C) During the Tour – Theme 1 Red  River Expedition 1870

Sam Steele was a young man of 22 when he participated in the Red River Expedition.  He had already passed his officer’s exams in the militia, but he turned down an officer’s commission to serve beside the regular men and learn first-hand the life of regular soldiers.  He also had a chance to observe the behaviour of officers and to study the different styles of leadership of the men who commanded their expedition.

Steele’s reminiscences provide us with first-hand accounts of the trip from Toronto to Fort Gary and of the hardships of travelling to western Canada. He commends the amazing strength of pioneer people in that era and the outstanding skills of Aboriginal, Métis and French Canadian voyageurs on the rivers. He also provides some observations of social life including education and popular dress in Red River.  Together these observations allow students to explore historical perspective  and continuity and change.

The Sir Sam Steele Collection website provides a fairly simple introduction to each of the 6 themes.  The version appearing below has been edited to simplify the language for younger readers, and is based on the full text, which can be found here: http://steele.library.ualberta.ca/theme/1 

Introduction to Theme 1: Red River Expedition

“Sam Steele was introduced to the West during the first major crisis …after … Confederation in 1867.  When the Hudson’s Bay Company [sold] Rupert’s Land to [Canada] in 1870, William McDougall (1822–1905) was appointed governor.  {He] never [took office in Manitoba] because Louis Riel (1844–1885) and his Métis formed a provisional government and arrested many Red River settlers. Thomas Scott (1842–1870), one of the men imprisoned at Upper Fort Garry, was put on trial and executed by firing squad.  {This] act of summary justice … [led] the government of Ontario to offer a … reward for the capture of Riel.

The Canadian government sent an armed [force] of Canadian militia and British regular soldiers, led by Colonel Garnet Wolseley (1833–1913), to enforce [Canadian] authority [in Red River which became] the province of Manitoba. Captain Daniel Hunter McMillan (1846–1933) of the First Ontario Rifles recruited Sam  Steele for the expeditionary force, and offered him an officer’s commission. Steele chose instead to serve as an enlisted [private] to share the hardships faced by regular army soldiers. They had a difficult journey from Toronto to Fort Garry, but Steele took every opportunity to learn about life on the prairies and the [hardships] of military duty. When the expedition finally reached Fort Garry, it was deserted; Riel and his men had fled. Steele remained only briefly in Fort Garry, where he was promoted to corporal, before returning to Ontario. …” 

(Adapted from: http://steele.library.ualberta.ca/theme/1) 

Historical Perspective
People in the past faced a different reality and they had different norms, practices and views of their world.  It is the teacher`s challenge to help students enter and explore the world of the past and not to make quick, emotional judgments about those times and what people did.  Developing this sense of historical perspective takes time and students will gradually develop this historical thinking skill, approach and understanding over the years.  The following sources allow teachers to introduce students to this challenge.
 
3.1  Sam Steele had several opportunities to sign up as an officer in the Red River Expedition.  Officers had more power and influence than regular soldiers and they were paid more.  Steele made an interesting choice when he decided to enlist as a private and to remain as a private until on the way home from Manitoba he accepted a promotion to the lowest rank of enlisted men: a corporal.  

a) Why did Sam Steele choose to serve as a private rather than an
   	 officer?  
b) What was life like for a private on the expedition?
c) Why was the life of officers not very different from the privates in this 
	expedition?

Memories of the Red River Expedition from Sam Steele, excerpted from: Forty Years in Canada, 1st edition, Dodd, Mead & Co., 1915, 2nd ed., Prospero Books, Toronto, 2000.

