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119-585: The survey was begun in 1871, shortly after Manitoba and the North-West Territories became part of Canada, following the purchase of Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company. Covering about 800,000 square kilometres (310,000 sq mi), the survey system and its terminology are deeply ingrained in the rural culture of the Prairies. The DLS is the world's largest survey grid laid down in

238-651: A CA$ 10 fee for a quarter section of his choice. If after three years he had cultivated 30 acres (12 ha) and had built a house (often just a sod house ), he gained title to the quarter. Homesteads were available as late as the 1950s, but the bulk of the settlement of the Prairies was 1885 to 1914. Legal surveys conducted before and after the Dominion Land Survey grid was laid out often have their own legal descriptions and delineations. Early settlement lots still retain their own original legal descriptions, but often have townships superimposed over them for

357-640: A military expedition to Manitoba to enforce federal authority. Now known as the Wolseley expedition , or the Red River Expedition, it consisted of Canadian militia and British regular soldiers, led by Colonel Garnet Wolseley . Outrage grew in Ontario over Scott's execution, and many there wanted Wolseley's expedition to arrest Riel for murder and to suppress what they considered to be rebellion. Riel peacefully withdrew from Fort Garry before

476-621: A royal charter to create the Hudson's Bay Company , under the governorship of Prince Rupert, the king's cousin. According to the Charter, the HBC received rights to: The sole Trade and Commerce of all those Seas, Streights, Bays, Rivers, Lakes, Creeks, and Sounds, in whatsoever Latitude they shall be, that lie within the entrance of the Streights commonly called Hudson's Streights, together with all

595-622: A degree of external protection. This stable order broke down in the 1860s with the decline of the Hudson's Bay Company, smallpox epidemics and the arrival of American whisky traders on the Great Plains, and the disappearance of the bison . The rule of law was, after the transfer of Rupert's Land to Canada, enforced by the North-West Mounted Police . Peake (1989) describes people, places, and activities that were involved in 19th-century Anglican missionary activities in

714-497: A delegation to be sent to Ottawa to engage in direct negotiations with Canada, a suggestion that was eagerly accepted by Riel. Riel also proposed for the provisional government to be reformed to be more inclusive of both language groups. A constitution enshrining those goals was accepted by the convention on February 10. An elected assembly was established, consisting of 12 representatives from anglophone parishes and an equal number of representatives from francophone parishes. Despite

833-641: A formal transfer to take effect on December 1. That increased tensions among the Métis, who, in July 1869, had become more suspicious after McDougall ordered a survey of the settlement. Emerging as a leader, Louis Riel , who had been formally educated in European-style schools, denounced the survey in a speech delivered in late August from the steps of St. Boniface Cathedral . His lifestyle was very different from those of buffalo-hunting Métis. When Riel returned to

952-454: A greater authority to negotiate. On December 27, John Bruce resigned as president of the provisional government, and Riel was elected president. The same day, Donald Smith arrived in the settlement, followed shortly by de Salaberry, who joined Thibault, who had arrived on Christmas Day. They met with Riel on January 5, 1870, but reached no conclusions. The next day, Riel and Smith had another meeting. Smith then concluded that negotiation with

1071-505: A militia to arrest the Métis, who were occupying Upper Fort Garry . The anglophone settlers largely ignored the call to arms, and Dennis withdrew to Lower Fort Garry . Schultz, however, was emboldened to fortify his house and his store and attracted around 50 recruits. Riel took the threat seriously and ordered for Schultz's home to be surrounded. The resisters surrendered on December 7 and were imprisoned in Fort Garry. The unrest and

1190-591: A particular quarter section is "the Northeast Quarter of Section 20, Township 52, Range 25 west of the Fourth Meridian", abbreviated "NE-20-52-25-W4." A section may also be split into as many as 16 legal subdivisions (LSDs). LSDs are commonly used by the oil and gas industry as a precise way of locating wells, pipelines, and facilities. LSDs can be "quarter-quarter sections" (square land parcels roughly 1 ⁄ 4  mi [400 m] on

1309-647: A party of Metis symbolically stepped on a survey chain, beginning the Red River Resistance . Work resumed in 1871; however, the system was redesigned to use 6-mile townships with 640-acre sections based on a suggestion from Lieutenant-Governor of the North-West Territories William McDougall , who advocated that most of the settlers would come from the United States, so it was "advisable to offer them lots of

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1428-525: A proclamation ordering the Métis to lay down their arms. Instead, on November 23, Riel proposed the formation of a provisional government to replace the Council of Assiniboia to enter into direct negotiations with Canada. The anglophone delegates requested an adjournment to discuss matters. They neither succeeded in rallying the English-speaking parishes behind that move nor originally approved of

1547-508: A provisional government to which they invited an equal number of Anglophone representatives. Riel negotiated directly with the Canadian government to establish Manitoba as a Canadian province. Meanwhile, Riel's men arrested members of a pro-Canadian faction who had resisted the provisional government. They included an Orangeman , Thomas Scott . Riel's government tried and convicted Scott and executed him for insubordination. Canada and

1666-637: A resistance rather than a rebellion by some scholars as it was resisting against an expanding authority rather than rebelling against an established government. Lisgar's viceregal successor, the Earl of Dufferin , prevented the execution of Ambroise-Dydime Lépine , who had sentenced Scott to death. Although Scott had been the son a tenant on Dufferin's estate in Northern Ireland , Dufferin heeded appeals from francophones in Quebec who were sympathetic to

