from Page 82 " Another interesting family who were friendly and kind to us were the married and unmarried children of Mr. Archibald Macdonald, a man of great distinction, not only as being the last of the chief factors of the Hudson Bay Company, but as one who played his part well in Imperial matters during the historic days of the treaties and periods of disturbance with the Indians. It was he who stood for intelligence and integrity on the historic occasion in 1857 when the general affairs of the Hudson Bay Company passed under the review of the House of Commons, and in answer to a leading question as to what class of men the officials were sending out to Canada this prompt answer came from Mr. Ellice, M.P. for St. Andrews, Fife, " such men as Archibald Macdonald of Invergary." At that time he had barely reached his twentieth year. Nearly thirty years later, in 1885, during the final phase of the Riel Rebellion, the people of the Prairie Provinces were in great anxiety over the fear of the ill-will of the Indians. The Government looked to Lord Strathcona and the Hudson Bay Company for help and advice in dealing with the Tribes, and they looked to Archibald Macdonald, the boy of Invergary and the man of Fort Qu'Appelle. Relief came in his one sentence, "We can manage the Indians." We were deeply interested in him long before we had passed the "good day" stage of acquantaince, because he seed the patriarch of the village and was obviously the principal white man " Page 83 "friend and adviser of the Indians, of whom there were always few or many customer in the Hudson Bay Store. He talked to them in friendlist fashion in their own tongue, was polite to the squaws and petted the charming dark-eyed children. The world and his wife called him Mr.Macdonald with great respect in his presence and "auld Archie" with the same marked respect in his absence; but absent or present he was always "Chief" in Fort Qu'Appelle. He was profoundly interesting; in all those years in the North-West he had gathered a wide experience of human nature; he knew men and motives well, and he had an excellent memory. One could listen to him with pleasure for hours on end. But he was also naďvely and frankly inquisitive, and very deaf. I remember on one occasion whilst he ruled over the Hudson Bay as last of the chief factors, in the process of a particularly bad time it became imperative that I bought horses, and therefore, it was impossible that I could settle a Hudson Bay account. When I had been compelled to shout the explanation of my embarrassment on a top note and in full detail several times over, I lost all sense of guilt, and found the courage of the situation whilst doubtless every one whithin earshot seized on its humour. However, I obtained time for my bill and bought my horses, but although Mr. Macdonald served his adopted country, his sovereign, and the Empire with fine service, he always served the Hudson Bay first, and it was not the smallest tribute to his most attractive personality that much was easily forgiven in the last of the cheif factors. His wife, whose lamented death occurred in December 1912, had been a " Page 84 "Miss Ellen Inkster, and the daughter of a brother officer of the Hudson Bay Company. She was a woman of great charm, in whose quiet courtesy dignity and gentleness seened always peculiarly one. Isolated as were the greater number of the pioneer families of the North-West, the many official and distinguished persons who 'stopped off' to visit the historic and beautiful neighborhood of Fort Qu'Appelle, or passed through on their way to that paradise of sportsmen known as 'the Head of the Lakes", seldom missed the opportunity to pay their respects to Mr. and Mrs. Macdonald who, through a period extending over forty years, have shown much kindly hospitality to the English, and some of the most attractive leaves in the "last of the chief factors'" book of memory are associated with British names of which we have good reason to be proud. Of his several children two sons were prominent in the movement of affairs in Canada -- the elder, John A. Macdonald, being Conservative member for North Qu'Appelle in the Saskatchewan Chamber of Legislature from 1908-1913; and another, Donald H. Macdonald, well known in Western Canada as being one of the biggest landowners and of particular perspicacity and knowledge in financial affairs, has also a place in the history of my farming experience." |
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WHEAT
& WOMAN BY GEORGINA BINNIE-CLARK AUTHOR OF "A SUMMER ON THE CANADIAN PRAIRIE" ILLUSTRATED TORONTO BELL AND COCKBURN 1914 |
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Please comment
on the pictures if they remind you of any of your family stories, or
if you would like to contribute information about them in regards to Saskatchewan history
or current practices. In regards to Mr. Archibald Macdonald please also visit the web page...Comunn Chlann Domhnaill Dun Eideann The Clan Donald Society of Edinburgh (1891):Clan Donald Magazine No9 (1981): Online A Hudson's Bay Company Pioneer - Chief Factor Archibald McDonald of Fort Qu'Appelle by Norman H. MacDonald and Ellice McDonald Jr. View comments.....Add comments. |
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Web Master: J. Adamson, for Sask Gen Web Project URL: Web Publish Date: Guestbook Genealogy Queries |
