CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 THE 
 ANNA ALLEN WRIGHT 
 
 LIBRARY ENDOWMENT FUND 
 
_ Cornell University Library 
 
 F 1062 H27 
 
 ''*'',..ter.,.Sj(,JSS6P'i James Hargrave, F.R 
 
 olln 
 
 3 1924 028 903 635 
 

H. B. DONALDSON h BEG., ,! 
 
 WATOHEa, OlOOES ASD JBWEUE'M, 
 WINNIPEG, MA. 
 
 WATCHES & JEWELLERY REPAIRFP 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028903635 
 
RED RIVER. 
 
 BY 
 
 JOSEPH JAMES HARGRAVE, F.R.G.S. 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR BY JOHN LOTELL. 
 1871. 
 
Entered according to Act of Parliament, in the year one thousand eight hundred 
 and seTenty-one, by Joseph Jamss Harobayi;, of Fort Garry, Manitoba, in 
 the Office of the Minister of Agriculture and Statistics of the Dominion of 
 Canada. 
 
 Entered at Stationers' Hall, London, England. 
 
To the Right Hojtorable the Earl of March, 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 Believing it possible that a book treating of Red 
 River affairs might form a memorial, not altogether unpleasant, 
 of your Lordship's hunting tour and residence in the fertile valley 
 of the Saskatchewan, I have requested permission to dedicate this 
 vyork to you. 
 
 The period of time occupied by the residence to which I refer 
 was suiSciently long to enable your Lordship, in using the means 
 you employed, to obtain an experimental knowledge of the capa- 
 bilities of this country, the position of which, in the heart of the 
 British American Possessions, confers on it so great a degree of 
 relative importance. 
 
 That the interest felt in Rupert's Land, by your Lordship, may 
 be stronger and more enduring than that implied by regarding it 
 only as the scene of such an episode in your travels as the one to 
 which I have alluded, I would venture to hope, in the interest of 
 the country itself, the future of which may be materially affected 
 by the influence brought to bear on its concerns by one in your 
 Lordship's high position. 
 
 I have the honour to be. 
 My Lord, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 J, J. HARGRAVK 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter I. 
 
 THE OCEAN VOTAGE. 
 
 The Mersey — First evening on board the Hibernian — Queen's Birth-day 
 — Off Moville — The Atlantic— Sea-sickneaa — Passengers —Daily Rou- 
 tine — Scenes on board— Ice— Straits of Belle Isle— Father Point— 
 The St. Lawrence — Quebec 17 
 
 Chapter IL 
 
 QUEBEC TO ST PAUL. 
 
 Custom house — American travelling arrangements— Grand Trunk Rail- 
 way — Victoria Tubular Bridge— Montreal — General Election— To- 
 ronto — Sleeping Cars — United States frontier at Port Huron — Michi- 
 gan Central Railroad — Chicago — Chicago and North Western Rail- 
 road — Lacrosse— Mississippi Steamer — Adventure of passenger from 
 New York — United States Volunteers — Scenery of " Hiawatha " — St. 
 Paul _ J7 
 
 Chapter III. 
 
 ST. PAUL TO FORT ABERCROMBIE. 
 
 City of St. Paul — Red River Merchants — Trotting Match — President 
 Lincoln's firsi; Message — Stage Coach— Falls of Minnehaha — St. 
 Anthony — Prairie travelling — Passengers — St. Cloud — Kandottah — 
 Alexandria and its Woods and Roads— Pomme de Terre — Red River 
 of the North — Fort Aberorombie 38 
 
 Chapter IV. 
 FORT ABERCROMBIE TO GEORGETOWN. 
 
 Colonel Day — Evening at the Fort— Plain Country — Georgetown — Mr. 
 0- P. V. Lull and his Station House— Mr. Burbank — Detention at 
 Georgetowa — Daily routine— Steamer " Pioneer " and her passengers 
 — Chief Trader Murray — Mr. Morgan's Scientific Tour — Steam Saw 
 Mill— The « Woman in White." 48 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter V. 
 
 PASB 
 
 GEORGETOWN TO RED RIVER SETTLEMENT. 
 
 Eei River Carts— Plain Transport— Conrivial Evening— Start from 
 Georgetown — Timoleon Love — Red River Steam Navigation— Mos- 
 quitoes at Night— Goose Rapids— Scene of Mr. James McKenzie's 
 Wanderings and Death — Pembind^^Britisli American Frontier— Red 
 River Settlement 58 
 
 CSAPTEK TI. 
 
 EARLY CIVIL HISTORY OF RED RlTER SETTLEMENT. 
 
 Hudson's Bay Compsny's Charter— Opposition Fur Trade— X. Y. and 
 North West Companies— Earl of Selkirk's Land purfihase— Einigrants 
 from Duchess of Sutherland's Estates — Opening difBouIties — Skirmish 
 of Seven Oaks'- Lord Selkifk''S visit to the Colony— Extinction of 
 Indian Land Titles — Coalition between Hudson's Bay and North West 
 Companies— Condition and Early Prospects of the Colony 6& 
 
 Chapter. VIl. 
 
 CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF RED RIVER gETTLEMENT. 
 
 Fountain head of Adiministrative power — Governors in chief— Rupert'* 
 Land' — Council of Rupert's Land — Governors and Council of Assini- 
 boia— Recorders of Rupeit's Land — Judicial Officers and Conrts of 
 Justice— Constabulary — Detachment of foot engineers and artillery 
 under Colonel Orofton and Major Griffith — Colonel Caldwell's Pen- 
 sioners — Royal Canadian Rifles — Neeesaity for Troops 82 
 
 Chapter VIII. 
 
 INSTITUTIONS OF RED RIVER SETTLEMENT. 
 
 Colonial Revenues, Bye-Laws aad Highways— History of the Post Office, 9£ 
 
 Chapter IX. 
 
 HISTORY OF PROTESTANT CHURCH IN RED RIYER 
 
 SETTLEMENT. 
 
 Denominations'— Church of England—Rev. John West — Church MiBsioft- 
 ary Society- Rev. David T. Jones, Rev. William Cochraa^St. Aa-- 
 drew's — Revdsi John Smethurst, Abraham Cowley, and JohnMcCaU 
 lum— Portage La;P'rairie— Death of Archdeacon Gocbrao— ^he Epis- 
 
OOlifTENTS. VII 
 
 PAOB 
 
 . eepate — ^Bishop of MoatreaVa visit — Bishop Anderson — Archdeacon- 
 ate— St. John's School — Bishop Marihray — Recapitulation — Parishes 
 of St. John, St. Paul, St. Andrew, St. Clement, St. Peters, St. James, 
 Holy Trinity, St. Ann, St. Margaret, and St. Mary— Parochial Schools 
 —Indian Msaionfl of Rupert's Land — Presbyterian Community — 
 Wesleyans „ .....103 
 
 Chapter X, 
 
 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 
 
 Travelling Priests — Rev. J. N. Provencher— Episcopate — First resident 
 Priests — Oblats de Marie I'Immaculfee — Bishops Provencher, Tach6, 
 Grandin, and Faraud — Burning of Cathedral of St. Boniface — Pre- 
 sent State of Ohurchiii the Colony 12T 
 
 Chapter XI. 
 Later civil history of red RtiM. 
 
 Committee of the House of Commons — Canadian Surveying Expedition — 
 Connection of Settlement with England, Canada, a/nd the United 
 States— The "Nor' Wester "-Extracts, Grave and Gay 140 
 
 Chapter XII. 
 
 ANNUAL routine IN RED RIVER SETTLEMENT. 
 
 Packets— Water Freighting — Portage La Loche Brigade — Land Trans- 
 port on the Plains — Plain Hunters — Changes of Seasons — Christmas 
 Festivities — Easter — Requisitions for Supplies — Goose Hunts; 155 
 
 Chapter XIII. 
 
 statistics of red river settlement. 
 
 Population— Agriculture— Plain Hunts-Fisheries— Fuel— Occupations 
 and Characteristics of the People 174 
 
 Chapter XIV. 
 
 1861. 
 
 Bed BiveJ Perry- Upper Port Garry— Bachelor's Hall — Royal Can- 
 adian Rifles- Roman G-atholic Establishment at St. Boniface — 
 Bishop of Rupert's Land— Ride to Lower Fort Garry— People and 
 Life at Fort Garry... .....183 
 
Vin CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter XV. 
 
 PAGB 
 1861. 
 
 Indian Dog Feasts — Conjurors and Medicine making— ArriTal of Mr. 
 O'B.— Royal Hotel and Firm of McKenney & Co.- Eide to the Prairie 
 Portage and back to head quarters — Crops — Bufifalo Hunts and 
 Fisheries— November— General Quarterly Court- Monkmau Murder 
 Case— Mr. William Robert Smith, Clerk of Court and Council- 
 Sketch of his Life in Rupert's Land since 1813 197 
 
 Chapter XVI. 
 
 1861-62. 
 
 Pomp of Red River Court Procedure — Trial of PauUet Chartrand — Trent 
 Outrage — Local Adventures of Mr. O'B. — His manners and mode of 
 life— Starvation at Red River — British American Overland Transit 
 Company — Saskatchewan Gold Mining— Institute of Rupert's Land 
 — Departure of Mr. O'B. to Pembina — Arrival of Governor Dallas — 
 Return of Mr. O'B. from Pembina — His Adventures there and at Red 
 River — His Departure for the West and Outline of his Journey across 
 the Continent to Victoria, V. I ; 213 
 
 Chapter XVII. 
 
 1862. 
 
 Steamer "International" — Mr. Piper McLellan — Fur Trading — Can- 
 adian Emigrants to Cariboo — Sketch of their Journey across the 
 Continent— Portage La Loohe Brigades and Guides — Sketch of 
 Tour of Inspection through the Territory made by Governor Dallas — 
 Lord Milton and Dr Cheadle ; their Sojourn in Rupert's Land, their 
 Book and Sketch of the Route from Red River to the Pacific Coast — 
 Judge Black and his first Court 230 
 
 Chapter XVIII. 
 
 1862. 
 
 Mr. Robert Kennicott of the Sm-thsonian Institution — Crops — Min- 
 nesota Sioux Outbreak— Mr. Commissioner Dole and his Chippe- 
 way Camp -Lord Dunmore ; his Party and Hunting tour — Adminis- 
 trative Action of Governor Dallas — Council Petition for Troops 
 
 Mr. Sheriff Ross and the "Nor' Wester" Newspaper; His Counter 
 Petition ; His dismissal from Public ofiices ; His method of Agitation 
 — Policy of Governor Dallas 245 
 
CONTENTS. IX 
 
 Chapter XIX. 
 
 PAQB 
 1862-63. 
 
 Apprehension of the Rev. Griffith Owen Cotbett; Charge against 
 him ; Preliminary examination ; Popular demonstration at the 
 Prison — Letter to the " Nor' Wester ". — Defence — Correspondence 
 with GoTernor Dallas— Bail — Mr. Frank Larned Hunt, agent for the 
 Defence— Petition for Special Court— Visit of Sioux— Archdeacon 
 Hunter vs. John Tate — Rumoured visits from Indians— February 
 Quarterly Court— Trial and condemnation of Mr. Corbett 260 
 
 Chapter XX. 
 
 1863. 
 Commander McOlure's missing Arctic Despatches —Mr. Hunt's Lecture 
 on Red River and its People —Petition for Local Militia Force — 
 Petition for release of Mr. Corbett — Opinion of the Judge— Rumoured 
 Lisanity of the Prisoner — Forcible Liberation of Corbett — Seizure of 
 James Stewarts Special Constable Volunteers — Violent release of 
 Stewart — ^Remarks on the Corbett Disturbances 275 
 
 Chapter XXI. 
 
 1863. 
 Sioux visit — Little Crow — Count di Castiglione Maggiore — Sketch 
 of Governor Dallas' Canadian tour — Changes in the Hudson's Bay 
 Company— Freighting disasters— Brigadier General Sibley's Sioux 
 Campaign — Senator Ramsay's Chippeway Mission — Postal Improve- 
 ments— Mr. Shelley's hunting tour 290 
 
 Chapter XXII. 
 
 1863-64. 
 Commencement of the Village of Winnipeg — Land tenure at Red 
 River— Mr. Sandford Fleming, C.E— Projected route to Lake Supe- 
 rior — United States garrison at Pembina — Crops — Sioux visits — 
 Sioux camp established at Red River — Major Hatch— His request to 
 pursue the Sioux on British Territory — Sioux perplexities — Captain 
 Donaldson's Volunteer Company — Deserters across the.Lines — With- 
 drawal of the Pembina garrison 307 
 
 Chapter XXIII. 
 
 1864. 
 The "Nor" Wester"— Masonic Lodge— Politics at the Prairie Portage 
 — Departure of Governor Dallas and Bishop Anderson — Dr. Rae's 
 Expedition across the Continent — Mr. Lemay, the United States 
 Custom House Official at Pembina ; His troubles' and Letter to the 
 "Noi' Wester." 321 
 
X OOJlTElirtg. 
 
 Chapter XXIV. 
 
 PAQB 
 1864-65. 
 
 Heat— DrougW and Locusts— St. J'olin's datliedfal ; Its Leaning T'oWer 
 —Last great Siottx tiSit^Nsrth West Crteket Glut— Bad Cropa— 
 Hudson's Bay Company's Ships stranded on Mansfield Island — Cap- 
 tain Sennett's Winter Joufney — MitsOnic proceedings — Celebration 
 of St. John's Day— "Nor' Wester" Office destroyed by Fire— Sir. 
 Hunt's Poetical efforts— Nortliern 'Tout of Rev. Pfere Vandenberghe — 
 Bishop Faraud— d-rasshofpers — Se^u'fel of fliinter vs. 'fate- i:rchdea/- 
 con Hunter's Departure — Mr. William Thomson Smith's adventure in 
 Mackenzie Eiver District 337 
 
 Chai^ter XXV. 
 
 1665. 
 
 GoTernor Mactarish — Journey across Lake Winnipeg — Drunken River 
 Point Camp — Incidents of Lake travel^ Norway House — Ross* 
 ville Wesleyan Mission — Inland Summer routine — Return to Red 
 River Settlement 355 
 
 CSAPTER XXVI, 
 
 1«65. 
 
 The North West Cricket Club— Journey to Canada^-Prairie travel — 
 Reverends Messrs. Bompas and Uardiner — Subsequent Northern 
 career of Mr. Bompas — Pembina — Georgetown— Fort Abercrombie — 
 Archdeacon Cochran — Return Autumn Journey to Red River 373 
 
 Chapter XXVII. 
 
 1865-66. 
 
 Death of Archdeacon Cochran — The Right Rev. Dr. Machtay — Church 
 Reforms — Crops — Hunts — Rumoured Gold Mining at Termilion 
 Lake — Affairs of McKenney & Company ; The Junior Partner in 
 Court— Murder at the Prairie Portage— Bishop Machray's First Dio- 
 cesan Conference ; Sketches of His Lordship's Address — Governor's 
 Journey to Norway House — Bishop Machray's Second Visitation — 
 Mr. Schwieger's Saskatchewan Survey — Skirmish between Sioux and 
 Ghippeways near Fort Garry — Demarais Murder Case — Crops — Ven. 
 Archdeacon McLean — St. John's College — Arrival of Mr. Thomas 
 Spenoe; His "Political Meeting." 388 
 
COKTENTS.' ZI 
 
 Chapter XXVIII. 
 
 1867. 
 
 Mr. Spence's Legtfl PraetiCfi ; Hia Indian Address to fhe PWnce of 
 Wales— Death of Chief Fadtor Clarfe-Schullz Agitatidfl— Mr.Spence''3 
 Electioneering Campaign— Diocesan Synod ; Bishop's Address— Win- 
 nipeg Constabulary'.— Mi'.PetiSioner Mulligan— Canadian Road Opera- 
 tions— Earl Of March and Mr. Hill— Crops— Winnipeg Theatre ; Open- 
 ing night— Boms' Club— Christmas Bazaars '..407 
 
 Chapter XXIX. 
 
 1868. 
 
 McKenney & Company ; Dissolution of Partnership ; Particulars of 
 some affairs of the House — Case of Kew vs. Schultz ; Capture of 
 Schultz; His rescue — New trial — Concourse of Special Constables — 
 Excitement at the Prairie Portage — Mr. Spence, President of the 
 "Republic of Manitoba ; " His action against McPherson for " Treason ;" 
 His Letter to the Foreign Secretary and Reply ; Collapse of his Ad- 
 ministration—" Nor' Wester's " Petition for Red River Elective Fran- 
 chise and Representative Chamber — Counter Petition — Demonstra- 
 tion of Populace against the Newspaper — Walter Robert Bown, Act- 
 ing Editor,prosecuted for Defamation — Apprehension of Bown — Case 
 of Kew vs. Schultz— Evidence of H. L. Sabine— Issue of the Trial 423 
 
 Chapter XXX. 
 
 1868. 
 Destructive Hurricane — " Nor ' Wester '' — Retirement of Schultz — 
 Visit of General Marcy and party— Prairie tour of Professor Sands; 
 His feats of Natural Magic and Legerdemain — Rev. George Young — 
 Death by violence at Prairie Portage — The Queen vs. McLean — Red 
 River Famine and Relief Committee — Mr. Snow's Canadian Road ope- 
 rations — Mr. Mair, the Canadian Poet ; His Prose efforts and their 
 startling effects 440 
 
 Chapter XXXI. 
 
 Dr. Machray's third Episcopal Visitation — Red River Wesleyan Mission 
 — Colonial Routine — Remarks on the Hudson's Bay Company — In- 
 dian Difficulties in the Future — The French and English Races at Red 
 River— Spheres of Colonial Industry— The ''Nor' Wester "—Legis- 
 lative, Judicial, and Executive Reforms — American Deserters — 
 Watchman at Port Garry — Mr. Sergeant Rickards of the Royal Ma- 
 rines ; His Local Career — Studies from Nature — Men servants in 
 Bachelors' Hall from 1861 to 1869)— Red River Festivities— The 
 Bachelors' Ball (1865)— Conclusion 460 
 
Xn CONTENTS. 
 
 PASB 
 
 Affendik A 485 
 
 « B ;491 
 
 " C 496 
 
 «' D 499 
 
 «' B 502 
 
 " F 503 
 
 '• G 504 
 
 ^ « H 506 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 About half-way between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans the 
 international boundary between the United States and the British 
 North American Possessions is cut by a stream, which, to distin- 
 guish it froni another of the same name flowing into the Gulf of 
 Mexico in the south of the Continent, is called the " Red River of 
 the North." 
 
 It rises in the United States of America, and, running north- 
 wards, enters the British territories at Pembina, whence it continues 
 its course more than one hundred miles further, finally losing 
 its waters in Lake Winnipeg. 
 
 It is joined by many tributaries, the most considerable of which, 
 named the Assiniboine, flows from the West and falls into it 
 about forty miles south from its mouth at the Lake. 
 
 At the junction of these two rivers stands Fort Garry, now 
 the principal station in the territory of Rupert's Land occupied 
 by the Hudson's Bay Company. From this Fort, as a centre, a 
 civilized settlement of Europeans and others has been extended 
 along the banks of these lonely streams, which, since its commence- 
 ment early in the present century, has gradually increased to a 
 length of sixty miles along the Assiniboine, and fifty miles along 
 the Red River. The houses in no place extend back from the 
 rivers, proximity to which has hitherto formed the sole reliance 
 of the inhabitants for their water supply. For municipal purposes 
 
XIV PREFACE. 
 
 the legal boundary of the colony has been defined as the circum- 
 ference of a circle the centre of which is Fort Garry, and the 
 diameter one hundred miles. The history, present condition and 
 recent current events of this municipality form the subject of this 
 book. 
 
 In dealing with Indian naipes fhe writer of a book of adventure 
 in savage countries can seldom hope to convey the proper sound 
 of the words to the intelligence of his reader. Where possible 
 all such stumbling blocks have been systematically avoided in the 
 present work. The legally authorized designation of the municipal 
 district it was, however, necessary frequently to use, and I have 
 adopted the usual orthography of the word Assiniboia, although 
 the original mode of spelling it as Osnabpya conveys the correct 
 sound with much greater exactitude. The reason of the change 
 I do not know, With this exception I hope no difficulty will 
 rise about the pronunciation. 
 
 The first five chapters in the volume describe the scenes on the 
 voyage between Liverpool and Fort Garry, including the remark- 
 worthy features of Prairie travel. The succeeding three chapters 
 describe the origin, history, and local laws of the colony. Chapter 
 IX consists of a narrative of the history of the Protestant Churph 
 in Red River, and Chapter X describes the history and position of 
 the Roman Catholic Church in Rupert's Land. The three 
 following chapters refer to the later history and local peculiarities 
 of annual and daily life in the colony, The remainder of the 
 work contains an account of public events as they have occurred 
 since my arrival in the country in 1861. 
 
 The nature of the contents, more especially of the latter part of 
 the book, has rendered a systematic adherence to certain fixed 
 regulations, in the choice and treatment of subjects, an imperative 
 necessity. 
 
PRBffACB. jy 
 
 The grand fundamental rule I have followed has been to tell 
 the unvarnished truth, without permitting private feeling to 
 interfere in any matter I have felt it my duty to record. 
 
 With regard to the selection of subjects, while avoiding anything 
 of a private nature, the publication of which would give reasonable 
 pain to any one, I have omitted nothing bearing on the public 
 history of the colony, and have considered myself entitled tp 
 record anything which has engaged the attention of the Courts of 
 I^aw, though selecting such cases only as, from the public interest 
 they have evoked or the disorders of which they have been the 
 occasion in the community, have recommended themselveg as Ijt 
 subjects for a narrative such as mine. 
 
 Where it has been my unpleasant duty to record actions 
 discreditable to their authors, I have endeavoured to do so without 
 omitting any essential detail on the one hand, and without 
 indulging in any superfluous observations of my own on the other. 
 
 I have carefully consulted authorities on every point on which 
 doubt rested on my own mind. To documents connected with 
 the government I have had constant recourse. These were either 
 in my own hands or in those of the SheriiT or Clerk of Court. 
 The chapter on the Protestant Church, so far as it concerns the 
 Church of England, has been inspected by the Bishop of Rupert's 
 Land, who very kindly supplied much of the information contained 
 in it and verified figures and dates by comparison with oiEcial 
 documents in his possession. My original draft of this part of the 
 book was compiled from information obtained from Mr. William 
 Robert Smith, whose long connection with Church and State in 
 the colony has been described in Chapter XV. 
 
 The article on the Roman Catholic Church is a condensed 
 sketch of the contents of the book written on the subject of which 
 it treats by the Bishop of St. Boniface, whom I have to thank 
 
XVI PREFACE. 
 
 for the use of treatises throwing strong light on the state of the 
 country when a settled population first came to reside at Red River 
 in 1 8 1 2, and which have been more especially serviceable in framing 
 part of the Appendix. 
 
 All the parish clergymen in the settlement have zealously 
 assisted, when requested, in supplying information connected with 
 their several districts. The result of the combined efforts thus 
 indicated is the volume now completed. Its fidelity to the truth 
 has been acknowledged by all private friends to whom I have 
 shown it in whole or in part. My reason for insisting on this is 
 based on the circumstance that gross perversions of truth relating 
 to facts occupying positions of conspicuous importance in the 
 book have been circulated in the Canadian papers, which have 
 accepted with blind confidence the interested assertions of the 
 single newspaper of the Colony, the " Nor' Wester." 
 
 J. J, HARGRAVE. 
 
 Fort Garry, Red River, 
 z^th March, 1869. 
 
RED RIYER, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE OCBAN VOYAGE. 
 
 The Mersey— First evening on board the Hibernian— Queen's Birth-daj 
 — Off Moville— The Atlantic— Sea-sickness— Passengers— Daily Rou- 
 tine—Scenes on board— Ice— Straits of Belle Isle— Father Point— 
 The St. Lawrence — Quebec. 
 
 On the afternoon of Thursday, the twenty-third day of May, 
 -eighteen hundred and sixty-one, the Montreal Ocean Steam Ship 
 Company's Mail Steamer " Hibernian," Captain Grange, started 
 from the Mersey on her way to Montreal. It was her first voyage, 
 and as on the preceding week she had broken down, through, 
 some defect in her machinery, before leaving the Mersey, the 
 confidence of passengers on the occasion in question in her sea- 
 going capabilities lacked confirmation. 
 
 When the usual scene of bustle consequent on the embarkation 
 of passengers had subsided into one of comparative order, and the 
 travellers, along with their formidable array of baggage, had been 
 conveyed on board a small tender from the great Liverpool landing 
 stage to the steamer, riding on the waters of the Mersey, a tremu- 
 lous, rumbling motion underfoot gave evidence that the screw was 
 at work and the ocean journey had been commenced. 
 
 The huge pile of boxes and travelling apparatus of all kinds aiyi 
 sizes, without which a company of travelling Englishmen of the 
 present age apparently consider it inexpedient to face the perils of 
 the deep, or the adventures of the road, having been hurriedly 
 identified by its individual proprietors, and lodged with surprising 
 
 £ 
 
18 RED EIVEK. 
 
 alacrity in the dark depths of the vessel's hold, the good company 
 destined to spend the ensuing ten or twelve days in each other's 
 society, after visiting their respective state-rooms, sat down to' 
 dinner in the grand saloon. 
 
 After dinner a general movement took place towards the deck, 
 ^nd, although the evening was damp, foggy and cheerless, a fair 
 number of the gentlemen present, ignoring its discomforts, lit 
 their pipes and cigars, and, muffled in the snug depths of over- 
 coats and Scotch plaids, marched resolutely up and down, watching 
 the fast receding coast-line as it lay low and dimly visible through 
 the heavy, murky atmosphere. 
 
 The vessel had already cleared the Mersey, and the open sea 
 stretched away before her. The great buoys, which mark the 
 channel, floated lonely and well defined far out into the waters. 
 The dull silence was broken on(y by the murmuring wave, the 
 hoarse rattle and splash of the steamer's screw, or an occasional 
 remark from some of the promenaders. 
 
 After tea the sky cleared up, and the stars appeared. Walking 
 forward to the forecastle, the seen,e from the vessel's bow was, to a 
 landsman, really 'fine. The waste of waters, diiply seen, heaving 
 black in the starlight, bounded by a horizon of night, gave rise to 
 a feeling of isolation, relieved by the refreshing sensation produced 
 by the vessel's rapid rush through the chilly air, and the sharp 
 hissing sound of the prow vigorously cutting the waves far below, 
 fell distinctly on the ear. A few yards behind, groups of steerage 
 passengers moving afco.ut, and scattered parties with dark lanterns 
 bustling to and fro in an unsettled manner, lent a living interest to 
 the scene. On our way back from the forecastle to the quarter-deck, 
 myself and a fellow-passenger, whose acquaintance I had already 
 made, and who had accompanied me on my tour of observation to 
 the front, were accosted by one of those parties, who demanded 
 from us a pot of liquor, which they appeared to consider due them 
 by each trespasser on their domains. 
 
 At eleven o'clock all lights on board ship were extinguished, and 
 as those in the state-rooms were so arranged as to be beyond the con- 
 trol of the occupants, gentlemen who disliked to " turn in " in the 
 daik retired betimes. The beauty of the night, however, tempted 
 
PBD piVEE. 19 
 
 geyeral to delay going hehyf on this occasion till ap early hour in 
 the morning. 
 
 Friday, the 24th, was her Majesty's birthday, but, although the 
 fact wag certainly borne in mind, I do ' not recollect that we held 
 §ny celebration. AH day the water was smooth, and a fair wind 
 gave promise of continued good weather. Those who wished to 
 write their letters were enabled to do so, while such as had nothing 
 better to do paraded the deck, and watched through thjsir telescopes 
 the passing shores of Kintyre and Ireland on either b^nd. 
 
 In, the course of the afternoon ve arrived off Moville, a small 
 town in the north qf Ireland, near the mouth of Loph Foyle, wheye 
 the mails were received, and the last letters sent ashore. 4- period 
 of two hours having elapsed, two farewell guns were fired froip the 
 vessel, which forthwith started on her voyage. Shortly after it was 
 discovered that, a party who had come on board to bid some friends 
 farewell, having neglected or misunderstood the signals warnirig 
 yigitors to leave the vessel, was being carried away oceanwards 
 against their inclination. Fortunately a small fishing boat was 
 within hail, and after a compulsory trip of a few miles, the suppr- 
 numeraries were put on shore. 
 
 On this day the table had been fully attended at every meal, and 
 some passengers unaccustomed to sea life congratulated themselves 
 on having passed the stormy Irish sea without experience of the 
 horrors of sea sickness, arguing from such premises that their whole 
 voyage would be completed without any trouble from tliis 
 source. 
 
 The expectation so fondly indulged was on the ensuing morning 
 rudely disappointed, for head winds began to blow, the sea rose, 
 and all our passengers, save four or five, of whqm I have reason 
 to be thankful that I was one, were hopelessly prostrated. But few 
 made their appearance at breakfast : indeed the completion of the 
 toilet was of itself a matter of considerable difficulty, the unfortu- 
 nate experimenter being pitcbed about from side to side, and epd 
 to end of his state-room, not a moment's rest being allowed hiiia to 
 balance Mmself how he would. Under these circumstances sha,ving 
 was, of course, out of the question, and very rough customers some 
 of our friends looked in consequence before we reached the smooth 
 
20 RED RIVER. 
 
 American waters. Patrons of the beard and moustacie move- 
 ments of course smiled at this inconvenience. 
 
 Of the few who contrived to get through the morning, several 
 succumbed to the force of circumstances during the forenoon. 
 In vain the captain and officers assured the suffisrers if they 
 would, only find something to do and go about it in the usual 
 way, unmindful of sea or weather, all would be well. Very few 
 were in a state to comply with the advice, although it was pro- 
 bably the best which could have been given, seeing even the 
 slight employment afforded by a persevering walk up and down 
 the rolling deck was found a welcome preventive by one or two 
 who tried it. 
 
 The appearance presented by the sick was painful to behold ; 
 ladies and gentlemen lay senseless here and there covered up with 
 plaids or tarpaulins, some securely fixed in sheltering nooks, others 
 fallen from their seats, rolling freely up and down the quarter 
 deck as the varying motions of the ship compelled them, fell no 
 further, not in consequence of their ability to help themselves, but 
 simply because the strong bulwarks prevented their tumbling 
 overboard. When the state of matters was so bad in the better 
 part of the vessel it may be imagined how the steerage passengers 
 fared in their crowded and smaller quarters. A line running 
 across the vessel amidships, barred communication between steerage 
 and quarter-deck passengers, and I remember seeing one child of 
 not much more than infant years, whose parents were supposed to 
 be lying senseless in some remote corner of the vessel, rolling up 
 and down among buckets and cooking utensils until a charitable 
 hand drew it across the Hne into the select part of the ship. 
 
 A young man attached to the engineer's department made his 
 first sea voyage on this occasion, and lay hopelessly searsick in the 
 vicinity of the funnel or " smokestack " during the whole voyage, 
 careless alike of the duties of his situation, the chaff of his friends 
 or the contemptuous pity of certain passengers, who, having at 
 length vanquished their own squeamishness, felt bound to pity him. 
 Poor fellow ! the heat and odours of the engine room proved too 
 much for him all the way out. 
 
 For the first day or two passengers unknown to each other 
 
RED RIVER. 21 
 
 maintained the usual Englisli reserve, but, as sea-siokness wore off 
 and men began to look about them, this ceased, and many social 
 knots might be seen at all hours scattered about the deck engaged 
 in conversation and argument. 
 
 Our passenger list was not large. Among the more prominent 
 names upon it' were those of the colonel going out to take com- 
 mand of one of the Canadian Garrisons, a major, an ex-captain of 
 Hussars, and a gentleman of the Long Robe, who was making a 
 tour to Canada with the intention, I believe, of returning to 
 England in a few weeks by the United States. There were also 
 several very clever and agreeable American gentlemen going home 
 to the South, anda somevfhat caustic and boastful Canadian doctor 
 of medicine. 
 
 We breakfasted at 8.30 a.m., took luncheon at noon, dined at 
 4 p.m., and drank tea at 7 o'clock. Any one who wished itcould 
 procure supper by ordering it before 10 o'clock. The commis- 
 sariat departmen't was conducted on the most approved principles, 
 and the distinguished success achieved in all arrangements 
 connected with this part of the ship's management reflected credit 
 on all concerned. To discourage smuggling, wines and cigars 
 were provided on board at extremely low prices and of excellent 
 quality. 
 
 Meals formed, of course, the main events of those days at sea. 
 Attempts were made to organise amusements of various kinds, but 
 although the ship's officials, of whom I beg here to state that all 
 without exception were entitled to high praise for their courtesy 
 and kindness towards passengers, used great efibrts to give them 
 an impetus, they failed. The chief scheme of which I have now 
 any recollection was one for the formation of a court of justice, 
 before which all who had been " absent from table without leave " 
 should be summoned and tried. The principal difficulty in 
 realising this bright idea lay in making a choice of culprits in 
 consequence of the tables having been for several days almost 
 totally deserted for reasons already given. It was also a scheme, 
 the successful prosecution of which required some forensic ability, 
 which we lacked. We had much argument, however, not unac- 
 companied sometimes with considerable acrimony. For this there 
 
22 KED RlVEB. 
 
 existed some room in the disfeussion of Union States rights, tbe 
 Galway Pafcket subsidy, tlie Essays aiid Reviews, and siinilar 
 Bulbjects. There was also a warm controversy one day with 
 reference to an Irish " cause celehre " which had shortly before 
 that time engaged the attention of a Court of Law, and in which it 
 haid become known that the legal gentleman of our party had been 
 engaged in a subordinate capacity. This gentleman had expressed 
 an opinion on some point of the case within hearing of the caustic 
 medical man above alluded to, who retorted warmly that he had 
 conceived himself entitled from his private knowledge of parties 
 cohcerned to contradict the opinion just pronounced, and rebuked 
 the Speaker for the tone of authority in which he had stated it. 
 In this view of the matter the ex-hussar joined him, and the 
 barristfef fbund himself matched against two. In his argu- 
 ments with the soldier, however, he usually, as might be 
 expected, prevailed, to the great discomposure 6f the latter, who 
 with quizzing glass screwed under his eyebrow, and face twisted 
 in a nianiier which in absence of long practice ought to have been 
 painful, attempted to stare his stolid adversary out of counten- 
 ance. 
 
 The principal displays of this description took place iri the 
 evening when the majority of passengers had assembled round the 
 " smokestack " to enjoy their pipes and cigars after tea, although 
 minor conflicts were wont to take place in the saloon after meals. 
 On the latter occasions the ladi^, aiid the more staid among the geh- 
 tlemien, withdrew to the side seats, and glancing over the volumes 
 held in their hands, watched the progress of &e debate from a safe 
 distance, while the more eager partisans reinained along with the 
 champions to whom they adhered, and encouraged thenai by voice 
 and gesture with all the authority they could bring to bear upon the 
 subject treated of. The " asides '* on these occasions were also 
 soinetimes good. 
 
 " I back the doctor — be is right," said one. 
 
 "No, oh no ! the poor man is groping iii tlie dark; he cannot 
 see when he makes a point — but the lawyer is a very clever and 
 sharp fellow," said another, adding to the huasar, '' Go it, captain, 
 you have him there; keep him — ha! ha! ha!" and altogeflief a 
 
RED ftlVBR. 23 
 
 good deal of amusement and Hlarity resulted from such en- 
 counters during the trip. 
 
 Every hour this speed of the vessel was ascertained by the log ; 
 and although the general run of the steamers on this line is very 
 perfectly defined, once a day an observation with the sextant was 
 taken to define our exact position. The results of these operations 
 formed the staple article of our news, anxiously waited for and 
 passed from man to man when made known, during our voyage 
 across the Atlantic, in the course of which, thoilgh ever on the look- 
 out, we saw no vessel save our own. 
 
 A slnall library kept in the steamer's saloon, from which books 
 were issued to all applicants at a stated hour ea^h day, proved also 
 a source of welcome pa^ime. 
 
 On the first Sunday of our voyage the amount of sea-sickness on 
 board had reached its maximum ; but otl the second all had re- 
 covered sufficiently to celebrate Divine Service, which was held in 
 the saloon, the doctor of the ship officiating in absence of a regular 
 clergyiflan. The doctor acquitted himself in this matter as well 
 as could be reasonably desired, supported as he was in the responses 
 by the military gentlemen and some others of advanced years, who, 
 stationed close to the celebrant at the head of the principal table, 
 repeated their portion of the service with such vehemence of utter- 
 ance aS almost to drown the voices of the head steward and his staff 
 ■of assistants, who had been pdated in a less advantageous position, 
 with a view to Sctinff as the recognized choir. The only eonfre- 
 temps worth mentioning, however, obeurred in singing the Conclud- 
 ing hymn, which happened to be the humdreth psaini, and which 
 the doctor had omitted to read. This canticle was accordingly 
 sung by a large portion of the company according to the Presby- 
 terian verM<)n, and by the remainder according to that found in 
 the Church prayer-book. The consequence was a confusion of 
 words and soutids, which threatetieda general break-do-irh, a result 
 averted only by a man from Glasgow, one of the assistant stewards, 
 opportunely and boldly stepping forth into the centre of the 
 saloon, and, favored by a powerful voice, shouting out so as t<S 
 drown the feeble efforts of his principal and others, leading the fol- 
 lowers of his own version to a sucdeSsful conclusiom 
 
24 BED KIVER. 
 
 On approaching the American coast we came upon fields of 
 floating ice, interspersed with isolated icebergs. Considerable , 
 interest had been wakened in prospect thereof, and betting men had 
 an opportunity of calculating the odds against the various times at 
 which we were likely to meet it. "We did so at last, and hailed it 
 as the first harbinger of land. At first we passed only small pieces, 
 scattered at intervals along our course ; but the number of these 
 gradually increased, and at length we found ourselves in presence 
 of such enormous quantities that it was apprehended we would be 
 driven a day's run out of our course. Most fortunately our fears- 
 were disappointed, and a channel opened up before us, through 
 which we passed, running very slowly for a. whole night ; but in. 
 the morning we were once more in open water. The high banks 
 of Newfoundland and Labrador stood forth in bold cliffs, and away 
 toward the bleak North stretched the inhospitable shores and the 
 ice-encumbered waters of 'Davis' Straits. 
 
 We passed through the Straits of Belle Isle, separating New- 
 foundland from Labrador, the scene of many accidents resulting . 
 from the difficulty of navigation. The sleepless exertions of the 
 ship's officers and men brought us safely through, and the Gulf of 
 St. Lawrence hourly widened around. The low-lying barren shore 
 of Anticosti ran past on our left, and on the afternoon of Tuesday, 
 4th June, we reached Father Point, where the pilot, whose duty 
 it became to steer our vessel up the St. Lawrence, came on board 
 .with newspapers anxiously expected, more especially by the 
 Americans among us, whose anxiety to receive intelligence about 
 the opening civU war was naturally great. 
 
 The banks of the St. Lawrence looked well, rising in moun- 
 tainous irregularity on either hand. Scattered villages and small 
 towns of wooden houses lay along the coast, much frequented by 
 tourists during the heats of summer. Several large tributaries, 
 flow into the St. Lawrence in the lower part of her course, and 
 very beautiful their great deep valleys looked as we rapidly steam- 
 ed by their mouths, passing and overtaking many other vessels, 
 both sailing and steam, going up and down the river. 
 
 On this, the last evening of our voyage, there took place, of 
 course, a general re-union round the "smokestack" of the now 
 
RED EIVEK. 25 
 
 familiar friends of the past fortnight, whose ways for one night 
 more were to be the same, and who next day were to scatter to 
 meet no more. Those of the company on whose further course the 
 mists of uncertainty lay thickest were three young gentlemen 
 going home to the Southern States after the completion of a 
 European tour, and who feared, not perhaps without reason, deten- 
 tion or ill-usage in passing through the North. The other pas- 
 sengers were delighted either with the expectation of the novelties 
 they were about to witness, or the near prospect of returning to 
 their homes. We sat together till the last light of a beautiful 
 and mild evening was gone, and retired. 
 
 On waking up early next morning, we saw close under the port- 
 holes the wharf of Point Levi, and at a little distance the railway 
 station, bearing the inscription, " Grand Trunk Railway," in large 
 letters, placarded on one of the sheds. On deck all was animation ; 
 friends come to welcome new arrivals, porters running about with 
 their burdens, the crew and agents of the ship jostled busily 
 about. 
 
 Point Levi is a small port, the terminus of the Grand Trunk 
 Eailway, lying on the south side of the St. Lawrence, directly 
 opposite Quebec. The latter town is situated on the north shore of 
 the river, and is distinctly seen with its fortifications towering high 
 over it on the Heights of Abraham. These names are familiar to 
 the reader of history, in connection with the events in which the 
 celebrated General Wolfe lost his life. The St. Lawrence at this 
 point is about two miles in breadth. 
 
 Our voyage had been an unusually long ohe, owing to the con- 
 trary winds we had encountered, and the day we had passed slow- 
 ly slipping through the ice-fields. Leaving Liverpool on the 
 afternoon of the 23rd May, and arriving at Quebec on the morn- 
 ing of the 5th June, we had taken more than twelve days to make 
 the trip. This being also the first voyage completed by our 
 steamer, it was believed the circumstance might be calculated to 
 injure her in the public eye. As far as possible to counteract this 
 effect, a paper was drawn ujj and signed by the cabin passengers 
 containing an address to Captain Grange, in which mention was 
 made of the high satisfaction of all with the treatment they had 
 
26 BED KIVER. 
 
 experienced on board his vessel, as well as their conviction that the 
 ■uniisual length of the passage wais due neither to any defect in the 
 vessel nor shortcoming on his part, or that of any of his subordi- 
 nates, but simply to stress df weather. 
 
 After an early breakfast had been dispatched, the business of 
 disembarkation commenbed, aiid each man found full iemployment 
 for his time in watching aiid identifyihg the different items of his 
 Itiggage, as piece by piece it was extracted from the abysses below, 
 in which it had been stowed dtlring the voyage. There was neces- 
 sarily some confusion, as passengers unaccustomed to such scenes 
 bustled about with porters at their heels, dragging heavy trunks 
 and boxes of all shapes and sizes from one part of the vessel to 
 another ; but as the arrangements made by the people in authority 
 were very complete, the amount of inconvenience caused was less 
 than might have been expected. 
 
 In the course of the fdrenobn I found all my luggage collected, 
 and iiiy business on board being accomplished, along with the ma- 
 jority of my fellow-passengers, I bade adieu to the " Hiberilian " 
 and stepped ashore on " the New World." 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Custom house — American travelling arrangements— Grand Trunk Rail- 
 way—Victoria Tubular Bridge— Montreal— General Election— To- 
 ronto— Sleeping Oars— United States frontier at Port Huron- Michi- 
 gan Central Railroad— Chicago— Chicago and North Western Rail- 
 road — Lacrosse — Mississippi Steamer — Adventure of passenger from 
 New York— United States Volunteers— Scenery of " Hiawatha "—St. 
 Paul. 
 
 OUE first duty on landing was to pass the custom-house, a work 
 sometimes attended with inconvenience. On this occasion it was 
 tedious from the number of candidates, but it ended at last, and I 
 had the satisfaction of seeing on each of my boxes a label bearing 
 the royal arms', and other inscriptions, the practical signification of 
 which was that I was free to proceed with them on my journey. 
 
 A special train in connection with the Atlantic steamers ran the 
 whole length of the Grand Trunk line, and passengers had the 
 option of continuing their journey up stream to Montreal, in the 
 steamer or going by this train. As about eighteen hours would 
 be gained by the latter coursei, the majority of passengers availed 
 themselves of it. 
 
 On entering the station we found our train in readiness, but were 
 informed that an axjoident, which had occurred on our track, would 
 prevent it starting for some hours. 
 
 The American railroad arrangements we were prepared to find 
 somewhat different from those which obtained in Europe. To 
 each of our pieces of luggage, a leaden medal or "check" was 
 attached by a leather thong, duplicate of which check was delivered 
 to us and constituted our receipt for luggage it represented, for 
 the safe return of which the Railway Company was responsible. 
 The production by any one of his check entitled him to the 
 immediate delivery of his luggage, but should he lose the former, 
 
28 IlED RIVER. 
 
 his application for the latter would be refused. Lucky in such 
 case would he be had no one found his check and demanded his 
 luggage, in which case he would have to take what steps he could 
 to obtain its recovery. This system giyes a man the feeling he is 
 ever travelling with his effects in his pocket, but on the long rail- 
 way journeys of America, it works satisfactorily. 
 
 The extremely low rate of fares charged on the &rand Trunk 
 Railroad, we found in bold contrast to that on all English lines, 
 and this favorable comparison holds good on all the American 
 railroads on which I have since travelled. The different kinds 
 of money in use tended at first to confuse the mind accustomed to 
 deal only with sterling currency. There were dollars and cents, 
 dimes and yorkers, pounds sterling and pounds Halifax currency. 
 To all these it required experience to reconcile a stranger, 
 but after a little time had elapsed I was enabled to calculate with 
 ease. For the benefit of those who have not enjoyed the same 
 experience, I may mention a dollar is worth between 4s. and 4s. 2d. 
 sterling ; a cent, about an English half-penny ; a dime, ten cents, 
 a yorker or York shilling, an English sixpence, and a pound 
 Halifax currency, about sixteen shillings, four dollars, or four- 
 fifths of a pound sterling. 
 
 In consequence of the above-mentioned accident we were 
 detained at Point Levi station till three o'clock in the afternoon. 
 The time thus placed at our disposal we spent walking up and 
 down in the vicinity of the station, and looking about us. As 
 nothing of special interest existed nearer than Quebec, which lay 
 on the other side of the river, and as some of the steerage passen- 
 gers, who had used the interval of idleness offered them by the 
 delay to imbibe rather freely the various stimulating beverages 
 exposed for sale at the bar of the hotel, were beginning to exhibit 
 unequivocal symptoms of too free indulgence, we were very 
 glad when the welcome signal of departure was rung, and we 
 started on our further journey. 
 
 The American railway carriage is not divided into compartments 
 as is usual in England, but consists of one large chamber with a 
 door at each extremity, and a clear passage along the centre from 
 door to door. On each side of the passage is a row of seats, each 
 
RED UIVBR. 29 
 
 seat wide enougli to accommodate two persons, who, by an arrange- 
 ment whereby the back of the seat is reversible, may sit with 
 either their face or back -to the engine. Tie carriages are well 
 lighted by numerous windows, which, with alternate mirrors 
 occupy their entire length on both sides. Entrance and exit are 
 facilitated by exterior platforms and side steps at each door, and 
 communication is open between every car in the train throughout 
 the journey. 
 
 The grand objection to this kind of carriage lies in the amount 
 of dust which penetrates through so many windows and doors as 
 it contains, but its conveniences appear in the judgment of those*^ 
 concerned to counterbalance this evil, for, so far as I can learn, its 
 adoption is universal in America. 
 
 Our special train consisted of first and second class carriages, in 
 the former of which journeyed the cabin and in the latter the 
 steerage passengers. In a comfortable seat close by the rear door 
 of our carriage, which was the last in the train, was seated the 
 conductor, a very important personage, who was good enough to 
 point out to us the objects of local interest, as we steamed past 
 them. These were not numerous on the lower stages of the line. 
 Here and there we passed villages and observed railway crossings, 
 the placards situated over which, by their duplicate inscriptions 
 in English and French, gave us to understand we were travelling 
 through the settlements of a mixed population. 
 
 The Grand Trunk Railroad is constructed on the broad gauge 
 principle, and the speed to be attained on it is considerable. The 
 slopes on either side of the track are not of course dressed or laid 
 out so neatly as is usual on English railways ; on the contrary the 
 cuttings and embankments remain rough and undressed, as left by 
 the pick-axes of the navigators, who pioneered the way. Between 
 Quebec and Montreal, the route plunges through primeval woods, 
 but at intervals along its course small villages and embryo towns, 
 were to be seen rising from amid surrounding clearings. The 
 houses were all constructed of wood. 
 
 We halted for a late dinner at Richmond, the junction of the 
 two great branches of the Grand Trunk Line, from Point Levi on 
 the St. Lawrence and Portland on the Atlantic Ocean, respectively 
 
30 RED KiyEB. 
 
 the summer and winter ports used by the Canadian steamers. 
 The sun lyas setting among the woods when we left this place, and 
 though we stopped only at the principakpoints, it was nine o'clock 
 before the train re^[|ed the open country and fenced fields which 
 evidenced our approach to a cojisiderable city. About this time 
 our patience was a good deal ffied by our train being run off the 
 main line upon a "siding"' to permit the passage of another 
 coming from the opposite direction. For half an hour on, there- 
 by, we were left to meditate on the disadvantages of single-lined 
 railways, and listen to the "National Anthem of Canada," as some 
 .facetious individual called the united croaking of some myriads of 
 frogs in the neighbouring swamps. 
 
 At last the much desired train rushed past, and we proceeded. 
 The lights of the city became visible in the distance, and our friend, 
 the conductor, intimated we should soon be at the Victoria Tubu- 
 lar Bridge, on which we were to cross to the northern shore of the 
 St. Lawrence. At this information every one started to his feet 
 and sought the parts of the train whence the best view could be 
 obtained. Soon the entering arch was passed, and for a few seconds 
 the space overhead remained clear as we ran along the abutments of 
 the bridge. Suddenly a loud, hollow rumbling sound started from 
 under foot, the space round the carriage was contracted, and we 
 were in the tunnel. Our speed relaxed, and, as we slowly ran, we 
 had ample opportunity to admire the massive iron ribs and plating 
 -of the structure, dimly seen in the faint light reflected from the 
 carriage lamps. The length of the tube is about a mile and a half, 
 and while passing along it the exterior platform of the carriage was 
 crowded with curious passengers, who withdrew inside as the rumb- 
 ling sound ceased, and we were once more on the firm ground forming 
 the northern approach to the bridge. The entering arch flew past 
 us, and we found ourselves, after the lapse of a few minutes, at a 
 stand-stiU within the large and commodious station of Montreal. 
 
 The principal hotels in town were here represented by agents 
 who eagerly canvassed for the patronage of the new arrivals. " Try 
 the Metropolitan — ^the Ottawa — the St. Lawrence Hall!" was 
 heard on all hands. An omnibus in waiting, connected with the 
 latter-named establishment, conveyed myself and such of my fellow- 
 
KED RIVER. 31 
 
 travellers as proposed passing a day or two in Montreal, to tlie 
 hotel. The St. Lawrence Hall is an immenae building capable of 
 accommodating several hundreds of guests, and is conducted on 
 the American system. » We found its pujjjw rooms brilliantly 
 lighted, and a crowd of people seated in loungmg chairs under the 
 front portico, reading the newspapers and.^moking in the cool even- 
 ing air. 
 
 The next day I had an opportunity of seeing the sights of the 
 city. Of these the most famous is, of course, the Victoria Bridge. 
 Its fame must, however, rely more upon the enormous difficulties 
 surmounted in its construction, than on the appearance presented by 
 its exterior ; although it may be very well imagined that an iroii 
 tunnel, a mUe and a half in length, borne upon vast granite piers, 
 rising one hundred feet above the level of one of the mightiest 
 rivers in the world, presents a spectacle well calculated to convey to 
 the mind an impression of solid grandeur and gigantic compass. 
 
 In architecture the Roman Catholic Parish Church is a fine 
 building, and the view of the city aqd its neighbourhood, obtainable 
 from the summit of one of its two lofty towers, is, to an energetic 
 admirer of bird's eye views, a fair recompense both for the exertion 
 necessary in effecting the ascent, and the shilling levied for the per- 
 mission to clinib. The interior of the church is also good, being 
 large and lofty, with sufficient accommodation for a large retinue 
 of priests in celebrations of importance. St. Patrick's church is 
 also a fine one, belonging to the same religious sect. In it I wit- 
 nessed the confirmation of a large number of children of both sexes, 
 by Bishop Bourget, of Montreal. 
 
 The Anglican Cathedral of Christ Church is said by judges of 
 ecclesiastical architecture to be one of the finest churches in 
 America. It has been feared, however, that the foundation is defec- 
 tive, and its acoustic properties are certainly imperfect. 
 
 The hill rising behind Montreal, called " the Mountain," form? 
 an important item among the attractions of the city. It is com- 
 passed by a very good road running round its base, forming a much 
 frequented drive. From the elevated part of the mountain, on 
 which many suburban residences have been built by the wealthy 
 merchants of Montreal, a fine view of the city and neighbourhood 
 
82 RED RIVER. 
 
 f 
 
 may be had, as it lies sloping towards the St. Lawrence, with its 
 spires, warehouses, streets, squares and docks, and great Victoria 
 Bridge stretching out towards the further shore, with ships sail- 
 ing under its wide-spanned tube. 
 
 Remotely situate towards the part of the mountain most distant 
 from Montreal is the establishment of Monklands, being the former 
 residence of Lord Elgin, and other Governors Greneral of Canada, 
 previous to the removal of the seat of Grovernment from Montreal. 
 The harbour of Montreal is good, and its docks and stone wharves 
 are substantially built and commodious. The city abounds with 
 fine churches belonging to all denominations. There are also col- 
 leges, nunneries, hospitals and banks, all with more or less architec- 
 tural pretentions. 
 
 One theatre exists in town, but I did not understand it to be a very 
 decided success. On the occasion of my visit it was occupied by a 
 company of operatic singers. The walls, moreover, bore large placards 
 announcing that, on the following week, " Professor Anderson, the 
 great Wizard of the North," would visit the city, for eight nights 
 only, during which he would perform his unrivalled feats of natural 
 magic and legerdemain." Unless his performances drew fuller 
 houses than did the efforts of the operatic company on the evening 
 I witnessed them, I fear the Wizard's visit must have turned out 
 but a poor speculation. 
 
 Early in the month of July a general election was held in 
 Canada, and on the first day of that month, while travelling wesi^ 
 ward, I had an opportunity of seeing some of the bustle thereon 
 attendant. The language of partizanship, both in private conver- 
 sation and public journalism, was strong and bitter, and it was a 
 relief to get free from it, especially as the main centres of excite- 
 ment lay on the route of the Grand Trunk Railway, on which I 
 travelled with many eager voters, connected with all parties, as fel- 
 low travellers in the same train with myself The fact that rigid 
 abstemiousness was not a characteristic of a large section of these 
 people tended to render their neighbourhood still less desirable. 
 
 On the evening of 1st July I passed Toronto. Travelling 
 during the night, we exchanged our regular day carriages for 
 others, the interior furnishings of which were so constructed that, 
 
RED KIVER. 33 
 
 with wonderfully little trouble, the series of seats could be turned 
 into rows of sofas or cushioned benches, serving the purposes of 
 beds. Curtains, blankets and pillows, which during the day had 
 been stowed away in their boxes, were brought out and so utilized 
 that considerable comfort and privacy were obtainable. These 
 carriages, commonly called "sleeping-cars," are of great service in 
 the course of long journeys, continued by day and night sometimes 
 for nearly a week. The result of the ingenuity with which every 
 piece is dove-tailed into its neighbour, so that the ordinary car of 
 the day becomes the dormitory of its occupants during the night, 
 must be seen to be adequately appreciated. The same number of 
 passengers can, I believe, be accommodated in each carriage under 
 the night arrangements as under those of the day. Sufficient at- 
 tendance is provided to secure passengers, who desire to be roused 
 at any spot during the night, against the risk of being carried past 
 their destination. 
 
 Leaving Toronto at eleven o'clock at night, we reached the 
 Canadian frontier port of Sarnia at five in the morning. Here we 
 quitted the railway and crossed the St. Clair river close to its 
 mouth, at the southern extremity *of Lake Huron, in a steamboat, 
 landing on the United States frontier at Port Huron, The passage 
 occupied only a few minutes, during which we had to satisfy the 
 United States custom-house officer as to our luggage. Luckily, 
 the official was civil and did not exact too much, permitting me to 
 pass without trouble. After breakfast at Port Huron we con- 
 tinued our journey to Detroit, where we arrived after, a run of 
 about two hours, and thence proceeded by the Michigan Central 
 Eailroad to Chicago, which we reached at eight o'clock in the 
 evening. 
 
 The Michigan Central is said to be one of the best railways in 
 the United States. The carriages were well appointed, and every- 
 thing about them in good repair, the permanent way smooth, and 
 the embankments well dressed. 
 
 Nearing' Lake Michigan the rolling prairie opened out before us, 
 and at length we reached the lake itself and ran along its shore. 
 Some miles from Chicago we caught sight of its towers, chimneys 
 and steeples, and passed a network of telegraph wires and railway 
 
 
 
84 EED EIVEE, 
 
 tracks converging from different quarters. The great numiber of 
 vessels spread over tte lake, going to and from the city, would of 
 themselves have indicated it as a remarkable place ; but the won- 
 drous prosperity and sudden rise from the heart of a wilderness 
 into first-rate importance of the town itself, are so well known that 
 the evidences of a thriving city were looked for, and consequently 
 did not strike with surprise. 
 
 Having remained one day in Chicago, at eight o'clock on the 
 evening of the 3rd July I started onwards by the Chicago and 
 North Western Railway to Lacrosse. At midnight we changed 
 carriages at Watertovm junction, and at eight o'clock on the morn- 
 ing of the 4th July reached Lacrosse, a small town on the Mis- 
 sissippi, then the extreme limit of railway travelling towards the 
 West. 
 
 The distance thence to Saint Paul, of about 160 miles,' was 
 travelled by steamboat. I found the vessel waiting ; but, as it would 
 not sail till evening, I had the whole day to look around me. Being 
 the 4th of July, there was much holiday-making. Excursion 
 steamers, saiKng heavy laden with the multitude of their passen- 
 gers, went out in the morning and returned at the close of day, 
 while all day long scattered shots from small field-pieces wakened 
 the echoes on the swampy shore. 
 
 The steamer's crew did not certainly join in the general merri- 
 ment, being, on the contrary, engaged all day in the matter-of-fact 
 employment of unshipping from the vessel her cargo of sacks full of 
 grain, an article exported down the Mississippi in vast quantities 
 from the agricultural States of Minnesota and Wisconsin, on its 
 way to Chicago, the great grain depot of the West. 
 
 The American river steamers, though much admired by some 
 people, and thoroughly adapted to the shallow waters on which , 
 they ply, to me seemed clumsy and uncouth in their huge white- 
 washed bulk. They are composed of a hull, the gunwale of which 
 reaches some three or four feet above the water's edge, and the deck 
 of which is occupied by cargo, engine and machinery. Raised 
 above this lower deck, and supported by strong framework, is the 
 passenger deck, occupied by the main saloon, and the staterooms 
 opening immediately off it. Above the roof of this structure towers 
 
RED RIVER. 35 
 
 ihe wlieel or pilot's house, perched in •which, from his surpassing 
 elevation, the man at the wheel commands an unobstructed view a 
 long way ahead over the vessel's course. 
 
 About nine o'clock we left Lacrosse and steamed up the Mis- 
 sissippi, a very tortuous river, even at this considerable distance 
 from its source in the wilderness of Minnesota. The evening was 
 lowering, and constant flashes of sheet lightning played among the 
 heavy thunder-clouds. The night had become quite dark before 
 we reached the first stopping place at which we were to take in 
 wood. The vast quantity of fuel consumed on board the river 
 steamers renders it necessary to have a great supply cut and piled 
 in convenient localities on their route ; and as the peculiar build of 
 these boats enables them to run at a loaded draft of only three or 
 four feet, they have only to be run along shore close to the bank, 
 where they receive the fuel placed in readiness for them. At night 
 the scene presented by the groups of workmen wooding the vessel, 
 while the glare of torches, braziers and flambeaux lights up the dark 
 vistas among the woods, is striking. 
 
 A violent thunderstorm during the night cleared the heavens for 
 a fine morning. At this stage we had quite an excitement on 
 board, in consequence of a complaint lodged by an elderly country- 
 man, of unsophisticated appearance, hailing from the neighbourhood 
 of New York, who was then making a tour in the West, that his 
 stateroom had been entered during the night and the greater part of 
 his money stolen. It was at first supposed the thief had quitted 
 the steamer during the night at some of the villages where she had 
 stopped, but further investigation proved this was not the case. He 
 was found still on board with the stolen property in his possession, 
 and turned out to be a quiet, weakly-looking man, with pale fea- 
 tures and sad voice, who had entertained a knot of passengers over- 
 night, his victim being one among his hearers, and in more than one 
 sense a most interested auditor, with some amusing stories of the 
 doings of the thieving population in the States, illustrative chiefly 
 of the expertness attainable by members of the pocket-picking 
 branch of the profession. A clue to his identification as the cul- 
 prit had been found from information supplied by the purser, whose 
 suspicions had been raised by noticing the man moving about the 
 vessel at a late hour on the night of the robbery. 
 
36 RED ElVBiE, 
 
 The victim, satisfied with regaining his property, the loss a? 
 which would have subjected him to grave inconvenience at that 
 distance from home, and a good deal softened by the recital of a 
 moving story of suifering which the unfortunate culprit made to 
 him, declined to carry the matter any further, and the prisoner, 
 after being detained the greater part of the day bound in a very un- 
 comfortable manner, in a conspicuous position close to the wheel- 
 house, over the saloon, and exposed to the rays of a blazing July 
 sun, was, at his intercession, put ashore. 
 
 A regiment of the United States Volunteer army, then newly 
 raised, accompanied us on their way to relieve one belonging to the 
 regular army quartered at a Western post, whose services were re- 
 quired in the sharp work then just commencing with the South. 
 The officers and men connected with this volunteer detachment 
 seemed to have alike belonged to the class of operatives : they were 
 intelligent men, but apparently undrilled and ignorant of the 
 details of military duty. Their Union sentiment was, of course, 
 very strong. In this feeling all the passengers with whom I con- 
 versed quite coincided. 
 
 "If my own brother were a Rebel I would shoot him without 
 liesitation," remarked one gentleman, and even the victim of the 
 above recorded robbery found time amid his pursuits of a more 
 personal nature to remark that he "was sorry to observe Eno-land 
 did not appear to show us that hearty cordiality he could wish to 
 see exhibited by her." 
 
 The country through which we passed is celebrated as the scene 
 of the action of Mr. Longfellow's poem of " Hiawatha." It has, 
 however, gained some features which it did not possess in the times 
 to which that work refers. The natural outlines are still the same. 
 High banks crop out on either hand, indenting, with their pro- 
 montories, bays on the opposite sides of the tortuous stream, pre- 
 senting the appearance of terraces of hills stretching far away 
 before and behind the traveller, and in few parts is the course of the 
 stream visible far ahead. On the less precipitous banks trees o-row 
 down to the water's edge, and on one hand a high wooded cliff jut« 
 forth to meet a low sedgy bank upon the other. 
 
 The wigwam of th I idian is now, however, gone. It is re- 
 
RED RIVER. Si 
 
 placed by the dwellings of the invading race. There are numerous 
 villages and large towns scattered along the river's banks, with their 
 wooden wharves, Swiss cottages, more pretentious Greek style of 
 private residences, and kitchen gardens. Barn-like hotels, with 
 staring placards, and court houses with cupolas, stand conspicuously 
 forth. The staple building material is wood, but red brick man- 
 sions, with white doors and windows, brick and stone stores and 
 steeples are visible in considerable numbers. The towns generally 
 seemed irregularly built, stretching away behind their levees or 
 river landing places, and backed with wooded bluffs. 
 
 A considerable distance below Saint Paul the Mississippi widens 
 out into a broad lake called Lake Pepin, a short distance above the 
 northern extremity of which that city, the capital of Minnesota, is 
 situated. 
 
 On nearing it our fellow-travellers, the volunteers, had com- 
 menced their preparations for disembarking, in the course of which 
 they ascertained the unwelcome fact that the local bank-notes in 
 their possession, although perfectly negociable at the place whence 
 they came, were useless in Minnesota. As may be imagined, the 
 poor fellows were much chagrined at the intelligence, and stigma- 
 tized their banking system as being bad. The great number of 
 forged and worthless notes in circulation in the States rendered it 
 absolutely nece-ssary to exercise great caution in receiving money 
 at the time of which I speak. Since that date, however, the notes 
 of local banks have been practically displaced from the ordinary 
 currency by the "greenbacks" or Government paper, which has 
 certainly in this respect been of service to the State. 
 
 As we rounded the last promontory and came in sight of the 
 beautiful and thriving city of Saint Paul, a gentleman on board 
 who had amused himself a good deal during the day in persever- 
 ingly sustaining the cause of Union in my hearing, called my atten- 
 tion to the magnitude of its dominion, as exhibited by the fact 
 that though then four days and nights continual travel by steam 
 and rail from its Eastern boundary, we were yet only in the cen- 
 tre of its territories. 
 
 An omnibus, in waiting at the wharf to convey what guests the 
 steamboat might offer it to the American Hotel, took me up and 
 deposited me at that establishment without further adventure. 
 
CHAPTEK III. 
 
 ST. PAUL TO FORT ABEROROMBIE. 
 
 City of St. Paul— Red River Merchants— Trotting Match— President 
 Lincoln's first Message — Stage Coach — Falls of Minnehaha — St. 
 Anthony — Prairie travelling — Passengers — St. Cloud — Kandottah — 
 Alexandria and its Woods and Roads — Pomme de Terre — Red River 
 of the North — Port Abercrombie. 
 
 Saint Paul, the capital of Minnesota, is the head of steam navi- 
 gation on the Mississippi, whose waters, about twelve miles above the 
 point at which it stands, are interrupted by the Palls of St. Anthony. 
 At the time of which I write it might be said to form the most 
 westerly point of civilized town life, although since then railroad 
 enterprise has extended westward, and several embryo towns now 
 flourish amid promising indications of prosperity. 
 
 On the evening of my arrival, I availed myself of the time at 
 my disposal to see the lions of the place, the principal among which 
 was a society of merchants from Red River Settlement, then pre- 
 sent on one of their periodical visits to the city. I learned that the 
 seasons at which these people were chiefly to be found in St. Paul 
 were annually two in number — the months of June and September 
 being the periods of their Spring and Autumn visits. The Spring 
 trip is made so soon as the snow being cleared away from the sur- 
 face of the plains, the roads are in a fit state for the passage of the 
 two-wheeled carts used in the country, and the grass grown suffi- 
 ciently long to furnish feeding for the animals ; while the Pall trip 
 is so timed that the return passage to Red River may be completed 
 before the closing in of winter. The distance of plain travel from 
 St. Paul to the settlement is from six hundred to six hundred and 
 fifty miles. 
 
RED RIVER. 39 
 
 The merchants in question I found to be quite a society among 
 tibemselves, and their custom a recognized and valued institution in 
 the city, where an animated competition was kept up for the furs 
 they had to offer in exchange for goods, to be used in their coming 
 year's trade in the West. 
 
 The principal hotel frequented by this community in 1861 was 
 the Winnslow House, under the verandah of which I had the plea- 
 sure of an introduction to a large section of them as they sat in 
 their American rocking-chairs smoking and reading the evening 
 papers. Being on my way to their country, I was at once among 
 friends, and passed a very pleasant evening in their society, talking 
 over the probable duration of my trip, the state of the roads, and 
 ihe various points of interest to a traveller. 
 
 My journey I found would he of a two-fold system of locomo- 
 ition, the first part being passed in a stage coach and the second in 
 a steamboat. The stage or express line of coaches ran between St. 
 Paul and Greorgetown, a post established by the Hudson's Bay 
 Company on the upper waters of the Bed River of the North. The 
 express was conducted by Messrs. J. C. and H. C. Burbank & 
 Company, a firm of St. Paul merchants who were under contract 
 to cao-ry the United States mail, which they did by means of these 
 coaches. The steamboat running on the Red River between George- 
 town and the settlement was the joint property of the Hudson's 
 Bay Company and Messrs. Burbank, the latter being employed by 
 the former as their freighting agents. The stage line, besides the 
 purposes it served in carrying the mails, was much used by those 
 traders who, not caring to travel by the slow conveyance of their 
 own freight carts, the rate of progress of which was about twenty 
 miles a day, took passage in its coaches, and by travellers of various 
 kinds whose business or pleasure took them out westward. 
 
 Daily coaches ran between St. Paul and St Cloud, a small vil- 
 lage about eighty miles west from St. Paul, built on the Mississippi, 
 the route between which places formed the first day's journey, 
 ■while three times each week coaches starting from St. Cloud and 
 Georgetown completed the chain of through communication. The 
 total distance, between St. Paul and Georgetown, of more than 
 ithree hundred miles, was easily traversible in five days ; this was 
 
40 KED RIVER. 
 
 accomplished by relays of torses stationed in postal estabfishmeiitS', 
 situated at intervals, varying from fifteen to twenty-five miles in 
 extent, along the route. 
 
 The day after my arrival I was driven a short distance out of 
 town to witness a trotting match between two apparently well 
 known horses. A very large attendance of spectators appeared on 
 the ground to watch the event. The preparatory arrangements 
 were certainly not of a first-class character. Some considerable 
 difficulty was experienced in securing jockeys competent to ride, 
 and those at length selected seemed the reverse of confident in their 
 own skill. When at last the animals got away, carriages contain- 
 ing spectators, and all the equestrians on the ground, galloped on 
 the course and followed in the wake of the trotters with much noise 
 and confusion. When the match had been concluded, the most 
 invigorating part of the adventure remained in the drive back to 
 town, the entire road being covered with the hurrying multitude 
 of vehicles and horses crowding on their way. 
 
 We noticed by the roadside a camp of travellers from the Red 
 Eiver country, their wooden carts fitted up in camp to serve as 
 tents, constituting a vivid contrast to the many fine Americaa 
 equipages rolling past. 
 
 On the afternoon of Sunday, 7th June, much interest was ex- 
 cited in town in consequence of the receipt, by telegraph, and public 
 cation in the afternoon papers, of the first message delivered by 
 President Lincoln to Congress, calling for 400,000 men and 
 400,000,000 dollars to be used in a vigorous prosecution of the 
 war. 
 
 About three o'clock on the morning of Monday, Sth June, I 
 stood at the door of the hotel, solitary save for the company 
 of a yawning porter in charge of my luggage, waiting the arrival of 
 the stage coach. At last it appeared in sight, lumbering slowly 
 along over the steep irregular street. It was a capacious, comfort- 
 able old vehicle, constructed to contain nine inside and, I think 
 three outside passengers. It was drawn by four fine horses. Early 
 as was the hour, I was not the first passenger it had received that 
 morning, and on entering it I found two gentlemen already in 
 possession of the choice seats, to which their timely precaution ia 
 
RED KIVER, 41 
 
 securing them at that early stage of the journey gave them a valid 
 right good for the duration of whatever part of the five days' trip 
 they should go. In journeys, such as the one on which I was 
 about to enter, where travelling is done only during the day, the 
 choice of seats is a slight matter. But the case is widely different 
 when, as in the case of the stage route between Atchison, in Kan- 
 sas, and Denver, in Colorado, the travelling is sustained over a 
 space of 650 miles, by day and by night, for five or six days, passed 
 in as swift locomotion as can be effected by the finest animals 
 obtainable, relays of which are stationed at short intervals along 
 the line. In such cases as this, the experienced traveller knows 
 the value of the slight head support afforded by the stuffed back 
 and sides of the conveyance, and the facilities thereby given to 
 the attempt at procuring a broken slumber, as the coach jolts 
 and tumbles its way along the rugged faggot road, on the more 
 advanced stages of its course. Under these circumstances, the 
 seat appropriated to each passenger is registered at the coach office 
 when the passage money is paid. 
 
 The passengers whose names were on the " way-bill " having 
 been all taken " on board," our vehicle turned its back on the 
 city and proceeded towards the western plains. The road was 
 merely a track following the slight undulations of the rolling 
 prairie; but every stream along its route was bridged, and the 
 thick " bush " was so cut down as to afford smooth transit to 
 wheeled vehicles. We passed very near the famous Falls of 
 Minnehaha, but I could not see them. About six o'clock we 
 reached the hotel at St. Anthony, where we found breakfast 
 prepared, at which meal we were joined by a large party of 
 travellers, like ourselves, to the west, who had come from St. Paul 
 the preceding day so as to avoid the early rising to which we had 
 been subjected, and break the day's journey in curtailing it by twelve 
 miles. 
 
 St. Anthony, I may mention, was a watering place and summer 
 resort much frequented by St. Paul people, and strangers from the 
 Southern States, who formerly came in great numbers to spend the 
 warm season, so oppressively hot at home, in the comparatively 
 cooler atmosphere of Minnesota. 
 
42 RED EIVER. 
 
 Between 7 and 8 o'clock we were again on the road, which was 
 through " bush," as the short, thick-tangled wooding of the country- 
 is commonly called. Now and then we passed through a scattered 
 village of frail-looking houses, run up apparently in a very hurried 
 manner for temporary use as shops, stores, hotels, or private 
 dwelling houses. At intervals we stopped at halting places to 
 change horses, and about two o'clock reached a house situated on 
 the open plain, where a very acceptable dinner waited us. I have 
 no particular recollection of the dishes on the occasion in question, 
 and remember only that the entertainment generally was rather 
 better than the ordinary bill of fare at roadside houses on the line. 
 The staple dish generally consists of pork and beans, which may be 
 eaid to be good when they are good, but sometimes article and 
 cooking are alike bad. To this may be added various kinds of 
 vegetables. Potatoes, throughout the whole districts of Minnesota 
 and Wisconsin, so far as my knowledge and experience go, are not 
 merely good, but admirable, the whole country being apparently 
 remarkably well adapted, both in point of soil and climate, to their 
 cultivation. Sometimes at the better class of "station-houses" a 
 dish of good prate or beans is to be had. Sweets are almost 
 invariably provided, and generally consist of stewed prunes or pre- 
 served apples. Molasses is in great demand. In point of drink- 
 ables, a beverage called tea is used at every meal, or in default 
 thereof, another called coffee. Of these two drinks I am unde- 
 cided which should be stigmatized as the worst or least resembling 
 the pure article of which the name is degraded to identify it. Good 
 sweet milk is, however, generally to be found in large quantities on 
 the tables of these prairie taverns, and to the traveller whose 
 taste is uneducated to the appreciation of the other luxuries, it 
 is very welcome. 
 
 Our party occupied every available seat inside and outside the 
 coach. Indeed the amount of passenger traffic at that time between 
 St. Paul and St. Cloud was very considerable. The passengers of 
 whom I retain the most vivid recollection were three in number : 
 Mr. Lewis H. Morgan, a legal gentleman from Rochester, in the 
 State of New York, was making a tour to Red River Settlement 
 on a scientific mission; Mr. Parsons, another lawyer, was return 
 
BED KIVER. 43 
 
 ing home to St. Cloud after a short visit to St. Paul, and 
 Mr. Stanley, a commercial traveller from Chicago, was engaged 
 in a journey to the West in the interests of the firm with which 
 he was connected. There were, besides, two Government land sur- 
 veyors going to lay out, I believe, some new land lots in tracts of 
 the State till then unsettled. 
 
 The earlier part of the day was passed in smoking and discuss- 
 ing points of a political, legal and personal nature. On such the dis- 
 putes occasionally waxed so warm that at some of the critical turns 
 of the road the effect of the united gesticulations of the crowd 
 inside threatened seriously to disturb the balance of the vehicle. 
 Mr. Parsons, who travelled outside, came to the window at one of 
 the stopping places to ascertain what was creating the disturbance, 
 but on being informed the passengers were debating points of law, 
 he forthwith retreated, saying he was mixed up with too much of 
 that sort of thing at home. 
 
 On resuming our way after dinner a party was organized for a 
 game at euchre. This is a game much in use in the States. "While 
 it was in progress I ascended beside Mr. Parsons, who in the 
 course of the afternoon gave me a description of the people and 
 manners of the West, so vivid and intelligible, that I heartily wish, 
 for the amusement of the reader, I could reproduce it just as he 
 told it. He did not much extol the moral tone of the part of the 
 country in which he resided, particularly with reference to money 
 matters ; but the grand consolation of all who like him should mur- 
 mur at the degeneracy of public virtues might be summed up in the 
 gratifying announcement, "After all, we make money there." 
 
 The conviviality of the region was also considerable, and the 
 means of intoxication not inviting. So bad indeed was their 
 quality that ma-, ikcturers and consumers agreed in making the 
 subject a matter of pleasantry. The former labelled the bottles 
 containing their whiskey and brandy with the letters L.I. and I. D., 
 said by the latter to represent the expressions, " lingering illness " 
 and " instant death." The "dead-shot" and " forty-rod " were 
 also the designations of a class of stimulants much prized in these 
 parts. A specimen of the L. I., it appeared, we had enjoyed that 
 very day in a house at which the stage coach had stopped, and I 
 cannot recollect that I have since often encountered its like. 
 
44 
 
 RED KIVER. 
 
 The long summer day was far gone before we came witliin sight of 
 St. Cloud, a goal much desired, as a thunderstorm threatened us, 
 and our vehicle was heavily laden with iron and steel agricultural 
 implements, which, neatly arranged in a pile on the roof, might 
 have subjected us to some risk from one of the blinding lightning 
 flashes common in Minnesota thunderstorms. However, we 
 escaped even from the inconvenience of a wetting, and about eight 
 o'clock in the evening arrived on the bank of the Mississippi, which 
 it was necessary to cross before reaching the town. We had 
 travelled about eighty miles in seventeen hours, and at difierent 
 points on the route had seen symptoms of a proposed change in the 
 mode of locomotion, which now renders the journey easy in five 
 hours, in the shape of a railroad, which had even then been " graded" 
 for some years, but lay grass-grown and incomplete till long after 
 1861, partly on account of the effects of the Southern war in 
 paralyzing enterprise, and partly because of events to which I shall 
 allude in the course of my story. 
 
 A few minutes before reaching the ferry we came upon a com- 
 pany of volunteers camped by the wayside for the night. They 
 were, I believe, the same men referred to in the preceding chapter 
 as having come up the Mississippi along with us, and had, since 
 their arrival at St. Paul, marched to the spot where we overtook 
 them on their way to relieve a garrison of regular soldiers stationed 
 at Fort Abercrombie. They received, with loud tokens of satis- 
 faction, the newspapers thrown to them by the passengers in the 
 coach, containing the president's message, published after their 
 departure from St. Paul. 
 
 The ferry-boat on the Mississippi at St. Cloud was ingeniously 
 propelled by the water of the river itself, which, acting on floats 
 connected by an arrangement of lines with the boat, caused it to 
 cross in either direction from bank to bank without the use of manual 
 labour. There being no bridge, the stage coach was driven on board, 
 and in a few minutes we were under the porch verandah of Stearne's 
 House. 
 
 After supper a small party of us took a walk through the place 
 As, a town it was then very small, and the style of its architecture 
 very humble, consisting, generally speaking, of long, high Noah's 
 
RED RiVBH. 45 
 
 ark-shaped houses built of wood, and used as general stores, 
 dwelling houses or groggeries. 
 
 By seven o'clock next morning we were again in our vehiote. 
 The stage coach of the day before had, however, been exchanged 
 for a sort of covered waggon, the canvas sides of which could be 
 BO rolled up as to afford coolness. It was furnished with enormous 
 springs, and, indeed, a solidity of construction which bade defiance 
 to the worst of roads was the distinguishing feature of the carriage. 
 Of the large party which had travelled to St. Cloud, only three 
 continued their journey westward, Mr. Morgan, Mrs. Cook and 
 myself. Mrs. Cook was a lady who, having passed the earlier part 
 of her life in London, had several years anterior to 1861 quitted 
 England, and, along with her husband and family, settled down on 
 a farm at a place called Alexandria, about 170 miles west from 
 St. Paul. 
 
 This day's journey much resembled that of the preceding day. 
 We halted at the regular stopping places, changed horses, dined, 
 and resumed our journey. The country became even more level 
 and clear of bush than what we had passed the day before. At 
 night we reached a solitary house at a spot called Kandottah, 
 where we prepared to make ourselves at home. This was not very 
 easy, as we found all the men in the establishment were to be our 
 fellow lodgers. The one large dormitory contained several spa. 
 cious double beds hung with curtains of gauze to exclude the 
 mosquitoes, which had begun to trouble us that day, and were 
 thenceforward to be our inseparable companions. One of the large 
 beds Morgan and myself at once secured. The former passed the 
 evening working up his correspondence, using the broad side of 
 his valise for a writing desk. The hovel was filled with smoke 
 •from "smudge fires" lighted to repel the mosquitoes. The fuel 
 used for this purpose is composed of green leaves and weeds, 
 which, when kindled in a brazier, produces vast quantities of 
 smoke. 
 
 A sound sleep, in spite of the humble surroundings, and a fair 
 breakfast prepared us for another day's work. During the fore- 
 noon we entered a very woody region, and the track became bad. 
 The roads, which had been quite impassible early in Spring, had 
 
46 KED RIVER. 
 
 been newly mended by laying logs transversely across tbem, form- 
 ing what are teclinicaUy called "faggot" or " corduroy roads." 
 These are very rough, and our horses and vehicle plunged vio- 
 lently over them, pitching from side to side at hap-hazard. From 
 time to time passengers relieved the fatigue and inconvenience 
 consequent on this mode of locomotion by stepping out and follow- 
 ing the coach on foot. The mosquitoes also troubled us much, as 
 we had omitted to bring veils or "mosquito bars" along with us. 
 
 Towards one o'clock we reached Mrs. Cook's farm house, at 
 Alexandria, where the coach stopped, the mail bags were examined, 
 and we dined. After resting about an hour Mr. Morgan and I 
 resumed our journey, leaving our late fellow traveller at home on 
 the prairie. 
 
 We were soon past the Alexandria woods, and the plains again 
 opened out on either hand. Beautiful and extensive sheets of 
 water lay in all directions round our track, with clumps of wood 
 and rising knolls along their margins. The country was entirely 
 wild and unsettled ; no human habitation was to be seen. Once, 
 as the coach crossed a stream, an Indian bark canoe shot from 
 under the bridge, while its crowded occupants, dressed in gaudy 
 red cloth, stared curiously at our conveyance. These were the 
 first Indians we had seen. No communication passed between our 
 respective parties, and we passed on our way. Towards evening 
 we reached Pomme de Terre, where our quarters were in just such 
 another house as that at Kandottah. A coach similar to our own 
 stood at the door, and a crowd of passengers were beside it. It 
 was the stage running in the opposite direction to ours, from George- 
 town to St. Paul. 
 
 The usual smudge fires were lighted, the evening passed, and 
 we retired to bed in an overcrowded upper room. The party com- 
 ing from Georgetown had heard rumours of Indian disturbances, 
 and were anxious to make all haste in the direction of St. Paul • 
 but we, not realizing as yet our position outside the pale of civili- 
 zation, or the fact that any danger existed around us, felt quite 
 tranquil and happy. Certainly no outbreak occurred for about a year 
 after the time I passed through it, but when the massacre of set- 
 tlers broke out a year subsequently, the same beautiful scenery we 
 
EED RIVER. 47 
 
 Lad that day witnessed became the theatre of horrihle harbarities, 
 and all communication by that route was abandoned. 
 
 On Thursday morning the coach going eastward and ours 
 started after breakfast, each towards its separate destination. The 
 country became gradually flatter and more monotonous. We halted 
 for dinner at the cabin of a Dutchman newly settled in that country 
 on his solitary farm, for which he had quitted his late residence in 
 an Eastern state. His house was miserable, but his fare was 
 admirable. 
 
 In the course of the afternoon we struck the Ked River of the 
 North, which, rising far in the interior of the territories of the 
 United States, flows due north and empties itself into Lake 
 Winnipeg, in the British possessions. It constitutes the boundary 
 between the State of Minnesota and the territory of Dacotah, 
 Where we first reached it the stream was narrow, tortuous, and 
 insignificant. Skirting along its course from point to point, our 
 line of travel, which, until then, had been in a westerly direction 
 across the state of Minnesota, changed towards the north. We 
 reached the proposed town of Breckenridge, which then consisted 
 of a single large house called a hotel, and only partially occupied 
 by the managers of the post-house. Situated among the trees on 
 the river bank this house had caught our eye several hours before 
 we reached it, and, standing alone, its great height magnified into 
 an appearance really vast by the flatness of the surrounding land- 
 scape, had not a little excited our curiosity to know its history and 
 purpose. Our driver, on application being made to him for 
 information, told us it was a town, adding somewhat drily, " that 
 is a paper town," or words to that efiect. The project has not yet 
 been carried out, and I believe the only alteration which has since 
 taken place on the spot has been effected by the tear and wear of 
 the weather and the hostile efforts of the Indians, which together, 
 have succeeded in rendering the single house uninhabitable. 
 
 Towards six o'clock in the evening our track plunged among 
 the woods which flourish on the eastern bank of the stream, and 
 run down to the water's edge. Looking across we found ourselves 
 immediately under the palisades of the American fortress named 
 Fort Abercrombie, which loomed up against us on the opposite 
 bank of the river. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PORT ABERCROMBIE TO GEORGETOWN. 
 
 Colonel Day — Evening at the Port— Plain Country — Georgetown — Mr. 
 0. P. V. Lull and bis Station House — Mr. Burbank — Detention at 
 Georgetown — Daily routine — Steamer " Pioneer " and her passengers 
 — Chief Trader Murray — Mr. Morgan's Scientific Tour — Steam Saw 
 Mill— The " Woman in White." 
 
 A FEEET-BOAT conveyed our coach and ourselves across the Red 
 River, and, driving up the bank, we entered the fort. The soldier- 
 like appearance of the sentinels was remarkable, as they marched in 
 measured paces on their respective parades, unmindful of the clouda 
 of mosquitoes which buzzed biting around them. With some diffi- 
 culty we had arranged to be allowed to sleep in rather poor quarters 
 immediately outside the fort, when Mr. Morgan fortunately remem- 
 bered the possible use of certain documents in his possession 
 emanating from officials occupying high state position, and recom- 
 mending him to the good offices of public functionaries in the 
 United States, with whom he might meet in the course of the 
 scientific tour he was then making. Armed with these, and accom- 
 panied by myself, he set out in search of the quarters of Colonel 
 Day, the officer in command of the fort. This gentleman received 
 both of us with the utmost urbanity, told us we could not get any- 
 thing like comfortable lodgings in the neighbourhood, and invited us 
 to pass the night in his house. While I busied myself in getting 
 our portmanteaux brought to the quarters thus placed at our dis- 
 posal, Mr. Morgan opened the objects of his mission to the 
 colonel. 
 
 The eager attention with which the newspapers in our possession 
 were scanned by our military friends brought home to us the vivid 
 
RED RIVER. 49 
 
 realization of our having penetrated far beyond the land of tele- 
 graphs. We found ourselves, in f lot, invested with a dignity till 
 then strange, at least, to myself, that of wews -bearers. The 
 intelligence we brought was indeed very important, for it consisted 
 of the contents of the President's message already referred to 
 along with a variety of details connected with the rebellion 
 interesting to the officers at Port Abercrombie. 
 
 Colonel Day told us he was then under orders to proceed with 
 his regiment of regular troops to the east, with the view of taking 
 part in the war, and that he waited only the arrival of the corps of 
 volunteers we had paSsed near St. Cloud, who were to succeed him 
 in the occupation of the fort. He introduced us to Captain Level 
 and Lieutenant Boyd, two officers serving under his command and 
 also to his son, a civilian. 
 
 After supper we sat under the verandah of the officers' quarters 
 which occupied an isolated position in the centre of the fort 
 watching the troops on their evening parade through the 
 clouds of smoke ascending from the smudge fires lighted in the 
 braziers before us. After dusk we retired within doors and spent 
 the evening together in a public room, the majority of the company 
 smoking, sipping their whiskey and water, and watching the progress 
 made by Morgan who, with book and pen in hand, was closely 
 questioning a couple of Indian half-breeds whom the colonel had 
 procured for his satisfaction. 
 
 Reports of Indian dissatisfaction had been heard at Fort Aber- 
 crombie, but no great importance was attached to them, and, 
 indeed, our hosts seemed inclined to smile at them. They smiled 
 also at the anticipated difference between the fine well-drilled troops 
 under their command and probable appearance of their amateur 
 successors. On the latter, about one year later, fell the vengeance 
 of the Sioux, as has been already hinted, and will be more fully 
 dwelt on in the after part of my narrative. 
 
 The evening was far advanced before we retired to our respective 
 "shake-downs," as the snug camp bedsteads were very happily 
 designated. We bade farewell to our kind friend, the colonel, 
 before turning in, as we were not to see him before starting in the 
 morning. I may mention I am credibly informed that all the three 
 
 D 
 
60 EED RIVER. 
 
 gentlemen above mentioned passed through the war alive, and that 
 Colonel Day was, after its close, in the enjoyment of an important 
 command near Washington. 
 
 Lodged in a comfortable chamber, protected from the mosquitoes 
 by substantial gauzed frames on all the windows, we passed such a 
 night as we had not enjoyed since leaving St. Paul, and in the 
 morning had the further gratification of seeing our boots shining 
 with all the lustre of which blacking vigorously applied is capable, 
 in strong contrast, I need scarcely add, to the state in which we 
 had donned them the preceding morning. 
 
 After an early breakfast we resumed our journey in a waggon 
 other than that we had occupied the day before. It differed from 
 the latter in more respects than its individuality, for whereas that 
 had been provided with springs and drawn by four horses, our new 
 one was without springs and drawn by only two horses. The 
 luggage was also stowed inside, and there being no regular seats we 
 used our trunks instead. The driver, who was an obliging, 
 talkative man, sat beside us under the shade of the sheeted covering 
 of the waggon which protected us from the sun. The day was 
 warm, and the numerous mosquitoes, which, like ourselves, sought 
 shady parts of the vehicle, bled us pretty freely. The distance to 
 be traversed between Port, Abercrombie and Georgetown was about 
 45 miles. 
 
 In consequence of an unusual amount of freight, added, perhaps, 
 to our natural reluctance to quit the colonel's comfortable rooms 
 at an unreasonably early hour, we arrived very late at all our 
 stages during the course of the day. The track ran northwards 
 from point to point along the course of the Eed River, which, as 
 we had re-crossed it that morning, flowed on our left. 
 
 Towards three o'clock in the afternoon we saw, on the extreme 
 verge of the horizon to our front, a line of trees, the tops of which 
 at first only glimmered on our sight, running at right angles to the 
 belt which fringed the river banks along our route, and losing 
 itself far beyond towards our right. These were the woods along 
 the Buffalo River, a tributary of the Red River, on the other side 
 of which, close to its junction with the latter stream, stands George- 
 town, our destination for the day. 
 
RED KIVBR. 51 
 
 Gradually the dim tree-tops of Buffalo River grew downwards to 
 our approaching view, and we had the satisfaction, from the 
 increasing distinctness gained by their details, of feeling ourselves 
 making progress. Towards five o'clock we reached Buffalo River, 
 which we crossed on a wooden bridge, and emerging from the 
 fringe of woods came suddenly in sight of Georgetown, nearly a 
 mile from us, situated on the bank of the Red River. 
 
 Georgetown was a mere village, consisting of a few dwelling- 
 houses and stores erected by or for the Hudson's Bay Company, 
 and used as a storing place for their goods in process of tranship- 
 ment from the carts running between it and St. Paul, on the one 
 hand, and the steamer running on Red River, between it and Port 
 Garry, on the other. Situated at the point where the timber belts 
 of the Red and Buffalo rivers join, Georgetown is protected on its 
 west and south sides by woods, but away towards the north and 
 east stretch the horizon-bounded plains, bare of timber, which 
 flourishes only along the banks of the rivers. In addition to its 
 storing accommodation the place was used as a cattle station, the 
 pasture being boundless and .water plentiful. 
 
 As our wearied span drew up at the door of the " station 
 house," or hotel of the village, the landlord, a tall, wiry Ameri- 
 can citizen, named Lull, walked up to ascertain what guests 
 the vehicle had brought him. He welcomed us to his domicile, 
 and showed us upstairs to the single sleeping room set apart for the 
 use of the better class of travellers. The house, being quite new, 
 everything was clean and comfortable looking. In common with 
 all the buildings in the place it was constructed of wood. The 
 dormitory was furnished with two beds, the one a large " double 
 bed," the other, a snug little travelling iron one ; both were pro- 
 tected by substantial mosquito curtains. Morgan and I were 
 informed we were to occupy the large one in common, while Mr. 
 Burbank monopolised the other. 
 
 On emerging from the house to look about us we encountered 
 the latter gentleman, who was senior partner of the St. Paul firm of 
 J. C. and H. C. Burbank & Company, under whose auspices the 
 whole transport business on the line was carried on. He had just 
 visited Red River settlement, and was staying a few days at 
 
62 RED EIVEE. 
 
 Georgetown, wafchmg tte operations at that central spot before 
 returning home to St. Paul. Chief among the works in hand was 
 the establishment of a steam saw-mill, then in course of erection 
 close to the river hank, with a view to sawing the "lumber" 
 required to build the hull of a fine new steamer about to be built 
 and prut on the station between Georgetown and the settlement. 
 
 Mr. Burbank informed us we would have to remain some weeks 
 at Georgetown, the steamboat was then in the settlement, and 
 might be back within a week, but, as there was no freight to load 
 her, she would not leave for the settlement again until some 
 should arrive. Mr. Burbank added that during the preceding 
 year he had run , the boat at regular intervals of time between 
 Georgetown and Fort Garry, to convince the sceptical that the 
 thing could be done so far as the depth of water in the river was 
 concerned, but that, during the season then current, he meant " to 
 run her to pay." He could scarcely succeed in the latter object 
 were he to send her on her journey with only Mr. Morgan and 
 myself on board, so he was resolved to wait till the carts from Sfe 
 Paul with more goods should arrive. 
 
 Mr. Morgan was much chagrined at this intelligence, as his 
 time was limited, and he seriously thought of giving up the pro- 
 ject of going further, and returning by the first stage to St Paul. 
 I felt, however, so disinclined to part with such a pleasant 
 travelling companion as he that I exerted all my powers of persua- 
 sion to induce him to finish his trip, and I succeeded. 
 
 We had arrived at Georgetown on the evening of Friday, the 
 12th July, and did not proceed on oiir further route till daybreak 
 on the morning of Sunday, the 28th. We had accordingly aa 
 interval of more than a fortnight to pass as best we cmild in idle- 
 ness. The resources of the country were not great. Shooting 
 small birds in the woods, fishing in the river, " loafing," letter 
 writing, and discussing with Morgan what he described as. 
 "the theory of Democracy," filled up, so far as I was concerned, 
 the spare time between meals. The afternoon siesta, during the 
 extreme heat which then prevailed, was, in the language of the 
 country, " a great institution," though we generally had "to pay 
 up" for it by sleeplessness of nights, a fair part of which would be 
 
RED RIVER. 53 
 
 •consmned by Burbank, Morgan, and myself in emoking and talk- 
 ing. " The theory of Democracy," on which our conversations 
 ■often turned, was a subject which I was confessedly slow to appre- 
 hend. Mr. Morgan was good enough to admit he liked me the 
 better for " supporting the cause of European institutions," on 
 the ground that adhesion to the government of one's own country, 
 in the presence of citizens of other states, was a high public duty, 
 incumbent on all men. He prophesied, however', that a few years' 
 residence in America, during which I should enjoy the advantage 
 of inspecting the working of New World institutions, would insen- 
 sibly bring me round to his view of the case, and, meanwhile, he 
 agreed to differ. 
 
 One day towards the middle of the first week of our residence at 
 Georgetown, on descending to tea, after enjoying the accustomed 
 siesta, I was surprised to meet a crowd of strange faces collected 
 in the dining-room before me. I found the steamer from Red 
 River Settlement had arrived, and the strangers were passengers 
 on their way to civilization. Some of them were Englishmen, who, 
 after having paid a visit to the country, were on their way home. 
 One, more particularly I recollect, was a young gentleman from 
 Newcastle-on-Tyne, who had been out with a view to private fur 
 trading, and was retreating from the abortive attempt in supreme 
 disgust. He advised me to pause and think twice before perse- 
 vering in my journey, and described the place to which I was 
 travelling in no favourable terms. The discomforts and semi- 
 starvation, to which all visitors were exposed, being out of the 
 question, and, supposing even a man to be prepared to digest all 
 the " dirt" he would have metaphorically to eat, there was another 
 kind of dirt to be encountered, more matter of fact and less easily 
 got rid of; in fact, the roads down there were of the most exe- 
 crable character — mere tracks, which a summer shower would 
 render impassable — and then the mud, words were feeble to des- 
 cribe it. He himself had been up to the body in it, and narrowly 
 escaped one dark night perishing miserably in an obscure quag- 
 mire ; moreover, its adhesive properties were such that, when once 
 it touched your clothes, there was no way of removing it. The 
 rest of the company seemed gravely inclined to corroborate the 
 truth of this description 
 
54 RED BITER. 
 
 After supper I went for a stroll in company with tte narrator, 
 anxious to obtain information on a subject so near my interest as 
 the nature of the place to which I was going. Before we had 
 proceeded fifteen yards I observed symptoms of occupancy about a 
 house in the village which had during my short residence been shut 
 up and uninhabited. On enquiry, I learned the house was the 
 residence of the local representative of the Hudson's Bay Company, 
 Chief Trader Murray, who had that afternoon arrived on board 
 the steamer, accompanied by his family and servants ; and as we 
 passed his gate we encountered that gentleman himself standing at 
 the entrance to the enclosure before his house smoking his evening 
 pipe. On hearing my name Mr. Murray greeted me as an old 
 acquaintance, but I ridiculed the idea till he mentioned the fact 
 of my having one morning walked to the Waverley Bridge Rail- 
 way Station in Edinburgh along with him, when I at once remem- 
 bered the circumstance as having occurred in 1857, after a night 
 which Mr. Murray had passed in the house where I lived at the 
 time. I accounted for my forgetfulness by assuring the gentleman 
 that his European trip of 1857 had answered its health-restoring 
 purpose so well that I would fail to recognize the Edinburgh 
 invalid in him. He very kindly insisted I should quit my quarters 
 at the hotel and stay with him during my further residence at 
 Georgetown. On turning to accompany him indoors, I found my 
 late companion had disappeared, when it transpired that -a, tempo- 
 rary degree of awkwardness existed between him and Murray, in 
 consequence of a spirited remonstrance in which the latter had 
 indulged when, on the preceding day, a member of his family, a 
 httle boy, had narrowly escaped death from the accidental dis- 
 charge of a gun with which the other was somewhat carelessly 
 vapouring around on board the steamboat. 
 
 We seated ourselves in a small porch, the walls of which were 
 adorned with guns, shot-belts, and other implements of the chase, 
 artistically hung, and Mr. Murray entered into full details relating 
 to certain parts of the world he had visited. The narrative 
 touching Bed River roads, to which I had listened at supper, he 
 did not expressly contradict, though he appeared to consider it 
 unworthy of mention. His own experience in Rupert's Land had 
 
RED RIVER. 55 
 
 been great and long continued — but the adventure on whioh he 
 most prided himself, evidently, was his having founded the most 
 remote post of the company, Fort Youcou, in Russian America, 
 situated within one or two degrees of the Arctic circle. 
 
 In the course of the evening Morgan^ along with some of the 
 steamboat passengers, dropped in, and the object of my companion's 
 journey being mentioned, Murray gave him a few hints and 
 promised to aid him a little by getting Indians or half-breeds 
 belonging to different tribes whom he could question. The specific 
 work to be done consisted in filling up the blanks of a long 
 schedule with Indian words, which could, of course, be supplied 
 by any Indian or half-breed conversant with the language, and by 
 comparing the different words of varying Indian dialects and 
 tongues representing the same meaning, certain conclusions of an 
 ethnological character could, Morgan thought, be arrived at. The 
 words he had selected for universal translation were those repre- 
 senting degrees of consanguinity, such as father, son, mother, and 
 so forth. This system of interrogation had not been selected 
 unadvisedly or without close deliberation. In addition to its other 
 advantages, a system of consanguinity elicits words representing 
 * ideas common to the whole human family, and hence expressed by 
 vocables in all languages, savage or civilized. Certain relation- 
 sbips, however, among some tribes bear a relation to each other 
 different from that which obtains in others. For example, in the 
 Seneca dialect of the Iroquois language, Mr. Morgan found that 
 the relationship of " a father's brother," which, in English, is 
 called uncle, is expressed as "father;" "a father's brother's son," 
 or cousin germain, if older than the person speaking, as " elder 
 brother," if younger, as "younger brother." Such a mode of 
 expression, though complex to a stranger, is to the Indian naturally 
 and readily applied, while the entire system rests on definite ideas 
 standing to each other in intelligent and fixed relations. 
 
 In composing his schedule, Mr. Morgan had contrived, with 
 legal acumen, so to arrange and classify his long list of terms, 
 extending in number to more than two hundred, and in degree to 
 very remote relationship indeed, as to receive answers manifestly 
 tending to results which he considered interesting, remarkable and 
 important. 
 
56 RED EIVER. 
 
 Having established to Ms own satisfaction the existence, among 
 the Indians generally on the North American continent, of a 
 peculiar system of relationship, he wished to compare it with those 
 in use among the natives of other countries. He had made the 
 subject his study, and had been at the world's end for evidence 
 bearing thereupon. Missionaries in Hindostan had contributed 
 their good ofiEces in returning him the blank schedules he had 
 forwarded filled with the phraseology of the dusky disciples, and 
 Mr. Murray, who happened in the course of- conversation with me, 
 as a man newly from Glasgow, to mention the name of a relative 
 of his own in that city, elicited from Morgan the information that 
 the gentleman in question had filled up for him a schedule in the 
 Gaelic language, and that the train of ideas shown in the system 
 of Highland consanguinity presented to his mind coincidences 
 strange and noteworthy. The gentleman referred to was Dr. 
 MacNab, a Divine of some eminence connected with the Free 
 Church of Scotland, who was then resident in Glasgow, but is 
 since dead. The term " Highland cousin," I understand to have 
 passed into a proverb, denoting, in some instances, a very remote 
 relationship indeed. Not having myself seen Dr. MacNab's paper, 
 I am at a loss to know how that clergyman described what ought 
 to have included the outward range of family connection possible 
 even with a Highlander, "the relationship which the daughter of 
 the daughter of a brother bears to the son of the son of the son of 
 the brother's sister," a query elucidatory of which closes the series 
 on Morgan's circular schedule. 
 
 The day after her arrival we went on board the steamboat to 
 inspect her. She was a small vessel propelled by a " stern wheel," 
 and called the " Pioneer." She had been built on the upper waters 
 of the Eed River ; her machinery, which had originally belonged to 
 another steamer running on the Mississippi, had been transported 
 over the height of land intervening between that stream and the Red 
 River. Her original name was the "Anson Northrop," so called 
 in honor of a distinguished citizen so named flourishing in Minne- 
 sota. She was provided with four staterooms, each containing two 
 berths. Passengers, over and above the number of those who could 
 be accommodated in these, slept in a series of open berths extend- 
 
RED RIVER. 57 
 
 ing along the main saloon, from which they were separated only 
 by their curtains. 
 
 The time of our detention continued to pass slowly. One day 
 the steam saw mill, to which I have alluded to, being completed, 
 the work of sawing timber was immediately commenced, amid a little 
 gentle excitement among the scanty population. The departure of 
 the passengers, who had arrived by the steamer, in the stage, on 
 their way to St. Paul, caused another slight sensation. The 
 arrival of the mail every alternate day from St. Paul soon began 
 to be as much longed for by us as the one we had brought was by 
 the gentlemen at Fort Abercrombie. Our only course was with 
 patience to su£Fer the heat, and loll on rocking-chairs under the 
 shade of the trees in Mr. Murray's enclosure, reading Humboldt's 
 Adventures in South America. Morgan, having questioned all the 
 people about the village who could throw any light on his 
 researches, sought occupation of a general nature. After a few 
 walks with his gun, the only reward of which, worth mentioning, 
 was a hawk he shot one afternoon, he turned his attention to books. 
 Fortunately I had brought with me Mr. Wilkie Collins' " Woman 
 in White," then newly published. In a short time this popular 
 production completely dispelled Mr. Morgan's ennui, and interested 
 him so much that he attended to nothing else. He looked on the 
 circumstances of the story with a legal eye, and criticised them as 
 if they had been of actual occurrence ; alternately burning with 
 indignation at the complicated and successful rascalities of the 
 Machiavellian Fosco, and shaking with laughter in contemplation 
 of the " fantastic tricks " of the monomaniac Esquire of 
 Limmeridge. I presume the unusual nature of the plot had 
 struck his legal mind with unusual force. The volume I possessed 
 was perused by many successive delighted readers before it fell to 
 pieces from sheer use, it being for a long time the only copy of the 
 kind in the country, but to none, I believe, did it convey nearly 
 the same measure of entertainment as to Mr. Morgan, during his 
 protracted residence at Georgetown. 
 
CHAPTEK V. 
 
 GEORGETOWN TO RED RIVER SETTLEMENT. 
 
 Red River Carts — Plain Transport — OonriTial Evening — Start from 
 Georgetown — Timoleon Love — Red River Steam Navigation— Mos- 
 quitoes at Night — Goose Rapids — Scene of Mr. James McKenzie's 
 Wanderings and Death — Pembina — British American Frontier— Red 
 River Settlement. 
 
 One day, exactly a fortnight after our arrival at Greorgetown, 
 news arrived that the train of carts from St. Paul, conveying the 
 freight so anxiously expected, were close at hand. That very 
 evening they arrived, accompanied by a crowd of merchants whom 
 we had left at St. Paul, and who had travelled slowly along with 
 their carts. The amusement of these people at the expense of 
 Morgan and myself was great, their merriment taking rise from 
 the circumstance of our having got so decided a start ahead of 
 them at first, and being obliged to wait till they came up after all. 
 Their train consisted of several hundred carts, drawn by oxen, 
 which came winding its slow length along in single file, the creak- 
 ing of the wooden axles of so many carts making a noise as 
 unpleasant as it was loud. The unloading and transhipment of 
 the ladings, being a work requiring time and daylight, was delayed 
 till the following day, when it was arranged the steamer should 
 leave for the settlement. 
 
 The carts composing the train were of uniform make, and of a 
 species called " Ked Eiver carts." They are constructed entirely 
 of wood, without any iron whatever, the axles and rims of the 
 wheels forming no exception to the rule. Although this might at 
 first sight appear a disadvantage, as denoting a want of strength, 
 yet it is really the reverse, because, in the country traversed by 
 these vehicles, wood is abundant, and always to be obtained in 
 
BED EIVER. 59 
 
 quantities sufficient to mend any breakages which might take 
 place. The only tools necessary, not only to mend but to construct 
 a cart, are an axe, a saw, a screw-auger and a draw-knife ; with 
 these the traveller is independent, so far as regards the integrity 
 of his conveyance. Indeed, the cart may be described as a light 
 box frame poised upon an axle connecting two strong wooden 
 wheels. The price of such an article in the settlement is about 
 two pounds sterling. The harness is very rude, and is made of 
 dressed ox-hide. Each cart is drawn by an ox, and in cases where 
 speed is an object a horse is substituted. The horses used on the 
 plains for draught purposes are usually the wiry little 'f Indian 
 ponies," one of which, with a load of four or five hundred pounds 
 in the cart behind him, will overtake from fifty to sixty miles a 
 day in a measured, but by no means hurried, jog trot. Horses 
 are, however, generally used only when men travel "light," and 
 time is an object, in which cases the bulk of the loads consists of 
 the canteens, bedding and personal luggage of the passengers. 
 
 The common rate of progress made by heavy freight carts is 
 about twenty miles a day, of ten travelling hours, the load averaging 
 about eight hundred pounds per cart. A train of great length is 
 divided into brigades of ten carts each, three men being considered 
 sufficient to work such a brigade ; one of these three is invested 
 with a certain minor authority over the other two, while an 
 individual considerably more highly paid than any of the rest has 
 charge of the entire train, and, moving about on horseback from 
 one brigade to another, exercises a general supervision over the 
 whole party throughout the journey. 
 
 The drivers harness and ulnhamess the animals at the camping 
 places, and attend to feeding and watering them. The guidance of 
 the oxen at all the difficult passes upon the route, such as crossings 
 of rivers and swamps, forms a laborious part of their duty, which, 
 however, is, on the whole, by no means heavy. Each carries a 
 " cow-bell " attached to his harness, which, in case of his wandering, 
 out of the camp by night, gives notice of his whereabouts to the 
 drivers. 
 
 A supply of spare animals, varying, according to the state of the 
 tracks, from one-tenth to one-fifth of the entire number, aecom- 
 
60 RED RIVER. 
 
 panies tlie train to relieve the whole body, each member of which 
 in turn becomes a supernumarary, and supply any vacancies which 
 may occur from death or accident along the route. Each day a 
 start is made at daybreak, and travelling continues until about 
 noon, when the people dine and the animals rest during the heat 
 of the day. In the afternoon the journey is resumed until, in the 
 cool of the evening, at some eligible spot, the night "camp is formed. 
 Such is the usual itinerary. The great object in selecting a 
 camping place is to procure as much good water as possible, and good 
 grazing for the animals. 
 
 The above description is designed to convey a general idea of the 
 means and mode of land-transport on the plains of British North 
 America. 
 
 At length the final day of our detention arrived, and all was 
 bustle and business in the place. Proprietors of goods, contractors' 
 agents, clerks and steamboat labourers, were busy from an early 
 hour carrying freight on board and getting everything in train to 
 start. Towards evening, all being in order, Morgan and myself 
 bade farewell to the pleasant shade of the large trees, under whose 
 branches we had spent much of the preceding fortnight, and took 
 possession of the state-room we had been fortunate enough to 
 secure for ourjoint occupancy, and which constituted the only direct 
 advantage we had derived from our early arrival on the spot. We 
 were indeed fortunate in having even so much privacy as this place 
 afforded, for the berths in the main saloon were occupied by a remark- 
 able medley of settlers and backwoodsmen, some of whom might be 
 truly described as "hard cases." On the first evening we passed 
 on board, all were apparently of one inind respecting the propriety 
 of "making a night of it," and the contents of the two-gallon 
 whiskey kegs, with which each man appeared to be supplied, 
 sustained a heavy drain. Cards were introduced, and Mr. Morgan 
 and I, who had retreated betimes to the shelter of our room, were 
 regaled till far into the night with the notes of rattling choruses 
 and glees resounding through the frail partition separating us from 
 the revellers. 
 
 On emerging from our chamber next morning we found the 
 steamer had not yet started. Before breakfast she got away and 
 
RED RIVER. 61 
 
 OOtomencedher voyage, favoured by the stream, which glided down- 
 Wards at the rate of about one mile an hour. With the obieot of 
 transporting a greater amount of freight than could be taken on 
 board the boat itself, there was towed alongside a well-sized 
 substantially built barge, filled with boxes and bales, the trim, well 
 packed appearance of which did credit to the London and other 
 firms, the names of which were neatly printed on their coverings. 
 During the morning passengers got "shakea-up" together, and 
 made each other's acquaintance a good deal more quickly and inti- 
 mately than had been the case with those on board the Atlantic 
 Packet " Hibernian." Morgan and I were initiated into a variety 
 of curious matters by Mr. Timoleon Love, a person whose acquaint- 
 ance we made that morning. Mr. Love was by profession a gold 
 miner, and had practised his business in the fields of California and 
 Cariboo. His reasons for leaving those thriving localities he 
 certainly did not make very clear to my comprehension ; but he 
 assured us that gold in paying quantities would certainly soon turn 
 up in the fertile valley of the Saskatchewan, that an enormous 
 influx of miners would thereupon take place, and that the Ked 
 River settlement, lying right in the line of traffic, would suddenly 
 become " quite a place." He said he proposed passing the winter 
 at Red River, hut in spring he would go west and commence gold 
 digging. He had already crossed the mountains, having come 
 from Cariboo by the Saskatchewan, and after paying a hurried 
 visit to St. Paul, with the object of providing himself with 
 the necessary "tockers" and other instruments of his craft, was 
 then on his way back. 
 
 The contemplation of the -airy castles built by this gentleman 
 served to beguile part of our first morning onboard; but as the sun 
 got well up and the heat increased, our position became uncomfort- 
 able. The steamboat was small and over-crowded, the funnel rose 
 up through the saloon, rendering that chamber extremely warm, 
 the sun overhead beat fiercely upon us, and the high river banks 
 on either hand prevented the breeze reaching us. As might be 
 gathered from the description of American river boats already given, 
 the pilot of such has the most enviable position on board during the 
 warm weather. Secure in his wheelhouse — a comfortable box in 
 
62 RED RIVER. 
 
 which he is protected from the sun's rays, and elevated above the 
 saloon — he can see from his lofty position the obstacles to naviga- 
 tion far ahead and around the vessel. He is quite alone in the 
 possession of these advantages, for, should any passenger attempt to 
 get near him, he would soon be dislodged by the sun's heat and the 
 sparks continually falling from the funnel, while there is no admit- 
 tance to the wheel-house itself. 
 
 The Red River on its upper reaches is exceedingly tortuous. By 
 the plain track, the distance between Georgetown and Fort Garry 
 is about 250 miles, while, by the river, it is 500 miles, the major 
 part of the excess being caused by the crookedness of the channel 
 above Pembina, that is, on the upper two-third parts of its direct 
 length. The tameness of the scenery is also excessive. The same 
 high poplar-clad banks enclosed us day after day. The reaches 
 during the first few days' travel were extremely short, and in 
 consequence of the above-mentioned tiresome property of the 
 stream, after steaming perseveringly for half an hour we, at the 
 end of that time, might find ourselves not twenty yards distant 
 from the spot whence we had started at its commencement. 
 
 The traces were very noticeable of the ravages of one of a class 
 of evils which periodically afflict this country. A violent flood 
 had, on the breaking up of the ice in 1861, caused much loss on 
 the Red River, and we observed far overhead on the high banks 
 the broken branches and torn bark of the trees. The water had, 
 however, subsided to such an extent that there was barely sufficient 
 in the channel to float our boat, and considerable caution and skill 
 had to be exercised in steering her. 
 
 In consequence of the shortness of the " Pioneer" it was found 
 very difficult to manage her in turning the numerous and sharp 
 points which we passed on our way. This difficulty was obviated 
 by protruding a long, tough sweep from the bow, which virtually 
 increased the length of the boat, while, being vigorously worked 
 by cunning hands, it powerfully assisted the helm. Towards 
 evening, in making a sharp and swift turn round a point, this 
 instrument gave way very suddenly, to the extreme discomposure 
 of the individual working it, and the peril of the vessel running 
 agrotfnd. All hands were at once called up, the boat stopped, and 
 
RED RIVER. 63 
 
 a party with hatctets despatched into the woods, whence, having 
 brought a long, gnarled branch, suited to their purpose, they 
 speedily manufactured a fresh sweep, by the aid of which we were 
 enabled to resume our voyage after a delay of about half an hour, 
 
 When we had rijn for about ten hours after leaving Georgetown, 
 towards six o'clock in the evening, one of the crew was put ashore, 
 with directions to return to that place on some errand, the remark- 
 worthy part of the affair being that the messenger on foot was 
 reasonably expected to arrive at Georgetown, whence we had that 
 morning started, before bedtime. There being only one gang of 
 men on board, and the navigation being bad, we drew up along 
 shore at nightfall, and came to a standstill. The passengers, who 
 felt so inclined, amused themselves by jumping overboard and 
 swimming in the comparatively cool waters, the engine-room on 
 the lower deck being turned for the time being into a dressing 
 saloon. 
 
 We had, as the sun went down, congratulated ourselves on 
 escaping from its heat, but, when evening drew on, and we were 
 settled for the nip;ht, we were assailed by the mosquitoes, who, 
 liking the fiery beams as little as ourselves, and brushed away by 
 the onward motion of the steamboat, had not troubled us during 
 the day. To no purpose did Morgan and I close fast our room 
 door, and shut the windows. The terrible animals penetrated 
 through the chinks of the clumsily-joined boarding and the numerous 
 crevices, invisible to us, but too soon discovered by our persevering 
 enemies. We had certainly to congratulate ourselves that we slept on 
 the side of the steamer removed from the shore, and that our win- 
 dows were, therefore, not close to the teeming foliage, but even with 
 that mitigating circumstance we were wretchedly enough situated. 
 As the long hours advanced, and fresh hordes came to the attack, we 
 attempted to escape under thick blankets, but from these we were 
 speedily forced, half smothered, to withdraw, and content ourselves 
 with the partial protection afforded by sheets through which the 
 mosquitoes bit viciously. After lying awake, listening to the pecu- 
 liarly fever-promoting sound of their buzzing, for a long time, I 
 rose, and, entering the main saloon, found a knot of fellow sufferers 
 there assembled. Impelled by thirst, the common sentiment was 
 
64 EBD RIVER. 
 
 in favour of making an attempt upon the cook's stores, and one 
 adventurous individual, having volunteered to dive into the 
 obscure depths of the pantry trap stairs, speedily emerged with a 
 kettle of cold tea, which we immediately despatched, and, some- 
 what refreshed, I returned to my berth and succeeded in sleeping 
 the remainder of the night. * 
 
 Such is a tolerable description of our daily experiences during 
 the journey. I think it was on the morning of the third day 
 (Tuesday) that we came to the spot called the "Goose Rapid," 
 where the navigation was worse than at any other part of the 
 river we traversed. The obstacles consisted of the rapids them- 
 selves boiling and rushing over the huge boulders laid bare by the 
 low state of the water level, and of the narrow size of the channel 
 through which the steamer had to pass. For more than an entire 
 day the crew was engaged pulling the vessel over the ground by 
 main force, by means of a rope attached to the capstan, and fixed 
 to a spot ashore at some distance ahead. At intervals during this 
 tedious series of operations the " Pioneer" would partially ground, 
 while the greater part of her keel would be floating in water flow- 
 ing like the sluice of a mill. On such occasions she would whirl 
 cork-like around, setting at defiance the utmost efforts of the rude 
 stern wheel to regulate her motions. At last the rapids, which 
 extend over a length of about two miles, were passed, and we 
 steamed ahead to good purpose. The captain began to breathe more 
 freely and speculate with some degree of confidence about the day 
 on which we should reach Fort Garry. The river became Ifess 
 tortuous, the reaches lengthened out into tolerably long stretches 
 in front and rear, the turns were more rounded, and the cooling 
 breezes were suffered by the widening channel to relieve us amid 
 the sultry glare of noon. 
 
 We saw ducks and prairie hens in considerable numbers along 
 our course. A few keen sportsmen fired at them from a favourable 
 standing point on the steamer's barge, but soon tired of the sport 
 from their inability to secure the birds they killed, the captain 
 resolutely turning a deaf ear to all proposals about slacking speed 
 for any feathered game. From time to time we passed the outlet 
 of a tributary of the Red River, of which there are several flowing 
 
RED RIVER. 65 
 
 from the West, though the most important and beautiful above 
 Pembinaj named Red Lake River, which empties the waters of 
 Red Lake into Red River, flows from the East. Red River being 
 the border line between the state of Minnesota and the Western 
 territory of Dakotah, not yet exalted to the dignity of a state, our 
 route may be said to have skirted the extreme edge of nominal 
 civilisation ; to the right lay the tracts over which civUized men 
 had an immediate prospect of commencing to inaugurate their 
 sway, -while, on the left, the undisputed land of the Lidians 
 Sti«tched away over the endless plains towards the setting sun. 
 
 Saturday, ihe seventh day of our steamboat journey, had 
 dawned before we found ourselves within easy reach of Pembina. 
 The uninhabited waste through which we were passing had been 
 invested with a sombre human interest, in consequence of a tragical 
 event of which it had been the theatre about nineteen months ante- 
 cedent to the time to which I refer. It appeared that, in the 
 winter of 1859, Mr. James Mackenzie, the clerk in charge of 
 Georgetown, had started along with three men to visit the settle- 
 ment, partly on business, and partly with the object of spending, 
 some of the Christmas holidays among his friends at Fort Garry. 
 The means of conveyance consisted of mules and a wa^on, instead 
 of the ordinary winter travelling apparatus of the country — snow 
 shoes and dog sieves. Mr. Mackenzie was a first-rate traveller, 
 and accustomed from early boyhood to such work. He knew the 
 country well, and, for a man of his strong constitution, the severity 
 of the winter cold had too few terrors. He started from George- 
 town very lightly clad. At a place called Pine, or Tamarac River 
 crossing, afbout fifty miles from Pembina, he volunteered, as the 
 party with which he traveUed had run short of provisions, and their 
 wa^on, in consequence of bad weather, travelled heavily, to push 
 onwards alone, with-the intention of sending back assistance from ' 
 that post. He followed the track correctly until nightfall, when 
 he lost his way, probably in an attempt to find a shorter route to 
 Pembina, nearer which^ in consequence of some similarity in the 
 landscape, he fancied himself to be than was the case. The suc- 
 ceeding morning he resumed his journey, but in the wrong^ 
 direction, and after another night spent on the plains, running 
 
 E 
 
C6 BED RIVBK. 
 
 about in a circle to preserve the heat, his third day's travel 
 brought him to a spot locally known as the " the Poplar Groves 
 between Two Kivers," about thirty miles from Pembina, and very 
 far from the regular track. Here hope appears to have deserted 
 him, and, having hung a, portion of his clothing on a tree to 
 attract the attention of any passer by the spot, he lay down and 
 was frozen to death. When his dead body was recovered it was 
 not yet altogether frozen. He lay with one hand on his heart, and 
 the other containing a compass. His suiFerings must have been 
 very great, as testified by the indications above referred to, easily 
 comprehended by the experienced Plain travellers who found the 
 body. A severe snow storm had raged during the nights he 
 had spent on the prairie, and it was afterwards remembered that 
 on the fatal night the thermometer had fallen to forty degrees 
 below zero, while a searching north wind, from which the poplar 
 groves, through which he chiefly travelled, offered but poor shelter, 
 blew mercilessly cold. I may mention the above is fortunately a 
 very unusual concurrence of circumstances, as, during the prevar 
 lence of extremely low temperature, the weather is generally calm. 
 
 It was conjectured, from certain of the indications, that Mr. 
 Mackenzie, on realizing himself as lost, must have grown so excited 
 as to lose his presence of mind, or he would have known his neces- 
 sary general position with regard to the river, and have acted other- 
 wise than he did. A beaten track was found on the snow in the 
 ring which he had formed in walking during the second night 
 after leaving his friends. 
 
 The danger of solitary winter travelling, as evidenced by the 
 facts of this deplorable affair, is very great, and the practice is 
 never permitted, when it can be avoided, by the officers in the 
 Hudson's Bay service. But that winter is not the only season 
 when fatal accidents may happen from want of friendly succour on 
 the plains was..evidenced by an event which happened to one of 
 the " Pioneer" passengers, on the trip referred to, a few days 
 after his arrival in the settlement, which it may not be entirely 
 out of place for me to mention here. This man, originally from 
 Glasgow, in Scotland, was then travelling with the same gold- 
 peeking object as Mr. Love, with whom he was in partnership. He 
 
RED RIVER. 67 
 
 "had accompanied a few friends on a shooting expedition but 
 separated from them, and was afterwards found dead in the 
 swamps to which he had gone in quest of game. Apoplexy was 
 supposed to have been the cause of his death. 
 
 About midday on Saturday we arrived at Pembina, a small 
 isolated settlement of Americans and half-breeds chiefly connected 
 with the fur trade, situated on the left bank of the Ked Kiver, in 
 the American territory of Dakotah, close to the border between 
 the United States and the British possessions. The dividing line 
 between the two territories, which is an artificial boundary, 
 •described as the 49th parallel of latitude, is marked at Pembina 
 by a single wooden post, the position of which was decided 
 by surveyors appointed by the United States Grovernment. On 
 the English side of the frontier the Hudson's Bay Company main- 
 tains an establishment for trading purposes. The steamboat stopped 
 at the American settlement, where there is a custom house and 
 postoflioe. The goods, which are passed through the United 
 States in bond, are released on a certificate from the collector of 
 -customs at this place, whose duty it is consequently to inspect all 
 manifests and ladings of passing conveyances. At the post-office 
 there were letters for sundry passengers on board the steamer. 
 These letters had passed us in the mail bags, which were carried 
 overland at fortnightly intervals between Fort Abercrombie and 
 Pembina. 
 
 After halting about two hours we resumed our downward 
 voyage, and entered British territory. We passed the trading 
 establishment, built close to the river's bank, about two miles from 
 the post-office. The stream, having now grown wide and deep, 
 flowed in long sweeping curves, which, by their easy navigation, 
 enabled us to run all night. Early on Sunday morning we reached 
 the first houses of the Red River settlement. They were generally 
 m3re huts, consisting of one chamber each, lighted by a single win- 
 dow, but from time to time we passed one of more pretensions ; they 
 succeeded each other at intervals considerable at first, but afterwards 
 gradually decreasing in extent as we proceeded. In the course of 
 the forenoon we were hailed by a party of horsemen on shore, and, 
 on stopping, were informed they were on their Way to meet uF, 
 
bS REP KIVgB, 
 
 having been pent by the authorities in the settlement, whose anxiety 
 had bean ronsedby our long detention afiid reports of Indian dig-.- 
 turbances, which were fortijnately groundless. By . these people 
 we received a copy of the last issue of the single local newspaper, 
 the " Nor' Wester,'' which, as it coi^tained articles abusive of cer- 
 tain leading public men in tl^e colony, ergated some interest and 
 merriment on boayd. 
 
 As familiar objects pame in sight considerable excitement pre- 
 vailed among the passengers. An early dinner was hurriedly 
 despatched. The j-iver banks became crowded with pedestrians, 
 whose curiosity had been awakened by the rare event of the- 
 steamer's arrival, and between twelve and one o'clock a sharp turn 
 in^he river brought us in sight of the stone bastions of Port 
 Garry on our l^t, and the firerblaekened ruins of what had been 
 the towels of the Eoman Catholic Cathedral of St. Boniface, on. 
 our right hand side. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 EARLY CIVIL HISTORY OF RED RIVER SETTLBMBNT. 
 
 Hudson's Bay Company's Charter — Opposition Fur Tra;de— X. Y. and 
 North West Companies— Earl of Selliirk'a Land purchase'— Emigrants < 
 from Duchess of Sutherland's Estates — Opening diBBcultiea — Skirmish 
 of Seven Oaks — Lord Selkirk's visit to the Colony — Extinction of 
 Indian Land Titles — Coalition be tTj^een Hudson's Bay and North West 
 Companies— Condition and Eariy Prospects of the Colony. 
 
 Before proceeding further with the narrative of events occurring 
 under my own observation, it will, I think, be proper for me and 
 interesting' to the reader that I should enter at some considerable 
 length on a discussion of certain matters of a general nature 
 connected with the Red River Settlement. In pursuance of this 
 j)lan I shall devote the present chapter to the civil history of the 
 colbny. 
 
