fe
: were ER of he
’ - we
ore tobe erene mie
ort
Rian MT Aro Ye
se tre Say
Die MEAN
Peg ee
Ta ERTS EN NS EE Sh
ee UE SE Man SOS REE STORER SY
sae Pay
nn ES
oF
BY
À ,
Aen qe. ‘eo he ph
Rat
+
ee
CARRE
Le nacare cmt tte ARE Feux yi
18 Sy ego
tan Neate
Sh me!
Ve
2. Es
sks ‘ete FA
eae fas
HS a ore ae
ns a ape :
£5
a
Pana Re ald Yew Bot ÿ
‘pats &
Le, eos
? KES k gee ee Ee i
ofa Ba Ss Bg
2G ou
1
ar PR
CRC BARRE
re Re
phase i Er
Shieh toy
ESS Là LÉtpor dr tit + adn ap te foires _ Pr es fe
| Matern: pus appt Be ME yt Wes fé BOULE,
t
LE
LL
%
y
CONTENTS. °
Cuapter I,
, : PAGE THE OCEAN VOYAGE. a
The Mersey-—Firat evening on board the Hibernian—Queen’s Birth-day —Off Moville—The A tlantic—Sea-sickness—Pagsengers —Daily Rou- tine— Scenes on board—Ice—Straits of Belle Isle~Father Point—
- The St. Lawronce—Quebee bc raanteoe cesses cease prose ses srenprassvsenvsnr nee 17
CHAPTER IL. | QUEBEC TO ST PAUL.
Custom house—American travelling arrangements Grand ‘Trunk Rail- way—-Victoria Tubular Bridge—Montreal—General Electioh—Té- ronto—-Sleeping Cars—United States frontier at Port Huron—Michi. gan Central Railroad—Chicago—Chicago and North Western Rail- roud—Lacrosse— Mississippi Steamer—Adventure of passenger from New York—United States Voluateara Scenery of of “ Hiswatha "—St, Poul... teraneany sasdgenes saben suenap enti ease iscsamsnstoneseseesessee 27
. Cadre JIL ST. PAUL TO FORT ABEROROMBIE.
City of St. Paul—Rea River Merchants—Trotting Match—President Lincoln’s firat Message--Stage Coach—Falls of Minnehaha—St. Anthony—Prairie travelling—Passengers—St. Oloud—Kandottah— Alexandria and its Woods and Roads—Pomme de Terre~Red River of the North—Fort Abercrombie.....…......... nn 38
Cuarrzr IV. ‘, FORT ABERCROMBIE TO GEORGETOWN.
Colonel Daÿ—Bréning at the Fort—Plaia Country—Georgetowi—Mr. 0. 2. ¥. Lull and hig Station House—Mr. Burbank—Detention at Georgetown—Daily routine—Bteamer “ Pioneer ” and her passengers Chief Trader Murray—Mr. Morgan's Scientific Tour—Sttam Saw Mil—The “Woman in White: Poe corse csesesson soreneote cesneans Sedans ceeeceaes 48
a
I oc CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V.
GEORGETOWN TU RED RIVER SETTLEMENT.
Red River Carts—Plain Transport—Convivial Evening—Start from Georgetown—Timoleon Love—Red River Steam Navigation—Mos- quitucs at Night—Goose Rapids—Scene of Mr. James McKenzie’s Wanderings and Death—Pembina—British American Frontier - Red
™~
River Settlement. ......... ss ds seccecces cosensseusessseseseseeees Carter VI.
EARLY CIVIL HISTORY OF RED RIVER SETTLEMENT.
Hadson's Bay Company’s Charter—Opposition Fur Trade—X. Y. and North West Companies+-Earl of Selkirk’s Land purchase—Emigrants from Duchess of Sutherland's Estates—O pening difliculties—Skirmish of Seven Oaks—Lord Selkirk's visit to the Colony—Extinction of Indian Land Titles—Coalition between Hudson's Bay and North West Companies—Condition and Early Prospects of the Colony...
Craprer VII.
CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF RED RIVER SETTLEMENT.
Fouftait head of Administrative power—Governors in chief—Rupert’s Laud—Council of Rupert’s Land—Governors and Council of Assini- boia— Recorders of Rupert’s Land—Judicial Officers and Courts of
4 Justice—Constabulary—Detachment of foot engineers and artillery
PAGE
69
under Colonel Crofton and Major Criffith—Colonel Caldwell's Pen- |
sioners—Royal Canadian Rifles—Necessity for Troopg......... ~
Cuaprer VIII.
INSTITUTIONS OF RED RIVER SETTLEMENT,
Colonial Revenues, Bye-Laws and Highways—History of the Post Office.
CHArTER IX.
HISTORY OF PROTESTANT CHURCH IN RED RIVER SETTLEMENT.
Danominations—Church of England—Rev. John West—Church Mission- ary Society — Rev, David T. Jones, Rev. William Cocbran—$St, Ah- drew's—Revds, Jolin Smethurst, Abraham Cowley, and John McCal- lum—Portage LaPrairie—Death of Archdeacon Cochran—The Epis-
82
CONTENTS. 2 =" Vit F À PAGE copate—Bishop of Montreal’s visit—Bishop’ Anderson—Archdeacon- * ate=St. John’s Schpol—Bishop Machray—Recapitulation—Parishes of St. John, St. Paul, St. Andrew, St. Clement, St. Peters, St. James, Holy Trinity, St. Ann, St. Margaret, and St. Mary—Parochial Schools —Indian Missions of Rupert's Land — Presbyterian Community— Wesleyans................. se svacessrs cesses antganess seaueeerenstens 103
CHAPTER X. ne THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.
Travelling Priests—Rey. J. N. Provencher—Episcopate—First resident Priests—Oblats de Marie l'Immaculée—Bishops Provencher, Taché, Grandin, and Faraud—Burning of Cathedral of St. . Boniface—Pre- sent State of Church in the Colonÿ....……......... T7 evsnesten seeevece 127
CHaptTer XI. LATER CIVIL BISTORY OF RED RIVER.
Committee of the House of Commons—Canadian Surveying Expedition— Connection‘of Settlement with England, Canada, and the United States—The “Nor Wester ”—Extracta, Grave and Gay... te 140
Cuaprer XII.
ANNUAL ROUTINE IN RED RIVER SETTLEMENT. |
Packets—Water Freighting—Portage La Loche Brigade—Land Trans- port on the Plains—Plain Hunters—Changes of Seasona— Christmas Festivities—Easter—Requisitions for Supplies—Goose Hunts... 155
Cuaprer XIII. STATISTICS OF RED RIVER SETTLEMENT.
Population—Agriculture-——Plain Hunts—Fisheries—F uel—Occupations and Characteristics of the People... 174
CHAPTER XIV.
1861.
Red River Ferry—Upper Fort Garry—Bachelors Half—Royal Can- adisn Rifles—Roman Catholic Establishment at St Boniface— Bishop of Rupert’s Land—Ride to Lower Fort Garry—People and Life at Fort Garry... ses sense seesetars sensasestsaees 183
VIII ‘ CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XV. PAGE
1961. :
fadinn Dog Feasts~Conjurors and Medicine making—Arrival of Mr. O'B.—Royal Hotel and Firm of McKenney & Co.- Ride to the Prairis Portage and back to head quarters—Crops—Buffilo Hunts and Fisheries—November—General Quarterly Court—Monkman Murder Oase—Mr. William Robert Smith, Clerk of Court and Council— Sketch of bis Life in Rupert’s Land since 1813... fe sueeveaeaene 197
Cuaprer XVI.
1861-62,
Pomp of Red-Rjver Court Procedure—Trial of Paullet Chartrand—Trent Outrage—Local Adventures of Mr. O'B.—Uis manners and mode of life-—Starvation at Red River—British Amerienn Overland Transit Company—Saskatchewan Gold Mining~ Institute of Rupert's Land —Departure of Mr, O'B. to Pembina—Arrival of Governor Dallas— Return of Mr. O'B. from Pembina—Hig Adventures there and at Red River—His Departure for the West and Outline of his Journey across the Continent to Victoria, V. Lessee ssessseressseeseresseees Penser 213
Cuarrer XVII.
1862.
Steamer “International"—Mr. Piper MeLellan—Fur Trading—Caa- adian Emigrants to Cariboo—Sketch of their Journey across the Continent—Portage La Loche Brigades and CGuides—Sketch of Tour of Inspection through the Territory made by Governor Dallas— Lord Milton and Dr Cheadle; their Sojourn ih Rupert's Land, their Book and Sketch of the Route from Red River to the Pacific Coast—
Judge Black and his first Court... mens bheecsees eneevenss Presenter canes 230 ‘ Cuaprer XVIII. cnn omens nents mae ae _ D ~ 1862
Mr. Robert Kennicott of the Sm'thsonian Institution—Crops—Bin- nevola Sioux Qutbreak—Mr. Commissioner Dole and his Chippe- way Camp Lord Dunmore ; his Party and Hunting tour-—Adminis- trative Action of Governor Dallas—Council Petition for Troops— Mr. Sheriff Ross and the “Nor! Wester” Newspaper: His Counter Petition; His dismissal from Public offices ; His method of Agitation — Policy of Governor Dallas... 246
7
CONTENTS. ‘ IX Cuaprer XIX. i _PAGE-— 4 1862-63, foe TT
Apprehension of the Rev. Griffith Owen Corbett; étre agäf inst him; Preliminary examination; Popular demonstration at the Prison—Letter to the “ Nor’ Wester *—Defence-——Correspondence with Governor Dallag~Bail—Mr. Frank Larned Hunt, agent for the Defence—Petition for Special Court—Visit of Sioux—Archdeacon Hunter vs. John Tate—Rumoured visits from Indians—February Quarterly Court-—Trial and condemnation of Mr. Corbett... 00000406260
See CHAPTER XX.
Meee 1863.
Commander McClure’ missing Arctic Despatches—Mr. Hunt's Lecture on Red River aud its People Petition for Local Militia Force— Petition tor release of Mr. Cotbett—Opinion of the Judge—Rumoured Insanity of the Prisoner—Forcible Liberation of Corbett—Svizure of James. Stewart—Special Constable Volunteers—Violent release of Stewart—Remarks on the Corbett Disturbances. AA ea ttenesaneneecetaetenens 215
Cuaprer XXÏ,
1863. ‘. Sioux visit — Little Crow — Count di Castiglione Maggiore—Sketch of Goverpor Dallas’ Canadian tour—Chenges in the Hudson's Bay Company~Freighting disasters--Brigadier Géneral Sibley’s Sioux Oampaign—Senator Ramsay's Chippeway Mission—Postal Improve-
menis—Mr, Shelley’s bunting tour... APTE EE TETE lt enenee nus 290
CHAPTER XXII. 1863-64,
Commencement of the Village of Winnipeg-—Land tenure at Red River— Mr. Sandford Fleming, C.E—Projected route to Lake Supe- rior—United States garrison at Pembina—Crops—Sioux ‘ visits— Sioux camp established at Red River—Major Hatch—His requést to pursue the Sioux on British Territory—-Sioux perplexities—Captain Donaldson's Volunteer Company ~Deterters ACTOSS the Lines—With- 4 - drawal of the Pembina garrison............, sessescevesesevecsess +307
fat Ae . LU Re à A ox
Cuarren, XXIII. 1864, © The “Nor’ Wester” Masonic Lodge—Politics at the Prairie Portage —~Departure of Governor Dallas and Bishop Anderson—Dr. Rae's Expédition across the Continent—Mr. Lemay, the United States Custom House Official at Pembina ; His troubles and Letter to the #Nor Wester.” s.cccnccen in ere ————
2
x’ CONTENTS.
CHAprer XXIV. | ;
PAGE
1864-65. Toi Heat—Drought and Locusts—St. John's Cathedral; Its Leaning Tower —Lust great Sioux visit—North West Cricket Club—Bad Crops— Hudson's Bay Company’s Ships stranded on Mansfield Island—Cap- tain Sennetts Winter Journey —Mnsonic proceedings—Celebration of St. John's Day—“Nor' Wester” Offiée destroyed by Fire—Mr. Hunt's Poetical efforts—Northern Tour of Rev. Père Vandenberghe— Bishop Farsud—Grasshoppers -Sequel of Hunter vs, Tate—Archdea- con Hunter's Departure—Mr. William Thomson Smith’s adventure in
” Mackenzie River District... Jo tseeeseas encsescen soesanee heetavecseners serres BOT
CHAPTER XX V. -
1865.
Governor Mactavish—Journey across Lake Winnipeg—Drunken River Puint Ciamp—Incidents of Lake travel— Norway House — Ross- ville Wesleyan Mission—Inland Summer-routine—Return to Red
River Settlement. ....1.25. ss sr ss roro 355 _ Carter XXVI. . : _? | æ \ ; 1865.
The North West Cricket Club—Journey to Canada—Prairie travel — Reverends Messra. Bompas and Gardiner—Subsequent Northern career of Mr. Bompas—Pembina—Georgetown—Fort Abercrombie— "
_ Archdeacon Cochran—Return Autumn Journey to Red River..........373
7, Carrez XXVIL
1865-66.
Death of Archdeacon Cochran—The Right Rev. Dr. Machray—Church Reforms—Crops—Hunts—Rumoured Gold Mining at Vermilion Luke—~Affuirs of McKenney & Company; The Juuior Partner in * ‘Court—Murder at the Prairie Portage— Bishop Machray's First Dio- cegan Conference; Sketches of His Lordship’s Address—Governors Journey’ to Norway House—Bishop Machray’s Second Visitation— Mr. Schwieger’s Saskatchewan Survey—Skirmish between Sioux and Chippeways near Fort Garry—Demaraig Murder.Case—Crops— Ven.
. Archdeacon McLean-=St. John’s College—Arrival of Mc. Thomas — . Spence; His “Political Meeting’... 888
CONTENTS. XE
CHAPTER XXVIII.
: _ 1867.
Mr. Spence's Legal Practice; His Indim Address to the Prince of Wales— Death of Chief Factor Clare—Schultz Agitation—Mr.Spence’s Electioncering Campaign—Diocesan Synod ; Bishop's Address—Win- nipeg Constabulary.—Mr.Pensioner Mulligan—-Canadian Road Opera-
_ tions—Earl of March and Mr. Hill—Crops—Winnipeg Theatre ; Open- ing night—Burns Club—Christmas Bazaars.........….... pas seetanecsees 40%
Carter XXIX. 1868.
PAGE
McKenney & Company; Dissolution of Partnership; Particulars of some. affuirs of the House—Case of Kew vs.*Schultz; Capture of Schultz; His rescue—New trial—Contourse of Special Constables— Excitement at the Prairie Portage—Mf. Spence, President of the
Republic of Manitoba ; ,” His action against McPherson for “ Treason ;” His Letter to the Foreign Secretary and Reply; Collapse of his Ad- ministration—“ Nor’ Wester's ” Petition for Red River Elective Fran- chise and Representative Chamber—Counter Petition—Demonstra-
- tion of Populace against the Newspaper—Walter Robert Bown, Act- ing Editor,prosecuted for Defamation—A pprehension of Bown— Case of Kew vs. Schultz—Evidence of H. L, Sabine—Issue of the Trial......423
$ Cuaprer XXX,
1868.
Destructive Hurricane— Nor’ Wester "—~ Retirement of Schultz— , Visit of General Matcy and party—Prairie tour of Professor Sands; His feats of Natural Magic and Legerdemain—Rev. George Young— Death by violence at Prairie Portage—The Queen vs. McLean—Red River Famine and Relief Committee—Mr. Snow’s Canadian Road ope- rations—Mr. maa the Canadian Poet; His Prose efforts and their startling ¢ effects... noeresnee taster anestscesssserssseess sesaessessensesete sees SAD
CHAPTER —_
Dr. Machray'a third Episcopal Visitation—Red River Wesleyan Mission — Colonial Routine—Remarks on the Hudson’s Bay Company—In- dian Difficulties in the Future—The French and English Races at Red River--Spheres of Colonial Industry—The “ Nor’ Wester ”—Legis- lative, Judicial, and Executive Reforms—-American Deserters— Watchman at Fort Garry—Mr. Sergeant Rickards of the Royal Ma- rines; His Local Career—Studies from Nature—Men sérvants in Bachelors’ Hall «from 1861 ‘to 1869)—~Ied River Festivities—The Bachelors’ Ball (1865)—Comclusion ms... 460
h -
ait
comings,
_Aprapix À...
tt tt tt
. tr tt LH a a
See
BR...
RROPPEETE EEE TT ENS EETETET IEC ESC TEE S IEEE IEEE EE EEE TI TETE CET ET TESTER irssenne 504
Th vsessesesstsesssesssseeseorersesensasestensetesseesssuvenssesseseeseesansvrenBO6
ON
&
PREFACE. <2
Asour half-way between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans the international boundary between the Unitéd States dnd the’British ‘North American Possessions is cut by a stream, which, to-distin- guish it from another of the same name flowing into the Gulf of Mexico in the south. of the Continent, is called the “ Red River of the North.”
ft rises in the United States of ‘America, and, running north- wards, enters the British territories at Pembina, whence it continues its course more than one hundred miles further, finally losing its waters in Lake Winnipeg. —
It is joined by many tributaries, the most considerable of which, named the Assiniboine, flows from the West and falls into it about forty miles south from its mouth at the Lake.
At the junction of these two rivers stands Fort Garry, now the principal station in thé terricory~-o: ert’s Land occupied by the Hudson's Bay Company. From this Fort, as a centre; civilized settlement of Europeans and others has been extended along the banks of these lonely streams, which, since its commence- ment early in the present century, has gradually increased to a length of sixty miles along the Assiniboine, and fifty miles along the Red River. The houses in no place extend back from the rivers, proximity to which has hitherto formed the sole reliance of the inhabitants for their water supply.’ For municipal purposes
XIV PREFACE.
the legal boundary of the colony has been defined as the circum- ference of a circle .the centre of which is Fort Garry, and the “diameter one hundred mites. The history, present condition and recent current events of this municipality form the subject of this book. In dealing with Indian names the writer of a book of adventure in savage countrics can scldom hope to convey the proper sound of the words to the intelligence of his reader. Where possible all such stumbling blocks have been systematically avoided in the present work, The legally authorized designation of the municipal district it was, however, riecessary frequently to use, and I have adopted the usual “orthography of the word Assiniboia, although _the original mode of spelling it as Osnaboya conveys the correct “sound with much greater exactitude, The reason of the change Ido not know. With this exception I hope no difficulty will tise about thé pronunciation. |
The first five chapters in the volume describe t voyage between Liverpool and Fort Garry, incluWing the remark-
sténes on the
worthy features of Prairic travel. “The succeedjhg three chapters describe the origin, history, and local Jaws of t colony... Chapter IX consists of a narrative of the history of the Protestant Church in Red River, and Chapter X describes the history and position of ..the Roman Catholic Church in Rupert’s Land. The three following chapters refer to the later history and local peculiarities of annual and daily life in the colony.. Thé remainder of the work contains an account of public events as they have occurred _ since my arrival in the country in 1861, | The nature of the contents, more especially of.the latter part of the book, has rendered a systematic adherence to certain fixed
rte
regulations, i in the choice and treatment of subjects, an imperative a
necessity.
,
PRÉFACE, KV
The grand fundamental tule I hava followed has heen to tell the unvatttished truth, without permitting private fecling to interfere iu any matter À have felt it my duty, to retord.
With regard to the selection of subjects, while avoiding anything of a private nature, the publication of which would give reasonable pain to any one, I have omitted nothing bearing on the public history of the colony, and have considered myself entitled to record anything which has engaged the attention of the Courts of Law, though stlecting such cases only 45, from the public interest
they have evoked ur the disorders of which they have been the
occasion in the community, have recommended. themselves as fit.
subjectsefor a nartative such as mine.
Where it ‘has been my unpleasant daty to record actions discreditable to their authors, I have endeavoured td do so without omitting any essential detail on the one hand, and without indulging in any superfluous observations of my own on the other.
1 have carefully consulged authorities on every point on which .
- doubt rested on my own mind. To documents connected with
~ the government I have had constant recourse. These were either
in. my own hands or in those of the Sheriff or Clerk of Court, The chapter on the Protestant Church, so far as it concerhs the Church of England, has been inspected by the-Bishop of Rupert's Land, who very kindly supplied much of the information contained init and verified figures and datcs by comparison with official documents in his possession. My original draft of this part of the book was compiled from information obtained from Mr. Williain Robert Smith, whose long connection with Church and State in the colony has been described in Chapter XV,
The article on the Roman Catholic Church is a condensed sketch of the contents of the book written on the subject of which it treats by the Bishop of St. Boniface, whom I have to thank
?
VTT . PHARE
à à - LEE - the ee of treaties throwing irenpèliehé on the cent the
countre when qietebel population fet cane te ponte ot Pek Hise
in te. aod wht b have heen more copes intly sep etes dde bn franenng part of the Appendix, .
