Item 77-1007 - Louis Riel letter

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Louis Riel letter

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    • Source of title proper: Title based on the author of the item.

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    Item

    Reference code

    77-1007

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    • Photocopied [between 1970 and 1977] (Creation)
      Creator
      Riel, Louis

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    1 item

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    Biographical history

    Louis Riel, leader of the North West rebellions of 1870 and 1885, was born at St. Boniface, Manitoba, on October 22, 1844, the son of Louis Riel and Julie Lagimoniere, and the grandson of Jean Baptiste Riel, a native of Berthier, Lower Canada. Louis Riel was educated at the seminary in Montreal, and then returned to the West. In 1869 he became secretary of the Comite national des Metis, an organization formed to resist the establishment of Canadian authority in the North West. Later in the same year he was elected president of the provisional government set up by the rebels. He escaped from the country in August, 1870, on the arrival of the expeditionary force under Colonel Wolseley; but in 1873, and again in 1874, Riel was elected to represent Provencher in the Canadian House of Commons. In 1874, on taking the oath, he was expelled from the House; and in 1875 a warrant of outlawry was issued against him. He took refuge in Montana, and there he remained until, in the summer of 1884, he was invited to return to Canada to organize the half-breeds of the North West Territories so as to obtain redress of their grievances. The outcome of his visit to Canada was the second North West rebellion. On the defeat of the rebels at Batoche, on May 12, 1885, by General Middleton, Riel was captured. He was tried at Regina, in July, on the charge of high treason, was found guilty, and on November 16, 1885, was hanged at the Mounted Police barracks at Regina. (Taken from: The Macmillan Dictionary of Canadian Biography, fourth edition. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1974.)

    Custodial history

    This item was in the custody of Graham Noble of Peterborough, Ontario before it was donated to the Trent University Archives.

    Scope and content

    This item is a copy and translation of a letter from Louis Riel in the prison at Regina to Dr. Romuald Fiset, thanking Fiset and the committee for Riel's defence, for what they were doing for him and outlining his activities since his return from the United States so that his attorneys (Lemieux and Fitzpatrick) might have his side of the story. In the letter, Riel also voices his desire that his trial be held in Lower Canada.

    Notes area

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    Immediate source of acquisition

    This item was donated by Graham Noble of Peterborough, Ontario.

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    Language of material

    • English
    • French

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      Associated materials are located at Library and Archives Canada (MG 27), the Manitoba Archives, les Archives nationale de Quebec, University of New Brunswick Archives, the McCord Museum, les Archives du seminaire de Quebec, and le Bibliotheque du college de Levis.

      For related records see: 72-1000, 73-1002, 77-002 and 77-1018.

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