 In virtue of a charter granted in the year 1670 by King Charles, 
 the Second, the Hudson's Bay Company was incorporated and 
 endowed with certain rights and privileges. This charter has teen 
 much before the pilblib both of England and America, and consider- 
 able doubt has been expressed by the Press as to whether any, and, 
 if any, What rights could be claimed under its provisions. It has 
 also been laid before a long succession of emineht lawybrs, with the 
 object of discovering what good grounds the public might nave 
 to support the opiiiion that it should be held invalid. Some of 
 these gentlemen, among whom Were Mansfield, Erskine, Romilly, 
 Scarlett, Bethell, and many others, have doubted whether King 
 Charles had the power to confer a right of exclusive trade upon 
 any cbmpany, but all agree that, under the charter, the right to 
 the possession of the land within the limits' therein specified, could 
 he, and was, conferred on' the Hudson's Bay Company. The terri- 
 tory, described as Rupert's Land, consists of the whole region whose 
 
70 RED RIVER. 
 
 waters flow into Hudson's Bay. . It extends back from tte Bay,, 
 in its' narrowest width, on the east main coast, about 200 miles, 
 oil the south about 300 miles towards Canada, while it attains its 
 greatest breadth of more than 1200 miles on the western shore of 
 the Bay, whence the belt stretches back towards the Rocky Moun- 
 tains, including within its limits the fertile valley of the Saskatche- 
 wan, whose waters fall into Lake Winnipeg, from which, through 
 an outlet at its north-eastern extremity, they pass into streams 
 emptying themselves into Hudson's Bay. The operations of the 
 company, as a trading corporation, extend over vast regions other 
 than those included in the ring above traced, but its proprietary 
 rights and governing responsibilities under the charter are con- 
 fined within the limits described. 
 
 Until about 1774, being more than a century after the date of 
 the charter, the company does not appear to have extended its 
 operations very far beyond the sea coast, the country west of 
 which was a wilderness inhabited only by wild beasts and tribes 
 of wandering savages. The project of colonization, in any part of 
 the territory, was first attempted by Thomas Douglas, Earl of Sel-\^ 
 kirk, about the year 1811. At this time Bed River was the head- 
 quarters of an inland trading district perfectly isolated from the 
 rest of the world, and one of the principal scenes of contention 
 between the Hudson's Bay Company's agents and those of the two 
 rival Canadian fur companies, called "the North West" and " the 
 X. Y." companies, between whom the feeling of rivalry ran so 
 strong as to lead to occasional scenes of bloodshed and frequent 
 scuffles of minor importance. In the last and most serious of these 
 engagements, which took place in 1816, Governor Semple, the 
 chief magistrate, was shot. 
 
 This deplorable condition of things is not to be ascribed to any 
 sudden outbreak or mismanagement on the part of any of the 
 agents concerned, but was brought about by a series of events 
 extending over a period of years. In 1763 Canada was ceded by 
 the French to the English, under the Treaty of Paris. As early 
 as 1640, French colonists, whose spirit of adventure, stimulated 
 by the desire of gain, and love for the free, roving Indian life, 
 had led them to pursue the calling of the trapper, betook them- 
 
RED KIVER. 71 
 
 selves to the ■woods and hunting grounds of Canada, and spread 
 gradually over the whole country east from the height of lancf 
 west of Lake Superior; These were termed Coureurs des Bois, 
 and, as hunters and trappers, they were even more skilful than their 
 ladian teachers. As traders, they were outfitted by Canadian' 
 merch mts with necessary goods to barter with the Indians for furs",. 
 and, after periods of absence expending over twelve or fifteeett 
 months, spent in travelling in their canoes, would return lades 
 with furs of great value, their share of which they regularly 
 squandered during a short residence in the city previous to 
 embarking on their next voyage. In 1731, a Lower Canadian 
 seigneur, named M. Varennes de la Vdrandrye, acting under 
 a license to trade, granted by the Canadian Government, was the 
 first white man to cross the height of land above mentioned in the 
 first of two expeditions which he made as far as the Rocky 
 Mountains. On the first he went down the Winnipeg River 
 to the borders of Lake Winnipeg, and penetrated up the Red 
 River and Assiniboine to the prairie lands of the far West, 
 locally known at present by the names of the " Districts of 
 Swan River and the Saskatchewan. On his second expedition, 
 M. de la V^randrye penetrated up the river Saskatchewan, His 
 example was followed by many others, and, as the trade turned out 
 profitable, considerable quantities of goods were forwarded from 
 the Canadian settlements for barter with the Indians, the coureurs 
 des bois acting as agents in the exchange. 
 
 About 1774, in consequence of the success of these traders, in 
 pursuit of their policy of intercepting the Indians on their way 
 from their hunting grounds in the interior to trade their furs with 
 the agents of the Hudson's Bay Company at their factories, which, 
 as above-mentioned, had before that time been erected only in the 
 vicinity of the coast, the company was forced to protect its 
 interests by establishing posts inland on the ground, which, under 
 their charter, had been conveyed to them, but on which their 
 opponents had, until then, carried on their operations comparatively 
 undisturbed. 
 
 Far from being seriously damaged for some years, the Canadian 
 traders continued to be so successful that wealthy men embarked 
 
72 RED KIVBK. 
 
 capital in. the trade, and, about the year 1783, the opposition to 
 the company had resolved itself into one other great combination 
 cailled the " North West Company of Montreal." Thia association 
 of merchants was peculiarly a Canadian institution, having: its 
 chief seat of operations at Montreal, in opposition to the Hudsoij'f 
 Bay Company, which was an English concern, with its headr 
 quarters in London. The chief operations of the Hudson's Bay 
 Co^npapy were on the Bay itself; but, although the North Westers 
 aUo traded on the Bay, their main efforts were concentrated on 
 the plain country towards the West, and they gradually forced, 
 themselves, by Lake Superior and Red River, across the continent 
 to the Pacific coast. They are said to have employed about, 5!,000 
 mep altogether in their service about this time. 
 
 Discord appears, however, to have existed in the North West 
 camp, for we read of a division of interest therein, and the founda- 
 tion of another association called the " X. Y. Company," which 
 opposed both the Hudson's Bay and the North West. The X. Y. 
 continued to be, like the North West, a distinctively Canadian cor- 
 poration. Matters between all these contending parties began to 
 wear a formidable appearance. Hostilities broke out between the 
 agents of the respective companies, and alliances were formed 
 between the Indians and the whites connected with either party, 
 while the whole trade was carried on in a reckless, extravagant 
 manner. 
 
 In the year 1811, the Earl of Selkirk purchased from the Hud-r 
 son's Bay Company theownershipof a vast tract of land, including, 
 as a small part of the whole, the ground occupied at the present 
 time by Red River Settlement. The sum paid in exchange for 
 this grant I do not know. The rights granted to Lord Selkirk 
 were full proprietary rights to the soil, subject only to the burden 
 of extinguishing the Indian titles'. Till that date the question of 
 these claims had lain between the Indians and the company ; the 
 burden of their extinction lay thenceforward on Lord Selkirk. 
 
 About this time a compulsory exodus of the inhabitants of the 
 mountainous regions in the county of Sutherland was in progress. 
 The history of the expulsion of a vast number of the poorer 
 tenantry from the estates of the Duchess of Sutherland, on which 
 
BED RIVER. 73 
 
 they and their ancestors had vegetated in much idleness, semi- 
 barbarism and contentment, from a traditionary era, to make way 
 for the working of the sterner realities of the system of land 
 management which prevails on great estates in the prosaic nine- 
 teenth century, is to this day fresh in the recollection of the 
 remaining population of the extreme north of Scotland. The pain 
 with which the homeless, exiles, saw the roofs which had sheltered 
 them through life, removed from the bare walls of their deserted 
 habitations by the merciless edict of irresiatible power, has been 
 retained in the memory of the peasants of the north, and, doubtless, 
 the adventures of many of the expatriated ones, after their entrance 
 on the untried vicissitudes of life in other lands, are known and 
 ield in interest by the children of their kindred in the country 
 whence they came. 
 
 Few, probably, of the wanderers found so remote and sequestered 
 a home as did those of their number whom the Earl of Selkirk 
 took under his protection, and forwarded to settle on the estate he 
 had purchased at Eed River. Few, also, it is to be hoped, met 
 with more serious obstacles to be surmounted in their dealings with 
 nature and with men than the same hapless party. It must, how- 
 ever, be stated that they emigrated ostensibly of their free wills. 
 Lord Selkirk having visited their parish of Kildman and laid such 
 inducements before them as led them to close with his terms, nor 
 -was it until aiter the last of them had departed that the. forcible 
 expulsions were commenced. They arrived on the Bay coast in 
 the autumn of 1811, and spent the winter of that year amid cold of 
 Arctic intensity and many privations at Churchill, on the western 
 shore of Hudson's Bay. On the outbreak of spring in 1812 they 
 advanced inland, crossed Lake Winnipeg, and ascended the Eed 
 Eiver of the North which empties itself into Winnipeg on its 
 southern shore. At the confluence of the Assiniboine , and Red 
 Rivers^ about forty miles from the lake, they found themselves — 
 metaphorically speaking — at home. They were in the centre of 
 the American continent, 1500 or 1600 miles in direct distance 
 from the nearest city residence of civilised man in America, ajid 
 separated from the country whence they came by an impassable 
 barrier. 
 
74 BED RIVEE. 
 
 There being no possibility of retreat it remained only to make 
 tbe best of their position in the land of their adoption. Here, 
 however, they found new food for anxiety. The X. Y. and the 
 North West companies regarded them as invaders whose presence 
 was detrimental to their interests and as protigis of their oppo- 
 nents Lord Selkirk and the Hudson's Bay Company. The 
 Indians also objected to the cultivation of their hunting grounds, 
 and were instigated to hostile proceedings against the new comers 
 ' by the representatives of the Canadian companies. The year 
 1812 passed without any satisfactory progress being made by the 
 unfortunate people who spent the following winter in great misery 
 at Pembina, near the United States frontier, whither they were 
 driven by compulsion of the Indians. 
 
 They appear, however, to have found means before spring to 
 mollify their opponents to such an extent as permitted their return 
 to build log houses and cultivate the lands on the borders of Red 
 River. After having been left to enjoy a term of peace which 
 lasted about a year, the colonists were attacked by their persever- 
 ing enemies, who, professing their determination to exterminate the 
 society, reduced the huts they had built to cinders, killing some of 
 the inhabitants in the process. Re-inforced by a company of 
 additional immigrants from Scotland the settlers returned to the 
 spots whence they had been driven, and recommenced their labours 
 in defiance of all the discouragements they had encountered. 
 
 The foundation of this colony, if it had any effect at all on the 
 relations between the agents of the rival trading companies, served 
 only to exasperate their mutual enmity. Matters between them 
 became steadily worse and worse — property was destroyed, estab- 
 lishments attacked, men captured and others killed. Acting as 
 the representatives of the power in whose hands the government 
 of the country had been vested, Governors MacDonnell and 
 Semple successively issued proclamations and bravely fought in 
 defence of the interests entrusted to their keeping for a long time. 
 At length, on the 19th of June, 1816, the adherents of the two 
 parties met under such circumstances that a skirmish occurred, in 
 the course of which about twenty men, among whom was Gover- 
 nor Semple himself, lost their lives at a place now called Seven 
 Oaks, situated in the heart of the colony. 
 
BED RIVER. 75, 
 
 I have been fortunate enough to secure from the lips of its 
 author a metrical account of this battle, composed on horseback 
 while on his way home from the scene of its occurrence, by Mon- 
 sieur Pierre Falcon, who is now a petty magistrate in the colony, 
 aged about 76 years. He neither reads nor writes. This com- 
 position was, however, like the ballads of the Saxon Bards of Old 
 England, caught up by friendly ears and conveyed from mouth to 
 mouth till it might be heard throughout the country wherever the 
 axe of the woodcutter fell or the paddle of the canoe kept time to 
 the cadence adapted to its measure. In reading the poem it must 
 be borne in mind that the author was a zealous member of the 
 North West party, and that his prejudices have seriously inter- 
 fered with the accuracy of his description of the battle, if indeed 
 the skirmish ought to be so spoken of. It is, however, a genuine 
 production of the country, and a curious relic of the times. 
 
 (Please see Appendix A.) 
 
 Anxious about the fate of the people who had gone to Red 
 Eiver under his auspices, and deeply concerned personally as a 
 land owner in the important events transpiring on the scene of 
 these belligerent operations, Lord Selkirk left England with the 
 view of visiting Red River, and personally inspecting the business 
 there. In passing through Canada, being advised by dispatches 
 sent him of the outrage at Seven Oaks, he applied to the com- 
 manding general of the forces in that colony for a body guard to 
 protect him from assassination in his journey through the interior. 
 He received for that purpose a detachment of two sergeants and 
 twelve private soldiers belonging to a corps called the regiment. 
 De Meuron. On his own personal responsibility he raised an 
 additional force recruited from disbanded soldiers formerly con- 
 nected with the same regiment in Canada, and proceeded to Red 
 River. On his way, and after his arrival at that place, he 
 attacked and took possession of all the forts of the North West 
 Company lying on his route, and made its agents his prisoners. 
 Some of those who had been concerned in the Seven Oaks affair 
 were sent to Canada to stand their trial as murderers, some as prin- 
 cipals, others as accessories. There were also charges of arson^ 
 robbery of cannon and other "high misdemeanours." The trials 
 
76 KED RIVER. 
 
 of the accused took place at Toronto, in virtue of a Commission 
 from Lower Canada granted under the Canada Jiirisdiction Act. 
 They resulted in an acquittal of all the prisoners on all the 
 charges. 
 
 Lord Selkirk was himself, some years subsequently, sued for 
 damages grounded on the action he had taken during his expedi- 
 tion to Red River, and judgments adverse to him were obtained 
 in the Canadian Courts involving vast sums. Such was then the 
 state of public feeling in Canada with reference to the North West 
 territory that no protection could be hoped for by the opponents 
 of the Canadian companies. 
 
 A very important element in the. business which took his Lord- 
 ship to Red River in 1817 was thie proposed extinction of the 
 Indian titles on that part of his property intended for immediate 
 occupation. What these Indian titles are is a question on which 
 great latitude of opinion prevails among different people. As I 
 have not studied the subject in many of its bearings I feel myself 
 incompetent to pronounce any decided opinion, and, therefore, 
 refrain from any discussion of the difficulties connected with it. 
 The whole question liesj I believe, on the right of the Indian to 
 compensation for the deprivation to which he is subjected of the 
 only means available to him in his savage condition of gaining, his 
 livelihood, — this is the chase, an occupation necessarily at an 
 end when the ground on which it is carried on is brought 
 under cultivation. The difficulty has been met in the United 
 States and Canada by a system of large Indian land reserves 
 and annual subsidies. In Canada the result has been peace 
 l)etween the red and the white man ; but, in the States, inces- 
 sant Indian warfare has prevailed, and their civilization is 
 annually encroaching on the territories of the race its progress 
 seems destined to exterminate. 
 
 The' Earl of Selkirk arrived with his system of operations 
 arranged on a plan drawn up under reliable legal advice obtained 
 in England. On seeking for men in authority among the Indians; 
 some difficulty was at first found in getting any recognized chiefs, 
 possessed of right to enter as principals on such a negotiation. 
 The ground in question was held to belong to the Chippeway or 
 
RED RIVER. 77 
 
 Saulteaux, and the Killistine or Oree " Nations." These barbarous 
 tribes wandered over a -wide extent of country, hunting and passing 
 their time like any other brotherhood of savages. It was a difficult 
 matter to find any single individual 'whose authority was considered 
 binding by the rest. Five different chiefs were, however, at length 
 selected, whose right to treat was established to the satisfaction 
 of both sides, and, on the 18th of July, 1817, a treaty was duly 
 signed by the Earl on one side, and these dusky wanderers on the 
 other, whereby the latter made over to King George III., for the 
 benefit of the Earl of Selkirk, their rights in a long strip of coun- 
 try, extending along each-bank of the Red River and Assiniboine. 
 The land ceded was to extend two miles back on either side from 
 the river as a centre line, along that part of the Red River begin- 
 ning from its mouth at Lake Winnepeg, and extending to its con- 
 fluence with Red Lake River in the United States, and along the 
 Assiniboine from its junction with the Red River, where Fort 
 Garry now stands, to Muskrat River. The portion of land thus 
 indicated between Pembina and Red Lake River, on which, in 
 virtue of the treaty, the Indian titles were extinguished, as well 
 as the larger portion of ground previously granted to his Lord- 
 ship by the Hudson's Bay Company, being in the territory of the 
 United States, gave rise long afterwards to a claim for compensation 
 brought by the earl's representatives against the American govern- 
 ment. In addition to the strips of ground just described, two cir- 
 cles, each of six miles radius, were ceded around Fort Douglas, 
 (near Fort Garry) and Fort Darr (Pembina) as centres. The 
 idea of a distance of two miles, which forms so important an element 
 in this bargain, was conveyed to the Indian comprehension by des- 
 cribing it as "the greatest distance at which a horse on the' level 
 prairie could be distinctly seen, or daylight seen under his belly 
 between his legs." The Earl of Selkirk was known among the 
 Indians as the " Silver Chief." The instrument executed conveyed 
 the lands in the first instance to the king, because the extinction 
 of Indian titles in favour of private parties is legally a nullity, and 
 the earl came out invested with special powers to conclude the 
 treaty conferred on him by the Imperial Government. 
 
 The consideration on account of which the land was ceded was 
 
Y8 BED RIVER. 
 
 an annual payment of two hundred pounds weight of tobacco, of 
 -which one half was to be paid the Saulteaux chiefs at Fort Garry, 
 and the other to the Gree chiefs at Portage Laprairie, or, as it is 
 called by the English, " the Prairie Portage," a point on the 
 Assiniboine about 70 miles above Fort Garry. Each payment was 
 to take place on the 10th October. 
 
 The important document, of which the foregoing is the scope, 
 was signed by Lord Selkirk and five Indian chiefs as principals, and 
 seven officers connected with the service as witnesses. The names 
 of the chiefs were : 
 
 1. MacheWheoeab, LeSonnant. 
 
 2. Mechkadewikonair, La Robe Noir. 
 
 3. Kayajieskebinoa, L'homme Noir. 
 
 4. Pegowis. 
 
 f). Onckidoat, Premier. 
 
 These chiefs signed by appending their distinctive marks on the 
 Tepresentations of wild animals by which they were respectively 
 known. 
 
 So wretched had the general condition of the territory become, 
 in consequence of the deplorable events above narrated, that the 
 government of Canada interfered, with a view to attempt effecting 
 a reconciliation between the conflicting parties. A gentleman 
 named Coltman was appointed commissioner to ascertain the causes 
 and extent of the disturbances. He recommended, as the only fea- 
 sible remedy, that an effort should be made by Government to bring 
 the traders to an amicable settlement and union of interests ; but, for 
 some considerable time, no action was taken on his recommenda- 
 tion by his employers, while the unfortunate companies through 
 their protracted exertions were reduced to the verge of bankruptcy. 
 Lork Selkirk died in 1821, and after that date the late Eight Hon. 
 Edward EUice becomes the most prominent person round whom 
 the current of events runs. This gentleman, then one of the prin- 
 cipal stockholders of the North West Company, was consulted by 
 Government, and, under its auspices, instituted negotiations which, 
 after many difficulties had been surmounted by his perseverance 
 xmd tact, happily resulted in a harmoaious union between the Hud- 
 
RED RIVER. 79 
 
 son's Bay and North West Companies, the latter of which had 
 already combined with the X. Y. Under conditions satisfactory to 
 "both parties a coalition was formed in 1821, while the British 
 Oovernment, at Mr. Ellice's suggestion, obtained from Parliament 
 powers to confer on the new Hudson's Bay Company rights and 
 privileges extending over the country east and west of the Kooky 
 Mountains not included in their own chartered territory, tenable 
 for a term of twenty years. These privileges of exclusive trade 
 in the Indian country outside of their own limits the company 
 surrendered in 1838 with an application for their renewal. An, 
 inquiry into the working of the system under the management of 
 the Hudson's Bay Company was instituted by the Colonial Office 
 and the Board of Trade, the result of which was an expression of 
 the entire satisfaction of the imperial authorities with the system 
 ■of trade and government of the company, and an extension of the 
 term of the temporary license to trade for twenty years more. 
 
 On his arrival in the settlement Lord Selkirk had provided the 
 colonists with agricultural implements, seed, grain and other neces- 
 saries, but as the season was far advanced before they could be 
 used, the harvest of 1817 was so scanty that a famine ensued, and 
 the people again passed the winter at Pembina, subsisting as best 
 they could on the produce of the chase. The spring duties of 
 ploughing and sowing were duly performed, and men hoped the 
 harvest of 1818 would turn out well, but an army of locusts made 
 its appearance and in one night cleared away every vestige of 
 verdure from the fields. The grasshoppers left their eggs in the 
 ^ound, and the numbers of young locusts which again in 1819 
 rendered agriculture impossible far exceeded those of the previous 
 year. While the settlers took refuge at Pembina, Lord Selkirk, at 
 an expense of £1,000, imported 250 bushels of seed grain from 
 ihe United States, and this, which was sown in the spring of 
 1820, produced a plentiful crop in the autumn of that year. 
 
 Peace being completely restored between all parties on the coali- 
 tion in 1821, the settlement at Red River made steady progress. 
 The life of adventure, discomfort and migration between Pembina 
 and their proper homes which the settlers had been forced to lead 
 for eight years after their arrival in the country gave way to one 
 
80 KED KIVER. 
 
 of tranquillity and greater ease than had fallen to their lot in 
 Scotland. General contentment prevailed. The only market 
 which fexistfed for the produce they had to sell the colonists found 
 in the forts of the company, where their grain was purchased to 
 be exported for use in the establishments of the north where cul- 
 tivation is impossible. Large as are the demands of the fur trade 
 for farm produce the stipply has often much exceeded them, and 
 hence have risen much complaining, and loud cries for a -wider 
 market. The absence of such a facility is a necessary consequence 
 of the isolated position of the colony. 
 
 As the immigration from Scotland did not recur after the 
 arrival in two parties of the founders of the settlement, the 
 population increased but slowly, and few events of public moment 
 varied the -dead monotony of yearly life. The volunteers from the 
 regiment De Meuron, who had accompanied Lord Selkirk, settled 
 numerously in the colony. The bulk of them were Swiss and 
 G-ermans. Servants of the company who had spent their lives in 
 the service retired to end them at Red River ; and some of the 
 officers, whose desire to return to their native country had withered 
 through the lapse of time and the influence of family ties fbrmed 
 in the country, bought land atid settled down on it for life, forming 
 among themselves a society constituting the aristoctacy df th& 
 wilderness. The representatives of Lord Selkirk sold the land t» 
 such people at a nominal price, varying from 5s. to 7s. Gd. per acre. 
 The farms or " lots " were laid off, bounded by two pai'allel linea 
 running oiit for two miles over the plains, starting at right angles 
 from Red River as a base line. The most valuable of these lots 
 were such as had the largest "frontage" to the river, such fron- 
 tages varying in length from three to ten chains. When such a 
 farm was allotted a Land De6d was given to the purchaser, and his 
 elaim registered in a record ' kept in the company's office. In 
 1836 the Hudson's Bay Company repurchased from the heirs of 
 Lord Selkirk the whole tract of country ceded to his Lordship in 
 1811. This step was taken as the best means of putting an end 
 to the complications arising from the tenure of the country by 
 Lord Selkirk's representatives. The sum paid by the company 
 was about £84,000, and was meant to reimburse Lord Selkirk's 
 
BED EIVER. 81 
 
 heirs for the large sums his Lordship had spent in improving and 
 settling the colony. This transaction was without prejudice to the 
 interests of all colonists who had purchased land between 1811 and 
 1836. 
 
 The chief physical drawbacks against which the settlement has 
 had to contend are floods, the most destructive of which occurred 
 in the years 1826, 1852 and 1861. These are occasioned by the 
 sudden thawing of deep snows which, forming vast sheets of water 
 destitute of channels to carry them off, cause the rivers to over- 
 flow their banks and innundate the plains over an extent of hun- 
 dreds of square miles. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CONSTITUTIONAL HiSTORY OF RED RiVEE SETTLEMfiNT. 
 
 Fountain head of Administrative power — Governors in chief— Rupert's 
 Land— Council of Rupert's Land— Governors and Council of Assini- 
 boia— Recorders of Rupert's Land — Judicial Officers and Courts of 
 Justice— Constabulary — Detachment of foot engineers and artillery 
 under Colonel Crofton and Major Griffith— Colonel Caldwell's Pen- 
 sioners — Royal Canadian Rifles — Necessity for Troops. 
 
 Having, in the preceding chapter, endeavoured to convey to the 
 reader an idea of the early civil history of Red River, I shall 
 devote the present one to an investigation of its constitutional his- 
 tory, if I may be allowed so to apply the term, as well as to a 
 narration of some general matters bearing on the interest of the 
 colony. 
 
 The supreme control of Hudson's Bay affairs is vested, under 
 the charter, in a Grovernor, Deputy Governor, and Committee of 
 five Directors, all annually chosen by the stockholders at a general 
 meeting held each November. These functionaries, residing in 
 London, delegate their authority to an official resident in their 
 American possessions, called the Governor, or Governor-in-chief, 
 of Rupert's Land, who acts as their representative. His com- 
 mission extends over all their colonial possessions, and his tenure of 
 office is unlimited, as regards time. Sir George Simpson was the 
 first person appointed to fill this high office, which was instituted 
 immediately after the coalition of 1821. Previous to that date 
 the various districts and posts had been ruled by numerous petty 
 officers, subject to no efficient control, and practically answerable to 
 none for abuse of power. I have it on the authority of men still 
 living, who remember the events of those times, that the appoint- 
 ment of a Governor-in-chief was a measure fraught with much benefit 
 
RED RIVER. 83 
 
 to the subordinate officers and servants of the company. Sir 
 <3eorge died in September, 1860, still occupying the office he had 
 held for nearly forty years. He was succeeded by Alexander Grant 
 Dallas, Esq., who had for some years previously been connected 
 with the company as a director and extraordinary agent on the 
 Pacific coast. This gentlemen resigned office in 1864, and 
 was succeeded by the present Governor, William Mactavish, 
 Esq. The authority of the Governor is supreme, except during 
 the session of his council, which is held once a year, and continues 
 its formal sittings for two or three days. The Governor is presi- 
 dent or chairman of this council, at which he represents the 
 interests of the Board of Directors in England. There is no fixed 
 place of meeting for the council ; it has been held at Fort Garry 
 in Red River Settlement, at Norway House, on Lake Winnipeg, 
 and at York Factory, on Hudson's Bay. The place of meeting 
 is always decided a year beforehand to suit the other complicated 
 arrangements dependent thereupon. This is called the " Council 
 for the Northern Department of Rupert's Land," but it assumes a 
 general authority over all the other departments, and, to quote the 
 -words of the preamble to its bfficial minutes, it convenes " For the 
 purpose of establishing 'rules and regulations for conducting the 
 business of the said department, and in order to investigate the 
 trade of the past year." 
 
 The chartered territories and circuit of commercial relations of 
 the Hudson's Bay Company are divided into vast sections, named 
 the Northern, Southern, Montreal, and Western departments. Of 
 these, the Northern department is situated between Hudson's Bay 
 and the Rocky Mountains ; the Southern, between James' Bay and 
 ■Canada, comprehending, also. East Main, on the eastern shore of 
 Hudson's Bay. The Montreal department comprehends the extent 
 of the business in the Canadas, while the Western comprises the 
 regions west from the Rocky Mountains. The dep6tsto which sup- 
 plies from the civilized world are periodically sent, and which form 
 the keys of these various sections, are York Factory, in the 
 Northern department; Moose Factory, in the Southern; Montreal, 
 in the Canadas ; and Victoria, Vancouver's Island, in the west. In 
 the Northern department, which includes the grand bulk of the 
 
84 RED RIVER. 
 
 chartered territories, in which alone the burden of government 
 falls on the company, the most important interests of the business 
 are concentrated. Its vast extent necessitates a depot for the 
 " Inland districts," which exists at Norway House, and various 
 causes have combined to render Fort Garry, in which are stored 
 the goods passing over the United States route, the centre of busi- 
 ness, and a large dep6t for the " plain districts." A council for the 
 Northern department is held every year, and at it the Governor-in- 
 chief is invariably present ; but he, also, from time to time, has 
 held councils for the other departments, though his usual plan is 
 to leave the details to be managed by competent officers on the 
 spot, and, by correspondence, exercise a general jurisdiction over 
 the trade. 
 
 His council is composed of the highest rank of officers in th& 
 service, called the chief factors, whose duty and right it is to sit at 
 its meetings whenever their attendance is practicable. Members of 
 the second rank of commissioned officers, called chief traders, when 
 they can arrange to be present, are requested to sit in the council, 
 which is held with closed doors, and, when so invited, the traders 
 are permitted to debate and vote equally with the factors. The 
 chief factors and chief traders together constitute the partnership 
 in what is called " the fur trade." From this the profits of the 
 Hudson's Bay Company may be said to be entirely derived ; it 
 constitutes the means by which the company avails itself of the 
 right to trade, which it possesses in its territories. Vacancies in 
 its ranks are immediately filled up as they occur from the death or 
 retirement of its members, the qualification necessary to obtain the 
 commission being a majority of the votes of all the chief factors. 
 The candidates for a factorship are necessarily traders, while those 
 for a vacant tradership are from the ranks of salaried clerks, sel- 
 dom of less than fourteen years' standing in the service. 
 
 The partners in the fur trade are connected with the Hudson's 
 Bay Company, under such provisions that their incomes fluctuate 
 with the alterations of the annual profits of the trade. They hold 
 their rights as a body, with respect to the stockholders of the com- 
 pany, in virtue of a deed poll, dated 1834, under which the com- 
 missions granted to the individuals are issued. These commissions, 
 
RED RIVER. 85 
 
 held from the company, entitle the officers holding them to their 
 share in the profits and all the other privileges they enjoy. Among 
 ■the latter is the tenure of the position of magistrate in the terri- 
 -tory of Rupert's Land. 
 
 Wide as is the jurisdiction of the assembly on the members, 
 meeting places, and constitution, of which I have been endeavoring 
 to throw some light, on very rare occasions, indeed, has it directly 
 interfered with the affairs of Red River Settlement, within the limits 
 of which the legislative power is exercised by another corporation, 
 ■called the " Governor and Council of Assiniboia." Municipal 
 institutions, of a very rude character, exist within the limits of this 
 settlement, which is the only place in the Hudson's Bay territories 
 wherein such have been established, because it is the only spot 
 -where there is a resident population to be governed. 
 
 Previous to the year 1848, the office of Governor of Assiniboia 
 was almost invariably held by the officer in charge of the com- 
 pany's trading interests in the colony. His duties were of a very 
 simple nature, the condition of the embryo municipality not being 
 such as to create serious interest to be effected by his action. 
 Moreover, at the time referred to, such an official as the com- 
 pany's principal commercial representative was almost the only 
 man resident in the settlement competent to perform the simple ser- 
 vices required of a petty governor. In 1848, Lieutenant-Colonel 
 William Caldwell, an officer in the Queen's service, went to the 
 settlement, partly in his military capacity, as a soldier, and partly as 
 ■Governor of Assiniboia, under a commission granted by the Hud- 
 son's Bay Company. Colonel Caldwell remained at Red River as 
 governor until 1855, when he was succeeded in his office by Frank 
 Godshall Johnson, Esquire, a barrister from the Montreal bar, 
 who, in addition to the appointment of Governor of Assiniboia, 
 held that of Recorder of Rupert's Land. This gentleman resigned 
 both these offices in 1858, when he was succeeded in that of 
 governor by William Mactavish, Esquire, the officer then in charge 
 of the company's general business at Red River, and who now 
 fills the office of Governor of Assiniboia conjointly with that of 
 •Governor of Rupert's Land. 
 
 The Governor of Assiniboia is assisted in his duties by the 
 
86 RED KIVEE. 
 
 council of Assiniboia, of which he is the official president. When- 
 the Governor of Rupert's Land attends this local council, how- 
 ever, he takes precedence of the Governor of Assiniboia, and acts 
 as president. The councillors of Assiniboia hold their offices in 
 virtue of commissions granted to them by the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany, emanating from the house in London. These commissions,, 
 it will be observed, are entirely different from those which qualify 
 for a seat in the council of Rupert's Land, which latter entitle the 
 holders, as partners in the fur trade, to a definite proportion of its 
 profits, and are granted only to those who are servants of the com- 
 pany in its mercantile capacity. The commissions of councillors 
 of Assiniboia entitle the holders to no fixed remuneration whatever. 
 The nominal pay of ten shillings per diem was voted, some few years 
 ago, to be paid each councillor holding no public salaried office, 
 during the days on which his attendance at council was required. 
 This sum was granted to defray the necessary expenses incurred 
 in the case of some who travel a long distance to attend the meet- 
 ings. 
 
 There is no such system known in the settlement as popular 
 election of representatives. Commissions as councillors are 
 granted by the company to settlers on the recommendation of the 
 Governor. The result is that the Council of Assiniboia is com- 
 posed of the leading men of the colony in position, influence, 
 wealth and intelligence. It now includes the Bishop of Rupert's 
 Land and the Roman Catholic Bishop of St. Boniface. The recor- 
 der, or president of the Red River Courts, is the legal adviser of the 
 Board. The French Canadian, the original Scotch, the mercan- 
 tile and the general communities are represented by the principal 
 members of their respective orders, forming in all at present a body 
 of seventeen members, exclusive of the Governor, Judge and two 
 Bishops, who may be considered as holding their commissions as 
 councillors ex officio. 
 
 This council meets in the court-room at Fort Garry, and the 
 public is not admitted to its deliberations. Communication between 
 it and outsiders is carried on through the medium of the Clerk of 
 Council, who is present at the meetings, and attends to the minutes 
 and. correspondene3. There is no fixed session ; it is convened by 
 
RED RIVER. 8T 
 
 the Governor through agency of the clerk who notifies each meni' 
 ber of the day appointed for its meeting whenever any matter of 
 importance requires to be discussed. Such is a description of the 
 Legislative portion of the local institutions of the colony. 
 
 With regard to the administration of justice, the laws of England 
 of the date of Her Majesty's accession, so far as they are applicable 
 to the condition of the colony, are understood to regulate the 
 judicial proceedings. The regulations passed by the Council of 
 Assiniboia are of the nature of by-laws. 
 
 The head of the laws in the settlement is the Recorder of 
 Eupert's Land, or as he is called in reference to his local jurisdiction 
 in the colony,, the President of the Red River Courts. The 
 court of which this officer is chief sits four times a year, in the 
 months of February, May, August and November, and is called 
 the. General Quarterly Court. The vast majority of cases on its 
 rolls originate before it, but it is competent to act as a Court of 
 Appeal on cases which have been previously adjudicated by the 
 Petty Courts. In very rare instances, however, is it called to deal 
 with such cases. From it there is no appeal to any Colonial Court. 
 Three or four justices of the peace usually sit on the bench with 
 the recorder, as associate judges, but these take no active part in 
 the proceedings, and merely watch the cases and assist with their 
 advice when called on to do so by the judge.. 
 
 This tribunal is competent to try civil and criminal cases. In 
 the forn[i,er there is no limit to the amount at issue in cases on 
 which it may legally adjudicate ; in the latter it has power to try 
 capital charges. It has on several occasions sat on such ; in one 
 case conviction was followed by execution of the criminal who was 
 an Indian. This event occurred in 1845. The court sits with a 
 jury. 
 
 The recordership was instituted, along with the court to which 
 the; office is attached, in 1 839 . Before that date the few unimportant, 
 cases which arose were decided by the Governor as arbiter ; but as 
 the. settlement became more populous, and more difficult questions. 
 of a legal nature rose with increasing wealth, the company found 
 it advisable to appoint an officer whose chief duty it would be to 
 decide: them, as well as to create the machinery whereby his exer- 
 
88 RED RIVER. 
 
 tions could be most efficiently brought to bear on the wants of the 
 people at large. 
 
 The gentleman who first occupied the position of Kecorder of 
 Bupert's Land was Adam Thorn, Esq., of King's CoUege, Aber- 
 deen, and more recently of the Montreal Bar. He arrived in the 
 spring of 1839, and in addition to his judicial duties was consti- 
 tuted legal adviser to the Governor of Assiniboia, who was 
 instructed in matters connected with the law to be guided by 
 Mr. Thom's advice. 
 
 Matters seem to have proceeded smoothly for several years, 
 though the proceedings of Grovernment, with reference to the free 
 trade in furs, which was yearly increasing, though conducted sur- 
 reptitiously, gave rise to much dissatisfaction among the people, 
 and engendered a strong and general feeling of dislike against the 
 responsible adviser of the authorities. The proceedings of the 
 company in protection of the trade interests granted them under 
 their charter were necessarily arbitrary, and gave rise to con- 
 siderable discussion before a parliamentary committee of the 
 House of Commons, which sat on their affairs in 1857. The 
 course of action recommended by Mr. Thom was based on a view 
 of the company's privileges and duties as seen in the light of pure 
 law. I am not aware that the legality of his measures has been 
 called in question, but they have certainly been quoted by the 
 opponents of the company as furnishing evidence in their view 
 incontrovertible of the impropriety of any recognition of the 
 chartered rights being made by the British Government, and the 
 Board of Directors in London signalized their opinion of the high 
 inexpediency of some of his regulations by disallowing them with- 
 out delay. 
 
 As a specimen of one of the worst steps taken, I may place the 
 following facts on record. In 1844 a proclamation was issued by 
 the Governor of Assiniboia stating that all business letters from 
 importers of goods to their agents in England, to be forwarded by 
 the company's packet, should be sent to Fort Garry open for the 
 perusal of the authorities previous to being dispatched. Such 
 importers as would consent to sign a declaration, the substance of 
 which was equivalent to a security against their engaging in any 
 
RED RIVER. 89 
 
 f rivate fur-trading venture, were exempted from the necessity of 
 compliance with this regulation. The privileges held under the 
 charter, the facts that the means by which the letters were to be 
 conveyed to the civilized world and the merchandise imported 
 brought to its destination, were afforded by the company, which 
 surely had the right to fix what terms it would for the facilities of 
 postage and freight which it provided, were the arguments used in 
 favour of Mr. Thom. Men opposed to the policy of that gentleman 
 based their case on the fact that the settlers, in consequence of their 
 isolated position in the heart of Rupert's Land, were entirely at 
 the mercy of the Hudson's Bay Company, which, under its adminis- 
 trative obligations, was bound to provide postal facilities" on fair 
 terms for those living under its sway, and in virtue of its omnipo- 
 tence to bring the goods necessary for its dependents over the only 
 available route, of which it had the indisputable management. 
 
 In the year 1849, a French half-breed, named Guillaume Sayer, 
 was apprehended on a charge of trading furs with the Indians, and 
 put upon his trial before Judge Thom. Though not the first who 
 had dabbled in the illicit traffic, the agents of the company in the 
 colony resolved to make an example of him. He was convicted, 
 but the prosecutors, satisfied with a favourable verdict, did not press 
 for punishment. They do not, indeed, appear to have had any 
 choice in this matter, for an armed mob of the prisoner's com- 
 patriots — French half-breeds — surrounded the court-house in num- 
 bers sufficient to overpower any force which could have been col- 
 lected on a short notice to support the law, with the avowed intention 
 of liberating their friend and assassinating the recorder. 
 
 After this outrage Mr. Thom ceased to appear in his place on 
 the bench until 1850. During the intervening year justice was 
 administered by the Governor, Colonel Caldwell, who acted as 
 judge. By the colonel's own account the proceedings of the court, 
 during the term of his presidency, were conducted very much aftar 
 the manner of courts martial, he not addressing the jury, but 
 merely ordering the clerk to read over the evidence which had been 
 adduced. He also stated to the Commons committee, already 
 referred to, that his legal ambition aimed only at rendering his 
 tribunal " a court of equity," understanding this term as synony- 
 
90 EED RIVER. 
 
 mous witli that of an institution for the administration of substan- 
 tial justice, as apparent to a plain man. In the year 1850, a case 
 arose involving a multitude of complications, all of a very painful 
 and scandalous nature. The action of Foss vs. Pelly was one for 
 defamatory conspiracy, brought by an officer of pensioners, resident 
 in the settlement, against an officer in the company's, service and 
 others. It was surrounded with a variety of intricacies, com- 
 promising some of the leading people in the settlement, the bulk of 
 whom were closely connected with the service, and the crowd of 
 witnesses called included a large proportion of the most influential 
 residents in the place. Probably no case ever brought before the 
 Recorder's court, before or since, has given rise to so much bad 
 feeling, and such deplorable sequences, as did this cause celibre. 
 
 As a man of legal experience was believed to be the only one 
 capable of weighing and disentangling the multitude of conflicting 
 interests and assertions crowding into the dispute, arrangements 
 were made by which Mr. Thom was permitted, after a retirement 
 of one year, once more to occupy his place of judge, for the purpose 
 of trying this case. The verdict of the jury was found for the 
 plaintifi'. Captain Foss, who obtained damages to the amount of 
 £300. Colonel Caldwell, however, who had attended the court 
 during the trial, in his official capacity as governor, was so much 
 dissatisfied with the conduct of the case that, believing a very gross 
 miscarriage of justice had been perpetrated, he addressed a state- 
 ment of his views to the Board of the Company in London. The 
 result was the permanent removal of Mr. Thom from his office of 
 recorder, and his acceptance of that of clerk in the court, over 
 which he had, till then, presided. The scale of pay allowed him 
 as clerk was equal to that which he had drawn as judge. For four 
 years Colonel Caldwell continued to preside on the bench, in place, 
 of Mr. Thom, but," in 1854, the latter resigned his situation as 
 clerk and returned to Scotland. I cannot close this cursory glance 
 at the official career of this pioneer of the law in Red River Settle- 
 ment without stating that, at the close of his long and often 
 unquiet sojourn of fifteen years in this singularly situated place, 
 he left behind him the reputation of great ability, and of kindly 
 hospitality in his private relations, among those of his acquaintances - 
 
RED RIVER. 91 
 
 best able to appreciate the former, and who had shared in thfr 
 ktter. 
 
 In the spring of 1854, Mr. Johnson, a distinguished pleader at. 
 the Canadian bar, became recorder. During his term of office he 
 WSB fortunate enough to escape the disagreeable duty of adjudi- 
 cating in any cause wherein public prejudice had enlisted itself on 
 either side, and, after four years' uneventful occupancy, he quitted 
 he recordership and returned to his practice in Canada. 
 
 From 1858 till 1862 the office vacated by Mr. Johnson 
 remained empty, the duties attached thereto being performed by 
 Doctor Bunn, the principal medical practitioner in the colony, who, 
 to his other qualifications, added that of being a very able magis- 
 trate. The sudden death of this gentleman, which occurred from 
 apoplexy, in the spring of 1861, was in many ways a severe loss 
 to the community, of which he was a prominent member. Governor 
 Mactavish succeeded him in the temporary discharge of the 
 recorder's functions till the appointment of president of the courts 
 was conferred, in 1862, on John Black, Esquire, who continues to 
 hold it at the present time. As the main events which have 
 occurred during the term of Mr. Black's tenure of office will be 
 prominently touched on in the course of my narrative, I abstain 
 for the present from entering into any details. 
 
 For the hearing of cases of minor importance there exist petty 
 courts in the settlement, which is divided into three sections, 
 over each of which the jurisdiction of one branch of these courts 
 extends. The court attached to the principal section sits once a 
 month, while those of the two less important ones meet only once in 
 each two months, or six times a year. These tribunals are com- 
 petent to take cognizance of all actions for the recovery of debt, 
 where the amount at issue does not exceed five pounds, with the 
 exception of cases of revenue, though, where the debt exceeds two 
 pounds, the losing party may appeal to the General Quarterly 
 Court. They are also competent to try all petty offences which 
 involve only a pecuniary fine of less than forty shillings, and tsertain 
 offences against the local liquor laws, which involve fines of much 
 greater magnitude. Two petty magistrates and a president form 
 a quorum in these courts, though the president votes only when 
 the others have not decided by at least a plurality of votes. 
 
92 BED KIVER. 
 
 To each of the three divisions of the petty court system there 
 are attached a president with a salary varying from £8 to £16 per 
 annum, and at least three petty magistrates with the uniform 
 salary of £5 per annum. These functionaries are nominated by the 
 Governor and Council of Assiniboia. Among their number are 
 generally representatives of the principal social divisions of the 
 ■settlement — the French or Canadian half-breed, the Scotch agri- 
 culturist and the general mercantile classes. This petty court 
 system was introduced in 1852, before which time a description of 
 petty circuit was made by itinerant magistrates who decided the 
 few unimportant cases brought under their cognizance. 
 
 Besides the above-described magistrates judicial funotions are 
 exercised in the colony by justices of the peace, to whose office no 
 salary is attached. They are appointed by a commission of the 
 peace conferred on them by the company. Their number is at 
 present six, and, in common with all other magistrates in the 
 settlement competent to administer justice, they are necessarily 
 members of the Council of Assiniboia. 
 
 There is a regularly appointed coroner, who is generally the 
 leading medical man ia the settlement. 
 
 A sheriff, who is also governor of the jail, with an annual salary 
 of £60 performs much the same duties as are attached to his 
 office in England. His principal work consists, I believe, in the 
 collection of debts after judgment has been pronounced by the 
 courts. 
 
 An executive officer is attached to the courts who, in con- 
 sideration of a salary of £100 per annum, discharges " all 
 such administrative functions as are not specially assigned 
 to any other person." Although this description may seem 
 open to criticism, as too vague to be practical, it is the 
 definition of the duties attached to the situation in the legally 
 promulgated copy of the laws of the district of Assiniboia, 
 and, considering their varied and important nature, it pro- 
 bably is as good a definition of well understood and important 
 public duties as need be condensed into so few words. Mr. 
 William Eobert Smith, who has filled the office for the last twenty 
 jears, is one of the most remark-worthy men connected with the 
 
RED RIVER. 93- 
 
 colony, and will be brought prominently before the attention of 
 the reader in the course of my story. 
 
 Early in the history of the settlement an armed constabulary 
 of about fifty men, regularly enrolled, drilled and officered, existed 
 in the colony. At a later period, however, this force was dis- 
 banded, and one consisting of not more than twelye men substituted 
 in its room. ' The latter are retained in office for a term of nearly 
 four years, though any one of them is liable to be at any time dis- 
 missed by the general court, or to be suspended by any magistrate 
 or petty court. The amount of pay is £12 per annum, and the 
 duties required are the serving and execution of writs and the 
 maintenance of the peace. The latter, however, is a duty which 
 may be understood as nominal only, as on no occasion of popular 
 tumult has this force been specially called out. Besides this body, 
 which is distributed over the extent of the colony, there has been 
 instituted of late years a special constabulary of three highly paid 
 men, whose duty it is to maintain order in a certain spot of the 
 settlement where a village or embryo town has been erected, some 
 inhabitants of which have attached to it the name of Winnipeg. 
 
 For a space of time extending over fifteen years a regular mili- 
 tary force was quartered at Ked Kiver. In 1846 a wing of the 
 6th regiment of foot, a detachment of royal engineers, and a, 
 detachment of artillery, under the command of Colonel Crofton, 
 were ordered to the settlement, where they arrived in the autumn 
 of the same year. The entire party consisted of eighteen officers 
 and three hundred and twenty-nine men. They reached their 
 destination by way of York Factory on Hudson's Bay, over the 
 route between which point and the settlement they conveyed their 
 guns and stores by the usual means of inland transport used in the 
 country. They were sent out under secret instructions from the 
 War Office. Colonel Crofton himself remained for only one year, 
 at the close of which he was suceeded by Major Griffith, who, 
 along with the troops imder his command, returned home in 
 1848. 
 
 They were succeeded by a corps of enrolled pensioners under 
 command of Lieutenant Colonel Caldwell, already alluded to as 
 Governor of the settlement. This force amounted to 56 men J 
 
94 RED RIVER. 
 
 the term for which they were enrolled was seven years. They 
 were induced to go partly as settlers, each sergeant being promised 
 a free grant of 40 acres of land after his arrival in the colony, 
 €ach corporal 30 acres and each private soldier 20 acres. On their 
 arrival it was discovered there was not enough of land within the 
 prescribed limits to fulfil these promises, and arrangements were 
 made whereby sums of money were substituted for the land grants. 
 In 1855 the seven years term of enrolment expired, and the corps 
 was disbanded, the Colonel returning to England along with some 
 of the men ; others of whom went to Canada, while the rest remained 
 in the settlement. Some of them still continue here, and draw their 
 pensions quarterly through the agency of the Hudson's ^Bay 
 Company. 
 
 From 1855 till 1857 there were no troops resident in the colony, 
 but in the latter year a company of Royal Canadian Riflemen 
 came out. This corps formed part of a regiment of seven or eight 
 hundred men which was peculiarly a Canadian force, being recruited 
 for service in Canada, though supported by the Imperial Grovem- 
 ment. After the first two years of its residence had expired the 
 entire body of officers was relieved by gentlemen from other com- 
 panies of the regiment, and in the year 1861, after having been 
 stationed in the country for four years, the company returned to 
 Canada by ship from York Factory. 
 
 Between the years 1861 and 1869 there have been no troops in 
 the settlement. This happens to be the very period of the history 
 of which I mean to give a sketch in the following pages, and it 
 shall be seen how unfortunate it was for the public welfare of the 
 country' that the military were withdrawn, and also, doubtless by 
 analogy, of what prime necessity to the good government of any 
 country it is that a strong military force should exist to support 
 the civil power even in times of profound peace abroad. 
 
 The peculiar circumstances of Red River Settlement render it 
 especially perilous to be without some military force resident in 
 the place. A small colony utterly isolated from the other British 
 possessions on the continent, within seventy miles distance from the 
 territories of the greatest power in America, from which it is 
 separated only by the artificial boundary of a parallel of latitude ; 
 
RED RIVER. 95 
 
 continual questions rise with regard to refugees across the lines, 
 stolen property and smuggled goods. But the principal danger 
 lies in reference to the Indian tribes, some of whose hunting 
 grounds are situated in the American and some in the English 
 possessions. These Indians are often involved in hostilities against 
 the whites and intestine wars, and constitute a class of dangerous 
 barbarians who, when pressed by American troops, take refuge in 
 British territory, whose presence in times of war gives great 
 uneasiness to an unarmed population, and whose trade, even at 
 ordinary times, often raises troublesome questions between British 
 subjects and the officials connected with the American custom 
 house on the frontier. 
 
CHAPTEK VIII. 
 
 INSTITUTIONS OF RED EIVEB SETTLEMENT. 
 
 Colonial Revenues, Bye-Laws and Highways— History of the Post Office. 
 
 The annual revenues of the district of Assiniboia are not great, 
 and are derived almost entirely from customs. There is a duty 
 levied on imports amounting to the value of four per cent, on the 
 nett invoice prices of the goods. There are, however, certain 
 exceptions to this rule, in which the articles are allowed to pass 
 duty free. Among the most important of these exceptions are all 
 kinds of stationery, and all articles designed for the Indian mis- 
 sions ; bar iron, steel, scientific and agricultural implements, seeds, 
 roots, plants, tombstones, grindstones, stoves, the produce of the 
 chase, and, of course, all articles intended for exportation. Four 
 collectors are appointed to carry out the provisions of the depart- 
 ment, whose stations are at Pointe Couple, the Upper and Lower 
 Fort Garry, the lower extremity of the settlement, on the banks of 
 the Red River; at Upper Fort Garry, the centre of business; and 
 at White Horse Plain, a post situated on the river Assiniboine, at 
 the western extremity of the district, on the grand line of traffic to 
 the plains. The salaries of these officials vary from £20 to £35 
 per annum. The amount of money raised by government on account 
 of customs in one year may be about £1800. Of the sum of 
 £1816 so collected during the financial year closed on 31st May, 
 1868, the Hudson's Bay Company paid £708 on the merchandise 
 imported for their trade in the settlement. 
 
 There are certain restrictions on the importation, manufacture, 
 and sale of intoxicating liquors in the district of Assiniboia. 
 Instead of the four per cent, duty there is a levy of one shilling 
 per gallon on all fermented and spirituous liquors passing inwards. 
 
RED RIVER. 97 
 
 Once a year, generally on the first week day of December, quali- 
 fied magistrates sit for the purpose of granting licenses to distil 
 and retail, applications for which must have been previously made 
 by the parties interested. Such a license costs ten pounds sterling. 
 The sale of quantities of spirits less than five gallons, of wine than 
 five gallons, and of beer than eight gallons, is considered retail 
 dealing. Any person convicted of selling these articles without 
 license is liable to a fine of ten pounds for each offence, one half of 
 which is given to the informer. The license forbids the sale of 
 liquor between the hours of ten o'clock in the evening and six in 
 the morning, on week days, and during all Sundays. These licenses 
 are not readily granted, and applications are often refused. The 
 -objection of a majority of his twelve nearest neighbours would be 
 fatal to any candidate for a retail license. It is necessary that 
 licensed persons be landholders. 
 
 The sale of liquor to Indians is altogether prohibited under 
 penalties ranging from two to ten pounds sterling for each offence 
 according to the circumstances of aggravation connected with it ; 
 restitution to the Indian of the price paid for the liquor is also 
 required by the law, and the offending parties are liable to 
 imprisonment until the penalty is paid. Although the magistrates 
 are fully determined to carry out this law, it seldom happens that 
 convictions can be obtained. Indians will not be induced to bear 
 witness against those who have obliged them in this matter, and 
 the liquor is generally conveyed to them by third parties who 
 purchase it from the regularly licensed houses and give it to the 
 Indians, who reward them with a present of more or less of the 
 Article. Under these circumstances, at times when money is plenti. 
 ful among them, Indians may frequently be seen lying drunk and 
 incapable on the highways and plains, and any efforts of the magis- 
 trates to bring home the offence to the parties guilty of supplying 
 them with liquor, are simply futile. Until about the year 1860, 
 the liquor traffic, except in wholesale quantities, was limited, but of 
 late years the home manufacture and consumption of the article 
 have greatly increased, and, at present, when the hunters visit the 
 settlement with their furs, and at other seasons when money is 
 plentiful, great drunkenness and disorder prevail. 
 
 G 
 
98 RED EIVER. 
 
 A lai^e amount of the public expenditure is paid for maintain- 
 ing the roads and bridges of the colony. A public highway, two 
 chaiQS wide, ruas from end to end of the settlement, following the 
 general direction of the rivers. Only in certain spots has any 
 attempt been made to improve these roads, though encroachments 
 on the space assigned to them by the proprietors of adjoining fields 
 are jealously guarded against. So far as the track is concerned, it 
 is formed, generally speaking, only by the traflSic which wears away 
 the grass and hardens the pathway. In spring, after the snow has 
 been melted, and during wet weather, the roads are bad enough to 
 deserve all I was told about them by the gentleman I met at 
 Georgetown, and of whose narrative I have already given the reader 
 an epitome ; for foot passengers they are impassable. Travelling 
 in carriages is a bad system, owing to the weight of mud which 
 clogs the wheels and is thrown up by them in their circuit. 
 Travelling on horseback is the means of locomotion most adopted 
 during the continuance of that season of dirt and desolation which 
 prevails between the unbroken frost of winter and the decided pre- 
 ponderance of Spring weather. ' Some portions of these highways 
 are, however, worse than others, and efforts have been made tO' 
 improve them by forming stretches of "faggot road," a few hun- 
 dred feet in length, at those spots, which, from their low level, cause 
 the water to collect and remain upon them. These faggot roads 
 are composed of branches of trees thrown transversely across the 
 track and covered with several feet of earth taken from an excava- 
 tion running alongside, and acting as a drain. 
 
 At various parts of their course these highways are obstructed 
 by ravmes, which, in spring, carry off the meliing snows to the 
 rivers ; here, bridges, constructed of wood, are erected. The whole 
 works are under the charge of responsible superintendents, ten in 
 number, having each his own section assigned him. A sum of 
 money, varying from £5 to £10, is the remuneration of these 
 officials. 
 
 Two land surveyors are authorized by council, though without 
 fixed salary, to exercise their profession in the country, and are 
 entitled to a compensation of ten shillings per diem for their ser- 
 vices, paid by their employers. They survey lots, fix boundaries, 
 
KED KIVEB. 9& 
 
 and arbitrate between the public officials and. settlers said to be 
 encroafihing on the highways. 
 
 The bulk of the transport in the colony is effected with one- 
 horse vehicles; accordingly tho roads get into such a state, by the 
 continued passage of wheels over the same tracks, that the driving 
 of a pair of horses is a very troublesome undertaking. 
 
 In winter the tracks run principally on the rivers. Thaws are^ 
 generally speaking, very rare, and when the snow is .tolerably deep, 
 and no storms occur to drive it into snowdrifts, walking and 
 driving are easy and pleasant. One great advantage possessed by 
 the river, as a highway, is that its banks shield the traveller against 
 the icy blasts which blow mercilessly cold across the unsheltered 
 plains. 
 
 Before the year 1853, the postal facilities of the colony con- 
 sisted only of the packets of the Hudson's Bay Company ; these 
 were despatched twice a year. One went to York Factory in sum- 
 mer, and, at that place, connected with the ship which came 
 annually from London bringing the goods tp be used during the 
 ensuing season for barter with the Indians, and taking back, on 
 'her home voyage, the returns of the previous year's trade. The only 
 other opportunity which the Red River people possessed of com- 
 municating with,the outside world took place during the winter,, 
 when the Company's packet went overland to Canada. The return 
 of. the latter from Montreal occurred at open water in i spring, when 
 canoes manned by Iroquois tripmen came from Lachine, a muni- 
 cipal viUagCj nine miles from Montreal, by way of the River Ottawa 
 and Lake Superior. The starting of this brigade of canoes, sur- 
 rounded as it was by circumstances of a wild and picturesque 
 ' eharaeter, formed quite an event in the year at Montreal, from 
 which city a crowd of those ever desirous of seeing something new 
 invariably came to witness the start. It was to one of these events 
 that Mr. Moore, the celebrated poet, referred in that beautiful 
 , Canadian " Boat song," commencing — 
 
 " Faintly as tolls the evening chime." 
 Mr. Moore had spent some time in Canada, had lived with the 
 " lumbermen" on the Ottawa, and knew the manners of the people 
 well. He has rendered the village of St. Anne, on the Ottawa, 
 
100 RED EIVEK. 
 
 almost as famous by the ballad, in which its name occurs, as he did 
 the " Hall of Tara" in another of his works, only the chapel of St. 
 Anne is, I believe, more of a reality than the famous " Hall." 
 
 The arrival of the canoes at Red Kiver after their long journey 
 of about forty days, formed as agreeable a sight to the citizens of 
 Assiniboia surrounded by their untrodden wastes, as the departure 
 so famous in song had been to those of Montreal. The settlers 
 have long become accustomed to the regular receipt of a weekly 
 mail, now constituted a bi-weekly one, but the inhabitants of the 
 inland districts of Rupert's Land are still, as I shall have to tell 
 in the further course of my work, doomed to hear from home at 
 the same long intervals as were the people of Red River in the old 
 times ; the circumstances of which it is my present object to 
 -describe. 
 
 In 1853 a public mail service was first organized by some of 
 the settlers, in prosecution of which postal communication took 
 ^lace once a month between Fort Garry and Fort Ripley in Minne- 
 sota, then the most advanced of United States post offices. In 
 1857 the American Government established an office at Pembina, 
 on the United States frontier, at the point where it is intersected 
 hj the Red River, and carried a mail to that place once a month, 
 and more recently once a fortnight. It was met by a courier from 
 i;he Eettlement, and brought by him over the seventy miles which 
 intervene between Fort Garry and Pembina. In 1862 the Ameri- 
 can government having organized a bi weekly mail sy.stem to 
 Pembina, the authorities in the settlement increased their periods 
 of communication to once a week. The expenses of the local Red 
 River mail service are defrayed by a charge of one penny on each 
 letter weighing less than half-an-ounce, one halfpenny on each 
 newspaper, and two-pence on each magazine passing through its 
 office. No local postage stamps exist, and so far as the outside 
 -world is concerned, American stamps are used for out-going letters 
 ^which, as the United States authorities do not recognize the 
 official capacity of our postmaster, are supposed to be posted at 
 Pembina. There is, however, a postmaster in the colony who 
 receives an annual salary of £20. Each trip between the settle- 
 onent and Pembina bith ways occupies between three and four 
 
RED RIVER. 101 
 
 days, and costs twenty-five shillings in wages paid the runner, who- 
 travels on horseback in summer and uses a dog-sledge during the 
 ■winter months. 
 
 Letters and other mail matter are constantly arriving for dif-- 
 ferent individuals employed in the vast territories of the Company 
 in the Northern department. These are received by the Company's 
 agent at Fort Garry, where a regular private post-oflSce exists, in 
 which accounts are kept open with the officers and servants resi- 
 dent inland. At certain seasons packets are dispatched to the 
 various parts of the country, containing the letters and papers 
 which have accumulated for transmission. These packets on their 
 return bring out letters, which after being duly weighed and 
 stamped in the Company's office are forwarded by the local mail for 
 postage at Pembina in United States territory. 
 
 Over and above the regulations for the public service in the 
 settlement referred to in this and the preceding chapter, there are 
 other by-laws relating to matters continually in dispute in this as 
 in all places similarly situated on the extreme border where civilized 
 meets savage life. It is forbidden, save under peculiar precautions, 
 to kindle fires which may run over the prairie, burning up the long 
 dry grass and carrying devastation far and wide. 
 
 Minute legislation exists as to liabilities for damage done by 
 cattle wandering at large, and as to the ownership of stray animals, 
 horses and others. Hay cutting beyond the limits of two miles 
 back from the river, within which limits is contained the land 
 owned by the settlers, forms an important branch of autumn 
 industry, and is conducted under strict regulations. A premium 
 of five shillings on every large, and two shillings and sixpence on 
 every small wolfe killed within twenty miles of the settlement is 
 still paid from the public funds, though the pressing necessity which 
 once existed for such a measure has Ipng passed away. The laws 
 regarding debt enable a creditor who fears his debtor is about to 
 abscond to some spot beyond the jurisdiction of the local courts, to 
 cause the latter to show grounds for expecting his return within a 
 limited time or give security for his appearance at the next com- 
 petent court, failing either of which alt3rnatives, to detain his 
 person. There are also laws regarding the advertisement of sales 
 
102 EED RIVER. 
 
 •of immovable property and regarding the attachment of property 
 of absconding debtors. All these have been required on account 
 •of the migratory habits of the population, but the sharper intellects 
 of certain " wide awake " strangers come among the unsophisti- 
 •cated settlers of late years have contrived to turn these laws, con- 
 structed for the restraint of vulgar rogues, into implements of 
 annoyance to be used against people they wish to coerce. The 
 probability, therefore, is they will ere long disappear from our local 
 statute book as unsuited to the advanced stage of our civilization. 
 I have now run over all the more decidedly marked peculiari- 
 ties of the institutions of the colony as established by law. Cer- 
 tain details regarding such subjects as " intestate estates," " mar- 
 Tiage licenses," and " contracts for service,'' I do not enlarge 
 upon as probably they would serve only to encumber my page with 
 uninteresting matter, and should any of them be required to 
 elucidate my story they shall not be wanting in their proper place. 
 Having laid the foundation by stating these things as premises in 
 what appears to mie a natural order, I shall proceed, after a further 
 •digression of two chapters treating of the two great branches of our 
 colonial ecclesiastical history, to illustrate the practical working of , 
 the political institutions referred to in three chapters on the later 
 history and circumstances of the settlement, and a series of 
 articles setting forth the details of public events as they have 
 tra/nspired during my seven years residence in it, to a correct 
 imderstanding of which I have endeavoured to render the first' 
 jart of the book preparatory. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 HISTORY OF PROTESTANT CHURCH IN RED RIVHR 
 SETTLEMENT. 
 
 Denominations^ — Church of England — Rey. John West— Church Miasion- 
 ary Society — Rev. David T. Jones, Rev.- William Cochran — St. An- 
 drew's — Revds. John Smethurst, Abraham Cowley, and JohnMcGal- 
 lum— Portage LaPrairie — Death of Archdeacon Cochran — The Epis- 
 copate — ^Bishop of Montreal's visit — Bishop Anderson — Archdeacon- 
 ate — St. John's School— Bishop Machray — Recapitulation — Parishes 
 of St. John, St. Paul, St. Andrew, St. Clement, St. Peters, St. James, 
 Holy Trinity, St. Ann, St. Margaret, and St. Mary — Parochial Schools 
 — Indian Missions of Rupert's Land — Presbyterian Community— 
 Wesleyans. 
 
 Hitherto four denominations of Christians have had a corppfile 
 existence in Rupert's Land — thlLEsteMisheiTXiimroh of England, 
 the Roman Catholic^ tie Presbyterian and the Wesleyan Churches. 
 Of these the "Wesleyans have not, until the present time, existed 
 in Bed River Settlement, but have confined themselves to mission- 
 ary operations in the Indian country, at Norway House, Oxford 
 House and the Saskatchewan. 
 
 Previous to the year 1820 no Protestant cler^man had visited 
 the country. An understanding had been arrived at between 
 Lord Selkirk and the original Scotch settlers, that a Presbyterian 
 minister, who spoke the Gaelic language, should be sent out to the 
 settlement for, their benefit, but although a selection was made the 
 arrangement was not carried out. 
 
 In 1820 the Rev. John West, A.M., came out as chaplain to 
 the Hudson's Bay Company, and the colonists appear to have 
 accepted his ministry with gratitude. One of his first works was 
 ihe erection of a rude school-house, and the systematic education 
 
104 KED RIVER. 
 
 of a few children. The spot selected for the attempt was situated' 
 on the western bank of the Ked Kiver, about two miles north fronk 
 its confluence with the Assiniboine. The school-house, which was 
 constructed of wood, served also as a church, while one end was 
 fitted up as a residence for the schoolmaster, Mr. Harbidge, who 
 had come from England along with Mr. West. The latter, in 
 1822, feeling the necessity of liberal assistance, applied to the 
 Committee of the Church Missionary Society in England, and his 
 representations were supported by the Hudson's Bay Company. 
 So successful were they in securing the assistance of the Society 
 that in 1857 the secretary reported that the distinguished body on 
 whose behalf he wrote, possessed thirteen mission stations in the 
 country, regularly provided with clergymen and oatechists, and 
 maintained at an annual cost, including the considerable sums 
 spent in Eagland, of about £6000 ; while a gross sum of about 
 £50,000 had been expended on the Society's operations in Rupert'ff 
 Land between the years 1822 and 1857. 
 
 For some years the agents of the Society were few and the sums, 
 expended comparatively small. Chief among the names of the- 
 clergj^nen^ who came out previous to the establishment of the 
 episcopate in th6rc6untry7~are-4lic>se of David Thomas Jones, 
 William Cochran, Abraham Cowley, Joha McCallum, John 
 Smethurst, Robert James and James Hunter. TE&~pringij)al 
 scene of the labours of all these gentlemen lay within the limits of^ 
 Red River Settlement, though some of them have travelled far 
 and resided for years in the Indian country. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. West having established the temporary chapel 
 already alluded to, returned to England in 1823, after a residence 
 in the colony of three years duration, and was succeeded in his 
 ofiSce of chaplain to the Company by the Rev. Mr. Jones. In 
 1825 the Rev. William Cochran reached Red River and, in the 
 chapel founded by Mr. West, commenced his long term of forty 
 years ministerial work in the country, which, with his life, closed 
 in 1865. 
 
 Mr. Cochran is universally regarded in the colony as the 
 founder of the English Church in Rupert's Land, and from the 
 date of his arrival till 1849, when, on the foundation of the- 
 
E.ED RIVElt. lOS 
 
 diooese, individuals merge into the body, all the principal ecclesias- 
 tical business done may be said to have received its impetus from 
 his personal energy. The church in which he commenced his 
 ministrations, although the temporary building itself has long 
 disappeared, was afterwards known as the "Upper Church " and 
 is now the Cathedral of St. John, being the place of worship 
 attached to the residence of the Bishop of Rupert's Land. 
 
 In 1824 the Rev. Mr. Jones had commenced the institution of 
 a place of worship six miles further down the Red River than the 
 Upper Church. The wooden structure which was the result of 
 his efforts, was afterwards called, with reference to its relative 
 position among the others, "the Middle Church," and more 
 recently St. Paul's. The amount of settlement around this focus 
 had become considerable, even at the early period of its foundation. 
 In it and in the Upper Church Mr. Jones and Mr. Cochran 
 continued their work conjointly for one year. In the autumn of ' 
 1826, a year memorable in the colony on account of a destructive 
 flood which occurred in it, Mr. Jones returned to England, on a 
 year's leave of absence, Mr. Cochran remaining alone in the 
 settlement. 
 
 Some years before this time the process of settlement had been 
 commenced round a spot called " the Grand Rapids," on the banks 
 of the Red River, about twenty-five miles from its mouth, and fifteen 
 miles north from Upper Fort Garry. The number of those who 
 sought a home in this particular locality slowly increased till 1827, 
 when, on the return of Mr. Jones from England, Mr. Cochran 
 shifted his abode to the place and commenced the erection of a 
 parsonage and missionary establishment for the Church Missionalry 
 Society. Two churches have since that time succeeded each 
 - other there : the first was finished in 1831 and occupied by Mr. 
 Cochran, till his rapidly increasing congregation could no longer 
 find accommodation within its walls, when the construction of a 
 larger one was decided on. Mainly through the instrumentality 
 of the incumbent, who superintended every detail of the work 
 from the management of the subscription lists to the quarrying of 
 the stones an d^tfaecotisti'iiemea of the building, the finest and 
 most substantial of the Protestant ctiirches of the colony was 
 
106 RED KIVER. 
 
 finished in time to be consecrated by the first Bishop of Rupert's 
 Land, immediately on his arrival in the 'country in 1849., It is 
 gratifying to be able to state that about eight^ninths of the cost 
 of the church was defrayed by money and materials contributed by 
 people resident on the spot. It was called the " Lower Church," 
 in reference to the two others above mentioned, and more recently 
 the Church of St. Andrew, being situated in the parish of the 
 same name. 
 
 The favourable nature of the ground for agricultural employ- 
 ments, combined with other advantages, peculiar to the locality, 
 not the least of which were the parochial and educational facilities 
 provided by Mr. Cochran, had, as has been already hinted,, caused 
 the parish of St. Andrew's at an early date to become the most 
 populous district in the settlement. Comfortable farm houses rose 
 on all the land lots along the river's bank, and the ground stretch- 
 ing away back among the woods was broken up and cultivated in 
 substantially fenced fields. It still continues to be one of ■ the 
 most eligible spots sought after by those desirous of settling in the 
 colony, and supports a thickly settled population, chiefly devoted 
 to pastoral pursuits. 
 
 While still one of the ministers of the Upper Church, and 
 during his incumbency of St. Andrew's, Mr. Cochran, anxious to 
 fulfil his mission to the Indians as well as his duties of Parish . 
 minister, encouraged some of the wanderers to settle as tillers of 
 the soil at a place distant about twelve miles down the river froiu 
 his parsonage of St. Andrew's. At this place, which haa been 
 since called the "Indian Settlement," or Parish, of St.Peter, he. 
 in 1836, erected a wooden church for the use of hie christianised 
 flock. , The building of the edifice Mr. Cochran himself superin. 
 tended, travelling the twelve miles distance, which separated it 
 irom his residence, daily during the term of its construction, and 
 himself aided the workmen with bis hands, messing and associating 
 with them during the day. The example of perseverance shown 
 by him in this as in all he undertook, seems not to have been 
 thrown away upon his converts, for the Indian Settlement has 
 increased steadily since its foundation, and its nnug hou8« and 
 successfully farmed fields are still dwelt in and cultivated by a 
 •christianised Indian population. 
 
RUD RIVER. 107 
 
 While his more immediate duties confined Mr. Cochran chiefly 
 to the Lower Church, in addition to these, and his supervision of 
 the Indian Settlement, he found time to celebrate divine service 
 regularly in the Middle Church, at a distance of seven miles 
 from his own. In the year 1839 the arrival of the Rev. John 
 •Smethurst relieved him from the burden imposed by the exclusive 
 -charge of the Indian Settlement, which was the more welcome 
 since, in 1838, the final departure of Mr. Jones for England had , 
 imposed on him the entire charge of the parish at the Upper 
 Church, thirteen miles distant from his proper head-quarters. 
 Here, at the Middle and Lower Churches he most regularly and 
 perseveringly attended at the hours arranged to suit his move- 
 ments, each Sunday till 1841, when the Rev. Abraham Cowley 
 arrived and took charge of the Middle Church, and 1844, when 
 the Rev. John McCallum became incumbent of the Upper one. 
 
 In 1846 Mr. Cochran, busy with the arrangement of pre- 
 liminaries for the building of the second church at St. Andrew's, 
 above described as consecrated by Bishop Anderson, handed over 
 the pastorate of his parish to the Rev. Robert James, and left the 
 country for the space of one year. In 1847 he returned and 
 ix)ok up his residence with Mr. MoCallum in the parish of St. 
 John's. Here he built a house, afterward called St. Cross, and 
 used as a ladies' school. At the same time his main efforts were 
 directed to the building of the new Lower Church, which, as 
 already mentioned, he managed to have ready for consecration on 
 the arrival of the Bishop in 1849. The death of the Rev. John 
 McCallum, the same year, threw the whole work of the Upper 
 Church again on his handSj but the immediate advent of his Lord- 
 ship, who at once commenced work as a parish clergyman, relieved 
 him. 
 
 In 1850 Mr. Smethurst having quitted the Indian Settlement, 
 Mr. Cochran, went permanently to reside, for the first time, among 
 the people he had so heartily befriended from a distance. The un- 
 divided labour of such a man could not fail to afiect powerfully for 
 good the community brought together by his exertions. The - 
 w^ooden church he had built, while residing at St Andrew's, gave 
 ■way to a most substantial stone structure, erected by him in 1854, 
 
108 RED RIVEE. 
 
 •whicli still exists second only to St. Andrew's among the churches;- 
 in tlie place, and one of many monuments he has left behind him, 
 most creditable to his perseverance. The church of St. Peter- 
 has attached to it a burying ground, surrounded by a substantial 
 stone wall. Within this enclosure the rudely carved wooden 
 grave stones bear inscribed on them the strangely sounding names 
 of many savage converts interred under the shadow of this out- 
 post of the Anglican Church. 
 
 In 1857 Mr. Cochran, then Archdeacon of Assiniboia, removed 
 from the Indian settlement to a place called Portage La Prairie,, 
 situated on the river Assiniboine, about 65 miles from the con- 
 fluence of that tributary with the Eed Eiver, and 90 miles distant 
 from the scene of his labours at St. Peter's. His object in estab- 
 lishing a mission on this new site was to encourage certain bands 
 of savage Indians to follow the example of their brethren at St. 
 Peter's in betaking themselves to agricultural pursuits, as well as 
 to pioneer the way for those of the settlers on the Red River who 
 should wish to take advantage of the superior qualities for culti- 
 vation of the ground at Portage La Prairie by removing their 
 residences to the latter place. At least one serious objection 
 existed to this step on the part of the Archdeacon. The land,, 
 to settle on which he invited a mixed population, lay about fifteen 
 miles beyond the limits of the municipal district of Assiniboia^ 
 The local machinery of Government, therefore, existing within the 
 latter was not available for the protection of a settlement of peace- 
 ful and defenceless agriculturists located on ground till then 
 abandoned to the wandering Indian. The difficulties to which 
 such a state of affairs might lead were quite palpable to the eyes- 
 of the civil authorities in the country, who drew Mr. Cochran's 
 most serious attention to the inevitable result of his proceedings. 
 
 Encouraged, however, by the retrospect of his work in the settlement 
 till that time, the zealous missionary persisted in his undertaking. 
 So far as his ecclesiastical objects were concerned he was successful. 
 A beautifully situated parsonage and church were erected near the 
 banks of the river, the woods fringing which protected them from 
 the keen winds of winter and rendered the vicinity of the mission 
 beautiful in summer. The church was named St. Mary's, and 
 
RED lUVBR. 109 
 
 the congregation which usually met within its walls was composed, 
 Tiesides the civilized settlers in the neighhourhood, of " Plain" and 
 " Swampy" Cree Indians. 
 
 After the estahlishment of a settlement at the Portage sundry 
 individuals commenced farming at isokted spots on the banks of 
 the Assiniboine, between that place and the Ked River Settlement. 
 At two points named respectively the " High Bluff" and the 
 " Poplar Point," the number of settlers was so considerable as to 
 induce Mr. Cochran to erect at the former place in 185 a church 
 named St. Margaret's, and another at the Poplar Point called St. 
 Ann's. The services at the two latter places of worship were, during 
 -the lifetime of the Archdeacon, chiefly conducted by his son, the 
 Rev. Thomas Cochran, who also superintended the business of the 
 parochial school attached to the Archdeacon's own parish of St. 
 Mary. 
 
 With regard to the political aspect of affairs at Portage La- 
 Prairie I regret to have to record that the evil forebodings of the 
 secular authorities have been fully justified by the event. I merely 
 anticipate what I shall have to relate in detail further on in saying 
 that the petty colony has been a source of much disquietude to 
 the magistracy in Red River Settlement of late years ; that two 
 instances of murder have already occurred in its history, and that, 
 after an abortive attempt had been made on the part of a section 
 -of the inhabitants to organize a private government of their own 
 and to force an oath of allegiance and a customs duty on the 
 general public, the imperial government was memorialised on the 
 subject by the so called " Governor.'' The result was the arrival 
 of an intimation, addressed to that irregularly constituted function- 
 ary, from the colonial secretary, advising him that the course he 
 was pursuing was illegal, and that he and his abettors were 
 incurring what might become a grave responsibility, seeing the 
 British Government could not recognise their authority, which 
 might be legally resisted by any person so minded. 
 
 While Archdeacon Cochran himself remained at Portage La- 
 Prairie his great personal influence was sufficient to prevent any 
 <of the ebullitions which have taken place since his lamented decease. 
 This event occurred in the autumn of 1865, a few days before the 
 
110 RED RIVER. 
 
 arrival in the settlement of Doctor Machray, the second and present 
 Bishop of the diocese of Kupert's Land. Mr. Cochran had, in 
 the spring of 1865, given up the charge of the Portage to a near 
 relative of his own, the Rev. Henry George, and had left the- 
 country with the full intention of not returning. Arrived in 
 Canada, however, he felt his health failing, and was overmastered 
 by a strong desire to return and end his days in the colony 
 whose early spiritual destinies he had contributed so largely to- 
 shape. His sudden and totally unexpected appearance one 
 beautiful ■ autumn evening among the reapers in a field close to 
 his ' own parsonage astounded and delighted friends who had 
 believed him the instant before his arrival to be in England.. 
 Within a month after his return the illness under which he had 
 sufifered slightly all the autumn became rapidly more serious and 
 terminated fatally. He was interred in the burial ground of the 
 church of St. Andrew, at the Grand Rapids, where, as will bfr 
 remembered, he had commenced his church-building works in 
 1827. 
 
 It can be no disparagement to any of the now comparatively 
 numerous clergymen who have sojourned from time to time in 
 Rupert's Land to claim for Archdeacon Cochran a high preeminence 
 of usefulness among them. His forty years residence in the coun- 
 try^ the labourious nature of the work he performed, his isolation 
 for a great part of the time from clerical' assistance; and the vast 
 amount of charitable expenditure incurred by him in material aid 
 of all Mndfl conferred on his parishioners, have secured for him a 
 commanding influence among the generation who knew him, and 
 without doubt his memory will continue in high estimation long- 
 after that generation shall have disappeared. 
 
 In 1838 the late James Leith, Esq., a chief factor in the service 
 of the Hudson's Bay Company, bequeathed a sum of about £12,- 
 000, to be expfended for the benefit of Indian Missions in Rupert's 
 Land. Mr. Leith's family disputed the bequest with his executors,, 
 and the result was a process of litigation closed in 1849 by Lord. 
 Langdale,- then Master of the Rolls. His Lordship's decision 
 was partly based on an offer voluntarily made by thei Hudson's 
 Bay Company, proposing that should the sum in dispute be set 
 
RED RIVER. Ill 
 
 apart for the purpose of endowing a Bishopric in Rupert's Land, 
 the Company would add to the interest thereof an annual sum of 
 three hundred pounds sterling, thus rendering the income of the 
 See about £700 per annum. By an order in chancery, this 
 arrangement was carried out, and in 1849 the Diocese of 
 Rupert's Land was established by Letters Patent under the Great 
 Seal. 
 
 Until the occurrence of these events the isolated missionary 
 efforts made in Rupert's Land had been entirely under the control 
 of the Church Missionary Societies of England. On one occasion 
 the Bishop of Montreal, at the request of this Society, left the seat 
 of his regular work, and -visited the settiement. This happened 
 in 1844, when the Right Reverend Dr. Mountain made a voyage 
 to the Par West. During the period of his visitation he ordained 
 two clergymen. The Rev. Abraham Cowley was admitted into 
 priest's orders, and the Rev. John McCallum was ordained both 
 deacon and priest. 
 
 In 1849 the Rev. David Anderson, of Exeter College, Oxford,, 
 and more recently tutor of St. Bee's Theological College, Cum- 
 berland, was consecrated first Bishop of Rupert's Land in the 
 Cathedral of Canterbury, and in the autumn of the same year 
 his Lordship reached Red River by way of York Factory. He 
 estabhshed his head-quarters on the spot where Mr. West had, 
 in 1821, erected the first Mission house built in the territory, and 
 named his church the Cathedral of St. John, and the dwelling 
 house in its neighbourhood, afterwards appropriated to his use, 
 " Bishop's Court.'' Among his dther measures the Bishop insti- 
 tuted an arohdeaconate in Rupert's Land, and divided the portion 
 of the settlement Tinder hia spiritual rule into parishes. 
 
 In 1856 the Bishop returned to England for a year, during 
 which he occupied himself chiefly in raising money for the further- 
 ance of his work in the country, and especially for the construc- 
 tion of a new church in the parish under his own immediate 
 charge. Returning to the scene of his missionary work in 1857, 
 his Lordship resumed the duties of parish clergyman and teatiher, 
 which, in addition to the occupations specially appropriate to his 
 high office, were forced upon him by the inadequacy of the mean 
 
112 BED RIVER. 
 
 at his disposal to evangelize tlie country. In 1862 he opened the 
 present church of St. John, which m ij be considered as only the 
 temporary cathedral — the building, considered by itself, being 
 merely an unpretending parish church of moderate size, con- 
 structed of stone. In ISBi, after an occupancy of fifteen years, 
 the right reverend gentleman finally quitted the settlement, to the 
 great regret of his many attached friends in the country, and on 
 reaching England resigned his charge into the hands of the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury. 
 
 Bishop Anderson was succeeded by the Rev. Robert Machray, 
 Fellow and Dean of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, and vioar 
 of Madingley, who arrived in the settlement in October, 1 865, and 
 has since that time occupied himself zealously in the prosecution 
 of a variety of schemes of usefulness, the details of which, in so far 
 as they regard the colony, will be related on another page. 
 
 The archdeaconate established by Dr. Anderson consists of two 
 appointments, the archdeaconry of Assiniboia and that of Cumber- 
 land. The former confers supervision over the missions in Red 
 River Settlement and its neighbourhood, while the latter includes 
 all the church missions in Cumberland and the other northern dis- 
 tricts. 
 
 The first archdeacon of Assiniboia was Mr. Cochran, who held 
 the appointment till his death in 1865. He was succeeded in his 
 archdeaconry by the Rev. John McLean, of King's College, Aber- 
 deen, and more recently of St. Paul's Cathedral church in the 
 diocese of Huron, London, C.W. Mr. McLean, in addition to his 
 office of archdeacon, was on his arrival at Red River, in 1866, 
 investsd with the charge of the cathedral parish and the wardency 
 of the College of St. John. His proceedings in the discharge of 
 the duties attached to these offices will take their place among 
 other topics to be treated of at large in the progress of my book. 
 
 The Rev. James Hunter was appointed to the archdeaconry of 
 Cumberland on the creation of that office in 1853. Mr. Hunter 
 arrived in Rupert's Land in 1844, and from that time till 1852, 
 when nominated to the charge of the parish of St. Andrew's, 
 he was engaged among the Indian missions of the interior. In 
 1865, after a residence of twenty-one years in the country, Archdea- 
 
RED RIVER. 113 
 
 con Hunter returned to England. He was succeeded by the 
 Rev. Abraham Cowley, of St. Peter's, who holds the office at the 
 present time. 
 
 Mr. Cowley's name has been as yet only incidentally mentioned 
 in the course of the present chapter. He came to the country in 
 1841, and, as has been already mentioned, was invested with 
 priest's orders by Dr. Mountain in 1844. The duties to which 
 he has devoted himself lay, chiefly, during the first fifteen years of 
 his mission, without the settlement, in the Indian country ; but, 
 between the years 1857 and 1866, when he became archdeacon, the 
 charge of Mr. Cochran's Indian Settlement of St. Peter's devolved 
 upon him, and he is admitted to have managed it with great success. 
 
 Attempts have been made from time to time, with more or less 
 success, to institute educational establishments in the settlement of 
 higher pretensions than the mere parochial day schools. The first 
 of these was made in the year 1833, when, under the patronage of 
 the Rev. Mr. Jones, Mr. John McCallum arrived in the country, 
 and opened a boarding school for the benefit of the families of 
 the officers in the Hudson's Bay service and the better class of 
 settlers. Both girls and boys were admitted, and the establish- 
 ment gradually achieved a very gratifying success. In 1 838, when 
 Mr. Jones left the country, Mr. McCallum succeeded him as the 
 responsible head of the school. Mr. Cochran, who has been already 
 mentioned as preaching weekly at the church adjoining the school 
 buildings between the years 1838 and 1844, took much interest in 
 its success. His weekly visits still live in the remembrance of the 
 old pupils, some of whom yet vividly recollect the very expressions 
 used in his somewhat quaint style of preaching. One of them, 
 now a chief factor in the service, lately gave me a rather grimly 
 ludicrous sample of his remarks. 
 
 A " man of all work," attached to the domestic establishment of 
 Mr. Cochran, had come to a bad enid in a very deplorable manner. 
 Much addicted to the excessive use of stimulating liquors, he 
 allowed no opportunity to escape of indulging his appetite. 
 Having visited a house iu the neighbourhood of St. Andrew's, 
 where a large " brew" was going on, he had drunk an incredible 
 quantity of ale warm from the vat, had returned home drunk, and 
 
114 RED KIVJJR. 
 
 ultimately died from the effects of his debauch. The patience of 
 the master, which had stood proof against the inconveniences 
 induced by many nocturnal returns of his tipsy servitor, from his 
 resorts of business or pleasure, deserted him when the man was in 
 his grave, and on the Sunday after his interment he preached his 
 funeral sermon at the Upper Church in a style apparently intended' 
 for the benefit of sundry parishioners, reputed as kindred spirits 
 to the deceased. 
 
 Mr. Cochran's description of the circumstances a;ttending the 
 man's death was contained in the following words: "And he 
 " poured, and he drank ! — and he poured, and he drank ! and he^ 
 " danced about like a cock on red hot cinders ! and down he 
 " plunged into the bottomless pit of Perdition I" 
 
 The school attained its greatest prosperity towards the period' 
 of the death of Mr. McCallum, when there were more than fifty 
 paying pupils, including girls, educated in it. That gentleman, as 
 already mentioned, was admitted into holy orders by the Bishop 
 of Montreal in 1844, between which period and 1847 the charge 
 of the parish devolved pn Mm, conjointly with that of the school. 
 In 1849 the death of the teacher struck at the root of the 
 prosperity of the establishment. The Bishop of Rupert's Loud, 
 on his arrival a few days after the sad event, himself undertook 
 the office of teacher. The multitudinous official duties pressing 
 on him, however, would not permit his giving the same undivided- 
 attention to the work which had been given by his predecessor. 
 
 In 1855 Bishop Anderson instituted a new plan for conducting- 
 the business of the school. A collegiate board was nominated, 
 consisting of some of the leading people in the country, and a 
 new teacher was appointed. The institution was called St. John's 
 College, and the motto, the beautifully appropriate nature of 
 which has been much praised, was selected by the Bishop, " In 
 Thy light shall we see light." The working of the new plan 
 proved, however, unequal to the hopes which had been entertain- 
 ed, and the design was ultimately abandoned for a time. This 
 was not, however, done before a most admirable library had been- 
 procured, under the Bishop's supervision, for the use of the 
 establishment. 
 
BKD RIVER. 115 
 
 In 1866 Bishop Maehray recommenced the work of his 
 predecessor, under important modifications, and the Ven. Arch- 
 deacon McLean, from Canada, undertook the management of St. 
 John's College as warden. He is assisted by the Kev. Samuel 
 Pritchard, who had amalgamated a private scholastic establish- 
 ment of his own with the new college. The Bishop also person- 
 ally teaches in the school. The result has been so far eminently 
 satisfactory. A scholarship has been already established under the 
 name of the " Cochran Scholarship," and funds to endow another 
 to be named the " McCallum Scholarship," are being actively 
 canvassed for. The college is mainly supported by the Church 
 Missionary Society and there seems to be every prospect of a fair 
 fiiture in store for it. Its main object is to educate clergymen for 
 the diocese, and several such, who have already passed through its 
 theological course and received ordination, are now at work in 
 the country. 
 
 Since the death of Mr. McCallum the girls' school has been 
 detached from St. John's. Various private parties have, from 
 time to time, opened young ladies schools. Far the most suceess- 
 fdl of these attempts has been made at St. Andrew's, by Miss 
 Davis, who at present is at the head of a very useful and well- 
 managed establishment of the kind. 
 
 Before proceeding further with this chapter I desire to recapi- 
 tulate shortly what has been advanced in it. A reference to the 
 map will explain the situation of the localities on the Eed Eiver, 
 and Bishop Anderson's division of the colony into parishes will 
 supply me with points round which to group the facts. 
 
 The cathedral parish of St. John extends five miles down the 
 Red River, commencing from the confluence of that stream with 
 the Assiniboine. The first church raised in the colony was erected 
 in this parish by the Rev. Mr. West, in 1821. The Rev. Mr. 
 Jones succeeded Mr. West in 1823. Under him the original 
 wooden church gave way to one built of stone, opened in 1834., 
 Mr. Jones left on his return to England in 1838. Mr. McCallum,. 
 who arrived in 1833, established the above described most success- 
 ful school in the parish, of which he was also incumbent, between, 
 the years 1844 and 1847. Between 1847 and 1850 Mr, Cochran,.. 
 
116 RED RIVER. 
 
 who had previously officiated much in the parish of St. John, 
 became its regular minister, and remained so till 1850. In 1849 
 Bishop Anderson arrived, and, when not occupied in travelling for 
 th6 benefit of his diocese, acted as parish minister, till his ultimate 
 departure in 1864. The Eev. Thomas Thistlewaite Smith, of 
 the Church Missionary Society, conducted service at St. John's 
 till the arrival, in 1865, of Bishop Machray, who followed in the 
 footsteps of his predecessor, till relieved by Archdeacon McLean, 
 still incumbent. In 1862 the present pro-cathedral was opened by 
 Bishop Anderson on the site of the old church, built in 1834. 
 
 Contiguous with the parish of St. John lies that of St. Paul, 
 which extends six miles further down the Red Eiver. A 
 temporary church was first erected in this parish by Mr. Jones, 
 in 1824. Between that date and 1849 service was conducted 
 here chiefly by the incumbents of the neighbouring parishes. In 
 1844 a second church succeeded the old one, but it was not till 
 1849 that a regular clergyman, in the person of the Eev. John 
 Chapman, was appointed to the charge. Mr. Chapman continued 
 to hold it till 1864. The incumbency is now held by the Bishop. 
 
 Adjacent to St. Paul's lies the parish of St. Andrew's, extend- 
 ing about nine miles further down the Eed River. We have 
 already traced the foundation of the first church built in it by 
 Mr. Cochran, in 1827, and the second one also erected by him, on 
 the same site, in 1849. Mr. Cochran was succeeded by the Rev. 
 Eobert James in 1846. Mr. James quitted the country in 1851, 
 .and the business of the district was attended to by clergymen 
 unattached till the year 1852, when the Ven. Archdeacon 
 Hrmter, from Cumberland, received the benefice. Mr. Hunter 
 continued in charge of St. Andrew's till his return to England, in 
 1865, when he was succeeded by the present incumbent, the Rev. 
 J. P. Gardiner. 
 
 Next to St. Andrew's lies the parish of St. Clements or Maple- 
 ton, extending five miles in the same direction. Until 1861 this 
 portion of the settlement formed part of the parish of St. 
 Andrew's. In that year a substantial stone church was erected 
 for the use of its people, to the service of which the Rev. Henry 
 Cochran, assistant minister of St. Peter's, was appointed. Mr. 
 
RED RIVER. 117 
 
 Cochran remained in charge until 1863, after which date the 
 parish was served by the incumbents of St. Andrew's and St. 
 Peter's, until in 1866 the Ven. Archdeacon Cowley was appoint- 
 ed to the charge, which he still retains. 
 
 Adjoining St. Clements lies the parish of St. Peter's, called 
 also the Indian Settlement, extending over about six miles in 
 length. The first church erected here was the wooden one built 
 by Mr. Cochran in 1836. In 1839 the Eev. John Smethurst was 
 appointed resident incumbent. He was succeeded in 1850 by 
 the Ven. Archdeacon Cochran, who, in 1854, replaced the old 
 wooden church by the substantial stone one now in use. On the 
 retirement of Mr. Cochran to Portage La Prairie, the Kev. 
 Abraham Cowley went to St. Peter's, and continued there from 
 1857 till 1866, when he was succeeded by the Rev. Henry 
 Cochran, still in charge. 
 
 On the Eiver Assiniboine lie the parishes of St. James, the 
 Holy Trinity, St. Margaret, St. Ann and St. Mary. St James 
 extends from the upper extremity of the cathedral parish of St. 
 John, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, for 
 seven miles west along the latter stream. A church was built for 
 the use of this portion of the colony in 1850, and the Rev. 
 William Henry Taylor, of the Society for the Propagation of the 
 Gospel in Foreign Parts, continued incumbent from the date of 
 its foundation till 1867. A vacancy ensued from the time of 
 Mr. Taylor's return to England till 1868, when the Rev. William 
 Cyprian Pinkham, of St. John's, Newfoundland, and St. 
 Augustin's College, Canterbury, was appointed to the cure. 
 
 Next to St. James, along the Assiniboine, succeeds the parish 
 of Headingley or the Holy Trinity. Here a church was erected 
 in 1854, of which the Rev. Griffith Owen Corbett, of the Colonial 
 and Continental Church Society, was incumbent till 1863, when, 
 owing to a deplorable concatenation of events, which it will be my 
 disagreeable business to relate hereafter in detail, Mr. Corbett 
 quitted his profession and the locality in which he had exercised 
 it for eleven years. He was succeeded by the Rev. Henry 
 Cochran, who continued temporary incumbent till relieved by the 
 Rev. James Carrie in 1866. The latter still continues at Head- 
 ingley. 
 
118 RED RIVER. 
 
 The remaining three parishes of St. Margaret, St. Ann and St. 
 Mary are those already described as founded by Archdeacon 
 Cochran at the High Bluff, the Poplar Point and the Prairie 
 Portage. In the two former, until 1864, service was conducted 
 by the Rev. Thomas Cochran, son of the Archdeacon. In that 
 year the Eev. John Chapman was appointed resident clergyman 
 for both. On the retirement of Mr. Chapman, in 1866, service 
 was conducted by the Rev. Henry George, of St. Mary's, until, in 
 1868, the Rev. Gilbert Cook was placed in charge of both. 
 
 The parish of St. Mary or the Prairie Portage, was founded by 
 Archdeacon Cochran, as above mentioned, in 1857. After an 
 incumbency of eight years Mr. Cochran resigned his charge to 
 the Rev. Henry George, who, from the date of his arrival in 
 Rupert's Land, in 1854, had been employed among the Indian 
 missions in the interior of the country. 
 
 Haying thus given a detailed series of facts relating to each 
 parish, I beg to add a few general remarks. Although, for 
 convenience, the division of the ecclesiastical field in the settle- 
 ment has been made into nominal parishes, yet the whole thing 
 can as yet be regarded only as a series of missions. The great 
 English Church Societies still supply the stipends of the clergy, 
 and it is only since the arrival of the present Bishop, in the end 
 of 1865, that any systematic effort has been made, by the weekly 
 Offertory and otherwise, to raise money in any amount from the 
 residents in the Colony. 
 
 The peculiarly situated nature of the settlement, extending in 
 a long line of isolated houses along the banks of, rivers, and in no 
 place stretching back any distance on the prairie, renders a succes- 
 sion of churches necessary to bring the opportunity of attending 
 them within the reach of the people. Ten Church of England 
 places of worship, as above described, exist on the banks of the 
 two rivers. Of these eight are within the legally-defined limits of 
 the colony, and "are situated, with reference to each other, at 
 distances varying from about five to nine miles. Such distances 
 are not thought great by the settlers, most of whom possess horses. 
 
 To each parish is attached one or more parochial day-schools, 
 at which the elementary branches of education are taught by men 
 
RED EIVER. 119 
 
 specially appointed as schoolmastera, thoufi;h the resident clergy- 
 man always exercises a supervision over this department. The 
 present number of these common parochial sohooh is fourteen. 
 Sunday schools are also in regular operation. Attached to the 
 Church of England, and distributed among the ten churches above 
 •described, there are nearly 700 families, including almost 900 
 regular communicants. 
 
 The maintenance of the fabrics of the churches and schools, 
 ■the support of the schoolmasters and all other church expenses in 
 the settlement, except the stipends of the clergy, are defrayed 
 from the proceeds of the weekly Offertory, and other local means 
 of collecting money, aided at present by a grant from the Church 
 Missionary Society. This grant, during the current year 1858-9, 
 amounts to £228, and is to be reduced by £57 yearly, until in four 
 years it will be totally withdrawn. The charges above indicated 
 necessitated an outlay during last year of nearly one thousand 
 pounds. The effort then made by the Ked Eiver churches towards 
 self support, though labouring under the most discouraging circum- 
 stances in consequence of a succession of defective harvests, is so 
 fax successful. Not only have the considerable current expenses 
 in the settlement been met, but the Bishop has been enabled from 
 what he has raised throughout the Diocese, with the aid of three 
 thousand dollars from abroad, to invest for various objects a sum 
 represented by nearly ten thousand dollars of the stock of the 
 Dominion of Canada yielding six per cent. Along with the 
 pecuniary effort of which this is the result, there has been an 
 •organization of the church after the example of more advanced 
 Colonial Dioceses, and a Synod now meets annually which is 
 composed of the Bishop and clergy of the Diocese, along with lay 
 representatives from the settled parishes. 
 
 Of the English societies that have contributed to the support of 
 the country's missions the Church Missionary Society stands apart 
 in virtue of its princely disbursements during nearly fifty years. 
 Clergymen educated through its agency have long been at work 
 in the country. Probably the most conspicuous example of its 
 •success exists in the history of the Rev. Henry Cochran of St. 
 Peter's. This gentleman, although bearing the same name, is no 
 
120 RED EIVBR. 
 
 relation of the late Archdeacon Cochran, Standing very high in 
 public estimation on many accounts, he is an instance of thfr 
 possibility of a man, even under the unpromising conditions 
 imposed by the circumstances of Red River, raising himself from 
 humble beginnings, aided by such means as are provided by the 
 Church Missionary Society. The Society for the Propagation of 
 the Gospel in Foreign Parts, the Colonial and Continental Church 
 Society and the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, 
 also deserve favourable mention as aiding in the evangelization of 
 the country. 
 
 In the above epitome of clerical work, my design being with 
 the colony of Red River, I have purposely confined myself to a 
 consideration of the Church of England missions in the settle- 
 ment. I must not, however, omit to state that, for many years 
 there has been a gradual extension of the mission work in the 
 interior of the Diocese, which contains an Indian population 
 numbering from 70,000 to 80,000 souls. Among these, at the 
 present time, the chief work of the church lies. 
 
 Of the twenty-four clergymen in the whole Diocese of Rupert's 
 Land, nine are engaged in collegiate and parochial duty in the 
 settlement. The other fifteen are labouring, assisted by the 
 eatechists and schoolmasters, in the interior of that vast 'region, 
 which may be said to extend almost from the Atlantic to the 
 Pacific. 
 
 One clergyman, stationed in the distant east, at Moose Factory 
 on James' Bay, visits in the district under his charge as far north 
 as Whale River, on the eastern shore of Hudson's Bay. Another, 
 at the opposite extremity of the Diocese, in the far North West, 
 is stationed at the Youcon, a post in Russian America, now called 
 Alaska, on the confines of the Arctic Circle. The distance of 
 Moose from the Bishop's head-quarters at Red River is about 1100 
 miles, and that between the Youcon and the settlement, nearly 
 3000 miles. These at present form the out-posts of the Diocese. 
 The other mission stations are scattered between them at long 
 intervals. 
 
 Large bodies of Christian Indians are connected with many of 
 these central points. This fact may perhaps be best realized by 
 
RED EIVER. 121 
 
 considering the large numbers confirmed by the bishops in their 
 periodical visitations. Bishop Anderson reported 110 as the 
 number confirmed by him in 1850 at Devon Mission, which stands 
 in Cumberland District on the River Saskatchewan. Here, and 
 at Stanley Mission, situated on Bapid Eiver in the district of 
 English River, the same prelate in 1853 confirmed 115, while in 
 1852 he confirmed 130 at Moose. The two former stations are 
 established on the high route of travel to the Northern districts. 
 Bishop Anderson, besides the above, held large confirmations at 
 Fairford and elsewhere. 
 
 The present Bishop, Dr. Machray, has already made three 
 visitations of missions in the interior, of which he has published 
 accounts. The first of these journeys, which he undertook in the 
 early months of 1866, occupied seven weeks, and was performed in a 
 carriole drawn by dogs. In the course of his progress on this 
 occasion, his Lordship confirmed 155 individuals at twelve different 
 places. In his second voyage, during the summer of 1866,the Bishop 
 visited York Factory, which is about 700 miles from the settlement, 
 confirming fifty -five persons. On his third tour, undertaken in the 
 summer of 1868, he visited the missions in the Moose district, 
 round James' Bay. Reaching Michipicoton on the northern shore 
 of Lake Superior by the United States route, the Bishop started 
 thence on a canoe journey, involving a circuit of more than 1300 
 miles, confirming eighty-seven persons at Rupert's House, eighty- 
 five at Albany and forty-three at Moose. 
 
 His Lordship, in passing through Canada and the United States 
 on his return from Moose to Red River at the close of this visita- 
 tion, attended the General Convention of the American Church 
 held in 1868, at New York, and delivered an address to the House 
 of Bishops, which was reported for the " Standard of the Cross," 
 from which I beg to quote a short extract. 
 
 The extreme distance between Red River and the posts in the 
 district of McKenzie River, along with the peculiar circumstances 
 of their Diocese, have prevented the bishops of Rupert's Land from 
 visiting their missions in that isolated region; but the extract 
 just alluded to may show that the most distant of all the Missions 
 under their charge, that at the Youcon, is not the least interesting. 
 or successful. 
 
122 KED RIVER. 
 
 It describes tlie missionary attached to the station as going out 
 for many days, often with snowshoes, " to meet the wandering 
 " lodges of Indians, meeting now fifty, now sixty, again perhaps 
 " seventy Indians. He abides with them, living as their guest in 
 ■" their humble lodges, helping them in search for food, and day by 
 " day teaching them, catechising, leading them to the Saviour, 
 " and guiding them towards an imitation of His holy principles 
 " and practice. During three years he had baptized a hundred and 
 " fifty adults each year." The Indians here referred to, until the 
 cession of Russian America to the United States, lived on the 
 verge of the dominions of the Czar of all the Kussias. 
 
 Of the Church of England clergy, eleven are natives of Rupert's 
 Land, and these, with one exception, are more or less of Indian 
 descent, and speak some or other'of the Indian languages. An 
 arrangement has now been made for the education of promising 
 Indian-speaking youths by some of the missionaries in the interior, 
 and the completion of their education for the Mission work at 
 St. John's College. The Church Missionary Society is prepared 
 at present to support six scholars of this class at St. John's 
 College. 
 
 The Scotch emigrants have always alleged that Lord Selkirk 
 had, when arranging with them in Sutherlandshire the terms on 
 which they should quit Scotland for Rupert's Land, promised 
 them the benefit of the ministrations of a Presbyterian clergyman. 
 The Rev. Donald Sage, son of the incumbent of the parish of 
 Kildonnan, whence the majority of the settlers had come, was the 
 gentleman to whom the appointment was ofiered. It was arranged 
 that Mr. Sage should, however, be permitted to pass a year in Scot- 
 land with the object of perfecting his knowledge of the Gaelic 
 language. As a temporary expedient an elder in the Scotch 
 Church, named James Sutherland, being of the emigrants, was 
 invested by Lord Selkirk with authority to marry and baptise in 
 the colony until the arrival of a regularly ordained clergyman. 
 
 Lord Selkirk, during his visit to Red River Settlement in 1817, 
 convened the colonists and set apart two lots of land, in exchange 
 for which he conferred others of similar value on the settlers who 
 had previously occupied them, one of them being designed for the 
 
RED RIVER. 123 
 
 church and the other for a school-house. Leaving matters at this 
 stage, Lord Selkirk returned to England, but, on his way through 
 Canada, was detained there by legal business of a very complica- 
 ted and harassing character, rising out of the events in which he 
 had borne a- part in the course of his trip to Red River during 
 the previous year. It is probable that the multitudinous and 
 important affairs in which he was involved caused his Lordship 
 temporarily to lose sight of the spiritual necessities of his Scotch 
 dependents, which he doubtless thought he had placed in safe 
 hands when he advised his Red River agent, Mr. Pritchard, spe- 
 cially to look after them. Lord Selkirk, on his return to England 
 was, in consequence of bad health, compelled to detach himself from 
 business and travel on the continent, where in 1821 he died in 
 Switzerland. 
 
 As above related, the Rev. Mr. West of the Church Mission- 
 ary Society came to Red River in 1820, and commenced duty as 
 a minister of the English Church in a chapel or school-house 
 buUt by the settlers on the ground set apart for the purpose by 
 Lord Selkirk. The inability of the clergyman to speak the Gaelic 
 language, and the use of the book of Common Prayer, were the 
 objections raised by the colonists against the ecclesiastical system 
 thus introduced. The former difficulty was insuperable, while, in 
 deference to the latter objection, the successive clergymen who 
 fiojourned among them made such concessions to what they saw to 
 be the conscientious prejudices of the Presbyterian members of 
 their flock, as might perhaps have drawn on them the censure of 
 " Churchmen" strictly so called. In 1834, the original wooden 
 church having fallen into ruin, a second was built, as already 
 mentioned, from funds contributed by the congregation, aided by 
 the Hudson's Bay Company. 
 
 In 1844 certain leading colonists applied to the Company, 
 requesting that corporation to send them a Presbyterian clergyman 
 and to contribute towards his support. In furtherance of this 
 claim, among other reasons, they alleged the above-recorded verbal 
 promise of Lord Selkirk. The Company replied that, when the 
 colony had been re-transferred to them by Lord Selkirk's exeou- 
 iors in 1836, no mention had been made of any such stipulation 
 
124 RED RIVEB. 
 
 as that alleged. The Presbyterian party then ftirwarded to 
 London two affidavits, the first of which stated that in Scotland 
 the verbal promise in question had been made by Lord Selkirk, 
 while the second detailed the circumstances under which it had 
 been confirmed in the colony. The Company, however, refused 
 to recognize the promise as having special reference to a minister 
 of the Presbyterian religion. 
 
 The petitioners then applied to the Free Church of Scotland. 
 The Kev. Dr. Brown of Aberdeen, Moderator of the General 
 Assembly of the Free Church, and the Rev. John Bonar of 
 Eenfield Free Church, Glasgow. Convener of the General Assem- 
 bly's Colonial Committee, used their best efibrts to meet the wishes 
 of their Red River friends. But, after three years exertions, Dr. 
 Bonar, in 1849, stated that none to whom he had applied " had 
 seen it his duty to accept." He hoped, however, his further efforts 
 would be more successful. 
 
 An application was then made to the Company for the transfer 
 of the church and lands from the possession of the Episcopalian 
 party to that of the Presbyterians. The rival claims were finally 
 adjusted in 1851, when the Hudson's Bay Company, in order to 
 settle this " vexed question," made over to the Presbyterian 
 community a lot of ground situated in a central locality, named 
 the Frog Plain, along with a sum of £150 sterling. 
 
 The Presbyterian body, then, may be said to have received its 
 organization in the settlement in 1851. The responsibility of 
 obtaining a minister had been transferred from the Church in 
 Scotland to the Presbyterian Church of Canada, and, after some 
 negotiations had been satisfactorily completed, the Rev. John 
 Black came to the colony, and a manse, erected in 1851, was 
 occupied as a church until, on 5th January, 1854, a building for 
 the purpose was opened. 
 
 About 300 of the Scotch population, chiefly composed of the 
 survivors and descendants of Lord Selkirk's settlers, on the 
 arrival of Mr. Black, separated themselves from the Church of St. 
 John, then under the immediate pastoral charge of the Bishop of 
 the Diocese, who,, it will be remembered, had come to the settlement 
 in 1849. Much as the separation was regretted of so considerable 
 
RED RIVER. 125 
 
 a body from the establishment with which they had been connect- 
 ed for thirty years, it is surely much to the credit of the Scotch 
 population that, barring the Company's grants above specified, 
 along with an annual donation of fifty pounds to the incumbent aa 
 Presbyterian chaplain, their unpretending stone church, seated for 
 500 people, has been built at a cost of £1050, and its ministers 
 salaried by his flock, while the good fortune of the latter, in 
 securing the services of such a man as Mr. Black, has been com- 
 mensurate with the spirit evinced by their enterprise. A parochial 
 school is attached to the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 In 1853 a church was erected by this communion at Little Brit- 
 ain, about fourteen miles further dowiMjjjk Eed Eiver than that at 
 Frog Plain, at which, alternately witi^he latter, divine service 
 was celebrated on Sunday afternoons, once a fortnight, till, in 
 1862, the arrival from Canada of theKev. James Nisbet to assist 
 Mr. Black, enabled the Presbyterian community at Little Britain 
 to enjoy a weekly service. In 1866 Mr. Nisbet went to found a 
 mission on the Saskatchewan, and was succeeded by the Kev. 
 Alexander Matheson, who, on his departure to Canada, in 1868, 
 was replaced by the Rev. William Fletcher. 
 
 In 1866 a church was built at Headingley, and one in the vil- 
 lage of Winnipeg in 1868. At present the Presbyterian commu- 
 nion in the settlement possesses three organized congregations, at 
 KUdonnan, (Frog Plain), Little Britain, and Headingley ; along 
 with fouf jp-eaching stations, at Winnipeg, Poplar Point, High 
 Bluff, and the Prairie Portage, respectively. 
 
 In 1868 the Wesleyan bod/ deputed a clergyman of no mean 
 order — the Kev. George Young— to represent them in the settle- 
 ment. This gentleman, while making the village of Winnipeg his 
 head-quarters, conducts services at regular intervals of time in 
 various widely-separated parts of the colony, and exercises a super- 
 vision as " Chairman" over all the missions of his church in 
 Eupert's Land. 
 
 The Church of England having erected a subsidiary parochial 
 chapel in Winnipeg, that village is now fuUy supplied with places 
 of worship; and the Venerable Archdeacon McLean, the Rev. 
 Mr. Black, and the Rev. Mr. Young, hold services in their respeo- 
 
126 RED EIVEK. 
 
 tive edifices each Sunday. Mr. Young holding a morning, Mr. 
 Black an afternoon, and the Archdeacon, an evening service. All 
 are, I helieve, well attended. 
 
 The Settlement at Red River, and the Territory of Rupert's 
 Land, which are now, generally speaking, apparently in a transition 
 state, will probably in a few years be much altered. The edifices 
 spoken of in this chapter may be superseded by others, and but a 
 faint remnant left of the arrangements which have prevailed hith- 
 erto. But, on the whole, within the bounds of the colony, and in 
 many places beyond them, the labours of a material character 
 which have been undertaken by the first missionaries, will form a 
 groundwork for their sjpissors, wto may naturally expect, in 
 benefitting by establishments built for them by the former, to have 
 greater leisure to attend to the more purely spiritual part of their 
 ^uty than their predecessors possibly could hare. 
 
CHAPTEK X. 
 
 THE KOMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 
 
 TrayelUng Priests — Kev. J. N. Provencher— Episcopate — First resident 
 Priests — Oblats de Marie I'Immaculee — Bishops Proyencher, Tache, 
 Grandin, and Faraud — Burning or Cathedral of St. Boniface — Pre- 
 sent State of Church in the Colony. 
 
 The reputation of the labours of the French priests in Canada is 
 doubtless familiar to the ears of many people in Great Britain, 
 whose knowledge of the difficulties to be encountered in travelling 
 through unexplored wastes, exposed to the rigour of ungenial 
 climates, is confined to what has been gathered from books. The 
 general idea of the privations undergone is fully justified by th^ 
 reality, and the details of camp life, highly curious and interest- 
 ing to the novice, soon render themselves monotonously familiar 
 through daily experience. 
 
 My chief authority for the facts to be set forth in the present 
 chapter, is a semi-official publication entitled " Vingt ann^es de 
 Mission dans le Nord-.Ouest de TAm^rique," by the Right 
 Kev. Doctor Tach^, the present Bishop of St. Boniface. This is 
 a pamphlet consisting of a series of letters, not, when they were 
 composed, intended for publication, addressed by the Bishop to 
 the Canadian Provincial Superior of the religious order to which 
 he belongs. The book has been published at the request of 
 Monseigneur Bourget, Bishop of Montreal, and has met with a 
 very favourable reception in Canada. To those familiar with the 
 localities and the people mentioned in it, the work possesses a high 
 interest; as an exhaustive treatise on the subject of Rupert's 
 Land Catholic Missions, it appears to be very complete ; and as an 
 authority coming from the prelate at the head of the operationu 
 •whose progress it describes, it is of course unimpeachable. 
 
128 BED RIVER. 
 
 In point of time the first Christian priest who eyer visited 
 Rupert's Land was the Rev. P6re Messager. He arrived in 1731, 
 travelling with the party under command of a Lower Canadian 
 Seigneur, named the Sieur Varennes de la V^randrye. This 
 gentleman was the first traveller who explored the regions to the 
 west of Lake Superior. In 1731 he was engaged on the first of 
 the two expeditions he undertook to the Rocky Mountains. The 
 priest who accompanied his party seems to have been merely its 
 travelling chaplain, and did not attempt to settle in the country. 
 He belonged to the order of Jesuits. 
 
 In 1736 a party of voyageurs, under the command of one of 
 the sons of M. de la V^randrye, was accompanied by another 
 Jesuit priest named P^re Arneau. This party, while camped on 
 an island in a lake named the Lac de la Croix, a short distance 
 west from Lake Superior, was attacked by a band of Sioux, who 
 massacred them, the priest being among the number killed. 
 
 The first serious attempt made by the Church of Rome to estab- 
 lish itself in the country was commenced in 1818, when the Rev. 
 Joseph Norbert Provencher and the Rev. S^v^re Dumoulin arrived 
 at Red River. The former died thirty-five years afterwards, 
 Bishop of the missions he had founded, while the latter remained 
 only six years in the colony. On their arrival the bulk of their 
 more civilized flock consisted of French Canadians and disbanded 
 soldiers of the De Meuron regiment, chiefly Germans. A church 
 and mission house were erected at a spot called St. Boniface, 
 on the eastern bank of the Red River, opposite to its confluence 
 with the Assiniboine. 
 
 In 1822 the Rev. J. N. Provencher was consecrated Bishop of 
 Juliopolis in partibus infidelium, and invested as auxiliary to the 
 Bishop of Quebec, with authority over those parts of the diocese 
 of the latter, known under the names of the Hudson's Bay and 
 North West Territories. 
 
 I may here mention, parenthetically, it is the custom of the 
 Roman Catholic Church to provide titles for Bishops located by it 
 in regions not yet regularly divided into dioceses, from places in 
 the East, chiefly in Asia Minor. Prelates so situated are said to 
 be "in partibus infidelium." The title of Juliopolis, conferred 
 
EED KIVER. 129 
 
 on Bishop Provencher, is derived from the name of a town in 
 
 Galatia, under the Metropolitan See of Aneyra. 
 
 On 16th April, 1844, the Holy See, formally detached from the 
 
 Diooese of Quebec and erected into a separate Apostolic Vicariate 
 
 thf regions under the spiritual oversight of Bishop Provencher. 
 These nominally extended over the territory elsewhere described 
 
 as the Diocese of Rupert's Land. It is, however, only since 1845 
 that great practical efforts have been put forth by the priesthood 
 to bring the mass of the Indians under the power of ghostly 
 influences. Between the date of his consecration and that of the 
 isolation of his charge from the See of Quebec, the Bishop of 
 Juliopolis was assisted in his operations by twelve priests, whose 
 names, accompanied by the dates of their arrival in and departure 
 from the country, I beg here to put on record. 
 
 I. Sdv^re Dumoulin 1818 1824 
 
 II. Th. Destroismaisons 1820 1827 
 
 III. Jean Harper 1822 1832 
 
 IV. Fr. Boucher 1827 1833 
 
 V. G. A, Belcourt 1831 1859 
 
 VI. Charles Edouard Poir(5 1832 1839 
 
 TIL Jean Baptiste Thibeault 1833 1868 
 
 VIIL M, Demers 1837 1838 
 
 IX. Joseph A. Mayrand 1838 1845 
 
 X. Joseph E. Darveau 1841 1844 
 
 XL L. Lafl^che, 1841 1856 
 
 XIL Joseph Bourassa 1844 1856 
 
 Of the above named gentlemen the Rev. Mr. Thibeault, in 1842, 
 travelled westwards. He was the first priest to visit the Saskat- 
 chewan valley and the English River District. In the former he 
 founded the Mission of Ste, Anne in 1843, and in the latter the 
 stations of Red Deer Lake (called Notre Dame des Victoires) 
 and He k la Crosse (St. Jean Baptiste), in 1845. After ten 
 years spent in Indian labours Mr. Thibeault, in 1852, settled 
 down to parochial duty in the Red River parish <jf St. Francois 
 Xavier, and has since been nominated Vicar General of the 
 Diocese, Only a few days before the date at which I write, the 
 
 I 
 
130 RED RIVER. 
 
 old missionary quitted Red Eiver for Canada, not, I believe, to 
 return. 
 
 M. Demers is at present Bishop of Vancouver's Island, while 
 the Rev. Mr. Darveau was drowned in the spring of 1844 while 
 on his way to visit a post under his charge. The other gentlemen 
 named, after residing in the territory between the dates noted, 
 departed without accident. 
 
 At the close of his connection with the Diocese of Quebec, the 
 Bishop of Juliopolis, thrown more than ever on his own resources, 
 thought it necessary to secure assistance of a more effective kind 
 than had till that time been afforded him, and after some consider- 
 ation he determined to apply at the proper quarters, requesting 
 the aid of priests attached to one of the religious orders of his 
 church. 
 
 In the year 1816, the Right Rev. Charles Joseph Eugene de 
 MaziSnod, Bishop of Marseilles, founded an order called that of the 
 " Oblats de Marie I'lmmaculde." The Bishop himself continued 
 head of the order until his death in May, 1861. E:ich priest, 
 when he becomes a member, takes the vows of poverty, chastity, 
 obedience, and persevei^ance. The ob ect of the labours of the 
 votaries, as may be gathered from the motto selected by its 
 founder as that of his order, " Evangelizare pauperibus misit me," 
 is chiefly the instruction of the poor and destitute. J he Indian 
 missions established by its agents receive a large share of the 
 attention of its chiefs, and Monseigneur Tach^ attributes the 
 growing extent of its influence very much to the amount of care 
 bestowed by the association on its Indian missionary operations. 
 In 1841 this order first established itself in Canada, and to 
 its superior there Bishop Provencher, in 1844, applied for men to 
 assist him in working his missions.. 
 
 Early in 1845 the Rev. P6re Guigues, provincial of the Obliite 
 in Cfiii.i-da,, replied to the request of the Bishop of Juliopolis, by 
 sendin,? to his aid the Rev. Piire Aubert, accomp-mied by Frere 
 Alexandre Tache, then a novice of the order. After their arrival 
 at Red River, P6re Aubert was nominated vicar genewl of the 
 diocese, while Frere Taoh^ was admitted by ordination of Bishop 
 Provencher into the ranks of the priesthood, and throu>>h the 
 
RED BIVER. 131 
 
 «gency'of P6re Aubert, having finished his noviciate, was received 
 into the order of the Oblats. 
 
 In ISM some sisters of charity belonging to the order known in 
 Canada as the Grey Nans, or " Filles de Madame de Youville," 
 first came to the diocese of St. Boniface. Their number was re-en- 
 forced by two young ladies belonging to the same sisterhood who 
 arrived by the canoes bringing E^re Aubert and Mr. Tache, 
 Since that time their numbers have been constantly increasing, and 
 the amount of charitable work done by them has been very great. 
 
 To obtain anything like a correct view of the extent of the field of 
 labour occupied in llupert's Land by the Catholic priesthood. Bed 
 River Settlement must sink far into the backgrouad, and the atten- 
 tion be turned towards the vast uninhabited wastes of the interior, 
 whei e the savages, whose only homes are in their tents, fead a migra- 
 tory life, wandering in search of wild animals. To the object of 
 gaining a hearing from these people have the exertions of the mem- 
 bars of tiie Society of Mary been turned undeviatingly since the arri- 
 val, in 1845, flf the two pioneers of what has since become a well 
 organized corps. • In various parts of the territory have comfort- 
 able mission stations been erected after the expenditure of much 
 trouble and hard labour; but the enthusiastic builders of these 
 houses are ever on the move, and must be described as belonging 
 a cl i33 of men who at the first intimation of expediency in proe- 
 •ecution of their designs, are qaite as willing to take up their abode 
 for a longer or shorter time in the vermin-haunted -wigwam, as in 
 the comfortable residences their persevering exertions liave raised 
 for them. 
 
 Their success in gaining the Indian ear has so far apparently 
 been very considerable. The standard of knowledge requisite in a 
 savage candidate for baptism, except in the cases of dying people 
 and infants, includes an acquaintance with the decalogue, the 
 Lord's Prayer and the Apostles Greed, along with the Ave Maria 
 ■and other prayers more commonly used in the church. The 
 .attainment of a satisfactory perceptioa of h meaning of tliose 
 •forms usually requires a space of two years in the case of roving 
 Indiuns. When the candidate is in constant communication w ith 
 -a priest, however, the iieoess*ry knowledge can of coarse be 
 
132 EED BIVEK, 
 
 obtained in a mucli shorter time. The missionaries scattered tip' 
 and down the country, from year to year appoint places of rendez- 
 vous with their proselytes, who seem punctually to attend as agreed 
 on, and receire renewed instruction with docility. When occasion; 
 calls for such a step, the priest also travels with his ioek and 
 mixes with them in their uflsettled mode of life. The sacerdotftS 
 influence is exercised only in a secondary manner iu trying to per-- 
 suade the Indian to relinquish his roving life and settle down tc 
 agricultural pursuits, and the migratory life is largely- accepted as- 
 the one best suited to the genius of the race, and yet not ineonsis' 
 tent with the practice of the Christian virtues. The existing state 
 of matters gives the pastor more trouble, and loads him with more 
 serious inconveniences than might fall to his lot ilndier another 
 regime ; but privations are matters very immaterial in the eyes of" 
 the men whose efforts I am endeavouring to trace. 
 
 Between the years 1844 and 1850 the Bishop of Jmliopolis alone 
 conducted the episcopal business of his diocese ; but in the latter 
 year a coadjutor and successor was appointed with the title of 
 Bishop of Arath in the person of Pere Taehe above mentioned^ 
 In 1851. at the request of the new Bishop, the name of his diocese 
 was altered from that of the "North West" to that of St, Boni- 
 face — the latter having been from the earliest period of the mission 
 the name of the Cathedral parish of the diocese^ 
 
 On 7th June, 1853, the Eight Kev. Bishop Proveneher died irp 
 his palace at St. Boniface, and was succeeded, as previously 
 arranged, by his coadjutor, Monseigneur TachI, who since that 
 time has been known by the title of Bishop of St, Boniface, 
 
 On 10th December, 1857, the Eev. P6re Vital Grandin, was by 
 a papal bull of that date, formally nominated coadjutor and succes- 
 sor to [Bishop Tach^ under the title of Bishop of Satala, After 
 his consecration, which took place in France in 1859, the new dig' 
 mitary took up his head-quarters at He eI la Crosse, where Doctor 
 Tach^ had chiefly resided during the lifetime of his predecessor,. 
 Bishop Proveneher, lie S la Crosse is situated in the heart 
 of the Indian country, and has always bees regarded as a con- 
 venient station for the coadjutor's residence. 
 
 The enormous extent of territory included within the limits of 
 
•RED RIVER. 133 
 
 the Diocese of St, Boniface, rendered tlie supervision exercised even 
 by its two bishops, how favourably situated soever they might be, 
 ■of a very unsatisfactory character. Impressed with the conviction 
 that am extension of the episcopate would be highly beneficial 
 to has charge, the Bishop of St Boniface drew ap a petition to the 
 Sovereign Pontiflf requesting that his diocese should be divided, 
 and while he retained the southern part that another bishop 
 should be appointed to the •oversight of (he northern one. The 
 proposed boundary between these divisions was a place called 
 Methy Portage or Portage La Loche, being the spot where 
 the route of travel to the far north intersects the watershed 
 between the rivers falling into Hudson's Bay, and those which 
 ■discharge into the Arctic Ocean. The result of this arrangement 
 would be that the portion of Hupert's Land draining into the 
 Arctic Sea, consisting of what a Hudson's Bay man would call the 
 Mackenzie River and Athabasca Districts, would have a resident 
 bishop of its own, while the portion draining into Hudson's Bay 
 would have the benefit of the supervision of Bishop Grrandin, 
 resident near its northern boundary, and of Bishop Tach^, whose 
 iead-quarters at Bed Biver are at its southern extremity. The 
 address drawn up by the Bishop of St. Boniface recommending 
 the adoption of these measures was countersigned by the Arch- 
 bishop of Quebec and his sufiragans, and carried to Europe by its 
 author, the ehief object of whose journey was to advocate the exe- 
 cution of his scheme. It was favourably received, and on the 13 th 
 of May, 1862, the formal documents were executed at Rome 
 -which provided for the carrying out of the arrangements. Artha- 
 baska and' Mackenzie River districts were constituted an Apostolic 
 Vicariate, and the Rev. Pfere Faraud was nominated vicar, under 
 ihe title of Bishop ®f Anemour. 
 
