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A JOURNAL.
PRINTED BY L. B. SEELEY,
WESTON GREEN, THAMES DITTON.
THE SUBSTANCE OF A JOURNAL
DURING A RESIDENCE AT THE RED RIVER COLONY,
British North America;
AND FREQUENT EXCURSIONS AMONG THE NORTH-WEST AMERICAN INDIANS,
IN THE YEARS 1820, 1821, 1822, 1823.
By
JOHN WEST, M. A.
LATE CHAPLAIN TO THE HON. THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.
PRINTED FOR L. B. SEELEY AND SON,
FLEET STREET, LONDON.
MDCCCXXIV.
TO THE
REV. HENRY BUDD, M. A.
CHAPLAIN TO BRIDEWELL HOSPITAL, MINISTER OF BRIDEWELL PRECINCT,
AND RECTOR OF WHITE ROOTHING, ESSEX,
AS A TESTIMONY
OF GRATITUDE FOR HIS KINDNESS AND FRIENDSHIP,
AND OF HIGH ESTEEM FOR HIS UNWEARIED EXERTIONS IN EVERY
CAUSE OF BENEVOLENCE AND ENLIGHTENED ENDEAVOUR
TO PROMOTE THE BEST INTERESTS OF MAN,
THE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
BY THE AUTHOR.
Transcriber's Notes:
Variant spellings have been retained.
The Errata have been moved to the beginning of the text.
To improve readability, dashes between entries in the Table of Contents
and in chapter subheadings have been converted to periods.
ERRATA.
Page 1, line 7, _for_ Salteaux, _read_ Saulteaux.
21, line 6, _for_ 1820, _read_ 1817.
36, line 2 from bottom, _for_ spiritous, _read_ spirituous.
57, line 24, _for_ forty, _read_ sixty.
70, bottom of the page, _for_ Heritics, _read_ Heretics.
131, line 24, _for_ Loom, _read_ Loon.
156, line 3, _for_ a, _read_ no.
180, line 3, _for_ intrepedity, _read_ intrepidity.
204, line 19, _for_ intention it, _read_ intention of it.
PREFACE.
We live in a day when the most distant parts of the earth are opening
as the sphere of Missionary labours. The state of the heathen world is
becoming better known, and the sympathy of British Christians has been
awakened, in zealous endeavours to evangelize and soothe its sorrows.
In these encouraging signs of the times, the Author is induced to give
the following pages to the public, from having traversed some of the
dreary wilds of North America, and felt deeply interested in the
religious instruction and amelioration of the condition of the natives.
They are wandering, in unnumbered tribes, through vast wildernesses,
where generation after generation have passed away, in gross ignorance
and almost brutal degradation.
Should any information he is enabled to give excite a further Christian
sympathy, and more active benevolence in their behalf, it will truly
rejoice his heart: and his prayer to God, is, that the Aborigines of a
British Territory, may not remain as outcasts from British Missionary
exertions; but may be raised through their instrumentality, to what
they are capable of enjoying, the advantages of civilized and social
life, with the blessings of Christianity.
September, 1824.
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
CHAPTER I.--Departure from England. Arrival at the Orkney Isles. Enter
Hudson's Straits. Icebergs. Esquimaux. Killing a Polar Bear. York
Factory. Embarked for the Red River Colony. Difficulties of the
Navigation. Lake Winipeg. Muskeggowuck, or Swamp Indians. Pigewis, a
chief of the Chipewyans, or Saulteaux Tribe. Arrival at the Red River.
Colonists. School established. Wolf dogs. Indians visit Fort Douglas.
Design of a Building for Divine Worship 1
CHAPTER II.--Visit the School. Leave the Forks for Qu'appelle. Arrival
at Brandon House. Indian Corpse staged. Marriages at Company's Posts.
Distribution of the Scriptures. Departure from Brandon House.
