CANADIAN SURVEY CREWS ARRIVING AT FORT GARRY HELP IGNITE RED RIVER REBLLION
The Red River Colony of Rupert’s Land [Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) land encompassing most or all present-day Manitoba & Saskatchewan, and parts of Alberta, Nunavut, Quebec & Ontario], was primarily populated by Catholic francophone Métis engaged in the fur trade (there were also some “Anglo-Métis”). In the late 1860s, anglophone Protestant settlers came from Ontario, many advocating Canadian expansionism. Americans also arrived favoring U.S. annexation. To forestall US expansionism and establish law & order, the 1868 Rupert’s Land Act transferred land from the HBC to Canada. Against the advice of Catholic & Anglican bishops, as well as the HBC governor, a government survey party arrived at Fort Garry on August 20, 1869. The Métis saw it as a threat and an inevitable confrontation led to their takeover of Fort Garry, a provisional Métis government, and the Red River Rebellion.
Sources: “RIEL, LOUIS,” Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Vol. XI. Retrieved 9/2/2022, Biography – RIEL, LOUIS (1844-85) – Volume XI (1881-1890) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography (biographi.ca) “Red River Rebellion,” Academic Kids. Retrieved 9/2/2022, Red River Rebellion - Academic Kids Wikipedia. Photo: Believed to be by Joseph Langevin, 1870. Councilors (and officers) of the Provisional Government of the Métis Nation. Public Domain.
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