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• _UID: 47781F6DA3FB485FB02BB5BF66F1789A48E2

Emile married . [Group Sheet]

1. Judy VERMETTE

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• _UID: A1CF489B23DCFD46A8A4D2A37BA11A53DF9D
• Baptism: 29 Apr 1833, Saint Boniface, Manitoba, Canada

Notes:

Antoine Vermette, Red River Pioneer

Free Press, Winnipeg, Manitoba August 26, 1910

Take to the open winding road that follows the St.Boniface side
of the Red River away to the south from Winnipeg and you will find
peace and calm and contentment. Before you have passed two miles
along the smooth earth trail with its wooded borders, and its quaint
old-fashioned market gardens on either side, you will have entered a
strangely soothing atmosphere of quietness and equanimity. Behind
you is the tangled web of city strife, the rush, the roar, the
clamor and the smoke; before you the brown road and the country side
the breathes out in its subdued sounds and colors the
sentiment 'Wait awhile and rest, the day is long!'
When you have passed beyond the two miles you enter a hidden
world of historical interest, for in the early part of the century
and until the eighties this was the trail that led to the outside
world, via St.Paul. Along this road the pioneer French settlers
squatted and hewed out a clearing in the bush behind their homes,
and it was on their behalf that Riel took the field. Here the Red
river carts hauled by oxen were driven to the south by freighters,
and returned laden with supplies; here the first Governor of Western
Canada passed on his way to Fort Garry, and her passed the railroad
builders, the mounted police, and many of the men who were to become
the pioneer merchants of Winnipeg. Along the river steamboats plied
to and fro between Grand Forks and Winnipeg.
In the days when Winnipeg was in its swaddling clothes this was
its main artery with the world beyond; as such it was worn smooth
with traffic. Now it is forgotten. Today at every turn along the
road appears a white-washed log house, its outlines softened and
mellowed with half a century of use, and its shingles grey with
age. These domiciles stand at the edge of a clearing fringed with
rugged verdant woods, and only half of them can be seen for the
others are along the river bank, and are only reached by a drive
through the trees. Quiet, contented folk live there and till the
gardens; they are the old time settlers and their children and
grandchildren. The prairies with their promise of easy wealth have
been not inducement to them, for they are bound by ties of deepest
sentiment to the silent moving river; to the great elms, and maples
and oaks along its banks, and to their own people. Money cannot buy
these things.

ANTOINE VERMETTE, THE BUFFALO RUNNER

Eleven miles along the trail where the river makes a deep band,
lives Antoine Vermette, and if you should enquire for him among the
neighbors they would say, 'O yes, Antoine Vermette, the buffalo
runner,' before directing you to his home. His reputation as one of
the greatest hunters of the plains has stuck with him through the
lapse of seasons. For forty-seven years he has lived in the same
log house on the high bank of the river and cut out with his axe one
hundred acres of forest. He did not touch a tree on what is
probably the most beautiful point along the Red river, not excepting
Elm Park. When you ask him the reason of this he will say: 'Why
should I, is it not beautiful.'
Antoine Vermette is a living exponent of the much maligned
simple life. He is seventy-six years of age, and is still erect and
strong, and he looks at you out of calm eyes. He still works in his
garden and has not contracted the great modern disease of St. Vitus
dance. He will tell you that his father lived on one of the
adjoining farms, and only died recently at the great age of 104
years.

A BUFFALO HUNT in the EARLY SIXTIES

In the quiet of a Sabbath afternoon Antoine sat on a venerable
old rocker beneath the single sunny window of his whitewashed
kitchen and told a vivid and graphic story of his early life when
for ten years he earned his living as a buffalo runner. This was in
the early sixties, so that his memory spanned half a century in the
telling of the narrative. He spoke imperfect English, and the
truthfulness of his assertions was born out by the minute details
with which he surrounded every circumstance. In a manner
characteristic of the French people his voice quickened and his eyes
flashed as he reached the points of spectacular action in his
story. He illustrated his remarks by a movement of the arms.
'I have seen the whole prairie covered with buffalo,' he said by
way of introduction, 'and I have ridden after them and killed them
on ponies better than the fastest ones you have at the races in
Winnipeg at exhibition time. I did that for ten years, and in those
days I was like iron. Now the buffalo are almost extinct and I am
sorry. To us at that time there seemed to be millions of buffalo
running wild on the prairie, and they seemed to increase. We
thought they would never give out.'

