Seven Oaks MonumentSEVEN OAKS MONUMENT.
SEVEN OAKS MONUMENT.
We have now to enquire as to the movements of the expedition coming westward from Fort William. The route of upwards of four hundred miles was a difficult one. Accordingly, before they reached Red River, Fort Douglas was already in the hands of the Nor'-Westers. With the expedition from Fort William came a non-commissioned officer of the De Meuron regiment, one of the Swiss bodies of mercenaries disbanded after the war of 1812-15. This was Frederick Damien Huerter. His account is circumstantial and clear. He had, as leading a military life, entered the service of the Nor'-Westers, and coming west to Lake Superior, followed the leadership of the fur trader Alexander Norman McLeod and two of the officers of his old regiment, Lieutenants Missani and Brumby.
Arriving at Fort William, a short time was given for providing the party with arms and equipment, and soon the lonely voyageurs, on this occasion in a warlike spirit, were paddling themselves over the fur traders' route in five large north canoes.
On the approach to Rainy Lake Fort, as many of the party as were soldiers dressed in full regimentals, in order to impress upon the Indians that they had the King's authority. Strong drink and tobacco were a sufficient inducement to about twenty of the Indians to join the expedition. On the day before the fight at Seven Oaks, the party had arrived at the fort known as Bas de la Rivière, near Lake Winnipeg. Guns and two small brass field-pieces, three pounders, were put in order, and the company crossed to the mouth of the Red River, ascended to Nettley Creek, and there bivouacked, forty miles from the scene of action and two days after the skirmish. They had expected here to meet the Qu'Appelle brigade of Cuthbert Grant. No doubt this was the original plan, but the rashness of the Governor and the hot blood of theMetis had brought on the engagement, with the result we have seen.
Knowing nothing of the fight, the party started to ascend the river, and soon met seven or eight boats, laden with colonists, under the command of the sheriff of the Red River settlement. McLeod then heard of the fight, ordered the settlers ashore, examined all the papers among their baggage, and took possession of all letters, account books, and documents whatsoever. Even Governor Semple's trunks, for which there were no keys, were broken open and examined. The colonists were then set free and proceeded on their sad journey, Charles Grant being detailed to seeing them safely away.
Huerter says:—
"On the 26th I went up the river to Fort Douglas. There were many of the partners of the North-West Company with us. At Fort Douglas the brigade was received with discharges of artillery and fire-arms. The fort was under Mr. Alexander Macdonell, and there was present a great gathering of Bois Brûlés, clerks, and interpreters, as well as partners of the Company. On our arrival Archibald Norman McLeod, our leader, took the management and direction of the fort, and all made whatever they chose of the property it contained. The Bois Brûlés were entirely under the orders and control of McLeod and the partners. McLeod occupied the apartments lately belonging to Governor Semple. After my arrival I saw all the Bois Brûlés assembled in a large outer room, which had served as a mess-room for the officers of the colony.
"I rode the same day to the field of 'Seven Oaks,' where Governor Semple and so many of his people had lost their lives, in company with a number of those who had been employed on that occasion—all on horseback. At this period, scarcely a week after June 19th, I saw a number of human bodies scattered about the plain, and nearly reduced to skeletons, there being then very little flesh adhering to the bones; and I was informed on the spot that many of the bodies had been partly devoured by dogs and wolves."
There was a scene of great rejoicing the same evening at the fort, the Bois Brûlés being painted and dancing naked, after the manner of savages, to the great amusement of their masters.
On June 29th most of the partners and the northern brigade set off for the rapids at the mouth of the Saskatchewan. The departure of the grand brigade was signalized by the discharge of artillery from Fort Douglas.
The Nor'-Westers were now in the ascendant. The Bois Brûlés were naturally in a state of exultation. Their wild Indian blood was at the boiling point. Fort Douglas had been seized without opposition, and for several days the most riotous scenes took place. Threats of violence were freely indulged in against the Hudson's Bay Company, Lord Selkirk, and the colonists. As Pritchard remarks, there was nothing now for the discouraged settlers but to betake themselves for the second time to the rendezvous at the north of Lake Winnipeg, and there await deliverance at the hands of their noble patron, Lord Selkirk. The exuberance of the French half-breeds found its way into verse. We give the chanson of Pierre Falcon and the translation of it:—
CHANSON ÉCRITE PAR PIERRE FALCON.
"Voulez-vous écouter chanter une chanson de véritéLe dix-neuf de Juin les Bois Brûlés sont arrivés"Comme des braves guerriers,Sont arrivés à la grenouillère.Nous avons fait trois prisonniersDes Orcanais? Ils sont ici pour piller notre pays,Etant sur le point de débarquer,Deux de nos gens se sont écriés,"Voilà l'Anglais qui vient nous attaquer."Tous aussitôt nous sommes dévirésPour aller les rencontrer.J'avons cerné la bande de grenadiers;Ils sont immobiles?—Ils sont démentés?J'avons agi comme des gens d'honneur,Nous envoyâmes un ambassadeur."Gouverneur, voulez-vous arrêter un petit moment,Nous voulons vous parler."Le gouverneur, qui est enragé,Il dit à ses soldats, "Tirez."Le premier coup l'Anglais le tire,L'ambassadeur a presque manqué d'être tué,Le gouverneur se croyant l'empereur,Il agit avec rigueur,Le gouverneur, se croyant l'empereur,A son malheur agit avec trop de rigueur.Ayant vu passé les Bois Brûlés,Il a parti pour nous épouvanter.Il s'est trompé; il s'est bien fait tuerQuantité de ses grenadiers.J'avons tué presque toute son armée;De la bande quatre de cinq se sont sauvésSi vous aviez vu les AnglaisEt tous les Bois Brûlés après—De butte en butte les Anglais culbutaient;Les Bois Brûlés jetaient des cris de joie.Qui en a composé la chanson?C'est Pierre Falcon, le bon garçon.Elle a été faite et composéeSur la victoire qui nous avons gagnée.Elle a été faite et composée.Chantons la gloire de tous ces Bois Brûlés.
