Charles Bremner

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This is Vernon Neis Research About Charles Bremner

I have researched our extended family genealogy since 1991 and for 4 years I focused on my Grandson's Bremner family tree. Part of that tree goes back to the Bremner/Scottish, half-breeds and another part goes back to the Boucher/French, half-breeds: both sides born and raised in the Red River Settlement, MB. So my grandson's heritage is a mix of French-Métis who supported Riel during both 1869 Red River Uprising and the 1884-85 North-West Rebellion together with the Scottish-Métis who didn't really involve themselves in either of those two mix-ups.

One of Cole's GGGGG mothers was Marguerite Taylor. She was the Métis daughter of George Taylor, a Sloopmaster at York Factory before he retired back to England. She was one of 8 Taylor children and she was Sir George Simpson's Country Wife and bore him two sons before he got rid of her. George Simpson was the HBC boss man called the "Emperor of Rupert's Land" from 1821 to 1860.

Marguerite married GGGGG father Amable Louis Hogue in 1831. One of their daughters married William Bremner and one of his brothers (Cole's GGGG uncle) was Charles Bremner. My story is about this man, Charles Bremner, who was born at St Charles, Manitoba in 1835, and in 1860 married a Métis lady, Emily Wills. They had 14 children and lived in Headlingly (a west-end suburb of Winnipeg). They were there during the 1869 Red River uprising. They moved to Battleford, SK, in 1882 to get away from the Red River Settlement bickering and in 1899 they moved to Alberta.

This is a photo of the grain elevators at Bresaylor, Saskatchewan

About 10 families (e.g., Bremner, Sayer, Taylor, Spence, McDonald, Lambert, Caplette and Setter) moved from Manitoba to the Battleford area and 3 families are note-worthy: the Bremners, Sayers, and Taylors. They started the small town of Bresaylor (Bremner, Sayer, and Taylor = Bre/say/lor) on the south side of the North Saskatchewan River some 25 miles west of Battleford. As you know, Battleford was the Capital of the NWT in the early days.

Charles Bremner was a farmer, trader and freighter and he operated a successful trading post in Bresaylor. He also obtained a Post Office for the small village.

Now - here is the Charles Bremner story:

Charles and Peter Taylor rode west from Headlingly in the fall of 1881 to scout out an area to establish a settlement away from the turmoil associated with the Riel uprising in Manitoba. Their original intention was to go to the Peace River region but when they got to Battleford they were so impressed with the plentiful grass and water that they decided to stay. Much of the land was already spoken for and there were a number of Indian Reservations nearby but some free land was available west of Battleford (now called the Bresaylor district).

They sent word to their families and others to immediately come west. Quite a few families came in the spring of 1882, among them Charles Bremner's brother-in-law Henry Sayer along with James Bremner and Louis Caplette. Charles had 10 siblings, and at least two of his brothers and a sister, William, James, and Elizabeth (together with their large families) came to the "Settlement".

The wagon train started out from Winnipeg in the spring of 1882. They came with their stock and implements and therefore traveled very slowly. The trip took a total of nine weeks. Emily gave birth to her 13th child, Amelia Maude Gertrude Bremner, on 17 April 1882 in the wagon train as they were moving west. Charles and Emily settled on their unsurveyed homestead on what is now Section 9-46-19 W 3rd.

They somehow got houses built for everyone by all working together and by facing each task as a group. In three years time, by the year 1885, they were becoming a very well established settlement. Their cattle herds were growing to a considerable size and Charles Bremner had established a store from which he traded with the Indians. The settlers had built up a good business and had a large quantity of furs when it suddenly became apparent that serious trouble was brewing.

Let us imagine the conditions in Saskatchewan in 1884/85: There are small groups of farm settlements all over the province. The total Saskatchewan population is approx. 32,800 - Scottish, Irish, English (16200), German (300), French (650), Métis (2010), Scandinavian (75), others (565) and Indians (13000). The Indians are living on reservations (established: 1877) and their living conditions are very poor (many are starving but some Government Agents won't dole out food!). Almost everyone is fed up with the actions (and inaction) of a distant, uncaring, greedy, Government and a money-grabbing, huge company called the CPR, but the people are working together, helping their far-flung neighbors, and struggling to make their new life in a harsh frontier environment a success. Only the Batoche French-Métis (under Riel) and the some of the desperate, starving, Indian bands are prepared to take up arms in an attempt to improve their lot in life. Aside: It is estimated that of those 13000 Indians only about 1000 actively participated in the 1885 uprising.

