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.
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