 A glance at the map will show that, considerable as is the 
 provision above described, the number of Episcopal overseers in 
 4he country is not too great for the purposes they are intended to 
 serve. Each of the dioceses is of enormous extent, and the " 
 availalfle means of locomotion are rude, and their exercise lab- 
 ourious. The exainination of affairs 'not strictly connected with 
 Sed River Settlement is an undertaking foreign to my purpose in 
 
134 KED EIVEE'. 
 
 writing this work ; but the subject now under discussion has its 
 points of interest for many people, and it is surely not undesirable 
 that the nature and dimensions of the machinery should be known,, 
 by means of which the agents of the Catholic- church are at present 
 very effectualLy endeavouring to bring the Indian races of Eupert's, 
 Land within her fold. 
 
 I shall now take a glance at the personal history of the four 
 distinguished men who have hitherto exercised the functions of 
 Roman Catholic bishops in Rupert's Land. 
 
 The Right Rev. Joseph Norbert Provencher, as above men- 
 tioned, came to the settlement in the capacity of priest in 1818. 
 He was consecrated Bishop of Juliopolis in 18-22,. and from that 
 time till 1853 resided in the country, occupying himself with worka 
 of charity, and the principal direction of the important interests 
 committed to his charge. He built a cathedral and a house 
 attached to it, used as a residence for himself and his priests. The 
 cathedral is said to have looked remarkably well when seen from a 
 distance, its two spires one hundred feet high towered high over 
 the prairie, and were provided with a chime of bells, whose ^ound 
 is described as having been of singular melody. This interesting 
 relic was destroyed by fire in 1860. 
 
 The memory of Bishop Provencher is held in high respect by 
 all who knew him in the country. His personal appearance,, 
 always imposing, became venerable with age. His successor, in 
 commenting on his character, mentions his- self-abnegation, which, 
 exhibited itself in the studied obedience rendered by him to the 
 Bishop of Quebec, during the twenty-two years of his episcopate,, 
 in which,, from the position of his diocese, he was auxiliary to the 
 latter prelate. It came out also in the great simplicity of his per- 
 sonal habits. The bishop's parishioners remember him with 
 gratitude on account of the charities exercised towards them 
 during his long residence among them, while the general public 
 speak of that "goodness" conspicuous in his character, which 
 quality he shared very highly in common with a great many mem- 
 bers of that exalted class to which he belonged. 
 
 His successor, Doctor Tach^, came to the country as a priest ini 
 1845, andj after receiving ordination at the hands of Bishop Pro- 
 
RED RIVEK. 135 
 
 Yenclier, went to act as a simple missionary in the interior of the 
 diocese. His head-quarters were at lie a la Crosse, a station first 
 regularly commenced by himself, although visited during the year 
 previous to his arrival by the Rev. M. Thibeault, who had baptized 
 three hundred Indians. P6re Tach^ arrived there in 1S46, and 
 remained on the spot, more or less, until in 1854 he removed his 
 residence to the head-quarters of his diocese at Red River. During 
 the eight years of his residence inland, he had occupied himself 
 much with building operations, founding mission houses and 
 churches at different points, where it was considered desirable to 
 locate them. He travelled a great deal and mixed much with the 
 Indians. A detailed list of his journeys undertaken at various 
 intervals to places, the names of which are unknown, save to those 
 familiar with the country, would only weary the reader. In com- 
 mon, however, with all the priests of his church in the diocese, he 
 every year made long circuits, visiting the native tribes, and doing 
 a vast amount of work, which, although unobtrusively performed 
 and, from its nature, difficult to describe in detail, was real and 
 productive of much fruit. Having, on the 14th June, 1850, been 
 appointed coadjutor and successor to the Bishop of Juliopolis, 
 under the title of Bishop of Arath, Monseigneur Tachd went to 
 Europe in 1851. He was appointed, by Bishop Maz^nod, the 
 superior general in Red River of the Order of Oblats, and on the 
 23rd November, 1851, was consecrated Bishop of Arath in the 
 cathedral of Viviers by Guibert, Archbishop of Tours, and Mazdnod, 
 Bishop of Marseilles. 
 
 After having paid a short visit to Rome, Bishop Tachd returned, 
 via Red River, to He k la Crosse, where he arrived on the 10th 
 September, 1852. The death of Bishop Provencher having con- 
 stituted him bishop of St. Boniface, he, on the 3rd November, 
 1854, arrived and took possession of his cathedral church at Red 
 River. Since that period, though regarding St. Boniface as his 
 head-quarters. Doctor Tachd had made several long tours in various 
 directions. In 1855, along with his coadjutor. Bishop Grandin, he 
 revisited He k la Crosse. Anxious to carry out certain schemes 
 whereby a depot for the use of his northern missions might be 
 erected at Lac la Biche, he, early, in 1856, explored a new route 
 
136 RED RIVER. 
 
 between ttat lake and Athabasca district, the difficulties of which 
 he found to have been greatly exaggerated. The object of the ex- 
 ploration was to ascertain definitely that a practical route existed 
 between the site of the proposed depot and the posts which were to 
 receive their supplies from it. After a journey of seven days and 
 two nights from Lac la Biche, the Bishop had completed his voy- 
 age, through the imperfectly known regions, and found himself safe 
 among his Athabasca missions. He then returned to Bed Eiver, 
 where he arrived towards the close of August. 
 
 His next mission of importance was on the negotiation which 
 led to the appointment of Doctor Grandin as his coadjutor and 
 successor. In prosecution of this business he visited Canada and 
 France, returning to Bed Biver, after having brought it to a suc- 
 cessful issue, in 1857. Between that year and 1861 the Bishop's 
 journeys were confined to the interior of his diocese. During his 
 protracted absence on a voyage to the western extremity of the 
 Saskatchewan valley, which he made in 1860, his cathedral and 
 palace at St. Bonifice were completely destroyed by fire. In 1861 
 he visited Europe with the double purpose of raising money for 
 the restoration of his establishment, and arranging the prelimina- 
 ries for the above described division of his diocese, and the 
 appointment of Bishop Faraud as chief pastor of its northern 
 section. In 1862 he returned to the settlement, and in the 
 following year took part at the meeting of the third Provincial 
 council of his church, held in Canada. In 1864, he started on a 
 grand tour through his diocese, on the greater part of which he 
 was accompanied by the Bev. P^re Vandenberghe, a visiting 
 inspector sent out from Prance, and occupying a very high posi- 
 tion in the Order of the Oblats. The bishop and his distinguished 
 companion returned to St. Boniface in February, 1865. In 1867 
 the Bishop of St. Boniface was one of those prelates who assembled 
 at Eome on the occasion of the celebration of the eighteenth 
 centenary of the martyrdom of St. Peter. 
 
 The promotion of Doctor Tach^ to the important position 
 he fills was, of course, due to his meritorious personal qualities. 
 It was not, however, without great propriety on other grounds than 
 personal fitness that he was invested with high position in this 
 
KED RIVER. 137 
 
 country. A near relative of the late Sir Etienne Pascal Tach^, 
 Premier of Canada, he was closely connected by family ties with 
 oflScial men in the Province, and among the rest, was by collateral 
 relationship a member of the family of the Sieur Varennes de la 
 Verandrye who claimed to be the first civilized man to discover 
 Lake Winnipeg, the River Saskatchewan and many other places 
 of note in the Diocese of St. Boniface. 
 
 P6re Vital Grandin arrived at St. Boniface from France in 
 August, 1854. In 1855 he proceeded to Athabasca accompanied 
 by Bishop Tachd, and after the tour of discovery connected with 
 the Lac la Biche Depot had been accomplished by the latter, 
 returned along with him to He &, la Crosse. In 1857 he was 
 appointed coadjutor, and on 30th November, 1859, was consecrated 
 Bishop of Satala in the temporary cathedral of Saint Martin at 
 Marseilles by Bishop Maz^nod. Notwithstanding the extremely 
 low state of his health Dr. Grandin returned' to He k la Crosse in 
 1860, and in 1861 proceeded on a tour to Mackenzie River Dis- 
 trict. Here he founded a depot at a place named by him " Provi- 
 dence," with a view to its becoming the residence of the new 
 bishop whom it was then proposed to nominate. After penetra- 
 ting as far as Fort Norman, Bishop Grandin returned to He i la 
 Crosse, where he arrived in 1864, after a residence of three years 
 in the extreme north. In 1867 he accompanied Bishop Taoh^ 
 to Rome, whence he has since returned and is now actively 
 engaged on the work to which he has devoted his life. 
 
 On 9th November, 1846, Fr6re Faraud first arrived at St. 
 Boniface. In May of the following year, after having passed the 
 grade of sub-deacon, he was ordained priest by Bishop Provencher. 
 In the autumn of the same year he was appointed to accompany 
 the "Plain hunters" on their fall trip, thus occupying a position 
 offering many opportunities of usefulness. In 1848 he went 
 inland to Ile^la Crosse, and the next year proceeded to Athabasca, 
 where he took up his permanent residence at the Mission of the 
 Nativity, situated at the western extremity of Athabasca Lake 
 and founded by Mgr. Tachd, the first priest who ever penetrated 
 into Athabasca, in 1847. In 1851 P^re Faraud was appointed a 
 member of the Vicarial Council of Bishop Tach^ on his invest- 
 
138 RED RIVER. 
 
 ment witli tlie dignity of Bishop of Arath. ■ In 185^ he founded 
 an establishment on Great Slave Lake called St. Joseph's Mission, 
 at which he remained during the greater part of his time till, on 
 the completion of the arrangements above described, he was 
 iippointed bishop of the united districts of Athabasca and Mac- 
 kenzie Kiver. On' 30th November, 1863, Doctor Faraud was 
 consecrated Bishop of Anemour by Archbishop Guibert in the 
 Metropolitan Cathedral of Tours. In 1865 he took possession of 
 his northern diocese in which Bishop Grandin had already, as 
 above narrated, spent some years and given an impetus to the 
 work. Bishop Faraud has since 186,") confined himself to his 
 own diocese. 
 
 Some details concerning travelling and mission episodes in the 
 country are inserted in the appendix. They are copied with 
 permission of the author from Bishop Tach^'s work above men- 
 tioned. 
 
 The most serious calamity which has yet befallen the Catholic 
 missions in the country was the burning of the old cathedral of 
 St. Boniface and the house attached thereto, which took place on 
 14th December, 1860, during the absence of the bishop on a tour 
 to the far west. The conflagration arose from an accident which 
 occurred in the kitchen of the palace, whereby some tallow, then 
 being used for the manufacture of candles, took fire. In a very 
 short space of tinje the whole building was burnt up. A blind 
 man named Ducharme maintained on the establishment by the 
 missionaries, having lost his way amid the heat and confusion, 
 was burned to death. A priest named Goifibn, who had a short 
 time previously, through exposure to the frost while on a journey, 
 received such injuries as necessitated the amputation of his right 
 leg and left foot, was in bed inside the house when the alarm was 
 raised. He was at once carried out, and through the unremitted 
 attention of his sorely tried friends was so provided for that 
 he survived the vicissitudes of that disastrous December day. 
 The occupants of the house lost every thing they possessed 
 save the clothes they wore. Some property might have been 
 saved through the exertions of the crowd which soon assembled 
 on the spot, but knowing that some gunpowder was stored in a 
 
RED MVER. ISdi 
 
 part of the house to which tlie flames would soon penetrate, the 
 priests would not permit the people to risk themselves within the 
 building. 
 
 This check has, however, through the ability of the bishop, beent 
 turned almost into a benefit, lor a much superior church has beea 
 raised on the site of the old one, and the handsome and com- 
 modious stone dwelling house which has replaced the other is, in 
 more than the mere name, a palace. 
 
 Besides the main establishment at St. Boniface, which consists 
 of cathedral, palace,, college and convent, there are six subsidiary 
 chapels in the settlement, at two of which, named St. Norbert and 
 St. Frangois Xavier, there are resident priests and nuns. The 
 latter every where occupy themselves with great effect chiefly in 
 teaching children and nursing the sick. In the convent at St. 
 Boniface there are now educated forty young ladies, of whom; 
 twenty-one are boarders, while in the same establishment there is 
 an orphanage at present consisting of forty girls maintained by 
 the Grey Nuns. .The college kept by the priests and brothers of 
 the Order of Oblats is attended by forty boys, boarded at the 
 establishment, and thirty day scholars. The course of study is, 
 carefully marked out with reference to the probable career of 
 the pupil in after life. 
 
 In all the seven parishes organised in the settlement belonging 
 to the Catholic communion, there are about tLree-thousand regular 
 communicants, of whom about six hundred attend the Catliedral 
 of St. Boniface. The other churches are comparatively small 
 and scantily attended, but the crowd which draws together from 
 all quarters to hear the service celebrated on Sundays and 
 holy days at the cathedral is very large, and the regularity of the 
 attendance must be a subject of just self-congratulation to the; 
 Bishop of St. Boniface and his assistants. The congregation 
 is composed almost entirely of the French spCiiking part of the. 
 half-breed community. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 LATER CIVIL HISTORY OF RED RIVER. 
 
 Committee of the House of Commons — Canadian Surveying Expedition — 
 Connection of Settlement with England, Canada, and the United 
 States — The " Nor' Wester " — Extracts, Grave and Gay. 
 
 The course of events in Eed Eiver Settlement, since the 
 coalition between the two great rival fur companies took place in 
 1821, has been generally uniform, and offers but few points of 
 interest to be laid hold of by the narrator. The greater number 
 «f such events as have varied the yearly monotony of life have 
 already come under the notice of the reader in the course of the 
 chapters in which the rise of such institutions as exist has been 
 described. 
 
 More than eleven years have already elapsed since the future of 
 Ked River became a topic of interest to men in the outside world. 
 About 1857 the public curiosity had risen so far that the progress 
 of an inquiry into the affairs of the Hudson's Bay Company, 
 conducted before a Committee of the British House of Commons, 
 was watched with considerable interest by the Canadian people, 
 and their Government. The principal cause which led to the 
 appointment of the Committee in question was the near approach 
 of the time when the license of exclusive trade then held by the 
 Hudson's Bay Company over a very large portion of their field of 
 trading operations, should expire. This licence, originally granted 
 by Act of Parliament in 1821, was renewed in 1838, for a term 
 of twenty-one years, after full inquiries had been made and satis- 
 faction obtained on behalf of the Crown. The Committee of 1857 
 was composed of nineteen gentlemen, several of whom were leading 
 men in the House, and continued its sittings at intervals between 
 18th February and 31st July, during which time it collected 
 
EED MVEK, 141 
 
 evidfence from a considetable number of witnesses Well tetsed in 
 the subjects at issue, These comprehended a vast range of topics 
 bearing upon the Htidson Bay Company's authority, and the 
 manner in which it had been exercised/ The isolated settlement 
 on Bed River and its history occupied a prominent place in the 
 investigation, several individuals who had lived for some time in 
 the colony being Called in and examined, Although the license 
 of exclusive trade in the Indian country was not renewed, the 
 whole spirit of the report returned to the House by the Committee 
 was such as to justify the Company and its friends in believing 
 that no serious fault had been found With its management. The 
 inquiry, however, produced no immediate effect. The Committee 
 recommended that a bill should be introduced by the Government 
 embodying their views with reference to a change in the manage^ 
 ment of the country, and expressed a hope that such grave 
 interests being at stake all parties Would approach the subject in a 
 spirit of conciliation and justice, but their recommendation haa 
 never yet been acted on. 
 
 In 1857, expecting probably some immediate action on the part' 
 of the Imperial Government, the Provincial Legislature of Canada 
 fitted out an exploring expedition under the command of Simon 
 J. Dawson, civil engineer, and Henry Youle Hind, M.A., each 
 of whom had charge of a separate department of the work. 
 
 Mr, Dawson, accompanied by three assistant surveyors and a 
 commissariat officer, started from Toronto in July, and commenced 
 his survey at Fort William on the western shore of Lake 
 Superior, A survey of part of the ground he had it in his 
 instructions to explore had many years previously been made by 
 the Boundary Commissioners under the treaty of Ghent, 
 and during the year 1857-1858, Mr. Dawson made it his 
 business by his operations to connect Fort Garry with this survey. 
 During the winter succeeding his arrival he made the settlement 
 his head quarters, and after having executed a survey of the coast 
 of Lake Winnipeg and the Red River, between Fort Alexander 
 and Pembina, he in spring journeyed westward to the Saskatche- 
 Wan. On his return he occupied himself with making a re-survey 
 of the route between Red River and Canada, directing his special 
 
i42 RED RIVEti, 
 
 attention to the portion between Rainy Lake and Lake Saperioif) 
 a region he describes as being very rugged. He completed his 
 iiibours in 1859, and his reports to the Government which employed 
 Mm have been published, but as yet no works of importance li,ave 
 hsen undert-iken in fmrtherance of his schemes. 
 
 Professor Hind was entrusted with the more strictly scientific 
 part of the undertaking. His instructions specially directed 
 him to report on the geological nature of the country through 
 "which he was to pass, its natural history, general topography, 
 vegetation and soil. In the autumn of 1857^ after having 
 finished the summer work in co^Dperation with the surveying party, 
 he left Mr. Dawson in winter quarters at Red EJver and returned 
 to Canada by the St. Paul route. In April, 1858, Mr. Hind 
 returned to Red River by way of Lake Superior, and accompanied 
 the surveyors on their expedition to the west. After examining 
 the rivers Assiniboine and Saskatchewan he returned to the 
 settlement in September, and later in the season to Canada via St. 
 Paul. The two chiefs, during the time occupied by their surveys, 
 •divided their respective parties into several smaller divisions, at 
 the head of each of which was placed an assistant surveyor. By 
 these means several surveys were kept in progTOss over different 
 parts of the country at the same time, and the whole work, when 
 brought to a close, presented a very complete and extensive series 
 ■of operations. Professor Hind, in 1860, published the result of 
 his inquiries in a popular form. His book is called a " Narrative 
 of the Canadian Red River Exploring Expedition "of 1857, and of 
 the Assiuiboine and Saskatchewan Exploring Expedition of 1858." 
 It is a very interesting and lucid exposition of the subjects treated 
 •of, and I have to acknowledge my obligations to it as an authority 
 used in the preparation of my present work, and more especially 
 as an indiciutor of the line of inquiry I have adopted in gathering 
 information from people resident in the colony. 
 
 An attempt was made in 1858 by the Oan-.idian Government to 
 •organize a mail service between Canad i and Red River Settlement 
 over tlie route surveyed by Mr. Dawson. The attempt was 
 persevered in for two years. The mnil bags arrived very irregular- 
 ly, and invariably, I believe, long after the time at which they were 
 
BED RIVER. 143 
 
 theoi-etically due. The quixotic scheme was abandoned enrly in 
 1860. The whole affair was regarded as a serious evil by the 
 settlers, whose letters, in passing through Canada, ran the risk of 
 being forwarded by the uncertain means of conveyance it offered, 
 even though the envelopes were specially directed to be sent via 
 St. Paul and Pembina, the mails by which route continued to 
 arrive the whole time with uninterrupted regularity, and were 
 invariably used, even by the Canadian officials resident in the 
 settlement. 
 
 The people of Red River Settlement have always naturally 
 longed for some connection with the outside world. Their isoLited 
 position, if not entirely unparalleled, is decidedly exceptional 
 among all other British colonies existing at the present time. 
 Creditiibly as> they have adapted themselves to their singular 
 circumstances, and undeniably comfortable as they have rendered 
 themselves since the first difficulties they encountered had been 
 overcome, now more than forty years ago, there has always been 
 wanting in their lot much that might reasonably be desired. The 
 grand desideratum was a market. This they required both for 
 purchase and sale. What articles they required from the civilized 
 world had to be ordered a year previous to tlieir receipt from 
 London, The sale of their agricultural produce was limited to 
 the requirements of the Company, who provisioned their Nortliern 
 ■districts from the settlement. It has frequently occurred that 
 the demand for flour and the other staple articles has exceeded 
 the supply, but this has generally been caused by temporary 
 difficulties, and I know of no valid reason why an unlimited 
 amount of farm produce should not be obtained except that there 
 is a lack of consumers. 
 
 If the Red River population has, been anxious for connection 
 with other countries, the latter cannot be justly accused of 
 supincness in reciprocating the feeling. Both Canada and the 
 United States have ardently desired to participate in the trade of 
 the north. The difficulties of the route between Like Superior 
 and the settlement are so great that, in spite of their good will, the 
 Canadians have been unable to make any advances furthTer than 
 the institution of the already described abortive attempt at a 
 
144 RED EIVEE. 
 
 mail service. The special obstacle to be overcome lies at the 
 height of land between Lakes Superior and Winnipeg, separ- 
 ating the great water systems of the St. Lawrence and the 
 Missouri. The route through the United States, on the contrary, 
 though much more circuitous, passes through the plain country 
 and offered no obstacle of a physical nature to its completion, 
 Red B,iver had, therefore, to wait for nothing except the inevitable 
 settlement of the rich agricultural plains of Wisconsin and 
 Minnesota to bring her into close commercial relationship with 
 the United States. 
 
 The first great fact which heralded an important change was 
 the establishment of the United States mail communication, As 
 the city of St. Paul grew into importance, some adventurous Red 
 River people from time to time travelled across the plains to buy 
 in its markets. Their rude appearance and unsophisticated 
 simplicity are still remembered at St. Paul, whose storekeepers 
 were astonished to receive from these customers the entire contents 
 of their purses, while the amount to bp retained, as the price of 
 goods bought, was left to their uncontrolled integrity. This 
 mode of transacting business has of course been long abandoned. 
 The traffic between the two places increased steadily from year to 
 year, until, in 1859, the Hudson's Bay Company, in consequence of 
 the inadequacy of the means of transport between the settlement 
 and York Factory, to meet the growing demands for freight made 
 upon them, brought out a large consignment of their supplies by the 
 new route. The chief contractors for the freighting business 
 were Messrs. J. C. & H. 0. Burbank & Company, a St. Paul 
 firm, also employed by the United States Government to carry 
 their mails. These gentlemen, finding it necessary for their 
 interests that a practicable road should exist, bridged the principal 
 streams between St. Paul and Georgetown, at the western 
 extremity of Minnesota, while a steamboat was stationed on the 
 Red River of the North to ply between Georgetown and the 
 settlement. I may mention that Georgetown was so named in 
 compliment to Sir George Simpson, the Governor of Rupert's 
 Land." 
 
 Since the opening of the Minnesota route the traffic passing 
 
RED RIVER. 145 
 
 ■over it has annually increased. An outbreak of Sioux Indians, 
 •which occurred in 1862, gave a temporary check to settlement in 
 the state, but the revolt was quelled, and the tide of emigration 
 ias been continually flowing westward for some years. That time 
 will bring it to the British Lines admits of but little doubt. 
 The question then rises, how will it affect the country politically ? 
 ■Only two possibilities seem to exist, Kupert's Land will either be 
 incorporated, with the other divisions of British North America, 
 into one great brotherhood of British Provinces, or it will drift 
 into annexation to the United States of America. So many 
 events are liable to occur affecting this question, and so many 
 arguments can plausibly be advanced by those whose opinions 
 favour either of these alternatives, that it seems at present im- 
 possible to conclude with anything approaching certainty what 
 will ultimately be the fate of the colony. The present inhabitants 
 see England as the one point to which long ago their eyes were 
 turned, as the remote but only available source of manufactured 
 supplies, and as the mother country to which politically they are 
 bound by frail and almost imaginary ties, while the Union has 
 brought the products of civilization, in the natural course of its 
 progress, to their very doors, and is yearly bringing them more 
 and more within reach of the influences of civilized life. Tra- 
 dition speaks to them of their Scottish kindred, but present 
 interest and the natural influence of good offices and profitable 
 •commerce connect them closely with their neighbours, the citizens 
 -of the United States. I am inclined, however, to believe that the 
 feeling of the great majority of the population, not bom American 
 subjects, is still in favour of being permitted to strengthen the 
 ties which connect their country with Great Britain, and that 
 late events in the history of the States have not tended to foster 
 any desire which may exist for political union with the Great 
 Republic, however much the kindly feelings and actions of its 
 ■citizens may be reciprocated and appreciated. The American 
 element in the population may, however, soon preponderate to such 
 an extent as to render the party anxious for annexation possessed 
 of a numerical majority of adherents resident in the colony. 
 An event, interesting from its novelty, occurred in 1859, when 
 
 E 
 
146 RED RIVER. 
 
 the first newspaper ever published in the country was established'^ 
 its opening number being dated 28th December of that year. Th&- 
 paper was called " The Nor' Wester " and appeared once a fort- 
 night, the amount of subscription being twelve shillings, after- 
 wards reduced to ten, per annum. The project was carried out 
 by two Canadians named Buckingham and Coldwell, the former 
 of whom had been connected a good deal with the Canadian 
 Press, while the latter had in the course of his newspaper ex- 
 perience officiated as shorthand reporter of debates in the 
 Canadian Provincial Legislative Assemblies. In 1860 Mr.. 
 Buckingham quitted the settlement, and the "Nor' Wester" was 
 conducted by Mr. Coldwell in partnership with Mr. James Ross,, a 
 gentleman who is mentioned in a document published by the 
 Bishop of Rupert's Land as having been a distinguished scholar- 
 at the Red River college of St. John, and who afterwards went 
 through a very creditable academical career at the University of 
 Toronto. In 1864 Mr. Ross sold his interests in the newspaper 
 to Doctor John Schultz, a medical practitioner in the colony, who,, 
 on the departure of Mr. Coldwell to Canada, in 1865, became sole, 
 proprietor in the venture, and remained so until the present year, 
 1868, when he made it over to Walter Robert Bown, a person- 
 who has for a. few years past resided a good deal in the settlement,, 
 practising as a dentist. 
 
 Many opinions exist among the settlers in reference to the 
 influence which the " Nor' Wester" has exercised. Some regard it 
 as having been an instrument of unmixed evil, others as having 
 been productive of some benefit to the community, while possibly 
 the greater number believe it to have been destitute of any appre- 
 ciable influence whatever. As will readily be imagined it has 
 been much used as an instrument for promoting the private objects 
 of its successive proprietors, in which view it will come under our 
 notice a good deal in the after course of my narrative. In looking 
 over the long list of old numbers now on file, I certainly hesitate 
 to say that it is useless, for the detailed record of local events pre- 
 sented in the form even of a very inferior newspaper, is interesting 
 to such as take a pleasure in the recollection of local reminiscences. 
 The spirit of persistent opposition in its columns towards the 
 
RED RIVER. 147" 
 
 government of the colony, latent at times but alwsiys existing, is a 
 feature the absence of which would have been preferable to its 
 presence. In this respect, I think it certain, that had the influence 
 of the " Nor' Wester" been at all commensurate with its ambition, 
 it would have frequently so exercised it as to bring the settlement 
 into a state of anarchy. Its general appearance is of course very 
 inferior. The printing, though improved of late, still leaves much 
 reasonably to be desired, and the diction I shall permit to speak a 
 little for itself in the Appendix. 
 
 A large portion of the newspaper has generally been devoted to 
 advertisements, and too much of it to incidents of a surprising and 
 apocryphal nature, and long lists of " Miscellaneous Items." 
 To give detailed specimens of the " Startling Facts" abounding in 
 its numbers would be impossible within my limits ; but the titles 
 of the articles may convey some idea of their substance. We 
 have " The Millennium at Hand;" " Saved by his Boots " " Mon- 
 treal to be the residence of the Pope ;" " Which was the Lunatic V 
 " Awful Eevenge ;" " New Infernal Machine ;" " The End of the 
 World— 1878 the Last year;" "Dean Stanley on Solomon;" 
 "Excommunication of Doctor Colenso;" "Mr. D'Israeli at 
 Church ;" " Love and Murder on the Plains ;" " A Deaf and Dumb 
 Lawyer ;" " Our Cat;" " The Pre-Adamite Inhabitants of Switz- 
 erland ;" " A Three-tongued Child ;" " The New Horror ;" « Prema- 
 ture Interment ;" " Mexican Bullfight ;" " What is the Use of the 
 Moon?" "A Flying Ship;" "Strange Freak of a Lunatic;" 
 "^Biddy and the Premier;" " Singular Fancies of a Lunatic ;" and 
 many others of the same kind. 
 
 The " Miscellaneous Items" comprehend such statements as the- 
 foUowing : 
 
 " There is a house in Brooklyn occupied by a fifth wife and 
 five mothers-in-law. 
 
 " A man in Albany is troubled with a strange mania. He thinks 
 he is a cancer. Very recently he very nearly ate the side of a 
 poor fellow's face off, and was then locked up. 
 
 " The following dialogue actually took place a short time 
 since between a visiting examiner and a pupil in a school near- 
 Salisbury, England ; 
 
148 RED aivBR. 
 
 " ' Now, then, the first boy of the Grammar class I' Firpt Boy. 
 « Here be-zur.' Examiner. ' Well, my good boy, can, you tell me 
 what vowels are ?' First boy. Vowels, zur 1 Yes, of course I 
 can.' Examiner. ' Tell me then, what are vowels ?' First boy. 
 ' "WTiy, vowls be chickens.' 
 
 " 'Aw Doctaw, does the choleraw awfect the highaw awdaw ?' 
 'No'' replied the doctor to the exquisite ; ' but its Death on fools, 
 and you'd better leave the city at once.' 
 
 " Headings. An editor heads his list of births, marriages, and 
 deaths thus, 'hatched,' ' matched,' and 'despatched.' 
 
 "A foreigner looking at a picture of a number of vessels said, 
 see what a flock of ships. He was told that a flock of ships was 
 called a fleet, and that a fleet of sheep was called a flock. And it 
 was added for his guidance in mastering the intricacies of our 
 language, that a flock of girls is called a bevy, that a bevy 
 of wolves is called a pack, and a pack of thieves is called a gang, 
 and a gang of angels is called a host, and a host of porpoises 
 is called a shoal, and a shoal of buffaloes is called a herd, and a herd 
 of children is called a troop, and a troop of partridges is called a 
 covey, and a covey of beauties is called a galaxy, and a galaxy of 
 ruffians is called a horde, and a horde of rubbish is called a heap, 
 and a heap of oxen is called a drove, and a drove of blackguards is 
 called a mob, and a mob of whales is called a school, and a school 
 of worshippers is called a congregation, and a congregation of engi- 
 neers is called a corps, and a corps of robbers is called a band, and 
 a band of locusts is called a swarm, and a swarm of people is 
 called a crowd, and a crowd of gentlefolk is called flite, and 
 the ^lite of the city's thieves and rascals are called the roughs.' 
 
 " Query. — Was Western whiskey ever seen ' coming through the 
 lye.' 
 
 "A drunken Englishman at Emms, a German watering place, 
 lately on meeting the viceroy of Egypt slapped him in the face and 
 called him ' a d— d Arab.' 
 
 " The most recent case of absence of mind, is that of an editor 
 who recently copied from a hostile paper one of his own articles 
 and headed it '\j'retched attempt at wit.' 
 
 " Mrs. Toohey was arrested for bimg drunk on a tavern doorr 
 
KED KIVBR. 149 
 
 step in Troy. The landlord appeared in her defence, and set up 
 that he kept her as a sign to attract customers and to show 
 the efficacy of his liquors." 
 
 From time to time the Red River public is favoured with some 
 beautifully written scrap of poetry from the! works of Bulwer, 
 Tennyson, Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, or the pages of some Eng- 
 lish Monthly Magazine. Of the latter I shall here insert one 
 specimen, merely premising that surely the taste which guided the 
 editor who selected it was good, and excusing myself to its author, 
 unknown to me, for the liberty I have taken in copying his beau- 
 ful production in full, on the ground of the exceptional circum- 
 stances through which it came under my observation. It is 
 quoted in the "Nor' Wester" as taken from Eraser' s Magazine and 
 is headed 
 
 " Fab Awat." 
 
 " The land that is very far ofif." 
 
 Upon the shore 
 
 Of Evermore 
 We sport like children at their play, 
 
 And gather shells 
 
 Where sinks and awella 
 The mighty sea from far away. 
 
 Upon that beach, 
 
 Nor Toice nor speech 
 Doth thing intelligible say ; 
 
 But through our souls 
 
 A whisper rolls 
 That comes to us from far away. 
 
 Into our ears 
 
 The voice of years 
 Comes deeper, deeper, day by day ; 
 
 We stoop to hear 
 
 As it draws near 
 In awfulness from far away. 
 
 At what it tells 
 
 We drop the shells 
 We were so full of yesterday. 
 
 And pick no more 
 
 Uppn that shore 
 But dream of brighter far away. 
 
150 RED RIVER. 
 
 And o'er that tide 
 
 Far out and wide 
 The yearnings of our souls do stray ; 
 
 We long to go 
 
 We do not know 
 Where it may be, but far away. 
 
 The mighty deep 
 
 Doth slowly creep 
 Upon the shore where we did play ; 
 
 The very sand 
 
 Where we did stand 
 A moment since, swept far away. 
 
 Our playmates all 
 
 Beyond our call 
 Are passing hence, as we, too, may, 
 
 Unlo that shore 
 
 Of Evermoro 
 Beyond the boundless far away. 
 
 We'll trust the wave 
 
 And Him to save 
 Beneath whose feet as marble lay 
 
 The rolling deep. 
 
 For He can keep 
 Our souls in that dim far away. 
 
 Occasionally, too, an effusion appears written expressly for the 
 journal now under review. The vast majority of these efforts 
 are, when intelligible, so insipid that I dare not venture to inflict 
 them on my reader. One of the more successful minority, how- 
 ever, along with another, to the original history of which I 
 possess no clue, I shall here re-produce, remarking that in my 
 opinion stale insipidity cannot be truthfully alleged against either 
 of them. The first is specially headed, 
 
 " Lines por the Nor' Wester." 
 I would I were a Stickleback 
 
 And lived upon a mountain, 
 I'd curl my tail, and pur and quack 
 
 Like sparrows in a fountain. 
 
 What joy through icy fire to dart, 
 
 TTnnn a. rnhxpph axirino-iniy 
 
 Upon a cobweb swinging. 
 And give my love my sunburnt heart 
 While evening drums are ringing. 
 
KED KIVEK. 151 
 
 Yet rather would I wish to be 
 
 An elegant young spider, 
 To treat my lore to imps and tea 
 
 And sit and sing beside her. 
 
 Then would we fly to Mtna, Green 
 
 With blue bottles behind us, 
 And hidden in a soup tureen • 
 
 No mortal eye should find us. 
 
 This ballad is signed " Bedlam" ; the real name of the author 
 1 have been unable to ascertain. 
 
 My second specimen is headed merely " Curious Medley." No 
 signature is attached to it, and the name of the compiler is un- 
 inown to me. It runs as follows : 
 
 CtJRious Medley. 
 
 By the lake where drooped the willow, 
 
 Row, vessels, row ; 
 I want to be an Angel 
 
 And jump Jim Crow. 
 
 An old crow sat on a hickory limb 
 
 None knew him but to praise ; 
 Let me kiss him for his mother 
 
 For he smells of Schweitzer kase. 
 
 The Minstrel to the war has gone 
 
 With his banjo on his knee. 
 He awoke to hear the shriek . 
 
 There's a light in the window for thee. 
 
 A frog he would a wooing go 
 
 His hair was curled to kill, 
 He used to wear an old grey coat 
 
 And the sword of Bunkei; hill. 
 
 Oft in the stilly night i 
 
 Make way for liberty — he cried, 
 ] I won't go home till morning 
 
 With Peggy by my side. ' 
 
 1 am dying, Egypt, dying, 
 
 Susanna, don't you cry, 
 I know how sublime a thing it is 
 
 To brush away the blue tailed fly. 1 
 
162 RED RIVER, 
 
 The boy stood on the burning deck 
 
 With his baggi^ge checked for Troy 
 
 One of the few immortal names, 
 His name was Pat Malloy. 
 
 Mary had a little lamb 
 
 He could a tale unfold, 
 He had no teeth to eat oatcake 
 
 As his spectacles were gold. 
 
 Lay on, lay on, Macduff 
 
 Man wants but little here below. 
 And I'm to be Queen of the May 
 
 So kiss me quick and go. 
 
 The following advertisement may perhaps interest my Masonie 
 readers. The " W* * M"* * was Dr. Schultz, editor of the 
 paper at the date of insertion, being Wednesday, 9th November^ 
 
 1864. 
 
 NORTHERN LIGHT LODGE. 
 
 The first regular communication 
 
 of 
 
 Northern Light Lodge U. D. 
 
 of F* * and A* • M* * 
 
 will be held on Monday evening 
 
 next, 14th instant, 
 
 at the Lodge Room, 
 
 In the building of A. G. B. Bannatyne, Esq., 
 
 By order of the W* * M* * 
 
 W. COLDWELL, S* * 
 
 A more detailed account of the proceedings of the Masonic fra- 
 ternity shall be laid before the reader on a future page. 
 
 The rules I have laid down to regulatp the composition of this 
 volume do not admit of my copying in full the proper names 
 occuiTinginthe following advertisements extracted from the " Nor"" 
 Wester," dated respectively 27th January, and 10th February^ 
 1866, and 8th September, 1868. 
 
 NEW ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 Whereas certain reports have been, and I believe now are, in 
 circulation which very much affect my standing in society and in 
 the church, I wish to advertise the following document, which is a 
 
RED RIVER. 15g 
 
 series of questions asked of the person mentioned and the answers 
 returned. 
 
 (Signed) M P 
 
 Bed KivER Settlement. 
 
 January 18, 1866. 
 For the silencing of the flying report and the satisfaction of the 
 
 public, M P puts the three following questions to Mrs. 
 
 G I . 
 
 Question. — Had I ever any carnal connection with you ? 
 
 AnsUier. — Mrs. G 1 No. 
 
 Question. — Did I ever attempt it ? 
 Answer. — No. 
 
 Question. — Did I ever ask it ? 
 Answer.— No. 
 
 Witnesses (Signed,) Samuel Matheson. 
 (") Hugh Polson. 
 
 The girl to whom the above interrogatories had been put was said 
 to have been somewhat indignant at the publicity of the measures 
 taken without her knowledge or consent, and the first number of 
 the " Nor' Wester" published after that in which occurred the inser- 
 tion of the obnoxious paper, contained the following advertisement 
 
 from her pen. The Gr. I in the latter document represents 
 
 her own Christian name, while the G in the former stands for 
 
 that of her husband. 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 I see in the paper whereas M P complains, of certain 
 
 reports, which aflFect his character and his standing in the church, 
 for which he ought to have thought of some time ago, and not to 
 behave in an undecent manner, as he showed to me, which was 
 unbecoming of any man, and more so a married man, and an elder 
 in the church. 
 
 He speaks of the questions asked me to clear him. I never 
 accused him of that or mentioned that. I just say what I said at- 
 
 first, no more, no less, and if Mr. P is not satisfied with this, 
 
 in your next issue I will give a more detailed account of his con- 
 duct towards me. 
 
 (Signed) K I 
 
 February 10th, 1866. 
 
154 
 
 RED RIVER. 
 
 The public never was favoured with the threatened " more 
 ■detailed account." 
 
 In a conspicuous part of the '' Nor' Wester" of 8th September, 
 
 1868, appears the accustomed motto, designed, I presume, to 
 
 indicate what the managers desire the public to consider the rule 
 
 pursued by the journal in its selection of matters for publication 
 
 " Nothing extenuate, nor aught set down in malice." 
 
 The customer, at whose solicitation they consented to insert the 
 following advertisement, has certainly not been guilty of extenua- 
 tion, and probably had anything of a malicious nature entered into 
 iis motives, it has recoiled in absurdity on himself. 
 
 CAUTION TO THE PUBLIC. 
 
 Whereas my wife Nancy has been guilty of adultery and 
 ■other improper conduct, I take this method to caution the 
 public of this colony against harboring her, or selling her anything 
 on my account, as I have put her away from my bed and board for 
 the reasons above stated. I will provide for the maintenance of 
 my daughter, however, now in her possession, if she wUl deliver her 
 into my hands. 
 
 (Signed) J I , K.A. 
 
 August 18. 
 
 Before resuming the labours of original composition, I beg to 
 ■«lose this chapter by one more extract in the shape of a material 
 .address. 
 
 TO THE TERKESTBIAL GLOBE. 
 
 By a Miserable Wretch. 
 
 Roll on I thou Ball, Roll on I 
 
 Through boundless realms of space 
 
 Roll on! 
 What though I'm a sorry case I 
 
 What though I cannot meet my bills ! 
 What though I suffer toothache's ills I 
 What though I swallow countless pills 1 
 Never you mind ! Roll on I 
 Roll on I thou Ball, Roll on ! 
 Through seas of inky air 
 
 Roll on I 
 It's true I've got no shirts to wear 
 It's true my butcher's bill is due 
 It's true my prospects all look blue 
 But don't let that unsettle you 
 
 Never you mind 1 Roll on (it bolls on.) 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ANNUAL ROUTINE IN RED RIVER SETTLEMENT. 
 
 Packets— Water Freighting — Portage La Loche Brigade — Land Trans- 
 port on the Plains — Plain Hunters— Changes of Seasons — Christmas 
 Festivities — Easter — Requisitions for Supplies — Goose Hunts. 
 
 The starting of the Northern Packet from Red River is one of 
 the great annual events in the colony. It occurs generally about 
 the 10th December, when the ice having been thoroughly formed 
 and the snow fallen, winter travelling is easy and uninterrupted. 
 The packet arrangements are such that every post in the Northern 
 Department is communicated with through its agency. The 
 means of transit are sledges and snowshoes. The sledges are 
 ■drawn by magnificent dogs, of which there are three or four to 
 each vehicle, whose neatly fitting harness, though gaudy in appear- 
 ance, is simple in design and perfectly adapted to its purposes, 
 while the little bells attached thereto, bright looking and clearly 
 ringing, cheer the flagging spirits of men and animals through the 
 long run of the winter's day. 
 
 In the course of the long distances traversed by the winter 
 runners, every pound weight laid on the sledges tells. So jealously 
 "was all excess in the amount of mail matter transmitted through 
 the packets guarded against in the old times, before the institution 
 of Red River mails, that the carriage of newspapers was disallow- 
 ed, with the exception of an annual file of the " Montreal Gazette," 
 forwarded to head quarters for general perusal. Newspapers were 
 then rare and highly prized, but now the bulk of the contents of 
 the Company's inward bound packets consists of newspapers 
 addressed to private individuals. 
 
156 RED KIVER. 
 
 A pair of stoutly constructed wooden boxes, measuring aboufe. 
 three feet in length by eighteen inches deep and fourteen wide^ 
 when well packed, contain an astonishing amount of printed and 
 written matter. These receptacles are secured to the dog sledges, 
 and the party sets forth on its journey, the dogs running at a 
 gentle jog trot from about daylight till dusk, and the drivers 
 accompanying them on foot. To walk over the snow the latter 
 require " snowshoes." These are composed each of a light 
 wooden frame, about four feet in length, tapering from a width of 
 about fifteen inches at the centre to points at either end, the toes 
 being so turned up as to prevent tripping. Over this frame 
 netting, is str«tphed for the foot of the runner to rest on. The 
 object of the appliance is by a thin network to distribute the 
 weight of the wearer over so large ' a surface of snow aS will 
 prevent him from . sinking. The invention is an Indian one, and 
 like that of the canoe and other Indian instruments, it is so 
 perfectly, suited to the object to be compassed as not to be suscep- 
 tible of improvement from the whites. 
 
 In traversing the frozen lakes the parties skirt their shores from 
 point to point, selecting their camping places for the night in the 
 more sheltered spots, where firewood can be obtained. A quantity 
 of snow having been cleared away, sometimes with the aid of a. 
 snowshoe used as a shovel, the members of the party set themselves, 
 to work in collecting all the dry wood they can find, and a long; 
 fire is lighted. Supper having been prepared and eaten, and the 
 dogs fed, the fire is replenished, and the members of the party, 
 arranging their blankets so that each lies with his feet to the blaze, 
 fall asleep. Some time before sunrise they are again awake and, 
 after finishing their breakfast of pemmican and tea, resume their 
 journey. Forty miles a day is .considered not an extraordinary 
 run. A halt of one or two hours is made towardsnoon for dinner. 
 
 Th6, winter packet generally runs from Fort Garry over the- 
 whole length of Lake Winnipeg to Norway House at its northern 
 extremity, in eight days. The distance thus travelled is about 
 350 miles. At Norway House the entire packet Is overhauled 
 and repacked so as to separate matter going north and west from, 
 that going eastward towards the coast of Hudson's Bay. The 
 
KED RIVER. 157 
 
 Hed River runners return from Norway House, bringing with theln 
 to the settlement the packet from York Factory on the Bay, Which 
 is run to connect with the one they have brought from the 
 settlement. 
 
 A new set of packet bearers travel from Norway House to 
 ■Carlton, near the eastern extremity of the great Saskatchewan 
 valley. Their route runs across Lake "Winnipeg and up the river 
 Saskatchewan on which Carlton is situated. The distance is 
 about six hundred and fifty miles, and is performed in twenty-two 
 days. At Carlton the process of unpacking and redistribution is 
 again performed, matter directed to the north being separated 
 from that directed to the west, including the posts in the districts 
 of Swan River and Saskatchewan^ Carlton, although not the 
 -chief post in the Saskatchewan district, is the grand centre of the 
 winter packet arrangements. The runners who come from 
 Edmonton down the river Saskatchewan, and those whose journey 
 from Norway House I have just traced, wait there the arrival of 
 the outward bound express from the northern districts, strictly so 
 -called, being those of Mackenzie River and Athabasca. When 
 the runners coming from these three different directions have met 
 and exchanged their burdens, the last grand link in the operation 
 is completed. The express which has come down the river 
 returns to Edmonton, the Norway House men retrace their steps 
 eastward, while the great Northern Packet journeys onwards in 
 -charge of the men who have come to meet it from the remote 
 regions to which it is consigned. 
 
 Men engaged at Carlton are then dispatched overland to Red 
 River, through the Swan River district, with the matter consigned 
 to posts within the latter, and the collected correspondence of the 
 north and west to be mailed for the outside world, as already 
 described, by the agency in Red River settlement. This outward- 
 bound express usually reaches Fort Garry in the last week of 
 February. Its arrival forms one of the chief events of the 
 -winter. For some days after its receipt the Company's office is a 
 scene of comparative bustle, maintained by a succession of 
 inquiries for letters from friends inland. Occasionally very sad 
 news is brought out by such opportunities. Death and othet 
 
158 RED EIVER. 
 
 causes of change operate even among the scanty population of tji& 
 north, and the accumulated incidents of six youths often present- 
 at least one or two topics of general interest. The ramifications 
 of relationship in the country are so complicated that events of 
 importance which afiect any family are felt by a wide circle of 
 more remote connections. The great majority of the settlers, too, 
 have been themselves connected with the fur trade or have near 
 relatives stationed at some of the Company's posts, scattered up- 
 and down the country. All these causes combine to render the 
 receipt of a large quantity of news from the interior a very inter- 
 esting event in the colony. 
 
 The arrival of the Northern Packet in February is closely- 
 followed by the dispatch of subsidiary expresses of minor impor- 
 tance, but chiefly intended for the convenience of the Company 
 in its trading operations. The men from Carlton, after a few 
 days' rest, return overland by the same route through Swan Kiver 
 District along which they had come to Red River, and a packet 
 called the " Red River Spring Packet " is sent to Norway House- 
 era route to York Factory, whence another express called the- 
 " York Factory Spring Packet" comes to meet it. 
 
 The striking difference in the contents of outward and inward 
 packets lies in the presence of newspapers and other printed matter 
 in the latter, while in the former the whole contents consist of 
 letters, the white envelopes of which contrast strongly with the- 
 soiled, stamped and postmarked appearance of their inward bound 
 neighbours. Correspondence of a private nature is much indulged 
 in throughout the Indian country where a great part of the year- 
 is spent in idleness. The chief drawback to letter writing at a 
 remote post is the total absence of any thing to write about. This- 
 difficulty is overcome by the ingenious expedient of writing one 
 letter, a copy of which is forwarded to each friend whom the author 
 is desirous of laying under the obligation to reply to him. The- 
 excitement caused at a remote post by the arrival of the packet 
 with all its news from home is very great. 
 
 The runners, whose duty it is to carry these packets, are, of course^ 
 not unimportant men either in their own eyes or in those of other 
 people. When they can manage to be at one of the Company s. 
 
RED RIVEK. 169 
 
 postB on Christmas or New Year's Day they are handsomely wel- 
 comed, and, under all circumstances, their recognized character as 
 newsbearers secures for them a certain amount of flattering consi- 
 deration. They certainly pass through a strange scene in their 
 journeys. To their accustomed eyes, however, all is monotonous 
 enough in the appearance of the withered woods through which the 
 wind howls and shrieks shrilly in the night, or in the endless 
 expanse of snow the glare of whose unsullied whiteness blinds the 
 vision of the Lake traveller. The solitude of the regions they 
 traverse is described by travellers as very striking, and, indeed, save 
 when the occasional dog sledge with its peals of little bells in 
 winter, or the swiftly passing boat brigade, resonant with the 
 songs of the summer voyageurs, intrudes, with its momentary varia- 
 tion, on the shriek of the all penetrating wind, the ripple of the 
 stream, the roar of the thunder-toned waterfall, or the howl of the 
 wild beast of the woods, the vast expanse is abandoned to the 
 undisturbed possession of the Indian hunter and his prey. 
 
 On the outbreak of spring the hibernal torpor, which has influen- 
 ced a large portion of the settlement population, gives way to the 
 active life generated by the vigorous prosecution of several bran- 
 ches of important and labourious business. Of these the freighting 
 .operations are among the most important. They are conducted 
 by land and water. At the latter class of work we shall first 
 glance. 
 
 The water carriage of the country is performed by means of 
 what are called " inland boats.'' Each of these is worked by 
 nine men, of whom eight are rowers and the other is steersman ;. 
 it is capable of carrying about three and-a half tons of freight. Brig- 
 ades composed of numbers varying from four to eight of thesfr 
 craft are kept plying in various directions, throughout the season 
 of open water, on the inland lakes and rivers between those points; 
 to and from which goods have to be carried. The tripmen who 
 man these boats are Indians or Half-breeds engaged at the place 
 where the brigade is organized, and paid a stipulated sum for the 
 performance of the trip. Between Bed River Settlement and 
 York Factory such brigades pass and re-pass throughout the 
 whole season of open navigation. They are organized in the set- 
 
160 RED RIVER. 
 
 tlement, both by the Company and by such private settlers as have 
 ■capital and inclination to invest it in that description of bvisiness. 
 The cargoes sent to York are made up of furs and other country 
 produce consigned thither by the Company for the purpose of ship- 
 ment to England ; the return freight from York to the settlement 
 is partly composed of goods imported by private merchants and 
 partly of those imported by the Company for use in its trading 
 operations. These goods have all previously been shipped from 
 England to York by the Company's annual vessel. 
 
 The route between Bed River and York runs north through 
 Lake Winnipeg to Norway House, thence eastward along a rugged 
 line of streams and lakes by Oxford House to the Bay coast. The 
 voyage both ways, including all stoppages, occupies about nine 
 weeks, and the rates of pay allowed men belonging to the respective 
 grades of steersman, bowsman, and middleman are £8, £7, and 
 £6, for the journey. The employer, in addition to the above pay, 
 of course, furnishes the brigades with food, consisting of pemmican 
 and flour. 
 
 The greatest and most important of the brigades organized at 
 Red River Settlement is that commonly known as the Portage La 
 Loche Brigade. The chief objects of this organization are to 
 convey inland the English manufactures intended for barter with 
 the Indians in the remote and valuable districts of Athabasca and 
 Mackenzie River ; to bring out the furs already traded in these 
 districts for shipment to England from York Factory; and to 
 transport from the latter place to the settlement as much of the 
 freight deposited at the factory for conveyance to that part of the 
 country as the boats can carry. 
 
 Of late years this brigade has subjected the Company to consid- 
 erable loss and inconvenience through mutinous conduct. The 
 description I shall give of it refers less to what it has now become 
 than to what it was so recently as 1866. Till that year, from .1826, 
 when first organized, it served its purpose in a satisfactory manner. 
 It consisted of about fifteen boats arranged in two minor brigades, 
 each of which was under the charge of an experienced guide, whose 
 boat, sailing at the head of the line, guided the rest through rapidsj 
 alioals and other obstacles to the navigation of the route. During 
 
RED RIVER. 1(31 
 
 tlie first week in June, the ice in Lake Winnipeg having disap- 
 peared and spring completely set in, the leading brigade of seven or 
 eight boats usually starts. About a week afterwards it is followed 
 by the second brigade. The interval is allowed with the object of 
 preventing the brigades meeting and creating undue bustle and 
 confusion at any of the halting places along the route. 
 
 The first of these halting places is Norway House, to which 
 depot is conveyed a vast quantity of agricultural produce from 
 Red River Settlement. At Norway House there waits the arrival 
 of the boats the outfit of English goods previously brought from 
 York and stored there to be taken onward by them for the use of 
 the trade in Athabasca and Mackenzie River districts. Having 
 discharged their Norway House freight, and shipped that intended 
 for the north, the boats resume their journey. Their new route 
 runs in a westerly direction across Lake Winnipeg, up the River 
 Saskatchewan, and northwards past Forts Cumberland and Isle k 
 la Crosse, to Methy Portage, called also Portage La Loche, referred 
 • to by me in a previous chapter as the Height of Land separating 
 the waters flowing into the Arctic Sea from those draining into 
 Hudson's Bay, 
 
 This is the extreme limit of the course traversed by " the Port- 
 age Brigade." Here it is met by brigades travelling south from 
 Mackenzie River and bringing the furs already traded. The 
 Portage is about twelve miles in length. Eiforts have been made to 
 facilitate the transport across it by means of oxen and carts ; but 
 the men belonging to the boats are often necessarily employed here, 
 as on all the other Portages, in -carrying the packages on their 
 ibacks. When the latter course is adopted it is usual to make the 
 Red River men take their "pieces" half way ^across the Port- 
 age, where they deliver them over to the men from the North, 
 receiving in exchange the fur packs brought to meet them by the 
 latter. The new cargo shipped, they retrace their course down 
 stream and, passing Norway House, run eastward to the Bay, 
 with the object of delivering at the factory for shipment to Eng- 
 land, the furs they have brought from Portage La Loche. Should 
 the Company's ship have arrived at York before them, they imme- 
 diately return to the settlement ; but,, if not, they wait for her and 
 
 L 
 
162 RED EIVEE. 
 
 receive what freight she brings for them to transport to Red 
 River, 
 
 Besides the goods, the Portage La Loche brigade carries a. 
 packet. The opportunities offered by it in summer and by the 
 "Northern Express," whose course has been already traced in 
 winter, are the only two available to parties living north of Port- 
 age La Loche for communicating with the civilized world. 
 
 The time occupied by the trip just described is about four 
 months, the boats starting early in June and returning to the 
 settlement early ' in October, thus being employed during all 
 the summer. Detailed average rates of travel may be taken 
 as follows : The boats leaving the settlement on the 1st of June 
 may arrive at Norway House on the 10th of June, leave it on the 
 12th, and pass Cumberland on the 24th of June, and Isle k la 
 Crosse on the 9th of July, reaching Portage La Loche on the 17th 
 of the same month. Leaving the Portage on the return trip on 
 the 1st of August, they will pass Isle a la Crosse on the 5th, Cum- 
 berland on the 15th, Norway House on the 21st, and arrive 
 at York Factory on the 31st of August. Leaving York on 
 the 10th of September they will reach Norway House on the 
 30th of September, and Red River Settlement about the 8th 
 of October. 
 
 The probable duration of the voyage, as a whole, may be relied 
 on as above stated ; but great uncertainty necessarily prevails as ta 
 the date of arrival at each post on the route. The above estimate 
 is meant merely to indicate probability. In passing through the 
 lakes the sail is used when the wind is fair ; but, should it be 
 otherways, it often happens that a detention of several days occurs.- 
 The difference of time occupied in ascending and descending 
 rivers will also be observed. The upward trip from Norway 
 House to Portage La Loche will occupy thirty-six days, the return 
 will be executed in twenty-one days ; that from Norw.iy House 
 to York will be performed in ten days, while the Libourious 
 ascent will require the efforts of twenty days. The rapidity and 
 Strength of the currents in the rivers cause the delay in ascendingy 
 and aid the efforts of the crews in descending the streams. 
 
 On the rivers traversed by these brigades, there arc many 
 
RED RIVER. \Q^ 
 
 Interruptions to the navigation of so serious a nature that the 
 fcoats have to be unloaded and, along with their freight, carried by 
 the crews occasionally for a considerable distance overland, to be 
 re-launched at the nearest spot where the obstruction is at an end. 
 This process is called " making a portage," Where the interrupt 
 *ion is not of a character sufficiently formidable to render a port- 
 age necessary, the crew, going ashor*, pull the vessel along by 
 means of lines. This is called " tracking." 
 
 The vast amount of handling necessary in passing goods over 
 •the numerous portages which intervene between Hudson's Bay and 
 even the nearer inland distoicts, renders the packing of the 
 merchandize a matter of very great importance indeed. The 
 standard weight of each packet used in the Compainy's trade is 
 one hundred pounds. Such a bale or case is termed an " Inland 
 piece." Each of the above described boats is supposed capable of 
 containing seventy-five pieces as a fair -cargo. It is.the country method 
 of estimating tonnage. The facility with which such pieces can be 
 handled by the muscular tripmen is very perfect; a boat can be 
 loaded by its crew of nine men in five minutes, and the compact, 
 ■orderly appearance presented on completion of the operation is 
 teyond .praise. 
 
 The arrangement of the duties of the various grades of men 
 belonging to these brigades is well calculated to suit its purpose. 
 The steersman attached to each boat is the captain. Seated on an 
 elevated flooring at the stern of his boat he steers, either with the 
 -common helm or, where the situation is critical, with his long and 
 powerful sweep, with one stroke of which an expert workman will 
 effect an instantaneous change in the course of his skiff. It is an 
 important duty of the steersman to lift the pieces from their places 
 in the boat, and lay them on the backs of the tripmen at the port- 
 ages. The process of raising seventy or seventy-five pieces, each 
 weighing a hundred pounds, from a position beneath the foot to a 
 ■level with the shoulders, is oue requiring a man of considerable 
 strength to perform efficiently and with expedition. 
 
 Of the eight men composing the crew, one is called the ^' bows- 
 man." The special duty of this person is to stand at the bow of 
 the vessel at all portions of the route abounding with rapids 
 
164 EED RIVEE^ 
 
 shoals or sunken rocks, and, while, advising the steersman By voicef 
 and sign where such ohstructions exist, himself, with the^ help 
 of a long light pole, to aid the motion of the hoat into the safer 
 channel. While not occupied in this distinctive duty, the bowsmair 
 works at the oar like any other man of the erew. 
 
 The " middlemen'' are the rowers. When a favourable breeze 
 blows thuir duties are relieved by the stibs^ttition of the saiL At 
 portages they transport the boat and goods overland. Each man 
 is considered competent to carry two " pieces" ofi his back at 
 a time. These are maintained in position by a leather contrivance 
 termed a " portage strap," by Which the weight of the burden is 
 brought to bear on the forehead of the porter. 
 
 After the performance of a few voyages over the Portage route,, 
 the ordinarily intelligent middleman gains such knowledge of the 
 details of navigation as to become capable of acting as bowsman.. 
 After further service, should he turn out a man fit to command 
 others, and likely to be careful of the property composing hi» 
 ladings, he is eligible for promotion to the pdsition of steersman. 
 
 Over each brigade, as already mentioned, there is placed a 
 guide. This functionary may be described as the commodore of 
 the fleet. His special duty is to shew the route in > all parts- 
 where it is doubtful, or to lead the way where rapids or other 
 obstructions intervene. He supports the authority of the steers- 
 men and transacts the business of his brigade at the posts where 
 it touches on the route. He is a most important official, and,, 
 when properly qualified, exceedingly useful. He is generally 
 advanced in life, having necessarily risen from the position of 
 middleman to that which he holds. His knowledge of every 
 rapid and shoal throughout the long course of his run is gener' 
 ally perfect, and the two men who have been at the head of the 
 Portage La Loche brigades since 1833 and 1848 respectively, 
 named Alexis L'Esperance, and Baptiste Bruce, know their way 
 so well that, even in a dark night, with a favouring breeze, they 
 will press forward through treacherous waters when economy of 
 time becomes an object. 
 
 On the Portage La Loche brigades, being those now specially 
 under consideration, the pay of a guide for the entire trip. 
 
BED RIVER. 165 
 
 "oocnpymg the four summer months, has been £35, of a steers- 
 man £20, bowsman £18, and middleman £16. When efiSoiently 
 performed, the work done, though of a healthy nature, is extremely 
 severe. 
 
 Until the year 1848 the Portage La Loxshe brigade consisted of 
 only seven boats under one guide. The extension whieti gradually 
 took place in the northern trade, however, necessitated the employ- 
 ment of increased means of transport. In that year the brigade 
 was subdivided, and placed on the footing already described in 
 detaiL In the year 1866 a third subdivision was organized, so 
 that, at the time I write, the concern really consists of seventeen 
 boats in three brigades. Since 1866, however, the whole thing has 
 got into so disordered a condition that I have selected a period 
 anterior to that date as the one in respect to which my description 
 liolds good. 
 
 The manner in which the disorganization comes to be felt is in 
 the mutiny of the crews and their refusal to complete the required 
 Toyage. Having delivered their outfits at Portage La Loehe, they 
 hung the furs which constitute their outward ladings as far as 
 Norway House. Here the mutiny begins in a refusal to carry 
 their fui's to the Bay, and is followed up by a return to Red 
 River with empty boats. The result is that a large quantity of 
 valuable fiirs, comprising all those t;-aded during the previous year 
 in the vast northern districts, are stored up at Norway House, 
 where no means exist of forwarding them to the seaboard for 
 shipment to England, and consequently delay ensues in bringing 
 them to the European market, and arrears of freight are stored 
 up against the ensuing summer, when all the efibrts which can be 
 brought to bear are not much- more than adequate to suffice for 
 the evil proper to the day. 
 
 A check upon this method of doing business might be brought 
 to bear on the men, were it not for the system of advancing wages 
 on the trip, necessary in dealing with the class of which, for the 
 greater part, these crews are composed. The men may be literally 
 said to exist for the year on the proceeds of their summer work. 
 On their return they do not betake themselves to any regular 
 Mode of industry, but vary seasons of hunting and fishing with 
 
166 KED KIVBE. 
 
 longer intervals of total idleness. Towards mid-winter they find 
 themselves and their families in a condition nearly allied to starva- 
 tion. Early in Decemher the books are opened in the Company's 
 office for the enrolment of men to serve on the trips of the ensuing- 
 summer, and the needy crowd comes forward. At first all is; 
 anxiety to be enrolled. An advance is given in money at th& 
 time of engagement, and afterwards at stated intervals before the- 
 commencement of the voyage further sums are paid. Towards 
 spring the crowd assumes a higher tone,, and threats are used that, 
 unless new demands are complied with, the threateners will not 
 start on the voyage at all. The counter threat of imprisonment 
 for breach of contract is superciliously smiled away with the- 
 remark that the period of imprisonment will be less than the 
 time occupied by the trip. Of course no concession is ever made 
 by the Company to such demands, or the undertaking would be 
 indeed a failure. The result ' is that a few of the men engaged 
 are not to be found when the day of embarkation arrives, smi 
 those who do start have received about one half of their wages 
 in advance. At Norway House they receive a few necessary 
 supplies on account, and, were they to perform the voyage, wouM 
 receive more at York. During their absence their wives and 
 families draw on the amount still " coming to them" to provide 
 themselves with the necessaries of hfe, so that the sum forfeited 
 by mutiny, and a premature return from an unfinished voyage is 
 quite inadequate to restrain the men. Excuses also are trumped 
 up as to the lateness of the season at which they arrive, at Norway 
 House, rendering it impossible for them to go to the coast and 
 return with open water. Although this has a feasible look, the 
 alleged lateness of the season is Qwing to the delay and want of 
 energy on the part of the men themselves in performing the up- 
 stream voyage to the Portage in the early part of the summer.. 
 The experience of years proves the sufficiency of the time allowed 
 for the execution of the work. 
 
 It was a matter of regret that even during the time the voyage 
 was properly performed the use made by the drawers of the 
 balance paid them on their return was often a bad one. The 
 possession of a few pounds led, as a natural cause, to the invest- 
 
RED BIVKR. 167 
 
 ment of a large part of the sum in liquor, and disgraceful scenes 
 often occurred during which those who had not spent all their 
 available cash frequently lost it no one knew how. Then 
 succeeded the season of alternate rest and partial occupation, until 
 the necessities of the new winter caused an application for a fresh 
 engagement. The continuance of this system has been caused by 
 the necessities of the men whom it preserves from absolute 
 starvation, and the undoubted fact that the labourious nature of the 
 ■work to be done renders it difficult, if not impossible, to secure 
 men in spring, when many other opportunities exist of gain- 
 ing a livelihood through other and less-trying channels. As a 
 class the Portage La Loche tripmen rank very low indeed in the 
 colony. They are principally French Half-breeds and Indians. 
 Their priests profess a certain influence over them, but they 
 confess their flock is disreputable, and not to be prevailed on to 
 fulfil their voyaging contracts. 
 
 The land transport of the country is carried on in carts, the 
 main features in connection with which I have already described 
 at length in Chapter V. Something like fifteen hundred of these 
 are employed on the route between Ked Eiver Settlement and St. 
 Paul, giving employment to perhaps four hundred and fifty men. 
 Of these carts about five hundred make two trips each season. At 
 the commencement of summer, when the Plains have become dry, 
 and the grass grown, the first parties start, taking with them the 
 furs collected for exportation ; the return trip bringing the 
 manufactured articles from the civilized world is the one which 
 pays best. Each cart will carry eight hundred pounds weight, the 
 through freight on which will average £7. Cart, harness and ox 
 cost about £15. To this must be added the wages of a driver for 
 each three carts, for six weeks, occupied by the journey at the rate 
 of £4 per month, and an allowance for spare oxen before an esti- 
 mate of the profits on Plain freighting can be obtained. The 
 allowance of spare oxen varies from one-tenth to one-fifth of the 
 total number of vehicles. The autumn brigade of carts leave the 
 settlement late in August and return in October. 
 
 Since the Saskatchewan district grew into importance, and the 
 Hudson's Bay Company altered the route, by which goods intended 
 
168 RED EITER. 
 
 for its trade were imported, from the old one by way of Hudson's 
 Bay to that by St. Paul, considerable cart traffic has existed 
 between the settlement and the region in question. About three 
 hundred carts, employing one hundred men, and making one trip 
 each season, travel over that road. The ultimate point to which the 
 Red Eiver vehicles travel is Carlton, although a well beaten track 
 exists all the way between Fort Garry and Rocky Mountain 
 House, comprehending a distance of about eleven hundred miles. 
 The time usually occupied by parties going to Carlton and return- 
 ing is seventy or eighty days. 
 
 Conspicuous in importance amongst the annual events in the 
 colony are the journeys made to the Plains by the Buffalo hunters 
 at different periods of the year. The parties belonging to the 
 summer hunt start about the beginning of June, and remain on the 
 Plains until the beginning of August. They then return for a 
 short time to the Settlement for the purpose of trading their pem- 
 mican and dried meat. The autumn hunters start during the 
 month of August, and remain on the prairie until the end of 
 October, or early in November, when they usually return bringing 
 the fresh or " green meat," preserved at that late season by the 
 extreme cold. Those hunters, of whom there are many who 
 remain on the Plains during the whole winter, employ themselves 
 in trapping the fur-bearing animals, and hunting the buffalo for 
 their robes. The pemmican, which forms the staple article of 
 produce from the summer hunt, is a species of food peculiar to 
 Rupert's Land. It is composed of buffalo meat, dried and 
 pounded fine, and mixed with an amount of tallow or buffalo fat 
 equal to itself in bulk. The tallow having been boiled, is poured 
 hot from the caldron into an oblong bag, manufactured from the 
 buffalo hide, into which the pounded meat has previously been 
 placed. The contents are then stirred together until they have 
 been thoroughly well mixed. When full, the bag is sewed up and 
 laid in store. Each bag when full weighs one hundred pounds. It 
 is calculated that, on an average, the carcase of each buffalo will 
 yield enough of pemmican to fill one bag. This species of food is 
 invaluable as a travelling provision. There is no risk of spoiling 
 it as, if ordinary care be taken to keep the bags dry and free from 
 
RED RIVEE. 169 
 
 mould, there is no assignable limit to the time the pemmican will 
 keep. It is the travelling provision used throughout the north, 
 where, in addition to the already specified qualifications, that of its 
 great facility of transportation renders it exceedingly useful. The 
 dried meat is the flesh of the buffalo, which, when it has been cut 
 in thin slices, is hung over a fire, smoked and cured. It is packed 
 in bales weighing on an average about sixty pounds each, and 
 is also tauch used as a travelling provision. The fresh or green 
 meat supplied by the late fall hunt is consumed in the settlement, 
 and is not much used in travelling. 
 
 The operations connected with these Buffalo hunts give employ- 
 ment to somewhat over one thousand men and twelve hundred Red 
 Kiver carts. The people go to them with their families, who are em- 
 ployed in preparing the meat after the animals have been killed. The 
 whole of those connected with the business may be divided into 
 two sections, of which one leaves the settlement by the road leading 
 to Pembina, and the other by that passing the spot on the river 
 Assiniboine, called the White Horse Plain. The former pro- 
 ceeds in search of buffalo in a southerly, and the latter in a south- 
 westerly direction. They act quite independehtly of each other. 
 The carts leave the settlement in straggling parties without any 
 bond of union, but, when once out on the prairie, they collect and 
 choose a captain, who appoints subordinate officials of different 
 grades, each of whom is charged with the performance of impor- 
 tant and well-defined duties. They act as the police of the camp. 
 Thenceforward all is conducted in admirable order. A systep of 
 penalties, to which all must submit, is strictly enforced, and perfect 
 harmony of progress exists in the camp. Each evening all the 
 carts are formed in a vast circle, into the centre of which the 
 horses and oxen are driven, with the object of preventing thefts by 
 prowling Indians and losses through cattle straying. After the 
 camp has entered the country in the neighbourhood of which the 
 buffalo are known to be, no gun is permitted to be fired until, in 
 sight of the herd, the word of command is spoken by the captam , 
 authorizing the opening of the chase. The word given, the horse-, 
 men start in a body, loading and firing on horseback, and leaving 
 the dead animals to be identified after the run is over. The kind 
 
170 RED EIVBR. 
 
 of horse used is called a " buffalo runner," and is very valuable. A 
 good one will cost from £50 to £70. The sagacity of the animal 
 is chiefly shewn in bringing his rider alongside the retreating 
 buffalo, and in avoiding the numerous pitfalls abounding on the 
 prairie. The most treacherous of the latter are the badger holes. 
 
 Considering the bold nature of the sport, remarkably few acci- 
 dents occur. The hunters enter the herd with their mouths full 
 of bullets. A handful of gunpowder is let fall from their " pow- 
 der horns," a bullet is dropped from the mouth into the muzzle, a 
 tap with the butt end of the firelock on the saddle causes the 
 salivated bullet to adhere to the powder during the second 
 necessary to depress the barrel, when the discharge is instantly 
 effected without bringing the gun to the shoulder. The excite- 
 ment which seizes the bold huntsman on finding himself surrounded 
 by the long sought buffalo renders him careless in examining too 
 curiously whether the object fired at is a buffalo or a buffalo 
 runner mounted by a friend, but I have never heard of any fatal 
 accident having happened, resulting from the pell-mell rush and 
 indiscriminate firing. Guns, however, as a result of the careless 
 loading, often explode, carrying away part of the hands using them, 
 and even the most expert runners sometimes find their way into 
 a badger hole, breaking or dislocatins; the collar bone of the riders 
 in the fall. The breach-loading rifle is used in running buffalo by 
 the wealthy amateurs who come from Europe to enjoy the sport, 
 but the hunters of the country still almost universally use the old 
 muzzle loaders. 
 
 The serious decrease in the number of buffalo which has been 
 perceptible of late years is producing a very disastrous effect on the 
 provision trade of the country. Pemmican, which formerly cost 
 three-pence a pound, can now be procured with difficulty for a 
 shilling, and dried meat formerly costing two-pence now costs 
 eight-pence. This is a circumstance which threatens the transport 
 business of the Company with the most alarming complications. 
 
 The rivers usually set fast toward the beginning of November, 
 and the ice breaks up early in April. In winter, after the first 
 snow has fallen, and before the tracks have been beaten, the roads 
 are bad, but the inconvenience undergone by passengers at that 
 
RED RIVEK. 171 
 
 season is as nothing to that caused by the melting snow in spring, 
 when the ground is usually, for nearly a month, so saturated with 
 water as to render locomotion, except on horseback, almost imprac- 
 ticable. The change from the summer buggies and carriages to 
 the winter equipments of cutters and carrioles with their warm 
 furs and chains of bells is agreeable. The monotony of mid winter 
 is broken by the Christmas holidays, during which a good deal of 
 festivity prevails in the settlement. The amusements are of course 
 chiefly of a private and home kind, theatres and Christmas panto- 
 mimes not being yet known at Red River. Much driving about 
 and visiting take place, and balls, family parties and celebrations 
 of a kindred nature are set on foot. Processions of perhaps twenty 
 cutters and carrioles set out for a long drive over the snow; and 
 the occupants generally arrange to call s.t some friend's house in a 
 body and have a dance. This is called a surprise party and the 
 dissipation has its charms. 
 
 One of the principal events in the holidays is the celebration of 
 a midnight mass in the cathedral of St. Boniface, on Christmas 
 eve. The large church is brilliantly lighted with several hundreds 
 of candles, the decorations are as gaudy as can be procured, and 
 the music, which is performed by the nuns, and such of the scho- 
 lars and priests as have any skill in that way, has always been well 
 studied beforehand and is effectively rendered. The congregation 
 begins to gather from all quarters about an hour before midnight, 
 and the numerous carrioles and cutters, with their bells clearly 
 ringing in the frosty air, create quite an excitement in the dead 
 silence of the winter night. The unusual nature of the solemnity 
 no doubt constitutes the groundwork of its popularity. The 
 advanced hour at which it takes place gives rise to some incon- 
 venience occasionally through the arrival of some noisy worshipper 
 who has been spending a convivial evening with his friends. The 
 doorkeepers, however, usually succeed in dissuading such parties 
 from persevering to effect an entrance. 
 
 Easter season is also observed in the colony, where Good Friday 
 is one of the very few recognized holidays of the year. At St. 
 Boniface, and by the whole French population, the weeks of Lent 
 are observed with punctuality, and religious services of a nature 
 
172 itBD mVEK. 
 
 special to the occasion are usually attended by crowded houses. 
 Of late years the Anglican churches have 'also been opened for 
 special services during Lent, and the attendance has given satisfac- 
 tory proof of their popularity. 
 
 Although the route by St. Paul is now the recognized channel 
 by which goods Intended for use in the colony are imported, the 
 facilities offered to thei officers and servants of the Company for 
 importing articles for their private use by way of York Factory are 
 60 considerable as to render the latter route preferred by the par- 
 ties in question. The annual supply of "Private Orders" there- 
 fore arrives toward the beginning of October, and their receipt 
 marks quite an epoch in the year. The orders for shipinent have 
 to be made out and forwarded to Europe early in spring 
 as the ship leaves England at the beginning of June in order to 
 reach Hudson's Bay vi& Stroniness some time in August. Amusing 
 anecdotes are current in the country relative to miistakes made by 
 men unaccustomed to the work of ordering supplies from home. 
 One French gentleman desirotis to possess a swimming belt, most 
 properly wrote for a life-preserver, and his astonishment was 
 described as great when on receipt of his box he extraicted there- 
 from an instrument composed of leather and lead, the use of which 
 he could not without assistance imagine. Another veteran officer, 
 %hose knowledge of English spelling was defective, puzzled him- 
 self for years in trying to guess why his agent persisted in for- 
 'warding him a fine new clock. He certainly succeeded in selling 
 all the articles at a profit, but his curiosity to ascertain the motive 
 of the consignments led him to consult a friend who discovered the 
 mistake to have risen from faulty spelling on the part of the con. 
 signee, the article really desired by the latter' being a new cloak 
 for his wife. 
 
 With regard to orders on a large scale I have heard of a very 
 ludicrous mistake having been made by the Governor-in chief. Sir 
 George Simpson. That gentleman during the later years of his 
 administration finding his eyesight weakening transacted most o 
 his reading and writing business throiigh a secretary. One day a 
 clerk in his office was reading over to him an indent or order for 
 goods requested for a very remote post in the Southern Depart- 
 
BED RIVER. 173 
 
 tnent, wten he came to the item "20 metal kettles'' of the large 
 kind used for rendering whale oil at the posts in East Main where 
 the whale fishery is carried on. Moved by a consideration of the 
 difficulties attending the transport of heavy articles in the remote 
 regions whose supplies he was considering, or by some other reason 
 to me unknown, Sir George remarked to his assistant " Put a noth- 
 ing to that, boy," meaning to disallow the item. The man did as 
 he imagined he had been ordered, and thought no more about the 
 matter, nor was the attention of any one at Lachine further called 
 to it until about eighteen months afterwards, when Sir George was 
 advised by the gentleman in charge of the post for which the 
 articles had been required that, in consequence of some misunder- 
 standing, the grounds of which his correspondent was unable to 
 explain, a consignment of two hundred large kettles in lieu of 
 twenty of the same kind requested as per indent, had been 
 received in good order and condition, though after the expenditure 
 of considerable trouble in the way of transport. 
 
 The only annual occurrences of much public interest in the 
 settlement other than those already alluded to are, I think, the 
 spring and autumn goose hunts. The former occurs in April, 
 when the birds are on their way to their breeding grounds in the 
 north, and the latter in September when they are emigrating south- 
 wards to their winter quarters about the Gulf of Mexico. The 
 autumnal hunt, which occurs after the heats of the long summer 
 have passed away and the weather has become cool, is the most 
 enjoyable. Many families leave the settlement and go off a distance 
 of sixty or eighty miles to the neighbouring lakes to live for a few 
 Weeks a camp life in the open air. The geese which fly with almost 
 incredible speed and at great height come down to drink from 
 the lakes and rivers, on the shore of which the hunters are encamp- 
 ed, and are despatched by the latter in great numbers. They also 
 form a welcome addition to the fare of the Indian hunters, who 
 watch for their periodical returns with the anxiety of interested 
 men. 
 
S*f ATISTICS OF RED RIVER SETTLEM^M* i 
 
 foptilation — Agriculture — Plain Hunts — I^isheries — Fuel — OccupatioiiS 
 i*ad Oliaraoteristics of the Peoplei 
 
 The population of Red Eiver, including ttat of the Prairie Pot'' 
 tage, consists of about 12,800 souls, Of these, about 6,000 are 
 French half-breeds, about English half-breeds, Indians; 
 
 and the remainder white settlers, either descended from the original 
 Scotch stock, planted by Lord Selkirk, or come from Great Britain, 
 the United States, or Canada of late yearsj to share in the fortunes 
 of the colony, In some cases after having served the Company for 
 a term of years as labourers or tradesmen. 
 
 The French part of the population is, as a class, migratoryi 
 They go to the prairies to hunt buffalo, or man the Hudson's Bay 
 Company's boat and cart brigades. The part of the settlement in 
 ■which they live may be described as both banks of that portion of 
 the Red River lying to the south of its junction with the Assini- 
 boine and the southern bank of the latter river. They are all of 
 the Roman Catholic religion. The English half-breed population 
 and the Scotch, the latter of whom jealously maintain their boasted 
 nationality, though the greater number of them have spent their 
 lives entirely in the colony, are devoted mainly to agricultural pur' 
 suits, and inhabit that part of the settlement situated on the Red 
 River between Upper and Lower Fort Garry, being a space of 
 twenty miles, including the most valuable portion of the colony, 
 and the northern bank of the Assiniboine. With the exception of 
 the Scotch, who are Presbyterians, this portion of the population 
 is Episcopalian. The Indians included in the above estimate are 
 principally those resident in the Indian settlement of St. Peter, 
 
RED ElVEB. 175 
 
 who OctjUpy themselves in the practice of agriculture, and partly in 
 boat tripping and occasional hunting and fishing. These are all 
 Episcopalians. The settlers lately come to the country are either 
 agriculturists or petty merchants. As a class they differ so much 
 from each other that I cannot venture to generalize on them fur^ 
 ther than merely to stats the fact that they come without any 
 visible capital, and, after some years' residence, appear to settle into 
 the enjoyment of very fair circumstances. 
 
 The chief reliance of the colony for food lies in its agricul' 
 ture, its Plain hunts, and its fisheries. The rahbits in the woods 
 in winter, and the spring and autumn goose hunts, offer also tern-' 
 porary sources of supplies. Occasionally, for a series of years, the 
 crops fail, and, when this is general, flour and other supplies have 
 to be imported at heavy cost from the United States. The chief 
 obstacles to agriculture are droughts, floods, early frosts, and 
 locusts. Within the period of certain knowledge the settlement has 
 been entirely flooded in the years 1809, 1826, 1852, and 186L 
 These disasters are caused by late springs, when the sun, breaking 
 out in power, rapidly melts the winter snows, causing the accumu- 
 lation of a vast sheet of water, to drain away which, owing to the 
 flatness of the country, no adequate means exist. The devastations 
 caused by these events are very serious ; houses are inundated and 
 all fencing and enclosures are swept away, landmarks are obliterated^ 
 the river is lost in one vast sea, and the sole means of communica- 
 tion are boats and canoes. 
 
 The principal visitations of locusts have taken place in 1818( 
 1857, and 1864. They arrive in immense swarms, extending over 
 vast regions of the continent, and devour all crops, and, to a great 
 extent, grass, and damage trees by stripping them of foliage, within 
 the limits of the country in which they alight. After the first 
 year's devastations they deposit their eggs in the ground and departs 
 On the outbreak of the succeeding spring the young locusts come 
 to life, and recommence the work of destruction, So hopeless are 
 the farmers, after the eggs have been deposited in their fields, that 
 the majority of them do not lay down any crop at all, feeling that 
 to do so would be only to throw away the seed, the plant; so soon 
 as it begins to appear above ground, being snapped up by the 
 
176 KED RIVER. 
 
 insect army. The settlement was more or less overrun by these 
 insects during the years 1818 and 1819, 1857 and 1858, and 
 between the years 1864 and 1868. During the present year the 
 partial destruction of former times has become an entire failure of 
 crops throughout the colony, so complete that, aggravated as it> 
 has been by the unprecedented concurrence of failures in the Plain 
 hunts and lake fisheries, along with the disappearance from the 
 woods of the generally numerous rabbits, were it not for the 
 assistance extended to the settlement, by the charitable in the civi- 
 lized world nothing short of a death-burdened famine would await 
 the people during the current winter. 
 
 The mischief done by summer droughts and early frosts is of a 
 less general nature. The former, however, tell heavily during the 
 scorching heats of a Red River summer, and the latter occur gene- 
 rally early in September before the crops have reached maturity. 
 
 The land in Red River Settlement is said, by all who pretend to 
 a knowledge of agriculture, to be peculiarly favourable for the culti- 
 vation of wheat. Experiment has also tested this statement with 
 most satisfactory results, wheat being, in fact, the main crop of the 
 colony. It ripens in three months, and will produce forty bushels 
 to the acre. Potatoes and all kinds of roots are cultivated with the 
 greatest success. I may, indeed, here mention, as ,a fact calculated 
 to dispel doubt as to the possibilities regarding this .subject, so far 
 as concerns Red River, that at Norway House, 300 miles- north 
 from the settlement, a garden exists within the fort, in which all 
 the common garden vegetables are cultivated, and along with melons 
 and other plants of a more sensitive nature, are annually brought 
 to maturity. Fruit trees, I regret to say, have not yet been suc- 
 cessfully grown in Assiniboia ; gooseberries, however, exist, and 
 strawberries, raspberries, and different varieties of currants groyt. 
 wild along all the coasts of Lake Winnipeg. It has been suggested 
 to me that one reason why garden fruits have been hitherto so 
 little cultivated is that the unlimited quantities of wild berries 
 growing in the woods and on the Plains supply the market, and 
 render it unprofitable to incur any considerable expense in culti- 
 vating the others.. 
 
 The possibility of conducting agricultural operations, at a distance 
 
RED RIVER. 177 
 
 of more than two miles back from the river, has not yet been prac 
 tically tested. The ground is certainly of a very swampy character, 
 but many believe it remains so merely because no sufficient means 
 have been used to render it otherwise. A vast population would 
 be required to produce any material eflfect on the boundless, unre- 
 claimed wastes in question. The process, however, might be 
 assisted by the nature of the ground, which is soft and earthy gene- 
 rally to a great depth. A shaft sunk for a well at Fort Garry 
 showed a depth of four feet of rich black soil, and an additional 
 d^pth of forty-three feet of white, muddy sand before the solid rock 
 was reached. This is believed to be a fair specimen of the prevail- 
 ing state of things. A drain, two or three feet deep, ploughed from 
 a, short distance back in the swamps towards the river becomes, in 
 the course of a few years, a considerable ravine, which carries off 
 the melting snow in great quantities every spring, the service it 
 performs in this respect each year augmenting its capacity. 
 
 The live stock of the settlement consists of horses, oxen, cattle, 
 pigs and sheep. The latter have not been much attended to of 
 late years, the difficulty of preserving them in the Plains from the 
 attacks of wolves and dogs, and the small market existing for ih'iii 
 wool, operating as discouragements against breeding them. 
 
 The objects of the Plain hunts having been touched on in the 
 preceding chapter, I need not here enter further on the subject. 
 The autumn fineries of the settlement supply it usually with a 
 copious source of food. They take place in autumn from the 
 neighbouring lakes of Winnipeg and Manitoba, These lakes 
 abound in fish of various kinds, chiefly whitefish and sturgeoji. 
 The whitefish are the only ones caught in autumn. Those taken 
 during the milder weather are cured by splitting, smoking and 
 hanging them on stages rudely composed of branches, and those 
 caught after the frosty weather has set in are merely hung, when 
 the extreme cold most sufficiently preserves them and keeps them 
 fresh. During summer the Red River and Assiniboine abound 
 with the species of fish known as "gold eyes" and "cat fish," 
 and occasionally yield a few sturgeon, 
 
 A very important part of autumn work consists in hay-cutting, 
 to commence which outside the " two mile line " before the 
 
 M 
 
178 RED KIVER. 
 
 1st of August is illegal. The prairie grass on the swamps above 
 referred to grows to an unlimited extent with great luxuriance. 
 In spite of the elForts made to gather it, hay generally becomes 
 scarce towards spring, and sometimes costs from ten to twenty 
 shillings per cart load weighing 800 pounds. It is stacked on the 
 Plains by the gatherers who protect it against the prairie fires by 
 surrounding it with a ploughed or burned ring at least eight feet 
 wide situated about twenty yards from the stacks. 
 
 The prairie fires burn with great violence in the autumn, and 
 sometimes approach very near the settlement, raising quite a storm 
 through their influence on the atmosphere and covering the country 
 with smoke. A very slight obstacle, however, sometimes even a 
 well beaten cart track, will impede their progress. 
 
 A difficulty sure to make itself felt more and more as the 
 settlement increases, exists in the small amount of timber for 
 building purposes, and fuel growing on the banks of the Red 
 River and Assiniboine. On the former stream and on its tribu- 
 taries, the Riviere des Roseaux and Rat River, are to be found 
 narrow strips of elm, oak, maple and poplar, fit to be used in 
 building. The logs after being cut are floated down stream to the 
 settlement on rafts. On the Assiniboine are to be found oak, elm, 
 , whitewood and poplar. Building wood or " lumber " generally sells 
 at 'fifty shillings per one hundred boards, measuring ten feet long, 
 by eight inches broad, and fuel at six shillings per cord measuring 
 four feet high by eight feet long, and two-and-a-half or three feet 
 broad. Probably with the introduction of steam vessels the woods 
 on Lake Winnipeg and the rivers emptying into it will become 
 extensively available for the supply of the wants of the colony. 
 Hitherto only one private individual has attempted to avail him- 
 self of the facilities ofiered for obtaining large timber from this 
 latter source. Mr, Henry McKeuney has erected a saw mill at a 
 spot on the shore of Lake Winnipeg, and transports the wood from 
 that place to Red River by means of a schooner he has built to 
 ply on the Lake. A fishery which Mr. McKenney has instituted 
 on the locality he has selected, for the purpose of his wood cutting 
 operations, proves chiefly valuable as a means of obtaining food for 
 his men. Whether the speculation will turn out profitable remains 
 to be seen, as it was only entered on in August, 1868. ' 
 
RED RIVER. 179 
 
 The principle of division of labour is not well understood in the 
 settlement, where every man is his own tradesman, and all articles 
 the manufacture of which requires skill, are imported. Even with 
 the narrow market open for colonial produce, farming is said to be 
 more profitable than the skilful practice of any trade, such for 
 instance as housebuilding. Efforts have .been made again and 
 again to establish certain manufactures for exportation, and the 
 " Tallow Company," the " Buffalo Wool Company," the " Woollen 
 Cloth Company," "Flax,"' and "Beetroot Sugar" Companies 
 after being successively patronized by eager friends, have passed 
 away leaving nothing but their names and debts. The making of 
 Indian shoes or " moccasins," and the weaving of " Red Eiver 
 cloth " are the two most common exercises of domestic manufac- 
 ture. The cloth is of very open and coarse texture, owing to a 
 deficiency probably in the manner of fulling. 
 
 Wind-mills have long been in use, and of late years steam grist 
 and saw mills have been introduced. In a country where all the 
 houses are constructed of wood the latter are very useful. Brick- 
 making has been repeatedly attempted on a small scale, but gene- 
 rally with no great success, owing partly, doubtless, to the inexpe- 
 rience of the workmen, and partly, it is said, to the friable quality 
 of the clay employed. 
 
 Banking business has niot yet been introduced to any great 
 extent in the colony. The currency consists chiefly of promissory 
 notes issued by the Hudson's Bay Company, redeemable by bills 
 of exchange granted at sixty days sight on the Grovernor, Deputy 
 Governor and Committee of the Company in London. The notes 
 are said in the inscription which they bear to be so redeemable 
 when presented at York Factory, formerly the head-quarters of 
 the fur trade 'in the territory; but bills of exchange are granted 
 for them at Fort Garry without any de'duction for discount when- 
 ever they are presented. These bills of exchange bear a high 
 premium in the United States, and as they can be obtained at Fort 
 Garry on more favourable terms in exchange for notes than for 
 American gold or silver, these Hudson's Bay notes bear a corres- 
 pondingly high value in the eyes of the settlers. It is reported in 
 the country that the American General Pope, when resident on 
 
180 E?D KIVBK. 
 
 duty as an offici^r, of engineers, many years ago, at Pembina, L^Trfng^ 
 observed the pr^iference evinced by the sett^ler? for the Company's 
 nptes more than for American gold, actually instanced it to hi^^ 
 <5oyernmen,t as a, symptoiji, of t\e. (Jegraded stajte of ignorance in 
 which the ijiihajjpy col^niste were kept by the ^^dB0B'l9 Bay 
 Company. 
 
 These notes are of tyip, denomination^, one pound sterling, ajid 
 five shillings stprfing. Resides them there is a gooii deal of 
 English a^id Aifterican gold and silver in circulation in the colony;. 
 
 The Coiflpsiny issues its notes in paying, wages for labo;^ and in 
 the purchase of furs, colonial produce, and th,e, bills of exchange of 
 parties in th.e settlement w:ho, haying money in Eu;cope or Canadft^ 
 wish to draw through them. 
 
 One of the most characteristic features of the polony is thf 
 evanescent nature of its dwelling houses, which seeip to resenibl;& 
 in that respect the lodges of the saxagC) r^^iovabJe from day tc 
 day and leaving no trace behind. The material used fijr building 
 is wood, and the majority of the houses inhabi<ied by the poorer 
 classes have only one or two rooms. Losyer Fort G;arry is buil^t 
 of limestone, quarried from the rock existing not fai; from where 
 it stands. The Roman Catholic cathedral an,d Bishop's r^sidencp 
 are really fine stone buildings, and likely to prove, durable. One' 
 objection to the use of stone in building rises feoflri the depth of 
 earth composing the soil, rendjering t^he task of excava.tipn reaching 
 to the solid rock one not to be conteniplated. Pile driving i» 
 yet unknown in the place, and concrete it is thought would be of 
 doijbtful efficacy, as the surface of thp ground is said to be ever 
 slightly altering in a manner which in course of time might cause 
 fissures. 
 
 Even the larger houses of the w;ealtbier residents, unless kept 
 in constant, repair, fall quickly into dpcay. The enclosures round 
 them are ^tpleji by wandering Indians, for fire wood, or swept 
 a.^ay by flpods, and, in event pf the death gf the proprietor, the 
 whole thing sometimes fa,lls to pieces in the haijdp of bjs successors, 
 leaving nothing, save possibly a feW; isolated trees to mark the 
 spot where snug farm houses and neatly, kept gardens had 
 flouiished^ 
 
bfe'D felVER. 181 
 
 liike the dwellings, the Tnstrtutiohs of the covmtiy have hither- 
 to held their existence by a frail tenure, amounting almost to an 
 artificial life. The fiir trade alone seems to possess strong -ntali'ty. 
 This branch of industry in its relation to the colony has beeh 
 much aiid most ignorantly abused by one-siied reasoriers of late 
 years, as the all devouring monster which monopolizes the resources 
 of the territory ; but the fairer course would be to describe it as 
 the motive ^ring which gives life to anything in the way of 
 business existing in Rupert's Land. Furs compose the only 
 species of merchandise in the country, the export of which is 
 remunerative, and without them even what market exists for other 
 articles would speedily disappear. To the fur trade the Red 
 River Settlement is indebted for the exchange of good offices, 
 which has sustained its existence. 
 
 Patriotism is a virtue popularly supposed to flourish in moun- 
 tainous and old countries, whose majestic scenery and associations 
 of old time, foster and perpetuate the pride and allegiance which 
 their children feel for them. The inhabitants of the Plain 
 country of Red River, however, most assuredly evince an affection 
 for the land of their nativity, closely allied to, if not identical with, 
 the patriotic emotions of the denizens of other countries. Nor is 
 it only to the dead natural scenery that their feelings cling, but 
 though existing under an improved exterior, the romantic life, the 
 custom, mode of thought, and language, of the Indians, retain 
 their hold on the affections of their descendants to successive 
 generations. Thus a man whose usual language is English, and 
 one who speaks French alone, are enabled to render themselves 
 mutually intelligible by means of Cree, their Indian mother tongue, 
 though each is totally ignorant of the civilized language ordinarily 
 used by the other. 
 
 It is much to be desired and fully to be expected, that as the 
 wave of population rolls westward, the agricultural and other 
 latent resources possessed by the immense territory of Rupert's Land 
 will be brought out, and that the fortunes of the dwellers in this 
 remote region of the Empire may no longer depend solely on the 
 success of the warfare maintained by the Indian against the wild 
 beasts of the north, but it is undeniable that until the present 
 
182 BED BIVEK. 
 
 time the trade, which from the northern department alone, being- 
 that with which Red River Settlement is more immediately con- 
 nected, brings to the English market an average value of £150,000 
 in furs, has presented the only means of commercially benefitting 
 the Indian tribes, or of turning to profitable account the inac- 
 cessible regions over which its operations extend. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 1861. 
 
 Red River Ferry— Upper Fort Garry— Bachelor's Hall— Royal Can- 
 adian Rifles — Roman Catholic Establishment at St. Boniface — 
 Bishop of Rupert's Land— Ride to Lower Port Garry — People and 
 Life at Fort Garry. 
 
 It is not without an effort that after the long digression brought 
 to a close in the preceding chapter I resume the thread of my 
 narrative at the point where it was interrupted at the close of 
 Chapter V. It will be remeinbered I mentioned my arrival in 
 the colony, on the afternoon of Sunday, the 4th August, 1861. 
 More than seven years have now elapsed since that date, and many 
 changes of importance have occurred, an account of which, with 
 the reader's permission, I should wish to record in detail ; but I 
 may mention that the general account of the colony given in the 
 preceding chapters, relates not entirely to the situation in which 
 I found it in 1861, but includes the result of many events which 
 have occurred since that date, and indeed generally refers to the 
 condition in which it stands at the time at which I write. 
 
 The "Pioneer" drew up by the river bank at St. Boniface, 
 and the passengers prepared to go on shore. As the destination 
 of Mr. Morgan and myself lay on the opposite side of the river 
 and no bridge existed, we, along with a considerable number of our 
 fellow travellers, took passage in the local ferry boat, which was 
 ready to take us across. I have not yet mentioned this ferry, 
 which is the only one existing, under the patronage of the Govern- 
 ment of the colony, to which its management had ever been a 
 source of vexation. The position of the ferry is at the confluence 
 of the Red River and Assiniboine. Its purpose is to transport 
 foot passengers and vehicles across either or both of these rivers. 
 The means by which this is effected consists of two scows worked 
 
184 BED KIVEK. 
 
 on ropes, a canoe and passenger skiff. By order of council, no 
 other ferry boat is permitted to ply for hire within a radius of 
 several miles from the site of the ferry. The name of the ferry- 
 man is Duncan Macdougall. He is a linguist, being competent to 
 speak English, French, Cree and Gaelic, and in consequence of 
 his abilities and usefulness as an interpreter, ought long before 
 his present time of life to have occupied a good position. He is, 
 however, inclined to conviviality, which circumstance has inter- 
 fered as much with the progress of his fortunes as with the 
 dispatch of his business. His house is situated close to th e scene 
 of his labours, on the south side of the Assiniboine, at the point 
 where boats touch in making the crossing of &e Red Eiver. On 
 this point, in consequence of its being the centre of traffic, 
 several public houses have flourished. In the latter the ferryman 
 has spent a good deal of his time, while some of the idle men 
 around were stationed in th'e boats. The eye of the master not 
 being on the subordinates, much laxity prevailed in working the 
 scows, while the canoe and skiff were frequently appropriated by 
 idle boys desirous of enjoying aquatic sports by stealth. The 
 result was that often during the day passengers were obliged to 
 wait for a shamefully protracted period before getting across, and 
 after six o'clock in £he evening, the silence was broken by the 
 shouts of angry Englishmen, calling across the rivers for the 
 means of transport, mingled with the entreaties of belated French- 
 men that " Mac Doug," as the latter pronounce the ferryman's 
 name, would come to their assistance. 
 
 In addition to these evils the craft were in a very dilapidated 
 condition. The flooring of the scows had been reduced to such a 
 state of disrepair, that every step of the horses, or motion of the 
 carts, deranged the boarding, sometimes to such an extent that, 
 owing to the intervention of a tolerably central fulcrum under 
 neath, one end of the board went down under pressure of a foot, 
 while the other flew Up with a certain degree of violence against 
 the face of some neighbouring beast of burden. While the animal, 
 whose leg had sunk through the flooring, was on his knees trying 
 to recover himself, the other, who had received the stroke on his 
 proboscis, might be on his haunches, the passengers shouting 
 
RED RIVER. 185 
 
 ■for mercy and assistancfe^ the boatmen contemplating a leap into 
 the water, and the scow floating in midchaimel of the river. The 
 skiff, or canoe, when it was to be fotind on duty, was generally 
 pretty heavily laden with muddy water, the result of protracted 
 leakage or heavy rains. 
 
 The amount of obloquy incurred by this institution may be 
 imagined. Outbreaks of public indignation constantly occurred 
 on the spot, when cramped foot passengel's, Wet to the knees, issued 
 from the inconvenient skiffs, or breathless carters Ui-ged their s<)rely- 
 tried horses or oxen to stumble at a trot over the unsteady floor- 
 ing of the scows, in order to gain a little impetus previous to 
 making the stiff ascent of about two in three^ formed by the land- 
 ing toack leading from the water level to the summit of the river's 
 bank. Then the sixpenny trumpet of the " Nor' Wester" blew, at 
 fortnightly intervals, indignant peals embodying the longest terms 
 of execration in the editorial vocabulary, and levelled at " the 
 •ferry nuisance." From time to time petitions, numerously 
 signed by the " citizens of Assiniboia," praying for the dismissal 
 of Duncan Macddugall from the ofl5c6 of ferryman, were presented 
 to the council. Again and again th-e responsible committee of this 
 body, in answer to the prayer of the petitioners, dismissed the 
 obnoxious public servant, and) after much trouble and persuasion, 
 prevailed on some eligible person to accept the situation. The new 
 man, after repairing the dilapidated plant and engaging trustworthy 
 subordinates, addressed himself to the giant difficulty of the under- 
 taking beforfe him, that of secUrihg from each foot-passenger 
 patronizing his craft the small sum of one halfpenny, and from the 
 owner of each hotse and oatt the sum of feurpence per trip. The 
 storm which had blown in the time of his predecessor was as 
 nothing to the tempest which would burst forth in the canoe Of the ■ 
 new official on the bare intimation of so unwonted a proceeding, 
 and new petitions, giving the lie to the old ones, were instantly set 
 on foot, and numerously signed by the Canadian French populationj 
 praying for the re-instatement of the generous " MacDoug," who 
 scorned to toUch the halfpennies of the poor and never refused 
 credit to a friend. The upshot generally Was that the bold inter- 
 loper voluntarily resigned^ after a short tenure of office, leaving the 
 way clear for the triumphant return of the inevitable Duncan. 
 
186 KED RIVER. 
 
 The skifif in use on the day, when, for the first time, I traversed 
 the Red River, was of the kind called in the country a " Dugout," 
 It is formed from the trunk of a large tree, the centre of which is 
 scooped out, and the exterior shaped into the semhlance of a 
 canoe. It had no seats, and we were obliged to kneel down, one 
 behind the other, on some damp straw hastily scattered over the 
 wet interior, while a boy, seated in the stern of the docile skiff, 
 with a single oar, worked alternately on either side of the canoe, 
 paddled us quickly across. 
 
 Fort G-arry was before us when we reached the top of the bank. 
 It is a collection of houses surrounded by a wall, part of the oblong 
 of which is built of stone and part of large logs. The stone por- 
 tion is supplied with four bastions used as magazines for the 
 storage of various articles. The house which faced us on our 
 entrance was the officers' quarters, as was evidenced by the appear- 
 ance of the occupants at the windows. We made our way to the 
 Governor's residence, where Mr. Morgan produced his letters and 
 stated his mission. > 
 
 Shortly after our arrival the fort bell rang, calling the mess to 
 dinner, and, as we had already dined, we went out to look about 
 us. Everybody was at mess, and, after pacing the wooden plat- 
 forms of the fort, which serve as dry pathways in wet weather, for 
 some considerable time, and seeing nobody, we ventured to enter 
 a house situated in the centre of the Fort, immediately under the 
 shadow of the flagstaff, the door of whichj, approached by a flight 
 of outside steps, stood somewhat invitingly open. We found our- 
 selves in a large hall, off which opened a series of private rooms 
 A table covered with newspapers and long broad plugs of caven- 
 dish stood in a corner, while chairs and a low rude sofa were scat- 
 tered in disorder up and down the apartment. Finding nobody 
 within, and believing we had trespassed, we withdrew with all con- 
 venient speed, but had barely reached the corner of the house when 
 we saw a crowd from the mess-room running towards us, headed by 
 a gentleman who, with voluble cordiality, shook hands with me and 
 brought us back. We were informed that the house was 
 " Bachelor's Hall," and the centre chamber we had just quitted 
 the general public room of the Fort, deserted during the progress 
 
RED RIVER, 187 
 
 of the mess which took place in the Governor s house. I required 
 to be told that the gentleman who had first greeted, us, as also 
 another present in the crowd, had been to school along with myself 
 about eight years previously in Scotland, since which time I had 
 seen neither of them. 
 
 On returning to Bachelor's Hall, Morgan, who had only one 
 day at his disposal in which to get through his business in order 
 to return to the States with the steamboat, got very restless, and 
 after filling his pipe, quitted us precipitately. I regret to say he 
 did not return, and I never saw him again. He found it necessary 
 to proceed about twelve miles down the settlement in order to see 
 a person capable of giving him some assistance in his pursuits, and 
 all the ensuing day and two nights he was at work collecting 
 information. Early on the Tuesday morning the steamboat started, 
 carrying him back to Georgetown. I have since heard that the 
 upward journey was tedious and protracted. Morgan left the 
 boat, which had grounded and lain fast at a turn on one of the 
 upper reaches, and walked, I believe, the greater part of a night, 
 over the plains to Georgetown, where hfe arrived exhausted and 
 cruelly mosquito-bitten. He gained his point, however, and 
 caught the stage coach, which he would have missed had he 
 remained on board the steamboat. 
 
 On the day of our arrival at Fort Garry, being the last Sunday 
 of the residence of the Company of Koyal Canadian Rifles at Fort 
 Garry, previous to their return to Canada, the Bishop of Rupert's 
 Land came in the afternoon to preach a farewell sermon to the 
 troops. The service took place in the court-house situated in the 
 immediate neighbourhood of the Fort. 
 
 In the cool of the evening I walked outside the Fort to see the 
 general features of the neighbourhood. A favourite and much 
 frequented walk leads close along the banks of the Assiniboine and 
 Red River. On the opposite bank of the latter stream rose the 
 buildings of the Roman Catholic establishment of St. Boniface. 
 Of these the three principal were the many-windowed convent and 
 plain square school-house or college, both built of wood, and the 
 charred remains of what had once been the cathedral church. 
 The ruins consisted of two towers, partially demolished, and a co^^ 
 
188 RED aiVEji, 
 
 sideraHe portion of tbe side walls wHeh Btill bore faint traces of 
 the decoratioQS with which they had been ornamented. 
 
 During the preceding few mdnths it had indeed appeared as if a 
 terrible fatality had hung over this mission, the series of eVents 
 connected with which has been already alluded to generally in a 
 previous chapter. I would, however, beg here once more to touch 
 on the subject, with the reader's permission, at greater detail. 
 
 In October, 1860, a Koman Catholic priest named Goiffonj 
 connected with the United States Diocese of St. Paul, having be'en 
 on a visit to his bishop, was returning to his mission station at 
 Pembina. On drawing within a few days' journ'ey from his desti- 
 aation, he impnidently left his party and pressed forward alon^ 
 hoping by so doing to gain time. On 3rd November^ while alone 
 ■oh the Plains, he was overtaken by a furious temp^t. During the 
 preceding night his clothes had been wet by a heavy shower of 
 rain, and the extreme cold which succeeded froze them stiffly 
 around him. His horse, too, succumbed under the fatigue and 
 cold. His own condition was so bad that he neVer knew the exact 
 time his feet froze, but on dismounting his l6gs gave way under- 
 neath him. With whatstrebgth remained he scraped a hole under 
 the snOwj into which he dragg'ed his body- and lay there fr02f6B; 
 
 His horse having died from starvation and exposure, the unfor- 
 tunate man, after remaining amid snow and ice with no other 
 covering than a buffalo robe fOr four days and five nights, feeling 
 his strength foiling from hunger, cut some strips of flesh from thd 
 dead animal and ate it raw. On the evening of the 8th Novem- 
 ber he was found by some travellers who brought him forward to 
 Pembina. Here he was kindly received by Mr. Rolette^ ati 
 American oficial on the frontier. The ice round his feet having 
 been thawed, the flesh fell away from the bone, cailsing horrible 
 |)ain. On the 26th of the month he was removed from Pembinij 
 aad, on the 28th, arrived among his fr jends at St. Boniface. Five 
 d^ys after his arrival the poor man underwent an amputation of 
 his right leg, and a few days' delay was thought advisable befOrfi 
 ciltting off his left foot. During the interval ah artery bttrst, and 
 the patietat's life was despaired off. 
 
 Matters were at this pointj when, on 14th December, the fire 
 
MD EIVEE. 189 
 
 broke out wMcb destroyed the oattedual. Father Goiffon was 
 carried out of bed through the smoke and fire, which gained 
 ground ■ so rapidly that he and the two priests who carried the 
 bedding on which he lay, narrowly escaped suffocation. As it 
 happened he was dragged out so hurriedly that not even a blanket 
 wa^ taken with him, and before hia frienda could return to get 
 one the flames were bursting through every window and rendered 
 liieir attempt futile. The> day was bitterly cold, and how the 
 patient survived tjhe transport to the hospital, none can tell, but he 
 got through it and lives still, though lamentably crippled, stationed 
 somewhere in the Diocese of St, Paul. 
 
 As a teniporary es;pedient, waiting the time when a suitable 
 hospital should be erected for the accommodation, of blind and 
 otherways helpless invalids, the Bishop of St. Boniface had placed 
 a blind old man, commonly known under the name of " Blind 
 Ducharme," in bis own, house. This man, on the outbreak of the 
 alarm of fire, lost his way in the midst of the uproar and confur 
 sion, and was burat to deaths So rapidly destructive was the 
 conflagration that nothing of amy value was saved, a costly and 
 large library, along witji all the reqorda of the establishment, being 
 among the losses most regretted by the sufferers. 
 
 On 30th May, 1861, a second destructive fire broke out in one 
 of the bams belonging to the establishment, and four large buildings 
 fuU of valuable stores were entirely consumed. No lives were, 
 however, lost through this new disaster. 
 
 What had escaped from the fires was much damaged by the 
 waters of the flood which, as already mentioned^ occurred in 1861, 
 causing a vast amount of loss to the settlement at large. The 
 part of the community conaected by religious ties with the mission 
 at St. Boniface is as a whole the poorest in the colony. On its 
 members the misery caused by the flood hung more heavily than 
 on apy others, and the poveiity of the flock increased, the always 
 considerable demand? for assistance made on. the spiritual gaar- 
 dians. 
 
 Besides these accumulated mischances, the community was 
 thrown into distress by the death of the oldest resident Sister of 
 Charity, ■yy^hioli occurred' djjj-uig the oontijiuianee of the inundation. 
 
190 RED KIVER. 
 
 This lady was the first of her order, who had come to found the 
 branch, which exists in Red River, and her decease was therefore 
 peculiarly regretted. No spot of dry land existed for use as a 
 place of interment, and a melancholy procession started from the 
 Nunnery, wading knee-deep through the water to the church, 
 where the body was temporarily deposited to wait the subsiding 
 of the flood. 
 
 After the occurrence of these events, the bishop at the head of 
 the suffering community went to Canada and France, ostensibly 
 with the object of raising funds to meet the calamities it had under- 
 gone, and more especially for the purpose, already mentioned in 
 Chapter X., of creating a new bishopric in the extreme north. 
 Indeed, on my journey up the Mississippi, I had heard from the 
 people in the steamboat, of his having passed Lacrosse immediately 
 before my arrival at that place. 
 
 On the day after reaching Red River, I set forth to deliver a 
 letter I had for the Bishop of Rupert's Land. Doctor Anderson 
 n resid at Bishop's Court, about two miles down the Red River 
 from Fort Garry. The first- part of my walk led me over the 
 land held in reserve round the Fort, by the Hudson's Bay 
 Company, which exten doabout three-quarters of a mile west and 
 more than half a mile north, from that establishment situated at 
 the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers. The reserve, 
 for some distance on either side of the highway intersecting it, 
 was thickly studded with the tents of Indians and others, the 
 juvenile inhabitants of which, arrayed in amazingly light attire, 
 were basking in the morning sun. At that time no houses were 
 built so far back from the river at the high road, which ran due 
 north at some considerable distance back from the stream, some- 
 times approaching it more nearly than at others according to the 
 windings of its course. Byeways at frequent intervals struck off 
 from the main road, leading along straight log fenced tracks, to 
 the dwellings on the river's bank. The highroad struck directly 
 across the settlers' land lots, each of which was laid oiF at right 
 angles to the general course of the river, and varied in width 
 from three to ten chains. The land between the road and the 
 river was invariably well enclosed, fenced and farmed, but though 
 
RED RIVER. 191 
 
 generally speaking the ground, on the other hand, towards the Plains 
 ■was also well enclosed and cultivated for a long distance, this was 
 not invariably the case. The state of the wooden bridges over 
 which I passed gave evidence of the ravages produced by the 
 flood, which had carried some of the more exposed and frailer 
 structures entirely away. 
 
 I was most kindly received by his Lordship, who showed nre 
 the improvements in progress about his place. He was at the 
 time destitute of a church, his old one, after having for some 
 years been dubiously upheld by wooden props without and within 
 the edifice, had at length fallen into such a condition as required 
 its demolition in the interests of public safety. The workmen 
 were at the time of my visit engaged in erecting the walls of the 
 present neat little church of St. John. During the time occupied 
 in building it, the bishop held service in a small wooden school- 
 house, consisting of one room, generally overcrowded by the con- 
 gregation. The entire space of ground occupied by the cathedral 
 church, with its neighbouring establishments of college^ and 
 Bishop's Court, extends over a lot of land thirty chains wide, which 
 will, however., be all required for the erection in course of time of 
 a large establishment. 
 
 The Tuesday after my arrival, the company of Canadian rifle- 
 men already referred to, left Fort Garry to proceed to Canada vicL 
 York Factory. Along with Mr. McMurray, a gentleman in the 
 service of the Hudson's Bay Company, I rode down to Lower 
 Fort Garry to see them off. This place is about twenty miles 
 distant from the Upper Fort, the well beaten high road already 
 mentioned connecting the two places. After passing St. John 
 we rode through a well cultivated country. About five miles 
 from the Fort, at a place called Frog Plain, stands the Scotch 
 Church, the central point of the Scotch Settlement. Here the 
 houses are numerous ,; in general they are very small, but now 
 and then we passed a comfortable looking roomy dwelling. The 
 English Church of St, Paul came next in sight. It was built of 
 wood, and adjoining it were a school house and parsonage. On 
 our left hand extended a vast unenclosed common called the 
 Image Plain. About half way between the Forts, we came to a 
 
192 BEB EI'VEK. 
 
 couple of bridges near each other spanning two deep ravines. 
 Close to the second of these stood a solitary water mill, tenantless 
 and forsaken, looking the embodiment of desolation. It had long 
 been totally deserted as useless in consequence of a want of water- 
 power. At thia part of the settlement no attempt had been 
 made to enclose any ground on the Plain side of the road, 
 although the river side was cultivated and settled. Afler a further 
 ride of about two mUes, we entered woods which henceforward 
 extended all the way down to the lower end of the Indian Settle- 
 ment, comprising a space of fully fifteen miles. The road runs 
 through these the whole way; and no house is visible for a long 
 distance except at one spot where, through a long vista in the 
 woods, St. Andrew's Church rears its spire-crowned tower, and the 
 closely clustered whitewashed houses of the St. Andrew's Rapids 
 settlement loom in the distance. 
 
 About half a mile from the Lower Fort that establishment 
 becomes visible, and the country is for a short space more clear of 
 trees. Several very comfortable private dwelling houses exist 
 hereabouts, and some of the wealthier residents have from time to 
 time inhabited them. The spot has, from the date of its original 
 settlement, been called "Little Britain." The district between 
 the two Forts may be called the grain country of the settlement 
 no other region within the municipal boundaries of the colony 
 being on the whole so well cultivated or inhabited by settlers so 
 entirely devoted to agricultural occupations. 
 
 We were hospitably received by Mr. Lillie, the gentleman in 
 charge of the Post. His occupation, as such, ceased on the day in 
 question, as he was, when we arrived, on the eve of starting at the 
 head of a flying party, sent to follow and counteract the efforts of 
 another outfitted by private traders to oppose the Company in an 
 inland district. The boats engaged to transport the troops to 
 York, Mr. Lillie's party and that of his opponents, being all about 
 to start together; a considerable crowd had gathered about the 
 Fort to bid them farewell. Among the crowd was Archdeacon 
 Hunter, the incumbent of' St. Andrew's ; a gentleman who has 
 since that time attained a certain degree of publicity in England. 
 We had to wait for several hours before the boats bringing the 
 
RED RIVER. 193 
 
 troops came down the river, but when they arrived the scene 
 became one of animition. They dined at the Fort and, after 
 dinner, drew up in order on the bank, marched down to the boats 
 and embarked. We watohed them as boat after boat shoved off 
 and slowly dropped down stream, one after the other in turn 
 disappearing round " Sugar " or " Maple Point,'' which hid 
 them from our view. 
 
 Lower Fort Garry, called also the Stone Fort, in allusion to the 
 material of which its houses are constructed, is situated close to 
 the bank of the Red River. The banks at the spot where it 
 stands are very high, and, in consequence, the Fort is favourably 
 situated for the avoidance of the bad effects of the floods during 
 the periods of inundations. The business of the establishment, 
 which is one of the subordinate posts in Red River district, is 
 composed of farming, retail dealing and boat freighting. A large 
 farm has been brought under cultivation in its immediate vicinity ; 
 a sale shop is constantly crowded with customers, who purchase 
 goods of all kinds for cash, or barter their furs and agricultural 
 produce for the articles on sale. The post during the summer 
 months is the one at which the boat brigades are outfitted to trip 
 to York or other points inland. The buildings consist of oflScers' 
 and servants' dwelling houses, shops and stores. These are all 
 enclosed within a stone wall, pierced throughout its entire circuit 
 with a tier of loop-holes, so arranged as to suggest the inquiry 
 whether, in the very improbable event of the place being besieged, 
 they would present greater facilities to the defenders of the estab- 
 lishment, or to the assailants in firing through them at the garrison 
 within. ' 
 
 On the ensuing day, after passing a pleasant evening at this 
 post, Mr. McMurray and I returned to Upper Fort G-arry. With 
 a view of seeing more of the country, we followed the track lead- 
 ing close along the banks of the river during the first five miles 
 •of our homeward journey. On our way down the day before, 
 while following th^ public road, we had seen no houses, but now 
 we found the entffe distance along the river's bank studded with 
 them until reaching St. Andrew's when, striking away from the 
 river towards our right, we contii^ued our journey over the sams 
 track we had followed the preceding day. 
 
194 RED RIVER. 
 
 Upper Port Garry, as the residence of the Governor of the terri- 
 tory and as the central point of the Northern Department, may be 
 considered the most important post connected with it. York 
 Factory, however, is the head-quarters of the accountant's depart- 
 ment in the service. The business at Fort Garry consists of 
 trading goods for cash, furs or country produce, of forwarding 
 the outfits for certain large districts to their destinations in the 
 interior of the territory, and of banking and transacting a variety 
 of general business with the inhabitants of the settlement. The 
 means by which these affairs are carried on consists of a bonded 
 warehouse, a sale shop, a general office, and sundry stores for pem- 
 mican, provisions and other articles of a special nature. Eich of 
 these departments is furnished with its stafif of clerks, warehouse- 
 men and labourers. 
 
 The people resident in the Fort form a community of them- 
 selves. Regular hours are appointed for the dispatch of business 
 and for meals. At the officers' mess, in conformity with the system 
 of early hours prevalent in the country, breakfast takes place at 
 half-past seven or eight o'clock at different seasons, dinner at two, 
 and supper at six in the evening. Business is transacted in the 
 Company's office between the hours of nine in the mornine 
 and six in the evening, with the exception of an hour between 
 two and three o'clock when the office is closed. Generally 
 speaking, this division of time holds good all the year round, though 
 slight modifications take place with the changing seasons and 
 periods of the year when little work is done. 
 
 Summer is the busy season, as then all the freighting is carried 
 on and the accounts for the year are closed. It is also a time of 
 much bustle created by the constant arrivals and departures which 
 take place at so central a spot as Fort Garry in a country where 
 locomotion may be called the normal condition of the majority of 
 people during the summer months. 
 
 The constant changes of residence, occasioned bv the necessities 
 of their condition, render the officers of the Company in Eupert's 
 Land, as a class, somewhat careless about the accommodation 
 affi)rded by their houses. At remote statioas the most simple 
 articles of furniture are held to be fufficient, aad shifts are made 
 
RED RIVER. 195: 
 
 to adapt different objects to uses not contemplated by their makers.^ 
 Cassettes for instance, as the strong compact travelling cases used 
 in the north are called, often constitute the chief pieces of furni- 
 ture, except perhaps a bedstead, and do duty as chairs and tables. 
 The residents at Fort Garry and other depots are indeed furnished 
 ■with more of the conveniences of civilization, and means exist 
 whereby such as may be so inclined can render themselves very 
 comfortable. The changes of appointments occur less frequently 
 at head quarters than elsewhere, and, at Fort Garry, such as have 
 use for them, keep horses, cutters and buggies of their own. 
 
 The peculiarities of individual taste generally exhibit them- 
 gelves most strikingly in the selection and disposal of articles of 
 bedroom furniture. The general mass of men certainly confine 
 themselves in this particular to the practical and useful, but, from 
 time to time, a gentleman of independent taste turns up who, with 
 the laudable desire of giving an artistic air to his chamber, graces- 
 the useful with more or less of the ornamental. Masks of the 
 faces of men and animals are displayed on the walls in juxta-posi- 
 tion -with neatly finished, brightly burnished rifles, shot flasks,, 
 powder horns and fire bags. Objects of Indian art in bark, porcu- 
 pine quill and bead work lend an air of barbaric splendour to the 
 room, while in bold contrast appear pictured representations, set in 
 rude frames, of doings on the British turf, highways and waters. 
 Tom Sayers in deadly conflict with some half-throttled competitor, 
 may be seen in round the last, surrounded by excited and applaud- 
 ing hundreds ; high mettled racers, covered with foam, plui^e?, 
 along in a neck and neck rush towards the winning post where aa , 
 eager crowd of spectators on the grand stand looms away in the . 
 far perspective with hands uplifted to welcome the favourite j stage 
 coaches with magnificent posters tear headlong down dangerous 
 inclines to the time of the red jacketted postboy's impossible 
 horn ; while an eighteen-inch portrait of " Britannia, the Pride of 
 the Ocean," seated on a sea-girt rock with her trident in her fist, 
 and ugly monsters playing in the green sea waves at her feet, takes 
 the place of honour at the end of the room. 
 
 Reading men find abundant leisure to pursue their occupation , 
 during the long nights of winter. Books, as the property of,; 
 
196 RED RIVER. 
 
 private individuals, from the difficulty involved in transporting 
 them, are more scarce than might be expected. Large libraries, 
 however, for the use of the officers and servants of the Company, 
 exist at various stations in the north. Parties not studiously 
 inclined often pass their spare time in exercising their skill on one of 
 the musical instruments. Of these the violin, on account probably 
 cf its portable nature, is most ordinarily selected, and the votary after 
 a series of years passed in sedulous practice, usually attains a 
 certain ghastly facility of execution. Some are admitted to play 
 •well, but the style of music aimed at is not a high one. In Red 
 River Settlement the performance of a monotonous jig is one of the 
 most admired feats of musical art, and the performer usually while 
 playing, beats time with his feet so vigorously as to render him- 
 self a very disagreeable neighbour overhead. Two storey houses 
 are, however, not numerous outside of the forts. 
 
 So common an accomplishment is fiddle playing in the service 
 that violin strings are annually forwarded as part, of the regular 
 outfit for sale in the northern districts. The Indians possess no 
 musical instruments of their own, unless among such may be 
 classed the drums which they continue to beat monotonously 
 during the greater part of the day and night, and which they use 
 for purposes both of incantation and of gambling. They may be 
 compared as resembling in form and sound a tambourine. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 1861. 
 
 Indian Dog Feasts — Conjurors and Medicine making — Arrival of Mr. 
 O'B. — Royal Hotel and Firm of McKenney & Co.— Ride to thePrairi* 
 Portage and bacli to head quarters — Crops— Balfitlo Hunts and 
 Fisheries — November — General Quarterly Court — Monkman Murder 
 Case — Mr. William Robert Smith, Clerk of Court and Council- 
 Sketch of his Life in Rupert's Land since 1813. 
 
 Each autumn the Indians generally celebrate one of their Dog^ 
 Feasts on the Company's reserve in the neighbourhood of Fort 
 Garry. An enclosure about 40 feet long by 25 feet broad, fenced 
 in with the branches of trees, is laid off on the Plain. It is 
 situated due east and west, and has an opening left in the hedge 
 at either end for purposes of entrance or exit. The ceremony 
 occupies two or three days, during which the ground in the 
 interior of the enclosure is crowded with the savages, who sit 
 along side each other drawn up close inside the fence. In a line 
 running lengthways through the centre, are erected perpendicular 
 poles with large stones at their bases, both stones and poles coloured 
 red over different portions of their surfaces with the blood of the 
 dog sacrifice. The animals are selected and killed, and after lying 
 exposed on the stones beside the posts during the performance of 
 certain ceremonies by the "medicinemen," whose "medicine bags," 
 composed of the entire skins of wild animals, form an important 
 feature of the ceremony, are cooked and eaten by the company. 
 The dog-meat when prepared presents a very uncouth and repul- 
 sive appearance, as it is borne from man to man, in shapeless tin 
 trenchers, that each may select the portion he means to devour. 
 
 To the casual spectator such a ceremony as a Dog Feast seems 
 a confused conglomeration of frivolous rites and genuflexions, 
 destitute alike of meaning or design. One might be tempted to 
 
198 KED mVER. 
 
 believe that the principal and most rational object of the assen- 
 blage was to eat the dogs. Inquiry, however, of any well informed 
 resident in the country, elicits the reply that the unfortunate 
 beings are assembled for what in their eyes is the celebration of a 
 solemn act of communion with spirits. That such communion is 
 xeal has been believed, I presume, by many clergymen and priests 
 in the country, though of course their theory is that it exists with 
 spirits of darkness. It probably lies much with the accidental 
 ibias of each man's mind, whether he inclines to so serious a view of 
 these barbarous proceedings or mentally attributes to them much 
 the same amount of spiritual efficacy, which he would to the 
 fantastic tumblings of some curiously bedizened Ritualistic Divine. 
 
 The nominal object of the feast is " to make medicine." What 
 fthis medicine is, I am unable to state with precision. The Indians 
 bave many medicines, composed often of roots, and sometimes 
 •possessed of real medicinal virtue. SarsaparUla, for instance, is 
 ■used by them. Some are said to be highly poisonous, and even to 
 exercise what I presume would to a physician appear an unac- 
 oountable effect. The permanent contortion of feature, the growth 
 of hair over the entire surface of the human body, the eruption 
 •of black ineffaceable blotches on the skin, and the causing of 
 abortion and derangement of the female generative organs, are 
 alleged to be consequences of partaking of some of them either bj 
 swallowing or inhaling their fumes. Medical gentlemen in the 
 country have differed in their opinions as to the ability of the 
 Indians to cause the above described symptoms, and so far aa I 
 can gather, the subject is a difficult one, and reduces itself more to 
 a question of evidence of facts than of the medical properties of 
 roots and drugs. 
 
