Arbre Généalogique Guertin Rondeau Family Tree - Person Sheet
Arbre Généalogique Guertin Rondeau Family Tree - Person Sheet
NameMarguerite Monet dit Belhumeur 
Birth15 Jan 1861, Treesbank, South Cypress, Rupert Land
Death24 May 1886, Saint-Vital, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Spouses
Birth22 Oct 1844, Saint-Boniface, Manitoba, Canada
Death16 Nov 1885, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
BurialDec 1885, Saint-Boniface, Manitoba, Canada
FlagsBiography, Patriote
FatherJean Louis Riel dit L’Irlande (1817-1864)
MotherJulie Lagimodière dit Lecompte (1820-1906)
Marriage9 Mar 1882, Carroll, Montana, USA
Notes for Marguerite Monet dit Belhumeur
Marguerite Riel née Monet dit Belhumeur (1861-1886). Marguerite was born in Fort De La Riviere, Souris (near Treesbank, Manitoba, on the south bank of the Souris River) on January 5, 1861 to Jean Baptiste Belhumeur (b. 1832) and Marie Eulalie Malaterre. Her baptism was 19 May 1861.[1][2][3] Marguerite spoke Cree, Chippewa (Ojibwa), some Sioux and French.
Marguerite's father was a buffalo hunter, the son of Andre Belhumeur and Marguerite Maron. Her mother Marie (b. 1839) was the daughter of Jean Baptiste Malaterre and Angelique Adam. She married Jean Baptiste on January 10, 1860 at St. Francois Xavier. The couple had six children. Marie died on April 29, 1871 at St.Francois Xavier at age 32. Marguerite’s father was then married to Marie Tanner (b.1854) the daughter of Thomas DeCorby Tanner and Marie Neshotokoway Neukatek Ledoux. They had a further eleven children born at Maple Creek, Wood Mountain and Fort Ellice.
Marguerite married Louis David Riel according to “the custom of the country” at Flat Creek in 1881[4]. Later, Father Damiani a Jesuit Priest from St. Peter’s Mission married them on March 6, 1882 at Carroll, Montana. They had 3 children.
• Jean Louis Riel born May 4, 1882 in Carroll, Montana. Jean married Laura Casualt. He died on July 31, 1908 at the age of 26, from injuries resulting from a buggy accident. Jean and Laura had no children.
• Marie Angelique Riel born September 17, 1883 in St. Peter's Mission, Montana. She died of diphtheria in 1897 just before she was to turn fourteen years old.
• Joseph Riel was born prematurely on October 24, 1885 in St-Vital (Winnipeg), he died as an infant in 1885.
While living in Montana in 1884, the Riel's shared a house with James Swain Jr. (b. 1822) and Marie Arcand (b. 1834). James and his brother John traveled with Riel and his family to Batoche in 1885.
After the fighting ended, Marguerite and her children were forced to hide by living in caves near Batoche awaiting word from her husband. After some time Louis' brother Joseph found them and brought them to St Vital to live with Louis' mother Julie.
Tired and weakened by her husband's imprisonment and the premature birth and death of her 3rd child Joseph added to her grief, which got worse after her husband's execution. She stayed with his family until her death.
Marguerite died 24 May 1886 of pneumonia at St Vital, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (death registered at St Boniface).[5][6][7] She is buried at Saint Boniface Cathedral Cemetery beside her beloved husband Louis. [8]
Source: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Monet-40
Marguerite's father was a buffalo hunter, the son of Andre Belhumeur and Marguerite Maron. Her mother Marie (b. 1839) was the daughter of Jean Baptiste Malaterre and Angelique Adam. She married Jean Baptiste on January 10, 1860 at St. Francois Xavier. The couple had six children. Marie died on April 29, 1871 at St.Francois Xavier at age 32. Marguerite’s father was then married to Marie Tanner (b.1854) the daughter of Thomas DeCorby Tanner and Marie Neshotokoway Neukatek Ledoux. They had a further eleven children born at Maple Creek, Wood Mountain and Fort Ellice.
Marguerite married Louis David Riel according to “the custom of the country” at Flat Creek in 1881[4]. Later, Father Damiani a Jesuit Priest from St. Peter’s Mission married them on March 6, 1882 at Carroll, Montana. They had 3 children.
• Jean Louis Riel born May 4, 1882 in Carroll, Montana. Jean married Laura Casualt. He died on July 31, 1908 at the age of 26, from injuries resulting from a buggy accident. Jean and Laura had no children.
• Marie Angelique Riel born September 17, 1883 in St. Peter's Mission, Montana. She died of diphtheria in 1897 just before she was to turn fourteen years old.
• Joseph Riel was born prematurely on October 24, 1885 in St-Vital (Winnipeg), he died as an infant in 1885.
While living in Montana in 1884, the Riel's shared a house with James Swain Jr. (b. 1822) and Marie Arcand (b. 1834). James and his brother John traveled with Riel and his family to Batoche in 1885.
After the fighting ended, Marguerite and her children were forced to hide by living in caves near Batoche awaiting word from her husband. After some time Louis' brother Joseph found them and brought them to St Vital to live with Louis' mother Julie.
Tired and weakened by her husband's imprisonment and the premature birth and death of her 3rd child Joseph added to her grief, which got worse after her husband's execution. She stayed with his family until her death.
Marguerite died 24 May 1886 of pneumonia at St Vital, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (death registered at St Boniface).[5][6][7] She is buried at Saint Boniface Cathedral Cemetery beside her beloved husband Louis. [8]
Source: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Monet-40
Notes for Louis (Spouse 1)
Leader of the Metis and founding founder of what is now Manitoba. Hanged for treason by the Canadian Government.
Cause de la mort: Pendaison par les autoritées politique pour haute trahison. Il tentait seulement de combatre pour les droits des métis. Il a dirigé les Métis lors de la rébellion du Nord-Ouest de 1884-1885, devant la grande supériorité numérique des soldats, accusé de haute trahison, déclaré coupable, puis exécuté à Regina le 16 novembre 1885.
Louis, the first child of Louis Riel père and Julie Lagimodière, was born October 22, 1844 in St. Boniface. His mother was the seventh child of Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière and Marie-Anne Gaboury, who came from Québec to settle in the North-West in 1806.
Louis père had been born at Ile-à-la-Crosse in 1817, the son of Jean-Baptiste Riel dit l'Irlande and Marguerite Boucher, a Franco-Déné Métisse whom he married in 1798, 'à la façon du pays'.
In 1843 after spending his childhood in Québec where his parents has returned to live and following an attempt at being a seminarian, Louis Riel père returned to settle in the West, the country where he was born. Here in Red River he met Julie Lagimodière and their marriage was solemnized by Bishop Provencher on January 21, 1844 at St.Boniface Cathedral.
Both were devout Catholics, as Julie had also considered a religious life before marrying Louis Riel.
Their piety was to be an important factor in the family's daily life.
Louis spent his childhood on the east bank of the Red River, not far from St. Boniface and the property of his Lagimodière grandparents. He grew up among the Métis, extremely conscious of his identity, inherited through his father's line. At the age of ten, he began his education, eventually studying at the school run by the Christian Brothers established in the Settlement in 1854.
With the aim of training priests for the young colony, Bishop Taché sent him to Montréal in 1858, along with two other boys, Daniel McDougall and Louis Schmidt, to continue his studies. Setting out on June 1, 1858, in the company of the Reverend Sister Valade, they travelled for five weeks before eventually arriving in Montreaal run by the Gentlemen of St.Sulpice, where he embarked upon an eight year classical course of studies, which included Latin, Greek,French, English, Philosophy and the Sciences.
Louis proved himself to be an excellent student and, once he had caught up, placed himself at the top of his class. He was overwhelmed with grief by the death of his beloved father, in January 1864, whom he had not seen since leaving Red River. Although he continued his studies, his instructors found that his attitude had changed. They began to question whether Louis really had a religious vocation. In March 1865, He requested and was granted permission to continue his schooling as a day student while living with the Grey Nuns.
