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!

Again, I return to the AGM at the end of September this year. The newly elected Vice President of TLSARL, Roy McLeod, stopped me as I was entering the venue. He’d found some articles written by my great-aunt in a couple of old copies of Saskatchewan History, and kindly, he gave them to me. Imagine my excitement when I found her contributions were (an annotated copy of) a journal her aunt kept while on a canoe trip made in the 1920s!

One of the participants in the forum I set up for Red River Descendants mentioned an ancestor, and I remembered collecting something on him some time ago as he was a relative of my own, too. I was able to send her the quote I’d extracted from a 1927 article in another Saskatchewanian historical society’s bulletin.

Another person who signed up at the forum mentioned she had a book on one of her Red River ancestors. It was one I didn’t have in my library, so I ordered a copy…. It came in yesterday, and I will write more about it when I finish going through it, of course!

One of the best ways to learn more about the shared history of the Red River Settlers and their descendants, to learn more about specific people within that group, and to learn where to find more material about them is to network with other researchers.

There are several ways to do that:

• Visit the blog here and read about our history – and discuss it through comments (free).
• Join TLSARL, if you are a descendant, get our quarterly Newsletter and participate in our Reunion every year (small annual fee – Contact Us for more information).
• Join the Red River Settlement, Rupert’s Land (Manitoba, Canada) forum at GenealogyWise (free).

You will meet people who are deeply engaged in their history, people who are just starting to explore their Red River roots, and undoubtedly you will acrue some new relatives! Discussing your stories, sources and knowledge with others will help deepen and re-enforce your understanding of your own history as well as bring others closer to theirs.

Settlers came to Red River filled with hope, but some found only disappointment. In many cases, their names are remembered only in 200-year-old journal entries. Such an one was Helen Kennedy, a young Irish woman who sailed in 1813.

Typhoid fever ravaged the ship and one of its victims was Dr. LaSerre, whom Helen had nursed during his illness. On the shores of Hudson’s Bay, more misfortune awaited. The passengers were landed at Fort Churchill instead of York Factory. They spent a miserable winter at Churchill Creek and reached Red River in 1814.

By spring of 1815, NWC harassment had convinced most settlers to depart for Upper Canada. Helen chose to stay. She had become attached to Michael Boyle, an Irish labourer at Red River. However, the small group of loyalists were soon driven out by NWC agents. They fled to the north of Lake Winnipeg. During the trip, Helen cared for John Warren, a man dying of a severe head wound.

The refugees returned to the settlement, where Helen and Michael were married. Helen’s dreams crashed again in 1816 when the colony was once more destroyed. The Boyles then went to York Factory and boarded a ship for home.

Clear sailing? Not a chance! The ship was unable to traverse Hudson Strait due to ice. It returned to James Bay and disembarked its passengers at Moose Factory. Helen was ill during the winter and almost died. The postmaster at Moose was anxious to be free of his charges and when the ice went out of the river in the spring, most of the passengers were sent south in Company boats. They were told they could make their way home or return to Red River.

The Boyles spent a year at a post northeast of Lake Superior, where Michael worked as a carpenter. They then continued to Sault Ste. Marie. They had expressed an interest in returning to the colony, but there is no indication that they did so. The settlement eventually thrived, but Helen had passed from its history.