Then it was too late. The Canadian garrison in Dr. Schultz's store but aggravated the feeling; the gathering of the English halfbreeds and others in Kildonan church only roused bitterness without accomplishing anything. It was useless to throw water on the fire, after standing and gazing listlessly at the blaze till it had grown strong. The stealing by Riel and his followers at the "barriere" of goods which were being imported to the settlement, the breaking open of the stores and looting the cellars of the Fort by his hungry horde, the killing of Scott, the suffering of the prisoners confined in Fort Garry, and the loud vapouring and personal insults of the insolent chief of the "New Nation" were part of the penalty inflicted on the people of the country, for the masterly inactivity arising from divided counsels, which had been shown. Mr. Black and the Highland parish stood sullenly by amazed and disgusted at the current of events. With few exceptions the whole parish would have responded to the call of authority, but the call never came. Mr. McDougall issued a proclamation when he was no Governor, Col. Dennis was divided in his mind and had no real authority, the true source of power—the Company—felt itself unable to act, and in the meantime the rebellion triumphed.
THE COLLAPSE.
The rebellion had been agoing for two months, and Riel seemed at the summit of his power, when, two days after Christmas, Donald A. Smith, a prominent member of the Hudson's Bay Company, arrived from Canada, at Fort Garry. The Canadian government had realized its blunder, and now sought to do by negotiation what it should have done three months before. If instead of the hasty visit of Hon. Joseph Howe, which itself did some good, two members of the government, one French and the other English, had come up and conferred with the people, there would have been no rebellion. It is so easy to be wise after the event! Mr. Smith was virtually a prisoner in Riel's hands, was watched by him with suspicion, and was treated as discourteously by the petty tyrant as he dared to do. However, by degrees, the Commissioner, who displayed great tact as well as decision, began to sap the foundation of Riel's authority. A monster meeting of the people was held January 19th, in the open air at Fort Garry, with the thermometer at 20 degrees below zero. Riel, with the true instincts of a desperado, had seized a number of the papers sent by the Governor-General of Canada. The mass meeting, however, resulted in a demand for the election of representatives to consider the invitation from Mr. Smith to formulate their grievances.
One of the most useful and trusted men at this time in the Red River settlement was A. G. B. Bannatyne, merchant and postmaster, in the village of Winnipeg, near Fort Garry. Mr. Bannatyne was the real representative chosen to the convention for Winnipeg, but an American mob by force elected one of themselves. Mr. Bannatyne acted as intermediary between the English and French, and long after wielded much influence in Winnipeg. He was, however, openly opposed to the leader of the Canadian party.
Step by step the power of Riel waned until on the 4th of March, probably to awe the people and regain his weakening power, he committed the desperate act of executing Thomas Scott, a Canadian, contrary to the pleadings of Donald A. Smith, Mr. Bannatyne and others. That was the beginning of the end. The party to meet the Canadian government, bearing a Bill of Rights, left soon after for Ottawa. The news of the execution of Scott threw Canada into a blaze. Ten thousand volunteers would have reported in a day to go to Red River, if they had been called. The name of Riel was despised and hated throughout the English-speaking parishes and by many of the French. The Canadian government busied itself in passing the Manitoba Act, which established a province in a part of Rupert's Land. The Wolseley expedition started as soon as the spring opened, and the followers of Riel began to leave him. The back of the rebellion was broken. Late in August, 1870, the vanguard of the expedition reached Fort Garry. Shortly before their arrival Riel and two of his lieutenants left the Fort. The 60th regiment were anxious to have a brush with the rebels, but the three captains, as the troops appeared in the distance, "folded their tents like the Arabs and silently stole away."
RESTORING PEACE.
The coming of Governor Archibald and the establishment of Canadian institutions took place in the same year as the arrival of the expedition. But it took years to establish peace. The writer came to Manitoba in the year after this, and well remembers the bitterness and hatred which continually showed themselves. The two old English-speaking factions struggled for supremacy. The influx of new people in due time, however, overcame the feuds.
The sentiment against Riel and his associates burned as strongly years after as it did in the time of the troubles. Peace never came really until in Chief Justice Wood's court Riel and Lepine were found guilty of murder and sedition. The springs of action in communities are hard to trace, but it is plain to see that the burning questions which have agitated Manitoba, and through her the whole Dominion, since that time, have gained their intensity from the terrible months—for they were nothing short of that—from November to March, of the Red River rebellion.
Undoubtedly the heat of feeling of the "Canadian party" included for a time Mr. Black as being one of the other wing of the English-speaking people. But in his case this soon passed away. His personal character, his kindly and friendly manner, his open hospitality, and his unwavering loyalty to British institutions made new-comers find in the "Apostle of Red River" a friend, willing to aid all. Some of the more extreme of the so-called "Canadian party" attempted to misinterpret a casual remark of the good old pioneer to his disadvantage, but it was not accepted generally, and a few years after Mr. Black was as acceptable as a preacher to the rising congregation of Winnipeg as in his own beloved Kildonan. Often, often did he commiserate the people compelled to go through such an experience as that of 1869-70.