News Letter Excerpts

Little is written about the heroines of Batoche. We read about the men fighting and dying, their political leadership under Riel, and the military genius of Gabriel Dumont, about the atrocities committed by the Canadian Military during and after the battle. But not to be forgotten are the women of Batoche, their courage, dedication and support during the fighting.

People were aware of the coming battle, some fled the area, and others sent their wives and children away. those women that chose to stay were loyal to the cause and their husbands knew that their help would be needed. Throughout the battle Metis women endured many hardships and faced danger constantly. They carried food, messages and supplies to the men in battle. Many times they placed themselves in harms way. There are accounts of Madeleine Wilkie and Marguerite Monet tending to the children and the wounded. Cannon fire raining down on homes and shelters. Snipers fired through windows, the Gatlin gun spewing a wall of bullets. Homes were blown apart, burned and destroyed by the action of the soldiers. Women ran from house to house herding the children ahead of them, helping the elderly reach the safety of cover. Those wounded that could walk, the heroines took them with them. Some women had taken shelter in the rectory on the 9th, but Middleton's men had fired upon that too. Field guns shelled houses, the Gatlin gun firing towards the west and then north, hitting homes that were still occupied by frightened women, Most of the women, children and elders had camped in a secluded flat surrounded by bluffs on the east side of the river. People took shelter in tents and makeshift dugouts covered by robes and blankets. Some had moved to the riverbanks and dug caves. Not yet mid May, the nights were cold and wet. People shivered throughout the night, fires thought to be too dangerous and giving their positions away. Children go hungry while the wounded go without clean bandages.

At the end of the second days fighting, people are gathering cartridges that soldiers had dropped there during the fighting. Unexploded artillery shells were salvaged for the powder and any lead found was to be melted down by the women for the Metis rifles. That night some women and children are camped in tents north of the ravine, along with the wounded.

On the second day, the 10th, houses come under artillery fire and are badly damaged. Some women were still in them, but are quickly moved. The camp north of the ravine moved further north. It was on the second day that the stealing of cattle and horses began, houses set on fire by the Canadian soldiers.

Priests wrote in their journals and letters that the soldiers acted in a very rough manner. Women had their belongings stolen from them, rings taken from the fingers, money taken from their satchels. Soldiers ran amuck among the homes, what the soldiers couldn't carry was destroyed and the women's homes burnt. Middleton's men took cattle and horses. When the battle was over, some women remained in hiding, fearing for their safety. Starving and living in conditions so bad, that nine women succumbed to illness, among them Marguerite and Madeleine. Never to be forgotten, are Heroines of Batoche.

Story by Larry Haag
Sources: Footprints in the Dust by D.W. Light, Metis Women at Batoche 1870-1920 by Diane Payment, 1885, Women in the Resistance by Vye Bouvier.