| 6ixStringJack: That would still be a huge amount of milage back in those days though when you consider the settling and building taking place. Not like hopping in a car and driving down the freeway from the east side of SD to the west side in 2025. |
| 6ixStringJack: I just looked, figuring that Reil's events probably took place much further east than Deadwood given the similar timeline, but that's not really much the case either. The Red River is essentially at the east side of South Dakota, while Deadwood is almost on the Western border of the state. |
| 6ixStringJack: That's what tripped me up... I figured expansion in Canada would have taken place after the expansion further south, so I was thinking these events would have taken place quite a bit later. |
| Brenda: I've watched too many westerns in my time, which back when I was growing up didn't give you the full picture. "The Last Spike" was a mini series when I was in elementary school about the building of the CPR, the Canadian Pacific railroad and covered the Riel Rebellion. There is an official provincial holiday in Manitoba for him. Statues there as well. Yes, we do for sure. |
| Brenda: It would have made a good Deadwood story. Sorry, I should have mentioned the years. This all took place between 1869 to 1885 when he was executed. Deadwood from looking up comes in around the same time, 1870s. The Canadian prairies were pretty sparsely populated before then. Ottawa was still in its infancy then, Sir John A. was the first Prime Minister of Canada. Also at this time Upper and Lower Canada had become just Canada at this time. That is also why the railroad was being built. Keep the Prairies as Canadian. A lot of cities and towns on the Prairies started out a trading posts. Places like Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary and other place. |
6ixStringJack: I don't think I've ever watched anything like that. A show where the wars are over and the new governments have been established. The fighting is over, but the hate and pain and all of those base instincts just never go away. Time over generations can heal things, but for any of those men, women and children, on either side... could you imagine it? What that would be like, living that way in that time? ... ah shit... we sure take a lot of stuff for granted in the future, don't we Brenda.  |
| 6ixStringJack: Sounds like it all could make a good story like Deadwood. Although you've never said when this was all going down, I have to guess that it all took place quite a few years after the events in Deadwood took place. It seems like in Riel's story, even though the government was still in its infancy, it was already in the process of being officially established there and then by his 3rd election they were already a force and had just been continuing to grow. Where most of Deadwood was all before the government rolled in after letting everyone else do the hard work. |
| Brenda: True in some ways. But with Sir John A's government wanting settlers to out to the Prairies. And the settlers wanted assurances that the government would keep them safe. Hence the formation of the RCMP, which was the first law West of Ontario and also the first military Canada had. After the third time Riel knew that the RCMP would be coming for him |
| Brenda: Yes, it was after the 3rd time he was elected. It always comes back to his involvement with the Red River Rebellion and the North-West Rebellion, which crossed from Manitoba to Saskatchewan and then into Alberta. They used these against him all three times. |
| 6ixStringJack: I guess the same way they did anything back then, right. Probably not too much different there than what we still do today. They've just got to be way better at hiding these things as time has gone on. |
| 6ixStringJack: But he would have been expelled after the 3rd election, right? How did they continue to block him for 2 full terms before he won the third time and went full-on threatening mode against him, I wonder. |
| Brenda: His inability to take up his seat even though he signed the registry for Parliament, goes back to the Red River Uprising. The government I think was afraid that he could cause another uprising and this time not on the Prairies but in Quebec. This fear was because Quebec claimed him as one of their own and could lead them to taking up arms. So, he was expelled from Parliament and that was when he fled to the US. |
| 6ixStringJack: So how does that work? The Canadian Government can subvert the will of the people like that? He was elected 3 times but unable to serve? |
Brenda: Here's another interesting fact. M. Riel was in fact elected to Parliament 3 times but never allowed to take his seat for Manitoba. The reason being his involvement with the Red River Uprising. I admit I had to look up how many times he was elected. High school history was a long time ago.  |
| Brenda: Our senate unlike yours really doesn't hold any power. They are appointed by the Prime Minister or the Governor General to be there. Sometimes like with Riel's case both chambers had to agree before it could be announced to the public. |
| Brenda: He did and any descendants he may have still. Well, it was done by a Resolution in Parliament. Which means that Parliament agreed that he was innocent after reviewing his case but they still needed the Senate to agree as well. |
| 6ixStringJack: Looks like Riel got some justice after all. That's good. What do you mean that the Feds still have to do something though? |
| Brenda: Double post here and I don't know how I did it last night. Good grief! |
| Brenda: Little mistake the lawyers didn't do it. It was just Parliament and our Senate declared him innocent in1992. But still that is something for the Feds to do.
|
| Brenda: Little mistake the lawyers didn't do it. It was just Parliament and our Senate declared him innocent in1992. But still that is something for the Feds to do.
|