ANDRÉ NAULT, buffalo hunter, farmer, and captain of the Métis; b.
20 April 1830 in Point Douglas (Winnipeg), son of Amable Nault and
Josette (Josephite, Josephte) Lagimodière, known as La Cyprès;
grandson of Jean-Baptiste Lagimonière* and Marie-Anne Gaboury*; m.
11 Jan. 1850 Anastasie Landry, and they had 14 children; d. 17 Dec.
1924 in St Vital, Man.
Although André Nault's
parents were of French
Canadian origin, they
had become integrated
into the Métis
community of the Red
River settlement (Man.).
As a young man, Nault
accompanied his father
on buffalo hunts to the
Missouri plateau,
excelling as a horseman
and hunter. He obtained
river lot 12 in St Vital
and farmed there.
On 17 May 1849, at age
19, he supported the
Métis drive for free trade
at the famous trial of
PierreGuillaume Sayer* by
marching "with a rifle at
his shoulder." Judge and
historian Louis Arthur Prud'homme* states that this episode was his
apprenticeship as a "defender of the rights and liberties of the
country's population."
The first event of the Métis resistance of 1869-70 to the transfer of
Rupert's Land to the Canadian government was the stopping of the
surveyors on 11 Oct. 1869. Oral history suggests that this event
occurred on Nault's river lot in St Vital, but the notebook of surveyor
Adam Clark Webbe would seem to indicate that it was on an adjoining
lot.
Homestead, Andre Nault, Winnipeg, 1920.
Nault's first name is not listed among those of the seven Naults who
were present, but the one nicknamed Nanin is assumed to have been
him. On the arrival of the surveyors, Nault is said to have gone for his
first cousin Métis leader Louis Riel*, who spoke English. It seems likely
that Nault played a significant role on this occasion since oral accounts
of the event link it to his property.
According to Nault, at a meeting of the Métis on 21 Oct. 1869 Riel
ordered him to construct a barrier at St Norbert to prevent the
lieutenant governor designate, William McDougall*, from entering the
Red River settlement or bringing in arms.
Nault had about 250 to 300 men
with him. On 1 November he and
his brother Benjamin forced
McDougall's representatives,
Captain Donald Roderick
Cameron and Joseph-AlfredNorbert Provencher*, to return to
Pembina (N.Dak.). The following
day, under Riel's orders, he and
his men captured Upper Fort
Garry (Winnipeg) to prevent it
from falling into the hands of
John Christian Schultz*and his
Canadian supporters. From 4 to
23 Dec. 1869 Nault occupied Fort
Pembina, the HBC post just north
of the international border, to
watch the activities of McDougall.
When McDougall headed back
east, Nault returned to the Red
River settlement.
Prud'homme argues that in Riel's
provisional government Nault
was probably fourth in line of importance after Riel, AmbroiseDydime LÉPINE, and Elzéar Goulet*.
Nault was a member of the court martial that on 3 March 1870 tried
Thomas Scott*, an Ontarian captured in mid February. Scott had
proved to be a particularly troublesome prisoner and was sentenced to
execution.
Nault, who commanded the Métis firing squad, would report in 1923 to
historian Auguste-Henri de TRÉMAUDAN that Scott "did not believe that
we would have the pluck, as he called it, to go the whole length and to
shoot him." Scott "would pledge his word to keep the peace in order to
be released, then break it as soon as he was free. We had no desire
whatever to put him to death, he simply forced us to it."
After troops arrived in August 1870 under the command of Colonel
Garnet Joseph Wolseley*, numerous Métis suffered reprisals. In
February 1871 Nault was attacked by soldiers at Pembina and left for
dead. Prud'homme observed that he carried the scar from this brutal
incident until his death. Later in 1871 Nault played a significant role in
obtaining information for Riel and the Métis on the movements of
William Bernard O'Donoghue*, who had asked Métis leaders, Nault
included, for support in attacking Manitoba with a band of Fenians.
Nault and Jean-Baptiste Lépine* went to Pembina on 2 October and
returned four days later to report that O'Donoghue was planning to
attack Fort Pembina before approaching Fort Garry. The Métis under
Riel stayed loyal to Canada and did not join O'Donoghue.
In late 1871 Riel suggested the formation of an association of Métis to
maintain their influence in the Red River parishes and he looked to
Nault as one of the "principal Métis." Nault was named a councilor of
the new organization, the Union Saint-Alexandre.
Despite the hopes of Métis leaders that their demonstration of loyalty
in protecting the colony against the Fenians, would help them obtain
amnesty for acts carried out during the resistance, they remained
disappointed. Nault was arrested in February 1874. He stood trial for
the murder of Scott the following November, but the jury was unable
to reach a verdict. He was in prison awaiting a second trial when the
government of Alexander Mackenzie* granted a full amnesty to all
except Riel, A. D. Lépine, and O'Donoghue in February 1875. His
imprisonment left him with heart and lung problems. After his release
he returned to his St Vital farm, where he would live until age 94.
“Andre and Anastasie Nault, Diamond Anniversary Party,
He took no part in the events of 1885 in Saskatchewan, but three of
his sons did. He became a member of the Union Nationale Métisse
Saint-Joseph du Manitoba, established in 1887 to preserve Métis
heritage and culture. An example of his efforts to collect and document
Métis history was his donation in 1910 of the original flag of the Union
Nationale Métisse to the organization; it is now preserved in the
Heritage Centre of the Société Historique de Saint-Boniface. The Métis
and francophone communities of Manitoba and André Nault's
numerous descendants continue to honour the memory of this man
who was an eye-witness to, and participant in, many stirring events.
http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio.php?id_nbr=8307
http://www.shsb.mb.ca/bulletin/nault. htm
"The diamond wedding anniversary party for André Nault, a cousin of Louis Riel and a
member of Riel's Provisional Government, and his wife Anastasie, St. Vital, Oct 19, 1910."