After breaking the rules several times and repeatedly missing class, he was asked to leave both the Collège and the convent.
The world which confronted him as he left the Collège was fraught within tense political activity. Nationalism was at the fore, ultra montanism and federalism were clashing and the issue of Confederation was being hotly debated. During this period, he lived with his aunt, Lucie Riel, the wife of John Lee, and managed to find employment in the law office of Rodolphe Laflamme, an anti-confederate and an anticleric.
He fell in love with Marie Julie Guernon and even signed a marriage contract. However, this romance was quickly broken off as Marie's parents were opposed to their daughter marrying a Métis.
Disappointed, Riel made his way to Chicago and St. Paul. It would appear that he lived for a while with the poet Louis Fréchette and a group of exiled French Canadian nationalists.
It would also appear that he worked briefly for Edouard Langevin or Gilbert Lachance before returning to Manitoba.
He arrived in St. Boniface on July 26, 1868, after an absence of ten years, an educated but unemployed young man. He was far from suspecting that within a short while he would become the defender of Métis rights and the future father of Manitoba.
At the time of his return to the Red River Settlement, Canada included only the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
The territory known as Rupert's Land, which extended west from Ontario all the way to the Rocky Mountains, belonged to the Hudson's Bay Company.
The Company appointed a governor and council to administer the Settlement situated at the junction of the Red and the Assiniboine Rivers.
Fort Garry lay at the heart of the Settlement, referred to as the District of Assiniboia, and was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company.
During the 1850's, the Métis had succeeded in breaking the fur trade monopoly that the Company had held until then.
The Company had been forced to concede a political role in governing the Settlement and certain property rights to the Métis.
The years between 1850 and 1860 marked the end of the old way of life in the North-West. Before 1849, changes in the Settlement had occurred because of internal events, but after 1850 they would be the result of external factors, centred around Canadian and American politics. With its east-west axis of development, Canada was inevitably bound to come into contact with Métis society.
The first clash occurred in 1857 when the Dawson-Hind exploration expedition arrived to study the land.
The expedition recommended that the Canadian government acquire the arable part of the Company's land. At the same time, an annexationist movement in the United States threatened future occupation of the Territories.
Canada could not count on any military action to thwart this movement and the Company did not have any force at its disposal to ward off this threat. The only remaining alternative was annexation of the North-West Territories by Canada.
In 1869, a unique opportunity presented itself, for the Hudson's Bay Company agreed to sell this territory to Canada. It was at this point in time that Louis Riel returned to the settlement he had not seen for ten years.
Many changes had taken place in the Settlement since his departure. With the arrival of numerous settlers from Ontario, Fort Garry had become an active commercial centre. For economic and political reasons, these "Canadians" were opposed to the Company's authority, while the Métis were worried about the future under the Canadian government. They were afraid the country would be invaded by people from Ontario and that this would create a problem for the Métis, since these newcomers would be English-speaking Protestants, unlike the French-speaking Métis who were Catholic.
In addition to the problems of language and religion, they were justifiably afraid of losing their lands, for most of the Métis were squatters or settlers without title.
During the summer of 1869, the Canadian government sent John Stoughton Dennis to Red River to survey the land. He was so badly received by the Métis that he started surveying at Oak Point rather than Fort Garry. To add to the Métis' anxiety, the survey was being carried out in accordance with the Ontario style of survey, in squares, instead of the system of long, narrow lots with river frontage used by the Métis (and the french in New France).
The new system cut across properties already in existence. Moreover, surveying had begun before the land had been officially transferred to Canada.
When Dennis arrived in Fort Garry, opposition broke out.
On October 11, 1869, proclaiming that the Canadian government had no right to act without permission, sixteen Métis led by Louis Riel disrupted the survey’s work and organized themselves at the Métis National Committee.
This was a very important incident, first of all, because it was the first act of resistance to the transfer of the Settlement to Canada and secondly, because it established Louis Riel as the champion of the Métis. In October, William McDougall, who had been appointed Lieutenant Governor of Rupert's Land, set out for Red River to take possession of the North-West Territory for Canada, accompanied by a ready-made government and armed with 300 rifles.
When news of this reached the Métis, they decided to organize their resistance. On October 16, Riel was elected secretary of the Métis "National Committee" and John Bruce was elected president. Five days later, the Committee sent a warning to McDougall advising him not to enter the country without special permission from the Committee.
To strengthen their position, the Métis erected a barricade where the trail from Pembina crossed the La Salle River, a place McDougall had to pass.
Riel's initiative raised opposition from the conservative wing in the Settlement and those in administrative positions.
As a result of pressure exerted by them Riel was summoned to appear before the Council of Assiniboia, chaired by Judge Black. The latter was replacing the ailing outgoing Governor Mactavish.
Riel let it be known that he was opposed to McDougall's arrival and invited the English group to join him. He stressed that he remained faithful to the British Crown but that he objected to the unlawful entry into the West of the Canadian government.
He believed that the West should have the right to negotiate the terms of its entry into Confederation. On October 30, McDougall, Cameron and Joseph-Alfred Norbert Provencher, the nephew of Bishop Provencher, arrived in Pembina where they read the Committee's note. However, they refused to heed this warning and the next day, Cameron and Provencher proceeded to St. Norbert where they were stopped and conducted back to the American border escorted by 30 Métis.
On November 2, McDougall met with the same fate. Riel and the Métis thus succeeded in cutting McDougall off from the group in Winnipeg which favoured Canadian annexation.
That same day, the Métis took possession of Fort Garry, there by establishing their control over the surrounding area.
However, their power was quite precarious as they could only rely on the support of the French Catholic population. Riel was aware that he would need the backing of all elements in the Settlement to negotiate with the Canadian government.
A series of meetings was held to endeavour to foster this support, but without the hoped-for success. Several people objected to the way McDougall had been treated. However, agreement was reached on the preparation of a list of rights.
On November 23, Riel proposed the formation of a provisional government to replace the Council of Assiniboia. This surprised the English-speaking half-breeds who asked for a few days' adjournment for consultation, not believing that their mandate empowered them to make such a decision.
The official transfer of the land to Canada had been set for December 1,1869. During this period, Sir John A. Macdonald had postponed payment to the Company because of the disturbances in the Settlement.
On December 1, McDougall, who had not been notified of this, read the proclamation announcing the transfer of the Company's territories to Canada. This hasty gesture was later to cause problems.
From that moment, Riel's Provisional Government became legitimate, for the Company lost all authority as of December 1 and Canada acquired none since it had not paid anything.
On December 10, Riel's Provisional Government's flag flew on the flagpole at Fort Garry.
On December 27, following John Bruce's resignation, Louis Riel became president of the Provisional Government.
To this point in time, the Canadian government had been unaware of all the problems at Red River. Macdonald now sent a special commissioner to explain his government's position to the Métis.
On December 27, Donald Smith, the Hudson's Bay Company's representative in Canada and a government agent, arrived in the Settlement. A meeting which began on January 19, 1870 attracted upwards of 1,000 people.
During the meetings on January 19 and 20, Smith made it known that his government had fundamentally good intentions with respect to the people of the Red River Settlement.
In order to find a way of negotiating their rights with Ottawa, Riel proposed that another convention of 20 French-speaking and 20 English-speaking representatives be called to draw up a new list of rights.
The Convention began sitting one week later and their work was completed by February 10.
With unanimous agreement, Riel formed a provisional government which was more representative than the previous one.
Three delegates were elected to go and present the "List of Rights" to the Canadian government: Father Noël Ritchot, Judge Black and Alfred Scott.
Everything seemed to indicate a return to a state of calm, but such was not to be the case. Even while the delegates were still sitting, a group of "Canadians" was preparing a counter-Riel movement.
These men had supported John Schultz and J. S. Dennis in opposing Riel's Provisional Government in December 1869.
