Settlements in the West

When the new government of colonized Canada seized control of the vast northwest regions from Hudson's Bay Company -- the existing occupiers -- in 1869, some 12,000 Métis of the Red River area were not consulted.

In response, Louis Riel led an armed uprising and seized Fort Garry, the territorial capital.

Soldiers were sent from Ottawa to retake Fort Garry in 1870. Riel fled to the United States, and Canada established a new province, Manitoba. Riel was elected to Parliament but never took his seat.

Later, as aboriginal rights were again threatened by westward colonizing settlements, a second rebellion in 1885 in present-day Saskatchewan led to Riel's trial and execution for high treason, a decision that was strongly opposed in Quebec.

Riel is seen by many as a hero, a defender of Métis rights and the father of Manitoba.

After the first Métis uprising, Canada's controversial 1st Prime Minister John Macdonald established the North West Mounted Police in 1873 to crush the Indians.

The NWMP founded Fort Calgary, Fort MacLeod and other centres that today are cities and towns.

Regina became its headquarters. Today, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP or "the Mounties") are the national police force.