19 Fight the Good Fight 1885

Long before Louis Riel became a Canadian folk hero, his family name was well known at Red River settlement, where Louis was born. Louis' father had led a group who were trying to get a Métis man out of prison. They were successful and Louis' father became an important leader of the Métis.

Louis was the oldest of 11 children and so it is easy to see how he followed his father's example. However, when Louis was 14 years old, he was asked to study to become a priest of the Catholic Church. The church wanted Louis because he was Métis and he could help to bring religion to his native people.

Louis agreed to learn to be a priest and he studied until he was 22 years old. Then his father died and Louis left the school. Louis was very sad about his father at that time. He tried to go back to his studies, but he was no longer a good student and there was no money after his father's death. Instead, Louis began to work as a law clerk.

While Louis was working, he met and fell in love with Marie and wanted to marry her. He signed a paper that promised Marie he would marry her. Marie's mother and father would not let her marry Louis because he was Métis. Many people did not think highly of the Métis in those years.

Louis went to the USA for some time to forget his sadness. When he returned to Canada, he went home to Red River settlement. This was a place where the Frenchspeaking Métis and First Nations(see 1871)lived separately from the English-speaking Europeans. Louis found that the European settlers and those living at Red River often had fights. They disagreed about religion, the government, and their differences in culture.

Things got very bad when the men came to mark the boundary between Canada and the USA(see 1888).The Métis did not own the land where they lived and they worried that they would be told to leave their homes. Louis gave a speech to all the people living at Red River settlement. He said they should stop the men from marking the border. Louis and his followers took Fort Garry away from the Hudson's Bay Company (see 1881). This gave Louis and his men a strong place to fight the Canadian government. They stopped the government from entering Métis land.

In 1869, Louis talked to the Métis and to the English-speaking Canadians living in Red River. He said they should all come together to make a plan for the Métis land before the Canadian government made the border. Most of the people living at Red River agreed with Louis and they created their own government. This government talked to the Canadian government and everyone agreed that Louis could create the province of Manitoba.

MANY CANADIANS THINK LOUIS REIL IS A HERO

Louis' new government thought they had much power. They started to arrest people who did not agree with them. One of the people they arrested was a man named Thomas Scott. Louis said Thomas had a plan to kill him. Louis' government thought Thomas should die for his plans and so they killed him. Many Canadians were very angry with Louis about this. They tried to arrest Louis, but he ran away to the USA.

For the next several years, Louis came and went from Canada. He would arrive back in Canada to lead his government, then Canadians would try to arrest him and he would run away to the USA again. Sometimes when Louis was in Canada, he had to use a different name or wear strange clothes, so people would not know who he was. Finally, the head of Canada, Prime Minister Mackenzie, said Louis would not be arrested if he stayed out of Canada for five years. Louis agreed and he returned to the USA.

During his five years in the USA, Louis married and had three children. Louis did not have much money though and he was very stressed. He became very religious and started to think that God had chosen him to be the leader of all Métis. He was put in the hospital because he had a mental illness. He stayed in the hospital until 1878. That year, the doctors said Louis was no longer mentally ill, so he went home to his family.

For the next seven years, Louis tried to be a good father, husband, and citizen. He taught children at a religious school. He also tried to stop the sale of alcohol to the First Nations people because so many were becoming alcoholics or dying from drinking it. But Louis still believed he was God's chosen leader and he wanted the Métis to get the title to land in Manitoba. Luis returned to Canada once again.

In Canada, Louis found that he was no longer very popular. People did not like his ideas about religion. The number of people who still followed him was less now and they were mostly Métis and First Nations who were very angry with the Canadian government.In March 1885,the North West Mounted Police(NWMP)(see 1873),were sent to fight the Métis for the land where they lived. Two months later, the fight ended when the NWMP won. They arrested Louis for making plans against the government.

The jury listened to Louis, his followers, and the government. The 12 men on the jury found Louis guilty, but asked if he could be forgiven. However, the Canadian government wanted Louis out of their way. The judge decided Louis would die and he was killed in 1885.

Louis' death made the French-speaking Métis angry at English-speaking Canadians. They were so angry that they formed their own government to fight for the rights of the French. For some Canadians, this anger continues today. There are many who still think Louis Riel was a hero. A freedom fighter who cared about the Métis people and helped them get some rights.