Several of them had been imprisoned at Fort Garry, but a substantial group was still at large in the vicinity of Portage la Prairie. On January 9, 1870, 12 prisoners including Charles Mair and Thomas Scott escaped from the Fort.
On January 23, John Schultz managed to escape as well. On February 12, Riel freed the other prisoners on the condition that they not interfere with the politics in the Settlement.
This initiative cooled the ardour of many, but the "Canadian" party continued its march on Fort Garry.
On February 18, Major Charles Boulton and his men, passing near the Fort, were arrested by Riel's men, 48 were captured, including Thomas Scott.
Major Boulton was tried and sentenced to death, but the sentence was never carried out.
After causing problems and attempting to escape,Thomas Scott was summoned to appear before a Métis court martial formed in accordance and headed by Ambroise Dydime Lepine, Louis Riel's lieutenant.
The seven members of the court found him guilty of defying the authority of the Provisional Government, of fighting with the guards and insulting the President.
He was sentenced to death by a vote of five to two and the next day, March 4, 1870, he was executed by a firing squad.
Although pressure was brought to bear on Riel to prevent the execution, he refused to be swayed.
We can only wonder what motives prompted Riel to allow Scott's execution. Was it an act of vengeance against Scott or fear of losing the respect of the Métis?
Scott was an Orangeman who was fiercely anti-Catholic and Riel perhaps believed he would make an example of him. Whatever the real motive, this action excited much controversy.
It forced Riel into exile and shook even his most ardent supporters.
On March 24, the three delegates left for Ottawa to negotiate the terms of entry into Confederation with the representatives of the Canadian government. Father Ritchot became the real spokesman for the delegation, as Judge Black and Alfred Scott showed themselves to be relatively ineffective.
With relentless questioning and arguing, he was able to convince the government to introduce the Manitoba Bill into the House of Commons.
On May 12, 1870, the Manitoba Act, based on the Métis "List of Rights,"was passed by the Canadian Parliament.
One section protected Métis' lands and guaranteed the right to their religion and to the use of their language in the Legislature and the courts.
Riel, as head of the Provisional Government, was to maintain peace and order while awaiting the arrival of the first lieutenant governor, Adams G. Archibald, and Colonel Wolseley's troops, which were accompanying him.
Wolseley's troops arrived before Archibald, and although they were supposed to restore order and keep the peace, a number of the soldiers wanted to seek out Riel and avenge the death of Scott.
Warned of their intentions, Riel, Lépine and William O'Donoghue, an Irish American, had time to flee to sanctuary in the United States.
Riel went to the Métis settlement of St. Joseph, in Dakota Territory, to await news from Red River.
A letter arrived shortly thereafter from Bishop Taché which suggested that he remain in hiding, for his life would be in danger if he returned.
The situation was serious; disputes between the Métis and Wolseley's men were growing in number.
Riel found it difficult to remain far away in hiding and on September 17, he returned to attend a gathering of the Métis in St. Norbert.
At this meeting, it was resolved that a petition be sent to the President of the United States, Ulysses S.Grant, to ask him to intercede with the Queen for an investigation of their demand for amnesty. O'Donoghue wanted annexation of the Settlement to the United States, but Riel opposed the idea. However, O'Donoghue was selected to carry the petition to the President and it was turned over to him. On the way, O'Donoghue inserted a request for annexation which did not convince Grant and he rejected it.
O'Donoghue then went to New York where he met with some Irish Fenians who had already made forays into Canada.
He managed to convince them to make a raid into Manitoba.
When news of this reached Manitoba, Lieutenant Governor Archibald was very concerned.
Would the Métis join in the raid? At this moment Louis Riel intervened.
Believing that the Métis' future lay with Canada, not with the United States, he assured the Lieutenant Governor that the Métis would not join the Fenians and he kept his word.
For want of local support, the Fenian attack died before it had begun.
Grateful for the assistance that Riel had provided, Archibald was prepared to leave him in peace. However, this feeling was not shared by all and Archibald came to believe that peace would be restored more quickly if Riel left the country for a while.
Riel and Lépine were each offered the sum of $1,000. They reluctantly accepted this amount, more as a result of threats on their lives than because of the money.
Riel and Lépine left Manitoba on February 23, 1872 and travelled to St. Joseph bound for St. Paul, Minnesota.
Bounty hunters pursued them constantly. Nevertheless, Riel and Lépine were soon homesick.
Lépine was the first to return to Red River in May 1872.
The following month, Riel made his way to St. Joseph where he began to campaign as a candidate in the federal election for the Manitoba constituency of Provencher.
He persisted in this, despite the advice of his friends, and only eventually withdrew in favour of George-Etienne Cartier, who had been defeated in his own riding. He believed that Cartier would defend the Métis cause.
Cartier, however, died a few months later and Louis was subsequently elected by acclamation
in a by-election for Provencher held in October 1873.
Arrangements were made for Riel to take his seat in the House of Commons, but fearing for his life, Louis lost his nerve and fled to Montreal and upstate New York.
The February 13, 1874, general election saw Riel re-elected member of parliament for Provencher.
On March 30th, he entered the parliament building, took the required oath of allegiance, signed the member's roll and hurriedly left the building again in the direction of Montreal.
On April 9, Riel was expelled from the House of Commons.
He returned to St. Paul and then to Keeseville, New York, where he lived with Father Fabien Barnabé.
In September 1874, a by-election was called to fill the vacant seat in Provencher.
Riel was again re-elected 'in-absentia' but this time he did not attempt to take his seat.
In 1875, the new prime minister, Alexander Mackenzie, granted Riel amnesty for the troubles in 1869-70, on condition that he not return to Canada for five years.
Exile was a time of anguish for Louis. He was often depressed and claimed that he had visions of a mission to fulfill.
His cries and lamentations so frightened Father Barnabé that he sent for Riel's uncle, John Lee. The latter took him back to Montréal and he was confined to an asylum in the Province of Quebec, under the name of Louis R. David. Shortly thereafter, he was transferred to the asylum at Beauport where he gradually recovered his health.
He was discharged from the asylum in January 1878, with the recommendation that he avoid excitement.
From Beauport, Riel returned to Keeseville where he remained for a while.
During this time, he fell in love with Evelina Barnabé, Father Barnabé's sister.
Less interested in politics now, Riel tried to find work so that he might have something to offer Evelina.
Finally he decided to return to the West. Evelina did not think she would be able to adapt to prairie life and after several months, Riel stopped writing to her and the relationship came to an end.
In the fall of 1878, Riel returned once again to St. Joseph, near Pembina where in April 1879, he was visited by his mother and his friends.
Life in Manitoba had changed a great deal.
The influx of immigrants was driving the Métis away. Stripped of their land and their way of life, they were moving farther and farther west to settle along the Saskatchewan River at places such as Lac la Biche, Qu'Appelle, Edmonton, Prince Albert, Duck Lake and Batoche.
While these changes were taking place, Riel was living in the United States, for he was still banished from Manitoba.
Since 1879, he had followed the buffalo hunt and worked as an agent, trader and wood cutter near Carroll, in Montana Territory. Here he met Marguerite Monet dite Bellehumeur, a Métisse whom he married 'à la façon du pays' on April 28,1881, and solemnly on March 9, 1882.
Riel began to take an interest in American politics and became an American citizen.
When his term of exile ended, he paid a brief visit to his mother, then returned to live in the United States where he became a school master in order to provide for his family which now included two children.
Although he was a good teacher, Louis was not happy. He had hoped to instruct the Métis but found that they made little progress, coming to class only sporadically and preferring to follow the hunt.
On June 4, as Mass was ending in St. Peter's Mission on the Sun River (Montana), Riel received a visit from four Métis, Gabriel Dumont, Moïse Ouellette, Michel Dumas and James Isbister, who had come to ask Louis to lead the Métis once again.
They had traveled from northern Saskatchewan where several Métis families had settled after 1869. There the Métis had resumed their traditional way of life, now threatened by the influx of settlers and immigrants.
