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1812- Founding of the Selkirk Settlement in the Red River Valley
The Red River Colony (or Selkirk Settlement) was a colonization project set up in 1811 by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk on 300,000 square kilometres (120,000 sq mi) of land. This land was granted to him by the Hudson's Bay Company, which is referred to as the Selkirk Concession. The establishment of Canada in the late 19th century led to the creation of what is today Manitoba, although much of its original territory is now part of the United States. -
1812-14 War of 1812 between England and the United States
The War of 1812 was a military conflict that lasted from June 18, 1812 to February 18, 1815, fought between the United States of America and the United Kingdom, its North American colonies, and its North American Indian allies. -
1814- Macdonell feared he wouldn't have enough food for the winter, so he issued the Pemmican Proclamation. It effectively banned the sale and export of pemmican from the Red River.
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1816- Métis led by Cuthbert Grant raided HBC boats on the Assiniboine, they were raiding for Pemmican
He was recognized as a leader of the Métis people, and became involved in the bitter struggle between the Nor'westers and the Hudson's Bay Company stemming from the Pemmican Proclamation, which forbade anyone from exporting pemmican from the Red River Colony. -
1820- George Simpson was named the new head of the Hudson's Bay Company. He was a Scottish sugar broker with no knowledge of furs, but the company thrived under his strict rule
George Woodside Simpson was a farmer and political figure on Prince Edward Island. He represented 1st Queens in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island from 1901 to 1906 as a Liberal. -
1821- Hudson's Bay Company and North West Company merge to form the HBC
Its first century of operation found Hbc firmly ensconced in a few forts and posts around the shores of James and Hudson Bays. Natives brought furs annually to these locations to barter for manufactured goods such as knives, kettles, beads, needles, and blankets. By the late 18th c. competition forced Hbc to expand into the interior. In 1821 Hbc merged with the North West Company based in Montreal. The resulting commercial enterprise now spanned the continent. -
1833- Slavery abolished throughout the British Empire.
The Slavery Abollition Act was an 1833 Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom abolishing slavery throughout the British Empire (with the exceptions "of the Territories in the Possession of the East India Company", the "Island of Ceylon" and "the Island of Saint Helena"; the exceptions were eliminated in 1843. -
1840- S.F.B. Morse invents the telegraph.
In the 1830s, the British team of Cooke and Wheatstone developed a telegraph system with five magnetic needles that could be pointed around a panel of letters and numbers by using an electric current. Their system was soon being used for railroad signaling in Britain. During this time period, the Massachusetts-born, Yale-educated Morse (who began his career as a painter), worked to develop an electric telegraph of his own. -
1848- Queen's College (for women) founded in London
Queen's College is an independent school for girls aged 11–18 in the City of Westminster, London. Founded in 1848 by theologian and social reformer Frederick Maurice, Professor of English Literature and History at King's College London, along with a committee of patrons, the College was the first institution in the world to award academic qualifications to women. In 1853, it also became the first girls' school to be granted a Royal Charter for the furtherance of women's education. -
1860- Many Canadians were looking for new areas to settle and farm. Also, more crop failures contribute to unease in Red River Valley.
The areas of Canadian land were starting to become crowded and the government was stealing land from the Metis peoples. The Canadians were forced to relocate and attempt to make a new life for themselves. Crop failures were also a large concern to the people of the Red River Colony. -
1861-5 American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought from 1861 to 1865, to determine the survival of the United States of America as it defeated the bid for independence by the breakaway Confederate States of America. -
1869- After the HBC sold Rupert's Land, Louis Riel organized the angry Métis, together they wrote the Métis List of Rights. These outlined what the rebellious Métis wanted both for themselves and for the Red River Colony.
The Rebellion was the first crisis the new federal government faced following Canadian Confederation in 1867. The Canadian government had bought Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company in 1869 and appointed an English-speaking governor, William McDougall. He was opposed by the French-speaking, mostly Métis inhabitants of the settlement. Before the land was officially transferred to Canada, McDougall sent out surveyors to plot the land according to the square township system used in Ontario. -
1870- The execution of Thomas Scott by Louis Riel. Scott was later viewed as a martyr by the Orange Order. Meanwhile, Manitoba enters Confederation.
