This was not to be.

As the Red River flows northward, the first thaw of spring is usually south of the American International Boundary line at the head waters of the river which divides Minnesota and Dakota.  In these States the floods are always, in consequence, greater than they are in Manitoba.  In this year the ice held very firm up to the end of April.  On the second of May, the waters from above rose and lifted the ice which still held in a mass together some nine feet above the level of the day before.  Indians and whites alike were alarmed.  The water overflowed its banks, and still continued to rise at Fort Garry.  The Governor and his family were driven to the upper story of their residence in the fort, with the water ten feet deep below that.

The whole river bank for miles was a scene of confusion and terror.  Every home was an alarming scene as the flood reached it.  The first thought was to save life.  Amid the crying of children, the lowing of cattle and the howling of dogs, parents sought out all their children to see them safely removed.  Parents and grown men and women fled in fright from their houses, and in many cases without any other garments than their working clothes.  The only hope was to seek out somewhat higher spots more and more removed from the river.  And with them went their cattle and horses.

To those in boats—­the stronger and more venturesome men—­the task now came of removing the wheat and oats, what little furniture they possessed and the necessary cooking utensils.

Blessed, on such occasions, are those who possess little for they shall have no loss.

As the waters rose, the lake became wider, and the wind blew the waves to a dangerous height.  The ice broke up and the current increasing dashed this against the buildings, which at length gave way and all went floating down across the points—­ice, log houses with dogs and cats frantic on their roofs.  One eye-witness says:  “The most singular spectacle was a house in flames, drifting along in the night, its one half immersed in water and the remainder furiously burning.”

As the flood of waters widened into a great expanse it became plain that it would be some time,—­if indeed less than several months,—­before the waters would begin to abate, and in the absence of an Ararat on which to rest, the settlers occupied the rock-bared elevations, the highest Stony Mount, only eighty feet above the level, with the middle bluff, little Stony Mountain and Bird’s Hill, east of the river.  It is interesting to know that Silver Heights and the banks of the Sturgeon Creek near its mouth, were not submerged and at their various points the Colonists pitched their tents and sojourned.

In seventeen days from the first rise, the water reached its height, and hope began immediately to return.  On the 22nd of May the waters commenced to assuage, and twenty days afterward the Settlers were able with difficulty to reach their homes again.