Encampment. Arrival at Qu'appelle. Character and Customs of Stone
Indians. Stop at some Hunter's Tents on return to the Colony. Visit
Pembina. Hunting Buffaloes. Indian address. Canadian Voyageurs. Indian
Marriages. Burial Ground. Pemican. Indian Hunter sends his son to be
educated. Mosquitoes. Locusts 28
CHAPTER III.--Norway House. Baptisms. Arrival at York Factory. Swiss
Emigrants. Auxiliary Bible Society formed. Boat wrecked. Catholic
Priests. Sioux Indians killed at the Colony. Circulation of the
Scriptures among the Colonists. Scarcity of Provisions. Fishing under
the Ice. Wild Fowl. Meet the Sioux Indians at Pembina. They scalp an
Assiniboine. War dance. Cruelly put to death a Captive Boy. Indian
expression of gratitude for the Education of his Child. Sturgeon 64
CHAPTER IV.--Arrival of Canoe from Montreal. Liberal Provision for
Missionary Establishment. Manitobah Lake. Indian Gardens. Meet Captain
Franklin and Officers of the Arctic Expedition at York Factory. First
Anniversary of the Auxiliary Bible Society. Half-Caste Children. Aurora
Borealis. Conversation with Pigewis. Good Harvest at the Settlement,
and arrival of Cattle from United States. Massacre of Hunters. Produce
of Grain at Colony 94
CHAPTER V.--Climate of Red River. Thermometer. Pigewis's Nephew.
Wolves. Remarks of General Washington. Indian Woman shot by her son.
Sufferings of Indians. Their notions of the Deluge. No visible object
of adoration. Acknowledge a Future Life. Left the Colony for Bas la
Rivière. Lost on Winipeg Lake. Recover the Track, and meet an
intoxicated Indian. Apparent facilities for establishing Schools West
of Rocky Mountains. Russians affording Religious instruction on the
North West Coast of North America. Rumours of War among the surrounding
Tribes with the Sioux Indians 110
CHAPTER VI.--Progress of Indian Children in reading. Building for
Divine Worship. Left the Colony. Arrival at York Fort. Departure for
Churchill Factory. Bears. Indian Hieroglyphics. Arrival at Churchill.
Interview with Esquimaux. Return to York Factory. Embark for England.
Moravian Missionaries. Greenland. Arrival in the Thames 150
DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER.
1. The engraving of meeting the Indians, to face the title page.
2. Scalping the Indians to face page 85.
3. The Protestant Church, to face page 155.
THE RED RIVER COLONY; AND THE NORTH-WEST-AMERICAN INDIANS.
CHAPTER I.
DEPARTURE FROM ENGLAND. ARRIVAL AT THE ORKNEY ISLES. ENTER HUDSON'S
STRAITS. ICEBERGS. ESQUIMAUX. KILLING A POLAR BEAR. YORK FACTORY.
EMBARKED FOR THE RED RIVER COLONY. DIFFICULTIES OF THE NAVIGATION.
LAKE WINIPEG. MUSKEGGOWUCK, OR SWAMP INDIANS. PIGEWIS, A CHIEF OF THE
CHIPPEWAYS OR SALTEAUX TRIBE. ARRIVAL AT THE RED RIVER. COLONISTS.
SCHOOL ESTABLISHED. WOLF-DOGS. INDIANS VISIT FORT DOUGLAS. DESIGN OF
A BUILDING FOR DIVINE WORSHIP.
On the 27th of May, 1820, I embarked at Gravesend, on board the
Honourable Hudson's Bay Company's ship, the Eddystone; accompanied by
the ship, Prince of Wales, and the Luna brig, for Hudson's Bay. In my
appointment as Chaplain to the Company, my instructions were, to reside
at the Red River Settlement, and under the encouragement and aid of the
Church Missionary Society, I was to seek the instruction, and endeavour
to meliorate the condition of the native Indians.
The anchor was weighed early on the following morning, and sailing with
a fine breeze, the sea soon opened to our view. The thought that I was
now leaving all that was dear to me upon earth, to encounter the perils
of the ocean, and the wilderness, sensibly affected me at times; but my
feelings were relieved in the sanguine hope that I was borne on my way
under the guidance of a kind protecting Providence, and that the
circumstances of the country whither I was bound, would soon admit of
my being surrounded with my family. With these sentiments, I saw point
after point sink in the horizon, as we passed the shores of England and
Scotland for the Orkneys.