Their borders were again disappearing, their rights were no longer being respected, their lands were being taken and the government was not listening.
Louis made up his mind quickly. The dream he had cherished for so long was coming true: his people needed him. After an absence of fifteen years, he was returning to Canada.
These years had strongly marked him, exiled from his native land and pursued by bounty hunters, he had suffered a nervous breakdown.
Now he saw the opportunity to claim his rights and those of his breathren from the Canadian government.
Louis set out for Batoche with his wife and two children, arriving there around the beginning of July 1884.
On July 8, about six days after his arrival, he addressed the Métis.
His programme was a moderate one. All three groups responded warmly to his presence. Each group was to retain its independence, but a central committee was to be set up to formulate specific demands to be sent to Ottawa.
A decision had been made to send petitions to Ottawa on behalf of the people, in the hope that the government would listen.
Several of Riel's supporters would have preferred bolder action, for the Indians and the Métis were dying of hunger and the European settlers were anxious to have the land issue resolved.
On December 16, 1884, after several public meetings had been held, a petition was dispatched to Ottawa.
It demanded that the settlers be given title to the lands they then occupied,
that the districts of Saskatchewan, Assiniboia and Alberta be granted provincial status and métis to settle on the land and that the Indians be better treated.
In spite of the support Riel received from the Métis, an anti-Riel feeling prevailed among the Catholic clergy.
The clergy feared his power and were suspicious of his religious beliefs.
Their opposition caused the breach between Riel and his church to grow even wider.
Led by Father André, the clergy tried to oust Riel as the Métis leader, but were unsuccessful.
On February 11, 1885, the federal government answered the petition that had been sent on December 16 of the previous year.
The government promised to appoint a commission to investigate the Métis' claims and titles.
The first step would be to take a census of the Métis in the North-West Territories.
These proposals angered the Métis who were hoping for a quicker solution to their problems.
Seeing that nothing had been accomplished yet, Riel asked the Métis if they wanted him to continue as their leader.
Forsaken by their priests, the Métis reaffirmed their vision of Riel as a leader and a prophet.
Over the winter of 1885, tension began to mount among the Indian tribes as they fell victim to hunger and disease and the Indian agents did not have the resources necessary to relieve their suffering.
As of 1885, the Indians realized that their situation was similar to that of the Métis.Thus it was altogether natural that they turned to Riel.
On March 19, the Feast of St. Joseph, Riel established a provisional government and took possession of the local church as his headquarters.
Pierre Parenteau was chosen the first president and Gabriel Dumont was chosen adjutant-general. However, following the formation of the Provisional Government, Riel became aware that his authority was becoming weaker; the Church was hostile because the clergy played no role in the new nation and the English-speaking Métis and settlers refused to take up arms.
Riel found himself again supported only by the French-speaking Métis and the Indians.
He decided to capture Fort Carlton which he considered essential to his operations. He wanted to occupy it without violence, but the Mounted Police reinforced its garrison.
Thus Riel could only negotiate or attack.
Opting for negotiation, Riel sent Charles Nolin and Ambroise Lépine to demand that Major Crozier surrender the fort to him.
In return he would let Crozier and his men go free. There was no time to conclude the negotiations since fighting broke out at Duck Lake on March 26.
Major Crozier had left Fort Carlton with 56 Mounted Policemen and 41 civilian volunteers to stop Riel.
Led by Gabriel Dumont, the Métis met them at Duck Lake. Dumont succeeded in drawing the troops into a valley where Crozier was forced to come to a halt.
Two horsemen, Isidore Dumont and Falling Sand, a Cree Chief, came forward to meet them.
Believing they wished to parley, Crozier also advanced, accompanied by a guide named McKay.
All four men stopped in the middle of the valley and Crozier extended his hand as a gesture of friendship.
Thinking they had been betrayed, Falling Sand made a grab for McKay's rifle. The guide fired and Isidore Dumont fell dead from his horse.
The battle of Duck Lake had begun. After forty minutes, with his force decimated, Crozier gave the order to retreat.
Seventeen members of the government force had been killed and several were wounded in the battle. Further casualties were avoided when Riel intervened to prevent Dumont from pursuing and killing all the retreating soldiers.
This battle made the Indians and Métis realize that the Canadians were not invincible.
Soon war whoops and cries of revenge rang out among the Indian tribes.
Two hundred Cree Indians attacked Battleford and Fort Pitt, killing 6.
At Frog Lake, Wandering Spirit and his Indians murdered the Indian agent, Thomas Quinn and two priests, Father Fafard and Father Marchand.
The Frog Lake incident prompted the Canadian government to intervene.
Up until this time, John A. Macdonald had not taken events in the West seriously, but the Frog Lake massacre quickly caught his attention.
The government took two measures; the first was to increase the amount of money provided to the Indians for food. This was a wise decision for, their hunger satisfied, some of the Indians remained on the reserves.
The second measure was to mobilize a military force of 5000 men under the command of
Major-General Frederick Dobson Middleton.
Thanks to the newly-built railroad, the troops were in Winnipeg 10 days after the battle at Duck Lake. Three columns of troops were then dispatched to the centres of disturbance in Saskatchewan.
Knowing that he could not defeat the Canadians in direct confrontation, Dumont had hoped to force the Canadians to negotiate by engaging in a long-drawn out campaign of guerilla warfare, Dumont realised a modest success along these lines at the Battle of Fish Creek on 24 April 1885.
Riel, however, insisted on concentrating forces at Batoche to defend his "city of God".
The outcome of the ensuing Battle of Batoche which took place from 9 to 12 May was never in doubt, and on 15 May a disheveled Riel surrendered to Canadian forces.
Although Big Bear’s forces managed to hold out until the Battle of Loon Lake on 3 June, the rebellion was a dismal failure for Métis and Natives alike, as they surrendered or fled.
Several individuals closely tied to the government requested that the trial be held in Winnipeg in July 1885. Some historians contend that the trial was moved to Regina because of concerns with the possibility of an ethnically mixed and sympathetic jury.[70] Tom Flanagan states that an amendment of the North-West Territories Act (which dropped the provision that trials with crimes punishable by death should be tried in Manitoba) meant that the trial could be convened within the North-West Territories and did not have to be held in Winnipeg.
Louis Riel testifies at his trial
Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald ordered the trial to be convened in Regina, where Riel was tried before a jury of six English and Scottish Protestants, all from the area surrounding the city. The trial began on 28 July 1885, and lasted five days.[3] Riel delivered two long speeches during his trial, defending his own actions and affirming the rights of the Métis people. He rejected his lawyer's attempt to argue that he was not guilty by reason of insanity, asserting,
Life, without the dignity of an intelligent being, is not worth having.[71]
The jury found him guilty but recommended mercy; nonetheless, Judge Hugh Richardson sentenced him to death, with the date of his execution initially set for 18 September 1885.[44] "We tried Riel for treason," one juror later said, "And he was hanged for the murder of Scott."[72]
Execution
Boulton writes in his memoirs that, as the date of his execution approached, Riel regretted his opposition to the defence of insanity and vainly attempted to provide evidence that he was not sane. Requests for a retrial and an appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Britain were denied. Sir John A. Macdonald, who was instrumental in upholding Riel's sentence, is famously quoted as saying:
He shall die though every dog in Quebec bark in his favour.[73]
Before his execution, Riel was reconciled with the Catholic Church, and assigned Father André as his spiritual advisor. He was also given writing materials so that he could employ his time in prison to write a book. Louis Riel was hanged for treason on 16 November 1885 at the North-West Mounted Police barracks in Regina.[74][75]
Riel's tombstone at the St. Boniface Cathedral in Winnipeg.
Boulton writes of Riel's final moments,
... Père André, after explaining to Riel that the end was at hand, asked him if he was at peace with men. Riel answered "Yes." The next question was, "Do you forgive all your enemies?" "Yes." Riel then asked him if he might speak. Father André advised him not to do so. He then received the kiss of peace from both the priests, and Father André exclaimed in French, "Alors, allez au ciel!" meaning "so, to heaven!"
