The two rebellions led by Louis Riel, the first in 1870 and the second in 1885 were caused by fears rising from the expansion of white settlement into the west. The people of French-Indian origin were called Metis and those of Scots-Indian background were called mixed bloods. Both rebellions were the result of fear that their rights would not be respected and that they would lose the lands that they occupied. The Metis became alarmed and they turned for help to Louis Riel who had received a Jesuit education in Quebec and had been trained to enter the Roman Catholic priesthood. When surveyors from Canada ignored the lot lines of the Metis's farms, Riel took action. A band of Metis occupied Upper Fort Garry and Riel formed a provisional government to negotiate the colony's entry into Canada.

Riel had the support of both the Metis and the mixed bloods but English speaking Canadians who had moved into the colony opposed the provisional government. Riel's main blunder was to order the execution by a firing squad of an Orangeman from Ontario, Thomas Scott, for his constant opposition to Riel's authority. Scott, a native of Clandeboye, Ireland, had been captured during an attempt to rescue the local politician, J.C. Schultz, another Orangeman. The murder of Scott placed Sir John A. Macdonald [himself an Orangeman] between the voters of Ontario and Quebec, and turned the event at Red River into a French-English, Catholic-Protestant confrontation. Orangemen in Ontario demanded that Macdonald take action and he did so. His government passed the Manitoba Act in June, 1870, which set up the province of Manitoba and granted the Metis many of their demands. However, to appease Ontario Macdonald refused to grant amnesty to Riel. Troops were sent from Ontario to defeat Riel and when the expediton force drew near in late August, 1870, Riel and other members of his puppet government fled to the United States.

Among the volunteers sent to the Red River colony was private Thomas Hickey of the first Ontario Rifles and the bearer of Orange Warrant No. 1307, the first formal warrant west of Ontario. L.O.L. No. 1307 was formally instituted in September, 1870 aboard the steamship the Jessie McKennery, anchored in the Red River at Fort Garry.

At the first meeting Hickey was elected master by a membership drawn exclusively from Ontario. No. 1307 soon secured a firm role in the new colony and reported to the grand lodge in Toronto in February, 1871: "Already we are accomplishing a great amount of good for some of our Brethren from Ontario coming here, as we procured for them employment and pointed out for them the best lands and provided relief for others when penniless. We have surprised a great number of our Brethren coming here who never dreamed of such a thing as an Orange Lodge in this priest-ridden country, but when they came and found sometimes a hundred members in our Lodge room it cheered their Orange hearts."

Riel later returned to Canada after having been in and out of mental institutions in the United States and in 1885 started the second rebellion. This time the government acted in full force. Troops were sent west including the 10th Royal Grendadiers of Toronto. This regiment had a total force of 250 men of whom 148 were Orangemen. Riel was defeated at the Battle of Batoche and taken captive.

At the Grand Lodge sessions in Cornwall, Ontario in 1885, the Grand Master W.J. Parkhill stated to the membership: "During the year, rebellion has broken out in our North-West under the hand of that rebel, Louis Riel, whose hands, a few years ago, were dyed in the blood of our dear Brother Scott; but through the influence of Popery at that time he got almost free, to now again murder our brethren and friends."

Canadian Orangeism and the Military

The Orange Order had a lodge in many regiments of the British Army by the early 1800's. It was only natural that the Orangemen in these units would want to continue their membership whereever their regiments were sent. Prior to 1812 there were few Orangemen in Canada and those lodges which did exist were small and isolated. Most of the members were ex British army personnel who had settled here. It was from these regiments that the Orange Order in Canada was to get its main start. As thousands of British troops arrived in Canada at the outbreak of the War of 1812 Orangeism grew rapidly in Upper Canada. Soon after the war the first recorded Orange Parade in Canada was held.

During the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837, Ogle Gowan, the first Canadian Grand Master, organized his own milita unit, the 9th Provincial Battalion, later renamed the Queens Royal Borderers and helped to defeat American invaders at the Battle of the Windmill. Gowan also claimed that 317 Orangemen were sworn into the militia for the defence of Toronto by Mayor Gurnett on December 4 and 5, 1837.

