310427 - Topic: Riel Rebellion

Recording Status:  recorded, not located.

Over the course of 103 broadcasts, the Great Northern Railway offered listeners of Empire Builders a variety of content. Some programs emphasized music, some highlighted notable developments concerning railroad services, and most involved a dramatic performance based in the history of the Pacific Northwest. Some of these stories drew from factual accounts, while some were pure fabrications only suggested by real people, places, or events. In this night’s story, listeners were treated to a story about James J. Hill and his involvement with a touchstone of Canadian history: the Métis uprising led by their controversial leader, Louis Riel. The timeframe of this activity was the 1870s to the 1880s. It was during this period that James J. Hill was most active in developing the foundations of what became his transportation empire under the banner of the Great Northern Railway. The story dramatized in this episode of Empire Builders entailed a true adventure in the life of Jim Hill, which is said to have occurred in March of 1870.

I’ve commented previously on some of the unfortunate content of these broadcasts. It is difficult to read the scripts or listen to the scant remaining audio of these programs without applying the sensibilities of our present culture and society. In the 1920s and 1930s, even a nationally-broadcast radio program might readily incorporate racial stereotypes in a markedly uncomplimentary or demeaning way. Today we recognize much of it as unabashed bigotry, and would not tolerate it. I neither condone it, nor apologize for it. History must be taken in context, but some of the content of this program is unacceptable by today’s standards. Please take this into account as you read on.

I have recently discovered that Louis Riel is today regarded by many as a prominent leader and conduit of positive change among the Métis of Canada, a man whose challenges to authority helped mold the Province of Manitoba into what it is today. In fact, since 2008, the third Monday in the month of February is set aside as a provincial holiday in Manitoba - Louis Riel Day. Many businesses and government offices close, offering an opportunity for all Manitobans to reflect on the impact of this man on their region and culture. The Métis population evolved in Canada as the result of mixed-race unions of indigenous women, and men who were typically either French or British. A less polite means of designating these people is to call them half-breeds. That is the term used chiefly in the Empire Builders story.

The only copy of the continuity to surface thus far for this broadcast is missing the first page. I’m guessing that the program started out by describing a time many years earlier when the Old Timer crossed paths with the Empire Builder himself, James J. Hill. The opening dialog presented a scene where the Old Timer was chatting with a Black steward in the service of Mr. Hill. There was also a young Black lad who was along to help the steward. The steward’s name was Bob, and his young assistant was named Rasmus.

It came up in conversation that Rasmus was afraid of bears, and that he feared one might materialize at any moment. The men were on or near the St. John River, a location that Hill frequented over many years as a place to relax and “kill fish.” Hill decided to play a joke on young Rasmus.

HILL:                     Rasmus, I hear you’re scared of bears?

RASMUS:             Yes, suh, I most certainly is!

HILL:                     Well, you don’t want to let the bears bother you any. They’re tame enough. Wouldn’t do any more than mangle you a little anyway.  (BOB GROANS)  They wouldn’t eat you.  (GROAN)  But what you do want to look out for in these parts is the Side Winder!

RASMUS:             The – the which, suh?

HILL:                     The Side Winder – that’s so, isn’t it, Old Timer?

PIONEER:            Yes, that’s a right mean beast!

RASMUS:             Please suh – what – what’s this here Side Winder like, Mr. Hill?

HILL:                     Well, he’s about six feet high, and covered all over with fur.  (GROANS)  He’s got bright red eyes and a bushy tail, and there’s only one thing he likes to eat better than he does dark meat – and that’s canned tomatoes. You hear?

The boy was sent back to the cook tent to work on making a meal, and Hill told Bob to rustle around on the ground making “Side-Winder” tracks so he could prank the boy. Hill told the Old Timer that he felt as though he didn’t have much chance to play anymore, other than when he came up to this location on the St. John River. The Old Timer was empathetic.