... [Riel's] last words were to say good-bye to Dr. Jukes and thank him for his kindness, and just before the white cap was pulled over his face he said, "Remerciez Madame Forget." meaning "thank Ms. Forget".
The cap was pulled down, and while he was praying the trap was pulled. Death was not instantaneous. Louis Riel's pulse ceased four minutes after the trap-door fell and during that time the rope around his neck slowly strangled and choked him to death. The body was to have been interred inside the gallows' enclosure, and the grave was commenced, but an order came from the Lieutenant-Governor to hand the body over to Sheriff Chapleau which was accordingly done that night.[76]
Following the execution, Riel's body was returned to his mother's home in St. Vital, where it lay in state. On 12 December 1886, his remains were laid in the churchyard of the Saint-Boniface Cathedral following the celebration of a requiem mass.
The trial and execution of Riel caused a bitter and prolonged reaction which convulsed Canadian politics for decades. The execution was both supported and opposed by the provinces. For example, conservative Ontario strongly supported Riel's execution, but Quebec was vehemently opposed to it. Francophones were upset Riel was hanged because they thought his execution was a symbol of English dominance. The Orange Irish Protestant element in Ontario had demanded the execution as the punishment for Riel's treason and his execution of Thomas Scott in 1870. With their revenge satisfied, the Orange turned their attention to other matters (especially the Jesuit Estates proposal). In Quebec there was no forgetting, and the politician Honoré Mercier rose to power by mobilizing the opposition in 1886.[77]
That Riel's name still has resonance in Canadian politics was evidenced on 16 November 1994, when Suzanne Tremblay, a Bloc Québécois member of parliament, introduced private members' bill C-228, "An Act to revoke the conviction of Louis David Riel".[81] The unsuccessful bill was widely perceived in English Canada as an attempt to arouse support for Quebec nationalism before the 1995 referendum on Quebec sovereignty.[82] Bill C-213 or Louis Riel Day Act and Bill C-417 Louis Riel Act are the more notable acts which have gone through parliament.[83] Bill C-297 to revoke the conviction of Louis Riel was introduced to the House of Commons 21 October and 22 November 1996, however the motion lacked unanimous consent from the House and was dropped.[84] Bill C-213[85] or the Louis Riel Day Act of 1997 attempted to revoke the conviction of Louis Riel for high treason and establish a National Day in his honour on 16 November.[86] Bill C-417[87] or the Louis Riel Act which also had a first reading in parliament to revoke the conviction of Louis Riel, and establish 15 July as Louis Riel Day was tabled.[88]
On 18 February 2008, the province of Manitoba officially recognized the first Louis Riel Day as a general provincial holiday. It will now fall on the third Monday of February each year in the Province of Manitoba.
Cause de la mort: Pendaison par les autoritées politique pour haute trahison. Il tentait seulement de combatre pour les droits des métis. Il a dirigé les Métis lors de la rébellion du Nord-Ouest de 1884-1885, devant la grande supériorité numérique des soldats, accusé de haute trahison, déclaré coupable, puis exécuté à Regina le 16 novembre 1885.
Louis, the first child of Louis Riel père and Julie Lagimodière, was born October 22, 1844 in St. Boniface. His mother was the seventh child of Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière and Marie-Anne Gaboury, who came from Québec to settle in the North-West in 1806.
Louis père had been born at Ile-à-la-Crosse in 1817, the son of Jean-Baptiste Riel dit l'Irlande and Marguerite Boucher, a Franco-Déné Métisse whom he married in 1798, 'à la façon du pays'.
In 1843 after spending his childhood in Québec where his parents has returned to live and following an attempt at being a seminarian, Louis Riel père returned to settle in the West, the country where he was born. Here in Red River he met Julie Lagimodière and their marriage was solemnized by Bishop Provencher on January 21, 1844 at St.Boniface Cathedral.
Both were devout Catholics, as Julie had also considered a religious life before marrying Louis Riel.
Their piety was to be an important factor in the family's daily life.
Louis spent his childhood on the east bank of the Red River, not far from St. Boniface and the property of his Lagimodière grandparents. He grew up among the Métis, extremely conscious of his identity, inherited through his father's line. At the age of ten, he began his education, eventually studying at the school run by the Christian Brothers established in the Settlement in 1854.
With the aim of training priests for the young colony, Bishop Taché sent him to Montréal in 1858, along with two other boys, Daniel McDougall and Louis Schmidt, to continue his studies. Setting out on June 1, 1858, in the company of the Reverend Sister Valade, they travelled for five weeks before eventually arriving in Montreaal run by the Gentlemen of St.Sulpice, where he embarked upon an eight year classical course of studies, which included Latin, Greek,French, English, Philosophy and the Sciences.
Louis proved himself to be an excellent student and, once he had caught up, placed himself at the top of his class. He was overwhelmed with grief by the death of his beloved father, in January 1864, whom he had not seen since leaving Red River. Although he continued his studies, his instructors found that his attitude had changed. They began to question whether Louis really had a religious vocation. In March 1865, He requested and was granted permission to continue his schooling as a day student while living with the Grey Nuns.
After breaking the rules several times and repeatedly missing class, he was asked to leave both the Collège and the convent.
The world which confronted him as he left the Collège was fraught within tense political activity. Nationalism was at the fore, ultra montanism and federalism were clashing and the issue of Confederation was being hotly debated. During this period, he lived with his aunt, Lucie Riel, the wife of John Lee, and managed to find employment in the law office of Rodolphe Laflamme, an anti-confederate and an anticleric.
He fell in love with Marie Julie Guernon and even signed a marriage contract. However, this romance was quickly broken off as Marie's parents were opposed to their daughter marrying a Métis.
Disappointed, Riel made his way to Chicago and St. Paul. It would appear that he lived for a while with the poet Louis Fréchette and a group of exiled French Canadian nationalists.
It would also appear that he worked briefly for Edouard Langevin or Gilbert Lachance before returning to Manitoba.
He arrived in St. Boniface on July 26, 1868, after an absence of ten years, an educated but unemployed young man. He was far from suspecting that within a short while he would become the defender of Métis rights and the future father of Manitoba.
At the time of his return to the Red River Settlement, Canada included only the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
The territory known as Rupert's Land, which extended west from Ontario all the way to the Rocky Mountains, belonged to the Hudson's Bay Company.
The Company appointed a governor and council to administer the Settlement situated at the junction of the Red and the Assiniboine Rivers.
Fort Garry lay at the heart of the Settlement, referred to as the District of Assiniboia, and was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company.
During the 1850's, the Métis had succeeded in breaking the fur trade monopoly that the Company had held until then.
The Company had been forced to concede a political role in governing the Settlement and certain property rights to the Métis.
The years between 1850 and 1860 marked the end of the old way of life in the North-West. Before 1849, changes in the Settlement had occurred because of internal events, but after 1850 they would be the result of external factors, centred around Canadian and American politics. With its east-west axis of development, Canada was inevitably bound to come into contact with Métis society.
The first clash occurred in 1857 when the Dawson-Hind exploration expedition arrived to study the land.
The expedition recommended that the Canadian government acquire the arable part of the Company's land. At the same time, an annexationist movement in the United States threatened future occupation of the Territories.
Canada could not count on any military action to thwart this movement and the Company did not have any force at its disposal to ward off this threat. The only remaining alternative was annexation of the North-West Territories by Canada.
In 1869, a unique opportunity presented itself, for the Hudson's Bay Company agreed to sell this territory to Canada. It was at this point in time that Louis Riel returned to the settlement he had not seen for ten years.
Many changes had taken place in the Settlement since his departure. With the arrival of numerous settlers from Ontario, Fort Garry had become an active commercial centre. For economic and political reasons, these "Canadians" were opposed to the Company's authority, while the Métis were worried about the future under the Canadian government. They were afraid the country would be invaded by people from Ontario and that this would create a problem for the Métis, since these newcomers would be English-speaking Protestants, unlike the French-speaking Métis who were Catholic.