1785-593: A side, comprising roughly 40 acres [160,000 m] in area)—but this is not necessary. Many are other fractions of a section (a half-quarter section—roughly 80 acres [320,000 m] in area is common). LSDs may be square, rectangular, and occasionally even triangular. LSDs are numbered as follows (north at top): Occasionally, resource companies assign further divisions within LSDs such as "A, B, C, D, etc." for example, to distinguish between multiple sites within an LSD. These in no way constitute an official change to

1904-519: A single integrated system. The first formal survey done in western Canada was by Peter Fidler in 1813. The inspiration for the Dominion Land Survey System was the plan for Manitoba (and later Saskatchewan and Alberta) to be agricultural economies. With a large number of European settlers arriving, Manitoba was undergoing a large change so grasslands and parklands were surveyed, settled, and farmed. The Dominion Land Survey system

2023-505: A size to which they have been accustomed." The Dominion Land Survey System still differed from the Public Land System because it contained road allowances. The Dominion Land Survey was enormous. Around 178,000,000 acres (720,000 km) are estimated to have been subdivided into quarter sections, 27 million of which were surveyed by 1883 (14 years after the system's inception). The amount of work undertaken between 1871 and 1930

2142-659: Is at 49° north , which forms much of the Canada–United States border in the West. Each subsequent baseline is about 24 miles (39 km) to the north of the previous one, terminating at 60° north , which forms the boundary with Yukon , the Northwest Territories , and Nunavut . Starting at each intersection of a meridian and a baseline and working west (also working east of the First Meridian and

2261-418: Is given justice by the amount of paperwork submitted: the maps, plans, and memos transferred by the Canadian government to the provinces filled approximately 200 railway cars. This did not include closed or dormant files, which would fill 9,000 filing cabinets and weigh about 227 tons. Until very recently, surveying to take distance and angular measurements was done with manually controlled instruments. Distance

2380-679: Is likely one of the reasons the area never joined the North-West Rebellion despite the fact that St. Albert, and to a lesser extent Edmonton, were largely populated by Métis people. Rupert%27s Land Rupert's Land ( French : Terre de Rupert ), or Prince Rupert's Land (French: Terre du Prince Rupert ), was a territory in British North America which comprised the Hudson Bay drainage basin . The right to "sole trade and commerce" over Rupert's Land

2499-469: Is slightly shorter than the south. Only along the baselines do townships have their nominal width from east to west. The two townships to the north of a baseline gradually narrow as one moves north, and the two to the south gradually widen as one moves south. Halfway between two base lines, wider-than-nominal townships abut narrower-than-nominal townships. The east and west boundaries of these townships therefore do not align, and north–south roads that follow

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2618-582: Is the reason base lines are not exactly 24 miles (39 km) apart. In townships surveyed from 1871 to 1880 (most of southern Manitoba, part of southeastern Saskatchewan and a small region near Prince Albert, Saskatchewan), there are road allowances of 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 chains (30 m) surrounding every section. In townships surveyed from 1881 to the present, road allowances are reduced both in width and in number. They are 1 chain (20 m) wide and run north–south between all sections; however, there are only three east–west road allowances in each township, on

2737-627: Is today Canada , and included the whole of Manitoba , most of Saskatchewan , southern Alberta , southern Nunavut , and northern parts of Ontario and Quebec . Additionally, it also extended into areas that would eventually become parts of Minnesota , North Dakota , and Montana . The southern border west of Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains was the drainage divide between the Mississippi and Red/Saskatchewan watersheds until

2856-614: The Manitoba Act as they had been promised in 1870. In the case of the closely clustered settlements of Edmonton, St. Albert, and Fort Saskatchewan in the Alberta District, a militant "settlers' rights" movement developed which demanded action from the federal government to grant the settlers legal title to their land and to end claim jumping . The movement even resorted to vigilante action against suspected claim jumpers. Most of these grievances were resolved by 1885, which

2975-885: The Anglicans of the Britain-based Church Missionary Society . The prairie missions extended from the area of 20th-century Winnipeg to the Mackenzie River delta in the north. Notable missionaries included Revd. John West , the first Protestant missionary to come to the area in 1820, David Anderson the first Bishop of Rupert's Land, William Bompas and the Native American Anglican priests: Henry Budd , James Settee , and Robert McDonald. There were also Roman Catholic missions in Rupert's Land. One notable missionary

3094-557: The Anglo-American Convention of 1818 substituted the 49th parallel. Under the principles of the doctrine of discovery , after the English visited and "discovered" Hudson's Bay, they could claim any lands found that were not already owned or "possessed" by other European or Christian nations. England claimed ownership of the lands surrounding Hudson's Bay. After explorations in 1659, Prince Rupert took interest in

3213-522: The Arctic Circle . Even John A. Macdonald , the then Prime Minister of Canada , saw the land as being sold to Canada: "...No explanation has been made of the arrangement by which the country (Rupert's Land) is handed over to the Queen, and that it is her Majesty who transfers the country to Canada with the same rights to settlers as existed before. All these poor people know is that Canada has bought

3332-458: The Hudson's Bay Company before it was sold. The event was the first crisis the new federal government faced after Canadian Confederation in 1867. The Government of Canada had bought Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company in 1869 and appointed an English -speaking governor, William McDougall . He was opposed by the French -speaking mostly-Métis inhabitants of the settlement. Before

