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169-522: Travellers began to use the trails by the 1820s, with the heaviest use from the 1840s to the early 1870s, when they were superseded by railways. Until then, these cartways provided the most efficient means of transportation between the isolated Red River Colony and the outside world. They gave the Selkirk colonists and their neighbours, the Métis people, an outlet for their furs and a source of supplies other than

338-536: A chain of rivers and lakes to the colony, 780 miles (1250 km) from salt water to the Assiniboine. The alternative was the historic route of the rival North West Company 's voyageurs from Montreal through Lake Huron to Fort William on Lake Superior . Above Superior, this route followed rivers and lakes to Lac la Croix and west along the international border through Lake of the Woods to Rat Portage , and then down

507-624: A colony of settlers in British North America where the Assiniboine River joins the Red River at the site of modern Winnipeg. Although fur posts were scattered throughout the Canadian northwest, and settlements of Métis fur traders and bison hunters were located in the vicinity of Selkirk's establishment, this colony was the only agricultural settlement between Upper Canada and

676-606: A common past or present involvement with the Companies. While the end of the fur trade's inspired conflicts on the plains, the Red River settlement was able to grow in both population and economic importance with the expansion of commercially-oriented agriculture (raising of staple crops). The agricultural products, primarily wheat, began to rise in yearly yields. Flour production rose from over 9,100 kilograms (20,000 lb) annually from 1823 to 1829 to over 14,000 kg (30,000 lb) in

845-472: A counter-balance to English and Protestant dominance in the Canadian Confederation, while some hoped the province would be a political entity centered or at least heavily influenced by indigenous or Métis communities. Once the rebellion was put down and Manitoba was admitted, thousands of largely Protestant, anglophone Ontarians quickly began migrating to the prairies, and their presence swiftly shifted

1014-524: A flood. Perhaps the most significant ecological disaster was the rapid depletion of the bison population. A vital food source, bison numbers had been dwindling since the 1760s due to heavy hunting pressure by Euroamerican traders as well as the aboriginal inhabitants of the prairies. In July 1811, Miles Macdonell sailed from Yarmouth , England to the Hudson's Bay post at York Factory with 36 primarily Irish and Scottish settlers. Due to persuasive efforts of

1183-573: A growing population, Macdonell, now governor of Red River, issued the Pemmican Proclamation in January 1814 to prevent the export of pemmican from the colony. In doing so, Macdonell undermined the security of Red River and plunged the colony into a conflict with the North West Company that would not end until 1821. The Pemmican War that was initiated by Macdonell's proclamation was only

1352-440: A highway for trade that was not dependent on the Hudson's Bay Company. As usage grew, old fur trading posts became settlements and new communities were established along the cart routes. The trails pioneered by the fur brigades accelerated development of Minnesota and North Dakota, and facilitated settlement of the Canadian northwest. The trails had profound political effects during a time of Anglo-American tension. Both Britain and

1521-488: A long-lasting tradition of a semi-annual, commercial, buffalo hunt that took place throughout the prairies starting in the mid-1700s with the western fur trade. The Hudson's Bay Company's journals and a number of witnesses to these events stated that the united caravan was commonly known as a brigade. These brigades did not just focus on buffalo hunting but were used by buffalo hunters to trade and freight during this time. Women were fundamental in both actively participating in

1690-609: A political voice and political implications upon Canadian federal government. This rebellion also led to the Métis emerging as a unique, acknowledged group within Canada, and ultimately, the disappearance of the Aboriginal rights paradigm in the public view of Red River. The rebellion was successful in a sense that it allowed the Métis to have a political voice, but it impacted the perception of how other Aboriginals would be viewed in Red River. Once

1859-567: A reflection of their conservative morals, many settlers in the colony also claimed to observe differences between European and indigenous women; Alexander Ross, a Scottish author who lived in the Red River Colony for a number of years, stated in a book written by him on the colony's history that a friend informed him that European women were required to be "graceful" unlike indigenous women, who were exempt from this due to their bashfulness. The mixed ethnicity of indigenous and European peoples at

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2028-498: A route located entirely on Canadian soil. Today, the international border is firmly established and peaceful; there is a greater sense of Canadian nationality, and fears of U.S. Manifest Destiny have all but disappeared. Canada and the U.S. have formalized their trading partnership with the North American Free Trade Agreement , leading to increased trade between the two nations. This trade now coursing up and down

2197-481: A sense, became pivotal for Red River because it allowed for the success of the Métis in their rebellion. In 1870, the elected Legislative Assembly of Assinboia was created by Red River inhabitants to take the place of the unelected Assiniboia Council. The Canadian government was forced to develop the negotiations that allowed for the Métis demands that were legally entrenched in the Manitoba Act which eventually led to

2366-577: A short period of time. During this phase, the Clearwater and Athabasca River system outlet opened. Isostatic rebound opened the southern outlet for a time, creating the Norcross (325 metres (1,066 ft)), Tintah (310 metres (1,020 ft)), and Upper Campbell (299 metres (981 ft)) beaches. The south outlet was permanently closed at the end of Emerson Phase. The opening of the Kaministiquia outlet to

2535-469: A smooth and open glacial outwash sandplain to Sauk Rapids and East Saint Cloud . The final lap of the trail to Saint Paul, which had replaced Mendota as the principal entrepôt for the cart trade, continued along the sandplain on the east bank of the Mississippi. This route ran within a few miles of the river to Saint Anthony Falls and the community of that name which was growing on the east bank of

2704-404: A subsistence economy to one producing more than could be consumed locally the agricultural surplus was also sent south by ox cart. The imports were more varied; originally they were seed, spices, and other staples, liquor, tools, implements, and hardware. In midcentury the buffalo herds declined, and traffic in furs began to be replaced by the produce and needs of settlers. As settlement developed

2873-584: A time when a sense of Canadian nationality was tenuous in the northwest, that region relied on the Red River Trails and its successor steamboat and rail lines as an outlet for its products and a source of supplies. An active Manifest Destiny faction in Minnesota sought to exploit these commercial ties as a means of acquiring northwestern Canada for the United States. This pressure prompted Canada to take over

3042-492: A two decades many thousands of international migrants, largely ethnic Ukrainians and Germans, had come to the province as agricultural settlers. The Catholic Church also continued to encouraged migration and settlement from Quebec and francophone Ontario to Manitoba, however these settlers were far outnumbered by English settlers as well international migrants whose communities would be assimilated in Anglo-Canadian society. In

3211-867: A variety of routes out of the Red River Valley across the upper valleys of the Pomme de Terre and Chippewa Rivers (tributaries of the Minnesota River), to Saint Cloud and Sauk Rapids on the Upper Mississippi. Soon however, a branch was added to connect the East Plains Trail with the Woods Trail. This link skirted the west slope of the Leaf Mountains and joined the East Plains routes at Elbow Lake or near

3380-493: A welcome relief. After six or so weeks on the trail, the brigades reached Saint Paul. There the carters camped on the bluff above the town growing on the riverfront. Not all was harmonious. To the locals, the swarthy-complected carters up on the hill had a "devil-may-care" aspect, with their "curious commingling of civilized garments and barbaric adornments". One trader from the north called his host city "a wretched little village" where "drinking whisky seems to occupy at least half

3549-534: Is due to the fact they did not lead to annexation of any territory to either of the nations in which the trails were located. The trails nevertheless were instrumental in the development of central North America. Traffic over the West Plains Trail sustained the Selkirk Settlement in its early years. The trails also gave settlers of that colony and their Métis neighbours a route for migration as well as

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3718-691: The 49th parallel north ceased to be a part of the Red River Colony following the signing of the Treaty of 1818 , in which the United Kingdom agreed to cede this territory to the United States . Growing up in Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745 , Lord Selkirk was constantly troubled by the plight of his Scottish kin. Selkirk was influenced by humanitarians including William Wilberforce and, following

