A Son of the Fur Trade : The Memoirs of Johnny Grant

Table of Contents

• Front cover 1
• Title page 4
• Copyright page 5
• Dedication 6
• Contents 8
• Maps 12
• Introduction 14
• The Memoir and Manuscript 14
• From Edmonton, to Trois-Rivières, to Montana, 1833–1867 17
• The Riel Resistance, 1869–1870 21
• The Manitoba Years, 1870–1891 29
• The Alberta Years, 1891–1907 42
• Editorial Comments 48
• Acknowledgements 50
• Preface | Clothilde Grant 52
• 1 In which is set forth my birth and parentage 64
• 2 In which the little Bois Brulé meets with the gentler elatives in the east 67
• 3 In which a glimpse is had of child life in French Canada 69
• 4 Wherein the Bois Brulé’s pluck matches the eastern bully 71
• 5 Wherein he enters College and leaves it hurriedly 73
• 6 In which he parts with grief from his sister and his first love 75
• 7 In which he journeys from civilization to the frontier 77
• 8 In which he reaches Fort Hall where his father was in command 81
• 9 Wherein it is clear that he and his father were not made to agree 84
• 10 Wherein he prefers the hardships of the Vancouver trail to his home 86
• 11 In which the men of the Winter Express were reduced to eating horseflesh 89
• 12 In which something is related of the Douglas family and life at Fort Vancouver in 1849 91
• 13 Wherein his friends at the garrison introduce egg-nogg to him with fateful results 93
• 14 Wherein he leaves his father’s home and takes up life with the trappers 96
• 15 In which is related tales of an old trapper and how a new lodge was set up 99
• 16 Wherein various Indian tribes, and the Sioux Massacre are dealt with 102
• 17 Wherein my father retires after 43 years service with the Hudson’s Bay Company 105
• 18 Wherein he makes the acquaintance of several gamblers and desperadoes who haunted the traders’ camps along the Oregon Trail 107
• 19 In which he races horses with the desperadoes one of whom comes to a tragic end 110
• 20 In which he tells of his success in trading with the immigrants and of the massacre of one party by the Indians 113
• 21 In which he becomes the interpreter for Major Haller and accompanies a crude young lieutenant 116
• 22 In which he narrates some painful incidents in the Indian war 119
• 23 Wherein he ends his work with the soldiers and is obliged to leave the country 122
• 24 In which he joins his father and returns to trade with immigrants at Soda Springs 125
• 25 In which he tells of some pioneers, and of the Mormon Rising in 1857 128
• 26 In which he entertains some Indians royally and decides to form a settlement at Deer Lodge 154
• 27 Wherein is related something of the discovery of gold in Montana and the opening of new markets for the settlement in Deer Lodge Valley 157
• 28 Wherein Captain Grant —“Handsome” Grant—dies without leaving his son even the proverbial shilling 160
• 29 In which he builds the first good house in Deer Lodge Valley and with his Quarra, enters on a new period of existence 162
• 30 In which he rewards the honesty of Little Dog for restoring his stolen horses 165
• 31 Wherein he makes a couple of trips among the Indians in search of stolen horses; Brown, a discouraged companion, shoots himself 167
• 32 Wherein he tells of his big freighting outfit and of the advent of “bad men”— white robbers and murderers—intoMontana 171
• 33 In which the Vigilantes are seen to take the law in their own hands and the rascally sheriff is one of the first to be hanged 174
• 34 In which he lends his horse to the Vigilance Committee setting out from Hell’s Gate on their grim mission of death to law breakers 177
• 35 In which he tells of the decisive way in which the Vigilantes rid the country of highwaymen, three of them being hanged to the corners of Baron O’Keefe’s stable 180
• 36 Wherein he goes down to St. Louis by stage spending his money like water. He puts up at the Olive House and does business in a pleasant and leisurely way 183
• 37 In which he gives an insight into methods of doing business in St. Louis in the sixties when his purchases amounted to twenty-eight thousand dollars 186
• 38 Wherein he describes the tiresome stage journey from Omaha, where he had abandoned the still more tiresome Missouri boat. The stage upsets once and breaks the monotony. He kills his first buffalo 189
• 39 In which his milling venture did not satisfy his impatient nature, and he is tricked into disposing of it for three hundred gallons of homemade liquor 192
