878. The first spikes in this road were driven 
 in September, 1877, by the Governor- General 
 and the Countess of Dufferin, whose visit in that 
 year to the North- West marks a new era in the
 
 Contact with the Outside World. 119 
 
 history of the country. They came by way of 
 Toronto, Chicago and St. Paul, taking the last 
 stage of the journey from Fisher's Landing to 
 Fort Garry on the steamer Minnesota. They 
 were received with unbounded enthusiasm in 
 the new West, and there, as elsewhere, the tactful 
 Governor-General did much to oil the machinery 
 of Confederation and remove particles likely to 
 cause friction. They had many unique experi- 
 ences during their tour and their camping out, 
 amongst them being shooting the Grand Rapids 
 above Lake Winnipeg in a York boat, and 
 riding in a Red River cart drawn by thirty 
 garlanded oxen at Stony Mountain. The 
 speech given by Lord Dufferin at a dinner in 
 Winnipeg, before returning east, has always 
 been regarded as one of the best immigration 
 agencies the West has had, and we give a por- 
 tion of it as bearing on the subject in hand. On 
 rising Lord Dufferin said : 
 
 " Mr. Mayor, Your Honor, Ladies and Gentlemen : 
 
 " In rising to express my acknowledgments to the 
 citizens of Winnipeg for thus crowning the friendly 
 reception I have received throughout the length and 
 breadth of Manitoba by so noble an entertainment, 
 I am painfully impressed by the consideration of the 
 many respects in which my thanks are due to you
 
 120 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 and to so many other persons in the Province. From 
 our first landing on your quays until the present 
 moment, my progress through the country has been 
 one continual delight, nor has the slightest hitch or 
 incongruous incident marred the satisfaction of my 
 visit. I have to thank you for the hospitalities I 
 have enjoyed at the hands of your individual citizens, 
 as well as of individual communities for the' tasteful 
 and ingenious decorations which adorned my route 
 for the quarter of a mile of evenly-yoked oxen 
 that drew our triumphal car for the universal proofs 
 of your loyalty to the throne and to the Mother 
 Country, and for your personal good-will to Her 
 Majesty's representative. Above all, I have to thank 
 you for the evidences produced on either hand along 
 our march of your prosperous condition, of your per- 
 fect contentment, of your confidence in your future 
 homes ; for I need not tell you that to anyone in 
 my situation, smiling cornfields, cosy homesteads, the 
 joyful faces of prosperous men and women, and the 
 laughter of healthy children are the best of all 
 triumphal adornments. 
 
 " But there are other things for which I ought to 
 be obliged to you ; and first, for the beautiful weather 
 you have taken the precaution to provide us -with 
 during some six weeks of perpetual camping out, 
 for which attention I have received Lady Dufferin's 
 especial orders to render you her personal thanks 
 an attention which the phenomenon of a casual 
 waterspout enabled us only the better to appreciate;
 
 Contact witli the Outside World, 121 
 
 and lastly, though certainly not least, for not having 
 generated amongst you that fearful entity, ' a Pacific 
 Railway question ' at all events not in those dire 
 and tragic proportions in which I have encountered 
 it elsewhere. Of course, I know a certain phase of 
 the railway question is agitating even this com- 
 munity, but it has assumed the mild character of a 
 domestic rather than an inter-provincial controversy. 
 Two distinguished members, moreover, of my govern- 
 ment have been lately amongst you, and have doubt- 
 less acquainted themselves with your views and 
 wishes. It is not necessary, therefore, that I should 
 mar the hilarious character of the present festival by 
 any untimely- allusions to so grave a matter. 
 
 " Well, then, ladies and gentlemen, what am I to 
 say and do to you in return for all the pleasure and 
 satisfaction I have received at your hands ? I fear 
 there is very little that I can say, and scarcely any- 
 thing that I can do commensurate with my obliga- 
 tions. Stay! There is one thing, I think, I have 
 already done for which I am entitled to claim your 
 thanks. You are doubtless aware that a great politi- 
 cal controversy has for some time raged between the 
 two great parties of the State as to which of them is 
 responsible for the visitation of that terror of two 
 continents the Colorado bug. The one side is dis- 
 posed to assert that if their opponents had never 
 acceded to power the Colorado bug would never 
 have come to Canada. I have reason to believe, 
 however, though I know not whether any substantial
 
 122 The Malting of the Canadian West. 
 
 evidence has been adduced in support of this asser- 
 tion, that my government deny and repudiate having 
 any sort of concert or understanding with that irre- 
 sponsible invader. It would be highly unconstitu- 
 tional if I, who am bound to hold an impartial 
 balance between the contending parties of the State, 
 were to pronounce an opinion upon this momentous 
 question. But, however disputable a point may be 
 the prime and original authorship of the Colorado 
 bug, there is one fact no one will question, namely, 
 that to the presence of the Governor-General in 
 Manitoba is to be attributed the sudden, total, other- 
 wise unaccountable, and, I trust, permanent disap- 
 pearance, not only from this province, but from the 
 whole North- West, of the infamous and unmention- 
 able 'hopper,' whose visitations in the past have 
 proved so distressing to the agricultural interests of 
 the entire region, 
 
 " But apart from being the fortunate instrument 
 of conferring this benefit upon you, I fear the only 
 further return in my power is to assure you of my 
 great sympathy with you in your endeavors to do 
 justice to the material advantages with which your 
 Province has been so richly endowed by the hand of 
 Providence. From its geographical position and its 
 peculiar characteristics, Manitoba may be regarded 
 as the keystone of that mighty arch of sister prov- 
 inces which spans the continent from the Atlantic 
 to the Pacific. It was here that Canada, emerging 
 from her woods and forests, first gazed upon her
 
 Contact^with the Outside World. 123 
 
 rolling prairies and unexplored North- West, and 
 learned, as by an unexpected revelation, that her 
 historical territories of the Canadas, her eastern 
 seaboards of New Brunswick, Labrador and Nova 
 Scotia, her Laurentian lakes and valleys, lowlands 
 and pastures, though themselves more extensive than 
 half a dozen European kingdoms, were but the vesti- 
 bules and ante-chambers to that till then undreamed- 
 of Dominion, whose illimitable dimensions confound 
 the arithmetic of the surveyors and the verification 
 of the explorer. It was hence that, counting her 
 past achievements as but the preface and prelude to 
 her future exertions and expanding destinies, she 
 took a new departure, received the afflatus of a more 
 important inspiration, and felt herself no longer a 
 mere settler along the banks of a single river, but 
 the owner of half a continent, and in the magnitude 
 of her possession, in the wealth of her resources, in 
 the sinews of her material might, the peer of any 
 power on earth. In a recent remarkably witty speech 
 the Marquis of Salisbury alluded to the geographical 
 misconceptions often engendered by the smallness of 
 the maps upon which the figure of the world is 
 depicted. To this cause is probably to be attributed 
 the inadequate opinion of well-educated persons of the 
 extent of Her Majesty's North American possessions. 
 Perhaps the best way of correcting such a universal 
 misapprehension would be by a summary of the 
 rivers which flow through them, for we know that as 
 a poor man cannot afford to live in a big house, so a
 
 124 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 small country cannot support a big river. Now, to 
 an Englishman or a Frenchman, the Severn or the 
 Thame^, the Seine or the Rhone would appear con- 
 siderable streams, but in the Ottawa, a mere affluent 
 of the St. Lawrence an affluent, moreover, which 
 reaches the parent stream six hundred miles from its 
 mouth we have a river nearly five hundred and fifty 
 miles long, and three or four times as big as any of 
 them. But even after having ascended the St. Law- 
 rence itself to Lake Ontario, and pursued it across 
 lakes Erie, St. Glair, Huron and Superior to Thunder 
 Bay, a distance of one thousand five hundred miles, 
 where are we ? In the estimation of the person who 
 has made the journey, at the end of all things ; but 
 to us, who know better, scarcely at the commence- 
 ment of the great fluvial system of the Dominion, 
 for from that spot, that is to say, from Thunder Bay, 
 we are at once able to ship our astonished traveller 
 on to the Kaministiquia, a river some hundred 
 miles long. Thence, almost in a straight line, we 
 launch him upon Lake Shebandowan and Rainy 
 Lake and River, a magnificent stream three hundred 
 yards broad and a couple of hundred miles long, 
 down whose tranquil bosom he floats into the Lake 
 of the Woods, where he finds himself on a sheet of 
 water which, though diminutive as compared with 
 the inland seas he has left behind him, will probably 
 be found sufficiently extensive to make him fearfully 
 sea-sick during his passage across it. For the last 
 eighty miles, however, he will be consoled by sailing
 
 Contact with the Outside World. 125 
 
 through a succession of land-locked channels, the 
 beauty of whose scenery, while it resembles, certainly 
 excels the far-famed Thousand Islands of the St. 
 Lawrence. From this lacustrine paradise of sylvan 
 beauty we are able at once to transfer our friend to 
 the Winnipeg, a river whose existence in the very 
 heart and centre of the continent is in itself one of 
 nature's most delightful miracles, so beautiful and 
 varied are its rocky banks, its tufted islands ; so 
 broad, so deep, so fervid is the volume of its waters, 
 the extent of their lake-like expansions, and the 
 tremendous power of their rapids. At last, let us 
 suppose we have landed our protege at the town of 
 Winnipeg, the half-way house of the continent, the 
 capital of the Prairie Province, and, I trust, the 
 future 'umbilicus' of the Dominion. Having now 
 had so much of water, having now reached the home 
 of the buffalo, like Falstaff he naturally 'babbles of 
 green fields ' and careers in imagination over the 
 primeval grasses of the prairie. Not at all. Escorted 
 by Mr. Mayor and the Town Council we take him 
 down to your quay, and ask him which he will 
 ascend first, the Red River or the Assiniboine two 
 streams, the one five hundred miles long, the other 
 four hundred and eighty, which so happily mingle 
 their waters within your city limits. After having 
 given him a preliminary canter on these respective 
 rivers, we take him off to Lake Winnipeg, an inland 
 sea three hundred miles long and upwards of sixty 
 broad, during the navigation of which for many a
 
 126 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 weary hour he will find himself out of sight of land, 
 and probably a good deal more indisposed than ever 
 he was on the Lake of the Woods or even the 
 Atlantic. At the north-west angle of Lake Winni- 
 peg he hits upon the month of the Saskatchewan, 
 the gateway to the North- West, and the starting point 
 to another one thousand five hundred miles of navi- 
 gable water flowing nearly due east and west between 
 its alluvial banks. Having now reached the Rocky 
 Mountains, our 'ancient mariner,' for by this time 
 he will be quite entitled to such an appellation, 
 knowing that water cannot run up hill, feels certain 
 his aquatic experiences are concluded. He was never 
 more mistaken. We immediately launch him upon 
 the Athabasca and Mackenzie rivers, and start him 
 on a longer trip than he has yet ever taken, the navi- 
 gation of the Mackenzie River alone exceeding two 
 thousand five hundred miles. If he survives this 
 last experience, we wind up his peregrinations by 
 a concluding voyage down the Fraser River, or, 
 if he prefers it, the Thompson River, to the coast; 
 whence, having provided him with a first-class ticket 
 for that purpose, he will probably prefer getting 
 home by the Canadian Pacific. 
 
 " Now, in this enumeration, those who are 
 acquainted with the country know that, for the sake 
 of brevity, I have omitted thousands of miles of 
 other lakes and rivers which water various regions 
 of the North- West, the Qu'Appelle River, Belly River, 
 Lake Manitoba, the Winnipegosis, Shoal Lake, etc.,
 
 Contact with the Outside World. 127 
 
 along which I might have dragged, and finally exter- 
 minated, our way-worn guest. But the sketch I have 
 given is more than sufficient for my purpose ; and 
 when it is further remembered that the most of these 
 streams flow for their entire length through alluvial 
 plains of the richest description, where year after 
 year wheat can be raised without manure, or any 
 sensible diminution in its yield, and where the soil 
 everywhere presents the appearance of a highly 
 cultivated suburban kitchen-garden in England, 
 enough has been said to display the agricultural 
 richness of the territories I have referred to, and the 
 capabilities they possess of affording happy and pros- 
 perous homes to millions of the human race." 
 
 After referring to the many different nation- 
 alities composing the population of the West, to 
 the problems yet to arise, and dwelling elo- 
 quently upon the future destiny of the Dominion, 
 Lord Dufferin closed a great speech by express- 
 ing the hope that the finances of the country 
 would soon provide for the West a railway to 
 carry out the surplus produce, " which," said he, 
 " my own eyes have seen imprisoned in your 
 storehouses for want of the means of transport." 
 The Governor-General's hope in this regard soon 
 found fruition. 
 
 This was the decade when efforts were made 
 to construct a transcontinental line through
 
 1 28 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 Canadian territory by utilizing " the magnificent 
 water stretches," of which the Governor- General 
 had spoken so eloquently, and hence eastward 
 from Winnipeg beginnings were made somewhat 
 to the bewilderment of the old settlers, through 
 whose growing crops the roadway of the iron 
 horse was relentlessly pushed. The Federal 
 Government of the day felt inclined to cross the 
 Red River about twenty-two miles north of 
 Winnipeg, where the picturesque town of Selkirk 
 now stands at the head of Lake Winnipeg navi- 
 gation, but to that course it was objected that 
 crossing at Selkirk would ignore the growing 
 centre at Winnipeg, would miss the fertile plains 
 just west of that city, as well as necessitate the 
 great expense of construction over certain dis- 
 tricts north-west of Selkirk, where morasses 
 alleged to be bottomless existed. However that 
 might be, the fact is that Winnipeg eventually 
 drew the main line of the great railway through 
 her borders. Not many of us have found common 
 ground on all points with Mr. Debs, but most 
 of us will agree with him in preferring Govern- 
 ment ownership of railroads to railroad owner- 
 ship of Governments; and yet in the light of the 
 history of the time we know that it was not 
 till the Canadian Pacific Railway had passed 
 out of the immediate control of the Government
 
 Contact with the Outside World. 129 
 
 into the hands of a company that its construction 
 and operation became a success. That may be to 
 the discredit of the Government and to the credit 
 of the company, as the case may be, but I am 
 now simply stating the fact. It is true that the 
 company received from the country an enormous 
 bonus in money and lands, but it should not be 
 forgotten that they faced enormous difficulty in 
 attempting to build a road, offering the most 
 amazing engineering problems, across a vast 
 area of country at that time only partially 
 settled, and a great part of which will, so far 
 as we see, remain unsettled and non-producing 
 for all time. It was, perhaps, fortunate that 
 most of the Canadian directorate hailed from 
 the land of the saying, " a stout heart to a stey 
 brae," and few who know the way in which 
 these men pledged their private fortunes and 
 hazarded their business reputations will grudge 
 the joy that must have been theirs when one of 
 the most distinguished of their number, Sir 
 Donald A. Smith, at Craig Ellachie, in 1885, 
 drove the last spike in the band uniting oceans 
 which lave the opposite shores of Canada. In 
 fact, one cannot read the name of the place 
 amidst the great mountain ranges where that 
 notable act was done without thinking of the 
 legends of Highland seers concerning the " grey 
 9
 
 130 The Makiny of the Canadian West. 
 
 frontlet of rock" which stood in the glen of 
 Strathspey, and from whose summit the scat- 
 tered firs and wind-swept heather in war time 
 whispered to the clansmen, "Stand fast," for 
 only by the most determined steadfastness could 
 men have completed the task of which we have 
 just spoken. 
 
 It was for some time quite fashionable to 
 denounce the rapid construction of the C.P.R. as 
 conducing to the scattering of population west- 
 ward, and to say that the road should have been 
 built by easy stages, and settlement consolidated 
 in lateral directions. Apart from the fact that 
 such a process would have been oblivious of the 
 conditions upon which British Columbia entered 
 Confederation, there was only a modicum of 
 truth in the assertion that slower construction 
 of the railway would have consolidated settle- 
 ment, as early settlers who witnessed the move- 
 ment of population can testify. There seems 
 always to have been a westward moving 
 instinct in humanity, and under its influence 
 men have, from the beginning, been crowding 
 towards the setting sun. In the West, long 
 before a railway was dreamed of, I saw my 
 own kith and kin leave the Red River colony 
 to travel, amidst great difficulty, with cart- 
 trains, five hundred miles north-westward and
 
 Contact with the Outside World. 131 
 
 form a settlement there. Those who were in 
 the country at the time know that during the 
 construction of the C. P. R. emigrants left its 
 trains at the various termini, and, loading their 
 effects on " prairie schooners," pushed on, leaving 
 good land unoccupied to the right hand and to 
 the left. 
 
 For several years the Canadian Pacific Rail- 
 way was the only railroad traversing the 
 prairies west of Winnipeg. Then the Port- 
 age, Westbourne and North- Western (now the 
 
 o * 
 
 Manitoba and North- Western) Railway branched 
 off from the Canadian Pacific Railway at Port- 
 age la Prairie, and took its way over the north- 
 western part of the Province, heading for Prince 
 Albert on the North Saskatchewan. From this 
 road, in turn, there was built last year, begin- 
 ning at Gladstone, the Lake Dauphin Railway, 
 which strikes northward to the fertile areas in 
 the direction of Lake Dauphin and Lake Win- 
 nipegosis, and which may become a route to the 
 northern seaboard. Down through the beauti- 
 ful districts of south-western Manitoba two 
 lines of railway run from Winnipeg, tapping 
 one of the richest grain districts of the West, 
 also the soft coal deposits of the Estevan region; 
 while north and north-westward short branches 
 run to Stonewall and Selkirk. From the south
 
 132 The, Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 the Northern Pacific Railway (the first to enter 
 the field as a rival of the Canadian Pacific Rail- 
 way) and the Great Northern Railway enter 
 through the States, and over the road of the 
 former the Grand Trunk Railway, eager for 
 its share of western trade, is now running 
 special colonist trains into Winnipeg. The 
 Northern Pacific has also pushed westward, 
 by two branches from Winnipeg, to Brandon 
 and Portage la Prairie respectively. From 
 Chater, on the Canadian Pacific Railway, the 
 North- West Central Railway goes northward 
 to Hainiota. Away out on its line towards the 
 coast the Canadian Pacific Railway sends out 
 offshoots in many directions. From Brandon 
 a line runs south into the Souris district ; from 
 Regina a line goes to Prince Albert ; from 
 Calgary one strikes north-westward through 
 the Red Deer country to Edmonton. Southward 
 from the great transcontinental road a branch 
 runs from Medicine Hat to the coal mines at 
 Lethbridge, and from Calgary through the vast 
 ranching country to Fort Macleod ; while out in 
 the rich mining districts of British Columbia 
 branches tap every centre of any importance. 
 For a long time the question of railway com- 
 munication from the west to the east and south 
 was a burning one in our politics, and as one
 
 Contact with the Outside World. 133 
 
 charter after another passed by the Local 
 Legislature in Manitoba was disallowed by the 
 Dominion authorities, on the ground that the 
 Canadian Pacific Railway, while still struggling, 
 would suffer, feeling in the West rose some- 
 times to fever pitch. It was largely through a 
 fruitless fighting on behalf of Provincial rights 
 in this matter that the Norquay Government 
 fell, but since the time when, shortly after 
 the Green way Administration took office, the 
 Northern Pacific Railway entered the Province, 
 we have had, as I have shown, railroads numer- 
 ous enough. There are more to follow, and the 
 change wrought in the course of a few years 
 makes a marvellous contrast between the isola- 
 tion of the early days and our present closeness 
 of contact with all the great centres on the 
 continent.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A "BOOM" AND ANOTHER REBELLION. 
 
