Riel Louis

Male 1817 - 1864  (46 years)


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  • Name Riel Louis 
    Born 7 Jun 1817  Ile-à-la-Crosse, Saskatchewan, Ca Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Gender Male 
    Died 21 Jan 1864  St-Boniface, Mb, Ca Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Notes 
    • Born at Île-à-la-Crosse in what is now Saskatchewan, he went east to Lower Canada with his family in 1822 and was educated there as a wool carder. At age 21 he joined the Hudson's Bay Company at Rainy River, where he served from 1838 to 1840. In 1842he returned East to study for thepriesthood as a novitiate with the Oblate Order, but left after a few months to settle at Red River. When he came west in 1843, he married Julie, the daughter of Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière and Marie-Anne Gaboury. There were eleven children of whom the eldest was Louis “David” Riel. He became known as the miller of the Seine after he established a mill on the Seine River, near St. Boniface, to grind grain and card wool for the Grey Nuns of St. Boniface. Tradition has it that almost single-handed he dug a nine mile channel to divert water to turn the mill wheel. However, the mill business failed in the late 1850s. The millstones are on display in Winnipeg.

      He supported the free traders within the Métis, and also insisted that the Council of Assiniboia have Métis representation and that the courts of Red River employ French. With James Sinclair and Georges Belcourt he led the struggle at Red River to break the fur trade monopoly of the Hudson’s Bay Company. In 1849 when Guillaume Sayer was found guilty of trafficking in furs, Riel headed the three hundred armed men who surrounded the court hearing and demanded their right to free trade. Sayer was released without penalty. Later that year Riel was one of the petitioners demanding the removal of Adam Thom, the Recorder of Rupert’s Land. Thom was replaced with a bilingual judge, as requested in the petition.

      Riel died in St. Boniface in 1864. [1]
    Person ID I11964  Famille Boucher
    Last Modified 17 Aug 2015 

    Father Riel L'Irlande Jean-Baptiste,   b. 21 Apr 1785, Berthierville Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 4 Apr 1868  (Age 82 years) 
    Mother Boucher Marguerite,   b. Abt 1792 
    Married 1812  Saskatchewan, Ca Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Family ID F5073  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBorn - 7 Jun 1817 - Ile-à-la-Crosse, Saskatchewan, Ca Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDied - 21 Jan 1864 - St-Boniface, Mb, Ca Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 
    Pin Legend  : Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  • Sources 
    1. [S239] Nos Origines, http://www.nosorigines.qc.ca/GenealogieQuebec.aspx?genealogie=Julie_Lagimodiere&pid=127370&lng=fr (Reliability: 2).

    2. [S239] Nos Origines, http://www.nosorigines.qc.ca/GenealogieQuebec.aspx?genealogie=Jean-Baptiste_Riel&pid=127371&lng=fr&partID=127535 (Reliability: 2).