Western Canada

A Short History of Western Canada
Copyright 1968 McGraw-Hill Company of Canada Limited
163 pages,
ISBN 0-07-077787-X.

The Railways and the Land Rush

Battle Lines on the South Saskatchewan

What was known as halfbreed scrip, distributed after the Red River trouble in 1869-70, did not reach to the root of the Métis problem. Instead of exchanging the certificates for Crown land, most of the native people traded them off recklessly and continued to fret about the sweep of settlers crowding in upon them. Many of the Red River Métis moved farther west to locations like those on the South Saskatchewan River, hoping to continue the wild, free lives they loved and be away from the incoming white man.

Once again, however, civilization was overtaking them, resulting in destruction of the buffalo herds and an end to freedom as they knew it. Naturally, they were irritated, and when they petitioned the Government of Canada for aid, nothing of consequence happened. What the aggrieved people wanted was security, perhaps a Métis province where they could administer in their own way.

The fears felt by those along the South Saskatchewan, north of Saskatoon, were expressed clearly in a letter to Sir John A. Macdonald dated September 4, 1882, and signed by the great native leader, Gabriel Dumont, and 46 others:

Sir-We the undersigned French half-breeds, for the most part settled on the west bank of the Saskatchewan, in the district of Prince Albert, N.W.T., hereby approach you, in order to set forth with confidence the painful position in which we are placed with reference to the lands occupied by us in this portion of the territory, and in order to call the attention of the Government to the questions which cause us so much anxiety. Compelled, most of us, to abandon the prairie, which can no longer furnish us the means of subsistence, we came in large numbers, during the course of the summer and, settled on the south branch of the Saskatchewan. Pleased with the land and the country, we set ourselves actively to work clearing the land. . . . The surveyed lands being already occupied or sold, we were compelled to occupy lands not yet surveyed, being ignorant, for the most part, also, of the regulations of the Government respecting Dominion lands. Great then was our astonishment and perplexity when we were notified that when the lands were surveyed we shall be obliged to pay $2 an acre to the Government if our lands are included in odd-numbered sections. We desire, moreover, to keep close together, in order more easily to secure a school and a church. We are poor people and cannot pay for our land without utter ruin. . . . In our anxiety we appeal to your sense of justice as Minister of the Interior and head of the Government, and beg you to reassure us speedily by directing that we shall not be disturbed on our lands, and that the Government grant us the privilege of considering us as occupants of even-numbered sections, since we have occupied these lands in good faith. Having so long held this country as its masters . . . we consider it not asking too much to request that the Government allow us to occupy our lands in peace. . . . We also pray that you would direct that the lots be surveyed along the river ten chains in width by two miles in depth, this mode of division being the long established usage of the country. This would render it more easy for us to know the limits of our several lots. We trust, Sir, that you will grant a favourable hearing to this our petition.

Sessional Paper, No. 45, Vol. 12, 1886.

Lack of response to the letter gave reason to believe that the officials had forgotten the Red River experience of 1869. Gabriel Dumont tried again, writing on February 1, 1883, to the Lieutenant Governor of Territories. The request was for land grants, help in building a school, aid in buying farm equipment and seed grain, and finally, that members of the halfbreed community be considered for the next appointments to the Council of the North West Territories.

Had the Métis position been examined sympathetically, the violence of 1885 might have been avoided. The Mounted Police and members of the Territorial Council were well aware of the dangers. As it was, the apparent indifference to their plight angered Dumont's people. They wanted action. They knew Dumont as a great hunter and great fighter, but they still thought of Louis Riel as the matchless leader. They wanted Riel, and late in 1884, a deputation traveled by horse to Montana where Riel was teaching school. He agreed to come, and very soon, residents along the river were rallying to him as they had done 15 years earlier.

Riel's personality had changed and he was, by this time, fanatically religious. Dumont, on the other hand, was ready for violence. Major Crozier, with police and volunteers from Price Albert, responded to a call from settlers who saw their suppliers being plundered and, on March 26, came face to face with Dumont and a following of heavily armed men. A shot was fired and a battle followed. After 12 men were killed and 25 wounded, the Prince Albert troop withdrew, conceding clear victory to the Métis.