A WILD CHASE

'Our horses would get just as excited and wild as we would to
run after the buffalo. We could hardly hold them back and they
would act just like a wild dog. We had to wait for a signal from
the chief of the party to let them out, and by that time the blood
would be dripping from their mouths through straining at the bit.
They would lay their ears back and run with their necks outstretched
and mouth open, keeping up the terrific pace for mile after mile.
When we caught up with the buffalo herd which had been stampeded
with fear, we would drop some powder down the barrel of out old
muzzle loaders and place a cap ready. We did not use any wadding,
and supported the gun in an upright position from the saddle, so
that the powder could not run out.
'We always carried the lead bullets in our mouths, and as soon
as we were ready to fire we dropped the wet slug down the barrel,
where it stuck a little. Then we raced at breakneck speed until we
were within a few feet of the buffalo. As there was nothing to
protect the bullet from falling out of the barrel we had to throw
our guns forward and shoot almost with one motion. It has happened
that a man was a little slow in shooting and allowed the bullet to
slide half way down the barrel before he pulled the trigger, then it
occurred that the gun burst at the centre. We shot the shaggy
buffalo through the heart, the ball entering at an angle from behind
the shoulder. They would continue for perhaps twenty-five feet and
then collapse in a heap.

GROUND WOULD SHAKE

'The ground would shake with the herd running across the
prairie, and the roar form the impact of the thousands of hoofs was
like the rumbling of thunder. It was one wild race of hugh flying
forms, with head low to the ground, and above the roar you could
hear the excited shouts of the hunters. When we were int he thick
of it we did not fear anything and we used to ride right into the
heart of the herd. We were always looking out for big fat animals,
and would raise in the saddle on the dead run and look over the
backs of the flying buffalo to pick out the biggest one. Then we
would try to shoot him in the kidneys at the small of the back,
which was a vulnerable point. The hunters became so expert that
they could drop a big cow or bull like this with the first shot.
You must remember too that this was on he run, and that we did not
take any aim: the rifle was lowered and fired simultaneously.
'The great sport was the race after the buffalo, and it was a
test of speed to see which would reach them first. Sometimes we
would strike some very rough ground, but the pace would never
slacken. In June the bulls would generally be very ferocious, but I
never knew a man to be killed by a charging bull. The horses were
always fleet enough to get out of the way. It was a common
occurrence, however, for a bull to hook a horse from the side and
tear his flanks open, killing the poor beast instantly.
'There was a law that you couldn't shot cows after July 15, and
if a man was found guilty of this he was fined by the chief of the
party. They would also fine a man if he could not skin all he had
killed. We hunted about three times a year in the summer, fall and
winter, and each man in the party would get from ten to fifteen
buffalo. Often we would go hungry for two or three days before we
killed, and then we would feast on buffalo humps, which were the
tidbits. We slept out on the bare prairie wrapped in blankets.

A STRANGE TRAGEDY

'I only remember one tragedy in all my hunting experiences, and
that was when one of the hunters became lost in a blizzard during a
winter hunt about 1864. They did not find him until three or four
years afterwards and then his bones were discovered wrapped in a
dried up buffalo skin. It is supposed that when he became lost in
the storm he skinned one of the animals he shot, and wrapped himself
in the wet skin. Then in all probability he went to sleep only to
find when he awakened that the skin had frozen around him sealing
him in a living tomb, with the white snow as a shroud.'
It is suggested to Mr. Vermette that he start from the very
beginning and tell how the hunt was organized, with full details of
where the buffalo were found, and the disposal of the flesh and
skins. To this he willingly acceded.
'It was the custom,' he said, 'to spread the news about June 1
in each year that a hunt was about to be organized, and the method
adopted to do this was to have certain men make the announcement
when people came out from church services in the various parishes.
The word was passed sometime previous to the date fixed that the
hunters were to meet at the Pembina Mountains, which is three days'
ride from Winnipeg toward the southwest. Great preparations were
made for the trip, and men of all nationalities participated in it.
They came from all the settled parts of Manitoba, and every man in
the party brought his family. Usually there were about two hundred
on the chase, and they had travelled long distances to come in Red
river carts drawn by oxen. The men rode alongside the carts on
their ponies, and each party brought flour and other provisions.
Then when the big encampment had all gathered together a vote was
taken, and some man elected to head the hunt. A man named Wilkie
was the leader of the first party that I went out with. Then in
turn this captain would appoint his lieutenants, one from each
district represented.
'When all was ready the four men in the party reputed to be the
best hunters were sent to spy out the buffalo and report. They each
went in different directions, and each man was paid in cash for his
services. Travelling all alone over the unbroken country they were
sometimes gone for weeks before they reported game.

