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John “Johnny” Francis Grant was a Métis rancher and entrepreneur born January 7, 1831 at Fort Edmonton. In 1861, he built a permanent ranch site at Cottonwood (Deer Lodge Valley), Montana and recruited a number of Métis trading families to join him. By 1863 he had over 4,000 head and some 3,000 horses. He supplied beef and horses for the Montana gold rush of 1861, and by 1863 his holdings were valued in the neighbourhood of $150,000. Grant then decided to pull up stakes and move to Manitoba. Upon arrival at Red River, Grant bought real estate in Winnipeg and bought land for a ranch in the Parish of St. Charles at Riviére aux Ilets des Bois (Carman, Manitoba). After 1870, he entered into land speculation with Donald Smith (of the HBC) by buying Métis scrip and by 1882 he owned 13,000 acres. Unfortunately this was bought on credit and when the land boom collapsed in the mid-1800s he was ruined financially and had to sell off most of his holdings. Grant sold his remaining cattle in 1891 and moved to Bittern Lake, Alberta in 1892. By 1907 Grant was quite ill and he and his wife moved to Edmonton to live with their daughter and son-in-law. He died there on May first of that year. Grant was devoted to his children and also adopted many abandoned or orphaned children. He ensured that all of his children eventually obtained their Métis scrip. |
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