North-West Rebellion

Gabriel Dumont The Return of Riel Battle of Duck Lake Battle of Batoche Execution of Riel North-West Rebellion

The North-West Rebellion • The promise of a French-Canadian home in Manitoba was already at an end • New settlers had arrived pushing the Metis out • The Metis had gone to Saskatchewan as the buffalo were disappearing • The Metis had no clear title to the land they settled and the surveyors had moved in • The Plains People were also suffering the Cree, Blackfoot and the Sioux

The Return of Louis Riel • The other settlers were angry as well • The harvest was poor and the prices low • The worse most settlers had taken land along the northern rail route • The railway had taken the southern route • By 1884 the North-West was ripe for rebellion • “Only one man can help us now Riel!” • Gabriel Dumont was sent to get Riel

Riel is in Montana • Gabriel Dumont legendary hunter and master sharpshooter led the Metis to find Riel • Dumont was an expert horseman who spoke 6 different native languages as well as French and some English • With the buffalo gone Dumont had settled in Batoche he operated a ferry and ran a general store • It was Dumont who asked Riel to return

Lead his People to Freedom • Louis Riel was now teaching in Montana it had been 15 years since the Red River Rebellion but the Metis still remembered • Louis Riel was not the same person he had suffered a series of emotional breakdowns and had spent several years in asylums • Louis Riel was convinced he was the “prophet of the grasslands” • He had begun to call himself “David” • and when the “avenging angel” Gabriel had asked him to return the hand of “God” was present

Louis and John • Riel sent Macdonald a petition on behalf of the residents of the region asking for provincial status • An elected government and control of natural resources • “Old Tomorrow” Macdonald delayed • Riel and the Metis grew impatient • Louis Riel declared a provisional government in the village of Batoch • On March 19, 1885 the North-West Rebellion began

“Fire! In the name of the Father! In the name of the Son! In the name of the Holy Spirit! Fire! • At Duck Lake the North-West Mounted Police and the Metis under the command of Gabriel Dumont clashed • Dumont won the battle sending the Mounties into retreat 12 officers and men died • Dumont wanted to pursue and kill them all but Riel would not let him • “If you are going to give them the advantage like that, we cannot win!” Dumont complained • By this time Riel’s religious delusions had resurfaced • Dumont’s brother Isidore was killed in this battle

Poundermaker • 2 breakaway bands of Cree warriors along with some Sioux and Assiniboine did join the rebellion • Big Bear who had earlier resisted the call to the reserves and Poundmaker the adopted son of Crowfoot lead the revolt • Big Bear’s warriors under Wandering Spirit attacked the settlement at Frog Lake and killed 9 settlers • Poundmaker attacked Battleford, the settlers fled

Big Bear • With the buffalo gone, the nomadic Cree were starving • The Cree warriors and the Metis did not co-ordinate their attacks • In effect they were 2 rebellions 1 of the Metis and the other Cree • The settlers who had supported Louis Riel at the beginning left with the rebellion • Complain “yes” fight “no” • Big Bear wanted no part of the violence, but with his people starving he could not stop events

CPR to the Rescue! • The reaction to the rebellion was quick • In 1870 it had taken the army 3 hard months to get to Manitoba • In 1885 the CPR had reached the plains • Within 10 days the first troops had arrived within the month more than 5000 soldiers were in place • The army Mounties and militia were under the command of General Frederick Middleton • Louis Riel saved John A’s CPR

General Middleton • Before the rebellion the railway had been next to bankruptcy • With the outbreak of the rebellion parliament gave the extra money and the troops moved westward • General Middleton divided his forces into 3 columns and used the main line of the CPR as their base • Column 1 under Major-General Thomas Strange moved north from Calgary against Big Bear • Column 3 under General Middleton left Qu’Appelle and headed for Batoche

Battle of Batoche • Column 2 under Colonel William Otter moved north from Swift Current to relieve Battleford and capture Poundermaker • The Metis and the Cree were now on the defensive • At Fish Creek south of Batoche General Middleton marched his troops into an ambush • A small force of Metis under Gabriel Dumont fought Middleton to a standstill • However, the odds were against the Metis

“In a minute. I want to kill another Englishman.” last words of Joseph Ouellette • Middleton had more men and supplies and the latest in warfare technology, an American Gatling gun • Middleton and his men attacked the village of Batoche on May 9, 1885 • The fighting lasted for 4 days • When the army finally stormed the defenses Gabriel Dumont almost single-handedly held them off for an hour so the others could escape • 21 Metis died at Batoche including 93 Joseph Ouellette

Death of a Rebellion • Dumont and Riel became separated in the escape • On May 15, 1885 Louis Riel the “prophet of the grasslands” surrendered to the Canadian Army • 11 days later Poundermaker also surrendered • Big Bear held out for another month and a half before he too surrendered • Gabriel Dumont escaped to the United States were he joined “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show”as “the Hero of the Half-Breed Rebellion”

The Trial of the Century • Poundermaker and Big Bear were sent to prison • 8 Cree warriors including Wandering Spirit were sentenced to public hangings • Riel refused to plead insanity • He was tried in Regina and found guilty of treason • The jury recommended mercy, Quebec warned that if Riel was executed it was “a declaration of war against Quebec” • John A refused to intervene

Riel Must Die! • As John A. said “He will hang, though every dog in Quebec barks in his favour.” • John A. refused to pardon Louis Riel, Riel did lead an armed rebellion against the government that caused the death of more than 200 people • At this time the penalty for such crimes was death • John A. Macdonald had built his political career on an alliance between English and French-Canadians

“The Old Man, the Old Flag, and the Old Policy” • Like John A. Macdonald Louis Riel has become all things to all people, “a prophet, a traitor, a madman, a hero” • On November 7, 1885 Donald Smith drove home the last spike for the CPR • On November 17, 1885 Louis Riel climbed the steps to the gallows • In 1891 John A. Macdonald fought his last campaign and won • On June 6, 1891 John A. Macdonald died

What now for Canada? The End of Riel and Macdonald

North-West Rebellion