3451-473: The Red River Resistance , Red River uprising , or First Riel Rebellion , was the sequence of events that led up to the 1869 establishment of a provisional government by Métis leader Louis Riel and his followers at the Red River Colony , in the early stages of establishing today's Canadian province of Manitoba . It had earlier been a territory called Rupert's Land and been under control of

3570-488: The Treaty of Paris . Historically, the population was mainly francophone Métis, who developed a mixed ethnicity descended of First Nations and French descent and a unique culture during the decades of the fur trade. In the 18th and the 19th centuries, they intermarried; established a tradition of men working as trappers, guides, and interpreters to fur traders; and developed farms. Métis women also were sometimes active in

3689-546: The Wolseley Expedition to be intended to suppress the rebellion, but the government described it as an "errand of peace." Knowing that he would be arrested and charged with criminal acts and believing that members of the Canadian militia in the expedition meant to lynch him, Riel and his followers fled hurriedly when the troops arrived unexpectedly at Fort Garry on August 24 during pouring rain. The arrival of

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3808-493: The drainage basin of Hudson's Bay . It spanned an area of about 3,861,400 square kilometres (1,490,900 sq mi), more than a third of all modern Canada. The royal charter made the "Governor and Company ... and their Successors, the true and absolute Lords and Proprietors, of the same Territory...", and granted them the authority "...to erect and build such Castles, Fortifications, Forts, Garrisons, Colonies or Plantations, Towns or Villages, in any Parts or Places within

3927-430: The "List of Rights," which was presented to the convention on December 1. Despite his Métis sympathies, Governor Mactavish did not do enough to end the conflict and was imprisoned by Riel shortly afterward. Also on December 1, McDougall had proclaimed that the HBC was no longer in control of Rupert's Land and that he was the new lieutenant-governor . The proclamation was to later prove problematic, as it effectively ended

4046-454: The "country born" (also as Anglo-Métis ). The third group of settlers to the region was a small number of Presbyterian Scottish settlers. More anglophone Protestants began to settle there from Ontario in the 19th century. The newer settlers were generally insensitive to Métis culture and hostile to Roman Catholicism , and many advocated Canadian expansionism. Meanwhile, many Americans migrated there, some of whom favouring annexation of

4165-440: The 18th–19th centuries and drew on the local population for many of its employees. This necessarily meant the hiring of many First Nations and Métis workers. Fuchs (2002) discusses the activities of these workers and the changing attitudes that the company had toward them. While George Simpson , one of the most noted company administrators, held a particularly dim view of mixed-blood workers and kept them from attaining positions in

4284-607: The Assiniboia provisional government soon negotiated an agreement. In 1870, the Parliament of Canada passed the Manitoba Act, 1870 , allowing the Red River Colony to enter Confederation as the province of Manitoba. The act also incorporated some of Riel's demands, such as the provision of separate French schools for Métis children and the protection of Catholicism . After reaching an agreement, Canada sent

4403-667: The British Crown, which was authorized to accept the surrender by the Rupert's Land Act. By order-in-council dated 23 June 1870, the British government admitted the territory to Canada, under s. 146 of the Constitution Act, 1867 , effective 15 July 1870, subject to the making of treaties with the sovereign indigenous nations to provide their consent to the Imperial Crown to exercise its sovereignty pursuant to

4522-535: The Canadian Pacific Railway was granted 25,000,000 acres (100,000 km) for the construction of its first line from Ontario to the Pacific. These sections are colloquially called CPR sections regardless of the railway they were originally granted to. Sections 11 and 29 were school sections . When school boards were formed, they gained title to these sections, which were then sold to fund

4641-405: The Canadian frontier and for an investigation of the sources from which legal history might be rewritten as the history of legal culture. Previous historians have assumed that the Hudson's Bay Company's representatives designed and implemented a local legal system dedicated instrumentally to the protection of the company's fur trade monopoly and, more generally, to strict control of settlement life in

4760-540: The Coast Meridian), nearly square townships were surveyed, whose north–south and east–west sides are about 6 miles (9.7 km) in length. There are two tiers of townships to the north and two tiers to the south of each baseline. Because the east and west edges of townships, called "range lines", are meridians of longitude , they converge towards the North Pole . Therefore, the north edge of every township

4879-593: The Country from the Hudson's Bay Company, and that they are handed over like a flock of sheep to us...". In 1927, the Supreme Court of Canada held that the terms of the Charter had granted ownership of all the land in the Hudson Bay drainage to the company, including all precious minerals. However, this ruling did not settle the issue of aboriginal title over the land. At the time of the royal charter and

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4998-494: The December amnesty would apply to both Riel and Lépine . On March 15, he read to the elected assembly a telegram from Joseph Howe indicating that the government found the demands in the list of rights to be "in the main satisfactory." After the preparation of a final list of rights, which included new demands such as a general amnesty for all members of the provisional government and provisions for separate francophone schools,

5117-543: The Dominion Land Survey marked a new era for western Canada. Railways were making their way to the West and the population of western regions began to increase. The introduction of the survey system marked the end of the nomadic ways for the First Nations and Metis. This did not go over well and was a catalyst to the events of the Red River Rebellion . Being a surveyor was not easy. The hours were long,

5236-408: The Dominion Land Survey system, but nonetheless often appear as part of the legal description. In summary, the hierarchy of the division of Western Canada went as follows: Between certain sections of a township run "road allowances" (but not all road allowances have an actual road built on them). The road allowances add to the size of the township (they do not cut down the size of the sections): this

