Maxime Lépine (c. 1837 – September 16, 1897) was a

Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...

businessman and political figure from Canada. Lépine joined

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 in Canada, Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of ...

's provisional government in Red River in 1869. A founding member of the Union Saint-Alexandre, Lépine sought to bring together Métis of French-Canadian and Catholic origins. Later, Lépine represented St. Francois Xavier East in the

Legislative Assembly of Manitoba The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba () is the deliberative assembly of the Manitoba Legislature in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly at List of Manitoba genera ...

from 1874 to 1878.

Early life

Lépine was born in

Saint Boniface, Manitoba St. Boniface (or Saint Boniface) is a Ward (electoral subdivision), city ward and neighbourhood in Winnipeg. Along with being the centre of the Franco-Manitoban community, it ranks as the largest Francophone Canadian, francophone community in Wes ...

, the son of Jean-Baptiste Bérard, dit Lépine and Julia Henry. Lépine married Josephte Lavallée and together they had six children, who all grew into adulthood. It is also known that Maxime Lépine studied with the Christian Brothers in St Boniface. Lépine lived in St. François Xavier in the 1870s and managed a Red River cart freighting company which transported goods west to

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, Saskatchewan, Duck Lake, in what is now the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The fort wa ...

and

Île-à-la-Crosse Île-à-la-Crosse () is a northern village in Division No. 18, northwestern Saskatchewan, and was the site of historic trading posts first established in 1778. Île-à-la-Crosse is the second oldest community in Saskatchewan, Canada, followin ...

, Saskatchewan, and south to

Pembina, North Dakota Pembina () is a city in Pembina County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 512 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Pembina is located south of the Canada–United States border, Canada–US border. Interstate 29 in North ...

, and

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...

Provisional Government

Maxime Lépine along with his brother Ambroise-Dydime, served in the

provisional government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, a transitional government or provisional leadership, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revoluti ...

of Manitoba established in 1869. He served as a councillor in the provisional government created by Riel during the

Red River Rebellion The Red River Rebellion (), 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 by Métis leader Louis Riel and his f ...

. The provisional government was established by Riel, along with other Métis leaders from the

Red River Settlement The Red River Colony (or Selkirk Settlement), also known as Assiniboia, was a colonization project set up in 1811 by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, on of land in British North America. This land was granted to Douglas by the Hudson's Bay C ...

, in 1869. The government was established in order to stop the Canadian government from annexing

Rupert's Land Rupert's Land (), or Prince Rupert's Land (), was a territory in British North America which comprised the Hudson Bay drainage basin. The right to "sole trade and commerce" over Rupert's Land was granted to Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), based a ...

. At the time, Rupert's Land was under the control of the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

and was made up of territory that today is known as the Prairie provinces. In 1869, the Hudson's Bay Company, the Canadian government, and the British government, held negotiations for the transfer of the lands sovereignty, all the while leaving the Métis out of the conversation. With over 12,000 residents in the Red River Settlement, the Métis people became worried about their status in the new Dominion and decided to fight for their rights. The provisional government was successful in that it was able to negotiate the terms of Métis entry into the Dominion, resulting in ''The Manitoba Act''. ''The'' ''Manitoba Act'' of 1870 created the province of Manitoba, and secured the rights of Métis by providing bilingual institutions, denominational schools, and granting 1.4-million acres of land to future Métis children.

Later life

Following the creation of Manitoba as a province, Maxime Lépine was able to escape the hands Ontario Orangemen and went on to become a founding member of the Union Saint-Alexandre, which was created to bring together Métis of French-Canadian and Catholic origin. Moreover, Lépine represented St. François-Xavier East in the

from 1874 to 1878. Maxime served a single term before being defeated in December 1878. In 1882, he moved to

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, settling near

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

. Maxime Lépine fought at the

Battle of Fish Creek The Battle of Fish Creek (also known as the Battle of Tourond's Coulée), fought April 24, 1885 at Fish Creek, Saskatchewan, was a major Métis victory over the Canadian forces attempting to quell Louis Riel's North-West Rebellion. Although the ...

and surrendered to General

Frederick Dobson Middleton Sir Frederick Dobson Middleton (4 November 1825 – 25 January 1898) was a British general noted for his service throughout the Empire and particularly in the North-West Rebellion in Canada. Imperial military career Middleton was born in Lo ...

after the defeat at

Batoche Batoche, which lies between Prince Albert and Saskatoon in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, was the site of the historic Battle of Batoche during the North-West Rebellion of 1885. The battle resulted in the defeat of Louis Riel and his M ...

. He was convicted of high treason and sent to Stony Mountain Penitentiary in August 1885, he was released in 1886 having serving about seven months of his seven-year sentence. In 1896, he was given an appointment in the Indian agency at

Battleford Battleford ( 2021 population 4,400) is a 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". Although ...

. Lépine died in poverty at

Duck Lake, Saskatchewan Duck Lake is a town in the Boreal forest of Canada, boreal forest of central Saskatchewan, Canada. Its location is north of Saskatoon and south of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Prince Albert on Saskatchewan Highway 11, Highway 11, in the Rural ...

, on 16 September 1897.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lepine, Maxime 1837 births 1897 deaths 19th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba Métis politicians People convicted of treason against Canada Canadian prisoners and detainees Canadian Métis people People from St. Boniface, Winnipeg People of the Red River Rebellion

Early life

Provisional Government

Later life

See also

References