AU the park choagymen in the wettlement have vealne lp arte when requested in sty plying infarinarion copnceesd with thelr wsveral distriets. he tesle af the combined efBrets ins
indicated is the volume now completed. [ts fil flew a he tract has been acknowledged by al} Brivate friends te whom Po hove shown Wn whole or in part My reason for insisting on this ds based on the circumstance that prass pereetsions af truth relating to facts occupying positions of-concpiotens tmpartanes: in the book have been circulated in the Canadian papers, which have accepted with blind confidence the fnterasted aacertions of th single newspaper of the Colony, the & Nap’ Wester.” J. J. HARGRAVE. Forr Garay, Reo River, . azth March, 1861),
_ =
z
Se
at
ctravidl
chanter le
fé Himihlinir métlis cat vork fod the Geran
His deep, en fdentifiul by ibs muisidual pe
Whoa ies var af poser, i
ae fes theese
Chetan
1 pihs af Tung stars, without wh
oh ut présent vey sppate
the. wdeeiinres of Oh:
wn
18 “RED RIVER.
aluerits in the dark depths of the vessel's hold, the good company destin to spend the ensuing ten or rel ye days in etch other's soviety. alter visiting their respective stute-rooms, xat down to diner in the grind salaan,
Alter dinner a general movement tock place towards the deck, and. touch the evening was dump, foeey and cheerless. a fhir munher of the gentlemen present, ignering its discomforts, lit their ppes and cigars. and. tunuffled in the snug depths of over- coats tid Seotch plaids. marched resolutely up and down, watching the fit receding coastline as it y dow and dimly visible through the bercy, murky atmosphere.
The vessel had adready claared the Mersey, and the Open sea stretched away before her. Phe great buoys, which mark the chan Hented lenely and well defined: far out into the waters. The dail silence was broken only by the murmuring wave, the hoarse rattle and_yplagh of the stenmer's ‘screw, or an occasional renairk from some ofthe promener.
Aer tea the sky cleared hs al the stars appeared. Walking forward ty the forceastle, the See ajeafrom the vessel's bow was, toa
landsimans really fine. The Prats at” waters. dimly seen, heaving
blick in the starlight, bounded by a horizon of wight, gave rise to a fine ofisolation, relieved by the refreshing sensation pre ed by the vessel's yapit rush through the chilly air, apd the st sharp hissing sound of the prow vigorously cutting the waves fir bols, + > fell distinetly on the eu A few yards behind, groups of steerage > “yuesengers moving about. and seattered parties with dark lanterns à * busting to and-froin an unsettled manner, lent a living interest to the scone, Qu our way back from the forctustle to the quarter-deck, myself and a fellow-passenger, whose acquaintance Thad already nude, ask who had accompanied ime on my tour of observation to the front, were aceosted hy one of those parties, who demanded. from asa pot of Liquor, which they uppeured to consider due them by each trespasser où their domuius, ‘ At cleven o*clock alt Tight. on bourd ship were extinguizhed, and a Chose in the state-rooms were so arranged as to be beyond the con- trol of the aceupints, gentlenien who disliked to “turn in” in the | dukietired betimes. ‘The beauty of the night, however, tempted
RED RIVER. 19
several to delay going below on this occasion till an carly hour in the morning,
Friday, the 24th, was her Majesty’s birthday, but, althoneh € the fact was certainly borne in mind, T do not recollect that we hold any celebration, Al day the water was smooth, and a fair wind gave promise of continued good weather. Those who wished to write their letters were enabled to do so, while such as hed nothing better to do paraded the deck, and watehed through their telescopes the. passing: shores of Kintyre and Ireland on either band.
In the course of the afternoon we arrived off Moville, a small town in the north of Ireland, near the mouth of Loch Doyle, where the mails were received, and the last letters sent ashore. A period of two hours having elapsed. two farewell cuns were fired from the verse], which forthwith started on her voyage. Shortly after it was discovered that a party whi had come on board to bid some friends farewell, having ueylected or misunderstood the signils warning visitors to leave the vessel, was being carried away occanwards awainst their inclination. | Fortunately a small fishing boat was within hail, and after a compulsory trip of a few miles, the super- numerarics were put on shore.
— On this day the table Ju ad been fully attended at every mel, and-
some passengers. unacerstomed to sea hile congratulited themselves on having passed the stormy Irish sca without experience of the horrors of sea sickness, arguing from such premises that their whole voyage would be completed without any trouble from this source, ©
The expectation so fondly indulged was on the ensuing morning rudely disappointed, for head winds began to- blow, the sex rose, and all onr passengers, save four or five, of whom I have reason to be thankful that I was one, were hopelessly prostrated. But few mide their appearance at breakfast: indeed the completion of the tuilet was of itself à matter of considerable difficulty, the unfortu- nate experimenter being pitched about from side to side, and end to end of his state-room, not a moment's rest being allowed him to balance hiwèelf how he would. Under these circumstances shaving was, of course, out of the question, and very ‘rough customers some of our frieuds looked in consequence before we reached the smooth
20 . RED RIVER.
Anrerican waters. Patrons of the beard and moustache move- ments of course smiled at this inconvenience.
Of the few who contrived to eet through the morning, several succumbed to the force of circumstances during the forenoon. In vain the captain and officers assured the sufferers if they would only find something to do and go about it in the usual way, untiindful of sea or weather, all would be well. Very few were in a state to comply with the advice, although it was pro- bably the best which could have been given, secing even the slight employment afforded by a persevering walk up und down the rolling deck was found a welcome preventive by one or two who tried it. —
The appearance presented by the sièk was painful to behold ; Jadics and gentlemen Jay senseless here and there covered up with plaids or tarpaulins, some securely fixed in sheltering nooks, others fallen from their seats, rolling frecly up aid down the quarter
«
deck as the varying motions of the ship conipclled them, fell no
further, not in consequence of theirability to help themselves, but simply because the strong bulwarks. prevented their tumbling overboard. When the state of matters was so bad in the better part of the vessel it may be imagined how the stecrage passengers farcd in their crowded “and smaller quarters. A line running across the vessel amidships, barred communication between steerage and quarter-deck passengers, and I remember seeing one child of
we onot much wore than infant years, whose parents were supposed to be lying Seipcless in some remote corner of the vessel, rolling up and down #imodu'buckets and cooking uteasils until a charitable hand drew it uercss the line into the select part of the ship.
À young man attached to the engincer's“department made his first sea voyage on this occasion, and lay hopelessly sea-sick in the vicinity of the funnel or “ smokestack ” during the whole voyage, careless alike of the duties of his situation, the chaff of his friends, or the contemptuous pity. of certain passengers, who, having at length vanquished their own squeamishness, felt bound to pity him, Poor fellow! the heat and odours of the engine room proved too much for him all thé way out.
For the first day or two passengers unknown to each other
es
4
RED RIVER. 21
miintrined the usual English reserve, but, as sea-sickness wore off _ and men began to look about them, thiS ceased, and many social
knots might be seen at all hours. sedttered about the deck engaged
in conversation and argumefit. :
Our passenger list was not large. Among the ue _More_promincnt—~~ names upon it were those of-the-colond goi going out to.tike com- mand of one of the Canadian Garrisons, a major, an ex-cuptain of : Hussurs, and a gentleman of the Long Robe, who was making a tour.to-Canada with the intention, I believe, of returning to : England in afew weeks by the United States. There were also several very clever and agreeable American gentlemen going home to the South, and a somewhat caustic and boastful Canadian doctor - of medicine.
We breakfasted at 8.30 a.m., took luncheon at noon, dined-
4 p.m., and drank tea at 7 o'clock. Any one who wished- it could procure supper by ordering it before 10 o'clock. The commis suriat department was conducted on the n:ost approved principles, and the distinguished, success achieved in all arrangements connected with this part of the’ship’s management reflected credit, on all concerned. To discourage smuggling, wines and cigars were provided on board at extremely low prices and of excellent quality. °
Meals formed, of course, the main events of those days at sea.
Attempts were made.to organise amusements of various kinds, but
- although the ship's officials, of whom I beg here to state that all
without exception wete entitled to high praise for their courtesy and kindness towards passengers, used great efforts to give them an impetus,-they failed. The chief scheme of which I have now any recollection was one for the formation of a court of justice, before which all who had been “absent from table without leave” should be summoned and tried, The principal difficulty in realising this bright idea lay in making a choice of culprits in consequence of the tables having been for several days almost totally deserted for reasons already given. It was also a scheme, the successful prosecution of which required sc some forensic ability, which we lacked. We had much argüment, however, not unac- companied sometimes with considerable acrimony. For this there
99 RED RIVER, .
existed some room in the discussion of Union States rights, the Galway Packet subsidy, the Essays and Reviews, ‘and similar subjects. There was also à warm controversy one day with
reference to an Irish * ctuse celebre ”
which had shortly before that time engaged the attention of a Court of Law, and in which it had become known that the legal centleman of our party had been engared in a subordinate capacity. This gentleman had expressed an opinion on some point of the ease within hearing of the caustic medical man uhove alluded to, whe retorted warmly that he had concvived himself entitled from his private knowledge of parties concerned to contradict the opinion just pronounced, and rebuked fhe speaker for the tone of authority in which he had started it. In this view of the matter the ex-hussar joined him, and the barrister found himself. matched against two. In his argu- ments with the soldier, however,-he usually, as might be expected, prevailed, to the great discomposure of the latter, who with quizzing glass screwed under his eyebrow, and face twisted in a maimer which in absence of Jong practice ought to have been painful, attempted to stare his stolid adversary out of counten- ance,
The principal displays of this deseription took place in the evening when the majority of passengers had assembled round the “smokestack ” to enjoy their pipes and cigars after tea, although minor conflicts were wont to take place in the saloon after meal. Ou the latter occasions the ladies, and the more staid among the gen- tlemen, withdrew, to the side se: its, and glancing over the volumes held in their handy, watched the progress of the debate from a safe distance, while the more eager partisans reniained along with the champions to whom they adhered, and encouraged them by voice” and gesture with all the authority they could bring to bear upon the subject treated of. The “asides”? on these occasions were also tometimes #nod. ‘ ,
& F bark the doctor—he is right,” said one.
& No, oh nol the poor, man is groping in the dark; he cannot see when he ‘makes a point—but the lawyer is a very clever and sharp fellow,” said another, adding to the huasar, “ Go it, captain, you havg him there; keep him-—ha! ha! ha!” and: altogether. a
y
RED RIVER. : . 28
good. deu] of amusement and hilarity resulted from such en- counters during the trip. - ! Every hour the speed of the vessel was ascertained by the log and although the géneral run of the steamers on this line is very perfectly defined, once a day an observation with the sextant was taken to define our exact position. The results of these operations forined the staple article of our news, anxiously waited for and passed from min to man when made known, during our voyage across the Atlantic, in the course of which, though ever on the look- out, we saw no vessel save our own. - ~ À small library kept in the steamer's saloon, ‘from which books weré issued t allapplicants at a stated hour cach day, proved also a source of welcome pastime. On the first Sunday of our voyage the amount of sea-sickness on board had reached its maximum; but on the second all had re- covered sufficiently to celebrate Divine Service, which was held in the salodn, the doctor of the ship officiating in absence of a regular clerzy man, The doctor acquitted himself in this matter as well as could be reasonably desired, supported as he was in the responses by the military gentlemon and some others of advanced years, who, _ stationed close to the celebrant at the head of the principal table, repeated their portion of the service with such vehemence of utter- “ance as almost to drown the voices of the head steward and his staff of assistants, who had been posted in a less advantageous position, with a view to acting as the recognized choir. The only contre- temps worth nentioninée, however, occurred in singing the conclud- ing hymn, which happened to be the hundreth psalm, and which the doctor had omitted to read. This cantiele wus aceordingly
‘sung by a large portion of the company according to the Presby- teriun version, and by the remainder according to that found in the Church prayer-book, The consequence was a confusion of words and sounds, which threatened a general break-down, a result averted only by a man from Glasgow, one of the assistant stewärds, opportuncly and boldly stepping forth into the centre of the saloon, and, favored by a powerful voice, shouting out-s0 as to drown the fecble efforts of his principal and others, leading the fol- Jowers of his own version to a succcssful conclusion.
amener entente se ta AT HART
Bb '. RED RIVER. On approaching the Amerie: coast we came upon fields of | floating. ice, interspersed with isolited icebergs. Considerable interest had been wakened in prospect thereof, and betting men had an opportunity of calculating the odds aguinst,the various times at _which we were likely tomect it. We did so at last, and hailed it - aS the first harbinger of land. At first we passed only small pieces, scattered at intervals along: our course; but the number of these gradually increased, and at-length wé found ourselves in presence of such enormous quantities that it was apprehended we would be driven a day's run out of our course. Most fortunately our fears were disappointed, and a channel opened up “before us, through which we passed, running very slowly for a whole night ; but in the morning we were once more in open water. The high banks of Newfoundland and Labrador stood forth in bold cliffs, and away “toward the bleak North stretched the inhospitable shores and the icc-encumbered waters of Davis’ Straits. | We passed through the Straits of Belle Isle, separating New- foundland from Labrador, the scene of many accidents resalting. - © from the difficulty of navigation. The sleepless exertions: of the ship's officers and men brought us safely through, and the Gulf of... me St. Lawrence hourly widened around. The low-lying barren shore ” of Anticosti ran past on our left, and on the afternoon of Tuesday, . 4th June, we reached Father Point, where the pilot, whose duty it became to steer our vessel up the’St. Lawrence, came on board ‘with newspapers anxiously expected, more especially by the Antericans among us, whose anxiety to receive intelligence about the opening civil war was naturally great, ; © The banks of the St. Lawrence looked well, rising in moun- tainous irregularity on ‘either hand! Scattered villages and’ small ‘towns of wooden houses lay “along the coast, mich frequented by tourists during the heats of summer. Several large tributaries flaw into the St. Lawrence i in ‘the lower part of her course, and :- very beautiful their great deep valleys looked a3 we rapidly steam | a ed by their mouths, passing and overtaking many other vessels, both sailiny and steam, going up and down: the river. On this, the last evening of our vo oyage, there took place, of
course, à mer reunion round the “smokestack ”” of the-now A,
My
- RED RIVER. _ . 25
familiar friends of the past fortnight, whose Ways for one night - more were to be the same, and who next day were to scatter to meet no more, -Those of the company on whose further course the
mists of” uncertainty -lay thickest were three young. gentlemen.
going home to the Southern States after the completion of a * European tour, and who feared, not perhaps without reason, deten-
tion or ill-usage iu passing through the North. The other pas- .
sengers were delighted either with the expectation of the novelties they were about to witness, or the near prospect of returiing to their homes. We sat together till the last light of a beautiful and mild evening was gone,.and retired.
. On waking up early next morning, we saw close tinder the port- holes the wharf of Point Levi, and at a little distance the railway
station, bearing the inscription, ‘ Grand Trunk Railway,” in large -
letters, placarded on one of the sheds. * On deck all was animation ; friends come to welcome new arrivals, porters running about with
their burdens, the crew and agents of the. ship Jestled basily _
~ about.”
Point Levi is a mall p port, the terminus of the . Grand Trak
Railway,. lying on the south side of the St. Lawrence, diréctly opposite Quebec. The latter town is situated on the northsshore of
the river, and is distinctly seen with its fortifications towering high’
over it on the Heights of Abraham, These names are familiar to the reader of history, in connection with the evénts in which the celebrated General Wolfe lost his life. The St. Lawrence at this point is about two miles in breadth. 5 an
. Our voyage had been an unusually long one;-owing to the con-
trary winds we had encountered, and the “day we had passed slow-
ly slipping through the ice-fields, Leaving Liverpool’ on the .
afternoon of the 23rd May, and arriving at Quebec on the morn- ing of the 5th June, we-had taken more than twelve days to make ‘the trip. This being also the first voyage completed by our - steamér, it was believed the circumstance might be calculated to injure her in-the public eye. As far as possible” to counteract this effect, a paper was drawn-up and signed by the cabin passengers gontaining an address to Captain Grange, in which mention was {nade of the high satisfaction of all with the treatment they had
et
~
26 “ - RED RIVER:
experienced on board his vessel, as well as their-conviction that the anusual length of the passage was due neither to any defect in the vessel nor shorteoming on his part, or that of any: of his subordi- ‘nates, but simply to stress of weather.
After an early breakfast had been dispatched, the business of disembarkation commenced, and each man found full employment for his time in watching and identifying the different items of his luguage, as picce by picce it was extracted from the abysses below, in which it-had been stowed during the voyage. There.was neces- sarily some confusion, as passengers unaccustomed to such scenes bustled ubout-with porters’ at their heels, dragging heavy trunks and boxes of all shapes and sizes from. one part of the. vessel to another ; but-as the arrangements made by the people in authority were very complete, the amount of inconvenience caused was less. than might have been expected. _: .
In the course ofthe forenoon I found all my luggage collected, and my business of board being accomplished, along with the ma- jority of my-fellow-passengera, I badé:adien. to. the “ Hibernian ”
‘and stepped ashoré-o -on= the New World. ” | ~ ‘ . + . &, tes 1m,
CHAPTER II.
Custom house—American travelling arrangements—Grand Trunk Rail- way—Victoria Tubular Bridge—Montreal—General Election—To-
‘ ronto—Sleeping Cars—United States frontier at Port Huron—Michi- gan Central Railroad~-Chicago~—-Chicago and North Western Rail- road—Lacrosse— Mississippi Steamer—Adventnre of passenger from New York—United States Volunteers—Scenery of tf Hiawatha’ —St. Paul. .
Ovr first duty on landing was to pass the custom-house, a work sometimes attended with ‘inconvenience. On this occasion it was tedious from the number of candidates, but it ended at ls last, and I "had the’satisfaction of seeing on each of my ‘Poxes a label bearing the royal arms, and other inseriptions, the practical signification of | which was that I was free to proceed with them on my journcy.
A special train in connection. with the Atlantic steamers ran the. whole. length of the Grand Trunk line, and passengers-had the option: of continuing their journey up stream to Montreal, in the steamer er going by this‘train. As about eighteen hours ‘would be gained by the latter course, the majority -of passengers availed theméclves of it. -
On entcring the station we found our train i in readiness, ‘but were informed that an accident, which had occurred on‘ our track, would prevent it starting for some hours. ~
The American railroad arrangements we were prepared to find somewhat different from those which’ obtained in Europe. To
each of our pieces of luggage, x leaden medal or “check” was _
attached by a leather thong, duplicate of which check was deliyered to us and constituted our reevipt for luggage it represented, for the safe return of which the Railway Company was’ responsible. ‘The production by any one of his check entitled him to the immediate delivery of. his luggage, but should he lose the former,
/ # #
28 . | RED RIVER.
his application for the latter would “be refused. Lucky in such case would he be had-no one found his check and demanded his luggage, in which case he would have to take what steps he could
to obtain its recovery. ‘This system gives a man the feeling he is
ever travelling with his effects in his pocket, but on the long rail- way journeys of- Ameriva, it works satisfi uctorily. '
The extremely low rate of fares charged on the Grand Trunk Railroad, we found in bold contrast to hat on all English lines, and this fi worablé--etfmpigison holds good’ on all the American railroads on which I have since travelled. The different kinds
_ of money in use tended at first to confuse the mind accustomed to deal only with. sterling currency. -There were dollars and cents,
dimés and yorkers, pounds sterling and pounds Halifax currency. To all these it required experience to reconcile a stranger,
but after a little time had elapsed I was enabled to calculate with 7
ease. For the benefit of those who have not enjoyed the. same
experience, I m:y mention a dollar is worth between 4s, and 4s. 2d. -
sterling; a cent. about an English half-penny ; a dime, ten cents,- ‘a yorker ‘or York shilling, an English cixponce, and-2 pound. “Halifax currency, about sixteen shillings, four dollars, .or, four- . fifths of a pound sterling.
Jo censequence of the above-mentioned accident we were detained'at Point Levi station till three o'elock in ‘the afternoon. The time thus placed at our disposal we spent walking up and down in the vicinity of the station, and looking about us. As nothing of Special interest existed nearer than Quchee, which lay on the other side of the river, and as some of the steerage pussen- gers, who had used the interval of idleness offered them. by the delay to imbibe rather freely the various stimulating beverayes exposed for Sule at the bar of the hotel, were beginning to exhibit unequivocal : symptoms of too free indulgence, we were very “glad when the welcome signal ‘of departure was rung, and we started on our further j journey.
The American railway carriage is not divided into compartments
-&s is usual in England, but consists of one large chamber with a :
door at cach extremity, and ‘a clear passage along the centre from
door to door. On each side of the passage is_a row of seats, each”
| seat wide enough to accommodate two persons, who, by an arrango- “s | ment whereby the back of the séat is reversible, m mity sit with either their face or back to’ the engine. . Tho carriages ard well lighted by numerous windows, which, with alternate mirrors, _ occupy their entire length on both sides. Entrance and exit are facilitated by exterior platforms and side steps at cach door, and communication is open between every cur in the train throuzhout the journey. The grand objection to this kind of carriage lies in the amount
of dust which penetrates through so many windows and doors as _
it contains, but its conveniences appear in the judgement of those concerned _to counterbalance this evil, for, go fur as I cun learn, its adoption is universal in America.
