82 WHEAT AND WOMAN 



temperature at its hospitable degree of warmth, 

 and waking or sleeping I never felt cold in that wind 

 and weather-proof, well-built, simple house. 



Another interesting family who were friendly 

 and kind to us were the married and unmarried 

 children of Mr. Archibald Macdonald, a man of 

 great distinction, not only as being the last of the 

 chief factors of the Hudson Bay Company, but as 

 one who played his part well in Imperial matters 

 during the historic days of the treaties and periods 

 of disturbance with the Indians. 



It was he who stood for intelligence and integrity 

 on the historic occasion in 1857 when the general 

 affairs of the Hudson Bay Company passed under 

 the review of the House of Commons, and in answer 

 to a leading question as to what class of men the 

 officials were sending out to Canada this prompt 

 answer came from Mr. Ellice, M.P. for St. An- 

 drews, Fife, "such men as Archibald Macdonald 

 of Invergary." At that time he had barely reached 

 his twentieth year. Nearly thirty years later, in 

 1885, during the final phase of the Kiel Rebellion, 

 the people of the Prairie Provinces were in great 

 anxiety over the fear of the ill-will of the Indians. 

 The Government looked to Lord Strathcona and 

 the Hudson Bay Company for help and advice 

 in dealing with the Tribes, and they looked to 

 Archibald Macdonald, the boy of Invergary and the 

 man of Fort Qu'Appelle. Relief came in his one 

 sentence, " We can manage the Indians." 



We were deeply interested in him long before 

 we had passed the " Good day " stage of acquaint- 

 ance, because he seemed the patriarch of the 

 village and was obviously the principal white man 



