It is believed that the Assiniboine
were originally
Yanktona Sioux,
but broke away around 1640 to 1650.
At that point they aligned themselves with
the Plains Cree Tribe.
The name Assnipwan means "Stone Sioux"
referring to the practice of using stones to cook.
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Although the history books refer to them as Assiniboine,
they call themselves Nakota meaning
"allies".
There is no doubt they are Sioux,
they broke away from -
and became the implacable
enemies of
the Dakota about 300 years ago.
from Bill Barry, People Places
The
Assiniboine traded corn received from
the Mandan and other village tribes,
in what is North Dakota today.
They traded with Axes, Knives, Bullets, and gunpowder
from the French and English Traders.
They hunted in the Souris Valley in the Winter,
and the Turtle Mountains in the summer.
First White Man visits are reported in
my
History of Coal in the Area
web page.
(Dr.) Sir James Hector, (1834-1907)
F.R.S.
Scottish Geologist, Naturalist and Surgeon,
who was part of the Palliser Expedition in 1857,
made reference to the petroglyphs in the area.
In 1857 he was appointed
surgeon and geologist
on this Government expedition
for the exploration of western Canada.
It started in Detroit in June 1857,
and ended at Vancouver Island in January 1860.
Hector Mountain is named after him,
Kicking Horse Pass was named after him,
getting kicked by a horse there, and nearly died there.
Shortly after the expedition, he went to New Zealand
where he got married and had children.
He is very famous there as well,
with the Hector Dolphin named after him.
Later in life he came back to Canada,
for a short time, as a guest of the CPR,
then he went back to New Zealand where he died.
Dr. George Mercer Dawson (1849-1901)
visited Roche Percee in 1879.
He reported on the Sandstone Rock Structure,
and sketched a number of the petroglyphs.
He was a Canadian Scientist and Surveyor.
In 1939, Prof. William John Wintemberg, (1876-1941) F.R.S.C.,
an Archaeologist with the Victoria Memorial Museum
(later National Museum of Canada)
also reported on the petroglyph carvings.
Dr. Alfred Richard Cecil Selwyn (1824-1902) F.R.S.,
a British Geologist,
and Director of the Geological Survey of Canada
made a visit, just prior to 1906,
and reported on the Coal.
Family Connection
My father Phillip George Gent was born in Roche
Percee
The midwife who delivered him was Mrs Francis
Knight,
who later became Mrs. Francis McKersie.
Her and her Husband were long time residents of
Roche Percee.
My Dad was born in an old Cabin,
next to the Roche Percee Hotel
Flood 2011
I have changed the Roche Percee Pages
to these various shades of
BLUE,
as a sign of respect for the Flooding in 2011,
and the loss of Homes, Businesses, Parks,
and various Heritage sites,
in the Roche Percee Area,
during that disastrous time.
The Souris River, and Mother Nature,
can be a very powerful thing.
I encourage everyone to donate time and
money,
to help the Citizens of Roche Percee fight through this.
Their ancestors stuck through many floods here,
and never gave up. I hope the newer generation,
can fight through the disaster as well,
and help the older ones make it through.
I hope some of the oil money being made
down there,
will go to rebuilding the whole place.
I hope one of the Oil Companies, or Coal Companies,
has a Community heart, and goes the extra mile.
You make the money there, spend some of it there!
HELP ROCHE PERCEE REBUILD!
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