 ONCE communication with the outside world 
 was established, the growth of the country's life 
 in all lines was comparatively rapid. We say 
 " comparatively " in view of its former isolation, 
 but there has never been what in western 
 phrase would be called " a stampede " of immi- 
 gration towards this country as compared with 
 the influx of population other new lands have 
 sometimes received. For that reason it is 
 claimed that the conditions of life and work 
 which now obtain in the West are much more 
 solid and substantial than might be expected 
 from the age of its history, inasmuch as the 
 population came in so gradually that it has 
 been readily assimilated and made part and 
 parcel of the institutions of the land. 
 
 But though there has never been for any 
 protracted period a rush into this country, our 
 history is not altogether destitute of that 
 134
 
 HON. THOMAS GREENWAY, 
 
 Premier of Manitoba.
 
 A " Boom " and Another Rebellion. 1 35 
 
 adjunct to the progress of all young territories 
 known as a " boom " time. That particular 
 epoch came upon the West in the fall and winter 
 of 1882-83. Just what began it we cannot say, 
 except that there was general prosperity at that 
 time in many parts of the world, and that 
 capital looking for investment found its way 
 to the new land whose resources were beginning 
 to compel attention from without. 
 
 The " boom " opened in the fall of 1882, with 
 the turning over of a few lots in Winnipeg, but 
 as they went on turning over at considerable 
 advance in price, men plunged wildly in, and 
 the young city became in a few weeks a seeth- 
 ing sea of real estate brokers, speculators and 
 auctioneers. The auctioneers' rooms were a 
 sight to see, as some man with " the dangerous 
 gift of fluency " flourished a pointer with which 
 he indicated the choice lots on a map, and ex- 
 patiated on the merits of some coming Chicago 
 to the men who clambered over each other in 
 haste to buy. Fortunes were made and lost in 
 a few days' time, figures became meaningless of 
 real value, and we have known men without 
 any available money make ten thousand dollars 
 in a single evening. Fabulous prices were paid 
 for all sorts of real estate, and " towns " with 
 the slightest possible chance for the future
 
 136 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 commanded for their corner lots large figures, 
 while places long leagues from railway com- 
 munication were readily sold on the off chance 
 of some railroad heading that way. 
 
 Great harm was done to the country by all 
 this " wild-cat " speculation. The people them- 
 selves got inflated ideas and extravagant habits 
 which they afterwards tried with disastrous 
 results to maintain after the means to do so 
 had been exhausted. The effect outside told 
 terribly against the country. The many in 
 different parts of the world who were " bitten " 
 turned against the West, and denounced every- 
 thing connected with it as a swindle and fraud. 
 They themselves were to blame for the haste to 
 be rich that impelled them to make investments 
 ignorantly, but the specious accounts given 
 them by the " land sharks " were set down 
 against the country. When on a mission field 
 in southern Manitoba, in 1890, one of my people 
 received from a lady school-teacher in Ireland 
 a sum of money to pay her taxes on town lots 
 in a place called Pomeroy, and she asked on 
 what street a certain family lived, and would he 
 kindly send her a copy of the Pomeroy paper. 
 At that date, Pomeroy consisted (as it still does) 
 of a farm-house and a lot of surveyors' stakes on 
 the virgin prairie, and there was no newspaper
 
 A "Boom" and Another Rebellion. 137 
 
 published within fifteen miles of it. This state 
 of matters was gently hinted to the Irish school- 
 teacher, with the result that she, like many 
 others similarly situated, became the reverse of 
 an emigration agent for Manitoba. But the 
 " boom " drew widespread attention to the coun- 
 try, and scattered people far and wide over it 
 westward towards the Rocky Mountains, and 
 north-westward along the valleys of the great 
 Saskatchewan. New territories with ever- 
 growing autonomy were carved out on the 
 prairies, with central points such as Regina, 
 Calgary, Edmonton, Prince Albert, Battleford 
 and other now thriving communities. 
 
 When Canada first took over the great North- 
 West Territory, only a corner out of its vast 
 area had been organized into a province, and 
 called Manitoba; but in 1872 an Act was passed 
 in Ottawa providing for the government of 
 the unorganized territory by the Lieutenant- 
 Governor of Manitoba and a council appointed 
 by the federal authorities. 
 
 The members of this first Council, gazetted in 
 January, 1873, are herewith given : Hons. M. A. 
 Girard, Donald A. Smith, Henry J. Clarke, 
 Patrice Breland, Alfred Boyd, John Schultz, 
 Joseph Dubuc, A. G. B. Bannatyne, William 
 Fraser, Robert Hamilton and William Christie.
 
 138 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 To these were afterwards added : Hons. James 
 McKay, Joseph Royal, Pierre Delorrne, W. R. 
 Bown, W. N. Kennedy, John H. McTavish and 
 William Tait. This Council, presided over by 
 Lieutenant-Governor Morris, of Manitoba, did 
 exceedingly important service in trying times, 
 and paved the way for fuller organization. 
 
 Acts were shortly afterwards passed by the 
 Dominion Parliament, establishing the Mounted 
 Police force and making rules for the regulation 
 of trade, notably for the suppression of liquor 
 selling, the Territories being put practically 
 under prohibition, in order to keep liquor out of 
 the reach of the inflammable and easily excited 
 Indian population. Treaties had been made 
 with the Indians far and wide, and such was 
 the fairness with which the Government treated 
 them, and such was the influence of the Mounted 
 Police, that when the Ouster massacre and similar 
 events were taking place south of the boundary, 
 on the north all was peace and comparative 
 quietness. 
 
 In 1875 an Act for the fuller organization 
 and government of the North- West Territories 
 was introduced by the Hon. Alex. Mackenzie, 
 and came into force in October, 1876, the Hon. 
 David Laird being appointed the first lieutenant- 
 governor, aided by a small Oouncil consisting
 
 A " Boom " and Another Rebellion. 
 
 139 
 
 of Stipendiary Magistrates McLeod, Ryan, Rich- 
 ardson and Major Irvine (N.-W. M. P.), A. E. 
 Forget, Secretary of the Council ; M. St. John, 
 Sheriff. The position of Governor Laird and 
 his Council was not an easy one, as the chang- 
 ing conditions, the disappearance of the buffalo 
 
 HON. EDGAR DEWDNKY. 
 
 and other means of support, were throwing 
 upon the Governor the burden of caring for and 
 arranging about the future of almost the entire 
 native population of Indians and half-breeds. 
 
 Gov. Laird was succeeded in the governorship 
 by Hon. Edgar Dewdney, in 1881. The Terri- 
 tories were divided into local electoral districts,
 
 140 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 with a legislative assembly meeting at Regina, 
 and into Dominion constituences, with the privi- 
 lege of sending four members to the House of 
 Commons. The whole territory was divided 
 into judicial districts, with experienced and able 
 jurists at the head of each ; and the vast domain 
 was becoming the prosperous home of thousands 
 when a second rebellion broke out in 1885, and 
 for a time checked the progress by disturbing 
 the peace of the land. 
 
 Just what gave rise to the North -West rebel- 
 lion is perhaps more than anyone can definitely 
 say. Political gladiators have fought the ques- 
 tion over and over again to no definite end, 
 and probably the great parties have their own 
 opinion in the matter to this day, though they 
 may be chary about telling all they know. It 
 appears certain that the French half-breeds who 
 were settled on the south branch of the Saskat- 
 chewan River (many of them being the same, 
 or of the same, families as those concerned in 
 the Riel rebellion of '69) were determined to 
 hold to the old system of long narrow farms 
 fronting on the river, as against the rec- 
 tangular, or "square," survey proposed by the 
 Government, which threatened to break up the 
 homes they had built and overturn the old 
 social life fostered by contiguous residence ; and
 
 A "Boom" and Another Rebellion. 141 
 
 it seems also tolerably clear that many of the 
 settlers had been waiting an extraordinarily 
 long time for their land patents and scrip. 
 These things were sufficient to unsettle the 
 easily ruffled and somewhat turbulent half- 
 breed element, and once anything like rebellion 
 was contemplated, the aid of their duskier breth- 
 ren all. over the great plains was confidently 
 expected. 
 
 The local authorities seem to have been singu- 
 larly oblivious of the excitement that was afoot, 
 and of the meetings that were being held for 
 the redress of the wrongs alleged. They do not 
 seem to have kept those at the seat of federal 
 government properly informed as to the true 
 state of matters at the scene of the discontent, 
 nor of the important fact that many of the 
 white settlers in the region sympathized with 
 the malcontents at the outset, though depre- 
 cating the use of any but constitutional means 
 for redress. But it is doubtful whether the 
 discontent that seethed under the surface would 
 ever have burst into active rebellion had not 
 the agitators sent for Louis Kiel, who since his 
 first escapade had been living in the United 
 States, and who at the time he was sent for 
 was engaged in the quiet work of school-teach- 
 ing in Montana. The malcontents felt that,
 
 142 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 with his energetic personality at their head, 
 they could secure all the rights they claimed, 
 and so despatched a deputation asking him to 
 come and lead them in their struggle. The 
 reply of Kiel was exceedingly characteristic of 
 the man, being a mixture of the egotist, the 
 mercenary and the patriot, and in June, 1884, 
 he accompanied the deputation back to the 
 North- West. The very presence of the man on 
 the ground should have put the local authorities 
 on the alert. But either the local powers were 
 making light of the situation, or else the pigeon- 
 holes at Ottawa were receiving unread petitions, 
 and so far as we can gather, we incline to the 
 former as the more correct opinion. Then as 
 anyone who knew Kiel should have expected, 
 the inevitable sequel came. He was a man easily 
 excited and inordinately vain ; hence, .as he felt 
 the wine of a new movement in his system, and 
 became intoxicated with the success of his fiery 
 appeals to the meetings that assembled, he broke 
 out into amazing and extravagant pretensions. 
 He openly separated from the Church of Rome, 
 and such was his influence over the French half- 
 breeds that he drew them from allegiance to 
 their priests. He added David to his name, 
 and called himself " Louis David Kiel exovede," 
 in allusion to both his kingly and his priestly
 
 A "Boom" and Another Rebellion. 143 
 
 claims ; he established a Government with 
 headquarters at Batoche, arrested whom he 
 pleased, plundered the stores around, and sent 
 word to Major Crozier, who commanded the 
 Mounted Police at Fort Carlton, the nearest 
 post, to surrender at once. This was rushing 
 matters with a vengeance, and it is not sur- 
 prising that, on the 19th of March, Major 
 Crozier, hearing of these things, sent word to 
 Prince Albert for help, and shortly afterwards 
 despatched Thomas McKay, one of the Prince 
 Albert volunteers, to remonstrate with Kiel. 
 
 The McKay family did signal service for the 
 country during the rebellion, there being no less 
 than five brothers of them engaged in its sup- 
 pression. Being natives of the country they 
 were thoroughly at home in camp or in saddle, 
 were deadly shots, had immense endurance and 
 unmistakable courage. One of them, George, a 
 canon in the Anglican Church, accompanied our 
 column as chaplain and scout, and I can vouch 
 for it that he could fight as well as pray. 
 
 When Thomas McKay reached Kiel's Council 
 at Batoche, he found things at white heat, and 
 was told by Kiel that there was to be a war of 
 extermination during which " the two curses, the 
 Government and the Hudson's Bay Company," 
 and all who sympathized with them, were to be
 
 144 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 driven out of the country. " You don't know 
 what we are after," said Kiel to McKay. " We 
 want blood, blood it's blood we want." McKay, 
 barely escaping with his life from such a gory 
 atmosphere, returned to Carlton, and the next 
 day, in company with Mitchell, of Duck Lake, 
 met Nolin and Maxime Lepine (brother of 
 Ambroise Lepine, Riel s adjutant in '69-70), from 
 Riel, demanding the surrender of Fort Carlton. 
 This, of course, was refused, and in a few days 
 rebellion was rampant with a madman at its 
 head. 
 
 For -many weeks previous Riel had been 
 sending his runners amongst the Indians, and 
 counted on a general uprising of the tribes, 
 assuring them that the Government could easily 
 be overthrown and that the whole country 
 would be theirs again. We can forgive Riel for 
 a good many things, but to justify his incite- 
 ment of the Indians to murder and rapine is 
 more than any reasonable person cares to 
 undertake. As a rule the Indians were perfectly 
 satisfied on the splendid reserves the Govern- 
 ment had provided for them, were well cared 
 for and taught, but the savage instinct was still 
 strong in them, and to let them loose on defence- 
 less homes with all the horrors of the scalping- 
 knife and the torture, seems to take the man
 
 A "Boom" and Another Rebellion. 145 
 
 who is responsible for it out of the reach of 
 ordinary consideration, and puts a tongue in 
 every wound of the massacred calling for 
 justice on the foul compasser of their death. 
 
 The first actual collision took place near Duck 
 Lake, on March 26th, when Crozier, in an effort 
 to secure stores from that point, met Gabriel 
 Dumont, the redoubtable fighter, in command of 
 a large force of half-breeds and Indians. A flag 
 of truce was displayed by Dumont's party, but 
 while parleying with the leaders Crozier saw 
 that the rebels were surrounding his force of 
 police and Prince Albert volunteers, and he im- 
 mediately gave the order to fire. He, however, 
 was directly in front, and his men held the fire 
 of their 9-pounder on that account, though the 
 gallant officer told them afterwards that they 
 should have obeyed orders and shot him, if need 
 be, with the enemy. 
 
 Firing became general, and after an hour 
 Crozier and his men, who had acted throughout 
 with the utmost coolness, were forced to retire 
 before superior numbers, leaving twelve dead 
 on the field and taking with them twenty -five 
 wounded. They arrived at Fort Carlton, where 
 they were joined two days afterwards by Col. 
 Irvine, with eighty police and thirty more 
 volunteers from plucky Prince Albert, and as 
 10
 
 146 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 there was no advantage in holding Fort Carl- 
 ton, they retired from it to Prince Albert, 
 where the greater portion of them remained 
 till the close of the rebellion. 
 
 For this inaction the Mounted Police, than 
 whom no more gallant force exists in the world, 
 have been much criticised by ignorant people ; 
 but those who know that without them the 
 most populous community in that part of the 
 West would have been at the mercy of the now 
 savage and excited enemy, honor the brave men 
 who repressed their desire to be at the front, 
 and loyally did less brilliant but not less 
 important duty in defending the otherwise 
 defenceless homes of the district. 
 
 Gabriel Dumont was certainly the most 
 striking figure amongst the rebels in all the 
 fighting which followed the battle at Duck 
 Lake. He was living quietly enough upon his 
 farm on the South Saskatchewan when the 
 agitation began, but from his noted prowess and 
 activity in the conflicts and hunts on the great 
 plains in former years, became at once the 
 acknowledged military leader of the rebel force. 
 He was a man of magnificent physique and 
 vast strength, a daring rider, a deadly shot, 
 and, withal, possessed of undoubted dash and 
 courage. It is not generally known that he
 
 GABRIEL DUMONT, 
 
 Leader of rebel forces in second Riel Rebellion, 1885.
 
 A "Boom" and Another Rebellion. 147 
 
 was wounded at Duck Lake by a bullet which 
 plowed along his scalp and felled him, stunned 
 and bleeding, to the ground. There are some 
 who say that after that experience he was more 
 cautious about exposing himself. The incident, 
 however, could not have materially affected his 
 nerve, for it is well known to some that but for 
 the interference of Kiel he would, on a night of 
 cold and rain, have led a " forlorn hope " in a 
 midnight raid on Middleton's camp just before 
 the fight at Fish Creek. How that raid would 
 have eventuated it is useless to conjecture, but 
 one who has passed nights in such a camp on 
 such a night could easily see what confusion 
 would be caused by a rush that would stampede 
 the horses and produce a momentary panic. 
 From their bearing in all situations during the 
 campaign, we know that our boys would have 
 been equal to the occasion ; but from the rebel 
 standpoint Dumont's proposition stamps him as 
 a man of courage as well as of considerable 
 strategic ability.* 
 
 The news of the disaster at Duck Lake sped 
 like a flash to the hearts of the Canadian people, 
 and the one thing of value that resulted from 
 
 * No proceedings were ever taken against Dumont. He 
 left the country for a time after the rebellion, but is now a 
 peaceful resident.
 
