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Tuesday, August 2,1988 THE SELKIRK JOURNAL 19B y Frank WaltersRielhomeless wandererIt was raining on that August day in 1870, 24th to be exact, when Colonel Garnet Wolseley’s forces disembarked at Point Douglas for their historic attack on Lower Fort Garry. The 1,430 men were soaked to the skin, but although the mud was ankle deep the men were eager to get into a fight if only to warm themselves up.Word had gone around that Riel was going to fight, so the news heightened the men’s spirits, helped along with the usual ration of rum. The guns mounted on top of the gateway were expected to open fire but to their disappointment all was silent. Capturing Fort Garry was a bloodless victory.The AttackThe force marched straight on the Village of Winnipeg. Passing around the flank of the village the Fort appeared in sight about 700 yards off across the open prairie. A violent gale sprung up from the northwest accompanied by torrents of rain which continued without intermission all night long.The unfortunate piquets (pickets) looked more like drowned rats than human beings, and the men were so done up by cold that Colonel Wolseley was obliged to change his plans and continue the advance on foot. Breakfast put new life into the men, though everything was so wet it was difficult to get the fires lit. At 6 a.m. the men re-embarked and rowed up the river in boats, the rain still falling in torrents.Spies Bring NewsSpies were sent out into the Town of Winnipeg during the night and brought back news that up to that evening the Rebel flag was still waving over Fort Garry, and. although vague rumours were afloat that the forces were somewhere in the river, these rumours were discredited by Riel who with his adherents still kept possession of the Fort..'Many HardshipsSince leaving Toronto on May 21, 1870, the 1,430 men, including 400 British regulars of all colors (the balance being? recruited in Canada) had travelled 94 miles by rail, 534 miles across Lakes Huron and Superior, 50 miles on foot over part of the Dawson route to Lake Shebandowan, and the remaining distance to Fort Garry, 550 miles by boat, over and across 47 portages to Point Douglas, where they landed.On the long journey many hardships were encountered and overcome by team work and sheer determination on swift running rivers, over rocky terrain and around rapids. Many of the men fell into the water to be dragged out by their comrades, but through all of it the men sang songs as they came.Lake Winnipeg is well known for its rough water, being a shallow lake where a sudden wind can whip up big waves in a hurry. Some of the boats swamped giving the occupants a ducking, but the men made sport of the crossing at the south end of the lake and vied with one another to see who could get to the mouth of the Red River |irst.Number one company of the Ontario rifles was driven back to shore where Grand Beach is now, and arrived at Red River after the trouble was over. It was the company detailed to? winter at Emerson, doing police work until the following year,when the men received their discharge before going back east. Many became settlers throughout the west and at Red River.AttackOn August 24, 1870, the attack on Fort Garry was carried out. Travelling with the troops were 35 Saulteaux, native to the district of Petersfield bordering the Nee-Pow-Win-Sippe River, or Death River, now known as the Netley River. Also travelling with the troops were some 25 Cree from that part of the same St. Peters Reserve.The Saulteux band was under the leadership of Chief ‘Miscopinais’ or ‘Red Thunder’ who with his band of friendly Saulteaux sheltered some Selkirk settlers in dugouts near where he is buried, during the Metis uprising. According to reports handed down among the natives of the district, the Cree were under the leadership of John Henry Prince and that is where he got his good name.The attack on the Fort was so skillfully conducted with the aid of these natives that even the natives camped around the Fort were taken by surprise. They claimed they never knew there were troops in the river until they saw them opposite their wigwams.Here is the story of one native sentry who was on the lookout for any sign of the enemy. He nearly gave an untimely alarm when he handed his girlfriend a smoke; somehow she dropped a spark in his powder horn blowing up the gun powder. She was badly burned about the chest and bore scars till her death at an early age. She was Caroline Sinclair, living east of the Red River.Riel SurprisedThere were no songs being sung this time; everyone was conscious of the element of surprise. A sharp battle was expected to take place when the.Fort was reached but when the news of the attack was finally relayed to Riel by one of his scouts, he and his Adjutant General, Ambroise Lepine, andW. B. O’Donahue, his Secretary of State in the Provisional Government, were dumbfounded. •They did not finish their breakfast that fateful morning over 100 years ago, instead they bolted one and all for the stable to get their horses, mounted and made a hasty retreat through the east gate. The breakfast things were left on the table, the papers and documents were left laying about in disorder.LifeRiel and his associates had been living quite comfortably at the Fort since the Septemberbefore the Hudson’s Bay Company’s stores of provisions, plus 1,090 pounds 4 shillings they had looted from the company’s safe, but now the Provisional Government vanished like a scene in which some actors clothed in a little authority had been strutting their brief hour on a stage.The Dramatic EscapeThe three ringleaders in the drama made their escape over the pontoon bridge that crossed the Assiniboine River. Crossing to the right bank of the Red River they galloped their horses for some distance and finding that they were not pursued, they halted for a rest.The next morning, however, they could not find their horses which had either been stolen or strayed away over the open prairie during the night, so they continued their journey on foot. After a while they crossed over to the left bank on a raft made of logs and rails from a fence which they lashed together with their neck ties and braces in default of a rope, and so they journeyed to Pembina on the regular road.FREEMAN BOWSER* Roofing * Framing * Dry wall * SidingFREE ESTIMATESPhone BobBryan Truck Phone785-2715482-7351785-3116/sSELKIRKv’.v.:v-:;v v.* -.,vXv^vX'Xv'v.• ••V•v.v \ • • « ■_ . *01V.V V. v]-'''*’..' \ • ■'.V.-VV.M.Louis RielOn the way the three men called at a farm house and procured some fish. Riel had lost one of his boots in the crossing and in this sorry plight, foot sore,hungry and weary, tne expresident with his two companions reached the United States Territory.Louis Riel seemed to feel acutely the change in his posi-thetion and sent word back to the settlement of Winnipeg.His MessageRiel said, “Tell them that he who ruled Fort Garry but a few short days ago is now a homeless wanderer with nothing to eat but two dried suckers (fish).”A melancholy example of the mutability of human affairs and the ups and downs of fortune.^ND▲REFRIGERATION - AIR CONDITIONING - HEATING• Residential • Commercial • IndustrialPhone:Selkirk, Man.Hartley J. Zelccr L.D.M., B. SC;■'*1v*:ZELCER ’S DENTURE CLINIC315 Main Street, Selkirk, Man.482-4235FULL DENTURE SERVICE DIRECT TO THE PUBLICcomplete upper and lower denturespartial dentures• relines (3 hours) repairs (1 hour)For those with lower denture problems, inquire about our special soft liner.All Dental Plans Accepted - Free Consultation - Free Denture CleaningSATISFACTION GUARANTEED^WINNIPEG „553 Selkirk - 586-3725HOURSMon FrinK'VSTEINBACH305 Mam St. - 326-6587SAME DA Y DENTURE SERVICE WITH APPOINTMENT
Newspaper Details
Selkirk Journal
Selkirk, Manitoba, CA
Tue, Aug 02, 1988
Page 19
Full Page
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Anonymous
CA 08 Jun 2020
Other Publications Near Selkirk, Manitoba
Selkirk Record
Selkirk Weekly Record
Selkirk Record and Canadian Fishing Gazette
Selkirk Enterprise
Selkirk Journal
