Henry Kelsey - Travel To The Great Plains

Travel To The Great Plains

In 1690, HBC governor at York Factory, George Geyer, sent Kelsey on a journey up the Nelson River "to call, encourage, and invite the remoter Indians to a trade with us." Beaver pelts were the item most desired by the HBC. Kelsey left York Factory on June 12, 1690 with a group of Indians and proceeded by canoe up the Nelson River (southwest). He carried with him a sample of the trade goods available at the fort, including guns, blankets, kettles, hatchets, beads, and tobacco. Kelsey and the Indians reached a place he named Deering's Point, probably near present day The Pas, Manitoba, on July 10 after a journey of 600 miles passing through 5 lakes and undertaking 33 portages. Deering's Point was the place where Indians assembled for the journey down the Nelson River to trade at York Factory. Kelsey sent a letter, carried by Indians, back to York Factory with his observations about the journey and the Indians he had met. He stated that the various Indian nations were continually at war with each other which hindered prospects for trade. Kelsey spent the winter near Deerings Point.

In spring 1691, Kelsey received a supply of trade goods from York Factory and orders to obtain what beaver pelts he could and to return the following year with as many Indians as possible to introduce them to the trading post. On July 15, 1691, he set out from Deering Point "to discover and bring to commerce the "Naywatame poets," an Indian people of the Great Plains. At Deering point, Kelsey was still in the austere Tiaga forest of northern Canada. His apparent goal was to reach the Indians of the richer lands of the aspen parkland and prairies to his south and west. Accompanied by Cree Indians, Kelsey ascended the Carrot River by canoe, crossed into present day Saskatchewan, then continued on foot to a point northwest of present day Yorktown, Saskatchewan entering the aspen parkland. Kelsey's route was probably via several well-traveled Indian foot trails. Entering the aspen parkland, possibly near the Touchwood Hills, he encountered the Assiniboine, a buffalo-hunting people of the Great Plains. The Assiniboine and other peoples of the region were still on foot at this time, the later horse culture of the Plains Indians not having reached Canada yet.

On August 20, Kelsey described a "great store of buffalo" and "silver-haired" bears, the first sightings by white men of buffalo and grizzly bears on the northern Great Plains. They had gone hungry during their ascent of the journey through the tiaga, but now Kelsey and his Indian companions feasted on buffalo. Kelsey also noted the abundance of beaver in the many ponds and lakes of the aspen parkland. Continuing his journey, possibly to a point south and west of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Kelsey attempted to make peace between the Assiniboine and their neighbors, the Naywatame poets. It is unclear who the Naywatame were, although Kelsey comments that "they knew not the use of canoes" which indicates that they were Plains Indians. Scholars have advanced several theories as to the identify of the Naywatame. On linguistic grounds, they are proposed to be Siouan, possibly Stoney or another people closely related to the Assiniboine. Identification of them as Hidatsa or Mandan is proposed, although those tribes were resident 300 miles further south along the Missouri River in North Dakota. Possibly they were either Gros Ventre or Blackfeet, Algonquin speakers who were discovered living in this region by later explorers in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Kelsey's peace initiatives failed and he was unable to open trade relations with the Naywatame because they were afraid to attempt a journey across their enemy's, the Assiniboine, territory to come to York Factory. Kelsey wintered with the Indians and returned to York Factory in the summer of 1692 accompanied by a large number of Assiniboine and Cree eager for trade with the HBC.