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

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

The End of Riel and Macdonald What now for Canada?