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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 uprising by the Métis people of the District of Saskatchewan under Louis Riel against the Dominion of Canada, which they believed had failed to address their concerns for the survival of their people. Despite some early victories at Duck Lake, Fish Creek and Cut Knife, the rebellion resulted in the destruction of numerous Métis and allied Aboriginal forces, and Louis Riel was hanged.
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The North-West Rebellion (or North-West Resistance or the Saskatchewan Rebellion) of 1885 was a brief and unsuccessful uprising by the Métis people of the District of Saskatchewan under Louis Riel against the Dominion of Canada, which they believed had failed to address their concerns for the survival of their people. Despite some early victories at Duck Lake, Fish Creek and Cut Knife, the rebellion resulted in the destruction of numerous Métis and allied Aboriginal forces, and Louis Riel was hanged. Tensions between French Canada and British Canada increased for some time. Due to the role that the Canadian Pacific Railway played in transporting troops, political support increased and the legislature authorized funds to complete the nation's first transcontinental railway.
Background
After the Red River Rebellion of 1869-1870, many of the Métis moved from Manitoba to Saskatchewan, then part of the Northwest Territories, where they founded a settlement at Batoche on the South Saskatchewan River. However, as in Manitoba, settlers from Ontario began to arrive. They pushed for land to be allotted in the square concession system of English Canada, rather than the seigneurial system of strips reaching back from a river which the Métis were familiar with in their French-Canadian culture. In addition, the Métis and First Nations were alarmed that the buffalo were being hunted to extinction by the Hudson's Bay Company and other hunters, as for generations the Métis had depended on them as a chief source of food.
In 1884 the Métis (including the Anglo-Métis) 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 1885, Riel, Gabriel Dumont, Honoré Jackson (a.k.a. Will Jackson), and others set up the Provisional Government of Saskatchewan, believing that they could influence the federal government in the same way as they had in 1869.
The role of aboriginal peoples prior to— and during—the outbreak of the rebellion is often misunderstood; a number of factors have created the misconception that the Cree and Métis were acting in unison. By the end of the 1870’s the stage was set for discontent among the aboriginal people of the prairies: the bison population was in serious decline (creating enormous economic difficulties) and, in an attempt to assert control over aboriginal settlement, the federal government often violated the terms of the treaties it had signed during the latter part of the decade. Thus, widespread dissatisfaction with the treaties and rampant poverty spurred Big Bear, Chief of the Plains Cree First Nation, to embark on a diplomatic campaign to renegotiate the terms of the treaties (the timing of this campaign happened to coincided with an increased sense of frustration among the Métis). When Cree initiated violence broke out in the spring of 1885, it was almost certainly unrelated to the revolt of Riel and the Métis (which was already underway). In both the Frog Lake “Massacre” and the “Siege” of Fort Battleford, small dissident groups of Cree men revolted against the authority of Big Bear and Poundmaker. Although he quietly signaled to Ottawa that these two incidents were the result of desperate and starving people and were, as such, unrelated to the rebellion, Edgar Dewdney, the lieutenant-governor of the territory, publicly claimed that the Cree and the Métis had joined forces.
For Riel and the Métis, several factors had changed since the Red River Rebellion. A railway line reached from Ontario as far as the southeastern part of what is now the province of Saskatchewan, making it easier for the government to get troops into the area. In addition, the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) had been created, developing an armed local force. Riel lacked support from English settlers of the area as well as many of the non-Métis natives. Riel's belief that God had sent him back to Canada as a prophet caused the Catholic Church to withdraw its support for his actions. The Catholic priest, Albert Lacombe, worked to obtain assurances from Crowfoot that his Blackfoot warriors would not participate in a rebellion.
Conflicts
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 Major General Frederick Middleton in command of 3000 troops to the area, where Middleton incorporated the 2000 English volunteers and NWMP.
Frog Lake Massacre
On April 2, 1885, near Frog Lake, Saskatchewan (now in 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 by 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. They killed Thomas Quinn, the town's Indian agent, after a disagreement broke out. The Cree then attacked the settlers, killing nine and taking three captive.
The massacre prompted the Canadian government to take notice of the growing unrest in the North-West Territories. When the rebellion was put down, the government hanged Wandering Spirit, the war chief responsible for the Frog Lake Massacre.
Battle of Fish Creek
On 24 April 1885 at Fish Creek, Saskatchewan, there was a major Métis victory over government forces attempting to quell the rebellion. The reversal, though not decisive enough to alter the outcome of the war, halted Major General Frederick Middleton's advance on Batoche. That was where the Métis would later make their final stand.
Battle of Cut Knife
On May 2, 1885 the Cree war chief Fine-Day defeated Lieutenant Colonel William Otter at the Battle of Cut Knife near Battleford. Despite their use of a Gatling gun, a flying column of Canadian militia and army regulars was defeated. Fine-Day was affiliated with the chief Poundmaker.
Battle of Batoche
On May 9, 1885 Middleton attacked Batoche itself. The Métis ran out of ammunition after three days of battle and resorted to firing sharp objects and small rocks from their guns, until they were forced to retreat. Riel surrendered of his own free will, and was not captured as has been erroneously reported, May 15th. Gabriel Dumont and other participants escaped across the border to the Montana region of the United States.
Battle of Frenchman's Butte
May 28, 1885 Major General Thomas Bland Strange brought an NWMP detachment from Calgary, Alberta, but they were unable to defeat a Cree force under Big Bear at Frenchman's Butte at the end of May.
Battle of Loon Lake
On June 3, 1885 a small detachment of North-West Mounted Police under the command of Major Sam Steele caught up to a band of Cree led by 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
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