Signed Manuscript Letter from Lower Fort Garry in 1850

Signed folded letter, "Lower Fort, 23rd October 1850" with an envelope addressed to Reverend John Smithurst, "Indian Settlement" from William Lane, the Officer commissioned by the Hudson's Bay Company as the Chief Trader for Lower Fort Garry. Lane informs Smithurst "his note was duly handed by -- Cameron, and according to request, I paid 9/6 for the letter delivered to him". Cameron was certainly the Indian runner. Lane mentions he will be happy to see Smithurst at any time and fancies that all goods he may request for his winter supplies are now open. Lower Fort Garry was built in 1830 by the Hudson's Bay Company on the western bank of the Red River, 32 km north of the original Fort Garry (now in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada), after the latter was destroyed by a devastating flood in 1826. The main purpose of the Lower Fort was as a supply depot for the Red River settlement and the surrounding Cree, Anishinaabe, Métis, and European (mostly Orkney Scot) populations. The post traded essential manufactured goods to the farmers and hunters for produce that was in turn used for provisioning company treks into the north. Reverend John Smithurst (1807-1867), a Church of England clergyman, was ordained priest in May 1839 and arrived in Rupert’s Land the following September. He was appointed by the Church Missionary Society of England to its North West America Mission, and was later appointed as company chaplain at the Red River Settlement by the Hudson's Bay Company. He served as company chaplain until 1840, when he reverted to serving solely as a missionary of the society. He was the first Anglican missionary in Rupert’s Land to attempt to learn an Indian language. After numerous assignments in Métis territory, in June 1849 he was appointed to the Council of Assiniboia. That same year he became involved in the dispute over freedom in the fur trade. By supplying Governor William Bletterman Caldwell with information favourable to the HBC, he aroused the wrath of the Métis who succeeded in alienating the loyalties of a large part of his Indian flock. Smithurst’s remaining two years in Red River were unhappy and, suffering from acute rheumatism, he resigned in 1851. Smithurst was a conscientious missionary. During his 12 years in Red River he performed 323 baptisms at the Indian Settlement. He was also a man of great practical ability, whose mission had "the best arranged house and garden in the Red River Settlement". An extremely interesting letter involving two important figures in the Red River Settlement during that period, and providing insights about the mailing/communication system, along with courier fees charged for this type of service by the Indians, and the dynamic of the business and the supply chains in those years around Fort Garry.…