PIONEER:            Mr. Hill, you couldn’t have built the Great Northern Railway – and you couldn’t have made the Pacific Northwest into the empire it is today if you hadn’t had the sense to let go and play once in a while! If a man doesn’t do that – he’ll break.

HILL:                     I guess you’re right. But I haven’t had much chance to let go in all these years. Just hit, and keep on hitting.

PIONEER:            You know, especially now that we’re up here in Canada, there’s a question I’ve been waiting to ask you.



James J. Hill at his fishing lodge on the St. John River

Minnesota Historical Society collection

The Old Timer related an experience where he found himself talking with a Canadian about Hill, and the man said “James J. Hill of the Great Northern? That's the man who saved Canada!” The Old Timer said he didn’t have time to ask the Canadian what he meant by that, so he hoped Jim Hill himself could explain.

HILL:                     The man who saved Canada! No, I didn’t save Canada. She’s never needed saving, and if she had she could have saved herself. I guess I know what your friend meant though.

PIONEER:            Well, the camp fire’s burnin’ bright, and this is the time for spinning a yarn.  (CAMP FIRE CRACKLES)  How about it?

Well here we go, then – time for another story. Hill was happy to oblige.

HILL:                     I don’t mind – just as a matter of record. It was back in 1870 when the half breed, Louis Riel, raised a rebellion against the Canadian Government, and finally managed to cut off Winnipeg so no one could get in or out of the town. My old friend, Donald Smith – he was Lord Strathcona later on – was called in to give some advice to the people in Montreal, and one day in the late autumn they sat down and talked it all over.

With some bagpipe music, the scene transitioned to old Montreal, and a conversation between Donald Smith and a man named Bishop. Smith declared that Riel could not keep Winnipeg cut off from eastern Canada forever.

BISHOP:               He can keep it cut off for long enough to make ample trouble! If Winnipeg falls into his hands it will cost us men and money to take it back. Here it is autumn. The only way we can get troops to Winnipeg is to march them over-land. If we had a railroad – that would be different.

SMITH:                 It would take three months to march a column of troops to Winnipeg – three months even if we could guarantee the weather, but, as you say, we’re next door to winter now, and with snow on the ground – they might never get there.

BISHOP:               Then what’s the answer? Does this rascally half breed, Riel, win the deal?

SMITH:                 Not if we can help it! Sooner or later we’d get him, and his crazy rebellion anyhow, but – Winnipeg must not fall! The truth is, Bishop …

BISHOP:               The truth is that we’re in no position to make plans for stamping out this rebellion or to relieve Winnipeg until we know what the situation in the city is, how long it can hold out without help, and all the rest of it.

SMITH:                 That’s true enough. If Winnipeg can hold out against Riel until Spring, when the snow’s off the ground, then we can send troops by forced marches to raise the siege. But if she can’t hold out until then – we’ll have to throw in our hand or take desperate measures. Our whole policy hinges on knowing what the real situation is and, curse it, we don’t know!

BISHOP:               Riel has got Winnipeg bottled up so tight that they say not even a mouse can get in or out of the place. If we could only get a man inside!

SMITH:                 By Heavens, I’ve got it!

Donald Smith, a.k.a. Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal

Donald Smith knew just the man for the job:  a Canadian-born transportation entrepreneur from St. Paul, James J. Hill. Smith wasted no time sending for Hill.

In the meantime, Riel was fomenting discontent among his people. Having laid siege to Fort Garry outside Winnipeg, the Métis leader realized it was only a matter of time before an armed force marched out from Montreal to repeal the uprising. But he also understood the limitation of geography and weather that would hamper most efforts to bring in any response to the takeover of the fort. One of his men, a Métis named Joseph, challenged Riel for guidance.

RIEL:            You are right – you, Joseph; and I will tell you – now. Listen! To the west is wilderness. There is only wilderness to the north. To the east – this help you speak of must come for many hundred miles in dead of winter – on foot. It can not be done! Remains – the south – the States. Take you these men, Joseph, and block the trail from Winnipeg to St. Paul! There lies our danger. Only from St. Paul would it be possible to send a spy. And so – you’ll go – tonight.

