Gabriel Dumont
Gabriel Dumont
(1837-1906)
Raised on the prairies, Dumont became the greatest of the Métis buffalo hunters. As the herds diminished in the 1870's he and other plains-dwelling Métis established permanent settlements on the South Saskatchewan. In 1884 he brought Louis Riel from exile to lead the Métis in their dealings with the government, and when armed conflict ensued, Gabriel was their military commander. Forced into exile, he toured with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, and pled the cause of his people in eastern Canada before returning to Saskatchewan in the 1890's to resume his place as leader of the Métis community.