Fun Facts About Riel
From CCE wiki archived
- b. Red River (present day Winnipeg) in 1844
- educated at St. Boniface, studied for the priesthood at the Collège de Montréal
- 1865 studied law with Rodolphe Laflamme
- believed to have worked briefly in Chicago, Illinois and St Paul, Minnesota before returning to St. Boniface in 1868
- see Red River Rebellion page
- 15 years of exile in US after Red River Rebellion and the execution of Thomas Scott:
- spent time in two Quebec insane asylums
- a school teacher in Montana for a time
- records show that he returned several times to visit his family at St. Vital, and in 1883 he attended his sister’s wedding. (Fowke/Johnston, 1967)
- exile ended when he was invited back to SK to lead the North-West Rebellion
- was a charismatic leader before exile; but during NW Rebellion, regarded himself as God’s personal emissary
- see rebellion information for more on his leadership, trial and execution
