Leif Newry Fitzroy Crozier (11 June 1846 – 25 February 1901), commonly known as L.N.F. Crozier, was a Canadian Militia officer and a superintendent of the

North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian para-military police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert’s Land and North-Western Territory ...

(NWMP), now best remembered for his role in the

North-West Rebellion The North-West Rebellion (french: Rébellion du Nord-Ouest), also known as the North-West Resistance, was a resistance by the Métis people under Louis Riel and an associated uprising by First Nations Cree and Assiniboine of the District of ...

of 1885, a resistance movement headed by

Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which deri ...

leader

Louis Riel Louis Riel (; ; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its first ...

in what is now the modern

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North ...

Early life

Crozier was born in June 1846 in Ireland. The family emigrated to Canada and settled in Belleville, Upper Canada. In Belleville he tried a number of occupations such as printing, clerking in stores and offices, and in a lawyer's office. Subsequently he studied for a period at a medical college. The military had been Crozier's earliest interest, and he had enlisted in the Canadian Militia at the age of 16 with the 15th Battalion Volunteer Militia (Infantry) Canada. He had served during the Fenian raids and by 1873 reached the rank of major in the militia."CROZIER, LIEF (Leif) NEWRY FITZROY." ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography.''
Retrieved 2021-02-12.

Career

Crozier was commissioned as Sub-Inspector in the NWMP in 1872, and was promoted to Inspector the following year. In the service, Crozier saw first hand the hardships faced by the Native people as the

buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * Bubalina, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York Buffalo or buffaloes may also refer to: Animals * Bubalina, a subtribe of the tr ...

disappeared. By 1884, he was the Superintendent stationed in

Fort Carlton Fort Carlton was a Hudson's Bay Company fur trading post from 1795 until 1885. It was located along the North Saskatchewan River not far from Duck Lake. It is in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan and was rebuilt by the government of Sask ...

. He warned Lieutenant-Governor

Edgar Dewdney Edgar Dewdney, (November 5, 1835 – August 8, 1916) was a Canadian surveyor, road builder, Indian commissioner and politician born in Devonshire, England. He emigrated to British Columbia in 1859 in order to act as surveyor for the Dewdney T ...

that government policies were creating unrest among the

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: ** First Nat ...

and Métis. Since he feared a repetition of the

Red River Rebellion The Red River Rebellion (french: Rébellion de la rivière Rouge), also known as the Red River Resistance, Red River uprising, or First Riel Rebellion, was the sequence of events that led up to the 1869 establishment of a provisional government b ...

, he asked for reinforcements to be sent to the North-West. Battle of Duck Lake

Wanting to avoid conflict, he attempted to negotiate with Louis Riel but was unsuccessful leaving the situation in a stalemate. On 26 March 1885, Crozier lead a group of approximately 100 mounted police and

Prince Albert Volunteers The Prince Albert Volunteers (PAV) is the name of two historical infantry units headquartered in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. The unit was first raised in 1885 during the North-West Rebellion and disbanded after hostilities ceased. In the 20th cen ...

from Fort Carlton and a seven-pounder gun to bring back provisions which were running low at Fort Carlton. These men were confronted by Gabriel Dumont and a superior force of Métis near

Duck Lake, Saskatchewan Duck Lake is a town in the boreal forest of central Saskatchewan, Canada. Its location is north of Saskatoon and south of Prince Albert on highway 11, in the rural municipality of Duck Lake. Immediately to the north of Duck Lake is the sout ...

; no shots were fired and the police returned to Fort Carlton. In the ensuing

Battle of Duck Lake The Battle of Duck Lake (26 March 1885) was an infantry skirmish outside Duck Lake, Saskatchewan, between North-West Mounted Police forces of the Government of Canada, and the Métis militia of Louis Riel's newly established Provisional Govern ...

, the NWMP were routed by the Métis. The resistance that he had wanted to avoid earlier broke out. On 21 March 1885, Major Crozier received a letter from Louis Riel demanding that he surrender or Riel will "commence without delay, a war of extermination upon those who have shown themselves hostile to our rights." The retreat of the government under heavy fire tarnished the reputation of the NWMP. Crozier's role in the remainder of the rebellion was minimal, and his force largely remained at its post in

Battleford, Saskatchewan Battleford ( 2011 population 4,065) is a small town located across the North Saskatchewan River from the City of North Battleford, in Saskatchewan, Canada. Battleford and North Battleford are collectively referred to as "The Battlefords" by S ...

. His march on Duck Lake and into an ambush stalled his career with the NWMP. Nevertheless, he was on 1 April promoted to assistant commissioner of the NWMP, a post which he held until his retirement in 1886. In 1886, after the Prime Minister, Sir

John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...

, appointed a civilian commissioner instead of himself, he resigned. He spent his later years in as a merchant and banker in

Oklahoma Territory The Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as ...

, dying of a heart attack in Cushing, Oklahoma Territory on 25 February 1901. His body was brought back to

Belleville, Ontario Belleville is a city in Ontario, Canada situated on the eastern end of Lake Ontario, located at the mouth of the Moira River and on the Bay of Quinte. Belleville is between Ottawa and Toronto, along the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. Its popula ...

, to be buried.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crozier, Leif Newry People of the North-West Rebellion Pre-Confederation Saskatchewan people 1846 births 1901 deaths Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers Military personnel from Newry People from Hastings County Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Canadian Militia officers Argyll Light Infantry

Early life

Career

See also

References