 Certain it is that a brotherhood of " medicine men " exists 
 among the Indians, and those who are without its pale look with 
 much awe on the power of its members. The latter are the great 
 actors in the Dog Feasts. They make medicine for the recovery 
 of the sick, who apply for their assistance, and initiate novices into 
 the mysteries of their fraternity. In payment for each exercise of 
 these offices, a remuneration of some value is required. Besides 
 paying the price of initiation, the candidate must be a man known 
 
BED RIVEK. 199 
 
 to the adepts as eligible. A f.iat of ten days duration has been 
 stated to me, on oral and reliable testimony, as a necessary pre- 
 liminary among some tribes to becoming a conjuror. During the 
 time indicated, the novice sleeps among the branches of a tree, 
 ■where a temporary residence has been fitted up for him. His 
 dreams are carefully treasured up in his recollection, and he 
 believes the spirits who are afterwards to become his familiars 
 then reveal themselves to him. For whole nights, previous to the 
 public ceremony, the principal medicine man, installed in this 
 "medicine tent," instructs his pupils. The quaint party is 
 attended by an individual who beats the " medicine drum," the 
 monotonous tones of which are kept up during the whole time the 
 lesson continues. Among the other mysterious contents of the 
 medicine bags are small images of wood, the presence of which is 
 considered important. 
 
 I have never seen any of the feats performed by the conjurors, 
 who, however, if common report is to be believed, are capable of 
 doing strange things ; among the most curious of which I have 
 heard is one analogous to the celebrated Davenport trick. Neither 
 from undoubted medicine men, who have been converted to the 
 Christian faith, nor from any others of whom I have heard, haa 
 anything worth knowing, in relation to what may be called 
 mysterious about the ceremonies above indicated, been ever elicited. 
 Christian ex-conjurors have, I believe, been known to express an 
 opinion that they had possessed a power when pagans which they 
 were unable to exercise after their baptism. What this belief 
 may be worth, I do not know. 
 
 It was, I think, during the month of September, 1861, there 
 arrived in Bed Eiver Settlement, by the steamboat from George- 
 town, a gentleman who has since become somewhat amusingly 
 celebrated in England in consequence of his connection with a 
 party of travellers, who wrote an account of their journey through 
 the country. This person, whom I do not feel myself justified by 
 naming at length, has become known through the publication 
 referred to by the contracted appellation " Mr. O'B." He had 
 applied to the Right Keverend Doctor Whipple, Bishop of Minne- 
 sota, for a situation as schoolmaster, in his Diocese, but the prelate 
 
200 RED RIVER. 
 
 in question, having no opening of the nature indicated available 
 for him at the moment, advised him to apply to his neighbour, the 
 Bishop of Rupert's Land, who, the Bishop of Minnesota thought, 
 had occasion for the services of a skilful teacher. Deeming a 
 personal visit more likely to be efficacious in forwarding his views, 
 than the slow and uncertain means offered by the post-office, Mr. 
 O'B., though in very destitute circumstances, managed to reach 
 Red River and locate himself in the Royal Hotel, established some 
 years previously by a firm called McKenney & Company. As this 
 firm, both as a whole and in the persons of its individual mem- 
 bers, has attracted much attention in the colony, of late years, in 
 order to render more intelligible the events to be hereafter recorded 
 I shall at this stage give a short account of its origin and compo- 
 sition. 
 
 In the year 1859 Mr. Henry McKenney came from Canada to 
 establish a business at Red River. He was, I believe, induced to 
 do so by the great amount of public interest concentrated on the 
 settlement at that time, which led him and many others to imagine 
 that a large influx of settlers would at once find their way thither. 
 He found himself one of the few who actually came. On his 
 arrival he commenced a small retail business, which gradually 
 increased until it attained a considerable extent. One department 
 of his exertions consisted of the Royal Hotel, above mentioned, 
 which he founded about three-quarters of a mile from Fort Garry, 
 and which was, I believe, the first venture of the kind ever tried 
 in the colony. The house itself was a well-sized wooden one, which 
 he rented and fitted up comfortably enough for the purpose he had 
 in view. Some time after Mr. McKenney's arrival he was joined 
 by his half-brother. Dr. John Schultz, understood in the settlement 
 to have obtained his degree from a Canadian Medical School, in 
 which he had studied. Dr.^Sohultz, after his arrival, devoted his 
 attention, during the hours in which it was not engrossed by the 
 practice of the healing art, to the humbler details connected with 
 the hotel and retail traffic of SlcKenney & Co. Mr. McKenney and 
 Dr. Schultz then composed the firm, and it was into the hotel 
 maintained by these gentlemen that Mr. O'B. dropped one fine day 
 in September, 1861. 
 
RED RIVER. 201 
 
 The , prospects of the latter, so far as any employment which 
 Bishop Anderson could give him was concerned, were very black, 
 the school at St. John's having been closed, and there being as 
 great a deficiency of scholars as of a teacher. Mr. O'B., however, 
 was most considerately received by his lordship, who kindly sup- 
 plied him with a frequent seat at his table, with books, magazines, 
 and newspapers, and to a certain extent, T believe, with cash. He 
 became quite a temporary celebrity at the Royal Hotel, and was 
 known in the settlement chiefly as " the Irish schoolmaster," Erin 
 having, as was believed, thg honour of being the land of his nativity, 
 while the University of Oxford was that at whicb he was popu- 
 larly supposed to have studied. His own antecedents, except in so 
 far as he chose to reveal them, were unknown to any one else ; not 
 so, however, were those of any one he might meet to him. One of 
 the most remarkable features of the man was his familiarity with 
 the most diverse localities and people, and the facility with which 
 he could make the humble individuals he met believe he knew all 
 about their relatives and homes in other countries. He had visited 
 the Punjaub and many other places in Asia, did not seem over 
 fifty years of age, and apparently knew intimately all about the 
 personalities of leading English public men. In default of employ- 
 ment, such as he professed to have at first desired in teaching, he 
 spent a good deal of time and pains in trying to borrow money 
 from different people, under pretence that, could he only raise suf- 
 ficient to support him during the period necessary to go through a 
 course of theological training, his ordination at the hands of the 
 bishop was certain. His success in this attempt was, however, so 
 small that he relinquished it in despair, and, as his bill at the hotel 
 was getting in arrear, he commenced a round of visits of as many 
 days' duration as he could manage to remain at the houses of suck 
 hospitably disposed acquaintances as he had met, reserving the 
 great bulk of his patronage in this way for the clergymen scattered 
 up and down the colony, whose society he apparently found more 
 congenial than that of any other section of the people. 
 
 In the month of October I accompanied the Governor onavisit- 
 of inspection he paid to one of the outposts in Red River district, 
 ealled Portage La Prairie, or the Prairie Portage, situated on thfr 
 
202 RED KIVER. 
 
 Eiver Assiniboine, about sixty-five miles west from Fort Garry. 
 The trip both ways was to occupy four days, and to bs performed 
 on horsebick. One fine, breezy afternoon we started, witb the 
 intention of getting over the first twenty-five miles of the journey 
 before nightfall. Our route led westward, skirting the Assiniboine 
 over the track which leads to the Saskatchewan Valley and the 
 Rocky Mountains. Three miles from the Fort we passed on our 
 left the Church of St. James, being that of the parish through 
 ■which the earlier part of our journey lay. Three miles further we 
 reached a very fine part of the settlement named Sturgeon Creek. 
 The high level of this locality saves it from the devastating influ- 
 ences of the periodical floods, and, on this account, it has been 
 thickly settled and brought under cultivation by a number of 
 farmers, all of whom are in comfortable circumstances, while a few 
 are wealthy men. Among the latter I may mention the names of 
 Messrs. John Rowand and James McKay, the former of whom had 
 been both personally and by family ties connected with the Hud- 
 son's Bay Company, while the latter has been one of the most 
 experienced hunters on the Plains. Both had erected commodious 
 residences and large farming establishments. Mr. Rowand died 
 in the year 1865. 
 
 After passing Sturgeon Creek our track ran through a- desolate, 
 uncultivated plain region for some miles until the steeple of Trinity 
 Church, in the parish of Headingley, rose at some distance on our 
 left. The Rev. Mr. Corbett was incumbent of this parish at the 
 time to which I allude. He had some weeks previously been before 
 the public as the author of a series of letters which appeared in the 
 " Nor' Wester," in which the attention of the people had been 
 •called to the fact that the Clerk of the Council of Assiniboia had, in 
 certain "state papers," prefixed the objectionable monosyllable 
 " Lord" to the Roman Catholic ecclesiastical title " Bishop of St. 
 Boniface." This, Mr. Corbett contended, was illegal and inex- 
 pedient. The " state papers" alluded to were the minutes of coun- 
 cil, in the preamble to which the bishop's title was entered along 
 ■with the names of the other members present at the meeting. Pre- 
 cedent, and the frivolous nature of the matter, when the circum- 
 stances of the place and the homely appearance of the record, digni- 
 
RED EIVBR- 203 
 
 fied for the time being with "the high-sounding name of state paper, 
 ■were taken into consideration, might have been fairly pleaded in 
 extenuation of theoifeneeso far as the clerk himself was concerned; 
 hut Mr. Corbett objected to the practice as wrong from the 
 beginning. A priest, named Father Oram, and a Catholic miller, 
 named Louis Kiel, ultimately came forward aa the champions on 
 the other side, and published certain replies to Mr. Corbett in the 
 " Nor' Wester." The grounds on which the Father maintained 
 his view I do not recollect, but the spelling and diction of the 
 miller's communication, a literal translation of which was published, 
 were such as to give the whole affair the best conclusion of which 
 it was susceptible — one of great absurdity. Father Oram has since 
 left the country for the benefit of his health, and the miller is dead. 
 Not far from the parsonage at Headingley stood the farm house 
 of another local celebrity, named Oliver Growler. This was an 
 English labourer who came to the settlement in the Company's ser- 
 vice in the year 1837, in the capacity of farm servant. His expe- 
 rience in England had been considerable, and his intelligence and 
 perseverance enabled him, on his retirement from the service some 
 ten years subsequently, to turn it to good account. He obtained 
 possession of a piece of land at Headingley, and soon brought it 
 into a high state of cultivation. His commodious farmhouse, with 
 its well-arranged, substantial outhouses, gained him the reputation 
 ■of being one of the most successful farmers ever resident in the 
 •colony. His operations were eminently profitable to himself, and 
 iheir extent would have been much enlarged had the market for his 
 produce been greater. After the death of Mr. Gowler, which 
 occurred in 1865, his farm was valued at £500. 
 
 The sun was setting as we came in sight of the tin-topped spire 
 of the chapel of St. FranQois Xavier, a Roman Catholic establish- 
 ment, at that date under the care of the Rev. Jean B. Thibiult 
 ■who after a long career of missionary work in the interior, had 
 settled down in Red River Settlement as aparish priest. The situ- 
 ation and appearance of the church, with its adjoining priests' resi- 
 dence and nunnery standing by the wayside, were somewhat 
 -picturesque. Although the houses in the neighbourhood were but 
 jarely visible, from the track they were numerous, and the French 
 
234 KED KIVEK. 
 
 congregation connected witli the chapel was a considerable one. 
 After riding forward about five miles beyond the church, a portioa 
 of our journey performed in darkness, we were not sorry to find our- 
 selves at the post of White Horse Plain, otherways called " Lane's^ 
 Post," in allusion to chief trader William D. Lane, who had built it 
 a few years before the date of our visit. That gentleman, himself, on 
 hearing the noise made by our horses, came out to meet us, and we 
 spent the evening along with him. 
 
 Next morning I could see about me. Mr. Lane's post was built 
 close to the high bank of the Assiniboine, between which river and* 
 the highway it was situated. It was surrounded with a picketed 
 wall. As it had been established chiefly with a view to farming^ 
 operations, the buildings connected with the post ofiered large 
 stabling and other farming accommodation. The officer's dwelling 
 house was small and snug. 
 
 The distance to be traversed the second day of our journey was 
 forty miles or thereby. As many tracks branched off from the 
 main one we intended to follow, and as all were more or less equally 
 well beaten, Mr. Lane supplied us with a guide who rode ahead 
 on a rough trotting brown horse. 
 
 The country round our route was uncultivated, wild and bleak 
 looking. Occasionally the road ran through a morass over which 
 our horses 'had to pick their steps somewhat carefully to avoid 
 going up to the belly in water. After riding about five hours we 
 reached what was then the little cluster of isolated houses called 
 Poplar Point, and stopped for about an hour to dine and take a 
 rest. One of the houses was immediately opened to us, and our 
 guide set to work in preparing some eatables which he had carried 
 from White Horse Plain. After dinner we set out on our last 
 Stage for the Portage. This, which was got through in the cool 
 of the evening, was the pleasantest part of the day's ride. The 
 country, too, grew finer as we advanced. Trees were numerous on 
 the opposite side of the river, where ash, elm, oak and poplar 
 grow. About six o'clock we found ourselves in the midst of an 
 enclosed and cultivated country. Far to the left hand side of the 
 track lay a church and parsonage. ■ They were those of St. Mary, 
 built and occupied by the Venerable Archdeacon Cochran. 
 
RED RIVKR. 205 
 
 About this time it became apparent that our guide was not very 
 aure about his further route. Anxious to explore the country 
 ahead while daylight lasted, I galloped forward as fast as my 
 horse would carry me. The animal was a fine American one, 
 belonging to the Governor, and not at all tired with the exercise of 
 the last two days, went forward at a very respect ible gallop 
 indeed. After having got over a few hundred yards, I heard the 
 sound of quick hard trotting behind me, and turned to ascertain 
 the cause. Our guide, who, after riding ahead of the party all 
 day, had fall;n into the rear, was now coming towards me at a 
 breakneck speed on his hard trotting animal ; but, not thinking 
 anything of the circumstance, and much pleased with the smooth 
 springing speed of my own horse, I kept on my way unmoved. 
 Soon the guide overtook me and, without speaking, rode alongside 
 as hard as ever, apparently anxious to get ahead. To this step, 
 however, my horse would not consent, and both animals had 
 evidently made up their minds to " see it out " when I drew up, 
 continued my journey at a walk, when to my surprise, so did the 
 guide also. When the governor came up he explained that the 
 man had imagined from my sudden galloping ahead I wanted to 
 " steal a march " on him by arriving first at our destination, and 
 as all these Canadian Frenchmen like to arrive at a place with 
 some iclat, his ambition had prompted him to act as he had done. 
 On reaching the post we found it situated on the summit of a 
 pretty steep eminence in immediate proximity to the river bank. 
 Olose to it as usual, were pitched some Indian tents. The 
 number of houses at the post were three; an officer's house, 
 a men's house, and a trading shop. Of these the officer's house 
 ■was then only in course of construction, the carpenters being 
 employed on it when we arrived. The governor and myself took 
 up our quarters in a large room forming the servant's house. No 
 sooner had we entered it than our guide sunk literally exhausted 
 on the floor with his back against a wall, and lay still. It turned 
 out the poor fellow was afflicted with boils, which had broken out 
 on his legs in such a manner that the ride must have been very 
 painful to him. Only on learning this circumstance did we esti- 
 mate the true difficulty his force of will had spurred him to 
 
206 RED RIVER. 
 
 surmount in his pursuit of me, although even to a man otherwise- 
 in good order for equestrian exercise, the rough trot of the animal 
 he had ridden must have been somewhat trying. 
 
 After supper, the principal dish at which consisted of a eompound. 
 which may be likened to a very palateable kind of Irish stew, our 
 horses having been safely secured within the pale of a neighbouring- 
 enclosure, we prepared to make ourselves comfortable for the night 
 between some pairs of blankets which had been spread for us on 
 the floor. In the morning I had leisure to look a little about me.- 
 The Prairie Portage is so called on account of an overland journey- 
 Indians sometimes make across it with their canoes between the- 
 waters of the River Assiniboine and those of Lake Manitoba.- 
 The distance is about ten miles. The Company's post there is 
 intended entirely for the Indian trade, and for retail transactions 
 with the people of the neighbouring settlement. The country 
 about it is very favourable for farming pursuits, consisting of" 
 prairie land situated at a high level. It is well cultivated by 
 numerous settlers who, I believe, derive a good return for their- 
 outlay. 
 
 Having got through the business which took us thither ,we 
 started on the forenoon of the day succeeding our arrival to return 
 homewards. Our guide was so unwell that we had to leave him 
 behind. The return journey was made over precisely the same 
 route we had followed on our way up. In the course of the after- 
 noon we reached the house at Poplar Point, in which we had rested 
 the preceding day, and after again dining there we proceeded to 
 White Horse Plain, which we reached about dusk. Here we were 
 met by the painful intelligence that a little girl, the daughter of 
 JVIr. Lane, who had been unwell at the time of our visit on the 
 preceding day, was dead. The medical gentleman, who had been 
 hastily summoned from the settlement, was present, and from him 
 we heard rather a singular story. In accordance with the custom 
 prevalent in the country of burying within a couple of days after 
 death, preparations had been made for the child's interment at the 
 parish of Headingley. An application for the services of the 
 incumbent had been answered by a letter in which it was stated, 
 by Mr, Corbett that he was engaged for a dinner party in the; 
 
RED EIVER. 20T 
 
 ■etUement on the day named, but as the weather was cool the 
 corpse would keep till his return. On receipt of the lettsr con- 
 taining this announcement and recommendation, the gentleman to 
 whom it was addressed enclosed it, along with another detiilinjthe- 
 oircumstinces of the affair, to the Bishop of the Diocese. The- 
 messenger, however, in passing Headingley advised Mr. Corbett 
 that he suspected there was something wrong, and that gentleman, 
 on re-considering the facts, thought so too. He bade the porter 
 return to White Horse Plain with a note from himself, intimating 
 he would be prepared to proceed with the funeral at the time- 
 originally proposed. 
 
 Under these circumstances, on the ensuing morning, we accom- 
 panied the funeral procession to Headingley which, as will he- 
 remembered, lay in our route about twelve miles from White 
 Horse Plain. At the entrance of the burial ground, arrayed in 
 his clerical vestments, stood Mr. Corbett, prepared to officiate. 
 At a short distance behind him, on riding to the spot, we recog- 
 nized Mr. O'B., who, in the course of the tour on which he has 
 been already described as setting out, happened at the time to h& 
 staying at Headingley. I did not on that occasion make his 
 acquaintance, as my attention was pressingly called away during^ 
 the ceremony by the misconduct of my horse, which having become 
 tired of standing still, had managed to run off, carrying the huge 
 fence rail of the burying ground, to which he had been fastened,, 
 along with him. After a spirited chase over the Plain, he was 
 secured and we continued our journey to Fort Garry, which we- 
 reached without further adventure, in time for a late dinner. 
 
 The track over which our journey had taken us was that hy 
 which one of the great parties of Plain Buffalo hunters leaves the 
 settlement. Its members usually collect and fall into line of 
 march a little west from White Horse Plain, at which post, as well 
 as at Portage La Prairie, they trade much of the produce of their 
 hunts on their return. 
 
 In consequence of the flood which had taken place in spring,. 
 the disastrous effects of which have bsen already alluded to, the 
 crops in the autumn of 1861 may be said to have failed. Wheat,, 
 for the growth of which the country is most favourable, yielded a 
 
208 RED RIVER. ' 
 
 very poor return, while the barley and potato crops were perfect 
 failures. The misery consequent thereupon was, however, much 
 alleviated by the fortunate circumstance that the Plain buffalo 
 hunts, with the Lake fisheries, turned out well. 
 
 The first excitement which broke the monotony of winter was 
 the sitting of the General Quarterly Court, which took place 
 towards the middle of November. There being at the time a 
 vacancy in the office of the Recordership, and the gentleman, who 
 had for some years acted as interim Judge, having died some 
 months previously, the Governor of Assiniboia, who was also 
 acting Governor of Rupert's Land, became Judge ex-officio. Only 
 one case, the trial of which would have rendered the presidency of 
 a professional lawyer particularly desirable, stood on the roll. It 
 was one for- murder, and the circumstances were substantially as 
 follows : 
 
 Two men, named respectively John Monkman and PauUet 
 Chartrain, had resided as neighbours near Oak Point on the shore 
 of Lake Manitoba, about fifty miles from Fort Garry. They 
 were occupied with the manufacture of salt from the salt springs, 
 abounding where they dwelt. ' One day, about the middle of 
 August, John Monkman, when labouring under the influence of 
 liquor, went to see his neighbour Chartrain, and obliged him to 
 come to his house. Arrived there, Monkman subjected Chartrain 
 to repeated insults, and eventually roused him to such a pitch of 
 fury that he struck him in the side with a chisel, causing a severe 
 wound. The upshot was the wound became mortal and Monkman 
 died. An inquest was held which led to an indictment being 
 drawn ifp against Chartrain, for wilful murder. The latter 
 admitted all the facts, but justified himself on the ground of the 
 gross provocation he had received. , 
 
 It was at the date of the sitting of this Court that I first met 
 a gentleman whose name has already been mentioned in this work. 
 Mr. William Robert Smith, the clerk of Court and Council, came 
 as usual to record the proceedings and perform the other important 
 duties of a routine nature attached to his office. As Mr. Smith's 
 connection with the settlement has been very long and of such a 
 nature as to render him one of the strictly representative men of 
 
KED RIVER. 209 
 
 the colony, I shall here give a sketch of the principal events of 
 his life since his arrival in Rupert's Land, in the yeai- 1813. 
 
 In that year then, after having spent several years as a student, 
 at Christ's Hospital, in London, he came to the country in the 
 capacity of apprentice clerk in the Hudson's Bay Company's 
 service. The Hudson's Bay and the North West Companies were 
 then in the thick of their conflicts. Mr. Smith remained a staunch 
 Hudson's Bay partizan till his retirement from the service in 1824, 
 after the rival bodies had amalgamated. His first winter in the 
 territory was passed at Oxford House, about 250 miles west from 
 Hudson's Bay, a place then in charge of a postmaster named 
 Magnus Birston. In 1814 Mr. Smith proceeded inland to Isle h, la 
 Crosse, where he remained for one year under Mr. House, then in 
 charge of English Kiver District. In 1815 he was appointed to 
 Little Slave Lake, between which place and Lac La Biche he spent 
 the interval of eight years between 1 81 5 and 1 823. In that year, he 
 came to Norway House, where he passed a winter under Chief 
 Factor Colin Robertson, and proceeded to Red River in autumn, 
 1824. Here he was informed that the coalition between the 
 rival companies having been effected, a large reduction was about 
 to be made in the staff of clerks, and his services were no longer 
 required. To a man who had passed eleven years of his life in 
 the endurance of many privations, at a scale of pay no time higher 
 than £100 per annum, in the assured hope of gaining promotion 
 in three or four years from that date, his dismissal was an event, 
 discouraging and unforeseen. As he had become connected with 
 the country by family ties during his term of service, BIr, Smith 
 declined the passage to England, which was offered him, and 
 turned his attention to farming in Red River Settlement. 
 
 The locality he selected as his residence was that already men- 
 tioned as " Little Britain,' situated in the neighbourhood of the 
 Stone Fort. Mr. Smith was the first to settle there, and he it was 
 who gave the place its name. Between 1824 and 1828, he devoted 
 himself to clearing and cultivating his farm. Seeing his success, 
 others went and settled near him, and soon the river bank became 
 fully taken up. The growth of the parish of St. Andrew's, subse- 
 quent to Mr. Smith's settlement at its lower extremity, has already 
 
 
 
210 KED RIVER. 
 
 been commented on in Chapter IX. It was about the same date 
 that Mr. Cochran, to supply the wants of what was then a remote 
 collection of farms, went to reside among the people who had 
 settled in St. Andrew's, among whom Mr. Smith was the first, 
 that the latter was engaged, under the auspices of the Rey. Mr. 
 Jones, and the Church Missionary Society, to give up his farm, 
 and go to live as a catechist at St. John's. Between 1828 and 
 1832, in consideration of a salary of £100 per annum, Mr. Smith 
 occupied that ofiice. In 1832 he went to reside at a place which 
 he called the Maples, close by the " Middle " or St. Paul's Church. 
 Here, under the patronage of the Church Missionary Society, 
 which assured him of something like £17 a year, he opened a 
 school of his own, which speedily became so successful an enter- 
 prise that his house would not accommodate the number of pupils 
 thrust on him. In 1835, while continuing to keep the profits 
 accruing from his own establishment, the situation of parochial 
 schoolmaster was conferred on him, and he continued employed in 
 the duties attached thereto, until, in 1848, he was invested with 
 the offices of clerk of court and council. 
 
 Between the years 1828 and 1848, in addition to his regular 
 functions as schoolmaster, Mr. Smith, whose voice and ear were 
 good, performed those of precentor and leader of responses in the 
 different places of worship to which his schools were adjacent. In 
 1848, however, he discontinued all ecclesiastical and scholastic 
 duty, reserving himself for the punctual fulfilment of his secular 
 offices. Between the years 1852 and 1854, as has been already 
 mentioned in Chapter VII, ex-judge Thorn occupied the position 
 of ■clerk of court and council, at a salary equal to that which he 
 had drawn as recorder. He was never called on to attend court, 
 at which Mr. Smith continued to officiate. The former, however, 
 sat in fthe. council and acted as clerk. 
 
 Of late years the situation held by Mr. Smith has entailed duty 
 ever increasing in weight. His functions are officially described as 
 " all such administrative ones as may not be specially assigned to 
 any other person." This involves attendance at four general, and 
 twenty-four petty, courts each year. The former sit at a distance 
 of eight miles from his house, while the latter are held at distances 
 of eight, nine, and thirty-three miles respectively from the same 
 
SEB RIVER. 211 
 
 place. Over these distances the old gentleman has had to travel, 
 sometimes during very inclement weather. He is alvrays, however, 
 a welcome guest at the different houses where it js his wont to 
 stay, and where his arrival is hailed as an opportunity of learning 
 the local news, with which, from his itinerant habits, he is, of 
 course, ever fully supplied. His forensic duties consist of admin- 
 istering the oaths, taking official notes of cases, recording judg- 
 ments, and handing writs to the sheriff for execution. He has 
 also, since 1867, been president of oneof the petty courts, of which 
 he is clerk. Fcsr this office, in addition to his pay of £100 as 
 executive officer, the old gentleman received £12 per annum. Its 
 duties add only two journeys of thirty-three miles, for the issue of 
 liquor licenses, to what he would have to perform as clerk, the 
 judicial function being doubtless to him rather a pleasure than a 
 task. 
 
 The portion of his duty relating to -council consists of giving 
 notice to its members of the dates on which it is convened, of 
 attending himself and recording its transactions, and of communi- 
 «ating officially with outsiders on its behalf, 
 
 Mr. Smith, in addition to all the above-mentioned avocations, is 
 one of the collectors of customs for the colony, in which capacity 
 he has to reside at the Stone Fort during certain weeks each year, 
 for the purpose of watching the boats passing inwards and outwards, 
 . and maJce out certain clearances of a sufficiently rude character. 
 
 From what I have written it will be readily conceived the sub- 
 ject of my narrative has lived a very active and useful life. The 
 unpaid labours he has undertaken for people in the territory, who 
 have applied to him for official assistance, none but himself knows. 
 He has been the factotum to whom all who wanted information about 
 the country, or relatives resident or deceased therein, have had 
 -recourse. In addition to his exertions for the public good, he has, 
 in his private capacity, made many friends, and rejoices in the pos- 
 session of a family of twenty-two children born to him in the coun- 
 try. From his long residence in the settlement he has seen 
 governors, judges, bishops, and clergymen, not to mention such 
 birds of passage as the Company's local officers, who come and go, 
 himself remaining to record their doings to their successors. 
 
21^ EB0 BIVKRr 
 
 And now he has himself gone from the office he has heM so lofig;- 
 in consequence of an illness so severe that for several weeks hiS' 
 life was despaired of. Between the date at which I wrote my first 
 draft of this chapter, and the present, at which I copy it, Mr. Smith 
 has been an invalid. His last visit to the Eort was on business con- 
 nected with the accumulation of material for this book, in the fur- 
 nishing of which he bore an important and zealous part. The com- 
 mencement of the November (1868) session of the general court 
 necessitated the appointment of a successor. The council of Assini.! 
 boiaj however, in consideration of Mr. Smith's services, have 
 allowed him to retain his full salary for two years, and to remain 
 on half-pay after their expiry so long as the council shall see fit. 
 Many people think this annuity of £50 small enough in return for 
 the services rendered ; but Mr. Smith's active career is closed at 
 last, and this veteran pillar of the Church and State has officially 
 followed the long line of dignitaries who have sucoessively become 
 men of the past. 
 
CIHAPTER XVI. 
 
 1861-62. 
 
 3?omp of Red Eirer Court Procedure — Trial of Paullet Chartrand — Trent 
 Outrage — Local Adventures of Mr. O'B. — His manners and mode of 
 life— Starvation at Red River — British American Overland Transit 
 Company — Saskatchewan Gold Mining — Institute of Rupert's Land 
 — Departure of Mr. O'B. to Pembina — Arrival of Governor Dallas — 
 Return of Mr. O'B. from Pembina — His Adventures there and at Red 
 River — His Departure for the West and Outline of his Journey across 
 the Continent to Victoria, V. I. 
 
 The Monkman murder case then came up for hearing at the 
 ■General Quarterly Court, which commenced its sittings on Thursday, 
 twenty-first November, 1861. The accused was a tall dark man? 
 and the little box which seryed as a dock, appeared far too small to 
 hold him. Indeed the whole contents of the Court room were 
 formed on a very diminutive scale. A small- bar partitioned off 
 :the portion of the room allotted to the accommodation of the general 
 public from that set apart for the officials. At the back of the 
 room rose the bench approached by a couj^e of steps at each end, 
 and so narrow that it was with considerable difficulty an ordinarily 
 portly Justice could squeeze his "way out behind the chairs of his 
 hrethien, when in session. ^Between the bench and the bar, 
 almost the entire width of the space set apart for the officers of 
 the Court, was occupied by a little table covered with green cloth, 
 at which presided Mr. Smith with his Testament, his Record 
 hook, a jug of «old water, and some tumblers arranged before him- 
 Close to each other at the bar of the Court stood the dock and 
 the witness box. On the left hand of the Judge were arranged 
 .two rows of substantially constructed benches for the gentlemen of 
 ihe jury. 
 
 When the Court had been opened, the incongruity between the 
 «ize of ihe officials and the accommodation provided for .them 
 
214 BED' RITEET. 
 
 became apparent. The counsel when on their legs upon the floor 
 were nearly face to face with the sitting magistrates, while th& 
 prisoner in his elevated box, situated perhaps seven feet from the 
 bench, I)eing moreover a tall man, completely overtopped his: 
 judges, regarding them with calm complacency. It may have; 
 been that a feeling of the peculiarity of his position smote 
 Chartrain, and that his behaviour was dictated by a delicate 
 impulse to remove the obvious discrepancy, &r- he passed the 
 greater part of the day iii a kneeling posture, which brought him 
 down to somewhat of a level with the Justices before him. 
 
 When I mention the " Counsel" pleading before a Red River 
 Court, I use the word in a very limited sense. It frequently 
 occurs that a suitor is unable to conduct his own case, either from 
 want of general ability or ignorance of some of the languages, 
 English, French or Cree, spoken by the witnesses. It also happens 
 liiat the principal party is absenf, or that there is a multitude of 
 parties interested m a case. Under all these possibilities the 
 practice has been allowed of suitors appearing by their agents^ 
 These are of course entirely unprofessional men, there being aa 
 yet no lawyers resfdent in the colony, and, making all proper 
 allowances for blunders caused by ignorance of Taw, and excessive 
 zeal on the part of agents for the interests of their employers, the= 
 Recorder has generally been able to dispense substantial justice 
 pretty fairly under this system. The principles of law laid down,, 
 and the precedfenta claimed in then- favour, by those legal amateurs, 
 are certainly sometimes of a nature to make the wig of a prO' 
 fessional fewyer stand' on end ; — but the Red River Judge doe* 
 not wear a wig, and, assfsted by the experienced! Mr. Smith, the 
 Court always managed to steer its way intact through the stormiest 
 tempests of opposing eloquence which blow at its bar. 
 
 Chartrain's trial occupied a whole day. The facts of the case 
 certainly were simple enough, but in this, as in the majority of 
 cases before the Red River courts, the evidence had to be translated; 
 by an interpreter for the benefit of parties concerned unable tft' 
 make themselves intelligible on account of the confusion of 
 tongues. The jury found the prisoner guilty of ; manslaughter 
 and he was sentenced to a term of nine months' imprisonment... I. 
 
RED RIVER. 215 
 
 may mention, however, that, after six months had elapsed, a petition 
 numerously signed by the settlers, was presented to the Governor, 
 praying for the remission of the remainder of his punishment, 
 and alleging, as a reason why mercy should be extended to him, 
 that his family was in a state of destitution in consequence of his 
 enforced absence. The petition was favourably received, and " the 
 poor fellow, " the murderer" as Mr. Smith pathetically described 
 him, was released from durance vile. 
 
 As I have already mentioned, no professional lawyers have yet 
 practised at Red River. Mr. Smith has done a great deal of 
 routine work for private friends, and all documents of an import- 
 ant nature, such as deeds and wills, are drawn up by the Recorder, 
 as agent for the parties requiring them. The court practice would 
 be as nothing to any one who devoted his exclusive attention to it, 
 as the General Court at each of its quarter sessions seldom sits 
 longer than a week. Litigation, too, is extremely cheap. Each 
 juryman and each witness receives half a-crown per diem, for the 
 time his presence is required, and the serving of a writ within the 
 bounds of the settlement costs one shilling. Such agents as 
 usually practise may be got for a trifle, and doubtless many am- 
 bitious orators are ever at hand who would consent gratuitously to 
 conduct a case for a needy friend. 
 
 It was about Christmas time that intelligence reached Red 
 River of the Trent Outrage, and the capture of Messrs. Mason and 
 Slidell. The affair was somewhat alarming as, in the event of a 
 war, which seemed not improbable, our route to England through; 
 the United States would be closed, even were no attempt of a- 
 hostile nature made upon the settlement, which, in consequence of' 
 the withdrawal of the troops already adverted to, found itself 
 destitute even of the semblance of military occupation. The 
 January mails, however, relieved the minds of those who had 
 feared on account of our imports for 1862. During the season 
 of uncertainty conjecture ran high, and all students of international, 
 law freely ventilated their opinions. Lord Stowell was in my 
 hearing quoted by an American citizen to prove that Admiral 
 Wilkes had acted in rule. Great was the indignation evinced by 
 Mr. O'B. while reading the accounts of the capture, and trying 
 
216 RED EIVER, 
 
 to refute and confound in argument sucli of his American 
 interlocutors as perseveringly cling to the opinion that " they 
 guessed them Britishers would swaller it." 
 
 Early in winter Mr. O'B. had returned to the Royal Hotel, 
 and succeeded in perfectly domesticating himself in that establish- 
 ment. It was then under the exclusive management of Dr. 
 Schultz, whose partner, Mr. McKenney, had gone for a winter 
 personally to superintend the conduct of a free fur-trading venture 
 at the Saskatchewan in which he was concerned. Mr. O'B. being 
 slenderly provided with the sinews of war, had managed to defray 
 his bill by substituting his Oxford wares for the vulgar medium of 
 hard cash ; and Dr. Schultz, whose want of skill in the abstruse 
 subtleties of the Attic tongue appears to have weighed on his 
 mind, agreed to avail himself of his guest's erudition in supple- 
 menting his deficiencies. Mr. O'B. also arranged to communi- 
 cate certain elementary instruction to the children of some 
 charitably-disposed residents in his neighbourhood, who were to 
 meet in his room for educational purposes, between eleven and 
 twelve o'clock, each day. In consideration of his services in this 
 respect he was, I believe, paid a handsome fee, which he rigorously 
 exacted in cash, payable in advance. He was not, however, it 
 was currently reported, equally punctual in the fulfilment of his 
 own share of the obligations. He had a bad habit of locking his 
 chamber door, and walking absently abroad with the key safe in 
 his pocket, a few minutes before the time at which his class 
 assembled, nor did he again appear at home until dinner was on 
 the table, and the class, the members of which had, during his 
 absence, been disporting themselves on the stairs and elsewhere, 
 to the inconvenience of the adult residents in the hotel, tired of 
 play, had dispersed to their respective places of abode. Nor was 
 his host much more successful in his nightly lessons in Greek, for 
 frequently when the doctor, surrounded by his text books, was 
 waiting the tardy advent of the tutor, Mr. O'B. would appear, 
 loaded with Blackwood's and other magazines, borrowed from the 
 bishop, and accosting his young friend in the character of hott, 
 while loftily ignoring him as pupil, would inform him " he was 
 about to be busy all the evening, that he must really insist the 
 
RED KIVEa. 217 
 
 doctor would permit no intruder, not excepting himself, to disturb 
 him, as he wished to be alone," and thereupon barricaded himself 
 in his private apartment for the evening. 
 
 My personal acquaintance with th« eccentric character at 
 present under consideration commenced at the house of Bishop 
 Anderson, where we accidentally met one day at dinner. On 
 many subsequent occasions we came together, and indeed latterly 
 Mr. O'B. and myself became somewhat intimate. One day in 
 mid-winter he appeared in the Fort in a state of great misery and 
 excitement. He had absconded, as was his wont, from his mid-day 
 qlass, and in crossing the bleak unsheltered plain between the 
 hotel and Fort Garry, had the misfortune to be severely frost- 
 bitten on one ear, insuflBciently protected against the cold by his 
 miserable apology for a fur cap. On another occasion we met a 
 an evening dancing party, whence he was taken home by Dr. 
 Schultz, under pretence that he was labouring under the influence 
 of liquor, though, on reaching the hotel, he was reported to have 
 severely rated the doctor, whom he seemed to think was the 
 person drunk. I was conversing with him a few minutes before 
 he left, and do not believe there ,was any sufficient foundation 
 for the imputation, which I understand to have been cast on him 
 chiefly in consequence of his having, in a very overbearing tone, 
 ordered a Red River gentleman to play him a tune on a violin. 
 Having seen the person in question toying with the instrument, 
 he had mistaken him for one of the fiddlers engaged to supply the 
 music, and addressed him in the outrageous tone he ordinarily 
 assumed when speaking to servants. 
 
 The conduct of Mr. O'B. in church, which he attended with 
 regularity, was devout, and the loud and vigorous utterance with 
 which he read the responses highly calculated to produce an 
 impression in his favour on the minds of his simple fellow-worship- 
 pers. I have myself shared the cutter in which Dr. Schultz and 
 he were accustomed to drive home together to the Eoyal Hotel 
 after the conclusion of Divine Service, and benefitted by the 
 remarks of Mr. O'B. on his Lordship's sermon, or the appearance 
 and conduct of members of the congregation. These remarks 
 and criticisms were sometimes made through chattering teeth, as 
 
218 KED RIVER. 
 
 the biting wind blew in our faces, and Dr. Sohultz would request 
 Mr. O'B. to "give a word of encouragement to that poor horse 
 of his." " Gro on, go on," O'B. would shout as he cowered down 
 shaking with cold, from which I fear he was most inadequately 
 protected by his clothing, the outer portion of which, consisting 
 of a great coat, had been made for him by a local tailor whom he 
 desired to patronize, and who had sold him a very homely article 
 indeed. 
 
 On reaching the hotel, however, cheered by the genial warmth 
 from a comfortable stove, and by the prospect of dinner, the poor 
 man's feelings quickly expanded, and he became jocular and 
 garrulous. Seated on the well-stuffed sofa of the common room, 
 he disposed himself to be agreeable, and entertained all listeners 
 with his small talk. That sofa indeed was the seat of state on 
 which I generally found him throned when at home, and from 
 amidst its cushions his eloquence went forth, as, with a newspaper 
 in one hand and his pipe in the other, he enlightened his hearers 
 on the topics of the day. Singling out from the circle an auditor 
 whom he thought he could have at an advantage, he would engage 
 him in argument on some subject discussed in the newspaper he 
 held in his hand, or on which he and his opponent had on any 
 previous occasion had a debate. The large maps published by 
 Messrs. Dawson and Hind, showing the results of their explora- 
 tions between Lake Superior, Red River Settlement and the 
 Saskatchewan, pasted on the walls of the room, furnished the 
 inexhaustible talker with abundant matter, and, as already mention- 
 ed, the Mason and Slidell affair lay much on his mind. Highly 
 did the patriotic O'B., after the settlement of that troublesome 
 business, extol the statesmanlike temper with which Lord Lyons 
 had behaved ; and most contemptuous were the expressions he 
 applied to those precocious Americans who had presumptuously 
 believed it to be in the power of their confederation of yesterday 
 to provoke the time-confirmed Mistress of the Seas to put forth 
 her power in aught save contempt to crush them. 
 
 "When a gentleman is insulted by a chimney sweeper," ex- 
 claimed Mr. O'B., " the gentleman does not usually turn about 
 and administer the merited chastisement on the person of his 
 
HED BIVER. 219 
 
 Eooty antagonist; because, he knows that, in any conflict with 
 such an opponent, even victorious, he will be worsted. So the 
 matter stands between the United Kingdom and the United 
 States ; Britannia would only soil her knuckles in hitting Unclfe 
 Sam." After the public expression of sentiments such as these, 
 I thought it superfluous on the part of Mr. O'B. one day to 
 request me in private to mention his antipathy against the 
 Yankees to nobody ; as he feared, he observed, if his opinions 
 should become known among the American ruffians resident in 
 the settlement, he would have his ribs tickled on his way home 
 some dark night, by that instrument so veritably characteristic of 
 their civilization — the bowie knife. 
 
 The spring of 1862 was a period of starvation in Red Eiver 
 Settlement. Daily, dozens of starving people besieged the ofiice 
 of the gentleman in charge at Fort Garry, asking for food, and 
 later in the season for seed wheat. By a grant of eight hundred 
 bushels wheat, aHowed by the Governor and Council of Assiniboia, 
 the bulk of the pox)rer classes were supplied' with seed and grain 
 to feed them untiP, with the spring, the means of gaining a liveli- 
 hood became available. It was during this spring intelligence 
 reached the settlement of the formation of a company in England 
 called the British American Overland Transit Company, the 
 ostensible object of which was to convey passengers overland by 
 St. Paul and Red Eiver to the gold mining regions at Cariboo 
 and British Columbia. No agent of this company ever appeared 
 at Red River, and no operations were undertaken to carry out the 
 proposed programme. We heard subsequently that a number of 
 misguided individuals had crossed the Atlantic in a ship supplied 
 by the company, but, on arriving at St. Paul, had their eyes opened 
 to the fact that they had been grievously misled. The real 
 difficulties to be surmounted in the journey between Red River 
 and Cariboo have since that date Been pretty generally shadowed 
 forth on the public mind, having been described by parties prac- 
 tically conversant with the route. I shall require to enlarge on 
 this subject hereafter ; apd now content myself with stating that 
 the distance between Red River and New Westminster is nearfy 
 the same as that between Paris- and Constantinople, and leads 
 
22^ SLED EIYBE. 
 
 through an uninhabited wilderness, to erect the necessary aceoBa- 
 modation for postal communication along which would require the 
 preparation of years, even were the Indian tribes favourable to 
 ithe echeiae. 
 
 Reports of gold-finding in the Saskatchewan Valley were current 
 in 1862. Mr. Timoleon Love, already mentioned in Chapter V. 
 as having travelled from Georgetown in the same steamer with 
 myself, remained in Red River during the winter, and stated 'his 
 belief that, from the indications he and another miner, named 
 Clover, had observed, the Saskatchewan would prove an auriferous 
 country. These two men had never been successful in finding 
 any rich deposit ; but they had found what in technical mining 
 language are called " colours,'' which led them to believe the country 
 about the sources cS the Saskatchewan and Peace Rivers would 
 jieM large quantities of gold. 
 
 During the earlier months of 1862 attempts had been made to 
 inaugurate a scientific association in the colony to be called 
 the " Institute of Rupert's Land." Dr. Schultz was, I believe, 
 the principal mover in the matter at first, and when the project 
 had attained certain proportions, was appointed secretary. The 
 jprincipai people in the colony were its members, and the proposal 
 was seriously entertained to get up a public subscription with the 
 object of obtaining for the institute a telescope and microscope to 
 perpetuate the memory respectively of Sir Oeorge Simpson and 
 the recently deceased Doctor Bunn. The new society commenced 
 its operations by appointing officials and communicating through 
 them with some of the leading learned bodies in Canada and the 
 United States. From all these correspondents the announcement 
 ■of its inauguration drew forth answering expressions of hearty 
 encouragement and congratulation, accompanied, in some instances 
 by presents of books and offers of co-operation. 
 
 The business on the spot was commenced by the delivery of an 
 inaugural lecture by the Bishop of Rupert's Land, president of the 
 Institute- The first check it encountered was from an article 
 printed in the " Nor' Wester" referring to the Simpson telescope in 
 terms which were construed to imply a slur on the memory of the 
 celebrated character, to the perpetuation of whose name the instrii- 
 
S"ED EIVER. 
 
 fflent was to be dedicated. The result was that neither the 
 Simpson telescope nor the Bunn microscope were ever procured^ 
 and, in spite of the great names connected with the institute, 
 nothing of a practical nature has been as yet done to advance its 
 jnterestSr 
 
 Towards the beginning of March, symptoms became apparent that 
 the further residence of Mr, O'B. at the Royal Hotel was considered 
 undesirable. He was repeatedly in the fort making inquiry about 
 lodging in the settlement or the possibility of his getting a passage by 
 any of the Company's conveyances which might be travelling to 
 Pembina, to secure private lodgings in the settlement, he said, was US' 
 fevourite project. What he Wanted was quietness, and the consequent 
 facility for writing up his journal and making copious notes, all of 
 which he intended one day to publish. That such a document as 
 an authentic detailed account of his life and observations would be 
 most interesting and curious, none who had seen much of the man 
 pretended to doubt. During his residence at Red River, he had 
 found friends willing to pay his way for him, without his troubling 
 himself even to refrain from indiscriminate comments on their 
 peculiarities and idiosyncrasies as apparent to him, while his exer- 
 tions to procure insight into the customs and ideas of the people 
 at large were untrammelled by anything like bashfulness or 
 reserve. Of his manner of gaining such information, a curious 
 and amusing description was given me by a clergyman resident in 
 tiie settlement. The first chance wanderer he might happen 
 to meet on the highway would be stopped by the question, 
 " Well ! my friend, and what is your name ?" That ascertained, 
 a flow of interrogatories would succeed of which the following are 
 specimens. What is your father ? How old is he ? How old are 
 you? What wages does your father get? How much do you get ? 
 What church do you belong to? What makes you go there?' 
 Where does your father stay ? What- does he eat? Does he drink? 
 Do you drink ? How do you like your minister ? Does he drink ? 
 How much does he' get ? Where was your father born ? How 
 long has he been in this country ? Where were you born ? By 
 closely pressing such questions as these, Mr, O'B. had contrived 
 to accumulate much statistical information about things and 
 people in the countries through which he had passed. 
 
222 KSB RIVES,. 
 
 When spring was at hand, Bishop Anderson presented Mr. O'B, 
 with a sum of money fully sufficient to defray his expenses as far 
 as Canada, along with some general letters of recommendation to 
 parties who might be expected to interest themselves on behalf of 
 a poor scholar. Provided with these, Mr. O'B. set out on 
 the first stage of his journey to Pembina, and for some weeks 
 nothing farther became publicly known of him in the settlement. 
 
 On the afternoon of Sunday, the 18th of May, Alexander Grant 
 Dallas, Esq., the gentleman appointed to stJcceed Sir George 
 Simpson as Governor of Eupert's Land, arrived at Port Garry. 
 He had travelled on horseback over the Plains from Georgetown, 
 leaving his family and servants to follow him down the river in the 
 steamboat. The arrival of Mr. Dallas had been an event long 
 expected. So early as the preceding autumn, Mr. Murray at 
 Georgetown had been on tiie qui vive, ajid during the month 
 of January, that gentleman may be said to have existed on the tip- 
 toe of expectation that every stage coach would bring the Gover- 
 nor. On one occasion it is credibly reported that, having seen in 
 the distance symptoms of the excitement, consequent on the pre- 
 sence of an unusual style of passenger in the advancing vehicle, he 
 had supplied his servants with guns and ammunition, preparatory 
 to receiving the expected dignitary with a peal of joy. Forward 
 came the coach, portions of a military-looking garb were descried 
 on the person of a passenger ; the sleigh drove up to the station 
 house; pop went the guns and forth stepped the new arrival 
 in the person of a full private soldier in the service of Uncle Sam, 
 
 Dog trains had been sent from the settlement during the month 
 of January to bring the Governor and his party thither from 
 Georgetown, Towards the close of February, however, they 
 returned along with two of the Company's officers who had been 
 in England on furlough, and who brought the intelligence that Mr. 
 Dallas would not come for some time after them. On his arrival 
 in May, he turned his attention to gaining a practical acquaintance 
 with the settlement and its inhabitants, the principal of whom he 
 visited. His arrival was heralded by the " Nor' Wester" in an 
 article teeming with expressions of adulation, and giving a narra- 
 tive of his personal antecedents. 
 
RED RIVER. 223 
 
 On the Saturday after the advent of the Governor, arrived Mr. 
 Hackland, the gentleman in charge 6f Pembina, accompanied by an 
 individual we had not expected again to see in the settlement. Mr. 
 O'B. on reaching Pembina in spring on his way to Canada, had 
 managed to quarter himself in the Company's fort, and ingra- 
 tiate himself with the somewhat gruff Mr. Hackland. After 
 residing there about three weeks he went to St. Joseph, an Amer- 
 ican village about thirty miles from Pembina. When the spring 
 thaw commenced he returned on foot to the Fort, and as, during 
 his residence at one place or the other he had squandered away 
 all the money he possessed, he determined to return to the settle- 
 ment in one of the boats, in which Mr. Hackland was taking the 
 furs he had traded during the winter, down the river to Fort 
 Garry. During this trip he was obliged to work his passage, as 
 one of the crew. 
 
 In the course of his few weeks residence at Pembina some of his 
 peculiarities had become unpleasantly apparent. He hummed- 
 much to himself an air described as something like such a dirge 
 as may be heard at a Komish choral service for the burial of the 
 dead. This amusement he varied by frequent smoking. The 
 pipe he most used consisted of a large bowl of burned clay with a 
 cane stem. While smoking, it was his custom to keep beside him 
 a tumbler of cold water, with which, from time to time, he would 
 moisten his lips. On one occasion, while sitting smoking in the 
 same room with Mr. Clark, the officer second to Mr. Hackland in 
 the Fort, his water was finished, and, in a tone imperatively inso- 
 lent, he ordered his companion to " go and fill that tumbler." 
 Clark laconically replied, " Go yourself." O'B. repeated his order 
 with increased insolence, on which the other replied with justifiable 
 asperity, and a "royal row" broke out in the establishment. 
 
 This was not the only occasion on which Mr. O'B. permitted 
 himself to use reprehensibly great license of speech. Displeased 
 with the poor fare, composed partly of pemmican, which was used 
 at Pembina during that spring season of unwonted scarcity, he 
 plainly told his host and messmates, " they lived like dogs." 
 Unable to move the officers, he turned his attention to the servants. 
 Nettled at the want of polish given to his boots, he one day 
 visited the kitchen and severely reprimanded Donald MacDonald, 
 
224 RED RIVER. 
 
 a fiery little Stornoway cook, for his negligence in the particular 
 complained of. Donald told him there was no blacking at Pem- 
 bina, where, indeed, the people were almost invariably shod with 
 moccasins, as the Indian shoes made of dressed moose deer skin 
 are called. Unappeased by the explanation, Mr. O'B. peremptorily 
 ordered the cook to brush his boots, and closed his remark hj- 
 violently flinging the articles indicated on the floor. Donald, 
 whose patience at length failed him, seized the boots, and flung 
 them, with all the force and expertness of aim he could summon 
 to his aid, after the retreating theologian. The scene of confusion 
 which ensued the reader must picture to himself. 
 
 Tired of scenes such as these the people at Pembina privately 
 questioned the truth of Mr. O'B.'s statement that his friends in 
 the settlement would gladly receive him on his return, for which 
 they anxiously looked, but, in conversation with their guest, though 
 admitting the devotion of his friends was to them incomprehensible, 
 they strongly urged him to profit by it and relieve them from his 
 company. The effect of his arrival on one of his settlement 
 acquaintances, I had an opportunity of witnessing. Accompanying 
 the new Governor on his introductory tour of visits, I. called on 
 Archdeacon Hunter before the intelligence of O'B.'s return had 
 penetrated so far as St. Andrew's. Mr. O'B. had personally waited 
 on the Governor and given him the opportunity of witnessing enough 
 of his peculiarities to excite his curiosity to know more. " Do you 
 know any thing, Mr. Hunter," quoth Mr. Dallas, "of a person 
 named O'B. at present in the settlement ?" On catching the 
 name of his friend of the preceding winter, the Archdeacon turned 
 briskly round with a smile, but, when the ominous word " at 
 present in the settlement" stole in their true meaning on his com- 
 prehension, his expression beqame one of unfeigned dismay. With> 
 jaw dropped and fixed eyes he stammered, " What ! Governor, you 
 cannot mean he has returned?" Aye! it was too true; and the 
 Archdeacon, with great plainness of speech, recounted his past 
 sufferings with vehement assertions that he could not stand their 
 repetition. 
 
 The phase of Mr. O'B.'s manners on which Mr. Hunter laid 
 most stress was his singular passion for, and method of pursuit of, 
 
RED KIVEB. 225 
 
 noetarnal studies. The chamber he ordinarily occupied, when 
 located in the parsonage of St. Andrew's, contained a cabinet of 
 books, in perusal of which Mr. O'B. would pass the greater portion 
 of the night, if perusal the series of actions could be called which 
 consisted of reading with a loud voice, walking heavily and rapidly 
 to and fro, and raising a multitude of noises, as if of thumping and 
 jumping, the precise nature and mode of generation of whiih 
 nobody in the house could explain, though in the solemn silence 
 of the night they kept everybody wide awake. 
 
 On the Sunday succeeding our visit. Archdeacon Hunter was 
 drawing to the close of his afternoon discourse when the outer door 
 of his church was heard to open and shut with an impatient jerk- 
 ing sound. Curiously peering into the gloom to ascertain what the 
 unusual circumstance might portend, the preacher saw, as through 
 a sickly mist, the form of Mr. O'B. advancing along the aisle, with 
 his stout wooden cudgel firmly grasped in his right fist. The first 
 impulse of the startled dignitary was to kneel down and conceal 
 himself in his own pulpit. Second thoughts, however, suggested 
 a forlorn hope of evading his pursuer in the vestry. Vain was the 
 thought. The inevitable O'B., after the conclusion of service, 
 penetrated to the place of refuge, and informed Mr. Hunter he 
 had some half hour previously arrived on foot from the upper part 
 of the settlement, and being dusty and heated, had made himself at 
 home in the Archdeacon's own private rooms, while he and the 
 family were at church. 
 
 The general coolness shown him by every one was, however, such 
 that even O'B. could not prevail against. He was seen frequently 
 conversing with some miners, whose journey from Canada to 
 Cariboo will shortly engage our attention, and finally made up his 
 mind to accompany them over the Plains. Among his last acts in 
 the settlement he paid a farewell visit to Bishop Anderson, t is 
 Lordship at the termination of the interview accompanied him to 
 the outer gate and said, " Well, Mr. O'B., let us shake hands at part- 
 ing," or words to that effect. "Never, never! No, sir! No, sir! 
 No, sir!" exclaimed the poor wanderer. " You have dec ived me, 
 jou have deceived me, I shall see you no more !" It is prob ible 
 -these words were the most gratifying the Bishop had ever hjard 
 
 P 
 
226 RED KIVER. 
 
 from O'B. ; but Dr. Anderson's hand was open to all the needy, ancE 
 it is impossible for me to form any decided opinion as to whether 
 or not the spirit in which his benefactions had been received ever • 
 ruffled his tranquil mind. 
 
 As I have not arrived at the point where my personal recollec- 
 tions of Mr. O'B. cease, I think it well to conclude my notice of 
 him by a synopsis of his adventures until, having arrived on the 
 western side of the mountains and finally quitted the country, he 
 disappears in the crowd of men. 
 
 The Kev. Thomas Cochran, on coming as usual to the chapel at. 
 Poplar Point to conduct divine service, was one day much sur- 
 prised to find among his Prairie congregation a gentleman from 
 Oxford. He invited him to go home with him, and introduced ; 
 him to his father. Archdeacon Cochran, at Portage La Prairie. 
 The very retired life the Archdeacon had led for some years 
 accounts for his having received no intelligence of the doings of 
 Mr. O'B. during the previous winter. He made him welcome to 
 St. Mary's, and finally assisted him to negotiate a passage over the 
 Plains. Before starting he presented him with a "piece," or box 
 weighing about 100 pounds, containing, to use the felicitous 
 expression of Archdeacon Hunter in the account with which he 
 favoured me of his persecutor's departure, " eatables, drinkable* 
 and smokables." 
 
 We next heard of him in the Saskatchewan, where he passed 
 the winter, principally living in a hut near Edmonton along with 
 some gold miners and partly at the Wesleyan Mission of Victoria, 
 about fifty or sixty miles from that place, with the Rev. Thomas 
 Woolsey. This journey from the settlement to Edmonton had 
 been performed by stages succeeding each other at irregular inter- 
 vals. From the Prairie Portage he had gone with the party of 
 Canadian emigrants on their way over land to Cariboo, acting 
 as chaphin to the expedition ; but his companions found their 
 spiritual adviser so useless and troublesome in secular matters that, 
 they shook him off at Carlton. He was permitted to embark in 
 one of the Hudson's Bay Company's boats, then about to start on 
 its return trip up the Saskatchewan to Edmonton. His insolently 
 overbearing manner, however, so irritated the crew that he was put- 
 
RED RIVER. 22T 
 
 ashore at Fort Pitt, but succeeded in getting a passage overland 
 from that place to Edmonton by a train of carts going that way. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Woolsey described his guest as having lived in a 
 ehrpnio sfcite of bodily fear. Besides the wild animals, of which 
 wolves and grizzly bears were the objects of his special dread,he stood'. 
 in much fear of the Indians, and anxiously questioned Mr. Woolsey 
 about the character of the successive tribes of those people arriv- 
 ing at the mission. His mental eye saw the whole savage popula- 
 tion of the district divided into two grand classes, Mr. Woolsey 's. 
 "Good Christian Indians" and the "Wild Pagan Indians of the 
 Plains." He seems to have afforded the savages with whom be- 
 came in contact some amusement, and ridiculous interviews be- 
 tween him and them appear to have taken place from time to time.. 
 One of Mr. Woolsey's converts came to the mission on an occasion 
 when, owing to the temporary absence of the clergyman, Mr. O'B. 
 was alone in the room, in which, as usual, the Indian prepared to- 
 make himself at home. His words and gestures, incomprehensi-f 
 ble to O'B., so alarmed the latter that he beat a very ludicrous and. 
 nimble retreat, nor was it without much soothing that his host coulA 
 induce him to relax his demand that the murderous looking party 
 indoors should ba incontinently expelled. 
 
 He had lived for a winter in great wretchedness neiar Edmon- 
 ton when, in the spring of 1863, the miners who had shared his 
 cabin started for the west side of the Rocky Mountains, leaving- 
 him alone. While in this condition the arrival of Lord Milton 
 and Dr. Cheadle, who, having spent the preceding winter in a hut 
 about fifty miles north from Carlton, were then on their way tO" 
 the Pacific Coast, gave him a gleam of hope. He introduced. 
 himself to these gentlemen, and requested permission to join their 
 party. He also feigned sickness and placed himself, as a patient, 
 in the hands of Dr. Cheadle. The doctor subjected him to " active- 
 treatment" for several days, on the expiry of which he confessed 
 his malady was imaginary and assumed merely as an occasion for 
 obtiiniug private interviews during which he might urge his real, 
 suit, a definite reply to which had not been immediately given.. 
 His ingenuous confession did not, however, save him from being 
 oomp<;lled to swallow a final " tremendous dose of rhubarb and. 
 
228 RED EIVEE. 
 
 magnesia" forced on his acceptance by Dr. Cheadle under pretence 
 that he really was unwell though ignorant of the fact. 
 
 Mr. O'B. had also urged the danger consequent on the presence 
 of wolves and grizzly bears in the immediate neighbourhood of his 
 hut as a reason for taking up his quarters under one of his pat- 
 ron's carts. Finally his request was acceded to, and he joined 
 Lord Milton's party, a " subscription horse," along with provisions 
 for his journey, having been presented him by the Hudson's Bay 
 officers at Edmonton. The events of the journey over the Rocky 
 Mountains have been related in most amusing detail by Lord Mil- 
 ton and Dr. Cheadle in their joint work entitled " The North 
 West Passage by Land." Mr. O'B. turned out a heavy drag to 
 the party, the guide to which, a half-breed named " the Assini- 
 boine," could not comprehend the motives of humanity which 
 prompted his employers to reject his practical suggestion that 
 G'B. should be abandoned in the wilderness. His chief efforts 
 throughout were directed to getting others to do his work, of 
 which, when any particularly difficult piece was to be performed, 
 such for instance as cutting down trees and carrying logs, he 
 invariably absented himself. On such occasions, after his friends 
 had spent some time in shouting and searching for him, he was 
 generally found buried in some sequestered copse in the vicinity, 
 placidly smoking his pipe, and diligently reading Paley's " Evid- 
 ences of Christianity," the last remnant of his library and the only 
 book he had with him. 
 
 To his fears of wolves and grjzzly bears were now added those 
 caused by "the Assiniboine," whom he suspected of harbouring a 
 design to murder him, and who, on the rejection of his above 
 described advice, used to stimulate Mr. O'B., when as usual he 
 lagged slowly behind the party, by hiding himself in the woods, 
 growling and howling in such a manner that his victim, believing 
 bears and wolves to be on his track, made all haste to overtake his 
 friends. After a journey of three months, during which Mr. O'B. 
 had narrowly escaped death by fire on one occasion, when the 
 forest round their camp had been accidentally ignited from their 
 fire, near the elbow of the McLeod River, and by water on another, 
 ■when, while crossing the Canoe River, on the west side of the 
 
RED EIVER. 229 
 
 Mount'-iins, the raft was submerged, the travellers issued intact 
 from the forest country at Kamloops. 
 
 Mr. O'B., whose faith in the Evidences had waxed and waned 
 with the emergencies of the route, "signalized his return to Chris- 
 tianity" at Victoria by getting reconciled to the Assiniboine, shak- 
 ing hands with his fellow-travellers, and " assuring them he bore no 
 ill will, and would forget and forgive all his sufferings on the jour- 
 ney." The concluding notice of him I beg to quote : — " Like the 
 Wandering Jew or the soul of the celebrated John Brown, that 
 migratory gentleman is doubtless still marching on. When we 
 returned to Victoria, after our journey to Cariboo, Mr. O'B. had 
 departed. He had moved on to San Francisco. When we arrived 
 in that city, he had moved on to Melbourne, Australia. Prom 
 there he had probably moved on to New Zealand, or again reached 
 India, to circle round to Eagland in due course, happy in any 
 country free from wolves, grizzly bears and Assiniboines. Of his 
 further career at the Antipodes no intelligence has been received." 
 
 On the appearance at Red River of the book containing the 
 above noted account, along with many other entertaining and amus- 
 ing anecdotes illustrative of the character of the itinerant scholar, 
 the Nor Wester produced a long article criticizing it. That sheet 
 was owned and edited at the time by Mr. O'B's. old host and Greek 
 pupil, Dr. Schiiltz. This circumstance may account for the prom- 
 inence given to the portion of the work specially referring to O'B., 
 whose name was, to prevent mistakes, printed at full length in the 
 critique. 
 
 I believe him to have been considerately used by his fellow 
 travellers who have confined themselves to the elucidation of the 
 ludicrous side of his character, and the tone in which he is men- 
 tioned towards the close of their work leads one to suppose that 
 these gentlemen harboured no bitterness of feeling in contemplation 
 of the inconveniences to which he had exposed them. No one, I 
 thiiik, is likely to finish the perusal of the book without wishing th» 
 poor scittsr-brained wanderer a settled home, an adequate provis- 
 ion, and a happier life than he appears to have enjoyed during his 
 pilgrimage in Riipert's Land. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 1862. 
 
 Steamer "International"— Mr. Piper McLellan — Far Trading — Oa»- 
 adian Emigrants to Cariboo — Sketch of tlioir Journey across the 
 Continent — Portage La Loche Brigades and Guides — Slcetcli of 
 Tour of Inspection through the Territory made by Governor Dallas — 
 Lord Milton and Dr. Cbeadle ; their Sojourn in Rupert's Land, their 
 Book and SIcetch of the Route from Red River to the Pacific Coast — 
 Judge Black and his first Court. 
 
 On 26th May, 1862, the Bteamer "International," built the 
 preceding autumn at Georgetown, arrived at Fort Grirry. She 
 was about 150 feet long, 30 broad and 20 feet from the water line 
 to the ceiling of the elevated saloon. Her registered tonnage was 
 133J tons. She had taken seven days to run from Greorgetowa 
 4o Fort Girry, which was considered a very long passage. So large 
 a steamer was found unsuited to the river, the upper reaches of 
 which are so tortuous that her length seriously embarrassed her 
 movements. Her shallow draft, however, only 42 inches, was sup- 
 posed likely to counterbalance all the other defects attendant on 
 her plan, which had been framed chiefly in view of the small depth 
 •of ordinary summer water in the Red River. 
 
 Nearly two hundred passengers travelled on board her upon her 
 first trip. Governor Dallas' family and servants, and the Bishop 
 of St. Bcniface, accompanied by a stiffof fellow-labourers of different 
 grades and orders in the Roman Catholic church, arrived by her. 
 The new judge, also, John Black, Esquire, was a passenger. Sev- 
 eral private individuals came for the purpose of purchasing furs m 
 the colony ; but the great bulk of the passengers consisted of about 
 l90 Canadians,' who had come with the intention of pioneering tn 
 overland routs across the continent to Cariboo. 
 
 Mr. John McLellan, the governor's ^let, was a Highlander and 
 played upon the bagpipes. His advent in Red River at onoe 
 
RED RIVER. 231 
 
 Ijecame a marked event, as, in the cool of the evening, it waa his cus- 
 tom to pace to and fro upon the parapet gallery erected along the 
 Fort wall in front of the Governor's residence, playing the compli- 
 cated instrument, in the manipulation of which his skill lay. He 
 wore, on such occasions, the approved " G-arb of old G-aul," and 
 crowds of the savages camped on the Reserve, came to gaze on the 
 novel spectacle of '• the piper," as he was called, marching his 
 rounds upon the wall, from the exterior of which the upper part 
 of his person, with its gaudy dress, crowned with the feathered 
 Glengarry, and the ribboned pipes, appeared to the untutored 
 natives somewhat remarkable. With a gently favouring breeze, the 
 music he blew reached also the ears of the Scotch portion of the 
 settlement in their homes between four and six miles distant, and 
 was doubtless highly appreciated. At the Scotch church on Sun- 
 days, the piper was, of course, the centre of an admiring throng of 
 settlers, whose previous knowledge of such a turn-out had been 
 probably derived from tradition. To his other aoeomplishments 
 the piper added that of being a good joiner, having served a reg- 
 ular apprenticeship to the tride. He was also a practitioner in 
 the " noble art of self-defence." It was in a discussion with 
 ■the Fort carpenter, connectad with soma detiilg about the wood- 
 work of the Governor's house, that his pugilistic proclivities first 
 took a practical turn. The carpenter, being a garrulous little mm, 
 80 irritited the pipar that the latter struck him such a blow as was 
 said to have caused the recipient to turn a somersault on the kitchen 
 floor. 
 
 Satisfied, probably, with his success in this instance, as regarded 
 conflict with man, he was next pugilistic ally heard of as solicitous 
 to measure strength with a more formidable opponent. A moose- 
 deer, the property of the King of Italy, which was kept in a place 
 of security near Fort Garry until an opportunity should occur of 
 forwarding it to Europe, as an object of public curiosity quite 
 eclipsed the bagpipes. One day the piper, forming a unit in a 
 ■crowd admiring from a safe distance the magnificent bounds of the 
 animal, got into an altercation with some by-standers, with reference 
 to the comparative strength possessed by the animal and a human 
 heing. To settle the matter, he offered to go forward and fight 
 
232 RED RIVER. 
 
 the m3033 d38T, making, whik speaking, preparations for instant 
 action. His friends, who at first thought him joking, had Some 
 difficulty in dissuading him from a course which would in all 
 human prchability have terminated fatally for him. 
 
 This belligerent character, after remaining in the service of the 
 Governor for" the two years of his residence in the country, quitted 
 it in 1864, and proceeded to St. Paul with the intention of resu- 
 ming the practice of his old trade. On his way through Minnesota 
 he had adjusted all the preliminaries for his marriage with one of 
 the girls of that state, when a travelling companion prevented the 
 solemnity by disclosing the circumstance that the bridegroom had 
 already one wife living in Scotland. After this failure the only 
 tidings which ever reached us of him came through the newspapers.. 
 He had been engaged as the principal character in a political 
 demonstration in favour of a candidate for office called in the news- 
 papers by the unusual name " Mac Pendleton." After blowing 
 all day like a man, the piper, towards evening, began to indulge in 
 stimulating drinks, which, said the St. Paul Press, as he had blown 
 himself hollow, settled in his feet, and made him light-headed." 
 
 The result was a fracas, and attempt to stab a citizen, which 
 led to his apprehension and imprisonment, about one o'clock on 
 Sunday morning. On Monday he was liberated, on payment of 
 a fine of ten dollars. The Nor^ Wester through which I gained 
 my information, headed the narrative " McLellan's Bag Pipes 
 Bagged." 
 
 The parties who came by the steamer with the object of fur- 
 purchasing, were among the first of a series of arrivals which 
 have been taking place for some years past, the ultimate result of 
 whose operations will doubtless be the creation of a fur market 
 in the colony. Under the privileges granted by the Hudson's 
 Bay charter, indiscriminate fur-trading in the settlement is illegal, 
 and, until about the year 1861, very little of it existed. In that 
 year four individuals resident in the colony fitted out boat 
 expeditions to penetrate into the interior of Kupert's Land, and 
 trade with the Indians. One of these, sent by Mr. Andrew 
 McDermot, consisting of two boats, was considered so formidabla 
 thait a special opposing party was sent by the Company to couu- 
 
RED RIVER. 233- 
 
 teract its eflforts. The departure of these hostile expeditions from 
 the settlement, which occurred at the same time as that of the 
 transports conveying the lloyal Canadian Rifles to York Factory, 
 has been already alluded to in a former chapter. Each of the 
 three other ventures made that year consistsd of only one boat. 
 The system of private trading, by means of expeditions sent to 
 barter with the Indians in the interior during the winter season, 
 as well as by oish purchases made in the Red River Settlement 
 by traders arriving from the United States in spring, has of late 
 attained considerable proportions. The pricss given for furs have 
 been very high, and if a profit can be made on such transactions 
 as take place, the circumstance is strange, and the fact that the 
 same people or their agents persevere from year to year, would ' 
 seem to vouch for its truth. 
 
 After a residence in the settlement of about a fortnisht, durins 
 which they supplied themselves with guides and provisions for 
 their journey, the party of Canadian emigrant miners set out for 
 Cariboo. Mr. Love, the person already repeatedly mentioned, 
 started with them, and Mr. O'B., until left behind at Carlton, 
 officiated as chaplain to the detachment with which he travelled. 
 
 The history of the journey made by this party over the 
 mountains is instructive, as containing the result of a great 
 experiment. The most trustworthy materials I can find for con- 
 structing the narrative exist in the book already referred to by 
 me, ]^ord Milton's and Dr. Cheadle's " North West Passage by 
 Land." These travellers, on their arrival in British Columbia^ 
 met and conversed with persons who had been members of th& 
 expedition, and have noted in their book information gathered on 
 the spot. 
 
 The entire party which passed E,ed River in June, 1862, may 
 be regarded as consisting of four sub-divisions. Of these, three 
 passed over the Rocky Mountains during the autumn of 1862? 
 while the fourth, consisting of three individuals, after wintering 
 in the Saskatchewan, crossed the mountains in the spring of 1863.- 
 So far the success of the party must bs considered as undoubted, 
 seeing that some of the most experienced of Red River travellers 
 believed it highly probable the bulk of the party would winter in 
 Saskatchewan. 
 
234 RED RIViSR. 
 
 Of the three parties which got over ia 1862, the first two, 
 flontaining the vast bulk of the emigrants, travelled in one bodj 
 to Tgte Jaune Cache, called in English, " the yellow head," a 
 tBpot on the Fraser Kiver on the west side (f the mountains. 
 Here they divided, and one party, having constructed large rafibs, 
 floated down the Fraser River to their destination at the mouth 
 of Quesnelle, where they arrived in safety, with the loss of one 
 man who died from disease caused by the hardships he had under- 
 gone. The second sub-division which had started from TSte 
 ■Jaune Cache, with the object of cutting their way directly over- 
 land across the country to Cariboo, and which consisted of abont 
 «ixty men, after convinc'ng themselves of the futility of perse- 
 vering in their original plan, turned southwards with the intention 
 of going by land to Kamloops. Various considerations, however, 
 soon induced them to abandon the idea of land travelling, and, 
 after killing all their oxsn and drying the meat, they constructed 
 large rafts, and floated down the Thompson river, abandoning all 
 their horses, numbering between forty and fifty. At a place called 
 Murchison's, or the Grand Rapid, a fatal accident occurred. The 
 men on the leading rafts, not seeing the obstruction, until they 
 were so near that their exertions were useless, were sucked into 
 the stream and many of them drowned. The remainder, after 
 making a portage, constructed new rafts and floated down without 
 fiirther deadly adventure, to Kamloops. 
 
 The third division, which consisted of only five Canadians, 
 crossed the mountains later in the autumn. The fearfully tragical 
 nature of their fate must be my excuse for giving its story in 
 some detail. Of the five members of the party three were brothers, 
 named Rennie, the two others being named respectively Helstone 
 and Wright. At Tgte Jaune Cache they obtained two canoes, 
 with which they intended to sail down the Fraser. In order to 
 shoot the dangerous rapids with greater safety, they lashed their 
 canoes together. Their misfortunes commenced by the swamping 
 of their craft and the loss of their property. Two of the brothers 
 Rennie swam ashore while the other three men reached a rook in 
 the middle of the stream. The latter remained for two days and 
 nights on the rock without food, and sufiering severely from the 
 
RED RIVER. 235 
 
 ■Ksold of the opening winter. They were at length enabled to 
 esDipe by means of a rope passed from the shore. They were, 
 -however, so frost-bitten and exhausted that they could proceed no 
 further. The two Kennies, seeing their condition, determined to 
 leave them, and, after having cut for their use a quantity of fire- 
 wood and given them almost all their scanty provisions, set out on 
 foot to seek assistance at Port George, which they hoped to reach 
 in six days. 
 
 It took them, however, twenty-eight days to penntrate througk 
 the deep snow and dense forests which intervened between the 
 place where they had left their brother and friends and the Fort. 
 The Indians who were immediately dispatched from the lattier 
 place to bear assistance to the sufierers returned, alleging the 
 depth of snow as a barrier to their journey. I shall complete my 
 narrative by a quotation from " the North West Passage by Land, 
 by Viscount Milton and Doctor Cheadle.", 
 
 " Other Indians, however, discovered the party some time 
 afterwards. Helstone and Wright were still alive, but, maddened 
 ly hunger, had killed Kennie. When they were found, they had 
 eaten all but his legs, which they held in their hands at the time. 
 They were covered with blood, being engaged in tearing the raw 
 :flesh from the bones with their teeth. The Indians attempted to 
 light a fire for them, when the two cannibals drew their revolvers, 
 and looked so wild and savage, that the Indians fled and left them 
 to their fate, not daring to return. The following spring, a party 
 of miners, on their way to Peace Kiver, were guided by Indians to 
 -the place where those men were seen by them. The bones of two 
 men were found piled in a heap ; one skull had been split open by 
 an axe, and many of the other bones showed the marks of taeth. 
 The third was missing, but was afterwards discovered a few 
 hundred yards from the camp. The skull had been cloven by an 
 axe, and the clothes stripped from the body, which was little 
 decomposed. 
 
 " The interpretation of those signs could hardly be mistaken. 
 The last survivor had killed his fellow-murderer and eaten 
 him, as shown by the gnawed bones so carefully piled in a heap. 
 Be had in turn probably been killed by Indians, for the principal 
 j)art of the dead men's property was found in their possession." 
 
236 KED RIVER. 
 
 The fourth party of Canadians, consisting of the three who had 
 wintered in Saskatchewan, after descending the Fraser River 
 in canoes, reached their destination without accident. 
 
 The above is an account of the performance of the overland 
 journey by a party of men, all of whom were in the prime of man- 
 hood aiid accustomed to the execution of work involving physical 
 hardships. They carried no useless luggage, and their object was 
 to obt-iin a cheap and expeditious passage. The effort was there- 
 fore made under the most favourable circumstances. No attempt 
 has, however, been since made by other parties to follow in their 
 footsteps. 
 
 Early in June, in the usual order, the two brigades of Portage 
 La Loche boats left the settlement for the Portage. As the 
 general description of the voyage made by these brigades has been 
 already given in Chapter XII, anything I could here say about 
 them would involve repetition. As the two men, however, Baptiste 
 Bruce and Alexis L'Espdrance, acting as guides to the respective 
 brigades, are men of mark in their own sphere, and good spe- 
 cimens of the important and useful class of Northern guides, a few 
 words may be not unwelcome, describing the more noticeable 
 events in their lives. 
 
 Of the two men, Baptiste Bruce is junior in point of years> 
 Born in English River district, he commenced his career as a 
 midman in the boats of that district in 1826. After two seasons 
 passed in that capacity, he was promoted to be steersman, and 
 on the expiry of a third year, his abilities and knowledge of the 
 route traversed by his boats, were considered sufficient to warrant 
 his promotion to the position of guide to his brigade. After about 
 seven years' occupancy of this situation he left the service for 
 a time and settled at Red River. Subsequently he passed some 
 years in the Lac La Pluie brigade, as also in the extreme north in 
 Mackenzie River district, where, on the western branch of 
 the Liard River, the navigation of which is difficult and broken, 
 he was considered a skilful pilot. On the partition of the Port- 
 ag3 La Loche brigade into the divisions about the year 1848, he 
 was appbinited to the tiharge of one of these, which he has held ever 
 since, his diities obliging him to travel' during thesumtner montha 
 
RED RIVEK. 237 
 
 and permitting hia residenca at homo during the remainder of the 
 ye.ir, between September and May. 
 
 Alexis L'Esp^rance is a Canadian who entered the service about 
 1815. Oti the first visit of Sir George Simpson to Vancouver's 
 Ishnd in 1824, he acoompmied the Governor as a midman in his 
 canoes. On his return he was raised to the position of guide to 
 the Red River district brigade, running each summer to York 
 Factory. A vacancy having occurred in the guideship to 
 the Portage La Loche brigade, through tlie retirement of Law- 
 rence Cadotte, who had held the office since its formation in 1826, 
 L'Espdrance was appointed thereto in 1833. After he had served 
 for fifteen years as sole guide, on the division of the brigade, 
 in 1848, as above stated, Bruce was appointed his colleague. 
 After filling the situation for eighteen years more, L'Espdrance 
 retired in 1866, and has since that date remained in retreat except 
 on one occasion, when he acted as guide to a few boats going to 
 Cumberland, a journey shorter and less trying to a man of 
 his years than the long trip to the Portage. 
 
 Governor Dallas started from the settlement on a lengthened 
 tour of inspection through the country under his administration 
 on the 13th of June. At Lower Fort Garry he embarked in 
 a light boat, which had been provided to convey him to Norway 
 House. As the Northern Council, of which in virtue of his office 
 he was president, was to be held that year at Norway House, he 
 was accompanied from Red River to that place by three of its 
 senior members. Although retarded by head winds, which pre- 
 vailed during the whole voyage, the party arrived at its destination 
 on the evening of the 21st of June, thus making the journey 
 across the greatest length of Lake Winnipeg in nine days. Nor- 
 way House, situated at the extreme north-eastern extremity 
 of this lake, is the depot foi; the inland districts and head-quar- 
 ters of that section of the country, known under the name of 
 Norway House district. 
 
 The business of the council requiring his presence having been 
 dispatched, the Governor, accompanied by Chief Factor William 
 Christie, left Norway House on the 28th of June. Mr. Christie's, 
 •object in accompanying Mr. Dallas was to introduce the different- 
 
238 RED KIVEB. 
 
 officers in the country to the latter, and inform him on the various" 
 Bubjecta connected with the business and tie bearings thereon 
 of the different people and places he might pass, of which, as 
 a stranger, the Governor was necessarily ignorant. The light boat- 
 in which the party had travelled from the settlement was changed 
 for a bark canoe, two of which, manned by Iroquois tripmen, had 
 been forwarded, for the special service required of them, from 
 Montreal by way of the Ottawa, Lake Superior, and the Winnipeg 
 Eiver and Lake to Norway House. The Iroquois tribe has 
 always been famous for the expertness of its members as voyageurs. 
 They are settled at a village named Caughnawaga, opposite- 
 Lachine, on the St. Lawrence, about nine miles above Montreal,, 
 where they live in a regular community, in much the same 
 way as do the Saulteaux composing the Indian settlement of 
 St. Peter on the Red River. They are Roman Catholics, and 
 have a church and a resident priest. Sir George Simpson on his- 
 annual journeys from Montreal to Norway House, and other places ■ 
 in the north, invariably engaged them to man his canoes. 
 
 On 7th July the Governor's party reached Cumberland House, 
 situated on the river Saskatchewan at the spot where it is touched 
 by Cumberland Lake. The Fort is built on an island. It is the 
 head-quarters of Cumberland district, and the point of junction 
 between the routes followed by boats going westward up the 
 Saskatchewan Valley and those going northward towards Portage 
 La Loche. It was over the latter route that Mr. Dallas proceeded, . 
 reaching Rapid River, a subordinate post in the English River 
 district, on 12th July. On the; 17th he reached Isle a la Crosse, 
 the head-quarters of English River district. Here is a very 
 flourishing Roman Catholic mission st ticn, called that of St. 
 Jean Baptiste, the residence of Vital Julien Grandin, Bi.hop of" 
 Satala, coadjutor of the Bishop of St. Boniface. 
 
 Leaving this place on the 18th, the Governor reached Portage 
 La Loche on the 20th July. Coincident with his arrival occurred 
 that of the Red River brigades, under Bruce and L'Esp^rance,, 
 and of the Athabasca and Mackenzie River district brigades, 
 from the opposite direction. Mr. Dallas had, therefore, an oppor- 
 tunity of seeing for himself the working of the transport, iiii 
 
RED EIYER. 23 S" 
 
 opposite directions, of one year's outfit and fur retarna of the two 
 great northern districts of Kupert's Land, across the most formi- 
 dable interruption to navigation in the territory. The length of 
 the Portage is twelve miles. Horses and oxen were employed on 
 the work at the time of which I speak, but should the supply of 
 these animals not be sufficient to complete the work, the boatmen 
 are always under contract to carry on their backs their respective 
 cargoes to a point about the centre of the Portage, where the men 
 from the south deliver over their cases and bales of manufactured 
 goods to those from the north, receiving in exchange the fur 
 packs brougiit to meet them by the latter. The excitement 
 prevalent during the three weeks of each year when these operar 
 tions are in progress, is very great, and is increased by a large 
 attendance of " Freemen " with their beasts of burden, anxious 
 to be engaged by the Company's officials to assist their crews in- 
 the transporation business. The bustle over, and t'le brigades 
 departed, the postmaster in charge of the small post at the Portage 
 is again left alone with his servants and cattle in his desert home 
 for another year. 
 
 One of the Governor's canoes was transported across the 
 Portage and launched at its northern extremity on the head 
 waters of the Clearwater River, a tributary of the Athabasca. 
 The spare canoe, containing all except two of the Iroquois, was 
 dismissed on its way back to Canada. Three days journey down 
 the river Athabasca, theu in high flood, brought the party to Fort 
 Chipewyan, the head-quarters of Athabasca district. The Fort 
 is situated on the Athabasca Lake, and the neigLbouring country is 
 very rocky, and so unfavourable to cultivation that the few potatoes 
 and the little barley usually attempted to be raised seldom come 
 to maturity. On the 29th July Governor Dallas proceeded on 
 his journey up the Peace River, which empties itself into Laka 
 Athabasca close to Fort Chipewyan, and arrived at Fort Vermilliou 
 on the 5th of August. This is a subordinate post in Athabasca 
 district, and is one of the most favourably situated for agricultural 
 purposes in that portion of the country. Wheat, barley, potatoes 
 and culinary vegetibles were cultivated at the time of Mr. Dallas' 
 visit. Leaving Vermillion on the 6th of August he reached thft 
 
240 RED RIVER. 
 
 mouth of Riviere au Coeur, a tributary of Peace River, on the 
 13th of August, the upward voyage having been protraet'ed by 
 the high water then prevailing. 
 
 At the mouth of the Riviere au Coeur men and horses were 
 waiting to convey the Governor to Dun vegan, a distance of sixty 
 miles, which was traversed in one day, through a " rich, grassy 
 prairie country, interspersed with wood." Dunvegan is built at 
 the confluence of the Smoky and Peice rivers. It is about two 
 hundred miles from the Rocky Mountains, and is now the only 
 point of direct regular communication between the Northern 
 Department and New Caledonia, from which district a boat arrives 
 each year, in September, for the purpose of receiving certain 
 supplies, chiefly of leather, provided at that spot to be carried 
 across the mountains and down the Eraser River, for the use of 
 the Western Department, known to the world as New Caledonia 
 or British Columbia. 
 
 Leaving Dunvegan on the 16th, flve days riding brought the 
 Governor to Slave Lake station, on the 20th of August. From 
 this subordinate post of the Saskatchewan district, beautifully 
 situated on the borders of Lesser Slave Lake, he proceeded in a 
 light boat across the lake and up Slave and Athabasca rivers to 
 Fort Assiniboine, on the latter stream, which he reached on the 
 25th of August. Thence he proceeded on horseback to Edmon- 
 ton, head-quarters of the Saskatchewan district, where he arrived 
 on the 28th. Here Mr. Christie found himself at home, he beine 
 the oflBcer in charge of the Saskatchewan. He, however, resolved 
 to accompany the Governor further as far as Carlton on his return 
 journey to Red River. On the 1st of September they left 
 Edmonton in a boat and dropped down the Saskatchewan to Port 
 Pitt, which they reached on the 3rd, and Carlton on the 7th 
 of September. At this placa they parted, Mr. Christie to return 
 by water to his head-quarters, and Mr. Dallas to travel overland to 
 Red River Settlement. 
 
 Once more getting into the saddle, the latter gentleman left 
 darlton alone on the 9th, and reached Touchwood Hills, a small 
 post attached to the Swan River district, on the 13th September. 
 Detained there a few days through sickness, he resumed his jour- 
 
RED KIVBR. 241 
 
 ney on the 19th, and reached FortPelly, the head-quarters of the 
 Swan River district, on the 21st of September. Fort Pelly is 
 situated near the head-watera of the River Assiniboine, skirting 
 the course of which, from point to point, the Governor's further 
 course led to Fort Garry, which lies at its mouth. Passing Fort 
 EUice on the 24th, he reached the Prairie Portage on the 28th, 
 and White Horse Plain on the 29th, arriving at Fort Garry, after 
 an absence of three and a half months passed in constant 
 locomotion, on the 30th September. 
 
 On the 7th of August, 1862, there arrived in Red River 
 Settlement a party of travellers whose journey across the continent 
 has attracted considerable public attention. Lord Milton and 
 Doctor Cheadle had come by the ordinary route from England 
 and on their arrival devoted their attention to making preparations 
 for their further journey. Having spent about a fortnight 
 engaging servants and purchasing provisions, the party set out on 
 the 23rd of August. The transaction of the preparatory business 
 Tvas doubtless much facilitated by the experience gained by Lord 
 Milton during the preceding year, when his Lordship had visited 
 "the settlement and accompanied the Autumn BuflFalo hunters to 
 the Plains. 
 
 The party started unencumbered with any useless boggage, and 
 accompanied by four servants, only two of whom were engaged to 
 remain with them during the winter. After proceeding lei-urely 
 •westward they crossed the River Saskatchewan, and on the 15th of 
 October selected a spot about eighty miles north from Carlton, as 
 a suitable site for the erection of a hut to serve as a winter resi- 
 dence. This place was situated on a fine part of the country called 
 La Belle Prairie. 
 
 After having spent the winter in hunting, they quitted their hut 
 on the 3rd of April, 1863, and proceeded on their route. At 
 Fort Pitt they dismissed the servants who had wintered with them, 
 and engaged in their stea;d, a half-breed commonly known as " The 
 Assiniboine,'' who, along with his wife and a son, the latter a boy 
 of thirteen years, accompanied them faithfully to the Pacific 
 ■Coast. They reached Edmonton on the 14th of May and left it 
 «n the 3rd of June. It was during their stay at this place the/' 
 
 Q 
 
242 EED KIVEK, 
 
 encountered \hsLi Falstnffian Irishman, Mr. O'B., whose adventures 
 have been already described iu the preceding chapter, and whoi 
 accompanied them on the rest of their journey. The party passed 
 Jasper's House on the 29th of June, and issued fro 31 the Eocky 
 Mountains at T^te Jaune Cache on the 17th of July. After 
 undergoing much hardship in the wooded country of New Cale- 
 donia, where, besides being themselves lost in the forest, they were 
 subjected to the loss of their baggage when crossing the Fraser 
 Biver, they reached Fort Kamloops on the 28th of August, and 
 Victoria on the 19th of September. ^ 
 
 On the 29th of September they left Victoria with the design of 
 reaching Cariboo. Steamers conveyed them as far as Douglas oa 
 the Harrison River, and thence they proceeded to LilLet, and 
 by stage from that place to Soda Creek, a distance of one hundred 
 and seventy-five miles. Between the creek and the mouth of 
 Quesnelle, a distance of sixty miles, a steamer ran, but thence to 
 Williams Creek the party had " to foot it." They reached Wil- 
 liams Creek, then the ftrst place in Cariboo, on the 20th of 
 October, and after a residence of ten days retraced their route to 
 Victcria, where they arrived on the 25th of November. They 
 returned to England by Panama, and reached Liverpool on the 5th. 
 ef March, 1864. 
 
 The book written by these travellers, called " The North West 
 Passage by Land" is my authority for the facts already mentioned 
 and those which are about to follow. It is valuable as a matter-of- 
 fact statement of the difficulties to be encountered by parties 
 erossing the American Continent from Eed River Settlement to 
 Cariboo and the Pacific Coast. Of late years the project, the 
 execution of which it strongly advocates, of an overland route 
 across the continent through British Territory, has been much 
 canvassed. The difficulties of an engineering nature to- be over- 
 come on that portion of the way lying between Red River and the- 
 Pacific are, in the estimation of the authors, not very great. The 
 distance from the settlement to Edmonton they estimate at the 
 very plausible figure of nine hundred and fifty miles. This por- 
 tion is already provided with a cart track, which runs through a 
 level prairie ccuutry, the only obstacles to the passage of which are. 
 
RED RIVER. 243 
 
 the rivers and Bmaller streams. Over a long stretch of it between 
 the Assiniboine and Saskatchewan there is a great scarcity of 
 wood. 
 
 The distance from Edmonton to Jasper's House is about four 
 hundred miles. This portion of the country is covered with a 
 thick forest. The ground over which the present track runs, 
 being very low, is swampy ; but it is probable that by following the 
 more elevated lines of the undulating country, a good road might 
 be secured. The ground on the higher levels is more heavily 
 timbered than that on the lower ones. 
 
 The distance from Jasper's House to Tgte Jaune Cache is about 
 one hundred miles, and forms the pass through the Rocky Moun- 
 tains. It is described as a natural roadway, unobstructed except 
 by timber, the height of land being only three thousand seven 
 hundred and sixty feet above the level of the sea. It forms a clear 
 break in the mountain chain. The ascent on the eastern side is- 
 very gradual, while the western declivity, though more perceptible,, 
 is neither steep nor difficult. 
 
 The distance between Tite Jaune Cache and Cariboo is ninety 
 miles. The ground between these places is mountainous, and densely 
 wooded, and no man has yet passed over it. Lord Milton had 
 proposed to cut his way through, but after having made the 
 attempt, relinquished it as hopeless. In this he simply followed 
 the example of the Canadian emigrant miners who had preceded 
 him the previous autumn. 
 
 Prom Cariboo to the Pacific, a distance of six hundred miles, a 
 well-travelled route already exists. 
 
 The General Quarterly Court, held in August, 1862, was the 
 first over which Judge Black presided. This gentleman was, how- 
 ever, no stranger to the country and its people. He first came 
 out from England in the autumn of 1839, under an engagement 
 with the Hudson's Bay Company as clerk in their service, the 
 »pecial duty being assigned him of acting as clerk to the newly 
 constituted Recorder's Court, for which his seven years' expe- 
 rience in a lawyer's office had qualified him. Conjointly with his 
 duties as clerk of court and council, Mr. Black, from his first 
 arrival in the colony, occupied an important position as clerk in the; 
 
244 BED RIVER. 
 
 regular service of the Hudson's Bay Company's fur trade, and 
 -was promoted to the position of Chief Trader — the official title of 
 a member of the second rank of officers in the service. Having 
 xesigned the offices of clerk of court and council in 1848, he was 
 ibr some years the officer in charge of Bed Eiver district, but 
 retired from the service in 1854. After his subsequent return to 
 England, Mr. Black went to Australia, where for some years he 
 ■occupied the position of Minister for Lands at Sydney in the 
 Government of New South Wales. On his return thence to Eng- 
 land, he received the vacant appointment of judge as aforemen- 
 tioned at the hands of the Hudson's Bay Company, and proceeded 
 .to Red River in 1862 to enter on the duties of his office. 
 
 The long dated connection with the settlement of the new judge, 
 lis knowledge of the peculiarities of the people and their habits, 
 and his personal acquaintance with individuals, were circum- 
 stances which combined to render his appointment a very 
 fortunate event. His very conciliatory manner, and the untiring 
 patience with which he listened to everything the most illiterate 
 suitor had to advance, rendered him very popular. The Court 
 held first after his arrival was called to deal with no question 
 involving any public interest or prejudice, and all passed off with 
 the utmost propriety ; but within the compass of the next few 
 pages, I shall have to unfold a tale, the shadows of which are now 
 beginning to loom across my horizon, involving a series of events 
 in which he and the court of which he is head were principal 
 agents, and the consequences of which may be said to have been 
 such that the settlement has not yet, after the lapse of six year* 
 xeoovered from their influence. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 1862. 
 
 Mr. . Robert Kennicntt of the Sm'thsonian Institution — Orops-^Min- 
 nesola Sioux Outbreak— Mr. Commissioner Dole and his Chippe- 
 iray Camp— Lord Dunmore ; his Party and Hunting tour — Adminig- 
 trative Action of Governor Dallas — Council Petition for Troops— 
 Mr. Sheriff Ross and the "Nor' Wester" Newspaper; His Counter 
 Petition ; His dismissal from Public offices ; His method of Agitation 
 -^Policy of Governor Dallas. 
 
 On the 23rd August parties who had left the Mackenzie River 
 district in the spring of 1862 arrived at Fort Garry. Among them 
 was Mr. Robert Kennicott, an American gentleman connected with 
 the Smithsonian Institution at Washington. In the spring of 
 1859 Mr. Kennicott had been sent by that great national scientific 
 institution to collect specimens for their museums frOm the extreme 
 north of the continent. The Hudson's Bay Company had agreed 
 to give him what assistance they could render without deranging 
 -their own operations, and Mr. Kennicott's term of residence in the 
 north had extended itself to three seasons. 
 
 During that period he had penetrated to the most remote, posts 
 in the territory, among others to the Youcon, a spot situated in 
 Russian America, now termed Alaska, on the great Youcon river, 
 and said to be, according to themost reliable observations, within fifty 
 miles of the Arctic Circle. Mr. Kennicott had himself been highly 
 successful in his collecting efforts, and had each year forwarded tO' 
 •Washington large quantities of curious specimens interesting to 
 the student of natural science. His great zeal in the work had 
 also communicated itself to almost all the officers in the northern 
 'districts who, with unwearied diligence, assisted him in his huntings, 
 and have, since his departure, maintained a close connection with 
 the institution which employed him. 
 
246 RED RIVER. 
 
 Mr. Kennicott's personal popularity stood very high in the 
 country. In consequence of the unsettled state of the Indian 
 tribes on the route between the settlement and St. Paul, he wag 
 detained for some considerable time at Fort Garry, and we saw 
 much of him. He was a staunch patriot, and any expression of a 
 slighting nature levelled at these " United States," as Punch 
 called them about that time, called forth his indignant remon- 
 strances. He gladly availed himself of any opportunity to show 
 civility to his compatriots resident in the colony, some of whom, 
 in allusion to his scientific proclivities, so incomprehensible to them, 
 bestowed on him the elegant professional alias of "Bugs." 
 
 He passed over the Plains in the course of the autumn,. and we 
 heard no further news of him until 1866 when, to our great regret, 
 "we read in the newspapers the announcement of his death from a 
 malady caused by over mental excitement in Russian America, 
 -whither he had been sent in 1865 on the staff of the Russian 
 American Telegraph Company, his previous experience of that 
 distant part of the globe having doubtless recommended him for 
 the appointment. 
 
 In a book lately published, entitled " A Schoolmaster's Chips 
 and Shavings," by Professor D. H. Wheeler of the North Western 
 University in the United States, occurs a very flattering notice of 
 Mr. Kennicott by the author, who appears to have been at one 
 time his tutor. The professor says the North Western Univer- 
 sity Museum contains the memorials of his industry and scientifia 
 enthusiasm, and recommends that some one who knew him well 
 should write the story of his adventurous life and labours. I fear, 
 however, the nature of Mr. Kennicott's work must necessitate obscu- 
 rity as the fate of his life. It was, so far as its details have come to 
 my knowledge, passed in obscure parts of the world among 
 savages, and its avocations seldom admitted of his remaining any 
 long space of time with intimate friends. It was, moreover, 
 humanly speaking, an unfinished life, for he died aged only about 
 twenty-seven years. 
 
 The Red River harvest of 1862 was below the ordinary 
 average to which it had attained during some preceding years, 
 excepting of course that of 1861. The grain which actually 
 
RED RIVER. 247 
 
 came to maturity was excellent. Serious damage had been causad 
 by a hail storm, which fell with extraordinary violence in the 
 month of August. The area over which it raged was very 
 narrow, and confined to one spot near the centre of the colony, 
 the crops belonging to about a dozen families resident near which 
 were completely destroyed. The success of the Plain hunters, 
 though fair, was unequal to that achieved the previous year. 
 
 It was during the month of Septeniber that a series of symp- 
 toms became apparent, leading to the belief that some event of 
 importance had occurred on the St. Paul route. For some weeks 
 nothing more d^fiaite than confused rumours reached the settle- 
 ment, which gradually, however, resolved themselves into shape. 
 The Sioux Indians resident in Minnesota lived under treaties 
 made with the Government of the United States, in terms of which, 
 in consideration of certain lands ceded by them, they were entitled 
 to stated annual payments made to them by the Americans. The 
 business was transacted for the Grovemment by contractors called 
 " Indian agents," who at appointed times met the Indian tribe* 
 and distributed' among them the goods they brought for the 
 purpose. 
 
 It was alleged by the Sioux, as matters of complaint against the 
 United States Government, that they had not for a series of years 
 received the full stipulated amount of their annual payments and 
 allowances ; that good faith had not been kept with them, and 
 that the agents were dilatory in point of time, detaining them for 
 weeks after the period fixed by Government as that at which they 
 were to be on the spot. The latter evil was itself a very serious 
 one. Several thousand Indians of both sexes, and of every age, 
 were collected and left for weeks, during which the few provisions 
 they had been able to bring along with them were quickly con- 
 sumed, and the whole camp, without the possibility of obtaining 
 food from their distant hunting grounds, compelled to undergo th* 
 pains of starvation. 
 
 The utmost penalties exacted from the delinquents and the 
 strongest preventive measures used by American troops proved 
 also ineffectual in hindering the sale of liquor to the Indians on 
 fiuch occasions by dealers who found themselves well paid for the 
 
•?48 BED KIYBR. 
 
 risks run by the high prices the savages would give them for the- 
 niuch desired " fire water." Whether alcohol was the immediate- 
 eause or not I am unaware, but, after a detention of nearly six 
 weeks resulting in the accustomed state of starvation, a band of 
 Sioux waiting the tardy arrival of the agent at Fort Ridgeljey, 
 acting under the leadership of a very popular and able chief 
 named " Little Crow," made a sudden attack on the fort and the 
 neighbouring town of New TJlm, the latter of which they .des- 
 troyed. This outbreak was followed by a general rising of their 
 whole tribe, and the massacre of all the white settlers on the Minne- 
 iota and Sank Rivers. The atrocities committed after the savage 
 nature had broken loose are frightful to contemplate. It is esti- 
 mated that 1,500 settlers were murdered amid circumstances of 
 appalling barbarity. Men were shot down, women violated and 
 murdered, and children tortured, thrust living into stoves or out- 
 down with the tomahawk. Houses were burned down, and fields 
 and gardens, representing the result of long and hard labour, res- 
 tored to their pristine state of devastation. So strong was the 
 feeling of abhorrence entertained against the Sioux by the settlers 
 who escaped, th t on quitting their houses with the object of 
 seeking more secure places of abode, they left poisoned cakes 
 lying in prominent positions, in order that, when the starving 
 lavages should arrive in search of plunder, they might devour them 
 and die. It was also credibly reported that, towards the close of 
 the outbreak, ornaments cut out of the bones of the Indians taken 
 and executed during its course, were exposed for sale at high 
 prices in St. Paul. 
 
 The route to Red River through the States was immediately 
 (tlosed. One of the. stage coaches was attacked by the Sioux, and 
 the passengers killed and scalped. Only those parties travelling 
 with a military escort could pass over the, Plains between George- 
 town and St. Paul. Fort Abercrombie was besieged by a very 
 large body of Indians, and it was long thought they would carry 
 it, though ultimately they failed, to do so. The Hudson's Bay 
 Company's post at Georgetown was in the heart of the Sioux: 
 country, and the water in the river had subsided to such an extpnt 
 that the. steamboat could not run, and it bepame necessary to, Isjy 
 
RED KIVER. 249 
 
 her up and abandon her for the, winter at Georgetown. As it was 
 expected the Indians would take and pillage Georgetown, it was 
 resolved by Messrs. Murray and Kittson, the gentlemen in charge 
 of that post and the steamboat, to carry off all the portable gooda 
 Vnd leave the buildings to their fate. An attempt to use the 
 Btea.mer for this purpose having resulted in hopelessly grounding 
 her within a few miles of the station, she was abandoned and her 
 cargo divided into two portions, one of which was to be floated 
 down the river to the settlement, in a barge, while the other was 
 to be transported overland to the same destination in a train of 
 carta. The barge arrived and delivered her cargo safely after an 
 uneventful journey. 
 
 At the junction of the Red Lake River and the Red River, a 
 spot called "the Grand Forks" of the Red River, were assembled 
 about 750 Chippeway Indians waiting the arrival of a United States 
 Commissioner, who had arranged to meet them in order to enter 
 into a treaty with them for the purchase of their lands lying on 
 the Red River as far north as the frontier at Pembina. Mr. Com- 
 missioner Dole had, however, proceeded only as far as St. Cloud, 
 when his further progress was barred by the Sioux revolt, and, as 
 the goods he had in charge to distribute among the Chippeways, 
 were already at Abercrombie, then besieged by the Sioux, it 
 seemed probable they would fall into the possession of the wrong 
 tribe. Matters were in this position when Messrs. Murray and. 
 Kittson, journeying overland along with the ox-trains carrying the-- 
 goods which had been stored at Georgetown, passed the Grand 
 Forks. They were immediately surrounded by the Chippevfays- 
 The latter had been waiting a long time the arrival of Mr. Dole,. 
 and were, as usual, starving. They demanded supplies from Mr. 
 Kittson, and were refused on the ground that that gentleman had 
 no authority to comply with their request. On being refused they 
 commenced to help themselves, and, surrounding the train, pillaged 
 it, making away with property estimated at the value of about 
 £2,000 sterling. No lives were lost, and the American Govern- 
 ment afterwards recompensed the owners of the stolen goods. 
 
 The barrier; thus raised . against the, passage of traffic on the 
 United States, route was a matter of the most serious import to the 
 
250 KED KIVER. 
 
 Bettlement. Fortunately the outbreak did not occur till August, 
 and, consequently, the major part of the year's freighting had been 
 finished, but the probability existed that the same disturbing 
 causes would come into operation the ensuing spring, and mean- 
 while the mails ceased running. For some months the few oppoi^ 
 tunities we possessed of communicating with the outside world 
 were offered by the journeys of adventurous gentlemen, whose busi- 
 ness or pleasure necessitated their running the gauntlet of the 
 enemy. A party of officers in the Guards, then stationed at Mon- 
 treal, had visited the country with the object of buffalo and bear 
 hunting. The gentlemen composing the party were the Earl of 
 Dunmore, Colonel and Captain Cooper, and Captain Thynne. 
 They had croEEed the Plains on their way to th§ settlement a very 
 few days before the occurrence of the outbreak, and they quitted it 
 on their way west to the hunting ground near the Cypress Hills, 
 before any Suspicion had got abroad in the colony that unusual 
 events were in progress. After a trip of average success they 
 returned to Red River early in October, and great was their sur- 
 prise to learn the events which had transpired. All had seemed 
 80 peaceful and quiet along the road, wjien they passed it in 
 autumn, that it had not entered their calculations there was more 
 danger existing round it than on any highway through a rural dis- 
 trict in England. Their term of absence was, however, drawing to a 
 close, and it was necessary to make an effort. On the 16th Octo- 
 ber they started, and, pursuing a route called " the Wood Road," 
 passing through the grounds of the Chippeway Tribe towards 
 the centre of the State of Minnesota, as distinguished from " the 
 Plain Road" running through those of the Sioux on the west and 
 south confines of the state, they reached their journey's end in 
 safety. 
 
 About the end of October the mail service was partially re-estab- 
 lished by the Wood Road, which, because of its distance from the 
 parts infested by the Sioux, was used as the route between the 
 settlement and the States during the continuance of disturbances. 
 Besides the above-named party of pleasure seekers, another gentle- 
 man, Mr. Samuel Bruce, Tisited the settlement in the autumn of 
 looj for the same purpose. Mr. Bruce made even a more narrow 
 
RED KIVER. 251 
 
 ewjape than did Lord Dunmore's party. He was at Georgeto-vrn 
 Trhen the war broke out, and took his turn in keeping the night 
 "watches at that place. When Messrs. Murray and Kittson left it 
 le accompanied them, and, having ridden ahead, was the first to 
 T)ring to Fort Garry intelligence of the outrage at the Grand 
 Torks. After a trip of some weeks duration on the Plains, and a 
 Tesidence in the settlement of some weeks more, Mr. Bruce left on 
 tis return to England towards the close of November. 
 
 One of the first administrative acts of Governor Dallas was to 
 issue orders to his subordinates in the service, directing them to 
 discontinue" the system of paying cash for " country produce." The 
 latter is the general term used for all meat, agricultural produce, 
 and other articles produced in the colony, with the exception of 
 furs. Instead of cash, articles of English or American manufac- 
 ture, imported by the Company and exposed for sale in their shops, 
 Trere to be bartered. As the Company's notes composed the grand 
 medium of local circulation, and had, till then, always been paid in 
 exchange for the produce indicated, a vast quantity of which was 
 annually bought, an immediate outcry from the settlers followed the 
 _promulgation of the new edict. The " Nor' Wester" gave utterance 
 to the public sentiment, and pretty plainly intimated that, had it 
 foreseen the sort of policy about to be inaugurated by the new 
 Governor, who, being the most prominent agent of the Company, 
 was singled out as the main object of attack, it would have 
 materially modified the almost fulsome eulogy contained in « 
 leading article published a few months previously, announcing his 
 arrival in the settlement. 
 
 The action complained of it must, however, be remembered was 
 taken by the Governor, acting purely in his capacity as head of the 
 trading operations of the Company, and was in no way affected by 
 his possession of magisterial authority ; and, although it was highly 
 distasteful to the community at large to be partially deprived of 
 their medium of currency, the Company refused any longer to 
 supply their opponents in trade to a greater extent than suited 
 their own convenience, with an engine which might be so power- 
 fully worked to damage their interests as an extensive issue of 
 paper currency which, in terms of the notes, they were compelled 
 
252 BED RIVEB. 
 
 to redeem by granting bills of exchange on London at par for anj- 
 amount of it which might be presented at their oflBce. While the 
 press therefore reviled the Company for systematically locking up 
 their money in the Fort Garry strong box, the Governor contented 
 himself with the reflection that he had acted for the benefit of, his 
 employers, and bis subordinates declined to receive country pro- 
 duce from customers in whose eyes hard cash was the only eligible 
 equivalent for their wares. 
 
 The feeling of uneasiness roused in the colony by the events 
 transpiring in Minnesota was aggravated by the intelligence that 
 the Sioux proposed paying a visit to Fort Garry. It was true 
 that the visit was alleged to be of a friendly character, and it was 
 highly improbable that the Indians, already at deadly war with 
 the United States, would increase their difficulties by any action 
 which would procure them the hostility of the Red River hunters^ 
 whose admirable organizations for purposes connected with the 
 chase might on emergency be brought to bear on those of an 
 Indian war. On the other hand, should the Indian visit be paid 
 during the ensuing summer the great bulk of the adult male popu- 
 lation would be from home in pursuit of their avocations on the 
 Plains after buffalo, or in freighting towards St. Paul, the Saskat- 
 chewan, York Factory, or Portage La Loche. A Sioux visit,, 
 even of a pacific character, under these circumstances, would be^ 
 dangerous as offering an opportunity to the observant savages to 
 spy the weakness of the land. Moreover, it might be impossible' 
 to secure settlers in isolated spots of the colony from visits paid to 
 their domiciles, and possibly robbery at the hands of starving 
 Sioux or young "braves" of their tribe, who, having nothing to 
 lose and a sanguinary reputation to gain among their people, are 
 generally- the first to lead the way in those massacres and wars 
 which bring ruin, discredit and extermination alike on the good 
 and the bad connected with their bands. 
 
 Even in ,the light of past events, the local government had no 
 wish tO' see the" Red River Indians fraternising with the mui'derers 
 of the whites in Minnesota, or to give the Sioux the opportunity 
 of providing themselves with gunpowder and war materials on 
 iBriti§h ^ound to be used against American troops. Considera- 
 
RED RIVER. 253 
 
 *ions of humanity apart, it was highly inexpedient that the Ameri- 
 c.ns should regard the settlement as a hasis of supply for their 
 enemies, or that the Sioux should consider British settlers as their 
 allies against the forces of the Union. 
 
 On previous occasions the Hudson's Bay Company had warned 
 the British Government of the various and manifold risks to which 
 the isolated colony of Red River was exposed, and had besought 
 ■them to continue the assistance afforded by the presence of a body, 
 of troops on the spot, offering to share the expense of the measure 
 they recommended to a reasonable extent. In spite of their 
 representations and remonstrances, nevertheless, the military had 
 been withdrawn and no reasonable hope remained that renewed 
 applications would be productive of any better effect than that of 
 -shifting the responsibility of any massacre or disaster which might 
 ensue from the shoulders of the members of the Company's board 
 to those of the regulators of the distribution of the military forces 
 of the empire. 
 
 Combined in their system of defence, and sheltered in their 
 forts, the servants of the Company would always be able to defend 
 themselves and the property entrusted to their care against any 
 body of savages crazy enough to try conclusions with them. 
 Matters were, however, very different with the outlying settlers, 
 whose isolated homes lay on spots newly reclaimed from the wilder- 
 ness, and whose days might be embittered by the continual dread 
 of hearing the deadly howl of paint-covered, fealiier-decorated 
 murderers emerging from the copses round their dwellings. 
 Hoping that the appeals of people living under such circumstances 
 as these might have more weight with the Colonial Office than 
 those of the Company, the Governor and Council of Assiniboia,, 
 at a meeting held on the 30th October, presided over by Governor 
 Pallas, invited the settlers to sign a petition to the Colonial Secre- 
 tary asking for troops. 
 
 The petition was drawn up and public meetings were held in 
 different parts of the settlement with the object of recommending; 
 the document to the favourable consideration of the community, 
 And obtaining signatures. At this stage of the proceedings it 
 became apparent that a disturbing cause was in existence which 
 
254 RED RIVER. 
 
 threatened to affect seriously for evil the success of what had eaxly 
 become known as " The Council Petition." 
 
 Mr. James Ross, already mentioned in this narrative as one of" 
 the earliest editors and proprietors of the " Nor' Wester," pos- 
 sessed, in addition to these titles to public notice, at the time to- 
 which I refer, the offices of postmaster, sheriff and governor of the 
 gaol. This gentleman, instigated as he declared by a desire to 
 call forth the true sentiments of the people, issued a counter peti- 
 tion, which, while it asked for troops, commented somewhat dis- 
 paragingly on the manner in which the Company's jurisdiction in 
 the country was exercised. Some considerable time previously, an 
 application had been made by the proprietors of the " Nor' 
 Wester" to the Council of Assiniboia, asking for permission to 
 gend a reporter for the newspaper to attend the deliberations of" 
 that body. It was then decided that, as the proposed innovation 
 was without precedent, the council having always been accustomed' 
 to sit with closed doors, it was improper to admit a reporter for 
 any newspaper and exclude the general public. While the coun- 
 cil, however, by this resolution excluded an outsider from intrud- 
 ing on its debates, it always supplied the " Nor' Wester,'' through- 
 its secrotary, Mr. Smith, with such extracts from its minutes and, 
 other information as was supposed necessary to keep the public 
 well informed with regard to its various proceedings. In accor- 
 dance with this practice a copy of the Council Petition, with the 
 different resolutions bearing thereon, was sent to Mr. Eoss for 
 publication. It was, however, never published, but there appeared 
 instead the counter-petition, embodying as much of the matter con- 
 tained in the other as suited the purposes of the promoters, and con- 
 taining a good deal to which the council would certainly decline to 
 lend what weight its authority might possess. 
 
 Such were the zeal and activity shown by the promoters of the 
 ''Nor' Wester" Petition, that the persons appointed to advocate the 
 other were, on their arrival in most of the districts of the colony, 
 in which they proposed to hold public meetings, met by the intel- 
 ligence that the active agents on the other side had already- 
 preceded them, and procured the signatures of the unsuspecting; 
 rustics, who imagined they were merely putting their names tcN- 
 
BED KIVBR. 255 
 
 the document Banctioned by council. The number of signatures'- 
 ultimately obtained by the " Nor' Wester" people I do not know. 
 To the council petition 1183 signatures were attached. Of the 
 latter the great majority were those of the French Canadian 
 population, whose priests had exerted themselves with united zeal 
 and complete effect in favour of the council. The English names, 
 however, included the signatures of all the leading residents, though 
 a large bulk of the humbler population had been misled by the 
 artifice already indicated. Some individuals, on learning the true 
 position of matters, called on Mr. Ross, who, I believe, in all such 
 eases offered no opposition to the withdrawal of their names from 
 the document they professed to have signed through misconception.. 
 
 The " Nor' Wester " also broke out in a very unmistakeable man- 
 ner against the Government, professing at the same time to be 
 merely giving voice to the sentiments of the people. It stated that 
 the head official in the Compr ny's sale shop at Fort Garry, had, for 
 «ome time previously, spent his efforts more in a fruitless attempt 
 to induce customers to sign his petition, than in performing his 
 more regular functions of salesman. It also stated that a number 
 of signatures representing no living men, had been placed on the 
 council petition, and among others it alleged that the name of an 
 old ox, used in drawing water for the use of Fort Garry, had 
 been so inscribed. 
 
 On the other hand it was asserted that Mr. Ross had obtained 
 his signatures by abusing the credulity of the ignorant and by 
 having recourse to imposture, by acting as he represented his 
 opponents to have acted in the matter of signatures, belonging to 
 no living persons, and by attaching to his petition the names of 
 minors, Indians, and others, unable to judge of the propriety of 
 the step into which he led them. 
 
 The whole of the clergymen of the settlement, with exception 
 of three, supported the council petition. The Rev. Mr. Black, 
 in strict conformity with the principles on which he had acted 
 with reference to political movements during his decade of resi-, 
 dence in the settlement, while attaching his own name to the 
 council petition, remained neutral so far as tnj attempt to 
 influence his parishioners was concerned. The Eev. Griffith Owen 
 
256 KED RIVER. 
 
 Corbett, and the Rev. John Chapman strenuously and effectively 
 fiuppoftad Mr. Ross. The former gentleman, it will be remem- 
 bered, was Presbyterian minister, while the two latter belonged to 
 the Church of England, and had been throughout the whole of 
 their period of residence in the country, close friends, and, when 
 the opportunity presented itself, fellow-agitators against the 
 Company's government. To their influence brought to bear on 
 their parishioners Mr. Ross was, I believe, largely indebted for 
 what measure of success attended his enterprise. 
 
 Meanwhile the council was not idle with regard to Mr. Ross, 
 who, it will be remembered, held the public offices of sheriff, 
 governor of the gaol and postmaster. At a full meeting it was 
 resolved that he should be deprived of all these posts under a 
 government he was doing all in his power, as editor of a news- 
 paper and public agitator, to bring into contempt. The joint 
 offices of sheriff and governor of the gaol, yielding a clear 
 permanent revenue to the holder of £30 per annum, afterwards 
 jaised to £60, were conferred on Mr. Henry McKenney, senior 
 partner in the firm of McKenney & Co., while that of postmaster, 
 jielding a fixed remuneration of £10 per annum, afterwards 
 increased to £20, was bestowed on Mr. Andrew Graham Ballenden 
 Bannatyne, one of the principal private merchants in the colony. 
 Both of these gentlemen have retained their respective offices, 
 from the time to which I allude till that at which I write, and 
 have labouriously fulfilled the duties pertaining to them, to the well- 
 merited satisfaction of the public and the government. 
 
 Freed from the incubus of official trammels, Mr. Ross persevered 
 in the course on which he had entered with renewed zeal. He 
 called public meetipgs, the resolutions passed at which, along with 
 the speeches made, appeared in full in his newspaper, which 
 speedily altered the talne, uninteresting style in which his articles 
 had for a long tiiiie been couched to one, the pungent personalities 
 and one-sided plausibilities of which, rendered it, to an unconcerned 
 by-stander, highly interesting and exhilarating reading. It was 
 possibly with a retrospective glance at the editorials produced 
 about this peridd that the conductors of the paper, on the retire- 
 ment of Mr. Ross from its management about eighteen months 
 
RED RIVEB, 25Y 
 
 afteTwards, in paying a parting tribute of praise to their outgoing 
 •coadjutor, stated that " as a vigorous writer and logical thinljLer 
 he was second to non« in the country," 
 
 Among other proposals made at the public meetings called by 
 Mr, Ross, was one which met with peculiar favour. It was to the 
 -effect that he himself should visit England and lay the grievances 
 ■qf the setUemeijit before the authorities there. Less enthusiastic, 
 however, were the demonstrations of a practical nature towards 
 supplying the funds necessary for the successful working out of 
 the scheme. So poor in fact was the pecuniary encouragement 
 given him that Mr. Ross, after remaining undecided for some time, 
 finally abandoned the idea ofgoitig to England, and Mr, Sandford 
 Fleming, a Canadian land surveyor, was appointed, by a formal 
 meeting held in the settlement, delegate to represent the wrongs 
 of the people of Red River to the imperial authorities. 
 
 The resolutions, adopted at this meeting were detailed as usual 
 in the columns of the "Nor' Wester," which omitted, however, to 
 state that the total number of individuals attending it, including 
 Mr. Ross himself, and Mr, Goldwell, his partner, " unanimously 
 ohosen secretary of the meeting," did not exceed twenty. 
 
 The rival petitions were forwarded to England by mail, and were 
 •both received at the Colonial Office, but tlie prayer of both was dis- 
 regarded, and the settlement was abandoned by official men to 
 whatever fate might turn up for it in the chapter of accidents. 
 
 Meanwhile Governor Dallas, left to his own resources, employed 
 himself in devising some method whereby the various evils which 
 threatened the commonwealth might be averted or neutralised. 
 Before his assumption of office the Governor of Rupert's Land had 
 ■carefully avoided m xing himself up with the administration of 
 affairs in the muni ipal district of Assiniboia, which had been 
 always left to the charge of its own governor and council. For 
 many years Sir George Simpson, whose chief residence had latterly 
 been at Laehine, near Montreal, on his way home from Norway 
 House had paid an annual visit of a very few days duration to the 
 settlement, where he always avoided, as much as he could, inter- 
 fering with anything beyond the commercial business of the com 
 pany, or of private .ndividuals with whose siffairshe might -be con" 
 
 B 
 
258' SE0 KlVEK, 
 
 Dieetjld. Mr. Dallas, hoTvever, on coming to reside in tiie eolon^ a*' 
 his head quarters, took a very decided part in the colonial admistra- 
 tion. He attended the meetings of council, where, in virtue of hi* 
 commission^ he superseded the local Grovernor, who happeiied, during 
 the term of his tenure of office, to be also the chief factor in charge' 
 of the Company's district of Red Kiter. 
 
 Formerly, it had been usually the aim of the authorities to dis-- 
 courage, as much as possible, party feeling, endeavouring rather to-- 
 induce members of all races, creeds, and parties to &rget, in their 
 common intercourse, those matters wherein they differed, and exert 
 themselves with united zeal for the general good. When the dis- 
 turbance, raised by the editor of the " Nor' Wester," broke out, 
 Mr. Dallas attempted to inaugurate another policy. Refusing to- 
 treat his opponents and friends with equal cordiality, he took all 
 legitimate opportunities which presented themselves to mark his- 
 iiense of the distinction between them. Possibly the most decided 
 movement made in this direction was to give a ball, from the list 
 of invitations to which the names of all who had opposed themselves 
 to the government on the petition question were excluded, while a 
 large number of the well disposed were invited. So far as the mea- 
 sures taken to enable guests to enjoy themselves were concerned, 
 the government ball was, as might be expected, a signal success, 
 and the affair itself possibly one of the most brilliant ever known 
 in the settlement. Politically, however, it elicited a " special 
 extra,'' printed at the " Nor' Wester" office, for private circulation, 
 and occasioned some bad feeling on the part of influential people 
 excluded. 
 
 It will doubtless appear perfectly comprehensible that a gentle- 
 man who had passed his life in countries provided with the cum- 
 brous mechanism of government in the civilized world, would have 
 but little sympathy wi*h what might be considered the Utopian 
 scheme of preventing political discord, or faith in the efficacy of 
 any human means to accomplish such an end. In the earlier years 
 of the settlement, however, the policy had been productive of good. 
 When Mr. Dallas arrived the bulk of the populace might be con- 
 sidered as composed of the two classes of ne* arrivals from Canada 
 and the United States, and of the residents of old date and their 
 
KED RIVER. 259 
 
 families, whose practical knowledge of public institutions was con- 
 fined to those existing under the Company's rule. Individuals of 
 the former class willingly supported Mr. Dallas, or any one else, 
 who could make it tend to their private interest to become subser- 
 vient to his public policy ; but the old Hudson's Bay men, whose 
 idea of a governor was that of a man who had spent a long life in 
 the territory, and had grown old along with themselves, regarded 
 this new gentleman as being, with all his ability, not much better 
 than a " greenhorn." 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 1862-63. 
 
 Apprehension of the Kev. Griffith Owen Corbett; Charge against 
 him ; Preliminary examination ; Popular demonstration at the 
 Prison — Letter to the " Nor' Wester " — Defence — Correspondence 
 with Governor Dallas — Bail — Mr. Prank Larned Hunt, agent for the 
 Defence— Petition for Special Court — Visit of Sioux — Archdeacon 
 Hunter T3^ John Tate — Rumoured visits from Indians— February 
 Quarterly Court — Trial and condemnation of Mr. Corbett. 
 
 Eault in December considerable astonishment was created in the 
 settlement by the apprehension of the Rev. Griffith Owen Corbett, 
 of Headingley, by authority of a warrant granted by Mr. Thomas 
 Sinclair, J.P., on a charge of having made repeated attempts to 
 procure abortion, by instruments and otherwise, on the person of 
 Maria Thomas, a girl in his service, whom he had seduced. The 
 preliminary examination took place at the house of the girl's father, 
 a settler, named Simon Thomas, where the victim was confined to 
 bed in consequence of the state of health in which she was, and to 
 which it was alleged Mr. Corbett's malpractices had reduced her. 
 
 Face to face with death a sworn deposition was taken from the 
 girl by properly qualified parties, and that, along with corroborative 
 testimony, of a character very damaging to the accused, given by 
 her father and sister, carried such conviction to the mind of the 
 magistrate that he committed Mr. Corbett to prison, with the 
 prospect of standing his trial before the general quarterly court, 
 whose next session would commence during the ensuing February. 
 
 For some years previously Mr. Corbett had professedly acted 
 much as an amateur medical practitioner in his parish, to the 
 inhabitants of which he gave physic and medical advice gratis. In 
 a country where difficulty exists in procuring the assistance of 
 regular practitioners, this system is dictated by charity and 
 humanity, and has been, I believe, universally practised by clern-y- 
 men in Rupert's Land. To enable him to pursue this path of duty 
 
RED RIVER. 261 
 
 ■with as much intelligence and effect as possible, Mr. Corbett had, 
 during the winter of 1856-57, which he spent in England, attended 
 regularly at King's Hospital, for the purpose of gaining some 
 insight into the practice of physic and surgery. 
 
 Committed to the common gaol, Mr. Corbett commenced a series 
 of attempts to create a public feeling in his favour, by asserting 
 that the committing magistrate had with ridicule refused to admit 
 him to bail. When interrogated on this point the magistrate denied 
 that bail had been offeried, and said the only time on which it had 
 been mentioned in his hearing, during the progress of the pre- 
 liminary examination, was when Mr. Oliver Gowler, a parishioner 
 and attached friend of Mr. Corbett, had asked whether it would be 
 accepted, and was informed by Mr. Sinclair that he did not know 
 whether the ease, being one of felony, would admit of bail. He 
 added, moreover, that, after he had informed Mr. Corbett his com- 
 mittal was inevitable, neither the latter nor any of his friends had 
 mentioned bail. 
 
 On the forenoon of Saturday, the 6th December, a party of men 
 arrived at the prison, which is situated close to the Port, and 
 effected a forcible entrance with the avowed intention of liberating 
 Mr. Corbett. On learning the intention of the assemblage, 
 Governor Dallas, accompanied by the Governor of Assiniboia and 
 several other gentlemen, went to the scene of action and held 
 an interview with the mob. Singling out the ringleaders the 
 former asked them what they wanted in that place. They 
 answered they wished merely to liberate the prisoner on bail. 
 Mr. Dallas told them they knew no one resided in the prison legally 
 competent to grant such a request, and that their tumultuous 
 assemblage did not accord with their words. Believing, however, 
 that whatever riotous intentions they might have harboured would 
 not be carried out, he retired. 
 
