After sowing their fields in the spring, the Métis would set out with their wives and children and leave the aged and infirm to take care of the crop.

[5] Their principal settlement was situated on the banks of the Red River of the North in what is now the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

[6] Often harassed by the Sioux, the Métis from the various settlements of Red River traveled in large groups for defence.

In North Dakota on the Grand Coteau of the Missouri on July 12, the scouts of St. François Xavier spotted a large band of Sioux.

Laflèche, dressed in a black cassock, white surplice, and stole, directed with the camp commander, Jean Baptiste Falcon, a miraculous defense against 2,000 Sioux combatants, holding up a crucifix during the battle.