The Incident at Seven Oaks was a major part in the fur
trading wars that took place between the Hudson's Bay Company
and the North West Company. In March 1816, the Hudson's Bay
Company took over Fort Gibraltar, which was one of the North
West Company's posts located at the joining of the Red River
and the Assiniboine River. The Hudson's Bay Company then restricted
the transportation of goods through the Assiniboia area. Grant
Cuthbert, the Metis leader at the time, and his men seized the
fort's pemmican supply in order to stop the blockade. They then
planed to sell the pemmican to the North West Company, roughly
15 kilometers up the Red River. Governor Semple sent out a blockade
to stop this exchange. When Semple caught up to Cuthbert and
his men, a battle ensued that took the lives of twenty-one settlers
and one Metis.
The Incident at Seven Oaks was a major part in the fur
trading wars that took place between the Hudson's Bay Company
and the North West Company. In March 1816, the Hudson's Bay
Company took over Fort Gibraltar, which was one of the North
West Company's posts located at the joining of the Red River
and the Assiniboine River. The Hudson's Bay Company then restricted
the transportation of goods through the Assiniboia area. Grant
Cuthbert, the Metis leader at the time, and his men seized the
fort's pemmican supply in order to stop the blockade. They then
planed to sell the pemmican to the North West Company, roughly
15 kilometers up the Red River. Governor Semple sent out a blockade
to stop this exchange. When Semple caught up to Cuthbert and
his men, a battle ensued that took the lives of twenty-one settlers
and one Metis. 
