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January 15, 1870
Vol. I, No. 11
[ page ] 161, [ col. 1 ]
The Red River difficulty continues to be a subject of engrossing interest.
The Hon. Mr. McDougall and family, with the other gentlemen, who went
out to take part in the government of the Territory have all, except Mr.
Provencher, returned to Canada. Grand-Vicar Thibauld has reached the
scene of trouble, and great hopes are entertained that he will succeed in
quieting the half-breeds whose resistance to Canadian authority is said
to have been dictated by one or two French priests in the Settlement.
Governor Smith, of the Hudson's Bay Company, has also reached Red
River to assist Governor McTavish, or rather to assume the duties of that
gentleman, who is at present incapacitated by ill health. The insurgents,
after trying their prisoners by court-martial, sentenced forty-five of them
to banishment from the Territory. They were all Canadians who had but
recently gone to the Territory, and had of course taken an active part
with Dr. Schultz in his attempt to get up a counter revolution. They
comprise the whole of the "Canadian" party so-called; that is, those who
during the past season went into the Settlement either in expectation of
official appointments, or for the purpose of taking up lands or entering
into business. They were escorted to the frontier, where (at Pembina)
the Hon. Mr. McDougall had thoughtfully made provision for them, in
anticipation of their fate, by which they will be en-
[ page ] 161 [ col. 2 ]
abled to reach Canada. Dr. Schultz himself is still held a prisoner, as
are Mr. Charles Mair, late paymaster on the Government Road Works;
Mr. Snow, the Road Superintendent; and Wm. Hallet, a half-breed, who
is said to have acted as a spy for Mr. McDougall. Whether these parties
are merely retained as hostages, or in reserve for severer punishment,
is not yet known, but it is not likely that the insurgents will compromise
themselves by inflicting a worse punishment than imprisonment. The
Hon. Mr. McDougall, who, in the language of the day, bas been
"interviewed" by news-writers, expresses the convictions that matters
may be peaceably arranged by spring.
We present our readers with the portrait of one of the leading spirits of
the movement, Louis Riel, who, though nominally secretary, is reputed to
be virtually the head and director of the insurgent council. Whether Riel
has been advised by others, or has acted upon his own judgment, his
conduct has displayed no little tact and discretion. Violence has so far
been avoided as much as possible. Though the gentle persuasive of
loaded muskets was held out to Mr. McDougall and his party to compel
them to recross the frontier; and though Dr. Schultz's house was just
"very near" being fired upon, as yet the insurrection has been free from
bloodshed, and it may be supposed that Riel has had no small share in
preserving this moderate course. There has been a resort to tactics
which, if neither honest nor honourable, were at
[ page ] 162 [col. 1 ]
least shrewd. When the counter movement was being organized, the
insurgents called a meeting of delegates, at which all parts of the
Settlement were represented; and at this meeting it is said it was
arranged that Riel should hold an interview with Mr. McDougall, to
endeavour to come to an agreement with him. As certain demands
concerning the lands, local government, schools, &c.;, were approved
alike by all classes in the Settlement, it was expected that Riel's
interview with the Governor would put an end to the difficulty, and so the
counter movement, except by the few nearly arrived Canadians under
the leadership of Shultz and the inspiration of Dennis, fell to the ground,
while Riel neither went himself, nor sent a representative to treat with the
Governor. This seems like "Punic faith" on the part of Riel and his
associates. Undoubtedly the English and Scotch settlers were for a time
thrown off their guard by this small stroke of finesse; and the "masterly
inactivity" thus displayed, gained sufficient time to place matters in such
a position that they cannot well be changed until next summer, unless
with the consent of the insurgents.
Riel was the "Chief Organiser" of the Red River insurrection, and as
such he is deservedly an historical character. He, as the acting leader of
the insurgents, on the 22nd of November last, took formal possession of
the Land Register of the colony, with all the papers and accounts
belonging to the Council of Assiniboia. Governor McTavish refusing to
hand over these documents to Mr. Riel, was confronted with six armed
men, and being powerless to resist such a display of force, had no
option but to yield. Riel had previously fitted up an office for himself in
another part of the building; and as Governor McTavish and his
accountant refused to hand over the papers to him, he brought a couple
of armed men to his assistance, and forcibly removed the Register and
a number of the Company's books containing their accounts with the
local government and with the Settlers. The Register which is now in the
hands of the insurgents is a bulky volume, and forms the basis of all
titles to surveyed lands in the Settlement. The rising thus appears to
have overthrown by violence the rule of the Hudson's Bay Company
before the date fixed for the legal transfer of its authority to Canada. In
so far as Canada is concerned, its operations within the Territory, from
first to last, have been extra-legal. It has expended money in
road-building, and to preserve the Settlers from starvation, without the
acquisition of any rights within it. But this was a mistake which would
readily have been pardoned. But the employment of surveying parties
within the settlement, and other preparations for the assumption of
authority, appear to have given general offence. A letter from Fort Garry
says:
It is a matter for the most serious consideration, in the
event of the Canadian government determining to put
down the present rebellion with a strong hand, that the
commencement of military operations at Red River will be
but the beginning of disturbances throughout the entire
Indian country. The settlement is connected by so many
ties with the whole of Rupert's Land that the lighting up of
the flame of civil war within it will be the breaking out of a
conflagration which, like the Prairie fires, will devastate the
territory, gathering strength with its onward progress, and
growing more irresistible as the circuit of its ravages
expands. The distinction between combatant and
non-combatant will become unknown, as has occurred
even in the present disturbance; unwilling recruits will be
impressed, and compelled to shoulder a musket in the
common cause. The result may be the extermination of
human life on a large scale.
It is to be hoped no such dire calamity will befall the settlement.
Louis Riel, is a young man of considerable ability. He is a native of
Rupert's Land and was educated in this City. It is said that at one time
he designed to enter the Church; but if so, the idea was abandoned. He
has served as a merchant's clerk at St. Paul, Minn., and for some time
past has been farming near Winnipeg. He is a fluent speaker both in
French and English, and as we have said gets general credit for being
the leading spirit among the insurgents.
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