18 

 been in the service of both the X Y and Northwest compan- 

 ies, but in 1816 was a resident of the Selkirk settlement. He 

 was the father of the Rev. S. Pritchard, and grandfather of 

 Rev. Oanon Matheson, of this city. 



" On the afternoon of the 19th of June, 1816, a man in the 

 watch-house called out that the half-breeds were coming. 

 The governor, some other gentlemen and myself looked 

 through spy-glasses, and I distinctly saw some armed people 

 on horseback passing along the plains. A man then called 

 out : 'They (meaning the half-breeds) are making for the 

 settlers,' on which the governor said : We must go out and 

 meet those people ; let twenty men follow me.' We proceeded 

 down the old road leading down the settlement. As we were 

 going along we met many of the settlers running to the fort, 

 crying, ' The half-breeds ! the half-breeds !' When we were 

 advanced about three-quarters of a mile along the settlement 

 we saw some people on horseback behind a point of woods. 

 On our nearer approach the party seemed to be more num- 

 erous, on which the governor made a halt and sent for a field 

 piece, which, delaying to arrive, he ordered us to advance. 

 We had not proceeded far before the half-breeds, with their 

 faces painted in the most hideous manner, and in the dresses 

 of Indian warriors, came forward and surrounded us in the 

 form of a half moon. We then extended our line and moved 

 more into the open plain, and as they advanced we retreated 

 a few steps backward, and then saw a Canadian named 

 Boucher ride up to us waving his hand and calling out, "what 

 do you want ?" The governor replied, "what do you want ?" 

 To which Boucher answered, "we want our fort." The gover- 

 nor said, " Go to your fort." They were by this time near 

 each other, and consequently spoke too low for me to hear. 

 Being at some little distance to the right of the governor, I 

 saw him take hold of Boucher's gun, and almost immediately 

 a general discharge of fire arms took place, but whether it 

 began on our side or that of the enemy, it was impossible to 

 distinguish. My attention was then directed to my personal 

 defence. In a few minutes almost all our people were 



