NORTH-WEST REBELLION OF 1885 



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the country was open, and march down on the prairie to Batoche 

 and take it in the rear. I told them that the prairie on the south 

 side of the river was mostly brush and had many ravines and was 

 dangerous. Instead of doing what I said, Middleton advanced 

 on Batoche from Clarke's Crossing by the trail on the south and 

 then had to fight and the results of that fight were that Melgund 

 was recalled from the North Shore to assist Middleton and the 

 army had to retreat and, eventually, take the trail from Humboldt 

 that was to have been taken at the commencement of the cam- 

 paign and, after fighting at Batoche for a length of time, the place 

 was taken by Colonel Williams, (without the orders of General 

 Middleton). Lord Melgund was so disgusted with the fight at 

 the coulee that he left the army and returned to Ottawa, and he 

 showed me his map and pointed out how far he had got on his 

 way when the old man recalled him. 



As soon as the spring opened, I prepared to carry out my 

 plans for an examination of the Rocky Mountains and, late in 

 May, my son William and I started for the West. 



This time, I went by the Grand Trunk by way of Chicago 

 and St. Paul, as I was taking my son on my own account. Willie 

 and I were sitting in the station at St. Paul when a gentleman 

 strolled in and, seeing us, came and sat on a bench near us and 

 entered into conversation. He was very affable and told us a 

 number of things and asked me where I was going. I said that 

 I was on my way to Winnipeg. "Well," he said, "I am going 

 there myself. I have a store at Brandon and I have just come 

 down here to get goods." He asked me quite a number of ques- 

 tions and I answered them fully and he said that he would see 

 me in the evening on the train as he was about to return home. 

 I immediately turned to my son and told him that I believed that 

 man to be a confidence man and that he would certainly come in 

 the evening and he said he thought he would too. 



In the evening, my son and I boarded the train at St. Paul 

 and he sat facing one door in the car and I sat facing the other 

 door. After a while my son said: "I see the man looking in the 

 door." Of course, he immediately came in and sat down beside 

 me in the seat and commenced to talk. He talked in the usual 



