Louis Riel, con't
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 Lepine 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 because fighting broke out at Duck Lake on March 26.
Gabriel Dumont
 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 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 40 minutes, with his force decimated, Crozier gave the order to retreat. Ten members of the government force had been killed and 13 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 attacked Battleford and Fort Pitt, killing six. At Frog Lake, Wandering Spirit and his followers 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 responded by increasing the amount of money given to the Indians for food, (this was a wise decision because with their hunger satisfied, some of the Indians remained on the reserves) and by mobilizing a military force of 8,000 men under the command of Major General Middleton. Thanks to the newly-built railroad, the troops were in Winnipeg 10 days after the Battle of Duck Lake. Three columns of troops were then dispatched to the centres of disturbance in Saskatchewan.
Gabriel Dumont and 350 Métis intended to defend Batoche. Dumont believed that the only effective way of accomplishing this was through Indian warfare-surprise attacks followed by hasty retreats. Riel was opposed to this plan. He wanted to avoid violence as long as possible, in hope of carrying negotiations through to a successful conclusion. This attitude had disastrous consequences for the Métis, because it enabled Middleton to advance to Batoche in safety. However, Dumont decided to set a trap for him at Fish Creek.
On April 24, Riel and Dumont set out from Batoche with 200 Métis. At that moment a messenger brought word to them that a mounted police detachment was approaching Batoche from the direction of Qu'Appelle. Dumont sent 50 men back to defend the settlement, under Riel's leadership. With Dumont in command, the battle of Fish Creek ended in a stalemate which the Métis regarded as a victory because they had succeeded in checking the Canadians' advance.
Meanwhile, in Batoche, Riel was beginning to have doubts about the decisions he had made. Reports indicated that troops had arrived in the vicinity of Batoche. In despair, he appealed to Poundmaker and Big Bear for help, but they could not arrive in time.
Cautious after Fish Creek, Middleton stopped for two weeks to rest his men. He left Batoche on May 7, accompanied by the steamer Northcote in the Saskatchewan River. The Métis soon managed to disable the steamer, but the government troops were too strong. On May 11, the fourth day of the battle, the Métis were defeated. The two leaders reacted differently to this defeat. Both were hidden in the woods and ravines around Batoche. Riel, after ensuring the safety of his family, withdrew into the woods to pray. He made no attempt to flee. When Middleton demanded that he surrender, he replied that he would give himself up to fulfil God's will and that he wanted freedom for all his council and his people. He would surrender so that he could continue to defend the Métis cause. After his surrender, Riel was taken to Regina. Dumont, on the other hand, tried unsuccessfully to recapture Batoche. Then, hearing that Riel had given himself up, he fled to the United States with Michel Dumas and Ambroise Lepine. The rebellion was over. Poundmaker surrendered on May 23, but Big Bear was still at large. He was attempting to restore the unity which had existed on the plains. On May 26, he engaged Colonel Strange's men in battle, but, with his braves dying of hunger and no ammunition left, Big Bear finally gave himself up.
Riel was charged with high treason. The trial opened on July 20, with Riel pleading not guilty. This trial was to have disastrous consequences for Riel and for Canada. The jury was entirely Anglo-Saxon and Protestant. Rie'?s lawyer wanted to plead that Riel was insane and not responsible for his acts. Riel was so opposed to this strategy that his lawyers had the judge rule that he did no have permission to speak. The lawyers were not allowed to speak of the grievances which had led to the rebellion, as the judge declared that it was Riel, not the Government of Canada, who was on trial. The witnesses' testimonies were damning. They insisted that Riel had been mentally unstable before and during the rebellion.
Towards the end of the trial, Riel was allowed to speak. After a moment of prayer, he reviewed the troubles in the northwest. Beginning with the sufferings his people had endured and the government's inactivity. He maintained with dignity that he was not insane and that he did not want to be acquitted by reason of insanity. He did not deny that he had previously been committed to a mental hospital, but pointed out that the doctors had certified that he was cured. Did visions, prophecies and missions signify insanity? He closed with a few eloquent comments on the sacrifices he had make and asked for justice.
 On July 21, the court was adjourned for one week to allow enough time for the witnesses to appear. The examination of the witnesses began on July 28 and continued through to August 1. Riel was sentenced to hang on September 18. Then a series of appeals began. The first was to the Manitoba court of Queens' Bench which affirmed the original sentence on September 2. The appeal succeeded, however, in having the execution postponed until October 16. A second appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council was dismissed and the execution was set for November 10. Macdonald, uncertain what decision to make, yielded to pressure from Ontario and Quebec and granted a third reprieve to enable a medical commission to examine Riel. When the commission was unable to pronounce him insane, the date of execution was set for November 16.
 While awaiting death, Riel received a visit from his family and on November 6, he wrote his will. During the night of the 15th and the early hours of the 16th, he wrote one last letter to his mother and received last rites. At 8:00 a.m., he climbed the stairs to the scaffold for his execution. On November 19, a service was sung for the repose of his soul at St. Mary's Church in Regina. On December 9, his body was returned to St. Vital where it lay in state for two days in his mothers house. A requiem mass was sung December 12 at St. Boniface Cathedral and his body buried in the churchyard.
Thus lived and died a man whom we acknowledge today as the founder of the Province of Manitoba and a defender of the rights of the Métis and French Canadians.
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