Decision to Serve as a Private - p.12
On May 1, 1870, Sam Steele received a message inviting him to join the Red River expedition and he left to join the Ontario Rifles.
“I had previously held a commission in the 35th, had organized and drilled a company of the 31st Grey Regiment, and had obtained from the Military School field officers’ certificates of qualification for cavalry and infantry, but I had resigned my commission.  Accordingly I joined, and was pleased to find myself a member of No. 4 Company 1st Ontario Rifles, under the command of Captain McMillan… .  We were already will drilled, but as yet N.C.O.’s were only “acting” and as it was necessary that all should have officers’ certificates, the order came out one afternoon for all men with Military School certificates to fall out to the right, but I did not do so, as I had made up my mind to serve as a private.  The men were very kind and cheerful companions, always ready to do a good turn for a comrade, so that as far as experience went I was better off without chevrons (stripes) and learned how to appreciate the trials of other men to an extent that I should never have been able to do had I been promoted”. 

3.2   Continuity and Change

Have students calculate the distance from Toronto through Sault Ste. Marie to Thunder Bay and from Thunder Bay to Winnipeg using their school atlas, Google Maps or a similar computer program.  Remind them that they must follow an all-Canadian route.

The biggest challenge facing the expedition was the need to carry the much heavier loads of guns, ammunition and supplies to support a military force.  Large freight canoes were much lighter and easier to steer and portage along the many rivers and lakes, but could not carry the heavier loads and so wooden carts and boats had to be used.  There were no real roads or bridges and in many places the force had to cut a path through the forests and over the muskeg, deep gullies and streams.

A sketch of a voyageur carrying a 528 lbs. load on a portage along the Winnipeg River on the last stage of the expedition is the first image that the students will see in the Sir Sam Steele Collection.  It is a powerful image that captures the immense challenges facing the men on the trip with their many portages.  Steele`s personal account supports this image and explains that it was not just the voyageurs, but the officers and men who were expected to carry the contents of the boats on their backs.  The list of items transported in one boat will help students understand that men did not just make ONE trip to carry all the contents of the load, as very few men could carry this much cargo and each man would have to make several trips over each portage.  Once the cargo had been carried, the men had to lay down a path and drag the boats over the ridge or guide the boat along the banks of the rapids in the river while the most skilled voyageur (who was often an older Aboriginal person) steered the boat around the rocks.
 
http://steele.library.ualberta.ca/units/2008/1/1/1/3/18/1

a) How far is it from Thunder Bay to Winnipeg by road taking an all-
Canadian route today?    (approx.. 695 km.)
b) How long would it take to drive at an average of 60 km./hr. from Thunder 
	Bay to Winnipeg today?   ( approx. 11.6 hrs. with NO breaks!)
c) Fur traders had used this route for many years carrying large loads
of trade goods to the West and bringing large loads of furs down to Montreal. Steele left Toronto on May 1 and arrived in Ft. Garry on Aug. 29, 1870 . 
Why did it take so long for Steele and the members of the Red River
Expedition to arrive at Fort Garry?

d) There were usually 10 men in each boat.  Each man had to carry his
own knapsack of 80 lbs. and rifle.  Suppose that each man carried an additional 200 lbs. of cargo across a portage.  
How many trips would it take to carry the boats  4000 lbs. of cargo?  How many trips would it take if each man carried 300 lbs.?  
(I wonder how they decided which men had to make the 2nd trip?)

e) Steele left Ft. Garry on June 11, 1871 and arrived in Toronto on July 14.
         Why do you suppose that the Ontario Rifles’ return trip was shorter?
f) Why was it so much easier and faster after 1885?
g) What made the Red River Expedition so remarkable in 1870?

Carrying Heavy Loads at Portages – p.23, 25, 26  

“The work of portaging was done with rush, the officers and men running back after depositing their loads, all working alike.  Major Macleod, a tall, graceful man, was the first of all of us to shoulder a barrel of pork, a heavy load, each barrel weighing 200 lbs.  The flour and biscuit barrels weighed 100 lbs., the arm-chests, 200 lbs., and the beans 100 lbs., the lightest loads being the boxes of ammunition, 500 rounds in each, which weighed 64 lbs.  The arm-chests were the most awkward burdens. … I always carried my share of pork with either my knapsack (80 lbs.) or another pack, of equal weight added.  One of the officers …frequently packed two barrels of pork on his back, 400 lbs. … Everyone of us, on account of the training given by the heavy work, became much stronger than when we started… .” 