3887-699: The Assiniboine River east to Lake Winnipegosis . It then formed a line of 52° 30′ N latitude from Lake Winnipegosis to Lake Winnipeg , and by the Winnipeg River , Lake of the Woods and Rainy River . West of the Selkirk Concession, it is roughly formed by the current boundary between Saskatchewan and Manitoba. These covered portions consisted of present-day southern Manitoba , northern Minnesota , and eastern North Dakota , in addition to small parts of eastern Saskatchewan , northwestern Ontario , and northeastern South Dakota . The lands south of

4056-564: The Biblical flood narrative . The lowest point between the drainage of Hudson Bay and the Gulf of Mexico is in the Traverse Gap between the U.S. states of Minnesota and South Dakota . It lies between Lake Traverse and Big Stone Lake . This continental divide is about 300 metres (980 ft) above sea level. When Lake Agassiz existed, the gap was the outlet to River Warren . The outflow from

4225-715: The Columbia District for British North America. The party crossed the Rockies into the Columbia Valley , near present-day Radium Hot Springs , British Columbia; then travelled south. Despite such efforts, the British government eventually ceded all claim to land south of the 49th parallel of latitude west of the Rockies to the United States as a resolution to the Oregon boundary dispute . American expansionists became heavily interested in

4394-509: The Gulf of Mexico ). The valley floors and uplands of the watercourses along this gently graded route provided a natural thoroughfare to the south. The eyes of the colonists therefore turned to the new United States, both as a source of supplies and an (illegal) outlet for their furs. The rich fur areas along the upper Mississippi, Minnesota, Des Moines , and Missouri Rivers , occupied by Indigenous peoples , were exploited by independent fur traders operating from Prairie du Chien , Wisconsin in

4563-531: The Hudson's Bay Company , which was unable to enforce its monopoly in the face of the competition that used the trails. Free traders, independent of the Hudson's Bay Company and outside its jurisdiction, developed extensive commerce with the United States, making Saint Paul the principal entrepôt and link to the outside world for the Selkirk Settlement. The trade, developed by and along the trails connecting Fort Garry with Saint Paul, stimulated commerce, contributed to

4732-786: The Manitoba and North Dakota border, forming a crescent around the west side of the Turtle Mountains . Lake Souris had three successive outlets: the Sheyenne River , the Pembina River, and finally the Assiniboine River. Initially, Lake Souris' southern bay drained into the Sheyenne River, a tributary of the Red River, which in turn flowed into Lake Agassiz. However, after the ice sheet had retreated enough to uncover Turtle Mountain,

4901-481: The North Saskatchewan River between Saskatoon and Prince Albert , Saskatchewan. A few miles east of Lake Saskatchewan's outlet, near the modern junction of the north and south branches, it entered Lake Agassiz. This Saskatchewan embayment extended for 400 miles (640 km) along the modern Saskatchewan River route. Raised beaches , many kilometres from any current water, mark the former boundaries of

5070-628: The Northwest Angle had also been ceded. The rivalling Hudson's Bay Company and North West Company were forced to merge in 1821 by the British government , and from then until 1870 the area was under the jurisdiction of the Assinboia Council , an appointed body with representatives of various sections of Red River society (francophone and anglophone, Roman Catholic and Protestant officials, Métis, Scottish, Irish, French-Canadian, etc.), all sharing

5239-475: The Otter Tail River . At times, this eastern connection may have been the better-travelled of the two variants. At Saint Cloud, the furs of some of the cart brigades were transshipped to river craft on the Mississippi, which operated to Saint Anthony Falls at Minneapolis . Other cart trains crossed the Mississippi and travelled on to Saint Paul on a route shared with the Woods Trail. Over most of its route,

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5408-653: The Red Lake River at the Old Crossing near modern Huot , and angled south by southeast to the fur post at White Earth . At Otter Tail Lake, the route left the plains and turned east into a forest in the Leaf Mountains on the continental divide. Taking a difficult but scenic path east through the woods, the trail crossed the Mississippi River at Old Crow Wing . It then went south down the east bank of that river on

5577-534: The Red River Rebellion , the American annexationists hoped to take advantage of the disruption caused by these political conflicts and present themselves in the forefront as the ideal leaders of the Red River land. The annexation was led by Minnesota senator Alexander Ramsey, and was backed by Zachariah Chandler and Jacob M. Howard- who were both senators of Michigan and represented Detroit merchants. They all shared

5746-587: The Saskatchewan River flows; Lake Dauphin , south of Lake Winnipegosis and tributary to it; and Lake St. Martin , on the Fairford or Little Saskatchewan River , the outlet of lakes Manitoba and Winnipegosis. In northern Minnesota, there are Roseau , Thief , Mud , and Maple lakes , besides three large lakes of that state, Rainy Lake , the Lake of the Woods , and Red Lake . Glacial Lake Souris formed along

5915-686: The Traverse Gap at Brown's Valley is at 980 feet (300 m). This was the south outlet of Lake Agassiz. The Herman Beach displays numerous deltas from the major rivers that entered Lake Agassiz. In Minnesota and North Dakota, these include the Buffalo River Delta, Sand Hill River Delta, Sheyenne River Delta, Elk Valley Delta, and the Pembina River Delta. In Manitoba, there is the Assiniboine River Delta. Fourteen shorelines of Lake Agassiz have been identified, which lie below

6084-502: The Winnipeg River to the Red. The distance from the Selkirk settlement to Lake Superior at Fort William was about 500 miles (800 km), but Lake Superior was only the start of a lengthy journey to Montreal where furs and supplies would be transshipped to and from Europe. Neither of these routes was suitable for heavy freight. Lighter cargoes were carried in York boats to Hudson Bay or in canoes on

6253-783: The Arctic Ocean about 13,000 years ago. The ice returned to the south for a time, but as it again retreated north of the present Canada–United States border around 10,000 years ago, Lake Agassiz refilled. The last major shift in drainage occurred around 8,200 years ago. The melting of remaining Hudson Bay ice caused Lake Agassiz to drain nearly completely. This final drainage of Lake Agassiz has been associated with an estimated 0.8 to 2.8 m (2.6 to 9.2 ft) rise in global sea levels . Lake Agassiz's major drainage reorganization events were of such magnitudes that they significantly impacted climate, sea level, and possibly early human civilization . The lake's enormous freshwater release into

6422-582: The Arctic Ocean has been postulated to have disrupted oceanic circulation and caused temporary cooling. The draining of 13,000 years ago may be the cause of the Younger Dryas stadial . Although disputed, the draining at 9,900–10,000 years ago may be the cause of the 8,200 yr climate event . A study by Turney and Brown links the 8,500-years-ago drainage to the expansion of agriculture from east to west across Europe; they suggest that this may also account for various flood myths of ancient cultures, including

6591-465: The Assiniboine River, Lake Souris drained via that river into Lake Agassiz. ( Pelican Lake in Langs Valley of Manitoba occupies what was once the northern shore of Lake Souris. ) The lower part of the Saskatchewan River basin near the river's mouth at Cedar Lake was clear of the ice-sheet before Lake Agassiz began to drain to northeast. Lake Saskatchewan existed on about 135 miles (217 km) of

6760-469: The British domination of the fur trade in the upper Mississippi valley, which had continued for decades after the Revolutionary War settlement which had assigned those territories to the new nation. Later, the economic dependence of the Selkirk Settlement and the Canadian northwest on the Red River trade routes to U.S. markets came to pose a threat to British and Canadian control of their territory. At

6929-558: The Canadian government in Regina. His death provoked outcry among the French Canadian, First Nations and Métis communities, with particular uproar in Québec in reaction to the execution of a French-speaking, Catholic political leader, and Riel's death was seen on all sides (among those who saw Riel as a traitor who was rightly punished and those outraged at his arrest and execution) as symbolic of

