John Hugh Sutherland was born Dec. 25th, 1848, 2nd son of John Sutherland (later Senator) and Janet McBeth. He was born at the Point Douglas property of his paternal grandparents and original Selkirk Settlers Catherine McPherson & Alexander Sutherland. In 1870, the family resided in a large two-storey "Red River frame house" on Lot 86 (now Helmsdale Avenue in East Kildonan).

On the morning of the 16th, John Sutherland had returned home from participating as a delegate to the Convention of Forty. John asked one of his sons to ride to Kildonan church and school where the group of loyalist had held up on their way to retake the fort by force. John Hugh was to deliver the message that the prisoners held by Louis Riel at the fort were to be set free. The hope was that the news would prevent any further violence and attempts to retake Fort Garry.

21 year old Hugh travelled across the frozen Red River in horseback to deliver the message and wandered into quite the scene. 19 year old Norbert Parisien had been captured by the loyalists the day before and accused of being a spy for Riel. Just as Hugh had reached the West side of the river, Parisian was making an attempt to escape his captors. While fleeing the church, he was able to grab a double barrelled rifle from an unattended cutter (dog sled?) belonging to one of his guards.

Moments later he encountered John Hugh on his horse just at the bank of the river. Thinking Hugh was there to stop his escape and/or wanting to take the horse, Parisian fired both barrels at him. The first shot hit Hugh in the hand and the second shot through his main torso. He was picked up soon after and brought to the house of Rev. John Black. He lingered on all day eventually passed away either sometime later that night or very early the next morning. It is reported that Hugh's last words were a prayer followed by pleas to show mercy and leniency to Norbert Parisien. The common belief seems to be that Parisian shot John Hugh out of confusion and/or desperation.

Parisien himself was almost immediately recaptured by the remnants of the Portage Party and was not treated well, experiencing a grave wound to the head from the back of a hatchet. He died on April 4th but it's not clear if that resulted from these wounds or from being injured (possibly shot) during another escape attempt. Sadly, there is very little publicly known about Norbert. He was also just a victim of the complex tensions between cultures of the colony at that time.

The Manitoba Museum is in possession of a deer skin glove that John Hugh is believed to have been wearing at the time he was shot. It has a rip in the thumb supposedly from where the first bullet hit his hand. The glove was donated in the 1970's by the daughter of John Hugh's niece Eva (Sutherland) Gunn. The glove sits within their extensive History Collection but is not currently on public display.

- Compiled by Darren Sutherland & Rick Dondo