He saw the aspiration after freedom, of both Scottish and French Settlers.

True, gaunt poverty did not stalk along the banks of Red River as it had done in the first ten years of the Colony, but just because the people were becoming better housed, better clad, and better fed, were they becoming more independent.

The unwillingness to be controlled was showing itself very distinctly among the French half-breeds as they grew in numbers and dashed over the prairies on their fiery steeds.

They were hunters, accustomed to the use of firearms and were, therefore, difficult to restrain.
The Governor's policy clearly defined in his own mind became, for the next ten years, the policy of the Company.

We have seen that the Governor built Lower Fort Garry, and he regarded this as his residence, nearly twenty miles down the river from the Forks, which was the centre of French influence.