St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-04-06
A Northern Pilgrims View.

A gentleman in the city from the North
west territory says that at Calgary all sorts O.
rumors are current regarding the attitude O.
the Blackfeet. They are aware that some
thing is wrong up north, but they are as We
quiet and well-disposed. Pound-ma aker
the chief of the Blackfeet tribe
has been in communication witt
Crowfoot the Blackfeet leader for some time
All the other chiefs, Three Bulls, Medicine
Eagle, Weasel Calf, Running Rabbit, White
Eagle, Big Plume, Old Sun, Many-times
shot-at and the rest are in good humor, bu
they complain, like the other Indians, OF
being half starved. The Indians in the
High river and Fort Mcleod districts did not
know Of any trouble at last accounts. Disease
from contact with the. .navvies of theCanadian
Pacific on one side and the navvies of the
Northern Pacific on the other have made q
complete wreck of the women and young
men of the Bloods and 'Piegan tribes. A
letter was received by young man from a
friend in Montana, the latter asking what
was the matter up north. He said that the
Indians and half breeds at the top Of Sun
valley were up to some big move, as one of
them had told him there was going to be q
big time in Canada. When asked If the
governor general was going to visit the North
west he said no, unless at the head of an
army. 1t is certain that between
half-breeds and Indians Riel has now at
least two thousand men, aud as the disaffec-
ton spreads the number will increase
Riel is not the man he was in 1869, the
events of that time having disturbed his
reason. He had always been nervous aud
e1citable, and after his fight from Fort
Gary he was attacked with brain fever and
he was removed to lunatic asy-
lum. On his return in 1883
traces of insanity were apparent.
His conversation was almost entirely devoted
to schemes for the preservation of the Indian
as q race; and his present agitation is no
doubt carried on TO make 4 last stand again st
their extinction. The half-breeds themselves
are not actuated BY that spirit. They com
plain that injustice has been done them by
the government and they are fighting for a
redress of their grievances. Riel's chief
assistant in the crusade is an
ex-officer of the Hudson Bay company
named Thomas Scott, trader, horse-doctor.
and several other things, who spends most of
his time cursing the government He would
organize meetings of white settlers, and Riel
would appear among them as orator. II is
altogether probable that some whites are
backing him in secret.
He counts on nine-tenths of the half
breed population of the northern districts.
who are allied by blood to the Cree Indians.
and Riel is seeking the assistance
of those chiefs before named, who.
since the disappearance of the buffalo.
have had hard work to keep body and soul
together. The length of the campaign win
greatly depend upon the means possessed by
Riel. If he has seized all the store-houses
between Qu'Appelle and Carleton, as re-
ported, with the government supplies on the
Indian reservations, he viii be able to keep
up the contest for weeks Il is reported ID
north that he also expects help 'front.' large
Irish population in Minnesots, Dakota and
Montana