He did not graduate from either institution, but nonetheless advertised himself as a "Physician and Surgeon" after moving to the Red River settlement later in 1861 (it is unknown if he purchased a degree, as was legal at the time).

[5][6] In 1859, Schultz convinced Patrick Gammie Laurie, a newspaper publisher in Canada West, to sell his Owen Sound Times to set up the first newspaper in the Red River settlement; Laurie abandoned the idea before arriving when he found out that William Buckingham and William Coldwell had established one already: the Nor'Wester.

[9] Schultz was a major figure in the early, highly partisan publishing world of the Red River area, which was soon to become the province of Manitoba.

[8] Schultz used the Nor'Wester to promote ending the Hudson's Bay Company's rule of the Red River area and open it to settlement.

Following his arrest and jailbreak in 1868, the paper ran a version of his side of the story and a criticism of the Hudson's Bay Company's legal authority.

Schultz and his followers were actively engaged in land speculation, and were viewed with extreme suspicion by most of Red River's Métis community.

During the Red River Rebellion of 1869–70, Schultz emerged as one of the leading opponents of Louis Riel's provisional government (which was supported by most of the area's population).

Schultz made several speeches against the Riel government during his time in Toronto, and played a significant role in swaying Protestant opinion against the Métis leader.

Schultz returned to Red River (now renamed Manitoba) in September, after the Canadian government had taken the area with militia units from Ontario.

[citation needed] The newly established government of Manitoba sought conciliation among the province's ethnic, religious and linguistic factions, and generally regarded Schultz as a disruptive force.

These positions may appear strikingly out of character of Schultz's previous actions, but they can probably be explained by the reduced influence of Louis Riel in the Canadian west after 1875.

Most English-speaking aboriginals in the region were opposed to Riel, as were a number of francophone Métis; these groups generally did not consider Schultz as an enemy, nor was he unfavourably disposed toward them.

Manitoba's population was by this time becoming dominated by Ontario immigrants (Riel's followers having largely abandoned the area), and Schultz was no longer considered a dangerous outsider by the local power structure.

He played little part in the Greenway government's anti-bilingualism legislation (which resulted in the Manitoba Schools Question), though he dutifully signed it into law on March 1, 1890, following Macdonald's orders.

Schultz's remains were transported to Winnipeg by a special baggage car, draped in a black cloth on the Great Northern Railway.