Lac La Biche - History - Aboriginal Descendants

Fosseneuve | Terror at the Mission | Trading Post | Pioneers

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TERROR AT THE MISSION – Page 2

Not doubting that the attack would soon come, the priests and Brothers spent their days and nights hiding, burying their food and belongings in the sand by the lakeshore, under the barn manure, under the floor in the dwellings, so as to hide everything from the looters.

After nine days of waiting, on April 26 at 6 a.m. old Mrs. Cardinal, the mother of Julian Cardinal, our devoted servant at the Mission, finally arrived here after having crossed brushland and muskets. She warned us of the approach of Big Bear’s Cree Indians. They had spent the night on the shores of Beaver Lake. Although they were only ten in number, they said they were very numerous, so they had succeeded intimidating the Indians who had awakened by surprise. In that way they were won over throught fright. Not one person resisted the given orders. They all made their way towards the Hudson’s Bay Company store, with the Big Bay Metis joining their ranks. These newcomers were happy to be part of the group that would loot and pillage

Pat Pruden, who was in charge of the post, being without any military aid, could not think of any resistance, so he gave them the keys. Then every man, woman and child rushed in and looted the store. In less than fifteen minutes they had stripped the store of food stocks, dry goods, tobacco, ammunition, furs and extra furnishings. Then in a rage, they broke windows, doors, furniture, tore up the record books, slashed carpets, cut Mrs. Young’s silk dresses in bit and pieces.

Thirteen thousand dollars worth furs were either stolen or destroyed. Luckily no fires were set, because that order had come from the chief. When there was nothing else to take or break this group of vandals left peacefully to enjoy the goods so easily stolen. There was no blooshed.

Pat Pruden, who had escaped, arrived at the Mission at 3 p.m. He told of the fort’s destruction by the Indians. Now, the Mission of Notre Dames des Victoires could expect the same group of looters to arrive in just a few hours. Luckily, Julian Cardinal had been able to recruit at least fifteen Metis who were determined to defend the Mission. Others came to join them, plus the Brothers who were armed so as to defend themselves when the need arose.

After an anxious night, a rifle shot was heard at early morn, and on the edge of the forest there appeared an Indian in his war paint. He was coming towards the Mission after he had laid his gun on the ground (a gesture of peace). In an instant all the Mission men gathered around the Bishop and priests.

The messenger spoke as follows: “I come in the name of my Chiefs who want to know of your political convictions. Are you for Riel or are you for the government? Are you prepared to give us men and ammunition or are you going to refuse us?”

The Metis replied: “We are nonpolitical; we do not belong to any party. We want to live in peace. The few arms that we have are for our own survival. We do not want to be part of Big Bear’s guard of honor.”

The Indian, visibly annoyed, left without a word but a short distance away he stopped and threw up in rage. He told them that Big Bear would come in person, accompanied by two hundred warriors to avenge this insult from the Indian people. The armed men (the Mission defenders), astonished by their own temerity and frightened by these threats, took off to the woods. Their example was contagious and in no time the families were seeking refuge either in the forest or on the islands. The Sisters, too, wanted to leave during the night for a refuge of sorts. Mgr. Faraud had a hard time persuading them to stay until the next day.

In the wee hours of the morning, the Sisters’ caravan was silently winding its way across the frozen lake. It consisted of fourteen sleds carrying the sick, clothing and food. Six sisters, two auxiliary sisters, plus seven young girls followed on foot. The cold north wind was bone chilling. The ice, already not in the best of conditions, would break under the weight of horses and cattle. Finally, around 6:30 a.m. after having travelled a distance of three miles, the refugees arrived at this little island covered with trees. It had a small fisherman cabin on it. As soon as the goods were unloaded, the tents were then set up, the sleigh drivers returned to the Mission leaving young Father LeTreste in charge of the refugee’s spiritual needs. Brother Jean-Marie had the job of providing food by fishing. While awaiting rescue, Father LeTreste said that everyone on the island died of fright at least 100 times a day.

