The Great Canadian North West: its past history, present condition, and glorious prospects

Front matter

THE GREAT CANADIAN NORTH WEST : ilTS PAST HISTORY, PRESENT CONDITION, AND GLORIOUS PROSPECTS. BY ALEXANDER BEGG, Of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Montreal : PRINTED BY JOHN LOVELL & SON. 1881. Entered according to Act of Parliament, in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty-one, by Alexander Beqg, in the office of the- Minister of Agriculture and Statistics, at Ottawa. Dedicated TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD, P.C., K.C.B., Prime Minister and Minister op Interior OF THE Dominion of Canada. To The Right Honourable SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD, P.C., K.C.B., Prime Minister of the Dominion of Canada. Sir, In the noble efforts put forth by you and' your colleagues to develop the vast resources of the Canadian North West you are but completing that grand work of Confederation of which you are the master-builder.

It is now becoming plainer day by day (a fact which appears to have been foreseen by you long ago) that the success of the Dominion as a whole depends in the future upon the development of the great fertile land which you are now seeking to connect more intimately with the Eastern por tions of Canada. It would be a poor investment indeed for the Dominion to people and develop that great country if it were to be left unconnected with the older Pro vinces, or to allow it to be dependent even in the slightest degree upon the good-will or at the mercy of our neighbours in the United States. . There is no doubt the construction of the Canadian Pacific Radway as at present proposed is looked upon with much uneasiness by certain interested American capitalists who now control the avenues of trade from the West to the seaboard, and ere long it will be seen how they are at present endeavouring to thwart your efforts to budd our national line.

I have every reason to believe, from a long residence in the North West and by an intimate acquain tance with the wants of our North-western country, as well as those of the more Western States of America, that many years will not elapse ere it will be found that the produce of the whole North-western country, American as well as Canadian, will seek an independent avenue for transporta- . tion to the seaboard through Canada. To make this, however, thoroughly and wholly a national success, the line must be altogether through our own territory, and in no way subservient to the wid of American pools or American speculators. There is very little doubt that means will be found in the future by American trunk lines to tap our great North West. No human agency at the present time can foresee the future necessities that may arise in connec tion with the immense trade that will assuredly be developed in the North West, but you and your colleagues are in my humble opinion taking the only true course to secure the future interests of Canada, by insisting upon the immediate construction of a thoroughly national line wholly through Canadian territory, which, while thus being placed always under the supreme control and supervision of the Canadian Parliament, will be held responsible and checked if necessary in any attempt to betray the interests of our own country.

Chapter I

The Prince Rupert Charter— The Treaties relating to the North West— French and Canadian Fur-traders— Nor- West and X. Y. Companies, the Hudsons Bay Co., and the acts of the British Government relating thereto— Disturbances between the Fur Companies and the union of their interests— Canada's early attempts to gain possession of the North West— Confederation of the British North American Provinces— Provision made for the admission of the North West— The mission of the late Sir George E. Cartier and Hon. Wm. McDougall to England— The arrangement for the acquisition by Canada of the North West Territory. •Over two centuries have passed since the territory now known as North Western Canada first attracted the attention of the mercantile world. In 1670 a number of English noblemen and gentlemen, headed by Prince Rupert, having conceived the idea of forming a company for the purpose of pushing trade in the direction of the North Pole and of finding, if possible, as. was then stated, a new passage into the South Sea, took steps to become incorporated, and on the 2nd of May in that year they succeeded in obtaining a, charter from King Charles the Second, which secured to them proprietary rights over a considerable tract of country.

Doubts as to the validity of that charter have existed in the minds of many people, inasmuch as it is held that the lands mentioned therein were not in the possession of England at the time and, consequently, the king had no right to deed away what did not belong to him. ° By the Treaty of Ryswick, in 1696, the whole of Hud son's Bay was recognized as belonging to France ; by the Treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, a portion of the shores of Hud son's Bay, was ceded to England, and, in 1763, when Canada was surrendered to the British Crown, the French Canadian people were guaranteed in their properties and rights. Fur traders from France are known to have penetrated as far as the Assiniboine Valley, in the prosecution of their calling, as early as the year 1700, and in 1766 many traders from Montreal pushed their enterprises throughout the whole of British America to the Pacific shores.

