Osler, "which contained the terms on which Fort Carlton
would be spared attack by the surrender and march out of
Major Crozier and the mounted police. This document was
never delivered, but was found with other papers in the
rebel council chamber after the taking of Batoche. It
was said in this notification to Crozier that the rebels
would attack the police if they did not vacate Carlton,
and would commence a war of extermination of the white
race. This document was direct evidence of the treasonable
intentions of the prisoner. Ten days previously Riel
declared himself determined to rule or perish, and the
declaration was followed by this demand. It would be said
that, at last, when a clash of arms was imminent, Riel
objected to forcible measures; but this document was a
refutation of that assertion. At Duck Lake the prisoner
had taken upon himself the responsibility of ordering
his men to fire on the police. At Fish Creek, if Riel
was not there, he directed the movement, and was therefore
responsible. On the day of the fight he went back to
Batoche to finish the rifle-pits. In the contest at
Batoche the prisoner was seen bearing arms, and giving
such directions as would show that he was the main mover.
His treatment of the prisoners, his letters to Middleton,
and other documents would show Riel's leadership. A letter
found in Poundmaker's camp would show his deliberate
intention of bringing on this country the calamity of an
Indian war.
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