Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont (12 page)

Gabriel hears word on Tuesday morning that Louis, holding the same cross he carried at Duck Lake, announced something odd to the congregation gathered in a grove by the river just as dawn broke: that if the skies today are clear, the Métis will be successful and will be saved. But Louis’s vision also revealed that if clouds cover the sun, the Métis will be doomed. Gabriel peers up from his foxhole and sunlight blinds him, falling warmly on his shoulders.
Louis, you are an odd man, but a holy one. What other choice do I now have but to believe your strange words?

General Middleton’s officers have finally convinced him that the last days’ lack of success means a new strategy needs to be tried. Middleton’s fear of an all-out attack is that his men will be slaughtered and he will in turn lose all credibility as a commander. He thinks he’s found a middle ground that will ensure success. Again, it is a two-pronged attack, this time strictly by land. One of his officers, Lieutenant-Colonel Van Straubenzie, will command a central force, the majority of the nine hundred soldiers now gathered at Batoche. Middleton will take a hundred and fifty men, a cannon, and the Gatling gun and ride in a wide sweep around Gabriel’s northeast flank. The hope is that Middleton’s ride will serve as a diversion and Gabriel will send most of his forces to protect against it. That is when Middleton will fire a large volley as a signal to Van Straubenzie, who will then charge in with his much greater force and rout the Métis once and for all.

To what appears to be Middleton’s great surprise, everything goes as planned. He sees Gabriel rushing his men to Middleton’s flank. Gabriel has been waiting for this action for days, it turns out. Knowing that Middleton’s numbers were so much greater than his own, Gabriel’s been confused as to why a sweeping action such as this didn’t happen earlier. His northeast side has been the weakest all along. Gabriel’s been fooled by Middleton for the first time, believing the general to be in control of the majority of his forces, and now Gabriel leaves his midsection perilously unguarded. Middleton excitedly commands his soldiers to fire their signal shots to Van Straubenzie, but the wind has picked up so strongly that Van Straubenzie doesn’t hear the volley. Believing that Middleton has failed, Van Straubenzie sits patiently with his force, leaving Middleton confused and, eventually, in a great rage. Disgusted at his main force’s lack of a response, Middleton rides off dejectedly to lunch. He feels a fool, and for good reason. A perfect opportunity has been lost.

While Middleton grumpily eats his lunch in the protection of the stockade, one of his officers, Lieutenant-Colonel Williams of the Midland Battalion of Port Hope, Ontario, sickened with frustration at the lack of proper generalship and recognizing the Métis’ weakened position, commands his battalion to charge straight down the middle. His men rise up as one, and with a great shout, charge the Métis rifle pits, many of them empty or manned by old men firing nails from shotguns. Within a half hour Williams has the Métis in full retreat, the sunshine of the day gone now and a light rain falling, the darkness Louis had spoken of this morning that signals the destruction of his people.

Gabriel falls back to the river, and with the water at his back and a small group of maybe eight men, he holds off a force of dozens of Canadians for nearly a half hour. But eventually he, too, must flee. There’s no soldier alive who can find him once he decides to go into hiding in the surrounding countryside. Gabriel knows this much is true. But it gives him little comfort now that he sees defeat, and Louis’s miracle, so far, hasn’t arrived. Gabriel knows, deep inside, that it never will. Some of his braver men retreat to the town and hide in what buildings remain, fighting off the Canadians as long as they can before they are either killed, flee, or are roughly captured.

And so this is how the Battle of Batoche, the last stand of the Métis, ends—not with a bang but a whimper. Old man Joseph Oullette, aged ninety-three years, is one of the last Métis to die, bayoneted to death by an overzealous young Canadian soldier as he lies defenceless in his rifle pit. Another Métis, this one a ten-year-old girl named Marcile Gratton, is killed by a stray Canadian bullet while trying to find her mother. The Métis that Gabriel had ordered to protect the northeast flank disappear into the woods, and few prisoners are taken this last afternoon. The women and children cowering in caves in the riverbank hear word of the collapse of Métis resistance, but it will take another day or two of near starvation and near freezing to death at night before they begin to trickle out and surrender to the Canadians. They throw themselves upon the mercy of Middleton and the others.