 148 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 this wretched rebellion was the manner in which 
 the spontaneous rush to arms manifested the 
 spirit of the nation. Procrastinating officialdom 
 had had its day. A Commission, consisting of 
 Messrs. W. P. R. Street, A. E. Forget and Roger 
 Goulet, was appointed, on the 30th March, to 
 investigate the claims of the half-breeds, and 
 when the Government, who never before seemed 
 to be fully seized of the situation, started in 
 vigorously to suppress the uprising, they found 
 the people of all parties more than ready to 
 second their efforts. The alertness with which 
 the people answered the bugle's call to arms 
 reminds one of the incident related by Scott in 
 " The Lady of the Lake," when in answer to the 
 shrill whistle of Roderick Dim the sides of Ben 
 Ledi swarmed with Highland clansmen, as 
 
 " Every tuft of broom gave life 
 To plaided warrior armed for strife. " 
 
 Scarcely had the story of Duck Lake reached 
 the seat of Government at Ottawa, when from 
 the frowning fortress of old Quebec to Halifax 
 away down by the sea, from the populous cities 
 and backwoods farms of Ontario to the scattered 
 ranches at the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains, 
 hosts of armed men sprang up to defend the 
 laws and liberties of the land they loved. As
 
 A "Boom" and Another Rebellion. 149 
 
 we look into the situation we do not wonder at 
 this swift response to the country's call. There 
 was something peculiarly touching and pathetic 
 about the death on that ill-fated field of the 
 young men from Prince Albert who had gone 
 outside the ordinary routine of their life to help 
 the authorities maintain order in the country. 
 A friend in Prince Albert said to me, on the way 
 back after the rebellion was over, "If one had 
 picked out the men we could least afford to 
 spare from the community, he would certainly 
 have included the nine who were killed at 
 Duck Lake." And so as the people of Canada 
 heard of those who fell in the prime and 
 glory of their young manhood, and thought 
 that far away from their homes and the peace- 
 ful graves of their fathers they were sleeping 
 their last long sleep, wrapped in the snow- 
 shroud of the western prairies, and that, in- 
 stead of the accents of those they loved, the 
 last sounds that had fallen upon their ears were 
 the rnad rattle of the rifle and the fierce yellings 
 of a treacherous foe, we are not surprised that 
 a great wave of mingled sorrow and wrath 
 swept over the country. 
 
 To these feelings that humanity would dic- 
 tate add those of patriotism and national pride, 
 and it is little marvel that when the uniform
 
 150 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 of the Queen was fired upon there was a mighty 
 and immediate answer to the country's call. 
 For sixty long years now the Queen has swayed 
 a gracious and commanding sceptre over an 
 empire so vast " that the beat of her morning 
 drum, following the sun and keeping company 
 with the hours, encircles the globe with one 
 continuous strain of the martial airs of Eng- 
 land." Over all this vast domain the story of 
 the Queen's life has become one of the prized 
 possessions of her subjects. Her career, so 
 strangely chequered with joy and sorrow, has 
 brought out perfect types of girlhood, wifehood 
 and motherhood, while her strong common-sense 
 has so linked her to the love and esteem of her 
 people, that we can say in truth of her what 
 Edmund Burke so vainly hoped for Marie 
 Antoinette when he said : "I thought ten thou- 
 sand swords must have leaped from their scab- 
 bards to avenge even a look that threatened her 
 with insult." 
 
 Hence we find the most strenuous action at 
 once taken by the Government, who without 
 delay sent forward General Middleton, the com- 
 mander-in-chief of the Canadian forces, to take 
 swift measures for the suppression of the 
 rebellion. 
 
 General Middleton was a man of many battle-
 
 A "Hoorn" and Another Rebellion. 151 
 
 fields, and though the North- West Rebellion 
 provided new experience in a peculiar warfare, 
 he bore himself throughout as a man of the 
 utmost coolness and courage in short, a true 
 British soldier of the best type. 
 
 He arrived in Winnipeg on the 27th of 
 
 LIEUT. -COL. OSBORNE SMITH. 
 
 March, and left that same night for the scene 
 with the 90th Rifles and the Winnipeg Field 
 Battery. Troops from all parts of Canada, 
 to the number of five or six thousand, were 
 hurrying to the front, and in the West every 
 district was furnishing a ready quota to the 
 various bodies being raised for the occasion. 
 Winnipeg and the Province of Manitoba, besides
 
 152 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 the battery, cavalry and Boulton's scouts, fur- 
 nished three infantry regiments, two of them, the 
 91st, under Col. Scott, and the 92nd (Winnipeg 
 Light Infantry), under Col. Osborne Smith, 
 being specially enlisted in a few days for the 
 suppression of the rebellion. With the latter 
 regiment I had the honor to serve, and I purpose 
 giving some personal recollections of the cam- 
 paign such as have apparently been interesting 
 to Canadian audiences at many points. 
 
 As indicated in the preface to this book, no 
 attempt is made to give a complete record of the 
 military operations of the whole force in the 
 field. One can only be in one place at a time, 
 and this volume is chiefly one of personal remin- 
 iscence; but it is hoped that the account here 
 given, as written out from notes made nightly 
 at the camp-fire, will be in some measure typical 
 of the experience of all who went to the front. 
 
 '
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CAMPAIGNING ON THE PRAIRIES. 
 
 THE regiment known as the Winnipeg Light 
 Infantry may be spoken of as one recruited out 
 of almost every nation under heaven. The main 
 body of it was made up of men enlisted in the 
 city of Winnipeg, to which the noise of tumult 
 had brought adventurers from every point of 
 the compass, many of whom hailed the rebellion 
 as a great windfall. Numbers of men just back 
 from the Gordon Relief Expedition up the Nile 
 fell readily into the ranks. Some of Indian, Irish, 
 Scotch, English, Icelandic, German, French, and 
 I know not what other extraction, were on hand, 
 and I remember two men who followed our com- 
 pany to quarters one day and forswore their 
 allegiance to the United States till the close of 
 the campaign, when, with four months' pay in 
 their pockets, they shook the dust of Canada off 
 their feet and returned to Chicago. One com- 
 pany, however, was enlisted in the old pioneer 
 153
 
 154 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 parish of Kildonan and contiguous points, from 
 the farmers there, and another was enrolled from 
 Minnedosa, a point some 150 miles distant to 
 the north-west of the city. To the Eildonan 
 company (afterwards No. 1 in the regiment) I, 
 who was a native of the parish and at that 
 time a student-at-law in Winnipeg, attached 
 myself as a full private, though in the process of 
 unaccountable events, and to my own great sur- 
 prise, I became shortly afterwards second lieu- 
 tenant. 
 
 It was significant of the times that our com- 
 pany had its barracks in a deserted "boom" 
 house, whose hardwood floors made an excellent 
 place for drill After some scant preliminary 
 training we left Kildonan, suitably farewelled, 
 on the 13th of April, to join our regiment in the 
 city. As we marched up, one of those incidents 
 common in the experience of amateur soldiers 
 occurred in passing the camp of the 9th Volti- 
 geurs of Quebec. The guard turned out and 
 presented arms, but we did not know how to 
 return the compliment, and so kept on steadily 
 as if they had not attracted our attention. 
 Fortunately, however, we happened to be march- 
 ing " at the shoulder," and I suppose that to this 
 day the 9th have no idea that it was only by 
 the merest chance in the world we did the right 
 thing at the right time.
 
 Campaigning on the Prairies. 155 
 
 On Wednesday, the loth, after being addressed 
 by Lieutenant- Governor Aikins, our regiment 
 marched to the C. P. R. station, and it was then 
 known that we were under orders for the ex- 
 treme north-west of the Territories, where the 
 Frog Lake massacre had just taken place, and 
 where the posts and settlements on the North 
 Saskatchewan were in danger from the sur- 
 rounding Indians. Soon the final farewells 
 were said for how long we knew not and 
 with many a last word and handclasp the severest 
 ordeal of all was over, and the train moved out 
 amidst the answering cheers of those going away 
 and those left behind. 
 
 Doubtless many a stalwart uniformed figure 
 was held in more than necessary military erect- 
 ness, and many a voice firm enough in command 
 was hushed lest a tell-tale tremor should reveal 
 to others the sorrow felt at seeing lost in the 
 heaving throng some dear and well-known face. 
 But such feelings, however deep and constant, 
 must be kept in check soldiers, we thought, 
 must be made of sterner stuff and so before 
 we had travelled many miles the usual gaiety of 
 spirits, the amusing story and the patriotic song 
 were in evidence, and no grim forebodings were 
 allowed to displace the enjoyment of the hour. 
 
 The car in which No. 1 (Kildonan) Company
 
 156 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 travelled was certainly a jovial one, and a good 
 deal of the mirth was at the expense of the 
 guard at the door, a man who had been enlisted 
 at the last moment from some outside point, 
 when he was barely recovered from a prolonged 
 spree, and who made grotesque efforts to spring 
 to sober attention whenever the officer of the 
 night passed through to see that all was well. 
 The judgment of our color-sergeant, at whose 
 request the man was enrolled, was amply vindi- 
 cated during the campaign, for the wild-looking 
 soldier of that first night, once beyond the reach 
 of liquor, became one of the finest marchers in 
 the regiment, and the head navigator for our 
 flat-boat flotilla on the North Saskatchewan. 
 
 Our flying special "halted" at 11 a.m. of the 
 next day at the town of Moose Jaw for break- 
 fast, and the fast from the previous afternoon, 
 together with the knowledge that we would 
 soon be beyond the reach of what is ordinarily 
 called a " square meal," led to such display of 
 appetite that, when the regiment boarded the 
 train, Moose Jaw must have somewhat resembled 
 a country just traversed by an army of locusts. 
 
 Our next stop was at Gleichen, or Crowfoot 
 Crossing, near the home of Crowfoot, the 
 redoubtable chief of the Blackfoot Indians, 
 whose reserve was near at hand. Crowfoot
 
 Campaigning on the Prairies. 157 
 
 promised to be loyal, and he kept his word ; but 
 as the spirit of rebellion was abroad at the time, 
 and young braves are easily roused, the Minne- 
 dosa Company was left here to repress any undue 
 exuberance. We saw Crowfoot several times 
 going to and from Calgary, a stern, stoical man, 
 
 CROWFOOT. 
 
 (From photograph by I'rof. Buell.J 
 
 whose will was law for his tribe, and whose 
 consistent loyalty was of great value to Canada 
 during that troublous time. 
 
 To Calgary we came on the 17th of April, 
 amid a drizzling rain and snow, but after the 
 first night the weather, which Calgarians assured 
 us was exceptional, cleared and was beautiful 
 during the remainder of our stay. Some of the
 
 158 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 prophecies made concerning Calgary have not 
 yet come true, but it is, nevertheless, one of the 
 most perfect sites for a city in the west. We 
 shall not soon forget the view from the great 
 mound across the Elbow River in those spring 
 evenings. The town, on its picturesque upland, 
 lay peacefully quiet at the close of the day. 
 Around it twined the glistening coils of the Bow 
 and the Elbow rivers, which pour their united 
 waters into the great Saskatchewan, while away 
 to the west the Rockies, mighty monuments of 
 the Creator's power, reared their snowy peaks 
 against the purpling sky, resembling the vast 
 tents of some giant host rising majestically 
 above the plain. 
 
 Calgary, on its more material side, seemed 
 that year the very paradise of cowboys, horse- 
 men and scouts, for the place was full of the 
 great rough, good- hearted fellows, fairly bristling 
 with arms. Belts of cartridges round the waist 
 and slashed across the chest held supplies for 
 the Winchester rifle and Colt's revolver ; great 
 leather leggings, called "schaps," bowie-knives 
 here and there about the person, huge jingling 
 spurs, immense grey hats turned up at one side, 
 " the cavalry swagger," and somewhat ferocious 
 language were the prevailing characteristics. 
 These men were magnificent riders, more at
 
 Campaigning on the Prairies. 159 
 
 home in the saddle than on carpets, and as they 
 had the run of the town, the sight of a number 
 of them, with their wild horses at full speed 
 along the principal streets, was quite common. 
 
 Most of us who had been brought up in the 
 West knew something by experience of broncho- 
 breaking, but it was worth while going to the 
 corrals to see the broncho broken for use in our 
 column. The horse, perhaps five or six years old, 
 had never been handled except to be branded 
 when a foal. He was dexterously lassoed, and (as 
 the whole process is one of breaking rather than 
 training) if necessary choked into submission. 
 Sometimes the headstall was fastened with a 
 blindfold, the great saddle was thrown on and 
 tightly " cinched," then a cowboy leaped into 
 the seat, locked his spurs and yelled " Let her 
 loose !" There was a scattering of those holding 
 the broncho, and a retrograde movement quickly 
 executed on the part of the spectators as the 
 trouble began. Sometimes the broncho, dazed 
 for a few moments, stood with hunched-up back 
 or walked quietly away for a few yards, then 
 suddenly "exploded" into the air with terrific 
 violence, and came down facing the opposite 
 direction, with a continuation of such "bucking" 
 as only a well-regulated broncho understands. 
 The rider, however, was generally what west-
 
 160 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 erners call a " stayer," and after a half-hour 
 or so the broncho gave up and was pronounced 
 " broken" ; but we would not advise any of our 
 tender-foot friends to mount the " hurricane 
 deck" of a broncho, even though he may be 
 broken enough for a cowboy's use. 
 
 Orders shortly came that our column was to 
 march northward to the relief of Edmonton 
 and the districts on the North Saskatchewan, 
 which were being terrorized by Big Bear and 
 his tribe, a portion of whom had massacred 
 nine men at Frog Lake on the 2nd of April. 
 Word, too, had just reached us of the fight at 
 Fish Creek between Middleton and Kiel, with 
 heavy loss to our comrades. 
 
 The Fish Creek fight was evidently planned 
 by Gabriel Dumont as a surprise for our troops, 
 and it certainly did come upon them with 
 unexpected suddenness. It would be utterly 
 wrong to say, as some have said, that Middleton 
 walked into a trap, for he had his mounted 
 infantry and Boulton's scouts well spread out 
 in front in proper form. But men who were in 
 the advance guard of the 90th have told me 
 that the first indication of the enemy's pres- 
 ence they had was in seeing several of the 
 scouts in front fall from their saddles under the 
 deadly fire of the half-breeds concealed in the
 
 Campaigning on the Prairies. 161 
 
 bluffs. The main body of the volunteers was 
 soon brought up to support the scouts, and the 
 fighting became general. A ravine near by 
 afforded almost perfect cover to the enemy, and 
 from it a hot fusilade was poured upon the 
 advancing troops. Dumont's men also set the 
 prairie on fire so that the smoke would confuse 
 the volunteers, but they put out the fire and 
 advanced steadily, adopting the enemy's tactics 
 and taking cover as much as possible. After 
 some hours the half-breeds, except a few in the 
 ravine, were dislodged from their position, and 
 as a heavy thunderstorm was beginning Middle- 
 ton decided to form camp for the night. In 
 this fight eleven of our men were killed or died 
 subsequently of wounds, and a large number 
 were wounded more or less seriously. When this 
 news reached us at Calgary, just as we were 
 under orders for the north, our letters home 
 probably took on a final farewell flavor, and, 
 withal, contained bequests of our worldly goods 
 as holograph wills. 
 
 When we marched out towards Edmonton on 
 the afternoon of the 27th we had but 165 
 men of our own regiment, the rest being on 
 detachment duty, but we had two small 
 bodies of Mounted Police and scouts under 
 command of Major Steele, Major Hatton and 
 11
 
 162 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 Capt. Oswald. About six miles out we crossed 
 the Bow River by fording, and this was one of 
 the first of many picturesque scenes on our 
 route. The river was wide and swift-flowing, 
 the water where we crossed on the stony 
 bottom being from two to four feet deep. The 
 loaded wagons, with four and six horses or 
 mules driven by skilful though somewhat 
 profane teamsters, the red-coated soldiers, the 
 Mounted Police in scarlet and gold, and the 
 picturesque corps of scouts, all passing through 
 the water together, made a view worthy of 
 being placed on canvas. Occasionally the 
 scene would be spoiled by a mule throwing 
 himself down in the water, but the free use of 
 the black-snake whip, with the freer use of 
 language not to be repeated here, overcame 
 the obstinacy of the animal. A few miles 
 farther out we camped for the night. A mar- 
 vellously beautiful night it was, and I shall not 
 soon forget how still and white the encampment 
 looked under the splendor of the moon as it 
 shone upon the tents grouped together on the 
 wide prairie. It was probably on such a night 
 that the young shepherd watching his flocks 
 on the uplands of Canaan saw the infinite 
 stairways of Stardust that " sloped, through 
 darkness up to God," and exclaimed, " When I
 
 Campaigning on the Prairies. 163 
 
 consider the heavens, the work of thy fingers, 
 the moon and the stars which thou hast 
 ordained, what is man that thou art mindful 
 of him, or the son of man that thou visitest 
 him ?" Few men remain wholly unmoved under 
 a study of the starry heavens, and doubtless 
 many a sentry beneath those eloquent skies 
 night after night drank in new messages as to 
 the sublimity and goodness of God. 
 
 The next morning the strident notes of the 
 bugle-band sounded reveille at half -past four, and 
 breaking camp early we marched twenty-five 
 miles our first day. On we went with the usual 
 round of marching by day and guard by night 
 till we came to the Red Deer River, where, it 
 being high-water time, we were stopped by 
 what Adjutant Constantine (now in command 
 of the Mounted Police in the Yukon country) 
 called "a wide, swift-flowing and treacherous 
 stream." After many futile attempts a rude 
 ferry was constructed, upon which, under the 
 pilotage of Sergt. Pritchard, of No. 1 Company, 
 we all crossed in safety, and set out on our 
 march of 110 miles to Edmonton. 
 
 On May 7th we came upon the first bands of 
 Indians, numerous enough and of the Cree tribe, 
 under chiefs bearing the not very classical 
 names of Ermine-Skin, Cayote, and Bobtail.
 
 164 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 Whether these were disposed to be hostile or 
 not we did not know, but our Colonel held the 
 men in readiness for any event : and then, with 
 bayonets fixed and rifles at the slope, with band 
 playing and even' weapon exposed to view, we 
 marched through, while the Indians gathered in 
 
 INTERIOR OF H. B. CO. S PORT AT KDMOXTOX. 
 
 the woods by the roadside and gazed wonder- 
 ingly at the spectacle. 
 
