106 TRANSACTIONS. 1906-7. 



of some phases of the fur-trade. "The seamy side of the fur- 

 trade/' says Dr. Coues, "is simply hell on earth — hell peopled 

 with no souls above a beaver-skin, fired by King Alcohol for the 

 worship of Mammon." As he says, there are passages in this 

 very narrative which one can scarcely follow with unshaken 

 nerves. The traders were not usually directly responsible; but 

 often enough they were indirectly. Henry gives a horribly 

 vivid description of the massacre by the Sioux of a party of 

 Saulteurs, including his beau-pere or father-in-law. 



"My beau-pere was the first man that fell/' he says, "about 

 eight o'clock in the morning. He had climbed a tree, to see 

 if the buffalo were at hand, as they were tented there to make 

 dried provisions. He had no sooner reached the top than two 

 Sioux discoverers fired at the same moment, and both balls 

 passed through his body. He had only time to call out to his 

 family, who were in the tent about 100 paces from him, "Save 

 yourselves! the Sioux are killing us!" and fell dead to the ground, 

 his body breaking several branches of the tree as it dropped. 

 The noise brought the Indians out of the tent; when perceiving 

 their danger, the women and children instantly ran through the 

 plains towards an island of wood on Tongue river, about a mile 

 distant, and on a direct line toward the fort (the Pembina river 

 post). The men took their arms and made off also, keeping in 

 the rear of their women and children, whom they urged on. The 

 four surviving men had not gone more than a quarter of a mile 

 when they saw the main body of the war party on horseback rush- 

 ing down upon them. Crossing Tongue river, and in a few 

 moments coming up with them, the Sioux began to fire. The 

 four men by expert manoeuvres and incessant fire prevented the 

 enemy from closing in them, while the women and children 

 continued to fly, and the men followed. They were within about 

 200 paces of the wood and some of the most active had actually 

 entered it, when the enemy surrounded and fell upon them. 

 Three of the Saulteurs fled in different directions; Grande Gueule 

 escaped before they were completely surrounded, but the other 

 two were killed. The one who remained to protect the women 

 and children was a brave fellow — Aceguemanche, or Little Chief; 

 he waited deliberately until the enemy came very near, when he 

 fired at one who appeared to be the chief, and knocked the Sioux 

 from his horse. Three young girls and a boy were taken prisoners; 

 the remainder were all murdered, and mutilated in a horrible 