"Voulez-vous écouter chanter une chanson de véritéLe dix-neuf de Juin les Bois Brûlés sont arrivés"Comme des braves guerriers,Sont arrivés à la grenouillère.Nous avons fait trois prisonniersDes Orcanais? Ils sont ici pour piller notre pays,Etant sur le point de débarquer,Deux de nos gens se sont écriés,"Voilà l'Anglais qui vient nous attaquer."Tous aussitôt nous sommes dévirésPour aller les rencontrer.J'avons cerné la bande de grenadiers;Ils sont immobiles?—Ils sont démentés?J'avons agi comme des gens d'honneur,Nous envoyâmes un ambassadeur."Gouverneur, voulez-vous arrêter un petit moment,Nous voulons vous parler."Le gouverneur, qui est enragé,Il dit à ses soldats, "Tirez."Le premier coup l'Anglais le tire,L'ambassadeur a presque manqué d'être tué,Le gouverneur se croyant l'empereur,Il agit avec rigueur,Le gouverneur, se croyant l'empereur,A son malheur agit avec trop de rigueur.Ayant vu passé les Bois Brûlés,Il a parti pour nous épouvanter.Il s'est trompé; il s'est bien fait tuerQuantité de ses grenadiers.J'avons tué presque toute son armée;De la bande quatre de cinq se sont sauvésSi vous aviez vu les AnglaisEt tous les Bois Brûlés après—De butte en butte les Anglais culbutaient;Les Bois Brûlés jetaient des cris de joie.Qui en a composé la chanson?C'est Pierre Falcon, le bon garçon.Elle a été faite et composéeSur la victoire qui nous avons gagnée.Elle a été faite et composée.Chantons la gloire de tous ces Bois Brûlés.
"Voulez-vous écouter chanter une chanson de véritéLe dix-neuf de Juin les Bois Brûlés sont arrivés"Comme des braves guerriers,Sont arrivés à la grenouillère.
"Voulez-vous écouter chanter une chanson de vérité
Le dix-neuf de Juin les Bois Brûlés sont arrivés"
Comme des braves guerriers,
Sont arrivés à la grenouillère.
Nous avons fait trois prisonniersDes Orcanais? Ils sont ici pour piller notre pays,Etant sur le point de débarquer,Deux de nos gens se sont écriés,"Voilà l'Anglais qui vient nous attaquer."Tous aussitôt nous sommes dévirésPour aller les rencontrer.
Nous avons fait trois prisonniers
Des Orcanais? Ils sont ici pour piller notre pays,
Etant sur le point de débarquer,
Deux de nos gens se sont écriés,
"Voilà l'Anglais qui vient nous attaquer."
Tous aussitôt nous sommes dévirés
Pour aller les rencontrer.
J'avons cerné la bande de grenadiers;Ils sont immobiles?—Ils sont démentés?J'avons agi comme des gens d'honneur,Nous envoyâmes un ambassadeur."Gouverneur, voulez-vous arrêter un petit moment,Nous voulons vous parler."
J'avons cerné la bande de grenadiers;
Ils sont immobiles?—Ils sont démentés?
J'avons agi comme des gens d'honneur,
Nous envoyâmes un ambassadeur.
"Gouverneur, voulez-vous arrêter un petit moment,
Nous voulons vous parler."
Le gouverneur, qui est enragé,Il dit à ses soldats, "Tirez."Le premier coup l'Anglais le tire,L'ambassadeur a presque manqué d'être tué,Le gouverneur se croyant l'empereur,Il agit avec rigueur,Le gouverneur, se croyant l'empereur,A son malheur agit avec trop de rigueur.
Le gouverneur, qui est enragé,
Il dit à ses soldats, "Tirez."
Le premier coup l'Anglais le tire,
L'ambassadeur a presque manqué d'être tué,
Le gouverneur se croyant l'empereur,
Il agit avec rigueur,
Le gouverneur, se croyant l'empereur,
A son malheur agit avec trop de rigueur.
Ayant vu passé les Bois Brûlés,Il a parti pour nous épouvanter.Il s'est trompé; il s'est bien fait tuerQuantité de ses grenadiers.
Ayant vu passé les Bois Brûlés,
Il a parti pour nous épouvanter.
Il s'est trompé; il s'est bien fait tuer
Quantité de ses grenadiers.
J'avons tué presque toute son armée;De la bande quatre de cinq se sont sauvésSi vous aviez vu les AnglaisEt tous les Bois Brûlés après—De butte en butte les Anglais culbutaient;Les Bois Brûlés jetaient des cris de joie.
J'avons tué presque toute son armée;
De la bande quatre de cinq se sont sauvés
Si vous aviez vu les Anglais
Et tous les Bois Brûlés après—
De butte en butte les Anglais culbutaient;
Les Bois Brûlés jetaient des cris de joie.
Qui en a composé la chanson?C'est Pierre Falcon, le bon garçon.Elle a été faite et composéeSur la victoire qui nous avons gagnée.Elle a été faite et composée.Chantons la gloire de tous ces Bois Brûlés.
Qui en a composé la chanson?
C'est Pierre Falcon, le bon garçon.
Elle a été faite et composée
Sur la victoire qui nous avons gagnée.
Elle a été faite et composée.
Chantons la gloire de tous ces Bois Brûlés.
SONG WRITTEN BY PIERRE FALCON.
Come, listen to this song of truth,A song of brave Bois Brûlés,Who at Frog Plain took three captives,Strangers come to rob our country.Where dismounting there to rest us,A cry is raised, "The English!They are coming to attack us."So we hasten forth to meet them.I looked upon their army,They are motionless and downcast;So, as honour would incline us,We desire with them to parley.But their leader, moved with anger,Gives the word to fire upon us;And imperiously repeats it,Rushing on to his destruction.Having seen us pass his stronghold,He has thought to strike with terrorThe Bois Brûlés.—Ah! mistaken,Many of his soldiers perish.But a few escaped the slaughter,Rushing from the field of battle;Oh, to see the English fleeing!Oh, the shouts of their pursuers!Who has sung this song of triumph?The good Pierre Falcon has composed it,That his praise of these Bois BrûlésMight be evermore recorded
Come, listen to this song of truth,A song of brave Bois Brûlés,Who at Frog Plain took three captives,Strangers come to rob our country.Where dismounting there to rest us,A cry is raised, "The English!They are coming to attack us."So we hasten forth to meet them.I looked upon their army,They are motionless and downcast;So, as honour would incline us,We desire with them to parley.But their leader, moved with anger,Gives the word to fire upon us;And imperiously repeats it,Rushing on to his destruction.Having seen us pass his stronghold,He has thought to strike with terrorThe Bois Brûlés.—Ah! mistaken,Many of his soldiers perish.But a few escaped the slaughter,Rushing from the field of battle;Oh, to see the English fleeing!Oh, the shouts of their pursuers!Who has sung this song of triumph?The good Pierre Falcon has composed it,That his praise of these Bois BrûlésMight be evermore recorded
Come, listen to this song of truth,A song of brave Bois Brûlés,Who at Frog Plain took three captives,Strangers come to rob our country.
Come, listen to this song of truth,
A song of brave Bois Brûlés,
Who at Frog Plain took three captives,
Strangers come to rob our country.