5355-415: The English parishes to elect provisional representatives. However, the prisoner Thomas Scott, an Orangeman , interpreted Boulton's pardon as weakness on the part of the Métis, whom he regarded with open contempt. After he had repeatedly quarreled with his guards, they insisted for him to be tried for insubordination. At his trial, which was overseen by Ambroise-Dydime Lépine , he was found guilty of insulting

5474-436: The Fourth Meridian," abbreviated "52-25-W4." In Manitoba, the First Meridian is the only one used, so the abbreviations are even more terse, e.g., "3-1-W" and "24-2-E.". In Manitoba legislation, the abbreviations WPM and EPM are used: "3-1 WPM" and "2N4-2 EPM". Every township is divided into 36 sections , each about 1 mile (1.6 km) square. Sections are numbered within townships in a boustrophedon pattern, beginning with

5593-463: The Hudson's Bay Company had no formal legal system in Rupert's Land, creating "courts" on an ad hoc basis. The Hudson's Bay Company's "laws" in the 17th and 18th centuries had been the regulations setting out the rules governing the relationships between various employees in the company's posts in Rupert's Land and to interact with Indigenous peoples. The 1670 charter granting the company control of Rupert's Land had said trials were to be conducted by

5712-485: The Hudson's Bay Company were convinced of the need to dispense formal justice throughout Rupert's Land and established a court at the Red River Colony , in the "District of Assiniboia", south of Lake Winnipeg . A Recorder and President of the Court would act as legal organizer, adviser, magistrate, and councillor and be responsible for the rationalization and formalization of Rupert's Land's judicial system. The first Recorder

5831-466: The Hudson's Bay region. The 1668–1669 expedition of the Nonsuch to the Hudson's Bay area returned with £1,400 (equivalent to £284,123 in 2023) worth of furs. However, England was not ready to organize a government on those lands. Instead, a "Company of Adventurers of England" was formed to administer those lands for England, thereby taking possession. In 1670, King Charles II of England granted

5950-473: The Indian title, of the plaintiffs to their ancient tribal territory hereinbefore described, has never been lawfully extinguished...". In 1869–1870, when the Hudson's Bay Company surrendered its charter to the British Crown, it received £300,000 in compensation. Control was originally planned to be transferred on 1 December 1869, but due to the premature action of the new lieutenant governor, William McDougall ,

6069-712: The Lands, Countries and Territories, upon the Coasts and Confines of the Seas, Streights, Bays, Lakes, Rivers, Creeks and Sounds, aforesaid, which are not now actually possessed by any of our Subjects, or by the Subjects of any other Christian Prince or State [...] and that the said Land be from henceforth reckoned and reputed as one of our Plantations or Colonies in America, called Rupert's Land . The Charter applied to all lands within

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6188-602: The Limits and Bounds granted before in these Presents, unto the said Governor and Company, as they in their Discretion shall think fit and requisite...". In 1821, following the merger with the North West Company , the Hudson's Bay Company's monopoly privileges and licence were extended to trade over the North-Western Territory . The Rupert's Land Act 1868 , which was passed by the Parliament of

6307-596: The Métis and reduced Lépine's sentence to two years in jail. In 1875, Riel was formally exiled from Canada for five years. Under pressure from Quebec, the government of Sir John A. Macdonald took no more vigorous action. Riel was elected to the Canadian Parliament three times in exile but never took his seat. He returned to Canada in 1885 to lead the ill-fated North-West Rebellion . He was then tried and convicted for high treason and executed by hanging. Canadian folk singer-writer James Keelaghan wrote

6426-532: The Métis and with the general population of the settlement. On November 2, under the command of Ambroise-Dydime Lépine , the Métis turned back McDougall's party near the US border and forced it to retreat to Pembina, Dakota Territory . On the same day Riel led roughly 400 men recruited from fur-brigades recently returned to the settlement for the season to seize Fort Garry without bloodshed. That would come to be known as one of Riel's most brilliant moves, as control of

6545-477: The Métis being upset, as they would also be gaining control over the land. On May 12, 1870, the Métis had been given 200,000 hectares of land, which would make up the Province of Manitoba. That would allow for the Métis to hunt freely in their land and have some form of government with legitimate powers to run the province and protect Métis rights. Even though the government had created the Province of Manitoba for

6664-435: The Métis from power. Mair and Scott proceeded to the Canadian settlements surrounding Portage la Prairie, where they met Boulton, and Schultz sought recruits in the Canadian parishes downstream. On February 12, Boulton led a party from Portage la Prairie to rendezvous at Kildonan with Schultz's men. They intended to overthrow the provisional government. Boulton had misgivings and turned the party back. Riel's forces detected

6783-518: The Métis wanted to ensure that they could preserve their religious and political rights. Their concerns were motivated in part by the Canadian government's behaviour, as the negotiations that took place had carried out as if the territory were uninhabited. The Canadian government appointed a notorious francophobe, McDougall, as the designate of the Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Territories on September 28, 1869, in anticipation of

6902-473: The Métis, it also allowed the government to have control over the province without being responsible for any events that occurred in it. Manitoba would be the first province created from the Northwest Territories. Significantly, however, Ritchot could not secure a clarification of the governor-general's amnesty. Anger over Scott's execution was growing rapidly in Ontario, and any such guarantee

7021-487: The United Kingdom , authorized the sale of Rupert's Land to Canada with the understanding that "...'Rupert's Land' shall include the whole of the Lands and Territories held or claimed to be held by the..." Hudson's Bay Company. The prevailing attitude of the time was that Rupert's Land was owned by the Hudson's Bay Company because "...From the beginning to the end, the [Hudson's Bay Company] had always claimed up to