 A deputation from the crowd called on the Governor In the course 
 of the afternoon, requesting the release of the prisoner on bail, but 
 were referred to the committing magistrate, who alone, they were 
 informed, could grant their request. For several days Mr. 
 Corbett's friends were busy going from one functionary to another, 
 and loud complaints were indulged in that bail had been refused, 
 
262 KED RIVEE. 
 
 and the accused illegally deprived of that liberty which alone 
 could efiable him to collect eyidence to prove his innocence. 
 
 It was then complained that a copy of the depositions taken at 
 the preliminary examination had been refused the prisoner and his 
 attorney. Inquiry at the committing magistrate elicited the 
 assertion that Mr. Smith, the Clerk of Court, had, on the evening 
 of the day on which the examination had taken place, been directed 
 by that functionary to prepare such a copy in view of the proba- 
 bility that it would be demanded, but that no application had yet 
 been made for it to him who alone could order its delivery. 
 
 An attempt was also made to compromise the respectability of 
 Maria Thomas and her family, more especially of her father, 
 Simon Thomas, a poor settler, resident in St. Clement's Parish, 
 who had been the instigator of all the steps taken against Mr. 
 Corbett. It was asserted that Mr. Sinclair had admitted to Mr. 
 Corbett during his examination "they were all infernal liars." 
 To this the magistrate replied that, on the occasion referred to, Mr. 
 Corbett had indeed asked him if he was not aware of the reputa/- 
 tion in which these people were held, and had applied the above 
 quoted expression to them ; but that he, believing the question to 
 have been asked with the object of entrapping him, had carefully 
 refrained from making any such admission. 
 
 A long and bitter letter then appeared in the " Nor' Wester " 
 from the pen of Mr. Corbett, in which he attributed the proceed- 
 ings taken against him to the hostility of the Company excited by 
 the prominent part he had taken in forwarding the success of the 
 " Nor' Wester " petition, and his unceasing hostility to them during 
 the whole term of his residence in their territories. He represented 
 himself in the light of a political martyr, and contemptuously 
 denied that the charges brought against him had any foundation in 
 fact. Though not directly naming the bishop, there were several 
 expressions in the letter implying that the coolness and disappro- 
 bation evinced towards him by that gentleman since he had got 
 into difficulty, rose from an unworthy fear to support him against 
 his persecutors. 
 
 The truth of his statement that he had ever politically opposed 
 the Company in the country and in England, where during the 
 
KED RIVBR. 263 
 
 Inquiry t>efore the Committee of the House of Commons, in 1857, 
 he had given evidence of a nature one-sided, and well calculated 
 i» produce a false impression on the minds of his hearers, being 
 well knovwi, much credit was attached by respectable people in the 
 icountry to Mr. Corbett's assertions, and the Kev. John Chapman 
 more especially befriended him and made no secret of his con- 
 Tiction that the depositions of Maria Thomas and others were 
 impudently false. 
 
 In a .series of letters written from the prison to Governor 
 Dallas, which were afterwards published in the " Nor' Wester," 
 Mr. Corbett held much the same language, complaining that 
 laecause he was a missionary abroad he had been needlessly torn 
 from his family and friends, and that he was persecuted for the 
 ■conscientious expression of his sentiments on the broad question 
 of the Hudson's Bay territory. He also asserted that he had 
 been studying law, as expounded by Blackstone, and found it very 
 ■different from that administered under Judge Black. He quoted 
 .the words " that an individual of good fame who is accused of any 
 ,felony not before specified mu&t be bailed upon offering sufficient 
 -security, Vol. iv., p. 298J' What the felonies " before specified " 
 were, or whether he regarded the words as referring to a matter of 
 time, and previous accusations or convictions against a given indi- 
 vidual, as his fragmentary quotation might induce one to suspect, 
 Mr. Corbett did not say. He, however, alleged that bail, amount- 
 ing to £4,000 sterling, had been "ready to be offered " :on his 
 hehalf when refused on the day of the visit paid to the prison by 
 his friends, whose zeal to Uberaie him by forxje he claimed credit 
 for having discouraged. 
 
 It was for some time a question with the authorities whether- 
 sthey would accept bail or accede to another proposal, made on 
 tehalf of Mr. Corbett, that a special court should be commissioned 
 to try his case. The low state of health of the principal wLtness 
 for the prosecution rendered her presence in court impossible at 
 .the time of these deliberations, but her medical adviser was of 
 opinion, that within a few weeks ehe would probably be able to 
 .appear. It was ultimately decided that bail should be received, 
 .and by a Coairt of Justices of the Peace, held on the 16th Decern- 
 
264 RED RITEB. 
 
 t)er, Mr. Corbett was set at liberty, on finding two secTirities iSr 
 one hundred pounds each, and etltering into his own recognizances; 
 for two hundred pounds more. 
 
 On his liberation it became publicly known that Mr. Corbett 
 had selected as his principal adviser a parishioner ©f his own,, 
 named Frank Lamed Hunt, *ho was understood to have studiecJ 
 kw in Canada, where he had also for some years practised it, and 
 attained to a certain degree of eminence in, his profession. Owing 
 to misfortunes of a personal and domestic nature, Mr. Hunt had' 
 quitted his former home and come to settle at Ked River. Here 
 he commenced labourmg, I believe, as a farmer, and never to my 
 knowledge was- connected with any court cases until Mr. Corbett,. 
 who knew his antecedents, prevailed on him to undertake the chief 
 conduct of his defence. Subordinate to Mr. Hunt acted Mr.. 
 James Eoss, who also, through the " Nor' Wester,"' endeavoured tO' 
 support the cause of his client. 
 
 Mr. Hunt, in talking with pebpfe ia the eololiy about the affair,, 
 freely stated his opinion that the charges he had to rebut were^ 
 merely moonshine and that as soon as the principal witness could 
 be got into the box, every suspicion would vanish. He deprecated! 
 the idea of encouraging any popular disturbance,, which he said 
 fcould only damage his ease, and he added that should any such 
 commotion arise on the day of the trial, he " would throw up his; 
 brief," and decline to move in the a&ir. As itWas, however, and 
 should the trial be permitted to proceed in regular form, he had. 
 little doubt that public good would spring from the evil whieh had' 
 temporarily befallen Mr. Corbett, and the over-credulous people 
 would have their eyes opened and see that orderly support of law 
 was the best means they eould use to get an unfortunate friend 
 out of a difficulty. 
 
 During the latter part of December vigorous ^ertions were- 
 iiade to obtain a reconsideration of the decision of the magis- 
 trates' refusing a special court to try the case. The resolution had 
 been arrived at principally on the ground oi' the impossibility of 
 obtaining the attendance of Maria Thomas, at the court room,^ 
 situated more than twenty miles from her home in consequence of 
 her state of health.. A petition was forwarded by a deplitatioift. 
 
RED RIVEB. 265 
 
 from Mr. Corbett's parishioners to the Bishop of Kupert's Land, 
 requesting his Lordship to use his influence to obt lin the special 
 court. It was stated by the petitioners that the attendance of the 
 principal witness for the prosecution was quite unnecessary, seeing 
 she had already made a deposition, which might be read over to 
 the jury in her absence, and moreover she might be brought 
 comfortably up to some house in the neighbourhood of the ccurt 
 room, and should the jury desire further information than was 
 afforded in her sworn deposition, properly accredited parties might 
 be dispatched by the Court to swear and interrogate the woman in 
 her own bedroom. It was also advanced by the petitioners that 
 Mr. James Eoss, the junior counsel and working man on the side 
 of the defence, was anxious to leave the settlement on his pro 
 jected return to Canada and England, undertaken for the express 
 purpose of exposing the misgovernment of the territory groaning 
 under Hudson's Bay despotism. Nor was Mr. Ross the only man 
 connected with the business apparently likely to desert the locality 
 at the time his presence was wanted, for some important witnesses 
 for the defence it was apprehended were about to start for the 
 Plains. 
 
 Bishop Anderson received the petition and forwarded it to the 
 judge, requesting his consideration of the reasons advanced in it, 
 and his good offices should these reasons appear to him to possess 
 the weight seemingly attached to them by the petitioners. 
 
 In reply Mr. Black refused to entertain the proposal on the 
 alleged grounds and appeared to think his refusal tended to save 
 Mr. Corbett from his friends. He stated in answering the bishoji, 
 under date 5th January, 1863, that, on consultingthe girl's medi- 
 cal attendant, he had been informed of her confinement on the 3rd 
 instant and of the impossibility of conveying her to the spot 
 required, within a month, at the expiry of which term the 
 regular quarter sessions of the general court would be close at 
 hand. The proposal to drag a witness, on whose evidence in a 
 criminal case the whole event might be said to hinge, to the 
 threshold of a court of justice, without subjecting her to a regular 
 examinatioa before the jury, was rejected as absurd ; while the 
 reading of the deposition already taken, without submitting 
 
.266 BED RIVER. 
 
 deponent to further examination, however proper it might be, if 
 irom death or hopeless illness her future appearance were a thing 
 impossible, was, under existing cireumstances, illegal. It was of 
 course a matter to be regretted that Mr. Ross should leave his 
 -client without the benefit of his services, but over that arrangement 
 the public authorities had no jurisdiction, while they would at 
 Once subpoena any witnesses whose departure M r. Corbett might 
 desire to prevent before the February sessions. The result was 
 that a special court was definitely refused. 
 
 During the latter days of December, the settlement had been 
 alarmed by reports, daily gathering in consistency, of the projected 
 visit of a party of Sioux to Port Garry. At last, on Sunday, 
 .28th December, the anxiously expected arrival occurred, and a 
 party consisting of 80 mea and 6 women made its appearance, They 
 were lodged in the court room, as the only place available for their 
 accommodation, and supplied with food. Fortunately none of 
 them had been personally compromised in the late massacres on 
 the frontier and only fifteen of them were connected with any 
 of the bands so concerned. Usually residing near Lake Travers, 
 they were wintering, in consequence of the disturbance between 
 their nation and the whites, near Devil's Lake, a body of water 
 situated about 140 miles south-west from Fort Crarry. Their 
 object they said was to ascertain the feelings entertained towards 
 them by the Indians and Half-breeds on the English side of the 
 border. They also expressed regret at what they regarded as the 
 hopeless position into which their nation had brought itself. They 
 left the Fort, on their return to Devil's Lake, on Wednesday, 31st 
 December. During their three days' residence it was believed 
 possible, from an apparent desire to defer their departure, that 
 they had come for some purpose other than that which they 
 professed. It was, therefore, deemed prudent to make a somewhat 
 prominent display of six pounder field pieces and other Govern- 
 ment stores fitted to excite in their minds the idea we were not 
 unprepared for belligerent operations in case of emergency. 
 
 During their stay they visited Bishop Anderson, who received 
 them with all proper consideration and showed them his new 
 cathedral of St. John, which I may here mention had been opened 
 
RED RIVER. 267 
 
 for public worship a few days previously, on Thursday, 25th 
 December, being Christmas day. After receiving a present of 
 pemmican, our unhappy guests, apparently satisfied, returned 
 homewards, leaving the settlement perfectly quiet, and without any 
 ofiFence shown to Indians or Half breeds resident on their route. 
 
 The Venerable Archdeacon Hunter had, at an early stage of 
 the Corbett case, been deputed by the Bishop of Rupert's Land, 
 to make certain enquiries, chiefly of the prosecutrix and members 
 of her family, which might lead the ecclesiastical authorities to 
 some reliable conclusion on the merits of that deplorable affair. 
 The result of the Archdeacon's inquest was a conviction, which he 
 did not scruple to state in public, that Mr. Corbett was guilty as 
 libelled. Some time afterwards reports reached his ears that he 
 himself was being virulently attacked in a variety of different 
 quarters, and that charges were rumoured against him which 
 threatened in his estimation to damage his character and usefulness 
 as a clergyman. Up and down throughout his parish statements 
 were in circulation respecting the incumbent, the wild extravagance 
 of which might be thought by an uninterested perhon to exempt 
 them from all title to notice. To the gentleman chiefly interested, 
 however, and to certain of his friends, the matter wore a more 
 serious aspent, and it was determined to select some responsible 
 individual to make an example of him. 
 
 A person, named John Tait, whose eccentricities of expression^ 
 when labouring under excitement, are said to be so great as to 
 render him momentarily unaccountable for his words, had sig- 
 nalized himself by repeating current talk, and as, although not a 
 rich man by any means, he possessed, what the vast majority of the 
 libellers did not, some money, it was resolved to enter an action 
 against him, requiring damages amounting, I believe, to £400, 
 on account of defamation of character. On learning the position 
 in which he had been placed, Mr. Tait's justification of his conduct 
 was that he had been merely repeating current talk, which he had 
 alwa>ys known to be untrue. His object in so doing, he asserted, > 
 had been to show how little reliance could be placed on the stories 
 to the disparagement of Mr. Corbett, which he believed to be also 
 faise, by instancing, as a case in point, the reports circulated against 
 
268 RED RIVER. 
 
 a man standing so Hgli in public estimation, and in bis own, as 
 did Mr. Hunter. Mr. Tait engaged Mr. James Ross as agent to 
 conduct his case. 
 
 What the charges were, as a whole, I do not know, having paid 
 no attention to them at the time ; but, from the specimens I have 
 heard, as well as from everything which has come to my knowledge 
 connected with them, they were so outrageously extravagant as to 
 carry their own reputation on their face. The Archdeacon selected 
 as his agent Mr. Bernard R. Ross, a chief trader iu the Hudson's 
 Bay Company's service, and a near relation of his own, then on 
 furlough in the settlement. 
 
 Mr. Bernard R. Ross probably convinced Mr. James Ross that 
 the position of his client was a bad one, for the case, which was to 
 have been publicly tried at the February court, was withdrawn, 
 and the Archdeacon declared himself satisfied when John Tait had 
 come under an engagement to pay him a sum of one hundred pounds 
 sterling for compounding the action, and had retracted all the 
 obnoxious assertions. He also mentioned the matter, giving an 
 account of the negociations, from the pulpit of St. Andrew's, and 
 stated it as being his intention, while exacting the money from 
 John Tait, to hand it over as a portion in equal division between 
 his two daughters. 
 
 The public excitement produced by all these causes was aug- 
 mented by a rumour which added much to the feeling of insecurity 
 prevalent in the settlement. It was said that certain ill-disposed 
 parties resident in the colony had " sent tobacco" to the Indiana 
 occupying the nearer hunting grounds, requesting them to meet in 
 the settlement during the course of the following spring, and open 
 the question of the extinction of Indian titles to the land. The 
 ceremony of sending tobacco is one quite well understood, and con- 
 stitutes the Indian form of fraternization. The prospect of a gene- 
 ral assemblage of Indians hunting on English territory taking place 
 in the heart of the small, isolated, civilized community of Red 
 River, at the same time as the proposed visit from American Sioux 
 might be paid, was one Well-calculated to excite apprehension in 
 even careless minds. Should the hostile feelings of the savage 
 tribes break out, in consequence of any trifling incident which 
 
RED EIVER. 269 
 
 miglit occur to ruffle their unrestrained passions, and lead to the 
 settlement becoming the scene of their war, nothing could prevent 
 vast loss of life among the settlers, and the final result would be 
 the possibly permanent cessation of the good understanding, till 
 then prevalent, between the white and Half-breed populations and 
 the Indians. Even should perfect harmony prevail the expenses 
 of providing food for the Indian host would seriously impoverish 
 the settlement public funds, on which it would necessarily fall, as, 
 in case of need, and refusal on the part of the authorities to supply 
 them with food, the Indians would help themselves at the expense 
 of private settlers. Fortunately, the more serious fears entertained 
 never were realized, and the Sioux visits, with which we had subse- 
 quently to deal, were peaceful ones ; but the anxiety existing in 
 the minds of men whose lives and substance were at stake, in view 
 of their perfectly unprotected condition, was of itself a serious evil, 
 On the morning of Thursday, 19th February, 1863, the long 
 expected session of the quarterly court commenced. In charging 
 the grand jury, which was composed of many of the most intelli- 
 gent residents in the colony, the judge commented at some length 
 on the proceedings of a section of the public with reference to the 
 Corbett case, and mOre especially the suspicious gathering which 
 had taken place at the prison on 6th December, for the purpose of 
 effecting his release. The grand jury found a true bill against him. 
 On visiting the court room on the afternoon of the day on which the 
 trial commenced I was somewhat astonished at seeing a considerable 
 crowd collected about the entrances, while the room itself appeared 
 very empty. On inquiry I was informed the reading of the indict- 
 ment was in progress, and that ths public had resolved to signalize 
 its sense of the impropriety of the whole business by withdrawing 
 in a body until the prefatory formalities should be completed. I 
 entered the court room and heard what was going on. Mr. Smith 
 wore a long white beard and a pair of spectacles. He held the 
 legal document in his hand, and, standing up with his face to the 
 audience, read, in a distinct, modulated tone, with occasional hesi- 
 tations at certain abstruse, unaccustomed words, a very revolting 
 series of details. 
 
 Mr. Co bett stood in the small inconvenient dock, and heard 
 
270 BED RIVER. 
 
 all, apparently unmoved. Within the bar sat his two counsel, Mt. 
 Frank Lamed Hunt and Mr. James Ross. Beside them were two 
 young gentlemen of the settlement, who had been engaged to con- 
 duct the case for the prosecution. Messrs. John and Thomas Bunn 
 were brothers, being sons of the late Dr. Bunn, who, it will be 
 remembered, had, between the date of the retirement of Judge 
 Johnson and his own death, acted as president of the court. 
 
 The trial lasted for nine days, the greater part of which were 
 occupied by examining and cross-examining the witnesses for the 
 prosecution. Each evening the oflfer of bail on behalf of the pri- 
 soner was renewed, and Mr. Gorbett was permitted to leave the 
 court and pass the night in custody of his securities on'y. Maria 
 Thomas was the first witness called, and her examination lasted 
 for one day and a half. During this time the judge in his charge 
 afterwards declared she had stood the searching interrogatories put 
 to her from both sides with perfect consistency in her replies, and 
 without confusion of countenance in the broad light which streamed 
 upon the witness box. The nature of the evidence she gave was 
 such as to give an air of strong probability to the truth of her tale 
 Her descriptions of conversations with the prisoner, and of draughts 
 and potions administered by him, were invested with overwhelm- 
 ing force, as coming from an ignorant girl, while the cunningly, 
 devised series of questions, put with the object of entrapping her, 
 only confirmed the truth of her story by precluding all possibility 
 of her having been prompted in her replies. Throughout the trial 
 several of the prisoner's brother clergymen in the settlement were 
 constantly in court, and, stationed within the bar, watched the 
 case on his behalf. These gentlemen, on hearing the evidence, 
 declared themselves satisfied of the truth of the charges brought 
 against Mr. Corbett. The court generally sat till the evening was 
 well advanced. 
 
 On the first evening, during a brief visit I paid, the gravity of 
 the proceedings was interrupted by a slight incident which threat- 
 ened to turn it for a moment into a comic channel. The principal 
 witness for the prosecution was under examination, and halted a 
 little, as if uncertain about a reply. A bustle became apparent 
 about the spot where the knot of clergymen were stationed close to 
 
RKD ElVEH. 271 
 
 the bench, and a head Tfvrapped ahout with a figured cottoH pociet 
 handkerchief, to protect it from the draughts, cropped out, while 
 the words, pronounced in an excited tone, " eighteen, eighteen, 
 your honor !" fell on the ears of the startled assemblage. 
 
 An immediate cessation of proceedings supervened, while the 
 eyes of judge, magistrates, gentiemen of the jury, and the public 
 were turned to the spot whence the interruption had proceeded. 
 Appalled at the effect of his interference the unfortunate volunteer 
 witness hastily turned to resume his seat, but that had unfor- 
 tunately been occupied by one of his brother clergymen, each of 
 whom had made all convenient speed to be seated the instant his 
 voice had sounded. Surrounded by the strong light from the bench 
 chandeliers, the unfortunate old gentleman, who had concentrated 
 all the public attention on himself, looked rather wretched as the 
 
 judge, turning to him, said, " Mr. , if you mean to give in 
 
 that fact in evidence, we will hear you, but it will be necessary for 
 you to be sworn and state it on oath, without which formality na 
 statement can be received here as of any value." The question 
 had been with reference to the age of the witness, which Mr. 
 
 asserted to be eighteen years. 
 
 The cross-examination of the witnesses for the prosecution was 
 conducted by Mr. Ross, who took the chief management in the 
 whole case, Mr. Hunt merely sitting at a table taking notes and, 
 now and then, with a series of somewhat theatrical gesticulations, 
 putting a question to a witness, or addressing a remark to the 
 bench. It was rumoured that " he was reserving himself for his 
 speech to the jury.'' The medical gentlemen, whose evidence was 
 taken, were examined with closed doors, and the report of their 
 testimony was not given in the " Nor' Wester," in which, however, 
 appeared a full report of all the rest of the case, from short-hand 
 notes taken by Mr. Coldwell, filling almost the entire newspaper 
 for several issues. With reference to this step, a Montreal news- 
 paper said that " the report of Mr. Corbett's trial, which filled the 
 Nor' Wester for some weeks, was one of the most disagreeable 
 records which weremember to have seen." The Montreal Witness, 
 in this instance, certainly used mild language ; for the fact that the 
 Nor' Wester, as a family magazine, survived the publication of the 
 details of that trial, has always here been considered surprising. 
 
272 RED RIVER. 
 
 Mr. Hunt's attendance at the trial ceased, I think, at the time 
 the medical evidence was closed. It was reported outside that 
 during its progress he removed his seat from within the bar to a 
 stove at the other side of the apartment,, where, with his feet com- 
 fortably perched on a level with his chin, he occupied himself in 
 whistling. 
 
 Mr. Boss addressed the jury and finished the conduct of the 
 ■case. He, as well as the conductors of the prosecution, were very 
 pointedly complimented by the judge, at its close, on the manner 
 in which they had performed their respective duties. The case for 
 the defence, however, clearly broke down, the only evidence it suc- 
 ceeded in clearly establishing being that in favour of Corbett's former 
 good charKOter as a clergyman, while, in no instance, was the 
 veracity of the witnesses on the other side disproved. 
 
 Some time before the scandal had become known to the public 
 at large, Mr. Corbett had caused Maria Thomas, while still serving 
 in his house, to assent before a petty magistrate, named John Tay- 
 lor, resident in his parish, to the truth of certain statements con- 
 tained in a paper read to her, and which bad been drawn up by 
 Mr. Corbett, The scope of this paper was to the tffect that certain 
 current reports regarding Mr. Corb-tt's conduct towards her were 
 untrue. It was on it, as regarded in the light of an oath, that Mr. 
 Hunt had depended when expressing his confidence that be would 
 clear his client. The document was accordingly produced in evi- 
 dence at the trial, and its contents were construed to contradict the 
 evidence of Maria Thomas then given, as well as that contained in 
 her deposition taken at the time of the preliminary examination. 
 The judge at once set aside the document as being illegal, on the 
 ground that the petty magistrate, before whom it was taken, had 
 no authority to administer an oath except in process of law, and on 
 the bench. Indeed, the poor man was afterwards deprived of hia 
 petty Tn"3''°t,racy, in consequence of the ignorance displayed by him 
 in his conduct in the matter. The contents of the paper Maria 
 Thomas alleged had been very vaguely explained to her by, Mr. 
 Corbett, who had drawn it up to suit his own purposes. It, how- 
 ever, only remotely, and by inference, aifected the charge on which 
 the pridoner was arraigned, ruferring merely to Mr. Corbett aa 
 
RED RIVER. 273: 
 
 baying "taken no undue liberties" with the -womjfn, and tHe 
 prominent position assigned it wan supposed to indicate a weak 
 cause. 
 
 Apart from this so-called oath, the entire exculpatory evidence 
 was directed to damage the character of Maria Thomas. Much 
 that was advanced was obviously untrue, and the list of Mr. 
 Corbett's witnesses included few names of respectability. 
 
 On the morning of the ninth day of the trial the judge com- 
 menced his charge which lasted nearly four hours, and was atteu- 
 tively listened to by a crowded court. About one o'clock the jury 
 retired. It was said that the state of disrepair in which the jury 
 room was, permitted the prisoners in neighbouring cells to hear the 
 debates. After a retirement of more than four hours, during 
 which the prisoner and his friends had been wandering at large 
 round the court house, braving the inclemencies of the raw 
 February day, a message was sent to the judge that the jury had 
 agreed. The court house was immediately crowded to the doors,, 
 the lamps were lighted, and the magistrate and jurymen took their 
 places. The foreman of the jury, Alexander Sutherland, who,, 
 until chosen juryman, had been a warm partizan of the prisoner, 
 trembled so violently as to be unable to speak, and in reply to the 
 formal questions handed a paper (0 the benqi on which the verdict 
 was supposed to be inscribed. The paper was declined and he was 
 required to read it. The jury unanimously found the prisoner 
 guilty, but recommended him to the mercy of the court on 
 account of his former good character. 
 
 In reply to the questions addressed to him, Mr. Corbett declined 
 to recognize the authority of the court, and produced the Blue 
 Book containing the evidence laid before the Common's Committee 
 of 1857 to support him. His arguments were all heard and met. 
 Finally, he said that nothing remained but to throw himself on 
 the recommendation of the jury and assure Judge Black he was 
 as innocent of the crimes imputed to him as that gentleman 
 himself. 
 
 The sentence of the court was that Mr. Corbett be detained in- 
 prison for six calendar months. After it had been passed the 
 prisoner was removed in custody of Sheriff McKenney; the; 
 
 s 
 
274 RED RIVER. 
 
 audience dispersed in perfect order, and the court addressed itself 
 to the final duties of dismissing the jury, and winding up the 
 business of the scandalous and protracted case, , 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 1863. 
 Commander McClure's missing Arctic Despatches — Mr. Hnnt'g Lecture 
 on Red Biver and its People -Petition for Local Militia Forc»— 
 Petition for release of Mr. Corbett — Opinion of tiie Judge — Rnmoured 
 Insanity of the Prisoner — Forcible Liberation of Corbett — Seizure of 
 James Stewart— Special Constable Volunteers— Violent release of 
 Stewart— Remarks on the Corbett Disturbances. 
 
 The Northern Express which reached Red River towards the end 
 •of February, 1863, contained a packet of documents which, 
 from the peculiar nature of their origin and wanderings during the 
 preceding twelve years, were invested with a strong interest. In 
 August, 1850, Sir Robert McClure, commanding Her Majesty's 
 Discovery Ship "Investigator" lying off Cape Bathurst, in the 
 Polar sea, committed certain dispatches to the charge of an Esqui- 
 maux, with instructions that they should be delivered to the ofiScer 
 in charge of the nearest Hudson's Bay post, and forwarded to Eng-' 
 land by the Company's packets. During the twelve years between 
 1850 and 1862 frequent inquiries had been made with the object of 
 ascertaining what had become of these papers, but without success, 
 as they have never reached any of the Company's posts. 
 
 The credit of discovering them at last is due to Mr. (now chief 
 trader) Roderick Ross MacFarlane, the officer in charge of Fort 
 Anderson, the most northerly post of the service. This gentle- 
 man when he first descended the Anderson River (the Beghulatess^ 
 of the maps) in 1 857, with a view to establish Fort Anderson, 
 epecially intended for the Esquimaux trade, made inquiries relative 
 to the dispatches of the Esquimaux with whom he came in con- 
 tact. His failure in gaining information at that time he attrib- 
 uted partly to the inability of his Indian interpreters to convey 
 Ms meaning to the people he desired to interrogate. During a visit 
 -which he paid in February, 1862, to the Esquimaux winter quar- 
 
276 BED KIVER. 
 
 ters, Mr. MacParlane at last succeeded in obtaining information' 
 which finally led to the recovery of the papers sought. They- 
 were delivered to him at Fort Anderson on 5th June, 1862. 
 
 They consisted of four packets addressed to the Secretary of the 
 Admiralty and ten private letters directed to sundry individuals in 
 England, along with a letter signed by Captain McClure to the 
 officer of the Hudson's Bay Company at Port Good Hope, before 
 the foundation of Fort Anderson, the post situated further north 
 than any other in the Company's territories, requesting him to for- 
 ward the enclosures to their destinations. When finally recovered 
 one of the packets for the Secretary of the Admiralty, the letter 
 addressed to the officer in charge of Fort Good Hope, and two 
 of the private letters, had been opened by the Esquimaux, proba- 
 bly with the object of ascertaining their contents. The other 
 packets and letters were still sealed. 
 
 The long delay in recovering the documents was explained by 
 Mr. MacFarlane as resulting from the following circumstances. In 
 1850 and for several years subsequently the Company's people held 
 no direct intercourse with the tribes round the mouth of the Mc- 
 Kenzie Eiver, while it was not until Mr. MacFarlane himself went- 
 to explore the Anderson in ISSTiJthat they came in contact with 
 the Esquimaux on that river at all. Meanwhile the individual 
 who had received the package from[|Captain McClure had died, and 
 the papers, along with his other effects, were thrown aside and 
 fofgotten. The inquiries instituted by Mr. MacFarlane revived 
 the recollection in the minds of his acting executors, of the inci- 
 dents attending their coming into'ipossession of one of their tribe, 
 and a search, the successful result of which hasbeen above detailed 
 was instituted. 
 
 The dispatch addressed by'^Captain McClure to the officer in 
 charge of Fort Good Hope is written on foolscap, which, allowing 
 for the mere lapse of time, is^unsoiled as on the day the date of 
 which it bears. Its wrapper, however, of which the seal was broken, 
 gives evidence of having travelled in its smoky colour. On the 
 outside of the latter, in Captain McClure's own handwriting, appear 
 the words " I would thank y u to giv to the Esquimaux who de- 
 livers this to you, some present that he most values. — R. McC."' 
 
KED RIVER. 27T 
 
 Underneath the above in Mr. MaoFarlane's han(i\ppears the fur- 
 ther inscription, " Received at Fort Anderson, Anderson Biiyer, 5th 
 June, 1862 : — ^Gave the Esquimaux who delivered the package 1 
 steel trap and 2 lbs. negrohead tobacco. — R. MacFarhme." 
 
 Such is the history so far as the documents before me, and which 
 I copy in full under Appendix D, enable me to gather it, of the 
 carriage, to civilized parts, of documents, to which the circumstances 
 under which they were written, theirlong wanderings, the inquiries 
 made for them by writers who reached their destination many years 
 before their recovery as well as the singular manner in which that 
 was at length effected, lend a somewhat strange interest. On their 
 receipt at Red River the private letters were forwarded by Governor 
 Dallas directly through the post office to their addresses in Eng- 
 land, and the others were sent to the Admiralty. 
 
 Great credit is surely due Mr. MacFarlane for the zeal, enter- 
 prise and judgment evinced in the manner in which he performed 
 his work, and the complete success with which his efforts were 
 crowned must be acknowledged to have been very well deserved. 
 
 A few duys after the condemnation of the Rev. Mr. Corbett it 
 became publicly rumoured that Mr. Hunt felt himself aggrieved 
 by some circumstances which had transpired during the progress of 
 the case, and believed that, in consequence of his omission to appear 
 in time to address the jury the Red River public had formed an 
 inadequate conception of his abilities. After discontinuing his 
 attendance at the court he had resided for some days at the estab. 
 lishment of McKenney and Co., where unlimited credit had been 
 allowed him ; but on the conclusion of the case and the balinoing 
 of his bill, he found himself unable to pay it. A good plan was, 
 however, invented whereby it was hoped he might retrieve both his 
 fortune and his reputation as a speaker. He obtiined permission 
 to occupy the court house for an evening and issued tickets at the 
 price of one shilling each, for admission to a lecture which he deter- 
 mined to give on Red River and its people. 
 
 At the appointed hour of meeting, the concourse of carrioles and 
 cutters to the spot was great and the court room was early and 
 -completely filled. Mr. Hunt, who had been walking up and down 
 ^the room familiarly conversing with his friends among ,the crowd, 
 
278 KED RIVER. 
 
 ascended the bench and commenced his prelection spea^. ing 'from; 
 the spot usually occupied by the chairman of the court. His is- 
 course was divided under three heads : Red River past, present, 
 and future.™ The first of these was short and passed off with pro- 
 found effect. In his* prefatory observations under the second head, 
 the first mischance of the evening occurred. The lecturer had^ 
 doubtless with'great propriety of similitude compared the growth of 
 the colony from the midst of the heathen darkness in which from im- 
 memorial time the plains on which it rose and their benighted inhabi- 
 tants had been enveloped, to the rising of the orb of day. He had also 
 with becoming delicacy of expression referred to a recent event in 
 which he had been concerned as " a blot upon this glorious Red 
 River sun." These words it appeared formed the last on one of" 
 his foolscap pages,"and on reading them, forgetting he had perused 
 only one page of the sheet, he threw it aside after a number of 
 others which had preceded it and which lay in admired disorder 
 on his left hand side. Casting his eye on the page next in order, 
 he was visibly discomposed at seeing no reference thereon to the 
 " glorious Red River sun" or its blot, but quickly recovered him- 
 self and attempted to gain time by a parenthetical observation to the 
 effect that " the very idea caused him to halt in breathless horror," 
 occupying himself meanwhile in vigorously turning over the unread 
 portion of his manuscript which he succeeded only in throwing 
 into inextricable confusion. 
 
 After a .farther search of some moments the lecturer wisely 
 desisted from persevering in the investigation and recommenced 
 on another subject. He handled living men and existing institu- 
 tions in bold and critical terms, and concluded his second head 
 amid uproarious applause. 
 
 It was about this' stage of the business that narrowly scrutiniz- 
 ing- the individual addressed, he made the remark, " Doctor 
 Sohultz, will you favour me with a glass of cold water !" The 
 doctor at once rose and left the room, returning after a short, 
 absence with a jug and tumbler which, with great stolidity of 
 visage, he placed on the bench 'Close to the lecturer who, as if 
 unwittingly, poured out a generously large draught which he 
 forthwith swallowed with . apparent enjoyment. Proceeding to - 
 
BED BIVER. 279 
 
 tlie consideration of Red River future, he entered on a disserta- 
 tion about the physical difficulties to be overcome between Lake 
 Superior and Bed River, as also the probable mineral wealth of 
 the region, naming Doctor Schultz as the entertainer of an opinion 
 contrary to that held by himself respecting the coal measures and 
 their distribution on the line indicated. He then appeared to 
 have lost the thread of connection between his papers which he 
 handled in an uncertain way. It was also observed that Mr. 
 Secretary Smith, who was seated near his official station close to 
 the Bench, poured out a glass of the cold water which he put to 
 his lips, but quickly withdrew grinning knowingly to Mr. Hunt, 
 who watched him somewhat anxiously the while. Bowing 
 graciously to the latter, Mr. Smith swallowed the fluid and returned 
 the jug to its place on the table, while the lecturer, after another 
 rigorous pull, began to ramble a good deal in his remarks, and as 
 he with some considerable gesticulation, marched from end to end 
 of the bench, asked the audience, " If it was not true, he had 
 taken to himself for wife a daughter of the land !" ~He addressed 
 individual hearers by name, and spoke affectedly about " those 
 eyes which say so much, but never speak a word." Finally he 
 produced a large quarto manuscript book, bound in black morocco, 
 from which he read, in a tone so low as to be almost inaudible, 
 some verses he was understood to state he had composed while 
 living, as adopted son to an Indian chief, near Lake Superior. 
 After the reading had been sustained for about fifteen minutes 
 without any sign becoming apparent that the fragment possessed 
 an end, Dr. Schultz, again approached the bench and recommended 
 him to desist, as the audience was getting wearied. In a few 
 neatly-turned sentences Mr. Hunt took leave of his hearers, 
 assuring them of the satisfaction their sustained attention had 
 afforded him, and hoping to be able to meet them under similar 
 circumstances on some early day. , 
 
 In concluding my account of events connected with this lecture, 
 for which, as an eyewitness, I can vouch, I think it proper to state 
 that, when supported by the apparent presumption afforded by the 
 above circumstances, and by the Oral testimony of certain men, 
 who had tasted and smelt the contents of the lecturer's jug, that 
 
280 RED RIVER. 
 
 ■what cold water it might have coutained had been largely dUuted' 
 ■with alcohol, I hazarded a jocular remark to Dr. Schultz a. fesr 
 days subsequently referring to the subject, he seriously and ex- 
 plicitly denied the presence of anything of a stimulative tendency) 
 as having existed in the vessel. In common with many other 
 quegtions of greater moment, therefore, I presume I must leave the 
 present one open, merely adding that I have always been of opinion! 
 there was a, reference to this occasion in a remark made to me by 
 Mr. Hunt about two years afterwards, when officiating as auctioneer 
 in Dr. Sohultz's sale-room, he singled me by name from the crowd 
 aroHpd him, and, lifting a glass of cold water to his lips, assured 
 me " there was no gin in it — this time." No second lecture was 
 ever given but I am happy to be here able to record my belief 
 that the one described answered its main end, and after all 
 expenses had been defrayed cleared enough of money to relieTe 
 Mr. Hunt from the small temporary embarrassments in which he 
 was involved. 
 
 During the spring a petition to the Gro^vernor and Council of 
 Assiniboia had been signed by about four hundred and fifty 
 settlers begging for the purchase of arms and the organization of 
 a local military force. It was thought that a few competent drill 
 sergeants and non-commissioned officers sent from England by 
 Government might organize a very effective force of cavalry to 
 be recruited in the settlement, where the people being all expert 
 horsemen, such a service might soon become popular and the corps 
 very efficient. The scheme, however, never was practically 
 commenced. 
 
 Early in April, a petition praying for the release of the Ke^r. 
 Mr. Corbett, and the remission of that part of his sentence of 
 imprisonment which then remained unexpired, was presented to 
 the Governor and Council of Assiniboia, who remitted it to the 
 consideration of the Governor of Kupert's Land, as the only 
 party legally competent to deal with it. 
 
 The petition was signed by about four hundred and twenty 
 inhabitants of Red Eiver Settlement and one hundred and tea 
 inhabitants of the outlying settlement of the Prairie Portage, 
 among the latter appearmg the names of the Ven. Archdeaooa 
 
RED RIVER. 281 
 
 tJocbran and of his son the Rev. Thomas Cochran. It contained 
 a well-digested statement of all the arguments which could be put 
 forward to favour compliance with its prayer. They were as 
 follows : Mr. Corbett had, previous to his committal on the charge 
 for which he had been imprisoned, borne an unsullied moral 
 oharacter during a residence in the colony of eleven years, and, as a 
 clergyman, had laboured faithfully and diligently among his people, 
 and was by them greatly esteemed and beloved. In the opinion 
 of the petitioners the law had been sufficiently vindicated by the 
 period of his confinement then already elapsed, especially as the 
 ecclesiastical penalties following in the sentence of the civil 
 tribunal would be far the most grievous, and would involve loss of 
 reputation and social standing, of ministerial office with its privi- 
 leges and emoluments of house and home, leaving a dark and 
 dismal prospect for himself and family in the future. Moreover, 
 although the law regarded the attempt to procure a miscarriage as 
 being equally criminal with a successful operation, there was 
 surely room for mercy when it was considered that, in the case 
 tinder consideration, both mother and child were alive and well. 
 There had also apparently been a very great diiference of opinion 
 among the jurors, six of whom deemed the evidence againSt the 
 prisoner unsatisfactory, while unanimity in rendering the verdict 
 was secured only after a protracted discussion and because the 
 aforesaid six jurors felt themselves unable to alter the determina- 
 tion of their fellow-jurymen. The petition concluded by asserting 
 that Mr. Corbett's mind seemed to be in a very precarious state, 
 and that continuous imprisonment, combined with all his other 
 troubles, might result in complete aberration or derangement of 
 mind. 
 
 Before moving officially in the matter. Governor Dallas forward- 
 ed the petition to the president of the court before which 
 the case had been tried, and asked his opinion on the propriety of 
 complying with the recommendation. Mr. Black replied he had 
 stated from the bench on receiving the verdict from the jury at 
 the trial, that his own firm opinion, concurred in by all his asso- 
 ciates, was that the verdict had been not only in accordance with 
 *he evidence; but the only one to which, as honest men under oath 
 
282 RED RIVER. 
 
 and guided by the testimony laid before them, they could possibly 
 have come. Nothing which had come to his knowledge since the 
 trial had shaken his belief. 
 
 Moreover Mr. Corbett had since the trial written to his bishop 
 in terms which could only be construed as an admission of having 
 had criminal intarcourse with the woman. This, although form- 
 ino- no part of the direct charge on which he had been convicted, 
 bore indirectly very forcibly on the case, and supplied the presump- 
 tive evidence created by the existence of a strong motive for his 
 alleged action. The pretended oath, on which so much stress had 
 been laid at the trial, whereby Maria Thomas was asserted to have 
 sworn that her master had never taken any " undue liberties" 
 with her, as well as almost the entire exculpatory evidence led, had 
 been directed to prove that no criminal intercourse had taken 
 place. The damaging evidence of the girl and her family with 
 reference to what had occurred during the prisoner's visits to their 
 house, situated in the parish of St. Clement's, thirty-five miles 
 from his parsonage, after she had quitted his service, was not 
 attempted to be overthrown, save by the alleged admission of the 
 committing magistrate that "they were all infernal liars." 
 
 Such being his own views on the justice of the verdict, the 
 judge could not recommend the step of curtailing the term of 
 imprisonment. The court had already, before passing sentence, 
 considered all the mitigating circumstances, and its sentence had 
 been very lenient indeed. The propriety of the verdict had been 
 tacitly admitted by the petitioners themselves, in their silence on 
 this point, so far as respected their own opinions, and corroborated, 
 by the inferences naturally resulting from the prisoner's letter to the- 
 Bishop. 
 
 The alleged difference of opinion among the jurors could not be 
 taken into consideration. Even granting that the petitioners had 
 been correctly informed on the subject, were such a precedent tO' 
 be introduced as the annulment of a verdict on this ground, it 
 would lead to the destruction of all finality in our criminal proce- 
 dure. The foreman had declared, uncontradicted from his place in 
 the box, that the jury had agreed on a verdict of guilty, and if the 
 jurymen were not to be believed on oath, with the responsibility of 
 
KED KIVER. 283 
 
 their position and the weight of testimony bearing on their minds 
 in a Court of Justice, they were quite unworthy of credit after 
 having been subjected to a renewal of popular influences out 
 of doors. 
 
 With regard to the efl^ect of a period of prolonged imprisonment 
 on the sanity of the prisoner, the judge remarked that, supposing 
 there unhappily to be any tendency to that mental aberration of 
 which the petitioners made mention, he could imagine nothing 
 more likely to perpetuate and aggravate it than the keeping up in 
 his mind those delusive hopes which a continued agitation was cal- 
 culated to raise ; and, in all probability, the prisoner's condition, 
 mental and physical, would be greatly benefitted- were his friends 
 to leave him in quietness to improve the period of his imprison- 
 ment by a course of " solemn meditation upon the past, and of 
 virtuous resolution regarding the future." 
 
 In conformity with the above opinion, Grovernor Dallas refused 
 to comply with the prayer of the petition. 
 
 Meanwhile, rumours regarding the insanity of the prisoner 
 gained credit. The truth of the rambling assertions contained in 
 his letter already mentioned to the bishop was indignantly denied 
 through the "Nor' Wester," and the whole production stigmatized 
 as the imbecile composition of an unfortunate man, whom political 
 persecution had driven to the verge of lunacy. The Bishop waa 
 certainly not the only man to whom he had written rather wildly, 
 for the use of pen and ink was allowed him. As a specimen of the 
 contents of several letters addressed to influential men in the- 
 colony, I shall here give an abstract of the matter contained in 
 one to which I have had access. 
 
 It is dated " Bed Kiver Prison, 28th of March, 1863," and 
 opens with some notices of barometrical and thermometrical obser- 
 vations in registering which he described himself as having been 
 occupied for two or three years. He then proceeds to mention an 
 earthquake-as having occurred a few nights previously, which had 
 thrown him out of bed and slammed the prison doors. He and a 
 boy in a neighbouring apartment had differed in opinion about the 
 number of vibrations in the earthquake ; but he had paid no heed 
 to this, as his assistant was not presumed to be a meteorological 
 observer. 
 
284 KED UITER. 
 
 He recommends that the "Nor' Wester" should support law and 
 order, and instances himself as a conspicuous example of a man, 
 who had supported good government — any assertions to the contrairj. 
 being perversions of the truth. He exhorts his correspondent to^ 
 put his shoulder to the wheel of government and grease it well, and 
 that great man, Governor Dallas, would certainly make a railroads 
 from Red River to the Lake of the Woods, and the buzz of the 
 railway cars would be heard in the houses of the colony, and electric 
 ■wires stretch over the country. Governor Mactavish, he said, waa 
 a quiet efficient man and deserving of local support. Judge 
 Black was a clever man ; but ought to keep his place on thes 
 bench, and not go out of court during the whole trial and leave 
 another man to act in his absence, and then all would go on well. 
 Governors Dallas and Mactavish and Judge Black made a fine 
 constellation. They- were all stars in their way. He thought if 
 he had the Simpson telescope of the scientific institute of Rupert's 
 Land he could view with its aid the whole firmament of other 
 constellations above, around, and beneath them with delight and 
 profit. 
 
 After a long series of disconnected remarks on his nine days 
 trial, his sinful state and proneness to error, he concludes by 
 recommending the Bishop and Church to the good offices of his 
 correspondent, and winds up with the words " Peace — Peace is 
 the end of good government; advocate, then, the end of good 
 government." 
 
 As the production of which this is the scope is manifestly the 
 work of a man really or feignedly insane, it is almost superfluous 
 for me to state that earthquake and coadjutor observer were 
 unrealities, and that Judge Black neither on the occasion of his 
 trial nor on that of any other case over which he has been called to 
 preside ever left the court under the temporary presidency of a 
 substitute. A less equivocal proof of mental alienation than the 
 above was given by one of Mr. Corbstt's fellow-prisoners about 
 the time these letters were being written. This man, not it is 
 believed without the passive encouragement of Mr. Corbett, con- 
 trived to throw a ball of hair, taken from his mattress and satura- 
 ted with tallow, burning from the prison window, in such a manner 
 
RED KIVER. 28,'> 
 
 ttat it fell on the roof, -which, being done during the night, narrow- 
 ly failed to set the prison on fire. The partial blaze actually 
 accomplished was observed by people living half a mile or more 
 from the spot, who went to the prison and gave the alarm. Had 
 the attempt succeeded, there is every reason to fear the iacsndia- 
 ries would themselves have been burned in their cells while their 
 Tictims were asleep. 
 
 Previous to the 20th April several assemblages had taken place 
 in the vicinity of the gaol of men who were reported to have in 
 view the forcible liberation of Mr. Corbett from custody. On the 
 forenoon of that day a Petty Court had been held in the court' 
 room under the same roof as the cells in one of which the prisoner 
 was confined. As usual numerous persons had attended the Petty 
 Court, to which the public were freely admitted without any 
 suspicion being entertained by the custodians of the place that 
 anything unusual was in contemplation. The business of the 
 court having been concluded and the audience dispersed, a few 
 determined characters surrounded the door leading to the cells and 
 easily overawing the jailor, an old Frenchman of sixty winters, 
 with an iron crowbar broke the padlock by which the prison door 
 was fastened. Mr. Corbett, who had already drawn on his great 
 coat, and stood in readiness to receive his liberators, stepped out of 
 gaol and was forthwith driven home to his family at Headingley. 
 
 James Stewart, the parochial schoolmaster attached to the neigh- 
 bouring parish of St. James, was known to be one of the ringlead- 
 ers in the attack on the prison. For the apprehension of this man 
 and of twelve others concerned in the affair warrants were imme- 
 diately issued, and, on the ensuing day, Stewart was lodged in the 
 same prison whence he had liberated Corbett. On the afternoon 
 of the day of Stewart's capture, two of his friends visited Fort 
 Garry and obtained an interview with Governor Dallas. These 
 men were William Hallett and John Bourke — both men of great, 
 influence among their people, the former being " Captain" of the 
 English half-breeds in their expeditions to the Plains. The object 
 of their visit was to demand the immediate Lberation of Stewart, 
 and a full indemnity for all his accomplices. 
 
 The Governor attempted to reason with them on the impropriety 
 
286 RED KIVER. 
 
 of making such a demand as it lay not in his power legally or con- 
 sistently to comply with. They informed him they were committed 
 to their friend before the public and they could not retract any 
 more than he. They assured him if he would not give Stewart 
 up peaceably, they and their friends would release him by force, 
 though bloodshed might ensue. It was well understood they 
 would keep their word in calling out their friends, who would 
 follow them with unquestioning confidence; but, as it was impossi- 
 ble for the Governor to act as they desired, they were dismissed 
 ' with a refusal and immediate steps were taken to call out special 
 constables to repel any attack which might be made on the prison. 
 On the morning of the ensuing day, Wednesday, the 22nd 
 April, a large force of special constable volunteers were early in 
 ^waiting at Fort G-arry, and as many of the councillors of Assini- 
 bqia as could be communicated with, were convened. The Gover- 
 nors of Rupert's Land and Assiniboia and the Bishop of Rupert's 
 Land, who, although a man of peace, showed no symptoms of 
 shirking the fray, along with three of the more influential magis- 
 trates, formed a temporary council. In the course of the forenoon 
 a body of about 30 men, mounted and armed, appeared among the 
 volunteers outside the Fort, and, after some deliberation, requested 
 an interview with the Governor, which was immediately granted. 
 Messrs. Hallett and Bourke, along with four others, proceeded as a 
 deputation before the temporary council convened in the Fort. 
 Substantially the same scene was enacted as on the preceding day ; 
 the same demands were made and the same reply given. Finally 
 the deputation retired to rejoin their friends outside. 
 
 The number of the latter' had meanwhile been augmented to 
 forty or fifty. During the absence of their leaders they had observed 
 among the general crowd a person whom they had imagined to 
 belong to their party, in consequence of his having attended a 
 private meeting held that morning by its members previous to 
 setting out for the prison. His presence among the general public 
 gave rise to a suspicion that, on the former occasion, he had acted 
 as a government spy. Him they accordingly captured and, having 
 caused him to dismount, removed the saddle and bridle from his 
 horse, which they let loose, detaining the rider among them as a 
 hostage. 
 
RED RIVER. 287 
 
 The intelligence that the insurgents had taken one of the volun- 
 teers prisoner did not, as may be imagined, diminish the strong 
 feeling existing among the loyally disposed. Shortly afterwards a 
 second capture was effected, after a spirited chase on horseback, in 
 the course of which the rioters had put a well-affected citizen in 
 grievous bodily fear by pointing guns, pistols and other deadly 
 ■weapons at him, as, urged by mortal terror, he caused his nag to 
 spin across the Plains, hard pressed by the foe. A third capture 
 was attempted ; but the man who was to have been seized turned 
 his horse's head towards his intended captors and, producing a 
 horribly ugly looking horse pistol, stated that the first man who 
 laid a hand on his bridle would surely die. His opponents, 
 thinking he looked as if he meant what he said, prudently let that 
 man go. 
 
 The interview between the insurgent leaders and the council 
 being over, the former returned to their companions and stated the 
 result. The whole body then proceeded to that part of the prison 
 lying furthest from the Port, and, having torn up the pickets which 
 enclosed the prison yard, again broke open the gaol and liberated 
 their friend. This done, they discharged their fire-arms in the air, 
 and with loud shouts returned home, no molestation being offered 
 to their proceedings by the authorities. 
 
 Here then closed the series of events immediately connected 
 with the Corbett case. No attempt had been made to re-capture 
 him, and he was permitted to remain unmolested, living with his 
 family at Headingley until about a year subsequently, when he 
 quitted the settlement and returned to England. Since his arrival 
 there we have occasionally heard of him as studying medicine and 
 agitating against the Company. An attempt to raise an action in 
 the English Courts, against Governor Dallas for false imprison- 
 ment, proved abortive, breaking down at an early stage. His wife 
 and family remain in the settlement supporting themselves amid 
 much privation, but kindly regarded by the people among whom 
 Mr. Corbett formerly acted as minister. 
 
 Maria Thomas died in 1867. Her daughter lives with her 
 another's family. 
 
 A few days after Stewart's liberation the Justices of the Peace 
 
288 EEB RIVER. 
 
 addressed a letter to the Governor, recounting the above circum- 
 stances, advising that, until a regular force should be obtained, no' 
 further proceeding should be taken against the rioters, and point- 
 ing out that, except as regarded suits having no public interest, 
 without a force acting under the Queen's direct authority, justice^ 
 could no longer be administered. 
 
 Much excitement had prevailed among the well-affected on th& 
 day of Stewart's liberation, and the action of the authorities 
 in refusing to support the law to the last extremity was strongly 
 censured. Their reasons for refusing compliance with the bellige- 
 rent demands of their friends were surely weighty. 
 
 With the first shot fired in the strife, the authority they 
 possessed over their undisciplined and unorganized friends would 
 have disappeared. The skirmish occurring on the first day would 
 have been merely the prelude to a series of struggles, the end of 
 which no human wisdom could foresee. Bloodshed would have 
 been avenged by further blood. Mr. Corbett had made himself 
 personally unpopular among the French Canadians by his constant- 
 attacks upon their creed; and people who, with the example 
 before them of the Irish disturbances in the English towns, have 
 witnessed the peculiarly susceptible temper of its votaries whefi 
 exposed to hostile criticism, and their proneness to meet the argu- 
 ments of the lips with those of the brickbat, ought to appreciate 
 the hesitation of an unsupported government, in letting loose the 
 pioneers of a war which would immediately have become one of 
 Protestant against Catholic, and in which the primary cause of the 
 whole disturbance would soon have been wholly lost in the multi- 
 tude of complications with which we would have been over- 
 whelmed. 
 
 The reign of such conflicting elements at any time would be- 
 destructive, but when the peculiar circumstances of the settlement 
 at the date in question, amid unsettled and warring Indian 
 tribes is considered, it will be seen how important it was to permit 
 the savages to fee no symptoms of internal quarrels among the 
 people, but on the contrary, a unity of sentiment and action in all 
 public movements. 
 
 Lastly, I may mention the case of Grovernor- Eyre, of Jamaica^. 
 
KED RIVER. 289 
 
 as that of a man who has since had to deal with somethitig of 
 the same nature as then threatened the very existence of the com- 
 munity, and beg to put the case. If he, supported by a military 
 force to regulate the strife, and assisted by subordinates officially 
 supposed to be competent to perform their respective duties, could 
 restore order only after the occurrence of the scenes which caused 
 such deep indignation in England, what, in the event of a civil 
 -war between races and creeds, might reasonably be supposed to 
 have become of the Government of Assiniboine, unsupported by 
 troops of any kind to give a decided preponderance to the side of 
 Law, and provided with subordinate officials perfectly unaccus- 
 tomed to deal with popular tumults ? Again, if Governor Eyre, 
 acting under a direct commission from the Crown, and supported 
 by a friendly Government, found escape from the consequences of 
 popular odium a matter so difficult, what would personally have 
 become of Governor Dallas, when called to account by a Colonial 
 Secretary, manifestly hostile to his principles, and a Government 
 which for years had withheld its practical support and recognition 
 from them, for a butchery, to which he had lent the weight of an 
 authority, derived from a Commission, the right of the donors of 
 which to grant it, was the desire of all concerned, except them- 
 .selves, to annul and ignore ? — See Appendix E. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 1863. 
 
 Sioux visit — Little Crow — Count di Castiglione Maggiore — Sketclif 
 of Governor Dallas' Canadian tour — Changes in the Hudson's Bay 
 Company— Freighting disasters— Brigadier General Sibley's Sioui 
 Campaign — Senator Ramsay's Chippeway Mission — Postal Improve- 
 ments — Mr. Shelley's hunting tour. 
 
 Throughout the first months of 1863 constant rumours had beem 
 in circulation with regard to the alleged intention of the Sioux to 
 pay the settlement a visit. During the month of February it was 
 thought almost certain they would come, and the gentleman 
 in charge of Pembina had actually to tell some of them that, in 
 consequence of the occupation of the court room by the tribunal 
 trying the ease of the Rev. Mr. Corhett, the authorities had 
 no place to put at the disposal of their people and they had better 
 defer their visit. 
 
 On the 29th of May, under the leadership of their most able and. 
 formidable chief, called " Little Crow," a band of about eighty 
 Sioux at last arrived, and were as usual lodged in the court room. 
 The chief, surrounded by some trusted friends, generally occupied 
 the lench, sitting, like the rest, cross-legged on the floor. The 
 party remained for three days, and had two long interviews with 
 the authorities, the first of which took place publicly in the, court 
 room, and the second in a private room in Fort Garry. Substan- 
 tially the same communications passed on both occasions. During^ 
 the conference in the court room, that chamber was densely 
 crowded by the public, who gazed and listened with great 
 curi' sity] 
 
RED RIVER. 291 
 
 Speaking through an interpreter " Little Crow' ' stated his desire 
 to be on friendly terms with the English, whose allies his people 
 had been during the Anglo-American war, and whose flags and 
 medals, of the reign of George the Third, men of his band carried 
 and ostentatiously displayed at the time of his visit. He said that, 
 during the time of the war alluded to, the British had told his 
 people that whenever they should get into trouble with the Ameri- 
 cans they had only to come and the folds of the red flag of the north 
 would wrap them round, and preserve them from their enemies. He 
 had come to claim the fulfilment of this promise. His people had 
 suffered much for years ; good faith had not been kept with them,, 
 they had been defrauded of their own, and advantage was theii being 
 taken of the rash behaviour of their young braves to gain a pretence 
 for exterminating them. He knew he and his men were then 
 fighting with the ropes round their necks, and their only safety lay 
 in waging a truoeless war. Already he had been deceived by a 
 , piece of sharp practice in which he had been unfairly induced to- 
 give up American prisoners in his possession under pretext of 
 effecting an exchange, whereas his friends in the hands of the 
 enemy had been hanged. 
 
 He begged Governor Dallas to exert his influence on his behalf 
 with General Sibley, the officer commanding the United States 
 Troops acting against the Sioux in Minnesota. He wished the 
 General to come to terms with him, but added if he refused to 
 do so the Indians must fight in righteous self defence. Governor 
 Dallas promised to represent the case to the General. 
 
 Little Crow then desired a present of food and ammunition. 
 A liberal supply of the first, in the shape of pemmican, was at 
 once promise'd ; but the second was refused, on the ground that it 
 was impossible the English, while at peace with the Americans, 
 should supply their enemies with ammunition ; and besides, that 
 such a step would interpose an insuperable barrier against his 
 performing any good offices in their favour with General Sibley 
 who would listen to no pacific overtures urged by men gratuitously 
 providing his enemies with the sinews of war. They replied all 
 that was wanted was ammunition to enable them to gain a living 
 by hunting. This, however, was a subject on which no com- 
 
292 RED RIVER. 
 
 promise was possible. Mr. Seward had, through Lord Lyons and 
 Lord Monck, directed the attention of all British frontier officials 
 to the cruelty and hostility involved towards the defenceless 
 border settlers in supplying their enemies with powder and shot, 
 and Mr. Dallas was on his guard. 
 
 The good faith kept by the Sioux towards the English had 
 been evinced during the preceding winter, over the whole of 
 which the Company's houses and steamboat, though lying perfectly 
 unprotected in the heart of their country at Georgetown, had been 
 respected. Little Crow stated to Governor Dallas this was 
 permitted with the full intention of his people, who had no wish 
 to ^injure any one they knew to be English in his person or 
 property. He promised that the same line of conduct should be 
 persevered in. When interrogated as to the marks by which 
 his people knew the Americans from the English he described the 
 ordinary ones as three in number. The Americans used four- 
 wheeled waggons, the English two-wheeled wooden Red River 
 carts; the former were drawn by mules, and the latter by horses 
 or oxen ; and while the Americans had pale faces, the English 
 cheeks were red. He added that the exhibition of a red ftag 
 would be sure always to prevent the possibility of a mistake. 
 
 Although Little Crow mentioned only these three distinctive 
 marks, the Indians, who are remarkably observant, had many 
 others. Among the rest, their ear is said to have easily distin- 
 guished between American and English voices, and the unlucky 
 expression " I guess," incautiously used within hearing of a 
 sharp-eared Sioux, has doomed many an unsuspecting victim to a 
 premature end, by betraying his nationality. 
 
 During their short residence, the Sioux ' fraternized very 
 cordially with our Saulteaux Indians of this settlement, runnin" 
 foot races and associating with them. The latter were, however, 
 propitiated by the authorities, who distributed among them pro- 
 visions proportioned to the quantities given the Sioux. At the 
 conclusion of their three days' visit our guests departed apparently 
 satisfied, leaving all who had to do with them not ill pleased 
 ihat they were gone. 
 
 While the public conference in the court room was in progress. 
 
RED RIVER. 293 
 
 there appeared upon the scene, a worshipful personage whose 
 advent had for some time been expected. Count Arrive di 
 Castiglione Maggiore, Chamberlain to the King of Sardinia, had 
 been recommended from London to the good offices of Governor 
 Dallas, who was charged to assist him, in whatever way he might 
 find conveniently practicable, in his design of crossing the Ameri- 
 can Continent on British Territory, partly in execution of a 
 secret political mission entrusted to him by his sovereign, and 
 partly in pursuit of the pleasures of the chase. 
 
 The Count was accompanied by his Aide-de-camp Major de 
 Vecchi, and Captain Davenport and Lieutenant Lake, two English 
 officers of the 62nd regiment, then stationed in Canada. They 
 had come by the "Wood Kood " from St. Paul, along with 
 several other gentlemen connected with the Hudson's Bay service. 
 After having spent between two and three weeks in preparing 
 luggage and engaging servants in the settlement, the party pro- 
 ceeded over the Plains, intending to travel together as far as Fort 
 Colvlle, whence the English officers were to go through British 
 Columbia to Vancouver's Island, while the Count and his Aide-de- 
 camp went down the Columbia River to Fort George. 
 
 After having concluded the session of the northern council, 
 which, in 1863, was held at Fort Garry, Governor Dallas started 
 on a summer tour of inspection through the country. The route 
 he proposed to follow was by Lake Superior and Micbipicoton to 
 Moose Factory, whence he intended returning to Red River 
 Settlement after visiting Canada. Accompanied by Chief Trader 
 McMurray, Mr. Dallas embarked in a canoe at Lower Fort Garry, 
 on the afternoon of the 10th June, and, after travelling all night, 
 reached Fort Alexander on the ensuing day. This post is situated 
 on Lake Winnipeg at the mouth of the Winnipeg River, and forms 
 the head-quarters of the district known in the country as that of 
 Lac La Pluie. Here Mr. Dallas found waiting him his canoe, 
 manned by eleven Iroquois, who had been sent from Montreal to 
 meet him. On the 12th of June leaving Mr. McMurray at his 
 head -quarters, he started on his further journey, accompanied by 
 a clerk. On Winnipeg Eiver, about 100 miles above its mouth, 
 following the windings of the stream, is built the small trading 
 
291 RED KIVBR. 
 
 post of Eagle's Nest, with the Church Missionary Society's 
 Station of Islington in its immediate vicinity. About 100 miles 
 further, at the point where the River Winnipeg issues from the 
 lake of the Woods, stands Rat Portage which Mr. Dallas reached 
 on the 15th of June. Shortly before coming to it the outlet of 
 Unglish River was passed on the left hand. This stream forms 
 the line of direct communication by way of Lac Seul with 
 Albany on James' Bay. The solitude and isolation of the posts 
 in this portion of the territory are said to be more complete than 
 is the case even in the McKenzie River and other Northern 
 •districts. 
 
 Rat Portage, however, and the other posts on the line now more 
 immediately under review, are places which, from their proximity 
 to the American border, are exposed to a good deal of trading 
 competition and consequently much bustle. On the 18th of June 
 the Governor reached Fort Francis, a post on the frontier of the 
 United States, situated at the point where Rainy River leaves 
 Rainy Lake. Surveyors have stated that a lock constructed at 
 this spot would give a stretch of water communication navigable 
 for steamers, from the western extremity of the Lake of the 
 Woods through Rainy River to the eastern shore of Rainy Lake, 
 160 miles in length. These bodies of water form the Inter- 
 national frontier and lie on the route so long proposed to be 
 opened between Red River Settlement and Lake Superior. 
 
 Leaving Fort Francis on the 19th Mr. Dallas reached Fort 
 William on Lake Superior on 25th June. The country between 
 Rainy Lake (Lac La Pluie) and Lake Superior is extremely 
 rugged. About seventy miles west from Fort William is the elevated 
 ridge or height of land which separates the region whose waters 
 flow into Lake Winnipeg from that drainage into Lake Superior. 
 Over this stretch of the route between Rainy Lake and Lake Su- 
 perior alternate lakes and morasses prevail, leaving few and isolated 
 spots eligible for settlement. The water transport, even for canoes, 
 is difficult, and obstructed by rapids and portages, sometimes long, 
 and susceptible of improvement only after heavy outlay. The 
 timber is dense but poor, stunted and valueless. The Roman 
 Catholic mission station stands about two miles from Fort William. 
 
KED KIVER. 295 
 
 The Kaministiquoia River, flowing down a rugged and precip- 
 itoue channel from the height of land into LakeSupsrior, abounds 
 in fish, and the fisheries at its mouth have been productive. A ready 
 market for the produce of these operations is obtainable in Canada 
 and the United States. Fort William is the head of steam navi- 
 gation on the Canadian shore of Lake Superior, and occupies an 
 important site as a depot in the event of the Canadian scheme 
 being efiected, which proposes the opening up of the direct over- 
 land route to Red River and the West through British territory. 
 
 At Fort William Governor Dallas was met by Chief Factor 
 Hopkins from Montreal. They quitted Fort William on 28th 
 June and proceeded in their canoe along the northern shore of the 
 Lake, touching at the Pic, a small Hudson's Bay post on the way, 
 and arrived at Michipicoton on the 2nd July. This post stands at 
 ~the mouth of the river of the same name, along which runs the 
 route leading to Moose Factory on James' Bay, the depot which 
 had formed the purposed limit of the Governor's trip on his leaving 
 Red River. Circumstances, however, which had come to his 
 knowledge on his journey, caused him to deviate from his original 
 design, and as the principal officers resident in the department had 
 assembled to meet him at Michipicoton, he there held a formal 
 •council for the Southern and Montreal departments, 'and having 
 ■completed his arrangements, pursued his journey towards Canada 
 on the 4th July. He reached the Sault de Ste Marie on the 6th 
 July. At this spot, lying between Lakes Superior and Huron, a 
 Hudson's Bay post has long existed. The formation of a ship canal 
 connecting the two lakes, and enabling vessels to pass St Mary's 
 Falls and proceed to other points, while opening up the country 
 westward, has severely damaged the Sault itself, which was long 
 -the depot of trade and navigation on these lakes. 
 
 Leaving the Sault de Ste Marie on 8th July the Governor's 
 further route lay along the northern shore of Lake Huron. After 
 "visiting the Bruce Mines, where a considerable population exists, 
 and the Hudson's Bay station of Mississingue and La Cloche, he 
 Jeft Lake Huron and ascended the French River to Lake Nipissing, 
 •on which stands a post bearing the same name. Passing across 
 (the lake and down the Mattawa, he reached the River Ottawa, at 
 
296 BED KIVER. 
 
 the confluence of which two streams stands a trading station of the? 
 Company. From this Post of Mattawato the Eapides des Joachims, 
 which mark the head of Ottawa steam navigation, the distance is 
 sixty miles or thereby, over which the current of the Ottawa is 
 strong, while two large and dangerous rapids intervene. The latter 
 are named the "Deux Rivieres" and the "Roches Capitaines.'' 
 Fort William on the Ottawa was reached on the 16th, and Montreal 
 on 21st July, after a detention of two days at the former place. 
 
 Between the 20th August and 2nd September Mr. Dallas was 
 occupied on an expedition which he made down the St Lawrence to 
 Tadousac, and thence up the River Saguenay to Lake St John, 
 where certain affairs required his presence. Leaving Montreal 
 finally on the 5th September he returned, by Toronto, Sarnia, Grand 
 Haven, Milwaukie, St. Paul and Crowwingto Red River, which he 
 reached on 9th October, after an absence of four months. 
 
 During the absence of Governor Dallas, matters had proceeded 
 smoothly enough in the colony, but intelligence had reached it of 
 an event which, though bearing in only a remote manner on the 
 interests of the settlement, was of high importance in the estimation 
 of all connected in its commercial relations with the Hudson's 
 Bay Company, and gave rise to much strong feeling and strong 
 language. 
 
 The Hudson's Bay Company, if .under its charter it possesses 
 the right of exclusive Fur Trade, possesses equally the monopoly of 
 all trade in Rupert's Land. At different periods it has attempted 
 to give an impetus to the pursuit of different branches of industry 
 in the country by the formation of subordinate companies ; but of 
 these the only one whence appreciable profit has been derived is 
 that commonly known as " The Fur Trade," which may here be 
 assumed as the alone source of the revenue of the Hudson's Bay 
 Company. 
 
 The parties, then, whose emoluments are directly affected by the 
 fluctuations in the profits of the Fur Trade of Rupert's Land are 
 of two classes. These are, the Hudson's Bay Company, which 
 furnishes the capital stock ; and the Fur Trade, which is employed 
 to carry out the actual working of the business. The members 
 of the former class reside in the civilized world and are legally 
 
RED RIVER. 297 
 
 represented by the annually elected members of their Board, 
 known as the Governor, Deputy Governor and Committee, who 
 meet at stated times and exercise the supreme control over the 
 affairs of the Company at the Hudson's Bay House in London.- 
 The members of the latter class, or the " Fur Trade,'' called also 
 the " Wintering Partners," reside entirely in the localities where 
 the business is carried on in North America, and are composed of 
 the two grades of commissioned officers, called the Chief Factors 
 and Chief Traders. These furnish none of the capital stogk, and 
 receive their commissions merely as the rewards of their long 
 service, seldom of shorter date than fourteen years, as clerks. No 
 annual election of officials forming anything like the Company's 
 London Board takes place among the partners of the Fur Trade, 
 who scattered over the vast territories of the Company could not 
 under present circumstances take united action in any matter, how 
 nearly so ever it might affect their corporate interests. The only 
 approximation to a common action which exists is afforded by 
 these annual meetings of councils so often already referred to, at 
 which all Chief Factors within practicable distance are entitled, 
 and Chief Traders, under similar circumstances, invited to attend. 
 
 Again the Board in London has a special representative in 
 Rupert's Land in the person of the Governor-in-Chief. He is 
 president of the councils of officers held in the country, and I have 
 heard of no instance in which he had been out-voted, or his action 
 set aside by any such body, though Sir George Simpson in his- 
 evidence before the Commons' Committee of 1857, asserted the 
 possibility of such a contingency occurring. The partners in the 
 Fur Trade have no representative at the House in London. Gover- 
 nor Dallas, for a year after his retirement from the administration 
 of the Company's affairs in Rupert's Land, held an office which 
 subsequently became extinct, of associate or adviser of this Board in 
 London, but I have no reason to believe that he acted in any way 
 as a delegate from the people in the country, though giving the 
 Board the benefit of what practical knowledge and experience he 
 had himself gained during his residence in it. But even this had 
 not taken place at the time to which I refer. 
 
 The relations between the Fur Trade and the Hudson's Bay 
 
298 RED EIVBR. 
 
 Company are defined in a document called the " Deed Poll," com- 
 pliance witli the conditions contained in which is imperatively 
 required, under a separate deed of covenant, entered into and 
 executed by each clerk, who, having the majority of the votes of 
 all the chief factors in his favour, receives from the representative 
 «f the Board of the Company, the commission which entitles him 
 to a share in the profits of the Fur Trade. The penalty incurred 
 hy a breach of the provisions of the Deed Poll is ruinous. 
 
 A definite number of shares compose the aggregate interest of 
 the Fur Trade. Of these, a Chief Trader possesses one, and a Chief 
 Factor two. When a vacancy occurs through death or retirement, 
 it is filled up by the promotion of a clerk to a Chief Tradership, or 
 of a Chief Trader to his Chief Factorship. 
 
 An annual dispatch, bearing the signatures of the members of 
 the board, is addressed each year by these gentlemen to the council 
 of the Northern Department, and treats of the different points of 
 interest which are pending at the time in connection with the Com- 
 pany's affairs. This constitutes the sole occasion on which the 
 Company as a body approaches the Fur Trade as a body in the 
 whole course of their business. It is answered by the representa- 
 tive of the Board as president of the council, or Govemor-in- 
 -chief. All other communications pass through the Secretary. 
 
 Tt was pretty generally known in the country from the contents 
 of the letter addressed to the council in 1863 that certain negotia- 
 tions were pending with some gentlemen with whom the Board 
 had held several interviews concerning the opening up of overland 
 communication to the west through their territories. 
 
 A feeling of stupefaction, quickly succeeded by . one of deep 
 indignation, may be said to have stolen over the senses of the 
 holders of commissions in the Fur Trade, as a report penetrated to 
 their different stations, which reached Red River during the 
 tt oith of July. It was truly said that the Company had in a 
 body sold their shares to a new set of stockholders ; that the 
 nominal capital of the concern had been quadrupled ; that instead 
 -of being, as formerly, held in so few hands that it might be called 
 almost a private business, its stock had, under the auspices of 
 another great commercial corporation, been put into the market, 
 
BED KIVER. 299 
 
 "where its prio€s were quoted like those of any other joint stock 
 company ; that a new body of directors, containing two gentlemen 
 ■who had sat on the old Board, had been elected ; that the old 
 Board had retired without a word of farewell to the Fur Trade ; 
 and lastly, that the latter was in precisely the same condition as 
 formerly, its rights being guaranteed by the Deed Poll. 
 
 The cordial terms in which the annual dispatch had been inva- 
 xiably couched, had led many well-disposed people in the territories 
 inadvertently to harbour the idea that the gentlemen who signed 
 it regarded those to whom it was addressed with an interest almost 
 j)ersonal, in the extent of its anxiety for their welfare; and it must 
 be confessed that the conscious entertainment of such an opinion 
 evidenced a degree of credulity on the part of its holders for which 
 even a life's sojourn in the desert was no adequate excuse. The 
 first impression of some, however, on receipt of the stunning 
 intelligence above set forth, was that they had been individually 
 iardly dealt with. 
 
 The " Nor' Wester" was cruel enough to insult their misery by 
 an assurance which carried with it an irresistible conviction of its 
 truth, that they had, all been sold " like dumb driven cattle," and 
 in gleeful paragraphs commented on the treatment which had 
 rewarded the services of the Company's corps of " hardy, active 
 intelligent factors," as the great men of the Fur Trade had been 
 stigmatized in the oiBEicially published prospectus of the good things 
 which had just changed owners. 
 
 The International Financial Association had negotiated the 
 transfer of the stock in the London market, and the report had got 
 into circulation that the Hudson's Bay Company, having become 
 extinct, had been succeeded by it as the inheritor of the monopoly. 
 An officer in a Northern district having heard, and believed this 
 rumour, fell on a strange device with the intention of paying a 
 becoming homage to the new state of things. He called his three 
 ■district boats the "International," the "Financial" and the 
 "Association" and caused their respective names to be printed on 
 the bows of the craft indicated. 
 
 Later news confirmed the first reports and formal announcements 
 arrived of the formation of the new Hudson's Bay Company under 
 
300 BED EIVBR. 
 
 the auspices of Sir Edmund Walker Head, Bart., late Governor 
 General of Canada, and a Board elected by the new stockholders. 
 One of the principal objects of the Company was stated to be the 
 establishment of postal and telegraphic communications across 
 the continent to British Columbia. The want of such a means of 
 communicating with the authorities in the latter colony in the 
 event of an American war, was said to have caused the Secretary 
 for the Colonies considerable anxiety at the time of the Trent 
 affair. As yet even the preliminary arrangements for the execu- 
 tion of this scheme are incomplete. 
 
 Since the time to which I refer considerable discussion had 
 taken place in Rupert's Land with reference to the provisions and 
 true meaning of the above mentioned Deed Poll. It appears that 
 a good deal of laxity of knowledge had prevailed in the minds of 
 men interested in relation to this subject, and even lawyers are 
 said to differ in- the views they hold about its details. Already 
 one amicable suit has been decided on the merits of one of the 
 details involved in it by Vice Chancellor Wood, in favour of the 
 Fur Trade. As, however, the questions in abeyance between the 
 Company and the trade are still in an elementary state, although 
 they would furnish topics sufficient to occupy several chapters,. 
 I consider it would be improper for me further to enlarge on them 
 in this plac3. 
 
 After the stirring events of the period over which the Corbett 
 trial and its accompanying incidents had extended, the wheels of 
 Government at Red River worked smoothly. No public excite- 
 ment occurred, and as the summer commenced the bulk of the 
 male population dispersed as usiial on their migratory pursuits. 
 The mismanagement of the people in charge of the steamer 
 " International," who, instigated by their fears of the Sioox, had 
 managed to work her up the river as far as Fort Abercrombie, 
 combined with the extremely low state of the water consequent on 
 an unusually dry season, prevented the boat making even one trip 
 down stream to the settlement. Under the pickets of Fort 
 Abererombie they accordingly lay all the summer, while her crew 
 passed their season of enforced idleness as best they might, in 
 card-playing, rye whisky tippling, and fraternising with the people 
 
BED RIVER. 301 
 
 in the Fort. Her inaction, however, gave employment to the 
 freighters of the settlement, who otherwise must have sought else- 
 where an outlet for their energy. Secure in the enjoyment of the 
 henefits accruing from the good understanding the authorities had 
 contrived to establish with the Sioux, these people made their 
 journeys up the Ked Kiver to Georgetown or Fort Abercrombie 
 in safety. The Indians were, however, always on the alert, as was 
 proved by the frequent and fatal accidents befaUing American 
 citizens who, incredulous of their near presence, ventured to take 
 a walk in the woods skirting their picketted fortresses. 
 
 Some anxiety was felt in the settlement as reports spread that 
 Little Crow, with a band of his followers, had joined company with 
 one of the parties of Red River Buffalo hunters on the Plains, 
 and could not be shaken off by the latter. When the report was 
 confirmed, however, the additional evidence came that the Indian 
 chief, with his followers, were behaving themselves in the most 
 friendly manner among the hunters, and that there was no reason 
 to fear on their behalf. 
 
 The misfortunes which befel the Hudson's Bay Company, in 
 their mercantile career during the summer and autumn of 1863, 
 formed a suitable sequel to those they had encountered as a 
 legislative and judicial body in the spring. Intelligence arrived 
 so early as the month of May, of the wreck, in the gulf of St. 
 Lawrence, of the Canadian Steam Packet, " Anglo-Saxon," 
 ■containing a large quantity of the consignment of goods to be 
 forwarded to Red River for the year's trade, as also the " Spring 
 Packet" containing the dispatches and documents already referred 
 io, as passing between the Board^and Northern council once a year. 
 Close upon this disastrous intelligence arrived the news that the 
 iron vessel " Canada," with the bulk of the remainder of the 
 year's supply on board, had foundered in the ice on the American 
 coast, and all her cargo gone below. A few packages, which un- 
 avoidable delay in their preparation had prevented sailing in the 
 " Canada," followed safely in another vessel, but the vast bulk of 
 the Hudson's Bay consignment by St. Paul had been irretrievably 
 lost. Advices of the disaster reached England in time to enable 
 she Company, by using all the efforts they could make, to prepare a 
 
302 RED RIVER. 
 
 duplicate outfit, to convey which to York factory, along with their 
 regular vessels to the Bay, they chartered a ship called the " Ocean 
 Nymph." It, however, unfortunately went astray, and, after having- 
 been lost in the ice and passed the autumn in a series of desultory- 
 attempts to get right, finally turned up, towards the end of October,, 
 at St. John's, Newfoundland, in a very leaky and ricketty condition,, 
 with all her cargo still on board. 
 
 The summer, which had been scorchingly hot, had dried up all 
 the marshes in the country, and the rivers were all very low^ 
 Towards Hudson's Bay this circumstance had been felt through- 
 out the season to such an extent that it was very difficult to induce 
 the men in the Inland district brigades, starting even early in 
 summer, to receive the usual amount of freight in their boats for 
 transport up the shallow waters between the Bay and Norway 
 House, while the Portage La Loche boats, which arrive at the 
 factory late in the season, returned with light ladings. The fall 
 brigades from Red River to York, after spending twenty-three- 
 days on Lake Winnipeg, struggled on to Norway House only to- 
 mutiny, and refuse, on account of the low water in the rivers; 
 and the lateness of the season, to complete the trip to the Bay,, 
 and returned to the settlement without cargo, thus entailing on, 
 the Company a serious loss, both directly and indirectly, througL 
 the damaging interruption it caused their business. 
 
 On the Mississippi the water was so low that the steamboats, 
 were constantly grounding, and the interruption caused by this- 
 circumstance delayed the delivery of a consignment forwarded to- 
 make up what had been lost on the Atlantic in case anything, 
 such as what actually occurred to the " Ocean Nymph," should 
 delay the delivery of her cargo at Red River. A brigade of one 
 hundred and seventy carts was forwarded late in the autuma 
 from the settlement to Fort Abercrombie to connect with the- 
 transports carrying this freight from St. Paul to that point. The 
 delay on the Mississippi caused further delay on the portion of th& 
 journey between St. Paul and Fort Abercrombie, and the people 
 from Red River Settlement, on arriving at that station, and hearing- 
 no intelligence of the ladings they had believed to have beea 
 waiting for them there, got alarmed at the near approach of winter^ 
 
RED RIVER. 303 
 
 and returned with empty carts to the settlement a few days before 
 the arrival at Fort Abercrombie of the waggons they had gone to 
 meet. The goods ultimately reached Red Eiver by the difficult 
 and expensive process of winter horse sledge transport. 
 
 While the agents of tbe Company were employed in combatting 
 these irregularities in their freighting service, Brigadier General 
 Sibley was vigorously scouring the Plains in search of the Sioux> 
 His operations for a time showed no result equivalent to their 
 magnitude, and the St. Paul newspapers amused their readers by 
 comparing the Genieral to Gulliver, and his foes to the Lilliputians, 
 who carried on the war against him while escaping, metaphorically 
 speaking, between the legs of the cumbrous battalions, which he 
 moved about to execute his projects. During the month of 
 August the dead body of Little Crow was found on the Plains. 
 The manner of his death never was, I believe, satisfactorily 
 explained, but the probability was he had been killed by a member 
 of his own band with whom he had quarrelled. 
 
 A means of communication with the savage enemy, through 
 some channel possessing the confidence of both parties, was to the 
 General a desideratum. It was, during the course of the autumn, 
 rather curiously supplied. The half-breed Buflfalo hunters of the 
 border were on their way to the Buffalo country, when they 
 encountered General Sibley and his troops, in camp on the prairie.. 
 The priest who that year accompanied the hunt, named P^re 
 Andr^, pushed his way to head-quarters, and had an interview 
 with the General in his own tent. That officer, after conversing 
 with his clerical visitor, came to the conclusion he would make a 
 very efficient ambassador, and though he did not immediately 
 arrange with him about the service, he subsequently granted him 
 a commission, in virtue of which P6re Andr^ visited some Sioux 
 tribes, and urged on their chiefs the propriety of making peace 
 with the Americans. A more suitable emissary could scarcely 
 have been selected. P6re Andr^ was personally known as a mis- 
 sionary to the Indians he visited, and his own desire to see peace 
 restored was very strong. His efforts, however, were ineffectual, 
 and he complained, in giving an account of his embassy to the 
 General who had employed him, that his efforts had been defeated 
 
504 EBD RIVER. 
 
 hj the conduct of the subordinate officials in the American army 
 on the frontier. 
 
 Towards the middle of August, Governor Mactavish left the 
 settlement for St. Paul, to meet Governor Dallas at that place on 
 his way back from Canada, and return to Red River thence along 
 with him. On their way home, between St. Paul and the settle- 
 ment, they encountered Senator Ramsay of Minnesota, who had 
 come with a large military escort to Red Lake River in the 
 neighbourhood of Pembina, with the object of making a treaty 
 with the Chippeways for the extinction of their titles to the land 
 on the borders of Red River within American territory. It will 
 be remembered that, about a year previously, the commissioner then 
 appointed to meet these Indians at the same place was detained by 
 the Sioux outbreak, and the Indians who had assembled to meet 
 him plundered the Hudson's Bay Company's carts on their way 
 from Georgetown to the settlement. Senator Ramsay, protected 
 by his escort, was more successful in executing his mission. He 
 had to deal with about 200'0 Indians concerned in the purchase he 
 was negotiating; but he finally completed the bargain, though it 
 was reported at a cost of about ten millions of dollars, inclusive of 
 all expenses of the commission and escort. 
 
 Mr. Ramsay, on hearing certain representations made by Gover- 
 nor Dallas on this occasion, promised his assistance, and some 
 months afterwards succeeded in introducing, through his influence 
 at Washington, a change in the postal arrangements between^ St. 
 Paul and Pembina, of high importance to the reading community 
 in Red River Settlement. Previous to that time the mails for the 
 settlement had been forwarded from St. Paul to Pembina in "way 
 bags," the entire contents of which were examined at every prairie 
 farm house on the route which served as a local post office. At the 
 majority of these places there lived reading men whose enlightened 
 curiosity led them naturally to inspect the English, Canadian, and 
 American newspapers passing through their hands. An Illustra- 
 ted London News, a Punch, or other pictorial sheet, oflFered irresis- 
 tible attractions to lovers of art, while a well-written editorial 
 commended itself very forcibly to the attention of the Backwoods 
 politician. The "postmaster's privilege" of inspection was much 
 
RED RIVER. 305 
 
 »bused, and a newspaper temporarily abstracted from the bag at 
 each second or third station, effected a serious modification in the 
 size of the mail when it reached its journey's end. Such proceed- 
 ings led to considerable delay in the receipt of interesting mail 
 matter, and in many cases to its actual loss, the papers detained 
 being mislaid and never forwarded at all. Even letters were 
 believed to have been lost, though it must be asserted that, on the 
 whole, these have been delivered throughout with wonderful regu- 
 larity, when the ordeal through which they have passed is con- 
 sidered. The military authorities at Fort Abercrombie had 
 already made such representations as had secured them the use of 
 a " through bag," unopened between St. Paul and their own office. 
 Senator Ramsay's interference obtained a similar benefit for the 
 people of Red River, whose mails, it was arranged early in 1864, 
 should pass between St. Paul and the frontier post of Pembina in 
 " through bags.'' The result has been a great improvement as 
 regards the efficiency of the mail service. 
 
 Along with Governors Dallas and Mactavish, there arrived at 
 Fort Garry an English gentleman of middle age whose adventures 
 during the preceding fifteen or twenty years had been of a 
 very remarkable and interesting character. Edward Shelley, Esq., 
 was a nephew of the celebrated author of " Queen Mab." In the 
 course of his wanderings over the more remote regions of the globe, 
 he had undergone the greatest hardships and been present at some 
 of the most remarkable events in the history of the times. As 
 captain in the British army and brevet colonel he had served in 
 the Crimean campaign, and been present at the charge of Balaklava. 
 Though retired from the service he had been present at the taking 
 of Pekin by the British in the war of 1860. He had been con- 
 cerned in a war in Albania, and had travelled over African deserts 
 and Mexican and South American savannas. The winter of 
 1862 he had spent among the Indians on the Missouri, and passed 
 unscathed through scenes of bloodshed in which the Sioux had 
 massacred the Americans in the gold country of Idaho. 
 
 Mr. Shelley, it will readily be believed, proved a very welcome 
 visitor at Fort Garry. He was by no means averse to enlighten 
 those anxious to listen to the interesting narrative of his adven- 
 
 U 
 
306 KED RIVER. 
 
 tures and travels. So curious were these in many respects that 
 he who had passed through them alone could do them justice. 
 He quitted Fort Grarry, much to the regret of the occupants of 
 "Bachelor's Hall" on 3rd of December, after a residence of about 
 two months, and proceeded westward to Fort Ellice, where he 
 passed the remainder of the winter. Towards spring he had a 
 very narrow escape from the effects of the explosion of a keg of 
 gunpowder, which through some accident had been ignited and 
 blew down the store on the threshhold of which he stood in the act 
 of making his exit at the moment of the accident. Proceeding 
 leisurely through the Saskatchewan Valley, Mr. Shelley crossed the 
 Rocky Mountains, and returned to England during the winter 
 of 1864. 
 
 Of this gentleman I think I ought to remark that the regret 
 felt at Fort Garry on his departure was shared by those at other 
 posts at which he sojourned, and certain acts of great kindness 
 and consideration in which he indulged will no doubt be deservedly 
 long remembered to his credit in the Territory. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 1863-64. 
 Commencement of the Village of Winnipeg — Land tenure at Red 
 River— Mr. Sandford Fleming, C.E — Projected route to Lake Supe- 
 rior — United States garrison at JPembina — Qrops — Sioux visits — 
 Sioux camp eatahli^Ued at Red piyer — J^ajor Hatch— His request to 
 pursue the Sioux on British Territory — Sioux perplexities — Captain 
 Donaldson's Volunteer Company — Deserters across the Lines— Witt- 
 drawal of the Pembina garrison. 
 
 In the summer of 1862 the first attempt was made to estab- 
 lish a place of business on the highway at the spot where the 
 Assiniboine and Red River tracks meet close to the boundary of 
 the Hudson's Bay Company's land reserve. The disadvantages ■ 
 of the site had till then deterred the most enterprising settler 
 from fixing his home in the locality. These were the serious dis- 
 tance intervening between it and the river whence the sole water 
 supply was derived, and the low level of the ground, which caused 
 the water to collect in spring after the snow had melted, turning 
 the whole neighbourhood into a swamp. The compensating 
 advantage of the spot lay in its central situation at the intersection 
 of the great highway of the grain country on the Red River and 
 that of the Pur regions to the west, leading along the Assiniboine. 
 The enterprising firm which first resolved practically to test the 
 scheme was that of McKenney and Company. They abandoned 
 their hotel business and built a store at the junction of the roads 
 above specified. The house was a long two-storey wooden build- 
 ing, the ground flat of which was lighted by two large windows which 
 with the door, occupied one end, while the sides were windowed 
 only in the upper storey which was used as a dwelling house. Thie 
 rtions of the building, with its steep roof and side windows 
 aloft, rendered it singularly like a " Noah's Ark," without the 
 boat which usually accompanies the perfect toy. That it would 
 
808 RED EIVEK. 
 
 be absolutely necessary to complete the resemblance In sprfirg -era* 
 the firm idea of almost the whole population, who said Mr, 
 McKenney's cellars would be fiUgd with water and himself drowne«I 
 out of his own house. The spring, nevertheless, passed, and the 
 structure escaped all damage from water amounting to anything 
 more serious than inconvenience. 
 
 The house was erected in a perfectly isolated spot, and the hur- 
 ricanes which sometimes blow across the plains, it was then 
 imagined would beat against the broad sides of the slightly-built 
 edifice with such force as would reduce it to its native timbers. 
 But although the house had sometimes to be supported by huge 
 beams propped against it in considerable numbers from the outside, 
 and was believed by its inmates to be by no means a safe abode on 
 a stormy night, the wind proved as powerless to overwhelm as the 
 waters to sap the experimental venture. 
 
 The practicability of the scheme once established, it became evi- 
 dent that Mr. McKenney's example would speedily be followed by 
 others. One of the most successful private merchants in the 
 settlement, Mr. William Drever, announced his intention of build- 
 ing on that portion of his land immediately adjacent to Mr, 
 McKenney's store, and said he had fully intended to- precede his 
 neighbour in commencing such operations at the locality in question, 
 but unfortunately a disappointment to which he had been subjected 
 in his attempts to procure wood and other building materials, had 
 thrown Mm behind a year or two. In the summer of 186S, 
 accordingly, Mr. Drever commenced the erection of a dwelling 
 house. He complained, however, that the store of McKenney 
 and Company had been built so very close to his boundary line on 
 their side, that the eavesdroppings of theix Noah's Ark-shaped 
 store fell upon his land, and would damage any house he might 
 build close to the edge of his property, besides seriously inteifer- 
 ing with his window lights. 
 
 This assertion opened up the whole wide question of land 
 tenure in the settlement, and as the ground about the spot had 
 increased in value from the original price of 7s, 6d. per acre to 
 one of £25 sterling per square chain, and several small log cabins> 
 in which thriving business of various kinds was carried on, had 
 
RED RIVER. 
 
 grown up during the season close to the scene of the misunder- 
 standing, the embryo village, towards the«lose of 1863, threatened 
 to become the focus of the land question. Apart from the fact 
 that the terms of the land deeds under which ground was held 
 were regarded with great dissatisfaction by the settlers in conse- 
 quence chiefly of their conditions, which strictly stipulated that 
 the holders shoald not interfere with the Fur Trade, a vast amount 
 of confusion had long prevailed in the whole land business of the 
 colony. 
 
 The ground had been originally sold by the Company to the 
 settlers under a lease for 999 years, and on receipt of the price 
 agreed on, the Oompany granted a deed of which the above was a 
 leading stipulation, and entered the name of the purchaser in the 
 Land Book kept in the office at Fort Garry. Such a registration, 
 even without production of the deed, was recognized as a valid 
 legal title. Many years ago the colony was surveyed and mapped 
 by a resident professional surveyor, but for a long time subse- 
 quently the land business was treated merely as a branch of the 
 ordinary office routine at Fort Garry, transacted by a clerk, who, 
 when any emergency rose, requiring a line to be drawn or boundary 
 settled, employed a surveyor to visit the spot and perform the 
 service. Meanwhile floods and other disturbing causes had obli- 
 terated landmarks, original possessors had died and divided their 
 lots among their children who, having entered into actual posses- 
 sion without effecting any fresh registration, had in many cases 
 sold their shares to other parties without advising the registrar of 
 the transactions. Squatters had built on ground without either 
 asking or paying the Company for the land so appropriated, and 
 when, from time to time the agents of the latter had made some 
 feeble attempt to collect portions of a sum due them on this 
 account, which in the aggregate might amount to about £10,000 
 sterling, the debtors had used language expressive of strong indig- 
 nation, and claimed the rights of " British subjects " to settle oa 
 whose lands they chose. 
 
 This state of things had continued so long that the time to 
 arrest the evils thereon attendant had gone past. The result was 
 that a laxge section of the people had cultivated for years land for 
 
310 KED EIVEB. 
 
 whieh they tact never paid ; that houses had been built on ground 
 which strict inquiry into boundaries might demonstrate to belong 
 to neighbours of the builders ; that the legalized registrar showed 
 only a partial record of the numerous tra;nsaotions in land which 
 had taken pla,ce in the settlement ; and that a general feeling of 
 insecurity as to title had spread among owners of land in the 
 colony. This was bad enough when the ground itself bore but a 
 nominal value and the building and improvements represented the 
 only valuable interests at stake, but when the price of land situated 
 in any spot began to oscillate between the sums of £25 and £40 
 sterling per square chain, purchasers demanded an indisputable 
 title, and old proprietors inquired anxiously about theii' boundaries. 
 
 In addition to the large dwelling house erected by Mr. Drever 
 in 1863, that gentleman in the course of the same year built a 
 shop, the site for which he selected on a spot somewhat to the rear 
 of the former. The pretence under which he determined on this 
 site, was his anxiety to show an example of regularity in the lines 
 of street architecture which was very much required by his 
 humbler neighbours, whose little houses were scattered over the 
 neighbourhood without any regard to order. One obvious result 
 of his plan, however, was to cut oflF the view of Fort Garry which 
 Mr. McKenney had formerly enjoyed from his front windows, and 
 which he was said to have valued almost as much as his own flag 
 staflF, which, erected in front of his establishment, was decorated 
 every Sunday with its pennant, as regularly as was the one in the- 
 Fort with the Hudson's Bay flag. 
 
 This fresh cause of war brought the parties to an open rupture, 
 and Mr. McKenney sought protection from the law. Mr. Drever's 
 lot was the only one which intervened between his property and 
 the land reserve of the Company surrounding Fort Garry. While 
 Mr. Drever's store was in process of completion an application was 
 made to the road authorities for a prohibition against its erection, 
 on the ground that it interfered with the public highway. The 
 point was a nice one. Mr. McKenney claimed that the junction of 
 the Eed Kiver and Assiniboine tracks was by right at his door, 
 and that the latter road intervened between his house and that of' 
 Mr. Drever's over the ground claimed by the latter gentleman j 
 
RED RIVER. 311 
 
 ■while Mr. Drever alleged that said junction ought to take place con- 
 siderably nearer Fort Garry, at such a spot as would bring it close 
 to the front door of his own house, and shift the space occupied by 
 the Assiniboine road from his land to the Company's reserve. Both 
 parties grew very warm on the subject. Mr. Drever complained 
 that his neighbours, " desiring his destruction, had banded them- 
 selves to crush him," and Mr. McKenney asserted that his business 
 opponents were trying to " choke him off," and injure his site. 
 
 Towards the autumn of 1863 the building which had given rise 
 to so much discussion was finished and occupied by a tenant, who 
 forthwith filled it with his wares and commenced driving an active 
 sale at Mr. McKenney's threshhold, while the view of the latter, in 
 the direction of the Fort, was limited to the logs composing the side- 
 wall of the opposition establishment. Application having been 
 made to the authorities, a commission was issued to inquire into 
 the whole circumstances and report on the expediency of com- 
 pliance with the demand of McKenney and Company, that Mr. 
 Drever should be ordered to remove the obstruction he had per- 
 sisted in erecting on the highway, or, in other Words, take down 
 the house he had just finished building. The commission con- 
 tinued its deliberations for several months, but in the course of the 
 ensuing spring ultimately decided that a track should be held to 
 pass as Mr. McKenney desired, between his house and the store of 
 Mr. Drever, which, although within a distance of two chains from 
 Mr. McKenney's, should not, however, be required to be removed, 
 I may mention that the evidence brought before the commission 
 was very conflicting. It was evident that the track, on which Mr. 
 Drever was accused of having trespassed, had shifted much from 
 year to year throughout its entire length ; that no definite land' 
 mark existed to guide any one in ascertainirfg its exact point of 
 jiinotion with the other ; and that the traffic passing over it had, 
 previously to that time, followed merely the driest route, which 
 varied according to the comparative wetness or drought of th^ 
 season. 
 
 Much public attention had been drawn in the settlement during 
 1863 to a variety of projects discussed in the outside world as 
 relating to its benefit. The " Nor' Wester" had early in spring 
 
312 RED EIVER. 
 
 published an account of a " public meeting," which, it alleged, had 
 been held, and had unanimously appointed Mr. Sandford Fleming, 
 a Canadian civil engineer, as representative of the popular feeling, 
 with a view personally to lay the same before the Secretary of the 
 Colonies. The principal editor of the newspaper referred to was 
 the leading mover in the meeting, and his colleague, Mr. Coldwell, 
 was secretary. Apart from these gentlemen I have been unable to 
 ascertain who attended the meeting, and conclude, from all I have 
 gathered, that the total number who knew of its deliberations pre- 
 vious to their publication, did not amount to twenty individuals. 
 What steps Mr. Fleming, who visited England on Canadian 
 afikirs of great importance some time after, took in this matter I 
 do not know ; but, judging from the facts already mentioned, added 
 to that of his never having personally visited the settlement, I 
 imagine the opportunity of usefulness put within his reach was very 
 trifling, and his representations likely to have but little weight in 
 the quarter before which it was his mission to lay them. 
 
 A project had also been agitated, preparatory to the formation 
 of a direct route to Canada through British territory, of construct- 
 ing a road from the American Lake Port of Superior, to Crowwing, 
 near the centre of Minnesota, and thence to some convenient spot 
 on the Red River, between which and the settlement the steamer 
 already stationed on the latter stream might ply. The grand advan- 
 tage to be obtained through this object lay in the possibility of 
 bringing freight from England to Superior City, at the western 
 extremity of the great lake of the same name, without " breaking 
 bulk." From Superior, by Crowwing, to the Red River, the dis- 
 tance to be effected by land carriage would not be great, while the 
 steamer on Red River would complete the work. Like many other 
 good plans, this was "found to be at least premature. 
 
 After protracted deliberation the Minnesota military authorities, 
 late in the season, decided on forming a frontier garrison at Pem- 
 bina, and sent a body of troops, under command of Major Hatch, 
 to the spot. The force was one of cavalry, and arrived so late at ' 
 its destination that about 400 of its 500 horses died from exposure 
 to the frost. As no barrack accommodation existed the first object 
 of the Major was to erect log buildings for the reception of his 
 
RED BIVER. 313 
 
 troops. This, after the most strenuous and indefatigable exertions 
 had been used, he succeeded in doing after winter had commenced. 
 His next undertaking was to provide food for his people and pro- 
 vender for his horses, which, not being plentiful at Pembina, he 
 turned to seek in the settlement. 
 
 The Red River crops of the autumn of 1863 had not been of 
 more than average productiveness. The extreme drought of the 
 season, which had occasioned results so disastrous to the river 
 freight transport, had severely injured the harvest. The wheat 
 crop was generally rather above average, while that of potatoes was 
 a decided failure, and, as regarded all other produce, the farmers 
 had much to complain of. Early in winter flour cost from twentyr " 
 seven to thirty shillings per hundred pounds, and Major Hatch had 
 to purchase grain for his surviving animals at twelve shillings per 
 bushel. On the whole the amount of money disbursed by that 
 officer at Pembina and in the settlement, for the purchase of sup- 
 plies, was very large. 
 
 His presence scattered the Sioux away from the neighbourhood 
 of Pembina. Some of them retired towards the west, while others 
 sought safety in the British possessions. On the 20th November a 
 small party, consisting of twelve of these Indians, with their families, 
 arrived in the settlement. They expressed their surprise that a 
 large body of their people which had preceded them had not 
 arrived. Their statement, of course, created some uneasiness in 
 the colony, which was not tranquillized by the appearance, on 11th 
 December, of their friends numbering sixty lodges containing 
 nearly five hundred Sioux in a state of absolute starvation. 
 
 Our new visitors had in very many cases been deeply implicated 
 in the border massacres, and, as ill disposed Indians, at war 
 with the Americans, and likely to prove the occasion of bloodshed 
 with our own Saulteaux, they were in every respect most unwel- 
 come. In their first interviews with the authorities, they frankly 
 stated they had come to live and die in Red River Settlement, 
 where it was better for them to attempt to gain a livelihood from 
 the charity of the whites, than to perish in the snow drifts of the 
 prairies. 
 
 Apart from the additional burden thus imposed upon them, the 
 
314 RED RtVER. 
 
 resources of" the settlement, impoTerislied at first by the mediocrity 
 of the harvest, had been found barely equal to the demand made 
 upon them by Major Hatch, as was evinced by the high prices at 
 which alone that officer could procure supplies. The autumn 
 Buffalo hunt had turned out a partial failure. These considera- 
 tions caused the project to be Openly discussed of driving away 
 the Sioux by force. This was undoubtedly practicable. The 
 unfortunate blood-stained tribe had no guns, ammunition or means 
 of defence, save their manifest helplessiless, which would expose 
 the settlers to the alternative of murdering them in cold blood, or 
 allowing them to freeze in the wretched lodges they had constructed 
 to shelter them from iininediate contact with the winter blasts. 
 
 The Spot they had selected as the site of their camp was at 
 Stttrgeou Creek near the track which runs along the Assiniboine, 
 about six miles from Fort Garry. The people living near that 
 place may be said id have dwelt in a state of siege during the 
 whole period of their residence. Windows and doors were kept 
 perpetually closed, under pain of being entered by some watchful 
 Indian, ever bn the alert to t^ke advantage of any such opening 
 which might preseht itself. The amount of assistance bestowed 
 by the people on the spot was considerable, and highly creditable 
 to the donors, who knew that everything given as a present to the 
 Sioux was grildgiiigly and enviously remarked by the Saulteaux 
 regular occupants of the settlement, who jealously regarded all 
 Such gifts as their own peculiar perquisites. 
 
 The Sinux camp had gradually increased in numbers towards 
 the close of the year to about six hundred, thrtiugh the continual 
 arrivals of Small parties. Words cail scarcely convey to such as 
 have themselves seen nothing of the kind, any adequate idea bf 
 the extremity of destitution to which these people were reduced. 
 It waB seen in the gaunt skeleton look of the men who came with 
 hoarse voices to implore aid at Port Gdrry, and in the hopeles^ 
 wolfish glance of their eyes. One afternoon Governor Dallas paid 
 a visit to the camj*, taking with hiin -v^fhat articled of covering, 
 such as old carpets, blankets, arid cast-off clothiilg he eould lay- 
 hands on, for distribution. The rush made by the shivering, man- 
 fijrsAen wattderers, in hope of securing a portion of the Governor's 
 
RED RIVBE. 815 
 
 cargo, was described as tremendous, and it was with difficulty they 
 could be prevented from laying violent hands on his cutter and 
 helping themselves. Most of them were indeed almost naked. 
 
 The project of driving them away by fotce was not for a day 
 entertained by men in office. The act woiild have been tanta- 
 mount to murder. They were without clothing and the 
 thermometer was ranging between 20 and 40 degrees belo-fr zero. 
 They were without guns or ammunition, and had no food. They 
 had not even the necessary wire to finable them to snare a 
 tabbit. Usually as much averse to part with their children tb be 
 educated by the whites, as the latter would be to abandon theii' 
 offspring to them, they then sold their children gladly to any who 
 would give them food in exchange. Three young white children,' 
 whose parents had been massacred, were tsiken from therh and cared 
 fbr by private settlers. The Gfrey Nuns of the little convent of 
 St. Francois Xa-<?ier to6k advantage of the presence of a party 
 near their residence, aboiit twenty one miles from Fort G-arry, to 
 purchase a boy and three girls from them as an equivalent for l20 
 pounds pemmican, and Would have bought still more had thfey 
 possfessfed the means to buy and take cate of them. 
 
 After being assured of a latge supply of pemmican, the Sioux 
 promised Grovernor Dallas to leave the settlement, and actually 
 quitted their camp on the 25th Defcfember. They did not, hotr- 
 ever, proceed further than the outpost of White Horse Plain, 
 twenty-five miles up the Assiiiibbine frbm Fort Garry. There 
 they halted and demanded ammunition, which was peremptorily 
 i-efused, thotigh not without a strong inisgiving that they would 
 help themselves. This they did act attempt and Some mofe 
 provisions were distributed among them through the agericy of 
 private potties, so employed that the Iildians might iiot knbw they 
 were indebted fot them to the Grovemmentlvhich, had ihey knoiwii, 
 it might have encourdged them to increase their demands. 
 
 To the great dissatisfactioii of the SdiilteaUx they then spread 
 themselves in bands over the country. A Utge nutnber of them 
 went to Lake Manitoba and were extremely successful in catchiii^ 
 jackfish under the ice. Others returned to Sturgeon Creek and 
 settled down at various spots along the Eivfer Assiniboine. They 
 
316 RED RIVER. 
 
 spoke a good deal about promises which had been made them by 
 the English at the close of the American war and claimed protec- 
 tion as their right. The people of the gettlement could not 
 however, forget that many of their hunters had been treacherously 
 killed by the SiouK when isolated from their friends on the Plains, 
 scarcely a year having passed for a long time in the course of 
 which they had not been guilty of some outrage. The provisions 
 supplied them on the public account were estimated at a total value 
 varying from £350 to £400. 
 
 Early in January, 1864, an event occurred which gave a decided 
 impetus to their withdrawal from the settlement. Some officers 
 attached to Major Hatch's battalion had visited the colony and 
 gained some of its residents over to their interests to such an 
 extent that they cordially entered into a scheme for kidnapping 
 one of the principal chiefs, "Little Six,'' a half brother of 
 "Little Crow," and one of his followers named " Medicine Bottle," 
 were selected as the men to be caught. These Indians having 
 been purposely permitted to drink more alcohol than was good for 
 them, were drugged with laudanuin and chloroform, and while in 
 a state of insensibility were conveyed to Pembina, where their 
 surprise and consternation were great when, on waking from their 
 lethargy, they found themselves securely bound and surrounded 
 by a group of soldiers under command of Major Hatch. This 
 incident was commented on somewhat severely by some newspapers 
 in the United States, which amused themselves by trying to 
 magnify it into another " Trent afiair.'' It also excited great 
 dissatisfaction among people in the settlement, who feared retaliation 
 on the part of the Sioux against the English in crossing the Plains 
 during summer. 
 
 During January Lieutenant Mix, an officer serving under Major 
 Hatch, visited the settlement with the object of securing the 
 Governor's good offices in inducing the Sioux to surrender on 
 equitable terms. The lieutenant was informed that the Indians 
 had been already sent off furnished with provisions, and returned 
 to Pembina before the news arrived that they had halted at White 
 Horse Plain. On receipt of this intelligence the Council at Ked 
 Eiver communicated with Major Hatch, explaining the misunder- 
 
EED MVER- S17 
 
 Standing tinder wtich Lieutenant Mix had left the settlement and 
 advising the former that, should he still desire to speak with the 
 Sioux, there was no objection to his doing so, provided what over- 
 tures he had to make should be of a persuasive nature only, and 
 that he should be accompanied by a body guard sufficiently large, 
 not only to protect his person, but to preclude all idea of a success- 
 ful attack on the part of the Indians or a disturbance of the peace 
 of the colony. 
 
 Despairing of the voluntary departure of the Sioux, and fearing 
 the violence of Crees, Saulteaux and Chippeways, in the event of 
 the former persevering during the summer in occupying their terri- 
 tory, the settlers anxiously recommended that Major Hatch should 
 be invited to cross the line and take the Sioux prisoners. That 
 they were perfectly demoralized had been proved at an early stage 
 of their visit by the terror and confusion into which their camp 
 had been thrown on a rumour gaining ground that the Americans 
 were at hand, and a similar alarm had frequently caused small 
 bodies of them to beat a sudden retreat from the more thickly 
 settled part of the colony. 
 
 Major Hatch, knowing the state of public feeling, advised 
 Grovernor Dallas that, should the latter authorize him to cross the 
 border, he was willing to march his troops to capture the Sioux. 
 The Grovemor granted permission, in justification of which step 
 he advanced several obvious reasons, and stipulated that the Major 
 should bring with him a force sufficient to effect his purpose, and 
 that all bloodshed and violence should be avoided in the houses or 
 enclosures of the settlers where the Indians might seek an 
 asylum. 
 
 During the spring the main body of the Sioux on the Missouri, 
 numbering about 5,000 individuals, sent a message to the Gover- 
 nor asking his advice with regard to their subsequent conduct 
 towards the Americans, whose overtures for peace they believed to 
 be designed to entrap them. Matters were certainly begin- 
 ning to look very serious, and the possibility of the whole nation 
 seeking a permanent asylum on British territory seemed gradually 
 developing itself into a probability. The St. Paul newspapers 
 accused the settlers of " listening calmly to the recital of the 
 
818 EBD BIVER. 
 
 Indian massacres, and then turning on their heels aijid laijghing a* 
 the impotent indignation of the Americans, and boasting that the 
 murderers were under the British flag, adding that the Americans 
 would not shed many tears if the Indians got hungry and despe- 
 rate enough to clean out the British settlements." Our own 
 Indians, of whom, fortunately, comparatively few were in the 
 settlement, jealously threatened to begin fighting the Sioux in 
 spring, and Major Hatch, after receiving permission to cross the 
 frontier, gave up the idea, or at least took no steps to carry it out. 
 Governor Dallas returned a reply to the Indians on the Missouri, 
 advising them to conclude a speedy peace with the Americans, or 
 be prepared for a vigorous pursuit of the war on the part of th^ 
 latter in spring. 
 
 Previous to the month of May only one serious collision had 
 taken place between the Sioux and their Indian opponents, in 
 which one of the former had been murdered in cold blood by a 
 Saulteaux. Early in that month, however, the party which had 
 gone to pass the winter ia fishing under the ice in Lake Manitoba 
 were wakened one night by the discharge of firearms. They found 
 themselves surrounded by a paity of the Chippeways, who con- 
 tinued firing into their lodges until break of day, killing six of 
 the Sioux outright, and so seriously wounding a number of others 
 Ifhat fourteen more died subsequently. The Sioux being unable 
 to retaliate effectually, only one of the attacking party fell a victim 
 to a stray shot, and at sunrise the rest disappeared. The sur- 
 viving Sioux took immediate precautions against such another 
 surprise, and by digging pits contrived to construct a camp which 
 they would always be able to defend. 
 
 The lesson was not lost on the Sioux, and those who were 
 hovering in small bands scattered up and down the colony, realized 
 they were in an enemy's country. Towards spring a number of . 
 ithose who had not ,been in ithe settlement previously, began to 
 arrive at the Company's outposts with the object of trading the 
 -furs they had iiunted during winter, in exchange for which they 
 demanded ammunition. On this being refused they held rather 
 iigh language, but ultimately, after creating' some alarm and 
 .quarrelling among each other, they withdrew. The vast bulk of 
 
BED KIVER. 819 
 
 those who had wintered in the settlement finally made a peaceful 
 exit along with the summer Plain hunters. During their entire 
 sojourn the utmost evil imputed to them consisted of a few acts of 
 petty larceny. They had lived for a long time in the winter on 
 any sort of carrion they could pick up, and had seen their com- 
 panions die from starvation daily around them. Yet they had 
 made no combined attempt to rob any one, though the nature of 
 the localities in which the majority of outlying houses in the 
 settlement are placed, offered many opportunities to rob with 
 impunity, at least so far as individual punishment was concerned. 
 At a meeting of the Council of Assiniboia, held after their 
 departure in May, it was contended that the local Government had 
 a claim for several hundred pounds spent in feeding them, at the 
 hands of the Enghsh or American Government. Of the former, 
 because it had given express instructions that the ammunition, 
 which would have enabled the Indians to hunt, should be entirely 
 withheld ; and of the latter because it was in consequence of 
 quarrels originating with the corrupt practices of its agents that 
 the Indians had left their territories at all. However plausible 
 the grounds on which restitution was desired, it never was 
 granted. 
 
 ■In addition to the " Independent Battalion " of Major Hatch, 
 a local force had been raised at Pembina by an American citizen 
 named Donaldson, who had been invested with its command along 
 with the rank of captain. This company included a number of 
 half-breeds and others who had been recruited from the British 
 side of the hne, but as the object of the corps was to operate 
 against the Sioux, even British pensioners at Red River were 
 permitted to enter its ranks and take service under the Govern- 
 ment of the United States without any prejudice to their pensions 
 from the British War Office. TJie proximity of the British 
 frontier encouraged several of the discontented soldiers in the 
 garrison at Pembina to desert, in the hope of escaping with impu- 
 nity. They were always pursued and captured when practicable. 
 One half-breed, of Captain Donaldson's company, deserted inuue- 
 diately after enlistment, taking with him the complete equipment 
 in which he had just been arrayed. He was captured after he had 
 
320 BED RIVER. 
 
 put several miles of British territorial plains between himself and 
 the head-quarters of the troop of which he was a fugitive member, 
 His captors were reported to have stripped him to his shirt, a 
 process which, as the thermometer was several degrees below zero, 
 rather cooled the ardour of the fugacious pemmican eater. Other 
 cases of captures made under similar circumstances occurred, in 
 at least one of which the victim stated he had run off with his 
 accoutrements on account of arrears of pay. 
 
 In May the garrison was withdrawn from Pembina and quartered 
 at Fort Abercrombie. The expense of the winter expedition had 
 been very great and its results inappreciably small. Its with- 
 drawal at the comcmencement of summer laid the whole country 
 about Pembina and the route to Georgetown open to the ravages 
 of the Sioux. Fortunately the result proved they were in no 
 condition to take advantage of the opportunity thus given them 
 for evil. 
 
 The abandonment by Major Hatch of the project to seize the 
 Sioux in the settlement, was attributed to the tenor of his instruc- 
 tions which prevented him from putting men under his command 
 in the position of trespassers on British soil. It was a great pity 
 that the designs of justice should have been defeated on account of 
 an international boundary at such a place as Red River. The 
 Sioux who came to the settlement were understood to be the worst 
 Indians of their tribe. In the absence of direct evidence of 
 murder against any of them, people accustomed to the symbolical 
 decorations of the savage knew that each of the numerous feathers 
 adorning the dress of their braves, represented a deed of blood. 
 The local government harboured them chiefly because it had no 
 force effectually to oppose them. Motives both of humanity and 
 interest undoubtedly swayed the people in the reception which 
 had been accorded the fugitives ; but the vacancies produced in 
 families among the hunters by Sioux bullets were not forgotten, 
 and fears were moreover entertained that the guests were profiting 
 by their long stay in examining the physical feature of the settle- 
 ment and its environs with a view to future hostilities. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 1864. 
 The " Nor" Wester "— Masonic Lodge— Politics at the Prairie Portage 
 —Departure of Governor Dallas and Bishop Anderson— Dr. Rae's 
 Expedition across the Continent — Mr. Lemay, the United States 
 Cnstom House Official at Pembina ; His troubles and Letter to the 
 " Nor' Wester." 
 
 Early in March, 1864, an important change took place in the? 
 management of the "Nor' Wester." Mr. James Ross retired from 
 the editorship, and was succeeded by Doctor John Schultz, the 
 junior proprietor, Mr. Coldwell still remaining as working part- 
 ner. Ever since the autumn of 1862, when the opposing petitions 
 had commenced the series of agitations which led to the dismissal 
 of Mr. Ross from the oflSces of sheriff and postmaster, the " Nor' 
 Wester" had violently assailed the existing order of things, and 
 the long succession of leading articles, in which editorial indigna- 
 tion took wing, probably rather favoured the circulation. 
 
 Messrs. Coldwell and Schultz, in coming before the public a» 
 joint editors, issued the following notice, the humour of which will 
 be doubtless appreciated at its true value, when it is remembered 
 that one of the many channels through which the energy of the 
 new editor found an outlet was the practice of medicine : 
 
 " In making this announcement we need hardly assure our 
 readers that the theory of the circulation will be attended to in 
 future, and all bad humours will be eliminated from our columns.. 
 Diseases in our social system will be vigorously attended, and our 
 best exertions used to keep the body politic in sound health and 
 good working order. Persons in low spirits and of a desponding 
 turn of mind will only have to read the " Nor' Wester" to be cured 
 in an instant. Patients will be waited on (by our Devil) at their- 
 
 V 
 
322 RED RIVER. 
 
 own residences, with a copy of the paper, if they will only bleed to 
 the extent of fourpence for each number, or they will be com- 
 pounded with and kept in good spirits for the whole year at the 
 rate of ten shillings per annum." 
 
 As the new editor was, at the commencement of his career, a 
 supporter of Government, such puny efforts as the one just quoted 
 were" the only attempts made to vary the monotony of ordinary 
 scribbling, and it was abundantly evident the Journal languished 
 under its compulsory deprivation of the only instrument, the mas- 
 tery of which was possessed by its conductors, that of vigorously 
 virulent invective. 
 
 While the United States garrison was yet at Pembina it got 
 rumoured that a new excitement was pervading the settlement 
 Several of the officers of Major Hatch's battalion were connected 
 with the order of Freemasons, and it was probably during their 
 frequent visits to the colony that they succeeded in exciting in the 
 minds of several of the settlers the desire to enter the brotherhood 
 of the mystic tie. Early in March a party from the settlement 
 proceeded to Pembina, with the view of being admitted at the 
 Lodge instituted at that place. Having taken the requisite degrees 
 to qualify them for opening a lodge of their own, they returned 
 home, looking very much solemnized and very wise. Though 
 laudable effi)rts were made to extract information relative to cere- 
 monies of initiation and other particulars, the most inviolable 
 secrecy was maintained, not a little to the surprise of friends who 
 knew the weak points of some of the novices ; such of whom as 
 spoke on the subject of their proceedings at all limited themselves 
 to the general assurance, " they had been very much pleased," or 
 " it was more impressive than any religious ceremony they had 
 ever witnessed." 
 
 The necessary dispensation having been obtained from the Grrand 
 Lodge of Minnesota, the Red River Masons were incorporated under 
 the name of the " Northern Light Lodge." Dr. Schultz added to 
 his other claims on the regard of the public that of being " Wor- 
 shipful Master" of the new association, and the " Nor' Wester' 
 applauded the rising scheme. " It has its secrets," remarked our 
 local organ, " the secrets of ages, and what others have been so wel. 
 
RED RIVER. 323 
 
 tept ? Pretended revelations have been made by those who knew 
 *hat the public was always eager to find out a secret, and would be 
 willing to pay well to satisfy its curiosity. But they knew little, for 
 the working of the order is as much a mystery to outsiders now as 
 it was in that far past from whence it dates its origin." 
 
 The only section of residents in the settlement which condemned 
 the new project was the Roman Catholic priesthood, from some 
 members of which I was amused to hear a variety of statements, 
 bearing on the association and its objects, which were diverting 
 though quite incredible. As the authorities given for facts were 
 jnerely anonymous publications by people who represented them- 
 selves as being too much alarmed at the prospective vengeance of 
 -the brotherhood to divulge their names, I shall not here enlarge on 
 -details. From the Worshipful Master ,'however, I was favoured with 
 some facts, curious, if true, connected with the order, of which, 
 knowing the interest taken by the public in everything connected 
 ■with Freemasonry, I beg here to insert a brief analysis. 
 
 The name of the brotherhood, I was informed, was calculated to 
 prejudice it in the estimation of outsiders. It ought rather to be 
 described as an association of a very superior order of architects. 
 Indeed, architecture or building had but little to do with it, or it 
 with them, for that matter ; for, although it was necessary to gain 
 some acquaintance with the rudiments of architecture before certain 
 jnoraJ truths and other details could be rendered intelligible, still, 
 the whole of that part of the subject was symbolical. Of the two 
 justly celebrated historical characters, St. John the Baptist and 
 St. John the Evangelist, that one had been a mason was certain, 
 ^nd that the other had been so also was highly probable, if not 
 absolutely true. In their days the masons were called the Essenes, 
 and it was to be borne in mind that, although Christ had frequently 
 and severely condemned both Pharisees and Saducees, of this third 
 great section of the Jews he had never made any mention at all. 
 
 The foregoing were certainly the most striking facts relative to 
 masonry which had ever been brought under my consideration. To 
 say nothing of the former part of the communication, that relating 
 to the Essenes started a view of the character of that rather obscure 
 sect, the justice of which has been considered doubtful by such as 
 
S24 RED RIVER. 
 
 have access only to sources of information non-masonie, and which,, 
 if I may rely on what I have myself seen and heard, is not cur- 
 rently known out of doors. 
 
 As the spring had advanced considerably before the preliminaries 
 for the institution of a lodge could be completed, the masons 
 resolved to make no effort until winter, those who had been already 
 admitted being exhorted to pass the intervening time in study and 
 in visiting the lodges at any of the American towns they might 
 have occasion to visit in the transaction of their business. 
 
 About the beginning of April a series of disturbances took place 
 in the outlying settlement of Portage La Prairie, which led to the 
 drawing up of a numerously signed petition of the inhabitants, 
 praying that they should be included within the limits of the muni- 
 cipal district of Assiniboia. In answering this document the coun- 
 cil stated that, without military support, it was hopeless for it to- 
 attempt an extension of its jurisdiction, and requested Governor 
 Dallas to represent in the proper quarter, on the occasion of his 
 approaching visit to England, the misfortune to which the colony- 
 had for years been a prey. The cause which had originated the 
 fresh disturbance had its ludicrous side, and the narrative which 
 appeared in the " Nor' Wester," embodying the principal details, 
 was headed " Rich Scene in a Court of Justice." It appeared that, 
 under the auspices of Archdeacon Cochran, an attempt had been 
 made in December, 1863, to create municipal institutions. Magis- 
 trates and councillors had been elected, and a court of justice, 
 modelled in imitation Of the general quarterly court of Assiniboia, 
 with its president, associate judges, and clerk, had been instituted. 
 The term of office was to be ■ one year. Trial by jury, as the birth- 
 right of every British subject, was established, and all judges and 
 other functionaries were duly elected by the sovereign people. 
 
 Faction, from the beginning of these proceedings, ran as high 
 at the Prairie Portage as it does during the course of a general 
 election any where else, and it required all the personal influence 
 of Archdeacon Cochran to counteract those efforts, subversive of 
 the peace, which were put forth by voters unaccustomed to the 
 working of Free institutions. At the very first sitting of the 
 new court of justice the seeds of discord were sown, and at its 
 
RED RIVKK.. 325 
 
 second meeting, in the following April, the " rich scene" occurred 
 and the sanctity of the local magisterial bench was violated by an 
 ■explosion of a very reprehensible character on the part of the 
 revered occupant. 
 
 The mischief was commenced by one of the associate judges 
 who, being displeased with the finding of the jury in a case before 
 the tribunal, charged the gentlemen of the jury with having 
 perjured themselves. This allegation was not passed unnoticed 
 by the parties libelled, but the proceedings of the court do not 
 seem to have been entirely interrupted until the commencement of 
 the next case upon the roll, in which the president of the court 
 had been summoned as a witness. This official having quitted, 
 the bench during the hearing of the cause in which he was 
 concerned, his place was taken by the associate who had previously 
 attacked the jury. As this person was commencing his charge he 
 was interrupted by the " agent for the defence," on what ground the 
 report furnished the " Nor' Wester " did not state. The audience 
 outside the bar interfered in favour of the judge and insisted 
 that his honour should be permittei.l to proceed. Thereupon a 
 scene of wild confusion was said to have supervened, in the course 
 of which, by some summary method unknown, I should imagine, 
 to the law, the presiding magistrate was driven both from the 
 bench and from his seat in the local council. On the ensuing day 
 the voting for a new magistrate and councillor commenced. 
 