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7098-556: The Canadian government, which was predominantly led by English-Canadian conservatives, initiated the Manitoba Act in 1870. They believed that this act would accomplish two purposes: this would be able to crush the rebellion, while at the same time, appeasing the French demands of increasing French influence in Canada because the act would create a Western province that was constitutionally supportive of French Canadian language and culture. This

7267-589: The Canadians against the Americans' colonization projects and sentiments of their Manifest Destiny ideologies. The early Manitoba provincial government initially struggled to be effective. Everything around it felt rushed because the Manitoba Act was mostly created to prevent another Red River Rebellion. Many of the government officials were inexperienced – especially the three delegates who went to Ottawa to negotiate union terms. None of them had experience with diplomacy or

7436-470: The Clergymen to benefit, in their opinion, from instruction in religion and civilization. Although these schools took in all children of the colony, mixed-ancestry children were a large focus due to them being tied to the fur trading post by their European fathers. John Halkett, a Committee member, wanted Metis families of retired HBC employees to be brought to Red River (from other nearby posts) to be put under

7605-498: The Cree nation are thought to have come into contact with French and later French-Canadian traders bringing Catholic priests and missionaries in their wake, later Scottish traders and the Company brought Protestant missionaries and clergy into Ojibwe-dominated areas. This division into a Cree-French-Catholic oriented group and an Ojibwe-Scottish-Protestant oriented group can be seen in the rise of

7774-402: The East Plains Trail went through a post-glacial landscape of lakes, moraines, and drumlins, with beautiful scenery and difficult swamps. As the area became settled during Minnesota's territorial and early statehood days, the routes were improved, stagecoach service was instituted, towns were established, and permanent settlement began. The trails were first used to obtain seed and supplies for

7943-475: The Governor submitting a plan to gather up a number of children to care for and educate. He stated that he created this plan when he saw these children being raised in a way he deemed ignorant and idle. The above-mentioned differences in religion, ways of life, and ethnic origins largely followed a pattern based on the initial contact between individuals, groups, and institutions. For example large communities within

8112-585: The Gulf of Mexico. During the Emerson Phase, lake levels and drainage patterns continually fluctuated. The lake switched from a southward outlet to a northwestern outlet, and may have been static without a significant outlet during this phase. Isostatic rebound changed the elevation of the land, and this, combined with changes in the volume of meltwater from the ice margin and the closure of the Kaministikwia outlet in

8281-449: The Herman lake beaches until isostatic rebound and glacial advances closed the Kaministikwia route. This stabilized the lake at the Norcross lake stage (325 metres (1,066 ft)). The average depth of Lake Agassiz during the late Moorhead Phase was 258 metres (846 ft). Drainage from Lake Agassiz continued to flow southward out of the ancient Minnesota and Mississippi River systems into

8450-466: The Hudson's Bay Company territory in return for monetary and land compensation. It contributed to Canadian Confederation and the establishment of Manitoba. It also led to the decision that there should be an all-Canada route for the Canadian Pacific Railway . Not until completion of that line in 1885 did Manitoba and the northwest finally have reliable and efficient access to eastern Canada by

8619-404: The Hudson's Bay Company. This would lead Riel into becoming the leader of the provisional government, and he composed and sent a list of rights to Ottawa. The demands mainly consisted of the Métis wanting Red River to be entered into Canadian confederation as a province, security for their land claims, making English and French the official languages of the colony, as well as financial support for

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8788-525: The Hudson's Bay or North West Company , the dominant fur trading companies at the time, was essential to the establishment of a colony at Red River. By 1811, the Hudson's Bay Company had reconsidered Selkirk's proposal and granted Selkirk 300,000 km (116,000 sq mi), an area five times the size of Scotland, to establish an agricultural settlement in the region of Red River. Supplies of "produce, such as flour, beef, pork and butter..." would be affordable to manufacture in this colony, and would reduce

8957-440: The Lake Nipigon and Superior basins. A dozen beaches were created during short periods of stability. Towards the end of the Nipigon Phase, Lake Agassiz reached its largest geographical size as it joined with Lake Ojibway in the east. The Ojibway Phase is named for the glacial lake along the ice front in northern Ontario . Lake Ojibway merged with Lake Agassiz at this time. Isostatic rebound of glaciated lands that were south of

9126-453: The Lake Nipigon outlet and the other low level outlets, creating intermittent catastrophic outbursts of water into the Lake Minong basin. These large inflows of water raised Lake Minong lake levels and flowed into Lake Algonquin in the Lake Michigan and Huron basins. These outbursts refilled the Lake Michigan and Huron basins, which are extreme low water levels of Lake Chippewa (Lake Michigan basin) and Lake Stanley (Lake Huron basin). This

9295-453: The McCauleyville beaches. These formed when the River Warren could no longer receive the outflow of the lake. This occurred when a lower outlet was found and the lake shrank with the release of the lake's waters. The three highest shorelines are named the Blanchard beaches, and the next five in descending order are the Hillsboro, the two Emerado, and the two Ojata beaches, from towns on or near their course in North Dakota. The fertile soils of

9464-447: The Minnesota and Red Rivers. These early expeditions on the watersheds of these two streams were among the earliest known through trips on the route of the first Red River Trail. The West Plains Trail had originated with Native Americans, and before the ox cart traffic it connected the fur- trading posts of the Columbia Fur Company . In fact, that company introduced the Red River ox cart to haul its furs and goods. It also developed

9633-436: The Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers and down the Red River, arriving back at the settlement in the summer of 1820. In 1821, five dissatisfied settler families left the colony for Fort Snelling , the forerunners of later tides of migration up and down the valley between the two nations. Two years later in 1823, Major Stephen Harriman Long was the first official U.S. representative to reach Pembina; his expedition came by way of

9802-584: The Mississippi became more regular in 1835, when a caravan of traders from the Red River came to Mendota. The efforts of the Hudson's Bay Company to enforce its monopoly only induced the fur traders to avoid the company's jurisdiction by moving across the border to the United States. These included Norman Kittson whose enormous fur-trading and shipping enterprise along the West Plains Trail started with one six-cart train in 1844. In later years, trains consisting of hundreds of ox carts were sent from Kittson's post at Pembina, just inside U.S. territory and safely outside

9971-450: The Mississippi. The trail then left the river and crossed open country to Saint Paul. The carters camped on the uplands west of the steamboat landing during the interval between their arrival with the furs and their return to the north with supplies and trade goods. Inferior in terrain to other routes, the Woods Trail was superior in safety, as it was well within the lands of the Ojibwa. It was less well used during times of relative calm. In

10140-422: The Métis to no longer be considered as Canadian Aboriginals – they became regarded as their own social group, and were distinct from other Aboriginal groups. In order to pacify the Métis resistance further, the Canadian government gave them generous land grants in 1869–70 that were carefully structured to be given in severalty, rather than in common. Red River was now developing its own provincial government that had

10309-445: The NWC for trade relations, it was a common practice among European employees of both companies due to the various policies by the companies which only allowed males to emigrate to fur trading outposts. When female settlers did eventually start emigrating to the settlement, tensions between the European and indigenous communities were heightened due to the highly restrictive gender norms these women brought with them from Europe. In part

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10478-401: The Nor'Wester proposals. The following year Semple and twenty other settlers were killed in the Battle of Seven Oaks and the settlement was abandoned once again. The imminent arrival of Selkirk in 1817, who had been en route to the colony prior to the incident at Seven Oaks, prompted the settlers to return to the colony shortly after. Travelling with a force of approximately 100 soldiers from

10647-436: The North West Company with a decisive advantage prior to 1810. After 1810, the combination of new management within the Hudson's Bay Company and the approval of a company-sponsored colony at Red River put the North West Company on the defensive. The establishment of a Hudson's Bay colony in the Red River region denied the Nor'Westers access to vital supplies and restricted the company's ability to expand westwards. Additionally,

