1816-1817.
A New Brigade of Immigrants -- Robert Semple -- Cuthbert
Grant's Letter -- The De Meuron Regiment -- Assembling of the
Bois-Brulés -- Tragedy at Seven Oaks -- Selkirk at Fort William
-- McGillivray Arrested -- Arrest of the Northmen -- Selkirk
proceeds to Red River.
A new brigade of emigrants had sailed from Stromness. Gloomy and
portentous was the prospect which greeted them on their arrival. They
beheld their comrades and fellow-countrymen of the previous brigade,
who had returned from their exile at Jack River, still gazing in
wretchedness upon the embers of their late dwellings, seeking to
rescue what produce remained in the earth for their winter's
subsistence.
The ship which had brought out these immigrants had also carried an
able officer of the Company, Robert Semple, a man of parts and
culture, who had been appointed to the chief control of all the
factories in Rupert's Land.
[Sidenote: Influence of the Nor'-Westers over the half-breeds.]
The hostile feuds and lawless proceedings of the fur-trading
"partisans" had convulsed the whole Indian country throughout its
boundaries. The arrival of more immigrants only served to add fresh
fuel to the flame. It cannot be denied that between the two rival
companies the North-Westers possessed one dangerous advantage, viz.,
the authority and influence they had over the half-breeds, their own
servants, and over many of the more dissolute Indians. "They had so
trained and influenced these," says, with great truth, one sober
trader writing of those times, "both in the school of mischief, rapine
and bloodshed, that no outrage which the unscrupulous ministers of a
lawless despotism could inflict was too extravagant to dread.[99]
Posts were pillaged, robberies committed, and valuable lives
sacrificed without remorse."
Instead of settling down quietly and cultivating the soil on their
arrival, all the immigrants were quickly dispersed in search of a
precarious subsistence at Pembina and elsewhere, as had been the case
with the first unhappy brigade. They separated, to weather the storms
of winter as best they might, hunting and fishing amongst the savages,
and enduring every species of privation and suffering which fate could
inflict upon them. As soon, however, as the snows of winter were
melted, all re-assembled at the colony, and fell to with a will to the
task of tilling the ground, and sowing what, alas, the fowls of the
air were to reap.
[Sidenote: Lord Selkirk arrives in Canada.]
For a moment let us turn to Lord Selkirk. On the arrival of this
nobleman at New York on his way to Canada to support in person the
exertions of his colonists, he received intelligence of their
dispersion, and the capture of his lieutenant and agent. He
immediately proceeded to Montreal where he was apprised of the danger
with which the new arrivals were threatened as well as the distress
which had overtaken those settlers who had been brought into Canada.
The North-West Company had no further use for their services, the
expense of bringing them down having already proved sufficiently
burdensome. The alluring promises made on the banks of the Red River,
of lands, high wages, practical encouragement, were forgotten on the
shores of the St. Lawrence. Selkirk was determined upon a rigid
enquiry; and steps were taken by his agents in Upper and Lower Canada
to that end. While he was thus engaged, information arrived of the
re-establishment of the colony, both brigades of immigrants having
made a junction at Red River, on the departure of Cameron and
McDonell. Lord Selkirk, having despatched a messenger[100] into the
interior to advise the settlers of his speedy arrival amongst them,
now renewed his endeavour to obtain from the Governor of Canada, Sir
Gordon Drummond, some small military protection for the settlers. But
his application was refused. One, if not the principal, of the reasons
being that Drummond had no desire to lower his popularity by exerting
his influence against the partners of the North-West Company. The
attempt proving fruitless, a new resource offered itself, and this
Selkirk was not loath to seize.
As a result of the termination of hostilities with America, the hired
European regiments of De Meuron, Watteville and the Glengarry
Fencibles in Canada were reduced. The privates, as well as their
officers, were entitled on their discharge to grants of lands in
Canada, and in the event of their accepting them, the members of the
two first-mentioned regiments were not to be sent back to Europe. A
proposition was put to them and agreed to with alacrity.
[Sidenote: Regiment of De Meuron.]
