Riel, Louis: Hanging

Nov 16, 1885. Born at St. Boniface, MB, Canada, Oct 23, 1844, Louis Riel, leader of the Metis (French/Indian mixed ancestry), was elected to Canada’s House of Commons in 1873 and 1874 but never seated. Having been confined to asylums for madness (feigned or falsely charged, some said), Riel became a US citizen in 1883. In 1885 he returned to western Canada to lead the North West Rebellion. Defeated, he surrendered and was tried for treason, convicted and hanged, at Regina, Canada. Seen as a patriot and protector of French culture in Canada, Riel became a legend and a symbol of the problems between French and English Canadians.

See more events for Nov 16, 2011.