Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1885-11-19
BEFORE THE HANGING.
An Interesting Talk with LouisRiei Whine
in Prison-what Rtei Hssto Say About
Himself.

bed, made up Of three twelYe-ineh boards
in width. 1t is about six feet in length,
This bench is attached to the north side oil
the little cell by hinges, SO hat in the day
time it is raised upward ard t"stened to the
wall by a hook. BY this means so much
space il saved Tor pacing purposes"
during daytime. The bedclothes are
folded together every morning and
thrown into n corner OF the cell.
Risl's writing desk is hinged on to the
west side OF the little cell, the same as his
bed. and when | show you three large
manuscript books filled with visions, y
manifestations" and ~redomontade, to-
gether with a bible presented to Rlel by ms
mother, and q few Roman Catholic prayer
books, you have the cell OF the rebel hall
breed. Louis RieL The scafold is at the
extreme south end OF the prison, enclosed
by a board fence nine ieet square. II was
on this scafiold that Connors, the Moose
Jaw murderer, was executed on Friday,
July II, for the brutal murder OF his chum,
Henry Molaski. 1t was 4 o'clock when
the iron wicket leading from the guard
room TO the prison proper noiselessly
opened on its well-oiled hinges, and !
walked inside, quickly turned to the right,
and a dozen PAGES took me to the cell OF
the condemned rebel. Riel exhibited little
surprise on beholding his visitor. With
the cordiaIity OF IA hot-blooded prisoner no
warmly shook my hand.
Now, Mr.. Riel F" said ], Though you have
often been asked the question before, per-
haps you will tell me ~candidly your reason
for raising the late rebellion?'
III / did not answer the question often
enough" answered Riel, al am sure some
Of my good friends outside did it FOR me.
But there 10 something yet to be gathered.
do not think | raised the late war, but
/ advised the starving half-breeds to stand
up for their rights, shamefully denied them
by Sir John"
You deny, then, that all this bloodshed
has been caused by you"
II do. HAD never supposed that q drop
OF blood need b. shed. | thought IL would
be cheaper for the government to come to
terms with me. The government did not
do so, aud my counsel-no matter what
they say n~ow-cxpected good terms. Now
my counsel are wise, and ! nm n fool in the
eyes OF idiots"
"On what conditions did you leave the
United States with the half-breed deputa-
ton to come to Batoche7"
The l]eputation told me they were in a
bad state and were sure they could get good
terms from the government IL they only had
the right kind OF n leader, They offered me
friendship, n home and plenty OF money
II i came bhCk WIN LntIl. NOIu, VINO
swore so hard against me was the loudest
trying TO get me to Batoche. However, he
treated me well after | got there"
at is a wonder TO me that you did not
think and hesitate over coming back to
Canada for the purpose of exciting the half-
breeds again"
II did think. | asked the spirit to ad.
wise me. He said, There is IL fish undert the
rock'and | was to haul it out. We all went
to confession and prayed. After that the
spirit told me to go. | couldn't refuse"
What il the Spirit, Mr.. Riel2 Have you
seen it7"
Yes, frequently. 1t is a man eight feet
high"
rs it true you offered to leave your
people, the hali-breeds of Saskatchewan. to
fight out their own battles il you got a
large sum of money from the governmcnt?"
1T is a liel" cried Riel. The govern
ment hunted me from friends ard homo
like IA wild beast. Sir John never paid me
what he promised, and | did not deserve
the treatment | got. 1t is the duty Of the.
government to release me now and give me
$l00,000 There was nothing to prevent
me going with Gabriel to the states after
we had lost Batnche. The Spirit told me
to nave courage like King David, who SUI
fered as | did
SIS il true that you were assisted in rails
ing this rebellion by the Hudson Bay com.
pany?"
: II have told you I did mott aise the REBEL.
ion. We hated the Hudson Bay
more than the government. They are viii
ans and robbers, but their day is short.
You will find some OF their dirty tricks
there" pointing TO q book Of manuscripts.
'ln case you die you intend these manu-
scripts shall be puhlished2"
ttNaa MAJ AL. GrtN I will rtan 4, ,.fn 81
ter three days"
Then it is all the same to you whether
you die or not?'
Not altogether, II | die God must raise
me from the dead, and | do not want to
put him to the inconvenience OF working u
miracle for me-"
You did not make a very good stand at
Batoche against Gen. Middleton"
Poor fellowsl They couldn't make a
stand against anything. They had neither
food, clothes, arms, ammunition, nor
the fear OF God"
You told DR.. Willoughby at Batoche
last winter you would rule the Northwest
or perish in the attempt"
III may have said so. ldon'tthink r6d,
though. Willoughby and Welsh wereiright.
ened as trapped coyotes"
why did you allow your men to attack
Maj. Crozier at Duck Lake?"
II did not allow them. Neither did they
attack Crozier. Crozier is a good man, but
he fired first. / could have Prince Albert,
Carlton, Battleford, etc, taken and whites
massaered liked. What was TO pre-
vent me taking saskatooh3 stopped
bloodshed In place OF shedding IL. !, hope
Sir John will repent though"
What do you think oithe legal proceed
ings in your case2"
II am very thankful to my Quebec
friends for thinking Of me, but they are
fighting the devil on his own reserve. The
heretics want 'Riel's' blood"
What's your opinion OF the three advo-
Gates they sent you up?"
well, ! do not wish to say anything
against them. Poor fellows, th6y did their
best. They didn't understand my case at
all. IL Lemieux could speak English like
me he might be able to get along. Fitz-
patrick thinks he is as tall as the Spirit,
but he is two feet less, Greenshields made
me sick. am glad he was put to one side.
However, / thank them from my heart"
What do you think about the decision
OF the priyy couucil?"
II knew what would be the re.
suit, The spirit told me dir John
was laughing at the English bulls all
the time they we're trying n poor hall.
breed that never committed a crime. Icould
HOt tNptCb mercy from JOnn Dull no more
than the Irish could. III could speak FIVE
hours at my own trial or be allowed to de-
iend myself ! would not be here to-day"
You spoke very hard against Arch.
bishop Tache, Judge Dubuc, Sir John A.
Macdonald and Others on your trial, Wqula
you repeat what you said Of them again1"
No answer. Riel nodded mysteriously,
and became wrapped In thought, Sudden.
ly he jumped up in a very excited co ditiou
and gestieulated wildly,
They are all knaves!" he cried. ~ did
not tell the whole truth about them. But
i win saw nothing. The archbishop sent
me IA cross, but il was not very lucky, for /
had it onlytwo days when a policeman
stole it,"
Here the spurred and belted guardian Of
tha prophet" tapped me on the shoulder
anu suggested | would get u move on" so
] moyed-out OF the cell, and, mounting
my broneho, cantered till | reached Gil,
lespie's stables, in the center OF the Queen
City OF the Prairie
Beecher Against High Tariffs.
At the late national free trade eonierenc,
La lhf.n, - - wuk..l. I.a.lf 4 frT.lnl -