In 1784 The North West Company of Montreal was formed, and carried on trade through Canada, via the lakes, to the head of Lake Superior, and thence across the continent to the Pacific Coast. The Hudson's Bay Company did not enter the Sas katchewan and Assiniboine Country to trade until about the beginning of this century, and it was not until 1814 that they set up the claim of exclusive rights, etc., under their charter. The effect of this act, however, was to arouse the animosity and resistance of rival fur companies, and it was not long ere the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England, trading into Hudson's Bay, found themselves opposed by powerful organizations such as the North West and X. Y. Companies of Canada. So great then became the competition, and so bitter the rivalry between the three fur companies, that great loss of property and life ensued, and finally there was every prospect of utter ruin failing on them all.

In 1820, however, through the instrumentality of Right Honorable E. Ellice, and at the suggestion of Lord Bathurst, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, a union of the Companies was affected, which resulted in their trading together as one under the original charter of the Hudson's Bay Company ; and in order to prevent any further competition an Act of Parliament was passed in 1821, under which the Company, as reconstructed, was granted . the exclusive fur trade for twenty-one years throughout the whole British North West Territory, clear through to the Pacific. In 1838 the license granted under the Act of 1821 was surrendered and a new arrangement entered into, by which the Canadian Companies, whose interests had been before united, and the stockholders of the Hudson's Bay Company became entitled, as nearly as possible, to equal shares.

A renewal of the license was then applied for and granted on the 30th May, 1838, for a term of twenty-one years from that date, and the right of exclusive trade enjoyed by the Hudson's Bay Company, therefore, expired on the 30th May, 1859. The proprietary rights of the Company, however, still remained and, as they were held good by the best legal opinion of Great Britain, it was necessary to treat first with the Hudson's Bay Company for a transfer of their lands and the privdeges pertaining thereto ere Canada could enter into possession of the Great North West. The attention of the Canadian Government was first attracted to the country, in 1816, by the conflict of interests between the Canadian fur traders and the Hudson's Bay Company, and the frequent scenes of bloodshed which took place.

A Col. Coltman was then sent by Canada as Com missioner to enquire into the matter, and he recommended a union of the interests of the various traders, which, how ever, did not take place until 1821, as already mentioned. In Col. Coltman's report he also recommended the Govern ment of the North West Territory to be taken from the hands of the Hudson's Bay Company, and assumed by the British Government. After the union of the fur trade interests the Hudson's Bay Company held almost undisputed sway over the land, and being unchecked in their administration of affairs they became tyrannical and oppressive in their treatment of the settlers living on the banks of the Red River. At least we are obhged to infer this from the complaints lodged at the Colonial Office by these people from time to time.

No attention having been paid to their representations in England, the settlers finaUy petitioned the Legislature of Canada on the subject, and in 1857 a Committee of the Canadian Parliament, on the strength of that petition, was appointed to inquire into the rights of Canada to the North West Territory, and the rights of the Company under their charter. Previous to the appointment of that Committee, however, a strong feeling had arisen throughout Canada, that the whole of the North West Territory ought to be under Canadian Government. The press and public men of all degrees echoed that feeling, and Honorable Mr. Vancoughnet, then President of the Executive Council of Canada, at a public meeting in 1856, said that he sought a boundary for Canada on the Pacific Ocean, and that no charter could give to a body of men control over half a continent, and that he would not rest untd that charter was abolished.

