Cuthbert Grant

Cuthbert Grant

Cuthbert Grant (* 1793 in Fort de la Rivière Tremblante , in today's Saskatchewan , Canada ; † July 15, 1854 in St. François Xavier , today in Manitoba , Canada) was a Canadian Métis leader.

youth

Grant was born in 1793 to a Scottish fur trader and a Métis at the Fort de la Rivière Tremblante trading post of the North West Company (NWC). After the death of their father in 1799, the NWC agent from Montreal , William McGillivray, took care of the education of Cuthbert and his brother James. While the elder James was sent to school in Scotland , McGillivray brought Cuthbert to Montréal in 1801.

Joined the North West Company

Grant started working for the NWC in 1810. In 1812 he traveled for her to Fort William , Ontario , where he was appointed Secretary of Upper Red River and traveled on to Fort Espérance (now Saskatchewan) on the Qu'Appelle River . At the same time, the first conflicts broke out in the trade war known as the Pemmican War between NWC and Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). Under the direction of Lord Selkirk , the first Scottish settlers were established in the newly founded Red River Settlement in the spring and Miles Macdonell was appointed governor of the newly founded Assiniboia . But this area cut off the NWC's transport routes to their hunting grounds for supplies and hides. In addition, the Métis lived there and sold the pemmican , which is essential for the fur hunters, to the NWC . It was no coincidence that Selkirk chose the area of The Forks at the confluence of the Assiniboine and Red River for his Scots, which was also the main settlement area of ​​the Métis, and the HBC is building Fort Douglas there in the immediate vicinity of Fort Gibraltar of the NWC.

Grant in the Pemmican War

The Pemmican Proclamation

After the new settlers were initially unable to self- suffice , Macdonnel issued the so-called Pemmican Proclamation in 1814 , which forbade the export of food from Assiniboia . For the NWC this was tantamount to an open declaration of war, as it could no longer provide for its fur hunters. She saw the Métis as her natural allies, because many worked for her, but some also for the HBC. NWC board member Duncan Cameron Grant named Captains of the Métis along with three other men . Grant proved to be an extraordinarily talented leader and after he had brought almost all Métis to the side of the NWC, he was given the new title of Captain-General of all the Half-Breeds in 1816 , making him the military leader of his mixed people, who became saw it as a nation of its own for the first time in its history.

Grant on the Red River

In August 1814 Grant arrived with Cameron in Fort Gibraltar and was able to persuade many of the resident Scottish settlers to let the NWC bring their equipment to Ontario or Quebéc. In 1815 there were tougher clashes and mutual hostage-taking between HBC and NWC. Most recently, in June 1815, the NWC arrested Governor Macdonnel for illegally seizing pemmican, who was then sent to Montreal under arrest, and shortly afterwards his deputy Fidler. The NWC had the situation under control and Grant returned to Fort Espérance shortly thereafter.

The Battle of Seven Oaks

As early as August 1815, however, 50 settlers returned to the Red River under the leadership of the HBC, and in November the newly appointed Governor Robert Semple arrived. In the spring of 1816 Grant rode back to the Red River and, after his appointment as Captain-General, led an attack on supply boats of the HBC. With the hijacked boats and 60 men on the way to Lake Winnipeg , they tried to bypass HBC's Fort Douglas by land. But they were discovered and faced Governor Semple and his armed men at Seven Oaks . It is not known how the fighting began, but in the end there was a real massacre in which Semple, twenty of his men and one man Grants lost their lives.

Lower Canada intervention and prosecution

In October 1816, the Government of Lower Canada sent commissioner William Bacheler Coltman to resolve the conflict on the Red River. In August 1817, Grant surrendered to the commission agent and was charged with various offenses. He was acquitted on a number of issues and released on bail for the remainder of the negotiations, after which he fled to the Red River. However, after another was convicted of the murder of Semple, the remaining charges against Grant were dropped.

The end of the war

Despite the intervention, there was still more armed conflict between the companies by 1820, and both NWC and HBC had brought themselves to the brink of ruin. Eventually they were forced to merge by the British Colonial Office, threatening to deprive them of their fur trade monopoly. The war was finally over, but Grant lost his job in the new company, which was heavily influenced by HBC (and continued to be called).

Farmer and Métis guides

Grant settled on the White Horse Plain on the Assiniboine in 1824 and ran a farm. Together with 100 Métis families, he founded the village of Grantown . The HBC, which saw his still great influence with his people, made him justice of the peace, sheriff of Assiniboia and issued him trading licenses. In 1844 Grant was still able to negotiate a peace with the Sioux in the dispute over buffalo hunting rights, but he increasingly lost influence and was less respected by a new generation. When new conflicts broke out with the Sioux in 1851, he was no longer able to mediate. In 1854 he finally died of injuries as a result of a riding accident.

Web links

• Cuthbert Grant . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . 24 volumes, 1966–2018. University of Toronto Press, Toronto ( English , French ).