Soldier, diplomat.
He was born in Britain and was captain of the Royal Artillery. The son-in-law of Charles Tupper, he came to Red River with William McDougall in1869, hoping to command a version of the envisioned mounted police force. According to John O’Donnell, he had “a fine gun” and shot after adjusting his monocle. With the Métis he had a reputation as a mannered fool, a typical English gent. He returned to Canada with McDougall, although the luggage belonging to him and his wife -- which was held by the Métis -- proved the occasion for a visit to the settlement by Sir Charles Tupper and a conversation with Louis Riel to secure its release.
He translated Bishop Taché’s book on theNorthwest (Sketch of the North West) into English in 1870. Cameron was later superintendent of the British section of the British-American boundary survey from 1872 to 1876, secretary of the Canadian delegation at the Paris Conference on Submarine Cables in 1883, and secretary to the Canadian Commission on Fisheries in Washington in 1887-88.
More information:
Arc of the Medicine Line: Mapping the World's Longest Undefended Border Across the Western Plains by Tony Rees (Douglas & McIntyre, 2007).
Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by John M. “Jack” Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.
Page revised: 20 April 2008
Memorable Manitobans
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