In 1857 Honourable W. H. Draper, Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas of Upper Canada, was sent by the Canadian Government to England, to watch certain investigations that were being made by a Committee of the English House of Commons, in regard to the Hudson's Bay Company's management of affairs in the North West. A portion of the report of that Committee recommended that it was essential to meet the just and reasonable wishes of Canada to annex to her Territory such portions of the North West as might be available for settlement, but, in another part, it was held desirable that the Hudson's Bay Company should continue to enjoy the privde«es of exclusive trade. It is more than probable that the Committee made this latter recommendation in consideration ■of the approaching expiration of the Company's license.

From this time there existed in Canada a desire to annex the British North West, the press and public men generally taking up the question and discussing it from time to time, and certain negotiations were carried on between the Canadian Government and the Hudson's Bay Company, through the Home authorities, to further the object, but no real action was taken to accomplish the desired end until 1868, when the late Sir George E. Carrier and Honorable Wm. Macdougall were appointed a delegation to England, to arrange the terms for the acquisition by Canada of Rupert's Land. The Act of Confederation of the British North American Provinces had taken place in the meantime. Originating, as it did, in the Maritime Provinces, with such men as Howe, Tupper, Tilley, Archibald, Gray and Johnson, leading the way, that grand scheme was soon taken up by the Government of Old Canada.

The Right Honorable Sir John A. Macdonald, by the active part he took in that one great Act of Confederation, has endeared his name with the Canadian people for all time to come, and there never will be forgotten the great statesman who so ably assisted him at that time. Amongst those who took a prominent part in the great work we find the names of Hon. George Brown, Sir George E. Cartier, Sir P. Etienne Tache\ Sir A. T. Gait, Hon. John Ross, and many others who, sinking personal and political differences for the time being, united to carry out the grand scheme of Union in British North America. One of the provisions laid down in the Act of Confederation was for the admission of the North West Territory, British Columbia, and Van couver, at a future date. For this far-seeing provision we are chiefly indebted to the sagacity and forethought of Right Honorable Sir John A. Macdonald, supported by his more intimate associates, in the deliberations going on at that time.

The vast resources of the country lying to the east- B ward of the Rocky Mountains, and the fertility of the soil was becoming known. The reports of Capt. Palliser, Henry Youle Hind, S. J. Dawson, Esquire, and Dr. Hector, gave sufficient promise that the country was of unlimited value. These reports, supported as they were to a great degree by the evidence of independent traders and settlers in the country, convinced Sir John A. Macdonald and his colleagues that, in providing for the admission of such a splendid tract of country into the Union, they were secur ing for the Dominion of Canada the opportunity of becoming in the future one of the greatest nations on the earth. The distinguished statesmen who were charged with laying the foundation of Confederation in British North America foresaw that, in the near future, the older Provinces of the Dominion would require room to extend their efforts in the march of progress.

They realized that, at an early day, fields for enterprise would be necessary, and that to encourage and sustain the great manufacturing and ship ping interest of Canada a large increase of farming population would be required. The example of the United States was before them, and they could not shut their eyes to the fact that the rapid development and settlement of the Western States constituted one of the great secrets of the success of the American Union. With this example before them, our statesmen were equal to the occasion, for in bringing about the Union of the Provinces, they held to the principle that, until Confederation extended from the Atlantic, across the continent, to the Pacific, it would not be complete, and with that great idea in view they pro vided for the extension of the Dominion acccordincdy.

In 1867 the British North America Act was passed, and on the first of July of that year Lord Monk issued a proclamation announcing his appointment as Governor- General of the Dominion of Canada. One of the first steps of the administration of Sir John A. Macdonald was to send a deputation to England for the purpose of arranging for the admission of Rupert's Land into confederation, and on the 1st October, 1868, Sir George E. Cartier and Horn Wm. McDougall were appointed delegates for that purpose. The action of that delegation has been severely criticized on several occasions, but when it is borne in mind that, while the best legal authority in Great Britain held that the proprietary rights of the Hudson's Bay Company could not be disputed, the delegates from Canada were obliged to recognize their validity and treat accordingly.

