68 Facts About Edgar Dewdney

Edgar Dewdney, was a Canadian surveyor, road builder, Indian commissioner and politician born in Devonshire, England.

Edgar Dewdney emigrated to British Columbia in 1859 in order to act as surveyor for the Dewdney Trail that runs through the province.

In 1870, Dewdney decided to take up a role in Canadian government.

Edgar Dewdney was reelected to this position in 1874 and again in 1878.

Edgar Dewdney served as Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Territories from 1879 to 1888, and the fifth Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia from 1892 to 1897.

In 1897, Edgar Dewdney retired from politics and began working as a financial agent until his death in 1916.

Edgar Dewdney experienced several political and humanitarian issues throughout his political appointments.

Additionally, as Indian Commissioner, Edgar Dewdney subsequently tackled issues pertaining to the North-West Rebellion of 1885.

Edgar Dewdney was born in Bideford, England to parents Charles Dewdney and Fanny Hollingshead.

Edgar Dewdney grew up in a wealthy family, providing him with many social opportunities.

Edgar Dewdney originally wanted to pursue a career in civil engineering, studying the subject at Cardiff University.

Edgar Dewdney was motivated to move to the North-West Territories after the discovery and further mining of gold in the Fraser Valley.

Edgar Dewdney was active in the development of pack trails in the colony of British Columbia including the Dewdney Trail which became the main trail into the interior of the colony.

Edgar Dewdney was active in political life in British Columbia throughout the 1860s.

Edgar Dewdney had a limited understanding of the functions of Canadian politics when his interests first piqued.

Edgar Dewdney had an advantage due to his general knowledge of Indigenous peoples and that he did not originate from Ottawa.

Later in his life, Edgar Dewdney held dual titles of Indian Commissioner and Lieutenant-Governor of the North-West Territories.

Edgar Dewdney was the Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia and after three years retired and became a surveyor.

Edgar Dewdney discovered three routes, Allison, Coquihalla, and Railroad Passes in his 1902 exhibition.

Edgar Dewdney is recognized as a legendary trail builder of colonial days in British Columbia, as this played a large role in the westward expansion of Canada.

Edgar Dewdney was originally employed as a surveyor, and supervised the survey of New Westminster.

In 1865, Edgar Dewdney was appointed by Governor Frederick Seymour to oversee the construction of a trail to the East Kootenay region of the British Columbia Interior so that coastal merchants might benefit from the burgeoning trade associated with gold mining in that area.

From 1868 to 1869, Edgar Dewdney became active in Colonial politics, representing the electoral district of Kootenay in the Legislative Council of British Columbia.

Edgar Dewdney was appointed a member of Prime Minister Sir John A Macdonald's cabinet in 1879, where he served as Indian commissioner for the North-West Territories until 1888.

Edgar Dewdney resigned his seat in the Commons, but remained Indian Commissioner during his term as Lieutenant-Governor, which lasted until 1888.

Responsible government had not been granted to the North-West Territories, so Edgar Dewdney was the Territories' head of government.

Edgar Dewdney retired from politics in 1900, after unsuccessfully running for Parliament in New Westminster, British Columbia.

Edgar Dewdney's solution was to locate the native tribes on reserves.

Edgar Dewdney reported conditions at the Blackfoot Crossing in July 1879 as follows:.

When finally pressed to send food supplies after the official requests, Edgar Dewdney stated it was government policy to use famine to force Indians onto reserves.

Edgar Dewdney proposed stationing instructors on reserves in order to educate the Indigenous peoples on how to sustain an agricultural society, as well as to provide those on reserves with the necessary supplies.

The Royal Commission shows that members of the Blackfoot nation were grateful for Edgar Dewdney's efforts made to ending the crisis.

Edgar Dewdney said that he would recognize any male Cree as a chief if he could get the support of one hundred or more men to accept him as a leader.

Edgar Dewdney believed that one of the reasons Indigenous people could not become self supporting was due to the treaties failing to provide grist mills for grain farming.

