Four Months Under Arms

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Riel's Meeting
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were in attendance, and two placed at either end of the table as a precaution in the event of any trouble that might arise. The hall was crowded to standing capacity, every man in town and many from the surrounding district being there. After a few opening remarks by the chairman, Mr. An(lrew Spence, with the request that the speaker be given an attentive hearing, Riel was introduced '(0 the audience. Riel was fully six feet tall, fair complexion and had a full redish beard. He spoke with a French accent, and was a fluent speaker. He gave a very clear statement of their different claims, One of the terms of settlement of the first Riel Rebellion in 1871 was that any native of Manitoba who wanted to take up land for farming in what was then called the N, W, Territory, would be given a free grant to 160 acres wherever he located and any member of his family 18 years of age or over had the same right. A large number of the French half-breeds located their grants along the South Saskatchewan River at Batoche, and following the plan of the French settlers in Quebec, they staked their claims so that all would have a water frontage. This plan made long, narrow holdings, the back lines were irregular, but it allowed for closer settlement. In the late 1870's the Dominion Government sent parties out to survey all the prairie. The plan of survey was townships six miles square, divided intu sections one mile square and quarter sections, and when these lines came in contact with the irregular back lines of the settler's farms, the surveyors would not adjust them, and in many cases that reduced the settler's holdings and in some cases eliminated them altogether, It was referred :0 Ottawa and the goverr:ment upheld surveyors, Riel explained all the different claims, 'and spoke for nearly two hours, and was warmly applauded when he finished and sat down, When the applause had :;lopped, an Englishman named R. J. Deacon, who had been in Winnipeg during the first Riel Rebellion, and had sat in the front row of seats at the meeting, turned his chair to the table, and from it stepped on to the table, and pointing his finger at Riel shouted, "Look at him, there is blood on his hands." Meaning the murder of Thos, Scott in 1871; the meeting was in an uproar at once. Sergt, Stewart swept Deacon's feet from under him and he fell on his back on the table, While the police prevented any of the audience following Riel, who with his followers had scuttled out the rear door to their waiting sleighs, and quickly drove out of town. It was afterward learned that under the robes in each sleigh was one or more loaded rifles. The people returned to their homes or places of business to discuss the affair, and anxiously await the turn of events that all were sure was bound to happen. The fact that it was 300 cold, wintry miles to the railway, and a large hostile force between, did not tend to lessen the anxiety each man felt for his family. After discussing the event with some of the prominent men in town, Lt.-Colonel Sproat sent a telegram to Ottawa, urging the Government to consider the claims of the settlers, but the warr:ing 1,\ias ignored.