WEvents from the year 1885 in Canada.
WThe 5th Canadian Parliament was in session from 8 February 1883, until 15 January 1887. The membership was set by the 1882 federal election on 20 June 1882. It was dissolved prior to the 1887 election. The 5th Canadian Parliament was controlled by a Conservative/Liberal-Conservative majority under Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald and the 3rd Canadian Ministry. The Official Opposition was the Liberal Party, led by Edward Blake.
WThe Battle of Batoche was the decisive battle of the North-West Rebellion, which pitted the Canadian authorities against a force of First Nations and Métis people. Fought from May 9 to 12, 1885, at the ad hoc Provisional Government of Saskatchewan capital of Batoche, the greater numbers and superior firepower of General Frederick Middleton's force could not be successfully countered by the Métis, as had happened at the earlier Battle of Fish Creek, and the town was eventually captured. The defeat of the Métis led to the surrender of Louis Riel on May 15 and the collapse of the Provisional Government. Poundmaker surrendered on May 26. Cree fighters and families under Big Bear held out the longest, fighting off Canadian troops pursuing them in the Battle of Frenchman's Butte and Battle of Loon Lake, and, gradually dwindling in number, staying on the move until Big Bear eventually turned himself in to the North-West Mounted Police at Fort Carlton in early July.
WThe Battle of Frenchman's Butte, fought on May 28, 1885, occurred when a force of Cree, dug in on a hillside near Frenchman's Butte, was unsuccessfully attacked by the Alberta Field Force. It was fought in what was then the District of Saskatchewan of the North-West Territories.
WThe Battle of Cut Knife, fought on May 2, 1885, occurred when a flying column of mounted police, militia, and Canadian army regular army units attacked a Cree and Assiniboine teepee settlement near Battleford, Saskatchewan. First Nations fighters forced the Canadian forces to retreat, with losses on both sides.
WThe Last Spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway was the ceremonial final spike driven into the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) at Craigellachie, British Columbia, at 9:22 am on November 7, 1885. It was driven in by CPR railway financier Donald Smith, marking the end of a saga of natural disasters, financial crises, and even rebellion that plagued Canada's first transcontinental railway from its beginning.
WThe Looting of Battleford began at the end of March, 1885, during the North-West Rebellion, in the town of Battleford, Saskatchewan, then a part of the Northwest Territories.
WThe North-West Rebellion of 1885 was a rebellion by the Métis people under Louis Riel and an associated uprising by First Nations Cree and Assiniboine of the District of Saskatchewan against the Canadian government. Many Métis felt that Canada was not protecting their rights, their land, and their survival as a distinct people.