Where dismounting there to rest us,A cry is raised, "The English!They are coming to attack us."So we hasten forth to meet them.
Where dismounting there to rest us,
A cry is raised, "The English!
They are coming to attack us."
So we hasten forth to meet them.
I looked upon their army,They are motionless and downcast;So, as honour would incline us,We desire with them to parley.
I looked upon their army,
They are motionless and downcast;
So, as honour would incline us,
We desire with them to parley.
But their leader, moved with anger,Gives the word to fire upon us;And imperiously repeats it,Rushing on to his destruction.
But their leader, moved with anger,
Gives the word to fire upon us;
And imperiously repeats it,
Rushing on to his destruction.
Having seen us pass his stronghold,He has thought to strike with terrorThe Bois Brûlés.—Ah! mistaken,Many of his soldiers perish.
Having seen us pass his stronghold,
He has thought to strike with terror
The Bois Brûlés.—Ah! mistaken,
Many of his soldiers perish.
But a few escaped the slaughter,Rushing from the field of battle;Oh, to see the English fleeing!Oh, the shouts of their pursuers!
But a few escaped the slaughter,
Rushing from the field of battle;
Oh, to see the English fleeing!
Oh, the shouts of their pursuers!
Who has sung this song of triumph?The good Pierre Falcon has composed it,That his praise of these Bois BrûlésMight be evermore recorded
Who has sung this song of triumph?
The good Pierre Falcon has composed it,
That his praise of these Bois Brûlés
Might be evermore recorded
LORD SELKIRK TO THE RESCUE.
The Earl in Montreal—Alarming news—Engages a body of Swiss—The De Meurons—Embark for the North-West—Kawtawabetay's story—Hears of Seven Oaks—Lake Superior—Lord Selkirk—A doughty Douglas—Seizes Fort William—Canoes upset and Nor'-Westers drowned—"A Banditti"—The Earl's blunder—A winter march—Fort Douglas recaptured—His Lordship soothes the settlers—An Indian Treaty—"The Silver Chief"—The Earl's note-book.
Thesad story of the beleaguered and excited colonists reached the ears of Lord Selkirk through his agents. The trouble threatening his settlers determined the energetic founder to visit Canada for himself, and, if possible, the infant colony. Accordingly, late in the year 1815, in company with his family—consisting of the Countess, his son, and two daughters—he reached Montreal. The news of the first dispersion of the colonists, their flight to Norway House, and the further threatenings of the Bois Brûlés, arrived about the time of their coming to New York. Lord Selkirk hastened on to Montreal, but it was too late in the season, being about the end of October, to penetrate to the interior.
He must winter in Montreal. He was here in the very midst of the enemy. With energy, characteristic of the man, he brought the matter of protection of his colony urgently before the Government of Lower Canada. In a British colony surely the rights of property of a British subject would be protected, and surely the safety of hundreds of loyal people could not be trifled with. As we shall see in a later chapter, the high-minded nobleman counted without his host; he had but to live a few years in the New World of that day to find how skilfully the forms of law can be adapted to carry out illegal objects and shield law-breakers.
As early as February of that year (1815), dreading the threatenings even then made by the North-West Company, he had represented to Lord Bathurst, the British Secretary of State, the urgent necessity of an armed force, not necessarily very numerous, being sent to the Red River settlement to maintain order in the colony. Now, after the outrageous proceedings of the summer of 1815 and the arrival of the dreary intelligence from Red River, Lord Selkirk again brings the matter before the authorities, this time before Sir Gordon Drummond, Governor of Lower Canada, and encloses a full account of the facts as to the expulsion of the settlers from their homes, and of the many acts of violence perpetrated at Red River.
Nothing being gained in this way, his Lordship determined to undertake an expedition himself, as soon as it could be organized, and carry assistance to his persecuted people, who, he knew, had been gathered together by Colin Robertson, and to whom he had sent as Governor, Mr. Semple, in whom he reposed great confidence. We have seen that during the winter of 1815-16, peace and a certain degree of confidence prevailed among the settlers, more than half of whom were spending their first winter in the country. Fort Douglas was regarded as strong enough to resist a considerable attack, and the presence of Governor Semple, a military officer, was thought a guarantee for the protection of the people. During the winter, however, Lord Selkirk learned enough to assure him that the danger was not over—that, indeed, a more determined attack than ever would be made as soon as the next season should open. He had been sworn in as a Justice of the Peace in Upper Canada and for the Indian territories; he had obtained for his personal protection from the Governor the promise of a sergeant and six men of the British army stationed in Canada, but this was not sufficient.
He undertook a plan of placing upon his own land in the colony a number of persons as settlers who could be called upon in case of emergency, as had been the intention in the case of the Highland colonists, to whom muskets had been furnished. The close of the Napoleonic wars had left a large number of the soldiers engaged in these wars out of employment, the British Government having been compelled to reduce the size of the army. During the Napoleonic wars a number of soldiers of adventure from Switzerland and Italy, captured by Britain in Spain, entered her service and were useful troops. Two of these regiments, one named "De Meuron," and the other "Watteville," had been sent to Canada to assist in the war against the United States. This war being now over also, orders came to Sir Gordon Drummond to disband the two regiments in May, 1815. The former of the regiments was at the time stationed at Montreal, the latter at Kingston.
From these bodies of men Lord Selkirk undertook to provide his colony with settlers willing to defend it. The enemies of Lord Selkirk have been very free in their expression of opinion as to the worthlessness of these soldiers and their unfitness as settlers. It is worthy of notice, however, that the Nor'-Westers did not scruple to use Messrs. Missani and Brumby, as well as Reinhard and Huerter of the same corps, to carry out their own purposes. The following order, given by Sir John Coape Sherbrooke, effectually disposes of such a calumny:—
Quebec, July 26th, 1816.
"In parting with the regiments 'De Meuron' and 'Watteville,' both of which corps his Excellency has had the good fortune of having under his command in other parts of the world, Sir John Sherbrooke desires Lieutenant-Colonel De Meuron and Lieutenant-Colonel May, and the officers and men of these corps will accept his congratulations on having, by their conduct in the Canadas, maintained the reputation which they have deservedly acquired by their former services. His Excellency can have no hesitation in saying that his Majesty's service in these provinces has derived important advantages during the late war from the steadiness, discipline, and efficiency of these corps.
"J. HARVEY, Lieutenant-Colonel, D.A.G."
Testimony to the same effect is given by the officer in command of the garrison of Malta, on their leaving that island to come to Canada.
These men afforded the material for Lord Selkirk's purpose, viz. to till the soil and protect the colony. Like a wise man, however, he made character the ground of engagement in the case of all whom he took. To those who came to terms with him he agreed to give a sufficient portion of land, agricultural implements, and as wages for working the boats on the voyage eight dollars a month. It was further agreed that should any choose to leave Red River on reaching it, they should be taken back by his Lordship free of expense.