Excerpted from: Sam Steele, Forty Years in Canada, 1st edition, Dodd, Mead & Co., 1915, 2nd ed., Prospero Books, Toronto, 2000.

Loads in every boat weighed nearly 4,000 lbs., made up of:

Item	Number	Weight of each in lbs.	Total Weight in lbs.	
Biscuits, barrels 		8 each	100	800	
Flour	6	100	600	
Pork	8	200	1600	
Sugar	1	80	80	
Tea, Chests	1	50	50	
Beans sacks	2	100	200	
Potatoes, case	2	50	100	
Ammunition boxes	2 each	64	128	
Arm chests, (includes) Ball pouches, Ball pouches, large	1 each

10 rds.
50 rds.	200	200	
Tents	1			
Soap, cases	1			
Candles, boxes	1			
Boat nails	1 keg			
Mosquito oil	1 bottle			
Total			3,918 lbs.	

Sam Steele, Forty Years in Canada, p. 23

The Portage Song
 http://steele.library.ualberta.ca/units/2008/1/3/1/3

pp. 11-12 of the typed memoirs of William Hubbard (1914) on his experiences with the Red River Expedition.  

Also on page 2 of his memoirs, Hubbard writes: 

"There I made the acquaintance of a very fine fellow, who became my comrade all through the campaign - a soldier always ready and willing to do his full share of work [,] and who in after years, by strict attention to duty and marked ability shown in the North-West and other out-posts of the Empire, proved himself to be one of the most efficient soldiers Canada has ever produced - Colonel S.B. Steele."  
From the Sir Sam Steele Collection website: http://steele.library.ualberta.ca/units/2008/1/3/1/3

3.3  New Settlers to the West  in the 1870s

Sir Sam Steele, p. 8 of an original typed copy of a speech, Winnipeg (1909?)  2008.1.1.4.35.1 Speech: "Red River Expedition" 
http://steele.library.ualberta.ca/units/2008/1/1/4/35/1
Transcription:
“The men of the Ontario and Quebec rifles, with a few exceptions settled in the country or, after the return of their regiments to the East, the following year settled up their affairs and came once more to the West, to make their homes, and their enterprise did much to build up Winnipeg and bring law and order into the West, and set an example to those who followed.  They were to be found at every important point from here to the Rocky Mountains, Officers and men side by side working harmoniously as comrades to build up the country.” 

Continuity and Change
a) In the last verse of The Portage Song of 1870, what did the men
   	 suggest?
b) What did Sam Steele observe some 29 years later about the source of
 settlers to the West?
c) Why do you think young militia men from Ontario were attracted to the 
	West?
Challenges of the Route from Thunder Bay to Winnipeg

THE McKELLARS OF THUNDER BAY 
Excerpted from: Sam Steele, Forty Years in Canada, 1st edition, Dodd, Mead & Co., 1915, 2nd ed., Prospero Books, Toronto, 2000, p. 19

There were several McKellar brothers living at Thunder Bay,
 all experienced in the rivers and forests, with a thorough 
knowledge of the capabilities of the Indian voyageurs. Mr. 
Dawson knew them well and sent a messenger... 
Mr. Donald McKellar ... went in to see him and was 
told how things were at the Matawin. Mr. Dawson said: 
" I want you to go up to the Matawin station and get the boats 
up the Matawin and Shebandowan rivers ... . 
Take with you a crew of local Indians from the mission at 
Fort William. "...  Mr. McKellar suggested taking 
Iroquois and Sault St. Marie Indians along with the local 
Indians, and selected ten Fort William Indians, ten Iroquois 
and ten Sault St. Marie Indians. ... While he was fitting ... up 
for the trip, Captain Young ... came across  and said to him: 
"You can save yourself all this trouble, for there are not men 
enough in the expedition to take the boats up this river." 

