JULY 11:

 1873 Cypress Hills, Alberta American whisky traders massacre group of Assiniboines; Cypress Hills Massacre forces the Government to send police to the Canadian West.

1911 Cobalt Ontario Huge forest fire breaks out in Porcupine district near Timmins, fanned by high winds into a 40 km long front, the fire takes 200 lives; over 3,000 left homeless; burns up 2200 sq. km, destroying the mining communities of South Porcupine, Cochrane and Goldlands.

1990 Oka (Kanesetake) Quebec Corporal Marcel Lemay, a 31 year old constable, killed during gun battle as 100 members of La Sûreté du Québec attack Mohawk barricades, put up in March to block expansion of a golf course on land they claim was never signed away. Mohawks at Chateauguay (Kahnawake) set up sympathy blockade at Mercier bridge leading into Montreal, causing massive traffic jams for thousands of south shore commuters.
 
 

BACKGROUND: