has returned to the prime ministership and conspires with George Stephen, president of the financially burdened Canadian Pacific Railway, to use the situation to gain support for finishing the railway. By inciting a violent revolt amongst the Métis, the government can justify funding the railway to move troops to the Prairies. The Métis under Riel respond with arms as intended. Riel declares "Rome has fallen!" and breaks from the Catholic Church. He breathes the Holy Spirit into his followers, thereafter known as the Exovedate. Tensions build until the bloodshed at the Battle of Duck Lake, where Riel and his followers drive back the North-West Mounted Police. Macdonald takes this as a cue to send two thousand troops to the area. At the Battle of Fish Creek, the outnumbered Métis manage to drive back the Canadians, but at the Battle of Batoche, while Riel is increasingly immersed in religious activities, the Métis finally suffer defeat. In the hope that his trial will provide an opportunity to get the Métis' story to the public, Riel surrenders instead of fleeing. In July 1885, Riel is put on trial in Regina for his role as leader in the North-West Rebellion. Against his will, Riel's lawyer tries unsuccessfully to defend him on grounds of insanity. He is found guilty of high treason. Though the jury pleads for mercy, he is sentenced to hang. In response to the pleas of Quebeckers to pardon Riel, Macdonald responds, "He shall hang though every dog in Quebec bark in his favour". After reconciling himself with the Church, Riel is hanged in Regina on 16 November 1885. In the aftermath, the remaining rebels receive a pardon, Macdonald and Stephen continue in their success, and Riel's wife dies. Primary characters Louis Riel Riel (1844–85) was a French-speaking Métis politician from a devoutly Catholic background. He founded and named the Province of Manitoba (a Cree word meaning "the god that speaks"). He led the two Métis rebellions against the Canadian government: the Red River Rebellion of 1869–70 and the North-West Rebellion of 1885. Following the latter, he was hanged for high treason. Riel remains an ambiguous and controversial figure in Canadian history, and Brown's depiction maintains that ambiguity. Riel is depicted as charismatic. He is Montréal-educated and speaks English, which makes him a natural leader to the Métis, though his leadership is flawed—he ignores the military advice of his peers in battle,