1885-10-10a Chief Stewart

After Louis Riel and his followers were defeated at the Battle of Batoche, May 9 to 12, 1885, the Northwest rebellion was over. On May 15, Riel and several of his fellow Metis were arrested and imprisoned.

The government of Sir John A. Macdonald was determined that Riel and his cohorts be tried for his actions as quickly as possible. To prepare the government’s case, witnesses and evidence had to be assembled. The federal government considered a number of people considered capable of doing that task, and ultimately decided that the best man was Hamilton Police Chief Alexander David Stewart.

In short order, Chief Stewart received permission from the Hamilton Police Commissioners to take a leave of absence, and Sergeant Smith be given control of the force until the chief’s return.

The trial was held in Regina, and lasted five days, starting on July 28, 1885. Chief Stewart had assiduously collected sufficient evidence and witnesses for the trial to proceed, and was present throughout the proceedings. (Pictured below is Louis Riel, standing, while he was testifying at his trial. A.D. Stewart is sitting facing him, third from left, with dark moustache.)

By early October, 1885, Chief Stewart, his duties in the Northwest concluded, was on his way back to Hamilton. As he was at a brief stopover, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, a reporter with a local newspaper managed to get an interview. The resulting column was reprinted in the Hamilton Spectator of October 8, 1885 :

 “ Chief Stewart, of Hamilton, Ont., who acted as prosecutor for the crown in the Riel and other trials and prepared the evidence in the same, arrived in this city last evening and is a guest at the Leland house. On the way to the city, the chief was interviewed by a representative of the Manitoban. He has just returned from Battleford, where he has been since Aug. 23, previous to which time he was in Regina. Being asked what sort of a trip he had to the north, the chief replied :

“ ‘On the whole it was pleasant enough. We were on the trail for five days. The police escort lost five horses, which caused me some delay. I got in on the 8^th.’

“ ‘You have seen a good deal of Saskatchewan country, chief?’

“ ‘ Yes, a good deal. I was to Fort Pitt, Egg lake, Saddle lake, onion lake etc., hunting up witnesses and prisoners. Sergeant Bagley was in command of my escort, and a finer fellow there’s not in existence.’

“ ‘You had the necessary guide and competent interpreter?’

“ ‘ Yes, I had a good guide and competent interpreter.’

“ ‘How is the Saskatchewan country now, chief?’

“ ‘Everything is quiet and peaceable. The Indians and halfbreeds are mute as mice. They are thoroughly cowed and broken up. Judge Rouleau sat about ten days ago, and Wandering Spirit, the murderer of Quinn, Louison Mograin, policeman Cowan’s murderer, Charles Dutcharms, Dressy Man, and We-say-gum-up have been convicted and sentenced to death.’

“ ‘Was there much interest taken in the trials?’

“ ‘O yes; considerable. The court was daily crowded. Prescott Sharpe was prosecuting counsel. The prisoners were not defended.’

“ ‘How did the Saskatchewan people recive you, chief?’

“ ‘With open arms.A cordial reception was given me, and in a manner almost too flattering to relate. Did I want a horse, gun, memento of the district – anything, in fact. If so, I should take it. My reception surprised my most sanguine expectations.

“ ‘What is the feeling up there regarding Riel”?’

“ ‘Well, generally there is a strong feeling against him. The white settlers had a great deal to suffer during the rebellion. Shadowed, imprisoned or hunted over the prairie in their night dresses, you know the feeling against Riel must be bitter. The halfbreeds, too, owe him no good will, but I must say there is a superstitious crowd of Indians who still believe in the late rebel leader’s so-called ‘divine mission.’ ”  ¹

¹  “A Manitoba Interview : Winnipeg Manitoban.”

Hamilton Spectator. October 8, 1885.

During the early evening hours of Wednesday October 7, 1885, a large crowd gathered at Hamilton’s Grand Trunk Railway station, anxiously awaiting the arrival of a train from the west, carrying Chief A.D. Stewart home.

The following is how a Spectator reporter described the homecoming in the following day’s paper:

“Chief Stewart is home.  Bright, cheery, vigorous as ever, with the tan of wind and sun darkening his skin, with the great, good health that open air living and plenty of exercise give, with a month’s growth of curling brown beard and whiskers on his handsome face, he stepped off the 5:35 train from the west yesterday evening, to meet his wife and children and a host of friends who had been patiently wearing out the platform till the train arrived. His attire was picturesque. He wore a light brown duck fatigue jacket, used by the Northwest mounted police and the volunteers, a pair of still lighter brown corduroy trousers tucked into top boots, while a Buffalo Bill hat worn rakishly over his right ear completed his costume.

