Thomas Scott's Body: And Other Essays on Early Manitoba History

Fritz Pannekoek is an associate professor of heritage studies, director
of information resources at the University of Calgary, and the author of
A Snug Little Flock: The Social Origins of the Riel Resistance of
1869–70.

Another book on Red River by Jack Bumsted, Canada’s leading expert on
Lord Selkirk and the now fabled settlements on the banks of the Red
River. Does he have anything new to say? Well, in some of the essays,
such as those on Thomas Scott’s body, the Swiss, and Red River
aboriginal policies of the Colonial Office, he most certainly does.
While most of the essays lack theoretical context, these particular ones
fill in important gaps in the more traditional works of W.L. Morton and
the like.

Many of the other essays, however, lack depth. In his historiographical
essay, Bumsted fails to deal with those who would argue that the major
turning points in Red River history are its social flash points (e.g.,
the coming of the missionaries) and the racially motivated Ballenden sex
scandal or the Corbett scandal. He even continues to accept the Riel
affair as critical even though there are those who suggest that the
turning point in the economic and social life of the settlement was much
earlier. The essay on the Corbett affair will titillate, but Bumsted
fails to put the famous abortion scandal into the context of the
settlement; while he alludes to the impact of the scandal on the
settlement and its future, he fails to pursue the subject.

Bumsted’s reflections on Lord Selkirk are also hardly novel. He sees
him as a “thinking” man who, if he had not become involved in Red
River, “might well have blossomed into a major figure in the history
of political economy.” This is wishful thinking on Bumsted’s part;
no matter how hard he may argue, Selkirk will remain a marginal player
in the tale of the equally marginal lands of the British Empire. All
this being said, those interested in Red River will find in this book
answers to many of the niggling questions.