Our special train consisted of first and second class carriages, in .
coe
~ the-former | of which journeyed the exbin and in the lutter the steerage passengers, * In a comfortable seat. close by the rear door
rho . RED RIVER. 29
of our carriage, which was the-last-in.the train, was seated the . _ conductor, a very important personage, who was good -cnough to.
point out to us the objects of local-fñtérest, as. AA steamed past - them. - These were not numerous: on-the lower” : ages “of the line, Here and there we passed villages and observed railway crossings, the placards situated over “which, by their duplicate inscriptions
in English and French, gave us to understand we were travelling —
through the settlements of-a mixed population. The Grand Trunk Ruilroad is constructed ‘on the brow’ ¢ gauge principle, and the speed to;be attained on it is considerable. The
slopes on either side of the- track are not of course dregsed or laid :
- out so neatly as. is usual.on English railways; on the contrary the cuttings : and embankments remain rough’and undressed, as left by
the pick-axes of the navigators; whp pionecred the way. Between
Quebec and Montreal,.the routé plunges through primeval woods,
but at'intervals along its course. small villages and embryo towns
were to be seen rising from amid surrounding clearings. The
houses were all constructed of wood.
We halted for a late dinner at Richmond, the junction of the
two great branches of the Grand Trunk Line, from Point Levi .on
- the St. Lawrence and Portland on the Atlantic Ocean, respectively
‘ — >
™ an \
t
50 RED RIVER,
es
the summer and winter ports used by the Canadian steamers, The sun was setting among the woods when we left this place, and though we stopped only at the principal points, it was nine o'clock.
before the train reached the open country and fenced fields which |
evidenced gur approach to u considerable city. About this time our patience was a good deal tried by our train beitig run off the main liye upon a “siding” to permit the passage of another coming “from the opposite direction. For half au hour on, .there- by, we were left to meditate on the disudtantages of single-lined railways, and listen to the © National Authom of Canada,” as some facvtions individual called the united croaking of some myriads of .frogstin the neighbouring swamips.
At last the much desired train rushed past, and we prgeccded, The Jights.of the city became visible in the distance, and our friend, the conductor, intimated we should soon be at the Victoria Tubu- Jur Bridge, on which we were to cross to the northern shure of the St. Lawrence. At this information every one started to his feet and souyht the parts of the train whence the best view could he
-obtained. Soon the-entering arch was passed; and for a few seconds
the space overhetd remained elear as we ran along the ubatments of the bridge. Suddenly a loud, hollow rumbling sound started from under foot, the space round the carriage was contracted, and we were in the tumel. Our speed relaxed, and, as we slow ly fan, we hag’ ample opportunity to admire the massive iron ribs and plating: ofthe structure, dimly scen in the faint light reflected from the éarriage lamps. )The length of the tube is about a mile and à half, and while passing along it the exterior platform of the carriage was crowded with curious passengers, who withdrew inside as the rumb- ling sound ceased, and we were once more on the firm ground forming the northern approach to the bridge. The entering arch flew past us, and we found ourselves, after the lapse of a few minutes, at a stund-still within the large and Commodious station of Montéeal, The principal hotels in town were here répresented by agents who cagcrly canvassed for the patronage of the new arrivals, «Try! the Metropolitan —the Ottawa—the St. Lawrence Hall! was heard on all hinds. An omnibus in waiting, connected with the
© Jatter-named establishment, convey ed myself and such of my fellow- i .
\
KED RIVER. ot
5
travellers as proposed passing a dy or two in Monte, te the hotel. The St. Lawrence Hall is att immense buildies, capable of accommodating several hundreds of gests. aad ty conducted on the American system. We ‘found its publie rooms bebiliantie ‘Tighted, and a crowd of people seated in lounging ehates under the front portico, reading the vewsp: apers and strokine dt the cooler te ing air.
The next day [ had an opportunity of secing the sights of the city. Of there the most fimous is, of course, the Vietorht Budge. Its fume must, however, rely more upon the cuerous diticaltios surmounted in its construction true on the uppenmanee presented by its exterior; althouch it may be very well hiaginel that an Tren tunnel, a mile and a half in length, burne upon vast granite piers | risiig one hundred’ fect above the level of one ef the mizktiest rivérs in the world, presents à spectacle well edlculated to couvey to the mind an hupression of solid grandeur and gite € CORPUS
In architecture,the Roman Gatholie Parish Church is a Boe, building, and the view of the city and its netyhbourhkuoed, obtainable from the summit of one of its two lofty towers, & to at enervetio admirer of bird's eye views, a fair recompense both for the exertion
necessary in effecting the ascent, and the shilling levied for the per. mission to climb.’ The interior of the chure is abo good, bets large and lofty, with sufficient accommoilation for a large. retiuae of priests in celebrutions of importance. St. Patrick's church is also à fine one, belonging tu the same religious sect. Tu it E wie nessed the coufirmation of 4 large number of children of both SEXES, by Bishop Bourget, of Montreal.
The Anglican Cathedral of Christ Church is suid by judzes of ecclesiastical architecture to be one of the finest churehes in America. It has been feared, howéver, that the foundation is defo tive, and its acoustic properties are certainly inperfeet.
The hill rising behind Montreal, called “ the Mountsin,” forms an important item wmony the attractions of the city. It is com. passed by a very good road running.rownd its base, forming 2 much frequented drive. From the elevated part of the mountain, on which many suburban residences’ have been built by the wealthy merchants of Montreal, a fine view of the city and neighbourheod
82 RED HIVER.
mas be had, as it lies sloping tawards the St. Laterence, with its spires, warchouses, streets, syutres and docks,- and great Victoria Bridge stretching out towards the further thore, with ships suil. ing under its wide- spanned tube, lemotely situate towards the part of the mountain most distant from Montreal is the establishinent of MonkLinds, being the former residence of Lord Elgin, and other (Governors General of Canada, previous to the removal of the seat of Government from Montreal, The harbour of Montreal is good. and its docks and stone wharves are substantially built and commodious. The city abounds with _ fine churches belonging to all denominations. There are also col- leges, nunneriés, hospitals and banks, all with more or less architec- tural pretentions, One theatre exists in town, but I did not understand it to bea very decided siiecess. Ou the oce tsion of my visit it was oceupied hy : company of operatic sinzers. The walls, moreover. bore large phicards announcing that, on the fol lossing week, € Professor Anderson, the great Wizard of the North,” would visit the city. for cicht nights only. during which he would perform his uvrivalled feats of natural magie and legerdemain.” © Unless his performances drew fuller houses than did the efforts of the operatic company on the evening
T witnessed them, À fear the Wizard's visit must have turned out LS
but a poor epeculation. “
-Eorly in the month of July a «general election was held Canada, and on the first day of that month, while travelling west- ward, I had an opportunity of seeing some of the bustle thereon attendant. The language af partizanchip, both'in private ednver- sation and’ public jaurnalism, was strong and bitter, and it was a relief to get free from it, especially as the main centres of excite- ment ly on the route of the Grand Trank Railway, on which T travelled with mnÿ eager voters, connected with all partics, as fel- low travellers in the same ‘triin with myself. The fact that rigid abstemiousness was not a characteristic uf a large section of these people tended to render their neighbourhood still less desirable.
On the evening of Ist July [ passed Toronto. Travelling during the night, we exchanged our regular day carriages for _ others, the interior furnishings of which were so constructed that,
o
RED RIVER. 33
with wonderfully little trouble, the series of seats could be turned -
into rows of sofas or cushioned benches, serving the purposes of beds Curtains, blankets and pillows, which during the day had
tbat vonsiderable comfort and privacy were obtainable, These’ carriages, commonly called “sleeping cars,” are of great service in the course of long journeys, continued by day and night sometimes for nearly aweek.” The result of the ingenuity with which every piece is dove-tailed into its neighbour, so that the ordinary car of the day becomes the dormitory fof its occupants during the night, -
must be seen to be adequately appreciated. Thé same number of passengers can, I believe, be accommodated in each carriage under the night arrangements as under those of the day. Sufficient at- tendance is provided to.$ecure passengers, who desire to be roused at any spot during the night, against the risk of being carried past
‘their destination.
Leaving Toronto -at eleven o’clock at night, we reached the Canadian, “frontier port. of Sarnia at five in the morning. Here we . quitted the railway and crossed the St.‘Clair river ‘close to” its mouth, at the southern extremity of Lake Huron, in a steamboat, — landing on the United States frontier at Port Huron. The passage occupied only a few minutes, during which we had to satisfy the United States custom-house officer as to our luggage, Luckily, the official was civil and did not exact too much, permitting.me to pass without trouble. After breukfust at Port Huron we con tinued our journey, to Detroit, where we arrived after a run of
- about two hours, and thence proceeded by the Michigan Central
Railroad to Chicago,. which we reached at eight o’clock in the evening.
The Michigan Central i is said to be one of -the best railways in the United States. The carriages were well appointed, and every- thing about them in good repair, the permanent way smooth, and. the embankments well dressed. |
Nearing Lake Michigan the rolling prairie opened out before us,
. and at length we reached the lake itself and ran along its shore.
Some miles from Chicago we caught sight of its towers, chimneys and st.eples, and passed a network of telegraph wires and railway ; c |
iN
34 | RED RIVER.
‘tracks converging from different quarters. The great number of vessels spread over the lake, going to and from the city, would of themselves have indicated it asa remarkable, place; but the won- drous prosperity and sudden rise from the heart of a wilderness into first-rate importanee of the town itself, are so ‘well known that the evidences of a thriving x city were looked for, ‘and consequently did not stzike with surprises
Having remained one day ‘in Chicago, at eight o’elock on the : evening of the 3rd July I started-onwards by the Chicago and
North Western Railway to Lacrosse. “At. midnight we changed carriages at Watertown junction, and at eight o'clock on the morn- ing of the 4th July reached Lacrosse, a small town on the Mis- sissippi, ther the “extreme limit of railway travelling towards the West.
. The distance thence to Saint Paul, of about 160 miles, was travelled by steamboat. . I found the sessel waiting ; but, as it would not sail till evening, I had the whole day to look around me. Being the 4th of July, there was much holiday-making. - - Excursion
steamcrs, sailing heavy laden with the multitude of their passen- .!.
---gers;-wentout-in the “niorhing and returned at the close of day,
while all day long scattered: shots from small field-pieces wakened the echoes on the swampy shore.
The steamer’s crew did not certainly j join in the general merri- ment, being, on the contrary, engaged all day in the matter-of-fact employment of unshipping from the vessel her cargo of sucks full of grain, an article exported down the Mississippi_in vast pat from the agricultural States of Minnesota/and Wisconsin"ôn its 72 way to Chicago, the great grain depot of the West.
The American river steamers, though much admired by some |
people, and thoroughly adapted to the shallow waters on which they: ply, to me seemed clumsy-and uncouth in their buge white- washed. bulk. They are composed of a hull, the gunwale of which reaches some three or four feet above the water’ s edge, and the deck of which is occupied by cargo, engine and machinery. Raised
' above this lower deck, and stipported by strong framework, is the . passenger deck, occupied by the main saloon, and the staterooms
opening immediately off it, -Above the roof of this structure towers
*
RED RIVER. | 35 the wheel or pilot's house, perched in which, from his surpassing elevation, the man-at the wheel commands an unobstructed view a long way ahead over the vessel’s course. ee
About nine o'clock we left Lacrosse and steamed up the Mis- sissippi, a very tortuous river, even at this considerable distance from its source in the wilderness of Minnesota. The evening was
‘lowering, and constant flashes of sheet lightning played among the
“heavy thunder-clouds. The night-had become quite dark before
we reached the first stopping place jat which -we were to take in wood. The vast.quantity of fuel consumed on board the river steamers renders it necessary to have a great supply cut and piled in convenient localities on their route ; and as the peculiar build of these boats enables them to run at a Joad ed ‘draft of only three or four feet, they have only to be run along ‘shore close to the bink,
. where they receive the fucl placed in readiness for them. At night _ the scene presented by the groups of workmen wooding the vessel, _ while the glare of torches, braziers and flambeaux lights up the dark
vistas among the woods, is striking. . ' “A Violent thunderstorm during the night cleared the heavens for a fine, morning. At this stage we had quite an excitement on board, in copSequence of a. complaint lodged by an elderly country- man, of Gasophisticated appearance, hailing from the neighbourhood of Ne
York, who was then making a tour in the West, that his _
étateroom had been éntered during the night and the greater part of
his money stolen. It was at first supposed the thief had quitted the steamer during the night at some of the villages where she had stopped, but further investigation proved this was not the case. He was found still on board with the stolen propérty in his possession, and turned, out to be a quiet, weakly-looking'man, with pale fea- tures and-sad voice, who had entertained a knot of passengers over- night, his victim being one among his hearers, and in more than one ‘sense a most interested auditor, with some amusing stories of the doings of the thieving population in the States, illustrative chiefly of the expertness attainable by members of the pocket-picking branch of the profession. A clue to his identification’ as the cul- prit had been found from information supplied by the purser, whose suspicions had been raised by noticing the man moving about the vessel at a late hour on the night of the robbery. ?
CS
+
36 !.:,. RED RIVER. .
The victim, satisfied with regtining his property, the loss of which would have subjected him to grave inconvenience at that dist nce from home, and a good deal softened by the recital of a moving story of suffering which the unfortunate culprit made to him, declined to carry the matter “any further, and the prisoner,
. after being detained the greater part of the day bound in a very un-
comfortable manner, in a conspicuous position close to the wheel- house, over the saloon, and exposed to the rays of a blazing July sun, wis, at his intercession, put ashore.
A regiment of the United States Volunteer army, then newly raised, accompanied us on their way to relieve one bulonssiny to the’
regular army- quartered at érn post, whose services were re- .
quired i in the sharp work then just commencing with the South. The officers and men connected with this volunteer . detachment seemed to have dlike belonged to the class of operatives : they were intcllizent men, but apparently undrilled and ignorant of the detiils of military duty. Their Union sentiment was, of course, very strony. In this-feeling all the passengers with whom I con- versed quite coincided,
“Tf miy.own brother were a Rebel L would shoot him without.
hesitution,” remitrked one gentleman, and even the victim of the” above recorded robbery found time amid his purstits of a more persona) nature to remark that he ‘was sorry to observe England did not appear to show us that hearty cordiality he could wish to
“gee exhibited by her.”
'Eheeountry through which we passed i is celebrated as the scene of the action of Mr. Longfellow's poem of“ Hiawatha.” “Tt has, however, gained some features which it did not possess in the times
:
“to which that work refers. The natural outlines are still the same.-
High banks crop out on either hand, indenting, with their pro-
montories, bays on the opposite sides of the tortuous stream, pre- |
senting the appearance of ‘terraces: of hills stretching far away before à and behind the traveller, and jy few parts isthe course of the stte..m visible far ahead. On the less precipitous banks trees grow down to the water’s edve, and on one hand a high wooded cliff juts forth to meet a low sedey bank upon the other.
a
wake
iewam. Oo ‘Tidian ig now, however, gone. is re- Tie wigw f th: Tidian is now, h , It
ee | RED RIVER, . 87
'
placed by the dwellings ‘of the invading race. There are numerous.
villages and large towns scattered along the river’s banks, with their wooden wharves, Swiss cottages, more pretentious Greck style of private residences, and kitchen gardens. .,“Barn-like hotels, with staring placards, and court houses with cupolas, stand conspicuously forth. The staple building material is wood;-but red brick man- sions, with white doors and windows, brick and stone stores and steeples are visible in considerable numbers. “The towns generally seemed irregularly built, stretching away behind their levees or river landing places, and backed with wooded bluffs.
A considerable distance below Saint Paul the Mississippi widens _
= gut intoru broad lake called Lake Pepin, a short distance above the northern extremity of which that city, the capital of Minnesota, is
situated. — On nearing it our fellow-travellers, the volunteers, had com-
menced their preparations for disembarking, in the course of which -
they ascertained the unwelcome fact that the local bank-notes in
their possession, although perfectly negociable at the place whence. _
“they caine, were uscless in Minnesota.- As may be imagined, the poor fellows” rere much chagrined at the intelligence, and stigma- tized: their banking system ds being bad. The great number of forged and worthless notes In circulation i in the States rendered it
absolutely necessary to exercise great caution in receiving money. at the time of which I speak. Since that date, however, the notes .
of local banks have been practically displaced from the ordinary currency by the “greenbacks” or Government paper, which has certainly in this respect been of seryice to the State. |
As we rounded the last promontory : and came in sight of the beautiful and thriving city of Saint Paul, a gentleman on board.
ETS
who had amused himself a good deal during the day ‘in persever- |
ingly sustaining the cause of Union in my hearing, called my atten- tion to, the magnitude of its dominion, as exhibited by the fact that though then four days and nights continual travel by steam and rail from its Eastern boundary, we were yet only in the cen- fre of its territories, ; -
~ An omnibus, in waiting at the wharf to convey what guests the steamboat might offer it to the American Hotel, took me up and deposited me at that establishment without further adventure,
» 4
sent on one of their periodical visits to the city. T learned that the :
, et an & . 7 ~ xh ae ag Oe A : “i a ood ~ + on J °
CHAPTER Itt,
ST. PAUL ro FORT ABERCROMBIE.-
City of St. Panl==Red River Mérchants—Trotting Match—Presidents Lincoln's first Message— Stage Coach—Falls of Minnehaha—St. Anthony—Prairie travelling—Passengers—St. Cloud—Kandottah— Alexandria and its Woods and Roads—Pomme de Terre-Sited River of the North—Fort Abercrombie.
Sarwr Patt, the capital of Minnesota, is the head of steam navi-” gation on the Mississippi, whose waters, about twelve miles above the point at which it stands, are interrupted by the Falls of St. Anthony. At the time of which-I write it might be said to form the most westerly point- of civilized town life, although since then railroad : enterprise has extended westward, and several embryo towns’ now" flourish amid promising indications of prosperity. \ Oh ‘the evening of my arrival, I availed myself of the time: at my disposal to see the lions of the place, the principal among which was «t society of miérelunts from Red River Settlement, then pre-
seasons at which these people were chiefly to be found in St. Paul were annually two in number—the months of June and September
_ being the periods of their Spring and Autumn visits. The Spring
_ trip is made $0' soon.as the snow being cleared away from the sur-
face of the plains, the roads are in a fit state for the passage ofthe
| two- wheeled carts used in the country, and- the grass“ grown sufi-"
ciently long to faynish feeding for the animals; while the Fall trip is so timed that the return passage to Red River may be completed before the closing in of winter. “The distaned of plain travel from . St. Paul to the settlement is from six hundred to six hundred and
x
” fifty miles, : - , os . : veces tame meme ee
&
Daily coaches-ran -between -St.-Paul-and-St--Cloud, “a-small vil ~~
RED RIVER. | . ‘39.
The merchants i in question I found to be quite : a society among
; ‘themselves, and their custom a recogtiized and valued institution in
the city, where an animated competition was kept up for the furs
they had to offer in exchange for goods, to be used in their coming year’s trade in the West. ©
The principal hotel frequented by this community in 1861 was
the Winnslow House, under the verandah of which I had thé plea-
sure, of an introduction to a large section of them as they sat in
. their American rocking.chairs smoking and-reading. the evening
.paperss Being on myWay to their country, I was at once among
friends, and passed a very-pleasant evening in their society, talking,
_ over the probable duration of my trip, the state of the roads, and the various points of interest to a traveller. My journey I found would be of a two-fold system. of locomo-
+ tion, the first part being passed i in a stage couch and the second in . 4 steamboat, . The stage or express line of coaches ran between St.
Pail and Georgetown, a post established by “the—Hudson’ s Bay Company on the upper waters of the Red River of the North. The
express was conducted by Messrs. J. C. and H. C. Burbank &
È Company, a firm of St. Paul merchants who were under contract to carry the United States mail, which they did by means of these
a
coaches. The steamboat running on the Red River between George- ~
_ town and the settlement was the joint propèrty of the Hudson's Bay Company and Messrs. Burbank, the latter being employed ‘by the former as their freighting agents. The stage line, besides the purposes it served i in carrying the mails, was much used by those traders who, not caring to travel by the slow conveyance’ of their
i
own freight carts, the rate of progress “of which was about twenty |
miles a day, took passage in its coaches, and by travellers of various kinds whose business or pleasure took them out westward.
lage about eighty miles west from St. Paul, built on the Mississippi, the route between which places formed the first day's journey, |
while three times each week coaches starting from St. Cloud’ and Georgetown completed the chain of through communication. The
total distance, between St, Paul and Georgetown. of. more than ...
| three hundred ‘miles, was easily traversible in a five days; this was
; a t
e
40 RED RIVER: vs -
accomplished by relays of horses stafioned in postal establishents, situated at intervals, varying from fifteen to twenty-five miles in’ extent, along the route.
The day after my arrival I was driven a short distance out of ~ town to witness a trotting match between two apparently well known horses. A very large attendance of spectators appeared on - the ground to watch the event. The preparatory arrangements were certainly not of a first-class character. Some considerable difficulty was experienced in securing jockeys competent to ride, * ” and those at length selected seemed the reverse of confident in their own skill. When at last the animals got away, carriages contain- ing spectators, and all the equestrians on the ground, “galloped on
~ the course and followed in the wake of the trotters with mach noise
and confusion. When the match had been concluded, the most : invigorating part of the adventure remained in the drive back to town, the entire road being~covered with the hurrying multitude of vehicles and horses crowding on their way.
