User:Thegrammarguy/Mary Drever Macleod

Mary Isabella Drever Macleod (11 October 1852 – 15 April 1933) was a Canadian heroine of the Red River Rebellion, made famous in western Canada by her evasion of Métis guards in 1869 to safely deliver a message to Colonel Wolseley, commander of the Red River Expedition.

After the Red River Rebellion she married James Farquharson Macleod and would later become the first lady of the North-West Mounted Police, the precursor to the modern-day Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Together Mary and James Macleod settled in Calgary, Alberta and became a prominent family in the city's history.

Family history and early life
William Drever (1800-1884) was born in Kirkwall, Orkney Islands and signed on with the Hudson's Bay Company as a labourer in June 1821 at the age of 18. After a further 18 years he was posted to Red River Settlement in Rupert's Land (in what is present day Manitoba) where he met Helen Rothnie.

Helen Rothnie, born in the early 1820s in Aberdeen, Scotland, came to Red River Settlement in 1839 as a maid-servant in the employ of the severely unpopular Adam Thom, the newly appointed Hudson's Bay Company's Recorder of Rupert's Land.

William and Helen were married in 1843 and Mary Isabella was born 11 October 1852. In that same year, William Drever purchased property and opened a general store at what would later be a major part of Winnipeg's central downtown, suddenly becoming potentially rich.

As Mary grew older so did her family's status. Mary and her sisters attended the private boarding school run by Mathilda Davis. Two of Mary's sisters would marry prominent Anglican churchmen: William Pinkham, who would later become archdeacon of Manitoba, and John Alexander Mackay, who would later become archdeacon of Saskatchewan.

Red River rebellion
In 1869, the Government of Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the Northwest Territories from the Hundson's Bay Company. Fearing the potential threat to their way of life, the Métis protested, seized control of Fort Garry on November 2, 1869, and established a provisional government. Loyal supporters of Canada, the Drever family (among other prominent Red River families) refused to recognize the provisional government and become known as a loyalist sanctuary. Mary's father and brother were both imprisoned at Fort Garry for their loyalist support.

In the summer of 1870, at just 17 years old, Mary Drever

James Macleod
Met after RR. Eventually married. Wife of first NWMP commissioner. Signed Treaty 7. Settled in Fort Macleod.

Later years
After passing of James left penniless. No NWMP pension, eventually led to NWMP pension reform. Started successful business in Calgary to support family. Died, buried in cemetery (pic).

Legacy
On 15 June 2015 Mary Drever Macleod was commemorated in Calgary's East Village Wheel of Women Project, a ground-level installation celebrating the contributions of 30 women to the City of Calgary's history.

The inscription on Mary's plague reads: "Mary Isabella (Drever) McLeod became famous in Western Canada for her steady nerve in the surrounds of Metis guards. She married Colonel McLeod and was one of only several women to sign treaty 7 Blackfoot crossing in 1877."