ach Pembina--some half-way, some more,
some less; one woman was found with an infant on her back, within a
quarter of a mile of Pembina. This poor creature must have travelled, at
least, one hundred and twenty-five miles, in three days and nights, till
she sunk at last in the too unequal struggle for life." Such scenes
might be expected in the valleys of the Highlands of Scotland, or amid
the heavy snows of New Brunswick or Quebec, but they were a surprise
upon the open prairie. Some of the settlers had devoured their dogs, raw
hides, leather and their very shoes. The loss of thirty-three lives cast
a gloom over the whole settlement.

Anxiety had been aroused throughout the whole Colony. The St. Lawrence
often overflows its banks at Montreal, the Grand River at Brantford and
the Fraser at its delta, but the rarity of the Red River overflows led
the people, after their winter disaster, to hope that they would escape
a flood.

This was not to be.

As the Red River flows northward, the first thaw of spring is usually
south of the American International Boundary line at the head waters of
the river which divides Minnesota and Dakota. In these States the floods
are always, in consequence, greater than they are in Manitoba. In this
year the ice held very firm up to the end of April. On the second of
May, the waters from above rose and lifted the ice which still held in a
mass together some nine feet above the level of the day before. Indians
and whites alike were alarmed. The water overflowed its banks, and still
continued to rise at Fort Garry. The Governor and his family were driven
to the upper story of their residence in the fort, with the water ten
feet deep below that.

The whole river bank for miles was a scene of confusion and terror.
Every home was an alarming scene as the flood reached it. The first
thought was to save life. Amid the crying of children, the lowing of
cattle and the howling of dogs, parents sought out all their children to
see them safely removed. Parents and grown men and women fled in fright
from their houses, and in many cases without any other garments than
their working clothes. The only hope was to seek out somewhat higher
spots more and more removed from the river. And with them went their
cattle and horses.

To those in boats--the stronger and more venturesome men--the task now
came of removing the wheat and oats, what little furniture they
possessed and the necessary cooking utensils.