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The Red River Settlement was centred on Fort Garry, now modern Winnipeg, which was then owned by the Hudson's Bay Company. The Canadian government bought the area from the Company in 1869 and appointed an English-speaking governor, William McDougall, who was opposed by the French-speaking MétisThe Metis (pronounced "MAY tee", SAMPA: ["meti], in French: [me"tis] or, [mE"tIs]) are an ethnic group of the Canadian prairies and Ontario. This community of descent consists of individuals descended from marriages of Cree, Ojibway and Saulteaux women to inhabitants of the settlement. McDougall sent out surveyors before the land was officially transferred to Canada, and had them arrange the land according to the square townshipThe term township generally means the district or area associated with a town. However in some systems, especially in the U. no town need be involved, and indeed in the Scottish Highlands the term describes a very small agricultural community. Specific us system used in Ontario. The Métis, however, had already arranged their land according to the seigneurial systemThe seigneurial system was the semi- feudal system of noble privilege in France and its colonies. This article currently focuses on the seigneurial system as it applied to dividing land in New France. The seigneurial system was introduced to New France in of their French ancestors that was also used in QuebecQuebec ( In Detail) ( In Detail) National Motto: Je me souviens (I remember CapitalLargest city Quebec City Montreal Area Total % fresh water 2nd largest(1st lgst prov. 1 542 056 km² 11,5% Population Total (2004) Density Ranked 2nd 7 509 928 5,43/km² Admi. In many cases, government surveyors attempted to lay out survey markers arbitrarily across existing farms and properties. Property maps of Manitoba to this day show the two-mile long seigneurial lots perpendicular to rivers, surrounded by the square townships lots of the Dominion Land SurveyThe Dominion Land Survey is the method used to divide most of western Canada into one-square- mile sections for agricultural and other purposes. It is based on the Public Land Survey System used in the United States, but has several differences. The DLS i.

The Métis, led by Riel, created a provisional government and renamed the territory AssiniboiaAssiniboia was the name of the proposed Metis province in Canada, notably during the Red River Rebellion. Assiniboia was to have stretched from near the Red River to the Rocky Mountains. This was unacceptable to the eastern Canadians, who were seeking to. Riel attempted to negotiate directly with the Canadian government to establish Assiniboia as a province, and prevented McDougall from entering the territory. Meanwhile, Riel's men arrested a prominent Orangeman named Thomas Scott, one of the English Canadians who had been held prisoner in the Fort but had escaped. Scott was put on trial and executed by firing squadExecution by firing squad is a method of capital punishment, especially in times of war. A firing squad is a group of people (usually soldiers) who are ordered to shoot at the condemned person simultaneously. No single member of the firing squad can save for offences usually considered non-capital at the time – fighting with his guards, defying the authority of the provisional government, and insulting Riel. Typically Riel would commute capital sentences, but in this case he worried about alienating his supporters in the uprising.

Canada and the provisional government soon negotiated an agreement. In 1870, the Manitoba Act was passed, allowing the Red River settlement to enter Confederation as the province of Manitoba. The Act also incorporated some of Riel's demands, such as separate French schools for Metis children and protection of Catholicism.

After the agreement was settled, Canada sent a military expedition consisting of Canadian militia and British regular soldiers led by Colonel Garnet Wolseley to Manitoba to enforce federal authority. As the expedition headed west, outrage grew in Ontario over Scott's execution, and many Ontarians demanded that Wolseley's expedition be used to arrest Riel and suppress what they considered to be rebellion. Riel fled before the expedition reached Fort Garry.

In 1875, Riel was formally exiled from Canada for five years, but under pressure from Quebec the government of Sir John A. Macdonald took no more vigorous action. Riel was elected to the Canadian parliament three times while in exile, but never took his seat. He returned to Canada in 1885 to lead the North-West Rebellion or North-West Resistance.

See also: History of Canada, Military history of Canada