William Henry Jackson (May 3, 1861 – January 10, 1952), also known as Honoré Jackson or Jaxon, was secretary to

Louis Riel Louis Riel (; ; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its first ...

during the North-West Rebellion in

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in 1885. He was married to Aimée, a former teacher in Chicago. He was born in Toronto, Canada West, to a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

family, but several years later his family moved to

Wingham, Ontario Wingham (2016 census population 2,934) is a community located in the municipality of North Huron, Ontario, Canada, which is located in Huron County. Wingham became part of North Huron in 2001 when the Ontario government imposed amalgamation on t ...

. Jackson later attended the

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for three years; however, due to his father's bankruptcy, he was unable to complete his last year. In 1881 he moved to Prince Albert in the North-West Territories'

District of Saskatchewan The District of Saskatchewan was a regional administrative district of Canada's North-West Territories. It was formed in 1882 was later enlarged then abolished with the creation of the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta in 1905. Much of the a ...

, where he soon began to sympathize with the Métis and their struggle against the

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, though he was not a Métis himself. Jackson became personal secretary to Louis Riel when Riel returned to Canada in 1884, and the two organized a Métis militia and planned a provisional government. Open fighting broke out between the disgruntled Métis and the North-West Mounted Police along with hastily raised militia on March 18 at Duck Lake. That same day (18 March 1885), Jackson was baptized

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by Father Fourmond. Riel stood as godfather for the ceremony and gave him the name "Honoré Joseph Jaxon". The next day Riel declared the establishment of a provisional government (see Exovedate). However, Jackson's mental health was affected by the religious event, and by the turmoil and excitement of open rebellion, and within days, Riel imprisoned Jackson, perhaps thinking he had gone insane but also fearing that his eccentric religious ideas and his support for

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's radical philosophical ideas against private ownership of land may cause discord within his (Riel's) followers. Later during the rebellion, Riel released Jackson. He was captured when Canadian government troops overcame the last Métis resistance in the

Battle of Batoche The Battle of Batoche was the decisive battle of the North-West Rebellion, which pitted the Canadian authorities against a force of First Nations and Métis people. Fought from May 9 to 12, 1885, at the ad hoc Provisional Government of Saskatche ...

ending on May 12, 1885. He was tried for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

, but found not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to an insane asylum in Lower Fort Garry, near

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. He escaped the asylum on November 2 and fled to the

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. Once there, he changed his name to Honoré Jaxon and joined the

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movement in

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, and was active in socialist circles as well. He also decided to lie about his identity and told others he was a Métis. In 1894 he was part of

Coxey's Army Coxey's Army was a protest march by unemployed workers from the United States, led by Ohio businessman Jacob Coxey. They marched on Washington, D.C. in 1894, the second year of a four-year economic depression that was the worst in United Sta ...

, which marched to

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, to demand an eight-hour workday. In 1897 he converted to the

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and oriented his concerns to Canada. He returned to Canada briefly between 1907 and 1909, spending some of the time interviewing former participants of the Rebellion and addressing labour/socialist meetings. He returned to the United States, eventually moving to

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. He collected books, newspapers, and pamphlets relating to the Métis people in an attempt to establish in their honour a museum in New York. However, years went by and he slipped into poverty and extreme old age. He was evicted from his apartment on December 12, 1951, and his collection (considered unimportant by the city) was sold as waste paper.Smith 2007, p. iii. He died a month later.

References

Sources

* Smith, Donald B. (1981). Honoré Joseph Jaxon. A Man Who Lived for Others. '' Saskatchewan History'' 34:(3) 81–?. * Donald B. Smith. ''Honore Jaxon: Prairie Visionary,'' Regina, Coteau Books, 2007. * Bob Beal and Rod Macleod, ''Prairie Fire: the 1885 North-West Rebellion'', second edition, Toronto, McClelland and Stewart, 1994.

External links

William Henry Jackson
in the Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan

in Radio-Canada's {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Honore 1861 births 1952 deaths Canadian people of British descent People of the North-West Rebellion Impostors People from Huron County, Ontario Pre-Confederation Saskatchewan people Métis politicians People from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan Canadian Bahá'ís Converts to the Bahá'i Faith from Protestantism Canadian Métis people 19th-century Bahá'ís 20th-century Bahá'ís