Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I whanau ia i te Red River Settlement, te tama a John Palmer Bourke, he tangata whenua no Ireland, me Nancy Campbell. I tipu ake a Bourke i runga i te Hay Field Farm i St. James, i hokona e tona papa mai i te Kamupene Bay o Hudson; i muri mai ka riro ia i te pāmu. I marenatia ia ki a Isabella Hallett i te tau 1863. I mahi a Bourke hei rangatira e ārahi ana i tētahi rōpū o ngā kaihauturu i te wā o te
Ko ngā whakaekenga a ngā Fenian. I muri mai ka mahi ia i runga i te kaunihera mo St. James me te mema o te poari kura o te rohe. I mate a Bourke i Ocean Park, California, ka tanumia ki Winnipeg.