 \Ve reached Edmonton on May 8th, and 
 encamped south of the town in the midst of 
 wigwams. The Indians were loyal enough now, 
 with flags displayed from the tepees, in the 
 presence of an armed force ; but the Edmonton 
 people gratefully assured us that only the
 
 Campaigning on the Prairies. 
 
 timely arrival of our column had prevented 
 repetitions of the Frog Lake massacre at many 
 points along the North Saskatchewan. At 
 Edmonton we met the commander of our 
 brigade, General Strange, who with part of that 
 plucky regiment, the 65th of Montreal, and a 
 detachment of Mounted Police under Major 
 Perry, had preceded us a few days. General 
 Strange was a retired British army officer, who 
 was living on a ranch near Calgary when the 
 rebellion broke out, and was given command of 
 our column. He had done signal and distin- 
 guished service as an officer of artillery in the 
 Indian mutiny and elsewhere, and in every 
 respect was a splendid type of the British 
 soldier. Somewhat eccentric in certain ways, 
 he was, withal, as kindly of heart as he was 
 brusque of manner, and so 'cool and courageous 
 that by the end of the campaign every man in 
 the column had personal affection for him, and 
 would have gone at his command wherever 
 men could go. On this occasion, at Edmonton, 
 General Strange made a speech complimenting 
 the men highly on the swift march they had 
 made. The speech was delivered in charac- 
 teristic soldier style, with few words, and these 
 shot out with quick emphasis, like the firing of 
 bullets. As we crossed the ferry and marched
 
 166 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 into Edmonton, we saw the picturesque town, 
 with its Hudson's Bay post, the great distribut- 
 ing point for the Company's fur-trade, rising 
 high on the north bank of the North Sas- 
 katchewan, and stretching out over considerable 
 territory. Edmonton had borne its part in the 
 " boom," and was mainly responsible for the 
 breaking of it, as some men, coming to them- 
 selves, realized how foolish they had been to 
 buy lots at an enormous figure in a place, at 
 that date, 210 miles from even a prospective 
 railway station (though it is now connected 
 by rail with the C.P.R. from Calgary). 
 
 We remained at Edmonton a few days while 
 flat-boats were being made to take us down the 
 river, and I especially remember that with the 
 lavish hand of the soldier of Epicurean philos- 
 ophy, we spent our scanty cash in buying up the 
 ancient stock of delicacies (?) from the Hudson's 
 Bay store. Dried apples and prunes, ginger 
 bread of rocky firmness, canned fruit, and such 
 like, found their way to our tents, and on these 
 unaccustomed delicacies we fared sumptuously 
 for several days. On the 14th of May we 
 embarked in open flat-boats to go down the 
 river, greatly to the dismay of our Edmonton 
 friends, who asserted that the Indians would 
 enjoy the sport of standing on the high banks
 
 Campaigning on the Prairies. 167 
 
 and " potting " us as we went by. Well do I 
 remember the first night out, when our flat- 
 boats were tied to trees and we encamped in 
 a storm, half rain, half snow, for the night, for 
 I was officer in command of the picket. The 
 twenty-five men fell in as best they could to 
 be inspected in the darkness and on the sliding 
 mud of the bank. Then we groped our way 
 through the wet bush some distance to the rear 
 of the camp, where we posted our line of sentries, 
 while the rest of the picket huddled together 
 under the dripping trees. The work of relieving 
 sentries was made difficult by the very darkness 
 of the forest ; but the slightest movement drew 
 out the hoarse challenge, and the sentry thus 
 found always gladly welcomed the relief. At 
 four o'clock we came in, roused the. camp, got 
 on board breakfastless, and moved down the 
 river in a driving snow-storm, with our clothes 
 standing upon us like icy coats of mail. On 
 the 16th we landed at Fort Victoria, which had 
 been recently looted by Big Bear and his band, 
 who were now sullenly retreating before us with 
 all the prisoners and their ill-gotten plunder. 
 
 On Sunday, the 17th, we had three church 
 services. In the morning Col. Smith, assisted 
 by Adjt. Constantine and Surgeon Penny father, 
 read the Church of England service, with the
 
 168 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 big drum for a pulpit; in the afternoon the 
 well-known Methodist minister, the Rev. John 
 McDougall, of Morley, who was with our 
 column, preached in a long building near by ; 
 while Mr. Mackenzie, the Presbyterian chap- 
 lain to the Mounted Police, became a " field 
 preacher," and conducted service in the woods 
 in the evening. 
 
 Reference already has been made to the 
 amateur drill witnessed on such an expedition 
 as this, and an incident that occurred at the 
 close of the morning service was, I fear, more 
 discussed and made more impression than the 
 service itself. It being the official church 
 parade, the whole regiment was formed up in 
 three sides of a square, facing in to the "pulpit." 
 When service was over the Colonel turned the 
 parade over for dismissal to another member of 
 the staff. This officer faced the situation, and 
 knew just enough about drill to know that he 
 should get the men back into line before giving 
 the "dismiss," but how to get them there in 
 military order was more than he could tell for 
 the life of him. But he was a man of resource, 
 and boldly went at it. " Regiment ! Tion ! Men 
 on the sides, backwards wheel." They, however, 
 had never heard such an order before and had 
 never practised circus drill, so they remained
 
 Campaigning on the Prairies. 169 
 
 motionless till Sergt.-Major (now Capt.) Lawlor, 
 a Crimean veteran, who often had to unravel 
 tangles during our campaign, came to the rescue 
 and dismissed the parade in the orthodox way. 
 
 While at Fort Victoria, in " the enemy's coun- 
 try," orders had been issued that no man should 
 leave the camp; but failing to understand the 
 full purport of this, a soldier who was an ardent 
 disciple of Izaak Walton got an old punt and 
 pushed across the river to a likely-looking creek 
 to do some fishing. His return was witnessed 
 by the Colonel, who happened to be on the 
 bank, and that officer immediately sent the ser- 
 geant of the guard (Sutherland, of No. 1 Com- 
 pany) to arrest and bring the man before him. 
 To Sutherland's surprise the "outlaw" proved 
 to be Pritchard, one of his fellow-sergeants in 
 
 * o 
 
 No. 1, who submitted good-hurnoredly to the 
 arrest, but insisted on bringing his string of fish 
 with him. The Colonel was equally surprised, 
 Pritchard being a favorite all round, and the 
 very opposite of a wilful offender; but as the 
 sergeant had been of prime service to the column 
 in crossing the Red Deer River, and as he more- 
 over gravely avowed that he had been intending 
 the best fish for the Colonel's dinner, that officer, 
 keeping his face straight with great difficulty, 
 administered a reprimand and set the offender 
 at liberty.
 
 170 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 On May the 20th we left Fort Victoria on 
 our march overland after Big Bear, who had 
 " looted " all the posts between Edmonton and 
 Battleford, and at Fort Pitt, near the scene of 
 the Frog Lake massacre, had received the sur- 
 render of Mr. W. J. McLean, the Hudson's Bay 
 officer in charge, together with all his family 
 and employees, whom he now held as prisoners. 
 To secure the release of these prisoners and to 
 break up the armed force of the Indians became 
 now the objects of our expedition, and as the 
 sequel showed, both these objects were accom- 
 plished, happily without much immediate loss 
 of life. 
 
 Various points northward were passed, such 
 as Saddle Lake (where some of the atrocities 
 had been committed, the leader in which, a giant 
 Indian named Mamanook, was shot with some 
 others by Steele's scouts a few days after this), 
 Egg Lake and Dog Rump Creek, not far from 
 Frog Lake. During these days the rain fell 
 almost incessantly ; it was a case of march- 
 ing in the mud by day and sleeping in our wet 
 clothes by night. To make matters worse, our 
 commissariat was not well supplied, and until 
 further supplies, which were being brought from 
 Edmonton, would reach us, we were on half 
 rations. It was an uncomfortable predicament
 
 Campaigning on the Prairies. 171 
 
 to be in, and I remember standing by a camp- 
 fire which the rain was like to extinguish, and 
 distinctly envying two scouts who were enjoy- 
 ing a repast of " hard tack " and black tea after 
 a day of hard riding. 
 
 On May 23rd, after a long day's march, we 
 had orders to camp on the low ground beneath 
 a ridge to avoid advertising our presence to the 
 Indians, but the place was a shaking bog, and 
 after a few vain attempts to prevent the tent- 
 poles and pegs from going through towards the 
 antipodes, Surgeon Pennyfather refused to risk 
 the health of the men by asking them to sleep 
 there, and preferred rightly to have them risk 
 their lives as targets on the ridge, where we 
 accordingly encamped. 
 
 On the following morning reveille sounded as 
 usual at 4.30, and we rose from our cheerless 
 bivouacs on the muddy ground. At 5.10 we fell 
 in amidst drenching rain and driving wind, and 
 were addressed by General Strange as follows : 
 
 " Col. Osborne Smith, officers and men of the 
 Winnipeg Light Infantry, you have marched 
 well. I know that you will stick to me, and we 
 will stick to Big Bear's trail as long as our grub 
 lasts. This is the Queen's birthday ; we have no 
 time to celebrate and can't have fireworks, but 
 let us hope we soon will have fireworks with
 
 172 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 the enemy. Boys, three cheers for the Queen ; 
 God bless her ! " 
 
 To my mind no incident during the campaign 
 more amply demonstrated the loyal hearts of 
 our boys. It is easy to make a fair showing 
 and to feel enthusiasm on the parade ground 
 amidst a cheering throng of spectators, but 
 the environment of our boys was different that 
 morning. They were away out on the hillside 
 in the solitary wilderness, rain-drenched in the 
 driving storm, but at the name of the Queen 
 they stood in the ranks with heads uncovered, 
 and when the old General called for cheers the 
 shout that went up might well have rent the 
 concave of the low-hanging clouds. Then the 
 General, who with all his bluff exterior was an 
 earnest Christian, said : 
 
 " Boys, this is also Sunday, but we have no 
 time for service to-day ; we must push on the 
 march. I am reminded of an old soldier, who 
 on going into battle prayed, ' O God, I often 
 forget thee. I will be very busy to-day. I am 
 sure to forget thee, but do not forget me.' Boys, 
 we will sing together, ' Praise God from whom 
 all blessings flow,' " and this old doxology was 
 sung by the regiment ere we began another 
 day's forced march. 
 
 That evening we reached Frog Lake, the scene
 
 Campaigning on the Prairies. 173 
 
 of the terrible massacre some weeks before, and 
 by special order slept every man on his arms, as 
 we were reported by the scouts to be surrounded 
 by Indians who might attack us during the 
 night. Next morning Sergt.-Major Lawlor, 
 with a fatigue party, buried the bodies of those 
 who had been massacred there some weeks 
 before. The charred remains of the heroic 
 priests, Fathers Marchand and Fafard, who 
 had thrown themselves between the savage 
 Indians and the whites, were recognized by 
 the beads and crosses they wore, but all the 
 others were little more than indistinguishable 
 ashes. A look around the reserve showed how 
 inexcusable was the rising of the Indians, who 
 were treated so well by a paternal Government, 
 and caused one to feel how utterly devilish was 
 the action of those who by plausible messages 
 had caused these easily excited and merciless 
 savages to bite and destroy the hands that fed 
 them. The reserve, as it lay before us that 
 morning, was one of the most beautiful spots in 
 all the wide country we traversed that year. 
 " Fair as a garden of the Lord," it stretched 
 afar, a flower-flecked prairie, diversified by 
 shady groves and sparkling lakes ; but the 
 houses were all burned or wrecked, all imple- 
 ments were destroyed, murder and rapine had
 
 174 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 made their horrid havoc, and war flags of 
 hideous colors on every side mocked the pure 
 breeze of heaven. Sun-dance lodges were stand- 
 ing there and at several points along our route 
 thenceforward, to overawe the soldiers with 
 evidences of the bravery of those who had taken 
 part in the wild orgies these lodges represented. 
 From their rafters still dangled the cords on 
 which the young braves had hung by hooks in 
 their lacerated flesh till, as they danced wildly 
 around, the portion was torn out, and their reck- 
 lessness of pain was admitted beyond a doubt. 
 It was a mingled scene that met our gaze as we 
 stood on the shores of Frog Lake that day a 
 mingled scene of beauty and desolation, remind- 
 ing us again of the world, still untouched by 
 the Gospel, "where every prospect pleases and 
 only man is vile." 
 
 We left Frog Lake and pushed on by a forced 
 march of forty-one miles to Fort Pitt, which our 
 scouts reported the Indians were burning, and 
 which we reached late in the evening only to 
 find the fort (except two buildings) a heap of 
 smoking ruins and the Indians vanished in 
 retreat. As we came down over the brow of 
 the river bank to the fort we found the body 
 of young Cowan, the mounted policeman, who 
 had been killed by the Indians some weeks
 
 Q^ 
 
 . 3 
 
 * O 
 
 .- 3 
 
 5 i= 
 
 I! 
 
 - 
 
 3 Ss
 
 Campaigning on the Prairies. 175 
 
 before. His body lay naked with face up- 
 turned to the open sky. The scalping- knife 
 had not touched his fair hair, but from wounds 
 in the breast it appeared that the Indians, who 
 believe that if they eat a brave man's heart 
 they will get his spirit and courage, had followed 
 that course in the case of the young trooper. 
 They certainly had cause to know of his 
 bravery. He and Constable Loasby had been 
 out from the fort scouting towards Frog Lake, 
 and on their return found the Indians in force 
 along the slope towards the place where their 
 comrades were standing siege. Putting spurs 
 to their horses they made a desperate effort to 
 cut their way through to the fort, but the 
 odds were too great. They were both shot 
 Cowan dead ; but Loasby, whose roan charger 
 we found nearer the fort, was only wounded, 
 and after simulating death awhile to deceive 
 the enemy, he escaped into the stockaded 
 inclosure. 
 
 As soon as possible after finding the body of 
 Cowan, his comrades of the Mounted Police dug 
 a grave and reverently buried it, the rattle of 
 their musketry his only funeral requiem, but 
 nothing could more vividly tell the record of a 
 man who worthily wore the uniform of his 
 Queen and died a soldier's death. A few years
 
 176 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 since, when relating the story of the rebellion, 
 I was glad to hear, from one who stated that he 
 was young Cowan's cousin, that the body thus 
 buried on that lonely bank was exhumed the 
 next winter by order of the young soldier's 
 mother, and taken down to be laid in the place 
 of his father's sepulchre hard by the city of 
 Ottawa. 
 
 We hurriedly put in defensible shape the 
 two buildings which remained, left a company 
 of the 65th to hold them, and after a swift 
 march of about eight miles, to a point where 
 two Indians had been shot in a skirmish by 
 Steele's scouts the night before, came within 
 reach of the enemy, as we soon learned definitely 
 by hearing the bullets whistling over our heads. 
 It had been a long chase from the point of start- 
 ing, but despite all Indian expectations to the 
 contrary, our General had fully made up his 
 mind to " stick to Big Bear's trail " and accom- 
 plish the breaking up of his band, if it should 
 take all summer. Hence there was great satis- 
 faction when the routine of the long march was 
 varied on that 27th of May by our coming into 
 contact with the wily and light-footed foe.
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 REBELLION AT AN END. 
 
 THE place in which we now met the enemy 
 was full of ravines and heavily wooded. The 
 Indians were seen along the top of the hill 
 in front of us, seemingly holding the position. 
 Our little force was thrown into line, with 
 Hatton's scouts to the right and Steele's to 
 the left. On our side the old 9-pounder, which 
 Perry's men had brought from Fort McLeod, 
 opened by sending a shell screaming into the 
 thicket on the hill-top, in a way that must have 
 been extremely unsettling to the nerves of the 
 braves who occupied the place. Then the order 
 came to us to advance, and we rushed forward in 
 skirmishing order, the Indians meanwhile keep- 
 ing up a scattering fire. We halted for breath, 
 and I remember feeling rather amused at Major 
 Steele, who warned me to take cover, saying, 
 " If you don't, they will pot you sure," while at 
 the same time he seemed to forget about his 
 12 177
 
 178 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 own colossal figure seated on a horse seventeen 
 hands high. Once more the bugle broke in 
 with the " Advance," and the line rushed up the 
 hill and over the summit only to find the Indians 
 retreating and leaving us in possession. For 
 some hours we skirmished through the woods, 
 and then our wagon train having come up we 
 camped in the forest for the night. 
 
 Humanly speaking, I have never been able to 
 make out why the enemy, who were in force 
 outnumbering us three to one, did not make 
 short work of us in the darkness. The clearing 
 in which we encamped was small and surrounded 
 by dense forest, the wagons were in zareba 
 form with all the men and horses inside, and 
 the night was intensely dark. The Indians must 
 have been already in panic, or, with their know- 
 ledge of the situation, they might have rushed 
 in, stampeded our horses, and in the confusion 
 done serious execution. With the sunrise we 
 moved on again, and soon encountered the enemy 
 in a position which a glance showed to the 
 merest amateur to be impregnable to our handful 
 if held by any considerable force. The Indians 
 occupied a steep conical-shaped hill, moated by 
 a deep valley and marshy stream, topped with 
 forest and fortified with rifle-pits, there being, 
 as we afterwards found, no less than five rows
 
 Rebellion at an End. 179 
 
 of rifle-pits along the ravine by which they 
 expected to be assailed. For some hours the 
 fight was kept up sharply. Our men were in 
 the open, but, strangely enough, only four were 
 wounded, though afterwards many proudly 
 exhibited caps shot through, etc , as evidence of 
 close-enough calls. The enemy were practically 
 invisible, and little could be seen to indicate 
 their presence but the puffs of smoke from their 
 rifles and the " ping " or thud of the bullets 
 around us. About ten o'clock their firing had 
 practically ceased, except for scattering shots 
 from the pits. We afterwards learned the 
 Indians were then in retreat ; but the scouts 
 were of opinion that the retreat was a ruse, and 
 that the enemy were coming round behind us (as 
 some of them actually did) to cut off our wagon 
 train and hem us down in the valley. 
 
 In a letter I received from General Strange 
 some years afterwards, he said in reference to 
 this engagement : " My force would have gone 
 in to a man, if I had allowed them, but I had 
 the lessons of Fish Creek and Cut Knife before 
 me," implying that he did not feel warranted in 
 risking the lives of his men in a possible trap, 
 against the opinion and advice of the column's 
 " tentacles." So the men were slowly retired by 
 companies till the wagon zareba was reached,
 
 180 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 when a camp was formed and the wounded men 
 looked after. Word was then sent down the 
 river to General Middleton, at Battleford, for 
 ammunition and reinforcements. 
 