Early in June, 1816, four officers and about eighty men of the "De Meurons" left Montreal in Lord Selkirk's employ and proceeded westward to Kingston. Here twenty more of the "Watteville" regiment joined their company. Thence the expedition, made up by the addition of one hundred and thirty canoe-men, pushed on to York (Toronto), and from York northward to Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay.
Across this Bay and Lake Huron they passed rapidly on to Sault Ste. Marie, Lord Selkirk leaving the expedition before reaching that place to go to Drummond's Isle, which was the last British garrison in Upper Canada, and at which point he was to receive the sergeant and six men granted for his personal protection by the Governor of Canada. At Drummond's Island a council was held with Kawtawabetay, an Ojibway chief, by the Indian Department, Lieut.-Colonel Maule, of the 104th Regiment, presiding. Kawtawabetay there informed the council that in the spring of 1815 two North-West traders, McKenzie and Morrison, told him that they would give him and his people all the goods or merchandise and rum that they had at Fort William, Leach Lake, and Sand Lake, if he, the said Kawtawabetay, and his people would make and declare war against the settlers in Red River. On being asked by the chief whether this was at the request of the "great chiefs" at Montreal or Quebec, McKenzie and Morrison said it was solely from the North-West Company's agents, who wished the settlement destroyed, as it was an annoyance to them. The chief further stated that the last spring (1816), whilst at Fond Du Lac Superior, a Nor'-Wester agent (Grant) offered him two kegs of rum and two carrots of tobacco if he would send some of his young men in search ofcertain persons employed in taking despatches to the Red River, pillage these bearers of despatches of the letters and papers, and kill them should they make any resistance. The chief stated he had refused to have anything to do with these offers. On being asked in the council by Lord Selkirk, who was present, as to the feelings of the Indians towards the settlers at Red River, he said that at the commencement of the Red River settlement some of the Indians did not like it, but at present they are all glad of its being settled.
Lord Selkirk soon hastened on and overtook his expedition at Sault Ste. Marie, now consisting of two hundred and fifty men all told, and these being maintained at his private expense. They immediately proceeded westward, intending to go to the extreme point of Lake Superior, near where the town of Duluth now stands, and where the name Fond du Lac is still retained. The expedition would then have gone north-westward through what is now Minnesota to Red Lake, from which point a descent could have been made by boat, through Red Lake River and Red River to the very settlement itself. This route would have avoided the Nor'-Westers altogether.
Westward bound, the party had little more than left Sault Ste. Marie, during the last week of July, when they were met on Lake Superior by two canoes, in one of which was Miles Macdonell, former Governor of Red River, who brought the sad intelligence of the second destruction of the colony and of the murder of Governor Semple and his attendants. His Lordship was thrown into the deepest despair. The thought of his Governor killed, wholesale murder committed, the poor settlers led by him from the Highland homes, where life at least was safe, to endure such fear and privation, was indeed a sore trial. To any one less moved by the spirit of philanthropy, it must have been a serious disappointment, but to one feeling so thorough a sympathy for the suffering and who was himself the very soul of honour, it was a crushing blow.
He resolved to change his course and to go to Fort William, the headquarters of the Nor'-Westers. He now determined to act in his office as magistrate, and sought to induce two gentlemen of Sault Ste. Marie, Messrs. Ermatinger and Askin, both magistrates, to accompany him in that capacity. Theywere unable to go. Compelled to proceed alone, he writes from Sault Ste. Marie, on July 29th, to Sir John Sherbrooke, and after speaking of his failure to induce the two gentlemen mentioned by him to go, says, "I am therefore reduced to the alternative of acting alone, or of allowing an audacious crime to pass unpunished. In these circumstances I cannot doubt that it is my duty to act, though I am not without apprehension that the law may be openly resisted by a set of people who have been accustomed to consider force as the only true criterion of right."
One would have said, on looking at the matter dispassionately, that the Governor-General, with a military force so far west as Drummond Isle in Georgian Bay, would have taken immediate steps to bring to justice the offenders.
Governor Sherbrooke seems to have felt himself powerless, for he says in a despatch to Lord Bathurst, "I beg leave to call your Lordship's serious attention to the forcible and, I fear, too just description given by the Earl of Selkirk of the state of the Red River territory. I leave to your Lordship to judge whether a banditti such as he describes will yield to the influence, or be intimidated by the menaces of distant authority." It may be well afterwards to contrast this statement of the Governor's with subsequent despatches. It must not be forgotten that while "the banditti" was pursuing its course of violence in the far-off territory, and, as has been stated, thoroughly under the direction and encouragement of the North-West Company partners, the leading members of this Company, who held, many of them, high places in society and in the Government in Montreal, were posing as the lovers of peace and order, and were lamenting over the excesses of the Indians and Bois Brûlés. By this course they were enabled to thwart any really effective measures towards restoring peace at the far-away "seat of war."
The action of the North-West Company may be judged from the following extracts from a letter of the Hon. John Richardson, one of the partners, and likewise a member of the executive council of Lower Canada, addressed to Governor Sherbrooke. He says on August 17th, 1816: "It is with much concern that I have to mention that blood has beenshed at the Red River to an extent greatly to be deplored; but it is consolatory to those interested in the North-West Company to find that none of their traders or people were concerned, or at the time within a hundred miles of the scene of contest." What a commentary on such a statement are the stories of Pambrun and Huerter, given in a previous chapter! What a cold-blooded statement after all the plottings and schemes of the whole winter before the attack! What a heartless falsehood as regards the Indians, who, under so great temptations, refused to be partners in so bloody an enterprise!
The resolution of Lord Selkirk to go to Fort William in the capacity of a magistrate was one involving, as he well knew, many perils. He was not, however, the man to shrink from a daring enterprise having once undertaken it.
To Fort William, then, with the prospect of meeting several hundreds of the desperate men of the North-West Company, Lord Selkirk made his way. So confident was he in the rectitude of his purpose and in the justice of his cause, that he pushed forward, and without the slightest hesitation encamped upon the Kaministiquia, on the south side of the river, in sight of Fort William. The expedition arrived on August 12th. A demand was at once made on the officers of the North-West Company for the release of a number of persons who had been captured at Red River after the destruction of the colony and been brought to Fort William. The Nor'-Westers denied having arrested these persons, and to give colour to this assertion immediately sent them over to Lord Selkirk's encampment.