We bore up for these Isles on the 10th of June, after experiencing
faint and variable winds for several days: and a more dreary scene can
scarcely be imagined than they present to the eye, in general. No tree
or shrub is visible; and all is barren except a few spots of cultivated
ground in the vales, which form a striking contrast with the barren
heath-covered hills that surround them. These cultivated spots mark the
residence of the hardy Orkneyman in a wretched looking habitation with
scarcely any other light, (as I found upon landing on one of the
islands) than from a smoke hole, or from an aperture in the wall,
closed at night with a tuft of grass. The calf and pig were seen as
inmates, while the little furniture that appeared, was either festooned
with strings of dried fish, or crossed with a perch for the fowls to
roost on.
A different scene, however, presented itself, as we anchored the next
day in the commodious harbour of Stromness. The view of the town, with
the surrounding cultivated parts of the country, and the Hoy Hill, is
striking and romantic, and as our stay here was for a few days, I
accepted an invitation to the Manse, from the kind and worthy minister
of Hoy, and ascended with him the hill, of about 1620 feet high.
The sabbath we spent at sea was a delight to me, from the arrangement
made by the captain for the attendance of the passengers and part of
the crew on divine worship, both morning and afternoon. Another sabbath
had now returned, and the weather being fair, all were summoned to
attend on the quarter deck. We commenced the service by singing the Old
Hundredth Psalm, and our voices being heard by the crews of several
ships, lying near to us at anchor, they were seen hurrying on deck from
below, so as to present to us a most interesting and gratifying sight--
"We stood, and under open sky adored
The God, that made both 'seas,' air, earth, and heaven."
There appeared to be a solemn impression; and I trust that religion was
felt among us as a divine reality.
JUNE 22.--The ships got under weigh to proceed on our voyage; and as we
passed the rugged and broken rocks of Hoy Head, we were reminded of the
fury of a tempestuous ocean, in forming some of them into detached
pillars, and vast caverns; while they left an impression upon the mind,
of desolation and danger. We had not sailed more than one hundred miles
on the Atlantic before it blew a strong head wind, and several on board
with myself were greatly affected by the motion of the ship. It threw
me into such a state of languor, that I felt as though I could have
willingly yielded to have been cast overboard, and it was nearly a week
before I was relieved from this painful sensation and nausea, peculiar
to sea sickness.
Without any occurrence worthy of notice we arrived in Davis's Straits
on the 19th of July, where Greenland ships are sometimes met with,
returning from the whale fishery, but we saw not a single whaler in
this solitary part of the ocean. The Mallemuk, found in great numbers
off Greenland, and the "Larus crepidatus," or black toed gull,
frequently visited us; and for nearly a whole day, a large shoal of the
"Delphinus deductor," or leading whale, was observed following the
ship. The captain ordered the harpoons and lances to be in readiness in
case we fell in with the great Greenland whale, but nothing was seen of
this monster of the deep.
In approaching Hudson's straits, we first saw one of those beautiful
features in the scenery of the North, an Iceberg, which being driven
with vast masses of ice off Cape Farewell, South Greenland, are soon
destroyed by means of the solar heat, and tempestuous force of the sea.
The thermometer was at 27° on the night of the 22nd, with ice in the
boat; and in the afternoon we saw an iceblink, a beautiful effulgence
or reflection of light over the floating ice, to the extent of forty or
fifty miles. The next day we passed Resolution Island, Lat. 61° 25',
Long. 65° 2' and all was desolate and inhospitable in the view over
black barren rocks, and in the aspect of the shore. This being Sunday,
I preached in the morning, catechized the young people in the
afternoon, and had divine service again in the evening, as was our
custom every sabbath in crossing the Atlantic, when the weather would
permit: and it afforded me much pleasure to witness the sailors at
times in groups reading the life of Newton, or some religious tracts
which I put into their hands. The Scotch I found generally well and
scripturally informed, and several of them joined the young people in
reading to me the New Testatament, and answering the catechetical
questions. In our passage through the Straits, our progress was impeded
by vast fields of ice, and icebergs floating past us in every form of
desolate magnificence. The scene was truly grand and impressive, and
mocks imagination to describe. There is a solemn and an overwhelming
sensation produced in the mind, by these enormous masses of snow and
ice, not to be conveyed in words. They floated by us from one to two
hundred feet above the water, and sometimes of great length, resembling
huge mountains, with deep vallies between, lofty cliffs, and all the
imposing objects in nature, passing in silent grandeur, except at
intervals, when the fall of one was heard, or the crashing of the ice
struck the ear like the noise of distant thunder.
