Dearest Mother: Appendix 3 – Mrs. Scheer and the Browns.

Brown depended a great deal on his wife. It was Ni-ti-mous [Cree for sweetheart, according to Smith] here and Ni-ti-mous there. At any time of day or night if he wished to start on a trip, he’d waken Ni-ti-mous to go with him. She was a slave for him. He was pretty tricky, as one incident, which I must relate, will show.

There were two young girls who came often to see the Brown home and sometimes stayed as long as two weeks for a visit. They used to get Mr. Brown to take them over the mountain routes, sight-seeing. Brown had three gentle saddle horses and Ni-ti-mous would put up a lunch for them for the day and away they went. Poor Ni-ti-mous didn’t know what was up at first. It kept her busy cleaning and cooking after them. When the three returned from the day’s trip, she had everything ready for them to sit down and enjoy.

This went on for several weeks and the girls never offered to help with the work at any time. Mrs. Brown was too simple a creature to consider any ulterior motive and everything was fine with her.
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Then Ni-ti-mous became suspicious and the girls came once too often to suit her. There was trouble in the camp and she refused to wait upon the girls anymore. Then she put it up to Brown, either the girls left or she did. Brown got into a rage and told her it was alright for her to go, as he thought the girls would stay in her place.

Mrs. Brown told me she prepared to go through she was broken-hearted. Saddling her horse and taking a few thing with her, she left the following morning, coming to our place. Poor woman, a thirty-seven mile trip on horseback in one day, made her very tired by evening.

I was just feeding my chickens when I heard hoofbeats upon the ground and looking up was greatly surprised to see the woman leading her horse. She was too broken up to speak at first, but throwing her arms around me she burst into sobs.

“What’s up, Mrs. Brown”? I asked, but she continued her weeping for some time before she could collect herself to tell me her worries.

“Never mind”, I answered, “he can’t quit you, nor can he marry again. Don’t take it so hard. He’ll come to his senses some time. That’s your home and he can’t put you out”. But still she sobbed. “You stay with me”, I encouraged her, “just as long as you like”.

But she really loved this man she was fleeing from. Nor could she eat any of the supper I had prepared for her, but after a hot cup of tea, she unburdened her heart and poured out all her troubles.

After a week’s stay, the woman became restless and wanted to move on. Gathering her things together, she set out for Fort Macleod to visit Mrs. Scheers [sic] and from there planned to go on to the Hobbema Reserve, if she could find any others going that way.

But her plans didn’t materialise. During the week of her departure, things didn’t go well with her husband left behind. The girls’ brother, hearing of the flight of Mrs. Brown, went after them and Mr. Brown lost his girls, his Ni-ti-mous, and all his dreams. Thus he set about to get his Ni-ti-mous back.

Hearing that she was still at Fort Macleod he went after her. When he entered Mrs. Scheers’ house [sic] , the first thing to greet his eyes was his Ni-ti-mous, smoking quite contentedly. Going over to her he tried to make up for all his mistakes and neglect of her, but she pushed him away and told him to go back to his white girls with their silk and powders. “Ah-wash!” (go away) she said, “I am not good enough for you.”

“The man tried to reason with her, but Ni-ti-mous was not fooling this time.
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For three or four days the coaxing went on, but the woman had only one answer, “No, no, go away”. But Brown had another plan. “The only way I now have open,” he thought to himself, “is to get Mrs. Scheer to help me.”

Getting the woman to one side he made a bargain with her. He promised, “if you persuade my wife to come home with me I’ll give you Ten Dollars”. Then he told her of his offer, “Tell my wife, I will give her my bunch of horses and my brand. I will also give her a Bill of Sale in her own name, and a solemn promise never to do again what I have done, as long as I live. Tell her I know I have done wrong. I must have my answer by tomorrow. I will call early. Good night!”

Brown spent the night downtown with the boys having a few drinks and the following morning, when Mrs. Scheer answered his knock at the door, he exclaimed, “Good morning, sweet lady, what are the results?”

“Everything is alright”, she said.

So Mrs. Scheer got her Ten Dollars, Ni-ti-mous got a splendid bunch of horses, a wagon and a load of “grub” and away they drove to Kootenay Lakes, and Ni-ti-mous was quite contented.

Marie Rose Smith’s “Eight Years on the Plains: Installment XI” in Canadian Cattlemen October 1949.