On the 13th and following days of the month of August, the depositions of a number of persons were taken before his Lordship as a justice of the peace. The depositions related to the guilt of the several Nor'-Wester partners, their destroying the settlement, entering and removing property from Fort Douglas, and the like; and were made by Pambrun, Lavigne, Nolin, Blondeau, Brisbois, and others. It was made so clear to Lord Selkirk that the partners were guilty of inciting the attacks on the colony and of approving the outrages committed, that he determined to arrest a number of the leaders. This was done by regular process—by warrants served on Mr. McGillivray,Kenneth McKenzie, Simon Fraser, and others, but these prisoners were allowed to remain in Fort William.
In one case, that of a partner named John McDonald, resistance having been offered, the constables called for the aid of a party of the De Meurons, who had crossed over from the encampment with them in their boats. The leaving of the prisoners with their liberty in Fort William, however, gave the opportunity for conspiracy; and it was represented to Lord Selkirk that Fort William would be used for the purposes of resistance, and that the prisoners arrested would be released. The facts leading to this belief were that a canoe, laden with arms, had left the fort at night; that eight barrels of gunpowder had been secreted in a thicket, and that these had been taken from the magazine; while some forty stand of arms, fresh-loaded, had been found in a barn among some hay. These indications proved that an attempt was about to be made to resist the execution of the law, and accordingly the prisoners were placed in one building and closely guarded, while Lord Selkirk's encampment was removed across the river and pitched in front of the fort to prevent any surprise.
A further examination of the prisoners took place, and their criminality being so evident, they were sent to York, Upper Canada. Three canoes, well manned and containing the prisoners, left the fort on August 18th, under the charge of Lieutenant Fauche, one of the De Meuron officers. The journey down the lakes was marred by a most unfortunate accident. One of the canoes was upset some fifteen miles from Sault Ste. Marie. This was caused by the sudden rise in the wind. The affair was purely accidental, and there were drowned one of the prisoners, named McKenzie, a sergeant and a man of the De Meurons, and six Indians. The prisoners were taken to Montreal and admitted to bail. The course taken by Lord Selkirk at Fort William has been severely criticized, and became, indeed, the subject of subsequent legal proceedings. One of the Nor'-Wester apologists stated to Governor Sherbrooke "that the mode of proceeding under Lord Selkirk's orders resembled nothing British, and exceeded even the military despotism of the French in Holland."
No doubt it would have been better had Lord Selkirkobtained other magistrates to take part in the proceedings at Fort William, but we have seen he did try this and failed. Had it been possible to have had the arrests effected without the appearance of force made by the De Meurons, it would have been more agreeable to our ideas of ordinary legal proceedings; but it must be remembered he was dealing with those called by a high authority "a banditti." Could Fort William have been left in the hands of its possessors, it would have been better; but then there was clear evidence that the Nor'-Westers intended violence. To have left Fort William in their possession would have been suicidal. It would probably have been better that Lord Selkirk should not have stopped the canoes going into the interior with North-West merchandise, but to have allowed them to proceed was only to have assisted his enemies—the enemies, moreover, of law and order. Thousands of pounds' worth of his property stolen from Fort Douglas by the agents of the North-West Company, and the fullest evidence in the depositions made before him that this was in pursuance of a plan devised by the Company and deliberately carried out! Several hundreds of lawless voyageurs and unscrupulous partners ready to use violence in the wild region of Lake Superior, where, during fifty years preceding, they had committed numerous acts of bloodshed, and had never been called to account! The worrying reflection that homeless settlers and helpless women and children were crying, in some region then unknown to him, for his assistance, after their wanton dispersion by their enemies from their homes on the banks of Red River! All these things were sufficient to nerve to action one of far less generous impulses than Lord Selkirk.
Is it at all surprising that his Lordship did not act with all the calmness and scrupulous care of a judge on the bench, who, under favourable circumstances, feels himself strong in his consciousness of safety, supported by the myriad officers of the law, and surrounded by the insignia of Justice? The justification of his course, even if it be interpreted adversely, is, that in a state of violence, to preserve the person is a preliminary to the settlement of other questions of personal right. One thing at least is to Lord Selkirk's credit, that, as soon as possible, hehanded over the law-breakers to be dealt with by the Canadian Courts, where, however, unfortunately, another divinity presided than the blind goddess of Justice.
Let us now see where we are in our story. Lord Selkirk is at Fort William. The Nor'-Wester partners have been sent to the East. It is near the end of August, and the state of affairs at Fort William does not allow the founder to pass on to his colony for the winter. He is surrounded by his De Meuron settlers. During the months of autumn the expedition is engaged in laying in supplies for the approaching winter, and opening up roads toward the Red River country. The season was spent in the usual manner of the Lake Superior country, shut out from the rest of the world. The winter over, Lord Selkirk started on May 1st, 1817, for Red River, accompanied by his body-guard. The De Meurons had preceded him in the month of March, and, reaching the interior, restored order.
The colonizer arrived at his colony in the last week of June, and saw, for the first time, the land of his dreams for the preceding fifteen years. In order to restore peace, he endeavoured to carry out the terms of the proclamation issued by the Government of Canada, that all property taken during the troubles should be restored to its original owners. This restitution was made to a certain extent, though much that had been taken from Fort Douglas was never recovered. The settlers were brought back from their refuge at Norway House, and the settlement was again organized. The colonists long after related, with great satisfaction, how Lord Selkirk cheered them by his presence. After their return to their despoiled homesteads a gathering of the settlers took place, and a full consideration of all their affairs was had in their patron's presence.
This gathering was at the spot where the church and burying-ground of St. John's are now found. "Here," said his Lordship, pointing to lot number four, on which they stood, "here you shall build your church; and that lot," said he, pointing to lot number three across the little stream called Parsonage Creek, "is for the school." The people then reminded his Lordship that he had promised them a minister, who should follow them to their adopted country. This he atonce acknowledged, saying, "Selkirk never forfeited his word;" while he promised to give the matter attention as soon as practicable. In addition, Lord Selkirk gave a document stating that, "in consideration of the hardships which the settlers had suffered, in consequence of the lawless conduct of the North-West Company, his intention was to grant gratuitously the twenty-four lots which had been occupied to those of the settlers who had made improvements on their lands before they were driven away from them in the previous year."
Before the dispersion of this public gathering of the people, the founder gave the name, at the request of the colonists, to their settlement. The name given by him to this first parish in Rupert's Land was that of Kildonan, from their old home in the valley of Helmsdale, in Sutherlandshire, Scotland. In more fully organizing the colony, his Lordship ordered a complete survey to be made of the land, and steps to be taken towards laying out roads, building bridges, erecting mills, &c.
