Not many characters in Canadian history have aroused such depth and bitterness of feeling as that of the Metis Chieftain, Louis ‘?’ Riel. The mere mention of his name bares those latent religious and racial animosities, which seem to lie so close to the surface of Canadian politics.  
 
Despite the fact that he identified himself, not with the French Canadians of Quebec, but with the mixed blood population of the western plains, Riel became, for a few years, the symbol of the national aspirations of French Canada, and the storm centre of political Orangeism.  
 
French speaking Canadians elevated him to the pedestal of martyrdom, and English-speaking Canadians damned him as a Rebel. In Riel, the people of Quebec professed to see another Papineau, a heroic patriot defending on the far away prairies the cause of Canadians living in the valley of the St. Lawrence: the people of Ontario saw in him the dastard murderer of an Ontario Protestant.  
 
Even today the racial controversies which emerged from Riel’s actions in Manitoba in 1869-70 and the political turmoil’s stirred up by his trial and execution in Saskatchewan fifteen years later, make it difficult to asses fairly the contribution of this strange and rather pathetic person, whose remains now lie but a few steps from those of his grandparents, in a peaceful Cathedral yard of St. Boniface.  
 
Source: The Canadian Historical Association, by G. F. G. Stanley.  
 
What do you know about Louis Riel on this his Day of Honour?  
 
Louis Riel Day, Quiz.  
 
1. When was Riel Born?  
2. Where was he born?  
3. What was his middle name?  
4. Where was Riel educated?  
5. When was he married?  
6. What was his wife’s name?  
7. How many children did he have?  
8. When did Riel occupy Fort Garry?  
9. On what date did Riel become the titular President, (in name only) of The National Committee?  
10. How did Riel make Canada respect him and his group?  
11. What date did the North West territories formally become the fifth province of the Canadian federation?  
12. What was the name of the American Spy appointed by the State Department to cause the Red River Settlement to join in Full Union with the U.S?  
13. What were the years of Riel’s Exile?  
14. What Asylum was Riel discharged from in January 1878?  
15. When was Riel (Independent) first elected to the House of Commons?  
16. When was the first Volunteer Ambulance Brigade in Canada formed?  
17. What was the name of the steam ship used in the Battle at Batoche?  
18. What was the name of the gun that was smuggled up from the states and used against the Riel forces?  
19. Who was in charge of Brandon’s “Home Guard” during the Saskatchewan Rebellion?  
20. Which Brandon organization supplied young women to serve coffee during the Riel Rebellion to the Soldiers on the Troop trains as they passed through Brandon?  
 
Answerers to follow.  
 

1. When was Riel Born?  
Answer: October 22nd. 1844.  
 
2. Where was he born?  
Answer: He was born in St. Boniface, in the Red River Settlement, (Winnipeg).  
 
3. What was his middle name?  
Answer: David.  
 
4. Where was Riel educated?  
Answer: Riel was selected with several other Metis boys to be educated at the College de Montreal.  
 
5. When was he married?  
Answer: He married on March 9th 1882 while in exile in Montana.  
 
6. What was his wife’s name?  
Answer: Marguerite Monet dit Bellehumeur (1881 – 1885)  
 
7. How many children did he have?  
Answetr: He fathered two children, Jean-Louis, and Marie-Angelique.  
 
8. When did Riel occupy Fort Garry?  
Answer: On November 2nd 1869, Riel and a band of armed men occupied Fort Garry without opposition.  
 
9. On what date did Riel become the titular President, (in name only) of The National Committee?  
Answer: December 23rd 1869.  
 
10. How did Riel make Canada respect him and his group?  
Answer: He tried and executed Thomas Scott for disorderly conduct, offensive actions against the Provisional government, being abusive to his guards, and inciting other prisoners to be insubordinate.  
 
11. What date did the North West territories formally become the fifth province of the Canadian federation?  
Answer: July 15th 1870.  
 
12. What was the name of the American Spy appointed by the State Department to cause the Red River Settlement to join in Full Union with the U.S?  
Answer; In 1869 J. W. Taylor was appointed by the U.S. State Department, Secret agent in the Red River Settlement.  
 
13. What were the years of Riel’s Exile?  
Answer: 1875-1884. He became a naturalized American citizen and was actively involved in the Republican Party.  
 
14. What Asylum was Riel discharged from in January 1878?  
Answer: Riel was committed in early 1876 to the St. Jean de Dieu Asylum at Longue Pointe, and several months later to the Asylum at Beauport near Quebec under fictitious names. In January 1879 he was discharged from Beauport and certified cured, but he was warned to avoid excitement.  
 
15. When was Riel first elected to the House of Commons?  
Answer: Louis Riel (Independent) was first elected in 1873. He was the third of 13 Metis elected to the House of Commons. Although he won the riding of Provencher, Manitoba, in 1873 and was twice re-elected, he never took up his seat in the House of Commons.  
 
16. When was the first Volunteer Ambulance Brigade in Canada formed?  
Answer: Surgeon-Major G. S. Ryerson organized the first Ambulance Brigade, May 9th, 1885; he was later to become Major General of the Canadian Medical Services. During the fighting at the Louis Riel Rebellion at Batoche, Ryerson did not like the fact that the covered horse drawn spring wagon he was using as an ambulance did not have a specific marking to distinguish it from the other wagons. He found some red factory cotton at the artillery column, and cut it into strips. He then stitched them onto a white square. He made a Red Cross emblem.  
 
 
17. What was the name of the Steam Ship used in the Battle at Batoche?  
Answer: On the ninth day of May 1885, the Steam Ship Northcote was pressed into service by General Middleton in order to engage the enemy at Batoche. The Captain of the Northcote was instructed to sandbag and barricade his vessel for protection, and to prepare for the boarding of two offices and 31 men before sailing down the river to attack.  
 
18. What was the name of the gun that was smuggled up from the States and used against the Riel forces?  
Answer: Lieutenant Howard of the State National Guard of Connecticut operated the Gatlin Gun that was used against Louis Riel’s forces. He was 2500 miles from his home and family and was slaughtering a people of mixed bloods that were fighting for their homes and their way of life in the Canadian North West.  
 
19. Who was in charge of Brandon’s “Home Guard” during the Saskatchewan Rebellion?  
Answer: The Mayor of the City, and therefore the Commander in chief of the whole force, horse, foot, and Artillery was Jim Smart. At first sight it seemed only natural that he should get this appointment by virtue of his office of Mayor.  
 
20. Which Brandon organization supplied young women to serve coffee during the Riel Rebellion to the Soldiers on the Troop trains as they passed through Brandon?  
Answer: Meredith House has always served as a residence and the offices of the YWCA of Brandon. In the past the YWCA has run the following activities out of this building, Travellers Aid: meeting trains and assisting travellers. War Time Services such as a Hostess House, and a Leave Centre. It’s more likely that the Belles of Brandon, as they were called, like Katie and Jessie Lee, Clara Wastie, Kate Shillinglaw, May and Louis McKinnon, and Minnie and Maggie McNea forgot the passing soldiers, and instead at a Sunday School picnic or after a night skating at the rink accepted a proposal of marriage from some young man eager to resign from Brandon’s Bachelors Association.  
 
Source: Riels Red River Revolt, Gopher books: www.gopherbooks.ca  
 
Steamboats on the Assiniboine By Roy Brown Available at Daly House Museum and Coles Book Store