Two Newly Discovered Letters on Document Red River Settlement History

2012 marks the 200th anniversary of the Red River Settlement by Scots who were assisted in settling what is now Winnipeg Manitoba by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk. In honour of this anniversary, the National Archives of Scotland have unveiled two letters that were found in the papers of  Lord Melville. 

From the NAS website:

 

" New details about a Scots settlement in Western Canada have been revealed on its bicentenary, in two letters held by the National Records of Scotland (NRS). 

The rare documents have been unveiled by the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs Fiona Hyslop on the 200th anniversary of the Red River Selkirk Settlement in Manitoba. The settlement - which has now grown to become the city of Winnipeg - was founded during the Highland Clearances by Thomas Douglas, the fifth Earl of Selkirk.  

The papers have been discovered by Scottish archivists in the Melville and Dalhousie collections, which were acquired on behalf of the public by NRS."

 To read transcriptions of these two letters, click here:

http://www.nas.gov.uk/downloads/gd284GrantLetters.pdf