There was another rebellion in Manitoba 15 years earlier, the 1885 uprising had no chance but you might do better with the 1870 rising.
I'll start with a little historical background for those who lack knowledge about this obscure period (taken from the Government of Canada website-
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/2/18/h18-2170-e.html):
Before beginning negotiations with the Hudson's Bay Company regarding the transfer of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory, the Canadian government sent surveyors to the Red River valley in order to notify the Métis population of the Government of Canada's intention to buy the lands in the region.
The Métis reacted strongly to the lack of consultation. In October 1869 they chose a leader, Louis Riel, who organized the Comité national des Métis.
William McDougall, the new lieutenant-governor of what would henceforth be known as the Northwest Territories, was sent to announce to the Red River settlers that the Government of Canada had just bought part of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory from the Hudson's Bay Company. Ottawa decided, however, to delay the official possession of the lands and its announcement until the issue of the Métis dissatisfaction was resolved. McDougall, already en route to the Red River colony, was not aware of the decision made by the federal government. In order to go to the Red River, he had to travel through the United States. When he reached the border on October 31, 1869, the Métis were there and refused to let him cross. They wanted to prevent the annexation of the territory by the Government of Canada and thus make their rights known.
On November 3, 1869, Riel and his men took possession of Upper Fort Garry (Winnipeg), which was then the property of the Hudson's Bay Company. On December 8, they formed a provisional government, which took care of business in the region and replaced the administration of the Company until an agreement was reached with Ottawa.(end of quote)
Divergence:
Btwn November 1869 and January 1870, there is strong debate in the Comite National, between those who argued for a speedy entry into confederation, "any other alternative would be a hopeless challenge to the might of the British Empire", and those who argued that "there is no turning back. To seek Canada's forgiveness and seek to re-enter Queen Victoria's protective umbrella after such an audacious challenge to her authority would be madness and invite retribution from the already large Anglo population, and within a few generations the Franco/Indian cultures would disappear".
Eventually, the decision is made to declare the independent Metis Republic, with French, Cree and Ojibwe as the three official languages. Representatives are sent abroad to seek recognition for the new government, while a ragtag army of sorts is hastily organized by Gabriel Dumont. Almost immediately, the fledgling republic is faced with a largescale counter-revolt by the white Anglo settlers, many of them from Ontario and members of the anti-Catholic Orange order. To avoid provoking the Government in Ottawa, captured rebels are declared prisoners of war and imprisoned (and eventually dumped across the border into Ontario, their lands and property siezed) rather than executed. This "Protestant Insurrection" is not finally suppressed until the early spring of 1870. Upon hearing about the Metis declaration, the Government in Ottawa immediately calls for the mobilization of four hundred British Regulars and eight hundred English-Canadian militiamen to leave Toronto for the Red River region, although the force is not ready to depart until March (due to the drastic nature of the emergency, two months earlier than OT).
April 1870- The United States Congress presents a motion to annex the rebellious Red River territory. Though the US proposal is angrily rejected by the Metis government, the Canadian Government is still fearful that the Canadian West might be lost to the Americans just like the Oregon Territory.
July 1870- The British-Canadian Expeditionary Force finally arrives in the Red River region, having lost nearly three hundred men to starvation, disease, desertion, and Metis guerilla action. The latter leaves the Canadian militia troops severely demoralized. The Force takes an abandoned Fort Garry, the Metis government fled six hundred kilometres westward, and the Union Jack is raised once again flies over the fort after an anticlimatic ceremony.
Dumont wisely avoids taking the British regulars on in open combat, content to torment the militiamen in hit and run raids.
August 1870- the first representatives from France and Mexico arrive, both declining to recognize the new Republic until the conclusion of hostilities with the British Crown. A large number of mercenaries also arrive however, many of them from South America and Europe. The only nation able to send the advisors Dumont had requested to help train the Metis army, however, is Russia, since both France and Prussia are currently occupied with their own struggle against eachother. An Italian veteran of Garibaldi's Redshirts also is hired on as an advisor, and sets about forming an elite bodyguard of regulars for Dumont, composed almost entirely of foreign volunteers.
December 1870- The Canadian Militiamen garrisoned in Fort Garry mutiny, far from home, bored, underfed, and trapped in the middle of hostile territory. The British regulars quell the mutiny, in the end the death toll is five hundred. More men have died in the mutiny than from enemy action. The Force is quickly recalled back to Ontario, and a second expedition is hastily organized.
To be continued....
