RED RIVER AND PEMBINA
Scarcely had the settlers taken stock of their surroundings on the Red
River when they were chilled to the marrow with a sudden terror.
Towards them came racing on horseback a formidable-looking troop,
decked out in all the accoutrements of the Indian--spreading feather,
dangling tomahawk, and a thick coat of war-paint. To the newcomers it
was a never-to-be-forgotten spectacle. But when the riders came within
close range, shouting and gesticulating, it was seen that they wore
borrowed apparel, and that their speech was a medley of French and
Indian dialects. They were a troop of Bois Brules, Metis, or
half-breeds of French and Indian blood, aping for the time the manners
of their mothers' people. Their object was to tell Lord Selkirk's
party that settlers were not wanted on the Red River; that it was the
country of the fur traders, and that settlers must go farther afield.
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This was surely an inhospitable reception, after a long and fatiguing
journey. Plainly the Nor'westers were at it again, trying now to
frighten the colonists away, as they had tried before to keep them from
coming. These mounted half-breeds were a deputation from Fort
Gibraltar, the Nor'westers' nearest trading-post, which stood two miles
higher up at 'the Forks,' where the Red River is joined by the
Assiniboine.
Nevertheless, Governor Macdonell, having planned as dignified a
ceremony as the circumstances would allow, sent to the Nor'westers at
Fort Gibraltar an invitation to be present at the official inauguration
of Lord Selkirk's colony. At the appointed hour, on September 4,
several traders from the fort, together with a few French Canadians and
Indians, put in an appearance. In the presence of this odd company
Governor Macdonell read the Earl of Selkirk's patent to Assiniboia.
About him was drawn up a guard of honour, and overhead the British
ensign fluttered in the breeze. Six small swivel-guns, which had been
brought with the colonists, belched forth a salute to mark the
occasion. The Nor'westers were visibly impressed by this show of
authority and power. In pretended friendship they {56} entered
Governor Macdonell's tent and accepted his hospitality before
departing. At variance with the scowls of trapper and trader towards
the settlers was the attitude of the full-blooded Indians who were
camping along the Red River. From the outset these red-skins were
friendly, and their conduct was soon to stand the settlers in good
stead.
The provisions brought from Hudson Bay were fast diminishing and would
soon be at an end. True, the Nor'westers offered for sale supplies of
oats, barley, poultry, and the like, but their prices were high and the
settlers had not the means of purchase. But there was other food.
Myriads of buffalo roamed over the Great Plains. Herds of these
animals often darkened the horizon like a slowly moving cloud. In
summer they might be seen cropping the prairie grass, or plunging and
rolling about in muddy 'wallows.' In winter they moved to higher
levels, where lay less snow to be removed from the dried grass which
they devoured. At that season those who needed to hunt the buffalo for
food must follow them wherever they went. This was now the plight of
the settlers: winter was coming on and food was already scarce. The
settlers must seek out the winter haunts of the buffalo. {57} The
Indians were of great service, for they offered to act as guides.
A party to hunt the buffalo was organized. Like a train of pilgrims,
the majority of the colonists now set out afoot. Their dark-skinned
escort, mounted on wiry ponies, bent their course in a southerly
direction. The redskins eyed with amusement the queer-clad strangers
whom they were guiding. These were ignorant of the ways of the wild
prairie country and badly equipped to face its difficulties. Sometimes
the Indians indulged in horse-play, and a few of them were unable to
keep their hands off the settlers' possessions. One Highlander lost an
ancient musket which he treasured. A wedding ring was taken by an
Indian guide from the hand of one of the women. Five days of
straggling march brought the party to a wide plateau where the Indians
said that the buffalo were accustomed to pasture. Here the party
halted, at the junction of the Red and Pembina rivers, and awaited the
arrival of Captain Macdonell, who came up next day on horseback with
three others of his party.
Temporary tents and cabins were erected, and steps were taken to
provide more commodious shelters. But this second winter {58}
threatened to be almost as uncomfortable as the first had been on
Hudson Bay. Captain Macdonell selected a suitable place south of the
Pembina river, and on this site a storehouse and other buildings were
put up. The end of the year saw a neat little encampment, surrounded
by palisades, where before had been nothing but unbroken prairie. As a
finishing touch, a flagstaff was raised within the stockade, and in
honour of one of Lord Selkirk's titles the name Fort Daer was given to
the whole. In the meantime a body of seventeen Irishmen, led by Owen
Keveny, had arrived from the old country, having accomplished the feat
of making their way across the ocean to Hudson Bay and up to the
settlement during the single season of 1812. This additional force was
housed at once in Fort Daer along with the rest. Until spring opened,
buffalo meat was to be had in plenty, the Indians bringing in
quantities of it for a slight reward. So unconscious were the buffalo
of danger that they came up to the very palisades, giving the settlers
an excellent view of their drab-brown backs and fluffy, curling manes.
[Illustration: Hunting the Buffalo. From a painting by George Catlin.]
On the departure of the herds in the springtime there was no reason why
the colonists {59} should remain any longer at Fort Daer. Accordingly
the entire band plodded wearily back to the ground which they had
vacated above 'the Forks' on the Red River. As the season of 1813
advanced, more solid structures were erected on this site, and the
place became known as Colony Gardens. An attempt was now made to
prepare the soil and to sow some seed, but it was a difficult task, as
the only agricultural implement possessed by the settlers was the hoe.
