Battle of Loon Lake

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Battle of Loon Lake
Part of the North-West Rebellion
Date June 3, 1885 Location Near Frenchman's Butte, Saskatchewan Result Dominion victory
Belligerents
Cree	Dominion of Canada
Commanders
Big Bear Wandering Spirit	Sam Steele
Strength
150	47 militia
Casualties and losses
5–12 dead	7 wounded

North-West Rebellion Duck Lake – Frog Lake – Fort Pitt – Fish Creek – Cut Knife – Batoche – Frenchman's Butte – Loon Lake –

The Battle of Loon Lake concluded the North-West Rebellion on June 3, 1885 and was the last battle ever fought on Canadian soil. Led by Major Sam Steele, a force of North-West Mounted Police, Alberta Mounted Rifles and Steele's Scouts (a body of mounted militia raised by Steele himself) caught up with and dispersed a band of Plains Cree warriors and their white and Métis hostages.

Cree scouts made a determined stand with what was left of their ammunition, but the body of the Cree column, realizing the hopelessness of their situation, released their prisoners and fled.

Wandering Spirit, the war chief leading the Cree military campaign, surrendered to authorities at Fort Pitt. Big Bear, the aging peacetime chief of this band of Cree, eluded capture until July 2.

The Battle of Loon Lake is commemorated today by interpretive signs placed by the Government of Saskatchewan and a plaque placed by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. The place is today known as 'Steele Narrows'.

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