It will be remembered, as already stated, that at the inception of the colony scheme, in 1811, the Nor'-Westers had threatened the hostility of the Indians. It may be mentioned as a strange fact that, to this day, it is a trick of the Bois Brûlés, taking their cue from the Nor'-Westers, when making any demand, to threaten the Government with the wrath of the Indians, over whom they profess to exercise a control. We have already seen that the Nor'-Westers' boast as to their influence over the Indians was empty. In the publications of the Nor'-Westers of 1816-20 a speech is sometimes set forth of an Indian chief, "Grandes Oreilles," breathing forth threatenings against the infant settlement. It is worthy of notice that even this resource is swept away by the author of the speech, a Nor'-Wester trader, confessing that he had manufactured the speech and "Grandes Oreilles" had never spoken it.
Within three weeks of his arrival at Red River Lord Selkirk carried out his promise of making a treaty with the Indians. All the Indians were most willing to do this, as on many occasions during the troubles they had, by giving earlyinformation as to the movements of the Nor'-Westers, and by other means, shown their sympathy and feeling toward the settlers. The object of the treaty was simply to do what has since been done all over the north-west territories—to extinguish the Indian title. The treaty is signed alike by Ojibway, Cree, and Assiniboine chiefs, the last mentioned being a tribe generally considered to belong to the Sioux stock. Lord Selkirk afterwards made a treaty, on leaving the Red River, with the other Sioux nations inhabiting his territory. The chiefs were met at Red River by his Lordship, and those whose names are attached to the treaty are, giving their French names in some cases as shorter than the Indian, Le Sonent, Robe Noire, Peguis, L'Homme Noir, and Grandes Oreilles. His Lordship seems to have had a most conciliatory and attractive manner. It is worth while closing this chapter by giving extracts from the speeches of these Indian chiefs, taken down at the grand council at which Lord Selkirk smoked the pipe of peace with the assembled warriors.
Peguis, the Saulteaux chief, always the fast friend of the colonists, said, "When the English settlers first came here we received them with joy. It was not our fault if even the stumps of the brushwood were too rough for their feet; but misfortunes have since overtaken them. Evil-disposed men came here, calling themselves great chiefs, sent from our Great Father across the big lake, but we believe they were only traders, pretending to be great chiefs on purpose to deceive us. They misled the young men who are near us (a small party of Bois Brûlés encamped in the neighbourhood), and employed them to shed the blood of your children and to drive away the settlers from this river. We do not acknowledge these men as an independent tribe. They have sprung up here and there like mushrooms and we know them not.
"At the first arrival of the settlers we were frequently solicited by the North-West Company to frighten them away; but we were pleased to see that our Great Father had sent some of his white children to live among us, and we refused to do or say anything against them. The traders even demanded our calumets, and desired to commit our sentiments to paper, that they might send to our Great Father; but we refused toacknowledge the speeches which they wished to put into our mouths. We are informed that they have told a tale that it was the Indians who drove away and murdered the children of our Great Father, but it is a falsehood.
"As soon as I saw the mischief that happened I went to Lake Winnipeg with a few friends to wait for news from the English, but I could meet none. We have reasons to be friends of the colony. When there were only traders here we could not get a blanket, or a piece of cloth, without furs to give in exchange. Our country is now almost destitute of furs, so that we were often in want; from the people of the colony we get blankets and cloth for the meat we procure them. The country abounds with meat, which we can obtain, but to obtain furs is difficult."
Next, L'Homme Noir, a chief of the Assiniboines, who had come from a long distance, addressing Lord Selkirk, particularly declares, "we were often harassed with solicitations to assist the Bois Brûlés in what they have done against your children, but we always refused. We are sure you must have had much trouble to come here. We have often been told you were our enemy; but we have to-day the happiness to hear from your own mouth the words of a true friend. We receive the present you give us with great pleasure and thankfulness."
After this, Robe Noire, an Ojibway chief, spoke in like terms; when the veritable Grandes Oreilles, to whose spurious war speech we have already referred, said as follows:—
"I am happy to see here our own father. Clouds have overwhelmed me. I was a long time in doubt and difficulty, but now I begin to see clearly.
"We have reason to be happy this day. We know the dangers you must have encountered to come so far. The truth you have spoken pleases us. We thank you for the present you give us. There seems an end to our distress, and it is you who have relieved us.
"When our young men are drunk they are mad; they know not what they say or what they do; but this must not be attended to; they mean no harm."
Long after, Selkirk was remembered and beloved by these Indian tribes, who spoke of him as the "Silver Chief."
So much for the founder's work in his colony in 1817. His affairs urgently required attention elsewhere. In the language of a writer of the period, "having thus restored order, infused confidence in the people, and given a certain aid to their activity, Lord Selkirk took his final leave of the colony." With a guide and a few attendants he journeyed southward, passing through the country of the warlike Sioux, with whom he made peace.
The writer had at one time in his possession a note-book with, in Lord Selkirk's writing, an itinerary of his journey from Red River Colony, in which familiar names, such as Rivière Sale, Rivière Aux Gratias, Pembina, and the like, appear with their distances in leagues. Among other memoranda is one, "lost on the Prairie," and the distance in leagues estimated as lost by the misadventure. Every traveller over the Manitoba prairie will take a feeling interest in that entry.
Passing through the Mississippi country, he seems to have proceeded eastward to Washington; he next appears in Albany, and hastens back to Upper Canada, without even visiting his family in Montreal, though he had been absent from them for upwards of a year. In Upper Canada his presence was urgently needed to meet the artful machinations of his enemies.
THE BLUE-BOOK OF 1819 AND THE NORTH-WEST TRIALS.
British law disgraced—Governor Sherbrooke's distress—A Commission decided on—Few unbiassed Canadians—Colonel Coltman chosen—Over ice and snow—Alarming rumours—The Prince Regent's order—Coltman at Red River—The Earl submissive—The Commissioner's report admirable—The celebrated Reinhart case—Disturbing lawsuits—Justice perverted—A store-house of facts—Sympathy of Sir Walter Scott—Lord Selkirk's death—Tomb at Orthes, in France.
Thestate of things in Rupert's Land in 1816 was a disgrace to British institutions. That subjects of the realm, divided into two parties, should be virtually carrying on war against each other on British soil, was simply intolerable. Not only was force being used, but warrants were being issued and the forms of law employed on both sides to carry out the selfish ends of each party. An impartial historian cannot but say that both parties were chargeable with grievous wrong.
Sir John Coape Sherbrooke, Governor-General of Canada, felt very keenly the shameful situation, and yet the difficulties of transport and the remote distance of the interior where the conflict was taking place made interference almost impossible. He was in constant communication with Lord Bathurst, the Imperial Colonial Secretary.
