North-West Rebellion
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.
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 (also known as Will Jackson), and others set up a provisional government, believing that he could influence the federal government the same way he had in 1869. However, there was now a railway line across Canada, and the North West Mounted Police had been created. He 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 English settlers and North-West Mounted Police led by 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.
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.
Aftermath
Poundmaker and Big Bear later surrendered. 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.
See also
External link
Diary of Walter Stewart enlisted in Ontario in the spring of 1885 to put down the Riel Rebellion