Bown, Walter Robert, 1828-1903

Walter Robert Bown (1828-1903) was a dentist, businessman, journalist, publisher, politician, and office holder. It was Bown’s involvement with John Christian Schultz (1840-1896), dating from 1864, that propelled the diminutive dentist and trader to the forefront of affairs in Red River. Schultz, a highly controversial figure, introduced Bown to various business endeavours and, most important, to the politics of Canadian expansionism in the northwest and to anti-Hudson’s Bay Company rhetoric. Acting as the editor of the Nor’Wester in Schultz’s absence, Bown portrayed the Schultz’s jailbreak as an action which had the support of the majority of Red River’s inhabitants, and which constituted a blow for freedom against the tyranny of HBC rule in general and its system of justice in particular. That this view was shared by only a handful of recent Canadian immigrants was soon demonstrated by a petition from 804 residents questioning the veracity of Bown’s assertions.