page_title: Fort Battleford
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Fort Battleford / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: English: An excerpt from the Saskatchewan Herald from December 14th, 1885. In addition to the bias which was allegedly held by Judge Rouleau, the Battleford Eight were sentenced to hang without the benefit of translators at their hasty trials. The Battleford Eight were hanged on November 27th, 1885. The text of the telegraph notes that as late as November 24th, 1885 there were significant concerns with bias held by Judge Rouleau in his passing sentence on the men that was raised with the Federal Department of Justice. The text of the article reads: "JUDGING A JUDGE The following Ottawa telegram is going the rounds of the press: "It was reported to-day (Nov. 24) that representations have been made to the Government respecting the conduct of Stipendiary Magistrate Rouleau of Battleford, which may cause a postponement of the execution of the eight Indians sentenced to be hanged at Battleford on Friday next. He is reported to have threatened that every Indian and Half-breed and rebel brought before him after the insurrection was suppressed, would be sent to the gallows if possible. In view of all the circumstances, and particularly as Judge Rouleau was a heavy loser pecuniarily by the Indian outbreak at Battleford, it is contended that he should not have been allowed to preside at the trial of the prisoners. A memorial has been received by the Department of Justice asking that the matter be investigated." In all this it will be noticed that Judge Rouleau is not charged with straining the statutes or disregarding evidence, or that the sentences were not well-merited. In fact, if the people of Battleford were a cavilling, fault-finding class they would put the Judge in a very disagreeable position by condemning him, as many of them do, for being too liberal in giving the prisoners the benefit of doubts that presented themselves in their favor. The memorialists may have been indulging in loud talk and are taking this course to let themselves down softly."
context_page_description: Fort Battleford was the sixth North-West Mounted Police fort to be established in the North-West Territories of Canada, and played a central role in the events of the North-West Rebellion of 1885. It was here Chief Poundmaker was arrested, and where six Cree and two Stoney men were hanged for their participation in the Frog Lake Massacre and other killings. In reference to the hanging, then Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald said in a letter that, "the executions... ought to convince the Red Man that the White Man governs."
  Its location near the confluence of the North Saskatchewan and the Battle rivers offered access to fresh water, as it was many years before an on-site well was made available; and offered an alternative means of transportation to the Red River cart. As the site was on a plateau, the fort was easily defensible, and offered clear lines of sight for the surrounding area and to Government Ridge – thus providing warning against possible attacks. The fort sheltered around 500 people, and they helped to fortify Battleford.
  Battleford being designated capital of the North-West Territories played a substantial role in the decision to locate the fort there.
context_section_description: In the spring of 2008, Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Christine Tell proclaimed in Duck Lake that "the 125th commemoration, in 2010, of the 1885 Northwest Resistance is an excellent opportunity to tell the story of the prairie Métis and First Nations peoples' struggle with Government forces and how it has shaped Canada today."
  Fort Otter was constructed at Battleford's government house located at the capital of the North-West Territories (1876 and 1883).  The largest Canadian mass hanging occurred here when eight First Nations men were executed for murder in the aftermath of the Frog Lake Massacre.
  The fort was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1923, known as Fort Battleford National Historic Site, to commemorate its role as military base of operations for Cut Knife Hill, Fort Pitt, as a refuge for 500 area settlers and its role in the Siege of Battleford.
caption: A newspaper clipping from December 1885 which closely followed the hangings suggests that Judge Charles Rouleau, who heard the case, was biased.
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