Maxime Lépine

Maxime Lépine (c. 1837 – September 20, 1897) was a Canadian businessman and political figure of Métis origin. He represented St. Francois Xavier East in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1874 to 1878.

He was born in Saint Boniface, Manitoba, the son of Jean-Baptiste Bérard, dit Lépine and Julia Henry. Around 1857, he married Josephte Lavallée. He lived in St. Francoise Xavier in the 1870s and managed a Red River cart freighting company which transported goods west to Fort Carlton and Ile-a-la-Crosse and south to Pembina and St. Paul, Minnesota.^[1] He was a friend of Louis Riel and, with his brother Ambroise-Dydime, served in the provisional government established in 1869. In 1882, he moved to Saskatchewan, settling near St. Louis. He served as a councillor in the provisional government created by Riel during the North-West Rebellion. Lépine fought at the Battle of Fish Creek and surrendered to General Frederick Dobson Middleton after the defeat at Batoche. He was convicted of high treason and sent to Stony Mountain Penitentiary in August 1885, he was released in 1886 having serving about seven months of his seven-year sentence. In 1896, he was given an appointment in the Indian agency at Battleford. Lépine died in poverty at Duck Lake, Saskatchewan on September 16, 1897.^[2]

References

• Payment, Diane (1990). "Maxime Lépine". Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online. Retrieved 2009-05-17.