Louis Riel Declares Provisional Government

Date: March 19, 1885 • Location: Prince Albert, Canada

This milestone marked the outbreak and beginning of this historic period, which spanned 1885–1885.

Louis Riel declares a provisional government in Saskatchewan, beginning the North-West Rebellion.

Louis Riel was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its first prime minister John A. Macdonald. Riel fought to defend Métis rights and identity as the Northwest Territories came progressively under the Canadian sphere of influence.