| Summary: | deep the men refused to go any further, except for a couple of Lieutenants and a few regulars. They slept around the stacks of hay for the rest of the night. In the morning, Charles Grant built a big fire out-of-doors and furnished about 90 men with a good sized piece of fresh beef to roast before their return to Pembina. Records of the Boundary Survey crew tell of traveling west from Pembina and stopping for lunch at early settler Neree Ethier's (along the Border north of Neche) and camping for the night at Grant's Place. Some records say Charles Grant went to Winnipeg before his land was eventually sold at a foreclosure sale in 1878. Since then the land was acquired by James Hyde, namesake of Hyde Park, thence to the Wessels family, and is now owned by the Johnson Bros. It is interesting to note that these two men (Bottineau and Grant) became wealthy in the trading business, but eventually lost their land to mortgage foreclosure after becoming farmers; Grant in 1878 and Bottineau in 1892. cS^ds&J- d /frb JZ/y jLt^leu. c-~, , n^/-r-L - /£> /j-< ' /Ay A// «.,- C^~ -^ '/fcsty^ a^-~t- «^£-~-c^Crt^. ed\d. 44*—Zi-e* ^-C^t* " ' „x <2dL~tstL A^S-s*4^ 6 £,ts-&-*» 4 T&-AL /Z^-c-i^-V y y^^^a-d? ^c^ddd s^^ (if*>y^ jdLd? yf, syd* *j£~" d*ce^~, Xa^.^ ^/%iul?^zL«dL £-s^ s<^^d2«Z^. /Z>/~. sdt *~Jd<; A. <£r#£r S^cdd _ '■£*- #~cyd .*€*> / SMUGGLERS POINT Along most International Boundaries, there are areas with physical characteristics that lend themselves as points for undetected crossings. It is easy to understand how this boundary location became appropriately named Smugglers Point. It was the only spot where a heavily wooded area straddled the Border west of St. Paul to Winnipeg main trail at Pembina, until the Pembina Hills were reached. There are undoubtedly many untold and interesting stories regarding this area along the Border; particularly at the time of the rivalry and conflict between the British Hudson's Bay Fur Company and the U.S. American Fur Company. Both made claims as to where the furs were caught and to what company they should be sold. The Indians and Metis snowed no allegiance to either; on the rightful claim that they were here first. Next came the imposition of duties imposed on goods crossing the Border either direction by both governments. Those existing conditions made this spot on the Border a very busy place in those days. James S. Wheeler had first claim to the land and buildings at Smugglers Point. He and Charles Walker were the first Custom Inspectors followed by John Often in 1869. Otten became the first Postmaster in 1873 followed by Joe Daniels who had the post office in his saloon. When the railroad arrived in December of 1882, Daniels moved his place of business to Neche and became its first saloon keeper. Later Mr. Otten purchased the land from Mr. Wheeler and made Smugglers Point his permanent homesite. The original log custom house was inadvertently lost to fire a few years ago. It was just east of this site, on land Mr. Otten had owned previous to his Wheeler purchase, that he hired civil engineers H. S. Donaldson and S. O. McGwin in July of 1882 to plot the townsite of Ottenton along the boundary where the coming railroad was to cross the Border. But in October 1882 Jim Hill contracted with Dan Shay, and plotted the Neche townsite on the south side of the Pembina River. This brought an end to an historic Port of Entry, Custom House, Store, Post Office and Saloon. All were to be re-located at the newly organized village of Neche in 1883. THE EARLY PEOPLE Louis Riel, a Canadian rebel, and said to have been a cousin of the Neche LaFromboise family, was born at St. Boniface, Manitoba, in 1844. In 1869, he was the leader of the Metis people (French half-breeds) in their battle for their rights to land against the Canadian government, known as the Red River Rebellion. When the rebellion failed, he fled to the U.S. and spent one time in hiding at the Cyril Dumas place, 4 miles west of Neche (now owned by G. E. Symington). Riel was captured while assisting the French Halfbreeds in Saskatchewan and was hanged for high treason in 1885. Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.
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