Worthies 



of 



Old Red River 



At the annual meeting of the Histor- 

 ical society held Tlueisday even- 

 ing, the 11th February, 1896, in 

 the city council chamber, the Rev. Dr. 

 Bryce, a life member of tlie society, 

 read the following interesting paper: 



A lively writer who visited the Sel- 

 kirk colony nearly forty years ago, 

 speaks ot the Red River settlement 

 as "This bit of ruder European life, 

 thrown haphazard into the wilder- 

 ness." Though consisting of but 

 a handful of people, the old settlement 

 had many unique features. Its isola- 

 tion, its strong individuality, and its 

 peculiarity of organization make some 

 of its features as worthy of notice as 

 those of Drumtochty or the village of 

 Thrums. 



Tlie settlement was made up of three 

 principal elements: First, thei-e were 

 the descendants of the early French 

 traders and voyageurs, who had mar- 

 ried the Indian women of the country, 

 and left behind them the the French 

 halfbreeds, or as they were often call- 

 ed the Metis, or at other times the 

 Bois-brules. These people lived chiefly 

 up the Red river from the mouth of 

 the Assiniboine in the pai^ehes of St. 

 Boniface, St. Vital, St, Norbert and 

 8te. Agathe: in St. Charles, St. 

 Francois Xavier, and Bale St. Paul 

 on the Assiniboine, and. sut two outly- 

 ing settlements one on the Seine at 

 Pointe de Chene, and the other at 

 St. Laurent on Lake Mauitoba. Though 

 somewhat severely spoken of by Ross 

 in his work on the Red river, the 

 French halfbreeds ai-e kind and oblig- 

 ing to those who treat them as friends, 



and though deprived of the benefits of 

 education are a chivalrous and well 

 mannered people. 



Second, among the elements of Red 

 river people are the descendants of the 

 older employes of the Hudson's Bay 

 company, many of them from the Ork- 

 nej^ Islands, who also on the mother's 

 side were related to Indians of the 

 country. These were known as the 

 English, i. e. English-speaking half- 

 breeds. The chief English halfbreed 

 settlements were on the Red river in 

 the parishes of St. Paul, St. Andrews, 

 and St. Clements, with St. James, 

 Heading-ley, Poplar Point, and Portage 

 la Prairie on the Assiniboine. The 

 English half-breed was more docile 

 than the French, less of a hunter and 

 more of a w orkei', and hosipLtable to 

 a fault. 



Last of the elements of the Red 

 River people were the Selkirk settlers, 

 and their descendants, who lived north 

 of the present site of the city of Win- 

 nipeg, in the parish of Kildonan, or in 

 the parish of St. John's, which includ- 

 ed much of the site of the present city 

 of Winnipeg. The Kildonan people 

 were almost entirely of Highland or- 

 igin, and had features of language and 

 character and a parish life, quite dis- 

 tinctive in this mixture of races. 



This tripartite community varied 

 much in religion, manners and cus- 

 toms. TJie French halfbreeds were 

 Roman Catholics, the English half- 

 breeds belonged chiefly to the Church 

 oi England, and the Selkii-k settlers 

 were largely Presbyterians, 



