The Anglican Church and the disintegration of Red River society, 1818-1870

Abstract

In 1821 Red River was desolate, destitute and barbarous. The uncompromising struggle of the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company for control of the British North American Fur trade bred ruthlessness and violence. Honourable men became dishonourable and death and whiskey became common. The miseries of the climate compounded those of violence. Grasshoppers more than once destroyed the crops, the buffalo hunt frequently failed, and floods sometimes prevented early spring planting.