When nearly off Saddle Back, with a light favourable breeze, and about
ten miles from the shore, the Esquimaux who, visit the Straits during
summer, were observed with their one man skin canoes, followed by women
in some of a larger size, paddling towards the ship. No sooner was the
sail shortened than we were surrounded by nearly two hundred of them:
the men raising their paddles as they approached us, shouting with much
exultation, 'chimo! chimo! pillattaa! pillattaa!' expressions probably
of friendship, or trade. They were particularly eager to exchange all
that they apparently possessed, and hastily bartered with the
Eddystone, blubber, whalebone, and seahorse teeth, for axes, saws,
knives, tin kettles, and bits of old iron hoop. The women presented
image toys, made from the bones and teeth of animals, models of canoes,
and various articles of dress, made of seal skins, and the membranes of
the abdomen of the whale, all of which displayed considerable ingenuity
and neatness, and for which they received in exchange, needles, knives,
and beads. It was very clear that European deception had reached them,
from the manner in which they _tenaciously_ held their articles till
they _grasped_ what was offered in barter for them; and immediately
they got the merchandise in possession, they licked it with their
tongues, in satisfaction that it was their own. The tribe appeared to
be well-conditioned in their savage state, and remarkably healthy. Some
of the children, I observed, were eating raw flesh, from the bones of
animals that had been killed, and given them by their mothers, who
appeared to have a strong natural affection for their offspring. I
threw one of them a halfpenny, which she caught; and pointing to the
child she immediately gave it to him with much apparent fondness. It
has been supposed that in holding up their children, as is sometimes
the case, it is for barter, but I should rather conclude that it is for
the purpose of exciting commiseration, and to obtain some European
article for them. A few of the men were permitted to come on board, and
the good humour of the captain invited one to dance with him: he took
the step with much agility and quickness, and imitated every gesture of
his lively partner. The breeze freshening, we soon parted with this
barbarous people, and when at a short distance from the ship, they
assembled in their canoes, each taking hold of the adjoining one, in
apparent consultation, as to what bargains they had made, and what
articles they possessed, till a canoe was observed to break off from
the group, which they all followed for their haunts along the shores of
Terra Neiva, and the Savage Islands. Having a copy of the Esquimaux
Gospels from the British and Foreign Bible Society, it was my wish to
have read part of a chapter to them, with a view to ascertain, if
possible, whether they knew of the Moravian Missionary establishment at
Nain, on the Labrador coast; but such was the haste, bustle, and noise
of their intercourse with us, that I lost the opportunity. Though they
have exchanged articles in barter for many years, it is not known
whether they are from the Labrador shore on a summer excursion for
killing seals, and the whale fishery, or from the East main coast,
where they return and winter.
The highest point of latitude we reached in our course, was 62°
44'--longitude 74° 16', and when off Cape Digges we parted company with
the Prince of Wales, as bound to James's Bay. We stood on direct for
York Factory, and when about fifty miles from Cary Swan's Nest, the
chief mate pointed out to me a polar bear, with her two cubs swimming
towards the ship. He immediately ordered the jolly-boat to be lowered,
and asked me to accompany him in the attempt to kill her. Some axes
were put into the boat, in case the ferocious animal should approach us
in the attack; and the sailors pulled away in the direction she was
swimming. At the first shot, when within about one hundred yards, she
growled tremendously, and immediately made for the boat; but having the
advantage in rowing faster than she could swim, our guns were reloaded
till she was killed, and one of the cubs also accidentally, from
swimming close to the mother; the other got upon the floating carcase,
and was towed to the side of the ship, when a noose was put around its
neck, and it was hauled on board for the captain to take with him
alive, on his return to England.
