North-West Rebellion

In the early 1880s the Metis living along the South Saskatchewan River around the settlement of Batoche were finding life difficult because of the bad weather conditions that ruined their crops and the disappearance of the buffalo herds. Some had unsettled land claims from the Manitoba settlement of 1871 and all were concerned that the government survey would not recognize their existing river lot farms. Lack of action by Ottawa on the latter grievances led them to send a delegation to Montana to ask Louis Riel to return to Canada to lead their cause. Riel agreed, and in July 1884 began to try to arrange an alliance between the Metis, the white settlers, unhappy because the Canadian Pacific Railway had shifted its main line south, and the Cree and Blackfoot, near starvation because of the lack of buffalo and at odds with the government over the allocation of reserve lands.

At first it seemed that Riel might succeed in drawing the various groups into a political alliance as he had 15 years earlier at Red River, but his religious ideas had become increasingly eccentric over the years and he now believed that he was a prophet with a mission to reveal God's plan for Canada and that the Metis were the new chosen people. These heretical views deprived him of the support of the Oblate missionaries, who were influential among all the groups in the Northwest. Support among the white settlers waned in early 1885 when Riel began to talk about armed rebellion rather than the letters and petitions that had been the substance of earlier protests. With few exceptions the First Nations leaders had a much more realistic grasp of the potential military power of the Canadian state than did Riel and had no interest in confrontation.

With strong backing from Gabriel Dumont , Riel decided to push ahead and on 19 March 1885 declared a provisional government and ordered all representatives of the Canadian government out of the North-West Territories. A governing council that Riel called the ‘Exovedate’ was established and Dumont was appointed military commander. The first military encounter took place on 26 March at Duck Lake when a force of North-West Mounted Police and civilian volunteers from Prince Albert led by Superintendent Leif Crozier met Dumont and the Metis. A dozen were killed on the government side and half that many of their opponents. Its defeat in the skirmish led the NWMP to abandon its largest post in the area, Fort Carlton, and retreat to Prince Albert.

Ottawa reacted decisively as soon as the telegraph brought news of the uprising. The country had only a handful of professional soldiers but militia regiments were hastily mobilized. There was great enthusiasm for the expedition even in Quebec where battalions from Quebec City and Montreal were given rousing public send-offs. Although the CPR was incomplete through northern Ontario, the troops could bridge the gaps on foot or by sleigh. Within a month 3,000 troops from as far away as Nova Scotia reached the Prairies. Almost 2,000 were recruited in the West. The British officer in command of the militia, Maj. Gen. Frederick Middleton , put together a staff who quickly improvised transport, medical services, and all the supplies the little army needed to take the field.

Middleton's original plan was straightforward. His entire force would leave the railway at Qu'Appelle, march north to the centre of the uprising at Batoche and defeat the rebels. By the time the troops began to arrive on 10 April , events had forced a change in plans. A large group of Cree, mostly from Poundmaker's reserve, moved into the territorial capital, Battleford, prompting the residents of the town to take shelter in the NWMP fort. The Cree did not cut the telegraph wire and the refugees bombarded Ottawa with demands for rescue. On 2 April some warriors from Big Bear's Cree killed the Indian agent, two priests, and half a dozen other whites at Frog Lake. Word of these incidents led to further pressures from Calgary and Edmonton for military protection. Middleton responded by sending a column of troops under Lt. Col. William Otter north from Swift Current to Battleford. He sent the Quebec troops, whom he distrusted, to Calgary, where they became the largest element in the Alberta Field Force under the command of Gen. Thomas Bland Strange , a retired British officer who was ranching near Calgary. Strange left the 9th Voltigeurs as a garrison to calm the fears of Calgarians and marched north to Edmonton with the 65th Mount Royal Rifles, the Winnipeg Light Infantry, and an improvised group of local volunteers and mounted policemen called Steele's Scouts. From Edmonton the force would proceed downriver in pursuit of Big Bear's Cree.

Middleton remained convinced, correctly as it turned out, that the Metis force constituted the most serious threat and that if they were defeated the rebellion would be over. With about 900 men he marched cautiously north towards the Metis settlements on the Saskatchewan. Under the leadership of Dumont, the Metis had been preparing for the attack. On 24 April Middleton's soldiers ran into the southernmost Metis position, which the Metis called Tourond's Coulee but which appeared on the surveyor's maps as Fish Creek. After a fire fight that lasted most of the day, both sides pulled back, the government forces having suffered heavier casualties. Middleton decided to wait for reinforcements before going further. While Middleton was waiting, Otter's force reached Battleford without incident. As soon as they did so, the Cree and Assiniboine in the town dispersed. Although his instructions from Middleton were to avoid confrontation, the absence of resistance tempted Otter to take the offensive. On 1 May he marched west to Poundmaker's reserve and on the following day ran into a well-prepared force led by the war chief Fine Day at Cut Knife Hill. Otter's force was quickly surrounded and was fortunate to be able to retreat after six hours' fighting with just eight fatalities.

By 9 May Middleton was ready to attack the main Metis positions at Batoche. His plan included the use of a Hudson's Bay Company river steamer, the Northcote, as an improvised gunboat. Lack of coordination with the troops attacking on shore led to the failure of that plan; the Northcote was put out of action when the Metis used the ferry cable to knock down its smokestacks. Middleton's force retreated at the end of the day. On 10 and 11 May Middleton directed cautious attacks at the Metis lines but was unable to break through. On the morning of 12 May , some of the militia officers, tired of their commander's apparent indecision, charged the Metis lines without orders. The Metis force by this time was exhausted and running low on ammunition. The attack succeeded at the cost of eight killed on the government side and perhaps as many as 50 of Riel's followers. Riel surrendered on 15 May but Gabriel Dumont escaped across the border. The rebellion was essentially over after the defeat at Batoche but the pursuit of Big Bear by Gen. Strange's force dragged on for another six weeks. There were minor skirmishes at Frenchman Butte on 28 May and Loon Lake on 3 June . Big Bear surrendered on 2 July .

Louis Riel was tried for high treason at Regina in August and was quickly found guilty. There was little controversy about the facts of the case or of the application of the law. Riel's defence team realized that the only possible argument was one of insanity based on his religious delusions. Riel refused to go along and made an eloquent statement that convinced the jury of his ability to understand the illegality of his actions. He was condemned to death, the only possible sentence for high treason. Appeals to higher courts upheld the verdict. At this point pressure began to build in Quebec for the government to commute the sentence to life imprisonment. A medical commission examined Riel and reported that he met the legal definition of sanity, although there was sufficient latitude in the report to justify commuting the sentence had the government wanted to do so. Riel's hanging on 16 November 1885 at Regina gave Wilfrid Laurier and the Liberal Party in Quebec their first real opportunity to break the Conservative hold on the province.

Eight of the Cree who had participated in the Frog Lake killings were convicted and executed for murder. Most of the other Metis leaders along with Big Bear and Poundmaker were convicted of treason-felony and served short jail terms. Perhaps the most significant feature of the rebellion was the fact that most of the Native population declined to participate. The rapid and decisive defeat of the rebellion meant that the Canadian government's policy of clearing the way for white settlement by treaties and confining Indians to reserves was dramatically confirmed and the possibility of further resistance eliminated.

R. C. Macleod