"Next, to the west is Battleford, which holds the central position and is the storm-center of the rebellion at present.This line shows the march of Colonel Otter with Superintendent Herchmer from Swift Current to that point.We have just heard that Colonel Otter has arrived at Battleford and has raised the siege.But large bands of Indians are in the vicinity of Battleford and the situation there is extremely critical.I understand that old Oo-pee-too-korah-han-apee-wee-yin--" the Superintendent prided himself upon his mastery of Indian names and ran off this polysyllabic cognomen with the utmost facility--"the Pond-maker, or Pound-maker as he has come to be called, is in the neighborhood.He is not a bad fellow, but he is a man of unusual ability, far more able than of the Willow Crees, Beardy, as he is called, though not so savage, and he has a large and compact body of Indians under him.
"Then here straight north from us some two hundred miles is Edmonton, the center of a very wide district sparsely settled, with a strong half-breed element in the immediate neighborhood and Big Bear and Little Pine commanding large bodies of Indians ravaging the country round about.Inspector Griesbach is in command of this district, located at Fort Saskatchewan, which is in close touch with Edmonton.General Strange, commanding the Alberta Field Force and several companies of Militia, together with our own men under Superintendent Strong and Inspector Dickson, are on the way to relieve this post.Inspector Dickson, I understand, has successfully made the crossing of the Red Deer with his nine pr.
gun, a quite remarkable feat I assure you.
"But, gentlemen, you see the position in which we are placed in this section of the country.From the Cypress Hills here away to the southeast, westward to the mountains and down to the boundary-line, you have a series of reserves almost completely denuded of Police supervision.True, we are fortunate in having at the Blackfoot Crossing, at Fort Calgary and at Fort Macleod, companies of Militia; but the very presence of these troops incites the Indians, and in some ways is a continual source of unrest among them.
"Every day runners from the North and East come to our reserves with extraordinary tales of rebel victories.This Fish Creek business has had a tremendous influence upon the younger element.
On every reserve there are scores of young braves eager to rise.
What a general uprising would mean you know, or think you know.An Indian war of extermination is a horrible possibility.The question before us all is--what is to be done?"After a period of conversation the Superintendent summed up the results of the discussion in a few short sentences:
"It seems, gentlemen, there is not much more to be done than what we are already doing.But first of all I need not say that we must keep our nerve.I do not believe any Indian will see any sign of doubt or fear in the face of any member of this Force.Our patrols must be regularly and carefully done.There are a lot of things which we must not see, a certain amount of lawbreaking which we must not notice.Avoid on every possible occasion pushing things to extremes; but where it is necessary to act we must act with promptitude and fearlessness, as Mr.Cameron here did at the Piegan Reserve a week or so ago.I mention this because I consider that action of Cameron's a typically fine piece of Police work.We must keep on good terms with the Chiefs, tell them what good news there is to tell.We must intercept every runner possible.Arrest them and bring them to the barracks.The situation is grave, but not hopeless.Great responsibilities rest upon us, gentlemen.I do not believe that we shall fail."The little company broke up with resolute and grim determination stamped on every face.There would be no weakening at any spot where a Mounted Policeman was on duty.
"Cameron, just a moment," said the Superintendent as he was passing out."Sit down.You were quite right in that Eagle Feather matter.You did the right thing in pushing that hard.""I somehow felt I could do it, sir," replied Cameron simply."Ihad the feeling in my bones that we could have taken the whole camp that day."The Superintendent nodded."I understand.And that is the way we should feel.But don't do anything rash this week.This is a week of crisis.If any further reverse should happen to our troops it will be extremely difficult, if indeed possible, to hold back the younger braves.If there should be a rising--which may God forbid--my plan then would be to back right on to the Blackfeet Reserve.