We noticed by the.roadside a camp of travellers from the Red — Riv er country, their wooden carts fitted up in camp to serve as tents, constituting :a_ vivid contrast to the many fine American equipages rolling past. ‘
On the afternoon of Sunday, 7th June, much interest was ex- cited in town in consequence of the receipt, by telegraph, and publi- > cation in the-afternog papers, of the first message delivered by | * Presidait Lincoln : to ongress, calling for 400, 000 men and 400,000,000 dollars to be used in a vigorous ‘Prosecution of the war.
About three o’clock on “the morning of Monday, 8th -June, [ - stood at the door of the hotel, solitary save for the company ‘of à yawning porter in charge of my lugga gage, waiting the arrival of the stage coach. At last it appeared i in’ sight, lumbering slowly. —..----—-
“an
- along-over the steep irregular street.” It was a capacious, ‘comfort-
able old vehicle, construëted to contain nine inside and, I think, three outside passengers. It was drawn by four fine horses. Early as was the hour, I was not the first passenger it had received’ that ‘morning, and on entering it I found two gentlemen already in. . possession-of the choice-seats, ‘to Which their timely precaution in
a »
_RED RIVER, … 41
securing them at that early stage of the j journey gave them a valid right good for the duration of whatever part of the five days’ trip they should go. In journeys, such as the one on which I was about to entér, where travelling is done only during the day, the choice of seats is a slight matter. - But the case is widely different when, as in the case of the stage route between Atchison, in Kan- - BAS, and Denver, in Colorado, the travelling is sustained over-a space, of 650 miles, by day and by night, for five or six days, passed in as swift locomotion as can be effected by the finest, animals obtainable, relays of which are stationed at short intervals along the line. In such cases as this, the experienced traveller knows the value of the slight head support afforded By the stuffed back and sides of the conveyañce, and the facilities thereby given to the attempt at_procuring a broken slumber, as the, coach jolts and tumbles its way along the rugged faggot road, on the more “advanced stages of its course. Under these circumstances, the seat appropriated to each Passenger is registered at the coach office when the passage money is paid.
‘ The passengers whose names were on ‘the “ way:bill” having been all-taken “on board,” our vehicle turned its back on the.
_ city and proceeded towards the western’ plains. The road was
merely’ a track following the slight : undulations of the- rolling prairie; but every stream along its route was bridged, and the thick “bush” was so cut down as to afford. smooth transit to wheeled. vehicles. We passed very tear the famous Falls of Minnehaha, but I could not see them. About six o’clock we reached the hotel at St. Anthony, where we found breakfast prepared, at which meal we were joined by a large party of travellers, like ourselves, to the west, who had come from St. Paul the preceding day so as to avoid the early rising to which we had been-subjected, and-break the day’s journey-in-curtailing.it.-by.twelve miles. : | | St. Anthony, I may mention, was a watering place and summer resort much frequented by St. Paul people, and strangers from.the Southern States, who formerly came in great numbers to spend the
-. Warm season, s0..oppressively. hot.at.home, in the comparatively oe
cooler atmosphere of Minnesota. —
42 * - RED RIVER.
Between 7 and 8 o'clock we were again on the road, which was through “bush,” as the short, thick-tangled wooding of the country is commonly called. Now and then we passed through a scattered village of frail-looking houses, run up apparently in a very hurried manner for temporary use as shôps, stores, hotels, or private dwelling houses. At intervals we stopped at halting places to change horses, and about two o’clock reached a house situated on the open plain, where a very acceptable dinner-waited us: I have . _ no particular recollection of the dishes on the occasion in question, and remember only that the entertainment generally was rather better than the ordinary bill of fare at roadside houses on the line. The staple dish generally consists of pork and beans, which may be ‘ gaid to be good when they are good, but sometimes article and cooking are alike bad. To this may be added various kinds of vegetables. Potatoes, throughout the whole districts of Minnesota and Wisconsin, so far as my knowledge anid experience go, are not merely good, but admirable, the whole country being apparently remarkably well adapted, both in point of soil and climate, to the" cultivation. Sometimes at the better class of “ station-houses” a : dish of -good prate or beans ‘is to be had. Sweets are almost invariably provided, and generally consist of stewed prunes or pre- served apples. Molasses isin great demand. In point of drink-. ables, a beverage called tea is used at every meal, or in default thereof, another called coffee. Of these two drinks I am unde- cided which should be stigmatized as the worst or least resembling the pure article of which the name is degraded to.identify it. Good . sweet milk is, however; generally to be found in large quantities on . “the tables of these prairie taverns, and’ to the.traveller-whose- - -------- ~ taste is uneducated to the appreciation of the other luxuries, it . is very welcome, . Our party oceupied every, ayailable seat inside and outside the... -—- — -eoach: Indeed the ainount of p: passenger traffic at that time between St. Paul and St. Cloud was very considerable. The passengers of | whom I retain the most vivid recollection were three in number: Mr. Lewis H. Morgan, a legal gentleman from Rochester,-in the State of New York, was making a tour to Red River Settlement_— — 02-84 scientific mission; Mr. Parsons, another lawyer, Was return
e.
BED RIVER. * | 43
ing home to St. Cloud after a short visit to St. Paul, and Mr. Stanley, a commercial traveller from Chicago, was engaged in a journey tothe West in the interests of-the firm with which he was connected. There were, besides, two Government land sur- veyors going to lay out, I believe, some new land lots in tracts of the State till then unsettled.
The earlier part of the day was passed in smoking and discuss- ing points of a political, legal and personal nature. On such the dis- - putes occasionally waxed so warm that at some of the critical turns of the road the effect of the united gesticulations of the crowd’ inside threatened seriously to disturb the balance of the vehicle. Mr. Parsons, who travelled outside, came to the window at one of ‘the stopping places to ascertain what was creating the disturbance, but .on being informed the passengers were debating points of law, he forthwith retreated, saying he was mixed up with too much of — that sort of thing at home.
. On resuming our way after dinner a party was organized for a game at euchre. This is a game much in use in the States. While
it was in progress I ascended beside Mr. Parsons, who in the-
course of the afternoon gave me a description of the people. and manners of the West, so vivid and intelligible, that I heartily wish, for the amusement of the reader, I could reproduce it just as he
told it. He did not much extol the moral tone of the part of the |
country in which he resided, particularly with reference to money matters ; but the grand consolation of all who like him should mur- mur at the degeneracy of public virtues might be summed up in the gratifying announcement, “ After all, we make money there.”
. The. conviviality of the..region.was also considerable, and the. means of intoxication not inviting, So bad indeed was their quality that manufacturers and consumers agreed in making-the
subject a matter of pleasantry. The former labelled the bottles
containing their whiskey and brandy with the letters L. I. and I. D. said by the-latter to represent the expressions, “lingering illness” and “instant death.” The ‘“dead-shot” and “ forty-rod ” were “also the designations of. a class of stimulants much prized in these parts, A specimen of the L. I. it appeared, we had enjoyed that
~ very day in a house at which the stage coach had stopped, a and I
cannot recollect that I have since often encountered its like.
44 RED RIVER.
The long summer day was far gone before we came within sight of :
St. Cloud..a goal much desired, as a thunderstorm threatened us, and our vehicle was heavily laden with iron and steel agricultural implements, which, neatly arranged in a pile on the roof, might have subjected us to some risk from one of the blinding lightning
flashes common in Minnesota thunderstorms. However, we :
escaped even from the inconvenience of a wetting, and about eight o'clock in the evening arrived on the bank of the Mississippi, which it was necessary to cross before reaching the town. We had travelled about eighty miles in seventeen hours, and at different points on the route had seen symptoms of a proposed change in the mode of locomotion, which now renders the journcy easy in five hours, in the shape of a railroad, which had even then been “ graded” for some years, but Jay grass-grown and incomplete till long after - 1861, partly on account-of the effects of the Southern war in paralyzing enterprise, and partly because of ¢vents to which I shall allude in the course of my story. : ° À few minutes before reaching the ferry we came upon a com- pany of voluntecrs camped by the wayside for the night. They
were, I believe, the same men referred to in the preceding chapter “as having come up the Mississippi along with us, and had, since
their arrival at St. Paul, marched to the spot where-we overtook
them on their way to relieve a garrison of regular soldiers stationed _
at Fort Abercrombie. They received, with loud tokens of satis- faction, the newspapers thrown to them by the passengers in the coach, contuining the president’s message, published after their departure from St. Paul.
“The ferry-boat on the Mississippi at St. Clond was ingeniously
propelled by the water of the river itself, which, acting on flouts - connected by -an arrangement of lines with the boat, caused it to
cross in | either direction 1 from bunk to.bank-without the ust of anual ~
“Jabour. There being no bridge, the stage coach was driven on board,
and in a few minutes we were under the porch verandah of Stearne’s House.
After supper a small party of us took a walk through the plac As a town it was then very small, and the style. of its-architeeture-~(- "TT
very humble, consisting, generally speaking, of long, high Noab’s
/
Lis 45
- ark-shaped houses built of rood, and used ‘as general stores, dwelling houses or groggeries,
By seven o’clock next ;morning we were again in our vehicle. The stage coach of the day before Bad, however, been exchanged for a sort ‘of covered waggon, the canvas sides of which could | be” 7 so rolled up as to afford coolness. It was furnished with enormous springs, and, indeed, a solidity of construction which bade defiance to the worst of roads was the distinguishing feature of the carriage. Of the large party which -had ‘travelled to St. Cloud, only three . continued their journey westward, Mr. Morgan, Mrs. Cook and myself. Mrs. Cook was a lady who, having passed the earlier part of her life in London, had several years anterior to 1861 quitted England, and, along with her husband and fimily, settled down on a farm at a place called Alexandria, about 170 miles west from St. Paul.
This day’s journey much resembled that of ‘the preceding day. | We halted at the regular stopping places, changed horses, dined, and resumed our journey. The country became eve more level and clear of bush than what we had passed the day before. At night we reached a solitary house at a spot called Kandottah, “where we prepared to make ourselves at howe. This was not very easy, us we found all the men in the est :blishment were to be our fellow lodgers. “The one large’ dormitory contained several spa. cious double’ beds hung with curtains of gauze to exclude the mosquitoes, which had begun to trouble us that day, and were thenceforward to be our inseparable companions. One of the large | beds Mérgun and myself at once secured. The former passed the eveniny working up his correspondence, using the broad side “of his valise for a writing desk, The hovel was filled with smoke from “ smudge fires” lighted to repel the mosquitoes.” The fael _…. … used for this purpose is composed of green leaves and weeds, |
which, when kindléd in a brazier, produces vast quantities of as smoke, A sound sleep, in spite of the humble surroundines, and a fair breakfast prepared us for another day’s work.’ During the fore- wn OOH WE entered a very woody region, and the track b beenme bad,
The roads, which had been quite impassible early in Spring, had
ae
46 RED RIVER. .
been newly mended by laying logs transversely across them, form- ing what are technically called faggot” or ‘“ corduroy roads.” These are very rough, and our horses and vehicle plunged vio- lently over them, pitching from side to side at hap-hazard. -From
‘time to time passengers relieved the fatigue and inconvenience
consequent on this mode of locomotion by stepping out and follow- ing the coach on foot. The mosquitoes also troubled us much, as we had omitted to bring veils or “‘ mosquito bars" along with us. Fowards one o'clock we reached Mrs.Cook’s farm house, at Alexandria, where the couch stopped, the igi ba iga. were, examined, and we dined. After resting about an ‘hour Mr. Morgan and I resumed our journey, leaving our late fellow traveller at home on the prairie. ‘ . |
We were soon past the Alexandria woods, and the plains again | “opened out on either hand. Beautiful and extensive shects of
water lay in all directions round our track, with clumps of wood and rising knolls along their margins.” The country was entirely wild and unsettled; no human habitation was to be seen. Once, as the couch crossed a stream, an Indian bark canoe shot from under the bridge. while its crowded occupants, dressed in eaudy red cloth, stured curiously at our conveyance. These were the first Indians we had seen, No communication passed between our respective parties, and we passed on our way. Towards evening we reached Pomme de Terre, where our quarters were in just such another house as that at Kandnttah. A coach similar to our own stood at the door, and a ctowd of passengers were beside it. It was the stage running in the opposite direction to ours, from George- town to St. Paul. -
The usual smudge fires were lighted, the evening passed, and we retired to bed in an overcrowded upper room. The party com- ing from Georgetown had heard rumours of Indian-disturbances, and were anxious to make all haste in the direction of St. Paul; but we, not revlizing as yet our position outside the pale of civili- zation, or the fact that any danger existed around us, felt quite tranquiland happy. Certainly no outbreak occurred for about a year after the time I passed through it, but when- the massacre” 6f ét
“ters broke out a year subsequently, the same beautiful scenery we
RED RIVER. ‘ 4T.
had that day witnessed became the theatre of horrible barbarities, and all communication by that route was abandoned.
On Thursday morning the coach going eastward and ours started after breakfast, cach towards its scparate destination. The’ country became gradually flatter and-more monotonous, We halted for dinner at the cabin of a Dutchman newly settled in that country on his solitary farm, for which he had quitted his late residence in an Eastern state. His house was miscruble, but his fare svas admirable. °
In the course of the afternoon we struck the Red River of the
North, which, rising far in the interior of the territories of the
United States, flows due north and empties itself into Lake Winnipeg, in the British possessions, It constitutes the boundary
. between the State of Minnesota and the territory of Dacotah.
Where we first-reached it the stream was narrow, tortuous, and insignificant. Skirting along its course from point to point, our line of travel, which, until then, had been in a westerly direction across the state of Minnesota, changed towards the north. We reached the proposed town of Breckenridge, which then consisted of a single large house called a-hotel, and only partially occupied by the managers of the post-house. ‘Situated among ‘the trees on the river bank this house had caught our éÿe several hôurs Ééfore we réached it, and, standing alone, its yreat height magnitied”into an appcurance really vast by the flatness of the surrounding’land- scape, had nota little excited our curiosity to know its history and purpose. Our driver, on application being made to him for information, told us it was a town, adding somewhat drily, “that is a paper town,” or words to that effect. The project has not yet been carried out, and I believe the only alteration which has since taken place on the spot has been effected by the tear and wear of
. the weather and the hostile efforts of the Indians, which together,
have succeeded in rendering the single house uninhabitable. Towards six o’clock in the evening our track plunged among
the woods which flourish on the eastern bank of the stream, and
run down to the water’s edge. Looking across we found ourselves
immediately under the palisades of-the-American-fortress_named. ~—.---—
Fort Abercrombie, which loomed up -against us on the opposite bank of the river.
- OR.
CHAPTER IV. “FORT ABERCROMBIE TO GEORGETOWN.
Colonel Day—Evening at the Fort--Plain Country—Georgetown—Mr. C. P. V. Lull and his Station House—Mr. Burbank—Detention at Georgetown—Daily routine—Steamer “ Pioneer” and her passengers —Chief Trader Murray—Mr. Morgan’s Scientific Tour—Steam Saw Mill—The “Womadi in White.”
A FERRY-BOAT conveyed our coach and ourselves across the Red . River, and, driving up the bank, we entered the fort. The soldier-
like appearance of the sentinels was remarkable, as they marched in measured pices on their respective parades, unmindful of the clouds
_ of mosquitoes which buzzed biting around them. With some difi-
culty we had arranged to be allowed to slecp in rather poor quarters immediately outside the fort, when Mr. Morgan fortunately remem- bered the possible use of certain documents in his possession emanating from officials occupying high state position, and recom- mending him to the good offices of public functionaries in the-- United States, with whom he might meet in the course of the
* écientific tour he was then making. Armed with these, and aceom- °°
"panied by myself, he set out in search of the quarters of Colonel
Duy, the officer in command of the fort. This gentlem‘n received
both of us with the utmost urbanity, told ug-we could not get any-
thing like comfortable lodgings in-the neighbourhood; and-invitedus-
to pass the night in his house. While I [ buste d myself in getting our portmanteaux brought to the quarters thus placed at our dis- posa, Mr. Morgan opened, the objects of his mission to the colonel.
The eager attention-with which the newspapers in our-possession~ were scanned by our military friends brought home to us the vivid
RED RIVER. . 49
realization of our having penetrated.far beyond the land of tele-
graphs. We found ourselves, in fact, invested with a dignity till
then strange, at least; to: myself, that of news-bearers, The
idtelligence we brought was indeed very important, for it consisted
of the contents of the President’s message already referred to, along with a variety of details connected with the rehel lion, interesting to the officers at Fort Abercrombie.
Colonel Day told us he was then under orders to proceed with his regiment of regular troops to-the cast, with the view of tiking part in the war, and that he waited only the arrival of the corps of volunteers we had passed near St. Cloud, who were to succeed him in the occupation of the fort. | He introduced us to Captain Lovel and Lieutenant Boyd, two officers serving.under his command, and also tu his son, a civilian. ar '
After supper we sat under the verandah of the officers’ quarters, which occupied an isolated position li in the centre of the fort, watching the troops on their evetiing parade through the “clouds of smoke ascending froni the smudge fires lighted in the brazicrs before us. After dusk we retired within doors and spent
the evening together ih a public room, the majority of the company’
smoking, sipping their whiskey and water, and watching the prouress made by Morgan who, with book and pen in hand, was closely’ questioniny a couple of Indian half- breeds whom the colonel had procured for his satisfaction.
Reports of Indian dissatisfaction had been heard at Fort Aber-
__. —erombie, but no great importance was attached to them, and, indeed, our hosts seemed: inclined to smile at them. They swiled —
also at the anticipated difference between the fine well-drilled troops
under their cémmand and probable appearance of their amateur ”
successors, On the latter, about one year later, fell the vengeance of the Sioux, as has-been already hinted, and will be more fully
- dwelt-on-in-the -after-part-of amy- narrative. — -———--—- > ee
_ The evening was far advanced before we retired to our respective
“shake-downs,” as the snug camp bedsteads were very happily
designated, We bade farewell to our kind friend, the colonel, _ before turning in, as we were not to see him before starting in the
morning. --I may mention I am credibly -informed that all the threo °
D .
à 1
50 . RED RIVER. +?
gentlemen above mentioned passed through the war alive, and that Colonel Day was, aftercits close, in the enjoyment of an important command near Washington. - Lôdged'in « comfortible chamber, protected from the morquitoes by substantial gauzed frames on all the windows, we passed such a night as we had not enjoyed since leaving St. Paul, and in the morning had the further gratification of sceing our boots shihing: with all the lustre of which blacking vigorously applied is capable, in strong contrast, I need scarcely add, to the state in which we had donned them the preceding morning. _ ’ After an early breakfast we resumed our journey in a waggon other than that we had occupied the day before. It differed from
the latter in more respects than its individuality, for whereas that
__had been provided with springs and drawn by four horses, our new
one was without springs and drawn by only two horses. ‘The levage was also stowed inside, and there being no regular seats We used our trunks instead. The driver, who was an obliging, talkative man, sat beside us under the shade of the sheeted covering of the waggon whicli protected us from the sun. The day was war, and the numerous iosquitous, which, like ourselves, sought shady parts ofthe vehicle, bled us pretty freely. The distance to be traversed between Fort Abererombie and Georgetown was about 45 miles, 1! |
In consequence of an unusual amouut of freight, added, perhaps, to our natural reluctance to quit the colonel’s. comfortable rooms at an unreasonably carly hour, we arrived very late at all our staves during the course of the day. The track ran northwards from point to point along the course of the Red River, which, as
we had re-croxsed it that morning, flowed on our left.
Towards three o'clock in thé afternoon we saw, on the extrenie verze_of the horizon to our front, a line of trees, the tops of which - vat’ first only glimmered on our sight, running at right angles to the pelt which fringed the river banks along our route, and losing itself fur beyond towards our right. These were the wouds along
the Buffalo River, a tributary of the Red River, on the other side of which, close to itsjunction with the latter stream, stands George- town, our r destination fur the day.
By 7 °
RED RIVER. = “OL
Gradually the dim tree-tops of Buffalo River grew downwards to ‘our approaching view, and we had the satisfuction, from the increasing distinctness gained by their details, of fecling ourselyes making progress. © T owards five o'clock we reached Buffalo River, which we crossed on a wooden bridge, and” emerging from the fringe of woods came suddenly in sight of Georgetown, nearly a mile from us, situated on the bank of the Red River.
. Georgetown was a mere village, consisting of a few dwelling- houses’ and stares erected by or for the Hudson’ s Bay Company, and used as a storing place for their goods in process of tranship- ment from the carts running between it and St. Paul, on the one hand, and the steamer running on Red River, between it and Fort Garry, on the other. Situated at the point where the timber belts of the Red and Buffalo rivers join, Georgetown i is protected on its
-.. west and south sides by woods, but away towards the north and
east stretch the borizon-bounded plains, bare of timber, which flourishes only along the banks of the rivers. In addition to its storing accommodation the place was used as a cattle station, the pasture being boundless and water plentiful. ’ As our wearicd spun drew up at the door of the « station house,” or hotel of the village, the landlord, a tall, wiry Ameri- ‘¢an citizen, named Lull, walked up to -ascertain. what guests the vehicle had brought him. He welcomed us to his domicile, ‘and showed us upstairs to the single sleeping room set apart for the use of the better class of travellers. The house; being quite new, everything was clean and comfortable looking. “In common with all the buildings in the place it was constructed of wood. The dormitory was furnished with two beds, the one a large ‘ double bed," the other, a snug little travelling iron one; both were pro- , tected by substantial Anosquito curtains. Morgan and I were ‘inforined we were to occupy the large one in common, while Mr, Burbank monopolised the other, On cincrying from the house to look about us we encountered *. the | ittéicconsiiman, who was senior partner of the St. Paul firm of J. Cand, Bats Burbank & Company. under whose auspices the whole transit business vn ‘the line was carried on, Ile had just visited RedAitiver settlement, and was staying a ‘few days at
Ê
ae
b2 RED RIVER. .
