What is new is the realization that Riel also made money by buying and selling land in Manitoba. Macdonald in 1872 to leave the country gifts and loans from relatives, friends, and sympathizers and collections from public meetings.Īll this is well known. He also received money from various sources: $1000 from John A. Joseph, Dakota and Charles Nolin and Moise Ouellette in Batoche. Apart from these episodes, he often stayed for long periods with relatives and friends, such as his uncle John Lee in Montreal Father Fabien Barnabe in Keeseville, New York Edmond Mallet in Washington, DC Normand Gingras in St. There were times when he was maintained by institutions, as when he was an inmate of insane asylums or was imprisoned. Other than in these periods, he did not work for wages or salary, so how did he support himself and his family? Paul, Minnesota, during the years 1866-1868 he was a petty trader in Montana, following the last buffalo herds, in 1879-1883 and he taught school at the Sun River Jesuit Mission in 1883-1884. Riel read law briefly with Rodolphe Laflamme in Montreal in the spring of 1866 he worked, perhaps in a store, in St. Even politicians, prophets, and poets have to eat and put bread on the table for their families. One question about Riel’s life that remains unexplored is how he made a living. So much research has been done about Riel that historians now find it necessary to indulge in that navel-gazing exercise known as “the review of the literature.” Indeed, all of Riel’s writings have now been published, and the centennial observance of 1985 brought a spate of books on the North-West Rebellion. Gilles Martel and Thomas Flanagan have illuminated Riel’s interpretation of himself as a divinely inspired prophet and the same authors, together, with Glen Campbell, have made Riel’s poetry accessible. Is there anything left to be said about Louis Riel? George Stanley’s political biography still stands up well after almost thirty years. As an historical document, the article may contain language and views that are no longer in common use and may be culturally sensitive in nature. We make this online version available as a free, public service. This article was published originally in Manitoba History by the Manitoba Historical Society on the above date.

Manitoba History: Louis Riel’s Land Claims

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