Boniface on July 26, 1868. After leaving for ten years. At this time Canada included only the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The land known as Rupert's Land, belonged to the Hudson's Bay Company. The Company appointed a governor to the Settlement positioned at the joint of the Red and the Assiniboine Rivers. Fort Garry lay in the middle of the Settlement was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company.The Metis had succeeded in breaking the fur trade that the Company had held until the 1850‘s. The years between 1850 and 1860 ended the old way of life in the North-West. Many changes had taken place in the Settlement since his Louis Riel left. With the arrival of many settlers from Ontario, and Fort Garry had become an active commercial centre. For economic and political reasons, these Canadians were opposed to the Company's influence, while the Metis were worried about the future under the Canadian government. They were afraid the country would be occupied by people from Ontario and that this would create a problem for the Mtis. Since the new settlers would be Protestants, and the French-speaking Mtis would be Catholic. The Metis were also afraid of loosing their land.In 1869, the Canadian government sent John Stoughton Dennis to Red River to survey the land. He was badly treated by the Mtis. To add to the Mtis' concern, the survey was being carried out in like the Ontario style of survey, in squares, instead of the system of long, narrow lots. When John Stoughton arrived in Fort Garry, conflict broke out. On October 11, 1869, sixteen Mtis led by Louis Riel stopped a crew of surveyors on the property of Louis. This was a very important incident, first, because it was the first act of resistance to the move of the Settlement to Canada and secondly, because it made Louis Riel as the leader of the Mtis. William McDougall, who had been appointed Lieutenant Governor of Rupert's Land. He set out for Red Ri...