 On the day following Major Steele offered to 
 take a flying column and follow the Indian 
 trail, and accordingly, with about fifty picked 
 men out of the Police, the Alberta Rifles and 
 Oswald's scouts, he left camp, accompanied by 
 the " grey team " and wagon with ammunition 
 and supplies. I remember how these fellows 
 magnificent riders, every one of them wheeled 
 out on the gallop, and followed where the tracks 
 showed that most of the Indians had gone. We 
 saw no more of them for days, but they kept to 
 the trail and came upon the main body of the 
 Indians at Loon Lake, where a brilliant dash 
 was made upon the enemy, who retired across 
 an almost impassable morass. In this hot, if 
 brief, engagement several Indians bit the dust, 
 and Steele's sergeant-major (Fury by name), 
 and two of the scouts (Fisk and West), were 
 wounded. Fury was very seriously hurt, being 
 shot through the breast and rendered per- 
 fectly helpless. Steele's only course, with these 
 wounded men on his hands and no transport or 
 ambulance, was to retire toward the main body, 
 leaving the Indians continuing their journey to 
 the north.
 
 Rebellion at an End. 181 
 
 Another of our own companies having come 
 down from Edmonton with much-needed sup- 
 plies just as Steele left us, we marched back to 
 the scene of our encounter at Frenchman's Butte, 
 only to find that the enemy had vanished, leaving 
 every evidence that they had fled in the wildest 
 panic. The encampment was nearly intact, with 
 the wigwams standing. Great -heaps of furs 
 (which went quickly we know not whither), 
 wagons, carts, flour, bacon, cooking utensils, 
 etc., lay around in the greatest disorder, as if 
 they had become of very secondary importance 
 in the race for life. Concerning the furs a good 
 deal has been said even in the sober debates of 
 our Houses of Parliament, but there is not much 
 ceutainty as to where they were finally bestowed. 
 The staff officers in all the brigades were 
 mightily blamed by those who were themselves 
 angry at not getting a haul, but it is quite likely, 
 according to my observation, that the teamsters, 
 who had the great advantage of receptacles in 
 which to carry parcels, could unfold tales that 
 would exonerate the poor officers from at least 
 a part of the blame. 
 
 Standing that day in a pelting rain-storm, we 
 surveyed the position recently held by the enemy 
 and wondered why they had not kept on holding 
 it, so excellently was it suited for standing a
 
 182 The Making of the Canadian Went. 
 
 long siege. Then going out to the plain beyond 
 we encamped to wait for orders from Middleton, 
 while our scouts tried to locate the scattering 
 trails of the fleeing Indians. While we remained 
 there, several of the white prisoners who had 
 escaped during the fight and confused retreat 
 were brought into camp by the scouts, rejoicing 
 at having regained once more a freedom which 
 they doubtless at times had despaired of ever 
 obtaining, as from day to day hope deferred had 
 made their hearts sick. 
 
 Here, too, I remember seeing one of those 
 touches of nature which make the whole world 
 kin. One of the roughest riders and apparently 
 one of the most reckless of the cowboy scouts 
 was seen coming into camp, leading his rougher 
 horse and carrying carefully upon his arm a 
 small wooden box, such as originally might have 
 contained groceries of some kind. At once 
 curious men gathered in a knot at the edge of 
 the camp, and wondered what find Jack (as we 
 will call him) had made. As he approached, one 
 of the men stepped in his way and lifted the cover 
 of leaves, unveiling the wan dead face of a white 
 child some few months old, whose body had 
 thus been reverently coffined and covered by 
 the hand of the mother and left in the woods as 
 the prisoners were dragged along. The man
 
 Rebellion at an End. 183 
 
 whose curiosity had tempted him to discover the 
 nature of Jack's " find " started to make some 
 contemptuous remark to the crowd, but the 
 scout's eyes flashed such a dangerous fire that 
 the remark stopped short, and the rest made way 
 for that strange funeral procession. Picketing 
 his wild broncho, the scout dug a grave with his 
 own hands, and with a, gentleness that would 
 have done that mother's heart good, committed 
 the little body to the ground. After all, we are 
 every one of us under the influence of an unseen 
 world. Perhaps the quiet sympathy Jack had 
 with the unknown mother's grief, or perhaps 
 the tender recollections of child-life as he re- 
 membered it, made that rough scout for the time 
 being as gentle as a woman, or it may have been 
 that sometime in an older land he had laid his 
 own dead under the sod, and his heart went back 
 to that God's-acre where a mother was sleeping 
 with their infant child upon her breast. 
 
 On the 21st of May, General Strange, feeling 
 that we were close on the enemy, had thought it 
 well to send despatches to Col. Otter at Battle- 
 ford, acquainting him with the situation, so that, 
 if necessary, a junction could be effected between 
 his force and ours for the hemming in of the 
 Indians and the disposal of the whole question. 
 Two scouts, George Borradaile (now Crofter
 
 184 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 Commissioner in Winnipeg) and William Scott 
 (whose present whereabouts I do not know), 
 were selected for the difficult and dangerous 
 enterprise. It was an undertaking requiring 
 both courage and resource, to go down by the 
 river through the enemy's country. A some- 
 what clumsy boat was the means of travel, 
 and the two scouts made a perilous run in the 
 shadows of night past Fort Pitt, which the 
 Indians were even then setting on fire. When 
 the scouts reached Battleford, General Middleton 
 had arrived there from Batoche. The despatch 
 was delivered, and when next morning the 
 scouts were to return on the south side of the 
 river, Borradaile asked for a revolver, as he had 
 lost his in a mishap by the upsetting of the 
 boat on the way down. The General, much to 
 Borradaile's disgust, said that he himself would 
 go through that country with a stick ; but when 
 he did come, as General Strange said, " he 
 brought two infantry regiments, a troop of 
 cavalry, and artillery." The scouts made the 
 return trip safely, though under considerable 
 strain, and reached Fort Pitt again on the 29th 
 of May, the day after our fight at Frenchman's 
 Butte, but in time to take a hand in the Loon 
 Lake expedition. 
 
 At this point in our campaign some of our
 
 Rebellion at an End. 185 
 
 officers Capt. Wade, Lieut. Mills and Sergt.- 
 Major Lawlor left us, being called back to 
 Winnipeg by their duties as government officials. 
 Perhaps there was no man in our regiment so 
 deservedly popular as the sergeant-major, and 
 before he went, though not a man given to 
 speech-making, he responded to the demand of 
 the boys, and bade them farewell in a few 
 words. I can still see the scene before me. It 
 is a dark weird night, with here and there a 
 glimpse of the moon through the rifts of the 
 flying clouds. Near the camp-fire is the wagon 
 which is to carry the officers homeward, and 
 around it the group of red-coats, which includes 
 nearly every man off duty. Beside the wagon, 
 with one hand resting lightly on a wheel, 
 stands the sergeant-major, his tall, powerful 
 figure erect as ever, his grey beard sweeping 
 he broad breast on which glisten, in the flick- 
 ering light of the camp-fire, three medals, the 
 rewards of his sovereign for services in the 
 Crimea and China. After referring to the long 
 weary marching, and then to the fight which 
 followed, he said that " he was glad that this, 
 probably the last of his many campaigns, had 
 been undertaken with men who had proven 
 themselves of such good stuff as the men of the 
 Winnipeg Light Infantry." It was warm praise
 
 186 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 from a man who was in the habit of saying 
 only what he meant, and as the wagon drove 
 out and was lost in the darkness, many a poor 
 fellow who had done his best felt his heart swell 
 at the words of the veteran soldier. 
 
 While we had been pushing on to this point, 
 
 CHIEF POUNDMAKER. 
 
 our comrades nearer to the centre of the re- 
 bellion had been doing some very active service. 
 A brigade under Col. Otter had, after an ex- 
 ceptionally swift march from Swift Current, 
 relieved Battleford, which had been in a state of 
 siege for months, and then, not without severe 
 loss to themselves, inflicted deserved chastise- 
 ment on Chief Poundmaker and his marauding
 
 Rebellion at an End. 187 
 
 band at Cut Knife. Farther eastward, at the 
 fiery heart of the trouble, General Middleton 
 had captured Batoche, the stronghold of Kiel. 
 
 The advance from Fish Creek had been care- 
 fully made. Batoche was Kiel's "last ditch," 
 and after the battle General Middleton himself 
 expressed wonder at the splendid use the rebels 
 had made of the means at their disposal to hold 
 the position. The fight continued for four days, 
 when, the volunteers seemingly growing restive 
 under the protracted manoeuvring, made a bril- 
 liant charge and carried the position with a 
 rush. The gallantry of all the troops engaged 
 is undisputed, and the list of nine killed and 
 forty-six wounded evidences the keenness of 
 the struggle. 
 
 The day after Batoche Kiel was found by 
 Scouts Hourie and Armstrong. Hourie took 
 him up on the saddle and brought him into 
 camp, whence he was sent to Regina, with a 
 special guard under Capt. George H. Young, 
 of the Winnipeg Field Battery. There Kiel 
 remained through the eventful trial, during 
 which the plea of insanity was raised in vain, 
 and there he was executed on the 16th of 
 November, 1885, meeting his death manfully. 
 His body was given to his friends, and now 
 rests in the graveyard at St. Boniface beneath
 
 188 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 a granite pillar on which is engraved the single 
 word " KIEL." I was present at the funeral ser- 
 vice in the old cathedral, and was deeply 
 impressed by the evident sorrow of the people 
 whose cause he had, with many mistakes, 
 espoused. 
 
 TOM HOURIE. 
 
 Returning to the field, we find Middleton mov- 
 ing with his column, by way of Prince Albert, 
 to Battleford, where he demanded and received 
 the unconditional surrender of Poundmaker on 
 the 26th of May, the day before our first skir- 
 mish with Big Bear. This left the Commander- 
 in-Chief free to move in our direction and effect 
 such a concert with the force under General
 
 Rebellion at an End. 189 
 
 Strange as would secure the hemming in and 
 capture of the retreating Indians. Accordingly, 
 Middleton with a strong force came on to Fort 
 Pitt, and leaving his infantry there in camp, 
 reached the point where we were with his 
 mounted men and artillery. There a new 
 plan of campaign was decided on. General 
 Strange's column of infantry was to march 
 northward to the one (as was then supposed) 
 crossing of the Beaver River, while General 
 Middleton, with all the mounted men, was 
 to follow after the main trail of Big Bear 
 and force him up to us at the crossing, where 
 between two fires the matter could soon be 
 settled. Accordingly, we started out next 
 morning to perform our part of the contract, 
 and that night camped at Onion Lake in one 
 of the most terrific thunderstorms I ever wit- 
 nessed an amazing and overwhelmingly grand 
 spectacle. The continuous flashing of lightning 
 transformed the prairie with its waving grass 
 into a heaving, tossing sea of flame, while the 
 incessant boom and crash of the thunder, awe- 
 inspiring in the extreme, reminded us of the 
 feeble strength of all earthly force, the puny 
 power of boasted arms before the flash and roar 
 of the artillery of heaven. 
 
 All the next day our forced marching was
 
 190 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 continued through roads almost impassable and 
 innumerable places where the wagons had to 
 be pulled out by the men, and towards evening 
 Indians were reported ahead near the Beaver 
 River crossing. It was decided to make what 
 
 o 
 
 became known in the rebellion annals as " the 
 silent march," and so leaving our wagon train,, 
 the horses being completely tired out, we started 
 marching again about eight o'clock in the even- 
 ing. For quite a distance our way was through 
 water knee-deep, and through this swamp I 
 remember how the Frenchmen of the 65th, 
 almost shoeless and half-clad though they were, 
 more than once helped the horses on Perry's 
 gun, next to which they were marching. It was 
 night when we struck the heavy and practically 
 trackless forest, for there was scarcely any trail 
 to be found. The darkness grew denser as we 
 advanced, and the great trees meeting above us 
 shut out the sky. Sometimes in rank, and 
 sometimes in Indian file, we kept on marching 
 in dead silence, with our arms ready for in- 
 stant use, until about two o'clock in the morn- 
 ing, when a halt was ordered, and by little twig 
 fires larger were not allowed we tried to dry 
 our wet and well-nigh frozen garments. 
 
 As the day began to dawn we moved on 
 again, and by sunrise arrived at the point near
 
 Rebellion at an End. 191 
 
 the Beaver River where the Indians had been 
 seen, but found they had vanished. Evidences 
 of their recent presence, however, were at hand, 
 for we found about one hundred bags of flour 
 cached in the woods. This was a " windfall," as 
 by this time bread was little more than a distant 
 memory, and even "hard tack" was scarce enough 
 to be appreciated. The brigade supply officer, 
 however, took formal possession of the cache of 
 flour, lest the men should get enough to eat for 
 once ; but by various devices known to soldiers, 
 such as putting two " kits " in one rubber sheet, 
 and a bag of flour in the other, they rescued 
 a good deal of it from his rapacious clutches, 
 and fared sumptuously, if somewhat secretly, 
 for several days. 
 
 Next morning we marched to the Beaver 
 River, where we had orders to wait until Gen- 
 eral Middleton, whom we left starting out after 
 Big Bear from the scene of our fight, should 
 force him up to us. However, had we done so, 
 we should have had a weary waiting. 
 
 The General, following on Steele's trail, met 
 that officer with his command returning from 
 Loon Lake. The wounded were sent back 
 to the main column, and Steele, although his 
 horses and men were much spent, turned back 
 with the General to the scene of the Loon Lake
 
 192 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 fight. After careful investigation of the ground, 
 Middleton decided that with his guns and heavy 
 horses he could not cross the shaking bog over 
 which the light-footed Indians with their nimble 
 ponies had made their way. He accordingly 
 concluded to turn back, on finding which the 
 Indians also deflected their course, instead of 
 running up to receive our welcome. 
 
 In the afternoon of the day we arrived at the 
 Beaver River, No. 1 Company was ordered out 
 under arms to accompany Colonel Smith to the 
 river, about a mile and a half away, to find a 
 suitable crossing should we have to go farther. 
 Here we found another cache made by the 
 Chippewyan Indians, filled with articles for 
 priests' wear and church services, which they 
 probably thought they could dispense with 
 while on the war-path. The scenery at this 
 point is very fine. The river, flowing swiftly 
 eastward, is joined by a small stream from 
 the south ; the banks are very high and so 
 densely wooded from top to bottom that the 
 foliage seems to be piled in green luxuriance 
 to the very summit. I got permission from the 
 Colonel to take the men down to see the river, 
 and away we went rushing down the steep 
 to the water's edge. There the place is a 
 magnificent natural park. Grand trees, perfectly
 
 Rebellion at an End. 193 
 
 straight and with few boughs, tower aloft ; 
 there is no undergrowth, and the whole place is 
 a perfect picnic-ground. In fact, it so struck 
 one of our fellows, who remarked, " Boys, this 
 would be a great place for the people at home 
 to hold their Sunday-school picnics " ; but as 
 we were then nearly two thousand miles from 
 home by the route we had followed, we did 
 not think it necessary to discuss the question 
 seriously. 
 
 On coming again to the top and turning 
 eastward, the view that met our eyes was mar- 
 vellously beautiful. The sun, which was slowly 
 sinking, struck his shafts across the river and 
 lit the tree-tops beyond. The sunbeams glow- 
 ing and glinting in mellow radiance on the great 
 clouds of foliage on the towering banks, the 
 river flashing and twining in and out through 
 the forest like some serpent-fish with silvery 
 scales, the sparkling of the little tributary 
 stream, of which one could catch glimpses away 
 down through a veil of green boughs, all 
 together made up a scene rarely surpassed even 
 in the great picture gallery of nature. A few 
 moments we stood gazing on the wondrous view, 
 and then the word to fall in being given, we 
 reluctantly left the scene and marched back 
 to camp. 
 13
 
 194 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 That night our outlying picket was fired 
 upon, but in the deep darkness and fog nothing 
 could be done except arouse the carnp, keep the 
 whole picket under arms, and wait for the day. 
 On that day a band of Chippewyan Indians, 
 with a Roman Catholic priest at their head, 
 came in, and surrendering unconditionally, laid 
 down their arms in a heap at the feet of the 
 General. One could not help feeling sorry for 
 the poor fellows. They did not appear to be a 
 bad lot, but seemed to have been dragged by 
 threats, rather than their own inclination, into 
 rebellion. From the day they surrendered they 
 certainly became a great help to us in many 
 ways, and did their utmost to discover the 
 whereabouts of the bands who still held certain 
 of the white prisoners. 
 
 On the next day, Sunday, June 14th, we had 
 service by the Rev. John McDougall inside the 
 zareba. What a motley congregation was there 
 assembled ! some on the wagons, some on the 
 prairie, and some seated on their saddles on the 
 ground. Here a mounted policeman in faded 
 scarlet and gold stood beside a scout with his 
 wide slouch-hat and general air of carelessness ; 
 there an infantry man with coat, once red, now 
 like Joseph's of many colors sprawled on the 
 grass beside some rough western teamster,
 
 Rebellion at an End. 195 
 
 whose respect for the minister's cloth kept him 
 quiet, but who, if personally interviewed, 
 might not hesitate to avow heterodoxy in his 
 favorite terse expression, " Difference here, 
 pardner." To the credit of these rough men be 
 it said, I never saw amongst them anything 
 but the most respectful attention to these ser- 
 vices, and often one could see their bronze faces 
 light up with a surprising tenderness as they, 
 perchance, recalled the days when they had 
 heard from a mother's lips the same old, but 
 ever new, story of the Cross. 
 
 Next day General Strange accepted the offer 
 made by Colonel Smith a few days previously, 
 to take one hundred picked men from the 
 Winnipeg Light Infantry, cross the river and 
 strike northward to a chain of lakes, where he 
 shrewdly, and, as the sequel proved, correctly, 
 thought some of Big Bear's band might have 
 gone with the remaining prisoners. Regimental 
 orders quickly required Companies 1, 2 and 3 to 
 furnish the men, and perhaps the " picking " 
 consisted largely in a selection of those who had 
 some remnants of boots left, and whose uniforms 
 could be counted on as likely to hold together a 
 little while longer. 
 