In addition to the problems of language and religion, they were justifiably afraid of losing their lands, for most of the Métis were squatters or settlers without title.
During the summer of 1869, the Canadian government sent John Stoughton Dennis to Red River to survey the land. He was so badly received by the Métis that he started surveying at Oak Point rather than Fort Garry. To add to the Métis' anxiety, the survey was being carried out in accordance with the Ontario style of survey, in squares, instead of the system of long, narrow lots with river frontage used by the Métis (and the french in New France).
The new system cut across properties already in existence. Moreover, surveying had begun before the land had been officially transferred to Canada.
When Dennis arrived in Fort Garry, opposition broke out.
On October 11, 1869, proclaiming that the Canadian government had no right to act without permission, sixteen Métis led by Louis Riel disrupted the survey’s work and organized themselves at the Métis National Committee.
This was a very important incident, first of all, because it was the first act of resistance to the transfer of the Settlement to Canada and secondly, because it established Louis Riel as the champion of the Métis. In October, William McDougall, who had been appointed Lieutenant Governor of Rupert's Land, set out for Red River to take possession of the North-West Territory for Canada, accompanied by a ready-made government and armed with 300 rifles.
When news of this reached the Métis, they decided to organize their resistance. On October 16, Riel was elected secretary of the Métis "National Committee" and John Bruce was elected president. Five days later, the Committee sent a warning to McDougall advising him not to enter the country without special permission from the Committee.
To strengthen their position, the Métis erected a barricade where the trail from Pembina crossed the La Salle River, a place McDougall had to pass.
Riel's initiative raised opposition from the conservative wing in the Settlement and those in administrative positions.
As a result of pressure exerted by them Riel was summoned to appear before the Council of Assiniboia, chaired by Judge Black. The latter was replacing the ailing outgoing Governor Mactavish.
Riel let it be known that he was opposed to McDougall's arrival and invited the English group to join him. He stressed that he remained faithful to the British Crown but that he objected to the unlawful entry into the West of the Canadian government.
He believed that the West should have the right to negotiate the terms of its entry into Confederation. On October 30, McDougall, Cameron and Joseph-Alfred Norbert Provencher, the nephew of Bishop Provencher, arrived in Pembina where they read the Committee's note. However, they refused to heed this warning and the next day, Cameron and Provencher proceeded to St. Norbert where they were stopped and conducted back to the American border escorted by 30 Métis.
On November 2, McDougall met with the same fate. Riel and the Métis thus succeeded in cutting McDougall off from the group in Winnipeg which favoured Canadian annexation.
That same day, the Métis took possession of Fort Garry, there by establishing their control over the surrounding area.
However, their power was quite precarious as they could only rely on the support of the French Catholic population. Riel was aware that he would need the backing of all elements in the Settlement to negotiate with the Canadian government.
A series of meetings was held to endeavour to foster this support, but without the hoped-for success. Several people objected to the way McDougall had been treated. However, agreement was reached on the preparation of a list of rights.
On November 23, Riel proposed the formation of a provisional government to replace the Council of Assiniboia. This surprised the English-speaking half-breeds who asked for a few days' adjournment for consultation, not believing that their mandate empowered them to make such a decision.
The official transfer of the land to Canada had been set for December 1,1869. During this period, Sir John A. Macdonald had postponed payment to the Company because of the disturbances in the Settlement.
On December 1, McDougall, who had not been notified of this, read the proclamation announcing the transfer of the Company's territories to Canada. This hasty gesture was later to cause problems.
From that moment, Riel's Provisional Government became legitimate, for the Company lost all authority as of December 1 and Canada acquired none since it had not paid anything.
On December 10, Riel's Provisional Government's flag flew on the flagpole at Fort Garry.
On December 27, following John Bruce's resignation, Louis Riel became president of the Provisional Government.
To this point in time, the Canadian government had been unaware of all the problems at Red River. Macdonald now sent a special commissioner to explain his government's position to the Métis.
On December 27, Donald Smith, the Hudson's Bay Company's representative in Canada and a government agent, arrived in the Settlement. A meeting which began on January 19, 1870 attracted upwards of 1,000 people.
During the meetings on January 19 and 20, Smith made it known that his government had fundamentally good intentions with respect to the people of the Red River Settlement.
In order to find a way of negotiating their rights with Ottawa, Riel proposed that another convention of 20 French-speaking and 20 English-speaking representatives be called to draw up a new list of rights.
The Convention began sitting one week later and their work was completed by February 10.
With unanimous agreement, Riel formed a provisional government which was more representative than the previous one.
Three delegates were elected to go and present the "List of Rights" to the Canadian government: Father Noël Ritchot, Judge Black and Alfred Scott.
Everything seemed to indicate a return to a state of calm, but such was not to be the case. Even while the delegates were still sitting, a group of "Canadians" was preparing a counter-Riel movement.
These men had supported John Schultz and J. S. Dennis in opposing Riel's Provisional Government in December 1869.
Several of them had been imprisoned at Fort Garry, but a substantial group was still at large in the vicinity of Portage la Prairie. On January 9, 1870, 12 prisoners including Charles Mair and Thomas Scott escaped from the Fort.
On January 23, John Schultz managed to escape as well. On February 12, Riel freed the other prisoners on the condition that they not interfere with the politics in the Settlement.
This initiative cooled the ardour of many, but the "Canadian" party continued its march on Fort Garry.
On February 18, Major Charles Boulton and his men, passing near the Fort, were arrested by Riel's men, 48 were captured, including Thomas Scott.
Major Boulton was tried and sentenced to death, but the sentence was never carried out.
After causing problems and attempting to escape,Thomas Scott was summoned to appear before a Métis court martial formed in accordance and headed by Ambroise Dydime Lepine, Louis Riel's lieutenant.
The seven members of the court found him guilty of defying the authority of the Provisional Government, of fighting with the guards and insulting the President.
He was sentenced to death by a vote of five to two and the next day, March 4, 1870, he was executed by a firing squad.
Although pressure was brought to bear on Riel to prevent the execution, he refused to be swayed.
We can only wonder what motives prompted Riel to allow Scott's execution. Was it an act of vengeance against Scott or fear of losing the respect of the Métis?
Scott was an Orangeman who was fiercely anti-Catholic and Riel perhaps believed he would make an example of him. Whatever the real motive, this action excited much controversy.
It forced Riel into exile and shook even his most ardent supporters.
On March 24, the three delegates left for Ottawa to negotiate the terms of entry into Confederation with the representatives of the Canadian government. Father Ritchot became the real spokesman for the delegation, as Judge Black and Alfred Scott showed themselves to be relatively ineffective.
With relentless questioning and arguing, he was able to convince the government to introduce the Manitoba Bill into the House of Commons.
On May 12, 1870, the Manitoba Act, based on the Métis "List of Rights,"was passed by the Canadian Parliament.
One section protected Métis' lands and guaranteed the right to their religion and to the use of their language in the Legislature and the courts.
Riel, as head of the Provisional Government, was to maintain peace and order while awaiting the arrival of the first lieutenant governor, Adams G. Archibald, and Colonel Wolseley's troops, which were accompanying him.
Wolseley's troops arrived before Archibald, and although they were supposed to restore order and keep the peace, a number of the soldiers wanted to seek out Riel and avenge the death of Scott.
Warned of their intentions, Riel, Lépine and William O'Donoghue, an Irish American, had time to flee to sanctuary in the United States.
Riel went to the Métis settlement of St. Joseph, in Dakota Territory, to await news from Red River.
A letter arrived shortly thereafter from Bishop Taché which suggested that he remain in hiding, for his life would be in danger if he returned.
The situation was serious; disputes between the Métis and Wolseley's men were growing in number.