A committee was now named to investigate the Métis claims, but it was too late. Nothing could be more certain than further fighting. The greatest danger was in the Indians on reservations being persuaded to take to the warpath. There can be no doubt that Riel and Dumont sent runners to encourage an Indian uprising. Young Indians favoured the idea of rebellion and massacre on a broad scale, but most of the older ones like Crowfoot and Piapot succeeded in restraining their people. Big Bear was not as successful in holding back his Plains Crees, and he saw them attack the mission at Frog Lake, killing nine men, including two priests, government agent Thomas Quinn, and several settlers. At the same time, Chief Poundmaker's Crees went against Battleford, where 500 frightened citizens sought refuge in the Mounted Police barracks and hoped for the best. The Poundmaker Indians looted Battleford homes and set fire to some.

Fort Pitt, a Mounted Police post under the command of Inspector Francis Dickens, son of the English novelist, seemed to be in for the same kind of massacre as that directed at Frog Lake, but the police, acting upon advice from the Hudson's Bay Factor, William MacLean, abandoned the fort and went down river by scow. Wisely, too, the Company man at Fort Pitt turned his wife and children to Big Bear's mercy, and they were unharmed.

News of conflict reached the East, with headlines telling: "Riel Leading New War Against Whites", all that was needed to shock the Ontario citizens who had not forgotten or forgiven the man responsible for the shooting of Thomas Scott. Quickly, a military force under command of General Middleton made ready for service in the West. Toronto citizens felt that the rebellious groups had to be put down at any price.

For Middleton's army, travel to the scene of hostilities was certain to present serious difficulties because the C.P.R. was not completed. Nevertheless, Van Horne, as manager, told Sir John A. Macdonald he would deliver troops to western points on the railway in 11 days. Knowing that certain portions of the road were still incomplete, necessitating travel by sleigh, Sir John believed it could not be done. But Van Horne made good his promise, and in less than a month, 3,000 men were on the prairies, ready for battle.

The new railroad, even though unfinished, proved its essential value to the country, and the national emergency, in turn, did as much for the railroad by bringing needed help at a time when the syndicate was facing financial crisis.

The plan of attack called for three columns to advance northward from the C.P.R. Middleton and his portion of the army left Qu'Appelle and traveled toward Batoche with the idea of engaging the main body of the insurgents. Col. Otter and his force went northward from Swift Current for the purpose of relieving the Battleford settlement and dealing a blow to Poundmaker's Indians. The third field force, under General Strange, a retired British Army officer who had taken to ranching on the Bow River, went north from Calgary to Edmonton, where the settlers were plainly nervous.

Middleton's men engaged the Métis at Fish Creek and did not fare very well. Otter's force traveled westward from Battleford to engage Poundmaker's Indians at Cut Knife Hill. For Otter, the adventure proved humiliating. There was a race to gain the presumed advantage of the hill, but there is reason to believe the Indians actually hoped the whites would occupy it. The Crees then took the valley locations and surrounded the hill. Eight of Otter's men were killed and 14 wounded, and if the Cree chief had not restrained his warriors, the slaughter might have been as terrible as it was in General George Custer's last stand nine years earlier. As it was, Poundmaker mercifully allowed the white soldiers to escape.

In the important encounter at Batoche, on May 9, Middleton's force, with superior strength, succeeded in driving the Métis from their rifle pits and routing them. Riel escaped, but after a few days he gave himself up, tired, hungry, and disillusioned. Later, he was taken to Regina where he was tried, convicted, sentenced to be hanged and, rightly or wrongly, executed on November 16, 1885.

Most of the Métis laid down their arms. Dumont fled to the United States but did not stay there. Poundmaker and Big Bear surrendered and were tried on the charge of treason-felony and sentenced to prison. Both, however, were released before their terms had expired.

Riel's body, after the hanging, was taken for burial to St. Boniface, some people still regarding him as a murderer, some as a great hero. Eighty years later, controversy was still evident, but more and more people were regarding him as one who, having seen his fellow Métis suffering as a result of injustices, would have been less than a man if he had not drawn upon all the resources at his command in order to help them.

The shooting of Scott was, no doubt, a serious mistake, but in other respects, Riel's-action was only that of a conscientious person fighting for common justice on behalf of his friends.