7140-667: The West, it was apparent that MacDonald feared that the United States was negotiating with HBC for the transfer of Rupert's Land without consulting the Red River population and the Council of Assiniboia. On October 11, 1869, Riel and other Métis disrupted the survey's work. On October 16 the group organized the "Métis National Committee" to represent Métis interests. Riel was elected secretary, John Bruce as president, and two representatives were elected from each parish. There were originally two resistance groups in Red River. One

7259-479: The absence of a clear authority made the Métis National Committee declare a provisional government on December 8. Having received notification of the delay in the union until the British government of the HBC could guarantee a peaceful transfer, McDougall and Dennis departed for Ontario on December 18. Major Boulton fled to Portage la Prairie . In Ottawa, Governor General Lord Lisgar had, at

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7378-501: The authority of the council but failed to establish Canadian authority. McDougall did not know that the transfer had been postponed once news of the unrest had reached Ottawa. Around mid-December 1869, Riel presented the convention with a list of 14 rights as a condition of union. They included representation in Parliament, a bilingual legislature and chief justice, and recognition of certain land claims. The convention did not adopt

7497-450: The behest of Prime Minister John A. Macdonald , proclaimed an amnesty on December 6 for all in the Red River area who would lay down their arms. He dispatched Abbé Jean-Baptiste Thibault and Charles-René d'Irumberry de Salaberry on a mission of reconciliation but failed to give them the authority to negotiate on behalf of the government. Macdonald appointed the HBC representative, Donald Alexander Smith , as special commissioner with

7616-499: The breach of October 1869. Because the Hudson's Bay Company's Council of Assiniboia still had authority over the area, its representatives summoned Riel on October 25 to explain the actions of the committee. On October 30, McDougall had reached the border despite the written order from Riel, who declared that any attempt by McDougall to enter the Red River Colony would be blocked unless the Canadians had first negotiated terms with

7735-436: The committee would be fruitless. He maneuvered to bypass it and to present the Canadian position at a public meeting. Meetings were held on January 19 and January 20. With Riel acting as translator, Smith assured the large audiences of the Canadian government's goodwill, intention to grant representation, and willingness to extend concessions with respect to land claims. With the settlement now solidly behind him, Riel proposed

7854-562: The company exactly five per cent. Although the HBC sold all these sections long ago, they are still often locally called "the Bay section " today. Resulting in a " checkerboard pattern ", odd-numbered sections (except 11 and 29) were often used for railway land-grants. The Prairies could not be settled without railways, so the Dominion government habitually granted large tracts of land to railway companies as an incentive to build lines. Notably,

7973-452: The company higher than postmaster, later administrators, such as James Anderson and Donald Ross, sought avenues for the advancement of indigenous employees. Morton (1962) reviews the pressures at work on that part of Rupert's Land where Winnipeg now stands, a decade before its incorporation into Canada. It was a region completely given over to the fur trade, divided between the Hudson's Bay Company and private traders, with some incursions by

8092-584: The company when it transferred its claim over the West to Canada in 1870. The rights of the pre-DLS settlers was a major political issue in the West in the late nineteenth century. The settlers claimed squatters' rights over the land they had already farmed, but the sizes and boundaries of these farms were poorly defined, leading to frequent disputes. As well the Métis in the Southbranch settlements of Saskatchewan were particularly concerned with their land rights given that they had not been well protected by

8211-477: The company's interests. But this view is not borne out by archival research. Examination of Assiniboia's juridical institutions in action reveals a history formed less through the imposition of authority from above than by obtaining support from below. Baker shows that the legal history of the Red River Colony – and, by extension, of the Canadian West in general – is based on English common law . Following

8330-403: The continent, but were determined using 19th-century technology. The only truly accurate benchmarks at that time were near the prime meridian in Europe. Benchmarks in other parts of the world had to be calculated or estimated by the positions of the sun and stars. Consequently, although they were remarkably accurate for the time, today they are known to be several hundred metres in error. Before

8449-466: The control of the fur trade culminating in the Battle of Seven Oaks of 1816, which led to an investigation by the House of Commons of the United Kingdom , and which in turn led to the Second Canada Jurisdiction Act of 1821, ordering the Hudson's Bay Company to establish justice of the peace courts in Rupert's Land. Instead of establishing courts, the company directed the governor and the council of Assiniboia to mediate disputes as they arose. In 1839,

8568-489: The deal that transferred Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company to Canada, the HBC retained five per cent of the "fertile belt" (south of the North Saskatchewan and Winnipeg rivers ). Therefore, Section 8 and three-quarters of Section 26 were assigned to the company. Additionally, the fourth quarter of Section 26 in townships whose numbers were divisible by five also belonged to the HBC in order to give

8687-477: The delegates Abbé Joseph-Noël Ritchot , Judge John Black and Alfred Henry Scott departed for Ottawa on March 23 and 24. Shortly afterward, Mair and Schultz arrived in Toronto , Ontario. Assisted by George Taylor Denison III , they immediately set about inflaming anti-Métis and anti-Catholic sentiment in the editorial pages of the Ontario press over the execution of Scott. However, Macdonald had decided before

8806-514: The expedition at Fort Garry marked the effective end of the Red River Rebellion. The Red River crisis was described as a rebellion only after sentiment grew in Ontario against the execution of Thomas Scott . The historian A. G. Morice suggests that the phrase Red River Rebellion owes its persistence to alliteration , a quality that made it attractive for publication in newspaper headlines. The episode has been described as

