During all these months of the rebellion, Bishop Taché, the influential head of the Roman Catholic Church, had been absent in Rome at the great Council of that year. One of his most active priests left behind was Father Lestanc, the prince of plotters, who has generally been credited with belonging to the Jesuit Order. Lestanc had sedulously haunted the presence of the Governor; he was a daring and extreme man, and to him and his fellow-Frenchman, the curé of St. Norbert, much of Riel's obstinacy has been attributed. Commissioner Smith now used his opportunity to weaken Riel. He offered to send for his commission to Pembina, if he were allowed to meet the people. Riel consented to this. The commission was sent for, and Riel tried to intercept the messenger, but failed to do so. The meeting took place on January 19th. It was a date of note for Red River settlement. One thousand people assembled, and as there was no building capable of holding the people, the meeting took place in the open air, the temperature being twenty below zero.
The outcome of this meeting was the election and subsequent assembling of forty representatives—one half French, the other half English—to consider the matter of Commissioner Smith's message. Six days after the open-air meeting the Convention met. A second "Bill of Rights" was adopted, and it was agreed to send delegates to Ottawa to meet the Dominion Government. A provisional government was formed, at the request, it is said, of Governor McTavish, and Riel gained the height of his ambition in being made President, while the fledgling Fenian priest, O'Donoghue, became "Secretary of the Treasury."
The retention of the prisoners in captivity aroused a deep feeling in the country, and a movement originated in Portage La Prairie to rescue the unfortunates. This force was joined by recruits at Kildonan, making up six hundred in all. Awed by this gathering, Riel released the prisoners, though he was guilty of an act of deepest treachery in arresting nearly fifty of the Assiniboine levy as they were returning to their homes. Among them was Major Boulton, who afterwards narrowly escaped execution, and who has written an interesting account of the rebellion.
The failure of the two parties of loyalists, and their easy capture by Riel, raises the question of the wisdom of these efforts. No doubt the inspiring motive of these levies was in many cases true patriotism, and it reflects credit on them as men of British blood and British pluck, but the management of both was so unfortunate and so lacking in skill, that one is disposed, though lamenting their failures, to put these expeditions down as dictated by the greatest rashness.
The elevation of Riel served to awaken high ambitions. The late Archbishop Taché, in a later rebellion, characterized Riel as a remarkable example of inflated ambition, and called his state of mind that of "megalomania." Riel now became more irritable and domineering. He seemed also bitter against the English for the signs of insubordination appearing in all the parishes. The influence of the violent and dastardly Lestanc was strong upon him. The anxious President now determined to awe the English, and condemned for execution a young Irish Canadian prisoner named Thomas Scott. Commissioner Smith and a number of influential inhabitants did everything possible to dissuade Riel, but he persisted, and Scott was publicly executed near Fort Garry on March 4th, 1870.
"Whom the gods destroy, they first make mad." The execution of Scott was the death-knell of Riel's hopes. Canada was roused to its centre. Determined to have no further communication with Riel, Commissioner Smith as soon as possible left Fort Garry and returned to Canada.
The arrival of Bishop Taché, who had returned at the request of the Canadian Government, took place in due time. Probably the real attitude of Bishop Taché will never be known, though his strong French Canadian associations and love of British connection make it seem hardly possible that he could have been implicated in the rebellion. Bishop Taché endeavoured to overcome the terrible mistake of Riel. Commissioners were despatched to Ottawa, the most important of them Father Ritchot, of St. Norbert, whose hand had been in the plot from the beginning. Carrying down a "Bill of Rights" from the provisional government, which, however, there is clear evidence Ritchot and others took the liberty of altering, they were instrumental in having a Bill passed through the Dominion Parliament, establishing Manitoba as a province.
For the establishment of peace, an expedition was organized by Canada, consisting of British regulars and Canadian volunteers, under Colonel Wolseley. Coming from Canada up the fur-traders' route, through Lake of the Woods, down Winnipeg River, across Lake Winnipeg, and up the Red River, the expedition arrived, to the great joy of the suffering people of the settlement, on August 24th, 1870. After eleven months of the most torturing anxiety had been endured, the sight of the rescuing soldiery sent the blood pulsing again through their veins. As the troops approached Fort Garry, three slinking figures were seen to leave the fort and escape across the Assiniboine. These were the "President Riel," "Adjutant-General" Lepine, and the scoundrel O'Donoghue. "They folded their tents like the Arabs, and as silently stole away." Colonel Wolseley says, "The troops then formed line outside the fort, the Union Jack was hoisted, a royal salute fired, and three cheers were given for the Queen, which were caught up and heartily re-echoed by many of the civilians and settlers who had followed the troops from the village."