Moreover the long occupancy of the lands by the Company gave them a right to be recognized in any dealings between the Canadian and Home Govern ments, and, in addition to this, the Imperial authorities held that satisfactory arrangements would have to be made with the Hudson's Bay Company ere a transfer of the territory could take place to Canada. Under these circumstances the delegation completed in 1869 the very best terms it was possible to make, much better indeed than those proposed to them by the Duke of Buckingham in 1868. The proposals made by the Duke of Buckingham were of a nature to keep the settlement of affairs between the Company and the Canadian Government open for a lengthy period of time, while those suggested by Earl Granville, and afterwards accepted in a modified form by our delegates, provided for a speedy adjustment of the whole affair.

Sir George E. Cartier and Hon. Wm. McDougall represented Canadian interests in a most able manner and, with such odds as they had to contend against at the time, it is surprising that they were able to make the terms they did. Owing to a change in the British Government which took place while they were in London, and the retirement of Lord Kimberly from the Governorship of the Company, our delegates were delayed in their negotiations from October, 1868, till April, 1869, but finally their efforts were crowned with success, and an agreement entered into by North West. 20 which the Hudson's Bay Company were to transfer their rights to the Canadian Government on certain conditions. The principal clauses in these conditions were the payment by the Canadian Government of ,£300,000 sterling to the Hudson's Bay Company for the surrender of their rights, and the reservation, for the benefit of the Company, of a twentieth part of all lands set out for settlement within fifty years after the surrender.

On the strength of this arrangement an Act wa:s passed on the 22nd of June, 1869, by the Canadian Parliament for the temporary Government of Rupert's Land and North West Territory. The passing of that Act, however, was the cause of much disatisfaction amongst the settlers of Red River, which, for the time being, caused a good deal of trouble and delay in the actual transfer of the country to Canada. Note. — The Hudson's Bay Company asked for a tenth part of the land, but afterwards gave way on that point.

Chapter II

The Scotch Settlement founded by Lord Selkirk— Privations of the early settlers— The conflict between the Fur Companies- Murder of Governor Semple— Retaliation by Lord Selkirk- Troops brought in by Lord Selkirk— Canadian Commission of Enquiry— The first Indian Treaty— Kildonan— Transfer of the Selkirk Settlement to the Hudson's Bay Co. — Grasshoppers- New settlers— The floods— Progress of agriculture— The Government of the country by the Hudson's Bay Co. Wind-mills— The Half-Breeds— Monopoly— Buffalo-hunting— Troubles with the Indians— First execution in Red River— The establishment of Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Methodist missions — Troops from England — Unpopularity of Hudson's Bay Co. Government. The first attempt at settlement in the North West was in 1811, when Thomas Douglas, Earl of Selkirk, obtained a grant of land from the Hudson's Bay Company for the purpose of settling thereon a number of families from his own estates in Scotland.

The deed by which this territory was granted to Lord Selkirk was dated on the 12th of June, 1811, and the southern boundary as then defined was placed in the present territory of Dakotah, in the neighbourhood of Georgetown, but his lordship some time after he came into possession of his extensive property found that the Americans claimed as far as the forty-ninth degree of north latitude, which of course curtailed his lordship's grant to Pembina on the international boundary line. In 1812 the first batch of Scotch settlers arrived after a tedious and perilous journey across sea and land via York Factory on Hudson's Bay to Red River. On their arrival they were met by an array of armed men who warned them that they were unwelcome, which so frightened them that they resolved to proceed at once to Pembina, about seventy miles further south.

The cause of this unfriendly reception was the hostility of the North West Company to Lord Selkirk's plan of settlement, the new colony being regarded by them as part and parcel of the Hudson's Bay Company's plans to monopolize the trade of the country. The first settlers remained at Pembina till May, 1813, when they returned to the colony, but had to endure great hardships from the constant persecution of their enemies, the North Westers. In 1814 a Mr. McDonell, who was appointed Governor of the Colony by Lord Selkirk, issued an dl-advised proclamation forbid ding the appropriation of any provisions, whether of flesh, fish, grain or vegetables, to any use but that of the colonists. This was the first act of the Hudson's Bay Company to set up their claim to exclusive rights, and so exasperated the North West Company and their partizans that it ex cited their bitterest feelings towards the Scotch settlers; a sort of civil war was commenced, and anarchy and confusion reigned triumphant.