The regiments to which these men belonged were part of the body of
German mercenaries raised during the Napoleonic wars. Col. De Meuron,
one of the most illustrious officers, bequeathed his name to the whole
body. Though Germans for the most part, Swiss and Piedmontese were
also numbered amongst them. While the great Corsican was languishing
at Elba, the De Meurons were equally inactive at Malta, but in the war
which had broken out between England and the American States there was
plenty of work for their swords. They were shipped to Canada, and in
1816, hostilities having ceased, they were again out of employment.
Lord Selkirk perceived in them an instrument ready to his hand. He
sent for their officers, four in number, Captains d'Orsonnens and
Matthey, and Lieutenants Fauché and Graffenreith, and informed them he
had work in hand. They listened and agreed to his terms on behalf of
their men. They hastened in boats up the St. Lawrence, and at Kingston
encountered twenty other foreign soldiers belonging to the De
Watteville regiment, and also victims of peace. These were engaged on
the same terms.
Eighty soldiers and four officers of De Meuron's regiment, twenty of
Watteville's, and several of the Glengarry Fencibles, with one of
their officers, instead of remaining in Canada, preferred going to the
Red River settlement on the terms proposed by Lord Selkirk. They were
to receive pay at a certain rate per month for navigating the canoes
up to Red River, were to have lands assigned to them at the
settlement, and if they did not elect to remain were to be conveyed at
his lordship's expense to Europe by way of Hudson's Bay. Whatever we
may now think of the motive prompting the employment of these men, it
must be conceded that it was effected with propriety and ingenuous
formality. The men being discharged could no longer be held soldiers.
They retained their clothing, as was usual in such cases, and Lord
Selkirk furnished them with arms, as he had done to his other
settlers. Had there existed a disposition to criticise this latter
measure, ample justification was to be found in the instructions of
the Board of Ordnance, in 1813, to issue some field pieces and a
considerable number of muskets and ammunition for the use of the Red
River colony.
With this body of men Selkirk proceeded into the interior.
[Sidenote: Fort Gibraltar captured.]
While he was on the march, the colony on Red River was apprehending
alarming consequences. Cameron and McDonell, the two North-West
partners, had arrived the previous autumn and been astonished at the
temerity of the settlers at returning to the forbidden spot, and
measures had at once been taken to molest and discourage them.
Thereupon the Hudson's Bay factor, Colin Robertson, who, in Governor
McDonnell's absence, had placed himself at their head, planned an
attack upon Fort Gibraltar, which he seized by surprise in the month
of October. He thus recovered two of the field pieces and thirty stand
of arms, which had been abstracted from the settlement in the previous
year. In this capture no blood was shed, and although Cameron was
taken prisoner he was released upon a promise to behave peaceably in
future and was even reinstated in possession of his fort. But this
posture of affairs was not long to endure.
At the beginning of March, Governor Semple went west to inspect the
forts on the Assiniboine, Lake Manitoba, and Swan Lake, leaving
Robertson in command. On the 16th, suspecting a plot on the part of
Cameron and his North-Westers, Robertson intercepted some letters,
which transformed suspicion into conviction. He therefore attacked the
North-West post, took Cameron prisoner, and removed all the arms,
trading goods, furs, books and papers, to Fort Douglas.[101] He
furthermore informed his enemy that being situated at the confluence
of the two rivers, the Red and the Assiniboine, Fort Gibraltar was the
key to the position, and could be in no other hands but those of the
lords of the soil. Following up this move, Robertson attacked the
North-West post on the Pembina River, captured Bostonnais Pangman, who
was in charge, with two clerks and six voyageurs, who were afterwards
incarcerated in Fort Douglas. Pursuing his advantage an attempt was
made to carry Fort Qu'Appelle. But McDonell, who was in command there,
displayed considerable force, and caused the Hudson's Bay people to
retire.
