1885 / Fur Trade - 1970-1985. - Folder 2.
Alternate Title
Defence of Big Bear
Our Captivity Ended
Prisoners of the Indians
The Siege of Fort Pitt
Archival » Archival Items
Author/Creator
Elizabeth M. McLean
William McKay
Francois Dufresne
Description
Personal narrative of the daughter of Chief Trader W.J. McLean of the Hudson's Bay Company about her family's capture at Fort Pitt and subsequent transfer to Wandering Spirit's camp at Frog Lake during the conflict.
The interpreter for Big Bear at his trial gives translation of the Cree leader's speech and recounts his own memories of the Frog Lake Massacre.
Campaigning in the North West Territories
Documents & Presentations
Author/Creator
James Mortimer Austin
Description
A write up on the experiences of James Austin, a member of the Ontarian Midland Battalion involved in the suppression of the 1885 uprising. Austin relates the story of his trek west from Ontario, but missed all major actions. Austin later became a Presbyterian minister.
Chief Sweetgrass
Alternate Title
Loyal till Death: Indians and the North-West Rebellion
Images » Photographs
Description
Portrait sketch of Chief Sweetgrass.
Caption: "Sweetgrass was the acknowledged leader of the River People in the Fort Pitt area. He was killed accidentally by the gun he had received as a special treaty gift.
From the book Loyal till Death: Indians and the North-West Rebellion by Blair Stonechild and Bill Waiser.
"D" for Disturbance - Mrs. C. Wetton. - Newspaper articles. - January-February 1965.
Articles » General
Author/Creator
C. Wetton
Description
A series of 16 articles written by Mrs. C. Wetton of North Battleford relating to the daily reports of the House of Commons of the activities of Louis Riel and others. The articles relate to events beginning on 16 March 1885, and ending on 1 March 1886.
Historical note:
Mrs. C. Wetton was a staff correspondent for the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix at North Battleford for 37 years.Diary of Francis Dickens - Vernon LaChance. - May 1930.
Archival » Archival Items
Author/Creator
Vernon LaChance
Francis Dickens
Description
Diary of Inspector Francis Dickens of the Fort Pitt NWMP from 1885; entries from 4 March 1885 - 15 April 1885. Includes a historical introduction and commentary by Vernon LaChance.
Historical note:
Diary of Lieutenant R. Lyndhurst Wadmore, Infantry School Corps, April 8, 1885 to July 20, 1885, N.W. Campaign.
Archival » Archival Items
Author/Creator
R. Lyndhurst Wadmore
Description
Original diary and various papers of R. Lyndhurst Wadmore, Lieutenant of the Royal Canadian Regiment during the Northwest Resistance, covering from 8 April to 20 July 1885. Included in diary pocket is a requisition for short boots that was signed by Wadmore on May 1885, lyrics of the Infantry School Corps fight song, and a Victoria Daily Times article from 23 June 1944 about the remaining members of the Northwest Field Force and their experiences.
The Face Pullers: Ch. 1 Images - Big Bear Trading at Fort Pitt
Alternate Title
The Face Pullers: Photographing Native Canadians, 1871-1939
Images » Photographs
Author/Creator
Otto B. Buell
Description
Indigenous and Caucasian men trading furs and other items at Fort Pitt, including (left to right) Four Sky Thunder, Sky Bird, Matoose, Napasis, Big Bear, Angus McKay, Otto Dufresne, Louis Goulet, Stanley Simpson, Mr. Rowley, Alex McDonald, Captain R. B. Sletch, Mr. Edmund and Henry Dufrain.
From the book The Face Pullers: Photographing Native Canadians, 1871-1939 by Brock Silversides.
The Face Pullers - Unused Photos - "Cree Indians Trading at H.B. Cos Fort Pitt 1884""
Alternate Title
The Face Pullers: Photographing Native Canadians, 1871-1939
Images » Photographs
Description
Black and white photograph of a group of five Cree men trading at Fort Pitt. They are from Left, Four Sky Thunder, Sky Bird, Matoose, Napasis, and Big Bear.
Unused photograph from the book The Face Pullers: Photographing Native Canadians, 1871-1939 by Brock Silversides.
First Nation Onion Lake Pow Wow - Fort Pitt Sept. 9. 2001. - Slides.
Images » Photographs
Author/Creator
Hans S. Dommasch (photographer)
Description
Series of images taken at Fort Pitt, Saskatchewan, during the Commemoration ceremonies of the signing of Treaty #6 in 1876. 1. Exterior of reconstruction of Fort Pitt; 2. Group of tipis; 3. Top of several tipis, with Union Jack and First Nations flags visible; 4. Large Treaty 6 medal in foreground, with a group of people in background; two non-Natives are wearing NWMP uniforms, and one Aboriginal man is wearing a headdress; 5.
