Battle of Seven Oaks - Battle

Battle

In 1816 a band of mostly Métis but including some French-Canadians, English, and Native American employees, led by Cuthbert Grant and working for the North West Company, seized a supply of Hudson's Bay Company pemmican (that was stolen from the Métis) and were traveling to a meeting with traders of the North West Company to whom they intended to sell it. They were met by Semple and a group of HBC men and settlers south of Fort Douglas along the Red River at a location known to the English as Seven Oaks, or la Grenouillière (Frog Plain) by the Métis. The North West Company sent a French-Canadian, François-Firmin Boucher, to speak to Semple's men, and he and Semple argued, and a gunfight ensued when the English tried to arrest Boucher and seize his horse. Although early reports stated that the Métis fired the first shot and began the fray, Royal Commissioner W.B. Coltman determined that "next to certainty" that one of Semple's men fired first. Semple and his men did not have a chance against the Métis, who were skilled sharpshooters and outnumbered Semple's forces by nearly 3 to 1. The Métis repulsed the attack, killing 21 men, including Governor Semple, while the Métis themselves suffered only one fatality. Métis poet Pierre Falcon later celebrated the battle in his song La Chanson de la Grenouillère.