About this period five flat-bottomed boats belonging to the Company,
laden with pemmican and from thirty to forty packs of furs, under
charge of James Sutherland, were _en route_ to Fort Douglas. McDonell
was advised of the circumstance and seized the whole, while retaining
two of the factors, Bird and Pambrun, as prisoners. A canoe was given
Sutherland and the others, together with a scanty supply of pemmican,
and they were allowed to continue their journey to the fort. On
receiving intelligence of this proceeding, as well as of the plots
being hatched by the half-breeds and their allies in the West,
Robertson concluded that Cameron would be best out of the way; the
prisoner was accordingly sent off under guard to York Factory, from
whence he reached England seventeen months later. Here he was released
without a trial, and soon afterwards returned to Canada, where he
spent the remainder of his years.
The enemy were no sooner out of Fort Gibraltar than Robertson had the
walls pulled down. All the useful material was rafted down the river
to Fort Douglas, where it was employed in new erections within that
post.
[Sidenote: Plan to exterminate the Red River Settlement.]
McDonell now exerted himself to the utmost to assemble the half-breeds
from every quarter, for the purpose of a final extermination of the
colony at Red River. Many of these were collected from a very distant
part of the country; some from Cumberland House and also from the
Upper Saskatchewan, at least seven hundred miles from the settlement.
Reports had reached the colonists, of whom there were, all told,
about two hundred, that the Bois-Brulés were assembling in all parts
of the north for the purpose of driving them away. Each day increased
the prevalence of these rumours. The hunters, and the free Canadians
who had supplied them with provisions, were terrified at the prospect
of the punishment they might receive at the hands of the violent
North-Westers.
About the close of May the North-Wester, Alexander McDonell, embarked
in his boats with the furs and bags of provisions which he had seized,
as above related, from the Hudson's Bay people. He was attended by a
body of the half-breeds on horseback, who followed him along the banks
of the river.
When the party arrived near the chief Hudson's Bay Company's post,
Brandon House, Cuthbert Grant was sent ahead with twenty-five men, who
seized the post and pillaged it, not only of all the English goods,
together with the furs and provisions belonging to the Company, but
also of the private property of their servants, which was distributed
amongst the servants and half-breeds. The latter were now eager for
the accomplishment of their great desire. Accordingly, on the 18th of
June, Cuthbert Grant, Lacerte, Frazer, Hoole and McKay were sent off
from Portage la Prairie, with about seventy men, to attack the colony
at Red River. McDonell himself, foreseeing the issue, prudently
remained behind.[102]
The tidings he anticipated would arrive were not long delayed. On the
20th of June a messenger, covered with sweat, returned from Cuthbert
Grant, to report that his party had killed Governor Semple, with five
of his officers and sixteen of his people. At this welcome news of the
consummation of their fondest hopes, McDonell and the other officers
shouted with joy. No time was lost in spreading the story. The
unhappy Pambrun, from his confinement, could distinctly hear the cries
of the French and half-breeds, which they caught up again and again in
a paroxysm of triumph.
"Sacré nom de Dieu! Bonne Nouvelles! Vingt-deux Anglaise de tués!"
[Illustration: SCENE OF THE RED RIVER TRAGEDY.]
[Sidenote: The affair at Seven Oaks.]
The story of this tragedy of the plains, to which for a time was
cynically applied the term, "battle," has been often and variously
narrated; but the facts seem clear enough. Semple the Governor, was
on the point of returning to York Factory on the concerns of the
Company, when the rumours of immediate hostility, which have been
described, checked his departure. Measures of precaution were adopted
and a watch regularly kept to guard against surprise. On the 17th of
June, two Cree Indians who had escaped from the party of North-Westers
under McDonell, came to the Governor at Fort Douglas, adjoining the
settlement, with the intelligence that he would certainly be attacked
in two days by the Bois-Brulés, under Cuthbert Grant, who were
determined to take the fort, and that if any resistance were made,
neither man, woman or child would escape.
Peguis, chief of the Swampy Indians, who came periodically to the
district about the mouth of the Red River, also waited on Governor
Semple for the purpose of offering the services of his tribe, about
seventy in number, to assist in the colonists protection.
A conflict seemed inevitable. On the afternoon of the 19th a man in
the watch-house called out that the half-breeds were coming. Governor
Semple and his officers surveyed the neighbouring plains through their
telescopes and made out the approach of some men on horseback. These
were not, however, headed in the direction of the fort, but of the
settlement.