 The above is the substance of the account given in the " Nor' 
 Wester" of the scene in court. Its absolute correctness was, 
 however, impeached by the magistrate implicated, who availed 
 himself of the opportunity afforded by an early issue to state the 
 case according to his own yiews. His communication was headed 
 " A Challenge," and opens by casting an imputation on the article 
 above referred to as being " palpably absurd, and in its conse- 
 quences damaging to my reputation." He demands an opportunity 
 to rebuff and cancel, if possible, the effect produced to his 
 prejudice, and does and can most solemnly rebuff before any 
 tribunal whatsoever the allegation that he had roundly charged the 
 jury with having perjured themselves because they had brought in 
 a certain verdict. -When the rich scene commenced, he, asserted 
 
326 KED EIVER. 
 
 he was sitting quietly, " being aware of the sacredness of my func- 
 tion as J. P., by the side of the chairman of the sessions, neither 
 giving, or getting any charge whatsoever." As to his having been 
 stopped by the " pro-attorney " for the defence, that was at the 
 previous court, 6th January, and not exactly stopped, so to speak,, 
 though certainly much annoyed by his boisterous conduct, who^ 
 while I was charging the jury, rose from his seat vociferating a 
 very strange incidence which he said had escaped his memory while 
 charging the jury. He admitted, however, the accuracy, under 
 certain limitations, of the statement that he had been driven from 
 the bench, a person named Jefferson having given orders to have 
 it so done, but either from a degree of respect or cowardice,. 
 Jefferson's orders were not attended to, and what was more- 
 remarkable, he did not wait to see them executed, but led the way 
 out, followed by the attorney and their party, crying at the top of 
 their voices, "down with him; down with him." The writer 
 concluded his letter by asserting that, if the authorities of Assini- 
 boia were willing to try the case under hearing at the time of the 
 riot, " they are most welcome to accept of my challenge — three 
 hundred pounds sterling to the loser." What the merits of the 
 case were, or on what grounds the sitting magistrate should stake 
 such a sum on its issue before the Red River courts, I do not 
 know ; and indeed to comprehend all the bearings of the letter, of 
 which the above is a general sketch, it would be doubtless neces- 
 sary to know more than I do of the local politics of the Prairie 
 Portage. As already mentioned, the authorities of Assiniboia 
 refused to accede to the request that they should add to their 
 other difficulties that of forming a municipal connection with a 
 district the inhabitants of which were accustomed to an interference 
 such as the above with the course of justice as administered by 
 ■ magistrates elected by themselves. 
 
 Some months subsequently there appeared a running commentary 
 on this letter signed by three members of the party opposed to- 
 that of the magistrate whose administration we have been inves- 
 tigating. The joint authors of the new communication, while- 
 maintaining the correctness of the version first given by the 
 " Nor' Wester," asserted that, " owing to the confused manner in 
 
RED RIVER. 327 
 
 which it is jumbled up, for which the editor is of course not 
 accountable, it would not be possible for other than an eye-witness 
 to render it intelligible." 
 
 They then attacked their opponent in the following strain : 
 "He begins his lofty and ebullient challenge by asserting his 
 readiness to rebuff solemnly, before heaven and earth, (which we 
 take to be the meaning of " before any tribunal whatsoever,") the 
 allegation of his having charged the jury with perjury. He speaks 
 of a little incidence which took place in the court of La Prairie on 
 the 8th January, which is perfectly correct, and which he agonizes 
 to make appear as a great and serious matter. But why does he 
 omit to state that it was the same court that he and the chairman 
 failed to recognize the verdict of the jury by withholding the 
 decision ^{ the bench ? Why ? because he knew that that was 
 the Bore and tender part both with the jury and a vast majority of 
 the public. We are not ready to affirm with J. G., before any 
 tribunal whatsoever, that he directly charged the jury with perjury, 
 but that he did indirectly in different ways and at different times 
 and places, we do firmly and solemnly avow. On the 6th April, 
 when a decision from the bench on the verdict of the jury of the 
 previous court had been finally extorted, he, Mr. J. G., assumed 
 the twofold function of pleader and judge ! and in that twofold 
 and novel capacity he mirahile dictu I gravely put the following 
 question to Mr. D. Cusiter, the attorney for the plaintiff, " can you 
 produce evidence to prove that that verdict is not illegal ?" And 
 was not that paramount to roundly charging the jury with 
 perjury ? 
 
 " It was at this precise juncture that one of the jurors, Mr. P. 
 ■Garrock, foreman," one of the joint authors of the letter from 
 which I now quote, " not able to contain himself at such insulting 
 language, sprang to his feet and said, ' Gentlemen, as a British sub- 
 ject I claim to be heard. We want justice here ; there is no Jus- 
 ti'-e. That gentleman,' alluding to Mr. J. G., ' is not doing justice, 
 he is acting in the twofold capacity of judge and pleader.' In an 
 instant some one from behind, perhaps Jefferson, audibly cried out, 
 'Out with him!' and with him many others, till the cry became 
 general. Not that he (Mr. J, G.) should be thrown headlong out 
 
S28 RED RIVER. 
 
 ■of the court, but that he should be discarded as a member of the 
 oouncil. 
 
 " If Blackstone be right," continues this Prairie Jurist, " then is 
 the trial by jury one of the main bulwarks of the British constitu- 
 tion ; then is the trial by jury, indeed, the surest guardian of the 
 Englishman's liberties ; and, alas ! then have the liberties of poor 
 La Prairie departed. For first our would-be gifted lawyers assume 
 the grave responsibility of rejecting and counteracting the verdict 
 of twelve empanelled and sworn men — men at least upright and 
 sensible — and then, with the utmost conceivable impudence and 
 audacity, perfidiously endanger our liberties by clandestinely and 
 leringingly petitioning the council of Assiniboia for annexation. 
 
 " Had Mr. J. Gr. duly considered the sacredness of his functions 
 as J.P., when Mr. Cusiter read his protest against any. further 
 3)roceedings of the bench, until the decision from the said bench 
 had recognised the verdict of the jury of the previous court, the 
 supposed necessity for appealing to the bench, the pulpit, and the 
 bar might have been obviated." 
 
 This remark can only have reference to the letters in the " Nor' 
 Wester " already referred to, and, probably, some sermon from 
 Archdeacon Cochran, in which allusion was made to the tumults 
 prevailing among his turbulent people. The epistle continued : — 
 
 " Mr. J. Gr. very properly scorns a coward, but why does he 
 assimilate himself to so vile and worthless a character by screening, 
 during controversy, his invidious and detracting epithets under the 
 guise of petitions, names, and false characters ? 
 
 " Next comes the astounding conclusion which makes one's very 
 blood to ache, and his bones to palpitate ! £300 to the loser 1 
 What, to the loser ? And what in the n -ime of Jefierson is for the 
 winner ? Truly in these hard times one might almost be tempted 
 to take advantage of such easy terms. But no ; sterling cash and 
 sterling principle are not synonymous terms with us ; we scorn to 
 obtain the former by a compromise of the latter. Too fast! too 
 fast ! Mr. J. G. Posthumous bequests are not announced every 
 •day in one's life.'' 
 
 This letter, the publication of which was delayed for several 
 weeks after it had been Written through the absence of the editor, 
 
RED RIVER. 329 
 
 oalled forth a so-called " complete statement," signed by three of 
 the opposite party, friends of the magistrate, Mr. John Garrioeh. 
 This fresh effort was published as a " Nor' Wester" "extra" on 
 the first October, 1864, but throws no light perceptible to an 
 outsider on the motive for the stake of £300 proposed by the 
 magistrate. It states, however, that all the councillors and justices 
 of the new commonwealth had been unanimously chosen by the 
 people in December, 1863, on the nomination of the Rev. Thomas 
 €ochran, in presence of the Ven. Archdeacon Cochran ; and it 
 was on the first occasion of the sitting of the newly constituted court 
 on the 6th January ensuing, that the disturbances commenced, 
 which ended in the consummation described, at the quarter sessions 
 ■commencing on 6th April. 
 
 On 17th May, 1864, Mr. Dallas, Governor of Rupert's Land, 
 took his final departure from Red River on his return to England. 
 The residence of this gentleman in the settlement as Governor had 
 lasted two years, during one of which, as has been already 
 recounted, very serious difficulties beset his Government. On the 
 announcement by Mr. Dallas, in the Council of Assiniboia, of his 
 approaching retirement, a very laudatory motion was proposed by 
 Judge Black, seconded by the Bishop of St. Boniface, and unani- 
 mously carried, referring to the disquieting events which had 
 transpired during Mr. Dallas' sojourn, and complimenting him on 
 the manner in which he had dealt with them. He left under a 
 salute of twenty-one rounds fired from the six-pounder field pieces 
 attached to the Fort, and was accompanied on his way, as far as 
 Pembina, by Mr. Mactavish, Governor of Assiniboia, who subse- 
 quently succeeded him as Governor of Rupert's Land. 
 
 On the 3 1st May another departure occurred, which, in the 
 minds of a great many in the settlement, left a blank very 
 decidedly felt and regretted. Doctor Anderson had, as already 
 msntioned in Chapter IX, come to the country as its Bishop in the 
 yfear 1849, and, during the succeeding fifteen years, had occupied 
 limself in the performance of the duties attaching to his office, 
 which, so far as they concern the settlement, have been touched 
 upon in the chapter specified. Although his lordship regularly 
 attended in his place at the meetings of council, the part hs played 
 
330 EED KIVER. 
 
 as a public man was not such as to bring him much before the 
 public. His name has, therefore, not often been mentioned in the 
 portion of this narrative referring to secular affairs. Personally, 
 in the course of the three years of my residence preceding his 
 departure, I had seen a good deal of the Bishop, whose house was 
 always open, and his time and attention unweariedly at the service 
 of all they could benefit. Had my rule in the matter of respecting 
 private relations and events not been decidedly adhered to, so far 
 as I have yet proceeded, I should frequently have mentioned long 
 winter evenings and days spent at Bishop's Court. The tax laid 
 upon his patience by the multitude of visitors probably reached its- 
 maximum during the few days preceding his departure, when,, 
 indeed, but little leisure could have fallen to his lot, even had 
 nothing occupied his attention further than receiving the perpetual 
 current of leave-takers arriving from morning till night. 
 
 Although it was by no means certain that his lordship would 
 not return to the country, the belief that such was the case was 
 general and strong. The prevailing sentiment of attachment to the- 
 Bishop therefore found expression in a series of public addresses to 
 himself, with which, along with his accompanying replies, the 
 columns of the " Nor' Wester" were for some issues crowded. The 
 general tone of these documents apparently gratified the Bishop, 
 whose replies, however, hinted his thoughts that in some of their 
 details they were overdrawn. One instance I may mention of a 
 party of gentlemen who committed themselves to the assertion that, 
 " Nearly all the Indian tribes scattered over this extensive terri- 
 tory enjoy the preaching of the glad tidings of salvation in their 
 own tongue." So far as an intimation is intended to be conveyed 
 in the above expression of the fact that isolated missionaries have, 
 from time to time, preached in most of the great languages spoken 
 by the Indians of British North America, the statement is, I 
 believe, not far from the truth ; but, if it should lead any one' to 
 believe that the field of labour is fully supplied, besides being 
 ridiculous, it puts those clergymen, whose utmost efforts have failed 
 to come within sight of such a conclusion, in a very unfair light. 
 Even under the most favourable circumstances it will require a vast 
 machinery, yet unprovided, before the result indicated by the 
 expression can be attained. 
 
KED RIVEK. 331 
 
 Hundreds of people had congregated at the Ferry to witness the 
 Bishop's departure. The universal sentiment entertained was 
 truthfully declared by the " Nor' Wester," in the following words : 
 " His Lordship was indeed in its widest sense a man of large 
 humanity, of a benevolence and goodness great and untiring ; his 
 hand was ever open as the day to melting charity ; in him the poor 
 and needy found ever a faithful, sympathizing friend ; nor while 
 administering those spiritual consolations which raised the broken 
 spirit, did he neglect, when occasion demanded, such proper relief 
 to temporal necessity as would be of healthy benefit to the 
 recipient. The patron and friend of all schemes of literary 
 advancement, the dispenser of a generous hospitality, this Chris- 
 tian gentleman has earned with us the guerdon of a good name — 
 better than riches.'' 
 
 Such having been the leave taken by Bishop Anderson of his 
 friends in the colony, it was with regret, though without surprise, 
 that the latter heard in the course of the autumn that his lordship- 
 had, on reaching England, taken the necessary steps to retire from 
 his office, and accepted the vicarage of Clifton in the west of 
 England. 
 
 During the month of June, Dr. Rae passed through the settle- 
 ment. This gentleman is known to the public chiefly as a perse- 
 vering and successful traveller in the Arctic regions. Upon this 
 occasion he was engaged on a journey across the continent with a 
 view to ascertaining the practicability of establishing a line of 
 telegraphic communication thrqugh the British territory, the reali- 
 zation of such a project forming one of a number of schemes con- 
 templated by the new stockholders of the Hudson's Bay Company, 
 with the ultimate object of colonizing that portion of their terri- 
 tory, the soil and climate of which admit of cultivation. Dr. Kae- 
 was accompanied by Mr. Schwieger, a civil engineer from Canada^ 
 of great professional experience. The plan of the expedition, 
 which was afterwards successfully carried out, was that Dr. Rae- 
 should proceed the whole way across the continent to Vancouver's 
 Island, returning thence to England by Panama, while Mr. 
 Schwieger should accompany him to TSte Jaune Cache, and 
 return thence to Canada, bringing back with him to Red River 
 the party engaged to take both gentlemen across the Plains. 
 
332 , RED KIVBK. 
 
 After about three weeks passed in arranging the necessary pre- 
 liminaries, the party started for the west. Dr. Eae's local know- 
 ledge and personal acquaintance with all the ofiSeers at the various 
 posts, ensured the utmost facilities being rendered to the expedi- 
 tion. Mr. Schwieger executed a very complete survey of the 
 route, carrying his detailed observations to such an extent as 
 to count the average number of trees per mile suitable for his 
 purposes on those portions of the line where timber was very 
 scarce, i^ This was the case over a very considerable part of the 
 Plain country. 
 
 The reports upon the scheme in question handed to the Com- 
 pany, were of course exhaustive. The general description of the 
 country having been already given in Chapter XVII, on the 
 authority of Lord Milton's and Dr. Cheadle's published observa- 
 tions, I need here state nothing further on that head than has 
 been advanced. Mr. Schwieger, however, in private conversation 
 repeatedly in my hearing expressed his opinion that the serious 
 difficulty of erecting a telegraphic apparatus across country lay in 
 the danger to which it would be exposed from the Indians who, 
 even from a motive of mischief, would surely destroy it. Super- 
 stition too, would not be idle, and, in the event of any epidemic 
 spreading among them the savages would certainly believe it the 
 work of the poles and wires. Moreover, they would use the 
 former as firewood and the wire as raw material for the manufac- 
 ture of arrow heads. A railway, as offering means of concentrat- 
 ing a military force to check these irregularities might be a more 
 hopeful scheme than a telegraph alone, but the enterprise would 
 yet be very premature, and, under any circumstances, the wild tribes 
 of Blaokfeet and other warlike Indians inhabiting the Saskatche- 
 wan Valley would require to be largely subsidized before any 
 project involving occupation of the country could be contemplated. 
 I believe these are the unaaimous sentiments of all officers who 
 have lived in the Indian country. 
 
 The summer of 1864 passed very quietly. The Northern 
 Council of that year had been held at Fort Garry early in May, to 
 meet the wishes of the president, Governor Dallas, who had 
 arranged to leave for England as early as the season would permit. 
 
RED RIVER. 335 
 
 Several of the highest officers in the service had travelled hun- 
 dreds of miles on the last ice, in order to be present at this meet- 
 ing, -which, from the action taken thereat, in commencing measures 
 still in an unsettled state, was an important one. These gentlemen 
 scattered early in June, and, like the vast majority of residents at 
 Red River, spent the summer in travelling towards their respec- 
 tive destinations. 
 
 The readers of the " Nor' Wester " were, during this season so 
 barren of interest, treated from time to time with some gentle 
 stimulant of local excitement, sometimes in the shape of an edi- 
 torial, and at others, in that of a letter from an aggrieved corres- 
 pondent. One of the latter class, early in June, solicited public 
 attention to a detailed narrative of his miseries. 
 
 Joseph Lemay, Esq., judge, postmaster and collector of United 
 States customs at the frontier post of Pembina, filled a tolerably 
 well paid office, but was exposed, in tl)e execution of his duties, 
 to an almost intolerable amount of abuse and obloquy at the hands 
 of a class of men who cared as much about the obligations imposed 
 by civilized laws as they respected Mr. Lemay for his professional 
 knowledge of such. His own countrymen resident at Red River 
 Settlement were supposed to give the collector, on the whole, more 
 trouble than did the British colonists, while he revenged himself 
 as far as possible by strictly adhering to the letter of his instruc- 
 tions as regards releases for bonded goods, and relaxed no charge 
 which it was in his power legally to enforce against the enemy. 
 It will readily be understood that much power which might be 
 perfectly legally used, either to retard or facilitate the transmission 
 of goods, was necessarily vested in the |iands of such a person as 
 Mr. Lemay. 
 
 So unpopular had that public servant become among a certain 
 class that he stood in well-grounded fear of personal violence at 
 the hands of its members as often as they entered an appearance 
 with a fresh cargo of bonded merchandize at his head-quarters. 
 When at St. Paul he met his persecutors, secure under the wing 
 of an organized police force, he has been known to exhibit some- 
 what more than his wonted confidence in his communications with 
 them, receiving in reply a plain intimation that he had better take 
 
334 KED IlIVER. 
 
 ■care what he did or he would walk in a skinful of sore bones the 
 first time his interlocutors should encounter him at Pembina. 
 His visits to Eed River Settlement oocasionUlIy proved disastrous. 
 Those with whom it was his object to do business, treacherously 
 -concealing their designs under the cloak of hospitality, pressed on 
 his acceptance the peculiarly stimulating beverages commonly used 
 in the country, and occasionally reduced their visitor to a condi- 
 i;ion in which he found it prudent to avoid engaging in business. 
 To do Mr. Lemay justice, however, the latter event was one very 
 uncommon in his experience, as he was, I believe, a match, so far 
 as ability lay in the consumption of spirits, more than competent 
 to deal with any adversary he would be likely often to meet. 
 Latterly, moreover, he prudently shielded himself against all such 
 attempts under the plea of total abstinence. 
 
 Sometimes the war was carried on more openly. The collector 
 called one day on a man, who he alleged had deceived him, and told 
 him, " Sir, you are a liar ! " He was immediately knocked down 
 for his pains by a blow on the eye which rendered him a deplorable 
 spectacle for a long time. He applied to several magistrates for 
 satisfaction on account of the assault he had sustained, and justified 
 the ofiiensive expression he had used on the ground : "I called him 
 a liar because he was a liar, and I could not call him anything 
 else." 
 
 On another occasion he was knocked down with an axe handle 
 in the course of a dispute with a settler, rising out of an alleged 
 •overcharge of two cents in his Pembina postage accounts. 
 
 The special subject of Mr. Lemay's letter to the " Nor' Wester " 
 consisted of the events which had transpired at Pembina subse- 
 quent to the withdrawal of Major Hatch's battalion, when he, 
 acting in conformity with the instructions of General Sibley, took 
 charge of the vacant barracks. Scarcely had the steamer carrying 
 oflF the troops got out of sight, wrote the collector, when a promis- 
 cuous crowd' of forty or fifty pillagers entered the buildings and 
 occupied themselves during the ensuing three or four days in 
 carrying off every movable article they contained, including doors, 
 locks, mantelpieces and farniture. They paid no attention to 
 the warnings of the legal occupant, as to the consequenees of their 
 
RED RIVBK. 335 
 
 acts, and left that gentleman to encourage himself in the hope 
 "" that their day of retribution would soon be at hand." 
 
 The lootin<? completed, Mr. Lemay's next anxiety rose from a 
 friendly warning, conveyed to him by a friend journeying past the 
 dismantled fortress, that, on the preceding day, a party of Sioux 
 had been seen dancing in a neighbouring village, and that a second 
 3)arty consisting of about twenty-five or thirty of the same tribe, had 
 boasted of being on their way to Pembina in quest of the collector's 
 scalp. To quote the words of Mr. Lemay, " they had received 
 the information from a friend of mine (over the left) residing in 
 the settlement, that I was the only American left in charge of 
 Major Hatch's quarters. They said that the description of my 
 person had been given them by the infernal villain above alluded 
 to, who doubtless would himself take my life, had he no more 
 fears of a gallows or a hemp rope than he has of Divine Justice.'' 
 
 The clue once obtained to this fresh deed of darkness, corrobo- 
 rating circumstances presented themselves in a formidable number. 
 A Sioux boy, whom Major Hatch had left with the French priest, 
 P6re Andr^, suddenly disappeared. The dogs in the neighbour- 
 hood barked strangely during the short summer nights, and human 
 footprints were discovered of a morning in the neighbourhood, 
 pointing clearly to the fact of the presence of the enemy round 
 -the collector's premises. The Sioux boasted they had been on the 
 watch for a day, but had not seen Mr. Lemay outside of his house, 
 while they were afraid of making a mistake and killing an English- 
 man instead of him. "Butnow,'' continued Mr. Lemay, "that they 
 have Major Hatch's little devil to identify me, they intend coming 
 down again; therefore deeming it prudent for me to get away 
 from my house, I came down to stop with Captain Hackland." 
 Mr. Hackland was the gentleman in charge of the Hudson's Bay 
 trading post on the British side of the line about two miles from 
 the barracks which Mr. Lemay found it prudent he should quit. 
 He derived his title of Captain from the fact of his having com- 
 manded the York Factory schooner for a series of years. 
 
 Mr. Lemay added that his presence had drawn the Sioux to his 
 new quarters, and the settlers outside, the walls were so much 
 alarmed that Hackland was compelled to permit them to take 
 
336 RED KIVER. 
 
 refuge at night within the Fort. Under these circumstances he- 
 felt that the interest of his government called him to St. Paul,, 
 for which place he would start in a few days, leaving a substitute- 
 to act as inspector of customs in his absence. He intended how- 
 ever to return at some future happier time, unless, says he, " my 
 life gets too much exposed; in which ease of course I would 
 rather tender my resignation, for the loss of my life would very 
 little benefit the Government, and far less my family." 
 
 Fortunately Mr. Lemay escaped from all the dangers which 
 beset him, and having long since retired from the post office 
 business, he remains still (1869) at Pembina as collector of 
 customs, in which capacity he acts as an interested and zealous 
 servant of his department. A better understanding appears to 
 prevail between him and his customers, of whom we now never 
 hear it said tbey commit any assault or battery against his person.. 
 
CHAPTEE XXIV. 
 
 1864-65. 
 Hsat — Drought and Loouats— St. John's Cathedral; Its Leaning Tower 
 — Last great Sioux visit — North West Oriclset Club — Bad Crops — 
 Hudson's Bay Company's Ships stranded on Mansfield Island — Cap- 
 tain Bennett's Winter Journey — Masonic proceedings — Celebration 
 of St. John's Day—" Nor" Wester " Office destroyed by Fire— Mr. 
 Hunt's Poetical efforts — Northern Tour of Rev. P&re Vandenberghe — 
 Bishop Faraud — Grasshoppers— Sequel of Hunter vs. Tate — Archdea- 
 con Hunter's Departure — Mr. William Thomson Smith's adventure in 
 Mackenzie River District. 
 
 The heat of the summer of 1864 at Ked River was so extreme 
 that nobody in the settlement remembered such another. The 
 thermometer sometimes continued for a considerable portion of 
 the afternoon to stand at 100 degrees in the shade. The river 
 sank and the International made only one trip, that being the 
 first she had been enabled to accomplish for nearly two years, 
 during which she had lain, unharmed throughout the Indian war, 
 at Georgetown and Fort Abercrombie. /The droughts prevailed 
 until the middle of July, when rain for the first time visited the 
 parched ground. With it, unfortunately, arrived swarms of 
 locusts which with terrible voracity cleared away the rising crops. 
 The barley was first attacked, after which the leaves were stripped 
 from the wheat, and finally the stalks of the latter were gnawed 
 through immediately below the ear. 
 
 The public mind had been more or less, ever since the comple- 
 tion of the sixty feet tower of the cathedral of St. John, in the 
 autumn of 1863, under the impression that the structure was 
 unsafe, from a defect in the work, in consequence of which the 
 weight of the tower rested, it was fancied, to a dangerous extent, 
 on the gable of the church. This current impression had been 
 confirmed by a perceptible and increasing tendency of the tower to 
 
 W 
 
338 EBD EIVER. 
 
 fall backwards from the perpendicular, inclining towards the main 
 building. The " Nor' Wester," during the month of August, 
 1864, published the substance of a communication it had received 
 from a correspondent who desired that the public mind might be 
 set at rest by a thorough investigation of the point in question. 
 
 This article drew forth a reply at considerable length from 
 Archdeacon Hunter, who, as the senior resident ecclesiastic, came 
 forward to reassure the people. The Archdeacon wrote that he 
 thought the correspondent of the "Nor' Wester" might have 
 communicated with the vestry before unnecessarily alarming the 
 public through the newspapers, and, moreover, there appeared to 
 have been an extraordinary delay in the publication of this letter, 
 seeing it described things as they had been many weeks before, 
 and steps had been taken, at a date long anterior to its appearance, 
 to remedy the evils of which he complained. A meeting of 
 experienced tradesmen had declared the tower itself to be safe ; 
 but expressed serious misgivings about the gable, which had 
 accordingly been taken down, and " the stones of which he seems 
 to have such great fear are lying quiet and harmless on the ground 
 outside of the building, so that he need have no apprehension so 
 far as- the gable is concerned." 
 
 To the remarks of the Archdeacon the editors appended a few 
 personal obseiTations of their own. They assured their readers 
 that, even if the gable should at any time come down, it would 
 doubtless fall outwards and not inwards, but that it would not be 
 left to either fate, " something in the way of buttresses would be 
 used to stay it." The tower of the cathedral was examined daily 
 by the Kev. Thomas Thistlethwaite Smith, the temporary, incum- 
 bent, with such accuracy that a deflexion of one-sixteenth of an 
 inch would be immediately detected. This Mr Smith did, not 
 because he feared anything of the kind himself, but in order to 
 satisfy the hearers, Mr. Smith and the Archdeacon appear to 
 have been in the right, as the tower has stood the test of time ; 
 but their feeling of assurance did not immediately extend itself to 
 the lay worshippers, as was, I believe, pretty plainly evinced by the 
 nervousness which prevailed indoors one Sunday, some months 
 afterwards, when one of the four large weathercocked pinnacles 
 
RED RIVM. 339 
 
 which adorned the corners at the summit of the tower, fell with a 
 resounding blow on the sharp gabled roof of the building in which 
 the people were assembled for morning prayer. The cause of the 
 accident was a magnificent flag, presented to the church by a friend 
 in England, which had been, in commemoration of some important 
 event, hoisted that morning on a proportionately somewhat 
 diminutive flagstaff erected on the top of the tower. This orna- 
 ment, agitated by an unusually strong wind, got entangled about 
 the pinnacle which it loosened from the adjoining masonry and 
 forced from its position. The excitement below was described as 
 exceeding in intensity that which had prevailed one morning, when 
 the folding legs of the Bishop's state chair, emblazoned with the 
 mitre-crowned armorial bearings of the Diocese, gave way, preci- 
 pitating his lordship somewhat unexpectedly to the ground, while 
 his assistant was reading the Epistle for the day ; only, whereas a 
 tendency to smile had, on the previous occasion, shown itself 
 pretty plainly in certain quarters, the congregation, in the latter 
 instance, indulged in no such ill-timed levity. 
 
 A somewhat unusual event occurred at the August Quarter 
 Sessions of this year. The assize was a " maiden " one, and gave 
 an opportunity to Mr. Sheriff McKenney of presenting the 
 presiding judge with a pair of white gloves, along with a neat 
 speech of his own, " in accordance," said the Sheriff, " with a 
 time-honoured usage on such occasions in English courts." 
 
 Towards the end of August the settlement was visited by the 
 last lai^e party of Sioux which it has been as yet called on to 
 receive. It certainly has never for any considerable length of time 
 been entirely free from the presence of some of these Indians, but 
 they have been merely steagglers, come dften for purposes of trade. 
 On the present occasion their party consisted of three hundred and 
 fifty lodges, including about three thousand souls, divided into 
 four bands, under four chiefs, named "StandingBuffalo," " Turn- 
 ing Thunder," " Charger," and the " Leaf." They had abandoned 
 their hunting grounds and their lake fisheries and come hungry 
 to the settlement, where it was necessary they should be fed. 
 Governor Mactavish had gone to meet them at the Prairie Portage, 
 where he had endeavoured to dissuade them from visiting the heart 
 
840 BED BIVBK. 
 
 of the colony. Standing Buffalo supported him to the extent of 
 recommending that only their chiefs should proceed, with the object 
 of making arrangements about opening up a trade between their 
 nation and the Hudson's Bay Company, and procuring some neces- 
 sary supplies they could not get elsewhere. Ultimately Standing 
 Buffalo took with him only a few of his chief men, while the three 
 other chiefs were accompanied by their entire bands. They spoke 
 a good deal about their English medals got during the American 
 war, and complained of the permission given Major Hatch to pur- 
 sue their fellow sufferers on British territory. 
 
 A short distance from the settlement four hundred and fifty 
 lodges were encamped, the tenants of which had not decided on 
 yisiting the colony. Prom those who had already come it was 
 gathered that a general d«sire prevailed among their tribes to con- 
 clude a peace with the Americans, but such as were so inclined 
 were intimidated by the ill-disposed, who urged a prosecution of 
 the war. They were given to understand that their presence at 
 Red River was very undesirable, and informed that all that could 
 be done for them was to allow the traders on the Plains to deal, 
 with them as with any other Indians, and the common interest 
 would be their guarantee that this should be done, if their conduct 
 would render it practicable. After a very short stay they departed, 
 receiving as usual a present of provisions. On their way off, on 
 this the last of their visits, they have been accused of committing 
 a variety of outrages, of which they were doubtless guilty in part ; 
 but to some people it has appeared no great breach of charity to 
 suspect the resident Indians of being concerned in robberies of 
 which the Sioux were certain to receive the credit. It was said 
 they had called at every house on their track where children 
 resided who had been sold to the settlers by their friends, who had 
 wintered in the neighbourhood, and taken away the childreUj in 
 some instances much against their will. This was effected some- 
 times surreptitiously, and sometimes by open force. They also 
 committed sacrilege, stealing some altar decorations from a Roman 
 Catholic church, and a communion cloth and other articles from 
 an isolated English chapel, which they entered during the night 
 In view of further visits of a similar.nature the "Nor' Wester" 
 
KED RIVER. 341 
 
 :^aiii agitated the question of organizing a local force to protect 
 the colony, but the project, after having been canvassed in the 
 usual way, again fell to the ground. 
 
 From time to time energetic attempts had been made by resi- 
 dents at Fort Garry to institute an effective cricket club. Bats, 
 balls, and wickets of approved make had been imported in con- 
 aderable quantities for the use of the players, and, so long as the 
 military remained at Red River, the institution was to a certain 
 extent a success. After their departure, however, the enterprise 
 languished, and it was not until October, 1864, that the advent of 
 an amateur adept in the game from Canada infused new life into 
 the undertaking. On the afternoon of Saturday, 24th September, 
 a considerable crowd of those anxious to be initiated into the 
 mysteries of cricket attended at Fort Garry, on a spot in the neigh- 
 bourhood of which the wickets were pitched, and the play com- 
 menced in a somewhat pell-mell style just at first. 
 
 On the first day of meeting the Governor was nominated Presi- 
 dent of the club, and the motion was carried with unanimous con- 
 sent. A committee and working officers were then appointed. Mr. 
 Coldwell, the editor, who, in addition to his other good qualities, 
 was a somewhat expert cricketer, accepted the office of secretary. 
 The business of subscriptions was got over and a resolution unani- 
 mously passed that the presence of any number of members, suf- 
 ficient to carry on a game, on the cricket ground, with the bats and 
 wickets, should constitute a formal meeting of the " North West 
 Cricket Club." 
 
 As winter was close at hand, and the only day available for the 
 practice of the game was Saturday, not many meetings of the club 
 occurred during the first year of its renovation, and those assem- 
 blies which did take place appeared to have other objects in view 
 than the pure play. The general course of operations pursued may 
 be described as being somewhat like the following: a small red flag 
 was planted on a staff at one part of the field, while the more 
 expert players began bowling and batting. For perhaps half an 
 hour the business was briskly kept up, while the numbers present 
 were constantly receiving augmentations from belated members. 
 A proposal made that some gentleman should forthwith go 
 
342 EBD KIVER. 
 
 and hunt up " refresliments" was passed by an overwEelming 
 majority, and the deputy adjourned to the Fort Garry shop, whence, 
 some time afterwards, he emerged, bringing with him the stimulants 
 desired contained in a little keg, in one hand, and a tin kettle of 
 cold water in the other. His appearance was the signal for an 
 immediate cessation of ball practice, while the members, circled in 
 a social knot, tried conclusions with the good things provided for 
 their entertainment. Such an episode, repeated with increasing 
 frequency as the short autumn day faded into evening, began to 
 tell on the conduct of the players. The vigor and expertness of 
 aim with which the bowling was executed increased with every 
 round ; balls flew, with velocities proportioned to the strength of 
 the batsman, and the breaking strain of his instrument, in parabolic 
 curves of infinite degrees of eccentricity, whose courses, in the 
 deepening gloom, defied the range of vision or the practical calcu- 
 lations of " long stop" and " long field on." The most profound 
 adept present in the cricketer's art generally knew least in what 
 direction to look for the next projectile, which, after passing through 
 a process of vigorous exchange between "long stop," "long slip," 
 and " cover point," should double him up on one side, or,, spinning 
 with no hesitating bound from the wickets, take him unawares on 
 the other. Nightfall necessarily put an end to the field portion of 
 this somewhat practically jocular entertainment. 
 
 The mischief done by the grasshoppers had spoiled the harvest, 
 but the fisheries and Piain hunts continued to supply the people ' 
 with food, and the low water in the river, which had prevented 
 the steamboat running, necessitated the employmentof a vast num- 
 ber of Red River carts by the Company's freight contractors, thus 
 supplying the numerous settlers possessed of moderate means, who 
 owned the vehicles, with profitable employment during summBr for 
 ■themselves and their cattle. Indeed, the mishaps which hitherto 
 prevented the working of this steamer proved great windfalls to the 
 people. In former times the freight, which now comes by Saint 
 Paul, passed to its destination by the York route, and the cash 
 disbursed in purchasing its transport between the Bay and the 
 settlement, being paid to the Red Rj^er tripmen who worked the 
 boats, circulated in the colony, whi^ the sums disbursed to the St. 
 
RED RIVER. 343 
 
 Paul contractors of late years have been paid in bills of exchange 
 on the Board of the Company in London, which, being negotiated 
 in the United States, cut off a large outlet of the local cash cur- 
 rency formerly flowing from the Company's strong box. The St. 
 Paul contractors, being unable to run the steamer, were compelled 
 to engage freighters at Red River to travel to Georgetown, there to 
 meet the goods brought thither from St. Paul by their own people, 
 over that portion of their freight route .intended, at the time of 
 arranging the terms of their contract, to be traversed by land car- 
 riage. Large importations of grain were brought from Minnesota, 
 and the local duty thereon was repealed by the Council of Assini. 
 boia. In consequence of these circumstances anything approach- 
 ing a famine was averted. 
 
 During the autximn Mr. Mactavish, Governor of Assiniboia, 
 retired from the charge of the Company's district of Red River, 
 in which he was succeeded by Chief Factor James Robert Clare, 
 who had been for some years the officer in charge of York Factory. 
 Mr. Clare at first 'received no commission to aet as magistrate in 
 the settlement, it being considered advisable that the Company's 
 legislative and trading interests should be in separate hands. Mr. 
 Clare was, however, subsequently appointed a councillor of Assini- 
 boia. As Mr. Mactavish temporarily quitted the colony on a visit to 
 England, Mr. Black, the president of the courts, wae appointed 
 to act as Governor during his absence. 
 
 The Company's ships sent to the Bay in 1864 had been unfor- 
 tunate. The " Prince Arthur," steering for Moose Factory, and 
 the " Prince of Wales," for York, had both run aground within 
 sight of each other .on a spot somewhat out of their usual route 
 at the Bay extremity of Hudson's Straits, named Mansfield 
 Island. The former was completely wrecked, and the latter so 
 badly injured that she had to be left to pass the winter at the 
 Factory, whither she had managed to sail from the scene of the 
 disaster, carrying with her the crew, passengers and part of the 
 cargo of her less fortunate companion. Had the " Ocean 
 Nymph," a chartered vessel of the Company, not gone to York 
 that year in safety, the accident would have been very damaging 
 indeed. As it happened the Moose Factory returns were detained 
 
344 RED BIVBE. 
 
 for one year from market and its next year's outfit lost in conse- 
 quence of the wreck of the "Prince Arthur." The " Prince of 
 Wales," after spending a winter on the beach of Hudson's Bay, 
 was put once more into sailing order, by the skilful carpenters 
 forwarded from London the ensuing year, and returned to England. 
 At the time of the accident at Mansfield Island two American 
 whalers were in the immediate neighbourhood, the captains of 
 which offered their services to rescue the cargo from the wreck, 
 but with small efiect. 
 
 Towards Christmas the Captain of the " Prince of Wales " 
 along with two of his officers passed Red River on their way 
 to England, the captain of the " Prince Arthur " and crews 
 of both vessels having gone home directly in the " Ocean 
 Nymph." Captain Sennett had experienced a very troublesome 
 passage over the ice on the rivers and lakes between York and the 
 settlement. He said that of all the long journeys he had made 
 round the globe, this had been the least pleasant. His appearance 
 on his arrival one evening at a solitary hut on a point in Lake 
 Winnipeg, then used as a temporary trading point by one of th§ 
 Company's clerks, is said to have borne strong testimony to the 
 truth of his description. A short distance from Grassy Narrows, 
 as the place was called, a sudden crack in the ice took place near 
 the spot where the Captain's carriole pursued its peaceful way. 
 An outbreak of waters issuing from the gap, speedily though 
 somewhat rudely restored the gallant sailor to his accustomed 
 element. The runner, who was driving his dogs, seeing the 
 water coming, jumped upon the standing board protruding behind 
 the Captain's carriole, which at once capsized, while the passen- 
 ger picked himself up wet to the skin. He had some trouble in 
 reaching Grassy Narrows, his clothes freezing round his body, 
 and on his arrival he vented his indignation at every body and 
 everything in a style the purity of which was so marred by quota- 
 tions from the Latin as to be only partially intelligible to his plain 
 fur-trading host, " Vestigia nulla retrorsum," "coeteris pari- 
 bus," " sine qua non ne plus ultra," " quantum sufficit," " et 
 ccetera," being terms little used in Rupert's Land. 
 
 The Captain, moreover, was a Freemason, and had already 
 
RED RIVER. 345 
 
 encountered a brother in authority at Norway House. His arrival 
 was, of course, hailed as an auspicious event by the members of 
 the Northern Light Lodge, who vied with each other to honour 
 their itinerant fellow mason. After enjoying the hospitalities of 
 the colony during a stay of a few days, he and his two junior 
 officers left Fort G-arry for England on Christmas Eve. 
 
 From the first closing in of winler it was evident- that the lodge 
 of Freemasons, which had been instituted in spring, had deter- 
 mined vigorously to carry on the business proper to such an asso- 
 ciation. The lodge met one evening each week, and the number 
 of candidates who presented themselves for admission kept it 
 fully employed throughout the early part of the season and formed 
 quite a goodly-sized brotherhood. The little village, the project 
 of calling which by the name of the great lake in its neighbour- 
 hood was then beginning to be spoken of, presented quite a scene 
 of activity and bustle on the evenings of meeting, as cutters from 
 all quarters brought members to the spot. Many of the wealthier 
 people in the colony had joined the lodge, and the number included 
 a highly respectable proportion of the resident Anglican clergy. 
 Archdeacon Hunter was chaplain to the lodge, and Dr. Schultz, as 
 already mentioned, acting master. 
 
 With reference to this fraternity I hope the following extract 
 from the " Nor' Wester " of 23rd January, 1865, will not be 
 considered unworthy of a place in this work : 
 
 CELEBRATION OF ST. JOHN'S DAT. 
 
 " The 27th December was observed by the members of Nor- 
 thern Light Lodge as a day of festivity in honour of one of their 
 patron saints. At half-past two on that day the doors of the 
 lodge were thrown open to the few who were invited to be present 
 at the ceremonies, it being a matter of much regret that the smal 
 size of the room interfered with the wishes of the invitation com- 
 mittee, who would have been pleased to have invited a much larger 
 number. The formal ceremony of installing officers commenced 
 shortly afterwards, and on its conclusion addresses were made by 
 the master, Eev. W. Taylor, and Ven. Archdeacon Hunter. 
 From the lodge the members and guests proceeded to the dinner 
 
346 RED RIVER. 
 
 wtioli was provided, after whioh suitable masonic and other toasts 
 were proposed, wliich were replied to by Judge Black, Mr. Chief 
 Factor Clare, and others. 
 
 The dinner concluded, the remainder of the evening was spent 
 in the house of A. G-. B. Bannatyne, Esq., who kindly threw open 
 his rooms for the purpose. 
 
 The foUpwing are the officers for the year : Dr. Sohultz, W.M . ; 
 Mr. Bannatyne, S.W. ; Mr. W. Inkster, J.W. ; Mr. Coldwell, sec. ; 
 Mr. Sheal, treas. ; Ven. Archdeacon Hunter, chaplain ; Mr. Hall, 
 S.D., Mr. Curtis, J.D., Dr. Bird and Kev. W. Taylor, stewards, 
 Mr. Morgan, tyler.'' 
 
 It was currently rumoured outside that a very important part 
 of the entertainment enjoyed by the masons consisted in the 
 supper which followed the more solemn proceedings in the lodge. 
 Regarding the details of the latter, nothing, I believe, was ever 
 certainly known, but the notes of a harmonium popularly supposed 
 to have been played by the Rev. Thomas Thistlethwaite Smith 
 could not be well hushed or confined within the precincts of the 
 meeting chamber, and led to an impression that something very 
 mysteriously pleasing was in progress. The institution, however, 
 like all local Red River institutions, yet introduced, after being 
 vigorously patronized throughout the winter on the events of 
 which we are now engaged, subsequently fell off very much, in 
 consequence of the departure from the colony of many of the 
 most influeiltial members, and for some years past no meeting has 
 been held and the lodge may be considered extinct. 
 
 On the night of the 23rd February a destructive fire broke out 
 on the premises occupied by the " Nor' "Wester " establishment, 
 which had attained such proportions before it was observed as 
 defied all the efforts which could be made to extinguish it. The 
 printing house and its contents, along with an adjacent book and 
 stationery warehouse belonging to Mr. Coldwell, were entirely 
 consumed, while his neighbouring dwelling-house narrowly escaped 
 a similar fate. 
 
 The origin of the fire never was discovered. The flames were 
 first observed about one o'clock in the morning ; and when the 
 office had been closed for the evening, about eight hours previously 
 the stove had been apparently cold.. The loss was very heavy and 
 
RED RIVER. 347 
 
 entirely uncovered by insurance, there being no such system known 
 as yet at Red River. The kindness of friends largely assisted the 
 unfortunate speculation. Type, press, paper and ink were obtained 
 in the settlement, a room in the old bulilding formerly occupied as 
 St. John's Collegiate School was placed at the service of the Jour- 
 nal, and on Thursday, 30th March, the proprietors were enabled to 
 re-commence issuing a paper of only half the usual size. Instead 
 of fortnightly issues new numbers were produced every nine days 
 in order to make up for lost time., 
 
 Mr. Frank Lamed Hunt who had become a constant and 
 esteemed contributor to the " Nor' Wester," composed a tolerably 
 lengthy metrical production bearing upon the above deplorable 
 occurrence, which was published in the most prominent part of the 
 first issue thereafter. The first three of the whole twelve verses 
 composing the poem, along with the explanatory note attached 
 thereto, I beg to reproduce. The " Nightly Atmospheric Pheno- 
 mena " referred to were a number of very bright and remarkable 
 meteors which had been visible at Red River about that time. 
 THE NOR' WESTER. 
 Written for this Journal. 
 
 " How sudden stilled our late desire 1 
 Quick hid from view our banquet rare I 
 How ? Quenched alas I in smouldering fire, 
 Akin half-way to dark despair ; 
 Which finds its depths in wasting flamej 
 Which eddying whirls to gulf a name. 
 
 Te vault of blue and span of heaven I 
 Thy sheeted forks and thunder drear ; 
 Why presage with thy boding flames, 
 Yet others bursting, ah ! too near — 
 To wrap within their fiery fold 
 And leave our hopes, like ashes, cold. 
 
 It was not then, oh grief I in vain 
 Thy bended arc o'er lustrous grew. 
 And flashed upon the glittering plain 
 A light too warm, (disastrous hue!) 
 Each crystal tingea with ruddy glow, 
 A portent in the myriad show." * 
 
 * Note. — " An allusion is here made, with allowed poetical license, t» 
 certain nightly atmospheric phenomena occurring here but recently. 
 Should the image or idea seem overstrained, the writer has only to say 
 that, did omen portend disaster in the affairs of men, they should fitly 
 appear as precursors to an accident like this, threatening extinction to 
 the now necessity of true civilizatioD, the journal in men's midst. 
 Signed F." 
 
348 RED RIVER. 
 
 I may here mention that, in the following month of July, Mr. 
 Coldwell, one of the two origmal founders of the "Nor' Wester," 
 dissolved partnership with Dr. Schultz, who thenceforward 
 conducted the paper on his own sole responsibility. 
 
 Towards the end of May, 1864, the Eev. P^re Vandenherghe, 
 member of the Greneral Council of the Koman Catholic order of 
 the Oblats in France, and visiting inspector of missions, arrived 
 at Red Eiver. In the ensuing month he embarked in one of the 
 Portage La Loche brigades of boats and travelled inland as far as 
 Portage La Loche. Thence, having met Bishop Grandin on his 
 way out from the districts of Athabasca and McKenzie Eiver, in 
 which he had spent the preceding three years, he returned to 
 Isle k la Crosse, where he arrived, until the arrival of Bishop 
 Tach^, who, starting from Eed Eiver in August and travelling 
 overland to Fort EUice, and thence chiefly by water, joined the 
 inspector on 15th September. These two gentlemen forthwith 
 went on a tour of inspection through their Saskatchewan missions, 
 which continued all winter. On the 27th January, 1865, they 
 found themselves at Carlton in readiness to travel thence by the 
 Northern Express, which as already explained in Chapter XII, leaves 
 Carlton annually about that time for Red Eiver. On 23rd 
 February they reached the settlement on their return. P6re 
 Vanderberghe remained, Kving chiefly at St. Boniface, until the 
 5th June, when he finally quitted the country. During his resi- 
 dence of three months at Eed River, the only accident he 
 encountered in the course of his year's pilgrimage in these 
 uncivilized parts befel him. He had gone along with a priest to 
 visit the Mission of St Joseph, near Pembina, about the time the 
 last of the winter snows were melting, and the rivers in high flood. 
 In crossing a small stream called La Riviere aux Prunes, the 
 buggy in which he travelled was overturned and he and his 
 companion thrown out into the chill water, whence they issued 
 with chattering teeth and dripping clothes to run the gauntlet of 
 episcopal wit which urged them to make light of the matter,: 
 " Puisqu'un Visiteur doit aller mgme jusqu'au fond des, choses 
 eourantes." 
 
 On the 25th May the colony saw the advent of another Roman 
 
BED Kivm. 849 
 
 Catholic dignitary. The Right Eeverend Dr. Faratid, Bishop of 
 Anemour, had left Isle h la Crosse in 1863, and gone to France, 
 there to receive the rite of consecration to the episcopal office. 
 After having visited Rome and other places, he came to Canada 
 in Pehruary, 1865, and occupied himself for some months in 
 superintending the impression of Indian books. He was accom- 
 panied by three priests and three lay brothers. The Bishop and 
 his party left Red River in the Portage La Loche boats on their 
 ■way to his newly established Diocese, comprehending the country to 
 the north of Portage La Loche, drained by the Athabasca and 
 McKenzie rivers. 
 
 During the voyage of the " Prince of Wales " to York Factory, 
 in the autumn of 1863, typhus fever had broken out among the 
 recruits for service in the country and, on arrival at her destina^ 
 tion, nearly fifty out of the total number of seventy were seriously 
 iU. The infection spread through the territory, and in the course 
 of the summer of 1865, raged fiercely in Red River Settlement, 
 proving fatal to a seriously large proportion of the population. 
 The densely crowded manner in which the poorer class in the 
 colony live in their single chambered unventilated huts, doubtless 
 assisted largely in spreading the contagion. One of the most 
 generally regretted victims was Mr. Frangois Bruneau, a French 
 half-breed, and a most useful and respected justice of the peace. 
 He was the leading councillor selected from among those of his 
 nationality and race, among whom his influence was very great. 
 In his family alone, including himself and his wife, whose funeral 
 was the same with his own, twelve individuals died from the 
 prevailing fever, which moderated in virulence only with the 
 advent of the cold winter weather. 
 
 The arrival in spring of vast swarms of grasshoppers proved 
 very destructive to the tender blades of the crops as they appeared 
 above ground. Having devoured all before them they laid their 
 eggs in the ground and took flight. It was hoped that the 
 peculiarly cold weather, which prevailed towards the close of May, 
 when hail fell in large quantities, would have destroyed them ; but 
 it had no appreciable efiect. On bright sunny days they might 
 have been seen by the observer, towards noon, in clouds suggestive 
 
850 RED RIVER. 
 
 of multitudes such as the human comprehension fails to glrasp. In 
 cloudy weather they generally fell, and, to quote the words of the 
 " Nor' Wester," "woe betide the grain fields in ornear which 
 they come down, for they stay till they devour everything of value, 
 generally commencing the feast with the grain crops, not even 
 thinking buckwheat beneath their notice, then passing on to the 
 root crops and stuffing their hungry maws with potatoes, cabbages, 
 onions, when particularly greedy including horse radish in their 
 bill of fare, and windiilg up with a ' chew ' of grass and herbs. 
 We have been told that a young man, who was out hoeing potatoes 
 happened to leave his coat in the grass for a couple of hours, and 
 when he returned to pick it up he found it covered with grass- 
 hoppers, who had succeeded in eating a number of big holes in it." 
 At the quarterly court, which commenced its sittings on 16th 
 May, 1865, a case came on for hearing, which had grown out of, a 
 series of circumstances already detailed in Chapter XIX. It will 
 be remembered that the Venerable Archdeacon Hunter, having 
 consented to compromise the action for damages he had intended 
 to bring against John Tait, in February, 1863, had promised to 
 divide the sum of £100, in consideration of which he had decided 
 on taking this course, between the two daughters of Mr. Tait. 
 The approaching departure of Mr. Hunter from the country, 
 without giving any indications of an immediate fulfilment of his 
 promise, was, I presume, the motive which induced the parties 
 interested to attempt obtaining the recovery of the money by 
 litigation. An action was raised by Duncan and Elizabeth 
 McDonald, and Alexander and Anne McDonald, being the tw.o 
 daughters of Mr. John Tait, and their respective husbands, 
 against the venerable Archdeacon Hunter, as defendant. The 
 total amount demanded was £110 ; and was composed of the two 
 sums of £100 claimed as " debt " and £10 as " damages." Dr. 
 Bird, the coroner and leading medical practitioner in the settlement 
 acted as the Archdeacon's agent, while Mr. John Tait appeared 
 for the plaintiffs. The entire ground on which the latter supported 
 their claim was the verbal promise of the Archdeacon already 
 explained by me in a former chapter, while Mr. Hunter claimed 
 that a repetition of the offence on the part of Mr. Tait at a period 
 
KED EIVER. 851 
 
 Bubsequent to that of the said promise had released him from any 
 moral obligation to fulfil it. The verdict on this evidence was, of 
 course, in favour of the defendant. 
 
 Mr. Hunter finally quitted the settlement towards the close of 
 May, and is now settled in England. It has been said that the 
 rumours respecting him, which had continued to perpetuate them- 
 selves more or less until his departure, as well as the annoyance 
 caused him by the law proceedings described, preyed on his mind, 
 and excited therein a very strong feeling of dislike against the 
 country. A few years after his arrival in Rupert's Land, in 1844, 
 Mr. Alexander Ross, in his book on " Red River Settlement," thus 
 writes of him : 
 
 " The Saskatchewan or Cumberland mission, as it is called, had 
 been long neglected, but it is now in rather a thriving way. A few 
 years ago an excellent and indefatigable man, the Rev. Mr. Hunter, 
 was appointed to that station, who, by his unwearied application, 
 zeal and talent has made himself master of the Indian language, in 
 order to preach in the native tongue, the only instance we have 
 known among our Protestant missionaries in this quarter. This, 
 indeed, is doing the work of a missionary in right good earnest." 
 
 The mention made of Mr. Hunter by Dr. Tach^, in his book on 
 " Roman CathoUc Missions in the country," though obviously not 
 intended to be personally complimentary, has also been instanced 
 in my hearing as creditable to the Archdeacon, and certainly bears 
 witness to his activity duriag a journey he made to McKenzie 
 River in 1858. 
 
 While it would be, therefore, I think, improper for me to assert 
 that, because the gentleman in question refused lightly to yield to 
 legal compulsion in the performance of his own voluntary and most 
 becoming purpose, he does not yet mean to fulfil it, at what he 
 may consider a more appropriate and convenient season, it will, 
 doubtless be felt by many to be a matter of regret that a clergy- 
 man, such as the one described in the above quoted extract, who 
 had spent twenty-one years in missionary and clerical work, should 
 leave the country in which he had laboured, harbouring the senti- 
 ments likely to be excited by the above recorded events. 
 
 It was during the earlier part of May that, on Saturday evening, 
 
852 REDEIVER. 
 
 after tea, I occupied the sofa in Bachelor's Hall. I had just 
 finished the perusal of the " Life of St. Frangois Xavier," by the 
 Rev. Henry Venn, and availed myself of the unusual silence result- 
 ing from the rare presence of nobody save myself in that place of 
 perpetual uproar, to revolve a little in my mind the more remark- 
 able features of the narrative in hand. Suddenly a roughly-dressed 
 person ran upstairs with heavy steps, and, without speaking, rushed 
 into one of the private rooms, whence, finding it unoccupied, he 
 presently emerged and advanced to me with the greeting of an old 
 acquaintance. Something in the face of the stranger suggested 
 familiarity ; but, as the train of associaJ;ion which it indicated led 
 to a gentlemen, believed by myself, in common with every one at 
 Fort Garry, to be then, as when last heard from by the winter 
 packet, residing at Fort Rae, one of the remoter posts in the 
 McKenzie River district, whence, under ordinary circumstances, 
 passenger communication occurs only once in the autumn of 
 each year, I should hardly have been more tongue-tied had the 
 respected missionary, whose adventurous career I had been con- 
 templating, himself appeared in the body on the floor of Bachelor's 
 Hall. 
 
 To the question, " Do you know me ?" I replied " No ;" but, as 
 it became gradually apparent my presentiment was correct, I 
 inquired, " How on earth did you get here ?" In reply I was 
 informed my interlocutor had come on foot a great part of the way 
 from McKenzie River, travelling overland by Saskatchewan and 
 Swan River. 
 
 Mr. William Thomson Smith has been already described in this 
 narrative as the person who had, on the day of my arrival at Fort 
 Garry, headed the crowd emerging from the messroom, and 
 hospitably recalled Mr. Morgan and myself as we were leaving the 
 very apartment in which he, on the latter occasion, so unex- 
 pectedly re-appeared. Since 1861 he had passed a winter in Swan 
 River, whence he had gone to McKenzie River, in 1862, and 
 remained there till early in 1865 ; in consequence of the following 
 tragical events he had quitted it. 
 
 On the morning of the preceding 13th January, Mr. Smith, then 
 in charge of Fort Rae, had loaded his gun preparatory to going on 
 
EED RIVER. 353 
 
 a stooting expedition in the neighbourhood of his residence. On 
 leaving the fort he saw one of his men, named Pierre Gendron, 
 about to start with his dog-sledge for the purpose of transporting to 
 the Fort some wood in process of being cut down for fuel at a spot 
 about two miles distant. Mr. Smith mounted the man's sledge 
 and was driven to the place where Olivier Lafert^, another of his 
 servants, being the brother-in-law of the former, was engaged in 
 chopping wood. Arrived at the place Mr. Smith, without noticing 
 that both barrels of his gun were on full cock, threw the instru- 
 ment across his arm, and commenced rubbing his hands which were 
 very cold. Suddenly his gun went off and Grendron fell mortally 
 wounded, dying instantly. 
 
 Lafert^, who was chopping wood at the moment of the explo- 
 sion, at once turned round and caught hold of Mr. Smith, who, 
 horrified at the accident, and remembering that Mr. Chief Trader 
 Hardisty, the gentleman in charge of McKenzie Kiver district, 
 was expected d^ily on a visit of inspection at Fort Rae, charged 
 Lafert^ to conceal the cause of the accident until Mr. Hardisty's 
 arrival. The man, who had immediately after the accident 
 managed to get his finger on the trigger so as to cause the second 
 barrel of Mr. Smith's gun to explode in the air, promised com- 
 pliance, and, after having concealed the weapon, wrapped in a 
 capot, among some cordwood, master and man returned to the 
 Fort. After breakfast, for which, as may be imagined, his appe- 
 tite was small, Lafert^ returned to the scene of the accident, whence 
 he brought back the gun and, after handing it to Mr. Smith, gave 
 the alarm that he had found Gendron dead in the woods. At first 
 it was believed Indians had killed him, and considerable horror 
 and curiosity prevailed in the Fort as the corpse was brought thi- 
 ther on a dedge and the wound examined by the people. 
 
 The same evening, however, Lafertd, finding himself unable any 
 longer to maintain silence, told the whole story to a man named 
 William Hoole, and early next morning related it publicly to all 
 his com'-ades, among whom was a person named Neil McNevin, 
 who had previously borne somewhat of a grudge against Mr. Smith, 
 in consequence of the latter having failed to receive and treat him 
 as superior to the other labourers and as a sort of petty officer, to 
 
354 • Red eiVeR. 
 
 which position he had no right. Headed by this man Mt. Smith's 
 servants attacked him in a body and tied him ; he, seeing that 
 the facts were known, offered no resistance, though from the words 
 which fell from him it was evident he was in a very excited state. 
 After a detention of five days after the accident at Fort Rae, 
 Mr. Smith's men started, conveying him on a sledge, to head- 
 quarters at Fort Simpson. 
 
 On the 6th February an examination took place at the latter 
 Fort before Chief Trader Hardisty and other officers, and the 
 above recorded circumstances were elicited. As a formal charge of 
 wilful murder had, however, been made by Neil McNevin, and as 
 the half-breed part of the community was much excited, Mr. Har- 
 disty resolved on forwarding Mr. Smith to Norway House, and 
 offered him facilities to travel southwards, in order to wait there 
 or at Red River the arrival of the witnesses in the case, who were 
 to follow by the Portage boats in summer. After a very rugged 
 and exhausting journey, a great part of which was accomplished 
 during the spriiig thaws when the country was almost impassable, 
 Mr. Smith, as above related, reached Red River. On the arrival 
 in autumn of the boats bringing the witnesses, an investigation of 
 the facts took place before the Governor of Rupert's Land and 
 Judge Black, in order that, should there be any evidence to cor- 
 roborate the charge made by McNevin, the case might, as Mr, 
 Smith himself professed to desire, be sent to Canada for trial before 
 some competent court. The above officers, were, however, so fully 
 convinced of the accidental nature of the tragedy that they refused 
 to commit Mr. Smith, and there the matter ended. 
 
 Mr. Hardisty, in commenting on the circumstances, declared 
 the conduct of Mr. Smith's men to have been " harsh and unjusti- 
 fiable." The conduct of the unfortunate gentleman himself after 
 the accident was most praiseworthy. He made over ihe' whole of 
 what property he possessed, including the amount he had saved 
 during aU his term of service, to the widow and family of tbie 
 deceased, and, on quitting the district in which the deplorable 
 affair occurred, did so, much to the regret of all the officers with 
 whom he had been on very friendly terms. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 1865. 
 ■Governor Mactavish — Journey across Lake Winnipeg — Drunken River 
 Point Camp — Incidents of Lake travel — Norway House — Ross- 
 ville Wesleyan Mission — Inland Summer routine — Return to Red 
 River Settlement. 
 
 Eablt in June William Mactavish, Esq., Grovemor of Rupert's 
 Land, who had spent the preceding winter in Canada and Eng- 
 land, arrived at Eort Garry on his way to Norway House, to 
 preside at the annual meeting of the Council of Rupert's Land. 
 
 As a specimen of what summer travelling in the Hudson's Bay 
 Territory is, I shall here record the details of the trip which I 
 made with the Governor on this occasion to Norway House, i and 
 later in the season to St. Paul. 
 
 On the afternoon of Monday, the 12th June, I mounted my 
 horse, preparatory to riding over the first twenty, miles stage of the 
 journey, extending to Lower Port Garry. During its course 
 nothing occurred of sufficient consequence to deserve special men- 
 tion. In the evening Judge Black, whose residence was in the 
 neighbourhood of the Stone Port, and some other gentlemen, 
 called in. 
 
 Next morning, immediately after breakfast, we embarked in the 
 " Light Boat" which was to take us across the Lake. It was 
 manned by eight men and a steersman, and was decorated with a 
 small red " H. B. Plag" hoisted on a flagstaff in the stern. We 
 started with a magnificent wind blowing freshly from the south, 
 which carried us, without any assistance from the oars, to the 
 mouth of the river, beiag a distance of about twenty miles, in 
 three hours. The river banks at Lower Port Garry are very 
 high and wooded. About seven miles below the Fort lie the 
 Indian Church and settlement of St. Peters with the small log houses 
 
356 RED KIVEK. 
 
 inhabited by the population scattered at short intervals along the 
 banks. Some miles below the ehurch the woods disappear and 
 the banks, which gradually sink to a lower and lower level, are 
 covered with long reedy grass. Indian tents, surrounded by nets 
 hung up to dry, indicate the pursuits of their owners. The stream, 
 after reaching the low country, splits into narrow channels, through 
 several of which its waters find their way into Lake Winnipeg. 
 
 At the outlet of the main channel our boat was run along shore. 
 The bank here was composed of a long strip of land, abounding 
 with minute fresh water shells, running out into the Lake, the 
 waters of which extended northwards out of sight. Even the 
 semblance of vegetation, afforded by the reeds which had lined our 
 route for the last few miles, ceased abruptly some hundred feet 
 behind our stopping place which, in the higher stages of the water, 
 is submerged and forms part of a sandy bar rather formidable to 
 deep-drafted vessels. The boatmen lighted a fire on the sand, 
 and a table cloth with the apparatus for dinner was arranged in 
 the stem sheets of our boat. After dinner the crew scattered 
 along shore, smoking their pipes, and our steersman, an old voyageur 
 named Magnus Birston, walked to the far extremity of the sandy 
 spit, curiously scrutinising the clouds which were beginning to 
 gather. Having, after some difficulty, satisfied himself that the 
 weather would hold until we could reach the nearest harbour, 
 Birston recalled his men and loosed from shore. The wind blew 
 as favourably as we could wish and carried us swiftly through the 
 Lake. The point at which we had dined quickly became undis- 
 tinguishable among the long line of apparently exactly similar 
 localities ranging along the low shore. Indeed from the absence 
 of physical irregularity in its neighbourhood, the mouth of the 
 Ked River is one of the most difficult spots to be identified by a 
 guide in the long course of the journeys to York or Portage La 
 Loche ; and the skill with which the boats are steered, apparently 
 towards nothing but a wilderness of long sedgy grass, until the 
 narrow outlet of Eed River stretches out a few dozen yards before 
 the bow, is one of the most striking exhibitions of local knowledge 
 I have observed in the country. 
 
 On our left we passed Willow Island, on which, as on the main- 
 
RED RIVER. 357 
 
 land beyond, trees gradually increasing in size and number, flour- 
 ished. Of these, Fir was tL.i principal. The land rose higher as 
 we ran northward and all the coast was covered with a thick wood. 
 It was after eight o'clock before we reached the harbour at which 
 our guide had determined to encamp for the night. This was at 
 one of the points of land which jut out into the water, from one to 
 the other of which boats steer in crossing the Lake. When the wind 
 is fair and weather fine boats make very long traverses, keeping so 
 far out that for a considerable time about the middle of the run, 
 neither the point whence they started nor that towards which they 
 are steering, is visible. In calm weather, however, when the oars 
 are used, it is usual to keep closer in shore and make shorter tra- 
 Terses. 
 
 The name of our camping place on the evening in question was 
 Drunken Eiver Point, the stream which discharges itself into the 
 lake close to which was so called I understand on account of the 
 proceedings of a party which once passed an evening on its banks. 
 Our boat was pulled up on the beach, composed of smooth flat 
 stones, closely packed by the action of the water, forming a natural 
 causeway along the whole of that portion of the shore. A tent 
 was pitched in a sheltered spot among the bushes a short distance 
 from the beach, and our bedding, after being untied from its 
 protecting oil-cloths, was spread along the ground inside. " Bed- 
 ding" consists of say three blankets aild a pillow. The former 
 are folded lengthways and arranged on an oil cloth, which, when 
 the camp is struck in the morning, is so rolled about them as to 
 form a compact portable bundle, when properly corded, practically 
 impervious to water. The bedding is often unrolled in the stern 
 sheets during the day to serve as a lounge. 
 
 Our tent having been pitched, the men dispersed in search of 
 firewood. This is procurable in any quantity at most camping 
 places. It consists of the dried branches found lying up and 
 down the shore and among the woods. These are collected and 
 thrown in a heap to which a light is applied. The kettle is then 
 put on the fire and the canteens are unpacked. 
 
 Immediately before the door of our tent was a dismal swamp, 
 filled with black water, over which hovered mosquitoes in multi- 
 
358 RED KIVEE. 
 
 tudes innumerable. To be appreciated, the inconvenience and 
 pain caused by the attacks of these insects must be felt. They 
 swarm in the woods and marshes, and, after lying amid the shade 
 of the bushes during the heat of the day, come abroad in the cool 
 of the evenings making night hideous when no grateful breeze 
 blows for the protection of the traveller. They form in fact one 
 of the chief obstacles to pleasure in summer travelling in Rupert's 
 Land. The boatmen, after working hard for a long hot day, lie 
 down unprotected against them, except by the single blanket which 
 each man is entitled to carry with him, and by the habit of " never 
 minding" them, which with the voyageurs, assisted by the natural 
 effect of the day's fatigue, has become a second nature. The 
 more refined and less " case hardened" travellers suffer severely. 
 In vain are trowsers tightly tied about the ancles and coat sleeves 
 at the wrists, while mosquito veils surround the head. The enemy 
 finds his way in single file through apertures unseen by human 
 eyes and bites without mercy, while his personal escape is secured 
 by the impossibility of effectually hunting him up without making 
 way for the surrounding hosts of his compeers. For the victim, 
 feeding under such circumstances is no easy matter. Indepen- 
 dently of the loss of appetite occasioned by the nature of the situa- 
 tion, the veil must be removed so as to afford access to the mouth, 
 and the hands must be uncovered to work the knife, fork and 
 spoon. Sleep is also to be obtained only for a few short and 
 feverish moments at long intervals. The hum and buzz of mos- 
 quitoes, which, in dark and living clouds, hover all night round 
 the bushes and the woods, fall with sickening effect upon the 
 partially slumbering senses, while no amount of " smudge fire" 
 can long protect their human victim against corporal assaults. Any 
 attempt to gain repose by concealing oneself under his plaid or 
 blanket is vain, and long before sleep can come the baffled experi- 
 menter is compelled to emerge, half smothered, to breathe the 
 sultry air. 
 
 Our first night on Lake Winnipeg was trying ; mosquitoes 
 swarmed everywhere, in the swamps and woods around, in our 
 tent, bread and butter, teacups, ears and mouths. After smoking 
 his evening pipe, the Governor made a desperate attempt, by 
 
BED RIVER. 359 
 
 pursuing individual mosquitoes with the candle, so as to burn them 
 up with its flame, as they danced on the sheeting of the tent, to 
 prepare the way for a tolerable night's rest, but morning found us 
 wretched and wide awake. A conference with the steersman 
 brought but little consolation. The wind which had served us so 
 well the day before had calmed away, and heavy clouds lowering 
 around showed signs which warned us not to start. A very 
 aggravating incident of travel occurs under these circumstances. 
 Detention in some possibly disagreeable locality, the neighbour- 
 hood of which is a scene of tangled woods or morasses, oozing 
 with dirty marshy water, barring all progress through them, for 
 an indefinite period of time, until the wind may change or sign 
 appear in the clouds that the weather will keep fair until we can 
 reach the nearest harbour. Winnipeg, like all the great lakes, is 
 liable to be visited with sudden storms which, taking a boat by 
 surprise, while in process of making a long traverse, might be 
 followed by fatal results. The coast, generally speaking, offers 
 only a few convenient harbours for small boats, which are of 
 course well known to the boatmen. These are usually within a 
 few hours' sail of each other, and are, in some parts of the lake, 
 more numerous than in others. In the event of a boat being 
 overtaken by a sudden tempest, it is sometimes necessary to make 
 for the nearest land, and " beach her,'' carrying herself and cargo 
 ashore by main force, often over a considerable length of breaker- 
 washed sands. Such a contingency as this does not occasion much 
 caution when a brigade of boats sail in company, and in the event 
 of a disaster happening to one of them, it might be assisted by the 
 rest ; but in a case such as ours, when one boat is travelling alone, 
 the steersman is always very cautious and slow to leave a good 
 harbour when the weather appears unsettled. Sometimes the 
 signs which, to his accustomed eye, call for delay, are invisible to 
 the uneducated organs of his passengers, who, when imprisoned in 
 an inconvenient camp, are apt to get impatient to continue their 
 voyage. 
 
 The forenoon was well advanced before the crew, who had spent 
 the night in much discomfort on the stony beach, struck our tent 
 and conveyed the baggage on board preparatory to making a start. 
 
360 • RED EIVBR, 
 
 The wind was sligttly ahead, but not too muct so, to prevent us 
 mi. Ling tolerable progress with the oars. Our object was to reach 
 " Big Black Island," a spot about twenty miles from our night's 
 camp. The water through which the boat ran was so very thickly 
 strewn with drowned grasshoppers that we hoped the strong south 
 winds of the preceding days had cleared the settlement of these 
 pests, but afterwards found that no appreciable diminution of their 
 numbers had taken place. A heayy rain fell during our morning 
 run, from whieh we were protected by boat oil-cloths stretched 
 over our stern sheets, but the wind, which freshened up, rendered 
 it impossible for us to make fair time. On reaching Big Island, 
 therefore, a large one marked on the maps, near the western shore 
 of the Lake, we put into harbour and pitched our tent ashore. 
 After dinner there was nothing to be done but walk about and 
 examine the vegetable and animal life about our camp. This 
 pursuit, in which the Governor was perfectly at home, on this, as 
 on other occasions, turned the tedium of detention into the 
 pursuit of scientific observation. The specimens of objects 
 illustrative of natural history which Mr. Mactavish has collected 
 during his numerous voyages are vast in variety and bulk. Those 
 which have been chiefly gathered in Lake Winnipeg are of the 
 order of " Coleoptera;," or beetles. 
 
 Near our camp a Christian ex-conjuror named " Jacob" arrived 
 in his small canoe during the afternoon, and traded with us some 
 ducks he had killed for a little tobacco. Solitary parties of 
 Indians constantly turn up in this way. With their light bark 
 canoes they are perfectly independent, and rove through the lake, 
 occupying themselves in hunting and fishing. Sometimes the 
 party consists of an Indian alone, at other times of himself and 
 family, and again only of women and children, the latter safely 
 slung in their '' Moss bags" over the shoulders of the former. A 
 present is generally expected, but an ounce of tobacco is considered 
 satisfactory, and an exchange of a Httle pemmioan in return for 
 their white fish and ducks, is anxiously desired. When an officer 
 is travelling, he often accedes to the latter desire, but it is an 
 article in the engagement of all tripmen that they shall on no 
 occasion enter into any such traffic. This was necessitated by the 
 
BED RIVER. 361 
 
 extravnp'ant manner in which the crews used, when on the voyage, 
 to ,distj ate their travelling provisions for fish and fowl, the 
 amount of the latter received bearing no equitable proportion to 
 the value of the former given away. ^ 
 
 After tea the wind veered round to such rin extent that we were 
 enabled to proceed on our journey to " Grassy Narrows," a place 
 about five miles further on, being that at which the house was 
 situated where Captain Sennett was described, in last chapter, as 
 having arrived in great misery one night during the preceding 
 winter. The evening was beautiful, the rain had ceased, and as 
 the boat was borne along by the gently favouring breeze the sail 
 was most enjoyable. We did not encamp ashore that night, but 
 had the boat-tent, or awning, fitted up over the stern sheets and 
 slept on board. By this arrangement, in the event of a favourable 
 breeze blowing at day-break, the crew might pursue their journey, 
 without disturbing us. This is a common plan with officers when 
 travelling, but the Governor usually gave up the boat to the men 
 during the night so that they might be further removed from the 
 mosquitoes and better prepared for their work on the ensuing day, 
 during which passengers may make up for a night's sleeplessness. 
 Under this system, then, the steersman occupied the sternsheets, 
 while the crew, by arranging their mast and oars lengthways over 
 the boat and stretching oil-cloths over the framework so formed, 
 turned the vessel into one long snug tent in which they could rest 
 with comfort. This device is called a " tanley,'' the word being 
 corrupted from the French " tendre-le." 
 
 During the evening at Grassy Narrows, however, the crew 
 slept ashore in the open air, and as a gentle wind blew all night, 
 we were but little annoyed by mosquitoes. " Tired Nature's 
 sweet restorer, balmy sleep" so difficult to be procured the prece- 
 ding night, came to our aid, and when we woke early next morning, 
 we found the steersman at his post, the sail hoisted, and our boat 
 slowly making way, favoured by a southerly breeze, several miles 
 from the spot where we had stopped the night before. We break- 
 fasted at Little Grindstone Point, and in the afternoon, passing 
 Great Grindstone Pomt, we dined at the Bull's Head. The latter 
 is the place where the Lake begins to get narrow, and between it 
 
362 RED RIVER. 
 
 and the Dog's Head, where tlie distance from the western to the 
 eastern shore is not more than two miles, the landscape is veyy 
 fine. 
 
 The south-western coast of the Lake, along which our course 
 had run, gradually rises from the low swampy country about 
 the mouth of the Ked River to a level of fifty or sixty feet above 
 the Lake, and the bold promontories, the names of the principal of 
 which I have mentioned, stretch into the waters out of which they 
 rise perpendicularly, densely pine-wooded to their edges, and 
 exhibiting in many instances their ribbed layers of soft, crumbling 
 sandstone, bared by the action of time and the elements. At the 
 base of these cliffs there is just landing room to afford facilities for 
 lighting a fire and performing the necessary routine of a boat 
 encampment. Towards the Bull's Head, the eastern shore of 
 Lake Winnipeg, which had previously been out of sight, slopes 
 rapidly within view, and between that point and the Dog's Head, 
 being a distance of about twelve miles, the belt of water may be 
 described as a strait. 
 
 The western coast of this strait is a succession of high-wooded 
 promontories such as those already described, while the eastern 
 shore is rocky and indented by a multitude of small islands and 
 promontories covered with wood; but not rising high above 
 the water level. It is full of good harbours for small craft. It 
 is also one of the finest parts of the Lake, and is much frequented 
 by Indians, of whom we saw a camp on the most northerly point 
 called the Dog's Head. An island called " Black Bear Island" lies 
 out in the lake, immediately to the north west of the narrow belt 
 or strait, its dark, wood-covered, high-lying attitude exactly 
 harmonizing with the neighbouring cliffs on the mainland, of which 
 from a distance it appears to form one. 
 
 After passing the Dog's Head, our course, which has previously 
 skirted the south-western coast, lies along the north-eastern shore 
 of the Lake. The same differences observable between the 
 physical characteristics of the two sides of the strait, hold good 
 between the corresponding shores of the entire Lake. The whole 
 route from Dog's Head to Norway House runs from point to 
 point of deep bays, Bound the extremities of the promontories 
 
BED aiVBE. 363 
 
 isolated islands of granite rooks, partially wooded, are scattered, 
 which, with the numerous sunken rooks lying among them, render 
 the navigation somewhat intricate. 
 
 The same evening we reached Rabhit Point, as the first 
 headland after leaving Dog's Head is called. Long before arriving 
 at it the opposite shore, which runs away directly to the west, 
 immediately after the Dog's Head has been doubled, was quite out 
 of sight and the vast lake extended to the uttermost verge of the 
 horizon. After supper the evening was so fine, we decided on, 
 sleeping in the open air; but about two in the morning were 
 wakened by the man who came to warn us that a storm was 
 coming on. Retiring to the tent, we slept soundly all the rest of 
 the night. This was the most satisfactory night we had passed. 
 A brisk breeze kept off the mosquitoes, not one of which was to be 
 seen, and fanned men to sleep, even had they been indisposed, 
 which, after the experiences of the, previous two nights,, nobody 
 was. 
 
 Next day, favoured by the winds, we made a good run and 
 reached a place called Leaf River Point. Here we were overtaken 
 by a severe storm during the night which was pitch dark. The 
 crew unloaded and beached the boat, while our tent was blown 
 about our ears, and our clothes and bedding drenched with rain. 
 The next day we lay unable to get out of our harbour, in conse- 
 quence of a magnificent wind which rendered the boat unmanage- 
 able by the oars. This was extremely provoking, as if we could 
 only have cleared the harbour, the wind was the most favourable we 
 could have desired. Our blankets were hung on the bushes to dry,, 
 and the steersman marched solemnly to and fro, curiously examining, 
 with twisted neck and upturned eye, the signs of the weather, and 
 presenting, with his long blue gTeat-coat and cautious gait, a some- 
 what quaint and antiquated spectacle. His reflections on his own 
 short-sightedness in taking us into so land-locked a locality the 
 night before, were probably anything but pleasant. In the course 
 of the afternoon we saw sis magnificent white pelicans, their 
 graceful sweep and rapid regular flight through the air being very 
 striking. 
 
 The next day being Sunday, the 18th of June, we gotforwardL 
 
864 RED RIVER. 
 
 twenty-five miles to Poplar Point ; but here were compelled by- 
 contrary winds to remain. After sailing round an arcMpelsgo of 
 islands in order to select tbe most fkvourable for what, it was appre- 
 hended from the strong settled wind blowing from the north, was 
 to be our camping place for some days, one was selected and 
 our tent pitched. The situation was certainly agreeable. Eocks 
 sheltered it on the windward side, and fir trees grew all around 
 from which and from the pines an unlimited amount of broom was 
 cut to form a comfortable flooring for the tent. Oil cloths spread 
 over this, and the bedding arranged thereupon made all snug. 
 The fine rocky nature of the neighbourhood rendered walking to 
 an unlimited extent practicable ; but before the three days of our 
 detention had expired, we Were anxious for a change. Apart from 
 the scientific pursuits above hinted at, the grand incidents of the 
 day were meals, and the boiling of the eggs, in which, as we could 
 afiiDrd to devote our undivided attention to the pursuit, we were 
 very successful. On such occasions as these, smoking and reading 
 are also largely indulged in; the whole style of progress being more 
 like the realization of a scene from T^ldmaque or the ^neid 
 than a sober business voyage, undertaken in connection with the 
 afiairs of a London Company of the present age. 
 
 On Wednesday, the 21st of June, we progressed twenty-five 
 miles and slept at the Shoal Islands, whence on the ensuing morn- 
 ing at daylight we started, for the first time pulling amid a 
 perfect calm, the water being without a ripple. We breakfasted 
 at Spider Islands where we came in sight of the Northern shore of 
 the Lake, stretching off to the left at some distance ahead. 
 Towards noon we reached Montreal Point, so called, I believe, 
 because it was the place where voyageurs from the city bearing 
 that name used to halt for the last time, in order to adjust their 
 toilets previous to reaching the fort, which in former times was on 
 the shore of the lake, about twenty miles south from its present 
 position. Early in the afternoon we saw the solitary site of this 
 old fort, now marked only by a slight clearing among the woods, 
 and, passing it, left Lake Winnipeg behind us, entering a smaller 
 body of water called Playgreen Lake, forming in fact an extension 
 of Winnipeg. We landed on an island called " Kettle Island" 
 
RED ElVEK. S65 
 
 Tvliere we dined. Playgreen Lake is very thickly studded with 
 little islands which conceal the real margin of the lake from tinac- 
 customed eyes. Pushing forward through the tortuous and nar- 
 row channel formed by an unbroken succession of these islands, 
 we reached Norway House about eight o'clock in the evening, after 
 a journey from Lower Fort Garry of ten days. 
 
 A few minutes before turning the point which brought us in 
 sight of the Fort we halted, while our men exchanged their rough 
 wprking jackets for others more clean and creditable according to 
 received opinions. The flag- staff which had lain neglected in aji 
 obscure corner of the boat since being unshipped, when we stopped 
 to dine at the mouth of the Red River, was again mounted at the 
 stern and decorated with the Ensign, so that when Mr. Chief Fac- 
 tor Grahame, the gentleman in charge at Norway House, accom- 
 panied by a considerable group of councillors, whose arrival had 
 preceded ours, came down to the wharf or " Launch" to meet us, 
 we were enabled to present, as a body, a somewhat imposing appear- 
 ance. Our men had been pulling between two o'clock in the morn- 
 ing and eight in the evening, with only the intervals allowed for 
 breakfast and dinner, and had' performed a day's run of about 
 fifty miles. It was the only severe day's labour they had expe- 
 rienced during the voyage, we having been previously either assis- 
 ted or entirely delayed by the wind. 
 
 During the three weeks we passed at Norway House the scene 
 of bustle usual on such occasions was kept briskly up. Brigades 
 of inland district boats passed downwards to York Factory, there 
 to deliver their furs and receive their following year's supplies of 
 goods, while officers were collected from all quarters at Council. 
 Bishop Faraud whose arrival at Red River has been already noticed 
 reached Norway House along with several priests, and, after one or 
 two days delay, resumed his route to his northern diocese in the 
 Portage La Loche boats by which he travelled. 
 
 On Sunday, 25th June, we sailed over in a very large party to 
 Rossville, an Indian village at the south-eastern ext-emity of Play- 
 green Lake about two miles east from Norway House. On either 
 hand were beautiful rooky islands well wooded, on some of which 
 stood solitary Indian tents. The prevailing character of the main- 
 
BSB SED RIVER. 
 
 land is swampy, communication between the rooky isolated loeal* 
 ities being impossible during summer, when locomotion is restricted 
 to that carried on by boats and canoes. The village at Eossville 
 is composed of wooden houses surrounded by small gardens inhab' 
 •ited and cultivated by Christian Indians who hunt in the woods 
 during winter. It is the centre of a Wesleyan mission managed in 
 1865 by the Kev. Charles Stringfellow. 
 
 On the Sunday referred to we attended morning service in Mr. 
 Stringfellow's church at Rossville. It is a large, high, airy build- 
 ing of wood, and was filled with an Indian congregation. The 
 sermon and prayers were in English. Mr. Wesley's hymn book 
 was the one used, and its contents were translated into the Indian 
 language in such measure as to enable singing in Indian and Eng- 
 lish to proceed together. The singing was led by an Indian pre- 
 centor named Peter Badger and was most creditably executed, the 
 Indian words being quite noticeable in the volume of sound, though 
 the majority apparently sang in English. Throughout the coun- 
 try the Indians generally speaking sing well. In Red River Set- 
 tlement the best music is heard in Indian churches ; indeed the 
 psalmody in all the others is grossly deficient, the congregations 
 being apparently as incapable of song as afraid to hear themselves 
 read the regular responses. Nor is it only in churches the Indian 
 converts distinguish themselves in this way. Boats manned by 
 Christians, both Anglican and Methodist, generally have a steers- 
 man or other on board competent to conduct prayers, which is done 
 with exemplary regularity each evening after arriving in camp. A 
 year after the date to which I allude the Cumberland Mission boat 
 on its way to Red River landed to prepare supper at a short dis- 
 tance from the spot where the Governor's boat lay wind-bound near 
 the Dog's Head, and I had an opportunity of seeing the Indian 
 service as performed by the crew, the melodious hum of the music 
 coming from a little distance being the first intimation I received 
 of what was going on. The Rev. Mr. Hunt, of the Church Mission- 
 ary Society, had the credit of being the first to bring out and culti- 
 vate this faculty of the Indians connected with the Church of 
 England missions in the country. 
 
 The houses at Norway House are built entirely of wood. The 
 
RED RIVER, 867 
 
 establishment, wMoh is one of the most extensive in the Depart- 
 ment of which it is the depot for the Inland districts, stands on an 
 elevated rocky promontory and is enclosed by a picketted fence. A 
 large garden within the precincts of the Fort and several fields on 
 the neighbouring islands produce vegetables of various kinds in 
 great perfection. Melons and cucumbers, under the care of a gentle- 
 man in charge who understands and interests himself in such mat- 
 ters, flourish in their hot beds, while lettuces, potatoes and other 
 vegetables come to maturity with regularity. 
 
 The fishery in Playgreen lake forms one of the principal sources 
 whence food is drawn for the use of the Fort. Sturgeon are caught 
 in great abundance and of excellent quality throughout the summer. 
 A small boat which pays its regular visits to the fishing grounds a 
 few miles from the Fort is called the " Sturgeon Boat." These 
 fish are four or five feet in length, and, stretched in the bottom of 
 the boat, with a rope through their gills, have a very ugly look. 
 
 The Athabasca Brigade, in consequence of the remoteness of 
 that district, is the last, except the one called the "Portage La 
 Loche Brigade," which reaches Norway House on its outward voy- 
 age. It usually arrives about the 10th July and returns directly 
 from Norway House without proceeding to York, between which 
 places its freighting is performed by other brigades employed for 
 the purpose. Of late years the voyageurs from all the other dis- 
 tricts have given up the habit of singing, but those from Athabasca 
 still retain it, and the wild songs, heard long before the boats double 
 the point where first they can be seen from the Fort, are always 
 the first intimations received of their approach. After three or 
 four days' stay at the depot they return to their far home, laden 
 with the goods required for the ensuing winter's trade. 
 
 A few days after the arrival of this brigade the G-overnor, having 
 finished his business, prepared to return to Red River. His own 
 light boat had been sent back to the settlement some days previously, 
 and we took passage in Mr. Chief Factor Christie's Saskatchewan 
 passenger boat, which was then about to visit Red River. Our 
 party consisted of Mr. Christie, Mr. Watt, a clerk in the service, 
 and the Rev. P6re Moulin, a Roman Catholic priest who had spent 
 some years in mission work in a very remote and little traversed 
 
868 BED EIVBR. 
 
 part of tlie country, and who was on his way to pags a few days at 
 St Boniface. 
 
 A fleet of more than a dozen boats accompanied us on our way 
 to Red Kiver. About eight of these were connected with the 
 Saskatchewan district the crews of which rejoiced in the name pf 
 " Blaireaux," or Badgers, from the number of these animals 
 aboimding in their district. They were distinguished from the 
 rest of the flotilla by a large bunch of horsehair attached to one 
 of the upper corners of the square sail of each boat. 
 
 Starting on the afternoon of Saturday, 15th July, the fleet 
 pulled over the first twenty miles of the journey and we camped 
 on the sandy shore of Lake Winnipeg close to the site of Old 
 Norway House. Next morning, on issuing from the tent in which 
 Mr. Watt and myself had passed the night, one of the first objects 
 which encountered my observation was our French steersman 
 kneeling alone, as if engaged in prayer, before the little tent 
 occupied by the Rev. P^re Moulin. On walking along the sands 
 to the spot, I found the priest's tent fitted up with a small portable 
 altar so as to serve as a temporary chapel, whUe the Rev. gentle- 
 man himself was in the act of finishing his morning Mass. Assisted 
 by the steersman he disrobed and packed his apparatus, which 
 fitted with admirable precision and method into a box arranged 
 for the purpose. A short walk up and dovra the sands was 
 followed by breakfast in our boat. 
 
 The day was Sunday, the voyageur's rule regarding the obser- 
 vance of which is, when a fair wind blows, to take advantage of 
 it and proceed on the journey, but, in the event of calm weather, 
 such as would necessitate pulling, to remain in camp. The 
 morning in question was calm and we adopted the latter alterna- 
 tive. Mr. Watt and I saw a good deal of P6re Moulin during the 
 day. He spoke English very fairly indeed, and, being a merry, 
 jocular person, somewhat under the medium height, was quite an 
 acquisition to the party. In the evening religious services were 
 held. A large Protestant congrepation, under direction of some 
 competent church member among the crews, held a Presbyterian 
 service on the sands, while, a short distance apart, P^re Moulin, 
 surrounded by his French half-breed adherents, sang Vespers and 
 
RED RIVER. 369 
 
 repeated a variety of prayers, in the responses to which he was 
 loudly supported by his party. 
 
 Early on Monday morning we put off, favoured by a steady 
 wind which commenced to blow gently from the north. As the 
 day wore on it increased to a gale and our flotilla Spread to a 
 great distance over the Lake as it became quite a matter of rivalry 
 between the boats which should get ahead. The boats used in 
 Rupert's Land possess only one sail, which is large and square. 
 Though all are rigged in exactly the same manner, there are great 
 diversities in their sailing speed, proceeding from difference in 
 mould and, in our case, from unequal ladings. The spectacle in 
 these regions of seventeen or eighteen boats under full sail, some 
 disappearing on the horizon's edge in front while others dragged 
 themselves slowly along in the rear, was as cheerful as it was 
 unusual. 
 
 Camping at Fox's Point, we started early the next morning 
 and made in the course of the day a very unusually fine run of 
 more than a hundred miles, arriving in the evening at Rabbit 
 Point, where we remained during the few hours of darkness which 
 intervened until, at day-break on "Wednesday, we were again in 
 motion. The magnificent gale from the north kept up and enabled 
 us to exceed even the preceding day's run, sO that towards evening 
 we found ourselves scudding towards the mouth of the Red River, 
 the bar of which was covered with water driven up by the settled 
 north winds which had served us so well. After a somewhat 
 critical passage over the bar, during the performance of which all 
 the steersmen behaved very well indeed, though the crew of at 
 least our boat gave unequivocal symptoms of fear of mischief, we 
 were floating in safety up the placid narrow channel of the low, 
 reedy-banked Red River of the north. The spot where we had 
 dined on the first day of our outward journey was entirely under 
 water, and the manner in which our steersmen had conducted their 
 boats clear of shoals through the roaring breakers was most 
 creditable to their skill and nerve, 
 
 A few score yards up the stream the boats ran along shore 
 while the crews, quickly effecting clearances among the long high 
 reeds, collected firewood and set the kettles boiling. While 
 
 X 
 
370 RED RIVER. 
 
 endeavouring to regaiu our land legs after the short chopping toss 
 to which we had been subjected during our sail, we congratulated 
 ourselves on the wonderfully good fortune which had attended the 
 journey, the period of which could now be foretold within a few 
 hours. The crews as usual, on the last night of the trip hailed 
 with joy the approaching day of freedom and permission to take 
 their ease of a morning in their own homes, undisturbed by the 
 cry to rise and man the boats at daylight. The interest with 
 which the trip is looked forward to, and the pleasure with which 
 its end is welcomed are apparently antagonistic sentiments, but 
 both are real among the voyageurs. The change of scene and 
 employment experienced in travelling outweighs the inconveniences 
 the memory of which enables men to appreciate a settled home on 
 their return. The fatigue and open air employment and exercise . 
 are notably health inspiring, their good effect being evident from 
 the appearance of the returning travellers and tripmen. Vast 
 quantities of pemmican, which is of course supplied at discretion, 
 are consumed by the boatmen, whose appetites are in no way 
 affected for the worse by the extreme heats of the Summer season. 
 
 The consumption of tea in the country is enormous. The 
 Company's annual importation of the article for the Northern 
 department alone, amounts to more than a hundred thousand 
 pounds in weight. Smoking is another feature of the country, 
 the importation of all kinds of tobacco for use in the same depart- 
 ment exceeding fifty thousand pounds in weight. The delay 
 which would be occasioned were the desires of the men with 
 reference to tea-drinking to be indulged, renders guides and steers- 
 men peremptory in opposing the ever renewed proposition that the 
 boat should be hauled to, and the kettle put on the fire, whenever 
 an inviting promontory hospitably extends itself along their route. 
 With regard to smoking, when engaged in rowing a rest of about 
 ten minutes each hour is allowed the men, which is usually passed 
 in the enjoyment of the pipe. 
 
 With regard to the general geographical features of the lake, a 
 summer journey over which we have just been contemplating, 
 Professor Henry Youle Hind, in the published maps of his 
 expeditions gives the following figures : Winnipeg is situated about 
 
RED BrvBB. 871 
 
 ■SIX hundred and twenty eight feet above the level of the sea. Its 
 greatest length is two hundred and eighty statute miles, breadth 
 fifty seven miles, superficial area eight thousand five hundred and 
 thirty seven square miles, and length of coast line nine hundred 
 and thirty miles. 
 
 Mosquitoes and " bulldogs," or the English " gadflies," are 
 the principal annoyances to be encountered in crossing this lake. 
 In the rivers towards Hudson's Bay, sandflies ai-e exceedingly 
 troublesome. They are most annoying during the day, whereas 
 the mosquito finds his element amid the oool shades of the 
 summer night. The stings of both are vememous and very painful. 
 The bulldog, on the contrary, relies for the effect of his attack on 
 the mechanical force of his jaws and seldom fails to draw blood in 
 , streams alarmingly copious as the work of a creature of his size. 
 Means exist whereby mosquitoes may be pretty efiectually guarded 
 against during the night, but as the arrangements requisite for 
 hanging up the tent mosquito net are somewhat complicated, it is 
 not generally used except in cases of necessity. 
 
 The arrangement of details in the management of his brigade, 
 during the journey at present referred to, had been superintended 
 by Mr. Chief Factor Christie, with whom I have since repeatedly 
 made the same trip, and have here to record that, on all such 
 occasions, the conspicuous zeal displayed by that gentleman to 
 secure the comfort of his fellow travellers, and the general prosper- 
 ity of the voyage, has been rewarded with signal success. 
 
 As tea was being prepared, Indians from their neighbouring 
 fishing grounds came paddling in their canoes round our boat, 
 which, though small, towered high out of the water when floating 
 alongside these frail and tiny craft. They gave us all the news 
 from the settlement whence we had received no intelligence for 
 some weeks. In return they got small presents of pemmioan and 
 tobacco. PSre Moulin who, though messing along with us, had 
 travelled in one of the other boats, now came on board, and we sat 
 down to supper, while the boat which had been once more unloosed, 
 progressed leisurely up stream, impelled by the now falling wind. 
 Evening gave way to night, and still we slowly drifted along. The 
 P^re, whose spirits apparently rose with the emergency, amused us 
 
372 EED' Bitm. 
 
 by the relation of some souvenirs of Life at the Theologieaf Seinf^ 
 nary at which he had graduated in France, accompanying his stories 
 with chucklings and gesticulations which proved the strong hold 
 the events had retained on his memory. Towards morning the 
 wind died away and we remained stationary. Boat after boat 
 dragged its way up after us. P6re Moulin, so soon as that by 
 which he had travelled eame within hail, quitted us to see after 
 his luggage, and we arranged ourselves as best we could to get an 
 uneasy nap in Our contracted quarters. At day-break the crew 
 began to pull and soon we reached the Indian Settlement of St. 
 Peter. At six o'clock in the morning I was wakened to find thff 
 men in the act of pulling in their oars, as the boat reached th& 
 landing place at Lower Fort Garry. 
 
 As usual, the events of even a few weeks presented topics of. 
 interest. It was the season during which scarlet fever raged so' 
 severely in the settlement, and, among the items of information we 
 received on our arrival, were the intimations of not a few deaths^' 
 the most marked of which perhaps was that of Mr. Bruneau, the 
 magistrate already referred to in a previous chapter. 
 
 At Lower Fort Garry we were virtually at home. In the course 
 of the day Father Moulin got a passage in a buggy to the Upper 
 Settlement, and after a very few days spent with his friends at St. 
 Boniface, returned to Norway House on his way to his remote 
 inland Mission station. Messrs. Christie and Watt, after a few 
 days spent in arranging their Red Eiver affairs, started westward 
 across the Plains, on their way to their head-quarters at Edmonton 
 in Saskatchewan. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 1865. 
 'The North West Cricket Club— Journey to Canada — Prairie travel — 
 Reverends Messrs. Bompas and Gardiner — Subsequent Northern 
 -career of Mr. Bompas — Pembina — Georgetown— Port Abererombie — 
 Archdeacon Cochran — Return Autumn Journey to Red River. 
 
 During our absence in the interior the members of the cricket 
 •club had been diligently employed in the exercise of the fine game, 
 the practice of which was publicly understood to be the prime 
 ■object of their association. The following " communication " 
 addressed to, and duly published in, the " Nor' Wester," gives an 
 account of the first grand assemblage of the season ; 
 
 NORTH WEST CKICKET CLTJB. 
 
 " The opening game of the season of 1865 was played in a 
 spirited manner on the ground at Fort G-arry on Saturday last, 
 when the new bats were fairly tested and found excellent. A 
 large number of the old members were present, also several new . 
 ones. We had to regret the absence from illness and other causes 
 of several of our best players, among others our secretary, who, we 
 were sorry to learn, was going to leave us for a time. At the 
 commencement of the game a splendid bat, the gift of our worthy 
 member, W. McMurray, Esq., of Fort Alexander, was presented 
 to the club, followed by a vote of thanks to the donor. William 
 Sinclair, Esq., of Brockville, Canada West, at which place he 'is 
 president of a club, honoured the field with his presence, and showed 
 his appreciation of the game in a most acceptable manner to the 
 members present. The club elected Mr. Sinclair an honorary 
 member for life, amid loud acclamations. 
 
 " It is pleasing to see how popular the noble game is becoming in 
 Eed River, and now that we are so well furnished with all the 
 requisites for play, it is to be hoped that, on field days, all the 
 
3T4 KBD RITEK. 
 
 members will endeavour to be present, and as many as possible 
 should meet every evening for practice."' 
 
 The new bats referred to in the above extract consisted of 
 a consignment imported from the States, to replace a number whicb 
 during the preceding autumn had succumbed under the natural 
 effects of the vigorous play' upon the wood of which they were 
 manufactured, which had become brittle and dry in consequence of 
 long disuse and careless storage. The manner, so acceptable to 
 the members, in which retired Chief Factor Sinclair, then on a short 
 visit to the colony, had evinced his appreciation of the efforts of 
 the cricketers, was by the present of a gallon of sherry, procured 
 and drunk upon the field. The old gentleman had, I am informed, 
 very nearly reason to regret his liberality. Before he left the 
 ground, a ball, the batsman responsible for the career of which 
 probably had a mind to test the relative superiority of the new 
 over the old instruments, passed so swiftly and so close to his: 
 spectacles that he did not see it until, to the consternation of the 
 field, a taller friend standing close beside him, dropped upon the 
 ground with horrible gasps and discoloured face, consequent on 
 having received the missile on his ribs. 
 
 Evening practice of the most legitimate nature possible was, as 
 the " Nor' Wester " recommended, regularly and zealously kept up 
 by the residents in Fort Garry and its immediate neighbourhood 
 throughout the summer. But the gradual departure of members, 
 and indifference on the part of the remainder, again interfered 
 with the prosperity of the undertaking, and no regular course of 
 meetings has been held since the date to which I have just been: 
 referring. 
 
 Early on the afternoon of Monday, 7th August, I started from 
 Fort Garry on a journey to Canada. I travelled with Mr. Chief 
 Factor Clare, who was going to visit the post at Georgetown where 
 the steamer " International " then lay idle.. Chief Trader Hack- 
 land, the gentleman in charge of Pembina, rode with us as far as 
 that place. Our means of locomotion consisted of saddle and spare 
 horses, a buggy and a Bed River cart. In the latter our bedding, 
 canteen and stores were transported. It was driven by onei 
 servant, while a second sufficed to perform the other duties coa- 
 
RED RIVER. 375 
 
 nected with the party. After crossing the Assiniboine at the 
 ferry we proceeded along the western bank of the Red River. The 
 weather was excessively warm, and the brushwood, through which 
 our well-beaten track ran, proved a welcome shade. After having 
 passed over about ten miles we reached the confines of the " bush " 
 and emerged on the sweeping level prairie. We dined in camp by 
 the Red River bank at Pointe Couple. The process of prepara- 
 tion for meals was much the same as that described as having 
 taken place at the camping places on Lake Winnipeg ; but, as there 
 were now only two men instead of eight to do the work of water 
 drawing and. firewood collecting, and as the horses required some 
 time to rest during the heat of the day, the halting times- were 
 generally much longer than those of boat travelling. After 
 dinner we continued our ride to a place called Rapid Croix about 
 twenty-five miles from Fort Garry, where we camped for the 
 night. 
 
 Our bedding was stretched out round the camp fire and after 
 supper we " turned in." Under these circumstances the process of 
 undressing is simple and, to use Mr. Hackland's pithy expression, 
 " we sleep as we run." The coat is folded up and arranged under 
 or instead of the pillow; the moccasins are stowed among the grass 
 underneath the oil cloth of the bedding in order to save them 
 from saturation by the dews, and the traveller goes to sleep. The 
 horses, whose two fore feet are confined by "hopples," which 
 prevent them straying to any serious distance, limp about all night, 
 grazing in the neighbourhood of the slumbering camp. 
 
 After a night's sleep, rendered restless by the persevering attacks 
 of the mosquitoes, we rose at four o'clock in the morning to resume 
 our way. A very heavy dew had fallen and the grass was very 
 wet. The horses were unhoppled and saddled and the bedding 
 tied up and thrown into the luggage cart, which started, leading 
 the march at the regular jog-trot pace of the prairie, followed by 
 riders, buggy, and spare horses, in single file, forming quite a consi- 
 derable procession. Shortly after getting shaken into regular 
 work we came in sight of a camp of travellers at some distance, 
 ahead. On riding up, we found it to be that of the Revs. 
 Messrs. Bompas and Gardiner, two clergymen connected with the 
 Church Missionary Society on their way to the settlement. 
 
376 RED RIVER. 
 
 The Anglican Churcli in Red Eiver had, during the preceding 
 year, been passing through a rather remarkable phase. As already- 
 mentioned, Bishop Anderson had quitted the country in May, 
 1864. Archdeacons Cochran and Hunter had left in May, 1865 ; 
 the Rev. Mr. Smith, who had been in temporary charge of 
 the Cathedral for a winter had gone oiF to his Mission at Cum- 
 berland. Mr. Phair, the temporary successor of Mr. Hunter, was 
 severely attacked with the scarlet fever ; the same fatality had 
 befallen the Rev. Mr. Chapman at Poplar Point at the other extre- 
 mity of the colony ; St. Paul's parish had for a year been merely 
 visited by the incumbent for the neighbouring charge of St. 
 John's. The result was that, early in August, 1865, between 
 the Poplar Point and St. Clement's, including a stretch of 65 
 miles, .there were six churches supplied with only one effective 
 clergyman, the Rev. William H. Taylor of St. James', who was 
 called to meet the diflSculty of keeping them all open. On visiting 
 this gentlemen, previous to starting on my present trip, I found 
 him contemplating a night drive of considerable length, with the 
 double object of availing himself of the fine moonlight to escape the 
 heat of the day, and of economizing time. The avowed dislike of 
 Messrs. Hunter and Smith to a protracted stay in the settlement, 
 it was thought might have a repellant effect on others. This, I am 
 happy to say, has not been justified by the event. 
 
 The appearance of a clergyman to take permanent charge of the 
 parish of St. Andrew's, vacated by Archdeacon Hunter, was, 
 therefore, a matter on which all interested in the welfare of the 
 Church, congratulated themselves. The Rev. Mr. G-ardiner had 
 come to Rupert's Land in 1857 and had spent six years in Mis- 
 sionary work at York and Churchill on Hudson's Bay. Having 
 returned to England in 1863, he had passed two years at home 
 and was, at the time I made his acquaintance, as above related, on 
 the eve of his arrival in the settlement. 
 
 The Rev. William Carpenter Bompas, who had travelled from 
 England with Mr. Gardiner, was destined to a much more remote 
 field of labour. This gentleman after, I believe, a period of six 
 years spent in deacon's orders had been ordained Priest in St. 
 Paul's, Covent Garden, London, by the Bishop of Rupert's Land, 
 
BED EIVBR. 377 
 
 the day after his lordship's own consecration. As the career of 
 Mr. Bompas in the North has come more prominently before my 
 attention than that of any other labourer in the same field, ■ I 
 shall here pause to record a few of its more prominent features. 
 
 Intelligence of the ill health of the missionary at the remote 
 Arctic station of the Youcon having reached England, an eloquent 
 appeal was made to the clergy by Dr. Anderson, the retiring Bishop 
 of Kupert's Land, asking for a successor to the former. Mr. Bom- 
 pas at once offered himself, and, having resigned a highly eligible 
 position in Lincolnshire, started from England within a few days 
 after his ordination, in the hope that, though the season was far 
 advanced, he might yet succeed in reaching the remote interior 
 before the closing in of winter. After a residence of only one 
 day in Ked River Settlement, he embarked in a boat going across 
 Lake Winnipeg, and, by a series of fortunate though unforeseen 
 opportunities, succeeded in reaching Fort Chipewyan in Athabasca 
 district, in the beginning of November. Though urged to remain, 
 as the winter was fast closing in, he decided on pushing forward, 
 and started down the Slave River in a bark canoe manned by two 
 Indians, the newly formed ice drifting down the current in large 
 floes. At forty miles from Fort Resolution he quitted the canoe 
 and performed that distance on foot. 
 
 When the ice had formed Mr. Bompas went forward to Fort 
 Simpson by dog-trains. Here a Church of England mission was 
 established, and he remained during the winter with the Mis- 
 sionary, the Rev. Mr. Kirkby, learning the Slave language, and visit- 
 ing distant camps of Indians. The missionary at the Youcon, the 
 Rev. Robt. McDonald, to replace whom Mr. Bompas had origi- 
 nally been appointed, having recovered his health, the latter turned 
 his attention to other quarters. On the outbreak of spring, 1866, 
 he visited Great Bear Lake to superintend an out-mission estab- 
 lished there some years previously, and, till then, conducted by a 
 catechist named John Hope. In spite of the severity of the climate 
 and the scarcity of food Mr. Bompas, during the winter of 
 1866-67, as was his invariable habit, travelled from one Indian 
 camp to another, and, assisted by his skill as a linguist, is said to 
 fiave worked very effectively. He then performed a most trying 
 
378 RED RIVEK. 
 
 and arduous snow shoe journey across land from Great Bear Lake 
 to Fort Kae, on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, where he 
 remained until July, 1867. 
 
 Mr. Bompas then returned to Athabasca, where no Protestant 
 mission had, till then, been established. Taking up his head- 
 quarters at Fort Chipewyan he visited Fort Vermillion, on Peace 
 Eiver, during the ensuing winter. In May, 1868, he again went 
 north to Fort Simpson to succeed Mr. Kirkby in charge of the 
 mission there. 
 
 During his residence in the north Mr. Bompas has translated 
 considerable portions of Scripture in the Slave language, selecting, 
 more especially for this purpose, such simple passages of the Gos- 
 pels as he could bring within the grasp of the Indian mind. 
 
 The vast distance intervening between England and the scenes 
 of her Indian missions, combined with all the pomp of music and 
 eloquence with which their claims are frequently presented to the 
 imagination of a Church-going British public, has been imagined 
 by some people, cognizant of the prosaic reality, " to lend enchant- 
 ment to the view." The suddenness with which Mr. Bompas 
 resolved to devote himself to the missionary life did, I believe, seem 
 to certain of the latter class to indicate a zeal nearly allied to indis- 
 cretion. The foregoing narrative ought, however, to vouch for his 
 reality of purpose, which is spoken of by all, and which has stood 
 the test of hunger, exposure, and arctic cold. 
 
 The fact that Roman Catholicism had already been pretty 
 extensively and firmly planted, more especially in Athabasca, 
 through the agency sketched in Chapter X, put Mr. Bompas in a 
 position of much delicacy and difficulty, as regards the priests of 
 that persuasion, with whom he is reported to have come repeatedly 
 into violent collision. This I suspect to be almost inevitable ; but, 
 except in so far as he was compelled, in the conscientious execution 
 of his duty, to recommend the faith of his Church to the favour of 
 the Indian, the hostility was not of his seeking. The fact that he 
 is a bachelor, unaccompanied by a family, gives him a liberty of 
 locomotion, and a degree of independence on surrounding ciroum- 
 Btanees, most advantageous to the success of his pursuits. For 
 instance, a couple of blankets constituted the amount of luggage he 
 
RED RIVER. 379 
 
 took to the North in 1865. The remainder of his efiFects he was 
 compelled, in default of freighting accommodation, to leave behind. 
 The only alternative would have been to defer his journey for a 
 year. 
 
 It is believed that his ability and secular knowledge, when 
 applied to the facts coming daily under his observation, constitute 
 Mr. Bompas an authority in everything connected with Northern 
 Indian Missions, of a very high and reliable order. His popu- 
 larity at the Company's posts, where he lectured on the " Six Thou- 
 sand Years of the World's History" and similar subjects, is, of 
 course, very great. 
 
 On the morning when Mr. Clare and myself met them the party 
 was just preparing to start on their last stage towards the settle- 
 ment, and, to an unaccustomed traveller like myself, the contents of 
 their tea-kettle, which was in f|iU working order on the fire, in the 
 centre of the camp, came at a very seasonable time. It is currently 
 reported that mosquitoes attack strangers on their arrival with 
 greater virulence than those who have passed some seasons in the 
 country. I can only hope that Mr. Bompas has since experienced 
 the truth of this statement, for he was most severely bitten when 
 I met him. His fellow traveller seemed to have escaped more 
 easily. 
 
 After a few minutes' detention we resumed our ride to overtake 
 our party, the very considerable distance ahead which it had 
 attained rendering it necessary for us to use much diligence to 
 come up with it, and bringing out the real speed with which we 
 were getting over the ground, under an apparently leisurely jog- 
 trot. After riding about four hours we halted for breakfast at 
 Scratching River, and in the course of the afternoon reached Pem- 
 bina. 
 
 On the ensuing morning we resumed our route southwards. Mr. 
 Hackland remained at Pembina, while Mr. Clare, discarding his 
 buggy, betook himself to the saddle. The road was travelled by 
 numerous parties of settlers on their return homewards from St. 
 Paul, some journeying in light buggies, others accompanied by 
 trains of their heavy freight carts. The same routine was pursued 
 88 on the preceding days, no incident occurring to vary the 
 
S80 RED RIVEK. 
 
 snonotony of travel. Numerous prairie ebickens flew a"bout our 
 track, some of wMeh we shot and used as food. The quantity of 
 game on the prairie is so great that an ordinarily expert traveller 
 may provision his party with his gun as he goes along. Early in 
 the afternoon we halted for the night. 
 
 At day-break, about three o'clock next morning, we were again 
 on the track. After a pretty successful day's travel we halted 
 close to an old camp, deserted by its party of Black Crow Indians. 
 After a tolerable night's rest we again started at 3 a.m. and 
 travelled over the sixty or seventy miles which separated us 
 from Georgetown, reaching that place a few minutes before six 
 o'clock in the evening. Crossing the Red River at the ferry 
 established at the spot, we found the tenants of the steamer 
 " International " sitting down to supper, at which we joined them, 
 in the saloon, happy once again to be permitted to eat without 
 being eaten by the flies. 
 
 After passing the Saturday at Georgetown, Mr. Clare started on 
 Sunday afternoon on his return to Fort Garry, by the same route 
 over which we had travelled together. On Monday morning I 
 had succeeded in getting a passage by a private cart to Fort 
 Abercrombie, which I reached the'same evening. Instead of the 
 troop of regulars, under Colonel Day, by which this place had 
 been garrisoned during my previous visit with Mr. Morgan, 
 Lieutenant Colonel Adams, with a volunteer force, now occupied 
 it. A wayside inn, kept by a person named McAulay, now 
 flourished among the woods on the bank of the river opposite the 
 Fort. This was surrounded by a variety of smaller log houses, 
 forming a small scattered street, along which bra^iiers filled with 
 " smudge fires" disgorged cloudy volumes of smoke among which 
 cattle and men sought shelter from the flies. The blue uniforms, 
 isolated specimens of which had been visible since leaving George- 
 town, at which a detachment was quartered, reminded the traveller 
 that he was in the neighbourhood of a garrisoned place ; but 
 silence, broken only by the tones of an occasional voice, reigned as 
 night fell, and the grey smoke curled up among the trees whose 
 large trunks and leafy branches towered aloft into the gloom, 
 lighted with the fitful glare of sputtering fires. About nieht°'*ll 
 
RED MVEE. ggj 
 
 an oficer from the Fort, accompanied by a party of three soldiers 
 made his appearance. Sending his men on their round to beat 
 up stragglers from the garrison who might be skulking outside 
 after hours, the gallant Lieutenant stepped into the common room 
 of the inn to refresh himself with the beer there exposed for sale. 
 This common room was used as a general store and formed the 
 public rendezvous of all the neighbourhood. The sleeping accom- 
 modation lay overhead, and was contained in a vast loft, furnished 
 with two rows of large " double beds," an entire one of which was- 
 kindly set apart for my use. Two large book-cases, filled with 
 books, stood at one end of the chamber. Among their contents, 
 I remember only a large American edition of "Josephus." 
 Access to this establishment was obtained by a "trap stair," 
 leading directly from the general store below. 
 
 One entire Tuesday, I spent in this place. The society was 
 almost altogether military from the Fort, whence soldiers were 
 ever arriving, to drink beer and lounge through the time. The 
 men were perfectly orderly and quiet, apparently also drilled into 
 very creditable practical acquaintance with the military art. A 
 painful event had within two or three days previously occurred at 
 the inn. The clerk of the store was engaged in cleaning a 
 " revolver " pistol, one barrel at least which was unknown to him 
 loaded. By some accident this barrel was discharged, the bullet 
 taking fatal effect in the body of the clerk's own father, who was 
 standing close beside him watching the operation. The poor fellow 
 was as might be imagined in great distress of mind. 
 
 In the afternoon the stage coach from St. Paul arrived. Among 
 the passengers, to my great surprise, were Archdeacon and Mrs. 
 Cochran, then on their way back to Eed Kiver. The Archdeacon 
 told me his health had somewhat failed him in Canada and he 
 tkought he could still be of some use in the settlement, and had 
 resolved to come back. On the ensuing morning he secured a 
 passage in the mail gig on its way to Pembina by Georgetown, 
 The driver on presenting himself at the hour of starting, gave 
 Unequivocal symptoms of having indulged too freely in stimulating 
 drinks. Mounting his gig, he gave up its only two seats to his 
 passengers, and standing very unsteadily before them, set the 
 
RED EIVER. 
 
 vehicle in motion. The last glance we caught of the party, he 
 was loosely swaying from side to side as the gig jolted its rapid 
 way over the irregular track leading through the belt of woods, 
 closely followed by the military escort of three soldiers charged to 
 protect the mail against the Sioux. We subsequently heard that 
 the Archdeacon reached Pembina after a very unpleasant journey, 
 but without encountering any such accident as might have been 
 apprehended from the presumptive character of his charioteer. 
 
 A few minutes after the departure of the Archdeacon towards 
 the West, the stage coach about to start for the East appeared 
 before the inn door. My fellow passengers were Colonel Mark 
 Downie, a United States officer who had passed through the 
 southern war, then just closed, a medical gentleman attached to 
 one of the regiments quartered along our route, and Mr. Edmund 
 R. AbcU, the engineer of the " International " then on his way 
 home to St. Cloud. An escort of three soldiers accompanied the 
 stage to " Old Crossing," which we reached towards noon, and 
 where we dined. For a long time previously this escort system 
 had been merely a formality, the Sioux having been entirely driven 
 from the neighbourhood, and was continued chiefly, I believe, with 
 the object of finding employment for the military. Between " Old 
 Crossing " and Pomme de Terre we travelled unescorted, but in 
 perfect security. The solitary prairie tavern which had stood at 
 the latter place in 1861 had given way to a palissaded military 
 station, where a small body of troops was quartered, in the inte- 
 rior of which was the inn at which we were now accommo- 
 dated. 
 
 The next day we dined at Alexandria, where the first symptoms 
 of general settlement became visible, and in the evening reached 
 Sank Centre, where, instead of at Kandottah, the stage now put 
 up. This also was a military station, but the settlement of the 
 country in its neighbourhood had, notwithstanding the discourag- 
 ing effects of the Sioux war, made great progress within a few 
 years. On Friday evening we reached St. Cloud, then a fair sized 
 prairie town, and on Saturday evening arrived at St. Paul. The 
 railway which now connects the two latter places was in working 
 order, at the time to which I refer, only between Elk River and 
 
RED RIVER. 383 
 
 St. Paul or only about half the distance. But even this eiFected 
 a vast change in comparison with the state of matters in 1861, 
 when, as will be remembered, the journey was entirely performed 
 by stage and occupied about seventeen hours. It was now easily 
 done in nine hours. 
 
 After somewhat more than two months spent in places which, 
 to the groat public, would present the appearance of every day 
 life, but which, to men whose lives have been passed in Rupert's 
 Land, appeared as the enchanted regions of absolute felicity, where 
 the Steam Engine and the Electric Telegraph work the prosperity 
 of the favoured inhabitants, on Monday, 30th October, I again 
 found myself at St. Paul, westward bound. The party consisted 
 of the Governor of Rupert's Land, who had reached Canada 
 several weeks after myself, Mr. Thomas Taylor, a Chief Trader, 
 Mr. Horace Belanger, a clerk in the Hudson's Bay service, and my- 
 self. Stopping during the night of Monday at St. Cloud, of Tuesday 
 at Sank Centre, and of Wednesday at Pomme de Terre, on the after- 
 noon of Thursday we reached Fort Abercrombie, where we found 
 our party of horses and servants waiting us. 
 
 On Friday morning, after having spent the night in camp near 
 the Fort, we commenced our ride to Fort Garry. The amount of 
 luggage we carried was greater than had been calculated on by 
 those responsible for the provision of our means of transport, in 
 consequence of it being unknowQ to the latter that Messrs. Taylor 
 and Belanger, who were respectively an officer on furlough and a 
 clerk on a very short leave of absence, were to return to Bed River 
 in the Governor's party. The buggy and cart which waited us 
 were consequently so heavily laden as to become seriously heavy 
 loads for the horses. 
 
 The snow, which had fallen during our passage by the steamer 
 up the Mississippi, had prepared us to expect a very unpleasant 
 journey across the Plains. Until reaching Abercrombie, however, 
 we had not experienced bad weather, but on the morning we started 
 thence a bitter north wind began to blow and our party made very 
 poor travelling. In the afternoon the breeze increased and the 
 weather got perceptibly colder. After a very poor day's ride of 
 about thirty miles we encamped close to a deserted house, unte- 
 
^ 
 
 884 EED EIVER. 
 
 nanted and lonely since the Sioux massacre, about eighteen miles 
 from Georgetown. I remembered it aa one where we had stopped 
 to change horses for the last time before reaching the latter place, in 
 the course of the trip with the account of which the earlier chapters 
 of this volume are occupied. The present night was very cold, a 
 keen wind blew and snow fell. Our camp, however, under shelter 
 of the high river bank, at the base of which it was pitched, warmed 
 by the huge wood fire which blazed in its centre, was all that 
 could be desired in point of comfort. 
 
 Next morning we breakfasted at daylight, which was about 7 
 o'clock in the morning, in strong contrast to the early doings of 
 the preceding August journey from Fort Garry to Georgetown. 
 So soon after breakfast, as the horses could be collected and 
 harnessed, we resumed our way. The morning was extremely cold, 
 urged by which perhaps all our horses exerted themselves with 
 great effect, and we got to Georgetown about noon. Here we 
 halted, dined and warmed ourselves in the house of Mr. Probstfield, 
 a farmer at the post where he also acted as temporary agent for 
 the Company. A relay of horses, which had been posted at this 
 place for our use, formed a most welcome addition to our party, 
 and it was with somewhat increased confidence that, after crossing 
 the Red River at the ferry, We again turned our faces northwards. 
 The cold had been so intense that the ice was forming on the river, 
 while immediately after our passage the ferry was to be closed and 
 the boats laid up for the winter. Our afternoon ride was even 
 more successful than that of the morning. The wind fell ; the 
 weather got somewhat warmer ; and we trotted briskly along with 
 the utmost comfort and enjoyment. We halted and took up our 
 night's quarters on the earthen floor of a small deserted single 
 chambered hut, close to the river's brink, about eighteen miles north 
 from Georgetown. 
 
 On Sunday morning we started at the usual time, and after a 
 twenty miles' ride stopped for dinner. Resuming our route, we 
 got over twelve miles more, when we supped at the Coulet des 
 Ormes. Starting thence as evening was closing in, it was determined 
 we should take advantage of the fine weather, and push ahead about 
 twenty-five miles further. This distance was performed in darkness. 
 
RED RIVER. 385 
 
 The long line of our procession moved smartly along, either extre- 
 mity being invisible from its centre. The prairie fires were raging 
 in the country through which we travelled. At first we caught 
 sight of a fiery line faintly illuminating the far horizon on our 
 front. Gradually, as we advanced, the line expanded into a crescent, 
 extending to the right and left, and instead of one line, a vast number 
 of blazing arcs broke on the sight. As we reached the heart of the 
 conflagration the entire horizon about us was luminous with low 
 burning zones, whence the dark smoke curled aloft into the night. 
 After some time our track passed away from the fires which had 
 been burning in some spots quite close to the wayside, and after 
 a few more miles had been got over, the whole country again 
 assumed the appearance of one crescent and long line of fire which 
 ultimately disappeared in our rear. It was about midnight before 
 we reached Turtle River, a tributary of the Red River, where we 
 camped for the night. The cool weather and the entire absence of 
 mosquitoes were features in our experience on this occasion 
 which, in memory of the evils of summer travel, were thankfully 
 appreciated, permitting as they did, our undisturbed rest at 
 night. 
 
 On Monday we reached a spot called Little Poplar Point, 
 about thirty-nine miles from Turtle River, During the night, in 
 consequence of the dry grass and woods in the neighbourhood of 
 our camp being accidentally ignited through the spreading of our 
 fire, we very narrowly escaped a dangerous accident when asleep. 
 On Tuesday, after a morning's ride of twenty- three miles, we arrived 
 at Pembina, 
 
 The above distances were those given me by the experienced ■ 
 servants attached to our party. Altogether they make the dis- 
 tance from Georgetown to Pembina one hundred and thirty-seven 
 miles. This, I believe to be wonderfully correct, as the result of 
 "guess work," the distance having been ascertained by the 
 odometer to be one hundred and thirty-nine miles, (Appen- 
 dix F), 
 
 After dining in the Fort we rode on for fifteeen miles further, 
 accompanied by Mr. Haekland, the officer in charge at Pembina, 
 and encamped at a spot called " Two Little Points," being the 
 
 z 
 
386 KED KIVEK. 
 
 nominal boundary of the municipal district of Assiniboia, ■wMeii 
 extends over the tract of the country lying within fifty miles as a 
 radius around Port Garry. Although " Two Little Points " is 
 the nominal southern extremity of the settlement where intersected 
 by the Red Eiver, the real limit of the inhabited portion falls far 
 short of it ; and, as we were still in the unenclosed prairie, we 
 camped by the river side as usual. 
 
 Next morning, after a ten miles' ride, we came to the first house 
 on the road after leaving Pembina, at a place called " Scratching 
 River." Here we dined and resumed our journey after a short 
 rest. Mr. Hackland returned to Pembina, and the Governor, 
 anxious to reach home that evening, rode ahead alone and arrived 
 at Fort Garry as the mess was sitting down to tea at six o'clock, 
 Messrs. Taylor, Belanger and myself rode on more leisurely with 
 the baggage. Isolated houses began to increase along our route, and 
 at an early hour, after a ride of seventeen miles from Scratching 
 River, we put up for the evening in a house belonging to a settler 
 named Morin. Our horses were taken care of, and ourselves put 
 in possession of the largest room in the house — a long apartment 
 unfurnished except with a large table and some cassettes which 
 served as chairs. Our bedding was stretched out on the floor and 
 we were abandoned to our own devices. 
 
 Having virtually reached home at last, we congratulated our- 
 selves on the surprisingly fine weather we had enjoyed on our 
 journey, which, during its earlier stages, had promised to be very 
 disagreeable. Each day had shown an improvement on its prede- 
 cessor, and the evening in question closed with a magnificent sun- 
 set, which finely set ofi' the autumn woods and the fire-blackened 
 prairies stretching away to the West. 
 
 On the morning of Thursday, 9th November, after an unusually 
 early breakfast, we were in our saddles at six o'clock. All speed 
 was used to get over the remaining twenty-three miles which 
 separated us from Fort Garry. The day broke and found us yet 
 on the open prairie. At last we reached the belt of "bush" 
 which stretched back some miles from the river Assiniboine. 
 From time to time some familiar land mark appeaa-ed as we came 
 in sight of the Red River at one or other of its points. After a 
 
EED RIVER. 387 
 
 short halt to learn the latest news at a little way- side hut, we set 
 forth on our last stage. The high, unsteepled roof of the Cathe- 
 dral of St. Boniface appeared through a vista in the leafless woods. 
 Horses and riders of our party seemed equally eager to reach their 
 journey's end, and even the tough, shaggy-coated, little Indian 
 pony attached to our luggage-cart galloped with such settled pur- 
 pose and effect as made the kettles and frying-pans behind him ring 
 as they jolted over the uneven faggot road. At length we cleared 
 the woods at the river bank and reached the ferry, over which we 
 were conveyed, arriving at Fort Garry about eleven o'clock in the 
 forenoon. 
 
 The distance between Pembina and Fort Garry, as above given 
 in detail, is sixty-five miles ; the actual distance, as it has been 
 measured by the odometer, is sixty-three miles. (Appendix F.) 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 1865-66. 
 Death of Archdeacon Cochran — The Right Eev. Dr. Machray — Church 
 Eeforma — Crops — Hunts — Rumoured Gold Mining at , Vermilion, 
 Lalie — Affairs of McKenney & Company ; The Junior Partner in 
 Court — Murder at the Prairie Portage— Bishop Machray's First Dio- 
 cesan Conference ; Sketches of His Lordship's Address — Governor's 
 Journey to Norway House — Bishop Machray's Second Visitation — 
 Mr. Schwieger's Sasli;^tchewan Surrey — Skirmish between Sioux and 
 Chippeways near Fort Garry — Demarais Murder Case — Crops — Ven. 
 Archdeacon McLean — St. John's College — Arrival of Mr. Thomas 
 Spence ; His " Political Meeting." 
 
 Among the first items of news which greeted our arrival was the 
 intelligence of the death of the Tenerable Archdeacon Cochran, 
 whose work in the colony has already been treated of at large in 
 Chapter 1^. This melancholy event had occurred on Sunday, 
 October 1st, in consequence of an illness caused by bathing on a 
 very warm day. 
 
