by Bruce Cherney (part 1)
One of the greatest blunders in Canadian history occurred in the month of March 141 years ago. On March 4, 1870, Thomas Scott was executed after a guilty verdict was delivered by a six-man court. Thi...
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by Bruce Cherney (part 3)
What was finally said between Assiniboia Governor Robert Semple and North West Company (NWC) servant François Firmin Boucher, precipitating the Battle of Seven Oaks, depends upon the varied testimony ...
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by Bruce Cherney (part 2)
Assiniboia District Governor Robert Semple sent a man to the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) post at Brandon House, located along the Assiniboine River near its confluence with the Souris River, to gather...
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by Bruce Cherney (part 1)
Who fired the first shot and why?
An investigation by a Canadian, who was heralded as an impartial observer in the conflict, felt he had the definitive answer to the question. During the trials ...
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by Bruce Cherney (part 2)
Manitoba entered Confederation in 1870 following negotiations between Prime Minister John A. Macdonald and his Quebéc lieutenant George-Etienne Cartier and a three-member delegation from Red River. De...
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by Bruce Cherney (part 1)
In 1910, according to the January 29 Winnipeg Telegram, there were 19 millionaires living in Winnipeg, which was more per capita than any other Canadian city. Among the local millionaires was James Henry A...
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by Bruce Cherney
Newspapers across North America that received their Christmas gift from Winnipeg in 1902 referred to it as “unique,” “odd,” “original,” “most interesting,” and “...
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by Bruce Cherney (part 3 of 3)
With his political career imperiled by the massive public backlash for his ordering that the petty thief John Cormack be flogged for an attempted jail escape, Manitoba Attorney General James Miller st...
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by Bruce Cherney
One of the strangest incidents arising from the flogging of John Cormack involved a case of mistaken identity and an actor with a touring theatrical company. While in Winnipeg, the company was slated to stage its f...
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by Bruce Cherney (part 2)
John Cormack was initially baffled by all the attention his flogging for a prison breakout had attracted in newspapers, as well as the public indignation and protests arising from the ordering of the first...
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