[Illustration: THE SHOOTING OF GOVERNOR SEMPLE.
(_See page 413._)]
[Sidenote: Killing of Governor Semple.]
Semple's words were: "We must go out and meet these people; let twenty
men follow me." They proceeded by the frequented path leading to the
settlement. As they went along they met many of the colonists, who
were running towards them, crying: "The half-breeds! The half-breeds!"
An advance was made of about one mile, when some persons on horseback
were discerned in ambush, close at hand, and the Governor, somewhat
uneasy at the signs of their numbers, had just decided to send for a
field-piece, when a fearful clamour pierced the air, and he saw it was
too late. The half-breeds galloped forward, their faces painted in the
most hideous manner, and all dressed in the Indian fashion[103] and
surrounded the Hudson's Bay people in the form of a half-moon. As they
advanced the latter party retreated, and a North-West employee named
Boucher rode up very close to Governor Semple and asked what he wanted
there? To this enquiry, which was delivered in a very authoritative
and insolent tone, Semple replied by demanding of Boucher what he and
his party wanted? Boucher said: "We want our fort," and the Governor's
answer was: "Well, go to your fort." In a loud tone came the other's
rejoinder: "You damned rascal, you have destroyed our fort." Semple,
though a man of extremely mild manners and cultivated mind, flushed
with indignation at such an address, and incautiously laid hand upon
the bridle of Boucher's horse, according to some; of his gun,
according to others. A few high words passed. Two shots rang out in
quick succession, by the first of which Holt fell, and by the second
Semple was wounded.[104] In a few minutes the field was covered with
bleeding forms; almost all Semple's men were either killed or wounded.
Save in a single instance no quarter was given; the injured were
summarily despatched, and on the bodies of the dead were practised all
the revolting horrors which characterize the inhuman heart of the
savage.[105]
[Illustration: VICINITY OF FORT DOUGLAS.]
In all twenty-one persons were killed, the remaining eight escaping to
the woods. Besides Governor Semple, Lieutenant Holt, Captain Rogers,
Dr. James White and Dr. Wilkinson, the Governor's private secretary
were amongst the dead.
Immediately every human being at Fort Douglas was plunged into
confusion and dismay. The survivors, hastily returning, told their
fell tale, and men, women and children crowded together seeking
protection within its walls. Bourke, and a few of his companions, had
succeeded in regaining the fort with the cannon he had taken out. All
waited for the expected attack of the North-Westers. An anxious night
ensued, but no attack, and it was afterwards learnt that the
Bois-Brulés had a wholesome dread of the cannon in the hands of the
settlers.
Pritchard, who had been taken prisoner to the camp ground of the main
body of the half-breeds, now begged Cuthbert Grant, the leader, to be
allowed to go to Fort Douglas. After securing his consent, he met with
a refusal on the part of the others, until he gave a promise to bear a
message of eviction to the colonists and return. Grant accompanied the
prisoner on parole as far as Seven Oaks, where the ground was still
strewn with the corpses of the slain.
[Sidenote: The Nor'-Westers demand evacuation.]
On reaching Fort Douglas, Pritchard informed the unhappy settlers that
they must depart, which if they did immediately, a safe escort would
be provided them, and they would be permitted to take all their
personal effects. They were told that two other groups of
North-Westers were daily expected to arrive in the locality, one
hailing from the Saskatchewan, and the other party from Lake Superior.
It would, therefore, be necessary to send some of the Bois-Brulés with
them, to explain the situation.
At first the colonists refused to listen to these terms. Sheriff
McDonnell, who was now in charge of the settlement, resolved to hold
the fort as long as the men were disposed to guard it. But they were
not long of this courageous temper. After fully considering the
situation, the settlers concluded to depart, and after several
conferences between the sheriff and Cuthbert Grant, a capitulation was
arranged.
