The Northern Pacific farmer., 1885-04-09

De represented within the forks, instead of above
name. on The river Regina is rot Eepresented OF
s fns kssss9%fta se aa e bss ss Fqass8 1884, Rs Ss
sequently fixed as the date of the transfer
As the expiry of the charter had only de-
prlved the company of its !special licenses
and privileges, and not OF its origii.al terri
tory, IL was necessary for the government to
upon was e3OO, 900, which looks like a very
small sum in view of the immensity Of the
possessions involved These proceedings
awakened ALARM in the hearts Of the French
half. breed SETTLERS whose rude ihouses lined
the banks Of the Red and Ass1naboine rivers
These people wsre mainly this dssteiidaird
Of tha early ttadeis; trappers and employees
Of the HudsOn's Bay company They were
in the matn an qnttit9rea M RsoPls exeept fof
priests: Each head Of family had big little
pally log huts The titles under which
they held their lands had been obtained
from the Hudson's Bay company,
where they had titles, but in many cases it
would probably have been difficult to estab-
lish any legal or valid claim to the land
However, for years they had remained in
undisturbed possession OF the property on
which they had built their cabins, and felt
perfectly secure in the possession thereof
Their state had been the Hudsons Bay COM
the main mild and benefcent; and, although
there had been occasional complaints against
the company for arbttrariness in connection
with trading-for it fixed it's own prices, and
hunters and traders were compelled to &C
cept them or nothing-the people were gen.
orally well content with their lot The pro-
posed transfer of the company's possession
gave pro1nis~" { an entirely new and untried
g. se~''''i -aE1 ,!t,;ss ov .1.,v
The SETTLERS felb insecure in their possess
sions and in regard to their civil rights The
course OF the British government In placing
them under the dominion. of the Canadian
govern1hent Seemed to them arbitrary. Their
voice had not been heard in the matter.
They knew not what to expect There was
preached, when tho transfer was to be COM
summated, the settlers of the Assinaboine and
Red River districts began to organize, with
Louis Riel at their head They drew up a
bill of rights in which they put forth, among
other demands, the following:
second, this legislature to have power to pass all
laws of a local nature by two-thirds vote over
the veto Of the execut1ve third, . free homestead
and pre-emption law, similar to that Of the
United States; fourth, portion OF the public
land to be donated to the support Of schools and
construction of roads and bridges; fifth, treaties
in the future.
William McDougall, who had been ap-
pointed as governor of the newly organized
territory, arrived there IN October. He found
the roads in possession, of c:the insurgents,
and was driven from the country with his
suite, and for some time lived in camp near
Pembina, On this side of the line. This was
the first act OF war ON the part of the rebels
They Immediately obtained possession of all
the posts and forts, and were the masters of
the: country: A provisional government was
organized at Fort Garry, with John Brousse
as president, Louis Riel commander chief
of tho armies. and the young priest and pa
triot ODonoghue was virtually secretary of
state and secretary of war. The governor
surrounded himself with twenty -four ooun-
French half-breeds and twelve from among
the English and Scotch element The
capture of Fort Garry had been easily
accomplished and without bloodshed In
the meantime Gov: McDougall had attempt
ed to interest the Indians in his cause, and
made some futile attempts to gain posses
sion of his province. A counter revolution
was also attempted by the I.oyalists, and one
James Scott was shot by order of Riel. The
council of the provisional governmentwas not
always harmonious, the Scotch and English
elements coming into occasional conflict
to be danger that the government would
peter out altogether. It retained possession,
however, all through the winter, spring and
summer of 1870, until Sir Garnet Wolseley's
arrival with British troops
-. RIEL ABDICATEs
Instead of holding their ground, Riel and
his compatriots fed from Fort Garry and
crossed the United States line, leaving their
guns and ammunition behind them: Sir
Garnet, on the Oath Of August, took peace
famous orders Riel was afterward ban
ished for tive years Such was the
Red river rebellion of 1S69-7O.
It was practically war without bloodshed,
and contemporary history relates many
acts of clemency and kindness on the part of
at any time to pursue .sanguinary policy.
He has been severely criticised by friends of
the movement for his course in vacating the
country when he had practically everything
in his own. hands. General sentiment. now
ever, is inclined to approve of his course as
q very prudent one In 1871 there was an
attempt to renew the rebellion, but it speed
lily collapsed In this campaign there were
interested company. of about seventy-hve
Fenians under (3en ONeil These camped
the British post opposite that place. An
officer who was with this expedition claimed
that the enterprise failed through the treach-
cry of Riel.
The actual transfer of the Hudson Bay
possessions had been delayed by the rebel
July Is, 1870. Mr.. Archibald, the lieutenant
governor of the new Canadian province,
arrived Sept 8. After this commissions were
appointed ON behalf of the British govern
ment and the inhabitants Of Manitoba to
arrange the difficulties existing and to arrive
at an equitable adjustment of affairs in the
province. In this conference Bishop Tache
participated, representing the people of the
province. At the time he was attending the
ecunenlcal council sitting in Rome, and
came home to attend to his duties in this
connection in response to q telegram from
the British government He always had
great influence with the people From the
fact that he declines to act as mediator in
did not consider himself well treated in
connection with the previous negotiations
What was known as the Manitoba act was
passed by parliament this same year By this
act many of the privileges asked by the
cAnnf1~p fhov havo ain 1ivoN r1vn7xap a