The Battle of Grand Coteau (North Dakota) or the Battle of Grand Coteau du Missouri was a battle fought between

Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...

buffalo hunters of Red River and the

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota language, Dakota: Help:IPA, /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes and First Nations in Canada, First Nations peoples in North America. The ...

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

between July 13 and 14, 1851. The Métis were victorious. It was the last major battle between the two groups. The buffalo hunt was a yearly event for the Métis of the

Red River Colony The Red River Colony (or Selkirk Settlement), also known as Assiniboia, Assinboia, was a colonization project set up in 1811 by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, on of land in British North America. This land was granted to Douglas by the Hud ...

. After sowing their fields in the spring they set out with their wives and children leaving the aged and infirm to take care of the crop. Their principal settlement was situated on the banks of the

Red River of the North The Red River (french: rivière Rouge or ) is a river in the north-central United States and central Canada. Originating at the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers between the U.S. states of Minnesota and North Dakota, it fl ...

in what is now the city of

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, Canada. Made up largely of French Métis they would leave for the summer buffalo hunt around the middle of June and returned in the middle of August with their

pemmican Pemmican (also pemican in older sources) is a mixture of tallow, dried meat, and sometimes dried berries. A calorie-rich food, it can be used as a key component in prepared meals or eaten raw. Historically, it was an important part of indigenous ...

and other dried meats. Often harassed by the Sioux, the Métis from the various settlements of Red River traveled in large groups for defence.

The battle

The 1851 buffalo hunt initially proceeded as follows. The

St. Boniface Boniface, OSB ( la, Bonifatius; 675 – 5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of ...

group made rendezvous with the Pembina group on June 16 then traveled west to meet the St. François Xavier group (June 19). There were 1,300 people, 1,100 carts and 318 hunters in the combined groups. The groups hunted separately but planned to unite against any threat from the Sioux. They divided into 3 groups about from each other moving in the same direction. The St. François Xavier (White Horse Plain) group led by Jean Baptiste Falcon, son of

Pierre Falcon Pierre Falcon (sometimes referred to as Pierriche, meaning 'Pierre the rhymer'; 4 June 1793 – 21 October 1876) was a Métis fur trader and pioneer living in what is today known as Manitoba. He was also a well known composer and singer. F ...

, and accompanied by its missionary, Father

Louis-François Richer Laflèche Louis-François Laflèche, (September 4, 1818 – July 14, 1898), was a Catholic bishop of the diocese of Trois-Rivières, in the province of Quebec, Canada. Early life and career He was born on September 4, 1818, in the village of Sainte-Ann ...

numbered 200 carts and 67 hunters plus women and children. In North Dakota on the Grand Coteau of the Missouri on July 12 the scouts of St. François Xavier spotted a large band of Sioux. The five scouts riding back to warn the camp met with a party of 20 Sioux who surrounded them. Two made a run for it under fire but 3 were kept as captives. Two would escape the next day and one killed. On Sunday July 13 the camp was attacked by the Sioux. Lafleche dressed in a black

cassock The cassock or soutane is a Christian clerical clothing coat used by the clergy and male religious of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church, in addition to some clergy in certain Protestant denomi ...

, white

surplice A surplice (; Late Latin ''superpelliceum'', from ''super'', "over" and ''pellicia'', "fur garment") is a liturgical vestment of Western Christianity. The surplice is in the form of a tunic of white linen or cotton fabric, reaching to the kne ...

, and stole, directed with the camp commander Jean Baptiste Falcon a miraculous defense against 2,000 Sioux combatants, holding up a

crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...

during the battle. After a siege of two days (July 13 and 14), the Sioux withdrew, convinced that the

Great Spirit The Great Spirit is the concept of a life force, a Supreme Being or god known more specifically as Wakan Tanka in Lakota,Ostler, Jeffry. ''The Plains Sioux and U.S. Colonialism from Lewis and Clark to Wounded Knee''. Cambridge University Press, ...

protected the

. The

Missouri Coteau The Missouri Coteau, or Missouri Plateau, (french: Coteau du Missouri) is a large plateau that stretches along the eastern side of the valley of the Missouri River in central North Dakota and north-central South Dakota in the United States. In t ...

, or Missouri Plateau, is a

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

that stretches along the eastern side of the valley of the Missouri River in central North Dakota and north-central

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

in the United States and extends into

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

and

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

in Canada. The Coteau du Missouri can also refer to a line of rolling hills on the eastern edge of the Missouri Plateau.

References

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External links

Metis Bison Hunters (Canadian Museum of Civilization)Paul Kane (Artist as Buffalo hunter)The Bison Hunt (The Many Uses of the Bison)Portrait of Chief Medicine Bear 1872

Hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains Native American history of North Dakota Grand Coteau (North Dakota) 1851 in the United States Grand Coteau Métis in the United States Grand Coteau Pre-statehood history of North Dakota July 1851 events Grand Coteau (North Dakota) Grand Coteau

The battle

See also

References

External links