10816-479: The North West Company, only 18 settlers actually arrived at Red River in August 1812. As the planting season had ended before the settlers could complete the construction of Fort Douglas , they were forced to hunt bison for food and were completely unprepared for the arrival of 120 additional settlers in October. More settlers were scheduled to arrive in 1813, but due to a fever outbreak on their ship, they did not arrive until June 21, 1814. Dogged by poor harvests and

10985-426: The Ojibway Phase of Lake Agassiz and may indicate large amounts of drainage from the Ottawa River valley and the Tyrrell Sea (ancestral Hudson Bay). The Laurentide Ice Sheet continued to recede. Continued warming shrank the ice front towards present day Hudson Bay. Here, the Lake Agassiz northward outlet drained into the Tyrrell Sea. This breach dropped the water level below the eastern Kinojevis outlet. The drainage

11154-427: The Pacific Ocean. Isolated by geology behind the rugged Canadian Shield and many hundreds of miles of wilderness, settlers and their Métis neighbours had access to outside markets and sources of supply only by two laborious water routes. The first, maintained by the Hudson's Bay Company (in which Lord Selkirk was a principal investor), was a sea route from Great Britain to York Factory on Hudson Bay , then up

11323-422: The Red River Colony, known as Metis, were not always referred to by that name in the beginning years of their existence. Augustus Chetlain , an author who lived in the colony, wrote in his book that they were often called "Brules, Metifs, or half-breeds, the bastard sons of Indian concubines". The culture and lifestyle of the Metis community living in Red River were not only present at the colony. Metis people had

11492-403: The Red River people. The Americans became too acquisitive because they were eager to create a political union. This ultimately caused the annexation of the North West to fail, despite it being almost within reach. All this ultimately benefited the cause of Riel and the Rebellion. As a result, the Metis were able to successfully defy Canadian expansion into Rupert's Land. This political chaos, in

11661-399: The Red River population. Riel hoped to accomplish a sense of equality for the Métis; he wanted to present them as a civilized people that were deserving of the same rights of any British subject. The rebellion became a pivotal moment in acquiring land rights and a political voice for the Métis, who were constantly disregarded for their Aboriginal status. The aftermath of the rebellion caused

11830-429: The Red, and also kept out of the swampy, flood-prone, and mosquito-ridden bottomlands in the lakebed of Glacial Lake Agassiz which the river drained. In what is now southeastern North Dakota , the trail veered to the south-southeast to close with the Red River at Georgetown , Fort Abercrombie , and Breckenridge , Minnesota, all of which came into existence in consequence of the passing cart traffic. From Breckenridge,

11999-411: The Selkirk colony. They soon became trade routes for local fur traders, and in the 1830s began to be heavily used by American fur traders operating just south of the international border. The Americans acquired furs from Métis fur traders in British North America who were evading the Hudson's Bay Company monopoly on trade within its chartered domain. The settlement at Fort Garry was isolated and at

12168-407: The Selkirk's success at Red River and resulted in the colony becoming the central focus of seven years of inter-company warfare. Red River first came under attack from the North West Company in the summer of 1815. Convinced that Macdonell's proclamation was a deliberate attempt to block Northwest trade, the company destroyed Fort Douglas and burned down all of the surrounding buildings. The fort

12337-635: The U.S. National Register of Historic Places . The Red River Trails are less well known today than many other pioneer trails and trade routes in North America, and do not occupy as large a place in folklore as the great western trails in the United States and the fur-trading canoe routes of Canada. They were neither fought over nor the locus of battles (with the exception of the Dakota War of 1862), and although hazardous at times, other trails presented greater dangers. It may be that this relative lack of attention

12506-519: The U.S. claimed. The Americans were also concerned about the establishment of Lord Selkirk's colony as well as British claims to the Red River Valley. Finally the U.S. wanted to curtail Britain's attempts to get access to the Mississippi, access implicit in the Treaty of Paris ending the American War of Independence , and which Britain sought into the nineteenth century. The United States' assertion of dominion over its new territories parried and reversed

12675-438: The U.S. were concerned about each other's cross-border influences. Born out of commercial needs and located by the dictates of geography, the trails helped create and contribute to these international influences and the tensions which resulted. The United States sent military expeditions along the route of the trails to assert national interests in the face of the continued British presence in the northwestern fur posts on soil which

12844-606: The US because it embodied the popular Manifest Destiny ideology. This was meant to help the cause of annexation, the idea being that their support of the Red River Rebellion would encourage local resistance against the Canadian government, and help swing local opinion in favour of independence – then ultimately America would step in to offer the protection of the United States government to the Red River Métis and assert themselves as

13013-569: The West Plains Trail. In 1851, weekly steamboat service on the Mississippi began between Saint Anthony Falls and Sauk Rapids on the Middle and Woods trails. In 1859, steamboat machinery was carried overland to the Red River where a boat was built, but service was intermittent. The Dakota War of 1862 and the American Civil War delayed further improvements. After the Civil War, the age of steam came to

13182-401: The area. A notable example would be James W. Taylor: he was an American special agent and Winnipeg consul who used his political power to shape the destiny of the valley, which called for the removal of all English-Canadian influence. The Canadian government, however, did not allow these attempts at U.S. expansionism to succeed. The proposal was met with a significant amount of resistance from

13351-611: The authority of the Roman Catholic Mission or Church Missionary Society. This plan was largely related to keeping retired Metis employees from continuing trade with the Indigenous peoples; however, its effect led to Christianity being a prominent part of culture for the Metis community. The Chaplain of the Hudson's Bay Company, John West , was also interested in the religious educating of Metis children. According to his book, he wrote to

13520-419: The betterment of his colonial venture and ironically it was Selkirk's death in the spring of 1820 that ultimately ended Northwest aggression against his beloved colony. The lands south of the 49th parallel north ceased to be a part of the Red River Colony following the signing of the Treaty of 1818 , in which the United Kingdom agreed to cede this territory to the United States . It was later discovered that

13689-457: The border route. Both routes required navigation of large and hazardous lakes, shallow and rapid-strewn rivers, and swampy creeks and bogs, connected by numerous portages where both cargo and watercraft had to be carried on men's backs. But geology also provided an alternate route, albeit across foreign territory. The valleys of the Red and Minnesota Rivers lay in the beds of Glacial Lake Agassiz and its prehistoric outlet Glacial River Warren ;

13858-569: The brigade hunts or trade, as well as the bringing together of people prior to the excursion. By studying the social network of the Trottier Brigade, a community of people from the White Horse Plains in Red River, it is notable that biologically related women brought the majority of the men together. Throughout the time that Metis people were a part of the Red River community they developed into several different identities, rather than just

14027-436: The case; however, Corbett was freed from jail shortly after by a group of settlers who were opposed to the trial. The courts did not challenge this, fearing a possible insurrection, demonstrating the weakness of the colonial authorities in the nascent colony. In the establishing years of the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company, male settlers frequently took a First Nations or Metis spouse. Though only encouraged by

14196-470: The colony and were travelling to Fort Simpson on the Mackenzie River . 49°00′00″N 97°14′15″W  /  49.00000°N 97.23750°W  / 49.00000; -97.23750 Glacial Lake Agassiz Lake Agassiz ( / ˈ æ ɡ ə s i / AG -ə-see ) was a large proglacial lake that existed in central North America during the late Pleistocene , fed by meltwater from

14365-435: The common depiction of the bison-hunting French Catholic Metis. Metis identity, at that time as it is today, was diverse and complex due to the different livelihoods and practices followed. Metis who chose not to live on prairies and hunt buffalo for the winter remained on lakes such as Manitoba, Winnipegosis, and Winnipeg to ice fish. Over the course of the first half of the 19th century, up to forty households had developed on