AUGUST 3.--We fell in with a great deal of floating ice, the weather
was very foggy, and the thermometer at freezing point. The ship
occasionally received some heavy blows, and with difficulty made way
along a vein of water. On the 5th we were completely blocked in with
ice, and nothing was to be seen in every part of the horizon, but one
vast mass, as a barrier to our proceeding. It was a terrific, and
sublime spectacle; and the human mind cannot conceive any thing more
awful, than the destruction of a ship, by the meeting of two enormous
fields of ice, advancing against each other at the rate of several
miles an hour. "It may easily be imagined," says Captain Scoresby,
"that the strongest ship can no more withstand the shock of the contact
of two fields, than a sheet of paper can stop a musket-ball. Numbers of
vessels since the establishment of the Whale Fishery have been thus
destroyed. Some have been thrown upon the ice. Some have had their
hulls completely thrown open, and others have been buried beneath the
heaped fragments of the ice."--
Sunday, the 6th.--Text in the morning 1st book Samuel, 30th chapter,
latter part of the 6th verse. The weather was very variable, with much
thunder and lightening; which was awful and impressive. On the 12th the
thermometer was below freezing point, and the rigging of the ship was
covered with large icicles. Intense fogs often prevailed, but of very
inconsiderable height. They would sometimes obscure the hull of the
ship, when the mast head was seen, and the sun was visible and
effulgent.
In the evening of the 13th, the sailors gave three cheers, as we got
under weigh on the opening of the ice by a strong northerly wind, and
left the vast mass which had jammed us in for many days. The next day
we saw the land, and came to the anchorage at York Flatts the following
morning, with sentiments of gratitude to God for his protecting
Providence through the perils of the ice and of the sea, and for the
little interruption in the duties of my profession from the state of
the weather, during the voyage.
I was kindly received by the Governor at the Factory, the principal
depôt of the Hudson's Bay Company, and on the sabbath, every
arrangement was made for the attendance of the Company's servants on
divine worship, both parts of the day. Observing a number of half-breed
children running about, growing up in ignorance and idleness; and being
informed that they were a numerous offspring of Europeans by Indian
women, and found at all the Company's Posts; I drew up a plan, which I
submitted to the Governor, for collecting a certain number of them, to
be maintained, clothed, and educated upon a regularly organized system.
It was transmitted by him to the Committee of the Hudson's Bay Company,
whose benevolent feelings towards this neglected race, had induced them
to send several schoolmasters to the country, fifteen or sixteen years
ago; but who were unhappily diverted from their original purpose, and
became engaged as fur traders.
During my stay at this post, I visited several Indian families, and no
sooner saw them crowded together in their miserable-looking tents, than
I felt a lively interest (as I anticipated) in their behalf. Unlike the
Esquimaux I had seen in Hudson's Straits, with their flat, fat, greasy
faces, these '_Swampy Crees_' presented a way-worn countenance, which
depicted "Suffering without comfort, while they sunk without hope." The
contrast was striking, and forcibly impressed my mind with the idea,
that Indians who knew not the corrupt influence and barter of
spirituous liquors at a Trading Post, were far happier, than the
wretched-looking group around me. The duty devolved upon me, to seek to
meliorate their sad condition, as degraded and emaciated, wandering in
ignorance, and wearing away a short existence in one continued
succession of hardships in procuring food. I was told of difficulties,
and some spoke of impossibilities in the way of teaching them
Christianity or the first rudiments of settled and civilized life; but
with a combination of opposing circumstances, I determined not to be
intimidated, nor to "confer with flesh and blood," but to put my hand
immediately to the plough, in the attempt to break in upon this heathen
wilderness. If little hope could be cherished of the adult Indian in
his wandering and unsettled habits of life, it appeared to me, that a
_wide_ and _most extensive field_, presented itself for cultivation in
the instruction of the native children. With the aid of an interpreter,
I spoke to an Indian, called Withaweecapo, about taking two of his boys
to the Red River Colony with me to educate and maintain. He yielded to
my request; and I shall never forget the affectionate manner in which
he brought the eldest boy in his arms, and placed him in the canoe on
the morning of my departure from York Factory. His two wives, sisters,
accompanied him to the water's edge, and while they stood gazing on us,
as the canoe was paddled from the shore, I considered that I bore a
pledge from the Indian that many more children might be found, if an
establishment were formed in British Christian sympathy, and British
liberality for their education and support.