“ “I have come back in rags and tatters,’ he said. ‘My other clothes got all worn out and these were the only ones I could get.’

“ ‘He looks like the pictures we see of English tourists in the Alps,’ said a girl who was standing by. “He looks like an Italian brigand,’ growled the young man with her. ‘But he isn’t bloodthirsty looking enough for that,’ said the girl. And all the while, the chief was shaking hands and saying, ‘how are you old fellow? Glad to see you again.,’ till his arm and tongue grew weary.

“Finally he broke away from the enthusiastic welcome of his friends and got up home. He left Hamilton on the afternoon of Tuesday, June 23, and went to Regina, where he was busily engaged in gathering evidence for the prosecution of Louis Riel until that gentleman was tried about the middle of August. Immediately after Riel was sentenced, the chief left for Battleford, where there were over 40 halfbreed and Indian prisoners, captured by the troops, awaiting trial. In getting evidence and witnesses against these people, he went out to Fort Pitt and Frog lake, and as far as Saddle Lake, doing all the traveling on horseback. He stayed in Battleford until after the trial and conviction of a number of the more important prisoners, and the minor cases were being prosecuted when he left for home. This is a brief account of the work he has been engaged in during the sixteen weeks he has been absent from Hamilton.

“The chief shakes hands in the same free and untrammeled way that he always did. The weary weeks have not interfered with his right vise one bit. If anything, it is more so. When a Spectator reporter recovered from a grip last evening, he found the chief quite ready to talk about things in general.

“ ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I had a very pleasant trip indeed, but I’m heartily glad to get back to home and civilization. I haven’t slept in a bed since I left Regina seven weeks ago, except one night in Winnipeg, and I will appreciate the change. I slept under canvas the rest of the time I was away. We had magnificent weather up there. There was very little rain, and, man, you have no idea of the grand country it is. I was never there before, and it was a revelation to me. Beyond Regina, it seems to be so cut off from civilization. You turn into your tent at night, monarch for the time being of all you survey, and the mighty silence and freedom on the great plains cannot help impressing you.  The people you meet there are wonderfully hospitable too. It is so seldom they see anyone that a traveler is a Godsend to them, but, beyond this, it seemed to me that they went out of their way to be kind to us. No matter what it was I wanted, if it was in anybody’s power to get it, I got it. I cannot speak too highly of the unvarying courtesy, kindness and consideration. I cannot speak too highly of the unvarying courtesy, kindness and consideration that was shown to me by every person I met in the Northwest, either in business or social relations. The mounted police are a magnificent lot of men, superior in both physique and mental powers to any company of men I have ever seen, not even excepting British soldiers. The non-commissioned officers of the force are especially fine fellows, and by long odds, the most perfect body of men it has been my good luck to see. The only that militates against against the popularity of the force is the having to search for liquor, something which the people have decided objection to. The people did all they could to help us out, and showed the same hearty hospitality that the residents of the country did.’

“ ‘Game,’ he continued presently, ‘is very plentiful. Ducks, geese, prairie chickens and deer are very abundant.’

“ A gleeful expression came over the chief’s browned and bearded face, and there was a triumphant ring in his voice as he leaned back and said, ‘I shot a bear – a black bear. It was a big one. I brought the skin home with me. The bear was a ferocious-looking brute. It was the first time I had seen one away from a circus or a street performance, but it didn’t scare me. I had to fire four shots before I killed it. My horse wouldn’t go up to it, and after I fired the first shot, I jumped off and went for it on foot. The second shot I fired broke its shoulder. It started for me. I sent in two bullets while it was coming and the last one finished it. We lived in bear’s meat for some days after that.’

“The chief has brought home with him a large number of relics, principally Indian goods. Many of them are great curiosities here. Before he came away he was presented with a magnificent pair of mounted buffalo horns by Charley Ross, the scout. Sergeant Bagley, of the mounted police, and Henry Hardy, his servant. He had an interpreter, too,Francis Du Preene, a halfbreed. At Battleford, he and Mr. Sharp, a young barrister, camped out with Col. Otter. ‘Speaking of camping out,’ he said, ‘it’s curious up there. If a man by some rare good luck owns a house and wishes to be hospitable, he says stay at my house tonight, which being interpreted means, bring a blanket with you and sleep on the floor.

“The chief will resume his duties today, and as Sergt. Smith has been worked pretty hard during his absence, he should be given a month’s holiday. Smith has done his own work and the chief’s too. And they will give to him, as everyone that knows him will give to him, a hearty welcome.”²

² “Back from Battleford : Chief Stewart Comes Home at Last : He Kills a War in the Northwest and Does Various Things Which May Be Read of Below”

Hamilton Spectator     October 08, 1884.