14534-439: The company. Historians seeking to defend this claim have argued that although Selkirk did buy a considerable number of Hudson's Bay shares between 1811 and 1812, Selkirk received his initial grant in 1811. The early settlement of the Red River region was marked by a long series of crises and ecological disasters and within the first decade of settling the region it had already suffered renewed warfare, epidemics, prairie fires and

14703-582: The competing West Plain Trail, it became the route of the large cart trains originating from Pembina when well-known trader Henry Sibley retired from the fur trade in 1854. His successor and former partner Norman Kittson moved their company's cart trains from the West Plains Trail in the Minnesota River valley to the East Plains route. The East Plains Trail followed the older routes of the West Plains Trail from Pembina to Breckenridge, Minnesota, then struck east by

14872-428: The conflict between Hudson's Bay and Montreal, at that point represented by the predominantly Scottish North West Company, intensified. The conflict reached its peak in 1801 and witnessed both companies expending more resources on out-competing each other than were expended on the exploration of new fur grounds. Between 1803 and 1804, Hudson's Bay morale had plummeted in the face of fierce Northwest competition and forced

15041-474: The costly shipments from Britain. The grant was also pending the annual provision of 200 men to the company and Selkirk's assurance that the colony would remain out of the fur trade. Selkirk, who once mocked the fur trade for rarely grossing more than £200,000 and only having three ships employed in its service, gladly agreed to the terms. Selkirk referred to this new territory as the District of Assiniboia . At

15210-481: The creation of new governments. Due to the hurried nature of the creation of this province, the officials of this new government presented themselves as overwhelmed and unprepared, and this shows that Manitoba was essentially created to re-stabilize political unrest within Canada. Many in French Canada had seen the establishment of Manitoba, officially bilingual and with a large francophone and Catholic population, as

15379-409: The creation of the province of Manitoba. The political disputes put the Métis on a platform to voice their disapproval of Americans ignoring their concerns over these land disputes. They had legitimate claims to the land and they stated that they were the "descendants of the lords of the soil.". Also, under Louis Riel's leadership, the Metis rebels were able to capture Fort Garry – a fortified post of

15548-636: The danger that could result from contesting Canadian government policy. Riel would subsequently be claimed as a hero and martyr by the French-Canadian, Métis, and various First Nations for decades. The Canadian government was starting to punish the rebels for their defiance, but the rebellion is still considered a success in the sense that the Metis were still able to acquire the land rights they hoped to achieve, as well as no longer being ignored when it came to federal matters. The Red River rebellion needed to be finally be put to rest. In order to accomplish this,

15717-417: The demographic, national, and linguistic profile of the province, which in turn meant the election of provincial governments decisively oriented towards Ontario and English Canada, rather than French Canada, Métis, First Nations, or balance between these groups. The Manitoba government also sought to encourage immigration and the immediate establishment and expansion of stable agricultural communities, and within

15886-500: The draft animal in front and formed the frame of the cart to the rear. Cross-pieces held the floorboards, while front, side and rear boards or rails enclosed the box. These wooden pieces were joined by mortices and tenons . The axle was also made of seasoned oak. It was lashed to the cart by strips of wet bison hide known by its Cree name of shaganappi , which shrank and tightened as they dried. The axles connected two spoked wheels, five or six feet in diameter, which were "dished" or in

16055-457: The early 1830s. The supply of flour reached over 23,000 kg (50,000 lb) by the mid-1830s, rapidly deflating the price the HBC paid the farmers for the product. Numbering over 1,000 by 1827, the farmers began to complain about the deflating rates they received and lack of markets for their goods. In 1841, James Sinclair guided 200 settlers from the Red River Colony west in an attempt to retain

16224-493: The east increased the size of the northern end of the lake. One hypothesis postulates that the lake was a ' terminal lake ' with water inflows and evapotranspiration being equal. Dating of the glacial moraines shows that the Clearwater and Athabasca River system and Lake Nipigon and Minong basin were still ice-covered. A period of precipitation and meltwater input balance with the rate of evapotranspiration may have existed for

16393-776: The east initiated the onset of the Nipigon Phase. The lower lake level ended the southern outlet through the ancestral Minnesota and Mississippi River systems. The ice sheets advanced and blocked the northwestern outlet through the Clearwater and Athabasca systems. There were several other low level outlets into the Lake Minong basin, including the Kaministiquia and the Lake Nipigon outlet. These allowed large amounts of water to flow from Lake Agassiz into Lake Minong. A series of ice advances and retreats between 10,500 and 9,500 YBP blocked

16562-469: The eastern edge of the Red River's Great Plains, crossing the Roseau River and the international border. In Minnesota, the trail was joined by a route coming from Pembina to the northwest, and continued south on a level prairie in the former lakebed of prehistoric Lake Agassiz. It ascended to and followed a firm gravelly ridge which was once among the higher beaches or strandlines of that ancient lake, forded

16731-411: The economic potential the territory of the Red River Colony possessed. The ideal soil, climate and socio-economic potential of the area convinced many Americans that they needed to make the territory part of the United States. The result ended up being an annexation proposal of Red River in 1870, in order to convert it into land that American settlers could use for economic purposes. Due to the outbreak of

16900-614: The education of some First Nations children, including James Settee and Henry Budd of the Cree nation, both of whom were later ordained as priests. In 1822, the CMS appointed Revd West to head the mission in the Red River Colony. He was succeeded in 1823 by the Revd David Jones who was joined by the Revd W and Mrs Cockran in 1825. The mission expanded and by 1850, the missionaries were active throughout

17069-405: The end of a 700-mile (1,100 km) water and land route from York Factory, which was served by only one or two ships each year. Orders from Britain had to be placed a year in advance. But from Saint Paul, the settlers could obtain staples and other goods in the span of a single summer. In the face of these relative inconveniences and the economy of shipping over the trails, the Hudson's Bay Company

17238-505: The establishment of an agricultural colony made the Hudson's Bay company nondependent on the profitable fur trade, a factor that the Nor'Westers simply could not compete with. Moreover, by establishing an agricultural colony, the Hudson's Bay Company gained a decisive advantage over the North West Company by virtue of a viable fallback economy as well as a readily available food source during economic slumps. Much of this new-found confidence hinged on

17407-542: The final route had been well-established inland from the Red River bottomlands. This trail was known as the Woods or Crow Wing Trail ; it was also known locally as the Saint Paul Trail and Pembina Trail . As the first of these names indicates, the path was partially wooded, as its southern reaches crossed the transition zone between the western prairies and eastern woodland. From Fort Garry, southbound cart trains followed

17576-539: The first of the Red River Trails. In 1815, 1822, and 1823, cattle were herded to the Red River Colony from Missouri by a route up the Des Moines River Valley to the Minnesota River, across the divide, then down the Red River to the Selkirk settlement. In 1819, following a devastating plague of locusts which left the colonists with insufficient seed to plant a crop, an expedition was sent by snowshoe to purchase seed at Prairie du Chien. It returned by flatboat up

17745-475: The following year. Each end-of-track town in its turn became the terminus for many of the cart trains. In 1871, the railway reached the Red River at Breckenridge, where revived steamboat service carried the traffic the rest of way to Fort Garry. The long trains of carts drawn by oxen were replaced by railway trains powered by steam, and the trails reverted to nature. A few traces of the vanished trails still exist. Some local roads follow their routes; depressions in

17914-583: The forced displacement of Scottish farmers that took place during the Highland Clearances , decided that emigration was the only viable option to improve the livelihood of the Scottish people. Upon inheriting his father's title in 1799, Selkirk focused the majority of his time and resources on establishing a Scottish colony in North America. Selkirk became interested in the Red River region after reading Alexander MacKenzie 's Voyages in 1801; however, Selkirk

