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Finally, after four years of seeing more and more of their trade leaving the country, and attempting to control matters by bringing in British troops, the new Chief Factor at Fort Garry, John Ballenden, chose to lay charge of illegal trafficking in furs on four Metis men: Guillaume Sayer, McGillis, Laronde and Goulet.

On the bench sat the Magistrates of Assiniboia, beside Recorder Adam Thom of the Quarterly Court of Assiniboia - among them Cuthbert Grant sitting in judgement on his own blood and kin. This was the beginning of the notorious Sayer trial which was to end any legal attempt to curb free trading in Red River.

The trial of Guillaume Sayer was also the trial of the old order which had held sway in Red River since the union of the companies in 1821. It was therefore also the trial of Cuthbert Grant. Questions began to arise, such as whether or not he could be sitting on the bench as a magistrate, not only in virtue of his education and his character, but also as Warden of the Plains and chief of the half-breeds, and whether he could influence the half-breeds of Red River to accept the verdict of the court and the sentence of the law. If he could not, his status would be greatly (if not completely) diminished. 

That the trial ended as it did, with the release of the men and the conclusion by the community that the monopoly was broken, might have been expected given the presence in the courtroom of 200 to 300 Metis men with their rifles. But coming as it did after four years of constant pressure, not only in Red River, but in England, it marked a transition point. In Red River and area, the monopoly was broken. The Metis could now sell their furs for the best price. One writer found that fur sales in St. Paul had gone from $5000 in 1845 to $40,000 in 1855.

However, inland, the Company still retained a measure of control. The HBC officers in Edmonton even scolded the missionaries about procuring furs for their own use. However, the freemen who lived out of reach of the traders could not be punished. They lived, as they always had, trading among themselves and First Nations, and at times, trading with the Company for those products of the country which the Company desired.

It is possible to pick out a few of those who ran small trading posts or who were part of the older trade, while looking through community history books. The following were found in Dr. Anne Anderson’ The First Metis – A New Nation.

Narcisse Beaudry was born in Lac Ste Anne in 1847. His parents were Joseph Beaudry, born in 1809, and his wife Lizette Ladoceur of Lac la Biche. He married Lucy Breland granddaughter of Cuthbert Grant. They moved to St. Albert after the 1870 Riel insurrection, where Narcisse built a two-storey log house, where he operated a trading post until 1887.

Joseph Belcourt Jr. was born in Lac Ste Anne in 1823. His parents were Joseph Belcourt, born in 1802. and his wife Cattherine L’Hirondelle. He worked as a fur trader, as a hunter and trapper. He lived on the old farm belonging to his ancestors, east of Sturgeon River.

Henry Cunningham was born in 1868 at Fort Edmonton. His parents were John Cunningham and Rosalie L’Hirondelle. John had worked as a "Postmaster clerk" in Fort Edmonton. Henry married Mary Rowland in 1895. He moved his family to Wabasca Lake to work for Revillon Freres as a fur trader. Eventually he moved them back to St. Albert.

Colin Fraser, Sir George Simpson’s piper, was of the old fur trade, where he had traded as well as piped. He married Nancy Beaudry and settled at Ste Anne. Colin Fraser jr., born in 1847 at Jasper House, married Flora Rowland at Fort Chipewyan and then moved to Fort St. James were he was trader, trapper, pioneer adventurer and Officer in charge of the HBC store.

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Rivalry and Union(1821)/Seven Oaks

Free Trade at Red River

Battle of Grand Coteau

Provisional Government (1869-1870)

Manitoba Act and Scrip

Indian Treaties

Post 1886: Rupture and Drift

Political Agitation (1870s and 1880s)

North-West Rebellion (1885 and after)