On May 3, one of the Sisters wrote: “This terrible fear has driven us to the island, Île à la Pêche , we are dying of fright, we are here with three Metis families who are not very reliable.”

“Ah, dear Father Lestanc, I implore you please try to get us out of this horrible situation. We are perishing here. On learning that Mr. Young was sending his family to Edmonton via Tawatinaw, I lost all courage. Does not the Police come to the rescue of the Lac La Biche people? My dear and beloved Sisters, what’s to become of us, the children and myself?”

“Mgr. Faraud, Father Collignon, plus five Brothers are at the Mission. Mgr. Faraud is very encouraging, he has confidence in Divine Providence. Father Collignon is in a state of exhaustion and worry.”

As the date set by Big Bear approached, anxiety spread among all concerned, everyone was well aware that one dozen men could not protect them, although they pretended so. During the evening of May 2, one incident caused a lot of commotion. An orphan who was helping Brother Milcens six miles away, arrived at the Mission as pale as a ghost.

He said that as he was gathering up the horses and cattle by Lake Montagnais, an unarmed Indian came out of the bush and asked him: “Are you alone here?”
“Yes,” replied the boy.
“Have the Indians reached the Mission yet?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then you better run away this minute or I’ll kill you.”
The boy did not wait for a second threat – he took off at top speed.

This spy who was prowling around the Mission area on the evening of Big Bear’s warriors’ supposed arrival was indeed a very bad omen. But nothing happened for the next two days. More than likely Big Bear was planning a surprise attack. “If the government does not send us some soldiers soon to protect us,” said Mgr. Faraud, “our agony could last a long time.”

In fact, no one felt reassured. We sense that anxiety in Father Collignon’s letter written to the good Father P. Lestanc on May 4: “I would never of thought that the Good Lord willed us to be martyrs. He has asked that of us. May His Name be blessed! Domine non sum dignus, that is what you wrote in your last letter. Up to this date, I say the same; although as I am writing you these lines, our position here is very uncertain. You can say that we are between life and death. I consider it a miracle that the Mission has not been attacked yet. All the members of Big Bear’s band have their eyes on the Mission, others would be very happy to share the cake, in other words, all our belongings. Yesterday was the date that had been set by Big Bear’s band to pick up the Beaver Lake Indians who are not yet arrived at Frog Lake, we are sure to be attacked today or tomorrow.”

The days went by - so did the weeks - but the enemy did not show himself. Help did not arrive. There were no letters from other areas. The agony prolonged itself in a cruel way, as the sinister rumors always persisted. On May 19, Father Collignon wrote as follows:

“We’re told that Big Bear wants to come to Lac La Biche. We’re told he wants to plunder the Mission and the traitors, as he has done at the Fort. We’re told he’ll take all the men to his camp for reinforcements. Anxiety, fear and terror are at their peak. Between twenty and thirty men are on guard day and night at the Mission. All the others have fled, leaving everything behind. All the Beaver Lake people are camped near the Mission and are literally starving. They left their lake area so as to escape Big Bear’s advance. He had told these Beaver Lake Indians that he’d take them by force and that he would bring them to Frog Lake. By now they were very sorry that they had looted the fort. They had brought back many of the furs and some dry goods. My position here is really a sad one because I have everyone under my wing. Alexander Hamelin is a real help in ever so many ways. If I did not have him, I don’t know what I’d do. It’s impossible to have the barges leave.”

The refugees from Île à la Pêche had come back to their lodgings on the 13th of May. Although the rumours were still terrifying, the Sisters felt more secure at the Mission than on an uninhabited island, where by now with the open waters, any flotilla of canoeists could land at will.

We were all worried about this very unhappy, long three-week silence. Julien Cardinal decided to clear the mystery. He left the Mission on Friday, May 22 with his brother-in-law. He had decided not to come back until he had found out the truth about the whole situation on the prairies. By next Tuesday he arrived back on his galloping horse, waving a large envelope on which the capital letters had been written, spelling the word that everyone had awaited for so long: “VICTORY.”

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