[1] While working as a labourer on the "Dawson Road Project", he moved on to Winnipeg where he met John Christian Schultz and fell under the influence of the Canadian Party.

[2] Scott's execution led to the Wolseley Expedition – a military force said to be sent to protect Canada from American annexation, but widely believed to confront Riel and the Métis at the Red River Settlement, authorized by Prime Minister John A. Macdonald.

[1] During the Red River Rebellion, Scott was first arrested and imprisoned in December 1869 at Upper Fort Garry by Louis Riel and his men along with the party of 45 who had fortified themselves in Schultz's store and warehouse in a challenge to the authority of The National Committee of the Metis of the Red River led by Louis Riel.

[5][6] Thomas Scott escaped Upper Fort Garry in January 1870, as did John Christian Schultz and Charles Mair.

In February, Scott alongside several hundred armed volunteers amassed at Kildonan Presbyterian Church and school planning to attack Upper Fort Garry to release the prisoners still being held there.

[8] Mair and Schultz travelled through the United States to Ontario to urge the government for an extensive military expedition to the Red River Settlement.

[10] During his captivity, Scott was extraordinarily difficult, opinionated, and verbally abusive and refused to acknowledge his captors' legal authority.

He was then brought in front of a court where they found him guilty of defying the authority of the Provisional Government, fighting with guards, and slandering the name of Louis Riel.

Many eyewitnesses disagree on multiple aspects of Scott's execution from disagreement on his last words and actions to the manner of his death.

[14] Métis leader John Bruce claimed that only two bullets from the firing squad actually hit Scott, wounding him once in the left shoulder, and once in the upper chest.

A man came forward and discharged his pistol close to Scott's head, but the bullet only penetrated the upper part of the left cheek and came out somewhere near the cartilage of the nose.

Still not dead, Scott was placed in a makeshift coffin, from which he was later reported to cry: John Bruce said that he was left there to die of his injuries.

With all these details differing and no concrete evidence available that suggests an accurate depiction of the events, there is much to wonder about the legitimacy of Thomas Scott's death and the resulting impacts that shaped Manitoba.

The party found the reported site of his burial just outside the Hudson's Bay Company store, dug 1.8 metres (6 ft) down.

Later, John Bruce claimed that Elzéar Goulet, one of Riel's men who had allegedly disposed of the body, had told him that a week after Scott's execution a hole had been cut in the ice of German Creek about a quarter of a mile from the mouth of the River La Seine.

[18] While relatively unknown during his lifetime, once news of Scott's death made it to Ontario he was regarded as a martyr by the English-speaking, Protestant population.

Despite the massive reaction of the Canada First movement, there is no evidence, even in the Metis-inspired versions, of Scott harbouring anti-Catholic sentiment.

[19] Historian Lyle Dick said that Scott's martyrdom created a "rallying symbol" for expansionists who wanted the armed force be sent to the Northwest.

The Toronto Globe had published an article that stated Scott was cruelly murdered by the enemies of the Queen, country and religion.

In the George Bloomfield directed movie, Riel (film), Thomas Scott's trial and execution is briefly portrayed.

[10] Historians who expand on the behavioral issues claim that both the guards and other captors were aggravated by Scott's words and actions.

[23] Bumsted also discusses Scott's portrayal as a "ringleader" in a labour strike against Dawson Road superintendent John Snow, leading to justification for execution.

[24] This animosity is depicted in many different versions ranging from Scott offending Riel by telling him to move out of his way on the street, to a rivalry over love for the same women.

[24] According to Bumsted, the only thing commonly agreed throughout these depictions is that Scott's execution was a political mistake by Louis Riel and the Métis.