Georgetown, watching the operations at that central spot hefore returning home to St. Paul. Chief among the works in hand was | the establishment of a-steam saw-mill, then in course of erection close to the river bank, with a view to sawing the’ “lumber”
- required to build the hull of’a fine new steamer about to. ‘be built
and pus on the station between Georgetown and the settlement. Mr. Burbank informed us we- would have to remain some weeks at Georgetown. The steamboat was then in: the settlement, and might be back within a week, but, as there was no freight. to load . her, she would not leave.-fér the settlement’ again until some should arrive, Mr. Burbank addéd that during the preceding year he ‘had run the bout at regular intervals of time between Georgetown and Fort Garry, to convinée. the sceptical that the thing could be done so far as the depth of watér in-the.river was - concerned, but that, during the season then current, he meant to run her to pay.” . He could searcely succeed in. the latter object’ : were he bo send her on her journey with only Mr. Morgan and mysclf on board, so he was resolved to wait till the es carts from St. Paul with more goods should arrive. ". x Mr. Morgan was much chagrined at this intelligence, as his | time was limited, and he seriously thought of giving up the pro- ject. of going further, and returning hy the first stage to St. ‘Paul. I felt, however; so disinclined to part with such a: pleasant | gi companion #8 he that I exerted all my powers of persua- sigh to-induëe him to finish his trip, and Tsuceeeded. ° ” We had arrived at Georgetown on the evening of Friday,. the 12th July, and did not proceed on oux further route-till daybreak on the morning of Sunday, the 28th:. We had accordingly | an . interval of miore.than a fortnight to pass as best we could in idle-
ness. “The résources of the country. swére not great: Shooting :
small birds in the woods, fishing in :the river, . “oafing,” letter’
D writing, and discussing with: “Morgan what. he described as
“the theory of Democracy,” filled up, so far as I was concerned, the spare time between meals. The afternoon siesta, during the | extreme heat which then prevailed, was, in the language of ‘the . country, “a great institution,” though, Wve génerally had “to pay
up” for it by slecplessuess of nights, a fair pait of which would be”
- * “ . oe sieges og em
+
Le
ES
RED RIVER., 538
consumed by Burbank, Morgan, and myself in smoking and talk- ing. “The theory of Democracy,” on which our conversations often turned, was a subject which I was confessedly slow to appre- ; hend. Mr. Morgan was good enough to admit he, liked me the better for “supporting the cause of European ifistitutions,” on the ground that adhesion to the government of one’s own country, in the presence of citizens of other states, was a high public duty, incumbent on all men. He prophesied, however, ‘that a few years’ residence in America, during which I should enjoy the advantage “of inspecting the working of New World institutions, would i ingen- sibly bring me round to his view of the case, and, meanwhile, he agrecd to “differ. : One day towards the middle of the first week of our residence at Georgetown, on descending to tea, after enjoying the accustomed “siesta, I was surprised to meet a crowd of strange faces collected . inthe dining-room before me. I found the steamer from Red River, Settlement had arrived, and the strangers were passengers on their, way to civilization. Some of them were Englishmen, who, after “having paid a visit to the country, were on their way home.
Neweastle-cn-Tyne, x who had been out with a view to private fur trading, and was retreating from the abortive attempt in supreme disgust. He advised me‘to pause and think twice before perse- Ver i in my journey, and described the place to which I was travelling in no favourable terms. The-discomforts and semi- starvation, to which all visitors were exposed, being out. of the question, and, supposing even aman to be prepared-to digest all the “ dirt” he would have metaphorically to eat, there was “another ‘kind of dirt to be encountered, more matter of fact and less. easily got rid of; ‘in fact, the roads down there were of. the most exe- crable character—mere tracks, which a summer shower would
render impassable—and then the mud, words were feeble to des- & ,cribe it. He himself had been up to the body in it, and narrowly ‘escape one dark night perishing miserably in an obscure quag-\~ 2
- mire; moreover, its adhesive properties were such that, when once | it touched your clothes, there was no way. of removing it. The : rest of the company seemed gravely inclined to corroborate the truth of this description Lo
a. . LL QT ue nue à de Ke , ae Lenape
> + - 2
54 a RED RIVER.
After supper I went for a stroll in company with the narrator, anxious to obtain information ona subject so near my- interest as the nature of the place to which I was going. Before we had proceeded fifteen yards I observed symptoms of occupancy about a house in the village which had during my short residence been shut up and uninhabited. On enquiry, I-learned the house «was the residence of the local representative of the Hudson’s Bay Company, Chief Trader Murray, who had that afternoon arrived on board the steamer, accompanied by his family and servants; and as we
passed his gate we encountered that gentleman himself standing at
the entrance to the enclosure before his house smoking his evening pipe. On hearing my name Mr. Murray grected me as an old se untance but [ ridiculed the idea till he mentioned the fact of my having one morning walked to the Waverley Bridge Rail-
. way Station in Edinburgh along with him, when I at once remem-
bered the circumstance as having occurred in 1857, aftér a night”
which Mr. Murray had passed in -the house where I lived at the :
time. I accounted for-my forgetfulness by assuting the gentleman that his European trip of 1857 had answered its health-restoring purpose so well. that I would fail to recognize the Edinburgh invalid in him. He very kindly insisted I should Ÿ quit my quarters at the hotel and stay with-him during my further residence at
© Georgetown, On turning to accompany hin jndoors, I found my late companion had disappeared, when it trénspired that a tempo” rary degree of awkwardness existed between him and Murray, in
consequence of-a spirited remonstrance in which the latter had induleed when, on the preceding day, a member of his family, a little boy, had narrowly escaped death from the accidental dis- charge of a gun with which the other was somewhat carelessly vapouring around on board the steamboat.
We seated ourselves in a small porch, the -walls of which were aderned with guns, shot-belts, and other implements of the chase, artistic: ily hung, and Mr. Murray catered into full details relating to certain parts of the world he ‘had visited. The narrative
touching Red River.roads, to which-I had listened at supper, he
did nat expressly contradict, though he appeared to consider it unworthy of mention. His own experience in Rupert’s Land had
a
RED RIVER. ° ; 55.
been great and long continued—but the adventure on which he most prided himself, evidently, was his having founded the most remote post of the company, Fort Youcou, in Russian America, situated within one or two degrees of the Arctic circle.
"In the course of “tite evening Morgan, along with some of the steamboat passengers, dropped in, and the object of my companion’s journey being mentioned; Murray gave him a few hints and _ promised to aid him’ a little by getting Indians or half-breeds
‘belonging to different tribes whom he could question. The specifie ‘work to be done consisted in filling up the blanks of a long schedule with Indian words, which could, of course, be supplied by any Indian or half-breed conversant with the language, and by comparing the different words of varying Indian dialects and tongues representing the same meaning, certain conclusions of an ethnological character could, Morgan thought, be arrived at. The words he had selected for universal translation were those repre- senting degrees of consanguinity, such as father, son, mother, and so forth. This.system of interrogation had not been selected unadvisedly or without close deliberntion. . In addition to its other advantages, a system of consanguinity: elicits words representing ideas common to the whole human family, and hence expressed by vocables in all languages, savage or civilized. . Certain relation-
ships, however, among some tribes bear a relation to each other _
different from that which obtains in others. For example, in the Sencea dialect of the Iroquois language, Mr. Morgan found that the relationship of “a father’s brother,” which, in English, is called uncle, is expressed as {‘father;” “a father’s brother’s son,” or cousin germain, if older tham the person speaking, as “ elder brother,” if younger, as “ younger prother.” Such a mode of . expression, though complex to à stranger, is to the Indian naturally and readily applied, while the entire system rests on definite ideas standing to each other in intelligent and fixed relations. | In composing his schedule, Mr. Morgan had contrived, with . Jegal acumen, so to arrange and classify his long list of terms,
extending in number to more than two hundred, and i in degree to _
very remote relationship indeed, as to receive answers manifestly tending to results which he considered interesting, remarkable and important,
aA
56 . RED RIVER.
Having established to his own satisfaction the existence, among. the Indians generally on the North American continent, of a peculiar system of relationship, he wished to compare it with those ‘in use among the natives of other. countries. He had made the subject his study, and had been at the world’s end for evidence ‘bearing thereupon. - Missionaries in Hindostan had contributed their. good offices in returning him the blank schedules he had
forwarded filled. with the phrascology_of.the_dusky disciples, and
Mr. Murray, who happened in the course of conversation with me, as a. man newly from Glisgow, to mention the name of a relative of his own in that city,/clicited from Morgan the information that ” the gentleman in question had filled up for him a schedule in the Gaelic language, and that the train of ideas shown in the system of Highland consanguinity presented to his mind coincidences strange and noteworthy. The gentleman referred to was Dr. MacNab, a Divine of some eminence connected with the Free Church of Scotland, who was then resident in Glascow, but’ is since dead. The term “Highland cousin,” I understand to have passed into a proverb, denoting, in some instances, a very remote relationship indeed. Not having myself seen Dr. MacNub’s paper,
I am at a loss to know how that clergyman described what ought.
- to have included the outward range of family connection possible ‘even with a Highlander, “the relationship which the daughter of the daughter of a brother bears to the son ofthe son of the son of the brother’s sister,” a query elucidatory of which closes the series on Morgan’s circular schedule.
The day after her aryival we went on ‘board the steamboat + to
inspect her. She was a small vessel propelled by a “stern wheel,” .
and called the “Pioneer.” She had been built on the upper waters of the Red River ; her machinery, which had originally belonged
another steamer running on tlie Mississippi, had been momen _ over the height of land intervening between that stream and the Red . River. Her original name was the “Anson Northrop,” so culled in honor of a distinguished citizen so named flourishing in Minne- sota. She was provided with four staterooms, each containing two berths. Passengers, over and above the number of those who could be accommodated in these, slept in a series of open berths extend-
~
epee ape n abc cie A anette de we oe
RED RIVER. 57
ing along the main saloon, from which they were separated only by. their curtains.
The time of our detention continued to pass slowly. One day the steum saw mill, to which I have alluded to, being completed, the work of sawing timber was immediately commenced, amid a little gentle excifement among the.scanty population. The departure of the passengers, who had arrived by .the steamer, in the stage, on their way to St. Paul, caused another slight sensation. The arrival of the mail every alternate day from St. Paul soon began
to be as much longed for by us as the one we had brought was by
the gentlemen at Fort Abercrombie. Our only course was with patience to suffer the heat, and loll on rocking-chairs under the shade of the trees in Mr. Murray’s enclosure, reading Humboldt’s
- Adventures in South America. Morgan, having questioned : all the “ people about the village who coulé throw any light on -his -
researches, sought occupation of ‘a general nature. After a-few walks with his gun, the only reward of which, worth mentioning, was a hawk he shot one afternoon, he turned his attention to books. Fortunately I had brought with me Mr. Wilkie Collins’ “ Woman
-in White,” then newly published. In a short time this popular
production completely dispelled Mr. Morgan’s ennui, and interested him so much that he attended to nothing else. He looked on the circumstances of the story with a legal eye, and criticised them as
_ if they had been of actual occurrence; alternately burning with * indignation at the complicated and successful rascalities of the
Machiavellian Fosco, and shaking with laughter in contemplation of the “fantastic tricks” ofethe monomaniac Esquire of Limmeridge. I prestime the unusual nature of the plot had
' struck his legal mind with unusual force. The volume I possessed
was perused by many successive delighted readers before it fell to pieces from sheer use, it being for a long time the only copy of the kind in the country, but to none, I believe, did it convey nearly the same measure of entertainment as to Mr. Morgan, during his protracted residence at Georgetown.
CHAPTER V.
GEORGETOWN TO RED RIVER SETTLEMENT.
Red’ River, Carts—Plain Transport—Convivial Evening—Start from Georgetown—Timoleon Love—Red River Steam Navigation—Mos- quitocs at Night—Goose Rapids—Scene of Mr. James McKenzie’s Wanderings and Death—Pembina—British American Frontier —Red River Settlement.
ONE day, exactly a fortnight after our arrival at Georgetown, news arrived that the train of carts from St. Paul, conveying. the freight so anxiously expected, were close at hand. That very evening they arrived, accompanied by a crowd of merchants whom we had left at St. Paul, aad who had travelled slowly along with their carts, The amusement of these people at the expense of Morgan and myself was great, their merriment tuking rise from the circumstance of our having got so decided a start ahead of ‘them at first, and being obliged to wait till they came up'after all. Their train consisted of several hundred carts, drawn by oxen, which came winding ity#tow length along in single file, the creak- ing of the wooden axles of so many carts making a noise as unpleasant as it was loud. The unloading and transhipment of the ladings, being a work requiring time and daylight, was delayed till the following day, when it was arranged the steamer should leave for the’ settlement. . The carts composing the train were of uniform make, and of a species called “ Red River carts.” They are constructed entirely of wood, without any iron whatever, the axles and rims of the wheels forming no exception to the rule. Although this might at . first sight appear a disadvantage, as denoting a want of strength, yet it is really the reverse, because, in the country traversed by these vehicles, wood is abundant, and always to be obtained in eee wee ur ed
‘ ‘RED RIVER. 59
quantities ‘sufficient to mend any breakages which might, take ‘place. The only tools necessary, not only to mend but to construct a cart, are an axe, a SAW, a screw-auger and a draw-knife ; ith these the traveller is independent, so’ far as regards the integrity of his conveyance. Indeed, the cart may be described as a light box frame poised upon an axle connecting two strong wooden wheels, The price of such an article in the settlement is about two pounds sterling.. The harness is very rude, and is made of
dressed ox-hide. Each cart is drawn by an ox, and in cases where speed is an object a horse is substituted. The horses used on the -
plains for draught purposes are usually the wiry little ‘Indian ponies,” one of which, with a load of four or five hundred pounds in the cart behind him, will overtake from fifty to sixty miles a day i in a measured, but by no means hurried, jog trot, Horses dre, however, generally used only when men travel. “light,” and time is an object, in which cases the bulk of the loads consists of the canteens, bedding and personal luggage of the passengers.
The common rate of progress made by heavy freight carts is about twenty miles a day, of ten travelling hours, the load averaging about eight hundred pounds per cart.’ A train of great length is . divided, into Brigades of ten carts each, three men being considered sufficient to work such a brigade; one of these three is invested with a certain minor authority over the other two, while an individual considerably more highly paid than any of the rest has
charge of the entire train, and, moving about on horseback from *
one brigade to another, exercises a a general supervision over. the RUE +
whole party throughout the journey, oF: The drivers harness and unharness the animals atthe camping
places, and attend to feeding and Watering thèm. The guidance of .
the oxen at all the difficult passes upon the route, such as crossings of rivers and swamps, forms a laborious, part of their duty, which, however, is, on the whole, by no means heavy. Each carries a “ eow-bell” attached to‘his harness, which, in case of his wandering out of the camp by night, gives notice of his whereabouts to the drivers. .
A supply of spare avimals, varying, according to the state of the _ &
tracks, from one-tenth to one-fifth of the-entire number, accom+
60 RED RIVER.
panies the train to relieve the whole body, each momber of which in turn becomes a supernumarary, and-supply any vacancies which may occur from death or accident along the raute. Each day a start is made at daybreak, and travelling continues until about noon, when the people dine and the animals rest during the heat of the day. In the afternoon the journey is resumed until, in the cool of the evening, at some eligible spot, the night camp is formed, Such is the usual itinerary. The great object in selecting a camping place is to procure as much good water as possible, and good grazing for the animals.
The above description is designed to convey a general idea of the means and mode of land-transport on the plains of British North America. é
At length the final day of our detention arrived, and all was bustle and business ia the place. ~ Proprietors of goods, contraétors’
- agents, clerks and steamboat labourers, were busy from an early hour carrying freight on board and getting everything in train to . start. Towards evening, all being in order, Morgan and myself bade farewell to the pleasant shade of the large trees, under whose branches we had spent much of the preceding fortnight, and took possession of the stateroom we had been fortunate enough to secure for our joint occupancy, and which constituted the only direct advantage we had derived from our early arrival on the spot. We were indeed fortunate in having even so much privacy as this place afforded, for the berths in the main saloon were occupied by aremark- | able medley of settlers and backwoodsmen, some of whom might be truly described as “hard cases.” On the first evening we passed on board, all were apparently of one mind respecting the propriety of “making a night of it,” and the contents, of the two-gallon whiskey kegs, with which each man appeared to-be supplied, sustained a heavy drain. Cards were introduced, and Mr. Morgan and I, who had retreated betimes to the shelter of our room, were reguled till far into the night with the notes of rattling choruses and glees resounding through the fruil partition separating us from
the revellers.
On emerging from our chamber next morning we found the steamer had not yet started. Before breakfast she got away and
+
RED RIVER. . 61
commenced her voyage, favoured by the stream, which glided down- wards at the rate of about one mile an hour. With the object of transporting a greater amount of freight than could be taken on -board the boat itself, there. was towed alongside a well-sized substantially built barge, filled with boxes and bales, the trim, well packed appearance of which did credit to the London and other firms, the names of which were neatly printed on their coverings. During the morning passengers got “shaken-up” together, and made each other's acquaintance a good deal more quickly and inti- mately than had been the case with those on board the Atlantic Packet ‘‘ Hibernian.” Morgan and I were initiated intoa variety of curious matters by Mr. Timoleon Love, a person whose acquaint- ance wé made that morning. Mr: Love was by profession a gold miner, and had practised his business in the fields of California and Cariboo. His reasons for leaving’ those thriving localities he certainly did not make very clear to my comprehension; but he
agsured us that gold in paying quantities would certainly soon turn ~
up in the fertile valley of the Saskatchewan, that an enormous influx of miners would thereupon take place, and that the Red River settlement, lying right in the line of traffic, would suddenly become “ quite a place.” He said he proposed passing the winter at Red River, but in spring he would go west and commence gold digging. He had already crossed the mountains,’ having come from Cariboo by the Saskatchewan, and after paying a hurried visit to St. Paul, with the object’ of providing himself with the necessary ‘rockers’? and other instruments of his craft, was then on his way back.
The contemplation of the airy castles built by this gentleman served to beguile part of our first morning on board; but as the sun got well up «nd the heat increased, our position became uncomfort- able. The steamboat was small and over-crowded, the funnel rose up through the saloon, rendering that chamber extremely warm, the sun overhead beat fiercely upon us, and the high river banks on cither hand prevented the breeze reaching us. As might be gathered from the description of American river boats already given,
_ the pilot of such has the most enviable position on board during the - warm weather, Secure in his Wheelhouse—a comfortable box i in
IN
v
62 _ . RED RIVER. FU - \ t . .
which he is protected from the sun’s rays, and elevated above the saloon—he can sce from his lofty position the obstacles to naviga- tion far ahead and around the vessel. He is quite alone in the possession of these advantages, for, should any passenger attempt to get uear him, he would soon be dis Jedged by the sun’s heat and tho - sparks continually falling from the funnel, while there is no admit- tance to the wheel-house itself. - .
- The Red River on its upper reaches is exceedingly tortuous. By the plain track, the-distance between Georgetown and Fort Garry is about 250 miles, while, by the river, it is 500 miles, the major part of the excess being caused by'the crookeduess of the channel
“above Pembina, that is, on the upper two-third parts of its direet
length. The tameness of the scenery is also exeessive. ‘The same hich poplar-clad’ banks enclosed us day after day. The reaches during the first few. days’ travel were extremely short, and in consequence $g$ the above- mentioned tiresome property of the stream, atter/steaming perseveringly for half an hour we, at the end of that time, might find ourselves not twenty yards distant from the spot whence we had started at its commencement.
The-traces wexe very boticeable of the ravages of oue of a class of evils which periodicdly afflict this country, A violent flood had, on the breaking up of the ive in 1861, caused much loss on the Red River. aud we observed fur overhead on the high banks the broken branches and torn bark of the trees, ‘The water had, however, subsided to such an extent that there was barcly gutficient in the channel to float our bout, aud considerable caution and skill had to he exercised in stegriuy her.
In consequence of the shurtness of the “# Pioncer™ it was found very dificult to manage her in turuing the numerous and sharp points w hich we passed on our way. This difficulty was obviated by protruding along, tough sweep from the bow, which virtually increased tlie length of the boat, while, being vigorously worked by cunning hands, it powerfully isisted the helm. Towards evening, in mukiug a sharp and swift turn round a point, this instrument wave © way very : suddeuly, to the extreme discomposure of the individual working it, and the peril of the vessel running aground, “All hauds were at once called up, the boat stopped, and
fag °
a
RED RIVEH, 63
a party with hatchets despatched into the woods, whence, having | brought a long, gnarled branch, suited to their purpose, they
speedily manufactured a fresh sweep, by the aid of which we were enabled to resume our voyage after a delay of about half an hour.