 Having reached the settlement towards the close of August, the 
 "Archdeacon went on a visit to the mission of Westbourne, about 
 twelve miles west from the Prairie Portage, where it was, I believe, 
 his intention to remain permanently, with the object of continuing 
 his work as a missionary by establishing that inland station on a 
 more satisfactory basis than it had till then possessed. There can 
 be no reasonable doubt that, in this endeavour, the Archdeacon 
 would have succeeded by the same means which had led to the 
 result of his work in all the other places in which he had been, 
 located. But his long career was closed at last, and, by a some- 
 what curious coincidence, he was buried in St. Andrew's cemetery 
 on the first Friday of October, that being the day of the week on 
 -which, on Friday, 7th October, 1825, he had landed, forty years 
 , .previously, at Red River, as assistant to the Rev. Mr. Jones, 
 
EBD RIVER. 389 
 
 at what was then called the "Upper Church," and is now the 
 Cathedral of St. John. At the time he died Mr. Cochran was 
 seventy years of age. 
 
 On Friday, 13th October, the Eight Rev. Dr. Machray, the 
 new Bishop of the Diocese, arrived in Red River Settlement. His 
 Lordship's arrival had been longjlooked forward to by the people 
 and such of the clergy as had remained in the country who, 
 during the protracted interval of seventeen months which had 
 elapsed since the departure of Dr. Anderson, had missed the 
 personal presence of so important a public man as is the head of 
 the English Church. The Bishop at once assumed charge of the 
 parish of St. John, and took steps to recommence the working of 
 St. John's college, the detailed nature and success of which will 
 be noticed further on. 
 
 Among the more important parochial alterations introduced was 
 that of a weekly offertory in all the churches in the colony. The 
 absence of a large and widely-distributed currency had, I presume, 
 been a principal reason for abstaining, except at Communion 
 seasons, from taking some such step at a period long antecedent to 
 the date in question. Of the expediency of raising money among 
 the people for church purposes, more especially in view of the long 
 continued assistance received from the various religious societies 
 in England, there could be no question, and the sustained and 
 steadily increasing sums which have been the result of the system 
 form a guarantee of the desire of the public generally to exhibit 
 liberality in their contributions. The process by which these are 
 levied consists of a ladle, plate, or bag handed by a churchwarden 
 to each individual present at the close of the sermon, whilst some 
 of the offertory sentences are read. The offertory is followed by 
 the prayer for the Church Militant. This system was introduced 
 on the first Sunday in Advent, 1865. 
 
 The haryest of 1865 was better than had been anticipated from 
 the ravages of the grasshoppers in spring. Eventually it appeared 
 that the mischief done by these creatures had been chiefly con- 
 fined to that part of the settlement cultivated by the Scotch 
 farmers, who were probably better able to support the loss than 
 any other portion of the community. The crops in St, Paul's 
 
390 KBD RIVEK. 
 
 parish were destroyed. The parts of the colony which had 
 escaped yielded between thirty and thirty-five bushels per acre. 
 The aggregate crop had been such that wheat sold for six shillings 
 per bushel ; barley, oats, potatoes and pease gave their ordinary 
 returns, while, in the important matter of hay, the amount secured 
 was large and fully sufficient to meet the demand. 
 
 The fall hunts, however, turned out a more complete failure 
 than had been known for years. The Sioux, driven away from 
 their old hunting grounds, scattered themselves over the country 
 usually hunted by the Red River people, and the buffalo fled before 
 them in large herds. The result was a great scarcity of food among 
 the French Canadian half-breed section of the community, which 
 depends/or its subsistence chiefly on the Buffalo hunts. The lake 
 fisheries succeeded as well as usual. 
 
 Early in 1866 the Bishop of Rupert's Land set out on his first 
 visitation. Travelling westwards his Lordship touched at Portage 
 La Prairie, Westboume, and Pairford, thence by the Pas he 
 reached Cumberland and the Nepowewin, returning home by Touch- 
 wood Hills and Qu'Appelle Lake. The journey was performed in 
 a dog carriole, and occupied seven weeks. As already casually 
 mentioned in Chapter IX, the Bishop confirmed one hundred and 
 fifty-five individuals at the twelve stations visited in the course of 
 his tour. He returned to Red River on 5th March, 1866. 
 
 The Governor also paid a visit to England in the spring, leaving 
 Red Biver early in March, and returning on his way to Norway 
 House among the first days in June. During his absence Judge 
 Black was invested with the local jurisdiction of Governor of 
 Assiniboia. 
 
 About the autumn of 1865 it had become publicly rumoured 
 that gold existed in paying quantities about Vermilion Lake, in 
 the north of the State of Minnesota. The exact position of this 
 lake is said to be about 70 miles north from the west end of Lake 
 Superior. By the only practicable summer route the auriferous 
 region was about 285 miles from St. Paul, over 145 miles of which 
 the travelling was performed in canoes, and the water communica- 
 tion was interrupted by frequent portages, some of which were 
 several miles in length. During winter, however, a road existed, 
 
BED RIVER. 391 
 
 ly Trhicli the distance from St Paul was only 218 miles, the 145 
 miles of water communication being replaced by a winter road 78 
 miles in length. The point whence the summer and winter roads 
 diverged was Duleith, a German settlement at Beaver Bay, on 
 lake Superior, about 140 miles frbm St. Paul 
 
 The evidence of the existence of gold at this spot was confined 
 to " surface indications.'' These were reported, by men supposed 
 to be skilful in mining, as good. Several years have, however, 
 elapsed and no considerable influx of people has taken place to 
 Vermilion Lake. The probability, therefore, is that gold, though 
 existing, is not in sufficient quantiti-es to pay for its being worked. 
 Although accessible only by a very circuitous and rugged route 
 from Red River, the development of gold mines at the spot referred 
 . to must necessarily have seriously influenced the course of aff-iirs 
 in the settlement, many of the inhabitants of which would doubt- 
 less have migrated to Vermilion. That the country round that spot, 
 in common with the whole circuit of Lake Superior, is rich in 
 mineral wealth, may be true, but the absence of facilities for trans- 
 portation, and of the means of communication, has hitherto pre- 
 vented its being turned to profitable account. 
 
 At the general -Quarterly Court, held in the month of May, some 
 circumstances occurred which attracted a good deal of public atten- 
 tion and interest. The firm of McKenney & Company, already 
 repeatedly mentioned in the course of this work, had dissolved 
 partnership in the autumn of 1864. It will be remembered the 
 parties composing this firm were Mr, Henry MeKenney and his 
 near relative Dr. John Sehultz. Shortly after the dissolution of 
 partnership it became generally known that the complication of 
 affairs between the parties was such as might necessitate recourse 
 to litigation before the final arrangements could be concluded. In 
 May, 1865, Dr. Sehultz entered ,an action before the General 
 •Quarterly Court, in which he claimed from Mr. McKenney the 
 sum of £300 sterling as the amount still due him before he 
 ■could consent to the closing of the partnership accounts. The vast 
 amount of documentary evidence into which it would be necessary 
 to examine, along with other reasons which will readily suggest 
 rthemselves, led the court to appoint a commission to investigate the 
 
392 EED RIVER. 
 
 business, and, by consent of parties, to act as arbiters. Tte mem- 
 bers of this eommission were Judge Black and Mr. Frangois Bru- 
 neau. The death of the latter gentleman, which occurred from 
 fever caught in the summer of the same year, broke up this 
 arrangement. In February, 1866, the case was again brought 
 before the court, and, in consequence of the absence from the settle- 
 ment of Mr. McKenney, was deferred. Dr. Schultz urged 'that the 
 reason alleged for deferring it was insufficient, and claimed that 
 judgment ought to go by default. 
 
 An affidavit, made by Mr. McKenney before his departure, was 
 produced, in which the absolute necessity of his journey was stated, 
 along with such representations as satisfied the court of the pro- 
 priety of permitting the hearing to be deferred. 
 
 In May, 1866, the case was again entered, and Dr. Schultz pub-, 
 licly declared that, on the previous occasion, the court " had per- 
 mitted itself to be bullied and browbeaten" by the defendant, and 
 "had neither the will nor the power to do justice." He was at 
 once stopped and ordered to retract the offensive expressions,, 
 which he refused to do — on the contrary, repeating them with 
 aggravations. He was then informed that, until he should retract 
 or apologize, he could not be heard personally at the bar of the 
 court, but was at liberty to appoint an agent. This, also, he refused 
 to do, and, in consequence, several cases, in which he was con- 
 cerned as plaintiff remained unheard. In the " Nor' Wester/' of 
 which he was proprietor, he published his own account of the 
 affair, commenting on it with much energy of diction as a new 
 attempt on the part of the Hudson's Bay Company to crush an 
 opponent in trade by refusing him justice in their courts. Beyond 
 this virulence of language, however, the business was unattended 
 by any immediate result. 
 
 On the 29th May an incident occurred at the Prairie Portage 
 which vividly illustrates the perpetual danger which exists in places 
 situated on the frontier of the wilderness of the occurrence of 
 deadly conflicts between the white and the red man. Messrs. Hugh- 
 O'Lone, William A. Salmon, and James K. Clewitt were three 
 American citizens carrying on a retail business at the Portage.. 
 About two o'clock on the afternoon of the day in question their 
 
BED RIVER. 393 
 
 trading shop was entered by nine Saulteaux Indians, who 
 demanded liquor. On being refused they attempted to carry off 
 some buffalo robes alleged to belong to the Americans, who defended 
 their property with clubs. The Indians retired, but about two 
 hours afterwards returned armed with guns. They fired two shots 
 at Clewitt without effect. Salmon, however, on hearing the noise, 
 ran out of the house, when an Indian, placing the muzzle of his 
 gun against his bosom, fired a shot which passed through his 
 breast and broke his arm. Clewitt meanwhile was cut down with 
 a knife, and O'Lone, seizing a gun, fired several shots, one of 
 which killed an Indian. The attacking party, on seeing their friend 
 fall, retired into the bush, still firing without effect at O'Lons. 
 
 Salmon, after lingering nine days at the Portage, was brought 
 down to the settlement for medical treatment. An operation 
 performed on his broken arm having resulted successfully, it was 
 hoped he might recover, but, three days afterwards, he died sud- 
 denly. A post-mortem examination revealed a woimd of the 
 chest extending into the lung, the opening of which had caused 
 death. 
 
 On the 30th May, 1866, the first " Conference for clergy and 
 lay delegates from parishes" in the Diocese of Rupert's Land, was 
 convened by the Bishop, in the school-room at St. John's. Ten 
 clergymen and eighteen laymen composed the meeting. The 
 Bishop read a long address, which has since been printed and pub- 
 lished in England. His Lordship entered with great minuteness 
 into the position of his Diocese, and his plans for rendering its 
 organization more efficient. He expl"ined that this conference was 
 merely a preliminary step to holding such a Synod as those in fuU 
 operation in Canada and the United States. In the former coun- 
 try the constitutions and canons of the Church had been drawn up 
 after much consideration and discussion, and, where applicable to 
 the circumstances of his Diocese, the Bishop would like to see 
 them adopted. A committee might be appointed to take steps in 
 furtherance of this scheme, by enquiring into the Canadian consti- 
 tutions for organizing vestries, parishes and synods. 
 
 The Bishop proceeded to explain the circumstances which had 
 transpired since the departure of his predecessor, with regard to 
 
394 RED RIVBE. 
 
 the resignation of the latter and his own appointment, which had 
 been delayed so long, "owing to an important case that was before 
 the Ecclesiastical Courts," as to interfere seriously with the ejQForts 
 he would have wished to make by raising money in England on 
 behalf of his Diocese. Many influential clergymen and laymen had, 
 however, promised their assistance. Of these, the Eev. Charles 
 Edward Oakley, rector of St. Paul's, Covent Garden, London, had 
 agreed to act as the Bishop's commissary in England ; but his Lord- 
 ship had heard, immediately after his arrival in the settlement, of 
 the unexpected death of this gentleman. An application to the 
 Rev. Thomas Thomason Perowne, fellow of Corpus Christi Col- 
 lege, Cambridge, asking him to fill Mr. Oaldey's place, had been at 
 once acceded to. 
 
 The position of the Church in Rupert's Land, with reference 
 to the English societies, was clearly defined. The unanimous 
 expectation of these bodies was that some considerable efibrt 
 should be put forth by the former towards self-support. This, the 
 Bishop said, had been commenced by the introduction of the ofier- 
 tory system, which had answered very well, for all then required 
 of it — the prospective entire maintenance of churches, churchyards 
 and schools. A Diocesan Endowment Fund was proposed, the 
 interest alone accruing from which was to be applied to meet any 
 exigencies which might arise from time to time. A committee, to 
 be called " The Finance and Property Committee," was proposed 
 as the best agency for the management of this and similar schemes. 
 
 The educational condition of the colony was next considered. 
 This was very bad. An almost total absence of books and the 
 necessary facilities of stationery existed throughout the settlement, 
 in several parishes of which no teaching whatever was going on. 
 The Bishop had already partially remedied this state of things by 
 active exertions in different parishes, and now called for a central 
 depot for books and stationery, to be managed by a committee 
 called " The Committee of Education and Missions." The preli- 
 minary steps of ordering a supply of books from England had 
 been already taken. It was proposed that this depot should be for 
 the benefit, not only of the settlement and missions, but of 
 remotely situated posts of the Hudson's Bay Company, where its 
 officers or servants might have established a day or night school. 
 
RED RIVER. 395 
 
 A most important scheme was that for establishing a Theolo- 
 gical College to be called " St, John's " in perpetuation of the 
 name of the old institution, the history of which is detailed in 
 chapter IX. The Rev. John McLean, of London, Canada West, 
 had accepted the office of warden, and the Church Missionary 
 Society had declared itself ready to support six pupils. A 
 collegiate school was also to be established in connection with the 
 college to be taught by the Bishop, the warden, and the Rev. 
 Samuel Pritchard, whose own private school was amalgamated 
 with the new one. A fine library, aheady formed by Bishop 
 Anderson, had been largely increased by his successor and by 
 various societies and people friendly to the enterprise. 
 
 The conference signified its assent to the propriety of all the 
 projects thus sketched out by the Bishop, by passing a series of 
 resolutions in which provision was made for the organization of 
 the committees proposed, the names of parties present being 
 selected to form the various Boards. It was also determined to 
 raise funds for endowing a scholarship in connection with the new 
 college, to be called " The Cochran Scholarship " in memory of 
 the late Venerable Archdeacon Cochran, and the sum of £116 
 was immediately subscribed for the purpose by the members of 
 the Conference. The general success of all the effi)rts above 
 indicated will be noticed as we shall again have occasion to recur 
 to these subjects. 
 
 On Monday, 18th June, the Governor quitted the settlement on 
 his usual journey to meet the Northern Council at Norway House. 
 On this occasion his party was accompanied by the Bishop of 
 Rupert's Land, Mr. Schweiger, a civil engineer from Canada, and 
 Mr. Chief Trader Taylor, who, having spent bis winter's furlough 
 in the settlement, went to resume duty in the interior. 
 
 The Bishop, the term of whose present visitation was York 
 Factory, continued his journey, after a residence of a few days at 
 Norway House, in the light boat which starts after Council for the 
 coast, and by which officers, whose business requires their presence 
 at that place, are conveyed to York. While at Norway House his 
 Lordship had the opportunity of making the acquaintance of the 
 large proportion of the officers connected with the Northern 
 
396 RED RIVER. 
 
 Department, convened at council. At York the Bishop held two 
 numerously attended confirmation services, and, after returning by 
 the slow upstream route, reached the settlement on his way home 
 towards the middle of August. 
 
 Mr. Schwieger left Norway House with a surveying party with 
 which he proceeded across Lake Winnipeg to the Saskatchewan, 
 with a view of giving a reliable opinion on the practicability of 
 commencing steam navigation on that river. He spent the sum- 
 mer in the execution of his survey and, on his return to the 
 settlement in October, drew up a most luminous account of the 
 result of his explorations. Its general purport was that, owing to 
 a variety of drawbacks, including a few obstructions to the navi- 
 gation of so serious a character as to necessitate the expenditure 
 of large sums before they could be overcome, the project was yet 
 of doubtful benefit to the parties interested. 
 
 An event, the imminence of which had long been as constant as 
 its occurrence had been rare, took place during the month of June, 
 1866. A Sioux chief named " Standing Buffalo, " having visited 
 the Prairie Portage, returned to the Plains leaving three of his 
 band, who with about thirty others, proceeded to Fort Garry on 
 a visit to Chief Factor Clare. That gentleman advised them to 
 return to their people and prevail on them to surrender to the 
 Americans, assuring them that, from a correspondence which had 
 passed between himself and the military authorities at Fort Aber- 
 crombie, a few months previously, he could promise them kind 
 treatment and forgiveness. 
 
 The Sioux, having left Fort Garry quietly, were on their way 
 back to the Portage, when, about a mile from the Port, they were 
 attacked by a band of Bed Lake Indians, who fired briskly on 
 them, killing four of their number. The remainder fled for their 
 lives, but it is probable they would have been pursued by their 
 enemies had it not been for the bold course adopted by a party 
 of settlers, who, seeing the skirmish, rode to the scene of action 
 and stopped the slaughter. The bodies of the four murdered 
 Sioux were horribly mutilated by their savage enemies in whose 
 estimation the ears, nose, and fingers of a foe are of great price. 
 As it was quite possible the Sioux who had escaped would 
 
EJED RIVER. S97 
 
 return with a retinue of friends to take vengeance on the settlers 
 in default of finding those who had been guilty of the outrage, an 
 immediate session of the Council of Assiniboia was convened to 
 deliberate on the best measures to be taken for the public defence. 
 Authority was given to the Governor to collect from among the 
 settlers a body numbering from 50 to 100 men, who, mounted and 
 armed, should meet the Sioux on their way into the settlement 
 with the object, either of persuading them to return to the Plains, 
 or pf restraining them from doing mischief during their stay in 
 the colony. As the Sioux never attempted to retaliate, the neces- 
 sity for using the powers thus conferred did not occur. 
 
 On the 1 8th July an altercation between a Saulteaux Indian 
 resident near Fort Garry and a half-breed named John Desmarais 
 resulted in the latter stabbing the former three times in the abdo- 
 men. The occurrence took place within the walls of Fort Garry, 
 close to the door of the public sale shop into which the wounded 
 man immediately walked, holding his protruding intestines in his 
 hand, and demanding from the salesman on duty, who was natu- 
 rally a good deal shocked at the unusual counter transaction, some 
 cotton to bind up his wound. The poor man died on the ensuing 
 morning and Desmarais was thrown into prison to wait his trial. 
 A coroner's inquest was held and a verdict of wilful murder 
 returned. 
 
 The case was brought up for trial at the August Quarterly 
 Court. It was alleged in defence that the prisoner had been under 
 the influence of liquor when the affair occurred, but the evidence 
 was such that a verdict of guilty was inevitable. The court room 
 was cleared and, .after a considerable interval, when the doors were 
 re-opened, it became generally understood that the tribunal had 
 resolved on passing the sentence of death, 
 
 The chamber was immediately crowded, the constables present 
 devoted themselves to the maintenance of order, and the prisoner 
 was placed in the dock. The Judge commenced to speak, the 
 audience whispered " hush I hush I ! " and the Sheriff shouted 
 " Order I " But the prisoner spoke French and Cree, and the Judge, 
 who was resolved there should be no mistake, suggested that some 
 one should interpret what he was about to say. The constable who 
 
RED RIVER. 
 
 usually officiated as Cree interpreter was on duty, but declined 
 acting under the present painful circumstances. Standing close 
 beside the bench, I could see only his venerable iron grey hairs, 
 as, with his back to the Court he walked to and fro, mildly ges- 
 ticulating to the audience and apparently trying to maintain 
 silence ; moreover it was whispered that he was somewhat drunk. 
 After some delay another interpreter was obtained. The new man 
 had a habit of contorting his features into the semblance of a smile 
 and politely bowing when adressing any body, and taking his sta- 
 tion at the bar, he commenced duty by bowing and spasmodically 
 grinning "horribly a ghastly smile" alternately to the bench and 
 the prisoner. 
 
 The Judge opened his address amid profound silence, and pro- 
 ceeded until the expressive grimaces of the Interpreter ought to 
 have warned him it was time to halt a little. Turning with an 
 apologetic bow to the dock the latter translated into good Cree 
 the remarks which had just dropped from the seat of Judgment, 
 grimacing suggestively from time to time at the prisoner who with 
 grave countenance regarded him askance, listening attentively, 
 though it was believed he understood English sufficiently well 
 without his assistance. A councillor of Assiniboia of advanced 
 years stood conspicuously at the court room door near the dock, 
 and, with upturned eyes, and tongue thrust into his cheek, seemed 
 lost in contemplation of this new complication of local ajGFairs as, 
 his back resting on the edge of the door, which was ajar, he swung 
 with it meditatively from side to side upon its hinges. 
 
 The prisoner was sentenced to be hanged on the 4th September, 
 but was informed that the Governor had still power to commute 
 the penalty. 
 
 A very strong feeling existed among the Indian relatives of the 
 murdered man, who boasted that, if Desmarais were not hung, they 
 would take the law into their own hands, and as if to keep watch, 
 several of their lodges were pitched in the immediate neighbour- 
 hood of the prison. A petition numerously and influentially signed 
 by the general public and even by some of the immediate relatives 
 of the unhappy victim, who felt for the family of Desmarais, was 
 presented to the Governor, praying for a commutation of the pri- 
 
KEI) RIVER. 399 
 
 soner's sentence. The result was an alteration of the sentence of 
 hanging into one of banishment for life, and after some diflSculty 
 had been surmounted in conveying the prisoners out of the settle- 
 ment without the knowledge of the Indians, he was transmitted 
 from one post of the Company to another, and ultimately restored 
 to liberty in New Caledonia. 
 
 The Red River crops in the autumn of 1866 were good. A 
 succession of poor, or at best only partially successful harvests for 
 a seriously long term of years had weighed heavily on the agricul- 
 tural interests of the settlement and predisposed people to coincide 
 with the Bishop in the desire of holding a day of public thanks- 
 giving for the exceptionally abundant yield. 
 
 In some isolated spots there had, even in 1866, been a partial 
 failure, chiefly in consequence of grasshoppers, early frosts and 
 blackbirds, which had exercised a certain adverse influence — the 
 crops of half the parish of St. Anne's, La Prairie or the Poplars 
 were entirely destroyed by the grasshoppers — but over the colony 
 as a whole there had been an average return, where the farming 
 had been carefully attended to, of nearly 40 bushels wheat to the 
 acre. The root crop was also very successful. 
 
 Towards the beginning of October there arrived in the settle- 
 ment a gentleman well calculated to supply what had been for a 
 series of years felt as a heavy want. The Venerable Archdeacon 
 MdLean has been already mentioned in a former part of this chapter 
 as being appointed warden of St. John's College. The importance 
 of this institution as part of a scheme for creating a regular Church 
 Establishment in Rupert's Land was very great. It was intended 
 to supply the only means available to natives of the country for 
 obtaining a general and theological education such as would qua- 
 lify them for entering the Church as its ordained ministers. The 
 ultimate object would be that native clergymen should supersede 
 foreign missionaries, the latter retiring, as a corps of the former 
 were prepared to fill their places. 
 
 Bishop Anderson had exerted himself to meet this want by 
 utilizing Mr. McCallum's Academy ; but, although his Lordship 
 used his utmost endeavours, St. John's College had turned out, as 
 I have repeatedly already had occasion to remark, an entire 
 
400 RED EIVER. 
 
 failure. This was doubtless owing to the absence of any competent 
 teacher, whose sole or chief duty would be to attend to the business 
 of the sehool and whose residence throughout the year would be 
 uninterruptedly on the scene of its operations. The selection of a 
 proper person for such au office is a difficulty anywhere, and one 
 which at a place so remote as Red River might appear insuperable. 
 Bishop Machray however fortunately possessed a personal acquain- 
 tance with Mr. McLean and effected such arrangements as led to 
 the latter resigning the pastoral charge of the Cathedral parish of 
 the Diocese of Huron in London, Canada West, and coming to 
 assist in the virtual foundation of St. John's College at Red River. 
 
 Besides his collegiate duties, Mr. McLean undertook those of 
 minister of the Cathedral parish of St. John, in which his college 
 is situated, and succeeded the Venerable William Cochran as Arch- 
 deacon of Assiniboia. 
 
 St. John's College, under its new constitution was divided into 
 two departments ; that of the theological course and that of the 
 collegiate school. The former was intended to accomplish the 
 prime object of the undertaking : the formation of a home ministry, 
 while the latter was a subsidiary scheme for the education of young 
 people in the higher branches of general education. 
 
 The theological department was managed by Archdeacon McLean 
 as warden and professor, while the Bishop himself acted as pro- 
 fessor of ecclesiastical history. The junior school was taught by 
 the warden as senior classical master and the Rev. Samuel 
 Pritchard as English master. Until some suitable person could be 
 procured for the appointment, the Bishop undertook the duties of 
 mathematical and junior classical teacher. 
 
 The school may be attended by pupils either as boarders or day 
 scholars. The warden and the Rev. Mr. Pritchard are each at the 
 head of a boarding house. The College charges for tuition and 
 board, during the 40 weeks of residence, come to about £26 a 
 year. 
 
 There are two terms followed by two vacations of six weeks each 
 at Midsummer and Christmas. 
 
 Such is a sketch of the main features of the Institution to the 
 establishment of which Archdeacon McLean devoted his efforts 
 
EED KIVBR. 401 
 
 ^ 
 
 immediately after his arrival. The old and dilapidated sohoolhouse 
 was refitted and partially rebuilt while the Archdeacon took up 
 his residence in a large neighbouring building called St. Cross which 
 had long stood tenantless and unused. The solitary precincts of 
 St. John's Cathedral and Bishop's Court assumed an air of life 
 and activity, and the settlement again saw a public school working 
 in its midst. 
 
 Towards the beginning of winter, 1866, there appeared at Eed 
 River an individual destined to attract a considerable share of 
 public attention to himself and his proceedings. Mr. Thomas 
 Spence, accompanied by his lady, arrived in the party of a traveller 
 named Scott, who, along with his son, came on a tour of business 
 or pleasure to the colony. 
 
 The first intelligence received of a distinct nature regarding the 
 mission and object of Mr. Spence was through Mr. Schwieger who, 
 on his return home to Canada, after having completed his survey 
 of the Saskatchewan afiecting steam navigation on its waters, met 
 the former at Georgetown. Mr. Spence, whose theories respecting 
 Rupert's Land appeared to differ very materially from those enter- 
 tained by Mr. Schwieger, told the latter that, in the event of his 
 meeting the Honourable Thomas D'Arcy McGee in Canada, he was 
 at liberty to state that the views of the lamented statesman in 
 question respecting Rupert's Land were about to be realized and 
 Mr. Spence was on his way to carry them into effect. 
 
 The latter, on his arrival in the settlement, became at once 
 regarded as a politician, and lost no opportunity of representing 
 himself as such. The Messrs. Scott, with whom he had travelled, 
 took no part whatever in his proceedings, which they regarded, 
 apparently, as a source of amusement. He represented himself as 
 having served for some time as a subaltern officer in a regiment of 
 foot, the number of which I forget; but the most remarkable 
 feature of the corps which came to my knowledge was, that all the 
 officers, except Mr. Spence, were Irishmen, and the name of the 
 commander was Colonel O'Gorman. After quitting the army, 
 Mr. Spence had practiced for a considerable time as a land sur- 
 veyor, in which capacity he w&s understood to have attained some 
 
 considerable skill. 
 
 AA 
 
402 KED RIVEK. 
 
 His first public appearance in the settlement was at a political 
 meeting, which he convened in the court room, on Saturday, 8th 
 December. He had obtained the use of this place in virtue of a 
 petition from a number of the inhabitants, requesting the gover- 
 nor of the gaol to place it at the disposal of a meeting to be called 
 " for the purpose of memorializing the Imperial Government, 
 praying to be received into and form a part of the Grand Confeder- 
 ation of British North America, and, further, to express our desire 
 to act in unity and co-operation with our neighbouring colonies, 
 Vancouver and British Columbia, to further British interests and 
 confederation from the Atlantic to the Pacific." 
 
 So soon as the nature of the movement to be undertaken in 
 furtherance of the grand scheme sketched out in the above quoM- 
 tion became known, it was rendered evident that an under-current 
 of opinion, hostile to the spread of British interests, existed in the 
 colony. Mr. George Emmerling, a settler of German extraction, 
 popularly and familiarly known as " Dutch George,'' who, within 
 the preceding six years, had risen from acting as an itinerant retail 
 dealer in fruits and small wares to be the landlord of the principal 
 hotel in the village of Winnipeg, declared himself resolved to attend 
 Mr. Spence's meeting, with the object of advocating the policy of 
 annexation to the United States of America. 
 
 By an ingenious device the designs of the disloyal were par- 
 tially frustrated. The hour at which the meeting was convened 
 was 10.30 a.m. Precisely at that time, according to Mr. Spenoe, 
 cr at an hour considerably before it, according to certain of his 
 opponents, he and four other gentlemen were on the appointed 
 spot, and, having been put in possession of the court room by the 
 sheriff, or "governor of the gaol," immediately applied themselves 
 to the despatch of business. The position having been offered to, 
 and refused by the sheriff, a chairman was elected, and the reso- 
 lutions, the last of which was, I believe, to the effect that, "three 
 cheers be given in honour of Our Most Gracious Sovereign Lady 
 the Queen," were passed unanimously and with uproarious expres- 
 sions of popular enthusiasm, which induced Monsieur Antoine 
 Grouette, the grey-headed little French-speaking jailor, who 
 resided in the house, to surmise that the five Englishmen assem- 
 bled in court, were touched in the upper story. 
 
RED RIVEB, 403 
 
 The business of the meeting having been thus satisfactorily 
 accomplished, the five gentlemen composing it, metaphorically speak- 
 ing, " dispersed," and adjourned in their private capacity to the 
 neighbouring village of Winnipeg, with the view, it was imagined, 
 of drinking success to the day's work at Mr. Emmerling's tavern. 
 When only half-way across the Hudson's Bay land reserve, which 
 separates Fort Garry and the neighbouring court room and prison 
 from the village, the party encountered " Dutch George" himself, 
 at the head of a numerous retinue of citizens in carrioles and on 
 foot, a respectable minority of whom were obviously already labour- 
 ing under the stimulating influences of spirituous liquors, a con- 
 siderable supply of which Mr. Emmerling had brought along with 
 him for purposes of gratuitous distribution among the supporters 
 of the policy it was his intention to advocate. 
 
 On learning the manner in which the public had been outwitted, 
 the indignation of " Mine Host," and his friends, was almost too 
 great to admit of adequate utterance. They claimed that they 
 were " the public," and that the meeting alleged to have been held 
 could in no way be accepted as the political demonstration the 
 people had been led to expect, the five individuals composing it 
 being unknown men, new arrivals, and without stake in the country. 
 Moreover, the hour named as that at which the meeting had been 
 advertised to commence, was not yet arrived, and the whole thing 
 was pronounced a piece of sharp practice. 
 
 These representations had such effect on the mind at least of 
 the chairman of the meeting of five, a gentleman named Colonel 
 Robertson, who had previously held a commission in the service 
 of the American Governmeilt, that, on arriving at the village of 
 Winnipeg, he called on the sheriff, explained what had occurred 
 since the departure of thatpofficial from the court room, imme- 
 diately after having officially placed the apartment at the disposal 
 of the meeting, as well as the public excitement to which its 
 conduct had given rise, and requested renewed permission to use the 
 same room as the scene of a second meeting to be held forthwith. 
 
 The sheriff gave his immediate assent to the measure thus 
 proposed and his permission was the signal for the hurried outset 
 of the public in a vast mass from the village to the court house, 
 
404 RED EIVEK. 
 
 which, on their arrival, was crowded to the doors. A chairinatf, 
 other than he who had presided at the previous deliberations, was, 
 after some difficulty, selected, and the first resolve put to the new 
 assembly was to the effect that the preceding meeting had been 
 an informality and a nullity, and that all its resolutions should be 
 now rescinded as if they had never been passed. This motion 
 was carried by an overwhelming majority, with perhaps indecent- 
 haste and with loud applause. 
 
 A more difficult task remained in trying to frame new resolu- 
 tions, there being nobody present provided with such, and the 
 general temper of the assembly evincing an obvious tendency 
 rather to oppose any possible motion than to support a policy 
 leading to any imaginable result. Mr. Emmerling talked with much 
 animation to a small gxoup of people immediately about him, some 
 of whom he shook and jostled so roughly as to propagate a rumour 
 that for some deep purpose he had arranged with them to submit 
 to such usage in return for the copious supply of liquor with 
 which he regaled them. Neither he nor any other, however, 
 succeeded in gaining the public ear, and great disorder prevailed- 
 An individual at length got on his feet, apparently indulging a 
 a faint hope of obtaining a hearing. He commenced to speak, but 
 was unceremoniously interrupted by Mr. Emmerling, who called 
 on him to pay him in the first instance a petty sum in which he 
 was indebted to him as balance still due for " refreshments " taken ■ 
 at his bar some months previously. This personal reminiscence 
 led to a series of close encounters, in the course of which the 
 alleged creditor received a blow from the butt end of a whip 
 handle which prostrated him, amid some effusion of blood, close 
 to the table of the clerk of court, on which an active partizan 
 instantly sprang, and after throwing off his coat and squaring his 
 fists scientifically at the heaving multitude beyond commenced to 
 sing the convivial stave " Come landlord fill the flowing bowl." 
 
 A scene of wild confusion reigned in the small court room. 
 Parties and party feelings were drowned in a host of personalities, 
 as individuals, themselves hurried to and fro by the turbulence of 
 the mass, hit rudely against others who, eager for the fray, retorted 
 on their involuntary and crowd-cramped assailants with violence. 
 
RED RIVBR. 405 
 
 The action of one gentleman was specially remembered, who, in 
 consequence of a deplorable gun accident, which had occurred to 
 tim many years previously, while hunting in a bark canoe on Lake 
 Superior, bad lost his right arm, and being closely packed in a 
 corner of the room by the action of the crowd, indignant at the 
 conduct of some men who were striking the fallen landlord 
 shouted loudly for a "stick" wUih which it was conjectured he 
 proposed to clear his way to the rescue of the prostrate Dutch- 
 man. ^ 
 
 A " sis footer " Scotch groom, in the service of the Company 
 was also on the scene of action. This man being collared by a 
 frantic partisan, was restrained from visiting his adversary with 
 what might have been a ijiost eflFectual chastisement, solely by the 
 timely recollection that he carried in his waistcoat pocket the 
 sacramental " token " which was to be his passport on the following 
 ■day to the great semi-annual religious celebration of his church. 
 The violence with which he subsequently inveighed against his 
 opponent, bore witness to the narrow escape the latter had made, 
 as well as to the strength of the sentiment of propriety which had 
 enabled him so far to bridle his inclination as to deny himself the 
 tempting luxury of one telling hit. Even as matters stood there 
 -was a full intention of seeking redress by legal means and the 
 ■victim declared " if there was law in the country he would have 
 him at the law " who " had took him by the thrott ;" but the 
 intention was not carried out. 
 
 After some time had elapsed the entire crowd, who had acted 
 so strangely in the court room, sought hasty and uproarious exit 
 at the doors, it was imagined by Grrouette, with the view of 
 continuing hostilities, on a more extended scale outside. If such 
 were their intention, it was abandoned, probably under the cooling 
 influences of the December wind, and the patriots directed their 
 steps toward the village where an orgie was instituted, which 
 ended about midnight in the demolition of Mr. Emmerling's bar, 
 and general destruction to his bottles and earthenware. 
 
 The " Nor' Wester," in its account of this public meeting, 
 ■published in full the resolutions of the five original actors in the 
 above drama, without, however, mentioning the inconsiderable 
 
406 BED BIVEE. 
 
 number of those who had taken part in it. The sole notice taken 
 of the second, and only really " public," part of the proceedings 
 was comprised in a remark to the effect that, after the meeting had 
 been closed, a disorderly crowd had occupied the court room, the 
 subjects discussed by the members of which were of a hetero- 
 geneous and personal character and without any bearing whatever 
 on the objects for which the assembly had been convened.. 
 
 The meeting above described has been a good deal used for 
 party purposes in Canada, and even, I believe iifiEDgland, where 
 it has been represented as the " only public meeting ever convened 
 in Ked Kiver by" the " sheriff," and its resolutions quoted as 
 embodying the unanimous sentiments of a people. Indepen- 
 dently of the fact that the sheriff did not convene it, its true 
 character has never been known to the outside public, whose only 
 information regarding it was derived from the mutilated account 
 published in the "Nor' Wester," 
 
CHAPTER xxviir; 
 
 1867. 
 
 Mr. Spence's Legal Practice ; His Indian Address to the Prince of 
 Wales — Death of Chief Faster Clare— Schultz Agitation — Mr.Spence's 
 Electioneering Campaign — Diocesan Synod ; Bishop's Address — Win- 
 nipeg Constabulary.— Mr.Pensioner Mulligan— Canadian Road Opera- 
 tions — Earl of March and Mr. Hill — Crops — Winnipeg Theatre ;. Open- 
 ing night — Burns' Glnb — ^Christmaa Bazaars. 
 
 Occupying himself with private business, Mr. Spence for some 
 weeks after the occurrence of events detailed in last chapter,, 
 refrained from appearing in public as a political agitator. An 
 advertisement appeared in the " Nor' Wester " announcing that 
 he was prepared to assist any one who might retain him to draw 
 up legal documents, wills, agreements, and conveyances of pro- 
 perty as well as to arbitrate upon and adjust disputed accounts 
 and conduct correspondence on matters of importance. A para- 
 graph in the newspaper also drew attention to the advertisement, 
 and recommended Mr. Spebce as a deserving candidate, to any who 
 might feel inclined to patronize him. He acted as agent for the 
 newspaper itself, calling, on the people and" canvassing for subscrip- 
 tions. 
 
 As a legal practitioner he had certain clients, and in that 
 capacity brought himself repeatedly under the notice of the Eed. 
 River Executive. He acted as agent for the prosecution in some 
 cases of a criminal nature which occurred, and in which his inter- 
 ference tended to engender strife and place magistrates in the 
 dilemma of being compelled to choose an alternative between com- 
 mitting parties against whom his clients might bring a charge, 
 based sometimes on ludicrously insufficient evidence, and dismiss- 
 ing the case. The former course naturally subjected the magis- 
 terial victim to a castigation at the hands of the " Nor' Wester,' 
 
408 KBD EIVEK. 
 
 as a Hudson's Bay Company's judge resolved, in obedience to the 
 dictation of a band of mediaeval monopolists, to oppress a British 
 subject by immuring him in a dungeon under pretence of adminis- 
 tering justice ; while the latter alternative opened a clear way to 
 our veracious contemporary to work on public feeling by represent- 
 ing Hudson's Bay magistrates as deaf to the cries of outraged 
 humanity calling for protection they were powerless to aiFord. 
 
 As a specimen of the style of practice to which I allude I beg 
 to instance the following case, suppressing the names, as I cannot 
 consider myself justified in further dragging them before the public : 
 A highly respectable " head of a family " called, with the object 
 of collecting payment of a debt, at the house of a friend, living 
 about fifty miles from his own home, where he passed the night. 
 The house consisted of only one room in which the whole family 
 slept. Host and guest indulged in a jollification which terminated 
 in the former falling asleep while the latter was still capable of 
 speech and motion. Seeing that both men were drunk, the hostess 
 rose during the night and went, along with her child, to sleep in a 
 neighbouring house. Oppressed with a dread that something had 
 occurred of an objectionable nature while he was asleep, the host, 
 after the departure of his creditor, communicated facts and sus- 
 picions to Mr. Spence from whom he speedily procured a note 
 addressed to the nearest justice of the peace, stating what he 
 knew and demanding a warrant for the apprehension of the culprit 
 under a charge of " assault and battery, with attempted rape." 
 
 Armed with this formidable document the complainant, accom- 
 panied by his wife, appeared before the magistrate and stated his 
 case. He was labouring at the moment under much excitement, 
 ■and strode up and down the apartment, grinding his teeth, 
 menacing an imaginary opponent with his fist, and haranguing 
 alternately about what he meant to do with his late guest, and on 
 the feelings with which he had listened to the opinions expressed 
 by his legal agent during their newly-finished interview. On 
 hearing the facts alleged the magistrate pointed out the total want 
 of evidence which existed, and the woman, on whom the supposed 
 offence was said to have been perpetrated, seemed entirely satisfied 
 with his refusal to meet the wishes of her posturing lord by 
 
RED KIVER. 409 
 
 sending a constable to apprehend the offending party. . On the 
 contrary, he dismissed complainant with a verbal warning to his 
 adviser that there was an offence known to the law, named 
 "barratry,'' and that he would do well to beware. Another 
 magistrate, however, granted the desired warrant and, to the vast 
 amusement of his friends the unhappy culprit on receiving the 
 document from the hands of the constable appointed to serve it, 
 swooned in an ecstacy of horror. The case, of course, never went 
 further, the parties on being brought together before the magis- 
 trate coming to a mutual friendly understanding. 
 
 The next incident of public moment which occurred, and to 
 which Mr. Spence gave the impetus, was of so unprecedented a 
 nature that I scarcely know how adequately to characterize the 
 assurance which prompted it. 
 
 It may be recollected by sundry people in England that, in 
 AprU, 1867, the press took a good deal of notice of an address 
 supposed to emanate from the Indians of Eed Eiver settlement, 
 requesting the. Prince of Wales to visit their hunting grounds. 
 The "News of the World" on 21st April, 1867, contained the 
 following : — 
 
 AN INVITATION TO THE PRINCE OF WALES. 
 
 " Below we give a translation of the letter of invitation which 
 has been sent to his Koyal Highness the Prince of Wales from the 
 Indians of the Red River Settlement. The letter itself is some- 
 what unique, and we doubt whether the mail bags of any nation 
 ever carried its like. The Indians, who feel a great degree of 
 traditionary respect for the royal family, and with a certain taste 
 for barbaric show and glitter, felt that an ordinary ink and paper 
 invitation would' scarcely convey the earnestness of their wish 
 that the Prince should come, so they have sent their request in a 
 style peculiar to themselves. The material on which the letter is 
 written is the fine inner rind of the birch bark, surrounded with a 
 deep border of gilt. The letters of the heading are in red, white, 
 and blue, the capitals throughout being in old English gilt. 
 
 The following is a translation of the letter ; 
 " ' To the Firstborn of our Great Mother, across the Great Waters. 
 
 " ' Great Chief, whom we call Royal Chief, 
 
410 BED RIVER. 
 
 " ' We and our people hear that our relations, the Half-breeds 
 and the Pale-faces, at Ked Kiver, have asked you to come and see 
 them the next summer. We and our people also wish you to Come 
 and visit us. Every lodge will give you royal welcome. We have 
 the bear and the butfalo, and our hunting grounds are free to you ; 
 our horses will carry you, and our dogs hunt for you, and we and 
 our people will guard and attend you ; our old men will shew you 
 their medals, which they received for being faithful to the Father 
 of our Great Mother. Great Eoyal Chief 1 if you will come, send 
 word to our Guiding Chief at Fort Garry, so that we may have 
 time to meet and receive you as becoming our Great Royal Chief.' 
 — Canadian News, April Wth." 
 
 For some time before being forwarded to England the document 
 above described lay in 'the house of Dr. Schultz, open to the 
 inspection of friends of Mr. Spence, who, without contradiction, 
 and, as a matter of course, received their congratulations on the 
 ability he had shown in executing the work purporting to emanate 
 from the Indians, whose style of ornamental work is something 
 very different. Instead of " the barbaric show and glitter" of gild- 
 ing, the materials generally used in Indian ornament are dyed por- 
 cupine quills and dyed moose hair, which are the natural products 
 of the country, and wampum and other beads, wliich are imported 
 by the traders. The use of gold in the arts is yet unpracticed by 
 the savage. 
 
 The original draft of the memorial was written in English and 
 translated into Indian by a young half-breed gentleman at school 
 in the settlement. Mr. Spence, whose skill in such operations, 
 obtained from long experience in a land surveyor's office, is 
 undoubted, exerted himself to the utmost to produce a creditable 
 specimen of ealigraphy, with what signal success the above quoted 
 extract may testify. I have been unable to ascertain positively that 
 any Indian had seen or heard of the letter, and inquiries on the 
 subject in the village of Winnipeg elicit but a smile at the credulity 
 of such " greenhorns" as put faith in its authenticity. My object 
 in making inquiry was to endeavour to obtain photographs of the 
 Indians referred to, with the design of gracing my page with 
 copies so as to convey to the readet's mind an idea of the degrade- 
 
BED KIVEE. 411 
 
 tion of the real mem, in contrast with the ideal figures conjured 
 up by the skill of interested people. The reference in the letter to 
 the Hudson's Bay officer at Forty Garry was unauthorized, and 
 permission to make it unrequested. 
 
 In the course of the following June the " Nor' Wester'' pub- 
 lished a letter just received by Mr. Spence from the secretary of 
 the Grovemor General of Canada, enclosing copy of dispatch from 
 the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos to Lord Monck, in which 
 the Colonial Secretary acquainted the latter that the address from 
 the chiefs of the Red River Settlement, forwarded through his 
 Lordship, had been presented to the Prince of Wales, who desired 
 that his sentiments of satisfaction, on receiving their address, should 
 be communicated to the chiefs. It was added that His Royal 
 Highness was unable to visit their country, but would have been 
 much gratified had it been in his power to comply with their invi- 
 tation. 
 
 Early in November, 1866, Mr. Chief Factor Clare, the gentle- 
 man in charge of Fort Garry, and a councillor of Assiniboia, left 
 Red River on a journey to England, undertaken chiefly with the 
 object of attending to his private affairs. It was not anticipated 
 that his absence would extend over more than a few months, for 
 which term he received a temporary leave. Shortly after quitting 
 Fort Garry Mr. Clare became unwell, but, anxious to get home, 
 he pushed forward on his way, and, on reaching his relatives in 
 London, was exceedingly iU. It was only a few hours before his 
 death, which occurred early in January, that his malady appeared 
 likely to prove fatal. The news of his decease arrived with awfiil 
 suddenness in the settlement, where he was highly respected and 
 generally liked, though he had passed only two years in charge of 
 the company's affairs at Fort, Garry. 
 
 Dr. Schultz immediately represented to the Red River public, 
 through the columns of the " Nor' Wester, " that a vacancy had 
 occurred, in consequence of the death of Mr. Clare, in the Council 
 of Assiniboia ;• and proposed himself as a fit candidate to fill the 
 blank. The manner in which the subject was brought before the 
 public was as follows. A letter dated Red River Settlement, 19th 
 February 1867, signed by several influential men, purported to call 
 
BED RIVER. 
 
 the attention of Dr. Sciultz to the opening offered to his efforts 
 and requested him to allow the undersigned to petition the Council 
 to appoint him one of their numl^er. 
 
 In reply to the request of his nominees Schultz assured them of 
 his sense that they might have chosen many others quite as worthy 
 as himself to wear the coveted honour, and others even " much more 
 likely" than he "to be suitable to the present Council ;" yet as 
 a step towards representation by election he would assent to their 
 request and, should they succeed, he pledged himself to represent 
 the public interest to the best of his ability. 
 
 The petition was duly drawn up, signed and presented, along 
 with an accompanying letter from Mr. Spence. In reply Mr. 
 Smith, the clerk of Council, addressed the latter, informing him 
 that the documents had been under the consideration of the 
 Assembly in behalf of which he wrote, but that, " as it was by the 
 Crovernor and Committee of the Hudson's Bay Company and not 
 by the Council of Assiniboia that the members of the latter body 
 are appointed," the petition would be transmitted to England. Mr. 
 Smith added he was also instructed to say that, along with Mr. 
 Spence's petition there was laid before the Governor and Council 
 a counter-petition from other inhabitants, and that it would at 
 the same time be forwarded to England for consideration. 
 
 Mr. Smith's letter was the signal for a new outbreak on the part of 
 the " Nor' Wester." Dr. Schultz in a letter, addressed to the signers 
 of the petition in his favour, asserted that their request had been in 
 effect denied, and that, so far as he could learn, it had scarcely 
 received, even a courteous consideration. He accounted for this dis- 
 couraging termination of their hopes by the fact of his being per- 
 sonally obnoxious to the members of the present Council, but 
 assured his correspondents that the state of things complained of 
 was nearly at an end, and exhorted them to view with cheerfulness 
 and confidence the advent of the happy day approaching, when 
 the object of their choice " be he Turk or Jew or Free Trader will 
 take his seat in the Legislative Assemblies, not on sufferance, but 
 as a matter of right and justice to the law-abiding British subjects 
 who elect him." 
 
 Mr. Spence also caught the golden opportunity which offered 
 
BED EIVER, 413 
 
 itself to obtain the public ear. He based his arguments on the 
 evidence of Sir George Simpson, given before the Select Committee 
 of the House of Commons in 1857. He addressed his communi- 
 cation to "the editor of the Nor' Wester" and called upon that 
 martyred functionary " to perceive that the shuffle of a counter- 
 petition had been resorted to." He alleged it had been ascertained 
 that this counter-petition had been put in circulation " from some 
 very interested quarter " the day previous to the meeting of Coun- 
 cil, and had actually received some ten or twelve names, "pro- 
 bably of parties indirectly in the employment of the Company." 
 The writer observed that " the far-famed Red River Settlement 
 " stands alone on, the face of the British Globe, as one denied the 
 " right of Representation." 
 
 The " editorials " in which the annoying action of the Council 
 was commented on were equal to the occasion. As a solution of 
 the imsatisfectory state of things it was stated people were " openly 
 " discussing the propriety of taking the Government from its pre- 
 " sent hands into that of their own," while the authorities were 
 accused of being prepared to sell " summonses or saltpetre, writs 
 " or writing paper," or to " furnish as part of their business, liquor 
 " or marriage licenses, pemmican, law, justice, painkiller, powder, 
 " pea nuts, or in fact anything that is in their line of trade." 
 
 On 29th May, 1867, the second congress of clergy and lay 
 delegates from parishes in the Diocese of Rupert's Land was'held 
 in St, John's schoolroom. Eight clergymen and nineteen laymen 
 composed the meeting. The following is a synopsis of the Bishop's 
 address, containing an account of the progress, during the preceding 
 year, and prospects of the Church : 
 
 The Bishop recommended that the conference should, as a body, 
 assume the name of the Synod, it being such in fact already, 
 although without the authority necessary to render its decisions 
 legally obligatory. The Archdeaconry of Cumberland, vacated by 
 Mr. Hunter, to whose long service, knowledge of the Cree language, 
 and general usefulness, the Bishop paid a high compliment, had 
 been conferred on the Venerable Abraham Cowley, corresponding 
 secretary of the Church Missionary Society. The supply of clergy 
 
414 RED BIVBR. 
 
 was a matter calling for serious consideration, six of the gentlemen 
 on tlie list being about to return to England or having already 
 gone, the majority of whom were unlikely to return. The peculiar 
 circumstances of the Diocese rendering it unlikely that English 
 clergymen would come to settle in it as their home, it was to be 
 dreaded that, after spending a number of years in it, they would 
 leave it when their experience was more valuable than ever. This, 
 and the necessity for a knowledge of the native languages, rendered 
 it expedient to provide native clergymen. This would be accom- 
 plished through the agency of St. John's College. The formation 
 of a Clergy Widows^ and Orphans Fund was recommended, as 
 also the establishment of clerical libraries. The system of 
 appointing lay readers had been introduced by Bishop Anderson 
 and would be continued. 
 
 St. John's College, which had been in working order for more 
 than six months, was progressing as favourably as could be desired. 
 A constitution and body of statutes had been issued as a tempo- 
 rary measure until a Synod, legally competent to govern, should be 
 in existence. Three senior theological students had gone through 
 the theological session just expired, while twenty-six pupils had 
 attended the collegiate school, of whom seven attended the theo- 
 logical class. The senior theological course would be limited, in 
 point of time, to a yearly winter session of twenty weeks. The 
 collegiate school course included the ordinary English branches, 
 Latin, Greek, and mathematics. The junior theological course con- 
 sisted of the reading and exposition of Holy Scriptures, the 
 Evidences of Christianity, and the Articles of the Church ; the 
 senior comprehended the two latter subjects, and Early Ecclesi- 
 astical History, 
 
 The Hudson's Bay Company had renewed their grant of one 
 hundred pounds annually given to the old institution. The New 
 England Company had supplied a similar sum, and the Church 
 Missionary Society, £200 per annum. An attempt had been made 
 to organize an endowment for the Warden's Chair of Theology, the 
 first contribution towards which had come from the parish church 
 of Clifton, of which the Eight Eeverend Dr. Anderson, ]a^e Bishop 
 of Rupert's Land, was then incumbent. The buildings available 
 
RED RIVER. 415 
 
 for school purposes were dilapidated, and the improvements made 
 on them had been merely of a temporary nature. It was hoped 
 that, when the institution had been in working order for a few 
 years, its friends would have such confidence in it as would lead 
 them to assist in raising suitable stone buildings. 
 
 The attempt made to raise money for the endowment of a 
 scholarship, to be named in memory of the late Archdeacon 
 Cochran, had resulted in the subscription of £330. The aim of 
 the Bishop was to raise this scholarship to an ultimate value of 
 £20 per annum. 
 
 Parish schools, of which the unpromising appearance had been 
 referred to by the Bishop in his address of the previous year, had 
 been instituted in every parish save one. After a space of five 
 years the entire cost of these schools would require to be sustained 
 by their respective parishes, as the Church Missionary Society had 
 resolved gradually to decrease, in order, at the close of that period, 
 entirely to withdraw the support it had, till then, afibrded them. 
 
 The book dep6t, commenced the preceding year with the object 
 of supplying school material, had succeeded well. The Society for 
 Promoting Christian Ejiowledge and the Church Missionary 
 Society had contributed to this happy result. Several of the school 
 houses in the various parishes had been entirely built during the year. 
 The Bishop regarded the organization of a Diocesan Fund as the 
 vital question with which the Synod would have to deal. The final 
 objects of this institution would be to assist promising young men 
 in qualifying themselves for holy orders ; to maintain clergymen 
 actually employed in parishes and missions ; and to pension such 
 as from old age or ill health might be incapacitated for duty. Its 
 secondary objects would be to further all religious objects, such as 
 the support of schools, the dissemination of Bibles, prayer-books, 
 and other religious works, and the formation of parish libraries. 
 Though such were the ultimate results to be expected, in the mean- 
 time the Synod could turn its attention only to a small part of the 
 work. The means at their disposal were limited, the people poor, 
 and the tide of immigration, so confidently expected within a few 
 years, had not yet commenced to roll in. The sums collected from 
 the weekly ofiertory, along with the receipts from special col- 
 
416 BED RIVER. 
 
 lections on harvest thanksgivings and other occasions, and miscel- 
 laneous donations from individuals, composed the entire means 
 raised among the people by the Church in the colony. The moneys 
 ■were distributed amongst the various schemes above sketched out, 
 so as to meet the exigencies of their several circumstances. 
 
 After some general remarks on the Pagan Missions in the 
 interior, in course of which the unwieldy bulk of the diocese, 
 which rendered it hopeless that the Bishop should ever visit its 
 remoter missions, was dwelt upon, his Lordship closed his address 
 with some observations on recent proceedings in the colonial 
 parish of St, Andrew's which, from its larger and denser popula- 
 tion, offered a better field for the operations described than any 
 other portion of the settlement. The Rev. J. P. Gardiner had 
 opened a night school and classes for • adult pupils ; he had set on 
 foot a course of " missionary meetings," a " mutual injprove- 
 ment" class, popular lectures by the Bishop and others on alter- 
 nate weeks with miscellaneous "penny readings" and music, the 
 pecuniary profits of which were devoted to the foundation of a 
 library. 
 
 The system of Lenten week-day lectures had been carried 
 out with success in St. Andrew's and several parish churches, as 
 well as in St. John's Cathedral. 
 
 The address, of which the above is a brief account, was printed, 
 like that of the preceding year in England, and circulated some- 
 what extensively. Such papers will probably be valuable after the 
 lapse of years, when the efforts, at present in their infancy, shall 
 have expanded into wide proportions, and the country in which 
 they are now being put forth have altered its circumstances for 
 the better. I have been somewhat minute in my relation of these 
 and other matters connected with the Church, seeing its power as 
 a civilizing element in the midst of a border population renders 
 its establishment important, and the condition of schools may 
 naturally be supposed to possess a strong interest in the estimation 
 of such as desire to settle in a new country. 
 
 During the summer and autumn of 1867 nothing of public 
 interest occurred to vary the even tenor of Red River life. The 
 accustomed advent of the Plain hunters in spring, with the object 
 
KED RIVER. 417 
 
 of selling the furs they had obtained during the previous winter 
 was accompanied by the usual scenes of dissipation consequent on 
 the currency of large quantities of money in the village of Winni- 
 peg. To check the daily breaches of the peace a trustworthy con- 
 stable was engaged by the' Council of Assiniboia at a rate of pay 
 the liberality of which was supposed to correspond with the impor. 
 tance of the functions it was his duty to fulfil. Mr. James 
 Mulligan, late of H. M. 86th regiment, was one of the corps of 
 pensioners whose arrival in the colony in 1848 has been mentioned 
 in Chapter VII. Apart from his other claims to public considera- 
 tion Mr. Mulligan had been much before the courts as a litigant ; 
 and was popularly supposed to be well versed, through long prac- 
 tice, in the practical details of Eed Kiver jurisprudence. To 
 this forensic experience he had added that acquaintance with the 
 peculiarities of the colonial population which was to be gained by 
 one year's interim occupancy of the position of lessee of the ferry 
 ordinarily held by Mr. Duncan McDougall, a narrative of whose 
 mode of discharging the duties of his important public office has 
 been given in Chapter XIV. 
 
 In May, 1865, on the opening of , navigation, Mr. Mulligan had 
 been invested with the office of ferryman and had, in defiance of 
 French intimidation, manfully done his duty throughout the whole 
 season. In May, 1866, however, after having refitted his shattered 
 craft and got everything in order for a second campaign, he was 
 somewhat indignant at being advised by a man in authority that, 
 in consequence of a numerously signed pe.tition from the inhabi- 
 tants, it was the painful duty of his informant to dismiss him. 
 Mulligan, doubting the authority of a single councillor to displace 
 him, declared himself ready to resist, and actually maintained his 
 ground for a day, during which, as the cart brigades were just 
 beginning to cross the river on their way to St. Paul, he had his 
 hands full from morning till night and drew a handsome sum for 
 his pains, at the expense of McDougall, who, however, next day 
 entered into peaceable enjoyment of his old situation, "vice 
 Mulligan retired," 
 
 In 1867, with a salary of £60, the latter was installed in the 
 newly-created office of policeman, his sphere of action, in contra- 
 
 BB 
 
418 EED KIVEK. 
 
 distinction to ttat of the corps of ordinary constables, being 
 •within the village of Winnipeg. 
 
 Intelligence reached the settlement in July that the Canadian 
 Grovemment had determined to avail itself of a sum of $55,000, 
 granted from the Upper Canada Colonization Road Fund, for the 
 purpose of opening up a direct communication between the 
 western extremity of Lake Superior and Red River, through 
 British territory. The work had been commenced in May, at the 
 Lake Superior extremity of the Line, starting from a place called 
 Thunder Bay and extending westwards towards Dog Lake. A 
 section of the road, six miles in length, was completed in the 
 summer of 1867, while the works for the construction of a dam 
 at one spot on the line were carried to a satisfactory stage of 
 advancement. 
 
 Towards the close of August the settlement again saw two 
 travellers of distinction on their way to spend a winter among the 
 hunting grounds of the interior. The Right Hon. the Earl of 
 March and Edward Hill, Esq., after remaining a few days at Red 
 River, with the object of providing themselves with servants 
 and the necessary apparatus to carry out the details of their 
 winter campaign, started for the west. Reaching Carlton, late 
 in autumn, they constructed a temporary house in the neigh- 
 bourhood of the Fort, and employed themselves in hunting. 
 The principal objects of their attention were buflfalo, of which 
 they killed a great many, and grizzly bears, of which they 
 found two and killed one, the second escaping through the negli- 
 gence of a servant. In early spring the party made the best of 
 their way on horseback over the swampy trackless plains to the 
 colony, where they arrived in time to -witness a popular demon- 
 stration of a violent nature, excited by the " Nor' Wester," the 
 detailed circumstances of which will be set forth in the following 
 chapter. Towards the close of April the Earl and Mr. Hill 
 quitted the settlement, on their way to England, by one of the 
 earliest trips made by the steamer "International" to George- 
 town. 
 
 The harvest of 1867, was considerably injured by the vast 
 clouds of grasshoppers that lighted at the beginning of the harvest. 
 
RED RIVBK. 419 
 
 Almost all tte oats and barley were entirely destroyed, the wheat 
 greatly injured. The other sources whence food is principally 
 obtained for the subsistence of the colony gave their accustomed 
 yield. 
 
 The village of Winnipeg, which had increased from the single 
 edifice erected by McKenney'&Co., in 1862, to a cluster of houses, 
 the principal of which were irregularly scattered along the public 
 highway so as to form something resembling a street, became, in the 
 autumn of 1867, the scene of a number of attempts to introduce 
 the institutions of a higher civilization into that oasis in the 
 wilderness of Kupert's Land. Mr. Emmerling established a 
 billiard table, imported from the United States, in his' hotel, to 
 which a new wing, fully as large as the original building, had been 
 added, the entire basement story of which was fitted up as a 
 billiard saloon. The table was in constant use, and the profits 
 were so considerable as to induce the enterprising proprietor to add 
 a second table the following spring. 
 
 A theatre on a very humble scale was also commenced by some 
 amateur artists who fitted for the purpose a room on the upper 
 story of a building, the low<|b flat of which was divided into small 
 shops, for which highly remunerative rents were paid. The 
 theatre was provided with a miniature stage with curtain and 
 footlights, the dressing rooms being in the shop underneath, access 
 to which was obtained by a very precipitous trap stair immediately 
 behind the Lilliputian scenes. 
 
 On the opening night the whole population of the town may be 
 said to have been on the alert. The George hotel was illuminated 
 with a candle at every pane of glass in the windows of the billiard 
 saloon. The result of this demonstration was very nearly 
 calamitous, as, when every person was engaged with other matters 
 one of the candles set fire to the furnishing of a window, and, had it 
 not been for the good ofBces of an accidental passenger, the result 
 might, in consequence of the central poeition of the inn, have been 
 most disastrous among the village houses, all of which are built of 
 vrood. 
 
 The performances commenced wiib a pantomime, after which 
 came an original farce, the action of which was supposed to take 
 
420 BED KIVER. 
 
 place at the George hotel, the critical circumstances of which at 
 the moment, were happily unknown to actors or audience. A 
 traveller from the distant north was supposed to arrive and demand 
 accommodation. After being informed that any thing he could 
 possibly call for would be provided for his comfort and enter- 
 tainment, he asked for a bedroom. The one to which he was 
 shown was represented as a damp subterranean vault. He shouted 
 for the acting landlord with terms of vituperation and personal- 
 ities in the shape of " bull's whisper asides " which, it was 
 momentarily dreaded by the audience, might bring that formidable 
 functionary himself upon the stage in other than a mimic humor. 
 The traveller's candle, when he attempted to light it, exploded with 
 the action of fireworks ; his boots disappeared before his eyes, 
 being moved by some diabolical agency, unknown to the vulgar, 
 each in the opposite direction across the floor ; and, finally, when 
 exhausted, he sought repose upon his bed, the ricketty structure 
 fell to the ground under its shouting occupant, and the curtain 
 dropped amid applause of so violent a nature as severely tried the 
 frail supports with which the flooring was upheld and was in 
 consequence " speedily suppressed." 
 
 The whole afiair was generally pronounced "a success," which 
 was, however, damped by a painful accident which befel the prin- 
 cipal actor and organizer of the attempt, who, having occasion to 
 return, after the lights had been extinguished, for something he had 
 left upon the stage, stumbled and fell in the dark, cutting his leg 
 so severely with the tin reflector of one of his own footlights that 
 surgical assistance was rendered necessary, and the manager con- 
 fined to his room for several weeks. 
 
 A " Burns' Club" was also established by the same clever man, 
 the objects of which were announced to be the provision, for Scotch- 
 men resident in the colony, of the means of social friendship and 
 conviviality, and the strengthening of the ties which connected 
 them with their mother country by the contemplation of the cha- 
 racter and study of the works of the great poet by whose name the 
 club was called. 
 
 The Solicitor General of Scotland and Professor Blackie grace 
 with their presence and ^eloquence the anniversary feasts of the 
 
RED EIVER. 421 
 
 club called by tbis name in Edinburgb. Tbose celebrated in 
 Winnipeg are, as yet, unhonoured by tbe presence of tbe great, 
 but the humble members appear to be in possession of a means of 
 enjoyment which, if less adapted to promote the " feast of reason," 
 is possibly more fitted to excite the " flow of soul'' than even the 
 rhetoric of a luminary of the law. 
 
 The members of the club met at a dinner party early on the 
 afternoon of St. Andrew's Day, 1867, and for some hours good 
 conduct, fraternal sentiments, and harmony prevailed. But, 
 unhappily, just about the twilight hour of the short November 
 day a slight altercation commenced, respecting the relative superi- 
 ority between the Highlands and Low Countries of Scotland. The 
 subject was one in which everybody felt a lively personal interest, and 
 the debate regarding it quickly swelled into a tumult. The whole 
 party rushed with ringing shouts from the meeting chamber to the 
 street which forthwith became the theatre of one of the most 
 formidable scenes of disorder ever witnessed within his beat by 
 Mr. Constable Mulligan, whose single arm was powerless in the 
 presence of the multitude of rioters, who shifted their ground 
 from one corner of the village to another as victory declared itself 
 alternately on either side of the struggling crowd. 
 
 During the Christmas holidays of 1866 some ladies in the settle- 
 ment had organized a bazaar, the profits of which, amounting to 
 £60 or £70, had been devoted to charitable purposes among the 
 local poor. A similar effort, assisted by an amateur concert, in 
 1867, produced about £100, and gave occasion to a series of very 
 large and pleasant gatherings of people from all quarters during 
 the Christmas week. 
 
 About the middle of December the Venerable Archdeacon 
 McLean commenced what has since passed into an institution, by 
 the celebration of Sunday evening services in the village of Winni- 
 peg. No church then existed in the town, and the Archdeacon 
 preached in the theatre, which was placed at his disposal by the 
 public-spirited lessees. The room was generally overcrowded, and, 
 towards spring, the meetings were discontinued in consequence of 
 the insecurity of the flooring. The Archdeacon deserves much 
 credit for the perseverance he haa exhibited in travelling over the 
 
422 BED RIVEB. 
 
 two miles whicli separate the village from hia house at St. John's, 
 in weather, during the first winter, generally bad, and sometimes 
 tempestuous and dark. In summer the services were resumed in 
 the Court room at Fort Garry, and in Autumn, 1868, the small 
 Church of the Holy Trinity was opened at Winnipeg, in which 
 the Archdeacon continued to officiate as regularly as formerly in 
 the Red River theatre. 
 
CHAPTEE XXIX. 
 
 1868. 
 McKenney & Company ; Dissolution of Partnership ; Particulars of 
 Eome affairs of the House — Case of Ke-w vs. Schultz ; Capture of 
 Schultzj Hjs rescue — New trial — Concourse of Special Constables — 
 Excitement at the Prairie Portage — Mr. Spence, President of the 
 "Republic of Manitoba ; " His action against McPherson for " Treason ;" 
 His Letter to the Foreign Secretary and Reply ; Collapse of his Ad- 
 ministration — " Nor' Wester's " Petition for Red River Elective Fran- 
 chise and Representative Chamber — Counter Petition — Demonstra- 
 tion of Populace against the Newspaper — Walter Robert Bown, Act- 
 ing Editor,prosecuted for Defamation — Apprehension of Bown — Case 
 of Kew vs. Schultz — Evidence of H. L. Sabine — Issue of the Trial. 
 
 In order to render fully intelligible the events wliicli now pre- 
 sent themselves for relation, I beg to recapitulate some facts, 
 notice of which have been scattered through various of the prece- 
 ding pages. 
 
 It will be remembered that the firm of McKenney & Co. had dissol- 
 ved partnership in the autumn of 18 64, and that in consequence of 
 difficulty having risen in the adjustment of the accounts, a series 
 of actions had been raised before the General Court, the hearing 
 of which had been interrupted by the course taken by Schultz in 
 May, 1866. The barrier then raised against the personal appear- 
 ance of this individual before the Court had been formally removed 
 in the following February (1867), but the plaintiff had not again 
 brought forward his case, which remained undecided. 
 
 At the time of the dissolution of partnership one of the most 
 considerable creditors of the firm was Mr. Frederick E. Kew of 
 London, its commission agent in England. This gentleman 
 visited Ked River in the spring of 1865 and closed his accounts 
 by taking from Messrs. McKenney and Schultz a " joint and several 
 promissory note " for £1460, which was thebaiance of their account 
 
424 BED RIVEE. 
 
 still due him. On quitting the settlement, Mr. Kew appointed as 
 his agent Mr. John Inkster, a councillor of Assiniboia and one of 
 the principal settlers in the colony. 
 
 So early as November, 1865, Mr. Inkster instituted separate 
 actions against Messrs. McKenney and Schultz, demanding fj^m 
 each half the sum still due at that date on the note. On further 
 consideration however, perceiving that, by adopting this course, he 
 was unnecessarily endangering the interests of his client, by holding 
 either party to the bond responsible only for the half of the debt, 
 whereas it was in his power to hold each severally responsible for 
 the whole until the entire amount had been liquidated, Mr. Inkster 
 withdrew the case before any action had been taken regarding it 
 by the Court. In August, 1866, however he sued Mr. McKenney 
 for the total sum then outstanding, which was about £600, the 
 original total having been already reduced to this amount by a 
 series of instalments paid on account. Mr. McKenney contended 
 that he could not he sued alone for the gross sum, and demanded 
 that his coadjutor Schultz, who was then absent from the settle- 
 ment, should be proceeded against simultaneously with himself. 
 The Judge instructed the Jury that, on such a note as the one 
 before the Court, which was a joint and several one, either party, 
 or both together might be sued for the gross amount as the holder 
 might deem expedient, and the rfcsult was a verdict in favour of 
 Mr. Kew and a Judgment of the Court accordingly. 
 
 Mr. Inkster, however, availed himself of this favourable result to 
 require from Mr. McKenney only half the sum due, which was 
 paid, and in May, 1867, commenced an action against Schultz, 
 with the intention of getting the remainder from him. Though 
 regularly cited to appear at the May Court, the latter quitted thei 
 settlement some time previous to its session after having made a 
 declaration before a magistrate relative to his non-appearance, 
 which was not however produced. In consequence. Judgment] 
 went against him by default, and on his return he was called to pay' 
 the balance still due Mr. Kew. At first he endeavoured to obtain ' 
 a new trial, which was refused by the Judge on account of the 
 insufl&ciency of the reasons assigned. 
 
 Mr. Inkster repeatedly applied to Dr. Schultz tameet the Judg* 
 
BED RIVEE. 425 
 
 ment, which the latter refused to do, and, after waiting for eight 
 months without making any apparent approach to the realization 
 of his object, he resolved to enforce it. 
 
 On the morning of Friday, 17th January, 1868, Mr. Sheriff 
 McKenney, accompanied by two constables, proceeded to the store 
 of Dr. Schultz, with the object of obtaining payment of the debt 
 or putting the Judgment in force. Instead of the warrant, usual 
 in such cases elsewhere, the practice in the district of Assiniboia 
 has always been to provide the Sheriff with a certified copy of the 
 Judgment of the Court, which constitutes his legal authority to 
 levy payment of debt. 
 
 Mr. McKenney asked Schultz, in consideration of the large 
 personal interest he had in the affair, to endeavour to arrive at a 
 pacific understanding for the satisfaction of the creditor, but his 
 advances were repelled. A formal demand was then made for the 
 amount of the Judgment which was refused, and the Sheriff 
 declared the Doctor's goods seized in the name of the Law, and 
 ordered his satellites to remove them, pointing out a large pair of 
 platform scales, which stood in his immediate vicinity, as a suitable 
 object to begin with, and opening the shop door to allow them free 
 egress. The proprietor interposed with the object of closing the 
 door, when a scuffle ensued in the course of which, after a series of 
 struggles and confused tumbling and rolling over the floor and 
 among some bags lying thereon, Schultz was bound, as securely as 
 his captors could manage, with a line found in his store and con- 
 veyed in a carriole to the prison, whither Mr. Eoger Goulet, a 
 Justice of the Peace, was summoned to hear the Sheriff's complaint 
 of having been assaulted in the discharge of his duty. The prisoner 
 asked that the gentleman in charge of Fort G-arry, who was also 
 a Justice of the Peace, should sit along with Mr. Goulet on the 
 case, as he " wished a responsible officer of the Company to be 
 present." The magistrate selected declined to interfere in the 
 matter, and Mr. Goulet, finding the charge proven, in default of 
 bail to appear and take his trial at the next General Quarterly 
 Court upon the charge, committed Schultz to prison. 
 
 Meanwhile Mr. Constable Mulligan who had been left in legal 
 custody of the prisoner's store was ordered by Mrs. Schultz to 
 
426 KED EIVBR. 
 
 withdraw from the premises. This he of course refused to do. 
 Mrs. Schultz forthwith caused all the doors and windows to be 
 barred and secured with nails and spikes, so as to guard the shop 
 against a fresh entry on the part of the Sheriff on his return from 
 the Court House, and detain Mulligan, a close prisoner, without 
 food or fire, in the isolated warehouse. At nightfall, however, the 
 dauntless public servant was honourably released from his post of 
 duty. 
 
 Towards one o'clock on the Saturday morning about fifteen 
 persons, among whom was Mrs. Schultz, forcibly entered the 
 prison where Schultz was confined, overpowered the constables on 
 duty, and, breaking open the door leading to his cell, liberated him. 
 This done, the party adjourned along with him to his house, where 
 report says "they made a night of it." 
 
 A " Nor' Wester Extra " was published, giving the Editor's own 
 account of his incarceration. This document I give at full length 
 in Appendix G, and beg the reader's attention to that sentence 
 which closes the first paragraph : " The Sheriff meanwhile caught 
 in England pays the other half, and then follow the events of 
 Friday.'' According to this statement, Mr. Sheriff McKenney, 
 during a visit he had paid to England in 1867, had been seized 
 by his creditor Mr. Kew and compelled to pay that debt which he 
 now sought .to recover, ostensibly for Mr. Kew, but really to 
 reimburse himself, using his oflGicial influence as Sheriff to perpetrate 
 the rascality. Such was the version of the matter accepted by the 
 Canadian Press, which commented at great length on the baneful 
 influence exercised by a Company whose authority could shield 
 such a public officer. 
 
 No attempt was made to re-capture Schultz or any of his confe- 
 derates, but a meeting of the Council of Assiniboia was held on 
 the 23rd of January, at which the critical condition of the settle- 
 ment was discussed, and a resolution arrived at that a body of one 
 hundred special constables should be raised, part of which might 
 be organized into a permanent force, should the step seem advis- 
 able. 
 
 On 4th February Schultz repeated his application for a new trial, 
 and added to the reasons he had previously urged in .support of the 
 
EBD EIVER. 427 
 
 request that he had important testimony to produce regarding his 
 liability under the note on which the action had been raised 
 against him, which from his unavoidable absence at the first hearing 
 of the case he had been unable to call. The application was now 
 granted, the two parties, Messrs. Inkster and Schultz, entering 
 into a regularly executed agreement that the decision to be arrived 
 at by the Jury in the Court of the following May should be final 
 and conclusive in the action. 
 
 On 5th February, at another meeting of the Council, a fresh 
 order was issued, calling on all settlers who might be summoned by 
 any of the magistrates to act in the capacity of special constables, 
 to attend at the Court House at Port G-arry on Monday, the 10th 
 February. 
 
 The concourse of special constables which met in obedience to 
 the official summons on the day named amounted to about three 
 hundred men. They were duly sworn in, but, as the crisis had 
 passed which had led to their enrolment, their active service was 
 not required. The Governor explained to them the chain of 
 events which had led the Council to call them together, and dismissed 
 them with the remuneration of ten shillings per man in return for 
 their day's service. 
 
 The " Nor' Wester " produced its uncontradicted account of 
 these proceedings. It called on the public to find out from what 
 pocket the £150 had been drawn to pay the constables who had 
 been summoned to maintain the public peace disturbed by its pro- 
 prietor. It spoke of " the Red Eiver Star Chamber Council now 
 existing in our midst, sitting with closed doors and windows so 
 that the public shall not see their rascally proceedings." It called 
 attention to the amount of immorality occasioned by the expendi- 
 ture complained of, in consequence of a number of the constables 
 having employed their pay in the purchase of liquor with which 
 they had made themselves drunk. It became suddenly possessed 
 with a fierce though new born zeal for abstract truth, and 
 raved against all sorts of people, every where, on account of their 
 departure from it. It wrote of " the artful dodges made use of 
 by a tyrannous Government " while assuring its readers " there is 
 no crime more infamous than the violation of truth," without the 
 
428 EED KIVBR. 
 
 practice of which " every man must disunite himself from others, 
 inhabit his own cave, and seek prey only for himself." "A false- 
 hood," it remarked, " is no less an untruth, whether coming from 
 the lips of a Secretary of State, from a Senator at Washington, 
 from a State Senator, from a Chamber of Commerce, from a 
 partisan Newsjpaper, or from a hod carrier ! I " Such representa- 
 tions and remarks, sometimes published under the guise of" commu- 
 nications" addressed to the paper, and sometimes as leading arti- 
 cles, were largely circulate'd in Canada where they were read with 
 a full belief in their truth and justice, as well as in the sincerity of 
 their authors. 
 
 A few days after the occurrence of these events Schultz left the 
 settlement on a visit to Canada. The Governor who, from motives 
 of public expediency, had interested himself a good deal in his 
 affairs, relying on certain representations made to him, became 
 security for his personal appearance at the May Court, in a con- 
 siderable sum. The " Nor' Wester " was to be edited during his 
 absence by Walter Robert Bown, already casually mentioned by 
 me in Chapter XI. 
 
 While these stirring events were agitating the village of Winni- 
 peg, the neighbouring district of Portage La Prairie was the 
 theatre of a variety of popular excitements, a prominent part in 
 which was borne by Mr. Spence, of whose career we have for a time 
 lost sight. In spring, 1867, he had changed his residence from 
 Winnipeg to the Portage where he endeavoured to eke out a liveli- 
 hood by keeping a retail store. Then, as usual more or less ever 
 since its foundation, the settlement at the Portage was in a state of 
 excitement in consequence of the bickerings of certain cliques, the 
 members of which dignified the subjects regarding which they 
 were at variance with the name of politics. By some means or 
 other Mr. Spence contrived to gain the leadership of one of these 
 parties, and the result was a serious modification of the form of 
 Government. 
 
 The name of the settlement was changed, from Portage La 
 Prairie to Caledonia and thence to Manitoba. The boundaries 
 of the new jurisdiction were vast, and embraced a large section of 
 country, including hundreds of square miles of prairie land. They 
 
KED RIVEE. 429 
 
 were also vaguely defined, and involved the position of parallels of 
 latitude and degrees of longitude. In one respect the definition 
 was sufficient to serve all temporary purposes. The eastern boun- 
 dary of the republic of Manitoba was to coincide with the 
 western limit of the municipal district of Assiniboia. A council 
 was chosen for the new republic, and Mr. Spence was elected Chief 
 Magistrate. His secretary was Mr. J. Finlay Wray, and his pay 
 was, I believe, to be of an undefined amount. An oath of alle- 
 giance to the new order of things was administered to the inhabi- 
 tants of Portage La Prairie. 
 
 One of the very first schemes contemplated by the new govern- 
 ing body for the benefit of its people was the erection of a 
 " Grovernment Council House and Gaol." To execute this work 
 money was required, and the only way the new "governor" 
 could see to raise it was by a regular system of taxation. A cus- 
 tom's tax on imports was resolved on, and preliminary measures 
 taken to collect it. A notice was served, among others, upon the 
 officer in charge of the Hudson's Bay trading post at the Portage, 
 who replied he would pay no tax or duty on the goods imported 
 for trade at his post unless ordered to do so by the Governor of 
 Eupert's Land. The result was a threat from the self-styled 
 " Governor and Council " to the effijct that when the new gaol 
 should be built, the rebellious agent of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany would be brought to account. 
 
 One of the settlers at the Portage, a cobbler named Macpherson, 
 had also made himself obnoxious to the new rulers by putting in 
 circulation a report that the money collected with the ostensible 
 view of building a gaol was really expended in the purchase of 
 liquor for the consumption of the Governor and Council of Mani- 
 toba, and what was worse his story was generally believed to be 
 true. Expostulation with the ofiender was vain, as he merely 
 repeated the alleged libel with aggravations, and after suitable 
 consideration it was resolved to indict him on a charge of treason. 
 A warrant for his apprehension was drawn up and a couple of 
 constables dispatched to execute it, while the assembled Council 
 sat in silence round a cheerful stove-fire, calmly waiting the develop- 
 ment of events. 
 
430 RED RIVEK. 
 
 After the lapse of a period of time much longer than had heen 
 anticipated, the offender was dragged before the tribunal in a state 
 of great excitement, his dishevelled hair, contorted visage and 
 ragged clothes bearing strong testimony to the resistance he had 
 offered to the minions of power. The Court, after composing 
 itself to the gravity created by the interests its action was calcu- 
 lated to affect, had not proceeded far with its investigation when 
 the house was surrounded by an excited mob of the prisoner's 
 friends who, hearing of the outrage which had been effected, came 
 to liberate him. The door flew open without delay, and a couple 
 of men armed with pistols entered the chamber, who, after abusing 
 their friend as a "fool " for sitting where he was, turned to his 
 judges whom they attacked with such vigour and effect that 
 after a useless attempt at resistance, Governor and Council were 
 ignominiously turned out of doors, overwhelmed with derision, 
 leaving their late prisoner and his friends in possession of the 
 scene of action. 
 
 The actual capture of the traitor was said to have been 
 thoroughly ridiculous. The two constables had gone in search of 
 him when somewhat tipsy, and their conduct in singing convivial 
 couplets at the fuU pitch of their voices while walking along the 
 track first attracted the attention of neighbours to the object of 
 their journey. On arriving at the scene of action only one entered 
 the house. He found Macpherson quietly cleaning his revolver. 
 Producing his warrant, he tried single-handed to enforce it, and 
 his friend on entering found him " in close grips " with his 
 prisoner, who contrived to elude both of them, running away with 
 the object of passing the boundary of the district of Assiniboia 
 before he could be overtaken. The constables, however, got a 
 horse, and rapidly gained on the object of their search, who, on 
 seeing them, quitted the beaten track and ran out among the deep 
 snow on the Plains, whither he was pursued on foot and ultimately 
 fell an easy prey. 
 
 While on a visit to the village of Winnipeg, during the month 
 of February, Mr. Spence called on the Governor of Rupert's 
 Land on business relative to his proceedings at Portage La Prairie 
 and was informed by the latter that no duty would be paid on the 
 
REB RIVER. 431 
 
 Hudson's Bay Company's goods imported unless levied on autho- 
 rity derived from the Company, and that he and his Council could 
 collect duty only from such as paid it voluntarily, while they or 
 their agents might he legally resisted in any attempt to levy it hy 
 force, and moreover, the administration of the oath of allegiance 
 which had taken place was an illegal act and laid him open to a 
 prosecution. 
 
 Mr. Spence thereupon addressed a letter* to the Secretary of 
 State for Foreign Affairs, to which, in the ensuing August, the fol- 
 lowing reply appeared in the " Nor' Wester" : 
 
 Downing Street, 
 
 May 30th, 1868. 
 
 " Sir, — I am directed by the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos 
 to inform you that your letter of the 19th of February last, 
 addressed to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, has been 
 forwarded to this department and that His Grace has also received 
 a copy of a letter addressed by you to Mr. An^us Morrison, a 
 member of the Canadian Parliament, dated the 17th February 
 last. 
 
 " In these communications you explain the measures that have 
 been taken for creating a so-called self-supporting Government in 
 Manitoba, within the territory of the Hudson's Bay Company. 
 
 " The people of Manitoba are probably not aware that the 
 creation of a separate government in the manner set forth in these 
 papers has no force in law, and that they have no authority to 
 create or organize a Government, or even to set up municipal insti- 
 tutions (properly so-called) for themselves, without reference to 
 the Hudson's Bay Company or to the Crown. 
 
 " Her Majesty's Government are advised that there is no objec- 
 tion to the people of Manitoba voluntarily submitting themselves 
 to rules and regulations which they may agree to observe for the 
 greater protection and improvement of the territory in which they 
 live, but which will have no force as regards others than those who 
 may have so submitted themselves. 
 
 • This letter will be found on page 484. 
 
432 BED MVEK, 
 
 " As it is inferred that the intention is to exercise jurisdiction 
 over offenders in criminal cases, to levy taxes compulsorily, and to 
 attempt to put in force other powers which can only be exercised 
 by a properly constituted Government, I am desired to warn you 
 that you and your coadjutors are acting illegally in this matter, 
 and that, by the course which you are adopting, you are incurring 
 grave responsibilities. 
 
 "lam. Sir, 
 
 "Your obedient servant," 
 
 The account of the foregoing proceedings at the Portage reached 
 Canada about the same time as that of the disturbances rising 
 from the case of Kew vs. Schultz, and the construction put upon 
 the news in that colony was that, goaded by a sense of the mis- 
 government of the Hudson's Bay Company, the people of Red 
 Eiver had risen in revolt under the leadership of Mr. Spence to 
 organise a republic on British ground. The subject being discussed 
 in the Canadian House of Commons, the Honourable Thomas 
 D'Arcy McGee expressed a doubt as to the correctness of the version 
 which had reached them, as he said, from what he knew of Mr. 
 Spence, he believed him quite incapable of acting as described. 
 
 Mr. Spence, on learning the misunderstanding which had risen, 
 was naturally very indignant. Mr McGee, though defending him 
 in general terms, had unfortunately failed to state the grounds on 
 which he rested his opinion of the unhappy " Governor," and left 
 it an open question for debate amon^ those within the limits of his 
 jurisdiction whether Mr. McGee had meant Mr. Spence was, in 
 his opinion, morally incapable of gaol breaking or mentally inca- 
 pacitated for filling the high office of head of their Government. 
 Unfortunately, before Mr. Spence could communicate with Mr. 
 McGee, so as to clear up the doubt, the latter had perished by 
 assassination, and the question' remains, I believe, still undecided. 
 With regard to the fact that his communication was addressed to 
 
RED RIVER. 433 
 
 the Foreign Secretary, I feel justified in saying this was a mere 
 error rising from ignorance on the part of its writer, and in no 
 way owing to any desire to approach the exalted official he 
 addressed in the capacity of representative of an independent 
 nationality. Mr. Spence's loyal feelings are well known, and 
 evinced themselves very decidedly in the scorn with which he 
 rejected the imputation cast on his fidelity to the Queen, when, 
 among all the other current rumours circulated to his disparage- 
 ment, it was whispered, without a shadow of probability, or of 
 proof, that he had served in the army as a private soldier, and was 
 a deserter. It will be noticed in reading the above narrative that 
 his government of Manitoba was in no way connected with the 
 imprisonment or illegal liberation of Schultz. 
 
 Taking advantage of the popular excitement occasioned by the 
 above events, our local organ advocated the universal signature of 
 a petition addressed to the much-abused Oovernor and Council of 
 Assiniboia, praying for an alteration in the system of Government. 
 This document asserted the opinion that one principal cause of the 
 Red River grievances might be found in the fact that the people 
 have no voice in the conduct of affairs, and, moreover, that the 
 Red River people were capable of choosing competent persons to 
 make laws to govern themselves. It declared the belief of all its sub- 
 scribers to be, " That all men possessing common sense have a right 
 to a voice in the Government which they live under," and, on these 
 grounds, it requested that the Council would at once adopt a mea- 
 sure giving them the right to elect their own councillors, and that 
 it would "give this petition the immediate and respectful con- 
 sideration which the united and expressed wish of a large number 
 of people deserves," 
 
 While strongly urging on the Council the policy of conceding the 
 points demanded in this paper, the " Nor' Wester" did not con- 
 ceal its apprehension that, '' without being accepted or rejected, it 
 may be put into the Fort Garry or Fenchurch street office waste 
 paper basket, and the unfortunate signers laughed at for their 
 pains." With regard to the ultimate fate of the document, I am 
 not aware whether or not the presentiment just quoted proved pro- 
 phetic, but the right of the franchise it was certainly not in the 
 power of the Council petitioned to grant. 
 
 00 
 
434 RED RIVER. 
 
 In contradiction of the statements published by the "Nor' 
 Wester" newspaper, and in opposition to the petition of those 
 individuals who professed their belief in the principle that thefpos- 
 session of " common sense" constituted the true qualification for 
 the exercise of an elective franchise, an address to the Governor 
 and committee of the Hudson's Bay Company was laid before the 
 public, which was invited to sign it. The chief feature of this new 
 document was a denial of the truth of the assertion of the "Nor' 
 Wester" that the late unlawful liberation of Schultz from gaol had 
 the countenance of the majority of the Ked Eiver population. It 
 was signed by 804 settlers. 
 
 One day, about the middle of April, one of the principal mer- 
 chants in Winnipeg, accompanied by 13 persons, chiefly of the 
 French half-breed section of the population, called at the " Nor' 
 Wester" office, with the intention of demanding the insertion in 
 that newspaper of their memorial. Dr. Bown, who, in the absence 
 of Schultz, officiated as editor, was, at the time when the deputa- 
 tion called, absent on a visit to the lower extremity of the settle- 
 ment, and the paper was received by his foreiian, Mr. James 
 Stewart, the same individual mentioned in another part of this 
 volume as unpleasantly identified with the Corbett case. The 
 document, though received, remained unpublished, the reason 
 assigned being that the names had not been supplied, and that 
 without these the newspaper would not give it a place in its 
 columns. It was added that the acting editor had been " anxious 
 to have given the petition an insertion in his paper," but that, from 
 a desire to put him in a false position, the instigators of the 
 memorial had determined to attempt an intimidation at once, 
 by demanding an insertion, though a civil request would have been 
 sufficient to attain the desired end, and, although it waS'Uot affirmed 
 that any open intimidation had been ofiered .by the deputation 
 which actually called, yet the mere presence of fourteen men, when 
 only one^might have sufficed, was considered objectionable. 
 
 On the side of the memorialists it was alleged that the whole 
 story of the "Nor' Wester'' was a series of evasions to avoid the 
 unpleasant necessity of publishing a numerously signed document 
 directly contradicting their previously uncontradicted malversation 
 
KED KIVER. 435 
 
 'if facts, and it was at length seriously detremined to force the con- 
 ductors of the newspaper to comply with their demands. 
 
 On the afternoon of Sunday, the 26th April, the Governor of 
 Rupert's Land received a formal note from Bown, informing him 
 that, according to information of undoubted authenticity which he 
 had received, an attempt would be made on the following day to 
 destroy the " Nor' Wester" press, and demanding, as " a British 
 iubject," that protection which every vassal of the crown was entitled 
 •■■■o expect from the authorities. 
 
 The information referred to was understood to have reference to 
 some announcement of a nature tending to a disturbance of the 
 peace, which had been publicly made at the door of the Koman 
 Catholic Cathedral of St. Boniface when the congregation was dis- 
 persing on the morning of the day referred to. 
 
 The day after his receipt of the note claiming protection the 
 Grovernor informed Bown be would guard him and his property to 
 ihe best of his ability, and requested him to call at Fort G-arry. 
 
 Almost simultaneously with the acting editor arrived the rioters, 
 whom the misrepresentations of the Periodical with which he was 
 connected had excited to a breach of the peace. They were all of 
 the French half-breed population. They said they were on their 
 way to the newspaper office, whence they intended to take the 
 press with the object of depositing it in the gaol, thus stopping the 
 issue of the paper, and warning Bown that he was required to leave 
 the country within three days, as they considered, from the man- 
 ner in which he was conducting the " Nor' Wester," that he would 
 cause disorder in the settlement. 
 
 The Governor, who was utterly unsupported by any material force, 
 succeeded, by using his personal influence, in pacifying the crowd. 
 Bown was again requested to publish the objectionable memorial, 
 but pleaded want of paper to issue another number of the news- 
 paper before the arrival of Schultz from St. Paul with a fresh 
 supply. He asked his interlocutors how many copies they wanted ? 
 They replied, I think, fifty, and were informed if they had made 
 such a demand at first no misunderstanding would have occurred, 
 A day was named when the required number of copies of the 
 memorial should be printed. 
 
436 RED RIVER. 
 
 On the morning of the day appointed two of the leaders of the 
 mob called at the " Nor' Wester " office, and received from the 
 hands of Stewart, the foreman, in absence of Bown, who had not 
 yet entered the office, the required papers which, before paying for 
 them, they took to the post office, with the object of examining 
 them so as to convince themselves they had been correctly printed. 
 As the men were unlettered French Canadians, and the paper was 
 printed in English, it was necessary that the examination should be 
 made by other than they. While the postmaster was inspecting 
 the documents, Bown, who had been informed by his subordinate 
 of the transaction which had taken place, entered the house, and, 
 along with several expressions of an abusive nature, applied the 
 term "thieves" to the two men. In palliation of his intempe- 
 rate conduct he set up the plea that the papers had never been 
 delivered to the holders with the intention they would leave his 
 office before paying the stipulated price, and explained that Stewart 
 had merely quitted them momentarily to inform his principal of 
 their arrival, and had on his return to receive payment for the 
 printing, been surprised to find them gone. 
 
 The result was a suit instituted by the Canadians against the 
 acting editor, requiring damages on account of defamation to a 
 considerable extent. The question was tried at the ensuing May 
 General Court, and ended with a verdict in favour of the plaintiffs, 
 granting them twenty shillings each as damages, and the full costs. 
 The total amount to be paid by Bown was about five pounds. He 
 refused to pay it, and the requisite legal process having been gone 
 through, he was arrested. 
 
 One day the mess at Fort Garry was a little surprised during 
 the hour of dinner, to hear a violent disturbance as of struggling 
 at the outer door of the house in which they were assembled. Dr. 
 Cowan, the gentleman in charge, was called out, and found Bown 
 in a state of shrilly screaming excitement in the inexorable hands 
 of that indefatigable public servant, Mr. Constable Mulligan. He 
 had been arrested for the debt, and shrieked at Dr. Cowan a 
 demand for instant liberation accompanied by confused remarks 
 ab u "holding the Company responsible," and being a "British 
 subject." Dr. Cowan in no very complimentary language, asked 
 
RED RIVER. 437 
 
 Mulligan what he meant in bringing that man to him? Mulligan's 
 answer was to the effect that he had done so in compliance with a 
 very pressing request on the part of his prisoner. Dr. Cowan 
 refused to have anything to do with the business, and Bown was 
 removed to prison, wh^e he remained in confinement for about 
 one hour. At the end of that period the requisite sum was paid 
 into the hands of the Sheriff by a pensioner named Bryan Devlin, 
 the keeper of a so-called " restaurant " or small tavern in the 
 village of Winnipeg. Devlin alleged he paid the sum from his 
 own pocket in recognition of previous kindness shown him by 
 Bown, who was immediately discharged from custody. 
 
 Shortly after the occurrence of these events, a letter appeared 
 in the Toronto " Globe " signed " Canadensis " professing to give 
 a truthful narrative of the same. The writer, amid a variety of 
 other fictitious statements alleged that the Company, after having 
 had recourse to mob law, for the purpose of intimidating the press, 
 had paused in alarm on seeing it had gone too far, and had paid 
 the judgment of five pounds, issued against Bown, in order to 
 escape further difficulty. This statement, I am authorised to 
 state, is false. 
 
 Bown left the colony some days after his incarceration, 
 mdulging the usual threats as to suing the Hudson's Bay 
 Company for fabulous sums in the Canadian courts. If instituted 
 at all, these suits appear to have met their due reward. 
 
 The " Nor' Wester " in concluding its notices regarding the 
 " memorial " at the root of all these troubles professed to make an 
 " exposure of the late humbug petition which the designers tried 
 80 hard and failed so signally to push into our columns." A 
 comparison between this statement and that made a few weeks 
 previously, in which the acting editor represented himself as 
 " anxious to have given the petition an insertion in this issue," 
 will save me the trouble and unpleasantness of further commenting 
 on the affair. 
 
 At the May court the action of Kew vs. Schultz also oame 
 for hearing. It will be remembered that the parties in this case 
 had come under a mutual engagement that the verdict of the jury 
 should be absolutely final. This had been named by the judge, as the 
 
438 RED RIVER. 
 
 sole condition on which he would consent to grant a new trial. The 
 plaintiff's attorney produced the joint and several notes on which 
 his action was based, along with the account of moneys paid in 
 partial liquidation of the debt by the two parties liable, Schultz 
 and McKenney. The balance due was a sum of a little more 
 than £296 which was now required at the hands of Schultz. 
 
 The testimony on which the latter rested his case was that of 
 Herbert L. Sabine, a land surveyor in the colony, who had been 
 in the service of Schultz, as clerk, at the date of Mr. Kew's 
 visit to Red River in 1865. This person swore that, one day 
 during the term of the said visit of Mr. Kew, he had been 
 witness of the following transaction between the latter and his 
 employer. Schultz had paid over to Kew the sum of £275, the 
 only evidence of the receipt of which was to be the testimony 
 of Mr. Sabine who saw it and heard the verbal agreement between 
 the two men that the affair was to be kept " quiet, and the money 
 was to be paid on the debt, but not to be marked on the 
 note." 
 
 This assertion entirely changed the position of parties. The 
 judge attempted to elicit by pointed questions how much Mr. 
 Sabine might know as distinguished frjom what he might think of 
 this singular transaction, but was interrupted by the excited 
 protestations of the defendant, who objected to have his witness 
 harassed by the court or " to be put in a false position before the 
 jury." As Mr. Kew was in London, and as nobody in court had 
 ever heard of the payment, which did not appear on the account 
 current, the plaintiff's attorney was quite unprovided with evidence 
 to rebut the assertion of Sabine, and after the judge had charged 
 the jury to the best of his ability, they retired. After several 
 hours absence a verdict was brought in allowing Mr. Kew twenty 
 one pounds instead of £296 claimed. 
 
 I beg again to draw the attention of the reader to a statement in 
 Appendix Q, giving an account of defendant's liberation from 
 prison, copied from a special extra of the newspaper of which he 
 was editor, " the Sheriff meanwhile caught in England pays the 
 other half, and then follow the events of Friday " ; and would 
 remark that, if this statement be true, and the evidence given 
 
KBD RIVER. 439 
 
 by Sabine also reliable, Mr. Kew had already received payment, 
 once from Schultz in secret at Red River Settlement in 18H5, and 
 again by some means unknown from MeKenney in England in 
 1867, of the sum for which he, in 1868, sued Sehultz in the Red 
 Eiver Courts. 
 
 The Governor of Rupert's Land evinced his estimate of the truth 
 of either story by immediately forwarding to Mr. Kew the entire 
 sum of £296 on his own personal account. On thi^ transaction 
 becoming known I heard it stated out of doors that the Governor 
 was legally compelled to take this course. This is an untruth. 
 His reason for acting as he did was, I believe, grounded on the 
 fact that the interest he had taken in procuring a new trial of the 
 case had rendered him an involuntary instrument in the perpetra- 
 tion of a fraud. 
 
 On hearing the issue of his case Mr. Kew wrote a number of 
 letters to individuals resident in the colony, whose London agent 
 be was, entirdly bearing out the Governor's views. These letters 
 were not considered private, but were shown by their recipients to 
 & number of their acquaintances. 
 
 This was done at Mr. Kew's request, with the aim of clearing 
 his character from a stain of at least carelessness as an accountant. 
 He also made a solemn statutory declaration before the Lord 
 Mayor in London, in which, while recounting the circumstances, 
 he denied the truth of the &ots as sworn by Sabine. 
 
 Mr. Kew acted, of course, under legal advice in these and other 
 steps taken by him in London, after the receipt of intelligence of 
 the adverse verdict, and the declaration made and forwarded to 
 Red River is supposed to possess some significance as yet known 
 only to some of those concerned. 
 
CHAPTEE XXX. 
 
 : 1868. 
 
 Destructive Hurricane — "Nor' Wester" — Retirement of Schultz — 
 Visit of General Marcy and party— Prairie tour of Professor Sands; 
 His feats of Natural Magic and Legerdemain — Rev. George Young — 
 Death by violence at Prairie Portage — The Queen vs. McLean — Red 
 River Famine and Relief Committee — Mr. Snow's Canadian Road ope- 
 rations — Mr. Mair, the Canadian Poet ; His Prose efforts and their 
 startling effects. 
 
 About an hour before sunrise on the morning of Friday, the 3rd 
 July, the settlement was visited by a hurricane such as had not 
 previously occurred within the experience of any of its inhabitants. 
 On the morning of the preceding day a thunderstorm had taken 
 place without producing much of a cooling effect on the weather, 
 which, throughout the entire summer, was unusually hot and 
 sultry ; and, from the appearance of the clouds on the evening 
 before the tempest, it was expected that a second thunderstorm 
 might occur. The sudden violence with which it commenced 
 about two o'clock in the morning wakened the inhabitants from their 
 sound repose. The heavens were lighted with perpetual brilliant 
 flashes, while thunder echoed from towering clouds piled in the 
 blazing sky. After half an hour the rain began to fall in 
 torrents and after the lapse of another hour, during a slight lull in 
 the thunderstorm, the wind broke out in full force from the 
 moment of its commencement and lasted altogether for about one 
 hour more. 
 
 The amount of property destroyed was very large. The Church 
 of the Holy Trinity, in process of erection in the village of Winni- 
 peg, was lifted in a mass from its foundation and dropped on the 
 ground a heap of broken timbers. Three of the carpenters 
 employed in its construction were sleeping in the, house; two of 
 them escaped, the third was killed. The spire of St. Andrew's 
 
RKD RIVER. 441 
 
 Church was blown down through the roof of the main buildings 
 while another place of worship was literally blown into a ruin. 
 The " Nor' Wester" office made a very narrow escape in consequence 
 of the tornado striking it obliquely. The amount of private pro- 
 perty destroyed was very large ; roofs were torn off, miles of fencing 
 carried away, and entire buildings displaced. 
 
 On Sunday, 26th July, General R. B. Marcy of the United 
 States Army, arrived, with the object of paying the settlement a 
 very brief visit. During the period of which I have written its 
 detailed annals Red River had not, previous to the event now 
 recorded, been favoured with the presence of any gentleman holding 
 distinguished official position in the neighbouring country. 
 General Marcy was Inspector General of the North Western 
 Department, and was on his annual tour of inspection to the differ- 
 ent posts within his circuit. Having visited Pembina in execution 
 of his official duties the General left his military escort at that 
 place, and accompanied by Captain Warner and J. T. Sweringen 
 Esq., of St. Louis, attended by a light travelling apparatus and a 
 few servants, he paid a flying visit to the colony. Driving to 
 Lower Fort Garry, and proceeding thence' in a light boat to the 
 mouth of Red River, the party glanced at Lake Winnipeg and 
 returned without delay to Pembina, thence to continue their tour 
 over the wide extent of territory embraced within General Marcy's 
 military jurisdiction. 
 
 About the same time the colony was favoured with the presence 
 of a celebrity of humbler position and of another character, who 
 might nevertheless, I believe, claim to be the first civilized member 
 of his guild to visit the remote district of Assiniboia. Professor 
 Sands "the World-Renowned Magician and Ventriloquist" issued 
 his advertisements of entertainments to be given on three succes- 
 sive evenings in the Court room, the use of which had been allowed 
 him for the purpose. His assemblies were well attended, and 
 according to his account his audience was one of the most intelli- 
 gent he ever had the pleasure of addressing. The feats which 
 most puzzled his spectators were two in. number. Thrusting an 
 ugly looking carving knife through his right arm, he walked up 
 and down the room, permitting all so disposed to inspect the 
 
442 EED RIVER. 
 
 bleeding limb ; but, fearful lest tbe finer feelings of his friends 
 should be wounded, he assured them the process under contempla- 
 tion "If it did not hurt them, would not hurt him," and finally 
 removed the knife and healed the wound before them all. Again 
 he requested any of his auditors so disposed on the following 
 evening to bring with them their own pistol, powder and shot and 
 try the efiect of lead on his person. Mr. James McKay, one of 
 the most successful Buffalo hunters in the country, loaded a pistol 
 with a charge such as he afterwards said had repeatedly in his 
 hands killed a buffalo, and, taking slow steady aim at Mr. Sands, 
 pulled the trigger. When the deafening report had died away, 
 and the fears of the audience permitted them to glance at the 
 effect of Mr. McKay's rash act, the Professor stood intact on a chair 
 with a candle in one hand, a large ball in the other, and a leaden 
 bullet safe between his teeth. The latter bore the marks impress- 
 ed on it by McKay, before ramming it home. Many other 
 clever tricks, including that known as the " Davenport trick," 
 were also performed. 
 
 A large portion of the time occupied by the entertainments was 
 spent in listening to the cautions of the professor against the prac- 
 tice of gambling more especially in unknown society. Wonderful 
 were the stories he told, more especially of " young men," whose 
 inexperience on the subject his counsels had enlightened to their 
 incredible advantage and gratitude, as also of others, who, in 
 ignorance of the world's ways, had stumbled into horrible and 
 ruinous indiscretions. His remarks of this nature were illustrated 
 by very clever tricks with cards, and magic box and ball, showing 
 how delusive is the evidence of eyesight when imposed on by expert 
 adepts in legerdemain. He formed a class, to members of which 
 he taught his tricks, including that of ventriloquistn, in consider- 
 ation of a very moderate fee. He stated that, after a lifetime 
 spent in travel among Hindoo, Brahmin, East Indian and Chinese 
 jugglers, during which he had enjoyed considerable acquaintance 
 with Signor Bosco, Professor Anderson and other European cele- 
 brities, he was about to retire from business and his feats were, 
 therefore, worth but little to him. His sole objects in the present 
 trip were to recruit his health and raise funds for the completion 
 
RED RIVER. 443 
 
 of a little cottage at St. Cloud in wtich he hoped to end his 
 life. 
 
 Remembering these touching communications it was with sur- 
 prise and pity that some of his hearers received intelligence several 
 months subsequently, that the poor man was living in destitute 
 circumstances at St. Cloud. It was credibly reported that, on 
 leaving Red River Settlement, he had visited Devil's Lake, where 
 the possession of a considerable quantity of rum, in purchase of 
 which he had invested the profits of his tour, had brought him 
 into unpleasant relations with the authorities at Fort Totten, 
 where, and at Fort Abercrombie, which he afterwards visited, he 
 lost all his possessions, including his travelling waggon and the 
 stage apparatus used in the practice of his craft, through neglect 
 of his own strenuous advice in gambling with the soldiers at the 
 military stations referred to. 
 
 While the Red River Court room was on weekdays the scene of 
 these profane doings, it was fully taken up on Sundays with con- 
 gregations attending religious services. In the morning the Rev. 
 George Young, of the Wesleyan body, newly arrived from Canada, 
 conducted the worship of his people, and in the afternoon the Rev. 
 John Black of the Presbyterian Communion, followed in the 
 evening by Archdeacon McLean, of the Church of England, drew 
 fair audiences from the village of Winnipeg. Later in the season 
 the Presbyterian Church in the neighbourhood was completed, the 
 Church of the Holy Trinity was rebuilt, on a very contracted scale, 
 from the ruins in which it had been laid by the storm of the 
 previous July, and Mr. Young succeeded in getting completed his 
 house containing a large apartment to be used as a temporary 
 Meeting hall until the erection of a suitable place of worship can 
 be completed in spring. These improvements effected, the Court- 
 room was abandoned to the fulfilment of its more exclusive 
 purposes. 
 
 The " Nor' Wester" of 31st July, 1868, announced the retirement 
 of Schultz from its proprietorship and management, and contained 
 the nomination of Walter Robert Bown as the new proprietor. 
 One of the first reforms introduced by the latter was the exchange 
 of the old fortnightly issue for one each week without any increase 
 
44* RlfiD RIVER. 
 
 being made in the terms of subscription, and the obvious improve^ 
 ment of printing and regularity of delivery gave evidence of the 
 attention of men who made the publication of the paper their 
 undivided business. 
 
 The new proprietor had, as already mentioned, come rudely in 
 contact with a section of the public while acting as editor during 
 the absence of Schultz in spring. Regarding his attitude toward 
 the Hudson's Bay Company, he was understood to be possessed 
 with a remarkable monomania that the corporation in question har- 
 boured the desire " to crucify him." The Company's title of 
 " Adventurers of England Trading into Hudson's Bay" and the 
 persevering caricature of the great monopoly under the similitude of 
 a broken down, superannuated shabby-genteel old lady, recurred so 
 frequently in his journal as to attract notice and suggest the idea 
 either of a deplorable poverty of inventive wit on the part of the 
 staff, or a gratifying absence of other adventurers and shabby-gen- 
 teel people from its connection. The editor's own chosen character 
 was that of " a British subject" and the favourite topics on which 
 he enlarged were misrepresentation in high quarters and the grasp- 
 ing, grinding propensities of a clique of unprincipled foreign fur- 
 traders. With regard to "misrepresentation'' it is well known in 
 the colony that the local paper itself has frequently indulged in it ; 
 but, in the absence of any opposing newspaper it is difficult to 
 imagine where it can have occurred, except under the form of 
 responsible official reports or in the confidence of private converse, 
 under circumstances beyond the control of the managers of that 
 sheet. Respecting the tyranny of the Company, the regular readers 
 of the " Nor' Wester" ought often to have marvelled at the inconsis- 
 tency of their contemporary, which represented the wonderful super- 
 annuated old lady above mentioned alternately grinding her sub- 
 jects with the iron pressure of an irresistible power, and again 
 sitting impotent in the presence of mob law excited by the action 
 of a newspaper, in dread of being crushed under the smallest inter- 
 ference. 
 
 Towards the close of June another case of death by violence 
 occurred at the Prairie Portage. A half-breed named Francis 
 Demarais had been shot with a pistol by a settler named Alexan- 
 
EED RIVER, 445 
 
 der McLean, on 15th of May, and, to quote the words of the in- 
 dictment after describing the assault " of which said mortal wound 
 the said Francis Demarais, from the said 15th day of May until 
 the 20th day of June aforesaid, did languish, and languishing did 
 live, on which said 20th day of June the said Francis Demarais 
 of the said mortal wound died." 
 
 The government inaugurated by Mr. Sppnce had been unable 
 to execute its project of building a gaol and court house, and its 
 chief magistrate, having abandoned the helm of affairs on the mat- 
 ter-of-fact search for the means of self support, was trying to 
 manufacture salt at the neighbouring Salt Springs near Lake 
 Manitoba. Under these circumstances of civil disorganization, 
 the documents relative to the outrage described were forwarded to 
 Mr. Judge Black. 
 
 Early in August the latter, accompanied by the Governor of 
 Rupert's Land, visited the Portage, where, after an investigation 
 had been held, the accused was committed to take his trial for man- 
 slaughter, but found bail for his appearance before the General 
 Quarterly Court, meeting on the 24th of August. He failed to 
 appear on the day specified, but, as further security for his appear- 
 ance on the 25th of September was offered, the Court agreed to 
 defer the trial till that day. Meanwhile the grand jury returned 
 a true bill. 
 
 A special court having thus been appointed to try the case, the 
 prisoner appeared on the day named for its session. Mr. Enos 
 Stutsman, " special agent of the United States Treasury" at Pem- 
 bina, had been retained as attorney for the defence which he 
 commenced by admitting he had advised his client to absent him- 
 self on the previous occasion, but added, according to the report 
 published in our local contemporary, " that had he have known 
 when he first took the case in hand as much about the people of 
 Red River, and about Red River Courts as he had since learned 
 in Court, he would never have counselled his client not to appear 
 and stand trial at that sitting of the Court." Although the bonds 
 originally entered into for the appearance of the prisoner had been 
 forfeited, the Court permitted them to be cancelled. 
 
 The story of the murder was, I believe, as follows : John Mc- 
 
446 RED EIVER. 
 
 Lean, tlie father of Alexander McLean, was employed in a potatoe 
 field close to his house, when Francis Demarais arrived in a state 
 of intoxication, and acted 'in a manner highly calculated to pro- 
 voke violent resistance. Running away suddenly, he returned 
 some time afterwards armed with a gun, with which he fired at 
 the spot where the elder McLean was standing, but without effect, 
 and immediately thereupon took to flight. The prisoner, who 
 stood in a position more favourable for shooting the retreating half- 
 breed than did his father, fired after deceased, whom he hit with 
 the already recorded fatal effect. 
 
 The investigation to which these scandalous events had given 
 rise disclosed the circumstance that men and women, at the Prairie 
 Portage, were in the habit of constantly carrying firearms for self- 
 protection. The jury after hearing the case, acquitted the pri- 
 soner. 
 
 Ever since the autumn of 1867, when the swarms of locusts 
 which then invaded the country had moved away after depositing 
 their eggs in the ground, the prospect of a total destruction of the 
 crops of 1868 had been forced on the attention of the people in so 
 unmistakable a manner, that its realization early in spring, when 
 the army of young grasshoppers cleared the field of every vestige 
 of vegetation, cannot be said to have taken the colony by surprise. 
 
 The multitude of insects was so great as to render it difficult to 
 convey an appreciable idea of their numbers to the minds of those 
 absent from the scene of their devastations. Piled in heaps about 
 the walls of Fort Garry, they were carted away and burned up to 
 prevent the effluvia from their decaying bodies contaminating the 
 atmosphere during the stifling heats of an unusually warm sum- 
 mer. 
 
 Early in August the " Nor' Wester" published an earnest appeal 
 for aid, addressed to the inhabitants of Canada and the United 
 States. The heads of the various religious bodies, resident in the 
 settlement, supported the statements of the newspaper, by letters 
 addressed to the editor, fully bearing out all that had been 
 advanced. A sergeant of pensioners named Michael Power, wrote 
 a letter to the " Times," explaining the calamity which had over- 
 taken the colony, and his communication, which duly appeared, 
 
RED EIVER, 447 
 
 Was succeeded by one in the same newspaper, from the Right 
 Hon. the Earl of Kimberley, Governor of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany, and another from Mr. F. E. Kew, whose name occurs so 
 prominently in the preceding chapter. 
 
 Such was the almost unhopecF success of these appeals to the 
 liberality of the people of England, Canada, and the States, that 
 on receipt of the intelligence of their benevolent activity, the 
 anxiety prevalent on the public mind, in the territory of Eupert'a 
 Land, with regard to provisions, visibly declined. 
 
 But while these attempts were being made to iilterest the 
 outside world, in the difficulties of the Red River people the 
 Governor and Council of Assiniboia exerted themselves to the 
 utmost of their ability to mitigate, with the funds at their disposal 
 the terrors of the approaching destitution. At a meeting held on 
 the 10th of August, this body voted a sum of £1600 to be imme- 
 diately spent in the following proportions. £600 were appropri- 
 ated to the purchase of seed wheat, and £500 to that of flour to 
 be procured in the United States. The remaining £500 were set 
 apart for the provision of twine, hooks, and ammunition to be dis- 
 tributed among such settlers as desired to attempt the fisheries in 
 the neighbouring lakes. The clergy of the various denominations 
 were the agents for the immediate division of the latter grant in 
 their respective parishes. 
 
 As the season advanced, however, prospects grew darker. The 
 Buffalo hunt had been during the summer a complete failure, and 
 no improvement took place in autumn. The numerous settlers 
 who had gone to pass the winter on the lake fishing grounds 
 returned to the settlement with the disastrous intelligence that the 
 fisheries had failed ; and to complete the universal helplessness, the 
 rabbit and the pheasant had entirely disappeared. 
 
 Thus all the sources whence the colony draws its usual provi- 
 sions had been cut off. It will be remembered these sources are 
 home agriculture, the Buffalo hunts on the Plains, the fisheries on 
 Lakes Winnipeg and Manitoba, most productive in autumn, 
 and the generally plentiful supply of rabbits and game, which 
 inhabit all the wood country throughout the borders of the Red 
 River and Assiniboine. 
 
448 ' KED RIVER. 
 
 When the food provided by the grant of the Council of Assini- 
 boia and the liberality of outside friends had arrived in the settle- 
 ment, the means taken to regulate its distribution were as follows : 
 A central organization name^ " the Red River Co-operative 
 Relief Committee" was composed of the principal gentlemen resi- 
 dent in the colony, including the two Bishops, the Governor, and 
 others. Excepting four, afterwards added to their number, 
 the members of this committee were named by the St. Paul and 
 Canadian Committees which collected the funds first remitted to 
 their Board. 
 
 To act under this association, sub-committees were appointed in 
 all the different parishes, and instructed to ascertain the true 
 amount of suffering in their various districts. In accordance with 
 this order det-iiled lists were constructed showing the number of 
 families and individuals, children and adults requiring assistance, 
 and forwarded to the central committee. By the latter, each name 
 on the lists was read, and no means were left unused to pre- 
 vent misrepresentation. 
 
 During the winter the central committee has met once a week, 
 each Wednesday afternoon, and considered the reports from the 
 parochial sub- committees, supplying the latter on each occasion 
 with renewed supplies to what amount their exigencies require for 
 distribution among the families of their districts. The greatest 
 issue of flour by the central committee for one week has been forty- 
 three barrels, weighing each one hundred and ninety-six pounds. 
 
 The entire sum yet placed at the disposal of -the committee, 
 exclusive of the local grant of £1600 amounts to £7500. Of this 
 £3000 has come from England, $3600 from Canada and £900 
 from the United States. As the flour was received by the agent 
 of the committee at St. Paul from time to time during the winter, 
 it was necessary to transport it over the plains by the labourious and 
 expensive means of horse and ox sledges. Fort Abercrombie, 
 two hundred and sixty miles from St Paul and two hundred and 
 fifty from the settlement head-quarters, has been a central point in 
 the freighting arrrangements. From St. Paul to Abercrombie the 
 means of carriage are easily procurable at the rate of 1 2s. per 
 Iwindred pounds. From the latter place to Fort Garry the trans- 
 
RBD B,IVER% 449 
 
 port Kas been aocOtti|llislied by settlers disf)alched over the prairies 
 for the purpose. It has been an article in the contracts entered 
 into with these men, that their remuneration should be paid in thfe 
 provisions they were to carry, of which they have received a quan^ 
 tity varying between one-half and two-thirds of the gross amount 
 as cost of freight. This consideration will show the reader how 
 serious is the modification in the figures representing the money 
 above mentioaed at the disposal of the trustees, necessitated 
 l)y the item of transport, before a correct idea can be gained of the 
 provisions available for distribution among the people to whom 
 they have been sent. It will be observed, however, that, as 
 the freighters axe all settlers, the fact that they are paid in 
 the fiour they bring relieves the committee to a certain extent 1^ 
 decreasing the number of families dependent on it for aid-. 
 
 The liberality of the public has beai greait and unexpected. 
 The isolation of the colony had almost forbidden its inhabitants to 
 tielieve in the possibility of a living interest being taken in its 
 affairs by the busy people dwelling in the great outside world-. 
 When, therefore, the first hints reached them of the intention 
 of public bodies in the western towns of the United States, to sup" 
 plement by liberal grants the effort at self-help put forth by the 
 Council of Assiniboia, the intelligent part of the population felt a 
 great relief. Somewhat later intelligence arrived of the prompt 
 and princely action taken by wealthy men in London, in response 
 to the Earl of Kimbcrley's letter to the Times above mentioned. 
 The first intimation received of the scale on which the ktter sub- 
 scription had been conducted was the receipt of a copy of a -cable 
 telegram from the Hudson's Bay House in London to the 
 Clompany's agent at St. Paul, authorizing him inimediately 
 to spend £2000 in purchase of provisions. Subsequently nume- 
 rous sums arrived from vairious places in Canada and, throughout 
 the winter, from all the three sources just specified a steady stream 
 t)f donations has flowed in on the Relief Comniittee. 
 
 Late in autumn a party under the superintendence of Mr. 
 ■John A. Snow, a Canadian surveyor, came in the employment of 
 the Canadian Government to commence the construction of a road 
 i)etween Red River Settlement and the Lake of the Woods, with 
 
 DD 
 
450 BED KIVEB. 
 
 a view to tHe ultimate completion of a direct line of through com- 
 munication between Eed River and Lake Superior. It will 
 be remembered that, in Chapter XXVIII, a notice occurrGd of the 
 commencement, in 1867, of the works at the eastern extremity of 
 this road, between Thunder Bay and Dog Lake. One object 
 of the Canadian Government in commencing operations at Red 
 River in the autumn of 1868, was represented as being the relief 
 of the prevailing destitution by the employment of people on the 
 work to be paid in provisions. The idea of giving men, capable of 
 manual labor, nothing, without exacting an adequate equivalent 
 in service rendered, is one the realization of which is surely 
 highly desirable. The amount of relief produced by the efforts 
 carried on under Mr. Snow has, however, been comparatively 
 small, seeing the highest number of men he has employed at any 
 ope time is forty, and the highest wages he has given £4 per month, 
 exclusive of rations. The workmen have been paid in flour and 
 pork imported for that purpose, the former being sold them at the 
 rate of five pence per pound, and the latter at one shilling per 
 pound. 
 
 Along with Mr, Snow arrived Mr, Charles Mair, his paymaster. 
 This gentleman had just published a volume of poems, the news- 
 paper notices and criticisms of which reached Red River almost 
 simultaneously with himself. The Toronto {rlobe praised the 
 production, I believe, very highly, and the Provincial papers 
 generally, from the terms in which they mentioned the author, 
 appeared to accept him as " The Canadian Poet." The only 
 notice of the work I have myself seen was a paragraph in the 
 Saturday Review. It was very brief but striking, as setting 
 forth certain characteristics of the poet which have recommended 
 themselves as true to a number of people who have enjoyed 
 the opportunity of observing his public conduct under prosaic 
 circumstances. 
 
 Messrs. Snow and Mair, after a short stay at the Ceorge Hotel, 
 quitted it to take up their residence with Dr. Schultz, whom they 
 ware understood to have selected as their principal local asentj 
 Mr. Spence " ex-Governor of Manitoba," who was an old acquaint- 
 ance of Mr. Snow, and Mr. Herbert L. Sabine, whose name was 
 
RED KIVER. 451 
 
 mentioned in the preceding chapter, in connection with the case 
 of Kew vs. Schultz, were engaged to act as subordinates under Mr. 
 Snow. 
 
 Operations were commenced at a spot called Oak Point about 
 thirty miles east from Fort Garry, at the point where the prairie 
 land ends, and the wood country, which extends away eastwards to 
 the Lake of the Woods, commences. Through this timbered region 
 it was the object of the expedition to cut a " winter road." Oak 
 Point, or, as the French call it, Pointe de- Chgne, is a small 
 settlement of French half-breeds which has gradually increased 
 from the period of its commencement in 1861 to its present size. 
 Its progress may be compared to that of St. Andrew's Parish or 
 the Prairie Portage, which, though now densely populated regions 
 of the colony, have risen, as the reader will remember, from very 
 small beginnings. A church exists at Oak Point but there is no 
 resident priest, clerical duty being performed by missionaries 
 from the Koman Catholic head-quarters at St. Boniface. 
 
 While the members of Mr. Snow's expedition were settling 
 down into regular working routine, Mr. Mair varied the monotony 
 of existence in the backwoods by writing to his Canadian friends 
 letters containing his impressions of Eed River Settlement, its 
 people and neighbourhood. Some of the parties to whom these 
 communications were addressed, thinking them creditable to the 
 poet's pen, published long extracts in the columns of an obscure 
 local newspaper, whence they were immediately copied by the 
 leading representatives of the Canadian press and circulated 
 broadcast throughout the Dominion as the prose productions of 
 its poet. The issue of the Toronto " Globe" containing the first 
 of these documents reached Eed Eiver towards the beginuing of 
 January 1869. The entire series published consisted of three 
 letters, dated respectively 3rd, 19th and 27th November, 1868, 
 from which I beg to lay the following extracts before the reader 
 in the order in which they arrived. It will be observed that, 
 being addressed to different people, they are not intended to form 
 a connected najrative. The first letter was dated, 
 
 " Winnipeg, 3rd November, 1868. 
 *' There are the Eed Eiver half-breeds with their oxen and 
 
452 HED RIVER. 
 
 carts in strings of fifty, one hundred and sometimes two hundred 
 carta together. The creaking of the wheels is indescribable; it is 
 like no sound you ever heard in all your life, and makes your 
 blood run cold. These all camp out in the prairie together with- 
 out blankets or any other covering than their capotes. Their load 
 is about one thousand pounds, and it takes them two months to 
 make the trip from Red River to St. Paul and back, travelling at 
 the rate of twenty miles per day. They are a harmless obsequious 
 set of men aud will, I believe, be very useful here when the 
 country gets filled up. *********** 
 
 " I now come to my impressions of the country. What I write 
 depend upon as strictly the truth. This is the richest country in 
 the world. You cannot conceive the wonderful fertility of the 
 soil. Everywhere the exposures on the river banks exhibit a 
 solid depth of ten, fifteen aud even thirty feet of soil, a firm clay 
 loam over which are superimposed in this immediate district one 
 or two feet of loaniy clay and elsewhere the same or a greater 
 depth of pure vegetable loam the fertility of which is practically 
 inexhaustible. The only drawback westward is the absence of 
 wood, but, as soon as railroads are introduced, the vast forests of 
 enormous timber which cumber the North Saskatchewan and 
 eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, the great beds of coal and 
 the timber of the eastern country will all be made tributary to the 
 wants of the Prairie farmers. I can say no more about the soil, 
 that is a fixed fact. 
 
 " The village hero (Winnipeg) consists of some fifty houses, all 
 laxgc, snug and respectable, half a dozen stores, all driving, a brisk 
 trade, and a profitable one in furs ; a church or two ; and a hotel 
 with two billiard tables." 
 
 The second was dated, 
 
 Oak Point, November 27tJi, 1868. 
 
 " Continually we either met or overtook tho Red River cart train 
 — strange rigs and strange drivers. * * * To hear a thousand of 
 those wheels all groaning and creaking on at one time is a sound 
 never to be forgotten ; it is simply hellish, ****** 
 
 " We were alone and camped out always on some part of the Red 
 River, which is a beautiful stream, lined its whole length with 
 oaks, but inconceivably crooked, and reached the south side of the 
 
RED RIVER. 453 
 
 Assiniboino one evening just after dark, the convent bells of St. 
 Bonifaoe sounding sweetly over the water. We then crossed our 
 rig on the seow to the northern bank, and five minutes afterwards 
 found ourselves in Mr. Emmerling's hotel, amidst a heterogeneous 
 crowd of half-breeds and traders in buckskin, playing billiards. 
 After a few days I went over to Dr. Sohultz's and stayed with him, 
 greatly to my own comfort and convenience." 
 
