Historical and Non-Historical Aspects of "Partners"
Aspects of "Partners"
During the last few days I’ve been talking to people at the Dawson Creek
Visitor’s Center about some of the history of Western Canada, or at least the
parts that I’ve read and included in my novels. In this posting I’m simply pasting
in the Author’s Note from my novel Partners. The locations either exist or did
so at the time and some of the action is also historical.
Author’s Note
Old Woman Lake
is located in what is now south-central Saskatchewan. Aboriginal legend claims
that a group of Assiniboine (or Cree or Blackfoot or Crow, depending on the
story-teller) were surrounded here by a group of Blackfeet (or Cree or Crow,
again depending on the narrator). An old woman in the group volunteered to keep
the fires burning while the rest slipped away in the night. The end of the
story also varies with the source; the surrounding or attacking group closes in
at daylight resulting in the old woman being killed or adopted, or the camp
site vacant with no sign of the old woman.
It is now a protected area and appears on maps as ‘Old Wives Lake’,
undoubtedly part of the ongoing effort at political correctness and to gloss
over the past that made us who we are.
I don’t believe personally that there were no old widows, or old
spinsters but I do believe that all old wives were women ……. at the time
depicted at least.
As for the Cyprus Hills where Tom and Frank make their final
stand and meet the Blackfeet family, this is not far from where a group of
wolvers and Metis massacred many Assiniboine, June 1, 1873. Undoubtedly this
was not the first such confrontation between divergent groups and nations in
what had been “Rupert’s Land” and at that point had been Canada’s “Northwest
Territories” for 5 years, but it is surely the most famous. It was the final
impetus in creating a security force which arrived the following year and was
known then as the North West Mounted Police. It was also the final scenes in
the novel and movie by Guy Vanderhaeghe, “The Englishman’s Boy.”
Blackfeet
Actually, a confederacy of three Algonquin nations, the Kainai, Sitsika
and Peigan, the name “Blackfoot” supposedly placed on them by the Lakota or
Sioux and now worn with great pride but always said “Blackfeet” by those within
the confederacy. Outnumbered by everyone except the whites (for a few years)
they made up in ferocity what they lacked in population. The fear they
engendered in other peoples was only approximated by the Kiowa and later the
Apache far to the south.
Their obvious pride in their history, heritage and present-day
achievements will quickly appear justified to the most casual student.
In chapter 15 the character “Red Shirt” says “And now other men try to
move into this land.” The “other men” included other tribes (Lakota, Nes Perce
and others from south of the “medicine line”) but a few years before (’60 and
’61) at least three groups of “overlanders” went from Winnipeg to the Cariboo
gold fields. Before that the Pallister Expedition mapped a good portion. Many
decades before the time depicted “Woodland Cree” had left the woodland of what
is now Northern Ontario and moved to west to eventually cover the plains and
make large incursions into the Blackfeet buffalo harvest.
“Colonel Coleman”
Yes, Colonel Coleman is a figment of my imagination. However, during the
time period depicted and because there was nothing to stop them, several
individuals thought to create their own kingdom in what is now Southern Alberta
and Saskatchewan. According to the Hudson’s Bay Company charter (and the
British Crown) the entire area was part of that company’s area of operation and
thus under their protection until 1869. However, practically speaking this area
was buffalo country with a white population consisting of a few whiskey traders
and trappers. Thus, the company held very little interest in the area and had
no force capable of stopping or even slowing incursions.
The North West Mounted Police, formed to prevent incursions,
eliminate whiskey and protect the population did not arrive in the area until
1874.
“Captain McDougal”
Like Colonel Coleman, Captain McDougal is a completely fictional
character. However, the U.S. Army of the day was populated with officers (and
troopers) who took demotions following the end of the Civil War in order that
they might have a home. A few of these officers and their men were of less than
stellar character, but many, such as the fictional Captain McDougal completed
almost impossible tasks despite, in between specific “Indian campaigns”, being
virtually ignored by Washington. Many officers persisted and became central
figures in subsequent confrontations such as the Spanish American War and WWI.
Bear Child aka Jerry Potts
Bear Child
He was known by the white man as Jerry Potts, but his Kainai name was
Bear Child. He was the son of a Scott, Andrew Potts, an American Fur Company
clerk at Fort McKenzie and Namo-pisi (Crooked Back) a member of Black Elk’s
band.
Jerry Potts has been called the greatest scout and guide of the
old west, which, considering the competition may or may not be completely true.
There is no doubt that the two people most responsible for the early survival
of the North West Mounted Police, and thus the continuing longevity of the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police are Colonel James F. Macleod and Jerry Potts.
Wild Horse Creek Cemetary in South Central British Columbia
Site of BCPP Constable Jack Lawson's last resting place.
Constable Jack Lawson
Constable Lawson, a rookie with the British Columbia Police force was I
believe, the second police officer to be killed in the line of duty in what is
now Western Canada. A few days before his death on July 18th, 1867
Canadian Confederation had been achieved, but British Columbia had not joined
at that point and was still a British colony. While investigating the theft of
horses from Oregon Territory, Lawson was shot by ‘One Ear Charlie’.
Charles H. (One Ear Charlie) Brown
One Ear Charlie was a totally despicable thug with a long criminal
career that covered the Western U.S. and the Colony of British Columbia. During
one of his many incarcerations, he attempted to overpower a prison guard who
shot off his ear.
Charlie’s last crime was the killing of Constable Lawson who was
widely liked by the miners of Wild Horse Creek. Since no other officers were
immediately available, four miners trailed Brown south into Oregon where they
shot him out of the saddle on July 20th, 1867.
Despite diligent research I could find no mention of the names of the four vigilantes and so I have given them names.
Barkerville before the fire of 1868
Barkerville main street looking south 2024
Barkerville
I have my characters coming into a bustling Barkerville in mid-summer of
1867. In actual fact the “Metropoulos of the North” had dropped in size
dramatically but its summer time population was probably about 6,000 and still
larger than New Westminster or Victoria.
(Neither Vancouver nor the earlier Granville existed at that point in
time.)
In 1861 when the big discoveries were made in Barkerville the mid-summer
population of the Cariboo District may have been as high as 30,000 but by 1867
it had fallen dramatically.
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