settlers took refuge in the NWMP fort, and their deserted homes were ransacked by the followers of Poundmaker [Pītikwahanapiwīyin*] and local

. He fled to Prince Albert during the battle of Duck Lake on 26 March but was promptly arrested and jailed by the NWMP. His wife and young children sought refuge with the priests at Batoche. In

he encountered Lawrence Clarke, who told him that the NWMP were sending a large number of men to Fort Carlton with the intention of arresting him and Riel. This report set off the first overt action of

, Dumont ransacked a store at Duck Lake on 25 March. He then proceeded west and the next day encountered by chance a force commanded by NWMP Superintendent Lief Newry Fitzroy

(Toronto and Oxford, 1996). Donald MacKay, The square mile: merchant princes of Montreal (Vancouver, 1987). R. C. Macleod, The NWMP and law enforcement, 1873–1905 (Toronto, 1976