02 May 2017

Cut Knife Battlefield Panorama

The Battle of Cut Knife, on 2 May 1885, was an engagement during the North West Rebellion (Resistance) between volunteer militia answering the call of their country and Cree and Assiniboine warriors of Poundmaker's Reserve at Cut Knife, Saskatchewan, protecting their traditional way of life.
Government forces under Col. William Otter, advancing from North Battleford in what he described as a reconnaissance in strength, included a detachment of the Ottawa Company of Sharpshooters. Otter took the exposed high ground where there was no cover from the aboriginal warriors who took advantage of the trees lower down to fire on Otter's forces and move position unseen.
Two young men of the Ottawa Sharpshooters, Privates William B. Osgoode and John Rogers, were among those killed.
After several hours Otter withdrew his troops to Battleford seeing no prospect of advancing. Under orders from Chief Poundmaker Otter's troops were not pursued; it may also be ammunition was virtually exhausted.
I visited the site, which is on the Poundmaker Reserve and commemorated by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, on 24 April 2017 and made this video panorama.
The thumbnail image is from the collection of Library and Archives Canada.

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