Aside: On June 30, 1882, Lieutenant Governor Dewdney, an Englishman, posted notice that Pile O' Bones Creek (Regina) was the new Capital of the North West Territories. The land boom that had taken place at Battleford crashed and many "paper millionaires" lost their money. Earlier in 1882 Dewdney and several friends had purchased 28 sections of land along Wascana Creek, very close to Pile O' Bones. The Toronto Globe reported: it is intolerable that the high official whose prerogative it is to locate a capital city, should have the privilege of buying up the site, in order to speculate on the price of corner lots. Dewdney should have spent time in jail but Prime Minister John A. McDonald came to his friend's aid and absolved him of any wrong doing.

Also, think about Saskatoon in those days. John Lake brought about 35 Temperance Colonists to the east bank of the Saskatchewan River (Nutana) in August, 1883. The next year there was a ferry across river and by 1885 the colonists had a school, newspaper, hotel, post office, blacksmith, lumber mill, and about 20 houses. Marr House and some houses along 11th St. were used as military hospitals for 37 soldiers in 1885. On March 18, Riel threatened the colony: "He would rule this country or perish in the attempt." About 20 of "White Cap"'s Indians (Moose Wood Reservation south of Saskatoon) and 18 Métis went through Saskatoon on their way north to join the Batoche uprising. The Indians were being forced by Riel's people but White Cap didn't want to fight anyone and after talking to the village representative they rode through the present university grounds without incident and Saskatoon's little 9 man Citizen's Army weren't called upon to do any fighting. How would you feel if you were one of about 80 people living near Broadway Ave. Saskatoon and suddenly 40 cold, hungry, angry, Indians, with their guns and horses, rode into your little village?

Anyway, in March 1885, the Bresaylor people knew that big trouble was brewing involving the Batoche Métis and the local Indians (the Métis of Batoche started taking hostages on March 17 and the Duck Lake Métis/NWMP Battle took place on March 26) so Alexander (age 27, son of William Bremner) made an historic ride to Battleford. "At midnight Alex Bremner came riding hastily from Bresaylor, saying that the Settlement was in danger and asking for an escort to bring in the people and their cattle." He was not believed, but instead was accused of attempting to lure the escort into an ambush. Col. William Morris accordingly locked him up. Alex made a dash for freedom some three weeks later but was "run down about half a mile from the fort by Sgt. Bagley, who mounted a horse bare-back and went in pursuit." On April 13 Alex appeared before Inspector Francis J. Dickens, J.P., and was "paroled and ordered to stay in town, to appear in court when summoned." Aside: It seems that whatever charges laid against him were never pursued.

When news reached the Bresaylor settlement about the massacre at Frog Lake, (on April 2, 1885, 9 white people were killed at Frog Lake, 80 km north of Lloydminster) Charles and Louis Caplette (who worked for Charles) loaded all their furs on Red River carts and were planning to move all the settlers and their furs to Battleford. Unfortunately, their plans didn't work out because the Indians arrived before they could leave. The Indians ransacked the store and took the settlers prisoner. They were taken to the Poundmaker Reserve and held there for over a month until the Indians surrendered to General Middleton's forces. Aside: The Queen's Own Rifles under the command of Lt-Co. William Diller Otter didn't arrive from Swift Current to relieve the 500 people in the besieged town of Battleford until April 24.

Charles Bremner's mother (Elizabeth “Betsy” Bremner) died while the settlers were being held prisoner. The camp conditions were extremely difficult and dangerous for all the detainees. Fortunately, one of the people taken prisoner was Father Cochin who was respected by all sides in the camp and was responsible for keeping an already dangerous situation from getting worse.

