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Selkirk Se.lement/Red River Se.lement 1812-‐1860
By 1810 • Those of French-‐Canadian and First NaDons descent were calling themselves MéDs • Se.lement in the Red River Valley • IniDally those with BriDsh and First NaDons ancestry preferred the term “country born” • Today, any person of European and First NaDons ancestry is considered MéDs
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1812 • In 1811, Selkirk sent Miles Macdonell and 36 ScoSsh and Irish labourers to the Selkirk Grant to establish a colony • Spent the Winter at York Factory, arrived at Red River August 1812 • Two months later a second group of colonists arrived (more than 100 men, women and children) and they were forced to seek shelter at Fort Pembina (North Dakota), surviving on local supplies of pemmican
1813 • Macdonell and the colonists return to Red River in Spring 1813 • They cleared land, planted crops but the harvest failed • Forced to spend a second winter at Fort Pembina • Meanwhile, a second group of colonists landed at Fort Churchill, marched in winter to York Factory (which nearly killed them)
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1814 • Macdonell issues the Pemmican ProclamaDon in January 1814 fearing that crops may fail a second Dme – Banned the sale or export of pemmican outside the Red River Valley – Hoped to protect colonists from starvaDon – Against the wishes of Selkirk who told Macdonell not to do anything that would interfere with the operaDons of the NWC
• Second group of colonists arrived in Spring 1814 • 1814 cont. next slide
1814 • MéDs against Pemmican ProclamaDon because they made a living from pemmican trade • NWC angry because they saw it as an HBC plot to drive their employees from the area – NWC relied on pemmican to supply its fur brigades – Ordered two employees to drive the Selkirk colonists away. They harassed the colonists, burned buildings and destroyed crops. – Enlisted MéDs, led by Cuthbert Grant, to help drive away the colonists. Helped give MéDs sense of idenDty, recognize their rights, and fight for their land
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1815 • By early 1815, more than 100 colonists had led, eventually making it to Norway house, and Miles Macdonell was arrested • Colin Robertson, an HBC factor, led the BriDsh colonists back to Red River Valley • Robertson hoped to make peace with the NWC and the MéDs unDl the new governor, Robert Semple, could arrive • Robertson’s advice to Semple, to cooperate with the MéDs and NWC, was ignored, and the new governor ordered the burning of Fort Gibraltar (an empty NWC post) • MéDs saw this as a sign that the colonists intended to make war
1816 • In May 1816, Cuthbert Grant and several MéDs raided HBC York boats on the Assiniboine River • Large supply of pemmican was taken, so Grant decided to take it to Lake Winnipeg where they could supply NWC fur traders • Robert Semple and 28 men rode out to confront the MéDs; Cuthbert Grant a.empted a parley but in the tension, a colonist fired on the MéDs • A gunfight began. Only lasted 15 minutes but at the end, Semple and 20 of his men were killed along with one MéDs • Became known as the Ba.le of Seven Oaks, though the MéDs refer to it as the Victory at Frog Plain • Cuthbert Grant ordered that the remaining colonists be given safe passage back to Norway House
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1817 • Lord Selkirk travelled to the colony, bringing 95 former Swiss mercenaries with him as a protecDve force. • While sDll on the way to the colony, he was told of the Ba.le of Seven Oaks and seized the NWC post of Fort William, then came to Red River and took control of the area. • Promised protecDon by the Swiss soldiers, the se.lers once again returned to the se.lement • Selkirk then signed a treaty with local Ojibwa and Cree NaDons, gaining possession of the Red River Valley along both the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. • Payment for “lease” was 100 pounds of tobacco/year. • Selkirk distributed land amongst the colonists and returned to England thinking he had led the colony in peace
1821 • Selkirk had also thought he had se.led ma.ers with the NWC but upon his return to London, he and the HBC were confronted with numerous lawsuits. He spent three years fighDng costly court ba.les unDl his death in 1820 • The struggle between the HBC and NWC for control of the fur trade had brought both companies to near bankruptcy by 1820 so in 1821 the BriDsh government forced the companies to merge • BriDsh Parliament gave the new company control over Rupert’s Land and upheld the trading monopoly to the new HBC (all the way west of the Rocky Mountains and north to the ArcDc). The new HBC controlled more than 7 million km2 – Over half of present day Canada. • New HBC increasingly relied on MéDs and First NaDons support: MéDs were primary suppliers of pemmican, while First NaDons were employed as trappers, translators, guides and map makers • HBC also appointed the chief jusDce (judge) for the area
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1820s-‐1860s • New Governor-‐in-‐Chief of HBC, George Simpson, was appointed in 1820. Between 1821-‐1829 he spent the summer/fall travelling to as many trading posts as he could, crisscrossing Rupert’s Land from Hudson Bay to the Pacific Coast, spending Winters in Red River. • He was a “hands-‐on” manager. He preferred to arrive at a post without warning and would spend hours grilling the traders and factor (local managers) there. • Simpson had a MéDs wife and several children, but decided in 1829 to “turn off”his MéDs wife and go back to England to find an English bride (replace with a European wife). This racist aStude was typical at first in the area and throughout the Northwest. • Brought his new wife Frances back to Red River in 1830, where she soon announced she woulf not socialize with any of the MéDs wives or relaDves of HBC employees. EffecDvely isolated the Simpsons from the rest of the colony. • In Spring 1832, ader the death of their infant son, the Simpsons led Red River eventually se.ling in Montreal where he conDnued to run the HBC for another 30 years.
1820s-‐1860s • By 1821, peace had come to the Red River Valley, developing into a stable, close-‐knit community • Many people living there: MéDs, ScoSsh and Swiss colonists, country born and HBC employees • In 1821 the populaDon was evenly divided between MeDs and European colonists. By 1860, more than 80% of the populaDon was MéDs. • The economy of the colony revolved around the needs of the HBC: ScoSsh se.lers grew crops, MéDs had the bison hunt, and farmed. • UnDl 1849, HBC held a trade monopoly but they were forced to accept free trade in the area due to demand from MéDs in the colony. • By the 1860s, things were starDng to change in the colony: The fur trade had started to fail and an increasing number of immigrants, most of whom were Protestant members of the Orange Order, increased racial tension in Red River area. • The French MéDs were discriminated against not only for their First NaDons heritage but also for their French/Catholic upbringing while the English-‐ speaking MéDs (or country-‐born), despite being Protestant, were also discriminated against due to their First NaDons background • Country-‐born tended to see themselves as superior to the MéDs because they held white-‐collar jobs; clerks, teachers, magistrates, store owners.
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