RIEL'S REBELLION, or the Northwest' Rebellion, was an outbreak of the half-breeds' and Indians of the valley of the Saskatchewan, in the spring of 1885, promptly suppressed by the Canadian Militia. For some time past dis content had been rife among the half-breeds, or 'Meth, of that district, who feared that the surveying of the country by the Dominion goy-. eminent and the government sales of land incoming settlers would dispossess them of their homesteads. In June 1884 'Louis Riel, the half; breed leader of the abortive outbreak of I8.9-70, returned by invkaticiti ftom •Montana and put himself at the head of the Movement: At gathering at Saint Laurent, on the Sas katchewan, September 1884, a (Till of was adopted asking that .the half-breeds should' receive the same • grant of 240 acres per capita that had already been given (1870) to their kinsmeu in the province of Manitoba. With this. demand were coupled more extravagant pretensions to further reservations of land and grants of money. Various petitions had already been sent to the Dominion government in be-• half of the half-breed claints. A commission had been appointed to consider them, but whole matter. aroused so little public attention in Canada that,the news of the actual revolt in March 1::5 came with alarming suddenness.. On the 17th of that month the Metis formed a provisional government, with Louis • Riel (q.v.) as president, Gabriel Dumont as adjutant-.
general, and a numerous council. All obtain able stores wore seized, supplies on the way to Prince Albert intercepted and the telegraph wires cut. At the same time every effort was made to arouse the Indians of the Saskatchewan district, detachments of whom, under Beardy and One-Arrow,. at once joined the rebels. The only forces immediately available to cope with the outbreak were about 500 mounted police, scattered in small detachments over the Northwest Territory, of whom some 200 men of all franks were distributed between Prince Albert, Fort Carlton, Battleford and Fort Pitt The rebels demanded the surrender of Fort Carlton, a mounted police post on the North Saskatchewan, 40 miles above Prince Al bert, -held by Major Crozier with a handful of men. Crozier refused, and succeeded in com municating with Prince Albert and obtaining a reinforcement of 40 volunteers. With the help of these he attempted (26 March) to secure the stores from Duck Lake,• a post a few miles distant. Here occurred the first bloodshed of the rine& The rebels attacked Crone: near Duck Lake, and forced him to retire to Carl ton with a loss' of 12 killed and 12 wounded. The:mounted police burned the fort at Carlton and retired to Prince Albert The news of the fight at Duck Lake occasioned intense excite ment throughout Canada. Immediate steps were taken to despatch an adequate force of Militia to the northwest. General Sir Fred erick Middleton, the commander-iti-chief, was already on his way. On the 28th of Mardi there was a general call to arms of the militia forces, picked troops from the different regi ments being at once forwarded to the front. Various corps of scouts, ran cavalry, etc., were ' specially organized. Eighteen hundred ticions started from Ontario and Quebec within six days of the call to arms, and within a month 3,000 men had been transported to the northwest and 1,$00 raised in Manitoba and the territories. The area of operations was the valley of the Saskatchewan River, whose north branch runs from.west to east through the province of the same name and now in the territories of the Canadian Northern and Grand Trunk Pacific railways., On this river were the posts of Prime Albert, Battleford, situated about 160 miles farther- up the river, and Fort Pitt, also on the river, 120 miles northwest of Bataleford. Thednain body of rebels had established them selves at Batoehe, on the South Saskatchewan, a. river lowing from.the .southwest to meet its confluent 'on a lo V-shaped angle. Muster ing his forces at QuAppelle and Swift Cur rent, Middleton resolved to strike into the rebel territory in two columns. The main column, under Middleton, was to move northward on Clark's Crossing, a ferry station on the Sas katchewan about 40 miles by trail from Batoche. A second, under Lieutenant-Colonel Otter, was to march from Swift Current (140 miles west of Qu'Appelle) to the relief of Battleford. A third force, gathered at Calgary,
was to descend the route of the North Sas katchewan from Edmonton, thus reaching Fort Pitt. Meantime the position of affairs appeared extremely critical Some 500 Indians in the neighborhood of Battleford had risen under Pounclmaker, a Cree chief, laid siege to the stockade •fort in which the whites had taken refuge, and .plundered the stores of the
Near Fort Pitt the Indians had also risen under Big Bear, and at Frog Lake, a post about 30 miles distant, on Good Friday (3 April) they plundered the stores and shot down nine per sons in cold blood. The news of the massacre spread terror throughout the unprotected val ley of the upper river, the settlers fleeing toward Edmonton. Many of the deserted houses were looted and burned. The advance was carried out with admirable success. The main column, the Royal Grenadiers, A Battery and other troops, traversing in forced marches 177 miles of prairie, struck the South Sas katchewan at Clark's Crossing. Advancing north• wards down the river, they came upon the rebels strongly posted in a wooded ravine called Fish Creek, in which they had constructed rifle pits. A sanguinary contest ensued (23 April). The rebels, led by Gabriel Dumont, defended them selves stubbornly, but were ultimately dislodged. The loss. of the militia was 10 killed and 40 wounded. The second column, under Otter, consisting chiefly of Queen's Own men, left Swift
13 April, and after a march of 202 miles successfuly relieved the beleaguered fort at Battleford. From there Colonel
determined to strike at Poundmakees reserve, against which he moved on 1 May with a force of 325 men and three guns. They came upon the Indians in force at Cut Knife Hill, and after a severe engagement were compelled to re tire on Battleford, with a loss of 8 killed and 14 wounded. At the same time General
with the third division, marched from Calgary to Edmonton (2 Hay), and thence directed his forces against Big Bear. Mean while General Middleton decided to move
ward against the main body of the half-breeds at Batoche. The, advanced season rendered possible the navigation of the South Saskatche wan, down which the steamer Northcote, with supplies and munitions, was despatched to join Middleton's column. Batoche was invested the militia on 9 May, and a four days' fight ensued. The rebels were entrenched in rifle pits along the banks of the river. During the first three days the fighting was desultory, Mid dleton using his artillery and throwing up earthworks in order to exhaust the ammunition of the half-breeds without unduly exposing his men. The Northcote, that was to have
in the attack, steamed down the river under a hot fire on the 9th, but its steering gear
disabled, it drifted past Batoche. On the fourth day a general charge of the militia resulted in a complete victory. The rifle pits and the vil lage of Batoche were taken by storm and Riel and many of his council captured. Dumont escaped to the United States. The loss of the Canadian forces in the four days was 8 killed and 46 wounded; that of the rebels, 51 killed and 173 wounded. With the storming of Batoche the rebellion was virtually at. an end. Poundmaker capitulated, and Big Bear fleeing to the north, though offering fight at French man's Butte and Loon Lake, was ultimately cap tured (2 July). Riel was taken to Regina, where he was tried for treason-felony (July 1885). His counsel attempted to deiced him on the ground of insanity, but the plea was un availing, and he was sentenced to be banged. Numerous petitions were sent from French Canada in favor of commutation' of his sen tence, with equally urgent petitions to the con:. trary from various parts of the Dominion. He was hanged at Regina 16 Nov. 1;•;5, meeting his death with great fortitude. Eight Indians were shortly after hanged at Battleford for complicity in the murders at Frog Lake, Fort Pitt and other places. Poundmaker, sentenced to three years' imprisonment, died in the Mani.. toba penitentiary. For further information con sult the 'Official Report on the Suppression of the Rebellion, 'Ottawa) (1886) ; 'Dominion Annual Register> (1885) ; < Reminiscences Lieut.-Col. Bolton' (1886), and