Edgar Dewdney was the Lieutenant-Governor of the North-West Territories during the Riel-led rebellion of 1885.

Many settlers in the region were becoming anxious and feared the outbreak of a rebellion, so in February 1885, Edgar Dewdney urged the Prime Minister to respond to their demands from the Metis.

Later that month, officials in Saskatchewan began sending reports to Edgar Dewdney regarding Metis military action that had begun in the area.

When Riel and his followers began to take prisoners and recruit support from individuals on nearby reserves, Edgar Dewdney allowed one hundred Mounted Police to intervene.

Edgar Dewdney was devoted to preventing other Indigenous peoples on reserves from joining Riel in the North-West Rebellion as an attempt to keep settlers in the area at ease.

When violence broke out between Riel and the government, Edgar Dewdney conducted a tour of reserves in the area, listening to the specific needs of the individuals living on the reserves in an attempt to keep them content.

Edgar Dewdney offered them more rations of tobacco, bacon, flour, and tea.

Edgar Dewdney emphasized the need to be loyal to the state throughout the rebellion.

Edgar Dewdney believed that those who had been loyal to the state should be rewarded after the North-West Rebellion had ended.

Theresa Delaney, a settler who was held captive whose husband was shot in Frog Lake believed that Edgar Dewdney should be blamed as a cause for the massacre in that while visiting Frog Lake, Dewdney made many promises in regards to food and aid, but none of the promises were fulfilled.

Additionally, Edgar Dewdney acted as a mediator between the government and the Indigenous peoples of Frog Lake.

Edgar Dewdney believed that all of those who were involved in the North-West Rebellion should be sentenced accordingly.

Edgar Dewdney supported heavy jail sentences for the perpetrators and believed that many executions needed to be carried out in order to make a statement, including the execution of Louis Riel.

Edgar Dewdney believed that the future of Indigenous communities lay in the younger generation.

Edgar Dewdney feared Indigenous children and the power that they held.

Edgar Dewdney believed that children needed to be removed from the influence of their Indigenous parents and communities.

Edgar Dewdney had the prenominal "the Honourable" and the postnominal "PC" for life by virtue of being made a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada on September 25,1888.

Edgar Dewdney noted in the Royal Commission that the Sacree nation was in dispute with the Blackfeet over flour rations.

Edgar Dewdney ended the dispute and the Sacree agreed to move to Fort MacLeod.

Edgar Dewdney was involved in mediating the territorial disputes between the Metis and settlers when tensions were heightened.

Edgar Dewdney supported and defended the allegations against Canadian Indigenous peoples as being held responsible for the depredations in Northern Montana.

Edgar Dewdney triumphantly claimed that there were no more natives north of the Canadian Pacific Railway line.

Additionally, Edgar Dewdney mediated territorial disputes as Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs while traveling areas affected by colonial expansion as well as food and land disputes.

Edgar Dewdney has been criticized for using the courts as an extension of administering his own concept of justice He reportedly withheld rations from the Cree until he realized that it created more violence among them.

Edgar Dewdney was known for making many promises to the Indigenous peoples which raised their morale, but ultimately leaving these promises unfulfilled.

At the time of the North-West Rebellion, Edgar Dewdney was Indian Commissioner as well as Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Territories.

Edgar Dewdney was criticized for not responding to requests for food relief made to the government by Metis, Assiniboine and Cree in the winter of 1882 to 1883.

Edgar Dewdney was known to involve himself in various business ventures and investments in the North-West that resulted in his personal financial gain.

Edgar Dewdney disliked the harsh climate of the North-West Territories, as it could become intolerable at times.

Edgar Dewdney suffered from extreme back pain, preventing him from traveling on horseback and camping between reserves.

Edgar Dewdney was appointed as Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia on November 2,1892 and retired December 1,1897.

Edgar Dewdney attempted to receive a senate appointment as well as an appeal to receive a pension to aid him in his old age.

Edgar Dewdney never received a senate appointment or a pension.

Edgar Dewdney died on August 8,1916 in Victoria, British Columbia at the age of eighty.