They next turned to the river in search of food, only to find it almost
empty of fish. Even the bushes, upon which clusters of wild berries
ought to have been found, were practically devoid of fruit. Nature
seemed to have veiled her countenance from the hapless settlers, and to
be mocking their most steadfast efforts. In their dire need they were
driven to use weeds for food. An indigenous plant called the prairie
apple grew in abundance, and the leaves of a species of the goosefoot
family were found to be nourishing.
With the coming of autumn 1813 the experiences of the previous year
were repeated. Once more they went over the dreary road to Fort Daer.
Then followed the most cruel winter that the settlers had yet endured.
The {60} snow fell thickly and lay in heavy drifts, and the buffalo
with animal foresight had wandered to other fields. The Nor'westers
sold the colonists a few provisions, but were egging on their allies,
the Bois Brules, who occupied a small post in the vicinity of the
Pembina, to annoy them whenever possible. It required courage of the
highest order on the part of the colonists to battle through the
winter. They were in extreme poverty, and in many cases their
frost-bitten, starved bodies were wrapped only in rags before spring
came. Those who still had their plaids, or other presentable garments,
were prepared to part with them for a morsel of food. With the coming
of spring once more, the party travelled northward to 'the Forks' of
the Red River, resolved never again to set foot within the gates of
Fort Daer.
Meanwhile, some news of the desperate state of affairs on the Red River
had reached the Earl of Selkirk in Scotland. So many were the
discouragements that one might forgive him if at this juncture he had
flung his colonizing scheme to the winds as a lost venture. The lord
of St Mary's Isle did not, however, abandon hope; he was a persistent
man and not easily turned aside from his {61} purpose. Now he went in
person to the straths and glens of Sutherlandshire to recruit more
settlers. For several years the crofters in this section of the
Highlands had been ejected in ruthless fashion from their holdings.
Those who aimed to 'quench the smoke of cottage fires' had sent a
regiment of soldiers into this shire to cow the Highlanders into
submission. Lord Selkirk came at a critical moment and extended a
helping hand to the outcasts. A large company agreed to join the
colony of Assiniboia, and under Selkirk's own superintendence they were
equipped for the journey. As the sad-eyed exiles were about to leave
the port of Helmsdale, the earl passed among them, dispensing words of
comfort and of cheer.
This contingent numbered ninety-seven persons. The vessel carrying
them from Helmsdale reached the _Prince of Wales_ of the Hudson's Bay
Company, on which they embarked, at Stromness in the Orkneys. The
parish of Kildonan, in Sutherlandshire, had the largest representation
among these emigrants. Names commonly met with on the ship's register
were Gunn, Matheson, MacBeth, Sutherland, and Bannerman.
After the _Prince of Wales_ had put to sea, {62} fever broke out on
board, and the contagion quickly spread among the passengers. Many of
them died. They had escaped from beggary on shore only to perish at
sea and to be consigned to a watery grave. The vessel reached Hudson
Bay in good time, but for some unknown reason the captain put into
Churchill, over a hundred miles north of York Factory. This meant that
the newcomers must camp on the Churchill for the winter; there was
nothing else to be done. Fortunately partridge were numerous in the
neighbourhood of their encampment, and, as the uneventful months
dragged by, the settlers had an unstinted supply of fresh food. In
April 1814 forty-one members of the party, about half of whom were
women, undertook to walk over the snow to York Factory. The men drew
the sledges on which their provisions were loaded and went in advance,
clearing the way for the women. In the midst of the company strode a
solemn-visaged piper. At one moment, as a dirge wailed forth, the
spirits of the people drooped and they felt themselves beaten and
forsaken. But anon the music changed. Up through the scrubby pine and
over the mantle of snow rang the skirl of the undefeated; and as they
heard the gathering song of Bonnie Dundee {63} or the summons to fight
for Royal Charlie, they pressed forward with unfaltering steps.
This advance party came to York Factory, and, continuing the journey,
reached Colony Gardens without misadventure early in the summer. They
were better husbandmen than their predecessors, and they quickly
addressed themselves to the cultivation of the soil. Thirty or forty
bushels of potatoes were planted in the black loam of the prairie.
These yielded a substantial increase. The thrifty Sutherlanders might
have saved the tottering colony, had not Governor Macdonell committed
an act which, however legally right, was nothing less than foolhardy in
the circumstances, and which brought disaster in its train.
In his administration of the affairs of the colony Macdonell had shown
good executive ability and a willingness to endure every trial that his
followers endured. Towards the Nor'westers, however, he was inclined
to be stubborn and arrogant. He was convinced that he must adopt
stringent measures against them. He determined to assert his authority
as governor of the colony under Lord Selkirk's patent. Undoubtedly
Macdonell had reason to be indignant at the {64} unfriendly attitude of
the fur traders; yet, so far, this had merely taken the form of petty
annoyance, and might have been met by good nature and diplomacy.
[Illustration: Plan of Red River Colony]
In January 1814 Governor Macdonell issued a proclamation pronouncing it
unlawful for any person who dealt in furs to remove from the colony of
Assiniboia supplies of flesh, fish, grain, or vegetable. Punishment
would be meted out to those who offended against this official order.
The aim of Macdonell was to keep a supply of food in the colony for the
support of the new settlers. He was, however, offering a challenge to
the fur traders, for his policy meant in effect that these had no right
in Assiniboia, that it was to be kept for the use of settlers alone.
Such a mandate could not fail to rouse intense hostility among the
traders, whose doctrine was the very opposite. The Nor'westers were
quick to seize the occasion to strike at the struggling colony.
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