• 40 In which his new livery stable is burned, his pet saddle horse killed by a champagne bottle, and there is seen the beginning of the end of his days in Montana 195
• 41 In which Conrad Kohrs, afterward millionaire and Cattle King buys his ranch for $19,000 198
• 42 Wherein he and Johnny Healy have a taste of adventure and he loses his sack of gold nuggets on his trip to St. Louis 200
• 43 He suddenly determines to go back to Three Rivers from St. Louis instead of going up to the Red River and his wild western guise startles his relatives 204
• 44 In which he renews old friendships and revisits old scenes, his memory sharpened with many regrets 207
• 45 He returns to the west, reaching the Red River by way of St. Louis and Fort Abercrombie 211
• 46 Red River—My arrival at Mr. McKay’s 215
• 47 He describes the conditions of life in the Red River Settlement — their work and amusements; their probity and fine harmony 218
• 48 He returns to Montana and his family, bringing a company of Red River Half-breeds with him to bring his freight train of carts and wagons back to the Red River 222
• 49 On his arrival at Deer Lodge he finds his Quarra is dead, his business shattered and his trusted clerk leaving the country with saddle-bags heavy with gold 228
• 50 His life is threatened by a jealous Mexican whose hand is stayed by memories of old kindness; then leaving about $50,000 worth of property behind him he sets out for the Red River 231
• 51 The Red River caravan has a most amiable but tiresome encounter with a band of Blackfeet who are intensely appreciative of past kindness. Grant and his seven year old son running buffalo 234
• 52 A band of Assiniboine Indians next meet the caravan, and a double guard is straightaway put upon the horses at night 237
• 53 In which he is kept busy watching the Cree guide obtained in the Assiniboine camp, and his suspicions of treachery are fulfilled 240
• 54 He makes a new home for himself along the Red River valley and marries Clotilde Bruneau, the daughter of a county judge who was the leader of the French population around St. Boniface 243
• 55 He makes a trip to the United States for relief wheat 248
• 56 Governor McDougall coming from Canada is turned back at the boundary by Riel’s men, and Riel marching back to Fort Garry takes peaceful possession of the old post 273
• Louis Riel’s First Rebellion in 1869 and 1870—My First Knowledge of It 273
• Governor Attempts To Enter Into the Country 275
• 57 The arrival of Mr. D.A. Smith as commissioner and the general meeting at Fort Garry 277
• Attending a Wedding 278
• Our Arrival at the Fort 279
• The Night Before the Papers Were Read 280
• The Attempt to Kill Us 281
• Reading of the Papers Sent by the Dominion Government 282
• We Left the Fort 283
• 58 He is nominated as delegate to the Provisional Government but Riel remembering his part during the risingr efuses to recognize him as a delegate, and carrying his enmity further imprisons him 285
• 59 The Portage Uprising 289
• 60 In which he contracts to bring the Canadian Volunteers from the Red River to the Lake of the Woods. The trip is made with difficulty and Grant conceives a great contempt for the militiamen’s ability 291
• 61 First Election in Manitoba 294
• 62 Mr. D.A. Smith’s Election 299
• 63 My speculation in scrip 313
• 64 Change of Manitoba after the Transfer 319
• 65 Captain Moberley going west 323
• 66 Fever in my family 330
• 67 My first meeting with C. Allard partner of Mr. Pablo 335
• 68 The bad luck I had with giving my cattle [on] share 340
• 69 Property lost by fire 344
• 70 Bought a Saw Mill and Gristmill; Sailing on the railroad and selling land 348
• 71 My first trip to Montana 352
• Visit to my friends the Snake Indians 356
• 72 My return trip 361
• 73 My trip to BC and Alberta 365
• 74 Manitoba to Banff to Edmonton and back to Manitoba—1889 or 1890 374
• 75 The move [to] Alberta, 1891 377
• Notes 382
• Appendix 1: Genealogical Charts of the Grant Family | Anita Steele 424
• Appendix 2: Descriptive Genealogy of the Grant Family | Anita Steele 436
• John Grant and Jean Forbes 436
• William Grant, son of John Grant in Inverlochie and Jean Forbes 437
• Richard Grant, son of William Grant and Marguerite Laframboise 438
• John F. Grant 442
• Bibliography 446
• Archival Collections 446
• Newspapers 447
• Books and Articles 447
• Reference Books and Databases 452
• Other Genealogical Sources 454
• Individuals Credited for Family Histories 455
• Index 458