ASSINIBOINE ElVER AND ITS FOETS. 



77 



said by some to have been the blacksmith's shop. Along the north wall were the build- 

 ings for residences and other purposes. Across the ravine to the south and east are the 

 remains of another fort, generally thought to have been Fort à la Souris of the X Y 

 Company. This had probably become the fort of the North-West Company after the fusion 

 of 1804, for we learn that during the troubles of 1812-17 Brandon House and the North- 

 West fort were within gun-shot of one another. On the north side of the river, and some 

 distance down the river may still be seen a gap in the woods, where there are traces of 

 another fort, and indications point to it having been Assiniboine or Stone Indian House 

 described by David Thompson and already referred to. 





Front gateway. Only fragment remaining (1892) of Fort Garry (1835-82.) 



Days of Conflict. 



In the fierce contest between Lord Selkirk and the North- West Company (1812-17) the 

 forts of the Assiniboine played an important part. It was at Brandon House that the 

 seizure of pemicau took place that brought on the hostilities. It was on the Qu'Appelle 

 River in 1816 that the Half-breeds or Bois-brulés, under young Cuthbert Grant, organized 

 their party to attack Fort Douglas — Lord Selkirk's fort within the limits of the present 

 City of Winnipeg. As soon as the grass had started in the spring of 1816 it was down 

 the Assiniboine the invading force came, taking a contingent from each fort, to make the 

 attack of the 19th of June, by which Governor Robert Semple and twenty of his officers 

 and men fell. The monument of "Seven Oaks" erected last year by the Manitoba 

 Historical Society marks the scene of this tragedy. 



Recent Forts. 



The union of the Hudson's Bay and North-West Companies in 1821 led to a change in 

 the distribution of the forts along the Assiniboine River. Fort Pelly, named after a 

 governor of the Company, served for the Upper Assiniboine. Fort Qu'Appelle was placed 

 in the beautiful spot now occupied, ninety miles west of old Fort Espérance. Near the 



