by Elizabeth Campbell

Ross concludes his list with the following entry:

by Elizabeth Campbell

The second in Ross’ list of reasons Selkirk had for establishing the Red River Settlement fits hand in glove with the first. Considered together, these motives set an image in the mind’s eye of a greedy British aristocrat, sitting in his counting house, rubbing his hands in glee as the gold pours in. And a lot of people still see the Fifth Earl of Selkirk in that light. But I will get to that later…

This morning when I was sitting at breakfast planning in my mind how I should take posession of Gibralter- my servant informed me that Messrs. McLean and Bourke were bringing Cameron and Seraphin prisoners to the Fort- I was rather surprised when I found this to be the case- which placed me in a very critical situation – as I was afraid the alarm was given at Gibralter- Cameron immediately began with his usual phrases of British liberty and free born Englishmen he then asked me, what I intended to do with him- I answered that he must in the first place deliver up all the arms he had belonging to the Colony- before I could hear any proposition regarding his liberty- to this he agreed- when I ordered twelve men under the command of Mr. McLean to take Mr. Seraphin to Gibralter, and there receive all the Arms belonging to the Colony, – but I gave Mr. McLean secret instructions- that the moment the gates were opened to take posession of Gibralter and hold the same until I gave him further orders- this he accomplished in a masterly manner- as soon as the Indians learned what was going on- they took up arms and came to our assistance.- another proof of the attachment of these Indians to the Colony, is that a number were present at the seizure of Cameron- and altho’ that person was nearly an hour a prisoner at Fort Douglas- Hess who was in charge of Gibralter was a perfect stranger to what had happened, until Mr. McLean informed him after the seizing of the Fort, I then sent over Cameron with an escort to Gibralter where he is to be prisoner all night.- I have ordered Messrs. McLean and Bourke to pay every attention to the prisoners- and respect to be paid to private property.- I mean to give Cameron his liberty tomorrow as I have not the means to send him off another thing I am not inclined to carry things too far untill I hear from York,- I shall lower his consequence a little- this is necessary for the safety of the Colony- he shall send an Express immediately of to Qu’Appell to put a stop to hostilities there, – I will remove all the Arms in his Fort to this place, until tranquility is established in that quarter.- these are points I will insist upon.

Peguis arrived this morning with his Band consisting of 65 men,- when they doubled point Douglas and were in sight of the Fort, they fired a volley- which we returned by a three pounder- we then hoisted our flag- Peguis immediately returned the compliment by mounting his colours at the end of his Canoe,- and when the whole Squadron came in sight consisting of nearly 150 Canoes, including those of the Women and Children– it had a wild but a grand appearance,- their Bodies painted in various Colours,- their heads decorated some with branches and others with feathers,- and every time we fired the Canon- the woods reechoed with that wild whoop of joy, which they gave to denote the satisfaction they received,- when they came in front of the fort- the Women and Children paddled past the mens Canoes to a spot where they mounted their lodges.-the men accompanied by their Chief, as soon as the families had passed debarked under a volley from my men; they then entered the hall with three hearty Cheers from our people- the room was rather small but they managed to seat themselves in tolerable good order- I then ordered the large peace Callimate to be lighted and after taking two or three Whiffs our of it, I presented it to Peguis who after smoking about a minute passed it to the next in respectability to himself, and in this manner it went round the band- during the ceremony not a single word or even a whisper was heard- [speeches of Robertson and Peguis follow].

I thought It would be interesting to follow this week in 1815, as seen through the eyes of Colin Robertson. Robertson took charge of the remaining settlers and the colony after the evacuation to Jack River in June of 1815 until the new Governor, Robert Semple, arrived to take the place of Miles Macdonell.