1885 Metis weapons?

And it was ended when the Volunteers disobey General Middleton and charged with bayonets.

An interesting note is that the son of the Novelist Charles Dickens was there.

There was lots of politics involves, it's my understanding that it was the French Half-Breeds and that the English Half-Breeds were opposed. Riel also seemed to believe that the Govt would back down and kept the telegraph line to the East from being cut.
 
Chief Onchaminahos (Little Hunter) a chief of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation was my great(x5) grandfather and one of the signatories of Treaty 6.
We also have family ties to KeKe and Poundmaker.
My Metis family background is also a reason for my "screw the government" attitude..... especially when it comes to the Laurentian Elite
This country would be a hell of a better place of Louis and Gabriel had managed to set up a permanent border east of Manitoba
 
Riel also reportedly told them not to fire on the French Voltigeurs.

The only chance of success was if they had moved before the Railway was nearly completed.
 
Taken decades later of a circus performer in France, his mother was of mixed race from North America.

The gun looks to me like a modified (FN produced?) Browning Auto 5 so the photo would be after 1900.
ya i don't know where the picture was taken. It is in a collection of pictures relating to the 4 chiefs who's band's were amalgamated into what is the Saddle Lake Reserve. Probably around the mid to late 1800's
I also have little to no knowledge to identify firearms of the period
 
It seems certain the photo has nothing to do with Saddle Lake or indeed the Northwest and dates significantly later than 1885.

Blondin was the tightrope walker that crossed Niagara Falls.


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it was just a random photo that showed a firearm clearly , no idea who or where it was from. You have more time on your hands than i do i guess LOL
There are some really knowledgeable historians on the Metis and other Indigenous tribes back around the times of the Battle of Batoche and other conflicts. It can't be that hard to find out what kinds of arms they were known to wield. Many of the photos are taken in staged atmospheres so dress and items they are holding might not even represent thier lives at the time. I do have some pics of Little Hunter with what appears to be a firearm on his shoulder but there is no way to know what it is due to the poor picture quality. Another photo he is carrying a bow and clutch of arrows. I have a picture of Poundmaker and he also is carrying a big rifle but again, poor quality pics and no way to tell what it is.
 
Google Lens takes a few seconds to identify photos if they are 'known'.

From the accounts of Batoche the Metis were shooting rocks and nails in muzzleloaders.

Period photos of Indians from that time frame show a mix of Winchesters and Northwest Trade Guns ie Muzzle Loaders and there must've been enough Winchesters to concern the Govt as it is really the Genesis of "Gun Control" in this Country.
 
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