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A New Nation |
Nova Scotia Balks |
The Northwest Territories |
Manitoba &
Riel | Federal
Provincial Relations | British
Columbia | Prince Edward Island
| The Washington Treaty |
Scandal |
Liberal Interlude |
The National Policy |
The Railroad |
Immigration |
Rebellion |
Transition
As events in Canada and the Maritimes evolved towards
Confederation the inhabitants of the Red River
settlement area and the lands along the Red River were
virtually ignored as the Hudson Bay Company negotiated
with International Finance Companies, the British
Government and the new Canadian Government. In mid-1860
the Métis, the offspring of the French
Fur traders and Buffalo hunters and the local native
people, had proclaimed that the Indian Chief Peguis had
not ceded any rights to the lands to anyone and hence
they were stilled owned by the natives and he Métis.
These claims and this situation festered for the next
10 years while both Canada and the United States turned
their eyes to the vast, open area of the Northwest.
The arrival of settlers, traders and other businessmen
form Ontario grew quickly and they quickly asserted their
voice in the affairs of the area. In January of 1868
Thomas Spence, who had earlier, with companions,
proclaimed that the Northwest was ready to join
Confederation, declared the Republic of Manitoba which
was to he held in readiness for acceptance into the
Canadian Confederation. His moves were accepted by a few
and rejected by many, especially when he tried to
collect taxes for the new Republic.
Another group declared that they were
ready to apply to Queen Victoria for annexation to the
United States. All of these activities began to wear on
the Métis who were not ready to accept the authority of
any outside government and becoming increasing agitated
at the accelerating activities. In March of 1869 word
arrived that the HBC had transferred the Northwest to
Canada with any assurances of the Métis land titles or
rights. The Canadian Government jumped the gun when in
July of 1869 they dispatched surveyors to the Red River
area to begin laying out new land jurisdictions which
ignored the traditional land organization of the Métis,
which like those along the St Lawrence were set out as
long strips from the river back into the prairies.
On October 11 one of the surveyors, Web began laying his
survey chains out on the land of Andre Nault, the cousin
of Louis Riel. As Nault complained in French and was
ignored by Web, Riel arrived on the scene and stepping
on the chain said, "You go no further". Between
the 16th and 20th the Comite National Des Métis was
formed and claimed that in order for Canada to assert
it's authority in thee lands, the claims of the Métis
would have to be recognised and these were
-
Payment to the natives for their lands
-
recognition of the land
claims of the Métis
-
300 additional acres for each of their children
-
tax exempt status fro them and their
descendants
-
lands for the Roman Catholic Church
-
An
elective council
-
The expulsion of
various unfriendly people including Dr, Schultz
The head of this organization was John Bruce with Louis
Riel as Secretary. They sent a messenger to Pembina to
intercept McDougall who was on his was from Canada, via
the U.S., to fill his position of Governor. He was given
a note which told him not to enter the Red River area
without permission from the Comite.
Confrontation between the
Métis and
the Canadian authorities had exploded. Canada did not
officially take possession of the Northwest until
December 1st so until that day, MacDougall had no
authority to exercise. He did however proceed to the HBC
post and spent the night there and in the morning sent a
party on ahead to determine the state of affairs. His
scouting party was confronted by the Métis and turned
back. On December 3rd a party of Métis arrived at the
HBC fort and informed MacDougall that he was to turn
back and not return and they then proceeded to escort
him to the frontier where he was forced to start back
towards Pembina to await the unfolding of events.
Riel in the meantime had latched onto
events and called for Métis volunteers. On November 1st
he reviewed over 400 men with arms with another 100
quickly joining. Approaches to the settlement were
staked out and any new arrivals were screened. On
November 2nd Riel occupied Upper Fort Garry which was
the main fortification in the area and with that action
established control over the settlement. On November 6th
he invited the English settlers to elect 12
representatives to match his 12 representatives so that
they could meet together and define the terms that would
be required for them to enter Confederation. They met on
November 16th but disagreements forced an adjournment
until November 22. The meeting resumed and an agreement
was hammered out but Riel retracted his assent when it
was discovered that the English and Scottish settlers
were taking up arms.
On December 1st McDougall once again
entered the territory and proclaimed himself the legal
governor and then returned to Pembina while
directing Colonel Dennis to continue on and establish
his authority in the settlement area. which he proceeded
to do. He began to raise men and prepare them to take
over. The problem was that McDougall had forged the
proclamation and the British Government, the Governor
General of Canada and the Queen had all agreed that a
transfer of the territory would not take place until the
issues were resolved.
On December 6th Riel
and the other settlers had come to agreement that they
would demand an elected legislature, that a railroad be
built form Canada within 5 years, that both English and
French would be recognized as official languages in the
territory and that the settlement be received into
Confederation in a respectful, proper process. This
process occurred in conjunction with a confrontation
between the takeover that Colonel Dennis had planned and
the Métis taking action to re-establish their authority.
In the process 45 Canadians were arrested and jailed,
among them was a violent Thomas Scott. On December 8th
Riel announced a provisional Government and on the 9th
Dennis ordered his followers to stand down.
During this entire time, the supports of
manifest destiny in Minnesota were waiting for an
opportunity to strike and claim the Northwest fro the
United States. McDougall finally decided to give up and
headed south to return to Canada via the US. On the way
he passed Donald Smith who had been sent out by John A
Macdonald to settle the matter. He carried with him a
document promising amnesty for Riel and his
followers. He arrived in Fort Garry on December 27th and
met with Riel and some of his followers to start
negotiations. Smith's biggest fear was that the
settlement would decide to join the US and the entire
Northwest would be lost.
On January 9th Scott escaped from jail
but was recaptured and Smith was held in confinement as
the Métis debated about what to do. On February 10th
Governor Mactavish finally agreed to accept the
legitimacy of the provisional government with Riel as
it's head. On February 9th Thomas Scott joined a party
in Portage la Prairie and headed fro Winnipeg. They
arrived on the 14th and because of their actions a young
Métis named Parisien and a Canadian named Sutherland
both died, all after a political settlement between Riel
and Smith had been achieved. As a result of this and the
capture of Scott and his party by the Métis, Riel
decided that and example was to be made and Scott was
shot dead. The
final act of this story was not to be played out until
many years later in Saskatchewan but on April 20th
Manitoba entered Confederation under the leadership of
Riel and became a province in Canada. |