Riel found it difficult to remain far away in hiding and on September 17, he returned to attend a gathering of the Métis in St. Norbert.
At this meeting, it was resolved that a petition be sent to the President of the United States, Ulysses S.Grant, to ask him to intercede with the Queen for an investigation of their demand for amnesty. O'Donoghue wanted annexation of the Settlement to the United States, but Riel opposed the idea. However, O'Donoghue was selected to carry the petition to the President and it was turned over to him. On the way, O'Donoghue inserted a request for annexation which did not convince Grant and he rejected it.
O'Donoghue then went to New York where he met with some Irish Fenians who had already made forays into Canada.
He managed to convince them to make a raid into Manitoba.
When news of this reached Manitoba, Lieutenant Governor Archibald was very concerned.
Would the Métis join in the raid? At this moment Louis Riel intervened.
Believing that the Métis' future lay with Canada, not with the United States, he assured the Lieutenant Governor that the Métis would not join the Fenians and he kept his word.
For want of local support, the Fenian attack died before it had begun.
Grateful for the assistance that Riel had provided, Archibald was prepared to leave him in peace. However, this feeling was not shared by all and Archibald came to believe that peace would be restored more quickly if Riel left the country for a while.
Riel and Lépine were each offered the sum of $1,000. They reluctantly accepted this amount, more as a result of threats on their lives than because of the money.
Riel and Lépine left Manitoba on February 23, 1872 and travelled to St. Joseph bound for St. Paul, Minnesota.
Bounty hunters pursued them constantly. Nevertheless, Riel and Lépine were soon homesick.
Lépine was the first to return to Red River in May 1872.
The following month, Riel made his way to St. Joseph where he began to campaign as a candidate in the federal election for the Manitoba constituency of Provencher.
He persisted in this, despite the advice of his friends, and only eventually withdrew in favour of George-Etienne Cartier, who had been defeated in his own riding. He believed that Cartier would defend the Métis cause.
Cartier, however, died a few months later and Louis was subsequently elected by acclamation
in a by-election for Provencher held in October 1873.
Arrangements were made for Riel to take his seat in the House of Commons, but fearing for his life, Louis lost his nerve and fled to Montreal and upstate New York.
The February 13, 1874, general election saw Riel re-elected member of parliament for Provencher.
On March 30th, he entered the parliament building, took the required oath of allegiance, signed the member's roll and hurriedly left the building again in the direction of Montreal.
On April 9, Riel was expelled from the House of Commons.
He returned to St. Paul and then to Keeseville, New York, where he lived with Father Fabien Barnabé.
In September 1874, a by-election was called to fill the vacant seat in Provencher.
Riel was again re-elected 'in-absentia' but this time he did not attempt to take his seat.
In 1875, the new prime minister, Alexander Mackenzie, granted Riel amnesty for the troubles in 1869-70, on condition that he not return to Canada for five years.
Exile was a time of anguish for Louis. He was often depressed and claimed that he had visions of a mission to fulfill.
His cries and lamentations so frightened Father Barnabé that he sent for Riel's uncle, John Lee. The latter took him back to Montréal and he was confined to an asylum in the Province of Quebec, under the name of Louis R. David. Shortly thereafter, he was transferred to the asylum at Beauport where he gradually recovered his health.
He was discharged from the asylum in January 1878, with the recommendation that he avoid excitement.
From Beauport, Riel returned to Keeseville where he remained for a while.
During this time, he fell in love with Evelina Barnabé, Father Barnabé's sister.
Less interested in politics now, Riel tried to find work so that he might have something to offer Evelina.
Finally he decided to return to the West. Evelina did not think she would be able to adapt to prairie life and after several months, Riel stopped writing to her and the relationship came to an end.
In the fall of 1878, Riel returned once again to St. Joseph, near Pembina where in April 1879, he was visited by his mother and his friends.
Life in Manitoba had changed a great deal.
The influx of immigrants was driving the Métis away. Stripped of their land and their way of life, they were moving farther and farther west to settle along the Saskatchewan River at places such as Lac la Biche, Qu'Appelle, Edmonton, Prince Albert, Duck Lake and Batoche.
While these changes were taking place, Riel was living in the United States, for he was still banished from Manitoba.
Since 1879, he had followed the buffalo hunt and worked as an agent, trader and wood cutter near Carroll, in Montana Territory. Here he met Marguerite Monet dite Bellehumeur, a Métisse whom he married 'à la façon du pays' on April 28,1881, and solemnly on March 9, 1882.
Riel began to take an interest in American politics and became an American citizen.
When his term of exile ended, he paid a brief visit to his mother, then returned to live in the United States where he became a school master in order to provide for his family which now included two children.
Although he was a good teacher, Louis was not happy. He had hoped to instruct the Métis but found that they made little progress, coming to class only sporadically and preferring to follow the hunt.
On June 4, as Mass was ending in St. Peter's Mission on the Sun River (Montana), Riel received a visit from four Métis, Gabriel Dumont, Moïse Ouellette, Michel Dumas and James Isbister, who had come to ask Louis to lead the Métis once again.
They had traveled from northern Saskatchewan where several Métis families had settled after 1869. There the Métis had resumed their traditional way of life, now threatened by the influx of settlers and immigrants.
Their borders were again disappearing, their rights were no longer being respected, their lands were being taken and the government was not listening.
Louis made up his mind quickly. The dream he had cherished for so long was coming true: his people needed him. After an absence of fifteen years, he was returning to Canada.
These years had strongly marked him, exiled from his native land and pursued by bounty hunters, he had suffered a nervous breakdown.
Now he saw the opportunity to claim his rights and those of his breathren from the Canadian government.
Louis set out for Batoche with his wife and two children, arriving there around the beginning of July 1884.
On July 8, about six days after his arrival, he addressed the Métis.
His programme was a moderate one. All three groups responded warmly to his presence. Each group was to retain its independence, but a central committee was to be set up to formulate specific demands to be sent to Ottawa.
A decision had been made to send petitions to Ottawa on behalf of the people, in the hope that the government would listen.
Several of Riel's supporters would have preferred bolder action, for the Indians and the Métis were dying of hunger and the European settlers were anxious to have the land issue resolved.
On December 16, 1884, after several public meetings had been held, a petition was dispatched to Ottawa.
It demanded that the settlers be given title to the lands they then occupied,
that the districts of Saskatchewan, Assiniboia and Alberta be granted provincial status and métis to settle on the land and that the Indians be better treated.
In spite of the support Riel received from the Métis, an anti-Riel feeling prevailed among the Catholic clergy.
The clergy feared his power and were suspicious of his religious beliefs.
Their opposition caused the breach between Riel and his church to grow even wider.
Led by Father André, the clergy tried to oust Riel as the Métis leader, but were unsuccessful.
On February 11, 1885, the federal government answered the petition that had been sent on December 16 of the previous year.
The government promised to appoint a commission to investigate the Métis' claims and titles.
The first step would be to take a census of the Métis in the North-West Territories.
These proposals angered the Métis who were hoping for a quicker solution to their problems.
Seeing that nothing had been accomplished yet, Riel asked the Métis if they wanted him to continue as their leader.
Forsaken by their priests, the Métis reaffirmed their vision of Riel as a leader and a prophet.
Over the winter of 1885, tension began to mount among the Indian tribes as they fell victim to hunger and disease and the Indian agents did not have the resources necessary to relieve their suffering.
As of 1885, the Indians realized that their situation was similar to that of the Métis.Thus it was altogether natural that they turned to Riel.
On March 19, the Feast of St. Joseph, Riel established a provisional government and took possession of the local church as his headquarters.
Pierre Parenteau was chosen the first president and Gabriel Dumont was chosen adjutant-general. However, following the formation of the Provisional Government, Riel became aware that his authority was becoming weaker; the Church was hostile because the clergy played no role in the new nation and the English-speaking Métis and settlers refused to take up arms.
Riel found himself again supported only by the French-speaking Métis and the Indians.
