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Primary sourcePainting16 May 1885

Wounded carried to the rear, Riel Rebellion

16 May 1885

A black-and-white wood engraving published in Harper's Weekly on 16 May 1885, showing wounded men carried from the fight at Fish Creek during the Riel rebellion.

Shows wounded men from the fight at Fish Creek in the rebellion Riel led, so it places the human cost of his resistance in his archive.

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Black and white engraving of a field medical scene on a hillside. In the foreground a bandaged, shirtless wounded man stands between two men in long coats and fur caps, one tying a bandage on his upper arm. A seated man holds his side at left, and a medical case lies open. Stretcher-bearers carry wounded men up the slope, and armed men are visible in the background.
Wounded carried to the rear, wood engraving, Harper's Weekly, 16 May 1885. National Library of Medicine.

About this source

What it is

This is a black-and-white wood engraving published in Harper's Weekly on 16 May 1885. It shows wounded men being carried to the rear after the fight at Fish Creek during the Riel rebellion in Saskatchewan. A wounded man stands shirtless between two men in long coats, one bandaging his arm, while a seated man holds his side and stretcher-bearers carry others up the slope. The National Library of Medicine holds the print.

Why it matters

The print shows the medical side of the fighting that Louis Riel led. It places the wounded among the soldiers and the armed men in the background. Because it comes from a weekly magazine and is an engraving, not a photograph, it reflects how the rebellion was presented to its readers as well as what happened on the hill. The catalogue does not name the artist.

Look closer

  • Which details show that this picture was made by hand, and what would a photograph of the same moment show differently?
  • Who are the people helping the wounded, and who are the armed men in the background?
  • Why might a magazine choose to show wounded men, and what does the image leave out about the causes of the fight?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Louis Riel on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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