Red River rebellion

views updated Jun 27 2018

Red River rebellion, 1869. In 1869 the Hudson's Bay Company sold its territorial rights to the new dominion of Canada. Both parties largely ignored the Métis of the Red River, a French-speaking community of part Indian descent. Led by Louis Riel, they established a provisional government in December 1869. While the Canadian government negotiated, through fur-trader Donald A. Smith, Riel ordered the shooting of Ulsterman Thomas Scott to uphold his authority. An expeditionary force, commanded by Garnet Wolseley, reached the settlement in August 1870, after Riel had escaped. The Red River became the province of Manitoba in 1870. Riel was hanged in 1885 after leading a second western rebellion.

Ged Martin