TRANSCRIPT

The force had been at Fort Dufferin just one day when the new horses caused some difficulty. A thunderbolt fell in the mist of the horses that night, causing them to stampede. Six men on guard were trampled under foot, wagons overturned, tents and equipment scattered.

Says Steele: 'I shall never forget that night. I had full view of the stampede, being not more than 50 yards from the horses as they rushed at the gate and attempted to pass it, scrambling and rolling over one another in one huge mass. This and the unceasing flashes of lightning, the rolling of the thunder, the loud shouts of the troopers as they vainly attempted to stop the horses and the mad gallop of Colmen's team, gave it a weird and romantic complexion, typically suggestive of the wild west.'

All but one of the animals were soon returned, thanks to the calmer, mixed-breed broncos of the Fort Garry force. These western horses were smaller and less pretty, but better adapted to prairie life, and remained behind when the Toronto animals ran. Steele and the other experienced riders used the broncos to round up the strays in just one day, although some ran as far as 100 miles.

Kris Nygren/Edwin Wityshyn Narrate