[bryce] settlers of OLD ASSINIBOIA 161 



able greed and unreasonable alarm on the part of the Metis; of con- 

 fused uncertainty upon the part of the English-speaking descendants 

 of the Selkirk settlers, and of the natives of the English parishes, with 

 a third element of the imbecility and helplessness of the Hudson's 

 Bay Company officials. As to the leader of the revolt, Louis Riel, 

 junior, he gave in his youth as a student promise of quickness and 

 intelligence, but by his self-conceit, importance, and his assumption 

 of a Kaiserlike air and attitude as he dwelt in Fort Garry, in whose 

 cells he kept in misery a band of prominent and innocent Canadians 

 charged with no crime. It is far from being just to say that Louis 

 Riel had no good parts. He had some prominent features of leadership 

 in speech and in demeanour he was impressive; his courage and execu- 

 tive ability were undeniable. His authorization of some acts of 

 cruelty and injustice probably arose from fear. An exile for fifteen 

 years, his mspiration of the natives and Indians to rebellion in Sas- 

 katchewan in 1885, led to an ignoble end, and his attempt to introduce 

 a new religious faith seems to have indicated a disordered mind. The 

 attempt to make Louis Riel a martyr has failed to impress itself on 

 any class of Canadian people. 



VIII. 

 Hon. James McKay. 



The prevailing distinction among the native people of Rupert's 

 Land was to be able to run a foot race, chase a wolf, ride a restless 

 broncho horse, or pursue the dangerous rush of a herd of buffalo. 

 As in the old Biblical day a m.an was famious when he could with 

 rapidity and skill cut down the mighty oak trees, so here men of great 

 nerve and muscle gained a general reputation for deeds of skill or 

 unwearied bravery. Such a man was Honourable James McKay 

 having a trace of threefold blood in his veins. Broad and heavy set, 

 he was nevertheless a champion runner or sprinter as the local usage 

 would speak of him. His two brothers were respectively a Govern- 

 ment official and a missionary to the Indians. When Assiniboia 

 became absorbed in the new Province of Manitoba, after the transfer 

 of 1870 it was thought necessary to have an Upper House or Legislative 

 Council. McKay became a member of it and on account of the French 

 blood in his veins he became a representative of the Metis section of 

 the people. He was a man of means, of high reputation, as well as 

 an example of political skill. When the Legislative Council was 

 abolished in Manitoba in 1876 James McKay became a member of 

 .the Provincial Cabinet, while a majority of his colleagues were given 

 other positions. His residence of "Deer Lodge" west of the young 



Sec. I & II, Sig. 11 