 We (for the writer was fortunate enough to 
 be one of the hundred) were ordered to leave all
 
 196 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 transport except the Indians' pack-horses, and 
 each man was to carry his own outfit strapped 
 upon his back, as the country through which 
 we were about to travel was impassable to all 
 but foot-soldiers and the nimble pony of the 
 plains. We crossed the river by sections, in 
 two birch canoes, and there left Color-Sergt. 
 Sutherland with a party of five men to build 
 a boat on which to cross the rest of the force if 
 required. We then struck north, and made 
 about five miles that night. Having no tents 
 or other covering, we lay down under the starry 
 canopy of heaven to sleep upon delightful couches 
 of pea-vine on a grassy ridge beside a lake. 
 
 Next morning we started at 4.30 without 
 breakfast, as, according to the map, Cold Lake, 
 for which we were striking, was only a few miles 
 distant ; but the man who made that map or 
 arranged its scale would have fared ill if he 
 had fallen into the hands of our hungry pack 
 when some hours later Cold Lake was not yet 
 reached. The men marched for the most part 
 in Indian file, threading their way over fallen 
 trees and through mossy swamps, while the 
 Chippewyan Indians (formerly enemies, now 
 our scouts and guides) followed in the rear 
 with the pack-ponies. While passing through 
 a clearing there occurred one of those amusing
 
 Rebellion at an End. 197 
 
 incidents which always seemed to come in the 
 nick of time to relieve the pressure of weariness 
 and restore the equilibrium of the men. An 
 Indian pony behind took fright at a tea-kettle 
 which fell off his back, and which, being tied, 
 as everything on a pack-horse is, kept hitting 
 him on the heels. The pony, after having first 
 kicked vigorously without being able to break 
 the tough " shagganappi " line, finally came 
 tearing along our column like a hurricane, 
 upsetting a captain who had done his best to 
 get out of the way, and then bowling over a 
 color-sergeant, who was taken wholly by sur- 
 prise. The sergeant, who was a middle-aged 
 and grizzled man, wore his hair very long and 
 very thick, the military crop not being insisted 
 on during prairie campaigning, and he was, 
 moreover, a man of great dignity, polite address, 
 independent opinions and high-toned bearing. 
 He was not seriously hurt by the cavalry 
 onslaught, but in taking his involuntary somer- 
 sault the pack which he carried on his back 
 was thrown over his head, to the serious detri- 
 ment of his toilet, and I can still hear the roar 
 of laughter that made the woods ring as the 
 wild tangles of his hair appeared above the 
 long grass, his face wearing the appearance of 
 a man caught in a cyclone.
 
 198 The Making of the Canadian, West. 
 
 On we plodded, hungry and weary, through 
 the forest, and at length arrived at the lake, 
 which we had almost begun to think was, like 
 the enemy, retiring before us. We hailed with 
 joy the sparkle of water through the trees, and 
 as we neared it the grand repose and the vast- 
 ness of this lake, so far remote from the haunts 
 of men, struck us with a feeling akin to awe. 
 It stretches away far almost as the eye can 
 reach, the water pure, clear, cold and deeply 
 blue; the beach, stone, gravel and sand, the 
 latter resembling small diamonds ; the woods 
 by the shore grand, umbrageous, reflected in 
 the glassy surface. In the stillness of that 
 sunny June day the lake lay before us like 
 some gigantic and marvellous mirror, reflecting 
 the glorious beauty of its Creator's works. 
 
 All day long the men were kept busy build- 
 ing willow huts in the woods, as we were to 
 remain here for some time to scout and explore 
 in the surrounding country. I felt, as doubtless 
 did many others, amply repaid for many a weary 
 march by coming to this lovely spot. The even- 
 ing came down in quiet splendor, the lake lying 
 peaceful and miraged over with the golden, 
 dusky haze of the sunset coolness. Everything 
 seemed as hushed and still as the holy calm t>f 
 a Sabbath. It was as though conscious Nature,
 
 Rebellion at an End. 199 
 
 which had shuddered at the deeds of bloodshed 
 and crime enacted on her bosom, was thus pro- 
 phetically manifesting forth their speedy close 
 and exhibiting in sublime silence the tranquil- 
 izing power of that Gospel whose spread in those 
 lonely wilds will put an end to all savagery and 
 woe that Gospel whose heralding still rings to 
 us across the centuries, " Glory to God in the 
 highest and on earth peace, good-will toward 
 men." 
 
 On the 20th of June Indian scouts from our 
 column found the portion of the band that 
 held the McLeans and other prisoners, and on 
 the 23rd, word being conveyed to them to bring 
 these prisoners in, they were sent in all safe and 
 sound to Fort Pitt, being met on the way by 
 Major Bedson and a detachment of the 90th. We 
 now felt that our campaign was practically over, 
 and that we could return with the conscious- 
 ness of having at least tried to do our duty. 
 We received orders to return to the brigade, our 
 hundred having penetrated farther than any 
 armed force of that time, and accordingly 
 marched back to the Beaver River. There we 
 found that our boat party had completed a 
 large boat, made without a nail and capable of 
 carrying some sixty men. The patriotic souls 
 of the boys had found vent in the launching,
 
 200 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 for with some compound of axle-grease they 
 had " writ large " across the side the name 
 of their birth-place, the old historic name of 
 Kildonan. There on the Beaver River the 
 ' Kildonan " was left, and there for aught I 
 know it may still remain, a souvenir for the 
 Chippewyan Indians of the sudden and unso- 
 licited visit of the white soldiers to their far- 
 distant fastnesses. 
 
 We rejoined our regiment and marched toward 
 the Frog Lake landing of the Saskatchewan, 
 reaching there about midnight, and amidst 
 falling rain crowded aboard the steamer, which 
 passed down the swift-rushing stream to Fort 
 Pitt, where we were warmly welcomed by the 
 90th of Winnipeg, the Grenadiers of Toronto, 
 and the Midland Battalion. There we ascer- 
 tained that our regiment, partly for lack of 
 transport, though principally to gather in the 
 outlaw Indians, was to remain behind for a 
 time, but some fifty of us (the campaign being 
 over) got leave of absence, and on the 4th of 
 July, in company with the 65th, the 90th, the 
 Grenadiers and the Midland Battalion, left Fort 
 Pitt for home in three steamers, the Marquis, 
 the Northwest and the Baroness. That day 
 CoL Williams, of the Midland Battalion, who 
 was in the forefront of the charge at Batoche,
 
 Rebellion at an End. 201 
 
 died on board the steamer Northwest, and a 
 private of the 65th, who had been wounded at 
 Frenchman's Butte, died on board the Baroness. 
 Only a few days before this I had met Col. 
 Williams at Fort Pitt, being introduced to him 
 
 HUN. UUCill JOHN MACDONALD, Q.C. 
 
 by Capt. Hugh John Macdonald, and was much 
 impressed with his manly appearance and 
 soldierly bearing. He took some kind of fever, 
 and, the facilities for nursing not being of the 
 best, he went down under it with startling 
 suddenness. 
 
 The next day we landed at Battleford, a
 
 202 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 picturesque though somewhat straggling town 
 on high upland near the river, and at this point 
 we were joined by the Queen's Own Rifles and 
 Ottawa Foot Guards, with the Quebec Battery. 
 Preparations were here made for the funeral of 
 
 LIEUT. -COLONEL WILLIAMS. 
 
 Col. Williams, whose body was to be sent home 
 overland. It was one of the most impressively 
 affecting and imposing sights I had ever wit- 
 nessed. The plain board coffin, wrapped in the 
 folds of the old flag under whose shadow he had 
 fought so honorably and well, was lifted on a 
 gun-carriage, behind which a soldier led his
 
 Rebellion at an End. 203 
 
 riderless horse. His own fine regiment, now 
 going home without a leader, followed as chief 
 mourners, with arms reversed, and the cortege 
 numbered fully fifteen hundred armed men. Brass 
 bands were there with muffled drums, and the 
 wild lonely upland echoed the wail of the " Dead 
 March in Saul," as slowly and sadly we con- 
 ducted the gallant dead to the once beleaguered 
 fort, where within the stockaded inclosure the 
 Revs. D. M. Gordon and Whitcombe held a most 
 impressive service. Many a stern soldier who 
 had stood unmoved amidst dangers gave way to 
 his feelings, many a stalwart form heaved with 
 emotion, and on many a sun-bronzed cheek the 
 tear was seen as we consigned to his last journey 
 one of the heroes in the charge that crushed 
 the centre of rebellion, a man who had passed 
 gloriously through the battle, and who, with a 
 name that will live enshrined in the memory of 
 his country, was returning to his home where 
 loved ones looked for his coming, but had fallen 
 here so suddenly before the grim King of 
 Terrors. Escaping the shot that had ploughed 
 the ranks, he, by a death reached through the 
 gateway of duty, had passed into the unseen, 
 and had added his name to the bead-roll of the 
 slain whose lives were yielded up in sacrifice on 
 the altar of their country.
 
 204 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 " The muffled drum's sad roll has beat 
 
 Our soldier's last tattoo, 
 No more on life's parade shall meet 
 
 That brave and fallen few. 
 On Fame's eternal camping ground 
 
 Their silent tents are spread, 
 And glory guards with solemn round 
 
 The bivouac of the dead. 
 Rest on, embalmed and sainted dead, 
 
 Dear as the blood ye gave ; 
 No impious footstep here shall tread 
 
 The herbage of your grave ! 
 Nor shall your glory be forgot 
 
 While Fame her record keeps, 
 Or Honor points the hallowed spot 
 
 Where Valor proudly sleeps." 
 
 The solemn service over, we boarded our 
 steamers again and moved down the broad 
 stream, passing the ashes of Fort Carlton (burned 
 just after the Duck Lake fight), and stopping a 
 few hours at Prince Albert. Here we saw the 
 place where the people had garrisoned them- 
 selves, and also the place where our active 
 enemy, Big Bear, who had been captured a few 
 days before, was held in durance.* There, too, 
 
 * The old chief after the Loon Lake affair had separated 
 from the band with one companion, and being found by the 
 Mounted Police near the site of Fort Carlton, was taken to 
 Prince Albert. Personally he was rather a harmless old 
 man, and but for two of his band, Wandering Spirit and 
 Little Poplar, would never have been found on the war-path.
 
 Rebellion at an End. 205 
 
 we met many old friends of former days, and 
 as our bands enlivened the day with music 
 and uniforms were everywhere, the scene was a 
 brilliant one, broken only by the sadness all 
 felt as here and there we saw emblems of 
 mourning worn for the gallant men who from 
 that place had volunteered to maintain the law 
 and had laid their bodies on the fatal field of 
 Duck Lake. In the afternoon we swung out 
 from our moorings and moved down the river, 
 the bands playing " Auld Lang Syne " amidst 
 the cheering of our men, returned by the waving 
 of innumerable handkerchiefs in the hands of 
 ladies fair. We made a swift run to the Forks, 
 where the north and south branches of the 
 Saskatchewan unite in one gigantic stream, and 
 at this point we found the hospital barge with 
 the wounded from Fish Creek and Batoche. 
 The barge, from which the wounded were then 
 transferred to one of the steamers, was a model 
 of cleanliness and comfort, a great credit to the 
 medical staff and to Nurse Miller, the " Florence 
 Nightingale" of the rebellion time. The trip 
 thence was uneventful (save for a storm on 
 Cedar Lake, which nearly swamped our river 
 boats), and as we came down the broad bosom of 
 the magnificent stream we enjoyed the rest, the 
 meeting with old friends and the telling one
 
 206 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 another of "the dangers we had passed," and 
 the story of " how fields were won." 
 
 ft 
 
 At Grand Rapids, where a horse tramway 
 connects the river with Lake Winnipeg, we left 
 our boats and, passing over to the lake, packed 
 into every corner of the boats and barges there, 
 and reached Selkirk in the early morning of 
 July 15th. There we found many friends 
 awaiting us, and these, notwithstanding our 
 bronzed and bearded faces, recognized us without 
 difficulty and bade us a hearty welcome. After 
 a lunch, provided by the citizens, we boarded 
 our train and reached Winnipeg in the after- 
 noon, exactly three months from the time our 
 regiment had departed for the west. 
 
 A magnificent reception awaited the returning 
 troops. The train seemed to push its way 
 through a living mass of men, women and 
 children at the station, and it had scarcely 
 stopped when the cars were besieged by such a 
 throng that the disembarking soldiers could 
 scarcely find room enough to form up. But at 
 length the lines got into some semblance of order, 
 with "Fours, right, quick march" we swung 
 out to Main Street, and as we passed up towards 
 the City Hall beneath arches and banners, and 
 amidst the intense enthusiasm of cheering 
 crowds we saw the genuineness of the welcome
 
 Rebellion at an End. 207 
 
 and felt amply repaid for all the hardships and 
 dangers of the campaign. 
 
 Our own regiment, the Winnipeg Light 
 Infantry, arrived a few weeks later, being the 
 last to leave the field, after receiving the 
 surrender of enemies to five times their own 
 number, amongst them some of the worst 
 Indians in the West, several of whom came 
 under capital sentence at the hands of the 
 country. The regiment had a fitting reception 
 accorded it by the city of Winnipeg, where the 
 equal readiness with which these volunteers had 
 inarched through swamps or fought the enemy, 
 as called upon, was duly appreciated, and when 
 No. 1 Company marched down to their former 
 barracks at Kildonan, we were received with 
 Highland hospitality by the kind friends whose 
 goodness had cheered us on the weary campaign, 
 and whose kindness will long be remembered 
 by the boys who went to the front. 
 
 The scars left by the rebellion are slowly 
 disappearing, and little else remains but the 
 memory of the manner in which a young nation 
 showed itself ready and able to cope with 
 serious difficulties within her borders. That 
 memory is enough to effectually prevent any 
 such unfortunate movement ever again taking
 
 208 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 place, and, perhaps, in view of the fact that the 
 pressure of difficulties compacts and solidifies 
 character, it was well that, before sweeping out 
 into the great possibilities that lie before this 
 once " great lone land," it had to pass through 
 such wrestlings as produce a strength never 
 reached on the dead level of uninterrupted ease.
 
 Archbishop Tachd. 
 Archbishop Machray. 
 
 Rev. George Young-, D.D. 
 Rev. John Black, D.D. 
 
 GROUP OF PIONEER CLERGYMEN.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 RELIGIOUS AND EDUCATIONAL DEVELOP- 
 MENT. 
 
 WITHOUT religion an individual or a nation is 
 a comparative failure, and without education the 
 means of making the most of our native resources 
 must be largely lacking. Hence it is matter for 
 thankfulness on the part of all who are inter- 
 ested in the West, that the religious and edu- 
 cational work of the country has always had a 
 foremost place in the thought and life of the 
 people. It is a lamentable fact that this has not 
 always been the case in new countries, where 
 the ease with which material prosperity can be 
 attained has often led to more or less serious 
 disregard of the higher life and the institutions 
 which are the hope of humanity. The better 
 state of things in the Canadian West is due 
 principally to two causes. The first is, that the 
 early colonists were of a character and a race 
 always disposed to pay special attention to these 
 14 209
 
 210 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 things ; and the second, that missionaries being 
 early on the ground were able to keep the work 
 of Church and school so well abreast of the 
 country's progress that few, if any, communities 
 to-day are out of touch with these advantages. 
 In the matter of church work, the Roman 
 Catholics, following the early French ex- 
 plorers, were first on the ground, though their 
 people were not of the colonist but the more 
 nomadic class. Across the Red River from 
 where the city of Winnipeg now stands, this 
 denomination established its headquarters for 
 church and school, near the opening of this 
 century, and named the place St. Boniface. 
 Amongst the early settlers of all creeds their 
 leading men were well known, and often have 
 we heard special mention of Bishop Provencher, 
 a man of magnificent physical mould and states- 
 manlike ability. It was of his cathedral, with 
 its turrets twain, that Whittier, the Quaker 
 poet, wrote his famous and exceedingly beauti- 
 ful poem, " The Red River Voyageur," in which 
 he describes the hard voyage of the oarsman 
 in tiie service of the Hudson's Bay Company, 
 and of the joy that lit up his swarthy counten- 
 ance as he heard the "bells of St. Boniface" 
 that spoke the message of his home-coming. 
 That cathedral was burned down many years
 
 Religious and Educational Development. 211 
 
 ago, and on its site was reared the present one, 
 from whose tower the bells still ring out their 
 musical chimes. 
 
 Some years ago Sir John Schultz (then Lieut. - 
 Governor of Manitoba) reminded the authorities 
 of the cathedral of the birthday of the poet, 
 and asked that the bells be rung in honor of 
 the day. This being done, the Hon. J. W. Taylor, 
 the United States consul at Winnipeg, wrote 
 informing Whittier of the fact. The aged poet, 
 on recovering from an illness with which he was 
 suffering at the time, wrote to Archbishop Tache, 
 at St. Boniface, acknowledging the thoughtful 
 courtesy of the act, and in his letter the follow- 
 ing sentences of great beauty occur : " I have 
 reached an age when literary success and 
 manifestations of popular favor have ceased to 
 satisfy one upon whom the solemnity of life's 
 sunset is resting ; but such a delicate and 
 beautiful tribute has deeply moved me. I shall 
 never forget it. I shall hear the bells of St. 
 Boniface sounding across the continent and 
 awakening a feeling of gratitude for thy gen- 
 erous act." The letter was scarcely less beauti- 
 ful than the poem itself, and adds to the halo 
 of romance which the pleasing incident threw 
 around the old cathedral. 
 