When we had run for about ten hours after leaving Georgetown, towards six o’clock in the evening, one of the crew was put ashore, with dircetions to rota to that place on some errand, the remark- worthy part of the affair being that the messenger on foot was
_ reasonably expected to arrive at Georgetown, whence we had that
mornins started, before bedtime. There being oùly one gang of men on board, and the navigation being bad, we drew up along ’ shore at nightfull, and came to a standstill. The passengers, who | felt so inclined, amused themselves by, jumping overboard and
swimming in the comparatively. cool waters, the engine-room on
the lower deck being turned for the time being into a dressing | saloon.
We had, as the sun went down, congratulated ourselves on escaping from its heat, but, when evening drew on, and we were settled for the night, we were assailed by the mosquitoes, who, liking the fiery beams as little as ourselves, and brushed awiy by the onward motion of the steamboat, had not troubled us during the day. To no purpose -did Morgan and I close fast our room door, and shut the windows The terrible avimals penetrated through the chinks of the clumsily joined boarding aud the numerous crevices, invisible to us, but tov soon diséd ered by our perseveriag encmics . Webad dereins to congratulate “éunelre es that we “ent on
that mitigating cireumstimee we were ‘a wretchodly cnowsh situated, As the long hours advanced, and fresh hordes came to the attack, we attempted to escape under thick blankets, but from these we were speedily forced, half smothered, to withdraw, and content ourselves with the partial protection afforded by sheets through which the mosquitoes bit viciously. After lying awake, listening to the pecu- liarly fever-promoting sound of their buzzing, for a long time, I rose, aud, entering the main saloon. found à kuot of fellow suffererg there assembled. Impelled by thirst, the common sentiment wag
a .
“À
64 _ RED RIVER. in favour of making au attempt upon the cook's stores, and one adventurous individual, having volunteered to dive into the obscure depths of the pantry trap stairs, speedily emerged with a . kettle of-cold tea, which we immediately despatched, and, some- what refreshed, I returned to my berth and succeeded in sleeping the remainder of the night.
Such is a tolerable description of our daily expericnces during the journey. I think it was on the morning of the third day (Tuesday) that we came to the spot called the “ Goose Rapid,” where the navigation was worse than at any other part of the river we traversed. The obstacles consisted of the rapids them- selves boiling and rushing over the huge boulders laid bare by the ‘low state of the water level, and of the narrow size of the channel through which the steamer had to pass. For more than an entire day the crew was engaged pulling the vessel-over the ground by
main furce, by means of a rope attached to the capstan, and fixed to a spot ashore at some distance ahead. At intervals during this -
tedious series of operations the “ Pioneer” would partially ground, while the greater part of‘-her ‘keel would be floating in water flow-
iny like the sluice of a mill, On such occasions she would whirl’ 4
cork-like around, setting at defi: ce the utmost efforts of the rude gtern wheel to revulate her motions. At lust the rapids, which extend over a length of about two miles, were passed, and we steamed ahead to good purpose. The captain began to breathe vivre freely and speculate with sume degree of confidence about the day on which we should reach Fort Garry. The river became less tortuous, the reaches lengthened out into tolerably long stretches
in frout aud rear, the turns were more rounded, and the cooling ‘
breezes were suffered by the widening channel to relieve us amid the sultry glare of noun, +
We saw ducks and prairie hens in considerable numbers along our course. A few kegu sportsmen fired at them from a favourable standing point on the steamer’s barge, but soon tired of the sport from their inability to secure the birds they killed,. the captain resulutely turning al deaf car to all proposals about slacking speed for any feathered gui. From time tu time we passed the outlet
of a tributary of the Red River, of which there are several flowing
y
RED RIVER. 65.
~ from the West, though the most important and beautiful above
Pembina, named Red Lake River, which empties the waters of
Red Lake into Red River, flows from the East. Red River being
the border line between the state of Minnesota and the Western territory of Dakotah, not yet exalted to the dignity of a state, our
- route may be said to have skirted the extreme edge of nominal
civilization; to the right lay the tracts over which civilized men had an immediate prospect of commencing to inaugurate their sway, while, on the left, the undisputed land of the Indians stretched away over the endléss plains towards the setting sun. Saturday, the seventh day of, our steamboat journey, had dawned before we found oursclyes within easy reach of Pembina. The uninhabited waste through which we were passing had been invested with a sombre human interest, in consequence of a tragicul event of which it had been the theatre about nineteen months ante- eedent to the time to which I-refer. It appeared that, in the ‘winter of 1859, Mr. James , Magkenzie, the. clerk in charge of Georgetown, had started aléng. with three men to visit the settle ment, partly on business, and partly” “With the: object of spending
some of the Christmas holidays among his friends at Fort Garry.
The means of conveyance consisted of mules and a waggon, instead of the ordinary winter travelling apparatus, of the country—snow shoes and dog sledges. Mr. Mackenzie was a first-rate traveller, and accustomed from early boyhood to such work. He knew, the country well, and, for aman of his strong constitution, the severity of the winter cold had too few terrors. He started from George-
', town very lightly clad. “Ata place called Pine, or Tamarac River
“crossing, about fifty miles from Pembina, he volunteered, as the
party with which-he travelled had run short.of provisions, and their waggon, in consequence of bad weather, travelled heavily, to push onwarda alone, with the intention of sending pack assistance from that post. He followed the track correctly until nightfall, when he lost his way, probably i in an attempt to find a shorter route to Pembina, nearer which, in consequence of some similarity in the landscape, he fancied himself to be than was the case. The suc- ceeding morning he resumed his journey, but in the wrong
* direction, and after another night spent on the plains, running
TE
EN
re
66, | RED RIVER. about in a circle to preserve the heat, his third day's travel brought him to as ot locally known as the “ the Poplar Groves ‘between Two Rivers,” about thirty miles from Pembina, and very far from the regular track. Here hope appears to ‘have deserted him, and, having hung a ‘portion of his clothing on a tree to attract the attention of aby passer by the spot, he “lay | down and was frozen to death. When his dead body was recovered it was
not yet altogether frozen.- He lay with one hand on his heart, and.
the other containing a compass. His sufferings must have been very great, as testified by the indications above referred to, easily compyehended by the experienced Plain travellers who found the body. A sèvere snow storm had raged during the nights he had spent on the prairie, and it was afterwards remembered that
on the fatal night the thermometer had fallen to forty degrees :
below zero, while a searching north wind, from which the poplar groves, throush which he chiefly travelled, offered but poor shelter,
blew mercilessly cold. I may mention the above is fortunately a |
very unusual-concurrence of circumstances, as, during the preva-
lence of extremely low temperature, the weather is generally calm,,
It was conjectured, from certain of the indications, that Mr. Mackenzie, on realizing himself as lost, must have grown so excited as to lose his, presence of mind, or he would have known his neces- sary general position with regard t6 the river, and have acted other- wise than he did. “A beaten track was found on the snow in the
-ring which he had ‘formed in walking during the second night after leaving his friends.
The danger of ' solitary winter travelling, as evidenced by the facts of this deplorable affair, is very great, and the practice is
. never permitted, when it can be avoided, by the. officers in. the : Hudson’s Bay service. But that winter is not the only season when fatal accidents may happen from want of friendly succour on the plains was evidenced by an event which happened to one of the “ Pioneer” passengers; on the trip referred to, a few days
——————afterhis-arrival i in the settlement; which it may not be entirely
out of place for me to mention here, This man, originally from Glasgow, in Scotland, was then travelling with the same gold- seeking object as Mr. Love, with whont he was in partnership. He
»
ae
we
RED RIVER. 67
had ‘accompanied a ‘few friends on ‘a shooting expedition, but separated from them, and was afterwards found dead if the swamps to which hé had gone in quest of game. PRET was . supposed to have been the cause of his death,
About midday on Saturday we arrived at ‘Pembina, | a- . small, isolated settlement of Americans and half-breeds chiefly cohnected with the fur trade, situated on the left bank of the Red River, i in the American’ territory of Dakotah, close to the border between. the United States and the British possessions. The dividing line between the t.vo territories, which is“an artificial boundary, . * described as the 49th parallel of latitude, is marked at Pembina by a: single wooden post, the position. of which was decided by surveyors ‘appointed by the United States Government. On ‘the English side of the frontier the Hudson's Bay Company.main- tains an establishment for trading g purposes. The steamboat stopped. at the American: settlement, where there is a custom house and . post'office. The goods, which are passed ‘through the United States in bond, are released on a certificate from the collector of customs at this place, whose duty it is consequently to inspect all manifests and ladings of passing conveyances, At the post-office there were letters for sundry passengers on board the steamer. These letters had passed us in the mail bags, which were carried overland at fortnightly intervals between Fort Abercrombie and Pembina. . -
After halting about two hours we resumed our downward voyage, and entered British territory. “We passed the trading establishment, built close to the river's bank, about two miles from the post-office. The stream, having now grown wide ‘and deep, flowed in long sweeping curves, which, by their easy navigation, enabled us to run all night: Early on Sunday morning wo reached the first houses of the Red River settlement.’ They were generally.
more huts, consisting of one chamber each, lighted by asingle win- . dow,.but from time to time we passed one of more pretensions ; they succeeded each other at intervals considerable at first, but afterwards gradually decreasing in extent as we proceeded. In the course of the forenoon we were hailed by a party of horsemen on shore, and, on stopping g, were informed they were on their way to meet us,
uc
68 ; ; RED RIVER.
having been sent by the authorities in the settlement, whose anxiety had been roused by our long detention and reports of Indian dis- turbances, which were fortunately groundless. By these people we received a copy of the last issue of the single local newspaper, the “ Nor’ Wester,” which, as it contained articles abusive of cer- tain leading public men in the colony, created some interest and merriment on board.
As familiar objects came in sight considerable excitement pre-, vailed among the passengers. An early dinner was hurriedly despatched. The river banks became crowded with pedestrians, whose curiosity had been awakened by the rare event of the steamer's arrival, and between twelve and one o'clock a sharp turn in the river brought us in sight of the stone bastions of Fort Garry on our left, and the fire-blackened ruins of what had been “the towers of the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Boniface, on our right hand side,
D f
~~
. CHAPTER VL | EARLY CIVIL HISTORY OF. RED. RIXER SETTLEMENT.
Hudson’s Bay Company's Charter—Opposition Fur Trade—X: Y. and North West Companies—Ear! of Selkirk's Land purchase ~Emigrants from Duchess of Sutherland's Estates—O pening diffculties—Skirmish of Seven Oaks—-Lord Selkirk’s visit to the Colony—Extinction of Indian Land Titles—Coalition between Hudson's Bay and North West Companies —Condition and Early Prospects of the Colony.
Berore proceeding further with the narrative of events occurring
under my own.observation, it will, I think, be proper for me and
interesting to the reader that I should enter at some considerable length on a discussion of certain matters of a general nature connected with the Red River Settlement. In pursuance of this plan I shall devote the present chapter to the civil history of the
colony. , ,
In virtue of a charter granted in the year 1670 by King Charles the Second, the Hudson's Bay Company was incorporated and endowed with certain rights and privileges. This charter has been much before the publie both of England and America, and coneider- able doubt has been expressed by the Press as to whether any, and, if any, what rights could be claimed under its provisions. It has also been laid before a long succession of eminent lawyers, with the object of discovering what good grounds the public might have
4
ne AZ
to support the opinion that it should be held invalid. Some oft 7%
these gentlemen, among whom were: Mansfield, Erskine, Romilly, Scarlett, Bethell, and many others, have doubted whether King Charles had_the power to confer a tight of exclusive trade upon
any company, but all agree that, under the charter, the right to .
the possession of the land within the limits therein specified, could be, and was, conferred on the Hudson’s Bay Company. The terri- tory, described as Rupert’s Land, consists of the whole region whore
}
Yo: 7
‘ weet V7 4
70 ‘ RED RIVER.
waters flow into Hudson’s Bay. It extends back from the Bay, in its narrowest width, on the east main coast, about 200 miles, on the south about 300 miles towards Canada, while it attains its greatest breadth of more than 1200 miles on the western shore of the Bay, whence the belt stretches back towards the Rocky Moun- tains, including within its limits the fertile valley of the Saskatche- wan, whose waters full into Lake Winnipeg, from which, through an outlet at its north-eastern extremity, they pass into streams emptying themselves into Hudson's Bay. The operations of the company, as a trading corporation, extend over vast regions other than those included in the ring above traced, but its proprietary rights and goyerning- responsibilities under the charter are con- fined’ within the limits described. ,
Until about 1774, ‘being more than a century after the date of the charter, the company ‘docs not appear- to have extended its operations ‘very far beyond the sea coast, the country west of which was a wilderness inhabited only by wild beasts and tribes of wandering savages. The project of colonization, in any part of the territory, was first attempted by Thomas Douglas, Earl of Sel- kirk, about the year 1811. At this time Red River was the head- quarters of an inland trading district perfectly isolated from the rest of the world, and one of the principal scenes of contention between the Hudson's Bay Company's agents and those of the two rival Canadian fur companies, called “the North West” and “the X. Y.’" companies, between whom the feeling of rivalry ran so strong as to lead to occasional scenes of bloodshed and frequent scuffles of minor importance. In the last and most serious of these engagements, which took place in 1816, Governor Semple, the chief magistrate, was shot.
This deplorable condition of things is not to be ascribed to any sudden outbreak or mismanagement on the part of any of the. agents concerned, but was brought about by a series of events extending over a period of years. In 1763 Canada was ceded by the French to the English, under the Treaty of Paris. As early as 1640, French colonists, whose spirit of adventure, stimulated by the desire of gain, and love for the free, roving Indian life, had led them to pursue the calling of the trapper, betook them-
RED, RIVER. : 71
selves to the woods and hunting grounds of Canada, and spread gradually over the whole country east from the height of land! west of Lake Superior. These were termed Coureurs des Bois,
and, as hunters and trappers, they were even more skilful than theix- Indian teachers. As traders, they were outfitted by Canadiar merch nts with necessary ¢ goods to barter with the Indians for furs,
and, after periods of absence extending over twelve or fifteeen
months, spent in travelling in their canoes, would return laden
with furs of great value, their share of which they regularly
squandered during a short residence in the city previous to embarking on their next voyage. In 1731, a: Lower: Canadian
seigneur, named M. Varennes de la Vérandrye, acting under a license to trade, granted by the Canadian Government, was the first white man to cross the height of land above mentioned in the
first of two. expeditions which he made as far. as the Rocky
Mountains. On the first he went down the Winnipeg River to the borders of Lake Winnipeg, and penetrated up the Red
River and Assiniboine to the prairie lands of the far West,
locally known at present by the names’ of the “ Districts of Swan River and the Saskatchewan. On his second expedition,
M. de la Vérandrye penetrated up the river Saskatchewan. “His example was followed by many others, and, as the trade turned out profitable, considerable quantities of goods were forwarded from
the Canadian settlements for barter with the Indians, the coureurs des bois acting as agents in the exchange.
About 1774, in consequence of the success of these traders, in pursuit of their policy of intercepting the Indians on their way from their hunting grounds in the interior to trade their furs with the agents of the Hudson’ 3 Bay Company at their factories, which, as above-mentioned, had before that time been erected only in the vicinity -of the coast, the company was forced to protcct its interests by establishing posts inland on the ground, which, under - their charter, had been conveyed to them, but on which their . opponents had, until then, carried on their operations comparatively undisturbed. .
Far from being seriously damaged for some years, tke Canadian traders continued to be co successful that wealthy men embarked
. a Le A £
72 RED RIVER.
capital in the trade, and, about the year 1783, the opposition to the company had resolved itself into one other great combination called the “ North West Company.'of Montreal." This association of merchants was peculiarly a Canadian institution, having its
. chief seat of operations at Montreal, in opposition to'the Hudson's
Bay Company, which was an English concern, with its head- quarters in London. The chief operations of the Hudson’s Bay
_ Company were on the Bay itself; but, although the North Westers
also traded on the Bay, their main efforts were concentrated on the plain country towards the West, and they gradually forced themselves, by Lake-Superior and-Red River, across the continent to the Pacific coast. They are said to have employed about 5, 000 men altogether in their service about this time.
Discord appears, however, to have existed in the North West
.camp, for we read of a division of interest therein, and the founda-
tion of another association called the “ X. Y. Company,” which opposed both the Hudson's, Bay and the North West. The X. Y. continued to be, like the North West, a distinctively Canadian cor- poration. Matters between all these contending parties began -to wear a formidable appearance. Hostilities broke out between the agents of the respective companies, and alliances were formed
| between the Indians and the whites connected with either party,
while the whole trade was carried on in a reckless, extravagant manner. . .
In the year 1811, the Earl of Selkirk purchased from the Hud- son’s Bay Company the ownership of a vast tract of land, including, as a small part of the whole, the ground occupied at the present time by Red River Settlement, The sum paid in exchange for this grant I do not know, The rights granted to Lord Selkirk
were full proprietary rights to the soil, subject only to the burden
of extinguishing the Indian titles. Till that date the question of these claims had lain between the Indians and the company; the
© burden of their extinction lay thenceforward on Lord Selkirk,
About this time a compulsory exodus of the inhabitants of the mountainous regions in the county of Sutherland was in progress. The history of the expulsion of a vast number of the poorer tenantry from the estates of the Duchess of Sutherland, on which
RED RIVER. 73
they and their ancestors had vegetated in much idleness, semi- barbarism and contentment, from a traditionary era, to make way for the working of the sterner realities of the system of land management which prevails on great estates in the prosaic nine- teenth century, is to this day fresh in the recollection of the remaining population of the extreme north of Scotland. The pain with which the homeless exiles saw the roofs which had-sheltered” them through life, ‘removed from the bare walls of their deserted habitations “by the merciless edict of irresistible power, has been retained in the memory of the peasants of the north, and, doubtless, the adventures of many of the expatriated ones, after their entrance . on the untried vicissitudes of life in other lands, are known and held in interest by the children of their kindred in ‘the country whence they came. | Few, probably, of the wanderers found so remote and sequestered a home as did those of their number whom the Earl of Selkirk took under his protection, and forwarded to settle on the estate he ° had purchased at Red River. Few, also, it is to be hoped, met with more serious obstacles to be surmounted in their dealings with nature and with men than the same hapless party. It must, how- ever, be stated that they emigrated ostensibly. of their free wills, Lord Selkirk having visited their parish of Kildman and laid such inducements’ Before them astled them to close with his terms, nor was it until after the last of them had departed that the forcible expulsions were comäénced. They arrived on the Bay” coast in ° - the autumn of 1811, and spent the winter of that year amid cold of ' Arctic intensity and many privations at Churchill, on the western shore of Hudson's Bay. On the outbreak of spring in 1812 they advanced inland, crossed Lake Winnipeg, and ascended the Red River of the North which empties itself into Winnipeg on its southern shore. At the confluence of the Assiniboine and Red Rivers, about forty miles from the lake, they found themselves— metaphorically speaking—at home. They were in the centre of
‘the American continent, 1500 or 1600~miles~im direct distance ~ ~
from the nearest city residence of civilized man in America, and separated from the country whence they came by an impassable barrier.
B
T4 LT RED RIVER,
There being no possibility of retreat it remained only to make the best of their position in the: land of theinSadoption. Here, however, they found new food for anxiety, The X. Y. and the
‘North West companies regarded them as invaders whose presence
was detrimental to their interests and as protégés of their oppo- nents Lord Selkirk and the Hudson’s Bay Company. The Indians also abjected to the cultivation of their hunting grounds, and were instigated to hostile proceedings against the new comers
by the representatives’ of the Canadian companies. The year
1812 passed without any satisfactory progress being made by the unfortunate people who spent the following winter in great misery at Pembina, near the United States frontier, whither they were driven by compulsion of the Indians,
They appear, however, to have found means before spring to mollify their opponents to such an extent as permitted their return to build log houses and cultivate the lands on the borders of Red River, After having been left to enjoy a term of peace which lasted about a year, the colonists were attacked by their persever- ing enemies, who, professing their determination to exterminate the society, reduced’ the huts they had built to‘cinders, killing some of the inhabitants in the process, Re-inforced by a company of additional immigrants from Scotland the settlers returned to the
spots whence they ‘had been driven, and recommenced their labours’
in defiance of all the discouragements they had encountered, The foundation of this colony, if it hed, any effect at all on the
- relations between the agents of the rival trading companies, served only ta exasperate their mutual enmity. Matters between them : * became steadily worse and worse—property was destroyed, estab-
lishments “attacked, men captured and others killed. Acting as the representatives of the power in whose hands the government of the country had been vested, Governors MacDonnell and Semple successively issued proclamations and bravely fought in
“defence of the interests entrusted to their keeping for a long time.
At length, où the 19th ‘of June, 1816, the adherents of the two
_ Parties met under such circumstances that a skirmish occurred, in
the course of which about twenty men, among whom was Gover- nor Semple himself, lost their lives at a place now called Seven
” Oaks, situated in the heart of the colony.
