THE SKIRMISH OF SEVEN OAKS.
Leader of the Bois Brûlés--A candid letter--Account of a
prisoner--"Yellow Head"--Speech to the Indians--The chief knows
nothing--On fleet Indian ponies--An eye-witness in Fort Douglas--A
rash Governor--The massacre--"For God's sake save my life"--The
Governor and twenty others slain--Colonists driven out--Eastern
levy meets the settlers--Effects seized--Wild revelry--Chanson of
Pierre Falcon.
The troubles between the Hudson's Bay and North-West Companies were
evidently coming to a crisis. The Nor'-Westers laid their plans with
skill, and determined to send one expedition from Fort William westward
and another from Qu'Appelle eastward, and so crush out the opposition at
Red River.
From the west the expedition was under Cuthbert Grant, and he, appealing
to his fellow Metis, raised the standard of the Bois Brûlés and called
his followers the "New Nation." Early in March the Bois Brûlés' leader
wrote to Trader J. D. Cameron, detailing his plans and expectations.
We quote from his letter: "I am now safe and sound, thank God, for I
believe that it is more than Colin Robertson, or any of his suite, dare
offer the least insult to any of the Bois Brûlés, although Robertson
made use of some expressions which I hope he will swallow in the spring.
He shall see that it is neither fifteen, thirty, nor fifty of his best
horsemen that can make the Bois Brûlés bow to him. Our people at Fort
Des Prairies and English River are all to be here in the spring. It is
hoped that we shall come off with flying colours, and _never to see any
of them again in the colonizing way in Red River_.... We are to remain
at the Forks to pass the summer, for fear they should play us the same
trick as last summer of coming back; but they shall receive a warm
reception."
The details of this western expedition are well given by Lieutenant
Pierre Chrysologue Pambrun, an officer of the Canadian Voltigeurs, a
regiment which had distinguished itself in the late war against the
United States. Pambrun had entered the service of the Hudson's Bay
Company as a trader, and been sent to the Qu'Appelle district. Having
gone west to Qu'Appelle, he left that western post with five boat loads
of pemmican and furs to descend the Assiniboine River to the Forks.
Early in May, near the Grand Rapids, Pambrun and his party touched the
shore of the river, when they were immediately surrounded by a party
of Bois Brûlés and their boats and cargoes were all seized by their
assailants. The pemmican was landed and the boats taken across the
river. The unfortunate Pambrun was for five days kept in durance vile by
Cuthbert Grant and Peter Pangman, who headed the attacking party, and
the prisoner was carried back to Qu'Appelle.
While Pambrun was here as prisoner, he was frequently told by Cuthbert
Grant that the half-breeds were intending in the summer to destroy the
Red River settlements; their leader often reminded the Bois Brûlés
of this, and they frequently sang their war songs to waken ardour
for the expeditions. Captors and prisoner shortly afterward left the
western fort and went down the river to Grand Rapids. Here the captured
pemmican was re-embarked and the journey was resumed. Near the forks
of the Qu'Appelle River a band of Indians was encamped. The Indians
were summoned to meet Commander Macdonell, who spoke to them in French,
though Pangman interpreted.
"MY FRIENDS AND RELATIONS,--I address you bashfully, for I have not
a pipe of tobacco to give you. All our goods have been taken by the
English, but we are now upon a party to drive them away. Those people
have been spoiling the fair lands which belonged to you and the Bois
Brûlés, and to which they have no right. They have been driving away the
buffalo. You will soon be poor and miserable if the English stay. But we
will drive them away if the Indians do not, for the North-West Company
and the Bois Brûlés are one. If you (speaking to the chief) and some of
your young men will join I shall be glad."
The chief responded coldly and gave no assistance.
Next morning the Indians departed, and the party proceeded on their
journey. Pambrun was at first left behind, but in the evening was given
a spare horse and overtook Grant's cavalcade at the North-West Fort near
Brandon House. At the North-West Fort Pambrun saw tobacco, carpenters'
tools, a quantity of furs, and other things which had been seized in the
Hudson's Bay Fort, Brandon House, and been brought over as booty to the
Nor'-Westers.
Resuming their journey the traders kept to their boats down the
Assiniboine, while the Bois Brûlés went chiefly on horseback until they
reached Portage La Prairie. Sixty miles had yet to be traversed before
the Forks were reached. The Bois Brûlés now prepared their mounted
force. Cuthbert Grant was Commander. Dressed in the picturesque garb of
the country, the Metis now arrived with guns, pistols, lances, bows,
and arrows. Pambrun remained behind with Alexander Macdonell, but was
clearly led to believe that the mounted force would enter Fort Douglas
and destroy the settlement. On their fleet Indian ponies these children
of the prairie soon made their journey from Portage La Prairie to the
Selkirk settlement.
