Red+River+Settlement

How was the Red River Settlement laid out and run? How did the settlement affect the natives, Métis, and the environment? (vice versa)

The Métis already had their own community set up at the junction of the two rivers, the Red and the Assiniboin. This was probably because they could have access to the waterways and canoe to places to trade. Some of the best prairie soils were there so they lived comfortably with crops and the buffalo hunt to sustain them through the winter, and because of their French background, they laid out their farms in seigneurial pattern, i.e. long narrow plots with one end on the river. Pemmican played a huge part in their lives because they ate it in the winter and while traveling and they traded it with the North-West Company for supplies.

Then the colony that Lord Selkirk decided to set up was right where the Métis lived. His colony was set up in the traditional English fashion, in square lots that paid no attention to what the land looked like. A colony in the Sahara would look very similar on a map to a colony in Hawaii. This naturally clashed with the Métis already living in the area.

We've put links of resources to information about the Red Rive Settlement below! Feel free to add more if you find helpful websites including primary sources. The discussion is also open for more comments or starting new discussions!

Links: Interactive map of the Red River Settlement: http://www.metisresourcecentre.mb.ca/maps/rrsettlement1870.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_River_Colony http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0006725 http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0841356.html http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/494444/Red-River-Settlement