The war trail of Big Bear

"The war trail of Big Bear" by William Bleasdell Cameron is a first-hand historical memoir written in the early 20th century. It recounts the 1885 North-West Rebellion on the Canadian prairies from an eyewitness who survived the Frog Lake Massacre and later captivity. The narrative centers on Cree leaders—especially Big Bear, Wandering Spirit, and Poundmaker—treaty tensions, and the fraught dealings with the Indian agent, the Hudson’s Bay Company, and the North-West Mounted Police. The opening of the memoir sets Frog Lake in the Saskatchewan country and explains the Plains and Wood Cree divisions, introducing Big Bear’s stature, Poundmaker’s influence, and Wandering Spirit’s ferocity. It then covers an explosive annuity scene at Fort Pitt where Little Poplar confronts Agent Quinn over beef, followed by a tense earlier standoff at Poundmaker’s Thirst Dance in which Major Crozier narrowly averts bloodshed and arrests a provocateur after William McKay’s calm mediation and a canny giveaway of provisions. Winter passes uneventfully until rumors of Riel’s Métis rising grow; locals debate fleeing, the police slip away before dawn, and the civilians—encouraged by the mission—stay. On April 1 a show of friendliness masks a takeover: at daybreak Big Bear’s young men seize horses, arms, and supplies, confine the settlers, and herd them through a Mass at the mission. Soon after, Wandering Spirit leads the killings—Agent Quinn and others fall—while the narrator, guided into the Indian camp, is spared through the advocacy of Wood Cree leaders and finally with Wandering Spirit’s assent.

The war trail of Big Bear, by William Bleasdell Cameron. Republished by OpenStories from Project Gutenberg eBook #77982.