1
‘RED RIVER. 75
I have been fortunate enough to- secure from “the lips of ite
author a metrical account of this battle, composed on horseback- while on his way home from the scene of its occurrence, by Mon- sieur Pierre Falcon, who is now a petty magistrate in the colonyx
aged about 76 years. He neither reads nor writes. This com- position was, however, like the ballads of the Saxon Bards of Old England, caught up by friendly ears and conveyed from mouth to
mouth till it might be heard throughout the country wherever the ”
axe of the woodcutter fell or the paddle of the canoe kept time to the cadence adapted to its measure. In reading the poem it must be borne in mind that the author was a zealous member of the North West party, -and that his prejudices have seriously inter- fered with the accuracy of his description of the battle, if indeed the skirmish ought to be so spoken of, It is, however, .a genuine production of the country, and a curious relic of the times,
(Please see Appendix À.) ‘
Anxious about the fate of the people who” had gone to Red River under his auspices, and deeply concerned personally as a land owner in the important events transpiring on the scene of these belligerent operations, Lord Selkirk left England with the view of visiting Red River, and personally inspecting the business there. Yn passing through Canada, being advised by dispatches sent him of the outrage at Seven Oaks, he applied to the com- manding g general of the forces in that colony for a body g guard to protect him from assassination in his journey through the interior. He received for that purpose a detachment of two sergeants and
twelve private soldiers belonging to a corps called the regiment . De‘Meuron. On his own personal responsibility he raised an
additional force recruited from disbanded soldiers formerly con- nected with the same regiment in Canada, and proceeded to Red River. On his way, and after his arrival at that place, he attacked and took possession of all the forts of the North West Company lying on his route, and made its agents his prisoners. Some of those who had been concerned in the Seven Oaks affair were sent to Cunada to stand their trial as murderers, some as prin-
- cipals, others as accessories. There were also charges of arson
robbéry of cannon and other ‘high misdemieanours.” The trials
oO
76 : "RED RIVER.
1 #
of the aceused took plate at Toronto, in virtue of a Commission from Lower Canada granted under the Canada Jurisdiction Act. They resulted in an acquittal of all the ~Rrisoners on all the charges.
Lord Selkirk was himself, some years subsequently, sued for
dumages grounded on the action he had taken during his expedi-.
tion to Red River, and judgments adverse to him were obtained in the Canadian Courts involving yast sums, Such was then the state of public feeling in Canada with reference to the North West territory that no protection could be hoped for by the opponents of the Canadian companies. |
A very important-element in the business which took his Lord- ship to Red River in 1817 was the proposed extinction of the Indian titles on that part of his property intended for immediate occupation. What these Indian titles are is a question on which great latitude of opinion prevails among different people. As I have not studied the subject in many of its bearings I feel myself ineompetent to pronounce any decided opinion, and, therefore,
refrain ftom any discussion of the difficulties connected with it.
The whole question lies,’I believe, on the right of the Indian to compensation for the deprivation to which he is subjected of the only means availible to him in his, savage condition of gaining his livelihood,—this is the chase, an occupation necessarily at an end when the ground on which it is carried on is brought under cultivation, The difficulty has been. met in the United
‘States and “Canada by a system of large Indian land reserves
and annual subsidies. In Canada the result has been peace between the red and the white man; but, in the States, inces- sant Indian warfare has prevailed, and their civilization is annually encroaching on the territories of the race its progress seems destined to exterminate. Oe
The Karl of Selkirk arrived with his system of operations arranged on a plan drawn up under reliable legal advice obtained in England. On seeking for men in authority among the Indians, some difficulty was at first found in getting any recognized chiefs,
possessed of right to enter as principals on such a negotiation. .
The ground in question was held to belong to the Chippeway or-
/
RED RIVER. , OT
Saulteaux, and the Killistine or Cree ‘‘ Nations.” These barbarous tribes wandered over a wide extent of country, hunting and passing their time like any other brotherhood of savages. It was adifficult * matter to find any single individual whose authority was considered - binding by the rest. Five different chiefs were, however, at length - selected, whose right to treat was established to the satisfaction \ of both sides, and, on the 18th of July,. 1817, a treaty was duly \ °° signed by the Earl on One side, and thege dusky wanderers on the other, whereby the latter made over to King George III., for the \ benefit of the Earl of Selkirk, their rights in a long strip of coun-" try, extending along each bank of the Red River and. Assiniboine. The Jand ceded was to extend two miles back on either side from the river as a centre line, along that part of the Red River begin- ning from its mouth at Lake Winnepeg, and extending to its con- fluence with Red Lake, River in the United States, and along the Assiniboine from its junction with the Red River, wher2 Fort Garry now stands, to Muskrat River. The portion of land thus indicated between Pembina and Red Lake River, on which, in virtue of the treaty, the Indian titles were extinguished, as well as the larger portion of ground preŸiously granted to his Lord-: ship by the Hudson’s Bay Company, being in the territory of the United States, gave rise long afterwardg to a claim for compensation ‘brought by the earl’s representatives against the American govern- ment. In addition to the strips of ground just described, two cir- cles, each of six miles radius, were ceded around Fort Douglas, _ _ (near Fort Garry) and Fort Darr (Pembina) as centres. The idea of a distance of two miles, which forms so important an element in this-bargain, was conveyed to the Indian comprehension by des- cribing it as “the greatest distance at which a horse on the level prairie could be distinctly seén, or daylight seen under his belly between his legs.” The Earl of Selkirk was known among the Indians as the : « Silver Chief,” The instrument executed conveyed “the lands in the first instance to the king, because the extinction of Indian titles in favour-of private parties is legally a nullity, and_ the earl came out invested with special powers to conclude the treaty conferred on him by the Imperial Government, The consideration on account of which the land was ceded was
|
7300 | RED RIVER.
an annual payment of two hundred pounds weight of tobacco, of
which one half was to be paid the Suulteaux chiefs at Fort Garry, “and the other to the Cree chiefs at Portage Laprairie, or, as it is
called by the English, “ the Prairie Portage,” à point on the
Assiniboine about 70 miles above Fort Garry. Each payment was
to take place où the 10th October.
The importé deeament; of -which-the-foregoing is the scope, was signed by Lord Selkirk and five Indian chiefs as prineipals, and seven ‘officers connected with the service as withesses, The names . of the chicis were:
MacheWheoeab, Le Sonnant. Mechkadewikonair, La Robe Noir. : Kayajieskebinoa, L'homme Noir. 4. Peyowis. . 5. Onekidoat, Premier.
LE D
These chiefs signed by appending their distinctive marks on the representations of wild animals by which they were e respectively known. .
~ So wretched had the general condition of the_territory-become, ——- — - in consequence of the deplorable events above narrated, that the government of Canada interfered, with.a view to attempt effecting a reconciliation between the conflicting parties. A gentleman named Goltmin was appointed commissioner to ascertain the causes and extent of the disturbances. Le recommended, as the only fea- sible remedy, that an effort should be made by Government to bring the traders to an amicable settlement and union of interests; but, for somé considerable time, no action was taken on his recommenda
-tion by his employers, while the unfortunate companies through their protracted exer ‘tions were reduced to the ver ge of bankruptey. Lork Selkirk died in 1821, and after that date the late Right Mon. Edward Ellice becomes the most prominent person round whom the current of events runs. Tis gentleman, then one of the prin- cipal stockholders of the North West Company, was consulted by Government, and, under its auspices, instituted negotiations which, ‘after many difficulties had been surmounted by his perseverance and tet. happily resuited in a Lurmo ious union between the Ilud-
.
RED RIVER. | 79
son's Bay and North West Companies, the latter of which had already combined with the X.Y. Under conditions satisfactory to both parties a coalition was formed” in Rein while the British Government, at Mr, Hllice’s suggestion #6 0 tained from Parliament powers to confer on the new Hudson’s Bay Company rights and privileges extending over the country east and west of the Rocky Mountains not includéd i in their own chartered territory, tenable for a term of twenty years. These priv ileges of exclusive trade in the Indian country outside of their own limits the company surrendered in 1838 with an application for their renewal. An inquiry into the working of the system under the management of the Hudson's Bay Company was instituted by the Colonial Office and the Board of Trade, the result of which was an expression of the entire satisfaction of the imperial authorities with the system of trade and government of the company, and an extension of the term of the temporary license to trade for twenty years more.
On his arrival in the settlement Lord Selkirk had provided the colonists with agricultural implements, seed, grain and Other neces- sirics, but.as the season was far advanced ‘before they could be used, the harvest of 1817 was so scanty that a famine ensucd, and the people again passed, the winter at Pembina, subsisting as best they could on the produce of the chase. The spring duties of
:plonghitigwind sowing were duly performed, and men hoped the harvesiof 1818 would turn out well, but an army of locusts made ‘its appearance and in one night cleared away every vestige of verdure from the fields. The grasshoppers left their eggs in tho: ground, and the numbers of young locusts which again in 1819 tendered agriculture impossible far exceeded those of the previous year. While the settlers took refuge at Pembina, Lord Selkirk, at an expense of £1,000, imported 250 bushels of seed grain from the United States, and this, which was sown in the spring of 1820, produced a pléntiful crop in the autumn of that year, »
Peace being completely restored between all parties on the coali- tion in 1821, the settlement at Red River made steady progress, The life of adventure, discomfort and migration between Pembina and their proper ar homes which the settlers had been forced to lead for cight years after theifvarrival i in the country gave- way to. one
> à
80. ‘ RED RIVES,
of tranquillity and greater ease than had fallen to their lot in
Scotland. General ‘contentment prevailed. The only market :
which existed for the produce -theÿ had to sell the colonists found in the forts of the company, where their grain was purchased to be exported for use in the establishments of the north where cul- tivation is impossible. Large as are the demands of the fur trade for furm produce the supply has often much exceeded them, and hence bave risen much complaining, and loud cries for à wider market. The absence of such a facility is a necessary consequence of the isolated position of the colony. d
As the immigration from Scotland did not recur after the arrival in two parties of the founders of the settlement, ‘the population increased but slowly, and few events of publié moment varied the dead monotony of yearly lifé. The volunteers from the regiment De Meuron, who. had accompanied Lord Selkirk, ‘settled numerously in the colony. The bulk of them were Swiss and Germans. Servants of the company who had spent their lives in
the service retired to end them at Red River; and some of the 4 . officers, whose desire to return to their native country had withered
through the lapse of time and the influence of family ties formed
in the country, bought land and settled down on it for life, forming. among themselves a society constituting the aristocracy of the:
wilderness. The representatives of, Lord Selkirk sold the land to such people at a nominal price, varying from 5s. to 7s. 6d. per acre. The farms or “lots” were laid off, bounded by two o parallel lines
running out for two miles over the plains, starting at right angles : from Red River as a base line. The most valuäble of these lots
were such as had the largest “frontage ” to the river, such fron-
tages varying in length from three to ten chains. When such a 7 "farm was allotted a Land Deed was given to the purchaser, and his
claim registered ‘in à record kept in the company’s office. In 1886 the Hudson’s Bay Company repurchased from the heirs of Lord Selkirk.the whole ‘tract.of country ceded to his Lordship in 1811. This step was taken as the best means of putting an end
‘to the ,complications arising from the tenure of the country by
Lord Sélkirk’s representatives. The sum paid by the company wag about £84,000, and was meant to reimburse Lord Selkirk’s
"RED" RIVER, | - 81°
irs for the large sums his Lordship had spent in improving and. settling the colony. This transaction was without prejudice to the . interests of all calonists who had purchased land between 1811 and 1836. ‘
The chief physical drawbacks against which the settlemént has had to contend are floods, the mos -desthuctive of which occurred in the years 1826, 1852 and 1861. These are occasioned by the sudden thawing of deep snows which, forming vast sheets of water destitute of channels to carry them off, cause the rivers to over- flow their banks and innundate the plains over an extent of kun- dreds of square miles. oO
14
7 CHAPTER VII. CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF RED RIVER SETTLEMENT.
Fountain head of Administrative power—Governors in chief—Rupert's “Land—Council of Rupert's Land— —Governors and Council of Assini- boia— Recorders of Rupert’s Land—Judicial, Officers and Courts of Justice —Constabulary—Detachment of foot engineers and artillery under Colonel Crofton and Major Griffith--Colonel Caldwell's Pen- sioners—Royal Canadian Rifles—Necessity for Troops.
Havina, in the preceding chapter, endeavoured to convey to the reader an idea of the early civil history of Red River, I shall . devote the present one to an investigation of its constitutional his- tory, if I may be allowed so to apply the term, as well as to a narration of some general matters bearing on the interest of the . colony. 4
The supreme control of Hudson's Bay- affairs is vested, under * the charter, in a Governor, Deputy Governor, and Committee of five Directors, all annually chosen by the stockholders“#t a genesal meeting held each November. These functionaries . zesiding in London, delegate their authority to an official residènt in their American possessions, called the Governor, or Governor-in-chief, ‘of Rupert's Land, who acts as their representative. His com- mission extends over all their colonial possessions, and his tenure of office is unlimited, as regards time. Sir George Simpson was the first person appointed to fill this hich office, which’ was instituted immediately after the coalition of 1821.+ Previous to that date. the various districts and posts had been ruled” by numerous petty officers, subject to.no_efficient control, and practically answerable to-_
none for abuse of power. “I have it on the authority of men still living, who remember the events of those times, that the appoint- ment of a Governor-in-chief was a measure fraught with much benefit
- RED RIVER. 83
.to the subordinate officers’ and servants of the company. Sir
George died in September, 1860, still occupying the office he had
- held for nearly forty years. He was succeeded by Alexander Grant
Dallas, Esq., who had..for some years previously been connected with the company as a director and extraordindry agent on the Pacific coast. This gentlemen resigned office in 1864, and
“was. succeeded by the present’ Governor, ° William Mactavish, Esq. Phe. ‘authority of the~Governor is ‘supreme, except during
the session of his council, which is held once a year, and continues
its formal sittings for two or three days. The Governor is presi-
dent or chairman of this council, at which he represents the
_ interests of the Board of Directors in England. There is no fixed
Pas
place of meeting for the council; it has been held at Fort Garry in Red River Settlement, at Norway House, on Lake Winnipeg, and at York Factory, on Hudson’s Bay. The place of meeting is always decided a year beforehand to suit the other complicated arrangements dependent thereupon, This is called the “ Council for the Northern Department of Rupert's Land,” but it assumes a general authority over all the other departments, and, to quote the | words of the preamble to its official minutes, it convenes “ For the purpose of establishing rules and regulations for conducting the business of the said department, and in order to ‘investigate the trade of the past year.”
The chartered territories and circuit of commercial relations of the Hudson's Bay Company are divided into vast sections, named the Northern, Southern, Montreal, and Western departments. of these, the Northern, department i is situated between Hudson’s Bay and the Rocky Mountains; the Southern, between James’ Bay and Canada, comprehending, also, East Main, on the eastern shore of Hudson’s Bay. The Montreal department comprehends the extent of the business in the Canadas, while the Western comprises the
regions west from the Rocky Mountains. The depôts to which sup- plies from the civilized world are periodically sent, and which form
the keys of these various sections, are York Factory, in the
Northern department; Moose Factory, in the Southern; Montreal, in the Canadas ‘and Vitoria, Vancouver's Island, in the west. In ° the Northern department, which includes. the grand. bulk of thie
OUR.
84 RED RIVER.
chartered territories, in which alone the burden of government falls on thé company, the mosttimportant interests of the business,
are concentrated. Its vast extent necessitates a depôt for the
“Toland districts,” which exists at Norway House, and various
causes have combined to render Fort Garry, in which are stored
the goods passing over the United States route, the centre of busi-
ness, and a large depôt for the “plain districts.” A council for the
Northern department is held every year, and at it the Governor-in-
_° chief is invariably present; but he, also, from time to time, has held councils for the other departments, though his usual plan is to leave the details to be managed by competent officers on the .
spot, and, by correspondence, exercise a general jurisdiction over
the trade.
His council is composed of the highest rank of officers in the
’ --~__serviee, called the chief faetors, whose duty and right it is to sit at its mectings whenever their attendance is practicable. Members of ‘the second rank of commissioned officers, called chief traders, when they can arrange to be present, are requested to sit in the council, which is held with closed doors, and, when so invited, the traders are,permitted to debate and vote equally with the factors. The chief factors and chief traders together constitute the partnership in what id called “the fur trade.” From this the profits of the Hudson’s Bay Company may be said to be entirely derived; it constitutes the means by which the company avails itself of the right to trade, which it possesses in its territories. Vacancies in its ranks are immediately filled up as they occur from the death or
ah
retirement of its members, the qualification necessary to obtain the. - ~
commission being a majority of the votes of all the chief factors. The candidates for a fuctorship are necessarily traders, while those for a vacant tradership are from the ranks of salaried ‘clerks, sel- dom of less than fourteen years’ standing in the service. # - The partners in the fur trade are connected with the Hudson’ 8 Bay Company, under such provisions that their incomes fluctuate with the alterations of the annual profits of the trade. They hold their rights as a body, with respect to the stockholder’s of the com- pany, in-virtue of a deed poll, dated 1834, under which the com- missions granted to the individuals are issued. These commissions,
\ ae
ape)
‘RED RIVER. 85
held from the company, entitle the officers holding them to their share in the profits and all the other privileges they enjoy. Among the latter is the tenure of the position of magistrate in the terri. tory of Rupert's Land.‘ .
Wide as is the jurisdiction of the assembly on the members,
meeting places, and constitution, of which I have been endeavoring.
to throw some light, on very rare occasions, indecd, has it directly interfered with the affairs of Red River Settlement, within the limits of which the legislative power is exercised by another corporation, called the “Governor and, Council of Assiniboia.” Municipal ‘institutions, of a very rude character, exist within the limits of this
‘ settlement, which is the only place in the Hudson's Bay territories wherein such have been established, because it .is the only spot where there is a resident population to be governed.
. Previous to the year 1848, the office of Governor of Asyiniboia was almost invariably held by the officer in charge of the com- pany’s trading interests in the colony. His duties were of a very simple nature; the condition of the embryo municipality not being such as to create serious interest to be effected-by his action. Moreover, at the time referred to, such an. official as the com- pany’s principal commercial representative was almost the only man resident in the settlement competent to perform the simple ser- vices required of a petty governor. In 1848, Lieutenant-Colonel
William Caldwell, an officer in the Queen's service, went to the settlement, partly in his military capacity, as a soldier, and partly as Governor of Assiniboia, under a commission granted by the Hud- son’s Bay Company. ‘Colonel Caldwell remained at Red River as governor until 1855, when he was suéceeded i in his office by Frank Godshall Johnson, Esquire, a barrister from the Montreal bar, who, in addition to the appointment. of Governor of Assiniboia,
held that of Recorder of Rupert’s Land. This gentleman resigned | .
both these offices in 1858, when be was succeeded in that of governor by William. Mactavish, Esquire, the officer then in charge
&
_of the compatiy’s general business at Red “River, and who ‘now
fills the office of Governor of Assiniboia _conjointly with that of
Governor of Rupert's Land. | The-Gb vernor of Assiniboia is assisted in his duties by the
\
86 RED RIVER,
council of Assiniboia, of which he is the official president. Wher .
the Governor of Rupert’s Land attends this local council, how- ever, he takes precedence of the Governor of Assiniboia, and acts as president. The councillors of Assiniboia hold their offices in virtue of commissions granted to them by the Hudson’s Bay Com- pany, emanating from the house in London. These commissions, it will be observed, are entirely different from those which qualify for a seat in the council of Rupert’s Land, which latter entitle the
holders, as partners in the fur trade, to 2 definite proportion of its _ profits, and are granted only to those who are servants of the com- ‘
pany in its mercantile capacity. The commissions of councillors of Assiniboia entitle the holdersto no fixed remuneration whatever. The nominal pay of ten shillings per diem was voted, some few years ago, to be paid each councillor holding no public salaried office, during the days on which his attendance at council was required.
This sum was granted to defray the necessary expenses incurred.
in the case of some who travel a long distance to attend the meet- ings. . :
There is no.such system known in ‘the settlement as popular election of representatives. Commissions as councillors are granted by the company to settlers on the recommendation of the Governor. The result is that the: Couneil of Assiniboia is com- - posed of the leading men of the colony in position, influence, wealth and intelligence. It now includes the Bishop of Rupert’s Land and the Roman Catholie Bishop of St. Boniface. The recor- der, or president of the Red River Courts, is the legal adviser of the Board. The French Canadian, the original Scotch, the mercan- - tile-and: the general communities are represented by the principal
- members of their respective orders, forming in all at present a body |
of seventzen members, exclusive of the Governor, Judge and two Bishops, who may be considered as holding their commissions as ‘councillors ex officio. “a
This council iects in the court-room at Fort Garry, ‘and the public is not admitted to its deliberations, Communication between it and outsiders is carried on through the medium of the Clerk of : Council, who is present at the meetings, and attends to the minutes and correspondenc >. \ : There is no fixed session ; it is convened by
RED RIVER. 87
e the Governor through agency of the clerk who notifies each mem? ber of the day appointed for its meeting whenever any matter of importance requires to be discussed, Such is a description of the Legislative portion of the local institutions of the colony.
With regard td the administration of justice, the laws of f England ‘ of the date “of Her Majesty’ 8 accession, 80 far as they are applicable to the condition of the colony, are understood to regulate the judicial proceedings. The regulations passed by the Council of Assiniboia are of the nature of by-laws.
