Frog Lake Trial
Rouleau, in his capacity of Stipendiary Magistrate, tried the case of Wandering Spirit, (Kapapamahchakwew) a Plains Cree war chief for his role in the Frog Lake Massacre. None of the accused natives were allowed legal council, and Rouleau sentenced them all to death by hanging. When the case was reviewed by Minister of Justice John Sparrow David Thompson, no mitigating circumstances were taken into account, and in retrospect, justice seems to be have been arbitrarily dispensed. In total, eight natives, including Wandering Spirit were hanged for their part in the Frog Lake affair.
Read more about this topic: Charles Rouleau
Famous quotes containing the words frog, lake and/or trial:
“What a wonderful bird the frog are—
When he stand he sit almost;
When he hop, he fly almost.
He ain’t got no sense hardly;
He ain’t got no tail hardly either.
When he sit, he sit on what he ain’t got almost.”
—Unknown. The Frog (l. 1–6)
“This is my lake country.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Looks like we got a trial ahead of us. But it’s not the first time. We’ve had to go it alone before, and we’ll have to go it alone again. We’re tough. We’ve had to be tough ever since Brother Brigham led our people across the plain. Well, they survived and I dang it, we’ll, well, we’ll survive too. Now put out your fires and get to your wagons.”
—Frank S. Nugent (1908–1965)