JOSEPH:      Be sure that I will go, and be you sure that not a rat will live one day upon that trail!

RIEL:            What will you do?

JOSEPH:      I’ll post my camps in gun shot of the trail, and I myself will venture to St. Paul to pick up gossip – to see if any man be fool enough to dare!

RIEL:            That’s well. One slip and we are lost! From west and north we’re safe. From east the winter will protect us. But from the south – you and your men must close us in. You understand?

This is a point in the story where fact certainly strayed into fiction. I have not found any record indicating anyone representing Riel tried to dupe Hill, or worse, tried to ambush him on a trip to Fort Garry. But the historical record does show that Hill indeed made a journey north at that time to act as an intermediary and try to assess the situation. Moreover, history shows that Smith and Hill knew each other at this time, but only by reputation. They had not yet met in person.

The radio play jumped to a scene in the home of James and Mary Hill in St. Paul. Hill was preparing to depart on his trip into Canada. Mary was worried for him, and challenged him about the trustworthiness of his guide.

HILL:      Just as sure as I ever am of a half-breed. I don’t need a guide for the Red River trail, but it’s handy to have another man to help with the dogs.

MARY:   What’s his name? Where did you get him, Jim?

HILL:      Mary, I don’t know what his name is! Joseph, I think. He just got to St. Paul from Canada a day or two ago.

MARY:   How do you know you can trust him?

HILL:      I don’t trust him. Anyhow, Mary, you can look him over for yourself. I told him to come and let me know when he had the dogs ready. I want to be off by moon rise.

MARY:   I don’t like it – this starting out at night – and all the rest.

HILL:      What folks don’t know won’t hurt ‘em. That’s why I’m making a night start. As for the rest of it – the job’s got to be done, and I’m here to do it. I tell you, Mary – stop worrying!

Despite Mary’s misgivings – which did not subside, despite Hill’s assurances – the two met set out for Fort Garry. Along the trail the weather turned foul. A blizzard descended upon the men and their sled dogs. The men stopped at that point and made camp. They calculated that they were about two or three days out still from the fort. Joseph suggested they might encounter some of Riel’s men and be turned back, or worse. Hill scoffed at the idea, calling Riel a coward. This did not sit well with Joseph.

JOSEPH:          So – he is a coward, is he? … Put up your hands!

HILL:               What in hades! Put down that gun, you fool!

JOSEPH:          I have you covered. Keep you hands well up!

HILL:               So – Mary had it right. It is a trap. Who are you?

JOSEPH:          I am Riel’s right hand. It was my work to see that if a messenger was sent from St. Paul to Fort Garry – that he did not arrive.

HILL:               And so – you came as guide. That was clever. And now – what will you do?

JOSEPH:          I will be generous, and give you a chance for life. Take rations for one day, and go – alone.

Both men knew what this meant. It was a death sentence, and a rather vicious one at that. They were in the midst of a large area of uninhabited territory, and Hill would undoubtedly starve or freeze to death before finding aid. But Hill had other ideas.

HILL:               I see. Just your idea of torture … My God, man, look behind you!

JOSEPH:          (TURNING)  What’s that?!  (A GUN SHOT AND A CRY FROM JOSEPH)

HILL:               And that was an old trick for you to fall for, Joseph! You had the drop, and then you looked away! And now the only thing you’ve got is a busted arm … Sit on the sled, and let me dress that wound.

Hill was none too pleased with Joseph, but he wasn’t going to leave the man out in the wilderness to die. Joseph didn’t believe the two of them could make it to Fort Garry.

JOSEPH:          You cannot do it. The dogs will tire.

HILL:               Listen, I’ll take you safe to Garry. And if the dogs can’t pull the sled – I’ll pull it!

