The Red Riders

From B.J.Banfill, Pioneer Nurse

"During the 'Awful Thirties,' this name was given to wandering, embittered men. Half-starved, unshaven, unscrupulous men...They roamed the countryside...until their numbers grew too large to be controlled by the regular authorities.

The Regina Riot was the result of dissatisfaction in relief camps in the west where thousands of these men, with no prospects of jobs, received temporary food and lodging Some 90 men left a British Columbia camp in June and started a trek to Ottawa to lodge a protest against relief camps.All along the route, discontented men boarded the train, until about 2000 men, aboard freight cars, arrived in Regina on June 14th. They conferred with federal cabinet members. Later, not satisfied with the governments' proposal to house them at Lumsden, Saskatchewan, and return them to their camps, the strikers massed in Regina to decide the best means of continuing their trek to Ottawa. The Mounties mobilized but when police signals became confused, panic broke loose. An investigation later showed that the strikers had hidden bricks, stones, spikes and other missiles at strategic points in the city."

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