Day 13 - Batoche Heritage Site

Wow what a nice morning.  We take our time getting moving this morning.  This is the first morning we don't have to be up and moving with a particular agenda.

A shower, a coffee and breakfast at the apartment and we are out the door around 10:30!

But it feels good.

Batoche National Historical Site was declared a historical site in 1923 and is a spot I have always wanted to visit.  This is the site where the Metis settled and an armed conflict occurred in 1885.

Metis are made of the First European fur traders who travelled the interior of Canada where Aboriginal peoples live.  When French and Scottish traders married First Nations Women, their offspring became known as Metis. 

Here there were approximately 1200 settlers.  After confederation,  the government of Canada was looking to open the west for European settlement and connect the country with a railway from coast to coast. 

The Metis were concerned about their future and felt they had the right to live where their homesteads were already established.  They wanted land title like other settlers.

The local Metis brought Louis Riel back from exile in Montana to help them.  Riel arrived in 1884 and proclaimed a provisional government.  This declaration was viewed by the Government as a revolt. 

On April 24, Metis led by Gabriel Dumont, along with members of the Cree and Dakota First Nations, held back the advancing North West Field Force. But after a few days of fighting the Metis briefly resisted but were short on both ammunition and fighting forces.  The North West Field Force ultimately captured the village.

The events of the battle altered countless lives.  At Batoche many people lost relatives during the battle or afterwards due to illness, homes were burnt and families had their livestock and possessions taken.  

Members of the Batoche resistance were forced into exile.  Louis Riel was tried for treason and sentenced to hang and Gabriel Dumont had to flee to the United States. 

Some families were unable to obtain legal title to their land and others received a scrip grant but sold the land to move elsewhere.  

The site interpretive center is closed, only open during the week right now for school trips and open every day starting late June.  So we do not have to pay and we roam the site on our own.  Later another couple showed up.  

I have a friend from Vancouver who is decedent of Metis and I find her family name on the plot list.  Her family name is Carriere and the last plot belong to 

Later when we tour the cemetery we spot more plots with the last name Carriere.

We spot some damage of trees from Beavers. They chew at the trunk until the tree topples over and they can build their beaver damn.  We walk closer to the water and spot some beaver damns, but no beavers.

a beaver damn

We are getting eaten alive by mosquitos and of course the bug spray is in the car. 

Prairie Dog

On the way back to Saskatoon a HUGE rain storm hits and we can see lightening.  With the big sky you can see the storms coming and the lightening.  We end up pulling over for a few minutes to let the rain slow down so we can see better.  Of course a few minutes later the rain has stopped and it is hot and humid.

For dinner we head to Nosh Eatery and Tap that came recommended to us by Rhonna.  And it was darn good.  Check out these pictures.  

We drive around for a bit seeing a bit of downtown Saskatoon.  It is not very big, but it does have some pretty spots.  Especially the area around the river where there are lots of parks and walkways.  

Where we dined along Broadway we saw lots of interesting restaurants we would like to try if we had more time.

Here is our scavenger hunt list today:

• Moose
• Deer
• Hitchhiker
• Eagle/Hawk
• Licence plates from every Province in Canada - but you can not count the province you are in.  So if we see an Alberta plate in BC then it counts, but not if we are in Alberta. British Columbia  Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Yukon, and North West Territory
• Skunk - saw a dead one
• Sheep
• Beaver
• Goslings
• Buffalo
• Goat
• Owl
• Bear
• Loon
• Crane
• Prairie Dog
• Fisherman fishing
• Canoe
• Hummingbird
• Antique car on the road
• Old VW Bug
• Car broken down on the side of the road
• Helicopter on the ground
• Airplane on the ground
• Speeding ticket- hopefully not our own
• Ambulance with sirens on
• Dump truck
• Line painting crew at work
• Mail delivery person walking their route
• Cruise Ship (from Janice and Jim)

If you have any items you think we should add to our scavenger hunt list, let us know.

So Today's Stats 
Driving distance today 184 km  
Total distance 2580 km