In 1885 the winds of war were rising over the western plains. Indians starving to death on their reservations. The mixed bloods were being swindled out of their ancestory lands.
This is the story of Gabriel DuMont, his wife Madelaine, and the great northwest rebellion.
This is the story of Gabriel DuMont, his wife Madelaine, and the great northwest rebellion.
Finalist, Best Novel, Western Writers' of America, Spur Award Competition, 1990.
Pungent characterizations and settings distinguish Silver's ( Red River Story ) engrossing fictionalized account of rebellion in Canada. When Gabriel and Madelaine Dumont settle along the Saskatchewan, no land office exists to register their claims. But by the mid-1880s, railroad and telegraph lines have brought the Ottawa administration closer--and the government is selling land occupied by Indians and early settlers. Enlisting the help of Louis Riel (leader of an earlier uprising and a religious visionary), the settlers and Indians stage the Great Northwest Rebellion, pitting their knowledge of the plains against the Canadian police's superior numbers, heavy artillery and Gatling machine guns. A diverting subplot follows spunky Kitty McLean, whose family is imprisoned in a Cree camp. The author alters the chronology of some events and invents characters (notably Madelaine) where historical material is scant, but through the Dumonts and McLeans successfully reconstructs a way of life that has long since vanished.
Pungent characterizations and settings distinguish Silver's ( Red River Story ) engrossing fictionalized account of rebellion in Canada. When Gabriel and Madelaine Dumont settle along the Saskatchewan, no land office exists to register their claims. But by the mid-1880s, railroad and telegraph lines have brought the Ottawa administration closer--and the government is selling land occupied by Indians and early settlers. Enlisting the help of Louis Riel (leader of an earlier uprising and a religious visionary), the settlers and Indians stage the Great Northwest Rebellion, pitting their knowledge of the plains against the Canadian police's superior numbers, heavy artillery and Gatling machine guns. A diverting subplot follows spunky Kitty McLean, whose family is imprisoned in a Cree camp. The author alters the chronology of some events and invents characters (notably Madelaine) where historical material is scant, but through the Dumonts and McLeans successfully reconstructs a way of life that has long since vanished.
