teaux
nations. The Indian chiefs made eloquent speeches. They said that
they were willing to surrender their claim to a strip on either side of
the Red River up-stream from its mouth as far as the Red Lake river
(now Grand Forks, North Dakota), and on either side of the Assiniboine
as far as its junction with the Muskrat. Selkirk's desire was to
obtain as much on each bank of these streams for the length agreed upon
as could be seen under a horse's belly towards the horizon, or
approximately two miles, and the Indians agreed. At three places--at
Fort Douglas, Fort Daer, and the confluence of the Red and Red Lake
rivers--Selkirk wished to secure about six miles on each side of the
Red River, and to this the chiefs agreed. In the end, on July 18,
1817, Selkirk concluded a treaty, after distributing presents. It was
the first treaty made by a subject of Great Britain with the tribes of
Rupert's Land. In signing it the several chiefs drew odd pictures of
animals on a rough map of the territory in question. These animals
were their respective totems and were placed opposite the regions over
which they claimed authority. It was stipulated {133} that one hundred
pounds of good tobacco should be given annually to each nation.

Having finished his work, Lord Selkirk bade the colony adieu and
journeyed southward. He made his way through the unorganized
territories which had belonged to the United States since the Louisiana
Purchase of 1803, and at length reached the town of St Louis on the
Mississippi. Thence he proceeded to the New England States, and by way
of Albany reached the province of Upper Canada. Here he found that the
agents of the North-West Company had been busy with plans to attack him
in the courts. There were four charges against him, and he was ordered
to appear at Sandwich, a judicial centre on the Detroit. The
accusations related to his procedure at Fort William. Selkirk
travelled to Sandwich. One of the charges was quickly dismissed. The
other three were held over, pending the arrival of witnesses, and he
was released on bail to the amount of L350.

In May 1818 Colin Robertson and several others were charged at Montreal
with the wilful destruction of Fort Gibraltar, but the jury would not
convict the accused upon the evidence presented. In September, at the
{134} judicial sessions at Sandwich, Lord Selkirk was again faced with
charges. A legal celebrity of the day, Chief Justice Dummer Powe