Sentence:  Seven hundred miles south of York Factory , at `` the Forks '' of the Red and the Assiniboine , twenty-three men located a <WSD>settlement</WSD> in August 1812 . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  a body of people who settle far from home but maintain ties with their homeland; inhabitants remain nationals of their home state but are not literally under the home state's system of government