Gabriel Dumont ( Métis leader ) Gabriel Dumont ( December 1837 – May 19 , 1906 ) was a leader of the Métis people of what is now Western Canada . In 1873 Dumont was elected to the presidency of the short - lived republic of St . Laurent ; afterward he continued to play a leading role among the Métis of the South Saskatchewan River . He played a critical role in bringing Louis Riel back to Canada , in order to pressure the Canadian authorities to pay attention to the troubles of the Métis people . He was adjutant general in the provisional Métis government declared in the District of Saskatchewan in 1885 , and commanded the Métis forces in the North - West Rebellion or North West Resistance of 1885 . Early life . Dumont was a grandson of the French Canadian Jean - Baptiste Dumont and his Sarcee - Crow wife , Josette . He was the second son of Isidore Dumont and Louise Laframboise . The family were at various times involved in farming , trading , hunting , and trapping in what is now the province of Saskatchewan . Gabriel was raised a Métis , learning both French Catholic and Cree customs . By the time he was 12 , he was considered an accomplished shot with both gun and bow , and was well known as a master horseman . In 1848 , the Dumont family moved south to the area where Regina , Saskatchewan , would later be founded . Dumont , and his older brother Isidore , became buffalo hunters . Over time , Dumont learned six languages , and established a reputation as a guide , hunter and interpreter . He was also famed for his drinking and gambling . Dumont participated in skirmishes with First Nations , including the Blackfoot and Sioux . Dumont married Madeleine Wilkie , the daughter of the Anglo - Métis chief , Jean Baptiste Wilkie , in 1858 , and in 1862 was elected chief of his Métis band . He led the band to the North Saskatchewan River , where they briefly settled near Fort Carlton . By 1868 , the band established a permanent settlement near Batoche on the South Saskatchewan River . In 1872 Gabriel established a ferry service near Batoche , at " Gabriel ' s Crossing " ( east of present day Rosthern , Saskatchewan , where the Gabriel Bridge is today ) and also farmed near there . Rebellion . Dumont ' s enemies in 1885 , including General Frederick Middleton of the Northwest Field Force , praised his generalship and martial abilities . Despite huge logistic and morale problems , he can be credited with a victory at the Battle of Fish Creek and managed to hold off a much larger force at the Battle of Batoche for several days . Riel refused to let him make vital strategic actions such as damaging railway lines to hinder the enemy ' s movement , providing the Canadian government with an advantage . Following the defeat at Batoche , Dumont made his way via the Cypress Hills to the Montana Territory , where he surrendered to the U . S . Cavalry . However , the U . S . government determined that he was a political refugee and he was shortly released . Fame . In 1886 , Dumont joined Buffalo Bill ' s Wild West where he received top billing as a rebel leader and crack marksman . Although the Canadian government granted a general amnesty in the summer of 1886 , Dumont did not return to Canada until 1888 , in order to lecture in Montreal . He retired to Batoche in 1893 eventually obtaining title to the lands he had settled in 1872 . He returned to his former life as a farmer , hunter and trapper , and dictated two memoirs of his experiences in the rebellion . He died from natural causes in 1906 . Legacy . 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 . " Batoche , where a Métis Provisional Government had been formed , has been declared a National Historic Site . Batoche marks the site of Gabriel Dumont ' s grave marker , Albert Caron ’ s House , Batoche school , Batoche cemetery , Letendre store , Gabriels river crossing , Gardepy ' s crossing , Batoche crossing , St . Antoine de Padoue Church , Métis rifle pits , and NWMP battle camp . The Gabriel Dumont Institute of Native Studies and Applied Research in Saskatchewan was named in his honour . The Dumont Bridge over the South Saskatchewan River east of Rosthern , Saskatchewan , is also named for him . It is located at the site of Gabriel ' s Crossing , where he ran a small store , billiards hall and ferry service in the late 1870s and early 1880s . There is also a park along the South Saskatchewan in Saskatoon named for him , as well as an equestrian statue depicting him along the river between the Broadway and Victoria Bridges on the west side of the South Saskatchewan River . In 1998 , the public French - first - language high school in London , Ontario , was renamed École secondaire Gabriel - Dumont in his honour .