Governor Sherbrooke's difficulties were, however, more than those of distance. The influence of the North-West Company in Canada was supreme, and public sentiment simply reflected the views of the traders. The plan of sending a commission to the interior to stop hostilities and examine the conflicting statements which were constantly coming to the Governor, seemed the most feasible; but with his sense of British fair-play, Governor Sherbrooke knew he could find no one suitable to recommend.
At last, driven to take some action, Sir John named Mr. W. B. Coltman, a merchant of Quebec and a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Militia, a man accustomed to Government matters, and one who bore a good reputation for fairness and justice. With this Commissioner, who did not enter on his task with much alacrity, was associated Major Fletcher, a man of good legal qualifications.
The Commissioners were instructed to proceed immediately to the North-West. They were invested with the power of magistrates, and were authorized to make a thorough investigation into the troubles which were disturbing the country. "You are particularly," say the instructions, "to apply yourselves to mediate between the contending parties in the aforesaid territories; to remove, as far as possible, all causes of dissension between them; to take all legal measures to prevent the recurrence of those violences which have already so unhappily disturbed the public peace; and generally to enforce and establish, within the territory where you shall be, the influence and authority of the laws."
Various accidents prevented the Commissioners from leaving for the Indian country as soon as had been expected. They did not reach York (Toronto) till November 23rd, and on their arriving on the shores of Lake Huron they found the lake frozen over and impassable. They could do nothing themselves other than return to York, but they succeeded in fitting out an expedition under North-Western auspices to find its way over the ice and snow to Fort William, carrying the revocation of all the commissions of magistrates west of Sault Ste. Marie and the news of the new appointments in their stead. Reports during the winter continued to be of a disquieting kind, and as the spring drew nigh, preparations were made for sending up the Commissioners with a small armed force.
The gravity of the situation may be judged from the steps taken by the Imperial Government and the instructions sent out by the authority of George, the Prince Regent, to Governor Sherbrooke to issue a proclamation in his name calling on all parties to desist from hostilities, and requiring all military officers or men employed by any of the parties to immediatelyretire from such service. All property, including forts or trading stations, was to be immediately restored to the rightful owners, and any impediment or blockade preventing transport to be at once removed.
It is worthy of note that the proclamation and instructions given had the desired effect. Coltman and his fellow Commissioner left in May for the field of their operations, accompanied by forty men of the 37th Regiment as a body-guard. On arriving at Sault Ste. Marie, Commissioner Coltman, after waiting two or three weeks, hastened on to Fort William, leaving Fletcher and the troops to follow him. On July 2nd he wrote from the mouth of the River Winnipeg, stating that his presence had no doubt tended to preserve peace in the North-West, and that in two days he would see Lord Selkirk in his own Fort Douglas at Red River.
Three days after the despatch of this letter, Commissioner Coltman arrived at Red River. He immediately grappled with the difficulties and met them with much success. The news of Lord Selkirk's actions had all arrived at Montreal through the North-West sources, so that both in Quebec and London a strong prejudice had sprung up against his Lordship. Colonel Coltman found, however, that Lord Selkirk had been much misrepresented. The illegal seizures he had made at Fort William were dictated only by prudence in dealing with what he considered a daring and treacherous enemy. He had submitted to the ordinance recalling magistrates' commissions immediately on receiving it. Colonel Coltman was so impressed with Lord Selkirk's reasonableness and good faith that he recommended that the legal charges made against him should not be proceeded with.
Colonel Coltman then started on his return journey, and wrote that he had stopped at the mouth of the Winnipeg River for the purpose of investigating the conspiracy, in which he states he fears the North-West Company had been implicated, to destroy the Selkirk settlement. The energetic Commissioner returned to Quebec in November of that year. Governor Sherbrooke had the satisfaction of reporting to Lord Bathurst the return of Mr. Coltman from his mission to the Indian territories, and "that the general result of his exertionshad been so far successful, that he had restored a degree of tranquillity there which promises to continue during the winter."
Colonel Coltman's report, of about one hundred folio pages, is an admirable one. His summary of the causes and events of the great struggle between the Companies is well arranged and clearly stated. The writer, in an earlier work, strongly took up Lord Selkirk's view of the case, and criticised Coltman. Subsequent investigations and calmer reflection have led him to the conclusion that while Lord Selkirk was in the right and exhibited a high and noble character, yet the provoking circumstances came from both directions, and Colonel Coltman's account seems fairly impartial.
The cessation of hostilities brought about by the influence of Colonel Coltman did not, however, bring a state of peace. The conflict was transferred to the Courts of Lower and Upper Canada, these having been given power some time before by the Imperial Parliament to deal with cases in the Indian territories.
Acause célèbrewas that of the trial of Charles Reinhart, an employé of the North-West Company, who had been a sergeant in the disbanded De Meuron Regiment. Having gone to the North-West, he was during the troubles given charge of a Hudson's Bay Company official named Owen Keveny, against whom it was urged that he had maltreated a servant of the North-West Company. In bringing Keveny down from Lake Winnipeg to Rat Portage, it was brought against Reinhart that at a place called the Falls of the River Winnipeg, he had brutally killed the prisoner under his charge. While Lord Selkirk was at Fort William, Reinhart arrived at that point and made a voluntary confession before his Lordship as a magistrate. This case was afterwards tried at Quebec and gave rise to an argument as to the jurisdiction of the Court, viz. whether the point where the murder occurred on the River Winnipeg was in Upper Canada, Lower Canada, or the Indian territories. Though Reinhart was found guilty, sentence was not carried out, probably on account of the uncertainty of jurisdiction. The Reinhart case became an important precedent in settling the boundary line of Upper Canada, and alsoin dealing with the troubles arising out of the Riel rebellion of 1869.
In the year after Colonel Coltman's return, numerous cases were referred to the Courts, all these arising out of the violence at Red River. Colonel Coltman had bound Lord Selkirk, though only accused of an offence amounting to a misdemeanour, in the large sum of 6,000l.and under two sureties of 3,000l.each—in all 12,000l.Mr. Gale, Lord Selkirk's legal adviser, called attention to the illegality of this proceeding, but all to no effect.
After Lord Selkirk had settled up his affairs with his colonists, he journeyed south from the Red River to St. Louis in the Western States, and then went eastward to Albany in New York, whence he appeared in Sandwich in Upper Canada, the circuit town where information had been laid. Here he found four accusations made against him by the North-West Company. These were: (1) Having stolen eighty-three muskets at Fort William; (2) Having riotously entered Fort William, August 13th; (3) Assault and false imprisonment of Deputy-Sheriff Smith; (4) Resistance to legal warrant.
