t sanctioned by the decalogue--but somewhat like the German
Morganatic marriage. It was called "Marriage of the Country." By this in
many cases the trader married the Indian wife; she bore children to him,
and afterwards when he retired from the country, she was given in real
marriage to some other voyageur, or other employee, or pensioned off. It
is worthy of note that many of these Indian women became most true and
affectionate spouses. With the voyageurs and laborers the conditions
were different. They could not leave the country, they had become a part
of it, and their marriages with the Indian women were bona fide. Thus it
was that during the space from the time of Curry until the arrival of
the Selkirk Colonists upwards of forty years had elapsed, and around the
wide spread posts of the Fur Trading Companies, especially around those
of the prairie, there had grown up families, which were half French and
half Indian, or half English and half Indian. When it could be afforded
these children were sent for a time to Montreal, to be educated, and
came back to their native wilds. On the plain between the Assiniboine
and the Saskatchewan, a half-breed community had sprung up. From their
dusky faces they took the name "Bois-Brules," or "Charcoal Faces," or
referring to their mixed blood, of "Metis," or as exhibiting their
importance, they sought to be called "The New Nation." The blend of
French and Indian was in many respects a natural one. Both are stalwart,
active, muscular; both are excitable, imaginative, ambitious; both are
easily amused and devout. The "Bois-Brules" growing up among the Indians
on the plains naturally possessed many of the features of the Indian
life. The pursuit of their fur-bearing animals was the only industry of
the country. The Bois-Brules from childhood were familiar with the
Indian pony, knew all his tricks and habits, began to ride with all the
skill of a desert ranger, were familiar with fire-arms, took part in the
chase of the buffalo on the plains, and were already trained to make the
attack as cavalry on buffalo herds, after the Indian fashion, in the
famous half-circle, where they were to be so successful in their later
troubles, of which we shall speak. Such men as the Grants, Findlays,
Lapointes, Bellegardes, and Falcons were equally skilled in managing the
swift canoe, or scouring the plains on the Indian ponies. We shall see
the part which this new element were to play in the social l