Battle of Cutknife Hill lessons resonate today
The Battle of Cutknife Hill was fought 137 years ago in May. What led up to it was a series of events that didn't have to happen, and things didn't have to get so far out of control.
On March 30, 1885, Chief Poundmaker and several other chiefs, accompanied by headmen and supporters, went to Battleford to meet with the Indian agent and get famine relief. The treaty promised help in times of famine, but this meant nothing to the government.
When the townsfolk saw a large party of Cree and Assiniboine men approaching, they panicked and headed to the fort. J.M. Rae, the Indian agent, also sought sanctuary there.
If Rae had met with Poundmaker and the other chiefs and met their request, the story would end there. Instead, when the men were not prepared to return home empty-handed — their families were starving — they broke into the stores and helped themselves.
My grandfather was a young boy, and he told my dad that he filled his pockets with candy. The people stayed in the fort, afraid to come out. It was called the siege of Battleford, but it was only a siege in the minds of the people in the fort.
The people needlessly stayed in the fort for a month until Col. Otter arrived. Gen. Middleton told Col. Otter to stand down and not go after the Indians. He felt that diplomacy would be sufficient.
Otter went behind his back and contacted Lt.-gov. Edgar Dewdney and got permission to attack Poundmaker and teach him a lesson. If Otter had accepted Middleton's orders, our story would end there.
Instead, Otter took a flying column of 392 men to deal with Poundmaker and other chiefs. He was detected long before he arrived, and Poundmaker went to Little Pine and Sweetgrass reserves, requesting that the warriors come to his camp.
The protocol at the time was that the North West Mounted Police commanding officer would enter the camp and meet with the chief or chiefs. Both sides would be accompanied by their men as a way to keep the peace. The leaders would negotiate, or, in some cases, it might just be a friendly visit, but a formal protocol was maintained.
If Otter had followed that tradition, our story would end there. Instead, at first light he began to fire a cannon on the camp. This came as a complete surprise and the warriors quickly took control and prepared a defence. Other warriors organized the evacuation of the camp.
About 100 warriors held the militia at bay and eventually Otter decided to pull back and retreat. The warriors had come to support the chief; they didn't expect a shooting war. Their ammunition was running low and when the militia turned to run, they wanted to finish them off.
Poundmaker was in no position to stop them since he was not a war chief, and the warriors would only take orders from a war chief. Misatimawas, the war chief from Little Pine, was wounded as he led the evacuation of the camp.
Poundmaker went to him and told him that it was time to stop the fighting. Misatimawas agreed and gave him his pipe, which was the symbol of his authority. Poundmaker went to the battlefield and held up the pipe and asked that the fighting cease.
Otter and his men retreated to Battleford unmolested. They lost eight and 14 were wounded. We lost five warriors and three were wounded.
On May 26, Poundmaker and some of the leaders went to Battleford and surrendered. In August, Poundmaker and other chiefs and warriors were tried and sent to Stony Mountain penitentiary.
Poundmaker got three years, but due to his declining health he was released after seven months. Misatimawas got three years. He was my great-grandfather.
The government seized all firearms and large knives and shipped them to Edmonton by riverboat. The story is that they were jettisoned at Pine Island north of Maidstone when the boat got grounded in shallow water.
Otter would learn a lesson that Putin is currently learning in Ukraine: You can't expect people to give up when you attack them in their own land.