arrived from Britain, making tlie num- 

 ber up again to about one liundred and 

 fifty. Tliae deserted liomesteads Mere 

 again occupied. Tlie colonists build- 

 ings were erected in a more substan- 

 tia 1 form, a barricade was built 

 around them, and reprisals were even 

 made upon the Nor'-wester establish- 

 ment, FoTt Gribraltar, which stood at 

 the junction of the Red and Assini- 

 boine Eivers. An officer, Kobt. Sem- 

 ple, had been sent out by Lord Sel- 

 kirk as gjvernor, ani he took up his 

 abode in Fort Douglas (.1816). Tiie 

 Nor' westers now determoned to make 

 a great effort, and these events led 

 to the battle of "Saven Oaks," in wiiich 

 the governor and his attendants were 

 killed. 



"The Bois-Brules, as the French 

 half-breeds were commonly called, 

 were admirably adapted for the pur- 

 poses of the Nor'- westers, and indeed 

 had a passionate attachment to the 

 company. The company, recognizing 

 the powder it gave them with the In- 

 dians to have as agents those having 

 Indian blood encouraging the idea of 

 an autonomy— a nationality among 

 themselves. 



In 1816 the Nor'-w esters determined 

 to attack the settlement. For sev- 

 eral months their plans were slowly 

 but surely matured. From Qu'Appelle, 

 Brandon House and Portage la Prairie 

 the company received reinforcements, 

 From the Portage the main body of 

 Bois-brules, mounted on horses and 

 armed with guns, pistols, lances and 

 bows and arrows pushed on to attack 

 the settlement. On arriving at the 

 creek east of Silver Heights, the party 

 turned across the prairie, and by the 

 line marked on the map ijioved toward 

 Kildonan. 



John Pritchard, who was in Fort 

 Douglas, w^hich was situated near 

 the foot of George street j:n this city, 

 gives a clear account of the affair: 



"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 6ettlers,'on which 

 the governor said: We must go out 

 and meet those people; let twenty 

 men follow me.' We proceeded along 

 t)ie old road leading down the settle- 

 »nent. As we were going along we 



met many of the settlers running to 

 the fort crying. 'The half-breeds! the 

 half-breed.8 1 When we w^ere ad- 

 vanced about three-quarters of a 

 mile along the settlement we saAV 

 some people on horseback behind a 

 XJOint of woods. On our nearer ap- 

 proach the party seemed to be more 

 numeious, ou which the governor made 

 a halt and sent lor a fiela-piece, wiiich 

 delaying to arrive, he ordered us to 

 advance. We had not proceeded far 

 l)efore the half-breeds with their 

 faces painted in the most hideous man- 

 ner, and in the dresses of Indian war- 

 riors, came forw^ard and surrounded us 

 in the form of a half moon. We then 

 extended our line and moved more in- 

 to the open plain, and as they advanc- 

 ed we retreated a few steps backward 

 and then saw a Canauian 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 w^ant our fort.' The governor 

 said, "Go to your fort." They were 

 by tliis time near each other, and con- 

 sequently 6i>oke too low for me to 

 hear. Being at some little distance to 

 tiie right of the govwrnor, 1 saw him 

 take hold of Boucher's gun, and almost 

 immediately a general discharge ol 

 firearms took place, but whether it 

 began on our side or that of the en- 

 emy, it was impossible to distinguish. 

 My attention was then directed to 

 my personal defence. In a f&vr min- 

 utes almost all our people w^er© either 

 killed or wounded. 



Captain Ilogers, having fallen, rose up 

 and came towards me, when, not see- 

 ing one of our party who was not 

 either killed or disabled, I called out 

 to him, 'For God's sake give yourself 

 up !' He ran towards the enemy for 

 that purpose, myself following him. 

 He raised up his hands and, and in 

 English and broken French, called for 

 mercy. A half-breed (son of Col. Wm. 

 McKay] shot him through the head, 

 and another cut open his belly with a 

 knife w^ith the most horrid impreca- 

 tions. Fortunately for me, a Cana- 

 dian, named Lavigne, joining his en- 

 treaties to mine, saved me (though 

 with the greatest difficulty) from 

 sliaring the fate of my friend at that 

 moment. After this I was reserved 

 from death, in the most providental 

 manner, no less than six different 

 times on my way to and at Frog 

 Plain, the headquarters of these 

 cruel murderers. Wiith the excep- 

 tion of myself, no quarter was given 

 to any of us The knife, axe or ball, 

 put a period to the existence of the 



