Canadian Resistance and The Execution of Scott
Despite 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 freed the remaining prisoners on parole to refrain from engaging in political agitation. Schultz, Mair, and Scott intended to continue to work to depose the Métis from power.
Mair and Thomas proceeded to the Canadian settlements surrounding Portage la Prairie, where they met Boulton, while 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 the men, and on February 17, Boulton, Scott and 46 other men were captured near Fort Garry. On hearing this news, Schultz and Mair fled to Ontario.
Riel demanded that an example 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 obtained assurances from Smith that he would persuade 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 repeatedly quarrelled with his guards, they insisted that he be tried for insubordination. At his trial, which was overseen by Ambroise-Dydime Lépine, he was found guilty of insulting the president, defying the authority of the provisional government, and fighting with his guards. He was sentenced to death despite the fact that these were not considered capital crimes at the time. 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 was executed by a firing squad on March 4, 1870. Historians have debated Riel's motivations for allowing the execution, as they consider 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.
Read more about this topic: Red River Rebellion
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