 I may hero remark, parenthetically, that, before the formation 
 of the village of Winnipeg, the term " Fort G-arry" was often 
 applied to the district about the Company's establishment, to which 
 alone of course the nama is strictly applicable. The practice 
 was necessitated from the fact that a considerable tract of country 
 about the Port offered no other tangible point to servo the Various 
 purposes of addresses on letters or goods. In its wide sense 
 indicating the village of Winnipeg ; when spoken of at a distance, 
 as distinguished from its strict application to the Company's Port, 
 tihe term is used in the following extract : 
 
 " We had a pleasant stay at Port G-arry, and received all sorts of 
 entertainment. They live like princes here. Just fancy what we 
 had at a dinner party there. Oyster soup, white fish, roast beef, roast 
 prairie chicken, green peas, tomatoes stewed, and stewed goose- 
 berries, plum-pudding, blanc mange, raisins, nuts of all kinds, 
 coffee, port and sherry, brandy punch and cigars,, concluding with 
 whist until four o'clock a.m. There is a dinner for you, in the 
 heart of the continent, with Indian skin l(Jdges within a stone 
 
 throw 5(s»K»K'i»'(*'P'i*'t*'i*'K^'K'i*'i><K 
 
 " We rented a house from a half-breed, and have had it fitted up 
 plainly but comfortably. Oar living is excellent, and includes 
 every green vegetable that is sold in tins, green peaae, peaches, 
 gooseberries, tomatoes, corn, &e., and all in perfect preservation, and 
 a little half-breed cook, who cooked for the Mess at the Port, and 
 who speaks ^rench, Cree, Saulteaux and English, cooks, washes, 
 irons, sews, knits and runs errands, and does all well. * * * The 
 fltarvatioH here threatens five thousand of the half-breeds, but 
 only those. The farming classes are affected very little if any- 
 thing at all by it. The half-breeds are a strange class. They 
 will do anything but farm, will drive ox-trains four hundred miles, 
 
454 BED RIVER. 
 
 to St. Cloud and back, at the rate of twenty miles a day, go out 
 in the Buffalo hunt, fish, do anything but farm, in a country 
 where I myself have dug three feet into solid vegetable loam 
 without finding bottom. This is a great country, and is destine^ 
 before ten years to contain a larger population than the Canadas. 
 The climate is delightful, * * * Alabama ! This shall be my 
 home. Lake Manitoba, for me !" 
 
 The third letter in the series, and that which created the great- 
 est sensation among the people it professed to describe, was dated 
 " Oak Point, 19th November, 1868. 
 
 "After putting up at the Dutchman's Hotel I went over and stayed 
 at Dr. Schultz's after a few days. The change was comfortable, I 
 assure you, from the racket of a motley crowd of half-breeds, play- 
 ing billiards and drinking, to the quiet and solid comfort of a home. 
 
 "Altogether I received hospitalities to my heart's content, and left 
 the place thoroughly pleased with most that I had met. There are 
 jealousies and heart-burnings, however. Many wealthy people are 
 married to half-breed women who, having no coat of arms but a 
 " totem" to look back to, make up for the deficiency by biting at 
 the backs of their " white sisters." The white sisters fall back 
 upon their whiteness, whilst the husbands meet each other with 
 desperate courtesies and hospitalities, with a view to filthy lucre in 
 the back ground. 
 
 " Inconceivably rich indeed is all this country — ^boundless and 
 rich beyond all description or comparison. The word " wigwam" 
 is never heard here. In speaking of an Indian's home it is called a 
 " lodge." The " Lodge in some vast wilderness" that Cowper 
 sighed for can be had cheap here — dirt cheap. It is composed of 
 skins stretched over some eight or nine poles standing on end on the 
 ground and converging to a common centre at the top. The smoke 
 from the fire, which is built in the centre of the Lodge, issues out 
 of the top, and, though very comfortable with its buffalo robes and 
 skins of all kinds, it has a very rakish and Ojibvoayish look. I 
 never look at one without fancying to myself that it is full of wolves 
 inside. 
 
 " At Portage La Prairie will be the most flourishing city in this 
 great West, for many reasons which I will defer giving until I have 
 been there. 
 
RED RIVER. 455 
 
 ■" So far as I have yet seen, the country is great, inexhaustible, 
 ineonceivably rich. Farming here is a pleasure. There is no toil 
 in it, and all who do farm are comfortable, and some wealthy. What 
 do you think of a farmer within a bowshot of here being worth 
 £7000 or £8000 sterling, and selling to the Hudson's Bay Company 
 last week £5000 worth of cattle, a man who came from Lower Can- 
 ada 19 years ago not worth sixpence. The half-breeds are the 
 only people here who are starving. They won't farm. Hitherto 
 it was so easy to live here that it did not matter whether they 
 farmed or not ; but the grasshopper put a stop to that last summer, 
 and now they are on their beam-ends. As for the farmers — Scotch, 
 English, and French — not one of them requires relief other than 
 seed wheat which they are quite able to pay for. This is the true 
 state of the case here, but it does not lessen the claim upon human- 
 ity. It will take £40,000 to feed the people through to next Fall, 
 but the £40,000 will be forthcoming. 
 
 "As for the future of the country, it is as inevitable as to-morrow's 
 sunrise. The climate is delightful. * * I never felt such fine weather 
 in November in Canada as we have here just now, and there is an 
 exhilaration in it quite new to me. * * * * 
 
 " It is not difficult in this country to be taken out of the way and 
 never be heard of afterwards, should one be careless. * * I enclose 
 you a feather of the prairie chicken ; also an oak leaf picked up 
 ■" In the land of the Dakotah," 150 miles south of this.* * The finest 
 hops I ever saw were growing wild at Eagle River, Dakotah Terri- 
 tory." 
 
 As the " Grlobes" containing the extracts, from which the fore- 
 going are selections, successively came to hand, they attracted a 
 large share of public notice at Eed River. The French half- 
 breed population, at which the remarks chiefly quoted by me were 
 levelled, were highly indignant at the terms in which they and their 
 hunting and tripping proclivities were touched upon. " The indig- 
 Hation against Mr. Mair," wrote a French gentleman living in 
 the heart of the excitement he described, in a note to myself, "is going 
 " on furiously. It is truly ridiculous to see a sort of mad man 
 " giving his opinion upon the character and value of a whole people 
 " and country of which he knows no more than the man of the moon 
 " does-" 
 
456 KED BIVEK. 
 
 Mr. GFeorge Bmmerling, whose hotel possesses the reputatiom of 
 being well managed, and as comfortable as is consistent with Ihe 
 primitive ciroumstances of its neighbourhood, annoyed at the tone 
 in which it was mentioned in the poet's letters, as well as at the 
 reports which reached his ears regarding his common talk, threat* 
 ened that, should the author of these phiKppies ever enter the house 
 he had maligned, he should be expeHed. 
 
 The female part of the population got very angry. One lady 
 pulled the poet's nose, while a,nother used her finggrs rudely about 
 his ears. A third, confining herself to words, said his letters 
 would be produetiveof serious mischief by circulating doubts about 
 the reality of the destitution, of which they gave an account highly 
 calculated to mislead and to paralyse the efforts being made to raise 
 money abroad for the relief of the sufiering poor. She therefore 
 recommended that, as the poet had obviously overstepped the limits 
 of his privilege, he should be treated in the same way as are dealers 
 in stimulants of another chairacter under similar eiroumstanceSj 
 and have his license taken away. 
 
 The husbands who " meet each other with desperate courtesies 
 and hospitalities with a view to filthy lucre in the back ground''' 
 were also somewhat puzzled as to how they ought to meet the man of 
 genius who had so plainly stated his opinion of them,, and witii a choice 
 selection from their number, Mr. Mair had a somewhat stormy 
 interview on Saturday evening at the post oflSce. He explained 
 to them that the letters complained of had been wiitten in the con- 
 fidence of private correspondence and had not been intended for 
 publication. While this statement shifted a certain amount of 
 responsibility from his shoulders to those of his correspondent's it- 
 fent weight to his observations by representing them as the result of 
 sincere conviction though only accidentally expressed. The fact, toOy 
 that asterisks, inserted in juxtaposition with the most objectionabla 
 sentences, denoted omissions of matter which oven Mr. Mair^s cor- 
 respondents judged it well to suppreas, opened up long dim vistas 
 of uncertainty and surmise regarding what really had been written, 
 which aggravated popular feeling against the beleagured man. 
 
 Moreover Mr. Mair hinted he feared there was worse upon the 
 road, as it was undeniable he lja4 written a letter nxore severe thaa 
 
RED MVBR. 45T 
 
 any of its predepeasors, which he fully expected to see at Red River 
 by an early mail, unless indeed another dispatch ho had subae. 
 quently written, on learning the use made of liis previous epistles, 
 should have arrived in time to warn hia friends against inserting 
 it in the local prints. 
 
 For several weeks the arriving " Globes" were carefully scrutin- 
 ized by an interested circle of acquaintances in hopes of seeing tha 
 poet's apprehensions justified. Their antieipatibna were, however, 
 disappointed, in consequence either of the means taken by Mr. 
 MaLr to stop the publication having been sucoessful, or of some 
 other deterrent cause unknown. 
 
 I have made the above lengthy quotations from the letters of 
 Mr. Mair, not because I consider them entitled to any authoritative 
 weight, or attach much intrinsic importance to them. Men fami-* 
 liar with the places and people to which they refer will doubtless 
 read them with amusement while regarding them in the light of a 
 caricature ; and to the minds of those unacquainted with prairie, 
 life they will convey an idea of the effect produced by the first 
 view of the Plain country of British North America to an unac- 
 customed witness. 
 
 The impression likely to be created by the general tone of thet 
 letters is, that the prevailing destitution has been confined chiefly 
 to the French half-breed class. The assertion that an agricultural 
 failure chiefly pinches a people dependent on the chase, to the. 
 exclusion of the farming community, speaks for itself. Doubtless 
 what Mr. Mair meant was, that the profits of farming at Reii 
 River are so great as to render the classes, which occupy themselves. 
 in its pursuit, independent of bad years. This is an inaccuracy, 
 as a large proportion of the population of the grain country are 
 in destitute circumstances and in receipt of actual relief. The 
 failure of the " Buffalo hunt" was the immediate cause of the, 
 femine among the five thousand half-breeds to whom one of tha 
 letters refers as those alone threatened with starvation. Tha 
 incident of a settler lia,ving sold £5000 worth of cattle to, tha 
 Hudson's Bay Company also calls for .special remark. No such, 
 transaction occurred. All to whom I have spoken on the subjeoli 
 are at a loss to (jonqeiva wha the individual is to whom the iioefe 
 
458 KED RIVER. 
 
 has referred, as nobody in any way answering Ms description is 
 known to exist in the colony. Men at Port G-arry are, therefore, 
 of opinion that Mr. Mair's informant has been grossly deceiving 
 him by imposing on his credulity. Individuals and corporations 
 in England or elsewhere, who have so generously assisted the people 
 of Red River during the winter of 1868-1869, may be assured 
 that the representations on the faith of which their liberality was 
 exercised, were true and untinged with exaggeration. 
 
 I am happy to be able to record that, since the arrival of the 
 objectionable series, a long letter from the pen of Mr. Mair, has 
 appeared in the " Globe" which, as it was expressly written for 
 publication, forms a strong contrast to the others, and has recom- 
 mended itself to a critical Prairie public as being, on the whole, a 
 very creditable effort. 
 
 About the middle of February a disturbance occurred at Oak 
 Point, in consequence of a report gaining credit among the settlers 
 in that locality that Messrs. Snow and Mair were purchasing from 
 the Indians portions of land to which the actual occupants laid a 
 pre-emption claim. Mr. Mair was brought to Port Garry under 
 oopipulsion of an excited crowd of French half-breeds who required 
 he should forthwith quit the country, as he was, in their opinion, ' 
 a man likely to create mischief. The Governor of Rupert's Land 
 interfered in favour of the Paymaster, who was, after some alterca- 
 tion, permitted to return to his work. 
 
 The misunderstanding was alleged to have risen from the fol- 
 lowing circumstances : When Messrs. Snow and Mair commenced 
 road operations at Oak Point, in the previous November, Dr. 
 Schultz established a store at that place under the management of 
 a clerk named Hall. From this warehouse certain goods were 
 advanced to the men employed on the works, on the understanding 
 that an equivalent should be afterwards refunded from Mr. Snow's 
 importation of pork and flour. Schultz was then said to have 
 entered into a so-called Land purchase, to be effected by extinguish- 
 ing the " Indian title," without reference to the claims of half breed 
 or other proprieters, the Indians being paid with the provisions 
 due to Schultz by Mr. Snow. The neighbours, seeing the Jndians 
 receive the payment from the store connected with the Road works, 
 
BED KIVER. 459 
 
 believed the transactions to be between Messrs. Snow and Mair and 
 the Indians. 
 
 Mr. Snow is a person who, during his short residence in the 
 colony, has secured public respect. The causes above mentioned 
 have, however, sometimes led to scenes with which his subordinate 
 has been connected, the occurrence of which is to be regretted. 
 The avoidance of any course oUght to be studied, calculated to 
 produce a coldness between the population already settled at Red 
 River, and the early advent of which appears to be considered by 
 Canadian public men and journalists " inevitable as to-morrow's 
 sunrise," even should the grand interests be secured which will 
 connect all the provinces between the Atlantic and Pacific under 
 one Commission held from the British Crown. 
 
CHAPTEEXXXI. 
 
 Dr. Machray'a third Episcopal Visi-taiion — Red River 'Wesleyan Mission 
 — Oolonial Routine — Remarks on the Hudson's Bay Company — In- 
 dian Difficulties in the Future — The French and English Races at Rod 
 River — Spheres of Colonial Industry — The "Nor' Wester" — Legis- 
 lative, Judicial, and Executive Reforms — American Deserters — 
 Watchman at Port Garry — Mr. Sergeant Rickards of the Royal Ma- 
 rines ; His Local Career — Studies from Nature — Men servants in 
 Bachelors' Hall ifrom 1861 to 18G9)— Red River Festivities— The 
 Bachelors' Ball (1865) — Conclusion. 
 
 I HAVE now to congratulate the reader and myself on our arrivM 
 within sight of the end. This chapter I intend to devote to a 
 consideration of the present circumstances of the colony, the 
 narrative of some isolated facts relating to the population, and a 
 glance at personal life and observation. 
 
 In May, 1868, the Bishop of Rupert's Land started on his third 
 , Visitation. The limit of his journey was Moose Factory, and the 
 route selected was that through the United States by St. Paul, 
 Milwaukie, Sault do Stc. Marie and Michipicoton, at which latter 
 place his canoe circuit of more than thirteen hundred miles 
 commenced. In September the Bishop had completed his tour and 
 reached Canada, where he took a prominent part in the events 
 occurring at the time of the death of Dr. Fulford, the late 
 Metropolitan. 
 
 It was with pleasure, by no means unmixed with regret, that the 
 people of Red River heard the name of Dr. Machray mentioned at 
 this time as one of the two most popular nominated to fill the 
 position rendered vacant by the death of Dr. Fulford. It was 
 thought that those gentlemen who had exerted themselves in favour 
 of the Bishop had given evidence of sagacity most creditable to 
 themselves in the choice they had made ; but, on the other hand, 
 
MJO RtVEfi. 461 
 
 tlie improvements and efforts of Dr. Machray in liis own Diocese had 
 been such as recommended themselves to the judgment of all as so 
 Well devised that they had no wish whatever to part with their 
 Bishop. Moreover, as a clergyman, his Lordship was exceedingly 
 popular. The '' Nor' Wester" said truly on this subject as follows i 
 
 " The Bishop of Montreal is Metropolitan of Canada. Should 
 " his Lordship be elevated to that See, his advancement will afford 
 " pleasure to his many friends in this colony, while, at the same 
 " time, all will regret that wc shall be deprived of his valuable 
 " services and counsel among us. Bishop Machray has thousanda 
 " of sincere friends in this country." 
 
 After having passed several weeks travelling in Canada and the 
 United States, during which he took part in the Triennial Con- 
 vention of the American Ciurch, held at New York, in 1868, and 
 occupied himself with raising money on behalf of the Diocese of 
 Rupert's Land, the Bishop reached Red River at the end of 
 October, his entire tour having occupied more than five months. 
 During the winter his Lordship has been an active member of the 
 Co-operative Relief Committee, organized to manage the distribu" 
 tion of funds provided to meet the existing destitution in the 
 colony. 
 
 The college and school of St. John's may be regarded as the 
 most important result as yet seen of the Bishop's Work, seeing 
 that in them an ^ency is created for extended missionary 
 operations in the future. Besides the Cochran and McCallum 
 scholarships, already repeatedly referred to, an endowment of 
 about £32 per annum has. been provided for this establishment^ 
 and the large number of forty-two students were entered last term, 
 1869, in the Collegiate school. The tendency of the institution 
 is steadily onward and the progress made by the pupils most 
 satisfactory. 
 
 Beyond the pale of the English church, the only clerical 
 business calling for special mention is the establishment of the 
 Wesleyan mission, now in progress under the Rev. George Young, 
 
 As already mentioned, this body has for a long time maintained 
 missions in Rupert's Land, though until the present time they 
 have possessed none in Red River Settlement. The reason for 
 
462 RED KIVER. 
 
 the delay has been, I am informed, founded on the assumption 
 that the Church of England missions, already founded, were 
 suflGicient to meet the requirements of the place. 
 
 The inconvenience resulting from the absence of any of their 
 own agents at a place so central as Red River has been of late 
 much felt by their missionaries inland, and it has been determined 
 to supply the deficiency. This resolution has been arrived at also 
 in consequence of the existence of an apparently well-founded 
 expectation that a considerable and early immigration to the 
 colony of members of their church will take place from Canada, 
 The Rev. W. Morley Punshon, has exerted himself largely in 
 favour of Mr. Young's mission. 
 
 During the winter of 1868-69 there has been an absence of 
 incident in the State department at Red River. Few councils of 
 Assiniboia have been convened and the most important actions 
 taken have been such as raising the Sheriff's salary from £60 to 
 £100 a year, and abolishing the antiquated premium of five 
 shillings on wolves' heads. To the astonishment of many people 
 a commission from the Court of Common Pleas has arrived in the 
 settlement, appointing four residents in the colony to take 
 evidence in a case of Corbett vs. Dallas, in which the Rev. Mr. 
 Corbett sues ex-Governor Dallas for the sum of £5000 on account 
 of false imprisonment, the circumstances connected with which 
 have been detailed in an earlier portion of this narrative. The 
 commission is dated 1866 but forwarded only in 1869, and, of the 
 four members, two have been named by each party in the suit. 
 
 Judge Black, whose name has been so prominently brought 
 forward in this book, has resigned his position as head of the 
 judicial department, and retires to England as soon after the 
 session of the May Quarterly Court as he can manage to arrange 
 his afiairs. In connection with the commission above mentioned, 
 the " Nor' Wester'' recently issued a ridiculous but most improper 
 article professing to regard Mr. Corbett still as a political martyr 
 and coupling the names of Judge Black and Judge " Jeffrey." 
 The tone of the remarks leads to the supposition that Lord 
 Macaulay's hero, Jeffreys, is the person alluded to. The compari- 
 son is as ridiculous as it sounds. The name of Mr. Black's 
 successor' has not yet transpired. 
 
KED KIVER. 463 
 
 The position of matters outside as regards the colony appears to 
 point to a speedy change in the Ked River Government. Messrs. 
 Cartier and Macdougall, two Canadian commissioners, have been 
 in England during the winter, trying to come to some arrangement 
 such as shall end in the Hudson's Bay territory becoming part of 
 the Dominion of Canada. On the result of their mission it is no 
 part of my design to offer an opinion. The following facts may 
 however be borne in mind : 
 
 For two centuries Rupert's Land has been occupied by the 
 Hudson's Bay Company, which has turned the country to the 
 best account possible by utilizing the sole portion of its wealth 
 which, on account of the barbarous nature of the region and its 
 almost unparalleled completeness of isolation, could be profitably 
 exported. This was its furs. For half a century a partially 
 civilized community has existed under the auspices of the Company 
 within its territories at Red River. The institutions of this colony 
 which, gradually evolving themselves out of chaos, have been 
 developed by the progress of events, I have endeavoured to 
 describe in Chapters VI, YII, and VIII. The later parts of my 
 book speak to their inapplicability to the present condition of 
 things, when the tide of civilization is fast approaching the 
 theatre of their action. The country, nevertheless, has been held 
 by an English company as British Territory, while, in default of 
 such occupancy, it would probably, if not surely, have now been in 
 the undisputed possession of the United States of America. 
 Under these circumstances it is obviously unbecoming in men 
 who pride themselves on English connection and who, at this late 
 day find it suit their convenience to become emigrants, to declaim 
 as British subjects, how much so ever they may do so as private 
 adventurers, against favourable consideration being shown by an 
 English Government to that Company which, acting under a 
 charter from the English Crown, has held possession of a valuable 
 country, during all the decades when its value was still a thing of 
 the future. How great that value is we can yet imagine only 
 from analogy. The capabilities of the land as a wheat-growing 
 region is regarded by many persons as unsurpassed, and its extent 
 is to be calculated by hundreds of miles. It is still, however, 
 
464 RED RIVER. 
 
 inaccessible and isolated from the world. An attempt, talked of 
 hj United States officials, to settle the Southern or American 
 portion of the Red River Valley, would lead to the rapid formation 
 of a chain of Settlements to St, Paul and the latter difficulty 
 would be overcome. 
 
 A book named " Across the Continent," by Mr. Samuel 
 Bowles, editor of the Springfield, Mass., "Republican," giving an 
 account of a summer journey made in 1866, in company with Mr. 
 Speaker, now Vice President, Oolfax, from Massachusetts to San 
 Francisco, sketches out the gteat mineral Wealth of that portion of 
 the Rocky Mountains intersected by the " Central Pacific Rail-' 
 road." The question naturally occurs on reading the Work in ques'- 
 tion: "Is this mineral wealth confined to those portions of the 
 Rocky Mountains lying within the territories of the United 
 States?" The Americans themselves speak of the British posses* 
 Bibns as if regarding them of at least equal value with their own, 
 and some Englishmen are sufficiently unpatriotic almost to desire 
 that "the manifest destiny" of Rupert's Land really were Annexe 
 ation to the United States. Personally I hope this course may never 
 be adopted and would willingly believe with those who see in "ths 
 Fertile Belt," a grain-gfowing country for the support of crowds 
 of men and a site for through communication which ought 
 ultimately to combine all the British provinces under one vast 
 Dominion extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast. The 
 difficulties in the way of this consummation are, however, enormous, 
 and such as only capital and a strong Grovcrnment can successfully 
 overcome. Isolated effi)rts, made at the instigation of designing 
 men and scatter-brained newspaper correspondents, unless 
 supported by rare discrimination and practical talent on the part 
 of the experimenters, are liable to ruinous and deplorable mis* 
 carriages. 
 
 Little, and that only casually, has been said by me regarding 
 people outside the Red River Settlement. In various parts of 
 the Saskatchewan small communities have been formed of late 
 years, chiefly by miners whose search after gold has not yet suc- 
 ceeded in discovering deposits sufficiently rich to attract people in 
 any considerable numbers in face of the scarcity and consequent 
 
RED RIVER. 465 
 
 liigh price of food, and serious danger from ladians. Witli tkose 
 «f the latter who inhabit the Saskatchewan Valley it is no easy 
 matter, even for men whose sole object is their trade, to live at 
 peace. The probability that anything short of force would induce 
 these war-like tribes to endure a civilized settlement of their lands 
 is very small. The expense <rf maintaining a force adequate to 
 this task would be enormous^ 
 
 The result of half measures, and indulgence in false security in ' 
 dealing with the Indian after friendly counsels have once been 
 abandoned, may be studied in the history of the United States, 
 and has been slightly sketched in Chapter XVIII of this volume. 
 While it is only proper to record that much kindly feeling exists 
 within the savage breast, as evidenced by the almost invariable 
 experience of the fur trader, as well as by that of the original 
 Scotch founders of Red River Settlement, who have gratefully 
 recorded that, during their conflict with the partially civilized 
 agents of the North West Company, they experienced almost 
 wniform succour and hospitality from the Indians of the Red 
 River Valley, no traveller in the Saskatchewan country doubts the 
 certainty of sanguinary opposition being offered by the powerful 
 Blackfeet, and other tribes occupying that district to the systema' 
 tic influx of the white population, 
 
 Indian warfare would, among civilized men, be cold-blooded 
 butchery. Surprise is a main element in its success. The favoui> 
 ite period of attack is just at dawn of day, when the dwellers in 
 the canip are buried in profoundest slumber. Hiding among the 
 woods or "bush" about the tents, the painted, feather-decked 
 slayers announce their presence with horrid yells, and bullets rid- 
 dle the lodges while death-bearing arrows thrill home in the bodies 
 of the defenceless victims. The civilized distinction between com- 
 batants and non-combatants is unknown. This state of matters 
 may be exemplified by the narrative of an occurrence which took 
 place at White Horse Plain within the settlement, in January 
 last. Two " Chippeway'' Indians from Red Lake in Minnesota 
 entered a tent inhabited by three women and four children of both 
 sexes, all of the Sioux tribe. The strangers were hospitably, received, 
 and the whole party went to sleep at night without suspicion of 
 
466 RBB KIVEE, 
 
 harm. Toward morning the two guests rose, and with their toms' 
 hawks successively despatched the three women and two of the? 
 children, the remaining two saving themselves by flight and taking: 
 refuge among the surrounding willows, through which they 
 wandered till daylight, when they ventured to return to their 
 murdered relatives and desolated tent. The two Chippeways car- 
 ried away the scalps of the defenceless people they had slain, and 
 displayed the trophies to the settlers on their route, glorying, in 
 the infamy they had perpetrated. 
 
 I beg again to quote a few words from the writings of Mr, 
 Charles Mair, descriptive of the scene which ensued after the fight 
 mentioned in Chapter XXVII, between the Chippeways and the 
 Sioux, close to the village of Winnipeg in 1866. 
 
 "After the scalps had been torn off, the most horrible and devil- 
 ish barbarities were committed upon the bodies; and, when the 
 ingenuity of dissection of the sterner sex had been exhausted, 
 their squaws snatched a laurel or- two, roping themselves with the 
 entrails, and smearing their bodies with blood squeezed from the 
 quivering flesh, which they gnawed and tore like dogs. Report 
 says that these delirious monsters then crossed the river to St. 
 Boniface where, after war dances and other mysteries, they squat- 
 ted down to delicious preparation of Sioux viscera, which doubtless 
 sat equally easily on the stomach and the conscience." 
 
 Though myself absent from the settlement at the time of these 
 occurrences, I believe this description to have a tolerably broad 
 foundation in fact. 
 
 The method of effectually dealing with men and women capable 
 of conducting war on principles resulting in practises such as these, 
 is one of the riddles to be solved by the directors of the new order 
 of things to be inaugurated. Another, though vastly less serious, 
 diSiculty will lie in persuading the hunting portion of the partially- 
 civilized community to devote themselves to sedentary or agricul- 
 tural labour. This is the French half-breed race so frequently 
 mentioned by me. The stiff on which they have hitherto leant 
 has been the buffalo. His flesh has given them pemmican and 
 meat ; his robe has clothed them in default of blankets, and, when 
 dressed, has provided skins to make their tents. His dressed 
 
REB RIVER. 467 
 
 skin and sinews have afforded material for moccasins, or Indian 
 shoes ; his tongue and hump or " boss" have ever been the luxu- 
 ries of the Plains, and, along with the nose of the moose deer and 
 the tongue of the reindeer, constitute the characteristic table 
 delicacies of Rupert's Land. Hitherto the hunters resident at 
 Red River have been enabled through the machinery of their 
 hunts, described in Chapter XII, to kill and reap the full benefit 
 of the buffalo. But, in consequence of a combination of causes, 
 the herds are moving beyond the reach of people living in the set- 
 tlement. The dispersion of the coloured race in the United States 
 before the advancing tide of whites, has forced the former to 
 change their hunting grounds and drive the buffalo before them. 
 For many years the number of animals slain has been needlessly 
 large, the hunters being apparently seized with a delirium of 
 slaughter on overtaking their enormous bands. Buffalo have fre- 
 quently been kiOed for the sake merely of the tongue ; and in the 
 absence of facilities for utilizing the remainder of the carcase, it 
 has been left to the wolves which always hover on the tracks of 
 the hunters. 
 
 The English-speaking race in the settlement is quite able to 
 hold its ground with any ordinary opponents. The peculiar cir, 
 cumstances of the colony have been unfavourable to the attainment 
 of excellence in any single business or trade, and every man is 
 more or less accustomed to practice many branches of industry. 
 This state of things will remedy itself so soon as it becomes more 
 profitable for each man to devote himself to one business, than to 
 adhere to the old system. 
 
 Gardening is a branch as yet cultivated only by the wealthy. 
 For some years past vegetable crops have been precarious and 
 scanty, while exotics have been hitherto but little tried. Fruit 
 trees do not exist, and imported fruit is so scarce as to be unworthy 
 of mention. The quantity of wild berries doubtless discourages 
 cultivation of garden fruit. 
 
 The fertility of the soil is such as to render the use of manure 
 superfluous. It is a fact that vast quantities of the latter article 
 are systematically flung into the river, as the easiest way of getting 
 rid of it. The extent to which this practice is carried seriously 
 
468 KBD EIVEE.- 
 
 interferes witli the purity of the waters in the lower reaches of the^ 
 river. 
 
 House building is in a very primitive state. The majority of 
 houses consist of but one or two rooms and are mere huts. Even 
 the residences of many of the comparatively prosperous, evince a 
 gross ignorance of the essentials of comfort on the part of their 
 designers. Ventilation is quite neglected. The unseasoned con- 
 dition of the wood when used produces vast apertures in flooring 
 and partitions which, if they add to the coolness of the mansion 
 in summer, render it somewhat draughty and cold in winter, when 
 even stoves kept at a perpetual red heat, and roaring draught, are 
 insufficient to render the inhabitants warm. Many facilities would 
 be offered to the extension of industry were a bank of deposit in 
 existence, but hitherto it has been very doubtful whether such aa 
 institute would be remunerative to its proprietors. 
 
 Of the attempt to support a newspaper I have given a pretty 
 full accountin this volume. The "Nor' Wester" has undoubtedly 
 been a great experiment, and a prevailing feeling has existed that 
 it deserves to succeed. This is quite irrespective of the so-called 
 " political" action it has taken, which is very generally, and, 
 if regarded in a serious light, doubtless justly, disapproved. I 
 may quote the words of Bishop Anderson, touching this subject in 
 an official paper called forth by one of the most painful events 
 which occurred during his administration of the diocese : 
 
 " It is not those who talk and write most of freedom who are 
 the truest friends of the people. I yield to no man living in real 
 desire and effort for the good of liupert's Land, nor will I 
 ever acknowledge that one pulse beats more warmly than my own 
 for the highest welfare, temporal and spiritual of every inhabitant 
 of this wide-spread territory. 
 
 " You talk much of the Free Press. We have a one-sided presS' 
 at this moment. Had we another organ, a voice would be raised 
 on the side of order, authority, and truth, pf social progress 
 and high-minded patriotism which would soon make itself heard." 
 The Red Kiver "politics" discussed in the " Nor' Wester" are 
 of course quite undeserving of the name. Possibly a plan better 
 calculated to elicit the true sentiments of the people than that of 
 
BED RIVER. 469 
 
 ttn opposition newspaper, hinted at in the above quotation, would 
 have been the establishment of a representative chamber with 
 regular session and public debates. The members of such a body 
 would probably have been nearly the same persons as those to 
 whom the Company has given seats in the Council of Assiniboia ; 
 but, as the direct representatives of the people they might have 
 authorized the imposition of more than the merely nominal taxes 
 now levied, and an efficient force would have existed to support the 
 judgments of courts and the authority of a Government, In such 
 a chamber there can be little doubt that the authority of the 
 Hudson^ s Bay Company to administer the Government would have 
 ■been heartily maintained. The agitation against that corporation 
 proceeds, not from natives of the colony, or men possessed of much 
 stake in it ; but from recent arrivals, and men more destitute than 
 they could desire of a property qualification for a voice in the 
 Oovernment. The latter, indeed, advocate very strongly the elec- 
 tive change to which I allude ; but many think the gratification of 
 their demand would serve only to illustrate the fallacy of their 
 •other positions and their own local unpopularity. 
 
 The events recorded in several parts of this volume indicate the 
 necessity of a change in the mode of legal procedure before it can 
 he pronounced safe for a man possessed of property to plead in a 
 Ked River Court. The process, though well adapted for purposes 
 of fair arbitration in simple eases, is liable to abuses, very much in 
 consequence of its summary character and the absence of all preli- 
 minary arrangements and written pleadings previous to the trial in 
 open court before an illiterate jury. That the system in operation 
 has been wonderfully successful in fulfilling the purposes it was at 
 first intended to serve, I believe, and may mention that, in 
 the opinion, lately expressed to me, of one well qualified on many 
 accounts to judge, in only two cases has justice been misled 
 by guilty practices on the part of people concerned in cases 
 brought before the General Quarterly Court since its formation in 
 1839. I regret to add that both these exceptional cases, in which 
 regarding them in the light of after inquiry, judgment was perver- 
 ted, involved large sums of money. 
 
 The grand want in the colony is that of a strong military force 
 
470 RED EIVEE. 
 
 to carry out the decisions of the existing authorities. That, in the 
 absence of so essential a part of the apparatus of Government, 
 society holds together, is extraordinary. The position of the 
 colony renders it a place of refiige convenient for Indians at war 
 with the United States, or deserters from the troops of that neigh- 
 bouring power quartered in the border garrisons. Naturally, the 
 authorities in the States regard with dislike a place so inconveni- 
 ently well situated as to enable their ill-disposed classes to annoy 
 them ; and the presence of murderous Indians, or men such as 
 usually form the class of " deserters," is a serious evil for the set- 
 tlers. One of the most publicly scandalous events which have 
 occurred from the presence of the latter took place early in 
 the spring of 1868, when an American soldier who had, like the 
 rest of his class, crossed the Line with Government property in his 
 possession, fictitiously supposed to be retained in satisfaction 
 of arrears of pay, was married to the daughter of a settler. The 
 marriage ceremony was an orgie, in the progress of which a com- 
 rade of the bridegroom with his teeth tore off the cheek and the 
 upper lip of one of the guests, a neighbouring settler, who was of 
 course disfigured for life in consequence of the treatment. Another 
 of the guests died from the effects of exposure when in a state 
 of drunkenness; and, to crown the affair, the bridegroom ran 
 off with a horse borrowed from an unsuspecting neighbour for the 
 express purpose, leaving his wife to shift for herself a few weeks 
 after the wedding. 
 
 Until very recently, drunkenness, stealing and breaches of the 
 peace were very rare in Red River Settlement, where none 
 ever thought of securing property against forcible or surreptitious 
 abstraction with bolts or bars. "Within the last decade, however, 
 the barriers formerly erected against the manufacture and sale of 
 spirits have been necessarily broken down, to the great increase of 
 drunkenness. Cases of theft, larceny, or robbery occur from time 
 to time, and breaches of the peace have been comparatively 
 frequent. 
 
 In 1863 it was considered expedient to appoint a night watch- 
 man for the service of Fort Garry. Mr. Serjeant Rickards, num- 
 ber 3450 Royal Marines, was one of the band of pensioners, the 
 
RED KIVER. 471 
 
 sn-rival ofwMoh,in 1848, under Major Qaldwell has been mentioned 
 in Chapter VII. As a literary man he has generally been allowed 
 precedence on quarter days when his services had been called in 
 requisition to witness the marks of such of his brethren, as were 
 unable to sign their names to the formal papers. His pre-eminent 
 capabilities as a penman have been, however, hopelessly thrown into 
 the shade, by the brilliant effort of his brother Serjeant Power, 
 late of the 2nd dragoon guards and recently arrived in the colony, 
 whose letter to the Times about Red River destitution has been 
 the precursor of others signed by much greater men. 
 
 Sergeant Kickards, since his investment with the dignity of guar- 
 dian of Fort Garry against the perils of thieves and fire, has prac- 
 ticed the most unremitted and persevering attention to duty. This 
 consists in " coming on watch'' at nightfall and marching through the 
 Port with his watch dog and firelock ostensibly throughout the 
 night. He is accused, nevertheless, of a tendency to follow 
 the example of other people, and seek repose at regular hours when 
 his services are unlikely to be required in letting belated pas- 
 sengers out and in the small side gate, the key of which it is 
 his business to guard. Long tenure of office has enabled the 
 gallant Serjeant to cultivate such confidential relations with 
 the general community of servants in the different houses within 
 its walls, arid to obtain such intimate knowlege of the personal 
 habits of the population of the fort generally, as enable him 
 to arrive at a tolerable certainty r^ardng the nightly demands for 
 his services as porter, and, although a midnight applicant for 
 admittance is occasionally kept rapping at the gate for an unconsci- 
 onably long time, the delay is rarely so great as to be inexcusable 
 under the plea of momentary absence at some remote station of his 
 rounds, or a temporary essay at tea-boiling or tobacco-cutting on a 
 cold night at the fire in the servants' house. But now and then the 
 gallant sergeant has been caught napping by an active superintend- 
 ent of affairs whose usual mode of intimating his knowledge of the 
 peccadillo was the silent abstraction of the sleeper's gun. 
 
 On one occasion only did I ever myself find the watchman 
 asleep. Arriving at the gate with an acquaintance one fine sum- 
 mer night, about the hour of one, we rapped vigorously and long 
 
472 BED KIVEK. 
 
 without effect and ultimately, resolved to seale the wall. After 
 having successfully accomplished this feat at a conveniently acces- 
 sible spot, curiosity led us to enquire after the absentee. A mag- 
 nificent full moon shone brightly on every platform and house but 
 not upon the object of our search, whose regular military footfall 
 was also unheard amid the complete stillness. Moving towards the 
 little gate at the wroug side of which we had been so lately tappings 
 we at length heard a prolonged and regular series of snores issue 
 from a porch which in summer time serves as a watch house. In- 
 side of this structure sat the sergeant in his arm-chair, bolt upright 
 and fast asleep, with his firelock leaning harmless against the wall 
 by his side. We were restrained from snapping the piece close to 
 the ear of its proprietor by the double consideration that in fact the 
 happy thought did not occur to either of us at the moment, and 
 even if it had, the sound of the gun echoing through the still June 
 night would have alarmed others more than the immediate victim. 
 
 In consequence of the elementary condition of society at Red 
 Eiver, the price of labour is high and the article unskilled. This 
 has been brought home to the ex;perience of the inhabitants of 
 "Bachelor's Hall" chiefly by the peculiarities of the men who have 
 succeeded each other in the ofiice of servant. As a class these 
 people have been personally unlucky from a time beyond which the 
 knowledge of the present generation of office gentleman extends 
 not. It is popularly understood that the services of the most civil . 
 ized available' servant in the place are secured for the fulfilment of 
 the requirements of the office and some whose tenure has beea 
 longest have been superannuated pensioners. Of the peculiarities 
 of the successive occupants of the situation since 1861 I shall here 
 insert a few sketches. 
 
 The first was a Norwegian whose sedulous attention to dutjf 
 was, like that of many of his compatriots who have served in the 
 country, very satisfactory. His immediate predecessor had been^ 
 I believe, a somewhat singular character who, during the great flood 
 of 1861, had been drowned in a creek where on the falling of the 
 waters his body was discovered standing upright among the mud.. 
 During the first winter of his term it became evident that our poor 
 Norwegian was falling into dissipated habits. He was frequently 
 
RED KIVBB. 473 
 
 seen manipulating a handful of cards with an excited air which, 
 with other indications, led to the suspicion he was betting heavily. 
 His gymnastic exploits while " half cut" for the entertainment of 
 by-standers were surprising and sometimes of a nature to try both 
 the thickness of the chamber partitions and of his own skull. 
 Towards spring matters grew worse. Among his good qualities 
 he was an excellent barber, and boasted of having had the honour of 
 shaving the king and royal family of Norway, whether accidentally 
 or habitually I cannot tell. One morning, after having finished 
 shaving a gentleman in Bachelor's Hall, who had confidence in his 
 skill, he stood for several seconds gazing curiously at the efiect of 
 his exertions, and finally, flourishing his razor, gave utterance to 
 the remarkable expression " hurrah ! I'm finished and you are still 
 alive sir!" "Hullo! what do you say!" cried his vis-4-vis rising 
 somewhat precipitately from the extemporized barber's chair in 
 which he was wont to surrender himself to the attentions of his 
 valet. " I say, sir, that I never was too drunk to shave any gentle- 
 man, but this morning, sir, I was a little afraid of you," replied 
 the triumphant operator manipulating his instrument knowingly 
 the while. Previous to the unusual congratulation in which he 
 had indulged on finishing his work, the barber had shown no per- 
 ceptible symptom of his condition, unless a greater apparent man- 
 ual freedom than usual could be so called ; but his services were 
 never again retained in a similar direction. 
 
 On one occasion, after indulging to an imprudent extent, he fell 
 asleep on board the steamer ''International" which set out with 
 him for Lower Fort Garry and when he wakened he was already 
 fifteen miles from home. Jumping overboard he swam ashore and 
 was back in less than three hours. On Sunday, 1st June, 1862, 
 after having drunk too freely over night he w?nt to bathe in the 
 river Assiniboine, and it was supposed caught cramp or became 
 otherwise incapacitated, in consequence of some nervous disorder, 
 ftom availing himself of his great skill as a swimmer. His body 
 was drifted underneath the Portage La Loche boats, which had 
 been launched and floated, ready to start on their long voyage, oloso 
 to the scene of the accident. The obstruction caused by these 
 vessels added to the difficulty of rendering the unfortunate man any 
 
474 KBD EIVER. 
 
 prompt assistance from store and the result was he was drowned. 
 
 His successor was a Scotchman who professed to have passed 
 some time as coachman to a well-known baronet and to have been 
 so comfortably provided for as to rouse curiosity respecting the 
 cause which had led him to quit so good a service for the very 
 undesirable billet of a labourer in Hudson's Bay. He was a smart 
 looking voluble man, with luxuriant red hair, and the harangue he 
 uttered on the morning of his first appearance oh duty induced the 
 belief that his unfortunate predecessor was about to be eclipsed in 
 point of efficiency. He was appointed to fulfil the additional office 
 of Governor's coachman, and it speedily became apparent, that, as 
 regarded his office duties he was " above his business," by which 
 term I mean not to assert that he showed any quality befitting a 
 more exalted vocation, but rather a lamentable remissness in actual 
 daily duty. I fear he must be described as " a sulky dog," and, 
 after a few months' occupancy, to the great satisfaction of all depend- 
 ent on his ministrations, he quitted office duty under threats of 
 violent handling. I am happy, however, to say that, on leaving the 
 service some time afterwards, he married a member of the family 
 of a Scotch settler in good circumstances, and, as a farmer on his 
 own account,has shown a much greater capacity of benefitting himself 
 and others than the above noted characteristics would have led one 
 to expect. 
 
 The individual who succeeded him in the office was an English- 
 man who, after long service in Her Majesty's 75th regiment of Foot, 
 had come to Red River in 1848 as an " out pensioner" of Chel- 
 sea Hospital in the corps commanded by Major Caldwell. He was 
 an admirable groom, and the amount of care and personal attention 
 which, when acting in this capacity, he lavished on each of his 
 dumb friends, was highly creditable to him. He had one fault 
 however, in being addicted to liquor, not habitually, but in period- 
 ical and violent paroxysms. On such occasions his fellow feeling 
 for the horse forsook him, and his unhappy charges, unless handed 
 over to other care, languished under neglect and thirst. His 
 excesses were of two kinds. The minor outbreaks occurred 
 frequently, and might be expected on all quarter days when he and 
 his brother pensioners received their payments from Government 
 
BED RIVER. 475 
 
 through the Hudson's Bay Company. Of such, those occurring in 
 January and July were always the most protracted, being sustained 
 more or less for seven or ten days, without however seriously damar 
 ging him in purse or in prospects. Again there were the major 
 " bursts" which took place at long intervals of three or four years 
 apart. During those the credit balance, accumulated during the 
 preceding comparatively sober term, was entirely dissipated, and, 
 after four or six weeks' absence from duty, the unfortunate veteran 
 would return bankrupt, penitent, and anxious to commence 
 another term of economical living. 
 
 In the summer of 1862 an outbreak of the latter kind occurred, 
 which resulted in the usual withdrawal from work and the expen- 
 diture of more than thirty pounds, labouriously earned during 
 several previous years, in a course of riotous living lasting for 
 several weeks. After a winter spent in great misery the poor man 
 appeared one day in the Company's office, with a deep indent, the 
 work apparently of a sharp lethal weapon, possibly a crowbar, or a 
 hatchet, into his bald scull. This wound he described as " a 
 topper for luck," but, regarding its origin and history, he could 
 give no account, except that he had wakened up in a neighbouring 
 public house and found it there. On the expulsion of the red- 
 headed'Scotch coachman, from office duty, as it was quite out of 
 the question to subject the horses again to the caprices of the 
 Pensioner, the latter was installed as office servant. He remained 
 for about two years without committing anything calling for more 
 serious reprobation than the small periodical January and July 
 dissipations, already described, during the greater length of time 
 occupied by which he would be off duty, and another man 
 appointed to act in his stead. Heavy work, such as wood chopping 
 or wood and water hauling, he performed passably well, but, in 
 the execution of light or skilled labour, he was outrageously remiss. 
 Of his manners perhaps the less written the better, seeing they 
 resembled those popularly attributed to an angry bear or a buU in 
 a china shop. Fault-finding he did not permit, and the attempt 
 to rectify revolting blunders was quite useless in consequence 
 probably of invincible obtuseness of intellect. Under silent 
 scrutiny this unhappy being nevertheless was evidently uneasy, 
 
476 RED RIVER. 
 
 and he has been known to indulge in sudden eruptions of a grossly 
 profane and scurrilous nature in ntanifestation of his displeasure 
 at the liberties taken by a vigilant inspector of his operations. 
 His absence for purposes of dissipation were alleviation in the lot 
 of the inhabitants of Bachelor's Hall, who, during their continuance, 
 enjoyed at least a change of servants. In summer he was also 
 employed as gardener, and, during the said absence, his plants, 
 withering from want of water, suffered as had his horses in their 
 time. On his return, self-reproachful at the mischief produced by 
 his neglect, he attempted a tardy reparation by spending all his 
 spare time in the garden, where solemnly seated under the 
 protecting shade of trees surrounded by green shrubs or withered 
 vegetables, he might be seen eating his meals or chewing the cud 
 of bitter reflection. 
 
 An event of the latter kind led to the dismissal of this crazy 
 character in the summer of 1865, and for a few months he was 
 replaced by a young French half-breed, who was thought likely 
 to prove a great acquisition until his retirement in consequence of 
 illness opened the way to the return of the dreadful and inevitable 
 groom. 
 
 For a year longer he retained his position. During its course 
 he availed himself of one singular opportunity of valuable well 
 doing. In consequence of temporary circumstances he was 
 required to sleep throughout the winter in the business part of 
 the house known generally as " the office," which is an isolated 
 chamber. One night he was wakened by a suifocating volume of 
 smoke which filled the room. Without an idea what was the 
 cause, and seeing only that the thickest clouds issued from under- 
 neath the stove, he ran out of doors and bringing in quantities of 
 snow, packed it in the heated fender, where it quickly melted. 
 Next morning it was obvious his timely action had saved at least 
 the house in which he was from destruction by fire. By some 
 means unsuspected the fire must have found its way from the 
 stove through the tin sheeting of the fender, the woodeA under 
 part of which had been smouldering unseen probably for -several 
 days. After a surface about a foot square had been burnt through 
 the fire had spread downwards through the flooring, and ignited 
 
RED EIVBR, 477 
 
 chips which had lain underneath since the house Was built. The 
 wood had actually commenced to blaze, .and, had it not been 
 checked by the melting snow pouring through the burnt aperture 
 of the fender, a destructive conflagration must have occurred 
 within ten minutes. 
 
 In the following July our benefactor of this evening acted in 
 his usual style and was discarded by an unsympathetic gentleman 
 in charge. The Governor, on his return from Council at Norway 
 House, took compassion on him and appointed him to provide 
 wood and water for his own house. For one year he remained 
 with tolerable steadiness in his new situation, merely stumbling 
 slightly from time to time, but recovering himself quickly after 
 momentarily astonishing the more orderly portion of the establish- 
 ment with blood curdUng oaths and violent explosions of half 
 intoxicated petulance. In July 1867 he commenced one of his 
 systematic exploits on a major scale and in ten weeks or thereby 
 spent upwards of forty pounds sterling in the usual way. The 
 last £19 of this sum he secured after long hesitation and evasion 
 on the part of the accountant. The day after receiving it he 
 returned very wretched, with nothing to show for the money 
 except a new bonnet, worth about five shillings, and a statement 
 that he believed he had somehow been robbed by somebody 
 unknown. It also transpired he was in debt to sundry people in the 
 neighbouring village who had speculated on his pension and 
 advanced him liquor and other merchandize on credit. His 
 further service at Port Garry was considered undesirable, and he 
 was at last definitively dismissed, but was successful in obtaining 
 very good employment in the neighbouring village of Winnipeg, 
 in the capacity of groom, for which he was so well adapted. 
 
 His successor in Bachelor's Hall was another old soldier who 
 had retired without a pension from the detachment of Artillery 
 which arrived in 1846, under Colonel Crofton's command. He 
 had attained a very comfortable position as a farmer in the 
 settlement, but, in consequence of ambitious ventures and poor 
 crops, had been led to sell his farm and work as a servant. He 
 claimed commiseration as a man who had seen better diys, and 
 professed a peculiar aptitude for his new business in consequence 
 
478 RED RIVER. 
 
 of experience in similar work gained while acting as man servant 
 to a certain colonel, . whoso name has escaped me. He was 
 undoubtedly a vast improvement on his predecessor, and the grave 
 propriety and dignity of his manner were very imposing. But he 
 had his peculiarities, the chief of which was his devotion to the 
 perusal of newspapers and novels, generally of a trashy kind, in 
 the estimate of which he considered himself a critic. He was also 
 insuperably indolent, and contrived generally to spend a large 
 portion of the day reading his favourite literature in the rooms it 
 was his business to keep in order, while their respective occupants 
 were busy elsewhere. After two years of unsatisfactory tenure he 
 was dismissed, as too useless to render his services desirable. 
 
 After a short interim trial of a person from Orkney, who, one 
 fine evening, on being called to account for not having made his 
 appearance during the day, laconically replied " A've thrawed it 
 op," he was succeeded by a pensioner from Her Majesty's 12th 
 Regiment of Light Dragoons. This was much the most efficient 
 occupant we had seen since the death of our poor Norwegian, and 
 for a long series of years had been known as a man skilful in the 
 practice of many branches of industry, among others that of the 
 blacksmith. But his insuperable stumbling block had been a fre- 
 quent over-indulgence in liquor, under the influence of which he 
 appeared to lose moral restraint and sense of truth in speech. Hia 
 long continued and repeated falls had driven to desperation 
 on his account a series of willing patrons, and had once brought 
 him into such a position as ended in his being confined in prison 
 for several weeks. This occurred only a few months before the 
 period at which he became our servant. Several years previously 
 he had served for ;i considerable time in the American force raised- 
 to oppose the Sioux on the frontier. His services were so valuable, 
 and so acceptable to the American officers, that it was much 
 against their desire he withdrew them when the war was over, and 
 he was informed he would be welcome should he ever desire to 
 return. And certainly his appearance on quitting their service 
 was soldierly, and such as testified to the regularity of the life he 
 had led as a volunteer under the stars and stripes. The liberal 
 gratuity and arrears of pay which he received on his retirement 
 
RED EIVEK. 479 
 
 were soon dissipated on his arrival among old acquaintances on 
 British ground, and, after the sojourn in prison already indicated, 
 he was appointed to Bachelor's Hall, with the view, probably, of 
 undergoing a thorough reformation. After a period of sobriety, 
 extending over about four months, he again broke out, and, to the 
 great regret of everybody, was detached from our establishment in 
 which he was succeeded by an elderly, sobet-looking Orkneyman 
 of twenty-five years' standing in the Company's service. 
 
 The latter had spent the long period named in York Factory 
 and the coast district, whence he had arrived only a few weeks 
 previous to the time to which I allude. He was known to be of 
 weak intellect, but as his "foolishness" consisted in an over ween- 
 ing ambition to get married, it was thought unlikely to interfere 
 seriously with his diities of a practical nature. At least one gen- 
 tleman in charge of a district in which he had served, had offered 
 amazing riches as a bribe to any Indian girl who would unite her- 
 self in wedlock with our new servitor, but without success. Nor 
 was his ambition to be so easily gratified for he was fastidious in 
 his choice, and fancied himself no mean prize in the marriage lot- 
 tery. His malady varied its intensity with the phases of the 
 moon. Of his different exploits throughout the country, which 
 have reached my ears, I shall be silent, but even at Red River he 
 had distinguished himself on a small scale from time to time. 
 Serjeant Rickards while pacing his solitary rounds was at first 
 rather startled by the sudden moonlight appearance of his eccen- 
 tric comrade, dressed in hat and drawers, holding an ugly stick in 
 his fist, noiselessly walking along a platform, and making unin- 
 telligible remarks about one " Harriet," for whose arrival at the 
 gate he appeared earnestly to watch. Further inquiry reassured 
 the gallant sergeant by revealing that "Harriet"' was a mere 
 creature of the brain, or " Dulcinea del Toboso" hovering in the 
 moonlit mists of the nightwalker's mind. This poor fellow's 
 case being one of undoubted mental alienation, I need enlarge no 
 further on his infirmity than to say that the belief it would not 
 interfere with his usefulness as a man-servant has been justified by 
 experiment; and, if any praise is due to generous treatment of 
 needy relatives in the old country, it should be his. 
 
480 EED RIVER. 
 
 With reference to the social gatherings of Red River, I fear I 
 must be brief as my space is short. They doubtless much resem- 
 We those common in rural districts in England or Scotland. 
 Incidents of an exciting character certainly sometimes occur in 
 consequence of excessive consumption of stimulants on the part of 
 the gentlemen. I may, I think, without violating any law by 
 which my selection of incidents has been regulated, here give a 
 sketch of some circumstances which occurred at an entertainment 
 got up by myself and a few associates, in December, 1865. In 
 consequence of events of a private nature, I was not present at the 
 affair referred to, but my account is compiled from evidence of 
 undoubted authenticity. 
 
 The "bachelor's ball" was the result of the efforts of nine pub. 
 lie-spirited individuals to provide an entertainment worthy of the 
 occasion for as many of the flite of Red River Settlement as could 
 be conveniently collected in pursuance of the design. So soon as 
 the project began to get wind, the anxiety to obtain the necessary 
 passports was, of course, great and universal. I think I merely 
 do justice to the sentiments animating the enterprising originators 
 of the affair, when I state their desire to satisfy the laudable and 
 proper ambition of their friends was hearty and sincere. A vast 
 number of notes of invitation were printed at the " Nor' Wester" 
 office, and the first edition was actually in course of distribution, 
 when the attention of the editor was drawn to the fact that the 
 heading " Batchbloes' Ball'' in large capital letters, appeared 
 to contain a slight error in the matter of spelling. The point, ■ 
 after proper consideration, was conceded, and the defect rectified 
 by a second edition. 
 
 A large unteoanted house in the village of Winnipeg was secured 
 for the purpose ; stoves were set in order, curtains and hangings 
 got up, and an imposing exterior created. A neighbouring gentle- 
 man evinced his approval of the enterprise by undertaking the 
 management of all the cooking operations and rendering assistance 
 in many important details. The evening came, the arrangements 
 were complete,, and everything declared, by competent critics, a 
 signal success. The music, consisting entirely of violins, was com- 
 menced, and along with it the dancing. Early in the evening the 
 
RED KIVER. 481 
 
 house got partially on fire, but the conflagration was cheeked with 
 hot water before the alarm became general and all went on merrily 
 till after supper. 
 
 About three o'clock in the morning a gentleman was observed 
 lying insensible between a wall of one of the rooms and a stove in 
 full working order about eighteen inches removed from the said 
 wall. Our friend's back was to the stove and his face to the wall, 
 while the odour of singeing first drew our attention to his position. 
 He was removed from his embarrassing situation and laid in more 
 eligible quarters. 
 
 The Pensioner groom whose tippling propensities have been 
 already described was, at this time, attached to Bachelor's Hall 
 His services were, of course, in constant demand throughout the 
 evening to harness horses and drive guests between the Fort and 
 the ball-room at Winnipeg, zVt every trip he was supplied with at 
 least one drink of a stimulati.e character and, towards mornino-, he 
 abandoned the attempt at driving and devoted himself to the alto- 
 gether more congenial employment of attacking his supper and 
 swallowing " refreshments." At, an advanced hour in the morn- 
 ing he was met by a patron who offered him " a driak" so rudely 
 that the larger portion of the tumblerful of brandy and water was 
 spilt over the whiskers and face of the recipieat. Running, violently 
 coughing, out of the house the latter attempted to rid himself of the 
 unwelcome offering, but was prevented by the frost which froze 
 the liquid on his beard into a mass of tangled icicles. Returning 
 in-doora he succeeded in thawiog himself over a stove, and shortly 
 afterwards, meeting the gentleman who had used him so ill, ha 
 civilly asked him for another drink. 
 
 " Why ! you are the old fellow I gave a horn to not ten minutes 
 ago !" remarked the gentlenaan, 
 
 " Gave me a horn ! you threw it down my throat I" replied the 
 servitor. 
 
 " You must be a queer old chap too not to take a horn any 
 way you get it," answered the indignant donor, who forthwith 
 strode down stairs to enter his carriole in waiting to convey him 
 home. He showed great anxiety to wrap the robes round a lady 
 under his charge, which, having done, he gathered up the reins and 
 
 FF 
 
403 KE0 KIVEE. • 
 
 with solemn dignity of deportment, seated himself on a snowdrifC 
 outside the conveyance, motioning his horse "to proceed. Am 
 attempt on the part of the latter to comply brought the charioteer 
 to a sense of the incongruity of his position and the expediency of 
 changing his quarters. 
 
 Meanwhile our man had seated himself with his back to the wall 
 and his legs stretched along the floor of the room in which, upon a 
 bed, lay the victim of the stove. The Coroner of the District, 
 entering shortly afterwards, and seeing the latter, was struck with 
 the bright idea of holding an immediate inquest, A jury was 
 empanelled, and, after suitable investigation, a verdict was arrived 
 at, setting forth that the patient had been "Found Dead Drunk," 
 Cold applications were suggested and a jug full of iced water was 
 poured down the back of the sufferer, who was forthwith dropped 
 down beside the wondering groom. The latter had been an awe- 
 stricken spectator of the judicial proceedings and on seeing the 
 object of the inquest somewhat violently tumbling in his direction, 
 shouted at the top of his lungs " Take away the blawsted dead 
 body ; don't let the bloody corpse come to me 1" 
 
 In another room dancing had come to an end in consequence of 
 the strange conduct of two of the fiddlers, who, instead of exerting 
 their skill in a regular way, jumped on a table and danced in 
 unison with their own exciting strains. One of the gentlemen who 
 had just officiated at the inquest, anxious still further to promote 
 the common welfare, offered to extrude both of the uproarious musi- 
 cians from the room in which they were disporting themselves, 
 within five minutes by his watch. The proposal met with instant 
 acceptftnce and a path opened through the surrounding crowd, 
 along which the bold operator strode, and, in the course of a few 
 seconds, was seen to return dragging the first of his victims after 
 him on his hands and knees by his long artistic hair. He was de- 
 posited amid circumstances of violence on a heap of saddlery, stored 
 in a dark chamber where he was joined within five minutes by his 
 companion, ejected from the baU-room by a like summary process. 
 
 The ladies having all departed, the ball was wound up with a 
 series of isolated skirmishes between some of the gentlemen who, 
 after drinking a few more tumblers, dispersed to their respective 
 homes as the winter morning broke. 
 
RED RIVEK. 483 
 
 Lord Byron in one of his works, I think, stated it as his expe- 
 rience that, next to that of commencing, the difficulty of closing a 
 poem was the greatest its writer had to encounter. In the compo- 
 sition of the present hook, since making a determined commence- 
 ment about eight months ago, the difficulties which successively 
 rose in my way have instantly disappeared, much through the 
 facilities for gaining information being kindly supplied by friends. 
 The great priociples laid down in the preface have been kept 
 steadily in view throughout the whole progress of the work, which 
 I am anxious should be read with pleasure by all into whose hands 
 it may come, and cause unnecessary pain or perplexity to none. 
 
 Previous to the present time the localities in which the action of 
 the book takes place havj had but little interest for the general 
 public. Of late years they have begun to attract the attention of 
 many of Her Majesty's subjects in the neighbouring Dominion 
 of Canada, and even in England the names of Rupert's Land and 
 Red River begin to make themselves heard on the lips of public 
 men. Time, and the natural progress of events, will doubtless 
 increase their importance, actual and relative, to an extent of 
 which the means do not yet exist to form any tolerable estimate. 
 Should this book assist in dispelling the mists which cloud 
 the public mind regarding where and what the Red River country 
 is, and in rousing the interest of men in its development and 
 prosperity, the great object, of other than a private nature, to 
 accomplish which its composition was undertaken, shall have been 
 completed. 
 
 Meanwhile, I have but to thank each reader who may have 
 accompanied me to this point for the attention he has devoted to 
 the acquisition of an interest in the concerns of people so far 
 removed from the common walks of men as are those of the Red 
 River Valley, and hope that, in the retrospect of the long succes- 
 sion of events which have passed before him, he may find something, 
 the contemplation of which will reward him for his pain?. 
 
 THE END. 
 
484: RED EIVER. 
 
 Letter from Mr. Spence to the Secretary of State for 
 Foreign Affairs, omitted on page 431. 
 
 La Prairie, Manitoba., Via Red River Settlement, 
 
 February 19, 1868. 
 " My Lord, — As President elect, by the people of the newly 
 organized Government and Council of Manitoba,, in British terri- 
 tory, I have the dutiful honour of laying before your Lordship, 
 for the consideration of Her Most Gracious Majesty, our beloved 
 Queen, the circumstances attending the creation of this self-sup- 
 porting petty government in this isolated portion of Her Majesty's 
 dominions, and, as loyal British subjects, we humbly and sincerely 
 trust that Her Most Gracious Majesty and her advisers will be 
 pleased forthwith to give this government favorable recognition, it 
 being simply our aim to develope our resources, improve the con- 
 dition of the people, and generally advance and preserve British 
 interests in this rising Far West. 
 
 '' An humble address from the people of this settlement to Her 
 Majesty the Queen was forwarded tlirough the Governor General 
 of Canada, in June last, briefly setting forth the superior attractions 
 of this portion of the British Dominions, the growing population, 
 and the gradual influx of emigrants, and humbly praying for recog- 
 nition, law, and protection, to which no reply or acknowledgment 
 has yet reached this people. 
 
 " Early in January last, at a public meeting of settlers, who num- 
 ber over four hundred, it was unanimously decided to at once 
 proceed to the election and construction of a government- which 
 has iiccordinuly been carried out — a revenue imposed, public 
 buildings commenced to ourry out the laws, provision made for 
 Indian treaties, the construction of roads, and othel- public works 
 tending to promote the interests and welfare of the people, the boun- 
 daries of the jurisdiction being for the time proclaimed as follows ; 
 " North. — From a point running due north from the boundary 
 line of Assiniboia till it strikes Lake Manitoba, thence, from the 
 point struck, a straight line across the said lake to Manitoba Port ; 
 tiience by loncitudinal line 51 till it intersects line of latitude 100. 
 " West. — By line of latitude 100 to the boundary line of the 
 United States and British America. 
 
 " East. — The boundary line of the jurisdiction of the Council 
 of Assipiboia. 
 
 " South. — The boundary line between British North America 
 and the United States. 
 
 " I have the honor to remain, my Lord, 
 
 " Your Lordship's obedient servant, 
 
 "T. SPENCE, Pres. of the Council. 
 " To the Secretary of State for Colonial affairs, London, England." 
 
APPENDICES. 
 
 • APPENDIX A. 
 
 Bbfobe producing the Poem of M. Pierre Falcon, I feel it to be but fair to 
 detain the reader with a few prefatory notes and explanations. 
 
 In the year 1815, Semple, Esquire, had been appointed by the 
 
 Hudson's Bay Company, Governor of their posts and territories in Rupert's 
 Land, and in the autumn of that year had come to York Factory and 
 entered on the duties of his high and difficult office. His personal qualities 
 are reported to have been such as to qualify him well for the task he had 
 undertaken. He was a man with a high sense of honour, endowed with a 
 character gentle, just and firm. Previous to his appointment as Governor 
 of Rupert's Land, he had been distinguished as a writer, and his book on the 
 subject, I believe, of Travels in Spain, has been represented to me as having 
 acquired a fair share of popularity. 
 
 After visiting several posts in the course of a tour through a portion of 
 territory under his charge, the Governor reached Red River in Spring 18 16, 
 and took up his quarters in the Hudson's Bay Company's post of Fort 
 Douglas, situated at a spot about one mile north from the site of the present 
 Fort Garry. In the course of the spring reports were made to the 
 Governor, by Indians and Canadian runners arriving from the West, that the 
 great opponent of the Hudson's Bay Company, called the "North West 
 Company of Montreal," were assembling a formidable number of half-breed 
 partizans at their post of Qu'Appelle in the Plain Country about three 
 hundred miles west from Red River, with the object of making a hostile 
 descent on the infant colony. 
 
 The fact that the settlement had been entirely destroyed the previous 
 year by the agents of the North West Company, who were confessedly 
 much annoyed at the perseverance of the colonists in returning, after their 
 expulsion, to the scene of their sufferings, and altogether opposed to Lord 
 Selkirk's project of colonization, prepared the settlers and the agents of the 
 Hudson's Bay Company to expect a determined attack in the spring, as the 
 next probable step in the progress of what had for a long time been an 
 irregular series of skirmishes, in the course of which Forts and other pro- 
 perty had been seized by way of reprisal for previous acts of violence by 
 either party with varying success. 
 
 On the 19th Junp, 1816, about five o'clock in the afternoon, the sentinel 
 posted in such a position in Fort Douglas as commanded a wide view of 
 
486 BED RIVER. 
 
 the plain country around, gave the alarm that a party of 60 or TO horse- 
 men was advancing towards the establishment. Mr. Semple, accompanied 
 by two gentlemen, proceeded to the watch house and examined the strangers 
 with the assistance of spy-glasses. The horsemen being armed and their 
 manner appearing hostile, the Governor ordered twenty men to accompany 
 him, and quitted the Fort to meet them oi the Plain. The approaching 
 party meanwhile passed the Fort and directed their course apparently 
 towards the houses of the settlers lying about a mile further to the north. 
 
 The Governor and his party had left the Fort about half a mile behind 
 them when they encountered a party of settlers, wh(^ alarmed and per- 
 plexed, ran to seek shelter in Port Douglas from the enemy who, they said, 
 were approaching their dwellings. Governor Semple ordered one of his 
 companions named John Bourke to return home and request Mr. Miles 
 McDonell, the local goveraor of the colony, to send up a field piece which 
 was in his possession, with as many men as he could spare, while himself 
 with the rest of his fellowers pressed forward to meet the North West party 
 which had already taken three of the colonists prisoners. 
 
 The enemy seeing Mr. Semple advancing came to meet him and sur- 
 rounded his small party in the form of a " half-moon." The "ambassador" 
 referred to by Mr. Falcon, then approalched oa horseback. He was a 
 Canadian named Boucher, a clerk in the North West service. Making a 
 sign with his hand he addressed the Governor, asking him " what do you 
 want?" "What do you want yourself?" was the reply. "We want our 
 Fort," said Boucher, referring to a seizure made by Mr. Colin Robertson on 
 behalf of the Hudson's Bay Company, of the North West Company's post 
 at Red River, in rotaliation for previous outrages committed by the latter 
 Mr. Semple replied, "Go to your Post." The clerk rejoined, "Miserable 
 rogue, why have you destroyed our Fort?" The Governor there upon seized 
 the bridle of Boucher's horse, saying, " Wretch, do you dare to speak so to 
 me ?" Boucher immediately dismounted and a shot was tired by some un- 
 known hand which Icilled a clerk who had accompatiied Mr. Semple from 
 Fort Douglas. Boucher then retired to join his party when a shot struck 
 down Governor Semple. Feeling himself wounded the latter called to his 
 followers, " Do your best to save yourselves." They, however, surrounded 
 him trying to ascertain the extent of injury he had sustained. In this 
 position they were shot without resistance by a murderous volley from the 
 enemy's ranks, succeeded by a furious onslaught, at the close of which twenty- 
 one out of the entire body of twenty-eight men composing Mr. Semple's 
 escort, were killed. In the course of the skirmish the wounded Governor, 
 addressing the leader of the North West party, asked him if he was not Mr. 
 Grant? On being answered in the affirmative he said he believed his wound 
 was not deadly and he thought could he reach his Fort he might survive. 
 Grant, sincerely desirous to save the good man's life, ordered one of his 
 followers to convey him from the field. A savage in the party, howeveri 
 frustrated the design by discharging his gun with mortal effect close to the 
 Governor's ear. An attempt made by one of his friends to secure his watoh 
 and seals was unsuccessful. 
 
RED RIVER. 487 
 
 The loss of the North West party numbering sixty-fiyemen, consisted of 
 one man killed and one wounded. The seven survivors of the Hudson's Bay 
 party are supposed to have owed their lives very much to the efifbrts put 
 forth by Mr. Cuthbert Orant, a clerk in the North West service, the leader 
 of their party, who with difficulty restrained his disorderly and excited 
 followers from murdering all the colonists. 
 
 Mr. Bourke who had been sent back to bring up the cannon, probably 
 owed his life to his mission. Governor McDonell would permit only one 
 man to return with him, and the twain quitted the Port for the battle 
 ground, dragging tljg gun mounted on iits carriage behind them. They had 
 proceeded ahout half a mile when they saw the guns flashing round the 
 Governor's party, and fearing lest they ami their burden might be intercepted 
 hy the enemy, judged it prudent to retrace their steps. On their retreat 
 they met a party of ten men coming from the Port, with whom Bourke 
 after sending tiack his man alone to Port Douglas with the cannon, pushed 
 on towards the spot where the ibutchecy was in progress. Whije yet far 
 from it they encomitered the enemy in isolated detachments scouring the 
 country, and were obliged to retreat at utmost speed towards the Port 
 under hot and galling pursuit , 
 
 The party under Governor Semple were provided with guns, but they 
 were in an unserviceable state, some being destitute of locks and all more 
 or less useless. This fact was of course unknown to their opponents, who 
 ■were apparently sincere in the belief that the Governor was prepared to 
 offer serious resistan/;e to them before the carnage commenced, after whieh 
 their entire want of order a,nd discipline rendered them incapable of reason 
 or consideration. The infatuation which led the Crovernor's party to at- 
 tempt hy a vain exhibition of useless weapons, to intimidate nearly three 
 times their number of men to whom the saddle and the gun were instruments 
 of their daily occupation, is almost incomprehensible. All the victims of 
 the tragedy claim our commiseration, fout most of all, I think, compassion is 
 «alled forth by the untimely fate of that high minded gentleman who led 
 the party, whose valuable life was doomed to so sudden, so revol&ig and so 
 iinprofitalsle an end. 
 
 After the skirmish, which is known as that of " Seven Oaks, " the Indians 
 •about Fort Douglas assisted in burying the dead, with manifestations of 
 goodwill and sincere sorrow for their fate. Some of the bodies were, how- 
 ever, not recovered, being devoured by wild beasts. The Port fell into the 
 lands of the victorious party the day after the battle. 
 
 The North West party repudiated the charge of hayiag forced a quarrel 
 on the colonists. Their presence was accounted for in the following way. 
 At their posts in the Plain country it was their business then, ,as it is now 
 that of the Hudson's Bay Company's people, to provide pemmicanfor the use 
 of establishments situated in regions where provisions are not to be had. 
 The latter lay in those districts watered by streams flowing into Lake 
 Winnipeg, chiefly on its eastern shore. The provisions collected during the 
 ^leeeding season ia the west were transported overland to a spot on the 
 
488 RED EIVEB. 
 
 Red RiTer called the Frog Plain, where they were shipped cm board caaoes 
 or boats, and forwarded thence by water carriage to their appointed dea- 
 tination. Frog Plain is close to the scene of the battle, and it was alleged! 
 that the party under Mr. Grant were merely journeying thither in the 
 peaceful pursuit of their business. 
 
 Part of the provisions they were transporting had also become theirs by 
 right of conquest from the Hudson's Bay people, a party of whom had been 
 waylaid, conquered and pillaged while travelling to the colony with the • 
 said provisions, which were much needed in consequence of the scarcity of 
 the season. It was alleged that Mr. Semple had gone out to repossess him- 
 self, by force, of these provisions, to which the actual holders were de- 
 termined to support their claim by arms. 
 
 I may now produce the Poem of Pierre Falcon, magistrate of Assiniboia, 
 and an old and highly respectable member of the French half-breed popu- 
 lation. It was composed, I believe, the very day of the battle of Seven 
 Caks, and! gives, I have no doubt a truthful description of the light ia 
 which the author, along with doubtless the majority of his comrades, re- 
 garded the appearance and intentions of Governor Semple and his fol- 
 lowers. M. Falcon neither reads nor writes. The song was taken down 
 from his own lips for the purpose of the present publication, and so far as I 
 know, notwithstanding its wide oral circulation, has never hithertcs 
 appeared in print. 
 
 CHANSON ECRITE PAR PIERRE FALCON, 
 
 Voulez-vous 6couter chanter une chanson rfe v^rit6 F 
 
 Le dix-neuf de juin les " Bois-t>ra.l6s" {Jt^'f-breeds) sontarriv<;& 
 
 ComiHe des braves guerriera. 
 
 En arrivant ^ la GrenouUlidre {Frog, Plain) 
 
 Nous avons fait trois prisonniera 
 
 Des Orcanais .'" lis sont ioi pour piller notre pays. 
 
 Etant snr le point de d^barouer 
 !Deux de nos gens se sent ^crl^s 
 Toili I'anpjlais qui viettt nous attaquer! 
 Tons aussitW. nous nous sommes devir^ 
 Pour aller les rencontrer. 
 
 J'avons eernfi la bande de Grenadiers, 
 
 lis sont immobiles T ils sont d^montes !' 
 
 J'avons agi comme des gens d'honneur- 
 
 Kous envoySlnes un ambassadeur. 
 
 Gouverneur! voulez-vous ari-ffter un p'tit moment!: 
 
 Nous voulons vous parlcp. 
 
 lie gouverneur qui est en-rag^, 
 
 n dit 1 ses soldats— Tirez .' 
 
 I,e premier coup I'Anglais Tie tire, 
 
 L'ambassadeur a presque manqufi d'6tre tu*. 
 
 !Le gouverneur secroyant TRmpereur 
 
 II agit avec rigueur. 
 
 !Le gouverneur se croyant TEmporeur 
 
 A son mialheur agit avec trop de rigueur. 
 
EED RIVER. 489 
 
 Ayant tu passer les BoIs-brCll^s 
 
 II a parti pour nous 6pouvant«r. 
 
 Etant parti pour nous ^pouvanter, 
 
 II s'est tromp^ ; il s'est bien fait tu^, 
 
 Quantity de Bes {grenadiers. 
 
 J'aTons tui? presque toute son artn^e. 
 
 De la hande quatre ou cinq se sont sauv^a. 
 
 Si vous aviez vu les Ang'ais 
 
 Et tous les Bois-brCklis aprfts ! 
 
 De butte en butte les Anglais culbutaient. 
 
 Les Bois-brill€s jetaient des oris de joie I 
 
 Qui en a compost la chanson ? 
 C'est Pierre Falcon ! Le bon garjon ! 
 Elle a €td faite et compos^e 
 Sur la Victoire que nous arons gagn^ ! 
 Elle a 6t6 faite et composes 
 Chantons la gloire de tous ces Bois-brdl^s ! 
 The skirmish to which these lines refer made much noise in the outside 
 world, and the French writer, Chateaubriand, who was travelling in Canada 
 about the time of the public excitement connected with it, mentions, I am 
 told, in one of his works, the curious co-incidence created by such an action 
 haTlng taken place between French and English forces, in which the former 
 were victorious, a year and a day after the battle of Waterloo I Truly there 
 is but a step between the sublime and the ridiculous. 
 
 The following are the comments on the fight made by Mr. Alexander Ross, 
 a Sheriff of Assiniboia, in his work on " Red River Settlement." The parti- 
 culars relative to the fate of the twenty-six members of the North West 
 party are, I understand, accepted as authentic in the country. I give them 
 a place here because I consider them amusingly horrible. Men who incline 
 to the opinion that the individuals referred to might have met their death 
 by some happier means had they nbt assisted in the massacre will probably 
 read them with edifying awe. 
 
 " As might be expected, writes Mr. Ross, the advocates of either party in 
 this catastrophe strenuously denied having fired the first shot, and perhaps 
 it will ever remain in some minds a matter of uncertainty. In the country 
 where the mur ler took place, there never has been a shadow of doubt, but 
 rather a full and clear knowledge of the fact, that the North West party did 
 unquestionably fire the first shot, and almost all the shots that were fired. 
 The opinion of the writer is most decided that the guilt of this bloodshed 
 rests on the North West party, and the following list of casualties may sug- 
 gest to some how dearly it was visited upon them in the course of a few 
 years. It exhibits the violent or sudden death of no less than twenty-six out 
 of the sixty-five who composed the party." 
 
 " 1. The first person in our melancholy catalogue was a man named 
 Dechamp, who, in crossing the river, near to his own house at Pembina, 
 suddenly dropped down dead on the ice ; the dog he had along with him 
 shared the same fate, at the same instant, without any previous illness or 
 warning of his end." 
 
490 ' , BED KIVEK. 
 
 " 2. Francois Dechamp, son of the al)OTe Dechamp, was stabbed to 
 death by his own comrade, his wife shot, and l^is children burnt to death, 
 all at the same time, near Fort Union, Missouri River." 
 
 " 3. La Grosse Tete, brother to PraiKjois Dechamp, was shot by an 
 Indian between the piclsets of the trading posts, on the Missouri. These 
 three individuals belonged to the same family." 
 
 "4. Ooutonahais suddenly dropped down dead while dancing with a 
 a party of his comrades at the Grand Fofks, beyond Pembina." 
 "' 5. Battosh, shot dead by an unknown hand in Red River Colony." 
 " 6. Lavigne, drowned in crossing Red River, near Nettley Creek." 
 " 7. Fraser, run through the body at Paris by a French officer, and 
 killed." 
 
 " 8. Baptiste Morralle, in a drunken squabble on the Missouri, thrown 
 into the fire and burnt to death by his drunken companions." 
 " 9. La Cer>e died drunk on the highroad on the Missouri River." 
 " 10. Josepi Truttier, wounded by a gun, and disabled for life, in Red 
 Eiver.'" 
 
 " 11. J. Baptiste Latour, died a miserable death by infection." 
 " 12. Duplicis was killed by a wooden fork running through his body, in 
 the act of jumping from a hay stack at Carlton,on the Saskatchewan River." 
 " 13. J. Baptiste Parisien, shot dead by an unknown hand, while in the 
 act of running buffalo in the Pembina Plains." 
 
 " 14. Toussaiut Vondre, lost an arm by accident, and disabled for life, in 
 Bed River." 
 
 " .5. Francois Gardupie, the brave, shot and scalped in a sudden rencon- 
 tre with the Sioux Indians, on the banks of the Missouri, in sight of his 
 comrades." 
 
 " 16. Bourassin, killed on the Saskatchewan, particulars not known," 
 " 17. Louison Vallee, put to death by a party of Sioux Indians, in the 
 Pembina Plains, and in sight of his companions." 
 
 " 18. Ignace McKay, found dead on the public road. White Horse Plains, 
 Hed River." 
 
 " 19. Michel Martin, died a miserable death at Montreal, Lower Canada." 
 " 20. Thomas McKay, died of intemperance, Columbia River." 
 " 21. Ka^tee-tea-goose, an Indian, said to be the person who fired the 
 first shot. This savage, on returning to his family after the massacre, was 
 met by a war party of the Gros Ventres, or Big Belly Tribe, near Brandon 
 House, who, after shooting and scalping him, cut his body to pieces, carried 
 off his fingers and toes, and strewed the rest of his remains to the wild 
 beasts, to mark the place where he fell." 
 
 " 22. Cha-ne-cas-tan, another Indian, drowned in a small pool of water, 
 scarcely two feet deep, near the Little Missouri River, Brandon House. 
 " 23.. Oke ma-tan, an Indian, frozen to death on the Pembina Plains." 
 " 24. Ne-de-goose-ojeb-wan, gored to death by a buffalo bull, while in 
 the act of hunting. 
 " 25. Pe-me-ean-tos3, shot and thrown into a hole by his own people." 
 
RED RIVER. 491 
 
 " 26. Wa-ge-taa-ne, an Indian, his wife and two children, killed by light- 
 ning on a hunting excursion." 
 
 " Of this unfortunate number, two were Canadians, two English, two 
 Scotch, and fourteen French half-breeds ; four Saulteaux and two Cree 
 Indians." 
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 It has ever been the custom for the ofiRcer in charge of each Post in 
 Rupert's Land to keep a journal of current events occurring within his 
 jurisdiction. Such a record frequently consists of trite remarks on the 
 Wind, Weather, and Fort routine. Occasionally, nevertheless, incidents 
 occur to vary the usual sameness of life in the interior. Such were frequent 
 before the coalition between the Hudson's Bay and North West Companies, 
 i.e. in 1821. The following is an extract from a very old journal kept at 
 Isle h, la Crosse, by Mr. Chief Factor Clarke, who seems from the wording 
 to have dictated to an amanuensis. The fragment from which I have 
 copied it was picked up from a heap of rubbish at Norway House in sum- 
 mer 1868. How it got there nobody could explain. I think the reader will 
 regard it as amusing ; the hope that such will be the case is my apology 
 for inserting it. 
 
 " Wednesday, 6th October, 1819.— Wind N.W. Weather very cold. Messrs. 
 Bethune and McMurray and two clerks arrived at the camp about 2 o'clock 
 a.m., in two large canoes. Some time after their arrival, I sent Messrs. 
 McLeod and McKenzie with my compliments to Mr. Bethune, requesting he 
 would order the things which Fraserhad detained from the Indians, else he 
 should find it would turn out more serious. But Mr. McLeod no sooner 
 called on Mr. Bethune than Fraser came in a rage and abused him, menacing 
 his fists, saying that he had taken advantage of him by taking the tent away. 
 
 " Mr. McLeod politely told him that he was not a blackguard to fight with 
 fists, but that if he had any inclination to show his bravery he was ready at 
 a call and would walk forward before him into the bushes for that purpose, 
 Mr. McMurray in the interval going for a brace of pistols. The North West 
 gentlemen requested me (particula' ly Mr. McMurray who said : " Beware 
 of bloodshed^') to arrest such proceedings. From Fraser's manoeuvres, who 
 was going crying and weeping through the camp, and seeing Messrs. 
 McMurray and Bethune detaining him from following our gentleman, I 
 knew there would be nothing serious which induced me to allow Mr. McLeod 
 to persist. After waiting on the ground for about twenty minutes, Mr. 
 McKenzie, who was Mr. McLeod's second, came to the camp and told Fraser, 
 " We are waiting for you some time back," and returned immediately to 
 Mr. McLeod, and after waiting fifteen minutes more and finding Fraser did 
 not go, they both came back through the North West camp. 
 
 "From these proceedings the Indians were assured of our superiority, at 
 which they feel happy in being freed from the subjection of the North West 
 
492 RED RiyBE. 
 
 Company who completely enslaved them by terrors and threats. At the 
 commencement of the affair, both Bethune and McMurray attacked me, wheii 
 I observed to McMurray that one of them should finish before the other 
 began — that one was enough at a time. Previous to this affair, I apparently 
 spoke to the most forward of the North West men, who were three more in 
 number than us, not to interfere with any disturbance that might take 
 place, and that my men would likewise keep quiet — that the gentlemen 
 of both parties might decide any dispute that might take place. 
 
 Mr. Bethune said the Indian should have all his things, and everything 
 ended quietly for the day. Our men during our campaign here appeared 
 ready and willing to follow and assist me at a call. 
 
 (Here fallow many days' entries, giving details of watching and outwit- 
 ting the opposition traders and their Indians.) 
 
 Monday, 25th October, 1819. — Two of the North West gentlemen, say 
 Bethune and McLeod came and demanded one of their servants of the name 
 of Proux, lately arrived with our people from Athabasca. I told Bethune 
 I should not prevent the man from going with him, but that I would prevent 
 his being taken away by force. I, at the same time, observed to Bethune 
 that the North West had taken two of the Hudson's Bay Company's servants 
 from Cumberland House last summer. 
 
 Monday, 15th November, 1819.— Messrs. Angus Bethune and Paul Fraser 
 of the North West Comp fny came where our men were working at the 
 Ditch. Fraser laid hold of Proux from behind and Bethune -immediately 
 came to his assistance and both of them were dragging Proux along, when 
 they were perceived by Patrick Cunningham who ran to Proux's assistance 
 and took him from Bethune and Fraser. Proux finding support wished to 
 ight with the North West gentry, but Cunningham prevented him. 
 
 Wednesday, 7th December, 1819. — I had some conversation with the 
 North West bully this morning. I told him if he would abuse any of my 
 men this year or give any insult, if I had no person that could beat him, 
 that I would beat him myself. The North West blacksmith repairing axes 
 for us. 
 
 N. B. — The latter appears to have been one of a series of secret transac- 
 tions for the mutual benefit of the gentleman from whose Journal I quote, 
 and the artificer to whom he alludes. 
 
 Saturday, 1st January, 1820. — Fine clear weather. All the men of our 
 Fort went this morning to the North West Fort, and saluted the Master 
 there with three volleys ; but, instead of calling them in as usual to get a 
 dram, the gates were shut, and no admittance. Bethune said that he sus- 
 pected they came to take the house. Gave a booze and dance to men as 
 customary on this day ; they are staunch and unanimous. 
 
 Sunday, 2nd January, 1820. -Wind north. Weather very cold. The 
 men still drinking and boozing rum. Several of the North West servants 
 came to our house to-day, among whom was their bully (Desjarlais). 
 Patrick Cunningham and a few others of our men went and met him and 
 asked if he came to fight any person in our Fort, if ao, to try one of us 
 
RED RIVER. 493 
 
 immediately, Said no — that he had nothing against any person. Two 
 more of the North West culprits were with him, but as I walked towards 
 them they moved with precipitation towards their Fort. Allan Ross, our 
 tailor, went to-day to the North West fort without my permission, which 
 being found out, I called him to task and gave him a dressing. 
 
 Tuesday, 22nd February, 1820.— Mr, John Macdonald and Paul Daze 
 arrived from Green Lake, also Benjamin Bruce and Joboinbrought informa- 
 tion of Mr. MacKenzie being coming in company with two naval officers, 
 who are sent by Government to expose a " North WestjPassage." Hearing 
 by these that Mr. MacFarlane will not be able to supply their dogs with 
 provisions, I sent off Bonperland and ViUebrun to, meet them with two 
 sledge loads of fish. 
 
 Wednesday, 23rd February, 1820. — Wind south-east. Weather cloudy 
 and blowing hard. At 6 P. M. arrived Mr. MacKenzie from Cumberland 
 House accompanied by Lieutenant Franklin and Mr. Back, both of the Royal 
 Navy. 
 
 Thursday, 24th February, 1820. — The naval gentlemen who arrived yes- 
 terday paid a visit at the North West Fort to-day. 
 
 Friday, 25th February, 1820. — Messrs. Franklin and Back received an 
 invitation from Mr. Bethune of the North West, to go and dine with him. 
 
 Monday, 28th February, 1820. — Messrs. Franklin and Back took an 
 observation to-day and find the Latitude and Longitude of that place to be 
 as follows, viz : 
 
 Latitude 55° 25' 33" North. 
 Longitude 107= iV West. 
 Variation 22" 12' East. 
 Sunday, 5th March, 1820. — Wind north-west. Gold clear weather. At 
 10 A. M., left Isle ii la Crosse in company wilh Messrs. Franklin and Back, 
 who are on their route to Athabasca. We encamped in Deep Reep River. 
 Two I f ourmen, say Charbonneau and Thomas McDermott, are going with 
 the baggage and two of the North West men. 
 
 Monday, 6th March, 1820. — Wind west and cold weather. Proceeded 
 and encamped at Butfalo Lake. 
 
 Tuesday, 7th March, 1820.— Wind south-east. Fine clear weather. Pro- 
 ceeded and arrived at Buffalo House at about breakfast time. These gen- 
 tlemen went to the North West House at this place, where they intend to 
 take up iheir quarters duriiig their stay here. They this afternoon paid a 
 visit at our House. 
 
 Friday, 10th March, 1820.— Left Buffalo House for Lac La Loche in com- 
 pany with Messrs. Franklin and Back. Two of our men and two of the 
 North West men attending them and hauling their baggage. Encamped 
 in River La Loche. 
 
 Saturday, 11th March, 1820. — Proceeded and arrived at Lac La Loche 
 House. 
 
 Monday, 13th March, 1820. — After having a parley with the Indians here- 
 abouts, and got three or four of them to join us, and parted with these 
 gentlemen, I return for Isle h la Crosse. 
 
494 RED RIVER. 
 
 Tuesday, 28th March, 1820.— The North West blacksmith came and offer- 
 ed to engage and join me immediately. I told him I would engage him ; 
 but this I do not do entirely for his utility at this place at present, but 
 partly to disappoint the North West getting any work done for their 
 Indians. 
 
 Tuesday, 11th April, 1820.^To-day Messrs. Bethune and Fraser, of the 
 North West Company, came to our Fort and demanded their blacksmith 
 and asked me if I intend to protect him. I told Bethune that he came 
 of his own accord to me and engaged in the service of the Hudson's Bay 
 Company, and before he signed his engagement he told me that his time 
 with the North West Company expired last New Year's day ; but if he (Mr. 
 Bethune,) could produce documents to prove that his time with the North 
 West was not yet expired, he should have him with him. This he did not 
 produce, and consequently I kept the man. 
 
 Thursday, 13lh April, 1820. — Wind and weather as yesterday. The North 
 West fishermen caught only two white fish to-day. 
 
 Saturday, 15th April, 1820. — The Indians who arrived here yesterday 
 asked leave of me to go and see the North West Trader. I permitted them 
 to go. After being away about three hours they returned much intoxicated. 
 One of them ottered to nght with me, saying that Bethune, the North West 
 trader told them that the Hudson's Bay Company's servants were the cause 
 of so many of their friends dying, which incensed the Indian so much that 
 he did not care what he might do (particularly as he was in liquor). See- 
 ing these were too drunk, I did not, for the present, pay any attention to 
 what they said. 
 
 Sunday, 16th April, 1820. — This day the Indians being sober, I asked 
 them if it was irue that Mr. Bethune told them yesterday that it was us 
 who brought the sickness among them. They replied " he actually said so," 
 Whioh induced me to send Mr. Manson with my compliments to Mr. Bethune, 
 wishing him to meet me between both the Houses to investigate his motives 
 for telling such a falsehood to the Indians. Mr. Manson soon returned 
 without any satisfactory answer. I immediately sent Messrs. Mackenzie ■ 
 andPeiisouaut, PiskKeplingan (interpreter), and the two Indians, to whom 
 Bethune told the story yesterday, to enquire into the truth of the matter. 
 At first Bethune denied having said such things to the Indians. They 
 told him he did tell them so. At last, seeing he could not clear himself, he 
 said it was the Colonists that brought the sickness. This likewise was 
 contradicted by Mr. MacKenzie and the others with him. The result was 
 that the Indian told him he was a liar and a.story teller, so they left him 
 and returned. This affair did more good than harm ; it showed the Indians 
 our superiority in point of truth and resolution to the North West. 
 
 Monday, 24th April, 1820.— Wind north-east. Weather cloudy and cold. 
 Sent off Mr. MacKeazie, Bissonette, Ranhe, Villebrun and Thomas McDer- 
 mot to Buffalo Lake, to apprehend Mr. McMurray if possible. 
 
 Tuesday, 25th April, 1820.— Bent Mr. Manson, Donald McDonald and 
 Duunett to intercept any of the North West men bringmg intelligence of what 
 might take place at Buffalo Lake. 
 
BED HIVEB. 495 
 
 Three men employed arranging a place to put Mr. McMurray into. 
 
 Thursday, 27th April, 1820.— Arrived about 10 a.m. Mr. MacKenzie with 
 the prisoner McMurray accompanied by Mr. MeLeod and four others from 
 Buffalo House. Mr. McMurray asked me if I wonld allow him to corre- 
 spond with Mr. Bcthune. I told him I would, providing it would be left 
 open for my inspection. 
 
 Friday, 12th May, 1820.— 
 
 A DRUAM BY MR. THOMAS McMCRHAY, 
 Who is now lodged in this Fort. 
 
 Last night Mr. McMurray dreamed that an old friend of his who is now 
 17 years dead, came and delivered him a letter in which he saw in print 
 marlted in large capital gold letters, 
 
 "Mr. Clarke Bewaee of the 27th of Auqust." 
 
 Thursday, IStlf May, 1820.- The "Old Crow" hkd a quarrel with 
 Bethune last night, and told hum that he was determined to kill one man 
 of each Fort. 
 
 Friday, 19th May, 1820.— I this morning received a moat scurrilous note 
 from Bethune of the North West, in which he calls me a murderer, and 
 compares me to the rattlesnake, for no other cause than that of finding one 
 of his horses wounded, of which circumstance I am as innocent as a man 
 that is at present across ttie Atlantic. On receipt of the above note, I sent 
 Mr. Pensonant with my compliments to Mr. Bethune, requesting to have 
 an interview with him. He refused to come out. I then, in presence of the 
 rest of the gentlemen of our Fort, went before their gates and told his men 
 to go and tell their master if he was a man to come and explain his motives 
 for insulting me in the manner he did. I stood there for some time, but 
 Bethune would not come out. 
 
 Saturday, 20th May, 1820. — Finding Bethune not giving me any answer 
 I this morning sent McLeod with a challenge to him to come forward and 
 meet me as a gentleman, or that I would give him a public horsewhipping 
 on the first occasion, if he would not make a public apology before the men 
 pf both Forts. Mr. McLeod returned without any satisfactory answer. 
 
 At this point the fragment picked up at Norway House suddenly enda 
 about the middle of a page without containing any specific reason for so 
 abrupt a termination. A man who indulges in violent demonstrations of 
 anger against a gentleman in charge of a Post before the gates and in pre. 
 sence of the servants of the person he attacks, is certainly running a serious 
 risk. Not knowing who the author of the document above quoted might be, 
 I was at first under the impression that his lack of discretion had brou gh t him 
 and his manuscript to a common end. The generation of which he was a 
 member had almost passed away, but fortunately Mr. W. Robert Smith, the 
 veteran Clerk of Court, was able to inform me that the post to which the frag- 
 ment referred was obviously that of Isle h, la Crosse, and its author Mr. John 
 Clarke, who after the coalition of 1821, became a Chief Factor in the service 
 of the new Hudson's Bay Company and subsequently quitted the country 
 
496 RED KIVER. 
 
 possessed of alarge sum of money, Which he spent in Canada, and ultimately 
 died at Montreal. 
 
 It would be highly .unjust to the memory of the gentlemen whose names 
 occur in his pages, did I omit to remind the reader that his account ought 
 to be received with much caution as a one sided tale, the vain and vaunting 
 tone of which ought to warn us against over credulity. Some of the names 
 are familiar to me as those of men much respected in their time, and their 
 account of the incidents related might throw light on circumstances which 
 appear to require elucidation. 
 
 Mr. Clarke employed an amanuensis to write for him. Their joint pro- 
 duction contained errors in spelling, all of which I have corrected. Mr. 
 Smith, though living near the part of the Territory at the date referred to, 
 could tell nothing about the quarrels described. The allusion to '' Lieut. 
 Franltlin" and " Mr. Back" of the Royal Navy, are surely interesting. 
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 
 The following quotations from: the book of Bishop Tache, whence my 
 materials for Chapter X have been gathered, may be read with interest. 
 It is as will be remembered, named " Vingt Annees de Missions dans le Nord- 
 Ouest de I'Amerique." The language in which it is written is so generally 
 understood in England that I think it unnecessary either to risk doing 
 injustice to the Bishop's words and style, or to increase with slight reason 
 the already excessive size of the present volume by adding a translation. 
 
 My first extract recounts an adventure of winter travel in the experience 
 of Vital Julien Grandin, Bishop of Satala, inpartibus mfidelium, Bishop 
 Tache, coadjutor, which occurred in December, 1863, at Great Slave Lake. 
 
 Un evenement qui, sans une intervention speciale de la Providence, serait 
 devenu une Juneste tragudie, marqua le mois de decembre. Mgr. Grandin, 
 toujours anime d'une charite si ardente pour ses fr^res, voulut aller visiter 
 ceux du grand lac des Esclaves. Malgre la rigueur de la saison, il se mit 
 en route avec quelques jeunes officiers de I'Honorable Compagnie de la Bale 
 d'Hudson qui passaient a sa Mission. Arrive dija presqu'au terme du voyage, 
 on se filicitait d'avoir evite les dangers et les miseres extremes qui s'attachent 
 si souvent u ces courses aventureuses, lorsque tout a coup les voyageurs 
 furent assaillis par une tempete furieuse, une tempete telle que uotre aquilon 
 BBule salt en causer. La neige soulevee en tourbillons epais, deroba bient6t 
 la vue du ciel et du rivage que Ton cotoyait ii distance. Cette neige 
 balayee de dessus le lac, n'y laissait qu'une glace vive et dure, sur laquelle 
 les pieds des voyageurs et de leurs chiens ne laissaient aucune empreinte. 
 Mgr. de Satala, avec des jambes et des chiens moins agiles que ceux de ses 
 compagnons, resta en arrifere, suivi seulement d'un tout jeune homme 
 envoye a son service ; deji. les autres voyageurs avaient disparu. Un 
 sauvage qui les guidait, pousse par I'instinct du danger qu'ont tons les 
 enfants des bois, parla d'attendre Monseigneur. Ses maitres, saisis par le 
 
KED RIVER. 497 
 
 roid, et ne croyant nuUement au danger, lui commandJreut d'aller en 
 favant. 
 
 C'en fut fait ; Monaeigneur ne voyant ni compagnon, ni terre, et rien au 
 monde, si ce n'eat la glace qu'il foulait aui pieds et la neige qui I'aveuglait 
 se trouva perdu sur oette mer solide. Sa Grandeur erra i, I'aTenture 
 j'usqu'i ce que ses forces fussent fepuisees. Trop fatiguS pour esp6rer 
 rfechaufifer ses membres, que le froid saisiasait deji, Monseigneur confessa 
 son petit compaguon, implora pour lui-mSme la misericorde de Dieu, et se 
 resigna h la mort qui lui semblait inevitable. Le reste de chaleur fut 
 depense Ji detacher la couverture li6e sur le petit tralneau ; celui-ci reuvers^ 
 formait le seul abri contre le vent. Monseigneur s'appuya centre cette 
 faible protection, puis s'enroula de son mietix dans ses couvertures avec son 
 petit compagnon qui pleurait et ses chiens qui hurlaient de froid. II attendit 
 la la iin de ses jours, ou le miracle qui devait les prolonger. 
 
 Dieu nous epargna la douleur que nous eut causae la perte de notre si 
 digne et si aime coadjuteur. Les froides borreurs de dette affreuse position 
 se prolong^rent pendant les longues heures de la nuit ; mais Dieu avait con- 
 serve les sieus, et quand I'aurore commeu^a ipoindre, Mgr. de Satala recon- 
 nut sa position. II n'etait qu'6. une petite distance de la Mission, oti I'on 
 souffrait taut de le savoir en danger sans pouvoir lui porter secours. L'es- 
 poir du saint surexcita le courage de Monseigneur et de son jeune compa- 
 gnon ; ils deployferent le pen de forces qui leur restaient, et se remirent en 
 route. A peine avaient-ils marche quelques instants qu'ils reucoutrferent 
 les employes de la Mission, qui etaieut envoyes k leur recherche. Ces 
 derniers avaient appris, le soir, que Monseigneur, n'etant pas arrive au Fort 
 avec les autres voyageurs, devait s'6tre egare. lis comprirent toute I'im- 
 minence du danger et attendaient avec la plus vive anxiete les premieres 
 lueurs du crepuscule pour commencer une recherche qui eflt ete pour eui 
 un danger inutile au milieu de I'obscurite d'une nuit de poudrerie. Les 
 pieds de Sa Grandeur commen^aient h, se geler, les efforts d'une marche 
 pSndble y ramen^rent la chaleur, et, sans autre consequence desastreuse 
 que de cruelles angoisses, Mgr. Grandin entrait dans la chapelle de la Mission. 
 II s'agenoailla au pied de I'autel ou le Pfere Petitot offrait pour lui le saint 
 sacrifice, ne sachant paS' s'il devait prier pour le repos de son ^me ou pour 
 la conservation de sa vie mortelle. 
 
 The following missionary episode in the adventures of the hero of the 
 above extract is suggestive, and appears to argue a want of tenacity on the 
 part of the Indians to any preconceived strong religious or superstitious 
 convictions of their own. 
 
 II ne faut certes pas beaucoup de science pour nier ce que Dieu affirme, 
 ou pour nier ce qu'il condamne. Un peu d'orgueil sufifit pour conduire k ce 
 profond abtme. Done, un beau matin, un jeune sauvage de I'lle k la Crosse 
 Be trouva sous la pression d'une forte inspiration. D^s lors il n'etait plus 
 un homme comme un autre; d^s qu'il n'etait plus un homme, comme le 
 progrfes ne permet pas de descendre, il devait §tre un Dieu. Oui, ni plus 
 ni moins, "le Fils de Dieu" fetait sur la terre. Cette nouvelle deification 
 
 6G 
 
498 KED KIVEE. 
 
 de I'homme, comme toutes les autres, conduisait au rejet de la prifere, de 
 I'Evangile, en nn mot, de tout ce qui peut faire souTenir de notre propre 
 humiliation et de la grandeur du Createur de toutes choses. Mais c'etaitun 
 fou ! Oui, sans doute, comme le sont tous ceui qui poussent leur pauvre 
 raison vers des spheres ou Celui qui I'a cr^ee ne lui permet pas d'atteindre. 
 Cependant, comme maints fous font ecole, il ne faut pas s'etonner que le 
 n6tre trouvat des adeptes. On le crut sur parole, sur la parole d'un certain 
 verbiage qu'il avail adopts, et que ni lui ni les autres ne comprenaient. II 
 fit des prodiges, du moins il en fit un bien ^tonnant pour nous qui connais- 
 sons les Montagnais ; il determina ses partisans h se defaire de tout ce qu'ils 
 possedaient, pour §tre plus dignes de marcher en la compagnie du " Fils de 
 Dieu ;" on detruisit, on brfila tout ce que I'on avait, et voila bientot toute 
 la nation h I'envers. Le succfes enhardit ; h I'enseignement, aux exhorta- 
 tions de la nouvelle 6cole, succedferent des menaces ; et, comme tout.s leS 
 erreurs out une source commune dans cette nouvelle philosophie, on en vou- 
 lait aussi au pretre, on le mena§ait. 
 
 Le mal prenait des proportions alarmantes ; un certain nombre de sau- 
 vages ne voulaient plus venir h, la Mission. La surprise, la confiance, la 
 crainte et le diabln aussi j poussant, I'eglise allait §tre deserte. Ceux qui 
 croient trop h leur propre excellence, qu'ils se disent dieux ou hommes, ne 
 sont pas les assidus de la Maisou du Seigneur. Pour les instruire, il ne 
 faut pas les attendre au catechisme. Le P^re Grandin prit done la deter- 
 mination de se rendre auprfes du " Pils de Dieu," malgre les menaces qui lui 
 etaient faites de toutes parts. II alia, re9Ut quelques bons coups de tringue 
 et reussit, sinon k faire tomber de I'Olympe cette nouvelle divinite, du 
 moins k dechirer le bandeau de fascination dont elle avait convert la figure 
 d'un si grand nombre. Le mal etait etoufie dans ses sources, mais non ' 
 dans ses consequences. Par un egarement qui nous afSige autant qu'il 
 nous etonne, ce- dieu conserva ses convictions et quelques dupes. Son pfere 
 sa soeur, sa tante, quoique excellents Chretiens d'abord, proclam^rent hau- 
 temeut etre convaiucus de la divinite de cet, insense. lis apostasiferent, et 
 plus tard, les Missionaires de I'lle 4 la Crosse eurent la douleur de les voir 
 mourir dans leur apostasie. La mfere de cet infortun^, que nous appelions 
 d'abord "la pieuse Nannette," et I'un de ses oncles, auquel nous avions 
 donne le surnom de " petit saint," h cause des sentiments particuliers de foi 
 qui semblaient le caracteriser, partagferent les travers du reste de lafamille. 
 Consolons de suite ceux qui pourraient s'interesser k leur sort. Le 
 " petit saint " reviut h resipisoence I'automne dernier ; la main du Dieu 
 veritable s'etait appesantie sur lui; le sang du vrai Pils de Dieu avait 
 obtenu misericorde en sa faveur. Ayant perdu sa femme, plusieurs membres 
 de sa famille, tout ce qu'il possedait, prive surtout de la joie d'une bonne 
 conscience, des ineffables et indicibles consolations de la religion, il arriva h, 
 la Mission pendant que nous y etions. Pauvre miserable, objet de la com- 
 passion de ses frferes, qui reconnaissaient facilement le chatiment de ses 
 fautes, il se convertit et reprit place aupr^s de cette autel, tr6ne d'amours 
 du Fils de I'Eternel. La pauvre Nannette comprit, elle aussi, les epreuves 
 
RED RIVER. 499 
 
 que lui mfinagea la Providence ; elle reconnut son erreur, etl'hiver dernier, 
 elle fit demander un pritre. Mgr. Grandin, seule h I'lle h la Crosse, 
 entreprit, quoique malade, un long et penible voyage, an milieu des rigueurs 
 de rhiver, pour reconcilier cette infortunee avec I'Eglise et aveo Dieu. Ce 
 dernier coup acheva de gagner le " Fils de Dieu " lui-mgme, qui descendit 
 des hauteurs oti I'avait place son orgueil pour redeveuir simple uiortel et 
 croire lui-mcme k sa folic. Au printemps dernier, ce malheureux jeune 
 homme venait demander pardon h, Mgr. Grandin des coups de b^ton qu'il 
 avait donnes au Pfere Grandin, etsoUiciter les avis don til avait besoinpour 
 sortir de I'etat d'abjection dans lequel il 6tait tombe, m6me physiquement. 
 
 C'est chose vraiment providentielle ; tons ceux qui font des fautes con- 
 siderables, surtout contre la foi, sont punis sensiblement et de suite. 
 
 The opinion of a Roman Catholic bishop regarding Anglican Missions 
 may be interesting as representing a familiar subject fiom an outside point 
 of view. 
 
 Je dis le zele, ce mot pent etonner et I'on me demandera peut-gtre : Mais 
 les ministres protestants ont-ils du zSle 7 Si par zMe on entend ce douz 
 et divin flambeau qui consume tout ce qu'il y a d'humain ; ce feu sacre qtfi 
 embrdse le coeur, au point que I'homme s'oublie eutiSrement lui-mSme pour 
 se consacrer exclusivement k la recherche, ^ la predication de la verite, k la 
 sanctification de ses semblables, je dirai sans hfesisation : Non, les ministres 
 de I'erreur n'ont point de zfele et ils ne peuvent point en avoir. Si, au con- 
 traire, pour avoir du zfele, il suffit, pour un motif ou pour un autre, de 
 depenser au service d'une cause quelconque uue grande somme d'energie et 
 d'efforts, tant pour faire prevaloir cette cause que pour combattre ce qui s'y 
 oppose, surtout ce qui s'y oppose avec la force de repulsion que la verity a; 
 via-Jt-vis de I'erreur, alors je dirai que ces messieurs out beaucoup de zfele^ 
 Quelques-uns apportent k leur ministfere nne ardeur, une activite, parftis 
 m§me un devouement certainement dignes d'une meilleure fin. Plut au 
 Ciel qu'ils n'eussent pas tant de zfele ! Que le Dieu infiniment bon les arrSte, 
 eux aussi, sur le chemin de Damas I Que la main si douce et si forte de son 
 infinie misericorde fasae tomber des yeux de leurs coeurs ces ecailles qui lea 
 empechent de voir la veritable lumifere qui en fasse autant de vases 
 d'election pour prScher aux gentils le veritabl'e Evangile de la grSce de 
 Dieu. 
 
 APPENDIX D. 
 
 The explanation given in Chapter XX, regarding the documents of 
 which the following are copies, renders it unnecessary fbr me to enter on any 
 lengthy discussion respecting them in this place. The first remained, along 
 with its accompanying packets, in the keeping of the Esquimaux of the 
 Polar Sea for twelve years, and the second relates how it was ultimately 
 eecured by Mr. MacFarlane, an officer of the Hudson's Bay Company. 
 
500 RED RIVER, 
 
 Heb Majesty's Disooybet Ship Investigatob, 
 
 PoLAB SiA, off Point Warren, 24th August, 1850 
 
 Sis, — I have to request that you will cause the accompanying despatch 
 for the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to be forwarded with the 
 least possible delays, so that, if it is practicable, it may arrive this year. You 
 are aware of the great interest that is attached to this expedition, and con- 
 sequently all information regarding its progress will be considered of the 
 utmost importance. 
 
 I feel convinced it is unnecessary to urge you to. exertion in performance 
 of this duty, the Honorable Company with which you are connected, having 
 with great liberalty, zeal, and beneficence, expressed their desire to render 
 every assistance in forwarding the views, not only of Her Majesty's Govern- 
 ment, but of the Nation at large, in facilitating the search for the missing 
 expedition under Sir John Franklin. It is impossible for me to suggest any 
 method by which this despatch may be carried, whether by Indians, specially 
 engaged for the purpose, or through your usual communication, only per- 
 mit me to beg that the most expeditious method may be pursued and let the 
 expenses attending its transmission be placed at the account of the Arctic 
 Searching Expedition. 
 
 I am. Sir, 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 (Signed,) ROBT. MoCLURE, 
 Commander 
 To the OfScer of the Hudson's Bay Company 
 
 at Fort Good Hope, North America. 
 
 On the outside of the enclosure containing the above letter appear the 
 following words in Captain McClure's handwriting : 
 
 " I would thank you to give the Esquimaux who delivers this to you some 
 present he most values. — R. McC." 
 
 Underneath these appears the inscription in Mr. MacFarlane's handwriting, 
 
 "Received at Fort Anderson, Anderson River, 5th June, 1862. R. MacFar- 
 lane." 
 
 " Gave the Esquimaux who delivered the package 1 steel Trap and 2 lbs. 
 Negrohead tobacco. — R. MacFarlane." 
 
 Fort Simpson, 21st August, 1862. 
 A. G. Dallas, Esquire, Governor in Chief: 
 
 Sm, — I beg to end ose you for transmission to the Admiralty, the long miss- 
 ing despatches of Commander (now Captain Sir Robert) McClure, of H. M. 
 Discovery Ship " Investigator," entrusted by him to the Esquimaux, when 
 off Cape Bathurst, in the month of August, 1850, for the purpose of being 
 forwarded to England, via the Hudson's Bay Posts on the McKeuzie — and 
 which despatches were received at Fort Anderson a short time ago. 
 
 I may mention that ever since 1857, when I iirst descended and examined 
 Anderson River (the Beghulatesse of the maps), I have endeavoured to as- 
 certain from the Esquimaux the fate of the despatches in question, but until 
 now without success. This, I partly attributed to the inability of the Indians 
 
RED RIVER. 501 
 
 yrho acted as interpretera, to explain my wishes to the EsquitnaOt ; and 
 indeed, it was only when on a visit to a party of these at their winter 
 houses, last February, that I succeeded in obtaining information which has 
 resulted in their discovery. 
 
 In explanation of the long delay which hag occurred in the delirefy of 
 the despatches to us, it may be stated that, in 1850, and for two or three 
 years subsequently, the Company maintained no direct intercourse with the 
 tribes frequenting the estuary of the MacKenzie, and none whatever with 
 those of the Anderson previous to 1857. In the interval the Esquimaux 
 who received the package departed this life, and this, I believe, occasioned 
 it to be placed with some of his effects, and the circumstance to be forgotten, 
 until my enquiries regarding the despatches revived its memory among the 
 deceased's relatives. 
 
 As I have spoken to the Esquimaux on the subject, and also gave one of 
 the coast chiefs a letter to deliver to any white men they might hereafter 
 meet, apprizing them of the situation of Port Anderson, and of the facilities 
 which are thereby offered of forwarding despatches to England, I have no 
 doubt that if, any such were now given to the Esquimaux, they would at 
 once be brought in to the Fort. I was induced to do this from having read 
 in the papers that Captain Snow had sailed, or was going to sail, on an 
 Arctic Searching Expedition vifi, Behring's Straits. 
 
 The package had been cut by the Esquimaux and several of the letters 
 opened, probably with the view of ascertaining their contents. I annex a 
 list of the documents as received last June, aU of which (except those to 
 the Admiralty) are now forwarded to their respective addresses. 
 I have the honor to be, 
 Sir, 
 
 Tours very respectfully, 
 (Signed) R. MACFARLANE. 
 
 LIST OF DOCUMENTS ENCLOSED. 
 
 1. An open packet addressed to the Secretary of the Admiralty, London. 
 
 Investigator, 24th August, 1850. 
 2. — A sealed packet addressed to do do do 
 
 3._A do do do do do 
 
 4._A do do do do do for 
 
 Director General, Medical Return from H. M. D. S. Investigator. 
 5.— An open letter addressed to the H. Bay Officer, Fort Good Hope. 
 
 CONTENTS OF PACKAGE, AS RECEIVED FROM THE 
 ESQUIMAUX, 5th JUNE, 1862. 
 
 1.— An open packet addressed to the Secretary of the Admiralty, Loudon. 
 2. — A sealed packet do do do do 
 
 3.— A do do do do do 
 
 4. A do do do do (Medical 
 
 Report.) 
 
502 BED RITER. 
 
 S.— An open letter addressed H. Bay Officer, Fort GooiJ Hope-.. 
 6.— A sealed letter do Sir John Richardson. 
 
 Sev! P. Latrobe (half cut). 
 
 Rev. Reginald Wynniatt. 
 
 O. Barrington Piers, Bsc^ 
 
 ■William Be\\ Esq. 
 
 Francis Oresswell, Esq. 
 
 Mrs. (Lady) McClure. 
 
 Mrs. H. gainsfcury. 
 
 Mrs. Law. 
 
 William Armstrong, Esq. 
 
 Address of package : To the Chief Officer of Fort Good Hope ; or any of 
 the Company's Officers. 
 
 (Signed> R. MoF. 
 
 7.— A do 
 
 do 
 
 8.— An open letter 
 
 do 
 
 9.— do do. 
 
 do 
 
 l6.— A sealed'letter 
 
 do 
 
 11.— Do 
 
 do 
 
 12.— D« 
 
 do 
 
 13.— Do 
 
 io 
 
 14.— Do 
 
 do 
 
 15.— Do 
 
 do 
 
 APPENDIX E. 
 
 The fact that the Corbett Case had become the ground of an action, yet 
 undecided, for the recovery of damages to the amount of £5,000 sterling, 
 on account of false imprisonment, brought by the Rev. Griffith Owen 
 Corbett against Ei-Governor Dallas, before the Court of Common Pleas ia 
 England, invests it with additional interest, and renders me anxious to pro- 
 duce some evidence which I had not otherwise intended to bring forward in 
 support of what I have stated regarding this unhappy affair. The follow- 
 ing is the copy of an official manifesto issued by the Governor and Council 
 of Assiniboia, after the illegal liberation of James Stewart as set forth in 
 Chapter XX : 
 
 |fOTIOB, 
 
 At a meeting of the Governor- and Council of Assiniboia,. on the 28th 
 instant, the attention of the Council was directed to the recent outrages, 
 that had been committed in the unlawful rescue fl-om prison of G. 0. 
 Corbett, a prisoner undergoing his sentence, and of James Stewart, a person 
 in custody on a charge of felony, and to the creditable zeal which had been 
 shown by so many of the inhabitants for the protection of lawful authority. 
 
 The Council, while viewing with ffeelings of deep regret and abhorrence 
 the lawless conduct of the men engaged in these rescues, for which all 
 concerned in them directly or indirectly must still beheld responsible, were 
 yet highly gratified at the manner in which so many of the well-disposed 
 inhabitants had profifered their services for the forcible prevention of these 
 disgraceful proceedings, and unanimously resolved that notices should be 
 publicly posted expressing the sense entertained by the Council of the 
 laudable spirit manifested'by these inhabitants in behalf of the interests of 
 public order ; interests which, under the regular administration of Justice 
 as heretofore by the Magistrates and the Courts, the Council doubt not 
 Will be duly preserved. 
 
BED RIVER 503 
 
 The Counoil farther desire to make it publicly known that, while they are 
 satisfied there were, among these loyal inhabitants, men who would have 
 willingly defended the prison at the sacrifice of their Uvea, the Executive 
 were restrained from using the force at their disposal by motives of 
 humaniiy ; by the 4esire to avoid bloodshed ; by a wish to prevent deadly 
 exasperation of feeling among the settlers ; and, above all, by a considera- 
 tion of the dangerous consequences to the whole community that would 
 have arisen from the Indian tribes witnessing the spectacle of open warfare 
 between different sections of the people. 
 
 By order, 
 
 Council Chamber, 28th April, 1863. 
 
 APPENDIX P. 
 
 The following figures may prove Interesting to people in Canada and 
 the Indian country. They are taken from the Nor' Wester, and, represent- 
 ing the results of observations with the odometer, may be accepted as very 
 reliable approximations to the distances between points on the route froiB 
 Tort Abercrombie to Fort Garry, viz.: 
 
 Statiohs. Miles. 
 
 Item Fort Abercrombie to 
 
 Georgetown 49.00 
 
 Elm Elver 12.60 
 
 Camp Lake "..... 6-8S 
 
 Goo6e Crossing T.70 
 
 First Point 7.85 
 
 Toung Bull Creek . . 10-4^ 
 
 Banning Creek 5.25 
 
 Point 8.75 
 
 £lmCoul«e 2.65 
 
 English CouUe ''■83 
 
 Turtle River Crossing > W.TSi 
 
 Small Lake 3.80 
 
 Eivl4re Marais • 3.20 
 
 Big Salt Crossing • ^■'^ 
 
 Little Salt Eiver l^'-^^ 
 
 Grand Point ■ ''■^ 
 
 12 Mile Point IW^ 
 
 Pembina ^1-30 
 
 Fort Garry ^3.00 
 
 Total 250.66 
 
 On another series of observations the total distance* between Fort Aher- 
 orombje and Fort Grarry was calculated at 24T miles. 
 
504 RED eivbe; 
 
 APPENDIX Gr. 
 
 Thb following is a copy of the document referred to in Chapter XXIX, 
 being the account published by Dr. Schultz, the editor of the N'of Wester, 
 of his liberation from prison, in January, 1868. It will be remembered 
 Schultz had been committed for an assault on the Sheriff while executing 
 an order of the Court for the recovery of a debt. 
 
 TSM "JSrOR' WESTER" EXTRA. 
 
 THE EECENT PUBLIC DEMONSTRATION. 
 
 Once more the doors of the Hudson's Bay Company's prison have opened 
 to the persuasion of an oaken beam, handled by the stout arms of men who 
 were as careless of the frowns as of the favours of the august Humbug, the 
 Hudson's Bay Company. The case occurred this wise. In one of the 
 Quarterly Courts Judgment was obtained against Sheriff McKenney for a 
 sum of money. Being Sheriff, he paid half, and succeeded in cajoling the 
 simple-minded agent of the Plaintiff into bringing an action against Dr. 
 Schultz, his former partner, for the other half. By some artful dodging a 
 judgment was obtained against the Doctor in his absence, and his applica- 
 tion for a trial of the case before a jury, was disregarded by our Hudson 
 Bay Judge. The Doctor, thus treated, refused to pay unless a trial was 
 given and the agent of the Plaintiff, feeling probably the injustice of the 
 position, would not push it. The Sheriff meanwhile, caught in England, 
 pays the other half, and then follow the events of Friday. 
 
 At nine on the morning of Friday the Sheriff with a posse of constables 
 entered the trading house of Dr. Schultz, and the Doctor appearing, a 
 demand was made by McKenney for the immediate payment of the sum. 
 Doctor asked to see his authority for its collection which McKenney refused 
 to show and said that he must seize the goods. Doctor said that none of his 
 property should go without the evidence of proper authority. The Sheriff 
 then declared everything seized, and directed the constables to first take out 
 a large pair of platform scales, which they proceeded to do until stopped by 
 the Doctor who then proceeded to secure the door which had been opened 
 by McKenney. The Sheriff then laid hands on the Doctor, but was thrown 
 over on some bags (not struck) and, on rising, he directed the constables 
 to arrest Dr. Schultz for an assault on the Officers of the Law. The Doctor 
 told him that he was willing to be arrested, but not willing that his pro- 
 perty should be removed. The Doctor then gave himself up and offered no 
 resistance, till very rudely taken hold of by two constables when he threw 
 them off (without striking) and then McKenney calling on all present to 
 assist, declared that the Doctor must be bound, and directed one of the 
 constables to bring a rope. The Doctor said that was unnecessary, but that 
 he would submit to be tied so long as no indignity was offered. The Doctor 
 then held his arms to be tied, which was done by the constables, without 
 
BED RIVER. 505 
 
 opposition. McKenney, however, then began tightening the pope till the 
 eflFect was painful, and being warned to desist, he refused, and so was 
 again thrown over by the now tied prisoner. After this there was no 
 resistance, and the Doctor was hurried off in a carriole without being 
 allowed to put on his overcoat. Dr. Cowan was sent for, but shirked the 
 case and sent for Goulet. , 
 
 While waiting for the arrival of Gonlet, Dr. Schultz requested, as there 
 was a number of constables present, that the Court House doors should be 
 locked, and he should be unbound long enough to write a note to his wife, 
 who as yet knew nothing of his case. This was refused and the effort of 
 writing while in this bound condition caused so much pain that, by a 
 violent effort, one arm was freed, which Mr. McKenney perceiving made a 
 rush, but was met and floored, the other constables then joined their 
 efforts and the prisoner was crushed down by constables, Jailor and Sheriff, 
 till a clothes line was procured which was tied and pulled till the Uood 
 gushed from the arms of the now "helpless prisoner. 
 
 Goulet arriving, after a, consultation in the Fort, proceeded to hear 
 McEenney's charge of assault on the Officers of the Law. Goulet then pro- 
 ceeded to commit the prisoner, it then being about four o'clock. Thrust in 
 and locked up, no food and no fire, the Doctor was left to reflect on the 
 vanity of human things generally, and of the belief in the rights of a 
 peaceable man to his liberty in particular. So ended the first act. 
 
 A ludicrous interlude occurred before the closing scene. Constable 
 MulMgaQ was left in charge of the now seized goods in the Doctor's store, 
 and when Mrs. Schultz wished to barricade it against the Sheriff, Mulligan 
 refused to go out, so was nailed and spiked in, where he remained till late 
 at night, when hungry and half frozen that "hirsute hero" humbly petitioned 
 to be " let out " and emerged, alternately cursing the law, McKenney and 
 seizures generally. 
 
 Dr. Schultz was locked up at four o'clock, and before nightfall the news 
 had spread like wild fire. Angry men sped their horses to the town, where 
 they met others as excited as themselves, earnestly discussing whether to 
 break open the jail at once or wait till morning brought its hundreds to 
 assist ; but the news that the Doctor's wife had been refused admission to 
 him by the Port authorities decided the question at once. " The Doctor must 
 not stop even one night under this accursed roof." In the meantime Mrs. 
 Schultz had been granted permission by the Sheriff to take some food to her 
 husband, and remained with him till the noise of many sleigh bells 
 announced the glad tidings of release. First, a party at the door to obtain 
 peaceable entrance, then a request from the Doctor to let his wife out of the 
 inner door of the prison, then a rush of the Doctor himself who grappled 
 with the constables who were barricading the door, then the upsetting of 
 the jailor and the bolts drawnby the Doctor's wife, and then, as the expec- 
 tant crowd saw the attack on the Doctor within, came the heavy thump of 
 the oaken beam ; soon t^e crash of breaking timbers, and then the loud hur- 
 rah, with maledictions on McKenney, and the escort of the Doctor to his 
 hxime. 
 
506 
 
 KED EIVER. 
 
 It is well to know that no disreputable characters were among the party. 
 When the constables, of which there are said to hare been six, with eight 
 '.'specials," ceased to resist, theyictors ceased their efforts, and no violence 
 was used, but the breaking of the door, and the marks of a clenched fist on 
 one of the special constable's faqe would not have been there had he not 
 rudely assaulted Mrs. Schultz in her endeavours to draw the bolts. 
 
 APPENDIX H. 
 
 The following list of the price of certain articles of country produce at 
 Bed River Settlement is inserted with the object of conveying an idea of 
 the relative value of money in the Colony, compared with that of necessary 
 articles of consumption. The list is copied from the Not' Wester of 18th 
 November, 1865, and is said, by those who ought to know, to be a very 
 reliable one, faithfully representing the state of the market after a harvest 
 of average success. If anything, the prices quoted are a shade high : 
 
 Articles. 
 
 Wheat bush. 
 
 Barley " 
 
 Oats " 
 
 Kye " 
 
 Potatoes " 
 
 Turnips " 
 
 Onions " 
 
 Carrots " 
 
 Cabbages each 
 
 Hay load 
 
 Straw ' 
 
 Wood ' 
 
 Boards per 100 
 
 Planks " 
 
 Shingles per IQOO 
 
 itutton lb 
 
 Beef " 
 
 Pork " 
 
 Priobs. 
 
 60 
 
 60 
 
 20 
 
 3 
 
 2i 
 
 3i 
 
 Articles. 
 
 Butter. lb. 
 
 Cheese 
 
 Peraraican ■ 
 
 Meat Dried 
 
 Marrow fat 
 
 Buffalofat 
 
 Buffalo Skins dressed ea. 
 
 Moose do do .... 
 
 Buffalo Tongue fresh 
 
 Do do salted 
 
 Do Bosaesor Humps.. 
 
 Flour cwt. 
 
 Pollard 
 
 Bran bush. 
 
 Salt 
 
 Eggs doz. 
 
 Fish, White per 100 
 
 Do Sturgeon each, 
 
 Prices. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 T 
 
 12 
 1 
 1 
 2 
 
 15 
 6 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 25 
 2 
 
'JirgriMiJii^^^ 
 
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