8925-488: The federal government that such surveys would precipitate unrest. Headed by Colonel John Stoughton Dennis , the survey party arrived at Fort Garry on August 20, 1869. The Métis were anxious about the survey since they did not possess clear title to their lands but held a tenuous right of occupancy . In addition, the lots had been laid out according to the French seigneurial colonial system , with long narrow lots fronting

9044-569: The forced merger of the North West Company with the HBC in 1821, British Parliament applied the laws of Upper Canada to Rupert's Land and the Columbia District and gave enforcement power to the HBC. The Hudson's Bay Company maintained peace in Rupert's Land for the benefit of the fur trade; the Plains Indians had achieved a rough balance of power among themselves; the organization of the Métis provided internal security and

9163-412: The formation of a new convention of 40 representatives, divided evenly between French- and English-speaking settlers, to consider Smith's instructions, which was accepted. A committee of six outlined a more comprehensive list of rights, which the convention accepted on February 3. After meetings on February 7 in which the new list of rights were presented to Thibault, Salaberry, and Smith, Smith proposed for

9282-544: The fort symbolized control of all access to the settlement and the Northwest. Residents of the Red River Colony disagreed on how to negotiate with Canada. In particular, the French- and English-speaking inhabitants did not agree on how to proceed. In a conciliatory gesture, Riel on November 6 asked the anglophones to select delegates from each of their parishes to attend a convention with the Métis representatives. After little

9401-541: The governor of Rupert's Land together with three of his councillors. There were only three cases before the 19th century with the one with the most detailed notes being the trial of one Thomas Butler in 1715 at the York Factory who was convicted of theft, slander and fornication with a native woman. In the early 19th century, the HBC had waged a violent struggle with the rival North West Company based in Montreal for

9520-525: The initial construction of schools. The rural school buildings were as often as not located on school sections; frequently, land trades were made between landowners and the school for practical reasons. The remaining quarter sections were available as homesteads under the provisions of the Dominion Lands Act , the federal government's plan for settling the North-West. A homesteader paid

9639-519: The land was officially transferred to Canada, McDougall had sent out surveyors to plot the land according to the square township system used in the Public Land Survey System . The Métis, led by Riel, prevented McDougall from entering the territory. McDougall declared that the Hudson's Bay Company was no longer in control of the territory and that Canada had asked for the transfer of sovereignty to be postponed. The Métis created

9758-510: The later Rupert's Land Act 1868, the Crown held the attitude that it already held sovereignty over the land from a people who only had a "...personal and usufructuary right, dependent upon the good will of the Sovereign...". The Calder v British Columbia (AG) case in 1973 was the first case in Canadian law that acknowledged "...a declaration that the aboriginal title, otherwise known as

9877-571: The limitations and conditions of the Rupert's Land documents and the treaties. Lastly, the Government of Canada compensated the Hudson's Bay Company £300,000 (£35,977,894 pound sterling in 2019 money, or $ 60,595,408 Canadian dollars) for the surrender of its charter on the terms set out in the order-in-council. The company retained its most successful trading posts and one-twentieth of the lands surveyed for immigration and settlement. The Hudson's Bay Company dominated trade in Rupert's Land during

9996-547: The list at the time, but once the list of rights was generally known, most anglophones accepted the majority of the demands as reasonable. Much of the settlement was moving toward the Métis point of view, but a passionately-pro-Canadian minority became more resistant. It was loosely organized as the Canadian Party and was led by Dr. John Christian Schultz and Charles Mair . Colonel Dennis and Major Charles Boulton also supported it. McDougall appointed Dennis to raise

10115-447: The men, and on February 17, Boulton, Scott, and 46 other men were captured near Fort Garry. On hearing the news, Schultz and Mair fled to Ontario. Riel demanded for an example to be made of Boulton. He was tried and sentenced to death for his interference with the provisional government. Intercessions on his behalf by Donald Smith and others resulted in his pardon but only after Riel had obtained assurances from Smith that he would persuade

10234-614: The north side of sections 7 to 12, 19 to 24 and 31 to 36. This results in a north–south road allowance every mile going west, and an east–west road allowance every two miles going north. This arrangement reduced land allocation for roads, but still provides road-access to every quarter-section. Road allowances are one of the differences between the Canadian DLS and the American Public Land Survey System , which leaves no extra space for roads. As part of

10353-456: The parallel 49...", and argued that the royal charter and various acts of Parliament granted them "...all the regions under British dominion watered by streams flowing into Hudson Bay...". Rupert's Land had been essentially a private continental estate covering 3.9 million km in the heart of North America that stretched from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains , and from the prairies to

10472-410: The people of Red River formed a provisional government that took control until arrangements could be negotiated by leaders of what is known as the Red River Rebellion and the newly formed government of Canada. As a result of the negotiations, Canada asserted control on 15 July 1870. The transaction was three-cornered. On 19 November 1869, the company surrendered its charter under its letters patent to

10591-406: The prairie areas of Rupert's Land, that huge portion of Canada controlled by the Hudson's Bay Company and inhabited by few Europeans. Early in the century, fur trade competition forced the company to expand into this interior region, and some officials saw advantages in allowing missionaries to accompany them. Officially they did not discriminate among denominations, but preference was often granted to