. The head of the laws in the’ settlement is the Recorder of .Rupert’s Land, or as he-is called in ‘reference to his local jurisdiction in the colouy, the President of the Red River Courts. The
_ court of which this officer is chief sits four times a year, in the months of February, May, August and November, and is called _the General Quarterly Court. The vast majority of cases on its ~~ rolls originate before it, but it is competent to act as a Court of Appeal on cases which have been previously adjudicated by the Petty Courts. In very rare instances, however, is it called to deal with such cases. From it there is no appeal to any Colonial ‘Court. Three or four justices of the peace usually sit on the bench with the recorder, as associate judges, but these take no active part in the proceedings, and merely watch the cases and assist with their — advice when called on to do so by the judge. ‘
_ _ This tribunal is competent to try civil and criminal cases, In the former there is no limit to the amount at issue in cases on which it may legally adjudicate; in the latter it has power:to try capital charges. It has on several occasions sat on such; in one cage conviction was followed by execution of the criminal who wa# an Indian. This event occurred in 1845. The court sits with a jury. °
The recordership was instituted, along with the court to which
the office is attached, in 1839. Before that date the few unimportant ______-eages-which_arose were decided by the Governor as arbiter ; but as ©
: the settlement became more populous, and more difficult questions
fi of a legal nature rose with increasing wealth, the company found
omen jt advisable to appoint an officer whose chief duty it would be to
_ decide them, as Well as to create the machinery whereby his exer-
~
VW
88 .. ° RED RIVER. ee
tions could be most efficiently brought’ to bear a on the wants of the people at large.
The gentleman who first occupied the position of Recorder of Rupert's Land was Adam Thom,-Esq., of King's College, Aber-
. . deen, and more recently of the Montreal Bar. He arrived in the
spring of 1839, and in addition to his judicial duties was consti-” tuted legal‘ adviser to the Governor of : Assiniboia, ‘who was instructed in matters connected with the lave to » be “guided by
-’ Mr. Thom's advice. . .
Matters seem to have. proceeded smoothly for several years, though the proceedings | of Gov ernment,‘ with reference to the free tradé in furs, which was yearly increasing, though conducted sur- - reptitiously, gave rise to much dissatisfaction among the people, | and engendered a strong and general. feeling of dislike against the
responsible fl viser obs the authorities. The préceedings of the’ company: in “protection of the ‘trade interests granted them under their charter were necessarily arbitrary, and gave rise to con- siderable discussion before a parliamentary committee. of. the House of Commons, which sat on their affairs in 1857. The “course of action recommended by Mr. Thom was based'on à view’ of the company's privileges and duties as seen in the light. of pure.
law. Iam not aware that the legality_of his measures has been - :
called in’ question, but they. have: -eortainly been’ quoted by the . opponents of the:company as furnishing evidence in their view _ | incontrovertible of the impropriety. of any recognition, of the chartered rights being made by the British Government, and the Board of Directors j in London signalized their opinion of the high inexpediency of some of his-regulations by disallowing them with- out delay. Lo As a specimen of one of the worst steps taken, I may place the following facts on record. In 1844 à proclamation was issued by the Governor of Assiniboia, stuting that all business letters from
Ca a
+
importers of goods to their agents in England, to be forwarded by’ the company's packet, should be sent to Fort Garry open for the
_ perusal, of the authorities previous to being dispatched. Such
importers as would cohsent to-sign a declaration, the substance of which was equivalent to a security against their engaging in a0ÿ
;
ae
RED RIVER. 89
private fur-trading venture, were exempted from the necessity of compliance with this regulation. The privileges held under the charter, the facts that the means by which the letters were to be conveyed to the civilized world and the merchandise imported brought to its destination, were afforded by the company, which surely had the right to fix what terms it would for the facilities of
postage and freight which it provided, were the arguments used in
based their case on the fact that the settlers, in consequence of their
_ isolated position in the heart of Rupert’s Land, were entirely at
the mercy of the Hudson's Bay Company, ‘which, under its adminis-
trative obligations, _Was bound to provide post: il facilities on fair - terms for those living under its sway, and in virtue, of its omnipo- ‘tence to bring the ‘goods uecessary for its dependents over-the only * _ available route, of w hich it’had the indisputable management.
In the year 1849, a French. half-breed, named Guillaume Sayer, was apprehended on a chargé of trading furs with the Indians, and ‘put upon his trial before J; nudge. Thom. Though not the first who had dabbled in the illicit traffic, the agents of the company in the _ colony resolyed to make an example of him. Ho was convicted, . but the prosecutors, satisfied with a favourable verdict, did not press
for- punishment. _They do not, indeed, appear to have ‘had aay, “
© favour of Mr. Thom. Men opposed to the policy of that gentleman ~ ”
choice in’ this matter, for an. armed mob of. the prisoner’s come
patriots-— French half brecd$—surrounded, the court-house in num bers sufficient: to overpower any “force whieh.could have. been col-_ lected on a short notice to support the law, with the avowed inten tion”
‘of liberating their friend and assassinating the recorder, + After this outrage Mr. Thom ceased to appear in his place on.
“tho benchuntil 1850. . During the intervening year justice was : sdministered by the Governor, Colonel (uldwell,” who acted: as
= By the colonel s own account the proceedings of the vaurt,
‘uring the term of his presidency, were conducted very much aftsr
“the: manner of courts afartitt he not-addressing~the-jury;- “but oo —
merely ordéring the clerk to read over the evidence which had been adduced," He also. ‘stated to: the’Commons. committee, already referred to, that his lègal ambition aimed only at rendering his
tribunal “a court of cqitity,”” understanding this term as synony-' .
90 . : RED RIVER.
mous with that of an institution for the administration of substan- tial justice, as apparent to a pliin man, In the year 1850, a case arose involying a multitude of complications, all of a very painful-
and seandalow$ nature. The action of*Foss rs. Pelly- wis one for
defaiuatory conspiracy, brought by an officer of pensioners, “resident
.in the settlement, against an officer in the company’s service and
others. It was surrounded with à variety of intricacies, com-
promising some’of the leading people in the settlement, the bulk of
~ whom were’closely counected with the service, and the erawd of
witnesses called incliided a large proportion of the most influential’
+. Tesidents in the place. Probubly no case ever brought before the
=. Recorder's court, before ‘or since, hus given rise to so much bad feeling, and such deplorable sequences, as did this cause célèbre.
ss “= Asa man of legal experience was believed to be the only one
. capable of weighing and disentangling the multitude cf conflicting
“interests and-assertions crowding into the dispute, arratigements
were made by which Mr. Thom was permitted, after a retirement
of one year, once née to occupy his place of judge, forthe purpose
of trying this cage@ The verdict of the jury was found for the
plaintiff, Captain oss, who obtained damages to the amount of
£300, Colonel Caldwell, however, who had attended the court
during the trial, in his official capacity as governor, was so much
VY dissatisfied with the conduct of the case that, believing a very gross
miscarriage of justice had been perpetrated, he addressed a stater
ment of his views to the Board of the Company in: Lojdgé The
result was the permanent removal of Mr. Thom from his office. Oty: recorder, and his acceptance of that of clerk in the court, over -
nu +. which he had, till then, presided. The scale, of pay allowed hime EL as clerk was equal to that which he had drawn as judge, For four
years Colonel Caldwell continued to preside on the bench, in place of Mr. Thom, but, in 1854, the latter -resigned his situation as clerk and returned to Scotland. I cannot close this cursory glance at the official career of this pioneer of the law in Red River Settle- ment without stating that, at the close of his long and often unquiet sojourn of fifteen years in this singularly situated place,
he left behind him the reputation of great ability, and of kindly -
hospitality in his private relations, among those ofthis acquaintances
TON
RED RIVER. 91.
best able to appreciate the former, and who had shared in the latter. °
In the spring of 1854, Mr. Johnson, a distinguished pleader at the Canadian bar, became recorder, During his term of office he’ was fortunate enough to escape the disagreeable duty of adjudi- cating in any cause wherein public prejudice had enlisted itself on either side, and, after four years’ uneventful occupancy, he quitted he recordership and returned to his practice in Canada, .
From 1858 till 1862 the office vacated by Mr. Johnson remained empty, the duties: attached thereto being performed by Doctor Bunn, the principal medical-practitioner in the colony, who,
to his other qualifications, added that of being a very able niagis- °
trate. The sudden death of this gentleman, which oceurred from apoplexy, in the spring of 1861, was in many-ways a severe loss to the community, of which he was a prominent member. Governor Mactavish succeeded him in the temporary discharge of the recorder’s functions till the appointment of president of the courts
was conferred, in 1862, on John Black, Esquire, who continues to :
hold it at the present time. As the main events which have occurred during the term of Mr. Black's tenure of office will be prominently touched on in the course of my narrative, I abstain - for the present from entering into any details. __. For the hearing of eases of minor importance there exist petty courts in the scttlement, which ‘is divided into three sections,‘ over cach of which the jurisdiction of one branch of tliese courts extends. The court attached to the principal section sits once a month, while those of the two less important ones meet only once in each two months, or six times a year, These tribunals are com- petent to take cognizance of all actions for the recovery of debt, where the amount at issue does not exceed five pounds, with the exception of cases of revenue, though, whère the debt exceeds two pounds, the losing party may appeal ‘to the General Quarterly
Court. They are also competent to try all petty offences which _
involve only a pecuniary fine of less than forty shillings, and certain offences against the local liquor laws, which involve fines of: much Brat magnitude. — Two petty magistrates and a president form a quorum in these courts, though the president votes only when the others have not decided by at least a plurality of votes. |.
abs
sl
eros
2
» 99 RED RIVER.
To each of the three divisions of the petty court system there are attached a president with a salary varying from £8 to £16 per annum, and at least three petty magistrates with tlie uniform
- galary of £5 perannum. These functignaries are nominated by the Governor and Council of Assiniboia®” -Among their number are ‘generally representatives of the principal social divisions, of the setilement—the French or Canadian half-breed, the Scotch agri-” eulturist and the general mercantile classes. This potty court system was introduced in 1852, before which time a description of
petty circuit was made by itinerant magistrates who decided the
few unimportant cases brought under their cognizance?
Besides the above-described magistrates judicial funciions are exercised in the colony by justices of the peace, to whose office no salary is attached. . They are appointed by a commission of the peace conferred on them by the company. Their. number is at present six, and, in common with-all other magistrates in the settlement competent-to administer justice, they are necessarily members of the Council of Assiniboia. :
There is a regularly appointed coroner, who is generally the leading medical man in. the settlement.
A sheriff, who is also governor of the jail, with an annual. salary of £60 performs much the same duties as are attached to his office in England. His principal work consists, I believe, in the collection of debts after duds dment has been pronouinged by the” courts.
An executive officer. is ‘attached to the ‘courts who, in con- sideration of a salary of £100 per annum, discharges “all such administrative functions as are not specially assigned to any other person.’’ Although this description may “seem open to .criticism, as too vague to. be practical, it is the definition of the duties attached to the situation in the legally promulgated.copy of the laws of the district of Assiniboia, and, considering their varied and important nature, it pro- bably is as good a definition of well understood and important
Aw
NN
\
* :
‘
public duties as need be condensed into so few words.“ Mr.
William Robert Smith, who has filled the office for the last twenty years, is one of the most remark-worthy men connected with the
r
RED RIVER. © 93
x : — ~ T
eolony, and will be brought prominently before the attention of the reader in the course of ‘my story.
Early in the history of the settlement an armed constabulary of about fifty:men, regularly enrolled, drilled and officered, existed . in the colony. At a later period, however, this force was dis- banded, and one consisting of not more than twelve men substituted in its room. The latter are retained in office for a term of nearly ‘
‘four years, though any one of them is liable to be at any time dis-
missed by the general court, or to be suspended by any magistrate or petty court. The amount of pay is £12 per annum, and the duties required are the serving and execution "of writs and the maintenance of the peacd. - The latter, however, is a duty which may be understood as nominal only, as on no occasion of popular tumult has this force been specially called out. ges this body, which-is distributed over the extent of the colony, there has been instituted of late years a special constabulary of three highly paid men, whose duty it is to maintain order in a certain spot of the settlement where a village or embryo town has been erected, some inhabitants of which have attached to it the name of Winnipeg.
For a space of time extending over fifteen years a regular mili- tary force was quartered at Red River. In 1846 a wing of the 6th regiment of foot, a detachment of royal engineers, and a detachment of artillery, under the command of Colonel Crofton, were ordered to the settlement; where they arrived in the autumn of the same year. The entire party consisted of eighteen officers and three hundred- and -twenty-pine amen... They reached. their
. destination by way of York Factory on Hudson’s Bay, over the
route between which point and the settlement they conveyed their
-guns and stores by the-usual means of inland transport used in the
country. They were sent out under secret instructions from the War Office. Colonel Crofton himself remained for only one year, at the close of which he was suceeded by Major Griffith, who, along with the troops under his comm:nd>“feturned home in
- 1848. -
They were succeeded by a corps of enrolled pensioners under command of Licutenant Colonel Caldwell, already alluded to as Goyernor of the settlement. This force amounted to 56 men; —
ae! #
(*
—_——
94 RED RIVER.
the term for which they were enrolled was seven years. They were induced to go partly as settlers, each sergeant being promised a free grant of 40 acres of\land after his arrival in the colony, each corporal 30 acres and each private soldier 20 acres. On their
. arrival it was discovered there was not enough of land within the prescribed limits to fulfil these promises, and arrangements were made whereby sums of money were substituted for the land grants. In 1855 the seven years term of enrolment -expited, and the corps was disbanded, the Colonel returning to England:along with some of the men; others of whom went to Canada, while the rest remained in the settlement, Some of them still continue here, and draw their pensions quarterly’ through the agency of the Hudson’s Bay Company.
From 1855 till 1857 there were no troops resident in the colony, but in the latter year a company of Royal Canadian Riflemen came out. “This corps formed part'of a regiment of seven or eight hundred men which-was peculiarly a Canadian force, being recruited - for service in Canada, though supported by the Imperial Govern- ‘ment. After the first two years of its residence had expired the
nu entire body of officers was relieved by gentlemen from other com-, . panies of the regiment, and in the year 1861, after having been stationed -in- the country for four years; the company returned to Canada by ship from York Factory.
Between the years 1861 and 1869 there have been no troops'in __ _..
‘the settlement. * This happens to be the very period of the history of which I mean to give a sketch in the following pages, and it shall be seen how unfortunate it was for the public | welfire of the country that the military were withdrawn, and also, doubtless by analogy, of what prime necessity to the good government of any country.it is that a strong military force should exist to support, the civil power even in times of profound peace abroad. YY yeu he peculiar circumstances of Red River Settlement render it » especially perilous to be without some milit ary force resident in N the place. À small colony utterly isolited from the other British possessions on the continent, within seventy miles distance from the territories of the greatest power in America, from which it is separated only by the artificial boundary of a parallel of latitude;
ty es
=
er
\ RED RIVER. 95
continual questions rise with regard to refugees across the lines, - stolen property and smuggled goods. But the principal danger lies in reference to the Indian tribes, some of whose hunting grounds are situated in the American and some in the English possessions. These Indians are often involved in hostilities against the whites and iritestine' wars, and-constitute. a class of dangerous barbarians ‘who, when pressed by Americin troops, ‘take refuge i in British territory, whose presence in times of war gives great - uneasiness to an unarmed population, and whose trade, even at ordinary times, often raises troublesome questions between British subjects and the officials connected with the Ameri Tican 1 custom house on the frontier. ‘
Cee
°
5
CHAPTER VII. INSTITUTIONS OF RED RIVER SETTLEMENT. Colonial Revenues, Bye-Laws and Highways—History of the Post Office.
THE annual revenues of the district of Assiniboia-are not great, and are derived almost entirely from customs. There is a duty levied: on imports amounting to the value of four per cent. on the nett invoice prices of the goods. There are, however, certain exceptions to this rule, in which the articles are allowed to pass duty free. Among the most important of these exceptions are all kinds of stationery, and all articles designed for the Indian mis-
sions; bar irun, steel cientifie and agricultural i implements, seeds, | ; ; a8 P
roots, plants, tombgtones, grindstones, stoves, the produce of the chase, and, of-course, all articles intended for exportation. Four . collectors are appointed to carry out the provisions of the depart- ment, whose stations are at Pointe Coupée, the Upper and Lower
Fort Garry, the lower extremity of the settlement, on the banks of _.....
the Red-River ; af Upper Fort Garry, the centre of business; and at White Horse Riain, a post situated on the river Assiniboine, at the western extremity of the district, on the grand line of traffic to the plains. The salaries of these officials vary from £20 to £35 per annum. The amount of money raised by government on account of customs in one year may be about £1800. Of the sum of £1816 so collected during the financial year closed on 31st May, 1868, tre Hugson's.Bay Company paid £708 on the merchandise
~*<"iinported for their trade in the settlement.
There are certain restrictions on the importation, manufacture, and sale of intoxicating liquors in-the district of Assiniboia. Instead of the four per cent. duty there is a levy of one shilling per gallon on all fermented and spirituous liquors passing inwards.
wr < RED RIVER. - 97
eb
Once a year, generally on the first week day of December, quali-
‘fied magistrates sit for the purpose of granting licenses to distil ,
‘andiretail, applications for which must have been prèviously made
‘+! by.tlie parties interested. Such a license costs ten pounds sterling. The sale of quantities of spirits less than five gallons, of wine than
five gallons; and of beer than eight gallons, is considered retail
dealing. Any person convicted of selling these articles without
license is liable to a fine of ten pounds for each ‘offence; one half of
which is given to the informer. The license forbids the sale of liquor between the hours of ten o’clock in the evening and six in
the morning, on week days, and during all Sundays. T hese licenses
are not readily’ granted, and applications are often refused. The
fatal to any candidate for a “retail license. It i ig necessary that’
licensed persons be landholders. |
The sale of liquor to Indians is altogether prohibited under
- penalties ranging from two to ten pounds sterling for each offence, . according to the circumstances of aggravation connected with it; restitution to the Indian of the price paid for the liquor is also
. required | by the law, and the offending parties are liable to
; fmprisonment until the penal is paid. Although the magistrates . * a
© "are fully determined to arr y out this law, it seldom happens that L _-convietions-can- be obtained:—‘Indians-willnôt be induced to bear _ witness against those who have-obliged them in this matter, and the. liquor is generally conveyed to them by third parties who purchase it from the regularly licensed houses and give it to the Indians, who reward.them with a present of more or less of the Donal article. Under these circumstances, at times when money is plenti. 7% ful among them, Indians may frequently be seen lying drunk and ineapable on the highways and plains, and any efforts of the magis- trates to bring home the offence to the parties guilty of supplying them with liquor, are simply futile. Until about the year 1860,. the liquor traffic, except in wholesale quantities, was limited, but of late years the home manufacture. and consumption of the article have greatly increased, and, at present, when the hunters visit the settlement with their furs, and at other seasons when money is plentiful, great drunkenness and disorder prevail.
-À 98 RED RIVER.
A large amount of the public expenditure is paid for maintain- ing the roads aud bridges‘of the colony. À public highway, two chains wide, runs from end to end of the settlement, following the general direction of the rivers. Only in certain, spots has amy 2 3
ns attempt been made to improve these roads, though encroachments i a
are jealously guarded against. So far as the track is concérned, it. is formed, generally speaking, only by the trafic which wears away the grass and hardens the pathway. In spring, after the snow has been melted, and during wet weather, the roads aré bad enough to. deserve all 1 was told about them by the gentleman <I met at Georgetown, and of whose narrative I have already given the reader- an epitome; for foot passengers they ate impassable. Travelling in carriages isa bad system, owing to the weight of mud which clogs the wheels and is thrown up by them in their circuit. Travelling on horseback is the means of locomotion most adopted during the continuance of that season of dirt and desolation which prevails between the unbroken frost of winter and the decided pre- ponderance of spring weather. Some portions of these highways are, however, worse than others, and efforts have been made to improve them by forming stretches of “faggot road," a few-hun. dred feetin length, at those spots, which, from their low level, cause the water to collect and remain upon them. These faggot. road - ----— > . are composed: of branches of tréés thrown transversely across the track and covered with several fect of earth taken from an excava- tion running alongside, and acting.as a drain, At various parts of their course these highways are obstructed ‘ “by ravines, which, in spring, carry off the melting suows to the: rivers ; here, bridges, constructed of wood; are erected. The whole works. are under the charge of responsible superintendents, ten in number, having each his own section assigned him. A sum of’ money, varying from £5 to £10, is the remtineration. of these officials. Two land surveyors are authorized by council, though without fixed salary, to exercise their profession in the country, and are . entitled to a compensation of ten shillings per diem for their ser- vices, paid by their employers, They survey lots, fix boundaries,
ee
1,4
“ ” :
RED RIVER. | —99
and arbitrate between the public officials wad ler said to be _ encroaching on the highways. The’ “Balk of the transport in the colony is effected with one- _~---horge vehicles ; accordingly the roads get into such a state, by the continued passage of wheels over the same tracks, that the driving of a pair of horses is a very troublesome undertaking. _ In winter the tracks run principally on the rivera, Thaws are, generally speaking, very rare, and when the suow is tolerably deep, and no” storms-oecur_to_-drive-it-into snowarifis, Wa walking änd ~ driving are easy and pleasant. One great advantage possessed by . the river, a5 a highway, i is thati its banks shield the traveller against the icy blasts which blow mercilessly cold across the unsheltered plains. ° Before the year 1853, the postal facilities of the colony con-