 As already indicated, Bishop (afterwards
 
 212 The Making of the Canadian West, 
 
 Archbishop) Tache came next in the succession 
 at St. Boniface. He was a man of gentle, lovable 
 disposition, and yet of indomitable will and 
 untiring energy. No man could have exerted 
 a larger control over his own people, and few 
 had wider influence in the country at large. 
 Under his direction missions were extended 
 widely over the whole West, and at St. Boniface 
 the College, which is the principal educational 
 institution of the Roman Catholic Church in the 
 West, was built, so that when the present Arch- 
 bishop Langevin came into office he found a 
 fully organized and .well administered diocese. 
 Next in the order of their coming into the 
 country is the Episcopal Church, which, partly 
 through the influence of Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany officials, but mainly by their own enter- 
 prise, had a missionary, Rev. John West, on the 
 banks of the Red River in 1820, and this 
 Church continued to be the sole representative 
 of Protestantism in that part of the West until 
 the year 1851, when the Presbyterian Church 
 sent a missionary to the field. This was the 
 more remarkable by reason of the fact that the 
 colony on the Red River brought out by Lord 
 Selkirk was exclusively Presbyterian, and the 
 great majority of that colony remained so, while, 
 to the credit of both missionaries and people,
 
 Religious and Educational Development. 213 
 
 fully availing themselves of and supporting the 
 services of the Anglican Church for more than 
 thirty years The Episcopalians, under Bishop 
 Anderson, early established a school for boys, 
 which came to be one of the leading factors in 
 the life of the country, and which under the 
 present regime of Archbishop Machray, a distin- 
 guished educationist, grew into St. John's Col- 
 lege, now the principal seat of learning in con- 
 nection with the Anglican body in the West. 
 Archbishop Machray deserves more than passing 
 mention in connection with any reminiscences 
 of Western history. He is a man of exceedingly 
 striking appearance, being of gigantic stature 
 and build, with a strongly- marked and leonine 
 face. An Aberdonian by birth, he was educated 
 in his native land and in Cambridge, and it is 
 generally believed by the students under his 
 care that what he does not know, especially 
 about mathematics, is not worth knowing. But 
 it would be a mistake to suppose that he is only 
 fitted for residence " within the studious cloisters 
 pale." He is a man of affairs, who had much to 
 do with maintaining the equilibrium of the 
 country in the stormy days of the '69 Rebellion, 
 and who proved himself so efficient an adminis- 
 trator of church matters in his immense diocese 
 that he has been honored by the Church with
 
 214 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 first place as Primate of all Canada. His influ- 
 ence has been widely felt in educational matters, 
 and especially in connection with the Provincial 
 University, of which he has been Chancellor 
 since its foundation. The missions of the Church 
 of England extend all over the West, and ap- 
 proach about as near to the North Pole as it is 
 possible to do and live. Great dioceses bearing 
 such names as Moosonee, Athabasca and Mac- 
 kenzie River, give an idea of the far-extended 
 character of this Church's work, and it may be 
 safely said that no denomination has striven 
 more faithfully or more effectively to raise the 
 standard of true living amongst the aboriginal 
 tribes of the North-West. 
 
 The third Church to enter this part of the 
 country, as already intimated, is the Presby- 
 terian, whose first missionary, the Rev. John 
 Black, came to the Selkirk colony on the Red 
 River in 1851. For many years he alone up- 
 held the banner of his denomination in the West; 
 then he was joined by the Rev. James Nisbet 
 (who in 1866 founded Prince Albert, on the 
 Saskatchewan), the Rev. Alexander Matheson, 
 William Fletcher, John McNabb and others, till 
 to-day the Presbyterian is the most powerful 
 church organization west of Lake Superior. 
 I.ts pre-eminent place is due largely to the
 
 Religious and Educational Development. 215 
 
 character of its early missionaries and mem- 
 bers, to its educational institutions, and to the 
 splendid organization of its missionary efforts 
 in the newer districts. John Black was a man 
 of great energy, as well as of ripe scholarship, 
 and his people in Kildonan became the pioneers 
 in church extension and also the founders of 
 the educational institutions which have done so 
 much for the Presbyterians, and in which have 
 been trained for various walks in life many 
 from other churches, Protestant and Roman 
 Catholic alike. The parish school at Kildonan 
 fed the demand of the early Scotch settlers for 
 education, and from it Mr. Black outgathered 
 those who sought for higher instruction, until 
 the people's needs demanded a college, and Mani- 
 toba College was founded by the Presbyterian 
 Church in 1871. The first professors were the 
 Revs. George (now Dr.) Bryce and Thomas Hart. 
 Dr. Bryce has taken an exceedingly active and 
 vigorous part in all the affairs of the country, 
 and has by voluminous writings contributed 
 much to the diffusion of information as to the 
 West. Prof. Hart is a specialist in classical 
 study, a cultured, gentle and lovable man, who 
 has always exerted marked influence for good 
 on his students. Later on, when the Theological 
 Department of the College was to be strength-
 
 216 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 ened, Revs. Dr. King, the present Principal, and 
 A. B. Baird, men of strong personality and ripe 
 scholarship, were added to the staff. With this 
 staff, assisted by several lecturers in certain 
 branches, Manitoba College has made abundant 
 progress, and has become a strong force in the 
 
 REV. GEORGE BRYCE, LL.D. 
 
 upbuilding of the new West. This college alone, 
 of all educational institutions of its class, has a 
 summer session in theology in order to provide 
 opportunity for summer study to the students 
 who man the mission fields through the long 
 winter. 
 
 Speaking of mission fields brings us to the
 
 Religious and Educational Development. 21 7 
 
 work that has been done in the way of keeping 
 abreast with the needs of a growing country in 
 the matter of religious services; and while many 
 men have done much in this regard, the man who, 
 next to the pioneer, deserves to have his name 
 honored, is the Rev. Dr. Robertson, Superin- 
 tendent of Presbyterian Missions in the North- 
 West. A man of Highland blood, full of intense 
 energy, equally at home in the abode of the 
 millionaire and in the ranch of the pioneer, an 
 indefatigable worker and a powerful pleader in 
 public and private, Dr. Robertson has made an 
 ideal superintendent. He was the first regularly 
 settled pastor of Knox Church, Winnipeg, where 
 he was in charge from 1874 to 1881, when the 
 General Assembly, recognizing the importance 
 of the work and his peculiar fitness for it, ap- 
 pointed him to direct the Home Missionary work 
 of the Church west of Lake Superior. The 
 growth of the Church from three preaching 
 places in 1870 to 840-in 1897 attests the earnest- 
 ness of the people, and speaks forcibly as to the 
 work done by the Superintendent. As immi- 
 gration flowed westward over the great plains 
 and through the mountains, the heralds of the 
 Cross were sent onward, the last achievement 
 being the despatching of three missionaries to 
 the 'Klondike. What has been done in the
 
 218 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 Presbyterian Church has been done also in 
 others, though no other man, so far as we 
 know, has been so long in special touch with 
 this particular work as Dr. Robertson. 
 
 Where work is to be done one can safely 
 count on finding the Methodist Church in active 
 operation, and so it has proved in the Canadian 
 West. From about 1840 and onward, mission- 
 aries of that denomination, Rundle, Evans, 
 Woolsey, George McDougall and others, had 
 been at work farther west, and just before the 
 Rebellion of '69 the Methodist Church in Canada 
 sent the Rev. George Young to begin work in 
 the Red River country. Mr. Young quickly 
 found his way to the heart of affairs, and was 
 eminently successful in laying the foundations 
 of prosperity in a new domain. In the stirring 
 days of the first rebellion, no minister of any 
 denomination exhibited more courage and none 
 had more intimate connection with the unfor- 
 tunate men who fell under the imprisoning 
 power of Louis Riel. Mr. Young will be especi- 
 ally remembered in the West, not only as the 
 founder of Methodism in Manitoba, but as the 
 man who, after all efforts to secure his pardon 
 were unavailing, was the spiritual adviser of the 
 unfortunate Thomas Scott in his last hours. 
 Since the days of Mr. Young, the missions of
 
 Religious and Educational Development. 219 
 
 the Church have made giant strides, and few 
 places can be found where some of their workers 
 have not gone at some time or other. With 
 the Anglican and Presbyterian churches the 
 Methodists have done much missionary work 
 amongst the Indians, and each of these bodies 
 has charge of Indian Industrial Schools at dif- 
 ferent points in the country. Under the prin- 
 cipalship of Rev. Dr. Sparling, a Methodist 
 college was begun in Winnipeg a few years ago, 
 and now Wesley College, as it is named, possesses 
 one of the most strikingly handsome buildings 
 in the city, and has upon its staff able and 
 influential men. 
 
 Other Protestant bodies in the West are the 
 Baptists, who have shown great energy in the 
 extension of their church work, and the Con- 
 gregationalists, the latter Church only working 
 thus far in the larger centres. Neither of these 
 churches has, as yet, any educational institu- 
 tions, and hence they are somewhat at a dis- 
 advantage in having to draw their trained 
 workers from distant centres. 
 
 When we turn to consider the educational 
 system of the country we find remarkable ex- 
 cellence, considering the newness of things. The 
 Province of Manitoba started out with a separate 
 school system, Protestant and Roman Catholic,
 
 220 tfhe Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 and this state of affairs continued until 1890, 
 when the famous Greenway-Martin Act was 
 passed, abolishing the separate and establishing 
 a national unsectarian public school system. 
 To recount the controversy that raged around 
 this Act for the six years following would be 
 beyond the purpose of the present writing, 
 and would, in fact, make a literature to the 
 extent of a library. The Roman Catholics 
 claimed that, by a clause in the Manitoba Act 
 providing for the perpetuation of any rights 
 existent, by law or practice, as to denomina- 
 tional schools amongst the people of the country 
 at the time of the transfer, they were entitled 
 to separate schools for all time. Against this 
 people who were familiar with the state of 
 matters when Manitoba entered Confederation 
 could say that if the clause was valid the 
 Episcopalians and Presbyterians had the same 
 rights as the Roman Catholics, and if all pressed 
 their claims a remarkable confusion would 
 soon ensue. It was also said by Mr. Martin, 
 who was the father of the Act of 1890, that 
 if the constitution required the separate school 
 system (which he denied), it would be better in 
 the interests of moulding the people of a new 
 country into one homogeneous mass, to seek 
 amendment to the Constitution rather than
 
 Religious and Educational Development. 221 
 
 perpetuate the double system. Finally, it is 
 now very generally conceded as discovered 
 during the progress of the controversy (if 
 not known for certain before), that the real 
 Bill of Rights as presented by the people of 
 
 HON. CLIFFORD SIFTON. 
 Mininter of the Interior ; formerly Attorney-General of Manitoba. 
 
 the country did not ask for the enactment of 
 the clause above referred to in the form in 
 which it was, after some doctoring, enacted. In 
 any case the Act of 1890 gave great offence to 
 the Roman Catholics, who for the most part 
 persisted in maintaining their own schools out
 
 222 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 of private subscriptions while paying their 
 taxes like others, and at the same time carrying 
 the case without success through every court in 
 the land, and then to the Imperial Privy Council. 
 In the process of a few years the Manitoba 
 school question became a public nuisance, inas- 
 much as it monopolized the attention of poli- 
 ticians and electors all over Canada, to the 
 almost total exclusion of trade and other 
 weighty issues. Hence there was very general 
 relief when the Governments of the Hon. (now 
 Sir) Wilfrid Laurier and of Hon. Thomas 
 Greenway came to a basis of settlement shortly 
 after Mr. Laurier came into power at Ottawa in 
 1896. The settlement perpetuated the national 
 system of schools, and has been accordingly 
 resisted by the Roman Catholic hierarchy, 
 though many of the people of that Church 
 seem disposed to accept it and come under the 
 operation of the Act and the settlement, which 
 are intended to be enforced in a considerate and 
 conciliatory spirit. The latest development is 
 the somewhat irenic encyclical of the Pope, 
 who adheres to the justice of the claim made 
 by Roman Catholics, and advises continued 
 effort in the course they have been pursuing, 
 but after all practically tells them to take what 
 they can get. Whatever be the intent of the
 
 Religious and Educational Development. 223 
 
 encyclical it is highly probable that with 
 possible slight modifications to render the 
 acceptance of it more agreeable to the Roman 
 Catholics, the system will continue for all time 
 to be in essence a national system of public 
 schools. 
 
 HON. F. W. G. HAULTAIN, 
 Premier of the North-West Territories. 
 
 In the North- West Territories the educational 
 system is under he control of a Council of 
 Public Instruction, consisting- of the four mem- 
 
 * O 
 
 bers of the Executive Committee, ex-offido, and 
 four appointed members (two Protestants and 
 two Roman Catholics) without votes. The
 
 224 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 provisions of the School Ordinance, 1896, in this 
 respect are : 
 
 The members of the Executive Committee of 
 the Territories, and four persons, two of whom 
 shall be Protestants and two Roman Catholics, 
 appointed by the Lieutenant-Governor in Coun- 
 cil, shall constitute a Council of Public Instruc- 
 tion, and one of the said Executive Committee, 
 to be nominated by the Lieutenant- Governor in 
 Council, shall be Chairman of the said Council 
 of Public Instruction. The appointed members 
 shall have no vote, and shall receive such 
 remuneration as the Lieutenant-Governor in 
 Council shall provide. 
 
 (1) The Executive Committee, or any sub- 
 committee thereof appointed for that purpose, 
 shall constitute a quorum of the Council of 
 Public Instruction, but no general regulations 
 respecting : 
 
 (a) The management and discipline of schools; 
 
 (b) The examination, grading and licensing of 
 
 teachers ; 
 
 (c) The selection of books ; 
 
 (d) The inspection of schools ; 
 
 (e) Normal training ; 
 
 shall be adopted or amended except at a general 
 meeting of the Council of Public Instruction 
 duly convened for that purpose.
 
 Religious and Educational Development. 225 
 
 The following paragraphs from the last report 
 of the Council of Instruction will give further 
 insight into the system : 
 
 " The classes of schools established are Public 
 Schools and Separate Schools. The minority of 
 the ratepayers in any organized public school 
 district, whether Protestant or Roman Catholic, 
 may establish a separate school therein, and in 
 such case the ratepayers establishing such Pro- 
 testant or Roman Catholic separate school shall 
 be liable only to assessments of such rates as 
 they impose upon themselves in respect thereof. 
 Any person who is legally assessed or assessable 
 for a public school shall not be liable to assess- 
 ment for any separate school established therein. 
 Provision is made for Night Schools for pupils 
 over fourteen years of age who are unable to 
 attend school during the day. 
 
 " Inspectors are appointed by the Lieutenant- 
 Governor in Council, and report to the Council 
 of Public Instruction and the trustees of each 
 district on the scholarship, behaviour and pro- 
 gress of the children, teaching and governing 
 power of the teacher, condition of the buildings, 
 grounds and apparatus, and state of the treasur- 
 er's books. They are expected to give any 
 advice and instruction necessary for the success- 
 ful conduct of the schools. They have nothing 
 to do with religious instruction." 
 15
 
 226 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 From this it will be seen that the system is a 
 somewhat complex one as compared with that of 
 the Province of Manitoba, where, as indicated 
 already, there is a national unsectarian public 
 school system established, and where an Advis- 
 ory Board has control under the Government. 
 
 D. J. GOGGIN, M.A. 
 
 The Superintendent of Education in the Terri- 
 tories is Mr. D. J. Goggin, M.A., a gentleman 
 of large experience and special talents for the 
 work. The comparative smoothness with which 
 the educational machinery of the Territories has 
 been working is due largely to his wisdom and 
 abundant labors,
 
 Religious and Educational Development. 2*27 
 
 In the matter of higher education the Univer- 
 sity of Manitoba, the only degree-conferring body 
 in Arts, is a somewhat unique institution in the 
 educational world. It is constituted by an 
 affiliation of all the denominational colleges in 
 
 HON. GILBERT M'MICKEX, 
 
 First Agent of Dominion Lands in Manitoba, and one time 
 Speaker of the Local Legislature. 
 
 the West, Protestant and Roman Catholic, as 
 well as the Medical College. It is still without 
 buildings, an examining body principally, the 
 teaching except in one or two departments 
 being done in the colleges maintained by the 
 several churches. Notwithstanding this com-
 
 228 The Making of the Canadian West. 
 
 posite character of the institution, the manner 
 of its administration has evidenced such an 
 admirable spirit of mutual good-will, and such 
 an earnest desire to advance the common cause 
 of higher education, that the University has 
 been a signal and unbroken success. All the 
 colleges and the graduates elect representatives, 
 who form the Council, which is the governing 
 body of the University. Altogether we can 
 say, in closing this brief chapter on the religious 
 and educational life of the country, that in an 
 eminent degree for a new land the West furnishes 
 advantages in these directions to all who come 
 within her borders. 
 
 As we close this volume and pause a moment 
 to take another look back over the way by 
 which we have come, we are impressed with the 
 marvellously rapid strides that have been taken 
 in the march of the country's progress. Prairies 
 over which not many years ago we have ridden 
 for days in succession without meeting a human 
 being except the roving Indian, or seeing a 
 dwelling other than his wigwam, now are trans- 
 formed into thriving farms, where in autumn 
 the wheat fields wave and toss like a golden sea. 
 Verily the wilderness has been made glad, and 
 the desert has rejoiced and blossomed like the
 
 Religious and Hchicational Development. 229 
 
 rose. Railways now run like a network over 
 the once virgin plains, and along the various 
 lines towns have risen from the level sod as if 
 by magic. At these towns, which are 'growing 
 with a rapidity surprising to anyone who visits 
 them frequently, huge elevators in large num- 
 bers receive the finest wheat in the world and 
 send it abroad into ready markets. On the wide 
 plains, once the home of roaming herds of 
 buffaloes, vast numbers of their tamer species 
 feed on the richest grasses, and from every 
 station these cattle are shipped by the hundred 
 to the great food- devouring centres of the world. 
 Away on our Pacific shore the Orient and the 
 Occident stand face to face, and great ships 
 from every quarter of the globe drop anchor 
 in the harbors of our coast cities ; while rush- 
 ing on to the wondrous gold fields, thronging 
 multitudes pass with eager tread. Thus from 
 the isolation of a few years ago has the Cana- 
 dian West come into touch with the busy haunts 
 of men, and instead of the feeble throbbings of 
 a primitive trade, the blood of a world's com- 
 merce, that "calm health of nations," now flows 
 steadily through the giant arteries of a new 
 nation. From what has been related in the 
 closing chapter of this book, it may justly be 
 inferred that those who believe that without
 
 230 The Making of the Canadian Wet. 
 
 religion and education the material greatness of 
 a country is but dust and ashes, are doing their 
 utmost to keep all the nobler ideals of life before 
 the people and uplift the truest standards of 
 success in the presence of all who come into our 
 midst. If Canada knows her opportunity and 
 the day of her visitation, if she holds this vast 
 domain for God and home and truth and purity, 
 there are limitless possibilities of noble endeavor 
 and high achievement before us.
 
 Che Selkirk Settlers in Real ftfc 
 
 By REV. R. Q. MACBETH, M.A. 
 
 WITH INTRODUCTION BY 
 
 HON. SIR DONALD A. SMITH, K.C.M.G. 
 