10710-456: The president, defying the authority of the provisional government, and fighting with his guards. He was sentenced to death although they were not then considered capital crimes . Smith and Boulton asked Riel to commute the sentence, but Smith reported that Riel responded to his pleas by saying, "I have done three good things since I have commenced; I have spared Boulton's life at your instance, I pardoned Gaddy, and now I shall shoot Scott." Scott

10829-488: The progress on the political front and the inclusion of anglophones within the provisional government, the Canadian contingent was not yet silenced. On January 9, many prisoners escaped from the prison at Fort Garry, including Charles Mair, Thomas Scott and ten others. John Schultz escaped on January 23. By February 15, Riel had freed the remaining prisoners on parole to refrain from engaging in political agitation. Schultz, Mair, and Scott intended to continue to work to depose

10948-468: The provisional government was established, Canada must negotiate with the Métis. Although the delegates were arrested after their arrival in Ottawa on April 11 on charges of abetting murder, they were quickly released. They soon entered into direct talks with Macdonald and George-Étienne Cartier , and Ritchot emerged as an effective negotiator. An agreement enshrining many of the demands in the list of rights

11067-669: The rival North West Company based in Montreal . There was strong business and political agitation in Upper Canada for annexing the territory; in London the company's trading license was due for review; in St. Paul there was a growing interest in the area as a field for U.S. expansion. The great commercial depression of 1857 dampened most of the outside interests in the territory, which itself remained comparatively prosperous. Before 1835,

11186-430: The river, rather than the square lots that were preferred by the English. The Métis considered the survey to be a forerunner of increased Canadian migration to the territory, which they perceived as a threat to their way of life. More specifically, they feared a possible confiscation of their farmland by the Canadian government. The Métis were also concerned that Canadian immigrants would not care for their culture and so

11305-522: The sake of convenience or for certain tasks. Urban developments superimpose new survey lots and plans over the older section and township grid also. Certain areas otherwise within the surveys' boundaries were not part of the survey grid, or not available for homesteading. These were Indian reserves , pre-existing "settlements" divided into " river lots " based on the French system used in Quebec, and lands around Hudson's Bay Company trading posts reserved for

11424-461: The southeast section (in contrast to the US which starts from the northeast), as follows (north at top): In turn, each section is divided into four quarter sections (square land parcels roughly 1 ⁄ 2  mi [800 m] on a side): southeast, southwest, northwest and northeast. This quarter-section description is primarily used by the agricultural industry. The full legal description of

11543-849: The survey system have to jog to the east or west. These east–west lines halfway between baselines are called "correction lines". Townships are designated by their "township number" and "range number". Township 1 is the first north of the First Baseline, and the numbers increase to the north. Range numbers recommence with Range 1 at each meridian and increase to the west (also east of First Meridian and Coast Meridian). On maps, township numbers are marked in Arabic numerals , but range numbers are often marked in Roman numerals ; however, in other contexts Arabic numerals are used for both. Individual townships are designated such as "Township 52, Range 25 west of

11662-412: The survey was even completed it was established that for the purposes of laws based on the survey, the results of the physical survey would take precedence over the theoretically correct position of the meridians. This precludes, for example, any basis for a boundary dispute between Alberta and Saskatchewan on account of surveying errors. The main east–west lines are the baselines . The First Baseline

11781-460: The territory by the United States. Against the backdrop of religious, nationalistic, and ethnic tensions, political uncertainty was high. To forestall US expansionism and to bring law and order to the wild, the British and Canadian governments had been for some time negotiating the transfer of Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company to Canada. The British Rupert's Land Act 1868 authorized

11900-481: The time away from civilization was longer, and the elements were unforgiving. A survey party generally consisted of up to 20 members, which would include a party chief, chain men, a cook, people to saw trees, a recorder, and people to turn angles. All travel was either on horseback or by foot. To begin surveying a party chief would have to buy approximately $ 400 worth of instruments. These instruments included an alidade , dumpy level , theodolite , Gunter's chain (which

12019-552: The trade, and among several influential families in Sault Ste. Marie in the early 19th century, the husbands were European. The Métis culture was based on the French language and Roman Catholic religion. In the late 18th century, English and Scottish men entered the fur trade and also married into the Ojibwe people and other First Nations in this region. Their mixed-race descendants generally spoke English and were sometimes known as

12138-568: The transfer. On December 1, 1869, Canada purchased the territory. In anticipation of the transfer, Public Works Minister William McDougall , who with George-Étienne Cartier had been instrumental in securing Rupert's Land for Canada, ordered a survey party to the Red River Colony. A Catholic bishop, Alexandre-Antonin Taché ; the Anglican bishop of Rupert's Land, Robert Machray ; and the HBC governor of Assiniboia , William Mactavish , all warned

12257-472: The troops could arrive in August 1870. Warned by many that the soldiers would harm him and denied amnesty for his political leadership of the rebellion, Riel fled to the United States . The arrival of troops marked the end of the incident. In 1885 Louis Riel would lead another rebellion, the North-West Rebellion , ending with his capture and execution. In the late 1860s, the Red River Colony of Rupert's Land

12376-400: Was Adam Thom , who held the post until 1854, although relieved of most of his duties by his deputy some years before. He was succeeded as President of the Court from 1862 to 1870 by John Black . Baker (1999) uses the Red River Colony, the only non-native settlement on the northwest prairies for most of the 19th century, as a site for critical exploration of the meaning of "law and order" on

