by Elizabeth Campbell

Back in December, I said I would write a series on the motivation various people have thought was behind Lord Selkirk’s establishing the Red River Settlement. Sorry to have kept you waiting so long!

Are you under the age of 18 and a descendant of one of the original Selkirk Settlers to Red River? Do you like to write? Want to learn more about Red River Colony history? This contest may be for you!

Restricted to Descendants of Original Selkirk Settlers. Contestants must be 18 years of age or less.

by Elizabeth Campbell

An interesting article about Kildonan Church appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press this weekend. If you would like to read the online version of the article, please visit the Winnipeg Free Press website.

Thanks to Cathie for the heads up!

I’ve been doing a lot of reading about the settlement lately. I have been for several years, but before this year, most of it was primary material – first-hand accounts written by eyewitnesses to the events. Little of that discussed Selkirk’s motives in establishing the RRS as such.

I picked up a Biblio Life reprint of this 1910 publication the other day. It is an interesting little booklet for anyone studying the settlers of the pre-1915 desertions. Essentially, it consists of copies of documents in the Selkirk Papers that help to identify exactly which people arrived as settlers in the 1811, 1812, 1813 and 1814 groups.

Map from Canadian Heritage Rivers System (www.chrs.ca)

The Hayes River was a major route used by fur traders and native people. This was also the way the Selkirk Settlers took to reach Lake Winnipeg and then the Red River Settlement, after landing off Hudson’s Bay. The river begins near Norway House and runs NE through Oxford and Knee Lakes, reaching Hudson’s Bay at York Factory, a distance of 600 kms.

I wrote about Donald Gunn and his egging expedition for the Smithsonian a couple of weeks ago. I mentioned in the first entry that someone had requested a copy of his book History of Manitoba from the Earliest Settlement to 1835. As I didn’t have the book in my own Red River collection, I decided I’d like to obtain a copy.

A few more Rindisbachers related to the RRS:

Métis Family ca. 1826 (Bata Shoe Museum P80.982)

Chippewa mode of traveling in spring and summer by Peter Rindisbacher c. 1825 (Virtual Museum of Canada; West Point Museum Art Collection)

Peter Rindisbacher was the first artist of European descent to portray the First Nations people of the Great Plains. He was meticulous in recording the detail of their garb and ornaments, and was recorded as painting very accurate likenesses, also.