An inventory of all the property was taken, and the whole delivered up
to the half-breed leader, for the use of the North-West company, each
sheet of the inventory being signed as follows:--
"Received on account of the North-West Company by me, Cuthbert Grant,
Clerk for the N.-West Co."
[Sidenote: Arrest of colonists.]
In two days the colonists, in all nearly two hundred, were ready to
embark for Hudson's Bay. Albeit they had not been long on the voyage
down the river before they were met by Norman McLeod, one of the
leading partners of the North-West company, accompanied by a large
party in canoes. At sight of the settlers the North-Westers set up an
Indian war-whoop, and when they drew sufficiently near, McLeod, who
posed as a magistrate, is said to have enquired, "Whether that rascal
and scoundrel Robertson was in the boats." The colloquy was followed
by a seizure of the accounts and papers of the settlers, including
some of Governor Semple's letters. Of these they kept what they deemed
proper, the rest being returned. McLeod took his magistracy very
seriously, and seems to have regarded the whole party as his
prisoners. He expressed neither horror nor regret at the murder of
Semple and his companions, but ordered Sheriff McDonnell, Pritchard,
Bourke, Corcoran, Heden and McKay to be arrested and put under a
strong guard. McDonnell was liberated on bail, but the others were
treated for nearly a week with the greatest indignity. Nevertheless,
the North-Westers felt themselves in a sorry plight, which, they
flattered themselves, a brazen behaviour might alleviate.
The five men thus made prisoners were, after various delays and after
two of them had been put in irons, conveyed to Fort William. They had
not long been inmates of quarters at this great post, when McLeod and
his party arrived there. With him came a number of the Bois-Brulés,
Semple's murderers, bearing a portion of the plunder which had been
reserved for the North-West company. Their arrival was the signal for
rejoicing. The air was filled with impromptu songs and ballads
commemorative of the happy event, which swept away the colony on the
Red River. The "complete downfall" desired by the North-West partner
seemed to have been consummated.
At that time Fort William was the great emporium of the North-West
company. An extensive assortment of merchandise was brought thither
every year from Montreal by large canoes or the Company's vessels on
the lakes, these returning with the furs to Canada and from thence
shipped to England.
It is difficult to imagine, as one visits the spot to-day, that it was
once the abode of industry, of gaiety, of opulence and even of
splendour. It boasted a fashionable season, which continued from May
to late in August, and during this period the fur aristocracy, the
_bourgeoisie_ and the _canaille_, met and mingled in a picturesque
carnival of mirth, feasting and exultation.
It was the meeting-place between the Montreal partners and voyageurs,
and those who coursed the boundless expanse of the distant west. To
the wintering clerks and partners, after their hardships and fasts in
the interior, Fort William seemed a foretaste of Paradise, and a
hundred journals of a hundred traders tell again the tale of a dream
of distant Fort William, which, in the midst of cold, hunger and
desolation, cheered the wanderer's heart and lightened his burdens.
For the voyageurs it was all in all. To reach Fort William, enjoy the
carnival, and betwixt drink and riotous living dissipate the
hard-earned wages of years was to them often the happiness of earth
and heaven combined.
[Sidenote: Fort William described.]
It was in the great dining-hall that there centred the chief glory of
Fort William. Of noble proportions was it, and capable of entertaining
two hundred persons, and here fully two hundred sat when the news from
Red River reached them. Let us attempt to describe the scene. There on
a glittering pedestal looked down on the joyous company a marble bust
of Simon McTavish; while ever and anon the eye of some struggling
clerk or ambitious partner would be attracted by a row of paintings,
depicting to the life the magnates of the North, and rest with ecstasy
upon those gleaming eyes and rubicund cheeks, cheerful prophesies of
his own roseate future. Not all were portraits of opulent
Northmen--other heroes lent the glory of their visages to this
spacious hall--the King in his majesty, the Prince Regent, and Admiral
the Lord Nelson. A gigantic painting of the memorable battle of the
Nile also adorned the walls. At the upper end hung a huge map of the
Indian country, drawn by David Thompson, he who had written at the
crisis of his career, "To-day I left the services of the Hudson's Bay
Company to join the North-West, and may God help me." On this
extraordinary production were inscribed in characters bold enough to
be seen by the humblest _engagé_ at the farthest end of the great
hall, the whole number of the Company's trading posts from Hudson's
Bay to the Pacific Ocean, from Sault Ste. Marie to Athabasca and the
Great Slave Lake. Many a time and oft while the feast was at its
height and the wine bottles of the partners were being broached and
the rum puncheons tapped, was a glance cast at some spot on that map
which marked months of suffering, the death place of a comrade, the
love of an Indian maiden, a thrilling adventure, a cruel massacre,
painful solitude, great rejoicing or a bitter disappointment.