With little organization, the Métis defenders melt into the surrounding plains and woods by the river, confused now as to what they should do. They, too, begin to surrender in dribs and drabs, unsure whether they will be executed on sight. But Gabriel knows this much: he will never surrender to Middleton, and he will never be captured, either. He spends the next three days brazenly riding and sneaking through the adjacent prairies, ravines, and coulees, searching for his dear friend Louis. Gabriel knows he has fled as well and hides somewhere nearby, praying and asking God’s mercy for his people at the hands of the victorious Canadians.

Gabriel never finds Louis, but he does find Louis’s wife, Marguerite, and their two children. Like the other women and children, they are starving and cold, and so Gabriel spirits them to his father’s house. There, his father instructs Gabriel that he must leave: the angry Canadians will surely kill him if they find him. At first Gabriel refuses to listen to this talk; he can still serve a purpose by helping to feed and hide the Métis who won’t surrender. But even Gabriel’s beloved Madeleine urges him to flee, and he begins to realize he has no other option. Finally he agrees, and begins the long journey to the only safe place he can think of: the wild country of Montana in the United States. Gabriel lights out with his old friend, Michel Dumas, but even as they leave Batoche he is planning to raise a small force of Métis to perform a daring rescue of Louis, who surely must soon surrender.

In all, about twenty-five souls lose their lives in the Battle of Batoche—not many at all by the horrific standards that would be set in the First World War a few decades hence, but plenty for a battle that should not have happened. The Métis resistance has been crushed. Homes are wrecked or burned down, the people hide in the woods like animals or give themselves up to the Canadian army, and Gabriel’s dream of a secure and prosperous homeland vanishes with him into the wilderness. What of Louis
?
Gabriel wonders as he rides away. What has happened to the prophet of the New World?

CHAPTER TEN

Wilderness

On the afternoon that Batoche falls and the Métis are scattered, Louis is once more cast into the wilderness. But the pain of this particular suffering is so acute that he wonders if death isn’t the only option now. It would be simple enough to die. As simple as walking out of the poplar by the river where he hides on this day that he has lost everything, as simple as showing his bearded face to the first Canadian soldier he sees. Surely there’ll be no mercy for him.

A few hours ago Louis watched in horror as the sun disappeared behind dark clouds while afternoon came. God spoke his decision. The Métis will perish at His hand now. They are being crushed. Louis must question if he has gone too far this time. Has he angered God by being so bold as to speak out loud that Rome has fallen and the new Rome will rise right here in the Canadian prairies? Has he gone too far in denouncing the inaction of the priests when it came to the sacred rights of the Métis? Has he gone too far in allowing himself to be called a prophet, the prophet of the New World? Louis still has the letter from Bishop Bourget telling him that he is meant for important things. But it strikes him now as he listens to the last of the Métis skirmishing in town with the redcoats—the women and children wailing in their holes in the riverbank, the dying half-breeds crying out for water in their foxholes—that maybe he was meant to lead his people to destruction, not salvation.

The darkest night of his life begins as the rifle fire from town peters out and the crying of women and children turns into moans. Louis kneels and prays, begs God to show him some sign. But on this first night, nothing comes. Only the sounds of men whispering as they quietly slip through the woods and the shouts of victorious Canadians up in town.

The next day the Canadian patrols swarm over the land, and many Métis fighters realize that it might be best to surrender and throw themselves on the mercy of Middleton. Word begins trickling out that the general is confiscating all weapons. With most farms in shambles the men need their guns to hunt for food, but this clearly will no longer be an option. What other choice is there but to surrender? Food supplies are gone and the women and children are hungry. The trickle turns into a steady stream of wretched halfbreeds holding white handkerchiefs and giving themselves up to redcoat patrols.

Moïse Ouellette, the son of the ancient Joseph who was bayonetted mercilessly the day before, delivers a letter from Middleton to Louis. Middleton states that Louis will receive safe passage to the Canadian camp, where he will be offered protection until John A. decides what to do with him.

Louis answers that he needs more time to reflect, pray, and write before he will turn himself in. He retreats to his hideout and asks God once again to light a path for him. He’s heard that Gabriel is searching for him. One option is for the two of them to slip through the Canadian lines and make a run back to Montana. But can Louis do this? How can he abandon his people and, like a coward, slip away into the night? Louis doesn’t hold it against Gabriel if this is what he must do. Just today word came that Gabriel had killed a couple more Canadian soldiers while collecting blankets and provisions for his people. Gabriel literally has blood on his hands, and so he must flee or be killed.

