A military expedition had in any case been decided on as a means of exercising Canadian authority in the Red River settlement and dissuading the Minnesota expansionists: in May it embarked, under Colonel Garnet Wolseley, and made its way up the Great Lakes.
Ontarians especially believed the Wolseley Expedition was intended to suppress the rebellion, although the government described it as an "errand of peace".
Knowing he would be arrested and charged with criminal acts, and believing that members of the Canadian militia in the expedition meant to lynch him, Riel and his followers fled hurriedly when the troops arrived unexpectedly at Fort Garry on August 24 in pouring rain.
The arrival of the expedition at Fort Garry marked the effective end of the Red River Rebellion.
A military expedition had in any case been decided on as a means of exercising Canadian authority in the Red River settlement and dissuading the Minnesota expansionists: in May it embarked, under Colonel Garnet Wolseley, and made its way up the Great Lakes. Ontarians especially believed the Wolseley Expedition was intended to suppress the rebellion, although the government described it as an "errand of peace". Knowing he would be arrested and charged with criminal acts, and believing that members of the Canadian militia in the expedition meant to lynch him, Riel and his followers fled hurriedly when the troops arrived unexpectedly at Fort Garry on August 24 in pouring rain. The arrival of the expedition at Fort Garry marked the effective end of the Red River Rebellion.
Red River Rebellion