Thomas Scott was shot three times before he actually died. He was shot in his left shoulder, his upper chest, and his cheek. He was then left in a makeshift coffin until he died of his injuries. The firing squad was said to be made up of six, intoxicated men. Several other men were also sentenced to death but none of the others were carried through. -
1873- Population of the United Kingdom at 26 million (France 36 million)
The United Kingdomis the third-largest in the European Union (behind Germany and France) and the 22nd-largest in the world. Its overall population density is one of the highest in the world at 259 people per square kilometre. Almost one-third of the population lives in England's southeast, which is predominantly urban and suburban, with about 8 million in the capital city of London, the population density of which is just over 5,200 per square kilometre. -
24 March 1884- South Branch Métis hold a meeting in Batoche to discuss grievances. The thirty representatives vote to invite Louis Riel back to act as political advisor and leader.
Formal action began 24 March 1884, when the South Branch Métis held a meeting in Batoche to discuss grievances. The thirty representatives voted to invite Louis Riel back to act as political advisor and leader. On 6 May 1884, at a joint meeting, the South Branch Métis and English half-breeds passed several resolutions specifying grievances and adopted a motion to seek Louis Riel's assistance. -
5 March 1885 Louis Riel and a group of prominent Métis hold a secret meeting. They sign an oath to "save our country from a wicked government by taking up arms if necessary."
On March 5, 1885, Riel met with 10 other Métis and swore an oath to: “Save our country from a wicked government by taking up arms, if necessary.” It all went downhill from here. It all seemed to boil to a head at a place called Duck Lake. Here some of Riel’s compatriots had a confrontation with the local constabulary.A number of police were killed and captured.On March 29,the Stoney Indians shot and killed a government teacher who refused to give them food for their starving tribe. -
2 April 1885- The Frog Lake Massacre. Members of Mistahimaskwa's Cree Nation led by Ayimisis and Kapapamahchakwew (Wandering Spirit) kill Indian Agent Quinn and eight other whites.
Angered by treaties they perceived as unfair and the dwindling bison population, Big Bear and his Cree decided to rebel after the successful Métis victory at Duck Lake. Thomas Quinn, the town's Indian Agent, was killed after a disagreement broke out.
The rebellion was eventually put down. For his involvement in the Frog Lake Massacre, Wandering Spirit was hanged. He sang a love song to his wife before he was hanged. -
20 July - 1 August 1885 Riel is tried and found guilty of treason. Judge Hugh Richardson sentences Riel to hang 18 September.
He was born in London, England in 1826 and came to York (later Toronto) with his family in 1831. He studied at Osgoode Hall, was called to the bar in 1847 and set up practice in Woodstock. He was crown attorney for Oxford County from 1856 to 1862. He helped organize the local militia battalion, later becoming commander, and served at La Prairie, Canada East in 1865 with Colonel Garnet Joseph Wolseley and at Sarnia during the Fenian raids. -
5 August 1885 Sir John A. MacDonald requests that murder charges be laid against the Indians involved at Frog Lake and in the killing of Payne.
Sir John Alexander Macdonald was the first Prime Minister of Canada. The figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career which spanned almost half a century. He drank heavily, and in 1873 was voted out during the Pacific Scandal. Macdonald's greatest achievements were building a successful national government for the new Dominion, forging a strong Conservative Party, promoting the protective tariff of the National Policy, and building the transcontinental Canadian Pacific Railway -
16 November 1885- Riel is hanged Regina
Boulton writes in his memoirs that as the date of his execution approached, Riel regretted his opposition to the defence of insanity. Requests for a retrial in Britain were denied. Macdonald, who was instrumental in upholding Riel's sentence, is famously quoted as saying: "He shall die though every dog in Quebec bark in his favour". Before his execution, Riel was reconciled with the Church. He was given writing materials so that he could employ his time in prison to write a book. -
27 November 1885 Kapapamahchakwew and seven other Indians are hanged at Battleford.
Cree war chief, born in 1845 in Saskatchewan; hanged November 27, 1885 at Battleford, Saskatchewan. Wandering Spirit was the war chief of Big Bear's Tansi's Cree band, starving after the disappearance of the buffalo; 1885 April 2 encouraged by the Metis victory at Duck Lake, he led a war party of seven to the village of Frog Lake; against Big Bear's opposition, he took Indian Agent Thomas Quinn. -
1876- Edison invents the phonograph
Thomas Edison created many inventions, but his favorite was the phonograph. While working on improvements to the telegraph and the telephone, Edison figured out a way to record sound on tinfoil-coated cylinders. In 1877, he created a machine with two needles: one for recording and one for playback.