 (Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal). 
 
 PRICE, - - - 75 Cents, Postpaid 
 
 Press Comments 
 
 " In every instance Mr. MacBeth tells his story in happy terms, and 
 supplies many details of the life of the settlers." Royal Colonial 
 Institute Journal. 
 
 " The author is a descendant of one of the hardy Scots who were in 
 the Red River Valley a life-time before Riel was born. His story is the 
 more romantic for its very simplicity." S(. John Sun. 
 
 " Not a dry collection of details, but an interesting account of the 
 Settlement. . . . These experiences are unique. . . . Mr. 
 MacBeth is to be congratulated on his book." Canadian Magazine. 
 
 " A fascinating little volume, telling a tale that redounds to the honor 
 of the Scottish race. . . . Mr. MacBeth's sketch gives a pleasing 
 impression of the sterling worth and industry of the settlers." Review of 
 Historical Publications, Vol. II. 
 
 " A small but useful contribution to the history of the North-West. 
 . . . Mr. MacBeth was brought up in the colony, and recalls some of 
 its primitive laws, methods of agriculture and social customs, with a 
 flavor of personal reminiscence." Montreal Witness. 
 
 " The story of the Red River Settlement is one of unique interest. 
 Its early days were a perfect Iliad of disaster. Flood, famine and hostile 
 Indians sorely tried the faith and patience of the brave pioneers. A de- 
 scendant of one of these tells in these pages the stirring story." Onward. 
 
 Rev. Robert Murray, Editor of the Presbyterian Witness (Halifax, 
 N.S.), writes the author : " Accept of my thanks for your most readable 
 and refreshing book. I am delighted with it. Brought up among the 
 Highlanders I appreciate some of the chapters more than others ; but 
 the book as a whole is excellent. I only wish it were ampler in its 
 details." 
 
 " As the title indicates, the aim of the writer is to give to the people 
 of to-day an idea of how the settlers lived in their homes, as apart from 
 their struggles as a community for political and commercial rights. In 
 this he has been eminently successful, and a valuable picture of the 
 social life as it then was has been preserved for future generations." 
 Winnipeg Tribune. 
 
 WILLIAM BRIGGS, Publisher 
 
 29-33 Richmond Street West, - - TORONTO, ONT.
 
 Manitoba ! %? 
 
 v MY LIFE EST^ * 
 
 Memories 
 
 t 
 
 3S THE PRAIRIE 
 PROVINCE. J 
 
 By REV. GEORGE YOUNG, D.D., 
 
 Founder of Methodist Missions in the "Red River Settlement." 
 
 WITH INTRODUCTION BY 
 
 REV. ALEXANDER SUTHERLAND, D.D., 
 
 General Secretary of the Missionary Society of the Methodist Church. 
 
 In Extra English Cloth Boards, with J5 Portraits and Illustrations. 
 PRICE, $1.00, POSTPAID. 
 
 * Personal and Press Comments 
 
 ''The book is of fascinating interest, and gives authentic information not else- 
 where to be obtained on the stirring events of the early history of Manitoba. It 
 is handsomely printed, with numerous portraits and other engravings." Onward. 
 
 "The reader will readily perceive that < ne who has lived so long in such 
 varied scenes as have fallen to the lot of Dr. Young must have witnessed many 
 things worthy of record, and will rejoice with the present writer that the vener- 
 able author, notwithstanding his characteristic modesty, was prevailed upon, after 
 much entreaty, to send forth this charming volume." Mail and Empire. 
 
 " An interesting chapter is devoted to the Fenian Raid of 1871 ; another to 
 Dr. Lachlan Taylor's tour among the missions in the 'Great Lone Land,' taken 
 from Dr. Taylor's own report and journal ; and still another chapter recounts the 
 history of the early educational movement in the West. On the whole the book is 
 a very interesting and indeed valuable one, not only to members of the author's 
 Church, but also to the'general reader." Ottaiva Citizen. 
 
 S. R. PARSONS, Esq., writes: 
 
 "Only one who has lived in that land of 'illimitable possibilities,' and 
 experienced the brightness of its winter and summer sunshine, and tasted of the 
 water of the Red River, that ever after leaves an unquenchable thirst, and sniffed 
 the ozone of the prairies, and mingled with the heartiest and most friendly people 
 on earth, can fully appreciate this book. The high respect in which the author is 
 deservedly held will, no doubt, ensure a large sale for the work. In the North- 
 West, particularly, it should be in every home and Sunday School library." 
 
 WILLIAM BRIGGS, Publisher, 
 
 29-33 Richmond St. West, TORONTO, ONT.
 
 Forest, Lain and Prairie 
 
 TWENTY YEARS OF FRONTIER LIFE IN 
 WESTERN CANADA, 1842-1862. 
 
 By JOHN McDOUGALL. 
 WITH 27 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS BY J. E. LAUGHLIN. 
 
 FRIGE, Sl.OO. 
 
 Read the following 
 comments : 
 
 " This is a true boy's book, and 
 equals in stirring interest any- 
 thing written by Kingston or 
 Ballantyne. It ought to sell by 
 the thousand." Mrs. S. A. Cur- 
 zon, in Orillia Packet. 
 
 " Possessed of an intimate ac- 
 quaintance with all the varied 
 aspects of frontier life, Mr. Mc- 
 Dougall has produced a book that 
 will delight the heart of every 
 boy reader." Endeavor Herald. 
 
 " There are many graphic des- 
 criptions of scenes in that vast 
 fertile region in those early days 
 \> hen travelling was difficult and 
 dangerous, but most fascinating 
 to a youth of John McDougall's 
 temperament and training. He 
 lives those stirring times over 
 again in his lively narrative, and 
 relates his personal experiences 
 with all the glow and vividness 
 of an ardent, youthful hunter." 
 Canadian Baptist. 
 
 WILLIAM BRIGGS, Publisher, Toronto.
 
 PIONEERING ON THE SASKATCHEWAN 
 IN THE SIXTIES 
 
 By JOHN McDOUQALL, 
 
 Author of "FOBEST, LAEE A1ID PEAIEIE." 
 WITH 15 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS BY J. E. LAUGHLIN. 
 
 Sl.OO. 
 
 "... If it be their good fortune to obtain it, ' SADDLE, SLED AND SSOWSHOK' 
 will not disappoint their most sanguine expectations. . . . While hard work, hard- 
 
 ship, and plucky endurance 
 characterize and give vim and 
 go to the story, the incidents in 
 which the love of fun, inherent 
 in every boy's nature, finds 
 opportunity of play, add much 
 to the brightness and realistic 
 value of the book. The book is 
 well illustrated, the drawings 
 being faithful to the reality, and 
 the scenes well chosen." Tht 
 Week. 
 
 Press Comments on "Forest. 
 Lake and Prairie." 
 
 " Mr. McDougall is a true child 
 of nature. He has passed through 
 scenes that would stir the pulses 
 of less impulsive men, and he 
 writes with the keenest enthu- 
 siasm: and this spirit possesses 
 the reader of his thrilling pages." 
 Christian Guardian. 
 
 "I have read no book bettei 
 fitted to inspire our Canadian 
 boys with a healthy interest in 
 their own undiscovered country : 
 nor any more calculated to put 
 into our growing youth the 
 strong, sturdy, self-reliant spirit 
 of a real manhood, an heroic. 
 muscular Christianity." Cana- 
 dian Home Journal. 
 
 WILLIAM BRIGGS, Publisher, Toronto.
 
 The Warden of the Plains 
 
 AND OTHER STORIES OF LIFE IN THE 
 CANADIAN NORTH-WEST. 
 
 By JOHN MACLEAN, M.A., Ph.D., 
 
 Author of" Canadian Savaye Folk," etc. 
 Illjstrated by J. E. LAUGHLIN. 
 
 CLOTH, $1.25, POSTPAID. 
 
 CONTENTS: The Warden of the Plains Asokoa, the Chiefs Daughter The 
 Sky Pilot The Lone Pine The Writing Stone Akspine Old Glad The 
 Spirit Guide -Alahcasla The Hidden Treasure The White Man's Bride 
 The Coming of Apauakas. 
 
 (^ 
 
 " Dr. Maclean's familiarity with 
 western life is evident in this col- 
 lection of stories. All are well told." 
 The Westminister. 
 
 "Dr. Maclean has rendered a distinct 
 service to Canadian literature by 
 photographing in this series of pictures 
 a typj of Canadian life which is ta>t 
 passing away." Rev. W. H. Withroiv, 
 D.D. 
 
 "These stories are admirably written. 
 They present the life and legends of 
 the great North-West in a manner cal- 
 culated to excite a sincere and u>eful 
 interest among strangers." Mail and 
 Empire. 
 
 " A collection of short stories, some 
 dramatic, some pathetic, all si rious. 
 . . . The Indian tales are very pa- 
 thetic and most interesting from an 
 ethnological standpoint. . . . The 
 stories are accurate pictures of North- 
 West life." Victoria Times. 
 
 WILLIAM BRIGGS, Publisher, 
 
 29-33 Richmond St. West, TORONTO, ONT.
 
 Canadian Savage folk 
 
 CANADIAN 
 
 SAVAGE FOLK 
 
 JOHK MACLEAN. PM.I>. 
 
 By JOHN MACLEAN, 
 
 M.A., PH.D. 
 
 Author of " The Indians of 
 
 Canada" " The. Warden 
 
 of the Plains," etc. 
 
 641 pages, more than 100 illus- 
 
 trations, complete index, 
 
 well annotated, beau- 
 
 tifully bound. 
 
 Cloth, $2.50 ; Half- 
 Morocco, $3.50. 
 
 personal anfc {press IRotfces. 
 
 " The book is full of romance from beginning to end." Canadian Magazine. 
 
 "The most complete work on the Indian races in Canada yet issued. No 
 more entertaining book has been published." Canadian Bookseller. 
 
 "This book will be a permanent authority on this subject." Methodist 
 Magazine. 
 
 " ' Canadian Savage Folk ' will be a standard work for all time in the history 
 of Canada." The Week, Toronto. 
 
 " A useful and entertaining book." Montreal Witness. 
 
 " It is the best volume that has been written upon the subject of the Cana- 
 dian Indians." American Antiquarian. 
 
 " It is well put together, and will be a standard work." Rev. Dr. Peel, Editor 
 of American Antiquarian. 
 
 "The work, which is copiously illustrated, is a most able and interesting one, 
 not only for the specialist, but for the general reader also." Journal of Royal 
 Colonial Institute. 
 
 " This is, we believe, the largest and most important book on the native races 
 of Canada that has yet been published. It is the result of a careful and thorough 
 study of many years." Rev. W. H. Withrow, D.D., in Onward, 
 
 WILLIAM BRIGGS, Publisher,. 
 
 29-33 Richmond St. West, - - TORONTO, ONT.
 
 Across the Sub-Arctics of 
 
 /~* 1 A 3,200 M/iS fiK CANOE AND SNOW SHOE 
 
 V^anaCia^* THROUGH THE BARREN LANDS {1444 
 
 By J. W. TYRRELL, C.E., D.L.S. 
 
 Illustrated by Engravings from Photographs and from Drawings 
 by ARTHUR HEM ING. 
 
 CLOTH, $1 .50, POSTPAID. 
 
 j* J* PRESS COMMENTS ^ * <* 
 
 "A story of immense scientific value." 
 Toronto Globe. 
 
 "A most valuable contribution to 
 the literature of the great North-West. 
 . . . Mr. Tyrrell's touches of descrip- 
 tion are delightful." Victoria Times. 
 "As a mere record of adventure, of 
 imminent peril and hair-breadth 
 escapes, of hunting polar bears, and 
 taking a winter tramp of a thousand 
 miles, we know no narrative of more 
 absorbing cha.raater."-Methodist Maga- 
 zine. 
 
 "Upon the whole, no book of travel 
 and exploration in Canada has ap- 
 peared since Butler's 'Great Lone 
 Land ' was published, that combined 
 the interest and value of Mr. Tyrrell's 
 book." Hamilton Herald. 
 
 "A remarkable trip of exploration, 
 one of the most important of recent 
 years." Buffalo Illustrated Express. 
 
 " The tale is a marvellous one ; the 
 only wonder is the party ever suc- 
 ceeded in returning to civilization." 
 Christian Guardian. 
 
 " The record of their journey will 
 
 be found delightful reading by those who feel the peculiar fascination of the vast 
 melancholy Northland. . . . Altogether the volume is one of solid merit." 
 Christian Advocate (New York). 
 
 "There is a variety in this narrative which those of strictly Arctic expeditions 
 lack. It leads through wonderful lakes and rivers hitherto unvisited by white 
 men, with thrilling adventures in running unknown and perilous rapids." The 
 Bookman (New York). 
 
 " The illustrations have the double virtue of illustrating the subject and of 
 being trustworthy ; and this final remark applies to the whole book." JV. Y. 
 Independent. 
 
 WILLIAM BRIGGS, Publisher, 
 29-33 Richmond St. West. TORONTO, ONT.
 
 Overland to Cariboo 
 
 An Eventful Journey of Canadian Pioneers to the Gold- 
 Fields of British Columbia in J862. 
 
 By M. McNAUGHTON. 
 
 With Portraits and &. Price, $1.00, 
 
 Illustrations. ** Postpaid. 
 
 PRESS OPINIONS. 
 
 " A timely contribution to the literature of the farthest West." 
 Montreal Witness^ 
 
 "Gives a broad idea of this western part of our young country as 
 it was before ci vilization pushed westward." Canadian Magazine. 
 
 " A story of unflagging and often thrilling interest, told in a sim- 
 ple, pleasing and vivid style." New Westminster Daily Columbian. 
 
 "The narrative teems with interesting details of travel thirty 
 years ago. . . . The work is highly entertaining and well worth 
 perusal." Journal of the Royal Colonial Institute. 
 
 "This modest expedition, untrumpeted, unboomed, did more 
 for the progress of humanity than all the Arc'.ic exploring expedi- 
 tions ever did or ever could accomplish." Dundee, Advertiser. 
 
 " The journey described was an historic event in the development 
 of the West, and as such is worthy of the perusal of everyone 
 interested in the progress of the country." Edmonton Bulletin. 
 
 " Such books as these throw a clearer light on the rapidity of 
 the advancement which Canada is making, besides paying a just 
 tribute to the memory of those intrepid individuals who laid the 
 foundations of a new Western Canada." Canadian Magazine. 
 
 "It is not only a graphic account of hazardous enterprises suc- 
 cessfully accomplished, but also purposes to show the resources of 
 a region whose vast territory and practically limitless possibilities 
 are even yet hardly app:eciated by people at home or abroad." 
 Massey's Magazine. 
 
 WILLIAM BRIGGS, Publisher, 
 
 29-33 Richmond SU West, - - TORONTO, ONT,
 
 Some Notable 
 
 Canadian 
 
 Biographical 
 
 Books" 
 
 Historical 
 
 Canadian Men and Women of the Time. By Henry J. Morgan. 
 
 Cloth $3 00 
 
 Haliburton : A Centenary Chaplet. A Series of Biographical and 
 
 Critical Papers, with Portrait and Illustrations . 1 25 
 
 Life and Times of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock. By D. B. Read, 
 
 Q.C., with Portrait and Illustrations 1 50 
 
 Life and Work of D. J. Macdonnell. Edited by Prof. J. F. McCurdy, 
 
 LL.D. With Portraits, etc 1 50 
 
 Popular History cf Canada. By w. H. Withrow, D.D. Illustrated . . 3 00 
 
 History Of Canada. By W. H. P. Clement, LL.B. With Maps and 
 
 Illustrations 50 
 
 History of British Columbia. By Alex. Begg, C.C. With Portrait 
 
 and Illustrations 3 00 
 
 Itt the Days Of the Canada Company. By Robina and Kathleen M. 
 
 Lizars. Illustrated 2 00 
 
 Humours of '^7, Grave, Gay and Grim. Rebellion Times in the 
 
 Canadas. By Robina and Kathleen M. Lizars 1 25 
 
 The Story of the Union Jack. By Barlow Cumberland. Illustrated in 
 
 Colors 1 50 
 
 Ten Yeirs of Upper Canada in Peace and War 1803-15. By Mrs. 
 
 J. D. Edgar 1 50 
 
 The Selkirk Settlers in Real Life. By R. G. MacBeth, M.A o 75 
 
 The Making of the Canadian West. By R. G. MacBeth, M.A. With 
 
 Portraits and Illustrations 1 00 
 
 The History of Annapolis County, including old Port Royal and 
 
 Acadia. By Judge Savary. With Portraits 3 25 
 
 The History of Lunenburg County. By Judge DesBHsay. With 
 
 Illustrations 2 50 
 
 Canadian Savage Folk. By John Maclean, Ph.D. Illustrated 2 50 
 
 The Forge in the Forest. A Historical Romance of Acadia. By Chas. 
 
 G. D. Roberts. Illustrated 1 25 
 
 Postpaid to any Address. 
 
 WILLIAM BRIGGS, Publisher, 
 29-33 Richmond Street West, - TORONTO, ONT,
 
 Books on the Canadian North-West 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. E. R. YOUNG. 
 
 By Canoe and Dog=Train among the Cree and 
 
 Salteaux Indians. Illustrated $1 00 
 
 Stories from Indian Wigwams and Northern Camp- 
 
 Fires. Illustrate.! 1 25 
 
 Oowikapun ; or, How the Gospel Reached the Nel- 
 son River Indians. Illustrated 1 00 
 
 Three Boys in the Wild North Land. Illustrated . . 1 _>--- 
 On the Indian Trail. Illustrated 1 25 
 
 WORKS BY THE LATE 
 
 HON. ALEXANDER MORRIS. 
 
 Lieutenant -Governor of Manitoba. 
 
 The Treaties of Canada with the Indians of 
 Manitoba and the North-West Territories. 
 
 Including the negotiations on which they are based, 
 and other information relating thereto. 
 
 CLOTH, $1.00. 
 
 Nova Britannia; or, Our New Canadian Dominion 
 Foreshadowed . 
 
 Being a series of Lectures, Speeches and Addresses. 
 
 CLOTH, 75 CENTS. 
 
 WILLIAM BRIGGS, Publisher, 
 29-53 Richmond St. Vest, - - TORONTO, ONT. 

 
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