Battle of Duck Lake
Duck Lake, Battle of
On 26 March 1885, the NORTH-WEST REBELLION began west of the settlement of Duck Lake on the old Carlton Trail, north of modern Rosthern, Sask. Duck Lake was at the junction of the Carlton and Prince Albert trails, midway between Métis headquarters at BATOCHE and the North-West Mounted Police at Fort Carlton.
The battle began at about noon when a Cree emissary and a police interpreter scuffled during a parley. The police and volunteers retreated about half an hour later. Twelve of their force of 100 were killed. Six of the slightly larger rebel force died. Métis military commander Gabriel DUMONT was wounded; his brother, Isidore, was the first to die. A cairn now marks the eastern edge of the battlefield on Highway 212.
Gabriel Dumont, resistance fighter
Gabriel Dumont was a man of great chivalry and military skill, superbly adapted to the presettlement prairie life (courtesy Glenbow Archives).
Author BOB BEAL
Links to Other Sites
Edgar Dewdney
An extensive biography of Edgar Dewdney, civil engineer, contractor, politician, office holder, and lieutenant governor. Provides details about his involvement with Indian and Métis communities in the North-West Territories, the settlement of the West, the construction of the transcontinental railway, and related events. From the “Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.”
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