- From the Red River Settlement to Manitoba (1812—70)
- Maps
- The Earl of Selkirk: The Colony’s Founder
- An Arduous Task, Marked by a Private War (1812—21)
- The Métis
- Indigenous Peoples
- Colonial Administration
- Maintaining Order and the Colony’s Defence
- Of Fur and Wheat: Subsistence and the Economy
- From Canoes to Railways: Transportation
- Life in Red River
- Missions and Religious Life
- Education, Health, and Social Assistance
- Arts and Culture
- The Press
- Intellectual and Scientific Life
- Winnipeg: The Emergence of an Urban Core
- Debating the Status of the Colony (1850—70)
- The Red River Rebellion and the Creation of Manitoba, 1869—70
- Suggested Readings on the Métis
Maintaining Order and the Colony’s Defence
The recorder for Rupert’s Land, Adam THOM, played an important role in rationalizing the structure of the judicial system in Red River:
“Prior to Thom’s appearance [in 1839], the administration of justice in the settlement had been informal and marked, according to Sheriff Alexander
“Thom’s reorganization was completed on 4 July 1839 and greatly pleased the governor and committee of the company. He also prepared a code of laws for the Council of Assiniboia in 1841 which was to prove of lasting value in that it formed the basis of a more comprehensive code written in 1862.”
The businessman and member of the Council of Assiniboia, Robert McBEATH, was eager to improve the defence of the colony:
“As a prominent figure in the settlement, McBeath was frequently called upon for jury duty and was appointed a justice of the peace on 19 Nov. 1852. In 1863 he was one of four justices of the peace who sent a petition to Governor Alexander Grant Dallas. Deploring the lack of a sufficient military force in the settlement to prevent jail breaks and to guard against Indian disturbances, the petitioners requested a renewal of negotiations with the Sioux as well as a warning to them to keep away from the settlement. In 1866 the governor was authorized to raise a body of 50 to 100 mounted men to meet any emergency.”
Consult the biographies grouped in the following lists to learn more about the organization of the colony’s justice system and its defences between 1812 and 1870.