|
IN common with others who have been interested in, and
connected with, the development of the territories formerly under the
administration of the Hudson Bay Company, I heard with much pleasure of
the intention of my friend, the Rev. R. G. MacBeth, M. A., to place on
record an account of the genesis and development of the Selkirk Settlement
in the Red River Valley. The longer such a work is postponed the more
difficult must it be to carry out, and it would be a thousand pities if a
description of the pioneer attempts at colonization in the great
North-West were not given to the world. This is neither the time nor the
place to enter upon a discussion of the motives which influenced Lord
Selkirk in his enterprise. He may have been somewhat in advance of the
times in which he lived, but he had the courage of his convictions, and
his efforts deserve the fullest recognition from those who believe in the
great future in store for Western Canada.
Looking back to the period
when the movement was initiated, it is not surprising, in view of the then
comparative inaccessibility of the country, or of the inexperience of the
settlers of the climatic and other conditions then obtaining, and of other
circumstances, that for many
years the progress of the Settlement was retarded. There can be no doubt,
however, that its gradual development had an important bearing, both
directly and indirectly, on the events which led to the surrender of the
Charter. of the Hudson Bay Company, and to the acquisition of Rupert’s
Land by Canada, through the Imperial Government.
It has been the custom to describe
the Hudson Bay Company as an opponent of individual settlement and of
colonization. To enter into a controversy on this point is not my purpose,
but it may be proper to state that the condition of affairs at the time in
question in the country between Lake Superior and the Rocky Mountains,
does not appear to have been sufficiently appreciated. Owing to the
difficulties of access and egress, colonization in what is now Manitoba
and the North-West Territories could not have taken place successfully to
any extent. Of necessity, also, the importation of the commodities
required in connection with its agricultural development would have been
exceptionally expensive, while, on the other hand, the cost of
transportation of its possible exports must have been so great as to
render competition with countries more favorably situated at the moment,
difficult, if not impossible. The justice of these contentions will be at
once realized, when it is remembered that the Red River Valley was
situated in the centre of the continent, one thousand miles away in any
direction from settled districts. Events, however, were shaping themselves
all the time, in no uncertain way, and when the proper moment arrived, the
great North-West was thrown open to settlement, railway communication
became assured, and the country has since progressed, in view of all the
circumstances, in a remarkable manner, Personally, it is my opinion, that
the acquisition and development of the Hudson Bay Territory was impossible
prior to the confederation of the Dominion. No less a body than united
Canada could have acquired and administered so large a domain, or have
undertaken the construction of railways, without which its development
could only have been slow and uncertain. It was not till 1878, eight years
after the transfer, that Winnipeg first received railway communication
through the United States. Three or four more years elapsed before the
completion of the line to Lake Superior, and it was only late in 1885—
sixteen years after the Hudson Bay Company relinquished their Charter—that
the Canadian Pacific Railway was completed from ocean to ocean, and
Manitoba and the North-West Territories were placed in direct and regular
railway communication with the different parts of the Dominion. There is
no question, also, that the policy of the Hudson Bay Company in regard to
the Indians, and the intercourse which the aborigines, had been accustomed
to with its officers, made the transfer infinitely easier than would have
otherwise been possible. In fact, it may be said that the Hudson Bay
Company, while conserving its own interests, as long as was desirable, yet
prepared the way for the Dominion, and for the colonization and settlement
which is now taking place.
The record of the real life of the
Selkirk settlers will be especially interesting to the inhabitants of the
various Provinces of the Dominion, to the early settlers in Manitoba and
the North-West, and to those millions who are destined to follow them in
the future, and establish for themselves happy and comfortable homes on
the grand western prairies. Many of the original Selkirk settlers and
their descendants have been personally and intimately known to me,
including one of the most respected of the pioneers, the father of Mr.
MacBeth; and I have always respected and admired their sterling qualities
of head and heart. I know how they have worked and how they have lived,
and, in my judgment, Manitoba owes more to their efforts and to their
example than is generally admitted, or can well be conceived by the
present generation of Canadians. One illustration of their simple
character and honesty occurs to me at the moment of writing. Nothing
further was required of them, in connection with the transfer of land,
than a personal appearance before the Registrar, and an oral intimation of
the transaction to be effected. No deeds or documents were completed in
such cases, and no conveyance of the kind was ever questioned. Lord
Selkirk is represented to have said that in the Red River Valley alone
there is room for many millions of people. More modern authorities claim
that the prairies are destined to provide homes for as many millions as
now inhabit the United States. The extension of the railways in the
different parts of the country is opening up yearly more extended fields
for settlement, is providing the facilities for placing families all over
the country, and for marketing the produce they will be enabled to raise.
All these results may be traced to the Selkirk Settlement, and to the
Hudson Bay Company, and they will tend to give additional interest to the
entertaining and instructive volume Mr. MacBeth has written, for which I
venture to predict a wide circulation.
DONALD A. SMITH.
VICTORIA CHAMBERS,
LONDON, ENG.
|