I had to establish the principle, that the North-American Indian of
these regions would part with his children, to be educated in white
man's knowledge and religion. The above circumstance therefore afforded
us no small encouragement, in embarking for the colony. We overtook the
boats going thither on the 7th of September, slowly proceeding through
a most difficult and laborious navigation. The men were harnessed to a
line, as they walked along the steep declivity of a high bank, dragging
them against a strong current. In many places, as we proceeded, the
water was very shoal, and opposed us with so much force in the rapids,
that the men were frequently obliged to get out, and lift the boats
over the stones; at other times to unload, and launch them over the
rocks, and carry the goods upon their backs, or rather suspended in
slings from their heads, a considerable distance, over some of the
portages. The weather was frequently very cold, with snow and rain; and
our progress was so slow and mortifying, particularly up Hill River,
that the boats' crews were heard to execrate the man who first found
out such a way into the interior.
The blasphemy of the men, in the difficulties they had to encounter,
was truly painful to me. I had hoped better things of the Scotch, from
their known moral and enlightened education; but their horrid imprecations
proved a degeneracy of character in an Indian country. This I lamented
to find was too generally the case with Europeans, particularly so in
their barbarous treatment of women. They do not admit them as their
companions, nor do they allow them to eat at their tables, but degrade
them _merely_ as slaves to their arbitrary inclinations; while the
children grow up wild and uncultivated as the heathen.
The scenery throughout the passage is dull and monotonous (excepting a
few points in some of the small lakes, which are picturesque), till you
reach the Company's post, Norway House; when a fine body of water
bursts upon your view in Lake Winipeg. We found the voyage, from the
Factory to this point, so sombre and dreary, that the sight of a horse
grazing on the bank greatly exhilarated us, in the association of the
idea that we were approaching some human habitation. Our provisions
being short, we recruited our stock at this post; and I obtained
another boy for education, reported to me as the orphan son of a
deceased Indian and a half-caste woman; and taught him the prayer which
the other used morning and evening, and which he soon learned:--"_Great
Father, bless me, through Jesus Christ._" May a gracious God hear
their cry, and raise them up as heralds of his salvation in this truly
benighted and barbarous part of the world.
It often grieved me, in our hurried passage, to see the men employed in
taking the goods over the carrying places, or in rowing, during the
Sabbath. I contemplated the delight with which thousands in England
enjoyed the privileges of this sacred day, and welcomed divine
ordinances. In reading, meditation, and prayer, however, my soul was
not forsaken of God, and I gladly embraced an opportunity of calling
those more immediately around me to join in reading the scriptures, and
in prayer in my tent.
October the 6th. The ground was covered with snow, and the weather most
winterly, when we embarked in our open boats to cross the lake for the
Red River. Its length, from north to south, is about three hundred
miles; and it abounds with sunken rocks, which are very dangerous to
boats sailing in a fresh breeze. It is usual to run along shore, for
the sake of an encampment at night, and of getting into a creek for
shelter, in ease of storms and tempestuous weather. We had run about
half the lake, when the boat, under a press of sail, struck upon one of
these rocks, with so much violence as to threaten our immediate
destruction. The idea of never more seeing my family upon earth, rushed
upon my mind; but the pang of thought was alleviated by the
recollection that life at best was short, and that they would soon meet
me in 'brighter worlds,' whither I expected to be hurried, through the
supposed hasty death of drowning. Providentially however we escaped
being wrecked; and I could not but bless the God of my salvation, for
the anchor of hope afforded me amidst all dangers and difficulties and
possible privations of life.
As I sat at the door of my tent near a fire one evening, an Indian
joined me, and gave me to understand that he knew a little English. He
told me that he was taken prisoner when very young, and subsequently
fell into the hands of an American gentleman, who took him to England,
where he was very much frightened lest the houses should fall upon him.