In the Fenian Raids of 1866 over half of the casualties were Orangemen. Havelock L.O.L. No. 27 was formed in New Brunswick on April 8, 1868 by the Havelock Volunteers who had enlisted in 1865-1866 to repel the Fenians. The company was stationed at St. Andrews, New Brunswick under the command of Captain Sifron Goddard who was the first lodge master. In 1885 the Royal Grenadiers of Toronto were sent west to put down the 2nd Riel Rebellion. There were 250 men in the regiment, 148 of whom were Orangemen.

During the first World War Canada's war effort was headed by an Orangeman, Colonel Sam Hughes until he was replaced by another Orangeman, Sir Edward Kemp. Hughes estimated that out of 600,000 men in uniform in W.W. 1, 80,000 were Orangemen. Over a dozen Orange military lodges were formed in the Canadian army during this war.

Six of the battalions that recruited in Toronto in W.W. 1 had Orangemen as Commanding Officers. It was stated by the colonel of the 204th Battalion that when it was recruiting in Toronto, that seventy-five percent of the men enlisting were able to give the Quartermaster Sergeant the Royal Arch handshake. The Grand Master of Manitoba, W.T. Edgecombe organized and took overseas a solid Orange battalion of over 1000 men. The highest ranking allied soldier killed in action during W.W. 1 was a Canadian Orangeman, Brigadier General Malcolm Mercer. During World War Two Orangemen again responded to the country's call for help. Military lodges were formed in the Toronto Scottish Regiment and in the Midland Regiment. Many lodges never recovered from the loss of membership suffered during these years. In the short space of less that thirty years, Orange Lodges had twice seen the majority of their membership serve overseas with many of their youngest members - their future leaders being killed in action. Their loss dealt a crippling blow to the Orange Order in Canada from which it never recovered.

The Harbour Grace Affray

Orangeism has had a long and distinguished career in the province of Newfoundland. The following event was the catalyst that was to bring the Orange Order in Newfoundland to the front pages of the local media.

December 26, 1883 - "Probably the most serious Newfoundland riot, as far as casualty is concerned, took place the day after Christmas in Harbour Grace in 1883. Following a service in the Methodist church on Water Street, the Loyal Orange Society set out on parade with about 350 men. Near Pippy's Lane they were met with another 300 - 350 men from Riverhead, a predominantly Roman Catholic area. These men were determined to stop the parade from trespassing on their territory. In the ensuing scuffle, a number of shots were fired that wounded eighteen men and killed the following five: William James of Carbonear, William French of Courage's Beach, Patrick Callahan of Southside, John Bray of Courage's Beach, and Thomas Nicholas of Otterbury."

Seven men, including Head Constable Ed Doyle, were arrested and charged with the willful murder of Patrick Callahan. He was suspended from the constabulary but was reinstated on May 21, 1885 after the Crown had decided that he had indeed acted responsibly in carrying out his official duties. Nineteen people from Riverhead were arrested for the murders of Janes, French, and Bray. Their first trial occurred on May 12, 1884 before Chief Justice Sir F.B.T. Carter. About five other trials took place and ultimately the prisoners were discharged on the murder charge. Fourteen of them however were found guilty of riotous assembly and assault. They were each granted bale at $400.00. The light sentences outraged the Orangemen who met in the British Hall on July 5, 1884. They formed the General Protestant Union intending that branches be formed in other Protestant communities. They denounced the jury system of the colony as "utterly powerless to secure the conviction of the guilty fand to redress the wrongs of the subjects as far as the Protestant population are concerned." The Protestant Union called on the government to improve the administration of justice and "secure to Protestants and to others the rights and privileges guaranteed to them by the British Contitution." Controversy that arose out of the Harbour Grace Affray raged on in the House of Assembly throughout the year of 1885.

According to Arthur Fox, who wrote the History of the Constabulary, the trials of this case brought out evidence that Head Constable Doyle was warned at least twice prior to the parade that it was going to be barricaded by the Riverhead men. Yet he did nothing, claiming that this was an often used threat which had never come to anything. "What is wanted is to efface the darkest blot in our history; to have the whole deplorable occurrence buried and forgotten. We have been taught a terrible lesson by it and during the present generation there will be no repetition of such occurrences. We are perfectly satisfied that these are the sentiments of an overpowering majority of the population, both Protestant and Catholic." -- The Evening Mercury, December 23, 1885