North-West Rebellion

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The North-West Rebellion (or North-West Resistance or the Saskatchewan Rebellion) of 1885 was a brief and unsuccessful attempt by the Métis people of Saskatchewan to establish their own sovereign nation independent of the Dominion of Canada.

Contents

1 Background
2 Battle of Duck Lake
3 Frog Lake Massacre
4 Battle of Fish Creek
5 Battle of Cut Knife
6 Battle of Batoche
7 Battle of Frenchman's Butte
8 Battle of Loon Lake
9 Aftermath
10 See also
11 External link

Background

After the so-called Red River Rebellion of 1869-1870, many of the Métis moved from Manitoba to Saskatchewan, then part of the Northwest Territories, founding a settlement at Batoche on the South Saskatchewan River. However, as in Manitoba, settlers from Ontario began to arrive, and land began to be arranged in the square concession system of English Canada, rather than the seigneurial system of strips along a river that the Métis learned from their French-Canadian ancestors.

In 1884 the Métis (including the Anglo-Metis) asked Louis Riel to return from the United States, where he had fled after the Red River Rebellion, to appeal to the government on their behalf. The government gave a vague response. In March of 1885, Riel, Gabriel Dumont, Honoré Jackson (AKA Will Jackson), and others set up a provisional government, believing that they could influence the federal government the same way they had in 1869. However, there was now a railway line across Canada, and the North West Mounted Police (NWMP) had been created. Riel lacked support from both the English settlers of the area and many of the non-Métis natives, and due to his belief that God had sent him back to Canada as a prophet, the Catholic Church no longer supported him either. The Catholic priest father Albert Lacombe obtained assurances from Crowfoot that his Blackfoot warriors would not participate.

Battle of Duck Lake

See main article Battle of Duck Lake

On March 26, 1885, Dumont defeated a small group of Prince Albert Volunteers and North-West Mounted Police led by their superintendent Leif Newry Fitzroy Crozier at Duck Lake, outside Batoche. In response, the federal government sent 3000 troops under Major General Frederick Middleton to the area, where Middleton incorporated the 2000 English volunteers and NWMP who had organized themselves since Duck Lake.

Frog Lake Massacre

See main article Frog Lake Massacre

On April 2, 1885 near Frog Lake, Alberta a Cree uprising led by Wandering Spirit attacked a small town.

Angered by what seemed to be unfair treaties by the Canadian government and the dwindling buffalo population, their main source of food, Big Bear and his Cree decided to rebel after the successful Métis victory at Duck Lake. They gathered all the white settlers in the area into the local church. Thomas Quinn, the town's Indian Agent, was killed after a disagreement broke out. The Cree then attacked the settlers. Nine people were killed and three were taken as captives.

The massacre prompted the Canadian government to take notice of the growing unrest in Western Canada. The rebellion was eventually put down, and Wandering Spirit, the war chief responsible for the Frog Lake Massacre, was hanged.

Battle of Fish Creek

See main article Battle of Fish Creek

On 24 April 1885 at Fish Creek, Saskatchewan, there was a major Métis victory over the government forces attempting to quell the Rebellion. The reversal, though not decisive enough to ultimately alter the outcome of the war, halted Major General Frederick Middleton's advance on Batoche, where the Métis would later make their final stand.

Battle of Cut Knife

See main article Battle of Cut Knife

On May 2 Lieutenant Colonel William Otter was defeated by native chief Poundmaker at the Battle of Cut Knife near Battleford.

Battle of Batoche

See main article Battle of Batoche

On May 9 Middleton attacked Batoche itself. The Métis quickly ran out of ammunition and resorted to firing pebbles from their guns, until they were forced to retreat. Riel was captured on May 15, while Dumont, and other participants fled across the border to the Montana region of the United States.

Battle of Frenchman's Butte

See main article Battle of Frenchman's Butte

Meanwhile, Major General Thomas Bland Strange brought a NWMP detachment from Calgary, Alberta, but they were unable to defeat a native force under Big Bear at Frenchman's Butte at the end of May.

Battle of Loon Lake

See main article Battle of Loon Lake

On June 3rd a small detachment of NWMP under the command of Major Sam Steele caught up to a band of Cree under Big Bear who were moving northward after their victory at Frenchman's Butte. The Cree were almost out of ammunition, and were forced to flee after a short exchange of fire.

Aftermath

Métis and First Nation prisoners following the rebellion, August 1885.

Demoralized, out of ammunition, and with no hope of relief with the surrender of the Métis and Poundmaker, most of the Cree surrendered over the next few weeks. Poundmaker and Big Bear later surrendered as well. The government was able to pacify the natives by sending them food and other supplies; Poundmaker and Big Bear were sentenced to prison, and eight other native leaders were hanged. Riel was tried and hanged as well, sparking a national controversy between French and English Canada.

The Canadian Pacific Railway played a key role in the Rebellion, transporting federal troops to the area in a fraction of the time that it took to send troops in response Riel's previous rebellion. The successful operation gave the foundering and incomplete railway enough political support to receive sufficient funds to finish the line completely.

External link

[Diary of Walter Stewart enlisted in Ontario in the spring of 1885 to put down the Riel Rebellion]

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