Rebellion, 1885 - Twentieth Anniversary of Cut Knife / Description of Fight by an Eye-Witness

A transcribed newspaper article from the Saskatchewan Herald of 11 May 1885. It describes in pro-Otter terms the battle between Lt. Col. Otter's troops and those of Chief Poundmaker at Cut Knife Hill. Item found within folder 1 of file Rebellion, 1885.

Historical note:

On 2 May 1885, during the Northwest Rebellion, Cree and Assiniboine natives defeated 300 soldiers commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel William Otter in the Battle of Cut Knife. Using a limited number of men, war chief Fine Day virtually surrounded and pinned down Otter's force on an exposed plain. After 6 hours of fighting, Otter retreated as Cree Chief Poundmaker held the warriors back. Eight of Otter's force died; 5 or 6 natives were killed. The battlefield is on the Poundmaker Reserve, about 40 km west of Battleford, SK, just north of Cut Knife Hill, a feature named for a Sarcee warrior who died near there. A cairn sits near the middle of the battlefield, near Chief Poundmaker's grave. His body was moved to the site in 1967 from Blackfoot Crossing, Alberta, where he died in 1886.