Fort Pitt
Images » Photographs
Author/Creator
Reg Taylor
Description
A photograph of the site of Fort Pitt taken in 1947. It was the Hudson Bay trading post on the North Saskatchewan River between Battleford and Edmonton that was looted and burned by Plains Cree warriors during the 1885 resistance. The depression next to the river on the right is where the NWMP were allowed to leave the Fort on a scow and float downriver to Battleford.
Historical note:
Fort Pitt Historic Park - Pamphlet.. - 1967.
Archival » Archival Items
Author/Creator
Saskatchewan Department of Natural Resources
Description
A detailed history and guide to Fort Pitt Historic Park, located near present-day Lloydminster, Saskatchewan. Fort Pitt was an important scene of battle during the Northwest Resistance of 1885.
Historical note:
"Inspector Dickens Journal" Fort Pitt, 1885.
Archival » Archival Items
Author/Creator
Francis Dickens
Description
A typed copy of Inspector Francis Dickens's North West Mounted Police journal from Fort Pitt in 1885. Recounts the events of the Resistance, the skirmish and subsequent abandonment of Fort Pitt by Dickens who was in command of the installation when hostilities broke out.
Historical note:
Interior of Fort Pitt, Just [Before] the Rebellion of 1885
Images » Photographs
Description
Group photo taken on the grounds of Fort Pitt, NWT. Numbered from L to R: 1. Fire Sky Thunder; 2. Sky Bird (Big Bear's son); 3. Natoose; 4. Napasis; 5. Big Bear; 6. Angus McKay (HBC); 7. Dufrain (HBC cook); 8. L. Goulet; 9. Stanley Simpson (HBC); 10. Alex McDonald; 11. Rowley; 12. Corp. Sleigh (NWMP); 13. Edmond; 14. Henry Dufrain.
Jeffrey Amherst and Smallpox Blankets
Articles » General
Author/Creator
Peter d'Errico
Description
Author looks at archival evidence in the form letters between General Amherst and his officers and others under his command and concludes that Amherst did order smallpox-infected blankets and handkerchiefs be distributed to the Native Americans surrounding Fort Pitt during Pontiac's Rebellion.
Rebellion, 1885 - Draft of a statement by General Middleton dated 2 July 1885 at Fort Pitt expressing satisfaction with the officers and men who served under him during the rebellion.
Documents & Presentations
Author/Creator
Col. Frederick Dobson Middleton
Description
Draft of statement by General Middleton dated 2 July 1885 at Fort Pitt expressing satisfaction with the officers and men who served under him during the Northwest Resistance. Item found within folder 1 of file Rebellion, 1885.
Rebellion, 1885 - State of the Infantry Brigade / Camp Fort Pitt
Documents & Presentations
Description
This item describes the state of the infantry brigade stationed at Camp Fort Pitt on 2 July 1885. Categories include members absent with / without leave, hospital attendants and casualities. Item found within folder 1 of file Rebellion, 1885.
Historical note:
Steele Narrows: A Saskatchewan Historical Site
Documents & Presentations
Description
A brochure produced by the Saskatchewan Diamond Jubilee and Canada Centennial Co. in 1965 that outlines the battle of Steele Narrows, the last battle of the 1885 North West resistance. Steele Narrows was developed as a Provincial Historic site that same year. There is also photocopy of another history of Steele Narrows produced by the Saskatchewan Department of Natural Resources Conservation and Information Branch.
Untitled manuscript describing a trip to Frog Lake and Fort Pitt in company with W.B. Cameron and Campbell Innes.
Documents & Presentations
Description
Untitled manuscript describing a trip to Frog Lake and Fort Pitt in company with W.B. Cameron and Campbell Innes during which the party retraced the route taken by Big Bear's band after the Frog Lake Massacre during the Rebellion of 1885. The story appeared in the Star-Phoenix 23 Oct 1947. (See photographs nos. PH 87 100 to PH 87 109 and PH 87 127 to PH 87 135 which accompanied this article when it was donated)
W.B. Cameron Papers - Articles Relating to William McKay.
Documents & Presentations
Author/Creator
William Bleasdell Cameron
Description
This file consists of 7 items, including a newspaper article and typed copies of stories told by or about William McKay. The file also contains second and third copies of some of these items.
William James McLean
Alternate Title
Loyal till Death: Indians and the North-West Rebellion
Images » Photographs
Description
Photograph of Chief Factor at Fort Pitt in 1885; taken in a photo studio. Caption: "W.J. McLean, the HBC factor, realized that Pitt was indefensible and agreed to surrender voluntarily to Wandering Spirit."
From the book Loyal till Death: Indians and the North-West Rebellion by Blair Stonechild and Bill Waiser.
William James McLean (1841-1929) was in command of the Hudson's Bay Company trading posts at Fort Qu'Appelle, Ile a la Crosse and Fort Pitt.