Review of Laird of the West By John W. Chalmers

• Main Author: Archer, John H.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln 1983
• Subjects: Other International and Area Studies; Canada; Pacific; Indian; Steamboat; Chalmers; Laird; Metis; Prince Edward Island
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/1700; https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/greatplainsquarterly/article/2699/viewcontent/BR_Archer.pdf

David Laird was born in 1883 in Prince Edward Island, a descendant of colonists settled by the fifth Earl of Selkirk. The young Laird was well educated, brought up in a Presbyterian family, and interested in public affairs. As publisher of the Protestant, he was in the thick of the fight for land reform. He married Laura Owen in 1864 and this union was blessed with six children. Laird entered active politics as a Liberal and was elected to the Island Assembly. When Prince Edward Island entered confederation on 1 July 1873, he stood successfully as a candidate for the Canadian Parliament. He entered Alexander Mackenzie's government as minister of the interior after the "Pacific Scandal" brought down John A. Macdonald's ministry. Canada had purchased Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company after the company relinquished its charter in 1869. Troubles with the metis, a term used generally to denote the offspring of unions between Indian mothers and white fathers, led to the creation of the Province of Manitoba within the Canadian Confederation. In the whole area, however, the federal government was responsible ultimately for law and order, for the Indians, for land claims, and for white settlement. The minister of the interior was expected to coordinate policies and to direct progress. Laird went west in 1874, proceeding by United States rail lines to St. Paul and thence by steamboat to Winnipeg. He was in Fort Qu' Appelle for the negotiations preceding the signing of Indian Treaty No.4, which concerned the Plains Cree and Saulteaux bands. He noted the Mounted Police trek across the West and the establishment of Fort Walsh in the Cypress Hills. In 1875, the North-West Territories Act provided a framework of government for the area, making provision for an elected assembly. Laird became governor under the new legislation. An Indian Act was passed in 1876 and Treaties Nos. 6 and 7 were signed. Laird played a leading role in the negotiations preceding Treaty No.7, which dealt with the Blackfoot confederacy. There ...