Prairies a land of great promise
For several years, great discontent has been expressed by the settlers of the district lying between the Rocky Mountains and Canada, known under the generic title of the Red River Settlement, at the control of their affairs by the Hudson’s Bay Company, which corporation stands in the same relation to the settlers in that locality as it occupied toward this colony prior to 1858.
The government of the Red River Settlement is in the hands of the company. From its officers are appointed the members of the legislative council, and the council makes all the appointments and regulates the officials from sheriff to constable in the territory.
Against this undesirable form of government, the settlers have frequently petitioned.
They are anxious to “open business on their own account,” and, to do the Hudson’s Bay Company justice, we must say it appears anxious to transfer the responsibility to the Crown. The company has, we believe, wielded its almost unlimited power in a spirit of justice and impartiality; but disputes frequently arise between its officers and the colonists, which render the task of governing as disagreeable to the officers as the fact of being so governed is irksome to the people.
The Red River country lies directly on the line of the proposed highway from the Pacific to the Atlantic. The British American railway, if ever built, must run directly through the heart of the settlement.
The country is one of the most magnificent on the continent. Rich prairies, intersected here and there with bolts of valuable timber, abound, and an American engineer who recently explored the country, in a report to the New York legislature, gives it as his opinion that within 20 years hence, the territory of Red River to the foot of the Rocky Mountains, along the Assiniboine and the Saskatchewan, will produce more grain than all the northwest states of America now produce.
He estimates that there are at least 50 millions of acres of splendid land now lying idle that will yield bountifully of every resource that contributes to the support of man, were the land thrown open to settlement.
In his report, the gentleman presses strongly upon the United States government the advisability of obtaining possession of this splendid territory, the almost uninterrupted water communication from Red River to the Atlantic, rendering the shipment of its products a matter attended with comparatively slight expense.
The few farmers who have obtained a footing in the settlement are rich in flocks and herds and grain.
As high as 60 bushels of grain have been raised to the acre; 45 bushels is the average yield, and the only labour required to secure this enormous return is in turning up the rich, virgin soil and sowing the seed. Added to its agricultural resources, it is known to be rich in minerals.
Gold in payable quantities has been discovered on its rivers; and its mines of native copper will one day rival those of the far-tamed Lake Superior region. Iron, too, exists in abundance, and traces of silver ore have been frequently found.
The climate is mild — milder, in fact, than that of any part of Canada — and the Red River is open to navigation as early as the St. Lawrence.
All these natural advantages need only the fostering hand of the government to attract thither both men and capital.
One of the main objects of the Confederation scheme is the construction of a railway from ocean to ocean through British territory. The importance of the Red River country to the new nation cannot be underrated, and we are therefore not surprised to learn by telegraph that the settlers — fully awakened to a sense of their importance — are clamouring for a change in their relations to the Imperial government.
The Hudson’s Bay Company, for several successive years, has offered to transfer the territory to the Imperial government upon payment of a large sum of money; but the bargain has never been struck, and the question has been at last left with the kingdom of Canada to dispose of.
From appearances, we think that this will be one of the first matters of importance to come before the Parliament of the Confederation, and since the settlers have expressed a desire to unite their fortunes with their brethren of the eastern provinces, we feel certain that should the price named by the company be anywhere within reason, a transfer will be effected during the first session of Parliament. The Daily British Colonist and Victoria Chronicle,
May 6, 1867