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In the summer of 1812 the United States of America invaded Canada with the
intent of annexing it as another territory. As it turned out, not all
Americans were enthused about it, and some of the military commanders - and
soldiers - plainly refused; some on the grounds of having relatives across
the borders, others on the grounds that there was nothing there but bush and
hordes of mosquitos and Indians.
In the end the Americans withdrew without achieving their objective. In
military terms, the battlefield was left to the Canadians. Possession of the
battlefield is the classic definition of Victory. Not only were the American
Armed Forces repulsed by a bunch of Indian (and Metis and Courier de Bois)
Savages, but they launched a retaliatory incursion which scorched the
Government buildings in Washington so badly that they had to be re-painted
and covered in whitewash - creating the White House.
Canadians are familiar with the general story and that it was something that
occurred "down east", as does everything of importance (there being no
history in the west to speak of). Few are aware that it also involved the
west, especially Alberta.
In fact, the Northwest Company, the main non-native establishment in the
west (the Hudson's Bay barely having a presence yet) volunteered it's
entire western establishment to the war effort.
Firstly, all NWCo staff employed by the many posts throughout the west would
form the Home Guard Militia and enlist the Indians to protect these posts
and their neighborhood from American adventurism.
True, for the most part this had little impact in the west, where the
nearest Americans were still 1,000 km. away. However, it did mobilize a
credible defensive force in the Red River area and the frontier points to
the east.
Furthermore, the NWCo operated a wholy-owned subsidiary on the south of the
Great Lakes and in Minnesota, which also came under the NWCo ruling.
The Hudson's Bay Company also seconded it's border forts to the Home Guard
and even sent Peter Fidler to build Fort Daer to protect the Metis settlement at Pembina, Minnesota.
Of more direct impact was the secondement of almost the entire western
contingents of voyageurs were seconded to support these frontier posts and
the settlements and military posts on the Great Lakes. Two entire Service
Corps were formed by the NWCo, the Corps of Voyageurs, and the Great Lakes
Corps consisting of a total of three Regiments totaling over 2,500 men,
headed by William McGillivray.
As the western and northern contingents arrived in the annual canoe brigade
at Fort William they suddenly found themselves 'Volunteered' to the war
effort. Almost the entire Mackenzie, Peace River, Athabasca, English River,
Columbia River and British Columbia departments were denuded of staff.
Costs of equiping and keeping the force in the field was borne by the
respective Companies.
Officers of the Northwest Company were breveted to a military rank.
Cameron, Duncan Officer
Cameron, William D. Officer
Fiddler, Peter Officer
Finlay, John Officer
Fraser, Simon Officer
Grant, Cuthbert Jr. Officer
Hughes, James Captain
Macdonell, John Captain
McDonnell, Alexander Officer
McGillivray, John Officer
McGillivray, Joseph Officer
McGillivray, William Colonel
Mackenzie, Roderick Officer
McKay, William Officer
McLeod, A.N. Major
Rocheblave, Pierre de Captain
Shaw, Angus Major
Thomas, Thomas Officer
Thompson, David Officer
Wahnaton Capt
Among the Indians the Chanoni Sioux of Minnesota were actively engaged,
fighting the American forces at Prarie De Chien under "Captain" Chief
Wahnaton. Among them was Sitting Bull's Granfather, who received a medal
for his services. Sitting Bull cherished this medal to his dying day.
The Regular military was not much impressed by the voyageur militias. It was
said of the voyageurs and Meties that
"there was much insubordination, pipe smoking, low bowing
cortices, and talking and inquiry as to spousal's health,
small talk. Even in danger they continued to laugh, not
stopping their noisy tongues, no military seriousness."
Metis, of course, were on both sides of the border; the Americans had
much the same opinion of them. At Vincennes (Indiana) the Commander of
the 4th Regiment complained of the Militia (mostly French-Canadian/
Metis)
"...their dress was a short frock of deer-skin, a belt around
their bodies, with a tomahawk and a scalping knife attached to
it, and were nearly as destitute of discipline as the savages."
Nontheless, they effectively held the supply lines and transported men and
goods to and fro along the Great Lakes. Being Metis and Indian themselves -
not to mention being related to half the Metis and Indians of the Great
Lakes - they maintained a good raport with the local populations and served
as a conduit of information to the military.
It would be fair to say that the Corps of Voyageurs were the historic
precendents of what is now the 1st Service Regiment and 1st Support Regiment
of the Canadian Forces Land Forces West.
These would be gone from home for 1-2 years, not returning home until late
the following year or even the year after. Most returned home to their home
regions and families.
Major McLeod returned to his home at Dunvegan, on the Peace River, proudly
sporting the red military tunic he had received as Major. This was in fact
the first military red coat to be seen in the west.
It has been said that when the Mounted Police were formed they were issued
red coats because the Indians in the west had long developed a respect for
the British "Redcoats". In fact few, if any, had ever seen a "Redcoat" or
red military tunic. Their first exposure to them was during the 1870
Manitoba Rebellion - and their presence and behavior did not engender
respect or endearment by the Indians.
Red Coats, however, had long been a part of the Indian landscape. As early
as 1670 the Hudson's Bay Company had been giving out red coats (with gold
braid) to visiting and leading Indian Chiefs as gifts. This came to be a
symbol of status (the traders themselves wore black or dark blue). Right
from these early days Indians began to make clothing out of red cloth, it
becoming especially prominent among the Cree and Blackfoot. Among the Cree
it is called 'God's Cloth', and used in special services and funerary goods.
Most of these western veterans of 1812 lived out their lives in their home
communities. Most were buried in now unknown graves in now-forgotten settle-
ments along the rivers of the west.