18083-542: The form of a shallow cone, the apex of which was at the hubs, which were inboard of the rims. The carts were originally drawn by small horses obtained from the First Nations. After cattle were brought to the colony in the 1820s, oxen were used to haul the carts. They were preferred because of their strength, endurance, and cloven hooves which spread their weight in swampy areas. The cart, constructed of native materials, could easily be repaired. A supply of shaganappi and wood

18252-523: The former lakebed of Lake Agassiz to Lake Winnipeg . During the Lockhart Phase, water accumulated in the Red River valley of North Dakota and Minnesota . As the water reached to the top of the divide to the south, the water drained into the ancestral Minnesota and Mississippi River systems. This occurred while the Laurentian Ice Sheet was at or south of the current Canada–US border. As

18421-441: The fur trade and their Ojibway spouses. Their conveyance was the Red River ox cart, a simple vehicle derived either from the two-wheeled charrettes used in French Canada, or from Scottish carts. From 1801 on, this cart was modified so that it was made solely from local materials. It contained no iron at all. Instead it was constructed entirely of wood and animal hide. Two twelve-foot-long parallel oak shafts or "trams" bracketed

18590-418: The furs and goods were, at first, usually transshipped to flatboats. In later years, most cart trains crossed to the east bank and proceeded northeast along the wooded river bottoms and uplands to Fort Snelling or Mendota, where the Minnesota River joined the Mississippi. From there furs were shipped down the Mississippi River to Saint Louis and other markets. Sporadic at first, trade between Fort Garry and

18759-455: The hazards of open land. The prairie could be dangerous in time of native unrest, and trade ceased entirely for a time during the Dakota War of 1862 . Prairie fires, driven by winds, were a risk in dry spells. Wet weather turned rivers into torrents, approaches to streams into bogs, and worn paths into morasses. Blizzards could strand traders and threaten them with starvation. Insects harassed both

18928-745: The ice sheet created a long linear lake from the Saskatchewan – Manitoba border to Quebec . This long lake drained through the eastern outlet at Kinojevis River  [ fr ] , into the Ottawa River valley. Lake Agassiz-Ojibway drainage raised sea levels. The results can be seen in Nova Scotia , New Brunswick , and eastern Maine . Marine records from the North Atlantic have identified two separate episodes, linked to northern hemisphere cooling in 8,490 YBP and 8,340–8,180 YBP. These may be linked with

19097-413: The ice sheet disintegrated, its meltwaters created an immense proglacial lake . Around 13,000 years ago, this lake came to cover much of what are now southeastern Manitoba , northwestern Ontario , northern Minnesota , eastern North Dakota , and Saskatchewan . At its greatest extent, it may have covered as much as 440,000 km (170,000 sq mi), larger than any currently existing lake in

19266-405: The ice sheet melted northward, an early Lake Agassiz covered southern Manitoba , the Minnesota and Ontario boundary country, and along the Red River south of Fargo, North Dakota . The Lockhart Phase is associated with the Herman lake stage (335 metres (1,099 ft)), the highest shoreline of Lake Agassiz. The Big Stone Moraine formed the southern boundary of the lake. During the Lockhart Phase

19435-492: The inhabitants of the Red River as they were given the chance to address their grievances about the potential loss of land and becoming part of an American colonization project through a proclamation by the Governor-General of the dominion. Americans who supported annexation by the U.S. government tried to depict themselves as favorable figures in the eyes of the Métis by associating themselves with Louis Riel . The Rebellion

19604-565: The lake is estimated to have been 231 metres (758 ft) deep, with greater depths near the glacier. As the ice sheet melted northward, Lake Agassiz found a lower outlet through the Kaministikwia route along the modern Minnesota–Ontario border. This moved water to Lake Duluth , a proglacial lake in the Lake Superior basin. From there the water drained south via an ancestral St. Croix and Mississippi River systems. The lake drained below

19773-706: The lake. While the Red River gradually descends from south to north, these old strandlines ascend as one goes north, due to isostatic rebound since glaciation. The highest shore of Lake Agassiz is called the Herman Beach . It is named for Herman, Minnesota , in Grant County . The Herman Beach is the highest shoreline and can be traced from the historic outlet at Lake Traverse on the border of Minnesota and South Dakota. The beach fluctuates between 973 and 976 feet (296.5 and 297.5 m) above sea level. The altitude of Lake Traverse at 971 feet (296 m) above sea level at

19942-506: The lakeshore of Lake Manitoba. Fishing and trading had become year round practices and the Metis families involved would trade with HBC and ‘Freemen’- traders that did not work at the post. Christianity played a vital role in shaping the community within the colony, especially for the Metis people. In the early 19th century, considerations were made by the Committee in London to open schools run by

20111-514: The lands exposed when these bodies of water receded were flat plains between low uplands covered by prairie grasslands. At the Traverse Gap , only a mile (1.6  km) of land separated the Bois des Sioux River , a source stream of the Red (which flowed north to Hudson Bay) and the Little Minnesota River , a source stream of the Minnesota River (tributary to the Mississippi, which flowed south to

20280-519: The landscape show where thousands of carts once passed, and even after a century and a half of winters and springs freezing and thawing the land, there are still places where soils remain compacted and resistant to the plow. Some of these subtle artifacts are marked or are visible to those with discerning eyes, but in most places the trails have been obliterated. Their locations are noted at parks and wayside signs, and trail locations near Baxter , St. Hilaire , and West Union , Minnesota are recognised on

20449-462: The late 1850s, its utility was increased by improvements made by the U.S. Army, which straightened and improved the winding ox path through the woods along the Leaf and Crow Wing Rivers, and also replaced the old trail along the Mississippi River between Fort Ripley (near Crow Wing) and Sauk Rapids with a military road. The Middle or East Plains Trail also came into common use in the 1840s. Shorter than

20618-413: The late eighteenth century. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, these traders established fur posts in the Minnesota River valley at Lake Traverse , Big Stone Lake , Lac qui Parle , and Traverse des Sioux . The large fur companies also built posts, including the North West Company's stations at Pembina and St. Joseph in the valley of the Red River. The paths between these posts became parts of

20787-546: The legal status of women is as dependents of a male authority, which included fathers, husbands or brothers. In an extremely rare example of a woman successfully challenging this status-quo, Maria Thomas, a 16-year-old Métis domestic servant, took her employer, Rev. Owen Corbett, to court for repeatedly raping her and subjecting her to illegal abortions . Thomas, in her testimony, used the laws in place to challenge Corbett's actions; citing British law against forcing individuals to undergo abortions, which were illegal. She won

20956-441: The low hundreds annually used the trails in the 1840s, many hundreds in the 1850s, and thousands in the late 1860s. These cart trains travelled about two miles (three km) an hour, and about twenty miles (thirty km) in a day. After breaking camp in the morning, the carters set out across the prairie; transits of the unprotected open prairie between places of refuge were known as traverses . Streams often had to be forded; where

21125-425: The majority of his fortune, defending his actions at Fort William. When Selkirk arrived at Red River in 1817, the stability of the colony dramatically improved, especially after the removal of all Indigenous claims to the land. Selkirk achieved this by signing a treaty between the Red River colonists and the local Cree, Assiniboine and Ojibwa. Between 1817 and 1820, Selkirk committed all of his available resources to

21294-607: The melting glaciers filled Lake Agassiz and then drained through the gap to the Gulf of Mexico. This mass of moving water eroded a valley 2–5 kilometres (1.2–3.1 mi) wide and from 100 to 125 feet (30 to 38 m) deep. Today, this valley contains the Minnesota River , joined by the Upper Mississippi River at Fort Snelling, Minnesota . North of the gap, the Red River of the North flows from Lake Traverse north through

