Éphrem-A. Brisebois (March 7, 1850 – February 13, 1890) was a Canadian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, soldier, and

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with the

North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian para-military police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert’s Land and North-Western Territory ...

(NWMP) of

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Early life

Brisebois was born 7 March 1850 at South Durham,

Canada East Canada East (french: links=no, Canada-Est) was the northeastern portion of the United Province of Canada. Lord Durham's Report investigating the causes of the Upper and Lower Canada Rebellions recommended merging those two colonies. The new ...

, now Durham-Sud. He was fluently bilingual in English and French. At 15, he dropped out of school to fight for the

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in the

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and went on to spend a further three years serving in

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with the volunteer unit " Devils of the Good Lord". Upon his return to Canada he worked on the first

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Career

In 1873, Brisebois was chosen by

John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...

, because of his military experience (and

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politics), to be one of nine commanding officers with the new NWMP. He distinguished himself as a trainer, and showed remarkable foresight by attempting to enforce strict restrictions on buffalo hunting (over-hunting, among other reasons, led to a massive decline in the buffalo population). However, he was criticized for an inability to maintain discipline among his men, and his decision to take a common-law

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 ...

wife. As his division's insubordination reached near-mutiny proportions, he clashed more and more with his direct superior James Farquharson Macleod. On Macleod's suggestion, Fort Brisebois was renamed to Fort Calgary (now

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) in June 1876, and Brisebois resigned in August. Brisebois traveled 1200 kilometres to

Winnipeg 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 ...

. Eventually, he returned to

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, and helped a Conservative candidate, Désiré-Olivier Bourbeau defeat a

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cabinet minister named

Wilfrid Laurier Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier, ( ; ; November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadian prime minis ...

(the future

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). In 1880, he was made the registrar of land titles, and assigned to

Minnedosa, Manitoba Minnedosa is a town in the southwestern part of the Canadian province of Manitoba situated 50 kilometres (32 mi) north of Brandon, Manitoba on the Little Saskatchewan River. The town's name means "flowing water" in the Dakota language. The p ...

Personal life

Brisebois and his wife Adelle (whom he had legally married sometime after resigning from the NWMP) led an active social life, founding a snowshoe club and holding

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church services in their home. During the

North-West Rebellion The North-West Rebellion (french: Rébellion du Nord-Ouest), also known as the North-West Resistance, was a resistance by the Métis people under Louis Riel and an associated uprising by First Nations Cree and Assiniboine of the District of S ...

of 1885, he helped mobilize militia units and later joined the

65th Battalion, Mount Royal Rifles Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. Lineage File:FMR Colours.jpg, The regimental colour of Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal. File:FMR Camp Flag.jpg, The camp flag of Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal. File:Fusilie ...

. He died of a heart attack in

in 1890, and was buried in St. Boniface, Manitoba.

External links

*
RCMP Biography of Brisebois

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brisebois, Ephrem-A. Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers Pre-Confederation Quebec people Brisebois, E 1850 births 1890 deaths Canadian expatriates in the United States Canadian expatriates in Italy Canadian Militia officers Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal officers