b'The treaties would have kept peace on the plains for most of the following decadecannon, and went out on March 26, 1885 to encounter Riel, and might have assured lasting peace had the Canadian authorities followed theGabriel Dumont and over 150 Metis fighters at Duck Lake near Fort Carlton in Saskatchewan. Meeting under a flag of Mountie way in both establishing trust and keeping the promises with the tribestruce, one of Dumont\'s men suddenly reached out, trying and with the increasingly dissatisfied Metis. But it was not meant to be.to grab Crozier\'s gun. Crozier aroused, ordered his men to open fire, killing Gabriel Dumont\'s brother and also killing the man who had reached for Crozier\'s gun. At the sound alarm. As noted by RCMP Historian T. Morris Longstreth:consolation: The Mounted Police had done all they could,of gunfire, a maddened Riel shouted out, "In the name of "The Mounted Police had reported their anxiety (overthis side of insubordination, to save their kingdom fromGod the Father who created us, reply to that!" (Tanner, The Native unrest) as early as 1876. In 1878, the Half-Breedsneedless bloodshed" (Longstreth, The Scarlet Force, p. 144). Canadians, p. 202; Berton, The Last Spike, pp. 347-348) as sent a petition to Ottawa begging the government to his men poured fire into the scattered ranks of police and prevent the deprivation of their rights. With the 1880s theAnd it was indeed a needless conflict. Most of the tribalmilitia below. At the sight of his outnumbered men falling Mounted Police began to warn the government of seriouschiefs, including the wise Blackfoot elder Crowfoot, had,under the steady fire of the Metis, Crozier ordered retreat, trouble unless the land question was settled. Ottawa paid nodespite their own disillusionment and quarrels with thehaving lost a quarter of his men while the Metis lost only five attention to petitions or warnings until finally goaded intoCanadian government, chose to stay loyal. Crowfoot mollifiedcounting Dumont\'s brother and the man who had reached some reply, the government sent word that the land policyby the intervention of his friend, the priest Abbe Lacombe,for Crozier\'s weapon (Tanner, The Canadians, Ibid).would not be changed" (Longstreth, T. Morris, The Scarletby a railway pass signed by the general manager of theForce, Macmillan Canada, 1955, pp. 141-142). Canadian Pacific Railroad, the American James Van Horne,Dumont was sure he and his men could have surrounded andguaranteeing him lifetime privileges traveling back and forthpossibly wiped out the remnants of Crozier\'s command, but The signs were there, the "Cassandra calls" of Mountieon the railway, and knowing he would accomplish more forfor some inexplicable reason, Riel vetoed additional action officials who had been directly dealing with the Metis andhis people by staying neutral, stayed loyal and refused to goon the part of the Metis. The first battle of the second Riel the Indians for the last 15 years had been loud and strident,to war (Berton, The Last Spike, pp. 405-406). Piapot, thatRebellion, or Northwest Rebellion of 1885, had begun and especially in the time between Riel\'s return to Saskatchewanirascible sub-chief of the Crees who had tried to stop theended with a resounding defeat of the government forces. in July 1884 and the outbreak of the rebellion at the end ofrailroad and had been humiliated by the RCMP sergeant,Invigorated and aroused by the news of Crozier\'s rout at Duck March 1885. MacDonald, Dewdney, and their cronies notrefused to go to war. Even Big Bear, the legendary chief andLake, the Plains Cree chieftains Poundmaker and Wandering only ignored the warnings, they, through their misguidedmedicine man of the Plains Cree, who had been trading atSpirit, having overruled the pleas of peace from their medicine and inept policies, chose not to prevent bloodshed but tothe Fort Pitt settlement only days before the outbreak of theman Big Bear, led over 200 warriors in an attack on the bring it on. RCMP Commissioner A. Leif Crozier, issuedrebellion (there is a famous photograph of the chief dressednearby settlement of Battleford. Despite a three-week siege, numerous warnings to the Canadian authorities, including,in a striped outfit, trading with those who would fall victimthe citizenry of Battleford, fearing an Indian massacre, chose presumably Dewdney, of unrest and unstable conditions. Heto his warriors within days) was a very reluctant participantto resolutely fight back and eventually drove off the besieging noted the increased influence of Riel, his meetings with thein the uprising, finally prodded into doing so by his warriorCree. Yet another Cree attack towards the Hudson\'s Bay Metis community, their red-hot anger, and the restlessnesschiefs Poundmaker and the violence-prone Wandering Spirit.trading post at Frog Lake - and the nearby (35 miles) Mountie of the tribes, most notably the Cree. He also urged OttawaIndeed, in the end, as the conflict began, it was just Riel andencampment at the misnamed Fort Pitt, just a wooden to call for an additional 1000 RCMP recruits, but to nothe Metis, the Plains Cree led by Big Bear and Poundmaker,stockade where Inspector Francis (Frank) Dickens, son of the avail. According to Longstreth: "Between July 27, 1884, andand an odd assortment of Sioux and Nez Perce refugees whofamous novelist Charles, commanded a unit of 20 men would March 10, 1885, he (Crozier) sent nine urgent warnings ofchose to go to war, the majority of the tribes following theresult in the massacre of nearly all of the male captives in the the upcoming storm, and after March 10, his messages wentwisdom of Crowfoot and refusing to fight. trading post, and would also lead to the final disgrace of the daily. Even when Riel had gathered his forces under armstroubled, almost deaf son of Charles Dickens. at (the Saskatchewan Metis capitol) Batoche, nothing wasWith an attitude of "there\'s but to do and die," Crozier done by the authorities. The forthright officer had but onegathered 55 mounted policemen, 43 militiamen, and aNext month, Part 2.Western Trading Post TV on The Cowboy Channel Sunday, 7:30 PM ESTUpcoming Auctions!Oct. 12, Nov. 16Stetson Country Christmas at the Rio, Dec. 5th - 15thArizonaRealCountry.com October 2019 33'