12495-835: Was Alexandre-Antonin Taché , who both before and after his consecration as bishop worked as a missionary in Saint-Boniface , Île-à-la-Crosse , Fort Chipewyan , and Fort Smith . [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Morice, Adrian Gabriel (1912). " Alexandre-Antonin Taché ". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia . Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 57°00′N 92°18′W  /  57.000°N 92.300°W  / 57.000; -92.300 Red River Resistance Métis political victory Canadian military victory [REDACTED]   Canada The Red River Rebellion ( French : Rébellion de la rivière Rouge ), also known as

12614-444: Was accomplished at the first meeting, James Ross expressed displeasure at Riel's treatment of McDougall. Riel angrily denied that and stated that he had no intentions of invoking American interventions. Instead, throughout the entire resistance, he insisted that he and the Métis were loyal subjects of Queen Victoria . On November 16, the Council of Assiniboia made a final attempt to assert its authority when Governor Mactavish issued

12733-433: Was changing rapidly. It had developed under the aegis of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), which had a continent-wide trading and commercial network. It had been confirmed on the territory by Queen Anne , who had evicted King Louis XIV and his subjects from it by the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht . Further notice was given in 1763, when King George III dispossessed King Louis XV of nearly all his colonies of North America at

12852-562: Was developed because the farm name and field position descriptions used in northern Europe were not organized or flexible enough, and the township and concession system used in eastern Canada was not satisfactory. The first meridian was chosen at 97°27′28.4″ west longitude and was established in 1869. Another six meridians were established after. A number of places are excluded from the survey system: these include federal lands such as First Nation reserves, federal parks, and air weapon ranges. The surveys do not encroach on reserves because that land

12971-492: Was divided into five basic surveys. Each survey's layout was slightly different from the others. The first survey began in 1871 and ended in 1879 and covers some of southern Manitoba and a little of Saskatchewan. The second and smallest survey, in 1880, was used in only small areas of Saskatchewan. This system differs from the first survey because rather than running section lines parallel to the eastern boundary they run true north–south. The largest and most important of these surveys

13090-561: Was established before the surveys began. When the Hudson's Bay Company relinquished its title to the Dominion on July 15, 1870, via the Deed of Surrender , it received Section 8 and all of Section 26 excluding the northeast quarter. These lands were gradually sold by the company and in 1984 they donated the remaining 5,100 acres (21 km) to the Saskatchewan Wildlife Association . The surveying of western Canada

13209-473: Was executed by a firing squad on March 4, 1870. Historians have debated Riel's motivations for allowing the execution, as they have considered it his one great political blunder. His own justification was that he felt it necessary to demonstrate to the Canadians that the Métis must be taken seriously. Upon receiving news of the unrest, Bishop Taché was recalled from Rome. He arrived back in the colony on March 8, and he conveyed to Riel his mistaken impression that

13328-523: Was granted to Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), based at York Factory , effectively giving that company a commercial monopoly over the area. The territory operated for 200 years from 1670 to 1870. Its namesake was Prince Rupert of the Rhine , who was a nephew of King Charles I and the first governor of HBC. In December 1821, the HBC monopoly was extended from Rupert's Land to the Pacific coast. The areas formerly belonging to Rupert's Land lie mostly within what

13447-485: Was led by Riel, and the other was led by a Métis named William Dease, who expressed Métis values in his opposition. For a long time they were locked in a power struggle on a symbolic level, both sides offering different perspectives on Métis unity. Riel finally defeated Dease for the leadership of the resistance and consolidated his support system within the French Métis community. He then felt strong enough to initiate

13566-524: Was measured using either a chain or more recently a transit or range finder. To turn angles, a theodolite was used. To find their location, they used astronomical observations, and to find elevation, levels and barometers were used. To see over long distances, towers were constructed from timber in flat and wooded areas. The most important north–south lines of the survey are the meridians : The meridians were determined by painstaking survey observations and measurements, and in reference to other benchmarks on

13685-571: Was not politically expedient. The delegates returned to Manitoba with only a promise of a forthcoming amnesty. A military expedition had in any case been decided on as a means of exercising Canadian authority in the Red River settlement and dissuading the Minnesota expansionists. It embarked in May under Colonel Garnet Wolseley and made its way up the Great Lakes . Ontarians especially believed

13804-557: Was replaced by a steel tape), and a solar compass or a vernier compass. The Dominion Land Survey system was proposed in 1869 by John Stoughton Dennis . The initial plan, though based on the square townships of the American Public Lands Survey System , involved 9-mile townships divided into sixty-four 800-acre sections consisting of four 200-acre lots each. Work to establish the first meridian and few township outlines began and quickly ended in 1869 when

13923-480: Was soon reached. That formed the basis for the Manitoba Act of May 12, 1870, which admitted Manitoba to the Canadian Confederation on July 15. The government had to deal with several issues before peace could be made. Fortunately for the government, an agreement was reached. With the creation of Manitoba, the Canadian government would gain control over a new area and not have to worry about

14042-560: Was the third, which covers more land than all the others surveys put together. This survey began in 1881. That method of surveying is still used in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The fourth and fifth surveys were used only in some townships in British Columbia. The reason that the Canadian government was pushing to subdivide Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta was to affirm Canadian sovereignty over these lands. The United States

14161-532: Was undergoing rapid expansion in the 1860s, and the Canadian government was afraid that the Americans would expand into Canadian territory. Canada's introduction of a railway and surveying was a means to discourage American encroachment. Sir John A. Macdonald remarked in 1870 that the Americans "are resolved to do all they can short of war, to get possession of our western territory, and we must take immediate and vigorous steps to counteract them." The beginning of

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