But if the scene within was noisy and animated, that without beggared
description. Hundreds of voyageurs, soldiers, Indians, and half-breeds
were encamped together in the open, holding high revel. They hailed
from all over the globe, England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany,
Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Holland, Switzerland, America, the African
Gold Coast, the Sandwich Islands, Bengal, Canada, with Creoles,
various tribes of Indians, and a mixed progeny of Bois-Brulés or
half-breeds! "Here," cries one trader, "were congregated on the shores
of the inland sea, within the walls of Fort William, Episcopalians,
Presbyterians, Methodists, Sun-worshippers, men from all parts of the
world whose creeds were 'wide as poles asunder,' united in one common
object, and bowing down before the same idol." Women, soldiers,
voyageurs, and Indians, in ever moving medley, danced, sang, drank,
and gamboled about the fort on the night when the news came of the
tragedy of the Red River.
Meanwhile it will be remembered that the Earl of Selkirk was on his
way, with his party of about eighty soldiers, to the scene of this
rude rejoicing. When Sault Ste. Marie was reached, the first
intelligence of the massacre and destruction of the colony was
received, together with the news that some of the settlers and a large
part of the property had been transported to Fort William.
Filled with indignation, and determined to demand an explanation of
the bloody deed, the Earl pressed on with all haste to the rendezvous
of the North-West company, who, all unconscious of his approach, had
made no plan either to defend themselves or to arrest his progress.
[Sidenote: Selkirk arrives at Fort William.]
Upon his arrival in the vicinity many favourable to the Company came
out to meet him and relate the present state of affairs. As a
magistrate for the country, he secured a number of affidavits,
disclosing such circumstances of conspiracy and participation on the
part of the North-Westers as determined him, as it was his duty, to
issue warrants for their arrest. These were accordingly issued, first
for the apprehension of William McGillivray, the principal partner,
and next for that of all the other partners.
A great many of the North-West partners were at this time assembled at
Fort William, and amongst them was William McGillivray, their
principal agent in Canada. Lord Selkirk immediately despatched a
message to that gentleman, desiring to know by what authority and for
what reason Pritchard, Pambrun, Nolin and others from Red River were
detained as prisoners in their hands. McGillivray's response was to
grant permission to most of these prisoners to join Selkirk, to whom
he denied that they were detained, except as witnesses. The parties
thus freed came over, asserting that they had all suffered for some
time a rigorous confinement. The intelligence they conveyed was of
such a nature as to induce the Earl to issue warrants for the arrest
of most of the North-West partners then at Fort William.
[Sidenote: Arrest of the North-West partners.]
The first to be arrested was McGillivray, who submitted with the best
possible grace to the warrant. Two other partners who came over with
him, to offer themselves on bail (which was refused), were also taken
in custody. Instructions were now given to constables to again set out
in the boats, accompanied by some of the soldiers, to apprehend the
other delinquents. On their landing, four or five of the Northmen were
standing close to the gate of the fort, surrounded by a considerable
body of French-Canadians, Indians and half-breeds in the North-West
company's employment. The warrants were in the usual form served upon
two of the partners; but when the constable was proceeding to arrest a
third, he declared that there should be no further submission to any
warrant until McGillivray was liberated. At the same instant an
attempt was made to shut the gate and prevent the constables from
entering. The fort people had succeeded in shutting one half of the
gate, and had almost closed the other by force, when the chief
constable called out for help from the soldiers. These to the number
of about thirty forthwith rushed to the spot, and forced their way
into the stronghold of the Northmen.
