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 SASKATCHEWAN

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SASKATCHEWAN

River, where Calgary now stands. Two years later St-Luc de La Corne, one of the successors of De Laverendrye, explored the valley of the Carrot River, where he estabhshed (1754) Fort Pasquia, and made the first attempt on record to cultivate land within the limits of the present Saskatchewan province. Fort Pasquia was ^'isited the same year by an English ad- venturer, Anthony Hendrj', who crossed the whole north-west, and went as far as the country of the Blackfeet, in Alberta. Then follows the founding of Cumberland House, in 1742, and omng to the rivalry between the North- West Company (founded 1784), and the older Hudson Bay Company, various other trading posts were soon after estabhshed, such as Forts He a la Crosse (1791), Carlton (1793), Augiistus (or Edmonton) (1798), and a few others. Until the arrival of the first missionaries, Father F. N. Blanchet and Father M. Demers in 1838, revelry and lawless- ness prevailed in the north-west, which were due to intoxicants furnished by the rival traders.

The religious history of the two provinces will be found under the heads of the various dioceses within their boundaries. Further events of a secular char- acter are the ex^plorations of Captain Palliser (1857); the Hind-Daws on surveys (1858); the journey of the Earl of Southesk to the sources of the Saskatchewan (1859); that of Lord Milton and Dr. Cheadle in 1862; and the survejing ex-pedition of Sandford Fleming ten years later.

The Louis Reil Rebellion. — To understand the event which took place in 1885 we must go back to the troubles which agitated Manitoba in 1869-70. Half the population of that country' was then made up of French half-breeds, whose native land was sold, with- out their consent, to the newly-formed Dominion of Canada. Prompted by the arrogance of the agents of Ottawa, and by their interference with the rights of the original settlers, now threatened with being dis- possessed of their farms by parties who had at the time no jurisdiction over them, the French and some of the English rose against the intruders under the lead of Louis Riel (b. at St. Boniface, 22 Oct., 1844), a young man \^^th a college education, and for about ten months held possession of the country, sending demands to Ottawa, the reasonableness of which was so far recog- nized that corresponding clauses were inserted in what was called the Manitoba Act. Sore at the thought that they had been outdone by mere Metis, the anti- Catholic and anti-French strangers from the East wreaked vengeance, after the arrival of Wolselej^'s troops, on the leaders and partisans of the insurrection which had been perfectly legitimate. To escape the petty persecution that ensued numbers of half-breeds headed for the north and settled in the valley of the Saskatchewan, between Saskatoon and the forks of that river, just below Prince Albert. Unfortunately with the increase of white immigration to the prairies, difficulties similar to those which had resulted m trouble on the Red River soon arose among them. They vainly petitioned for the titles to their lands, which were threatened with bfing surveyed in such a way as to render useless the improvements they had made on thr-rn, and even jeopardized tlieir rights to the same. They also repeatedljr asked for the re- dress of several other grievances in whic;h claims they had the sympathy of their clergy and the respectable part of the white population. Tired of being ignored by the Federal authorities, they next called to their assistance Ivouis Riel. He was then teaching school in Montana, after having been in various asylums as a result of the persecution of those who tracked him for the sake of the money put on his hea<i by the On- tario Government.

Unfortunately his mind proved unequal U) the task of lea<^ling a sr-cond agitation successfully. Hr; gradu- ally broke away from thr; control of the clergy who, conscious oi the fact that the case was now quite dif-

ferent from that of 1869, when the proper authority had abdicated its rights, were striving to keep him within legal bounds. As the priests refused their ministrations to him and his abettors, he tried to re- place them by his own, and proclaimed himself a prophet. At the same time he raised the standard of revolt against the Canadian Government, and, 26 March, 1885, was present at the engagement of Duck Lake in which the troops were defeated. Then fol- lowed the battles of Fish Creek (24 April), Cut Knife (2 May), and Batoche, where the M6tis were finally routed (12 May) after four days' fighting with troops vastly superior in number and equipment. Perhaps the most regrettable incident of this ill-advised in- surrection was the massacre of Fathers Fafard and Marchand, O.M.L, with a number of white settlers of Frog Lake, at the hands of pagan Crees. The country was laid waste and numerous missions were ruined by the same tribe of natives. Despite the testi- mony of the physicians, who declared his irresponsi- bility, Louis Riel was sentenced to death and executed at Regina, dving in the profession of the most Chris- tian-like sentiments (16 Nov., 1885). Then the Gov- ernment of Canada did what it had so long neglected. It examined the claims of the half-breeds and re- dressed their grievances.

Later History. — The one good result of the Sas- katchewan Rebellion, apart from the necessity to which the Ottawa Government was put of recognizing the rights of the northern Metis, consisted in the fact that it drew the attention of the civilized world to the fertile plains of the Canadian West. The first trans- continental railway was completed (7 Nov., 1885). It served to bring thither large numbers of colonists of all nationalities, some of whom (the Doukhobors of Saskatchewan and the Mormons of Alberta) were scarcely of a desirable class. The new inhabitants soon clamoured for a larger share of influence in the territorial government than had previously been en- joyed by the people, and their agitation resulted in the Federal Parliament granting the territories, in the course of 1888, a legislative assembly with a correspond- ingly larger degree of autonomy. On 4 July of that year, a French Catholic, in the person of Joseph Roj-^al, was ajipointed lieutenant-go^•ernor. The territories had then a common capital in Regina, previous to 27 March, 1882 this had been at Battlcford (at the confluence of the Battle and Saskatchewan Rivers). The total white population was (1888) 69,500.

Then, following a long agitation for still fuller provincial riglits, there came (1905), the formation of the territories into the two pro\'inces of Saskatchewan and Alberta, each with a lieutenant-governor and a legislative assembly, together with a constitution which, among other things, determined the nature of the education which was to be imparted, as stated above. At the same time Edmonton, heretofore scarcely more than a Hudson's Bay Company trading- post by the Northern Saskatchewan, was made the capital of Alberta, while Regina continued to hold the same rank with regard to the Province of Saskalche- wan. The first lieutenant-governor of flie latter wiis A. E. Forget, a Cnlliolic, wlio had long been employed in Gov<'rnmental offices. Ever since, the two i)rov- inces have smoothly pursued identical lines of self- development, and the few events worth recording have been of a purely political character.

RoBBON, An Account of Six Years' Rr.iidence in Hwhon'n Bay (London, 17.')2); Kank, Wanrlrrint/s of nn Arlisl (London, 1859); Dawbon, Report of Ihr KxjiloTiilidn of the ( 'ountry (ToTonU), 18,59); IIiND, NorlhwcHl Ttrrilori/: Ur,,„rt of l'rn,/rr.ts (Toronto, 18.59); Idkm, Narrative of the CiuKuliiin lied liivir Expiilition (2 vols., Lon- don, 1860); Pai.I.IHKR, Further I'lipern Itiinlire to Ihr Expedition (Ix.ndon. 1800); Butlkk, The Great Lone Loml (London, 187:5); Mii.TON AND Cheadle, North-WeM Pasnai/e /<;/ Land (I,oiidon, 180.5) ; GliANT, Orean to Ocean (London, 187.5) ; Fl-E-MiNfi. Em/land and Canada (London, 188-1); Hkoo, Ilistort/ of the Northwest (.'5 voIh., Toronto, 1894); Wii.i.hon, The drenl Company (Toronto. 1899); Laut, The ComineM of the Great Northwest (2 voIh., New York, 8. A.); Bukpee, The Search for the Wealern Sea (Toronto,