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Period: to
River settlement/Northwest Territory, 1810- 1885
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Settlements
By 1810, Lord Selkirk had established settlements in the Maritimes and Upper Canada. -
NWC and HBC
In 1812, an event to profound implications for the metis community and the HBC.He planned to bring rivalry between the HBC and the NWC to the point of warfare. After all, the two companies will merge and a different settlement in the Northwest woill be created. -
Macdonell's arrival
Macdonell's party reached the Red River Settlement -
Group of Metis
In May 1816, agroup of metis, led by Cuthbert Grant, raided a brigade of HBC boats on the Assiniboine River, to the west of of the Red River. They seized a supply of Pemmican , which they viewed as responsible compensation for Macdonell's Pemmican Proclamation two years earlier. -
Armed and Better
A month later, Cuthbert and a group of metis showed up at the Red River Colony. Better armed and well trained in military disciplined this time, and they firmly believed they had more claim to the area than recently arrived colonists.Grant was also an employee of NWC. -
The Merging Point
In 1821, the HBC and the NWC decided that the only way to servive was to merge thier companies into one. A new company was formed, The Hudson's Bay company- with 100 shares. The NWC partners controlled fourty-five shares. The British parliament passed legislation that gave them the control over Rupert's Land and extended the trading monopoly enjoyed by the old HBC. In another note, the legislation extended both the landholdings and the monopoly to west of the Rocky Mountains. -
Surveyors and Land Seculators
During 1869, the actions of the surveyors and land speculators raised the level of tension within the Red River Settlement. The settlers were angry at the HBC for proceeding with the sale of Rupert's Land without consulting them. They were also angry at the surveyors , who were laying out square townships with no regard for their traditional strip lots. They wondered if the Canadian government was trying to take away their land. -
Manitoba a Province
The passing of the Manitoba Act in 1870 had been welcomed by the metis. They made up the majority of people in the new province, and their rights seemed to be protected under new legislation. The Manitoba Act made the English and French the official languages of the province, and it provided for two education systems, Protestent and Roman Catholic. In additon, 1.4 million acres of land was reserved for the metis to farm. -
Riel Charged
On July 6, Riel was charged for treason on July 6, tried and found guilty. -
CPR's last 2 tracks
On November 7, 1885, the two tracks met at the small town of Craigellechie, in the BC Rockies. The last spike was driven by Donald Smith, a railway architect. It had taken more that four years, 35,000 labourers and many deaths on the line to complete the `national dream`. -
Riel Executed
Despite appeals by his supporters, the government of Quebec, and the prosecuting lawyer, Riel was executed by hanging on November 16, 1885.