The notes of a bugle now rang out across the river. The Earl
understood the signal, and a fresh force of about thirty other
veterans hurried quickly over the stream to join their comrades. Awed
by the apparition of so many arms and uniforms, the North-Westers
abandoned further resistance, and thus bloodshed was happily averted.
The partner who had refused obedience to the warrant was seized and
taken forcibly to the boats, the others submitting peaceably to
arrest.
At the time this episode was in progress, there were about two hundred
French-Canadians and half-breeds, and sixty or seventy Iroquois
Indians in and about the fort.
A warrant having been issued to search for and secure the North-West
papers, seals were in due course put upon these and guards placed for
their security. The arrested men were transported to the Earl's camp;
but upon their pledging their word of honour that no further attempt
should be made to obstruct the execution of the law, and that all
hostile measures should be renounced, they were permitted that same
night to return to their apartments at Fort William.
Notwithstanding this, it was discovered next morning that the seals
had been broken in several places, and that many letters and papers
had been burnt in the kitchen in the course of the night. More than
this, a canoe loaded with arms and ammunition had been launched and
several barrels of gunpowder had been secretly conveyed from the fort.
These were afterwards traced to a place of concealment amongst some
brushwood close at hand. About fifty or sixty stand of Indian guns, to
all appearance freshly loaded and primed, were found hidden under some
hay in a barn adjoining the fort.
Owing to these discoveries, and suspecting treachery on the part of
the Canadians and Indians, the greater part of the latter were ordered
to evacuate the premises and pitch their tents on the opposite side of
the river. Having seen this carried out, and having secured all the
canoes of the enemy, Selkirk and his party came over and pitched their
tents in front of the fort and mounted guard. Soon after, the
North-West prisoners were sent off under escort to York, and finally
reached Montreal in a state of mind not difficult to conceive.
Fort William had been captured by Lord Selkirk. He himself, writing in
1817, observes, that "in the execution of his duty as a Magistrate,"
he had become possessed of "a fort which had served, the last of any
in the British dominions, as an asylum for banditti and murderers, and
the receptacle for their plunder. A fort which nothing less than the
express and special license of his Majesty could authorize subjects to
hold. A fort which had served as the capital and seat of Government to
the traitorously assumed sovereignty of the North-West. A fort whose
possession could have enabled the North-West company to have kept back
all evidence of their crimes."
"Heretofore," exclaims the Earl, "those who in the execution of the
laws obtained possession of such strongholds as served for the retreat
of banditti or murderers, were considered to have rendered a national
service, and were rewarded with public gratitude and thanks."
It can hardly be supposed that either the Canadians or the North-West
partners were animated by any such sentiments.
"That canting rascal and hypocritical villain, Lord Selkirk, has got
possession of our post at Fort William," was the phrase employed by
one of the aggrieved partners. "Well, we will have him out of that
fort," he pursued amiably, "as the Hudson's Bay knaves shall be
cleared, bag and baggage, out of the North-West. And this in short
order, mark my words."
[Sidenote: Selkirk winters at Fort William.]
But his lordship was by no means of so accommodating a temper, nor was
there anything to accelerate his abandonment of the post. Finding it
too late to continue his journey on to Red River, he despatched a
party of his men in advance, and himself resolved to pass the winter
as pleasantly and profitably as circumstances would permit at Fort
William.
McGillivray and his companions, upon reaching Montreal, were greeted
by an assembled host of their friends. Public opinion there was in
their favour, whatever it might be in other quarters. On all sides one
heard diatribes pronounced against Selkirk and the Hudson's Bay
Company, and little sympathy for the victims of the massacre. The
North-Westers were instantly admitted to bail, and warrants were sworn
out for the Earl's arrest. A constable was sent to Fort William to
execute them, but on his arrival found himself made prisoner, and his
authority treated with contempt. In a few days he was released and
ordered to return to those who had sent him on his unprofitable
mission.