21463-625: The mighty tide of immigration which has flowed towards the North these six years past, and has already filled the valley of the Upper Mississippi with settlers, and which will this year flow over the height of land and fill up the valley of the Red River, is there no danger of being carried away by that flood, and that we may thereby lose our nationality? This petition is reproduced in Kernaghan, Hudson's Bay and Red River Settlement (1857), pp. 12–14. Red River Colony The Red River Colony (or Selkirk Settlement ), also known as Assiniboia ,

21632-438: The new leaders and Red River would become American land. They ultimately wanted to create a situation where the Red River could become American territory by allying with the discontented Métis Nation. However, this aggressive propaganda ultimately backfired upon the proposal of annexation. It created even more hostility towards the annexation party and the United States. This great emphasis on materialism never seemed appealing to

21801-525: The normal route. The traders therefore struck northwest up the Mississippi to Crow Wing at the mouth of the Crow Wing River , west up that river and across the height of land to the fur post at Otter Tail Lake , then northwest across the prairie to a crossing of the Red River near its confluence with the Forest River . The next year, a southbound party followed its tracks, and by the year after (1846),

21970-588: The northern bay of Lake Souris found an outlet at the "elbow" of the modern Souris River ; the elbow is about 18 miles (29 km) southwest of the present mouth of the Souris River. From this elbow, the lake's waters flowed southeast and entered the Pembina River , now a tributary of the Red River , and the Pembina, in turn, entered Lake Agassiz at its Assiniboine embayment. When the ice sheet retreated north of

22139-448: The province's first few decades of existence (1870-1900), Manitoba experienced conflicting interests between French and English Canadians. A quarter-century after the implementation of the Manitoba Act which legally guaranteed a place for the French language in the province's administration, lawmaking, and judiciary along with a clause ensuring state funding for both Catholic (often de facto French) and Protestant schools, English had become

22308-453: The reach of the Hudson's Bay Company. While some of this fur traffic was shifted to other routes in 1854, the forts, missions, Indian agencies, and remaining through traffic to Fort Garry kept the trails busy, and they were improved in the 1850s and supplemented by military roads. The West Plains Trail, although relatively level, went by a lengthy route through the lands of the Dakota people, and

22477-496: The rebellion ended, Riel and several of his comrades fled to the United States in 1870 upon being informed that several government soldiers and irregulars were looking to kill him to exact revenge for several incidents, in particular, the execution of Thomas Scott . Riel, however later returned to Canada in 1885 to help lead the North West rebellion . This caused him to face trial in a Canadian court, and eventually to being executed by

22646-441: The recently disbanded Swiss and German Regiment de Meuron and De Watteville's Regiment , Selkirk captured Fort William, the North West Company headquarters, and captured several key agents including William McGillivray , Kenneth McKenzie and John McLoughlin . Although the arrival and subsequent settlement of Selkirk's private army finally broke the back of the North West Company, Selkirk spent much of his remaining years, and

22815-558: The region. After Ojibwe title to the Red River Valley had been extinguished on the United States side of the Canada–United States border by the Treaty of Old Crossing in 1863, steamboat service was revived on the Red River, and railways were built west from Saint Paul and Duluth , Minnesota on Lake Superior. A branch of the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad reached St. Cloud in 1866. Its mainline reached Willmar in 1869 and Benson , Minnesota

22984-429: The retreating Laurentide Ice Sheet at the end of the last glacial period . At its peak, the lake's area was larger than all of the modern Great Lakes combined. It eventually drained into what is now Hudson Bay , leaving behind Lake Winnipeg , Lake Winnipegosis , Lake Manitoba , and Lake of the Woods . First postulated in 1823 by William H. Keating , it was named by Warren Upham in 1879 after Louis Agassiz ,

23153-444: The river, but most cart trains went west along the Pembina River to St. Joseph near the border and then south, or else cut the corner to the southwest in order to intercept the southbound trail from St. Joseph. This north-south trail paralleled the Red River about thirty miles (50 km) to the west. By staying on the uplands west of the Red River, this route avoided crossing the tributaries of that river near their confluences with

23322-504: The role of French in these new public schools was to be highly limited, mainly to use as means of instructing young students who started school not speaking English. The position of many women in the Red River Colony was determined within the Hudson's Bay Company 's 1670 Charter; this document gave legislative and judicial powers in Rupert's Land to the company. It is stated within the Charter that

23491-470: The same economic vision for the annexation: Ramsey believed that the Red River valley would serve as an important commercial adjunct for his state, while Chandler and Howard believed that annexing the Red River would benefit their Great Lakes Trade. This was done under the belief it would help them in their attempts to colonize the region, as it prevented the Canadian government from establishing sovereignty over

23660-483: The settlement of Minnesota and North Dakota in the United States, and accelerated the settlement of Canada to the west of the rugged barrier known as the Canadian Shield . For a time, this cross-border trade even threatened Canada's control of its western territories. The threat diminished after completion of transcontinental trade routes both north and south of the border, and the transportation corridor through which

23829-618: The shocks transmitted from the humps and hollows of the trail. Southbound, the carts were loaded with fur, packed into the 90-pound (40 kg) bundles known in the fur trade as pièces . A cart could handle up to 800–1,000 pounds (360–450 kg). On their return the traders carried staples, trade goods, and manufactured goods unavailable at Fort Garry. In both directions, the cargo was covered with hide or canvas. The carts were lashed together in brigades of ten carts, with three drivers and an overseer. These brigades could join in trains up to two miles (three km) in length. Carts numbering in

23998-581: The shorter East Plains Trail also skirted Dakota land. The Dakota were the enemy of the Ojibwa , to whom the Métis carters were related by blood and marriage. These tensions led to conflicts. One such bloody confrontation in the summer of 1844 (caused by an attack by Métis carters on Dakota hunters) occurred when that year's expedition of free traders were in Saint Paul . This meant that they could not safely return by

24167-404: The sole means of communication in the legislature and the judiciary, while the provincial government attempted the introduction of a secular, English-only public school system which would be the sole recipient of any public funding. The policy was eventually implemented with minor concessions such as the teaching of Catholic doctrine at the end of the day where the number of students warranted, and

24336-561: The tail end of a much larger conflict between the Hudson's Bay Company and its fur trade rivals, both English and French, in Montreal. The conflict dates back to King Charles II 's generous grant of Rupert's Land to emigrants who were members of the nobility in 1670. Cause for conflict arose from the inability of either the Montreal traders or the Hudson's Bay Company to gain a monopoly over the North American fur trade . Between 1800 and 1821,

24505-515: The then recently deceased (1873) founder of glaciology , when Upham recognized that the lake was formed by glacial action. During the last glacial maximum , northern North America was covered by an ice sheet , which alternately advanced and retreated with variations in the climate. This continental ice sheet formed during the period now known as the Wisconsin glaciation , and covered much of central North America between 30,000 and 10,000 years ago. As

24674-401: The time of the concession, Red River was the only Hudson Bay Colony that had been established within the company's 610,000-hectare (1.5-million-acre) territory. There is continuing debate as to whether Selkirk forced the concession of Assiniboia through a controlling interest of Hudson's Bay stock. The argument against Selkirk claims that he received the concession by controlling the shares in

24843-437: The time of the worth[y] citizens", while the rest were "employed in cheating each other or imposing upon strangers. The economic benefits of trade, and the separation of the carters' camp from the village below, may have helped keep relations civil. After about three weeks of trading, the "wild" carters from the north, now laden with goods, took their leave of the "den of blackguards" that was Saint Paul, returning to what they felt

25012-445: The traders and their draft animals, depriving them of sleep and weakening them. There were compensations. Game was plentiful and the traders rarely lacked fresh meat. Some saw in the seemingly boundless prairies a colourful ocean of grass, and summer storms could be awe-inspiring, although dangerous. While the prairie had its own grandeur, after weeks of travel over treeless steppe the rivers, lakes, and woods of central Minnesota were

