News Letter Excerpts

Story by Larry Haag

Gabriel Dumont is best known as the man who led the small Metis military forces during the Northwest Resistance of 1885. He was born in the Red River area in 1837, the son of Isidore Dumont, a Metis hunter, and Louise Laframboise. Gabriel spent most of his youth traveling with his father, trading over most of the NorthWest Territories. Isidore also took his son on buffalo hunts. Gabriel's youth was well spent learning the life of the Metis. By the age of ten he could not only ride a pony, but also saddle break them. Before he could handle a rifle, he learned to use the bow of grandmother's people, the Sarcee. By age eleven he was presented with his own rifle which he named "le pitit" or "little one". This rifle stayed with him for a long time to come. At age fourteen, Gabriel was with his father on a buffalo hunt at Grand Coteau when the Sioux made their last major attack against the Metis. He received his initiation in plains warfare in what became known as "The Battle of Grand Coteau" in 1851.

In 1858, Gabriel married Madeleine Wilkie, who he loved very much and always showed her how much she meant to him. He once spoke of "what is done to my wife, is done to me". They had no children of their own, but did adopt a girl Annie and a second cousin of his, named Alexis Dumont.

Although unable to read or write, Dumont could speak six languages and was highly adept at the essential skills of the plains; horseback riding and marksmanship. These abilities made Dumont a natural leader in the large annual Buffalo hunts that were an important part of Metis culture.

By the 1860's, Dumont was the leader of a group of hunters living in the Fort Carlton area. Gabriel's income came from trading, trapping fishing and sometimes working as a guide for the missionaries, he had done this for about five years, 1869 to about 1874. During that time he tried farming at a place about ten miles south of Batoche where the trail from Humboldt crossed the Saskatchewan River. Here he took advantage of the growing traffic on the Carlton trail and opened a ferry across the South Saskatchewan River and a small store upstream from Batoche. In 1873, his position as a leader was formalized when he was elected as president of the short-lived local government created by the Metis living on the south branch of the Saskatchewan.

His leadership role in the South Branch community continued. In 1877 and 1878, Dumont chaired meetings which drew up petitions to the federal government asking for representation on the Territorial Council, farming assistance, schools, land grants, and title to already occupied lands, Dumont was also a member of the delegation, which convinced Louis Riel to return to Canada to plead the Metis case to the federal government.

When a provisional government was declared in 1885, Dumont was named "adjutant general of the Metis people." He proved himself an able commander and his tiny army experienced some success against government forces at Duck Lake and Fish Creek. The Canadian militia, however, proved too large and too well equipped for Dumont's army, which collapsed on 12 May 1885 after a four-day battle near Batoche. Dumont avoided capture by escaping to the United States where, in 1886, he accepted an offer to demonstrate his marksmanship by performing in Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show. After visits to Quebec (where he dictated his memoirs in 1889) Dumont returned to his old homestead near Batoche. He lived there quietly until his death in 1906.

Sources:
Gabriel Dumont Speaks translated by Micheal Barnholden - 1993
Gabriel Dumont by George Woodcock - 1976