At four o'clock next morning Mr. McKellar started with 
ten men to each boat, he taking the lead with the Fort William 
Indians. Mr. Towers followed with the Sault St. Marie Indians 
and Captain Pritchard with the Iroquois brought up the rear. 
At nine o'clock in the evening they arrived at Ward's Landing 
on the Oskondagee, which was their destination. Captain Ward, 
of the 60th Rifles, was encamped there and rushed down to 
meet McKellar and his party. He was delighted and surprised,
 thinking it impossible to get the boats up the river so far. 
The ... route from ...was now assured, and it proved a great 
success. The news soon spread, and there was great rejoicing 
along the line... .
Running the Rapids on the Winnipeg River
Excerpted from: Sam Steele, Forty Years in Canada, 1st edition, Dodd, Mead & Co., 1915, 2nd ed., Prospero Books, Toronto, 2000, pp. 25-27.

The navigation of the Winnipeg River by boat or canoe is 
one of the most difficult in the world. In its course to Lake 
Winnipeg it falls many hundreds of feet by a succession of 
cataracts, most of which are of a very difficult and dangerous 
character. The port ages on the route enabled the force to 
pass a number of those places, but many rapids had to be run 
and many risks taken before we arrived at Lake Winnipeg. 
On approaching a rapid which has to be run, the bowman 
always stands up in his place and steers, long paddle in hand, 
braced against the stem, his keen and practised eye on the 
rushing water. The voyageur in the stern, who has shipped a 
long oar in the stern-rowlock, a ring securely fastened so that 
it cannot jump out, keeps the boat from swinging in the 
current. Down the torrent the craft rushes, propelled by the 
desperate efforts of the six oarsmen. They row as for their 
lives so that there may be steerage way for the bowman who, 
by skilful use of his paddle, brings the vessel safely through 
the rocks and whirlpools of the passage. The boat seems to 
spring beneath its crew, the speed being so great that the oars 
seem like feathers in their hands, no pressure of the water 
being felt on the blades as the boat careers down the incline. …
At the rapid called Le Grand Descharge we met with what 
at one time promised to be a serious mishap. Big Mike, the 
powerful and skilful Iroquois, although of Major Macleod's 
boat, took the bow of ours also, and Captain McMillan, who 
had remained at the summit to see his boats safely through, 
came in our craft, which was the last, and sat in the stern 
sheets near Big Neil McArthur. I had the stroke oar (we took 
turns at it), and, as we approached the crest, set the pace, but 
just as we passed over it, rowing our best, Neil's oar snapped 
like a pipe stem and the boat swung into the tremendous 
waves on our right, rolling and pitching over them, and hurling 
several of the crew from their oars into the bottom of the boat. 
Captain McMillan tried to hold my oar down in the rowlock to 
enable me to tow, but it was impossible; we were quite helpless, 
and death stared us in the face as we surged past the rocks 
and whirlpools at a great speed, while Big Mike stood towering 
in the bow wielding a heavy oar as if it were a light paddle
His long hair streamed in the wind, his coal black eyes glared 
at the angry waters, and he handled his oar with such effect 
that the boat came safely through, landing us far below, and 
his compatriots on both sides of the Descharge, who, with our 
comrades of the brigade, were watching the outcome with 
great anxiety, joined him in wild whoops and shrieks of 
triumphant laughter. … . (After leaving Thunder Bay on June 30,] we arrived at Fort Garry at sunset on August 29, 1870. 

Historical  Perspective 
3.4 Navigating Rivers between Thunder Bay and Winnipeg
a) Why were ten Fort William Indians, ten Iroquois and ten Sault St. Marie
Indian men recruited by Mr. McKellar to lead the trip north from Thunder Bay? 
b) What were the roles of the bowman, the stern man, the oarsmen and 
why was their trip so dangerous?  
c) Why was Big Mike a hero for Sam Steele and Captain McMillan? 
d) Why have these jobs generally disappeared and what transportation
 	methods and jobs have replaced them?