On these matters being taken up, the first charge was so contradictory that the magistrates dismissed it; but the other three could not be dealt with on account of the absence of witnesses, and so bail was accepted from Lord Selkirk of 350l.for his appearance. When Lord Selkirk presented himself at Montreal to answer to the charges for which Colonel Coltman's heavy bail had bound him, the Court admitted it had no jurisdiction, but with singular high-handedness bound Lord Selkirk to appear in Upper Canada under the same bail.
In Montreal in May, 1818, an action was brought before Chief Justice Monk and Justice Bowen against Colin Robertson and four others, charging them with riotously destroying Fort Gibraltar, the Nor'-Wester fort. A number of witnesses were called, including Miles Macdonell, John Pritchard, Auguste Cadot, and others. A verdict of not guilty was rendered.
In September of the same year a charge was laid against Lord Selkirk and others of a conspiracy to ruin the trade of the North-West Company. This was before the celebrated Chief Justice Powell. The grand jury refused to give the ChiefJustice an answer in the case. The Court was summarily adjourned, and legislation was introduced at the next meeting of the Legislature of Upper Canada to remedy defects in the Act in order that the case might be tried. Afterward the cases were taken up in York, and Deputy-Sheriff Smith was given a verdict against Lord Selkirk for 500l., and McKenzie, a North-West partner, a verdict of 1,500l.for false imprisonment at Fort William. The general impression has always prevailed there that the whole procedure in these cases against Lord Selkirk was high-handed and unjust, though it is quite possible that Lord Selkirk had exceeded his powers in the troubled state of affairs at Fort William.
On his Lordship's side charges were also brought in October, 1818. In the full Court Chief Justice Powell and Justices Campbell and Boulter presided. The most notable of these cases was against Cuthbert Grant, Boucher, and sixteen others as either principals or accessories in the murder of Robert Semple on June 19th, 1816. A few days later, in the same month, a slightly different charge was brought against six of the North-West partners in connection with the murder of Governor Semple. Upwards of three hundred pages of evidence gave a minute and complete account of the affair of Seven Oaks and of the whole conflict as found in a volume of Canadian trials. In these two cases a verdict of not guilty was also rendered.
Two other trials, one by Lord Selkirk's party against Paul Brown for robbery of a blanket and a gun, and the other against John Cooper and Hugh Bannerman for stealing a cannon in a dwelling-house of Lord Selkirk, were also carried through, with in both cases a verdict of not guilty. The evidence in these cases was printed by both parties, with foot-notes, giving a colour to each side concerned of a more favourable kind.
So much for this most disheartening controversy. It would be idle to say that Lord Selkirk was faultless; but as we dispassionately read the accounts of the trials, and consider that while Lord Selkirk was friendless in Canada, the North-West Company had enormous influence, we cannot resist the conclusion that advantage was taken of his Lordship, and that justicewas not done. It is true that, in the majority of cases, the conclusion was reached that it was impossible to precisely place the blame on either side; but we cannot be surprised that Lord Selkirk, harassed and discouraged by the difficulties of his colony and his treatment in the courts of Upper Canada and Lower Canada, should write as he did in October, 1818, to the Duke of Richmond, the new Governor-General of Canada:—
"To contend alone and unsupported, not only against a powerful association of individuals, but also against all those whose official duty it should have been to arrest them in the prosecution of their crimes, was at the best an arduous task; and, however confident one might be of the intrinsic strength of his cause, it was impossible to feel a very sanguine expectation that this alone would be sufficient to bear him up against the swollen tide of corruption which threatened to overwhelm him. He knew that in persevering under existing circumstances he must necessarily submit to a heavy sacrifice of personal comfort, incur an expense of ruinous amount, and possibly render himself the object of harassing and relentless persecution."
Though Lord Selkirk crossed the Atlantic in 1818, yet the sounds of the judicial battle through which he had passed were still in his ears. In June his friend, Sir James Montgomery, brought the matter before the British House of Commons, moving for all the official papers in the case. The motion was carried, and the Blue Book containing this matter is a store-house where we may find the chief facts of this long and heart-breaking struggle recorded.
In June, 1818, we find in a copy of a letter in the possession of the writer, written by Sir Walter Scott, a reference to the very poor health of his Lordship. Worn out and heart-broken by his trials, Lord Selkirk did not rally, but in the course of a few months died at Pau, in the South of France, April, 1820. His Countess and daughters had accompanied him to Montreal on his Canadian visit, and they were now with him to soothe his dying hours and to see him laid to rest in the Protestant cemetery of Orthes.
Though he was engaged in a difficult undertaking in seeking so early in the century to establish a colony on the Red River,and though it has been common to represent him as being half a century before his time, yet we cannot resist the conclusion that he was an honourable, patriotic, and far-seeing man, and that the burden of right in this grand conflict was on his side.
MEN WHO PLAYED A PART.
The crisis reached—Consequences of Seven Oaks—The noble Earl—His generous spirit—His mistakes—Determined courage—Deserves the laurel crown—The first Governor—Macdonell's difficulties—His unwise step—A Captain in red—Cameron's adroitness—A wearisome imprisonment—Last governor of Fort Gibraltar—The Metis chief—Half-breed son of old Cuthbert—A daring hunter—Warden of the plains—Lord Selkirk's agent—A Red River patriarch—A faithful witness—The French bard—Western war songs—Pierriche Falcon.
Theskirmish of Seven Oaks was the most notable event that ever occurred on the prairies of Rupert's Land or in the limits of the fur country. It was the crisis which indicated the determination of the Company, whose years were numbered by a century and a half, to hold its own in a great contest, and of the pluck of a British nobleman to show the "perfervidum ingenium Scotorum," and unflinchingly to meet either in arms or legal conflict the fur-trading oligarchy of that time in Canada. It represented, too, the fierce courage and desperate resource of the traders of the great Canadian Company, who, we have seen, were called by Washington Irving "the lords of the lakes and forests."
It was also thedénouementwhich led the Old and the New Worlds' fur companies, despite the heat of passion and their warmth of sentiment, to make a peace which saved both from impending destruction.
It led, moreover, to the sealing up for half a century of Rupert's Land to all energetic projects and influx of population, and allowed Sir George Simpson to build up for the time being the empire of the buffalo, the beaver, and the fox, instead of developing a home of industry.
Crises such as this develop character and draw out the powers of men who would otherwise waste their sweetness onthe desert air. The shock of meeting of two such great bodies as the Hudson's Bay Company and the North-West Company enabled men to show courage, loyalty, honest indignation, decision of character, shrewdness, diplomatic skill, and great endurance. These are the elements of human character. It is ever worth while to examine the motives, features of action, and ends aimed at by men under the trying circumstances of such a conflict. At the risk of some repetition we give sketches of the lives of several of the leading persons concerned.
THE EARL OF SELKIRK.