Lord Selkirk was by no means idle at Fort William. He sent out parties
to capture other North-West posts, and in this way the forts of Fond
du Lac, Michipicoten and Lac la Pluie fell into his hands. When the
month of May arrived he was ready to take up his journey to the West.
FOOTNOTES:
[99] There is preserved a letter from the leader of the Bois-Brulés,
written to one of the partners. It bears date of 13th of March, 1816,
and runs as follows:--
My Dear Sir: I received your generous and kind letter of last
fall by the last canoe. I should certainly be an ungrateful
being should I not return you my sincerest thanks. Although a
very bad hand at writing letters I trust to your generosity. I
am yet safe and sound, thank God! For I believe it is more than
Colin Robertson, or any of his suit dare to offer the least
insult to any of the Bois-Brulés, although Robertson made use
of some expressions which I hope he shall swallow in the
spring; he shall see that it is neither fifteen, thirty nor
fifty of your best horsemen can make the Bois-Brulés bow to
him. Our people of Fort des Prairies and English River are all
to be here in the spring. It is hoped we shall come off with
flying colours, and never to see any of them again in the
colonizing way in Red River; in fact the traders shall pack off
with themselves, also, for having disobeyed our orders last
spring, according to our arrangements. We are all 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. I am loath to enter into any
particulars, as I am well assured that you will receive more
satisfactory information (than I have had) from your other
correspondents; therefore I shall not pretend to give you any,
at the same time begging you will excuse my short letter, I
shall conclude, wishing you health and happiness.
I shall ever remain,
Your most obedient humble servant,
CUTHBERT GRANT.
J. D. CAMERON, ESQ.
[100] This messenger, Lagimoniere by name, was waylaid and robbed by
the North-Westers. He had previously made a hazardous winter journey
of upwards of 2,000 miles for the purpose of bringing to Montreal
intelligence of the re-establishment of the Red River Colony. He was
now attacked near Fond du Lac by some native hunters employed by the
North-West Company, who beat him in a shocking manner, besides
plundering him of his despatches, his canoe and all his effects. The
order to intercept him was issued on the 2nd of June by Norman McLeod
from Fort William; and the Indians who performed the service were
credited in the books of the partnership with the sum of $100. Several
of Lord Selkirk's letters were afterwards discovered at Fort William.
[101] Semple is said, on the authority of an eye-witness, Donald
Murray, yet living in 1891 (when a monument was erected to commemorate
the Red River tragedy), to have disapproved of Robertson's management
during his absence. This veteran was fond of relating that when
Robertson started for York Factory in a boat, taking Duncan Cameron a
prisoner, he insultingly hoisted a pemmican sack instead of the
British flag.
[102] The route taken by the Bois-Brulés was along the edge of the
swamps, about two miles out on the prairie from Fort Douglas, and from
that point gradually drawing nearer to the main highway, which is now
the northern continuation of Winnipeg's Main street, until it effected
a junction at a spot known as Seven Oaks. The name was derived from
the circumstance of seven good sized oak trees growing there, about
one hundred yards south of a small rivulet, now known as Inkster's
Creek.
[103] Their being painted and disguised, forms a very material fact,
because it shows a premeditation to commit hostilities. It was not the
custom of the Indians or Bois-Brulés to paint themselves, except on
warlike occasions. Seeing this party of horsemen were proceeding
towards the settlement, Semple directed about twenty men to follow him
in the direction they had taken to ascertain what was their object.
These took arms with them, but no ammunition. That Semple and his
party went out with no hostile intention is evident from there being
but twenty who went, whereas a much greater number who could have gone
and were desirous of going, were left behind.
[104] After the tragedy many of the settlers are said to have been of
the opinion that the first shot was fired by Lieut. Holt, whose gun
went off by accident, thus precipitating the conflict.
[105] While the affair was sufficiently horrible, there was yet room
for exaggeration in the tales of the survivors. "On my arrival at the
fort," declared Pritchard, "what a scene of distress presented itself!
The widows, children and relations of the slain, in the horrors of
despair, were lamenting the dead and trembling for the safety of the
survivors." It is to be noted that only one actual settler was killed,
and I cannot discover that the others had any white women-folk amongst
them.