During this time the settlers made strenuous efforts to carry on their agricultural labours, but again and again they were harassed and persecuted, untd finally they abandoned their colony, some of them going to the north end of Lake Winnipeg, while others were induced to proceed to Canada under offers of friendship and the promise of 200 acres of land each. In the midst of all this desolation the last batch of Scotch emigrants arrived, and a gloomy prospect indeed was before them. The partizans of the North West Company renewed their efforts to injure them, and so well did they succeed that the settlers were dispersed once more, some of them going to Pembina, whde others went to the Lakes and to the prairies bordering on the Missouri. These troubles finally culminated in the murder of Governor Semple and twenty others, and as an act of retaliation the seizure of Fort William, the head quarters of the North West Com pany on Lake Superior, was made by Lord Selkirk.

That nobleman, at the time, was on his way to Red River with 100 disbanded soldiers whom he had engaged in Montreal for the purpose of guarding his colonists against the hos tility of their enemies. The disbanded soldiers were after wards settled on the Seine River, but they proved to be the worst class of colonists. The result of all this confusion and bloodshed in the North West was the appointment by the Canadian Government of Colonel Coltman and Major Fletcher in 1816 as a commission of enquiry, with power to commit the guilty for trial, and from that time the colony was in a great measure left in peace. On the 18th July, 1817, Lord Selkirk, in order to remove all annoyance from the settlers, concluded a treaty with the Saulteaux and Cree Indians for the surrender of all their right, title and interest in the land comprising his grant from the Hudson's Bay Company.

The southern limit as described in this treaty went as far as Grand Forks, now in Dakotah territory, and the consideration to be given the Indians was an annual payment of one hundred pounds of tobacco to the Saulteaux and a like quantity to the Crees. This was the first Indian treaty ever made in the North West. In 1817 Lord Selkirk named his colony Kddonan, a name which it has kept till the present day, and he also set aside certain portions of land for a church and school house, after which, having restored order and infused confi dence in his people, he took final leave of the colony. The Red River settlement was not a paying speculation, however, so far as Lord Selkirk was concerned, for although it cost him in the neighbourhood of £200,000, we find that the Hudson's Bay Company re-purchased the colony in 1835, for which they paid £84,111 in 1836 to the executors of his lordship's estate.

The colonists continued to struggle along with varying degrees of success ; having much to contend against in those early days, so far re moved as they were from civdization. In 1819 they were forced to seek the hunt owing to the destruction of their crops by grasshoppers, but Scotch like, they returned to their colony in 1820, determined to persevere in their efforts to secure comfortable homes. In the winter of 1820 some of the settlers walked from Red River to Prairie du Chien in the United States, several hundred miles, on snow shoes for the purpose of purchasing seed grain, and having purchased some 250 bushels they started back in flat bot tomed boats, with which they arrived at Red River in June. During high water it is possible to go from Lake Winnipeg to New Orleans by boat with only one single interruption a short portage between Leech and Otter Tail lakes in Minnesota.

The settlers were soon after this joined by others from Switzerland and some from Ireland, so that there were several nationalities in the colony when the union of the fur companies took place in 1821, and in 1823 the settlement contained some 1500 souls, consisting of Scotch, Swiss, Irish, French-Canadian and Half-Breeds. The colony now began to flourish : numbers of houses were erected, cattle were imported from the States, the crops were abundant, and there was every prospect of a bright future before the settlers. But in 1826 they were once more doomed to disappointment and serious loss by the overflowing of the river, caused by the melting of the snow, which had fallen in excessive quantities during the winter. The first flood in Red River was in 1776, the second in 1790, the third in 1809, the fourth in 1826, and the last of any importance in 1852, but there is no chance of any flood ever occurring again, as the Red River has widened to such a degree that it is now capable of carrying off any extra quantity of water likely to be caused in the Spring from an unusual fall of snow during the Winter.