He further added that he knew a little of Jesus Christ, and hoped that
I would teach him to read, when he came to the Red River, which he
intended to do after he had been on a visit to his relations. He has a
most interesting intelligent countenance, and expressed much delight at
my coming over to his country to teach the Indians. We saw but few of
them in our route along the courses of the river, and on the banks of
the Winipeg. These are called Muskeggouck, or Swamp Indians, and are
considered a distinct tribe, between the Nahathaway or Cree and
Saulteaux. They subsist on fish, and occasionally the moose deer or
elk, with the rein deer or caribou, vast numbers of which, as they swim
the river in spring and in the fall of the year, the Indians spear in
their canoes. In times of extremity they gather moss from the rocks,
that is called by the Canadians 'tripe de roche,' which boils into a
clammy substance, and has something of a nutritious quality. The
general appearance of these Indians is that of wretchedness and want,
and excited in my mind much sympathy towards them. I shook hands with
them, in the hope that ere the rising generation at least had passed
away, the light of Christianity, like the _aurora borealis_ relieving
the gloom of their winter night, would shed around them its heavenly
lustre, and cheer their suffering existence with a scriptural hope of
immortality.
In crossing the Winipeg, we saw almost daily large flocks of wild fowl,
geese, ducks, and swans, flying to the south; which was a sure
indication to us that winter was setting in with severity to the north.
In fact it had already visited us, and inflicted much suffering from
cold; and it was with no small delight that we entered the mouth of Red
River, soon after the sun rose in majestic splendour over the lake, on
the morning of the 13th of October. We proceeded to Netley Creek to
breakfast, where we met Pigewis the chief of a tribe of Saulteaux
Indians, who live principally along the banks of the river. This chief
breakfasted with the party, and shaking hands with me most cordially,
expressed a wish that "more of the stumps and brushwood were cleared
away for my feet, in coming to see his country." On our apprising him
of the Earl of Selkirk's death, he expressed much sorrow, and appeared
to feel deeply the loss which he and the colony had sustained in his
Lordship's decease. He shewed me the following high testimony of his
character, given him by the late Earl when at Red River.
"The bearer, Pigewis, one of the principal chiefs of the Chipewyans,
or Saulteaux of Red River, has been a steady friend of the
settlement ever since its first establishment, and has never
deserted its cause in its greatest reverses. He has often exerted
his influence to restore peace; and having rendered most essential
services to the settlers in their distress, deserves to be treated
with favour and distinction by the officers of the Hudson's Bay
Company, and by all the friends of peace and good order."
(Signed.) SELKIRK.
Fort Douglas, July 17, 1820.
As we proceeded, the banks were covered with oak, elm, ash, poplar, and
maple, and rose gradually higher as we approached the Colony, when the
praries, or open grassy plains, presented to the eye an agreeable
contrast with the almost continued forest of pine we were accustomed to
in the route from York Factory. On the 14th of October we reached the
settlement, consisting of a number of huts widely scattered along the
margin of the river; in vain did I look for a cluster of cottages,
where the hum of a small population at least might be heard as in a
village. I saw but few marks of human industry in the cultivation of
the soil. Almost every inhabitant we passed bore a gun upon his
shoulder and all appeared in a wild and hunter-like state. The
colonists were a compound of individuals of various countries. They
were principally Canadians, and Germans of the Meuron regiment; who
were discharged in Canada at the conclusion of the American war, and
were mostly Catholics. There was a large population of Scotch emigrants
also, who with some retired servants of the Hudson's Bay Company were
chiefly Protestants, and by far the most industrious in agricultural
pursuits. There was an unfinished building as a Catholic church, and a
small house adjoining, the residence of the Priest; but no Protestant
manse, church, or school house, which obliged me to take up my abode at
the Colony Fort, (Fort Douglas,) where the 'Chargè d'Affaires' of the
settlement resided; and who kindly afforded the accommodation of a room
for divine worship on the sabbath. My ministry was generally well
attended by the settlers; and soon after my arrival I got a log-house
repaired about three miles below the Fort, among the Scotch population,
where the schoolmaster took up his abode, and began teaching from
twenty to twenty-five of the children.