JOSEPH:          I said you were a devil! No man would try as much.

HILL:               Oh yes, they would! I’m plain Jim Hill, but what I start – I finish … Oh, don’t moan – you’ll live to spend some time behind bars yet … There – the fire’s going. Shut up, and eat your food.

Another musical bridge transitioned the story back to the conversation at St. John River between Hill and the Old Timer.

HILL:               Well, that’s the way it was, Old Timer. Not so much to brag about you see.

PIONEER:       Humph! I don’t know. I might be able to tell if just you’d finish the story.

HILL:               Why – I came through alive. I’m no ghost now! I made the trip with Joseph on the sled in better than three days. Joseph, he came through too. Man! I was all played out. I stayed there at Fort Garry for a full month, and then I came through Riel’s lines again back to St. Paul.

PIONEER:       And what word did you send to Montreal?

HILL:               I told ‘em they could wait. Fort Garry – Winnipeg – could hold out until Spring. That was all right. It held out. When the snow was gone the government sent Troops – three months they took to march the distance – and smashed Riel. That ended it.  (LOUD SNORTS AS OF SOME GREAT ANIMAL. YELLS FROM ALEC COMING NEARER)

Oddly, “Rasmus” now became “Alec” – at least for awhile.

PIONEER:       What the Jumping Job is that?!

HILL:               It sounds like Rasmus. Maybe he’s seen the Side Winder!

RASMUS:        Oh Lawdy, Mistah Hill, gimme some canned tomatoes!

HILL:               What in time do you want canned tomatoes for?

RASMUS:        That ole Side Winder! He’s just behind them trees! Oh, save me, mistah Hill! I isn’t fit to die!

PIONEER:       I never thought to see a colored boy turn white, but this one’s sure done it! … Here, Alec! Take this can of tomatoes and throw it to the beast.

Rasmus (or “Alec,” I’m not clear which name they intended to use) chucked a can of tomatoes into the trees – and nearly clobbered Bob, who didn’t seem to enjoy this prank as much as Hill and the Old Timer did.

The continuity then called for “soft transitional music” to be played, and then to fade for the closing announcement. Unfortunately, the closing announcement is missing too.

Governor Floyd Olson
Collection of the Minnesota Historical Society;
1937 portrait painted by Carl A. Bohnen

Something else – or someone else – was also missing on this night: no less than the Governor of the state of Minnesota, Floyd B. Olson. The governor was scheduled to appear on the broadcast, but he ended up as a no-show. A blurb appeared in the April 26 edition of the St. Paul Daily News stating that Gov. Olson would appear on Empire Builders the following night. The newspaper reported that he would ride to Chicago that evening on the Great Northern’s Empire Builder train to attend and participate in the broadcast from the Merchandise Mart the following day. The paper said he would “talk about fishing, swimming and general outdoor activity in the Ten Thousand lakes region.”

The day after the broadcast, on April 28, a story in the St. Paul Daily News told of how the governor missed the show completely. It was said that he showed up punctually at 8:30pm. What the governor did not know, however, was that the day before, the Chicago area had switched over to Daylight Saving Time for the summer, which caused him to be an hour late for the 30-minute live broadcast. Of all the programs recorded off the air on behalf of the railroad, I think this one would be among the most interesting to hear. It would be instructive to learn how they scrambled to ad lib in his absence. As with any arrangements for a special guest on the show, they had a printed copy of the governor’s intended speech. It was reported that someone stepped in for him and read his comments over the air.

The St. Paul Daily News noted that Governor Olson could redeem himself, to some degree at least, with another scheduled radio appearance on his return to St. Paul the following week. They noted, however, that the talk on KSTP would deal with some recent legislative vetoes of his, and not vacation attractions of the state. And so, they concluded, “Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes will have to stand on their own reputations, at least until the governor goes to Chicago again.”

 

Until next time, keep those dials tuned to Empire Builders!