The acquisition of the Northwest or 'Rupert's Land' by the Federal government led to a chain of events which triggered the uprising from the Metis in the Red River Settlement of Manitoba. The government of John A. Macdonald needed to acquire Rupert's Land because the Americans were keen on annexing the land. Negotiations started in 1868 in London between Canada and the Hudson Bay Company (HBC). In 1869-70, one of the largest real-estate deals in history took place, Canada paid the HBC a cash amount of L300,000 and gave the HBC one-twentieth of the land to maintain its trading posts. The establishment of a temporary colonial government in the area was the next goal in mind of the Macdonald government. There is a problem whe

It was the South Branch of Saskatchewan that called upon Riel to present grievances to the government as he did in 1869. He did try to avoid violent action by creating a petition and sending it to Ottawa in 1884. In March of 1885, patience was wearing thin and Riel declared another provisional government, this time at Batoche with Gabriel Dumont as his general. Gabriel Dumont was a Metis buffalo hunter and was appointed by Riel to be his general, but he did have a weakness that will be seen later as the battle caries out. That is he subordinated his military judgement to Riel's. Duck Lake was the first battle of this continuous war between the Metis and Native peoples and the government on March 26, 1885. The North West Mounted Police was sent in to detain the Metis and Indian soldiers. There were armaments located at Duck Lake which the Metis got to first. Blood was struck, casualties for the police officers totaled ninety-five men. The Metis lost five of their own including Gabriel Dumont, who would later lead on his military to Fish Creek and Batoche. Riel and his troops took the rest of the police and held them hostage at Duck Lake. The next major battle takes place at Fish Creek between the Canadian General Middletown and Gabriel Dumont. There another conflict happening around this time in Frog Lake conducted by the Cree chief Big Bear. Nine people are murdered at Frog Lake by Big Bear's band. This is Big Bear's contribution to the uprising of 1885. Fish Creek ended up becoming one of the major battles of the rebellion. As General Middletown marched with troops from Winnipeg to Batoche, Dumont and Riel waited at Batoche for his army's arrival. Dumont decided that he could not wait any longer and marched on only to end up meeting with Middletown's army at Fish Creek. When Middletown and his troops reached Fish Creek, the Metis along with Gabriel Dumont as their leader were waiting for the North West Mounted Police to arrive. The Metis opened gunfire and the battle started. Small groups of men on both sides were slipping away from the battle leaving only fifty men fighting with Dumont and three companies with Middletown. Again, more blood shed and Middletown was forced to pull out and another triumph of this courageous battle went to the Metis. The Metis had lost 4 men and one wounded while Middletown suffered six dead and forty-nine wounded and another fifty-five by any standard. Next would be the battle of Batoche and will prove to be the end of the rebellion of 1885.

n Macdonald sends his appointed governor, William McDougall to Rupert's Land. McDougall is sent out with a survey crew which are surveying the land to build a road from Fort Garry to Lake of the Woods when they are cut off by the Metis of the Red River Settlement led by Louis Riel. An uprising is slowly starting to emerge from this point onward. The French Metis are upset because they were not consulted about the sale of their homeland, they had no idea. The stage is now set for the resistance of the Red River Settlement and starts to take form. The Metis, with Louis Riel as their leader, sets up a provisional government in Upper Fort Garry where they had full control of the Red River. Canada decides to delay the transfer of the colony until this dispute is settled. Macdonald opens the door for negotiations with Riel and the Metis. In November 1869, Riel and the provisional government made up a bill of rights and attached to it a list of grievances to base their negotiations on with the Macdonald government. The federal government sent Donald Smith of the HBC to represent Canada in the negotiations with the Red River colony and offers them a better deal then

Some common words found in the essay are:
Red River, Metis Native, Fort Walsh, Louis Riel, Metis Indian, Manitoba Act, Fort Garry, Company Macdonald's, Saskatchewan Alberta, Duck Lake, red river, louis riel, federal government, rebellion 1885, metis indian, land titles, provisional government, gabriel dumont, fort walsh, fish creek, red river settlement, red river colony, northwest rebellion 1885, metis native peoples, government white settler,
Approximate Word count = 2476
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)