A number of these officers and men were known to have been buried at the
Rossdale Burial Area in Edmonton. Among them James Hughes and family, the
wife of John McDonnell and the sister of Cuthbert Grant and ordinary
voyageurs from numerous families.
At one time these graves were marked, but the City of Edmonton removed, or
allowed the removal of, these grave markers. Today their graves are unknown.
Their graves may well have been destroyed and the remains dumped in land-
fills, as has been done with dozens - if not hundreds - of the graves in
this burial area.
INTRODUCTION
150 YEARS AGO
200 YEARS AGO
250 YEARS AGO
300 YEARS AGO
350 YEARS AGO
400 YEARS AGO
450 YEARS AGO
500 YEARS AGO
500 YEARS AGO
1000 YEARS AGO
Archaeology
Family History Files
Tribal History Files
Local History Files
Native Museums
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| HERITAGE CONSULTING |
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The history of the Northwest Plains is relatively unknown even among
students of North American History. To enlightened the unwashed masses
(mostly in residence at University and in the Department of Indian
Affairs), we offer here a glimpse into that history.
The Northwest Plains takes in the plains geographic areas of Alberta,
Montana, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, North Dakota and Wyoming. The plains
here grade into the parkland, woodlands and montane areas into which
many of the Indian tribes overlapped. Hence, the Northwest Plains
Cultural area overlaps into Idaho, Washington and British Columbia,
and into the southern boreal forests of Alberta, Saskatchewan and
Manitoba. In Alberta, this Plains cultural area extended as far north
as the Peace River-Lesser Slave Lake-Lac La Biche area. From here it
swung southeastwards, passing north of the Assiniboin River and thence
south-southeast bordering Lake Manitoba.
First Nations tribes who frequented this area were:
Atsina (Gros Ventre)
Blackfoot
Chipewyan
Chippewa
Cour D'Alene
Cree (Asini Wachi Wininiwak 'Mountain People')
Cree (Maskiki Nehiyawak 'Swampy Cree')
Cree (Paskwa Wininiwak 'Plains People')
Cree (Saka Wininiwak 'Woods People')
Crow
Flathead
Iroquois (mixed with local Cree and Nakoda)
Kutenai
Metis (mixed-bloods)
Nakoda (Chan Tonga 'Big Woods')
Nakoda (Ye Xa Yabine, Hebina 'Mountain People')
Nakoda (Plains)
Pend d'Oreille
Soto
Tsuu T'Ina (Sarcee)
Tza Tine (Beaver)
Most of these tribes graded off from a true plains people into a true
woodlands or plateau people at their farthest edges. The above tribes
area arranged in an approximate order indicating roughly the degree of
adaptation they had to the Plains culture. Among the Chipewyan, Tza
Tinne, Chan Tonga, Maskiki Wininiwak and Saka Wininiwak, this repre-
sents only a few bands of those tribes or tribal divisions.
The only True Plains people were the Plains Nakoda, the Assiniboin of
the Missouri River, followed by the Tsuu T'Ina and Blackfoot (Kainai,
Siksika and Pikuni) in that order, all others being plains acculturated
to greater or lesser degrees. Among the Paskwa Wininiwak a few bands
were True Plains people, but most bands practiced a mixed culture that
incorportated a summer plains lifestyle, a winter woodlands lifestyle,
and seasonal subsitence peasant farming, similar to that of the Metis.
Overlapping into the Northwestern Plains were several other tribal
groups, most notably the Shoshone (who were driven off the plains
northwest plains at an early date), Arapaho, Cheyenne, Yankton,
Yanktonai and Lakoda. Although the Arapaho made occasional visits to
their Atsina kinsmen (and some Blakfoot relations), most of time the
presence of these tribes was in the form of raiding parties (this was,
of course, reciprocated by the regional tribes - the Blackfoot for
some decades dominating lands as far south as Arizona, and having
been known to be in force as far distant as California). In later
times the Sioux (including Santee, Yankton, Yanktonai and Lakoda)
were pushed west into the northwest plains region and, after 1876 of
course became a component tribe of the region, with their flight to
Canada.
Vague oral tradition states that a kinship link remained between the
Tsuu T'Ina and Kiowa Apache, an earlier resident people of the area,
and at least one record remains of a visit by a Pueblo Indian group
to some Blackfoot friends.
Please remember that information posted as documents on internet are
copyright information and fall under the international Copyright laws.
Please feel free to use the information, properly crediting the sources
as is required under Copyright Law. We have prosecuted for improper and
illegal use of copyright information.
DID YOU KNOW:
Canadians are one of the more rebellious people. Canada
has averaged 1 rebellion every 50 years - not to overthrow the
government, but to protest government policies. In all but 2
Canadians of Native ancestry played a prominent, if not leading,
part. Wanna bet we don't do it again ?
The United States (our good friend to the south) has invaded
Canada 6 times - without success - being driven off by annoyed
local militias and irregulars with some help from the regulars.
Wanna bet the Yanks won't try again ?
Canadians invaded the U.S. once, in the War of 1812, and burned
Washington and New York.
FIRSTS:
Get real!
The Maya just got tired
of working out a 1,000
year calendar and chipping
it out in stone. No
interest - or need - to
hammer out another 1000
year cycle.
I have dozens of calendars
where the world ends on
January 31 of the following
year.
Survived the YK2 end of the
world.
Gave up on the End Of The
World scenarios decades
ago.
150 YEARS AG0
BIRTHS:
========================================================================
YEAR MONTH SURNAME FIRST NAME FATHER MOTHER LOCATION/AFFILIATION
========================================================================
1862
------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Register of Births in Western Canada, Copyright 1994 J. Fromhold
========================================================================
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