Robert Semple (26 February 1777 – 19 June 1816) was an American-born fur trader and merchant who served as governor of the territories controlled by the Hudson's Bay Company in the Canadas from 1815 until his death in 1816.

During his travels he wrote travel books including Walks and sketches at the Cape of Good Hope; to which is subjoined a journey from Cape Town to Blettenberg's Bay (London, 1803); Observations on a journey through Spain and Italy to Naples; and thence to Smyrna and Constantinople: comprising a description of the principal places in that route, and remarks on the present natural and political state of those countries (2v., London, 1807); A second journey in Spain, in the spring of 1809; from Lisbon, through the western skirts of the Sierra Morena, to Sevilla, Cordoba, Granada, Malaga, and Gibraltar; and thence to Tetuan and Tangiers (London, 1809); Sketch of the present state of Caracas; including a journey from Caracas through La Victoria and Valencia to Puerto Cabello (London, 1812); and Observations made on a tour from Hamburg, through Berlin, Gorlitz, and Breslau, to Silberberg; and thence to Gottenburg (London, 1814).

Colin Robertson, was a member of the Hudson's Bay Company who helped rebuild the Red River Settlement prior to Semple's arrival.

During his first December at the settlement, he went to Fort Daer (Pembina, N.Dak) and visited settlers who had moved there for the winter due to a shortage of food.

He then continued and visited all of the different posts on the upper Assiniboine and Qu'Appelle rivers that belonged to the Hudson's Bay Company.

François-Firmin Boucher, a Canadian member of the North West Company, moved forward to speak with Semple.

[1][5] Michael Heyden states that Boucher asked the governor, "Why did you destroy our fort, you damned rascal".

Boucher's account differs slightly, in that Semple and his men disarmed him, and that his horse took flight and that he was fired upon while riding the frightened animal away.

[1] Miles Macdonell was the first from the Hudson's Bay Company to hear about the massacre, and told Lord Selkirk on 24 July what had happened at the Red River Settlement.

Due to his actions and the outcome at Seven Oaks, Cuthbert Grant became one of the most hated men to the Red River settlers.

Dick Lyle argued that it was not a massacre, but that the incident at Seven Oaks was depicted that way by Anglo-Canadians to portray the métis as violent and as a result, justify taking their homes on First Nations lands.

Coltman gathered information from an equal number of people, from both sides of the battle, and analysed their credibility.

The conclusions that Coltman made in his report did not support the ideals that many of the white-Anglo historians wanted to convey.

[6] Pierre Falcon a Métis, wrote the "Chanson de la Grenouillère" a song about what happened at the battle of Seven Oaks.

Modern historians explain that "Ross's interpretive framework is uncomplicated: it is a straightforward expression of the theme of "civilization versus savagery".

The civilized white man versus the savage Indian that Ross portrayed became a theme that repeated in the majority of history books afterwards.

The writing of the book was an "effort by Ross to privilege his own European ethnicity in opposition to the posited savagery of all Native people within the Red River Settlement, including persons of mixed race".

[6] Ross's book had success and was widely accepted by historians despite much of the account being false and lacking in proper evidence.

The history that Ross wrote is said to have been the tool used by white Anglos to justify having settled on native land without reasonable grounds.

[6] Similar to Ross, George Bryce was asked to write Manitoba's history from his white, European, and upper class perspective.

Bryce describes "Selkirk and his party [as] the unproblematic heros, and the NWC and the Metis the villains, underscored by their putative role at Seven Oaks".

"In researching 7 oaks, [Bryce] simply looked for testimony from the Selkirk side alleging Metis savagery, quoted it at length and ignored contrary evidence".

Thus, the same problems and stereotypes that were present in Ross's history were then repeated and set further precedent for other historians poorly representing the incident at Seven Oaks.

Bryce, like Ross understood that "representing 7 oaks as a "massacre: was therefore integral the construction of a new master narrative of progress in the West".

[6] To justify white-Anglo actions, the Metis needed to be shown as violent and lacking judgement and a prime example of this was done through the histories written on the battle at Seven Oaks.

"Seven oaks provided a convenient vehicle for the presentation of an alleged metis weakness of character, implicitly justifying the disposition of their lands".