MANITOBA WAS THEN UNBROKEN PRAIRIE

'At that time there were no farms to the southwest of Manitoba
and we travelled across great stretches of prairie. When we got on
the move we were usually accompanied by from twenty to thirty
Indians, and we travelled continuously for almost two months before
we came to where the buffalo were. We always hunted away to the
southwest, where the United States are now; but in those days there
was no boundary line. At night we made our tea and smoked our
pipes, after which men, women and children would sleep on the
prairie with the sky for a roof. We were usually up and on our way
by daylight. Sometimes the weather was wet and disagreeable for
days, but we did not mind it much. Then again we often had to go
long distances in the hot sun without water which was a very trying
experience.
'I think we used to travel about six hundred miles before we
came to where the buffalo were. Then the women and children would
be left behind with a few men to guard them and the hunters with
provisions for two days would start out on the chase. When we came
upon the buffalo we usually found them grazing or lying around
quietly, and sometimes there would be from two to three thousand of
them in sight. The buffalo showed great fear of men, and would
start to run when the hunters were a mile away. The men would be
keen to follow them, but it was the rule that no man was to start
out before the signal was given by the chief. Any man who disobeyed
this rule was heavily fined.

BUFFALO HIDES AT $2.50 EACH

'At the close of the chase the carts would come up from the rear
and the hunters would get to work to skin the animals they had
shot. Then the flesh would be cut into thin slices and laid out in
the sun to dry, spread out on willow poles. The cured meat would
last from two to three years if it was desired to keep it that
long. One Red river cart would be loaded with ten buffalo dressed
in this manner. In the summer when a return was made to the
settlements the women were set to work to take the hair off the
hides and it was then sold for five shillings. In the fall and
winter when the fur was good the robes brought $2.50 a piece. I
wish I had some of those skins now. I remember that it used to take
forty carts to bring in the fur and meat of one chase.
'I recall one year when there had been a prairie fire and the
grass had all been burned off. We were in search of hay for our
cattle and horses and went into the hills. There in one valley we
found hundreds of buffalo and killed many of them. I remember again
how a prairie [fire] stampeded a herd buffalo in a valley near
Devil's lake. They had to pass through a narrow neck at the head of
the valley, and the crush was so great that they jammed. Hundreds
were killed. In the winter we used to hunt the buffalo on
snowshoes, and often we were caught in the storms.'
Mr. Vermette told of how the hunting party was often harassed by
the Indians who were hostile to their hunting on their grounds and
of how it was necessary to have sixteen men on guard around the camp
each night. Men were killed in some of the battles. He stated that
it was customary to plant barley and wheat in the clearings along
the Red river in the spring, and this was harvested after the return
from the hunt. It was all used by the family, and the settlers
brought the grain in to Mariotte in St.Boniface where it was ground
by a windmill. Mr. Vermette made his last hunting trip in 1867, and
after that was freighting for the Hudson's Bay company as was his
father for many years before him. He remembered Donald Smith, and
was surprised to know he was in Winnipeg last summer. He stated that
Mr. Smith had stayed at his place in the early days, and that Louis
Riel had also been a visitor. On one occasion when he was
freighting back to Winnipeg from St.Paul he accompanied Governor
McDougall, and was with him when Riel forced him to return. The
Vermette farm is within a mile or two of St.Norbert on the opposite
side of the river, and is 22 miles from Winnipeg by water. The old
settler has survived his wife by three years.

Antoine married Clarisse NOLIN on 26 Oct 1914. Clarisse was born on 9 Oct 1892; and died. [Group Sheet]

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• _UID: 750E092FDF2D41A1A8A75826416F159ED951

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• Name: Joseph Vermet
• Nationality: Metis
• _UID: 37B7D447FAE5CD4086529DFBC5DC8F57EC4D

Notes:

Metis script # 10863
dit Tupin dit Toutpetit

Nationality:
Metis script # 10863.

Joseph married Angelique LALIBERTE on 1 Jan 1830 in Saint Boniface, Manitoba, Canada. Angelique (daughter of Pierre LALIBERTE and Josephte GAUDRY DIT BEAUDRY) was born on 26 Feb 1810 in Red River Settlement; died on 9 Oct 1905 in Saint Norbert, Manitoba, Canada. [Group Sheet]

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• Nationality: Metis
• _UID: 533AA9A109C3D84AB692D9CD7AAD56B2E2EA

Notes:

Metis script # 10856

Nationality:
Metis script # 10856

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• _UID: 29459B3979148844B387DE8A07C84184D1DF

Notes:

dit Turpin dit Toutpetit

Joseph Vermet's death date is listed as the same day as his birth in the Vermette family genealogy written in the 1950's.

Joseph married Josephte VILLEBRUNE, dit Plouf. Josephte was born in 1790; and died. [Group Sheet]

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• Name: Josephte Plouf
• Nationality: Metis
• _UID: 8AC790A3B284D948B525E6357E69FBB6686D

Notes:

Metis

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• _UID: 369801007E67974D873419265F5D7E12DEDF

Pierre married Josephte GAUDRY DIT BEAUDRY. Josephte was born in 1780; died before 1830. [Group Sheet]

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• Name: Josephte Gaudry
• Nationality: Metis
• _UID: 5C67A9BACB4B734D89C53A979EC06DF3D9E8