And then the answer strikes Louis like a lightning bolt. Yes! Suddenly he knows exactly what he must do! God has finally spoken, and as always, God’s word is exact. Louis will turn himself in to Middleton. He will tell Middleton that now that the leader of the rebellion has been captured, he must offer leniency to all Métis in the country. The pressure will be taken off his people in the short term.

But what about the long term? What can be salvaged? God proves his greatness once more when Louis is struck a second time by a lightning bolt. Surely he will be taken to trial for what the Canadians call a crime. And won’t a trial attract huge attention? Louis can imagine that a trial for treason will garner not just national but international attention. A phoenix can rise from the ashes of Batoche. It can. Louis will make sure that he’s given a platform from which he can espouse the simple, just, and fair requests of the Métis. Louis will turn himself in and use the trial that follows to continue pursuing the dream of a Métis homeland in the vast Canadian wilderness.

On the afternoon of May 15, just three days after the fall of Batoche, with his dear Marguerite and children cared for by friends, Louis walks out of the bush and along a path near Guardepuis Crossing. He’s tied a white handkerchief on one sleeve and holds the letter from General Middleton in his hand. It doesn’t take long for a small patrol to see him and order him to halt. When they ask him who he is and he answers “Louis ‘David’ Riel,” they can’t believe their luck. Surely there will be a bonus for finding the leader of the rebellion! They happily take him into custody and hurry him to General Middleton’s camp.

Despite the attempt to bring Louis into the camp secretly, word spreads fast that the leader of the rebellion has finally surrendered. Louis sits in General Middleton’s tent and swarms of officers and reporters arrive to get a glimpse. Louis still fears for his safety, especially at the hands of the soldiers in the camp, but Middleton once again promises that he won’t be harmed. The two chat for a long while, and Middleton asks Louis how he possibly imagined he might defeat such a large force of soldiers. Louis responds that the hope was never to win so much as to hold them off until the Dominion understood it needed to deal with Métis concerns directly and through negotiation.

Middleton orders a tent pitched for Louis beside his own, and for the next number of days, while they await word of where Louis will be taken, they speak of many things. Often they double back to the battle and the wish of both men that it could have been avoided.

Within a couple of days Middleton is instructed to bring Louis to Regina, where he is to stand trial. On the day before he is to leave, a military photographer captures a haunting image of Louis. The photo shows him in silhouette, standing in front of a tent, wearing a Stetson and the heavy wool pants of his people. Louis’s beard is full and unkempt, as if he has given up grooming. His posture, not quite straight, suggests his weariness. He still wears the white armband of surrender on his left arm, and the soldiers behind him can’t help but stare. The prophet of the New World, to one who might not recognize him, looks like any hard-working and hard-living member of the Métis community of Batoche. But this man who stands here in front of a military tent, he is not from here, and this place is no longer his home. Once more, Louis has been cast into the wilderness.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Crossing

For eleven days Gabriel and his friend Michel Dumas ride through the Canadian wilderness of Saskatchewan, south to the freedom of Montana. What would normally be a threehundred-mile journey doubles in length as the two men are forced to avoid the obvious trails that now swarm with Canadian soldiers and scouts, all of them looking for the master of the prairies. Gabriel knows the first long section of his ride from childhood memory, but as he approaches Montana, he must recall the trip he made less than a year ago, when he first went down to ask Louis to come back to Batoche with him.

Does Gabriel regret bringing Louis to Saskatchewan? Does he regret not fighting harder with the prophet about waging a guerrilla war? It isn’t in Gabriel’s makeup to regret. That which has happened has already happened, and nothing he does can possibly change it. Long before he brought Louis back from exile, the Métis were heading for a battle with the federal government. Maybe Louis served to speed up the process. But it would have come, regardless. What Gabriel does still have control over is what he can do in the next weeks, the next months. He will attempt to rally any Métis and Indians he can find who are willing to join him, and he will make a daring rescue of Louis. The battle for a Métis homeland is not over. It will never be over as long as Métis live in the North-West.