party that settlers were not wanted on the Red River; that it was the
country of the fur traders, and that settlers must go farther afield.

{55}

This was surely an inhospitable reception, after a long and fatiguing
journey. Plainly the Nor'westers were at it again, trying now to
frighten the colonists away, as they had tried before to keep them from
coming. These mounted half-breeds were a deputation from Fort
Gibraltar, the Nor'westers' nearest trading-post, which stood two miles
higher up at 'the Forks,' where the Red River is joined by the
Assiniboine.

Nevertheless, Governor Macdonell, having planned as dignified a
ceremony as the circumstances would allow, sent to the Nor'westers at
Fort Gibraltar an invitation to be present at the official inauguration
of Lord Selkirk's colony. At the appointed hour, on September 4,
several traders from the fort, together with a few French Canadians and
Indians, put in an appearance. In the presence of this odd company
Governor Macdonell read the Earl of Selkirk's patent to Assiniboia.
About him was drawn up a guard of honour, and overhead the British
ensign fluttered in the breeze. Six small swivel-guns, which had been
brought with the colonists, belched forth a salute to mark the
occasion. The Nor'westers were visibly impressed by this show of
authority and power. In pretended friendship they {56} entered
Governor Macdonell's tent and accepted his hospitality before
departing. At variance with the scowls of trapper and trader towards
the settlers was the attitude of the full-blooded Indians who were
camping along the Red River. From the outset these red-skins were
friendly, and their conduct was soon to stand the settlers in good
stead.

The provisions brought from Hudson Bay were fast diminishing and would
soon be at an end. True, the Nor'westers offered for sale supplies of
oats, barley, poultry, and the like, but their prices were high and the
settlers had not the means of purchase. But there was other food.
Myriads of buffalo roamed over the Great Plains. Herds of these
animals often darkened the horizon like a slowly moving cloud. In
summer they might be seen cropping the prairie grass, or plunging and
rolling about in muddy 'wallows.' In winter they moved to higher
levels, where lay less snow to be removed from the dried grass which
they devoured. At that season those who needed to hunt the buffalo for
food must follow them wherever they went. This w