An incident during the time that the settlers were being held prisoner went like this: Pitikwahanapiwiyin (Poundmaker), who was a highly respected man and friend of the settlers, told Bremner and the others that they should stay in their tents if trouble arose and no harm would come to them from his men. The settlers, knowing that Poundmaker's word was good, felt quite secure as they had no quarrel with either side. What neither party had foreseen was how unpredictable and dangerous the Big Bear Band was. Along with this were Riel's men who worked the Indians into an even more hostile mood. This foul mood was becoming a bigger problem for Poundmaker as he had taken the settlers prisoner more for the settlers' protection than any other reason. Now the radicals among the Indians were warring and demanding that Poundmaker turn the settlers over to them. Poundmaker spoke to Charles Bremner and Father Cochin and said, "I'm not sure I can control them much longer. You have your guns; do the best you can for your families. I will be outside your tent and before they get in they will have to pass over my body." With this, Poundmaker undid his braids and let his hair hang loose. Anyone knowing him knew he only did this when he went to war. That night Poundmaker sat in front of the settlers' tents with his rifle across his knees. In the morning, news arrived that a column of troops was approaching, and the warriors had other things to occupy them and the incident passed. But it was noted that Poundmaker was willing to lay down his life to ensure the safety of the settlers.

When the battles of Fish Creek, Cut Knife Hill and Batoche were over and Riel, Big Bear, Poundmaker and others had surrendered, (May 26, 1885, - even then no one really knew if the uprising had truly ended or not) Charles and James Bremner, along with Henry Sayer, were released by the Indians and they took all their wagons, furs, people, and possessions to Battleford.

As soon as they arrived at the fort, they were taken prisoner by the militia police, accused of treason, and were jailed. Their wives and families (living in tents) had to watch helplessly as Gen. Middleton's troops stole their furs and various belongings: "Those people are simply guilty half breeds, with no rights, aren't they?"

All the men asked for a trial and a hearing since they were sure they could produce enough witnesses to prove the accusations false. They were never allowed their trial and after a lengthy period in jail, they were released, but not with a pardon, and for the rest of their lives they lived with a black mark against them. In addition, they lost their stock and Charles Bremner lost his store and a large quantity of furs, so they were right back where they started. Right back where they started with one exception: the closeness and the bond between the various Saskatchewan settlers were gone. There was much finger pointing and mistrust that built into hostilities and resentments that to some degree still exist today.

Charles, while re-establishing his family, was preoccupied with trying to locate his furs. The furs had last been in possession of General Middleton, who denied ever seeing them. After many years of wrangling and wading through endless legal complications - and these were easily produced, as Charles could neither read nor write - it was finally proved that the furs had indeed been stolen and General Middleton had sent them away in large wooden boxes to England. Charles got some $5000 but that was precious little compensation. His reputation was ruined, he was financially ruined, and bad luck seemed to dog him. A few hot coals from a wood stove in his house fell through a crack in the floor into a keg of gun powder stored in his cellar. The resulting explosion blew most of his place apart. He suffered a stroke that left him partially, and permanently, crippled.

----- End of the little story -----

Note 1: Major-Gen. Frederick Dobson Middleton got a reward of $20,000 from the Canadian Government but, after Charles Bremner won his legal battles against him, he resigned his militia appointment and returned to England where the Queen gave him a knighthood and made him Keeper of the Tower of London.

Note 2: See House of Commons, HANSARD, 14 March 1890 and also 19 March 1890 for information about the Select Committee, House of Commons that investigated Charles Bremner's complaints. At the committee hearings, Middleton admitted taking the furs (until then he had said otherwise). The report came to Parliament in May 1890 and Charles was awarded $4500.00 plus interest for the theft of his furs by Middleton. After 9 more years, Charles eventually got $5364.50 in August, 1899. So, 17 years after he had arrived in the Battleford district, he loaded up the little he had left and moved away to re-establish himself in the Battenburg district of Alberta.

Note 3: The Indians paid dearly for their part in the Riel Rebellion. Of 81 arrested, 44 were convicted and of these, 8 were hanged, 3 got life imprisonment, and most others put in jail for a long time. Big Bear and Pitikwahanapiwiyin (Poundmaker) had tried to prevent violence and they saved many lives - no thanks to the other rampaging Indians or Métis - but they were sentenced to 3 year jail terms for felony-treason. Poundmaker died in 1886 and Big Bear died in 1888. Of course, we all know that Louis Riel was hanged.

Note 4: Most of the above story is taken from "Bresaylor Between the Battle and the North Saskatchewan Rivers, 1882-1992, A history of the Bresaylor District."