Battle of Loon Lake

Infobox Military Conflict


caption=
conflict=Battle of Loon Lake
partof=the North-West Rebellion
date=June 3, 1885
place=Near Frenchman's Butte, Saskatchewan
result=Dominion victory
combatant1=Cree
combatant2=Dominion of Canada
commander1=Big Bear
Wandering Spirit
commander2=Sam Steele
strength1=150
strength2=47 militia
casualties1=5–12 dead
casualties2=7 wounded

The Battle of Loon Lake concluded the North-West Rebellion on June 3, 1885 and was the last battle ever fought on Canadian soil. Led by Major Sam Steele, a force of North-West Mounted Police, Alberta Mounted Rifles and Steele's Scouts (a body of mounted militia raised by Steele himself) caught up with and dispersed a band of Plains Cree warriors and their white and Métis hostages.

Cree scouts made a determined stand with what was left of their ammunition, but the body of the Cree column, realizing the hopelessness of their situation, released their prisoners and fled.

Wandering Spirit, the war chief leading the Cree military campaign, surrendered to authorities at Fort Pitt. Big Bear, the aging peacetime chief of this band of Cree, eluded capture until July 2.

The Battle of Loon Lake is commemorated today by interpretive signs placed by the Government of Saskatchewan and a plaque placed by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. The place is today known as 'Steele Narrows'.

References