25181-498: The trail continued upstream along the east bank of the Red and Bois des Sioux Rivers to the continental divide at Lake Traverse. Some traffic went along the lakeshore through the Traverse Gap on the continental divide, then down either side of Big Stone Lake, source of the Minnesota River, while other carters took a short cut directly south from the Bois des Sioux across the open prairie through modern Graceville , Minnesota thereby avoiding

25350-489: The trails became a "common carrier" for all manner of goods that could be carried by ox cart, including lamps and coal oil to burn in them, fine cloth, books, general merchandise, champagne, sheet-metal stoves, disassembled farm machinery and at least one piano, and a printing press and other accoutrements for the first newspaper in the Fort Garry region. The typical carters were Métis descended from French voyageurs of

25519-478: The trails once ran declined in importance. That corridor has now seen a resurgence of traffic, carried by more modern means of transport than the crude ox carts that once travelled the Red River Trails. Red River Trails between Fort Garry and Saint Paul Not all trails shown; there were many connecting trails and alternate routes. Hold cursor over waypoints to display settlements; click to go to article. In 1812, Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk , started

25688-511: The trails, and by the early 1830s, an expedition from the Selkirk settlement driving a flock of sheep from Kentucky to the Assiniboine found the trail to be well-marked. From the Red River Settlement, the trail went south upstream along the Red River's west bank to Pembina, just across the international border. Pembina had been a fur-trading post since the last decade of the eighteenth century. From there, some traffic continued south along

25857-429: The two companies into negotiations but neither side could come to terms. Negotiations broke down again in 1805 and despite employing more aggressive agents and the provision of incentive programs, the Hudson's Bay Company was ready to abandon the fur trade in 1809. The Nor'Westers ability to make region-wide plans based on first-hand knowledge in addition to their ability to react quickly to changing circumstances provided

26026-432: The two main Métis languages: Mitchif , a French and Cree -based mixed-language whose speakers were largely Catholic, and Bungi , a form of speech that developed from Ojibwe , Scots , English , Gaelic , and Cree and was mostly spoken by Protestants (Anglican, Presbyterian). The Church Missionary Society (CMS) provided financial assistance in 1820 to Reverend John West , chaplain to the Hudson's Bay Company , towards

26195-420: The valleys of the Red and Mississippi rivers more than fulfils Lord Selkirk's predictions made nearly two centuries ago; while he first sought access over U.S. territory for the succour of his nascent colony, now commerce in manufactures and commodities goes in both directions. The trade corridor once occupied by the long-gone Red River Trails continues to be employed for its historic purposes. When we contemplate

26364-446: The water was too deep, the carts were unloaded, the wheels were taken off and lashed together or affixed under the cart, the assemblage was covered with hide to form a hull, and the makeshift craft was reloaded and floated across. The traders endeavoured to ford a stream at the end of the day rather than start the next day with the crossing, to allow time to dry out overnight. Streamside camps offered wood, water, and some protection from

26533-560: The wet country in the Traverse Gap. The trail continued on intertwined routes down both sides of the valley of the Minnesota River past fur posts at Lac qui Parle and downstream locations, and the Upper Sioux and Lower Sioux Indian Agencies and Fort Ridgely , all established in the 1850s. From Fort Ridgely, the trail struck across the open prairie to the Minnesota River at Traverse des Sioux near modern-day St. Peter , Minnesota, where

26702-705: The world (including the Caspian Sea ) and approximately the area of the Black Sea . At times the lake drained south through the Traverse Gap into Glacial River Warren (parent to the Minnesota River , a tributary of the Mississippi River ), east through Lake Kelvin (modern Lake Nipigon ) to what is now Lake Superior , and northwest through the Clearwater Spillway to the Mackenzie River System and

26871-465: Was a colonization project set up in 1811 by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk , on 300,000 square kilometres (120,000 sq mi) of land in British North America . This land was granted to Douglas by the Hudson's Bay Company in the Selkirk Concession . It included portions of Rupert's Land , or the watershed of Hudson Bay , bounded on the north by the line of 52° N latitude roughly from

27040-422: Was a more civilized world. Their erstwhile hosts, on the other hand, thought their visitors were returning to an uncivilized and frozen wilderness. At times, some ox cart trains did not go all the way through, but were supplemented by river craft. First flatboats and then shallow-draft steamboats ascended the Minnesota River to Traverse des Sioux and upstream points, where they were met by cart brigades travelling

27209-536: Was an unarmed conflict started by the Métis because Canada was attempting to claim possession of Rupert's Land without any concern for the grievances of the Métis. However, the main American intention behind their decision to support Riel and the Rebellion was an attempt to sway the Métis in favour of the annexation by the US. One of their tools was the New Nation newspaper which elicited rhetoric that advocated annexation by

27378-545: Was carried as a cart could break a half-dozen axles in a one-way trip. The axles were unlubricated, as grease would capture dust which would act as sandpaper and immobilize the cart. The resultant squeal sounded like an untuned violin, giving it the sobriquet of "the North West fiddle". One visitor wrote that "a den of wild beasts cannot be compared with its hideousness". The noise was audible for miles. The carts were completely unsprung, and only their flexible construction cushioned

27547-758: Was due to isostatic rebound of the northern shorelines combined with the opening of the North Bay outlet of the Lake Huron basin. These repetitive outbursts from Lake Agassiz flooded the Lake Minong basin, then flowed over into the Lake Stanley basin, and then flowed through the North Bay drainage route into the Champlain Sea (present day St. Lawrence lowland). The shifting ice sheet created fluctuating drainage channels into

27716-649: Was followed by the disintegration of the adjacent ice front at about 8,480 YBP. This brought on the end of Lake Agassiz. The ice sheet continued its northward retreat to Baffin Island , leaving the North American mainland around 5,000 YBP. Numerous lakes have formed in this glacial lake basin. The best known are the Great Lakes of Manitoba ; Lake Winnipeg , Lake Manitoba , and Lake Winnipegosis . A cluster of smaller lakes surround these, including: Cedar Lake , through which

27885-411: Was further distanced from Red River. Through the act, the Red River colony was now christened as Manitoba: a new Canadian province that was self-governed, and that had its own rights and responsibilities. It was no longer being viewed as a territory and was now officially part of the Canadian confederation. Provincial status was accelerated by Louis Riel's rebellion . Riel wanted to secure Red River for

28054-494: Was later rebuilt but the engagement resulted in the capture of approximately 150 settlers including Macdonell. He was replaced by Robert Semple who took over as governor the following winter and reinforced the colony's 45 survivors with 84 additional settlers. In 1815, the North West Company once again entered into negotiations with the Hudson's Bay Company under the threat of invasion of Northwest territory. Negotiations were headed by Selkirk himself and he promptly threw out all of

28223-431: Was prevented from settling the region in 1802 when the Hudson's Bay Company raised concerns that the proposed colony would interfere with the running of the company. During the first decade of the nineteenth century Selkirk established two unsuccessful agricultural colonies in British North America but continued to pursue the settlement of the Red River region. By 1807, Selkirk acknowledged that an alliance with either

28392-414: Was the first steps towards the creation of the present-day province of Manitoba. The act was given royal assent on May 12, 1870, and the commencement of Manitoba with a provincial status came to fruition on July 15, 1870. After the passage of the Manitoba Act , the Métis Provisional government was disbanded. There was an assimilation of the Métis people and the European settlers, and the Aboriginal influence

28561-410: Was unable to compel all trade to go by way of York Factory on Hudson Bay, and by 1850 the company's monopoly was broken. In fact, the company itself all but abandoned the York Factory route for heavy trade in 1857, and instead shipped its own traffic in bond through the United States and over the Red River Trails. The principal export from the Red River settlements was fur, but as the colony passed from

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