nce of these evil tidings he was led to petition Lord
Bathurst, secretary for War and the Colonies in the administration of
Lord Liverpool, and to ask that some protection should be afforded his
colonists, who were loyal subjects of the crown. Lord Bathurst acted
promptly. He wrote in March to Sir Gordon Drummond, administrator of
the government of Canada, saying that Lord Selkirk's request should be
granted and that action should be taken in Canada to protect the
colony. But Sir Gordon Drummond, after looking into the matter,
decided not to grant the protection which {92} Selkirk desired. He had
reasons, which he sent to the British minister.

By this time the affairs of his colony had come to such a sorry pass
that Lord Selkirk felt it necessary to travel to America. Accordingly,
in the autumn of 1815, he embarked for New York, accompanied by Lady
Selkirk and his three children, Dunbar, Isabella, and Katherine.
Arriving on November 15, he heard for the first time of the overthrow
of his colony through the machinations of Duncan Cameron and Alexander
Macdonell. At once he hastened to Montreal, where he received from
eye-witnesses a more detailed version of the occurrence. Many of the
settlers brought to the east were indignant at the treatment they had
received at the hands of the Nor'westers and were prepared to testify
against them. In view of this, Lord Selkirk applied to magistrates at
York (Toronto) and Montreal, desiring that affidavits should be taken
from certain of the settlers with respect to their experiences on the
Red River. In this way he hoped to accumulate a mass of evidence which
should strengthen his plea for military assistance from the Canadian
government. Among those whom Selkirk met in Montreal was {93} Miles
Macdonell. The former governor of Assiniboia was then awaiting trial
on charges brought against him by officers of the North-West Company.
He was never tried, however, for the charges were dropped later on.

In November Lord Selkirk saw Sir Gordon Drummond and urged that help be
sent to Assiniboia. From this time until the expiration of Drummond's
term of office (May 1816) a correspondence on this question was kept up
between the two men. No steps, however, were taken by Drummond to
accede to Selkirk's wishes, nor did he inform Selkirk officially why
his requests were denied. During the winter news of the restoration of
the colony was brought to Selkirk by a French Canadian name