The Red River Resistance
This is a continuation of the previous post detailing how half of Canada nearly joined the United States in 1869. The theater of action was the Red River of the North, the river dividing North Dakota from Minnesota. We left off by establishing that the Canadian government had a powerful need to get settlers out onto the northern Great Plains, lest the US send people to occupy it instead in fulfillment of Manifest Destiny. No one had surveyed the boundary between the two nations yet. Who knew what Americans might do? In fact, Americans had already invaded Canada several times in the last decade.
On multiple occasions in the 1860s, Fenians from the US had invaded Canada on their own authority. The Fenians were Irish patriots who hoped to gain possession of Canadian territory, then trade it back to Britain for Irish independence. But they also served as an unsavory example that might inspire further American filibustering. So, Canada needed more settlers on the Northern Plains. Badly. Problem was, only one way existed to get them there. They had to pass through the Red River Valley. Which meant dealing with the Métis.
Ottawa tried to skate the issue at first. It resolved negotiations with the HBC by paying less money but allowing the HBC to retain ownership of the most agriculturally valuable land in Prince Rupert’s Land, so the company could make future profits through land sales. However, at no time were the Métis party to these negotiations over the future of their home. As a result, some of them took up arms against Canadian expansion. This was the Red River Resistance of 1869.
The Métis of the Red River issued a “Declaration of the People of Rupert’s Land and the North West,” declared themselves independent of Canada, and elected Louis Riel as their president with a full council of advisors. And, in the absence of any viable railroads reaching to the Red River, they had sufficient military force (their culture focused heavily on buffalo hunting) to repel Canadian authorities. The Métis could also call on their Nehiyaw Pwat allies to aid them.
Click Here to Subscribe to My History Blog!
America Misses Its Chance at the Red River
This was the critical moment when things might have turned, and the dreams of Manifest Destiny’s supporters realized. An 1870 article in the St. Paul Pioneer Press opined, “The Red River revolution is a trump card in the hands of American diplomacy, if there is statesmanship equal to the opportunity, by which, if rightly played, every vestige of British power may be swept from the Western half of the continent.” All the US needed to do was extend support to Riel and offer sufficient inducement to bring the Métis into the American fold.
Quickly, Canadian and British politicians realized their error. As William Gladstone admitted, “Perhaps a mistake had been made in handing the territory over to Canada without testing public opinion in the Red River settlement.” Americans, especially politicians from Minnesota, thought the US should pounce on the opportunity. Alexander Ramsey, Senator from Minnesota, tried to persuade President Ulysses Grant and Secretary of State Hamilton Fish to treat with Riel.
If the US recognized Métis independence, it could assist them in repelling Canada’s attempt to reclaim the rebellious territory. With America’s ability to call up considerable force thanks to the Civil War, Great Britain might back down and surrender the northern prairies without a fight. But the situation was more complex. The rest of the story requires a brief detour into the history of Minnesota and the Métis.
This ends part two of our three-part series on how the United States nearly acquired half of Canada in 1869. The next post concludes this series on Manifest Destiny and American expansion.
Please Subscribe!
If you enjoyed this blog, please sign up to follow it by scrolling down or clicking here, and recommending it to your friends. I’d love to have you aboard! You can also follow me on Facebook by clicking here.
As always, I welcome constructive and polite discussion in the comments section. Thank you!