He decided to capture Fort Carlton which he considered essential to his operations. He wanted to occupy it without violence, but the Mounted Police reinforced its garrison.
Thus Riel could only negotiate or attack.
Opting for negotiation, Riel sent Charles Nolin and Ambroise Lépine to demand that Major Crozier surrender the fort to him.
In return he would let Crozier and his men go free. There was no time to conclude the negotiations since fighting broke out at Duck Lake on March 26.
Major Crozier had left Fort Carlton with 56 Mounted Policemen and 41 civilian volunteers to stop Riel.
Led by Gabriel Dumont, the Métis met them at Duck Lake. Dumont succeeded in drawing the troops into a valley where Crozier was forced to come to a halt.
Two horsemen, Isidore Dumont and Falling Sand, a Cree Chief, came forward to meet them.
Believing they wished to parley, Crozier also advanced, accompanied by a guide named McKay.
All four men stopped in the middle of the valley and Crozier extended his hand as a gesture of friendship.
Thinking they had been betrayed, Falling Sand made a grab for McKay's rifle. The guide fired and Isidore Dumont fell dead from his horse.
The battle of Duck Lake had begun. After forty minutes, with his force decimated, Crozier gave the order to retreat.
Seventeen members of the government force had been killed and several were wounded in the battle. Further casualties were avoided when Riel intervened to prevent Dumont from pursuing and killing all the retreating soldiers.
This battle made the Indians and Métis realize that the Canadians were not invincible.
Soon war whoops and cries of revenge rang out among the Indian tribes.
Two hundred Cree Indians attacked Battleford and Fort Pitt, killing 6.
At Frog Lake, Wandering Spirit and his Indians murdered the Indian agent, Thomas Quinn and two priests, Father Fafard and Father Marchand.
The Frog Lake incident prompted the Canadian government to intervene.
Up until this time, John A. Macdonald had not taken events in the West seriously, but the Frog Lake massacre quickly caught his attention.
The government took two measures; the first was to increase the amount of money provided to the Indians for food. This was a wise decision for, their hunger satisfied, some of the Indians remained on the reserves.
The second measure was to mobilize a military force of 5000 men under the command of
Major-General Frederick Dobson Middleton.
Thanks to the newly-built railroad, the troops were in Winnipeg 10 days after the battle at Duck Lake. Three columns of troops were then dispatched to the centres of disturbance in Saskatchewan.
Knowing that he could not defeat the Canadians in direct confrontation, Dumont had hoped to force the Canadians to negotiate by engaging in a long-drawn out campaign of guerilla warfare, Dumont realised a modest success along these lines at the Battle of Fish Creek on 24 April 1885.
Riel, however, insisted on concentrating forces at Batoche to defend his "city of God".
The outcome of the ensuing Battle of Batoche which took place from 9 to 12 May was never in doubt, and on 15 May a disheveled Riel surrendered to Canadian forces.
Although Big Bear’s forces managed to hold out until the Battle of Loon Lake on 3 June, the rebellion was a dismal failure for Métis and Natives alike, as they surrendered or fled.
Several individuals closely tied to the government requested that the trial be held in Winnipeg in July 1885. Some historians contend that the trial was moved to Regina because of concerns with the possibility of an ethnically mixed and sympathetic jury.[70] Tom Flanagan states that an amendment of the North-West Territories Act (which dropped the provision that trials with crimes punishable by death should be tried in Manitoba) meant that the trial could be convened within the North-West Territories and did not have to be held in Winnipeg.
Louis Riel testifies at his trial
Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald ordered the trial to be convened in Regina, where Riel was tried before a jury of six English and Scottish Protestants, all from the area surrounding the city. The trial began on 28 July 1885, and lasted five days.[3] Riel delivered two long speeches during his trial, defending his own actions and affirming the rights of the Métis people. He rejected his lawyer's attempt to argue that he was not guilty by reason of insanity, asserting,
Life, without the dignity of an intelligent being, is not worth having.[71]
The jury found him guilty but recommended mercy; nonetheless, Judge Hugh Richardson sentenced him to death, with the date of his execution initially set for 18 September 1885.[44] "We tried Riel for treason," one juror later said, "And he was hanged for the murder of Scott."[72]
Execution
Boulton writes in his memoirs that, as the date of his execution approached, Riel regretted his opposition to the defence of insanity and vainly attempted to provide evidence that he was not sane. Requests for a retrial and an appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Britain were denied. Sir John A. Macdonald, who was instrumental in upholding Riel's sentence, is famously quoted as saying:
He shall die though every dog in Quebec bark in his favour.[73]
Before his execution, Riel was reconciled with the Catholic Church, and assigned Father André as his spiritual advisor. He was also given writing materials so that he could employ his time in prison to write a book. Louis Riel was hanged for treason on 16 November 1885 at the North-West Mounted Police barracks in Regina.[74][75]
Riel's tombstone at the St. Boniface Cathedral in Winnipeg.
Boulton writes of Riel's final moments,
... Père André, after explaining to Riel that the end was at hand, asked him if he was at peace with men. Riel answered "Yes." The next question was, "Do you forgive all your enemies?" "Yes." Riel then asked him if he might speak. Father André advised him not to do so. He then received the kiss of peace from both the priests, and Father André exclaimed in French, "Alors, allez au ciel!" meaning "so, to heaven!"
... [Riel's] last words were to say good-bye to Dr. Jukes and thank him for his kindness, and just before the white cap was pulled over his face he said, "Remerciez Madame Forget." meaning "thank Ms. Forget".
The cap was pulled down, and while he was praying the trap was pulled. Death was not instantaneous. Louis Riel's pulse ceased four minutes after the trap-door fell and during that time the rope around his neck slowly strangled and choked him to death. The body was to have been interred inside the gallows' enclosure, and the grave was commenced, but an order came from the Lieutenant-Governor to hand the body over to Sheriff Chapleau which was accordingly done that night.[76]
Following the execution, Riel's body was returned to his mother's home in St. Vital, where it lay in state. On 12 December 1886, his remains were laid in the churchyard of the Saint-Boniface Cathedral following the celebration of a requiem mass.
The trial and execution of Riel caused a bitter and prolonged reaction which convulsed Canadian politics for decades. The execution was both supported and opposed by the provinces. For example, conservative Ontario strongly supported Riel's execution, but Quebec was vehemently opposed to it. Francophones were upset Riel was hanged because they thought his execution was a symbol of English dominance. The Orange Irish Protestant element in Ontario had demanded the execution as the punishment for Riel's treason and his execution of Thomas Scott in 1870. With their revenge satisfied, the Orange turned their attention to other matters (especially the Jesuit Estates proposal). In Quebec there was no forgetting, and the politician Honoré Mercier rose to power by mobilizing the opposition in 1886.[77]
That Riel's name still has resonance in Canadian politics was evidenced on 16 November 1994, when Suzanne Tremblay, a Bloc Québécois member of parliament, introduced private members' bill C-228, "An Act to revoke the conviction of Louis David Riel".[81] The unsuccessful bill was widely perceived in English Canada as an attempt to arouse support for Quebec nationalism before the 1995 referendum on Quebec sovereignty.[82] Bill C-213 or Louis Riel Day Act and Bill C-417 Louis Riel Act are the more notable acts which have gone through parliament.[83] Bill C-297 to revoke the conviction of Louis Riel was introduced to the House of Commons 21 October and 22 November 1996, however the motion lacked unanimous consent from the House and was dropped.[84] Bill C-213[85] or the Louis Riel Day Act of 1997 attempted to revoke the conviction of Louis Riel for high treason and establish a National Day in his honour on 16 November.[86] Bill C-417[87] or the Louis Riel Act which also had a first reading in parliament to revoke the conviction of Louis Riel, and establish 15 July as Louis Riel Day was tabled.[88]
On 18 February 2008, the province of Manitoba officially recognized the first Louis Riel Day as a general provincial holiday. It will now fall on the third Monday of February each year in the Province of Manitoba.