Elzéar Goulet

Elzéar Goulet (November 18, 1836 – September 13, 1870) was a Métis leader in the Red River Colony, which later became the province of Manitoba, Canada. He was a supporter of Louis Riel's provisional government and was murdered by Canadian troops under the command of Col. Garnet Wolseley, after the suppression of the Red River Resistance.

Goulet was a member of the Goulet family who have been well documented in their fur trade. Two of Goulet's brothers were also involved in Manitoba's early political history: Maxime Goulet was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1878 to 1886 and Roger Goulet held posts in the government. Elzear's other brother, Leonide Goulet, was a member of the 49th Rangers, "the armed Metis scouts who accompanied the British-American Boundary Commission" (1873–1874).

Pre-Resistance life

Goulet was born in St. Boniface in the Red River Colony. Goulet was the third son of six to Alexis Goulet and Josephte Siveright. By the age of 25, Goulet had taken over the mail route that ran from Pembina to Upper Fort Garry.

Life after resistance Goulet stayed in Red River after the fall of Riel's government. He was recognized in Winnipeg on 13 September 1870, after walking into Bob and Hugh O'Llone's saloon, two American brothers, who owned the Red Saloon. The drowning also took place 11 days after Sir Adams George Archibald, Manitoba's first lieutenant governor, arrived. These deaths were also never prosecuted, again, for fear of uprising. His great-grandson Dan McDonald was president of the Mid-Island Métis Nation on Vancouver Island and a member of the Métis Nation of B.C. General Assembly.

The Manitoba Métis Federation has a local called Le Conseil Elzear-Goulet.