“Upon landing (at the NorthWest Angle) we found a cavalcade of harnessed oxen and Red River carts awaiting us, to carry our stores, etc., overland a distance of 110 miles to Fort Garry. This mode of conveyance was new to many of us, and the various nondescript outfits with their halfbreed drivers were objects of interest to a greater extent than even Blackstone and his band.

    "The long black haired drivers were interviewed for all kinds of information and their outfits closely examined but not a vestige of iron found upon either carts or harness. The carts were soon loaded with our stores and dispatched in advance of the column. (…) The tall, dead tamarac and spruce trees on each side showed that an extensive bush fire had raged some time before, burning the foliage to the tops and left bare poles swaying in the breeze. Our daily march covered a distance of about 30 miles, which was considered good considering that the road bed was of white sand, our feet sinking about six inches at every step, and that each man carried his rifle, accoutrements and forty rounds of ammunition, the knapsacks only being in the carts.

    "Many of the men had been served with boots at Collingwood two to three sizes too large, a number including the writer wearing number twelves, and the reader can imagine for himself which would suffer most when a No. 9 foot, a No. 12 boot and a sandy road are introduced to each other. Many of the boots were discarded and thrown into the carts, the wearers filling their socks with hay, and keeping up with the column on the march.”

“A Private Officer of the Force,” who published his exploits
in Blackwood’s Magazine and was later discovered
to be Col. Garnet Wolseley himself

Source: Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine. (1871?). Narrative of the Red River Expedition by an officer of the expeditionary force [attributed to General Viscount Wolseley], Part II, pages 48-73, Part III, pages 104-181. New York. Rare Book Collection of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly. According to the author of the Biography of Simon Dawson, “Garnet Joseph Wolseley’s comments on the expedition appear in his “Official journal of the Red River expedition,” published in G.B., Parl., Command paper, 1871, 48, [C.298], Correspondence relative to the recent expedition to the Red River settlement: with journal of operations, 54–96, and his Narrative of the Red River expedition (New York, [1871?]), which originally appeared anonymously, “by an officer of the Expeditionary Force,” in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine (Edinburgh and London), 108 (1870): 704–18, and 109 (1871): 48–73, 164–81. The Narrative roused Dawson’s ire because of its anti-Catholic “strictures.” Retrieved June 3, 2020 from https://legislativelibrary.mb.catalogue.libraries.coop/eg/opac/record/107464498

“In 1870, acclaimed painter William Armstrong accompanied the Wolseley Expedition to the Red River Colony, recording the incredible effort required to move the military force through the Canadian wilderness. One of his compositions, Red River Expedition, Purgatory Landing was reproduced as a wood engraving on the cover of the Canadian Illustrated News on July 9, 1870 to accompany their coverage of the expedition’s progress.” Source: Alchetron. (1870). William Armstrong, Canadian Artist. Retrieved June 5, 2020 from https://alchetron.com/William-Armstrong-(Canadian-artist)#william-armstrong-canadian-artist-fef4701c-2c9a-43d4-ac49-e622910e990-resize-750.jpeg

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