A hearty welcome had indeed been prepared for Chief Stewart. All of the men on the force who could possibly be present, along with the mayor of the city, gathered in Police Station No. 3 on King William Street. The Spectator reporter was also present and he captured the feelings of admiration for Chief Stewart from those in attendance, along with the Chief’s words, and the rousing finale in the following article:

“The men of the Hamilton police force gave Chief Stewart a welcome home last evening, and did it in such a thorough, whole-souled manner as to give every evidence of the deep friendship, almost affection, existing in their hearts for their able chief officer.  The time chosen was 6:50 when the day men come in, and the night men relieve them, and, as a consequence, 43 policemen including the chief and detectives, gathered in No. 3 station, only the men on office duty being absent. Paragraphs previously printed have informed the public that the particular  sample of welcome which the men proposed uncorking for the chief’s benefit consisted of a very handsome set of photographs, magnificently framed and mounted, of every man on the force – and the patrol wagon. At seven o’clock, Mayor Mason mounted the police magistrate’s throne and on behalf of the men made the presentation. He referred to the pleasure it gave him to act on this capacity, and said : ‘The men on this force feel that you have been ever zealous in looking after their comfort and welfare, and wish to testify in some slight way their appreciation of all that you have done for them. They felt that no more fitting opportunity could be found than on your return from the Northwest. In regard to your duties up there, you were entrusted by the government with a delicate and dangerous mission that perhaps no other one man in Canada could so ably attend to. You discharged your duties there faithfully, honestly and zealously, in the face of hardships and difficulties that would have completely balked any ordinary man. And while you have been serving your country in the Northwest, the men of your force have been have been doing there duty here, in charge of Sergt. Smith, and have as a rule been giving every satisfaction both to the commissioners and the public. For the men, one and all, I welcome you back as their chief. They wish you a long life, happiness and prosperity, and hope these photographs will ever remind you of always have kindly recollections of you, though you may have vanished from the scene of this force.

“”There was loud applause as the mayor ceased speaking. Chief Stewart was visibly affected, and there was a tremor in his usual deep and steady tone as he said:

‘There are moments in every man’s life when he can scarce command the words he fain would speak; when the thought that are nearest his heart are difficult to bring to his lips. I hardly know what to say to you all. My heart is very full of tender feeling tonight, and I only wish my words could tell how proud and glad and happy you have made me by giving me this most magnificent present. I am heartily glad to be back among you all tonight, glad to shake your honest hands, glad to feel that in each one of you I have a friend. When I got the appointment for the Northwest service, there was one thought that cheered me more than did any personal gratification in being selected from among so many. It was the feeling that the government had recognized and appreciated the work of the force, for had that not been the case, the appointment would not have been made. When far away from here, I often thought of you all, and remembered the faithful service you have, one and all, cheerfully given. In every one of you I count a friend. You know how hard it is for a man in my position to get on satisfactorily with all. But I have never aimed to be your master, always your friend, and I do not think a man amongst you bears any ill-will or hard feelings towards me. I feel tonight that I am amid old, tried and true friends. (Applause.) I have every reason to be thankful that everything has gone so well with me and mine. When I left you it was with a heavy heart , for my wife was at death’s door, but I come back finding her restored to health and spirits, better and stronger than ever. (Loud applause.) I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kindly sympathy and welcome. This picture we will keep as long as my wife and I or our children have a home, whether I am on the force or off it. And let me say to you that it would take a great deal to make me sever my connection with this force, and I trust the necessity may never arise, but that with advancing years our friendship may grow stronger and stronger, and if we ever part, we may meet again with a warm and hearty handshakes as we have tonight.’

“The applause finally ceased. ‘And now men,’ cried the mayor, ‘three cheers for the chief and take the word from me!’ They were given, ‘and three more for Mrs. Stewart,’ and after that, ‘once again for the little ones.’ Silence for a moment while the cheering died away. Then P.C. McMenemy hoisted his helmet, and with a rosy blush rising up his neck and face to the roots of his hair – a blush that would have added beauty to the features of some fair miss – cried, ‘An’ three av thim for the mayor.!’

“And thus the chief was welcomed home.”³

³ “With Three Times Three : Chief Stewart Right Royally Welcomed Home By the Force”

Hamilton Spectator     October 10, 1885.

The Spectator would later add that the handsome large frame for the collection of photographs presented to the Chief had been a donation from Mayor Mason.