Nov. the 8th.--The river was frozen over, and the winter set in with
severity. Many were harnessing and trying their dogs in sledges, with a
view to _trip_ to Pembina, a distance of about seventy miles, or to the
Hunters' tents, on the plains, for buffaloe meat. The journey generally
takes them a fortnight, or sometimes more, before they return to the
settlement with provisions; and this rambling and uncertain mode of
obtaining subsistence in their necessity, (the locusts having then
destroyed their crops,) has given the settlers a fondness for
_tripping_, to the neglect of improving their dwellings and their
farms. The dogs used on these occasions, and for travelling in carioles
over the snow, strongly resemble the wolf in size, and frequently in
colour. They have pointed noses, small sharp ears, long bushy tails,
and a savage aspect. They never bark, but set up a fierce growl, and
when numerous about a Fort, their howling is truly melancholy. A doubt
can no longer exist, that the dogs brought to the interior of these
wilds by Europeans, engendered with the wolf, and produced these dogs
in common use. They have no attachment, and destroy all domestic
animals. They are lashed to a sledge, and are often _brutally_
driven to travel thirty or forty miles a day, dragging after them a
load of three and four hundred pounds weight. When fat, they are eaten
by the Canadians as a great delicacy; and are generally presented by
the Indians at their feasts.
Many Indian families came frequently to the Fort, and as is common, I
believe, to all the aborigines were of a copper colour complexion, with
black coarse hair. Whenever they dressed for any particular occasion,
they anointed themselves all over with charcoal and grease, and painted
their eyebrows, lips and forehead, or cheeks, with vermillion. Some had
their noses perforated through the cartilage, in which was fixed part
of a goose quill, or a piece of tin, worn as an ornament, while others
strutted with the skin of a raven ingeniously folded as a head dress,
to present the beak over the forehead, and the tail spreading over the
back of the neck. Their clothing consisted principally of a blanket, a
buffaloe skin, and leggings, with a cap, which hung down their back,
and was fastened to a belt round the waist. _Scoutaywaubo_, or fire
water, (rum) was their principal request; to obtain which they appeared
ready to barter any thing, or every thing they possessed. The children
ran about almost naked, and were treated by their parents with all the
instinctive fondness of animals. They know of no restraint, and as they
grow up into life, they are left at full liberty to be absolute masters
of their own actions. They were very lively, and several of them had
pleasing countenances which indicated a capacity for much intellectual
improvement. Most of their ears were cut in large holes, to which were
suspended various ornaments, but principally those of beads. Their
mothers were in the practice of some disgusting habits towards them
particularly that of devouring the vermin which were engendered from
their dirty heads. They put into their mouths all that they happen to
find, and will sometimes reserve a quantity, and present the choice
collection as a _bonne bouche_ to their husbands.
After a short stay at the settlement, they left us to roam through the
forests, like animals, without any fixed residence, in search of
provisions, till the rivers open in the following spring, when they
return to the Company's Post, and trade with the skins and furs which
they have taken in hunting.
December the 6th. My residence was now removed to the farm belonging to
the late Earl of Selkirk, about three miles from Fort Douglas, and six
from the school. Though more comfortable in my quarters, than at the
Fort, the distance put me to much inconvenience in my professional
duties. We continued, however, to have divine service regularly on the
Sabbath; and having frequently enforced the moral, and social
obligation of marriage upon those who were living with, and had
families by Indian, or half caste women, I had the happiness to perform
the ceremony for several of the most respectable of the settlers, under
the conviction, that _the institution of marriage, and the security
of property, were the fundamental laws of society_. I had also many
baptisms; and with infants, some adult half-breeds were brought to be
baptized. I endeavoured to explain to them simply and faithfully the
nature and object of that Divine ordinance; but found great difficulty
in conveying to their minds any just and true ideas of the Saviour, who
gave the commission, on his ascension into heaven "To go and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Ghost." This difficulty produced in me a strong desire to
extend the blessing of education to them: and from this period it
became a leading object with me, to erect in a central situation, a
substantial building, which should contain apartments for the
school-master, afford accommodation for Indian children, be a
day-school for the children of the settlers, enable us to establish a
Sunday school for the half-caste adult population who would attend, and
fully answer the purpose of a church for the present, till a brighter
prospect arose in the colony, and its inhabitants were more
congregated. I became anxious to see such a building arise as a
Protestant land-mark of Christianity in a vast field of heathenism and
general depravity of manners, and cheerfully gave my hand and my heart
to perfect the work. I expected a willing co-operation from the Scotch
settlers; but was disappointed in my sanguine hopes of their cheerful
and persevering assistance, through their prejudices against the
English Liturgy, and the simple rites of our communion. I visited them
however in their affliction, and performed all ministerial duties as
their Pastor; while my motto, was--Perseverance.