A Son of the Fur Trade

Born in 1833 at Fort Edmonton, Johnny Grant experienced and wrote about many historical events in the Canada-US northwest, and died within sight of the same fort in 1907. Grant was not only a fur trader; he was instrumental in early ranching efforts in Montana and played a pivotal role in the Riel Resistance of 1869-70. Published in its entirety for the first time, Grant's memoir-with a perceptive introduction by Gerhard Ens-is an indispensable primary source for the shelves of fur trade and Métis historians.

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

A Son of the Fur Trade

The Memoirs of Johnny Grant

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