We are indebted to the facile narrator, John Pritchard, for an account
of their arrival and their attack. He states that in June, 1816, he was
living at Red River, and quite looked for an attack from the western
levy just described. Watch was constantly kept from the guérite of Fort
Douglas for the approaching foe. The half-breeds turned aside from the
Assiniboine some four miles up the River to a point a couple of miles
below Fort Douglas. Governor Semple and his attendants followed them
with the glass in their route across the plain. The Governor and about
twenty others sallied out to meet the western party. On his way out he
sent back for a piece of cannon, which was in the fort, to be brought.
Soon after this the half-breeds approached Governor Semple's party in
the form of a half moon. The Highland settlers had betaken themselves
for protection to Fort Douglas, and in their Gaelic tongue made sad
complaint.
A daring fellow named Boucher then came out of the ranks of his party,
and, on horseback, approached Semple and his body-guard. He gesticulated
wildly, and called out in broken English, "What do you want? What do you
want?" Governor Semple answered, "What do _you_ want?" To this Boucher
replied, "We want our fort." The Governor said, "Well, go to your fort."
Nothing more was said, but Governor Semple was seen to put his hand on
Boucher's gun. At this juncture a shot was fired from some part of the
line, and the firing became general. Many of the witnesses who saw the
affair affirmed that the shot first fired was from the Bois Brûlés' line.
The attacking party were most deadly in their fire. Semple and his
staff, as well as others of his party, fell to the number of twenty-two.
The affair was most disastrous.
Pritchard says:--
"I did not see the Governor fall, though I saw his corpse the next day
at the fort. When I saw Captain Rogers fall I expected to share his
fate. As there was a French Canadian among those who surrounded me,
and who had just made an end of my friend, I said, 'Lavigne, you are
a Frenchman, you are a man, you are a Christian. For God's sake save
my life; for God's sake try and save it. I give myself up; I am your
prisoner.'"
To the appeals of Pritchard Lavigne responded, and, placing himself
before his friend, defended him from the infuriated half-breeds, who
would have taken his life. One Primeau wished to shoot Pritchard,
saying that the Englishman had formerly killed his brother. At length
they decided to spare Pritchard's life, though they called him a _petit
chien_, told him he had not long to live, and would be overtaken on
their return. It transpired that Governor Semple was not killed by the
first shot that disabled him, but had his thigh-bone broken. A kind
French Canadian undertook to care for the Governor, but in the fury of
the fight an Indian, who was the greatest rascal in the company, shot
the wounded man in the breast, and thus killed him instantly.
The Bois Brûlés, indeed, many of them, were disguised as Indians, and,
painted as for the war dance, gave the war whoop, and made a hideous
noise and shouting. When their victory was won they declared that their
purpose was to weaken the colony and put an end to the Hudson's Bay
Company opposition. Cuthbert Grant then proceeded to complete his work.
He declared to Pritchard that "if Fort Douglas were not immediately
given up with all the public property, instantly and without resistance,
man, woman, and child would be put to death. He stated that the attack
would be made upon it the same night, and if a single shot were fired,
that would be the signal for the indiscriminate destruction of every
soul."
This declaration of Cromwellian policy was very alarming. Pritchard
believed it meant the killing of all the women and children. He
remonstrated with the prairie leader, reminding him that the colonists
were his father's relatives. Somewhat softened by this appeal, Grant
consented to spare the lives of the settlers if all the arms and public
property were given up and the colony deserted. An inventory of property
was accordingly taken, and in the evening of the third day after the
battle, the mournful company, for a second time, like Acadian refugees,
left behind them homes and firesides and went into exile.
The joyful news was sent west by the victorious Metis. Pambrun at
Portage La Prairie received news from a messenger who had hastened away
to report to Macdonell the result of the attack. Hearing the account
given by the courier, the trader was full of glee. He announced in
French to the people who were anxiously awaiting the news, "Sacré nom
de Dieu, bonnes nouvelles, vingt-deux Anglais de tués." Those present,
especially Lamarre, Macdonell, and Sieveright, gave vent to their
feelings boisterously.
Many of the party mounted their Indian ponies and hastened to the place
of conflict; others went by water down the Assiniboine. The commander
sent word ahead that the colonists were to be detained till his arrival.
Pambrun, being taken part of the way by water, was delayed, and so was
too late in arriving to see the colonists. Cuthbert Grant and nearly
fifty of the assailing party were in the fort.
Pambrun, having obtained permission to visit Seven Oaks, the scene of
the conflict, was greatly distressed by the sight. The uncovered limbs
of many of the dead were above ground, and the bodies were in a mangled
condition. This unfortunate affair for many a day cast a reproach upon
the Nor'-Westers, although the prevailing opinion was that Grant was a
brave man and conducted himself well in the engagement.
[Illustration: 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 the Metis
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 vérité?
Le dix-neuf de Juin les Bois Brûlés sont arrivés
Comme des braves guerriers,
Sont arrivés à la grenouillère.
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."
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 tuer
Quantité de ses grenadiers.
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 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 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!
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.