Ann Flora Mckay

Escape of the McKay Family Through the Ice to Prince Albert, 1885

After the massacre at Frog Lake the few whites who were scattered across the west feared it was only a matter of days - in some case hours - before they would be killed by the "rebels," as they were called. For years farm instructor Joe McKay and his family had lived in harmony on the Sweetgrass Reserve, not far from Poundmakers Reserve. But the young men of the tribe were so thirsty for blood that even chiefs like Poundmaker could not prevent them from taking revenge.

When his family was accosted at night in their home by a group of angry tribesmen Joe McKay asked them why his family was being threatened after all he and his wife had done for the people over the years. He softened their hearts but was told that the only way his family could be safe was to flee before the young men of the tribe caught up with him. He was given a bark canoe and told to flee across the ice-choked Battle River and to sink the canoe on the other side. In the crip night air, he could hear the droning beat of drums accompanied by chanting. The leader told Joe, "Those are the Stoney Indians, the most warlike of the tribes. When they come, nothing will save you. You must flee at once and leave for Battleford." Joe paddled across the river and destroyed the canoe as asked, and the family began marching to Battleford in darkness though ice, snow and knee deep water. They spent the next morning with another settler who informed the McKay's messengers were canvasing the countryside warning of an attack on Battleford. The McKay family hiked north to the Métis settlement at Bresaylor and hopefully to safety, but Bresaylor Métis had complied with Cree demands for horses and supplies. When the McKays walked into town, they were taken prisoner and placed in a tent under gaurd. When Chief Poundmaker showed up the next day, Joe McKay strode up to Poundmaker and said, "My friend, I have been despoiled of my home and my goods. I was taken prisoner by your people. I was allowed to leave but am now a prisoner in the hands of the rebels. I have smoked and eaten and sat in the council lodges with you and Big Bear. Why is my brother now my enemy?" Poundmaker rose and shook McKay's hand, saying to his headmen, "This man is my friend. It is my wish that he should be allowed to go. My young men are out scouting, and if he fell into their hands, something might happen before I would become aware of it.". Poundmaker kept his word, but could only offer a small row boat as means of escape.

The 12 day flight of the McKay family, in a small boat down the ice-filled Battle and Saskatchewan Rivers is one of the epic journeys in Canadian history. They had only the clothes on their back for warmth, and only a few pieces of corn bread for food. They were reduced to eating the caulking from their boat to survive. As 19 year old Ann Flora McKay was to write (Prairie Warships: River Navigation in the Northwest Rebellion, By Gordon Errett Tolton), they were too frightened most of the time to be hungry. When their boat wasn't being crunched by ice floes they were threatened by Indians chasing them across the ice pans or shooting at them from the shore. The family had to float past Battleford, not knowing if anyone

On one occasion they had to stop for five days, in the freezing cold, huddled under the willows on shore waiting for the ice to clear. They finally made a desperate gamble in their boat only to escape certain death when shouts along the shore told them their hiding place was discovered. A woman asked the strangers, "What's your name?" With no reason to think it was a problem, he proudly disclosed, "My name is Joe McKay." Any friendliness the lady had shown evaporated at the answer. "You are the man who shot an Indian at Duck Lake?", a reference to Assiyiwin, the first casualty in the War. Joe then realized his and the lady's error and sought to rectify his mistaken identity. "No, that must have been Joe McKay who is with the Mounted Police." The woman would have none of it and thought it was an attempt by Joe to avoid the issue. Not believing his bad luck, he turned his family back to the water, explaining, "I think this woman is a rebel. It will be safer to take to the boat again.

On April 20, Ann Flora spotted the Mission at St. Anne's Convent where the family recieved kindness and hospitality. The father, mother and two daughters arrived more dead than alive from fright and fatigue from 22 days in a little boat.

After life-threatening adventures from nature and rebels the family drifted into Prince Albert and the first meal in 12 days.

In the face of War, there are rarely any happy endings.

Two years later, Ann Flora McKay married and put the terror of the North Saskatchewan behind her. Her groom did the same. He too was a Veteran of the uproar, the man who caused her family so much grief: "Gentleman" Joe McKay.

The couple, Ann Flora McKay and Gentleman Joe McKay, resided in Prince Albert, and Ann Flora McKay, (nee McKay) lived to tell this story to the Prince Albert Daily Herald in 1935, 50 years after she cheated the Grim Reaper.