The year 1827 was the commencement of a new era in the Red River settlement. The colony increased in size, and fresh settlers were added to it, some of whom hailed from the Orkney Islands ; houses multiplied, fields were fenced, and agriculture proceeded with in an energetic man ner; but, while these improvements were going on, there was one important drawback, the lack of sufficient market to encourage the exertions of the agriculturists. The Hudson's Bay Company could only take a limited quantity, and this tended to keep the colony comparatively at a stand still, and in addition to the want of a proper market the settlers themselves were but indifferent farmers at that time. The only mills in operation were wind mills, the first one having been erected in 1825 at a cost of £1500 by Lord Selkirk.

About this time the management of the affairs of the settlement was left by the executors of Lord Selkirk in the hands of the officers of the Hudson's Bay Company, Governor Simpson being then at the head. Several enterprises were undertaken, such as the importation of sheep and cattle, &c, &c, but, principally through the careless ness and mismanagement of those in charge, they resulted in failure. Still the colony prospered, and in 1835, when it was purchased by the Hudson's Bay Company, the popu lation numbered about 5000 souls. The first step on the part of the company on taking possession of the colony was to organize a form of government. A Councd was convened, consisting of a president and fourteen councillors, on the 12th of February, 1835 when a number of enactments were framed and passed into law.

Although it cannot be denied that the Hudson's Bay Company about this time had shown several instances of liberality and good-will towards the settlers, stdl the for mation of the Councd— composed as it was entirely of men in sympathy with the Company— and some of the enact ments passed by that body, caused a good deal of dissatisfaction amongst the people. Although the days of blood shed and strife had passed away, still the company en deavored by every means in their power to enforce their rights in the matter of exclusive trade, and no opportunity to strengthen their hands was allowed to slip, in fact, some of the new laws were looked upon by the people as favour ing the Company in this matter. On the 28th of Aprd, 1836, the first petty jury was empanelled in the settlement, and a man named Louis St. Denis was found guilty of theft and sentenced to be flogged ; but, as this mode of punishment was very unpopular with the settlers, it was not continued.

We have now to deal with another class of settlers, the Half-breeds or offsprings of marriages contracted by com pany officers and servants with Indian women. There were two classes of half-breeds, the English and French, the latter being descended chiefly from the pioneer traders and hunters who came from Lower Canada. Accustomed to roving habits on the prairie and in the woods it was with some difficulty that they could be prevaded upon to adopt the quiet life of a settler. Many of them, however, did settle in the Red River colony, but they proved restless and hard to manage and were continually rebelling against the Company's authority. The buffalo being in large num bers at no great distance from the settlement, these Half breeds were wont to assemble in large bands during the Spring and proceed in a great body to the hunt.

To give an idea of the formation of these hunting bands we may quote the one which left the settlement in the year 1840. That brigade consisted of: 1210 Carts and harness. 655 Cart horses. 686 Draught oxen . 403 Horses used for running with saddles and bridles 1240 Scalping knives for cutting up the buffalo 740 Guns (flint locks). 150 Gallons of gunpowder. 1800 Pounds balls. 6240 Gunflints. and the number of persons in the band amounted to 1630 souls, men, women and children. These bands framed a code of laws for their guidance on the plains, and were very strict in their enforcement. The plain hunters generally returned to the settlement in August, and bringing with them, as they did, an abundance of provisions, they were not apt to pay much attention to gathering in the harvest. In fact, in 1841, the plain hunters received from the Hudson's Bay Company £1200 for their surplus meat, which sum was more money than all the agricultural class in the settlement at that time received for their extra produce.