Nault was very involved in the Métis community, although he himself was of
French-Canadian descent. Key in Métis activism since his late teens, Nault
participated as a leader in the Métis Resistance of 1869-1870, and actually
commanded the firing squad that executed Thomas Scott. Of course, this was
done under the guidance of his first cousin, Louis Riel. For one year, Nault was
imprisoned on account of Scott’s murder, but was eventually acquitted.
Nault lived at River Lot 12.
André Nault’s wife, Anastasie was the daughter of an Acadian fur trader, Joseph
Landry, she was one of twelve children; her mother was Geneviève Lalonde. It is
interesting to note that Anastasie along with five of her siblings married into the
same two families, the Nault and Bruneau families (both prominent Métis and
French-Canadian families).
Photographer: Lewis Benjamin Foote
http://lostfootephotos.blogspot.ca/2012/07/favourite-foote-photos-caitlyn-carson.html
Andre Nault (1830-1924) Obituary
Finally was able to see the obituary entitled 'Andre Nault is Dead, Ft.
Garry Mourns', which appeared on p. 1 of the Winnipeg Tribune on
December 18, 1924.
Thanks to Lyle Brennen for sending it to me (along with a biography I
haven't seen before possibly from the Tribune as well entitled 'Andre
Nault, Riel Rebellion Veteran, Dies' with the amusing sub-title
'Nonagenarian was the Discoverer of English Surveyors, Cause of
Trouble'), plus a Manitoba Free Press obituary I was unaware of as
well entitled 'Andre Nault, Veteran of Riel Times, Dead', which was
published the same day.
That Andre's death was front page news (p. 1) in the Tribune seems
highly significant to me as anything on page 1 of a city newspaper is
considered most newsworthy. So it is yet another indication of Nault's
importance in Metis, Manitoban and Canadian history, the sense of
which has been lost over time. Among the interesting details from the obituaries (other than that
Andre was the 'cause of trouble' at Red River are some actual quotes
from my great-great grandfather and his views on the meaning of the
Red River Resistance. To quote the Tribune obituary on what Andre
Nault thought the events of 1869-70 at Red River represented: 'It
was not a rebellion', he insisted whenever the matter was referred to,
even in his last years. 'We were merely desirous of preserving our
rights and getting justice. It was our due that the Dominion
government should consult us in reference to matters pertaining to
government in the colony'. According to the same Tribune obituary, for his role in the events at
Red River in 1869-70 he was attacked by 'a soldier' with a rifle butt
and left for dead near the US border*. [13/08/11: *The article has a
few errors and omissions here. The assailants were actually a group of
15 RRAF (Red River Expeditionary Force) Volunteers who were
identified yet not charged and some accounts say Nault was bayoneted
as opposed to being struck by a rifle butt. Occupying Red River in
August 1870 after the region was annexed by Canada, the RRAF were
a militia of 1,200 men from Ontario (many of them Orangemen) and
Quebec under the command of British Army Colonel Garnet Wolseley.
Often taking matters into their own hands and disobeying their
officers, members of the RRAF hoped to exact revenge for the death of
Thomas Scott, drive Metis off their lands, and encourage settlers from
Ontario to enter the region. They were a key component of the 'Reign
of Terror' from 1870-72 in Red River in which Metis were assaulted
and in many cases killed, one victim being Andre Nault, who
fortunately survived a particularly brutal attack (not the only time he
was attacked, by the way).
The article does not provide these details and also incorrectly states
that Nault was 54 years old at the time, but the attack occurred in
March, 1871, when Andre was still 40 years old. I will write something
about this period later as I have some more information on Andre
Nault during these events.]
He managed to survive, but was left with a permanent reminder of the
attack in the form of a gash on his head which one could pass one's
fingers through. I had read elsewhere that he had a scar, but the
actual groove in his skull shows how severe the wound actually was.
To evade arrest, Nault spent two years in the United States. But as his
wife Anastasie did not wish to live in exile, he returned to Manitoba,
was arrested in 1874 for his role in the execution of Thomas Scott, and
served one year in prison. (It does not mention it in either obituary,
but Nault served on the jury that voted for Scott's execution, guided
Scott to the execution area, waved the flag for the execution squad,
and helped hide Scott's corpse, which was never found). The obituary from the Manitoba Free Press includes a quote from
Andre regarding his year spent in prison: 'I will never forget the
year I spent in prison', he remarked to a Free Press reporter some
time ago, 'that I, who upheld justice, right and the British flag should
have been imprisoned by the servants of that same great flag'. The obituary neglects to mention that this quote was in reference to
Nault's not siding with William Bernard O'Donoghue, a former
Treasurer in Riel's ill-fated Provisional Government who, being of Irish
descent, supported the Fenian cause and had petitioned the United
States president U.S. Grant for intervention in Red River on behalf of
the Metis, raising the possibility of American annexation of the Red
River region.
According to Canadian Biography, 'Nault and Jean-Baptiste Lépine
went to Pembina on 2 October [1871] and returned four days later to
report that O'Donoghue [with 35 men] was planning to attack Fort
Pembina before approaching Fort Garry. The Métis under Riel stayed
loyal to Canada and did not join O'Donoghue' (NAULT, ANDRÉ,
Dictionary of Canadian Biography; URL: http://www.biographi.ca/009004119.01e.php?&id_nbr=8307&interval=25& ) http://ucalgary.academia.edu/DerrickNault/Posts/314795/Andre_Nault_18301924_Obituaries